#batcher’s probably missing crosshair and omega so much

[twinsunstars]

batcher, gonky, and AZI are back on pabu just waiting for their family to come back safely, they don’t even know what’s going on 😭

[phantom-of-the-501st]

Thoughts on TBB 3x5: The Return

General Summary: AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH

SPOILERS BELOW THE CUT

*stares at sheer number of bullet points in phone from this episode*

I HAVE SO MUCH TO SAY THIS WEEK!!! PROPER ANALYSES MAY BE BACK!!!!!! (if I have time because I have so much to do D:)

ECHO'S IN THE THUMBNAIL!!! *cue biggest freakout I've had this season*

I genuinely let myself believe that we weren't going to see Echo this episode because I was so desperate not to get my hopes up. I though they were going to try and sort out some stuff between Cross and the other Batchers before bringing Echo into the fold but he's back!!!

The lighting is so pretty 😍

THEY TOOK CROSSHAIR TO PABU

HE'S TARGET TRAINING WITH AZI I'M GONNA CRY

The shaky hands are making me so upset 😭

But I'm glad that they're exploring something like this. It isn't just a case of Crosshair losing his spot in the Empire, it's about him being faced with something that affects his ability to be a sniper in all situations. His purpose was not the Empire, it was being a soldier, and that's what he's afraid of losing.

"IT'S ECHO!" Absolute mood and the only appropriate reaction to Echo being in an ep

THE HUUUUUGGG 😭❤️

Okay this may already be one of my new favourite eps

*replays hug 5 times before continuing with the episode*

"No hug for me?" "Depends on how good your intel is." Echo is defo still a little wary but the fact that the sass and sarcasm is strong between them is giving me life

There's been a lot of discussion about the parallels between what Echo went through and what Crosshair went though and I think that this is a perfect demonstration of the dynamic that stems from that. Echo knows what it's like to have your mind taken and to be used as a weapon against your brothers. He knows what it's like to not instantly be trusted. And because of that he has a leniency with Crosshair that the other Batcher don't. He isn't completely trusting but he's more willing to give Crosshair some grace because he understands better than the others.

"Especially without Tech" I'M RUNNING ON BARELY ANY SLEEP AND HALF A CUP OF COFFEE YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME

"I'm older than you are, little brother." The script for this episode is the greatest thing ever and I genuinely can't tell you how much the sass is giving me life rn 😆

Less than 10 minutes in and this episode is already killing me

WE'RE BACK AT THE OUTPOST 😭😭😭

CROSS IN THE ARMOUR AGAIN AAAAAAAHHHHH

Echo being the mediator in the group feels so appropriate

I adore how much focus Echo is getting this ep. They didn't bring him back and give him nothing, he's absolutely serving this episode and I am obsessed! 🤩

I'm in love with the fact that the Batch now just have a family pet

"I guess it served it's purpose." "Huh, sounds familiar." Initially this feels like a jab towards Cross but I don't think it is. That statement applies to all of the clones: they served their purpose and then they got ditched. It may have taken longer for Crosshair to accept the fact that the Empire didn't like him, but it is a statement that applies to every clone post Order 66. I think that that is what Echo is getting at: not a direct jab at Cross, but a general statement about something that Crosshair has finally come to terms with

MAYDAY'S HELMET KILL ME NOW AAAAAAHHHH

Mayday meant a lot to Cross and I think it feels particularly poignant now. He's back with his squad, but they don't all trust him. Crosshair could probably do with someone like Mayday right now, someone who trusts him enough that Crosshair doesn't feel as alone as he does.

Omega trusts him, and Wrecker is kind of there (as is Echo), but Cross still doesn't feel like he's home. He's missing one of the few friends he had.

Also, this is just evidence that Crosshair isn't the cold. heartless bastard that loads of people wanted to label him as 😌

Crosshair moving the helmets is such a simple thing, but it's so meaningful. The helmets were discarded and left in a heap, which represents the exact attitude the Empire had towards the clones. Picking them up and laying them out gives them a small amount of dignity.

It reminds me of the burial of the clones that died in the crash at the end of the clone wars. They may be in a remote location where they won't be visited, but they haven't just been left in a wreck, discarded. They were given at least an ounce of respect by their brothers and that is what Crosshair is giving to the clones at the outpost

Slight interval as I realise just how much I wrote down about this episode and just how much I have left to write 😵‍💫

Sensors down? That doesn't seem like that's going to go well

THE TOOTHPICK IS BACK!!! ❤️

"So yes, I did betray them, after they betrayed me."

This is all what it boils down to: they both feel betrayed. The thing is, both Hunter and Cross' feelings are valid, but they need to talk through why they made the decisions they did so that the other person understands. It's complicated because there isn't a good or bad side right now, they just won't listen to each other, nor will they talk things through because they don't trust the other person enough to be honest about their decisions.

"She went through what she did because you failed" OUCH OUCH OUCH OUCH OUCH

I'm not angry at Cross. Don't get me wrong, it's brutal and harsh and a dick move but Crosshair is getting defensive because Hunter is being confrontational. They're both messing up here. I can guarantee that this is going to cause discourse among the Hunter stand who are going to get pissed at Cross, but you have to understand that his actions make sense. They're not good (in the same way that Hunter really needs to ease up) but it's behaviour that makes complete sense.

We know that Crosshair's way of defending himself is to be an arsehole. He puts up walls and he lashes out. And Hunter rn is mostly stewing in his own self-loathing (which is why Crosshair struck a nerve).

Hunter is likely taking his self-hatred out on Cross and trying to shift the blame so that he can tell himself that it isn't his fault. The problem is, it's making Cross defensive, so Crosshair is pushing the blame back and sticking Hunter where it hurts. They're both stuck in a toxic cycle.

Oh dear (I literally wrote down nothing else here. This was just my reaction to the giant worm)

Echo is so on it in this episode and I love it! ❤️

Oh shit bye Hunter

This season looks so pretty and the animation is gorgeous ✨

The worm reminds me of that thing from HTTYD2 👇

GROUP HUG

"And I don't even see any blood this time. That's progress" ECHO I FUCKING LOVE YOU OMG 😭

On a side note, we talked about how Echo's humour and sass kind of deteriorated after Skako Minor but it's coming back in full swing! It shows how comfortable he's become and is evidence that he's healing 🥲🫶

Echo talking to Omega actually has me crying. He's so fucking supportive!!! 😭

"There might just be hope for us yet" followed by a shot of the ice vulture flying towards the light. It's a good way of showing Cross' journey away from the darkness of the Empire and back towards a place of healing.

Okay so this episode just means like... everything to me. The humour was on point, the emotions were on point. We got some good content from every member of the Batch. ECHO CAME BACK!

I'm just so obsessed with this episode omg

AND BINGO UPDATE!

[former-ly-darth]

You know what time it is baby!!!

(Tbb new episodes spoilers)

- “domicile”???????????????? If that fucker isn’t Tech (it absolutely is) then I don’t know what….

-they wouldn’t have brought Phee into this if she weren’t going to get a reunion with Tech (and she’s def gonna give him a smooch)

-Like, this is prime Chekov’s Gun material.

- The constant zooming in on his eyes (and how Tech’s helmet was the only one where you could see his eyes when it was on)

-I can’t imagine how gut wrenching it would have been for Crosshair to hand Omega over. And then to miss that shot…

Prediction - the special operative is going to do the Tech-turn, which will either let Omega on to who he is, or it will happen very close to when he is fully revealed to be Tech

I’m casting a wide net here so excuse me, but this is all in good fun.

Prediction - Now I’m not rooting for this one, it’s less of a prediction and more of a fear of it coming true: I have a bad feeling that either Crosshair or Hunter is going to end up making the ultimate sacrifice for Omega. Now, one might argue that that’s not necessary for this show. And I would wholeheartedly agree with them and support that argument. Again this is not a prediction I hope comes true, it more of a fear. But Hunter and Crosshair are kind of the two most similar Bad Batchers. And, I could absolutely be incorrect here, but Crosshair is actually the only one anyone has ever assumed to be Omega’s father. I think he and Hunter are toe to toe in a lot of ways, and I fear that we are being primed to accept Crosshair stepping up as a replacement.

Crosshair and Hunter are both:

- hyper-sensitive of their surroundings

- marksmen

- leaders of the squad

- the most protective of Omega

- the ones who seem to have the strongest bonds with Omega

- the two most capable members of the squad to actually raise Omega (imo)

- there’s so much more, and the show uses a lot of visual cues to portray this imo but rn I can’t seem to spit my thoughts out

Idk I just feel like if they wanted to, they could pull something like that off. I don’t think it would be necessary at all. Again, I’m hoping they don’t do something like that. I’m probably just traumatized by every other show that always makes the lovable main characters commit the ultimate sacrifice at the very end of the show. I really don’t see why all five Batchers can’t live their happy lives on Pabu once the show is over, but my mind is rampant with predictions.

[stars-n-spice]

Thoughts on s3 Ep06!

Going to make this quick and will probably be shorter than others because I have fuck awful memory and even though I literally just saw the episode, I watched episode 7 right after and so that's fresher in my mind bUT

Spoilers under cut-

As always, these are not coherent thoughts or in any order of the episode and what happened in it

CHUCHI MY BELOVED MY QUEEN I WAS SO HAPPY TO SEE HER AGAIN!!

And I was surprised to see the Raxus Senator again, it really does seem like they're trying to tie up all the loose ends so now I wouldn't be surprised if that Bennie (?) kid shows up again or something

Felt like a fucking clown when I was like "Oh that's Tech, that's so Tech" the entire time during the beginning of the episode only for it to not be Tech

Howzer <3

I completely forgot about what happened between Howzer and Crosshair on Ryloth so I was like,, "Why the fuck is Howzer being so aggressive?? I don't remember Howzer being so aggressive??" and then I was like, "oh yeah,, nvm-"

I just keep loving Crosshair more and more with every episode,, Force help me

OMEGA MIMICKING CROSSHAIR WITH THE TOOTHPICK?!?!? SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!!

Captain Rex my beloved <3

He looks so funny without his pauldron thingy

ALSO

I could nOT sit still the entire time I was watching these episodes,, I was watching it like how Asian dads watch TV,, like right up in front of the tv and whatnot

It was also because it was dark as fuck and I couldn't see SHIT because my tv kinda sucks but I was standing for pretty much the entire time

Then when Wrecker appeared I fell to my knees

I'm going to be thinking about him petting Batcher for a long time-

OKAY BUT WHEN HUNTER SAW OMEGA MIMICKING CROSSHAIR AND HE HAD THE FAINTEST SMILE ON TOP OF THAT LOOK OF CONFUSION??

Also I love Echo so so so so much,, when he gave her that modified crossbow and told her to keep the others in check?? :(( mom,,

"they don't look happy to see us...just like old times huh?" WRECKER omfg,,

also that clone assassin is so tech right?? like,, that's Tech yeah?? even with the voice thingy he sounds like Crosshair kinda and in the previous episode Crosshair had a moment where he sounded like Tech so like,, that's GOTTA be him

Aaaa,, when Howzer starting coming for Crosshair and Wrecker looked about ready to square up in the background,, and then Hunter defending Cross later, ack ack ackk

CONFIRMATION THAT CROSS WENT THROUGH WITH THAT TRAINING BUT HE'S TOO "SEVERE AND UNYIELDING" SO IT DIDN'T WORK AAAA

at that point i'm kinda surprised they kept him alive?? but still-

i really thought Rex might know what 'M-count' was when Omega mentioned it since he was around Jedi but I guess not??

that entire conversation I was chanting, "Talk to Ahsoka, talk to Ahsoka, talk to Ahsoka"

dude when the fucking,, when (i'm going to call him Tech) when Tech just fucking SNUCK in and was like RIGHT there,,

FUCK that entire,, ugh when he called to report he found Omega I was just like,, "Oh they fucked up so badly. So badly"

EVERY EPISODE HAS ME FUCKING TERRIFIED ABOUT OMEGA BEING TAKEN AWAY AGAIN

the,, the conversation between Crosshair and the clone assassin,,

Cross,,, dude,, what,, what are you hiding man?

Fireball :(((((((((

UGHH

then Tech got fucking crushed by all those rocks and I was like,, "Okay, so maybe he ISN'T tech," but then,, fucking episode 7 changed that-

ALSO ALSO!! SHOWING THE CLONE BASE,, WITH THE FUCKIN,,, WITH THE FUCKING CLONE THEME IN THE BACKGROUND AGUUGHHHEHEUUHHHGHHH

AND THEN WOLFFE AT THE END??? THANK THE FUCKING FORCE THIS WAS A TWO EPISODE RELEASE DAY FUCK

OH MY GOD I MISSED YOU COMMANDER

FUCKING

AAAAAA

anyways,,

im so normal about this show :)

[random-user753]

hello my dear 💙 what's your absolute favorite part of season three of tbb so far? maybe top three favorite parts?

and of course yours truly is always open to asks

Hi & thanks for the ask 😃😃😃

This question isn't that easy because some episodes so far were absolutely mixed bags… so I'm going to rate each episode and will conclude with a ranking of the best of them.

Therefore, long post inbound!

03x01 - Confined: 5/5

This episode set the mood for the entire season perfectly and showed nicely how cold and uncaring the Empire is - compared to Tantiss, Kamino is almost homely. (Tantiss really mirrors Kamino, doesn't it?) Also the juxtapose between Omega and Crosshair in all their differences was set in scene nicely and brought forth their incredible chemistry which is definitely one of the highlights in this season. Personally, I adore as well the clock-symbolism of the centrifuge machine thanks to its ability to create an undercurrent of tension.

03x02 - Paths Unknown: 2/5

Yes, probably a bit hard rating but the slither vine wasn't that good. The young clones are adorable side-characters and were put to good use by making a connection to the main conflict (being a family vs being soldiers). Themewise this episode was good, but plot-wise not so much - like mentioned before, Wrecker and Hunter haven't got much synergy to carry a scene or even a whole episode together. In this episode I missed Tech dearly - not only because of the data extraction part, but as a character who lets everyone around him shine and who asks questions which creates a certain tension in the team as well a lot of funny moments.

03x03 - Shadows of Tantiss: 5/5

This episode as well was pure joy for me: Omega and Cross working together to escape was superbly done - the one works to get them out, the other one keeps the spirits up during the escape. 😍 Also, Batcher as back-up was nicely done! But equally I like that Omega and Cross only escaped because Nala Se gave them the means and Hemlock didn't wanted to risk killing Omega - the plausibility was well done in this episode. And introducing the Vault was artfully done as well!

03x04 - A Different Approach: 5/5

Like in every episode with the main focus on Cross&Omega I enjoyed this as well - it showed nicely how much Omega has learned but that she isn't ready to face the big bad universe on her own. Also the slimy officer was a fun minor antagonist and got a very deserving end! (Which reminds me: Only the first episode is an episode without any big monster…) The sole flaw was that they cut the reunion too early and didn't bother to explain Hunters and Wreckers frowns… yep, I'm still salty because of that.

03x05 - The Return: 4/5

Oh boy, here I'm torn between 3/5 and 4/5. Ultimately, I went for 4/5 because all the small moments were done good: Echo as the teams moderator, Cross getting his armor back, AZI and the target practice, hinting Omegas conflicted feelings regarding the other clones in Tantiss, the vulture symbolism, paying a tribute to Mayday, Phees cameo. The big flaw - like you repeatedly pointed out - is the handling of the conflict between Crosshair and Hunter: The build-up was nice, but they chickend out of the portrayal with introducing the ice wyrm (pray tell, what's the difference to the Krayt Dragons on Tatooine?)

03x06 - Infiltration: 3/5

This gets a 3 out of 5 - even though it wasn't a bad episode. I just dislike how overpowered CX-2 is albeit his mirroring of the Bad Batch as whole is an awesome concept. Also why did the writers decided to bench Echo out of all the characters?? The conflict between Cross and Rexs squad was done nicely, as well the chilling nature of the CXs - but I wished that they had done more than hinting what happened to Cross. There's only so long you can push the can down the street. Another point of criticism that arises from the latest episode is that withholding information is kind off OOC for Crosshair, especially when Omegas life is on the line and that Rex doesn't know what a M-count is, is pretty ridiclious. (And a boring conflict as well!)

03x07 - Extraction: 3/5

Same as Episode 6: The fight Crosshair vs the CX-2 was well set up and nicely done but they should have spilled the beans further about what happened (just my opinion). But hats off for the continued portrayal of Crosshairs handshaking and the consequences it produced. (And I love the scene "I'm much worse" sooo much 😍) I think the conflict Wolffe vs Rex was underutilized and they got too easily away… therefore 3 stars.

03x08 - Bad Territory : 2/5

Two stars solely for the Omega and Crosshair-moments; the rest of the episode was far too long and too plot-less for my taste. One would think that after all this time the boys would have learned how to broker a better deal than that. Also, the writers could have illustrated Hunters senses better because now I don't know what's supposed to be so special about them…

03x09 - The Harbinger: 1/5

Def my least favorite episode - y'know why.

03x10 - Identity Crisis: 5/5

This episode was unexpected, but very welcome - the deep dive into Emeries POV is very well done. Especially the showing of her emotions and the growing doubts were depicted perfectly and the kidnapping of Bayrn (the baby Tarlafar) was heartbreaking as well as the other kids. It's just like Kamino all over again except these kids know exactly what they have lost.

03x11 - Point of No Return: 4/5

Omega giving herself up was so very in character as well fitting into her emotional conflict in this episode; the invasion of Pabu was peak imperial villainness. Also Hunter hijacking the ship and Cross fighting with the troopers felt very in character and apropriate regarding the high stakes. But somehow, I couldn't enjoy this episode completely… still searching for the why. Maybe it just hit too close to my heart with the destruction of the Marauder or maybe the stealth of CX-2 was overdone…

03x12 - Juggernaut: 4/5

Once again a case between 3/5 and 4/5 - in the end, 4/5 won because: - amazing Phee-piloting - Rampart as absolutely petty b*tch - the remaining batch working flawlessly together - Hemlock playing mind games with Omega Flaws imo are Cross giving up information far too late and the copy-paste from The Believer…

Final ranking is therefore: ✨✨✨

🥇Shadows of Tantiss

🥈A Different Approach

🥉Confined & Identity Crisis

🏅 Honorable mention: Point of No Return for the perfect heartfelt drama

Sorry that it got so long but once again thanks for your questions & I can't wait to discuss this list in more detail with you 😃

[jedinightsister]

So let me spiral into my Bad Batch feels in this site as well with a bit (okay, it's not a bit, it turned out longer than intended oof) of a headcanon or idk, just ramblings in general...

Once Tech inevitably figures out where the Empire is holding Crosshair and their other fellow clones, Echo is the one to persuade Hunter to take up the mission. Yes, it's risky. But they are more than just soldiers. They're brothers.

Let me start with Omega. She's always known about the inhibitor chips even before everyone else did. And she knew that Crosshair was heavily affected by it. Then, even as Crosshair clarifies it that it was his choice, she still doesn't blame him and remains optimistic that he will eventually be part of their little family again.

Next, with Wrecker. His vibrant energy so much like Omega's, but he actually spent so much time with Crosshair. Again, I have to bring up some observations with my Bad Batch s1 and TCW Bad Batch rewatches. Wrecker and Crosshair had a lot of banter. Wrecker with childish humor, and Crosshair with his deadpan seriousness. But even then, I really sense how much they enjoyed each other's company in their own ways, so the idea that Crosshair is out there and might be in trouble, to Wrecker, it doesn't matter much what terrible past he had done. He just missed his friend, his brother.

Over the course of s2, large in part with the help of Omega, Tech's ability to understand and express his emotions have improved a great deal. That convo between him and her really put things into perspective for Tech, and when he met the crew to discuss that decrypted data for Echo, he carries this air of vulnerability to him now. He's allowing himself that in his own way. There's this strong sense of him being concerned for his brother in his own way that he may have actually looked up his number in the Empire's records just to make sure Crosshair was safe. And he wasn't.

Echo would feel very responsible to do whatever he can to make sure Crosshair and the rest of his brothers are safe and not experimented on. He knows the kind of shit that feels like and no matter if he is on the losing battle, as long as he does his very best to make sure everyone else is okay, that's more than good enough for him.

Then you have Hunter, whose hesitation to believe Crosshair's signal is rooted in protectiveness toward the crew, but also because he blames himself. In s1, he specifically mentions to Omega that he's not angry at Crosshair, he's angry at himself. Even when s1 ends and Crosshair makes it clear he's choosing the Empire, those self blaming feelings aren't something he can just shake off. He's their team leader, he feels responsible, and even though he probably wants to have the hope that he can get his brother to reunite with the crew, there's just so much risk and he can't afford to lose any more of his family.

Last but certainly not the least, we got our batcher in trouble, Crosshair. He carries so much pain in him, thinking that they abandoned him when he chose to side with the Empire. That's what they were supposed to do, right? And do it together. But as it turns out, the Empire didn't care for him. So now he's fighting back in his own way. There's a lot of guilt here too, he's not just suffering physical pain from the torture by Hemlock and co, his solitude is heavily highlighted. Right now, he thinks he has no one anymore. Not even the Bad Batch. So when he figures out what Hemlock wants, he didn't even try to escape the prison, to escape his pain. Not really. He doesn't feel deserving or worthy anymore because of his choices. Despite that, he still believed in his crew and chose to protect them, even Omega, whom in some ways he may have felt jealous in earlier parts of the show, for taking his place as a member of the team. Crosshair chose to carry all the pain. He may not have hope for himself anymore, but his family- they still have hope and he gave the little of what's left in him to them.

Next week is gonna be such an emotional rollercoaster ride, I am both soooo excited and soooo terrified...

[saturn-sends-hugs]

For the bad batch ask!!!

17, 24, 34, and/or 48

Feel free to answer only the ones you want to <3<3

oh bestie i am answering ALL OF THEM

17. What are some headcanons you have about Tech?

oooo ok i found a couple in my notes app:

When watching a movie, Tech can get bored pretty quickly and usually ends up finding the space wikipedia page on it and listing off random facts about its production as they watch. Him and Echo often get into debates about how the SFX was done.

Less of a headcanon and more of a “what if”, but if Anakin ever piloted the Marauder, Tech would reluctantly agree that objectively Anakin is a pretty good pilot, but he’d grumble the whole time about him “messing up his systems.”

Tech has tried time and time again to convince Echo to let him weaponize his cybernetics. The strategic benefit of hidden weaponry would give them a backup plan in the event that they were ever without their blasters, and Wrecker of course just wants to see it happen. Echo, however, remains adamant that no, he would prefer not to sleep with a functioning rocket launcher in his scomp arm, thank you very much.

Tech cannot tell directions. He constantly has maps pulled up on his HUD, so he never gets lost, and no one ever questions it. But if he’s ever without his helmet or something? Oh. Oh buddy, he is lost in two seconds. You spin him around once and he has no idea what direction he just came from. Crosshair is more than happy to tease him about it.

Tech cannot dance. While he knows how to dance in that he’s seen tutorials and memorized the motions, he’s just so incredibly stiff that it’s actually abysmal. (It takes Phee a long, long time before she manages to get him to loosen up lol)

aaaaaand that’s probably enough :D

24. Do you have any hot or controversial takes?

oh absolutely and about 70% of them are just my opinions on Hunter.

Fandom thinks he has a ten step skincare routine, tons of hair products, and spends forever getting ready? NOPE. The man uses 5-in-1 shampoo and washes his face with hand soap. He has no clue what the word “exfoliating” means. He dresses like a fisherman grandpa and thinks sunscreen is for fancy people.

Also, the fisherman thing is like my whole concept of Hunter lol. He sends this to Omega no context one day thinking it’s the funniest thing in the world (he is correct)

not really a hot take, but honestly you already said everything about the whole Fandom Drama™️ stuff so this is what I’ve got lol

34. Which Batcher would you like to kick in the shins?

Crosshair. Obviously. (also Echo for being incapable of self care but i feel like it would be hypocritical to get upset about the ways i’m actively choosing to write him bskhkdndndkd)

48. What’s something you wish you could say/tell to each Batcher?

Tech: don’t hold your datapad so close to your face, you’re gonna get a headache. also where have you been girlie i missed you in the last episodes for some reason, you should really hurry up and get back from the podraces!

Crosshair: go suck an egg. btw have you considered piercings because i gotta say i’m imagining you with a septum and some platform boots and it’s incredible.

Wrecker: HELLO SIR HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF A SLUSHY BECAUSE IM ABOUT TO CHANGE YOUR ENTIRE WORLD

Hunter: uh. hi.

Omega: you’re doing amazing sweetie and ur brothers won’t say it but they’re so proud of u mwah

Echo: (regarding slow down) SIT THE FUCK DOWN RIGHT NOW MISTER I SWEAR TO GOD. WTH ARE YOU DOING. WHO IS LETTING YOU CONTINUE TO BE THIS STUPID HOLY SH— (me. it’s me. i’m doing this to myself.) also stop ignoring rex u wet noodle.

[heyclickadee]

Trying to catch up on these so: Thoughts on “Truth and Consequences,” I guess (I'm sick, and the theraflu kicked in about halfway through writing this, so I'm not sure how much of this makes sense):

1. I am going to crawl into the television like a reverse girl from the ring and throw Palpatine down a maintenance shaft myself.

2. I don’t think that this is the last we’re going to see of Rampart and his trash shenanigans, but watching him get arrested by the coruscant guard while protesting that he was, “Just following orders,” was extremely satisfying. For now.

3. Palpatine was just waiting under the floor for Chuchi to present her evidence against Rampart, wasn’t he? Is this a normal thing? He just…waits for some BS that he orchestrated behind the scenes to come out and then rises up out of the floor like an omen of doom to manipulate the drama to his advantage? None of this is surprising—Palpatine’s always been about the high drama—but seriously. This evil son of a bitch—

4. Omega following Senator Chuchi around the senate building was adorable, but what a way for an at-most thirteen-year-old to find out she’s not legally considered a person. That none of her brothers are, either. Which means, of course, that she never knew that growing up on Kamino, and that the batch didn’t tell her.

5. Which…makes sense. They’re not trying to wrap her in bubble wrap like they were last season. She goes on missions, she’s plenty capable in a fight, and they trust her to be able to find her way in and out of trouble. But Hunter (and the rest of them, really) are trying to give her whatever scraps of childhood they can, and part of that means they do, to one degree or another, try to keep certain bits of information from her if they think that information could hurt her. Not all the time, especially when they absolutely can’t, but they still do from time to time. It’s a little like that moment back in “Ruins of War” when Echo tells Omega to go keep an eye on Romar. I don’t think Echo was that worried about Romar doing something, but he maybe did want Omega out of earshot so he and Tech could have a grown up conversation about what losing all that treasure meant for them without Omega having to hear it. And there might be a bit of self protection in there, too. It’s one thing for the adult batchers to understand that they don’t have representation in the senate and that a lot of the galaxy doesn’t consider them people; it’s always been that way and they’re probably resigned to that being the way things are. Explaining that to Omega, though, means being forced to see how this awful thing that’s just a background part of their lives also applies to her, and would probably force them to see how monstrous that really is.

6. Senator Chuchi’s little guilty look back towards Omega when it turned out this all played out exactly how Palpatine wanted, I’m--

7. I kept thinking the moment where Wrecker got shocked climbing the ladder was going to come back. It…did not.

8. Seeing how well they were able to pull of this heist kind of makes me wonder how much of the batch’s tattered success rate is them missing Crosshair (both emotionally and just not having him around to do his job), how much having to adjust to making sure their collective adopted daughter isn’t in immediate mortal peril at all times, and how much is being in completely unfamiliar territory. It’s got to be a mix of all three.

9. Speaking of success rates…what are they on this season? 0 for 6? 1 for 6 because Tech won the riot race? Does that count? Did Echo and Hunter deliver those nerf nuggets okay? I know they pulled this mission off, but it turns out pulling it off was the worst thing that could have happened, so….

10. Yes, I’m stalling.

11. Halle Burtoni (oh, Star Wars names. I love you) was not a character I expected to see back. I was a little surprised at how blithe she was about the apparent, you know, genocide of her people, but that didn’t come across as entirely sincere.

12. Okay, one sort of detached thing about Echo’s goodbye before I get emotional about it: When he tells Omega to keep up her training while he’s gone, and she replies with a tiny little, “Yes, sir,” that made something I’ve been wondering about clone family structure finally click. We joke a lot about how Hunter’s the dad and how Echo’s the mom, because they do in many ways each fill those roles, and I think that totally works. But there’s also the way in which they batch’s family and maybe clone family structure in general more mirrors military structure than anything else. Like. Okay, on one level, in the batch, they’re all siblings, but all siblings with different roles towards one another; on another level, all the adult batchers (apart from Crosshair, at this point, since he hasn’t had much time with her) are parents of one or more varieties towards Omega. And on another level, you’ve got the actual chain of command structure, where Hunter is the sergeant, Echo’s the corporal, and therefore second in command, but within this group of people “sergeant” no longer and perhaps has never just meant “the person in charge of this little group,” and same with “corporal.” Both of those roles in the context of the clones have a different and more familial connotation that doesn’t directly translate to familial roles we might be more familiar with in our world. Does that make sense? At all? I might be rambling. I think I’m rambling at this point. (But also, yes, they’re also all dads and Echo is also the mom in addition to being a dad.)

13. Yeah okay, the goodbye

14. I didn’t cry the first time. Listen, I’m not that emotionally demonstrative unless I’m really annoyed or intentionally exaggerating to get a point across (which I do a lot), I don’t cry that often, and if I do it’s almost never about something that’s happening in real life. Crying about fiction is a lot safer, more cathartic, and just easier, so I sort of save it up for that. The first time around though, the goodbye didn’t get me. Don’t get me wrong, it hit me like a freight train through the crystal palace, but the episode was a lot, and I was kind of too overwhelmed to really feel my feelings about it. The second time around, though, when I was able to actually take it in and watch the emotions play out on the characters faces and see how gentle and tender the whole thing was? Oh boy, the waterworks. I will be suing for emotional damages. (I won’t be suing for emotional damages, but full credit to everyone on the T BB crew for making that scene what it was.)

15. The writers did something a little bit interesting here by NOT showing us the conversation that Hunter and Echo clearly had about this or the (I think) other conversations that Hunter, Echo, Tech, and Wrecker had about this later on. On the one hand, I would have liked to have seen these conversations, because I think they were probably quite a bit more emotionally heavy than the upbeat goodbyes we got from the boys. This seems to have been something Hunter and Echo have been planning for a long time, since probably the apparently life-changing nerf-nugget run at least. Not that Echo would definitely leave on this specific mission of course, but that Hunter and Echo agreed the next time there was an opportunity for Echo to go with Rex, he would, if he felt it was the right time.

Everything about the scene tells us that those conversations happened. Not showing us those conversations, however, put us into Omega’s shoes for that moment. We know these men talk when they know (or think—see episode one) Omega’s not listening. They didn’t tell her this was a possibility, for a whole bunch of reasons including keeping Omega from trying to convince Echo to stay to not wanting to hurt her and so on, and they didn’t have time to tell her it was going to happen right then until it was happening, because Echo probably didn’t decide that then was the right time until they were waiting for Omega to come back from the senate building. And the effect of not showing us those conversations or telling Omega this could happen is for Omega (and by extension, us) have the rug pulled out from under her. It puts us in her shoes. So even though we the audience have been expecting this for a while now, it feels like a surprise, it still hits, and hits hard.

16. I was so glad Echo left on good terms. This is so much better than the batch breaking up because of a fight. I love that he and Hunter are kind of on the same page, but on different paths, and how clear it was that Echo didn’t really want to leave. That moment when Rex tells him that, “Good help is hard to come by these days,” and Echo just collapses in on himself? He doesn’t want to go. The batch is his family, they’re his brothers, just as much as Rex is, Omega’s his daughter as much as she’s Hunter’s, and this is a group of people that took him in and helped him recover after the hardest period of his life. He loves them, and he doesn’t want to go. But he feels like he has to. He’s too good, he cares too deeply, and he’s been through too much not too. And Hunter, Tech, and Wrecker understand that. They’re not going to hold it against him; they support what he’s choosing to do, even though they can’t follow him into it right now, so they make sure he knows he still has a place with them, and always will.

17. Dear character animator/animators who animated the range of expressions on Echo’s face as he was trying to explain to Omega why he had to go, including and especially those couple of moments when he was obviously trying not to cry? You have my whole heart. Also, I’m in pain.

18. Dear storyboard/layout artists who decided that this goodbye scene needed to parallel Omega’s last goodbye to Crosshair on that Kaminoan platform…you also have my whole heart, but. Ow.

19. While I do understand why the batch didn’t tell Omega, I also feel like that’s something that’s going to bite them in the butt. I mean, in a “Omega internalizes what she sees as her family breaking apart as something that’s her fault and does something reckless to try to make up for it” kind of way. They're trying, but they have a lot to learn about raising kids.

20. I would like to see the apparently life changing nerf-nugget field trip, please.

21. What did Hunter tell Echo?? Is it just the, “If you ever feel like you don’t fit in with them, come find us,” thing? What waaas iiiittttt I need to knooooooowwwww

22. I did like that this was sort of underscored as a temporary goodbye. Between Echo telling Omega that he’d be back and Hunter telling Rex to call them if he ever needed anything, this is temporary. But it’s still heartbreaking, because these characters mean a lot to each other and we don’t know how long they’ll be separated.

23. Sidebar, kind of, but how much do you want to bet that the boys all agreed to keep those final goodbyes light so they wouldn’t upset Omega? And how much do you want to bet that they all agreed that backfired spectacularly afterwards?

24. Omega hugging Lula in that final shot looking so small and scared I can’t 🥺😭😭 someone help her she is not okay

25: Complete sidebar, but you know that moment when Echo took control of the venator cruiser and its guns and engines single handedly? And that other moment where he stood up and said he'd be Senator Chuchi's witness even though it would put him in incredible danger? He's so good (your hand in marriage, sir!)

26. Echo, please come back soon!!

[deaconusdelirium]

Bunch of friends and I have been making head cannons on The Bad Batch, some even requested it, so I’ll tie ‘em in together (and add a little oneshot of them below it on a few)👀

———

•Hunter can take a lot, I mean like, a lot a lot. And even he needs to take a break, but the Marauder is still so loud, and with heightened senses, he can’t. So he’ll try and pull his bandana down over his eyes and block out anything he can. Or he’ll wear his helmet that’s been modified by Tech to reduce some things that causes Hunter to get a headache or just plain annoyed to the point where he gets mad, and no ones wants to mess with a mad Hunter

•Wrecker has a tendency to hit too hard, especially his brothers, who have grown use to it but sometimes he hits a bit hard to where they have to rub the pain out. So when he first hits you, and you almost fall back, he’ll apologize and try to not hit, but everyone knows he can’t do that, so he’ll hit a little lighter. Which makes his brothers so grateful that he isn’t as rough as he use to be. But he can still be if he’s excited

•Tech, oh baby Tech. He’s probably the only one who wishes he had less braincells to have fun like the others. However! His brothers always tell him how happy they are, that’s he’s him, and without him. They wouldn’t have their armor. He basically made it for them since the Kaminoans couldn’t care what they needed and didn’t do anything about it. So he took Reg armor and upgraded it for his brothers enhanced skills.

•The Batch already knows that Omega has always been able to get away from them and causes trouble, or it finds her. So they only way for them to truly keep an eye on her is to have something attached to her, or they hold her hand. They don’t want to risk getting yelled at by Hunter cause they lost his daughter, or having him pull his hair out cause she’s missing. So they keep a close eye on her all the time

-Hunter has this bracelet, that has a small string attached to it, that way, when she lets go, he’ll still feel her still tug on the other end

-Crosshair couldn’t care less about her, so he’ll just put a string around her, measure how far she can go, and then tie it to his belt. He has to tug her back before she goes too far

-Tech, well, you know those bags that are monkeys and Koalas, that have a string to the back, and there’s a clip on the front? Yeah he uses that, and put it on his wrist, with the Lula doll on the back

-Wrecker always carries her, but when he’s not, he either holds her hand. Or get in trouble with her, but if he’s serious. Then Omega knows to stay close

-Echo has this tracker on her comm, that allows him to see where she’s at. But he’ll also tell her to hold onto a handle on his belt, or maybe his ‘skirt’. If he doesn’t feel her, he goes feral

•Who has the most beautiful hair out of the five? Except Omega? Crosshair obviously. He won’t let it grow out like Hunters, but he won’t go bald like Wrecker, the closest he got was from the accident on Bracca, but he keeps in a High and Tight style. It matches him very well, and in the sunlight, it look reflective, amazing huh?

•Echo is mainly the ‘mother’ of the Batch. Everyone usually depends on him to cook, and clean, or make sure everyone’s hydrated before going on a mission. He always has snacks on him, if someone says they’re hungry, then he’s quick to throw in a snack. They’re thirsty? Here, have some juice he packed, it was suppose to be for Omega but.. someone said they’re thirsty. And he can’t bare them having to be ‘dry’

•When the Batch, excluding Echo, were cadets on Kamino. They would get bullied the most out of the Regs, but Crosshair would never tolerate it. He stood up for all of them, sometimes he would win, others he lost. And when he did, Tech would almost always be the one to patch him up and give him a hug. Which leads to a big huddle on the floor while the boys thank their (middle?) brother.

-When that happens, Tech would be extra nice since he mostly got picked on as well.

-Wrecker would always have Cross’s back, and if he got beat up. He would give Lula to him

-Hunter apologized but thanked him nevertheless. He would always hug him

•Speaking of Lula and Crosshair, whenever Cross got beat up or just wasn’t feel well. Wrecker would give Lula to his brother, and believe it or not. Crosshair would chew on Lula’s ear, Wrecker doesn’t mind. He knows it calms his little brother down and Cross might have pica, he loves chewing on things that really don’t count as ‘common’ such as gum

•Hunter knows sign language! Fun fact, since he gets a sensory overload every now and then, he won’t talk since he doesn’t like the sound of his own voice, it’s like a vibrating motion in his skull, as he calls it. So he doesn’t like it, Wrecker knows he’s the most loud and during that time, he’ll only ever nod or shake. He doesn’t really know sign language, and he tells Omega to quiet down during that time, but Tech will teach her. Echos pretty good at it, but Crosshair is the best. He watches and practices on his own time, alone

•Crosshair has gotten use to holding his breath when he’s sniping, and he does that a lot. So when he’s just, relaxing and chilling, you or the Batch will watch him, and usually have to tell him to breath. He’s great at holding his breath, he finds it comforting, and he doesn’t know he does it until someone says something. He wins at who can hold their breath the longest

•As much as Tech is always pushed off or told to be quiet, or ‘no one cares, keep moving’, Tech won’t ever stop telling facts. Everyone’s so use to it, sometimes they’ll end up listening when he doesn’t think they are, which he doesn’t care cause they brush him off and he has a need to get whatever is off his chest, to someone. He mostly tells Crosshair about it, he’s the only one who won’t tell him off, he’ll sit and listen to him, and he’s gained knowledge of some pretty good stuff, like if one side of the toast is dark, then it’s burnt. Or if the ovens top is still red and warm, then it’s hot:)

•Wrecker is basically a big child, so don’t not expect him to act like one. He loves playing games, if no one wants to, and Omegas not there, he’ll play by himself. He’ll count steps and skip one, then count a few more. He also likes to memorize things, when he goes to look at it further, boom. He hits his head and forgets it, he doesn’t want to know any more. Sometimes, he’ll bring Lula to play with Omega and her Batcher

•You can NOT change my mind on this, Crosshair has piercings, industrial on his right ear, one top cartilage on his left, three lobe ones on each ear, some snake bites and a tongue piercing. I know it seems like a lot, and it is, but he’s absolutely gorgeous with them. He likes all of them to be in black, but two of the lobe ones are red and white.

•The whole Batch (is bad-AHH) loves their tattoos being rubbed, they find that when you do, do it, they feel like turning into putty. Heck, they’ll even call off a mission to grab a box of spice just for you to keep doing what you do. And they love it

-Trace over Hunters tattoo and he’ll ask you to marry him, jk, but he loves it very much. He tends to get ticklish when you reach his lips though, he’ll pull away and rub on them with the back of his hand

-Crosshair will do anything for you to massage the out line which is on his right side, but left, if you’re looking at him. If you go just above his temple and back a bit, then rub a finger over it lightly back and forth, you’ll knock him out cold, he won’t wake up until he does himself

-Tech doesn’t look like he has a tattoo, and he doesn’t. But he does find it to be very soothing if you run a thumb over his cheek when he’s sleeping on top of you

-Wrecker, he has a tattoo on his inner bicep, you know their logo? Yeah, that one. It looks like the kind of messy paintbrush tattoo, with their three main colors. It’s so awesome you trace over the jagged lines and he loves it

-Echo doesn’t have a tattoo either, but he does like it when you trace little patterns along his skin, sometimes he’ll concentrate real hard and then realize you spelled his name

[hellothere-generalangsty]

Gloved hand (Crosshair)

Summary: Crosshair found a way to get rid of his chip, and went looking for his brothers in the depot, fully aware of the confrontation that would follow.

No pairing or reader description, only the member of the Batch

Word count: 2761

CW/TW: ANGST; Death, trauma, guilt, violent memories/ nightmares, burns/scar, some swearing; I don’t know how graphic my style is, so if I forgot anything please tell me!

Tags: @allamarisss @loth-wolffe @imalovernotahater (you all asked 🤧)

@razena88 @m-o-o-n-s-g-o-o-n-s (non of you asked but I thought you'd want to check it out since you reacted to my Crosshair post; if you don't want to be tagged just tell me and I'll remove it !)

Notes: I had to. Because you’re all nice and I love pain, so here is the Sad Hour: Crosshair Edition™; Enjoy! (aka, I hope you’ll suffer a bit)

PS: sorry about the little dots when I skip a line, it’s the only way I could well...skip a line. I’ll try to find another way for the future!

PPS: The Neighbourhood - Roll Call is the song I listened to while writing this 🤭

______________________________________

He knew they were waiting on him, on the move he would make. They didn’t know about his chip being removed – not yet – and he knew he only had one shot.

How ironic.

He was still wearing the Imperial armour, face covered by his helmet, rifle attached to his back. He could see the way Hunter tightened his fingers around the trigger, and he recognised that look; the one he usually gave to his opponents before he killed them. He could get away; Hunter was a good shooter and his senses did helped for that; but Crosshair was the marksman. He guessed by a simple look at the scenery that the shot would crush through his pectoral plates, and given the distance and the type of blaster, it would surely shake him out, but it wouldn’t kill him.

As much as he sucked at it, he had to resort to words. He wasn’t the Empire’s puppet anymore, and trying once again to threaten them…It was simply out of the question.

Slowly, he raised his hands to his helmet, grabbing the lower part of it. He waited a second, not sure about the short moment where his vision would be obstructed.

Come on, you don’t get to worry about getting shot. Take the damn bucket off.

He pushed it up his head, briefly closing his eyes as a ridiculous way to sooth his morbid thoughts. When he opened them up again, Hunter hadn’t moved an inch. He didn’t know how much time he had, so Crosshair dared to take a step forward. Then another, holding his helmet in one hand, keeping the other one on the plastoid covering his chest, gently taping it with a gloved finger.

He stopped at the fourth step. The Batchers tensed up, unsure of what his next move would be. Crosshair knew what he was doing.

T’s your time to shine, Cross.

“DC-17. Round it down to a 7 meters distance from the target, slightly move your arm to your left.” He taped on a small spot of his chest plate, never breaking eye contact with Hunter. “Make me proud.”

It was a bold move, he knew it too damn well. He forced himself to maintain eye contact with them, with him, as much as it scared the crap out of him. As much as he hoped, deep down, for his brother to take pit-

.

 It was quick, bright. Finger pressed against the trigger, Hunter noticed every wave in the sound of the shot as it echoed in the depot. He followed the blue deflagration as it got spit out of his blaster, sliding the air in a thin whistling, brushing past Crosshair’s left arm, hitting another clone further behind.

He didn’t know if it was the right decision; but he knew enough about Crosshair to try it.

“I said ‘to your left’” was the only thing that came out of Crosshair’s mouth as he turned his head to look at the man lying on the floor a few meters behind him. He wasn’t dead, and now they had to quickly evacuate.

But Cross was alive. For now.

“Tech, get in there and be ready to take off when I tell you to! Wrecker, you cover us. Crosshair.”

The sniper pulled out his own blaster, back turned to the Batchers, ready to shoot any intruder trying to rip him away from his family once again. He soon felt a firm hand grasping his shoulder and dragging him back. He didn’t fight it, didn’t look at it. His focus was on the men running in the depot, on the way he hit them with such precision it almost felt too easy.

He was the last one to get in the Havoc Marauder, still shooting as the door closed shut in front of him.

.

 “…Crosshair?”

His heart pounded so hard in his chest that for a moment, he thought it might go through the plastoid armour and crush against the wall. There was the next move. So easy to execute, yet so terrifying.

“Crosshair, look at us.”

It was the tone; too formal, almost polite. He hated it. But he obeyed anyway, slowly turning around to face his tattooed brother.

Don’t look down. Don’t look down and cut that crap.

Hunter remained silent for a moment, examining Crosshair’s face scarred by burns, his new shaved side and white patch on the side of his head. The violent pumping and barely shaky breath told him more than the stoic eyes he was staring at.

“How’d you do it?”

“A droid helped.” Hunter’s nod was the only answer he got.

Keep talking, di’kut.

“I-”

“I missed you.” confessed Wrecker. “I think we all did.”

Now it was his turn to nod. What could he possibly answer? ‘I missed you too, but mostly because my chip made me want to kill you.’?

You didn’t wanted it, you had no choice.

“You didn’t have a choice,” Echo got a bit closer to him, even though he couldn’t tell if it was a good idea. “We know you didn’t.”

“Now that you removed your chip, you’re out of risks.” commented Tech, trying to comfort him a bit.

Each second passing was getting him closer to the edge. He wasn’t looking at faces, he was looking at phantom targets, still feeling the stings stabbing his brain every time he hesitated before shooting at them. Their voices were hardly getting to him, they were so distant, probably a faint memory from a time where he still had control.

“…get you something to eat, and you’ll go take a shower. Works for you?”

“Yes, Sarge.”

He knew the small clap on his shoulder was more of a friendly kind than a brotherly one. He hated it. He deserved it.

.

.

 He never felt that uncomfortable while eating with someone before. Even lunches on Kamino’s cantina weren’t as awkward. Tech tried to initiate a small talk, mentioning their next mission, the supplies they would need to get, and Omega tried to keep him going by nodding and asking questions he knew were useless.

But really, it was just an excuse to avoid the talk. Given the situation, it would probably hurt less to just… confront him. Tell him he scared them, when he callously ordered Hunter to stand down and surrender, told his troopers to “aim for the kid”. Not that he didn’t know; he found the confession in their eyes every time they would look at him.

He barely ate, rolling a fresh toothpick between his gloved fingers as he weakly chewed on his food.

“I’ll take the first round tonight,” Hunter muttered, mostly for himself.

Crosshair slowly got up from his seat, putting his ration away, trying to avoid the stares. He slid his toothpick between his lips, nibbling a bit harder than usual on the wooden texture. All he had to do was turn around and leave the cockpit. He had done it countless time by the past, what’s one more?

He wanted to lay down and sleep his pain away, get drowned in the pillows and forget all about what happened. He took a few steps, pretended he didn’t flinch when a hand caught his own, but couldn’t bring himself to smile at Omega when she gently rubbed his knuckles.

She didn’t say anything, she simply followed him to the bunk beds. Crosshair could barely look at her, because every time he did he could only see the scared look she gave him when he ordered it.

Aim for the kid.

It was haunting; she was just a child, a mixture of a little sister and a daughter for the Batchers, and he tried to rip that away from them too.

His attention shifted to the beds when he noticed the lights around his. He could also see a glimpse of a plush – oddly familiar – and a soft blanket nicely pulled over the mattress.

“We – she needed a place to sleep, and you were gone so…”

Wrecker, who followed him too, was uncomfortable; he was the one who came up with the idea. As much as he missed Crosshair, he knew he needed to take care of his little one because she was here. But now, Cross was back.

“Keep the bed,” he murmured, “I don’t mind.”

And he meant it. He would have done the same if Wrecker, or Echo or whoever went missing like he had. The kid deserved a comfy place to rest, her life with them already being chaotic enough.

“I can sleep with you, I don’t mind. I can stay at the end of the bed if you’d prefe-”

“It’s fine, Omega.”

He painted a weak, yet gentle smile on his face, hoping for it to convince her. It did, because she nodded and held his arm against her for a few seconds as to hug it. Wrecker – and Echo later that night – offered him to sleep in their bed. “I can sleep with Tech if you want it all for yourself” the 501st vet assured him. But Crosshair declined each time, pretending that he would probably not sleep anyway tonight, just tonight, because he needed to get used to this place again.

In a way, it was true. He needed time to find his footing here, to get back to the way things used to be.

Don’t pretend it will go back to ‘how it used to be’. It could never.

.

 When everyone headed to bed, Hunter returned to the cockpit and found the sniper sitting on his own.

“I’ll take the first round, Crosshair. Go get some sleep.”

“I don’t have a bed,” he barely confessed, his usual sarcastic tone nowhere to be found.

“Take mine for now, I don’t need it before a few hours. Don’t discuss it,” he pursued when Crosshair tried to reply, “I’m not giving you a choice.”

It took him a second to realise how clumsy it sounded, but Crosshair spared him the embarrassment of an apology when he got up and nodded.

“Alright, sorry.”

Hunter grabbed his shoulder, unsure about his next move, but trying anyway.

“It’s…We can’t pretend nothing happened, but we’ll work through this. All of us,” and when he heard Crosshair’s heart pumping harder and his breath getting heavier, he added, “as a family.” Before letting go of him.

Crosshair couldn’t even speak anymore. If he tried, all that would come out would be confused babbling and an awkward throat clearing. He hoped on his brother’s heightened senses to read through him like an open book, throwing back one last look before he got back to the bunk beds. All the Batchers were already sleeping, peacefully wrapped in their blankets or holding their plushie against their chest. He sat on the edge of Hunter’s bed, his blacks still on, eyes locked on the soft lights emanating from his old bed.

.

 Hunter woke up when he felt a soft weight landing on his lap. The smell got him almost immediately, a mixture of gunpowder and iron.

“You should have surrendered.”

His eyes shifted to the slim shadow standing a few steps away, lurking on him with cold determination.

“Crosshair?” He looked down at the soft plush laying on him. Lula. Her head was almost ripped in half by a now barely fuming hole. He couldn’t hide the fear splashing his eyes, neither could he refrain his voice from breaking when he asked “what did you do?”

“I did what had to be done. This is why they put me in charge to track you. I’m efficient.”

Hunter shivered at the sick smile he could hear in Crosshair’s voice. His thoughts ran from the plush to Omega, to the bunk beds at the end of the hallway, to his brothers left unarmed at the mercy of a sniper who had none.

“You should have killed me in that depot.”

“Crossha-”

A quick thud filled the cockpit as a red, bright light stroked Hunter right through the chest. He fell back into his seat, unable to breathe, but way too aware of the burn on his skin, of the nerves flaming up under the chock and the heat, of his heart rapidly pulsing then slowing down in a macabre countdown. He got dizzy, eyes blurring out despite his desperate attempt to get them focused.

He struggled to keep his head up, until a gloved hand grabbed his jaw, forcing him to look up. He could guess the shapes of the helmet, the green and grey shades melting altogether as his eyes barely held open. As he felt his own heart stop, his last breath making him chock, he heard his brother’s voice taunting him, one last time.

“Good soldiers follow orders.”

.

.

  Pitch black. This is all Crosshair could see when he abruptly opened his eyes. The blanket was rolled up at his feet, his blacks soaked in sweat, and his head aching. A sudden terror grasped him as he held his temple, tripping off the bed as he tried to get up, muttering Hunter’s name. He choked up on the syllables when he realised he was sleeping in his brother’s bed, while the tracker was nowhere to be found. He found himself struggling for air, the same way he would if someone stabbed him repeatedly in the chest. He dragged himself to the refresher, locking the door as soon as he got in.

The bright light forced him to close his eyes for a few seconds, but once he got used to it he reached the tap. His hands, usually so precise and steady, where uncontrollably shaking, to the point of him getting cramps.

The cold water did nothing to help; he shivered to the wet contact, lightly gasping when he splashed his face, but did it again, and again, trying to wash off the pain of his body.

Did I killed them? Did I? What if I did, what will I do, what if I killed them, I can’t- I can’t lose them, not again, not this way, I-

His head was buried in his hands, and it demanded all his strength for him to look up in the mirror. He quickly regretted doing so.

He hated those scars. Mostly, what they represented, what they meant.

It means you tried to get them burned alive; you ordered for them to be burned alive by an active propeller. This is what they mean, this is what you did.

He hated his reflection, lurking and haunting him the same way his memory did. A phantom pain none of them could imagine.

You like to pretend they don’t get it, but they do. Their own brother tried to kill them. You did that, Crosshair; don’t put the blame on your victims.

“Kriff,” he bitterly chuckled, tears burning his eyes.

You did this to yourself. Take some responsibilities.

He tried to maintain eye contact with himself, fingers gripped so tight around the edge of the sink he could feel his muscles quiver. He didn’t have a choice, he knew that. The chip forced him, the Empire used him to do these terrible things.

If a gloved hand kills you, will you blame the glove, or the hand?

You’re the hand, Crosshair. Nothing you will ever say or do will change that.

Nothing.

“Shut the kriff up,” he gave up, angrily pushing himself away from the sink, but still catching a glimpse of tears running down his cheeks before he turned his head, defeated. “Keep the snide to yourself.”

He jolted when someone softly knocked on the door. He took a few deep breaths to calm down his pumping heart, wiped away the tears with the back of his hand, and opened the door.

“I didn’t find you in the bed,” Hunter explained while analysing his expression, “I thought you’d be in here.”

“I can take the next round.” Crosshair calmly responded.

“Mine’s not done yet.”

“Hunter, please I- let me take the next round.”

He couldn’t say which of the two, his muffled “please” or his begging eyes, convinced Hunter; but it worked and that was enough for him. He didn’t flinch this time, when his brother gently patted his arm; he even wished for a quick, warm embrace. But he doubted Hunter was ready to get affectionate with him so easily. Truth be told, he didn’t feel that comfortable either. It was a crave he couldn’t fill.

He still cracked a weak smile as Hunter nodded and returned to his bed to get some rest.

Crosshair dragged himself to the cockpit, his stomach twisting at the sight of the empty seat on his right. He fell into his own, a long sigh slipping from his lips.

.

Don’t fall asleep.

[greenygreenland]

Tired: Omega x Platonic! Slicer! Reader

-Hi I’m back from the dead

-i write for females, keep that in mind (sorry, it's what I'm comfortable with, so I hope you understand!)

-but really, I write in 2nd POV, so you can't tell for the most part

REQUESTED

Summary: You're a former bounty hunter who's also a slicer for the GAAR. You meet Omega by chance.

Tired. That was the only thing that could describe your mental state. Being assigned to mission after mission was no fun, especially when it was solo. You were a civvie slicer, one who the GAAR hired by chance due to your reputation.

By reputation, that meant ex-mercenary-who-so-happened-to-have-a-knack-or two-for-technology. The clones were nice to you though. For the most part, they didn't care about your previous occupation because it wasn't the first time anyone's hired Bounty Hunters for the GAAR.

The low hum of the ship helped to ease your building worries. You wondered what the boys of Clone Force 99 were up to. It was no secret that you were part of the complete package. No one knew how you and them got along when you were a civvie. Being outsiders themselves, they hated anyone who wasn’t part of their group. But not you. You were different. Kind. Caring. Understanding.

That thought made you frown. You missed the boys. They had been gone for at least seven rotations without comming you once. The fact that they promised didn't help their cause either. Were they okay? Maybe one of them got hurt, or worse, killed? Maker forbid such a thing.

"They better come back to me in one piece, or I'll have them begging on their knees for forgiveness..."

Beep, beep, beep!

You jolted upright, swinging your legs out form under you as you hurriedly fumbled for the holoprojector. You tapped a button and the cockpit flooded with a soft, blue light. "Tech!" you cried. "It's been seven rotations! Why haven't you commed me?" He removed his helmet with a sheepish shrug. "We've been busy of course. And it's seven rotations and fifteen hours, meaning--"

"Yeah, yeah." you cut in with a sigh. "I don't like the idea of not coming with you guys on missions. I know you're just as capable--more if you want me to be honest--but that doesn't mean I can't worry."

There was a rustle behind Tech and he looked over his shoulder. Hunter came into view, an apologetic look in his eyes. "Sorry we didn't comm you. With all that's gone down, I wouldn't say we've had the time." You flopped down in your chair helplessly. "I know, it's just..."

Hunter smiled warmly. "Don't worry about us (Y/n)." Tech pushed up his glasses and nodded in agreement. "If there's anyone who we should be worrying about, it's you. You go on solo missions six out of nine times. We have each other but you only have yourself."

"Wow, I feel so much better Tech." You sarcastically muttered. "Speaking of mission, I'm on my next one."

Hunter knitted his brows. "Where?"

"Skako Minor."

"Skako Minor?" they echoed. You nodded. "Something strange is going on there. According to Rex, the Seppie battle plans have been drawn exactly like the ones he used to do with Echo--that’s one of his men." You recalled the face of that fallen soldier. He was always so sweet to you, giving a wave whenever you passed and smiling as brightly as he could. To say you missed the poor boy was an understatement.

"Isn't Skako Minor under the Techno Union?" inquired a coiled voice. Crosshair made his way into the frame and unceremoniously squeezed himself between his brothers. "You better not be going alone." You waved it off. "Even if I did, it’s fine. I can take care of myself.”

“Like the time you nearly fried yourself with a loose wire on that rock in the Outer Rim? Yeah, I don’t think so.” You averted your gaze to the side in embarrassment. No one needed to remind you of that rookie mistake. You could have gotten yourself killed. The watts were off the chart there. “That was one time. I’m a master at this stuff, don't worry. And besides, Cody, Rex, Jesse, and Kix are with me." Cross's brows shot up. "You're working with regs?"

"Don't worry, they're seasoned soldiers from the 501st.” That was the truth, and you meant it. Working under Rex for months made it clear to you. During that time, he taught you a thing or two about mechanics. “General Skywalker’s men are more than capable. So is Cody."

Cross looked doubtful, and you couldn't blame him. This was enemy territory you were sneaking into. It didn’t matter who you had on your side, because anyone could make a mistake.

A deep laugh echoed from over Cross’s shoulder. Wrecker set down his gonk droid, Lula in the other hand. “You guys need to have faith in (Y/n),” he reminded with a grin. “She’s smarter than me, and she’s always kept up with us. Is there anything she can’t do?” Tech pushed his glasses up with a challenging look. “Uh, actually--”

“Just be careful.” Hunter concluded. “We want to see you back in one piece.” You nodded in understanding. “Copy that, Sarge.” He smiled, and it was filled with unsaid words of care. Cross sent you a nod, eyes all mushy and soft while Tech knitted his brows together worriedly. Wrecker grinned, and it was so bright that it could have blinded you.

“Same goes to you Batchers,” you stated seriously. “Come back to me in one piece, or I’ll come over there and kill you myself.” Tech looked like he wanted to comment on that, but he sensed the shift in mood and kept his mouth shut. You memorised their faces as best as you could. It would be a while until you saw them next.

The hologram flickered out and the soft glow of blue hues disappeared. The cold, dim lighting of the ship fell over you. “Well that’s that.” you muttered with a weak smile. Rex patted your shoulder comfortingly. “They really care about you.”

“Yeah. But it wasn’t always like that. I used to be a stranger too.”

The rest of the ride was spent with the occasional joke from Jesse. He made you laugh, and it helped to soothe your worries. But then the ship landed, and you were thrust into a battle zone. You were thankful Anakin made you wear heavier armour today. If he hadn’t, then you probably would have been vaporized on the spot.

“We need cover!” shouted Rex. That was a no-brainer. Being out in the open at the bottom of a ravine was not in the least tactical. “SBDs!” you called. “Twelve o’clock!”

Jesse raced past you. “Get down!” He threw an EMP. It wasn’t as effective as you hoped it would be. If the Bad Batch were here, this situation would have been completely different. You were on your own. There was no cover, save for the piles of smoking durasteel and the very armour strapped to your vulnerable limbs.

You were in a head-on battle.

“I guess we don’t have much of a choice.” You charged forward, tossing a few EMPs as you blasted away. The best you could do was nail them in the head and hope for the best. Jesse was right beside you, with Cody, Kix, and Rex following suit.

“I didn’t think you would be this daring!” called Jesse. You blasted a few droids and kicked another in the head. It fell with a clank and you smothered it in a healthy dose of blaster fire. “I wasn’t about to be bested by a couple of rust buckets!” you retorted with shake of your head. “Come on, we need to get to that tower.”

You made quick work of the droids. You were no Jango Fett, but you managed with the help of the Regs. Cody congratulated your work and motioned for the squad to continue on. “It’s obvious the enemy knows we’re here. I have my doubts on sneaking in, but perhaps we can manage...”

Past the commando droids, through the front door, then up the lift and a little further down a couple halls. Before the mission, Rex had pulled you aside to speak in private. He thought Echo was alive and that whatever was sending out those Seppie battle plans had to be him. But you weren’t about to get your hopes up. Not when so many of your friends long marched far, far away.

You stopped by a door and plugged in your datapad. “I need to slice open the door. I’m not about to challenge fate here with a charge.” Jesse nodded in understanding. “I’d rather come back with all my legs and arms, thank you very much.” He turned to keep guard as Cody stood close to your side. “Is this the control room?”

“Yes.” The door swished open and you disconnected your ‘pad from the panel. “I’ll slice the computer and retrieve the information we need. Rex, I need you for this portion.” He nodded in understanding and followed suit. You connected your datapad to the communications table. A hologram appeared, where dates and names passed by in the blink of an eye.

“You said this might be Echo.” you quietly stated. Rex nodded. “I can’t be sure, but there isn’t another explanation.” You watched as the information scrolled past at the speed of light. There wasn’t anything of use so far. Only old reports, check-ins and...

The scrolling froze. A file opened up, filling the room with a voice you wouldn’t ever forget. It was scratchy and lifeless, but you were sure it had to be the man who went KIA so long ago. “That’s...”

“Echo’s alive.” Rex affirmed. “It--it has to be him.”

“We’ve got company!” called Jesse.

You transferred the file and stuffed your ‘pad in a safe spot for keeping. “In case anything happens, I’m transferring the data over to you.” you stated. “I wouldn’t want to lose any of this.” The two of you rushed out of the room in a frenzy. Blaster fire sounded above, whizzing way over your head as you sprinted down the hall. The lift wasn’t far, only a couple metres. You just had to run a little more and--

BOOM!

Had a droid thrown a charge? You turned to Rex, eyes wide as he turned to face you. With all of the strength you could muster, you shoved him out of the way. Another BOOM!. You turned just in time to see the flash of brilliant reds and oranges.

The force threw you into the transparisteel windows, which spider-webbed out in long cracks. You were suddenly flying out of the four story building. Shards cut past your face and through your sleeves, tearing away at flesh and fabric without an ounce of mercy. If only you had a doshing jetpack.

“(Y/N)!”

You didn’t scream, but Maker did it kriffing hurt. There was a sickening crack, another blinding flash of sharp pain. You held back a cry.

Just be careful. We want you back in one piece.

Your vision faded in and out. Black blurred the galaxy as you knew it.

I'm sorry, boys.

You fell into the painful jaws of darkness.

-----

The first thing that hit your nose was the sterile smell of bacta. Your eyes fluttered open and you found yourself staring at the blank ceiling of the medbay. The incessant beeping of the heart monitor caught you off guard. How hard did you fall? Much less, what did you break?

A head of dirty blonde hair peeked over the edge of your bed. Her eyes, wide with curiosity made you knit your brows together. She was young, much younger than any girl here should be. You were about to sit up, but the girl frantically straightened.

"You're not supposed to be getting up." She gently pushed you back down. "You have a lot more than a few broken bones." That was when the pain began to settle. You stilled under the thin medbay sheets. "I need to comm someone."

"Now?" the girl incredulously inquired. "You're hurt, you have to rest first." But that was the least of your problems. Where was Rex? Had he completed the mission? How long were you out? Were Jesse, Kix, and Cody alright? You winced and the girl frowned.

"If it makes you feel better, there were a few people who came to visit."

That didn't make you feel better. It meant they saw you like this, in the most vulnerable state you could ever be in. "Who are you?"

The girl pointed at herself like she'd never been asked that before. "Me?" You nodded. "I'm Omega." She smiled and it was a little shy and toothy. "You've been asleep for a while. I thought you weren't going to wake up for another day." You tensed and pursed your lips together. "How long?"

"A week, I think." Omega said. "But it's okay! You're recovering steadily." That wasn't the issue. Recovering steadily wasn't good enough because you were missing out on a mission you needed to complete. If Echo really was alive, then you had to save him. It was the least you could do after he put his life on the line for you so many times before.

"I have to..." You pushed your aching body up. "I have to go."

"No!" Omega forced you back down. "Even if you could walk, you can't fight."

"But I have to..." The look on Omega's face made you pause. She was so small, and in that little body of hers, she stored up a good amount of worry for you. How could you say no to that? A sigh escaped your lips and you begrudgingly relaxed onto the bed.

Omega's shoulders slumped in relief. "I'll get a your holoprojector." You raised a brow with a watchful eye as she scurried away. She rummaged through a lone cabinet in the corner of the room. Your clothes sat there, belt, holsters, blasters and all. Omega pulled out your holoprojector, closed the cabinets, and handed it to you.

"I washed your clothes too if you're wondering," she said with a small smile. "But don't think about going anywhere! You can't walk with broken legs."

A pit formed in your stomach. You can't walk with broken legs. That wouldn't be true if you had seen the blast. If you had ran faster. Maybe you wouldn't have ended up like this, a mess of bandages, casts, and bacta patches. If only you had seen it coming.

"Hey, (Y/n)?" You didn't question how Omega knew your name. Whoever she was, she had to be a someone to wear Kaminoan jewellery anyway. "What is it?" Your voice was quiet, sad almost. Omega played with a loose thread on her sleeve. "That was very brave of you." She stepped closer to the bed and pulled up a chair. "Captain Rex came by this morning. He told me that you saved him from that blast."

You shifted to meet her gaze as best as you could. The holoprojector weighed your hand down like a ten kilo weight. "I just...reacted. Nothing special to congratulate." Omega shook her head. "No, that's everything. If it were me, I don't think I'd be able to do that."

A pull in your gut told you she meant what she said. Your eyes softened. You didn't meet her gaze. Maybe that was because you couldn't. It was a hard enough fact accepting that you were injured, adding on that you were going soft didn't help your cause.

Omega took it as her signal to give you some privacy and exited the room. The doors swished shut behind her, leaving you in a much needed silence. You tapped the projector. It opened up, bathing the snow white room in soft blue hues.

"Rex." you greeted. "I apologize for my absence." His brows were knitted, eyes all sad and cloudy. He tried to keep a straight face, but you knew better. Of course you did. He was your best friend since the moment you joined the GAAR. "What's wrong?"

He shook his head. "I should be asking that to you. Are you alright? That fall was..." He paused and it was like he was choking back tears. "I-I'm sorry. If I had just been more careful, then you wouldn't be..."

"Rex, I'm fine."

"You can't walk." he muttered. "And you can't do much on your own. I took away your independence, this is all my fault." You knitted your brows together. His words made your heart ache, and the very thought of what he faced on his own without you didn't help. Your lips pulled into a frown deeper than Kamino's oceans. "That's not all, is it Rex?"

He clenched a fist as if it would help cease his rolling emotions. "E-Echo...if you had seen him. I'm just glad you weren't there."

"Is he alive?"

"Yes."

"Well where is he?" You had to fight the urge to sit up in anticipation. He was alive. That sweet, loving boy who taught you about protocols and manuals. As boring as it was, all those regulations embedded into your mind saved you more than you'd like to admit. He and Fives always snuck up on you whenever they came back from missions, or commed you in the middle of the night.

They both kept you up at night, but you never minded. Now one of those boys who had marched so far away had the chance of coming home.

"Where is Echo?" you inquired. Rex's eyes fell to the floor. "He's...Watt Tambor made him more machine than man. I-I can't..."

The doors swished open.

"...If only we had..." You shook your head. "Rex, there wasn't anything we could do. It was a miracle you found him in the first place."

The doors closed with a low hiss.

"Found who?"

Your eyes widened and you ripped your gaze away from the projection. A set of worn, tired eyes met yours. He looked different from the bottom up. His new armor, black and red with a familiar 99 on it. His smile, though a bit dampened, remained the same. He made his way over to you and took a seat by your bedside.

"Echo?"

"That's me."

You tried a smile, and it was all watery and shaky. "Oh, you've changed." He chuckled. "So have you. I heard about what happened. That was brave of you." No, it wasn't brave. You did it on instinct, without an ounce of hesitation. "It wasn't brave, I just..."

"Who else is crazy enough to jump in front of an explosion without katarn-class armour?"

You could name a few people. Fives, for example. "Whatever. I just--I'm glad you're alive."

He smiled and it was a little broken. "Me too."

---

Before you knew it, you were up and running again. There was no time to walk because you were needed on a mission today. It was completely solo, but thankfully, a simple retrieval mission with little to no chances of a casualty.

You settled in the cockpit, taking in the familiar scents and smells of the well oiled machinery. Mechanics wasn't your strong suit, but you never minded dabbling in it every now and then. Today, there wasn't time to brush up on your beautiful ship. You had a job to do.

The jump to hyperspace was as smooth as ever. There were no creaks, no fumbling through space, and no bursts of smoke. But that was when you heard a crash from the storage room. Last tine you checked, the door had been sealed shut while the weapons and supplies stowed away as they should be.

Had you forgotten to tie them down? A long sigh escaped your lips. "What a pain."

"So is my backside." piped a chipper voice. Your eyes widened. There was no way you heard that voice correctly. Sure, it was young. You knew a few other people with a young voice. Sure, it sounded girly. You knew a couple other female coworkers.

"Sorry I snuck onboard," the voice added. "I promise, I was going to leave, but then you left and--" You swerved the chair around to face Omega head on. She smiled sheepishly, as if it would fix all the problems in the whole galaxy. Maybe it would have if the whole galaxy were as kind as you.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't turn this ship around and bring you back." you stated. Omega fiddled with the hem of her sleeves like it was the most interesting thing on the ship. "You’re short on time?" You resisted the urge to say something snippy in response. The look of uncertainty on Omega’s little face made you feel just the tiniest bit worried.

Maybe that was because uncertainty could get people killed on the battlefield.

"Omega," you placed a hand to your temple, "do you understand what you've gotten yourself into?" This was bad, really bad. Sure, the mission wasn’t as dangerous as it should have been, but intel was like the weather forecast. It was never correct. Taking Omega along with you wasn’t a good idea in any universe, and like Malachor you’d let her into the crossfire.

“I’m sorry.” She wasn’t sorry. “I didn’t mean to sneak aboard.” She definitely meant to sneak aboard. “I just wanted to do something more than...” She let out a short sigh, as if it explained what she couldn’t put into words. “Being on Kamino all the time is so boring. I want to get out and see the galaxy with my own eyes.”

She threw her arms towards the bright blue of hyperspace. You didn’t miss the look of wonder in her eyes, bright as a sun. “There’s more to life than rain and the ocean and the same people I see every single day!”

You couldn’t argue. Omega was right. Even during your recovery, the frustration of not being on your ship doing anything but sitting settled into you every day. You hated being cooped up in one place more than anything. Poor Omega had to put up with it her whole life, it was nearly unfathomable to understand what she felt.

A sharp sigh escaped your lips. “Fine, you can come. But my only condition is that you stay on the ship.”

Omega did not stay on the ship. More than anything, she was curious. She had no clue what dirt was, what kind of plants were carnivorous and deadly, or how to steer clear of all the battle droids.

You raised your blaster and fired at the rust buckets. “This is exactly why I said you should have stayed on the ship! Can you even fire a blaster?” Omega knitted her brows together and eyes the deece at your hip. More than anything, she was curious. Beyond that? Determined.

“No,” Omega replied, “but I’ll try.” She pulled the deece from your hip and peeked over the top of your hiding spot. The long, durasteel crate was just barely holding up. If you were a Jedi, then you’d say it had to be a miracle only the Force knew about.

The deece wasn’t a perfect fit in Omega’s small hands, but it did the job. She aimed at the droids, eyes focused and hands firmly on the weapon. She fired. Once. Twice. Three times. "Did I hit anything?” You fired your blaster a couple times and glared through the smoky haze.

A collection of bolts and durasteel scraps lay in a pile and you couldn’t help but be proud. Either Omega was a natural or she was incredibly strong with luck. Whichever it was, it helped you through the mission, and before you knew it, you were back on the ship with a data stick and an unharmed Omega.

“See, nothing bad happened!” she exclaimed with a grin. You took the blaster from her hands and strapped it back to your hip. “That was luck, I tell you.” Omega rolled her eyes. “It wasn’t! You saw--I was like, pow pow, and you went and hit that guy right in the face!”

“That was because he called me a filthy bounty hunter.” you said, a small smile creeping up your lips. “I can’t say I took too kindly to his harsh words.” Omega let out a laugh and you joined her. 

Tired. That was the first thing that came to mind when you thought of your mental state. Yet with Omega by your side, smiling, and carefree despite all the action, you couldn’t help but feel the electrifying sense of thrill. 

“Say, Omega? If you want to come back, maybe we can figure out how to get you off that rainy excuse of a planet more often.” you said with a small smile. She beamed, throwing her arms around you with a vigorous nod. “Yes! I’d love that!”

“Me too, kid. We just have to figure out how to convince whoever looks after you.”

BONUS:

A tall kaminoan towered over you with her beady eyes. Omega sheepishly played with her sleeves as you stared down the kaminoan. Stupid long necks. Nala Se blinked. “So this is where you have been, Omega.” That soft, cold voice of hers warmed at the sight of the girl. “Haven’t I told you not to run off? I see you’ve gone somewhere far today.”

Omega frowned shamefully. “Maybe...” Nale Se motioned for her to come to her. “If you would like, you may stay with (Y/n) again--if you are out of harms way that is.” She turned to you and you froze, eyes wide. “Wait, what?”

“I am giving you permission to have Omega under your care, as long as she is out of harms way.” You glanced at Omega, who glanced at you and then Nala Se with the biggest grin on her face. “Really?”

“Yes.” Nala Se smiled. “‘Really’.”

[twinsunstars]

Thoughts on The Bad Batch Episode 8 - Bad Territory - A Discussion Post

This episode has so much action and so much needed healing this week, it made me feel relaxed. Let's dive back into the exciting parts!

(SPOILERS AHEAD IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE EPISODE YET! all screencaps from www.cap-that.com! https://www.cap-that.com/starwars/the-bad-batch/308/)

At the beginning, Omega is worried about Echo and Rex, relating back to the chaos that ensued at Rex's clone base and how he lost so many. Omega feels guilty for everything that's happened because the Empire is after her, since so many are getting hurt and losing their lives because of her.

Phee makes contact with the Batch, and I am so happy to see her again. She mentions Tech, which just hurt my heart. Crosshair gets to see Phee for the first time, and I hope they make some good interaction later on during the season. Phee's been trying to figure out things regarding the "M-count" situation, and so far no luck. The crew thinks of getting Fennec involved, and they decide to go with it.

Crosshair this entire episode: "Who??" Man was so lost.

Omega wants to go along, but Hunter gets strict and tells her to stay on Pabu with Crosshair. He tells her to try to get Crosshair to have someone check his hand, noticing the recurring shaking.

Hunter and Wrecker travel to a bar where they find Fennec Shand, and queen looks so fine as always. It's great to hear Ming-Na Wen's voice again. Also, the boys look so good in the purple and lime lighting, as does Fennec.

Hunter reasons with Fennec to try to get her to help them, and of course there's a price involved. Fennec gets them to help her catch a bounty she's been after, and the boys agree to help her for the information they need.

Meanwhile on Pabu, Omega easily gets Crosshair to get his hand looked at by AZ. I wonder how she managed to do so, she probably looked at Crosshair with sad eyes and pleaded with him, and he just went "Fine." AZ tries to figure out what is wrong with his hand, but he can't quite figure out a solution. Crosshair gets frustrated and walks out, and Batcher tried to follow him but got left behind. Omega's not gonna give up with him.

Fennec tells Hunter and Wrecker who she's after and takes them to a swampy planet, obtaining a boat to navigate around. Hunter finally gets to use his enhanced senses more, and Wrecker used his skills with explosives to get around the water. Fennec really called out the boys for being broke, like girl 😭

They got attacked by so many gators, everything was so hectic. This shot is crazy, but Wrecker would do this.

Crosshair keeps trying to aim with his shaking hand, getting more frustrated. Omega comes to him and suggests he try something out, and Crosshair sighs, agreeing. Batcher keeps a close eye on Crosshair and keeps him company as always, she's such a good girl.

Omega has Crosshair trying out meditation, as she mentions Gungi. Crosshair knows he missed a lot, and he definitely did with two seasons. I kinda want him to find out about Cid and he'll be like "Dang, where is she now?" He would have not tolerated her if he was with them during the past seasons.

The way Omega holds Crosshair's hand here is so soft, and Batcher is silently napping cutely. I was lowkey breathing along with Omega while she was teaching Crosshair, I really needed that healing this week. Seeing Crosshair start his healing journey makes me so happy, as I've been slowly starting my own healing journey after everything that happened last year. I resonate with Crosshair so much this season.

This shot is so beautiful and calming, I need an ambience video with this shot with them meditating for an hour or longer.

Hunter and Wrecker finish up the job with Fennec, managing to catch the bounty. They ask her for the information she promised, which Fennec reveals she does not have on her at the time. Though, she promises to keep in touch once she figures something out. She leaves the boys, making contact with someone unknown. I feel like she contacted Ventress considering her past as a bounty hunter and the Empire going after M-count targets, but who knows. We'll see next week hopefully.

We've officially hit the mid-season mark, and things are going to get hectic soon. I am nowhere prepared for anything they throw at us now.

[markweallere]

Spoiler Alert (so if you haven't seen The Bad Batch: Aftermath, you have been warned)

Am I the only one who just fucking broke, when Tarkin enhanced the effects of Order 66 in Crosshair? Not just because it obviously hurt and because he is my favorite Batcher, but also because of all the effects it will have on him and the others. He's their brother. And he stood by them all the time. Sure, he doesn't talk much and sometimes he's really an ass, but they lived through the Clone Wars together. They lived through being harrassed by the Regs all the time. They only had each other, the four, and now with Echo, five of them, are each part of a whole. And now a part is missing. And even worse, he's ready to fight them. This must hurt the others so much. Not only him being ready to fight them, but having to fight him, so they don't end up like him or dead or whatever Tarkin wants to do with them.

And that again makes me think, how Cross must feel. He has to fight his brothers. The people he grew up with. They probably saved his life so many times and he saved theirs also. They did their thing, unpopular and extreme, didn't follow orders, but at least they were together. And now a man, who usually doesn't give a shit about orders, repeats it all the time.

Good. Soldiers. Follow. Orders.

Even if it means fighting and killing his brothers.

And even Omega said it, it's not his fault, but he can't do anything about it and this hurts me even more. I really really hope, he gets the chance to fight this somehow, somehow get rid of his stupid chip and reunite with his brothers.

[mugichaaaa]

Bad Batch Analysis prt2

Welcome back everyone to part 2 to my Bad Batch analysis trailers. The trailer just happened to be posted around midnight and my wifi went out in the morning so I couldn’t really do much until now. Since we got another AMAZING trailer for the Bad Batch series I believe it’s time to do another analysis. If you haven’t read my first analysis from the first trailer you can read it here 

Without further ado let's get started. 

The first scene we get from the trailer is a shot after that one shot we got from the first trailer. This could probably be around the time they landed on Kamino because if you look in the top right corner there is the Havoc Marauder. 

Training Sequence

Next we see one of the many training grounds on Kamino. It’s strange seeing only one training ground and not multiple. It seems like this specific training ground might be underwater, as there is this long pole in the center with surrounding lights around it. Now that might be a reach, but honestly where could you see that training ground on the round houses above the ocean. 

Along with that in the Legends there was a Kaminoan Jedi who lived under the sea to try to prevent the vision she had. (the vision was the clone army betraying the Jedi) So it could be possible when the Kamioan’s were building the floating city they builded the bottom levels to be used as training grounds or something. 

In this scene we can see that Echo is using a vibroblade. Now is this Echo’s own vibroblade or does this belong to Hunter and Echo just picked it up to destroy one of the droids?

I feel like this shot can tell us a lot about the bad batch and how they interact with each other. Hunter and Crosshair are looking at the camera to which I can probably assume where Tarkin speaks to them. Echo lightly turns towards the direction of Tech, Hunter, and Crosshair. Tarkin probably said something that would make Echo turn to look at the three of them. 

Also Tech although very subtle looks at the ground. Now this could be two things, if Tarkin said something then it might be tech looking at the ground like a Child does when their parents scolds them. Or it might be Tech is exhausted and is looking at the destroyed droids all around him. 

Hunter is seen talking to someone (probably Omega) telling them that their squad (aka the Bad Batch) is nothing but trouble. We can see Crosshair and Tech walk to a door which I can assume to be their barracks for the time being (before they escape). 

I really like this scene from Crosshair. This seemed to show how well the Bad Batch worked together. Hunter throws his knife in the air and Crosshair goes and shoots it in place. Which might make it even more sad if Crosshair betrays the Bad Batch. Imagine this, The bad batch is in this certain situation where a duo between Crosshair and Hunter would work. Hunter turns to where Crosshair would normally be. 

“Cross lets-” 

All he sees no one, and the feeling of betrayal and pain seeps through him. 

“Right…” 

Hunter Civilian Clothing

So we see Hunter in Civilian clothes which is like. UGH please let me hold your hand Hunter. The first time we see them is at 0:31 where Hunter steals a speeder, probably to catch up to Fennec as we can see in 1:39 who has a kid. 

We get a better look at Hunter’s Civilian clothes, it really reminds me of Cut lawquane’s outfit from The Clone Wars Season 2 “The Deserters”. Maybe we might see Cut lawquane in the Bad Batch, if so I think that would be really great to see. Cut’s children with Omega might be the cutest thing we might get from Bad Batch, that’s if it happens.  

Now in this scene we see Tech piloting the ship, but if you look at the corner there is Hunter on a control panel with bandages wrapped around him. So this might be either Hunter getting injured from a mission (maybe from Fennec Shand??)

This kid (not Omega) is dangling onto a cylindrical object. The Following scene with Hunter and the kid following a speeder that belongs to Fennec Shand. 

The Final Part of the Clone Wars 

At 0:37 we see the Batchers coming down from what seems to be like a hill destroying B1 battle droids. While the next shot is Tech and Echo shooting down said droids. 

So in my previous analysis I mentioned how for one the explosions I was wondering if it was the Batchers or the Empire. Now with this new Trailer it seems to be leaning more towards the Batchers doing this. 

We see Hunter putting away his knife with Wrecker carrying what seems like to be a destroyed droid. 

Now I mentioned in my previous analysis that the snowy planet might be a Crosshair arc. But now with these new scenes with the snowy planet it might be a set up to Crosshair being something that most Bad Batch Stans don’t want. 

Crosshair as the traitor

So I know I talked about this in my last trailer analysis and I said this was very unlikely. But uhhhh now with this trailer I'm 70% sure Crosshair will betray the Bad Batch. Now the reason why I said Crosshair wouldn’t betray the Bad Batch was because the Purge trooper and Crosshair just didn’t have things that lined up. But now with this new trailer I am pretty worried for our boy Crosshair. 

This is the ONLY scene we get of Omega and Crosshair together. Any other scenes with Omega and the Bad Batch Crosshair is nowhere in sight. 

I literally called this when I wrote about my predictions about the Bad Batch series. Where I wrote two paths. One where Crosshair was not the traitor and stays with the bad batch and one if Crosshair was the traitor (I censor the right since it had my actual name since I did the bad batch analysis during school)

And 1:19 seems to likely prove my Crosshair is the traitor snippet I did. All the batchers + omega are running through what seems to be like the late night halls of Kamino. Who knew Echo would be following his brother’s footsteps. 

Again Crosshair isn’t here 

… or maybe he might be hiding him behind Hunter to give us anxiety about what happened to Crosshair. But if Crosshair is gone then they need a new sniper to fill in his role...

Omega

We are first introduced to a new character who is called “omega”.  Now who is Omega? Well we don’t know this is the first we EVER got to see them anywhere. Now when I first saw Omega I immediately thought of Satine’s Mandalore. We are not talking about the houses and clans (like house Wren). We’re talking about Satine’s Mandalorians (the pacifist) in which when we see her people in the clone wars they are normally pale with light colored eyes. Omega almost fits that but without the bright blue eyes. Another thing is that Omega kinda sounds like they have a Satine Mandalorian accent. As I was listening to Omega speak I was comparing it to Korkie and his friends and Omega lowkey sounds like Korkie’s friends but that’s probably a really big reach.

This is where I think if Crosshair betrays the Bad Batch this is where Omega would come in and take Crosshair’s role as sniper. We don’t know how good Omega is but with Hunter’s heightened sense his sight might be just as good to teach Omega to work with a bow and arrow

The Explosion

Now we have an explanation for the explosion we saw in the last trailer. It was definitely the bad batch and now we know it was part of the thrusters from a broken Venator Star Destroyer. Since now we got more context to that explosion, I believe that this will be on Bracca where maybe MAYBE we might see a young ginger Cal Kestis. 

Rex

*breaths in* 

REX I MISSED YOU SO MUCH 

I’m so happy Rex and Echo are going to a reunion. I really hope Rex and Echo have a moment where Rex completely vents to Echo about everything that happened. Like Umbara, how much Five’s death took a toll on him, and when he left Jesse and his brothers during order 66. It would be really interesting to see if Rex has some sort of survivor's guilt. I know we see a little bit in Season 7 when he’s talking to Cody about the Domino squad but after order 66 I think it would be nice to dwell onto a little more. 

Another thing I really hope we get to see how Rex meets up with Wolffe and Gregor. 

AT-ET Walker

We get a couple of scenes here of the AT-ET but here look at this. The republic symbol and the red paint is completely removed, it’s completely bare (which is so boring). Another thing is that the AT-ET are completely cutting across a group of people, these could be protestors of something that we yet not know of. 

It seems like Hunter and Tech snuck into and AT-ET, now the next scene we get is an AT-ET blowing up another AT-ET. There are two possibilities on who shot at the AT-ET, one could be the Bad Batch themselves shooting at the other AT-ET or two it could be the Empire shooting at the Bad Batch stolen AT-ET 

Saw Gerra

It’s really nice to see Saw Gerra, we have seen him in 5 star wars projects (Clone wars, Rogue one, Rebels, Jedi Fallen Order, and now Bad Batch). Since this is the beginning of the Empire we get that small time between Clone wars and Jedi: Fallen Order to see what Saw was up to. 

Fennec Shand

My wifey, I love her so much. But I did get something wrong and right with Fennec Shand in my last analysis. 

First of all the explosion we see with Fennec Shand is NOT connected to the factory arc but instead connected to Hunter saving the kid. 

But the thing I did get right was that one scene where Fennec was holding a gun out. That fog is from a fight and Fennec and her opponent are at a standstill. 

One thing new about Fennec is that she had a Kid dangling off her speeder. First of all that’s not safe at all and 2 why does Fennec have a Kid with her and then why does Hunter have the child in the next scene?

Small theory but this kid might be just like Omega that escaped. Fennec is sent out to retrieve the kid but Hunter is like “not on my watch” and takes the kid. Fennec looks shocked that Hunter interferes with her job and looks ANGY. 

Or this kid might be just some random kid that Fennec took. 

Now a recurring segment called Cool things I saw on the Trailer 

Just any scenes from the training scene with Wrecker is just cool and I’m like yes sir go off. 

I swear every scene with Wrecker is a joy to see. He just brightens my day all the time

Bad Batch are taking notes from Waxer and Boil about adopting kids during war times. 

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This segment was short due to most of the trailer being analyzed and not much random spread out scenes. 

And that’s that! Thank you all who read this far, I hope I was able to make this clear enough for you all to understand. If there’s anything else you saw in the Trailer that I miss I would love for you to comment about it! I think i’m going to do a countdown for Bad Batch, idk let’s see how I keep this up. 

[regrettablewritings]

My Bad Batch Season 1 Finale Thoughts That Nobody Asked For

Spoilers aside from the obvious alert: I actually didn’t mind it

Now, admittedly, this is probably because I’m not a Crosshair stan. If I’m being honest, I actually don’t mind Crosshair as much as I probably should. But my stance on him is more towards neutral-to-appreciating-him-as-a-character.

That being said, most of what I’m gonna blab about is gonna surround the ongoing Crosshair situation (in no particular order) because that’s what we’ve been left with and what most of the fandom is currently up in arms about.

Unrelated, but because I am a fake fan, I never knew Kamino could ever really be sunny and calm. In a weird way, it was a beautiful juxtaposition against something so . . . sad. Like, they finally reach the Marauder at daybreak and after everything they’ve gone through, the storm is gone. It’s calm. Which makes all they’re about to do all the more deafening in a sense.

As stated before, I actually didn’t mind the finale. Was it anything crazy? Not really. My heart rate definitely picked up constantly, but it was admittedly coming from how hyped up the feeling of “anyone could die” was. When I realized at the end that nobody was going to die (yet), I started calming down.

But in-between all that, my emotions were in constant combat with me understanding (or trying to reason out) everyone’s arguments going on.

I see people upset with Wrecker for victim-blaming Crosshair, and I get that -- to a point. Yes, Wrecker knows how the chip works and should be one of the ones most empathetic to Crosshair’s supposed lack of control. However, this only stands to a point. Remember, if Crosshair’s telling the truth (which . . . we’ll get to later), then that means that he was really not responsible for his actions at first. If the chip really had been removed a while back, then his actions up to that point were something he could be held accountable for. I think those parts were the actions Wrecker was referring to, not the whole damn thing.

In a way, I do like how Tech approaches the matter. It’s admittedly stiff and could easily come off as hurtful if used by the wrong person, but it suits how Tech’s mind works and frankly reminds me a lot of myself in how I approach certain, more emotional matters. Admittedly, this is because I read Tech as autism-coded, so maybe that’s why I’m more ready to accept his stance?

. . . Actually, you know what? No: I like Tech’s stance because it’s clear cut and just plain facts. Tech knows his brothers more than what he’s probably given credit for, and his point is correct: You needn’t agree with someone you care for just because you can understand their points. There’s a ton of scenarios that are ethically questionable at best that I can understand the reasoning behind while also recognizing them as potentially morally reprehensible. Black and white are only reached through a spectrum, and it’s not an easy spectrum to traverse. That being said . . .

The other common argument I’m seeing is about how the fighting amongst the original four Batchers (specifically Hunter and Crosshair) seems to go against their whole brotherhood thing. And I’m just gonna throw my two pennies into the ring and weakly say . . . not quite. I’m gonna admit that I may be splitting hairs and trying to make a bundle but I feel like in such a high-intensity situation, it makes sense for neither side to be yielding.

Both sides are hurt: Crosshair is dealing with abandonment and feeling like his brothers “just aren’t getting it”, and as far as his brothers are aware, he’s either been trying to kill them or has been trying to willingly go against what they thought they stood for. Is it the most sensible situation? Not really. But emotional things rarely ever are.

That being said, nobody in the Batch is really all that emotionally mature or aware, though. And I think it’s very easy to forget that sometimes. I don’t know if it’s got to do with the fact that they’re soldiers, that they were rapidly aged and thus didn’t have time nor the environment to healthily explore such issues, the social isolation they more or less experienced due to being different from reds, or what, but it ought to be remembered that Omega is the most emotionally stable of the bunch. Everyone else is sort of just stumbling and trying to reel in what they’re feeling and how to express it without necessarily having the proper tools or experience to do so.

Also, let’s be real: You’re not as pristine as you think. If you were in a similar situation where your loved one seemingly betrayed you, tried to kill you multiple times, then brought you back home to convince you to join the very people who tried to hurt you guys in the first place, only to reveal that they’ve been intentionally working for them for a good while, you’d be hurt at the very least. And when you’re hurt, emotions fly around like a bat stuck indoors: It’s lost, confused, afraid, and in unfamiliar territory so it flails around, aimlessly looking for a way out even when those around it are trying to help it.

Let’s talk about this chip before I forget what I wanna say. I’m disappointed they didn’t bring it up. I need answers just like every other bitch in this fandom because . . . I dunno, I just don’t believe what he says. Something doesn’t quite add up. Or maybe it’s just because deep down, I want to believe he’s good; just difficult. Most likely so wrapped up in his purpose that the thought of being without and having his life all been seemingly for nothing admittedly frightens him. That’s something actually pretty interesting for a guy like Crosshair, considering he wears whatever heart he has beneath at least three fishing cable knit sweaters.

I just would’ve liked some acknowledgement of it -- even if confirmation that the chip was really gone the entire time would’ve hurt me. Like, Omega couldn’t give a knowing glance when sitting in the dark of the Batch’s barracks and say something like, “You know, it’s not too late”. Or, if it was gone, Hunter outright telling him that he knows he’s lying. (Because, like, given Hunter’s abilities, he arguably could be like a human lie detector a la Matt Murdock.)

Granted, it could be something explored in season 2. I’m trying not to get my hopes up, though, in the event Filoni and crew decide once more to paint me up like a pretty clown and parade me through the square. But in all seriousness, if the chip’s presence or absence confirmation is meant to be an actual point of discussion, I don’t think it’d necessarily be a bad thing for it to come up later. I mean, people were theorizing for ages that Rose Quartz was Pink Diamond. And we still stayed watching SU and pretended to be surprised when it got confirmed.

I do think how the group parted ways could’ve been more, as it was emotional but in all the wrong ways. But my constant need to compensate and make excuses for things also flared up. Should the Batch have been more reluctant to leave Crosshair once more? Probably. But they were also probably just done with all this and really took that revelation about the chip to heart, realizing that all they can really do is let him choose. And since he chose the Empire, there’s really only so much energy they could keep exerting. Reminder, these guys are kinda like children and dealing with a very personal situation that they kinda just lack the emotional awareness for.

Am I disappointed in Crosshair’s decision? Of course I am. But I’m not surprised and I understand why he, as a character, would do it. I understand why everyone does what they do, and this just aligns with how stubborn Cross is and what he’s already made clear to his brothers: By serving the Empire, he could still have a purpose.

. . . Or can he?

Okay, maybe I do care about Crosshair more than I think I do. Because we know he’s going to get off Kamino somehow, and it’s most likely going to be through the Empire, yeah? Immediately, my thought was, “But . . . they might kill him. Or at least attempt to.” After all, he let the Batch go. Even if he lies about it for their sake, the Empire will eventually learn the truth. Hell, just the fact that he seemingly let things get out of control before the decimation of Tipoca City could get him a one-way ticket to an execution. Though . . . Crosshair, beyond his skill set, is still a profound soldier: He’s still a competent fighter. Who knows? Maybe this opens up a possible escape scene involving stealing a blaster? Who knows! I love a good fight scene regardless of my feelings on a character!

Though, given his expressions, there’s honestly a good chance that even though he’s willing to lay in the bed he’s made, it doesn’t mean he won’t miss the others. You can make a decision for yourself and stick with it while recognizing the accompanying sorrow.

Though who knows? You could even argue that he may feel in too deep and is just sticking to his guns (no pun intended) because of it. Like he’s clinging to the concept of purpose even at the cost of losing one thing he knows (his brothers) because he feels stuck on the other thing he knows (being of use to a higher power). There’s frankly a lot that could be discussed here but don’t get me started.

But I digress. I get why the Batch left. I get why Crosshair wanted to stay behind. Yes, it could’ve and probably should’ve been a bit more emotional regardless of how tired everyone probably was of everything because this is their brother. Whom they’re parting ways with once again, and there’s no telling when they’ll see him next and if that next time, they’ll be his targets once more.

(But I think that may be giving too much credit . . . One of the other complaints going around that I firmly agree with is how not enough characterization for Tech, Echo, and Wrecker was given for most of the season. They were more or less boiled down to their specialties for gimmicks than given much to say or do besides when thrust into action scenes. This is honestly probably why I really liked Tech voicing his own personal stance on Crosshair: It’s the closest thing we’ve gotten all season to how he feels. The closest we got from Wrecker was him admitting to missing Cross, and Echo never really says anything on the matter at all to my recollection. [Admittedly, Echo is the newest member and thus doesn’t have the years the other three do under his belt, but surely by now he’s formed some sort of opinion on the guy he’s done at least eleven missions with!])

It hurts regardless of how you feel or whose side you’re on because you know something about this isn’t right, whether it’s because you know they do care for one another but have to part ways, or because they both made decisions that you just didn’t want them to make. It sucks but things like this (and by “this”, I do mean something more along the lines of familial or even platonic conflict, not having your home blasted to kingdom come in a whole imperial plot your brother was somewhat tied to) are never cut and dry. If they were, things would be so much simpler. But if they weren’t, we wouldn’t have as many stories, painful as they are.

I’m not a big supporter at all of creators taking advice or story ideas and cues from their fans via Twitter and other social media. But what I do hope is that Filoni and crew do a bit of a stronger job at approaching these very emotionally-driven subjects next season, rather than just letting them fall to the wayside until it becomes convenient. Not saying that filler episodes or breathers are a bad thing, they just seemed to take up a lot of this season. Though who knows, maybe they’ll come back into play specifically because of what the Batch did. (You know, in this particular show. I already know some of these guys appeared in other SW shows . . .)

Overall, I think I’d rate this episode 6.5/10. Nothing crazy, but nothing terrible. I probably could’ve just waited until normal people hours to watch it instead of setting an alarm for 3am, but I’ve definitely spent my witching hours in worse ways. If anything, though, it left me melancholic. But, hey, there’s a season 2 on the way. I know the saying is that there are no happy endings in Star Wars but . . . hey, if people can believe in Crosshair, I’m allowed to believe in a happyish ending. I suppose, in a way, it’s kind of like a sunny, stormless day on Kamino: Never thought they existed, but they can eventually happen after much strife.

[hellothere-generalangsty]

THE BAD BATCH THEORY

Some spoilers of ep1, ep2 and ep8

Also a TW later on (it's notified so don't worry)

I hate it, but I still think about what my bf told me a few days ago about Crosshair

Basically he told me "I'm sure he doesn't have a chip and he's willingly following the Empire"

And I was like "no because he reacted to Order 66, said the infamous 'good soldiers follow orders' and they showed a scene where he was tortured as they enhanced his chip so it could totally take control of him"

But then yesterday I think I read this post on Tumblr where OP said smth like "what if he gets the chip removed but remains loyal to the Empire"

And I'm telling you, this is making me nervous because I know he's an asshole to the regs and he's cold and irritating; hell I would probably punch him if I met him irl.

But also. I can't imagine him just being bad. I can't picture him willingly hunting his brothers, trying to kill them, obeying orders like a good little soldier and being used as a war tool by the Empire when he couldn't take an order from Rex if Hunter didn't agree to it first.

Like... I know some people don't like him/ hate his guts, which I understand (difference btw fiction and reality, like I said above I would probably punch the snark out of him if I met him irl) but I also see the way he's synchronised with his brothers, the way he teases Wrecker with silly bets on who will take out the more droids; or the way he gently pat Echo's shoulder when they rescued him; or the way he holds so much respect for Hunter and his leadership.

I mean, family is a damn weird thing, sometimes you fight, you drag each other down, you make snarky remarks; but you also always got their back when they need you, you'd do anything to protect them from intruders and you'd put yourself on the line to make sure nothing bad happens to them.

And that's what he does everytime we see him with the BB pre-Order 66.

And post-Order 66, he sticks to his brothers, even if he disagrees with Hunter about the fate of Caleb, even if he feels filled with frustration and anger. He only turned against them when he's completely brainwashed by Tarkin and the enhencement of his chip; and even then we still have moments where he's doubting/hesitating (ep8), reflecting back (ep2).

So yeah. Do what you want with that, I just want Crosshairs saved from the chip, and see the aftermath, the consequences it has on his relation with his brothers; and with himself.

(TW: violence/ death, implicit mention of wanting to die, break down)

Just imagine:

Crosshair getting rid of the chip, fully aware of what he did under its control; all the killings and the tracking and the death threats on his brother's lives.

The way he almost shot Hunter, then Tech, then tried to get Omega killed.

The scars on his face being a painful reminder of him ordering his Empire squad to brun his family alive.

Have him sit by himself in the cockpit of the Havoc Marauder, unable to sleep because of the nightmares he has everytime he closes his eyes.

Let him get really uncomfortable when one of the Batcher join him; Wrecker or Hunter, sitting in silence in one of the seat, trying to keep him company but not wanting to invade too much...

But it's too much to bear anyway, and he breaks down. He shoves his face in his hands, barely able to mutter a "sorry"

And first he got tears rolling down his cheeks as he whispers "I couldn't help it", and it get worse when he says that he tried, he really did, he missed his shots even though it was atrocious and so hard to fight against the damn chip

And as he ugly cries, cockpit filled by his sniffing and his sobs, he confesses that he wanted one of them to get him.

"I wanted the nightmares to stop"

And his brother, sitting next to him, so taken aback by his confession, his behavior, he doesn't even know what to say neither how to react

Because the snarky and cold-facaded Crosshair is gone and all that's left is a broken man, a little brother begging for forgiveness.

I want a brutal shift in his behavior, as a direct consequence of the effect the chip had on him; the possessive and oh so nefast influence.

I want him being mentally and physically unable to mock or get snarky at his brothers because it triggers memories of the times he really did try to hurt them.

I want him to be as silent as usual, but now when he talks it's always to bring out something positive his brothers did or said; or a constructive criticism on a plan, a mission. He still chews on his toothpick, even more than he did before, and he cannot sleep alone anymore.

He grows to loathe cold blue, and doesn't protest when Omega paints a miniature version of his plush on his helmet. The next time the Batchers cross path with Rex, he takes him to a quiet corner and apologize about that one mission to save Echo, about the regs- the brothers Rex lost during Order 66.

I want him to realise that he was an asshole, but he is not a bad person in his core. Let him face the consequences of his snark; but also let him heal from the traumatic experiences he had to endure because of the chip, the Empire, Tarkin and Palpatine.

___________________________________________

Edit: just tagging @loth-wolffe again don't mind me I deleted the comment that's why 💀