#clone cadet jax

[blackkatmagic]

when the dead tree flowers update

The last chapter is now up!

[flashthescalesian-art]

I have determined that the name Jax in Star Wars is like the Aiden/Ayden names in real life. I’m reading a Legends book (I think the title is just Darth Maul, but maybe there’s something else along with that, don’t have the book handy atm), and there’s a kid who gets mentioned repeatedly who is named Jax. Sure, this kid is technically a non-canon character, but there’s also Jax the clone cadet in TCW, and Jax the little Force-sensitive kiddo Hemlock was experimenting on in TBB. There might be others I’m not aware of, but those are the three canon/formerly canon ones, and then I have my OC Commander Jax who I named well before one of the two canon Jaxes existed (I had forgotten about cadet Jax at the time, and had no idea about Legends Jax). Tbh, I think it could make a funny running joke in my fic because Commander Jax is notorious for being… well, himself, but he has such a common, basic name within the Star Wars universe

It’s also funny to me that the only adult Jax is my OC, the rest are all kids, lol.

[knightsofrayx]

got/asoiaf x star wars troopers

I've done some "star wars characters in a got/asoiaf medieval setting", so I decided to try my hand with the reverse. And where better to start than with troopers?

(more in depth detail on the different armor styles under the cut)

For the Kingsguard, I of course went with the Emperor's Guard for armor inspiration. I kept the three helmet fins from the GoT show, and the armor has been adapted from the show design. The helmet itself, especially the visor, is actually more reminiscent of the Republic Senate Guard. I went with the t-visor style both for accuracy to the GoT show helmets and also to have a t-visor trend with Targaryen affiliated troopers (which will be seen more later). The Kingsguard carry the double-bladed vibroblades wielded by Imperial Guard members Kir Kanos and Carnor Jax in the Crimson Empire comics.

Using the stormtrooper armor as a reference for the Lannister troopers was a no-brainer. The GoT show helmets had a similar two eye-hole design, and the face mask was similar to the front design of the stormtrooper helmet. Then I painted the armor to match the color patterns on the show armor.

For House Tully, I went with the Republic ARF trooper as the base for the armor design. The armor designs for House Tully soldiers from both GoT and HotD don't have much in terms of plate armor (it mostly was layers of chainmail or the scale armor tunics), so I used video game concept art as a reference for style. I did keep the fishscale design on the tunic though.

The House Tyrell helmet is based on the Clone Cadet Training armor design from The Clone Wars. That helmet was the closest to the design from the GoT show. The rest of the design was just adapted from the show armor.

House Stark, of course, is based on the Snow Trooper armor, specifically the Clone Cold assault Trooper armor that features in the early seasons of the Clone Wars. The helmet, the gambeson, and the shoulder pieces are the main carry-over from the actual House Stark armor.

For House Greyjoy, I took inspiration from the various iterations of SCUBA troopers. The helmet is from the First Order SCUBA troopers (featuring in Star Wars: Resistance). The rest of the armor is a mixed version of the Clone SCUBA troopers that featured in the two Clone Wars animations. The torse design is also reminiscent of the armor worn by the Greyjoys in GoT.

The helmet for the Targaryen troopers was based on the mandalorian helmet design, specifically the carry-over of the t-visor. The rest of the armor, using the HotD design as a base, is built off the First Order Stormtrooper armor.

The Armor for House Arryn is based off the armor used by the Mandalorian Imperial Supercommandoes that appeared in Star Wars: Rebels, though I adapted it with the helmet with a Clone BARC trooper visor and added the topfin. The rest of the armor/color patterns are based on the armor design from HotD.

The House Baratheon armor is mostly based off the Clone ARC Trooper armor from the Clone Wars. The torso design was similar enough to the GoT House Baratheon armor that it seemed like a good fit. The helmet with its t-visor is more Mandalorian in nature, calling on the connection House Baratheon has to House Targaryen.

The House Martell armor takes inspiration from the Clone Desert Trooper armor. Most of the armor design is from the clone armor, but some parts are inspired by the armor worn by Oberyn Martell in GoT as well as concept art I found on the web.

[miss-musings]

The Bad Batch post-finale fanfic (3.16)

Summary: We catch up with the Bad Batch about 2-3 weeks after escaping Tantiss together. Omega and Crosshair pass his least favorite spot in Pabu, and they have a heart-to-heart.

“Omega,” Hunter called to her from the doorway of Shep’s house. “It’s almost time for dinner.”

Omega and Lyana had been playing with the moon-yos just outside the gate, giggling as they watched them poke and tackle each other before running off.

“OK,” she called back to Hunter. “I’ll go get Crosshair.”

"Hurry up," Hunter said. "We don't want the food to get cold."

She left Lyana and hurried down the steps toward the beach.

It had been two weeks – or maybe it was closer to three now – since they’d landed the stolen Imperial shuttle in the colonnade. Almost three weeks since she’d fallen asleep on Hunter’s shoulder, realizing she and her family were finally free from Tantiss base, Doctor Hemlock and the Empire.

Since then, everything had changed so quickly from day to day – almost hour to hour sometimes.

As promised, Hunter had been coordinating with Rex to track down her Vault friends’ missing families. Two of them had already left, and Jax was set to leave in the morning.

Some of the clones were staying on Pabu for now, but a few had talked about going to other systems. Hunter said he’d help them however he could, while also working on finding the family a new ship.

The Marauder had been their home for so long, but now they just needed a vehicle. Something to help them keep in touch with Echo and Rex, and to make the occasional trip off-world for supplies, or for fun.

Omega had talked about exploring other parts of the planet, and resuming her flying lessons. It wouldn’t be the same without Tech, but she knew she would be able to feel him in the cockpit next to her, worried as ever.

With the Marauder gone, they also needed a place to sleep on Pabu. A place to call home.

Wrecker and the cadets had found a spot in Lower Pabu that would be perfect for a house, and were starting to get supplies together. The locals were offering their expertise as far as layout and design, and Wrecker was confident they could have it built in a few months.

For now, they were sleeping in their stolen Imperial shuttle parked in the colonnade.

It wasn’t ideal, but they made it work, piling the cargo area full of any pillows and blankets they could borrow or buy.

Shep had offered to host them all until their house was built, but with four people and a hound, they knew it would be too much to ask. They did accept his offer to host them for dinner every night, though, as none of them were very good at cooking yet.

Omega knew Hunter would be before too long. He had been learning from Shep and the other villagers since they first landed on Pabu a half-year ago, and now that they knew they’d be staying for good, he was becoming more studious than ever.

Every night after dinner, Omega returned to the shuttle in the colonnade, where she’d claimed a corner near the main door. She had a blanket and pillow borrowed from Lyana and her trusty Lula doll, reclaimed from the Archium.

She worried sometimes she wouldn’t be able to sleep, that she would dream about Tantiss. About being confined there all those months. About having to escape it again. About the dark, rainy night that Hemlock tried to steal her away for good.

But, she was frequently so exhausted that sleep was no problem.

A few times she’d woken in the middle of the night, and looked across at Hunter and Wrecker sleeping on the opposite side of the cargo area. Hunter would be propped up against the wall with a pillow under his neck, while Wrecker would be splay atop a pile of pillows and blankets.

Crosshair didn’t seem to sleep much.

After everything, he was adjusting both better and worse than she, Hunter and Wrecker had expected.

Those first few days after they returned had been so chaotic. While Hunter and Wrecker had been working on other things, Crosshair mostly stayed by Omega's side, going where she went, helping those she helped.

A few times he went to pick things up with his right hand, only to remember it was gone. Omega couldn’t read his expression when it happened. Was it frustration, relief, or something else?

After about a week, he must’ve realized he couldn’t follow her around all the time. As much as she liked it, she knew eventually he’d have to find his own path.

She brought it up one day when she was watching him play with Batcher at their usual spot on the beach.

“I’ve thought about trying spearfishing,” he said. “It makes sense. For me.”

He held up his right arm, which even she was still adjusting to seeing without a hand.

“And, I think I could do it with one hand.”

After that, he’d been spending the better part of his days learning from the master-spearfishers on the island. As expected, he was picking it up quickly. He told her throwing the spear wasn’t the issue, but grabbing the fish afterward was difficult with only one hand.

Whatever he caught – and the number and size of the fish was increasing daily – he gave Shep first pick for their shared dinners. Then, he gave the rest to the cadets, the remaining clones and the families who were looking after the Vault children.

He started fishing so early in the day that he was done by midafternoon. After bringing in and distributing his catches, he’d been spending that hour or so before dinner in their usual spot on the beach. Batcher had been going with him, and Omega had caught him playing fetch with her a few times when she went to get him for dinner.

Wrecker had complained more than once about how long it took Omega to get Crosshair each evening. He could just keep his commlink on him, and they could eat all the sooner.

But Hunter knew why he didn’t, and told Wrecker to let it go.

It seemed to be forming a nice routine, and Omega liked to think it meant that they’d be doing this every day for the foreseeable future. And that was everything.

*****

Crosshair was in the usual spot, half-sitting against a large rock with his eyes closed. The sun was lowering in the horizon, casting golden light across the water.

Batcher, of course, was all too happy to see Omega. The lurca hound raced forward and jumped onto her, and Omega patted her head with an approving smile.

She never had to say anything to Crosshair. He'd know when she was looking at him, even from 100 meters.

But he usually waited until she was a stone’s throw away to acknowledge her.

He did the same now, opening his eyes, standing up and turning toward her.

“Dinnertime?”

“You know it.”

He took the toothpick out of his mouth and started walking toward her.

“I hope Shep’s taught Hunter how to prepare that karppia properly,” he said. “It’s not the best-tasting fish. Or so the anglers said.”

She chuckled and said, “I’m sure they have it under control. Although it’s much bigger than the other one you caught yesterday. You’re getting better at it. I can tell.”

“Maybe,” he said as reached her and they both started walking back up toward the town.

“You’re probably catching enough that you could start selling them, if you wanted to.”

“The priority is making sure everyone who’s still here has enough to eat,” he said, referring to all the Tantiss escapees.

“True, but you could eventually.”

He nodded before asking her about everything she’d done that day. In the back of her mind, it reminded her of all those times she sat outside his cell and told him about her day.

But the thought didn’t bother her. If anything, it made her proud. After all, they were the only two people in the whole galaxy who had escaped Tantiss not once, but twice.

As they neared the Sea Wall, Omega headed in a different direction than usual.

“Let’s go this way,” she said, stepping ahead of Crosshair. “It should be faster.”

Crosshair seemed to tense up, and a strange look flashed across his face.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, c’mon. Or we’ll be late.”

Omega started going up the path. Batcher was already so far ahead that Omega figured she’d be at Shep’s house before they crossed into Upper Pabu. Omega quickened her pace to try and catch her, and, after a sigh, Crosshair wordlessly followed behind her.

They were maybe halfway along the Wall when Omega didn’t hear Crosshair’s steps behind her anymore.

She looked back. He’d stopped and was looking out toward the main pier with a solemn expression on his sunset-lit face.

“Crosshair? What is it?”

He glanced at her, and then lowered his head and shoulders as he stared at the ground.

“Omega, there’s something I never told you. About that night they took you back to Tantiss.”

She stepped toward him, needing to be within arm’s reach. He finally looked up at her.

“I... missed the shot,” he said. “The tracker, I never got it onto the ship. Troopers found me here on the Wall, and by the time I evaded them and fired, the ship took off at the last moment.

“If I hadn’t missed, we could’ve gotten to Tantiss much sooner. And maybe—”

He paused, balling up his left hand. She felt she had to complete the thought for him:

“You wouldn’t have lost your hand?”

“No, no, that’s not what I was going to say,” he replied, shaking his head. “It’s just that, if we’d gotten to Tantiss sooner, we could’ve stopped Hemlock before he … threatened you.”

The phantoms of that night on the rainy platform passed across his face. The same fear, the same doubt returned to his eyes.

Unable to stand from the weight of it, he crouched down to his knees.

“Please, Crosshair,” she said, as she stepped forward. “I don’t blame you, and I don’t want you to blame yourself either. You might’ve missed the shot here, but you made it when it counted."

She put her hand on his left shoulder. It was the same spot where she’d first tried to reach him in the Kaminoan brig. But this time, he didn’t flinch or look away.

Omega looked into his eyes, so full of sorrow, and told him: "You saved me."

Finally, the burden was gone. Crosshair’s whole body relaxed. His right arm was still hanging by his side, but he moved his left arm to pull her into an half-embrace.

“Thank you, Omega,” he said, and she could hear he was choking back tears. “You never gave up on me, and you believed in me even when I didn’t believe in myself. I couldn’t have made it without you.”

Omega couldn’t stop her eyes from welling with tears, and her voice cracked as she said, “I knew you could do it. Hunter did too. You came back to Tantiss for me. If you could do that, you could do anything.”

He finally shifted his torso and wrapped his right arm around her. He hadn’t that rainy night on Tantiss, but he finally felt he could now.

Tears kept falling from Omega's eyes as she buried her head into his shoulder.

Finally, she released him. As she took a step backward, she saw him quickly wipe his face with his left hand. She didn’t bother to do the same.

“You say I can do anything but,” he said, looking down at his stump, “I’m not so sure these days.”

“Don’t worry,” she told him. “I’m sure Echo can find someone to fit you with a prosthetic. If you want it.”

He shrugged his shoulders, his eyes glancing between her and his missing hand.

“I, I do think I’d like a replacement one day,” he said. “It’s been hard to adjust to, but I think it’s also been … a relief, I guess. In a way.

“But, there are so many things I can’t do now that I want to.”

“Like what?” Omega asked.

“Nothing fancy,” he said. “Just all the little things."

Using his left hand, he gently wiped the tear stains from her face.

"I missed so much with you already," he continued. "I don’t want to miss out on anything else.”

For all his efforts, she felt new tears gathering in her eyes. Crosshair gave her a warm smile in return, his eyes shining too.

“It’s alright, Omega. We’ll figure things out. All of us, together. That’s what families do.”

She smiled back at him, recalling something similar Tech had once told her. But Crosshair's words resonated more strongly.

A family. Not soldiers. Before, they were both. Now, there was no need. The fight was over.

He knew that too.

Omega noticed that the sunlight on his face was more orange than gold now, and she glanced out at the water to see the sun about to dip below the horizon.

“C’mon,” she said. “Hunter will be worried if we’re not back soon.”

He stood up, and they both started walking up the path again.

“No, he won’t," Crosshair said. "Not like he used to. I know I don’t. And, I’m much worse than he is, remember?”

As they neared Shep’s house, they could see Wrecker waiting in front of the gate with his arms crossed.

He opened his frowning mouth to say something. But, he saw Omega’s smile and the calm, weightless expression on Crosshair’s face, and instead cleared his throat before saying:

“I hope you two are hungry. Shep and Hunter went a bit overboard with the karppia.”

Omega giggled, and Wrecker opened the gate to welcome her in. Batcher was waiting for them too.

As Crosshair entered the patio, Wrecker gave him a pat on the shoulder, unseen by anyone else. Crosshair gave him a grateful nod.

The two families, now completely assembled, sat down to dinner. The first sliver of the sun sank below the horizon, and the lights of Lower Pabu all blinked on at once.

*****

After a hearty meal and lighthearted conversations all around, Crosshair was the first to leave the table.

“Thank you for dinner, Shep, Hunter,” he said, nodding to each of them. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to retire now. But, you all can stay here. Don’t let my leaving disturb you.”

Batcher made a move to follow him out of the gate, but Crosshair gently gestured for her to stay. He stepped out into the street and headed up toward the colonnade.

Omega and Hunter looked at each other.

The four of them usually walked back up to the colonnade together after dinner. The brothers would then talk or finish some last-minute work while Omega went to bed.

With Crosshair gone, the three of them stayed at Shep’s another half-hour, till it was fully night, and then headed up to the colonnade with Batcher.

“Omega,” Hunter asked, “did something happen as you and Crosshair were coming up for dinner?”

“We passed the spot on the Wall where he missed the shot, the night they took me back to Tantiss.”

Wrecker looked surprised, and Hunter was concerned, but neither said anything.

Omega gave a short account of their conversation, ending with, “Now that he told me, hopefully he can stop blaming himself. I told him I don’t blame him.”

Hunter added: “And neither do we.”

Wrecker gave a small grunt of approval and said, “He’s the only reason we even found Tantiss at all. Him telling us about Rampart.”

Omega hadn't heard exactly how they’d found Tantiss. She simply figured that, after the clone operative had taken her comm device, Crosshair had shot a secondary tracker onto the ship as planned.

Wrecker, with some help from Hunter, gave her a shortened account of how they broke former Vice Admiral Rampart out of an Imperial labor camp, snuck onto an orbital station over Coruscant and latched onto a transport heading to Tantiss base.

She remembered wondering, when she felt the laser cannons going off, why it taken her brothers a few days to find her. But, she realized now that, if they’d come sooner, she might not have met her friends in the Vault or found out about the Zillo Beast.

She wanted to think that it had all worked out as it was supposed to.

But Crosshair’s right hand, Wrecker’s deep chest wound, and Hunter’s injuries from battle and Hemlock’s torture – these weren’t small losses either. Hunter and Wrecker both insisted they were fine now, despite her worries, but Crosshair’s stump lingered in her mind.

Omega was so lost in thought, she hardly realized they’d reached their shuttle in the colonnade.

“Where’s Crosshair?” Wrecker asked.

Through the open doors, they could see he wasn’t inside.

“Maybe he went down to the beach again?” she wondered aloud.

Hunter looked around and took a stance as if he was tracking Crosshair. He started walking around to the other side of the large, weeping maya tree at the heart of the colonnade. Omega instinctively followed him, while Wrecker led Batcher inside the shuttle.

As Hunter and Omega walked around to the side of the tree nearest the Archium, they both saw Crosshair sitting against the bark, arms crossed and fast asleep.

“Does he normally sleep out here?” she whispered as she leaned toward Hunter.

“I don’t know,” he said in a soft tone. “Don’t think he’s slept much since we got back.”

Omega and Hunter looked at each other and smiled.

She looked back at Crosshair and an idea popped into her head.

Hunter seemed to read her thoughts.

“Go on, Omega,” he said. “It’s alright.”

He quietly headed back to the shuttle, as Omega walked toward the tree and stepped onto its raised bed. Even as she neared Crosshair, he didn’t seem to stir.

Omega sat down on his left side and, ever so softly, leaned her head against his shoulder. His eyes stayed shut, but breathing seemed to stop for a half-second before resuming without issue.

Seeing Crosshair finally sleeping peacefully, her once-racing mind was quiet again. She too closed her eyes and nestled her head so she could rest more comfortably against his shoulder.

Hunter came back around, and gently threw a blanket over them. Omega opened one of her eyes a tad and smiled at him.

“Goodnight, you two,” he said quietly.

Omega closed her eye again, and tried to slow her breathing to match Crosshair’s.

Hunter looked at the two of them, almost unable to comprehend the sight.

The brother who’d once hunted them down, who’d berated and despised Omega on Kamino, was now sleeping peacefully next to her. Even after all these weeks since Crosshair and Omega first escaped Tantiss together, Hunter still sometimes couldn’t believe how much Crosshair had changed.

But, then again, he shouldn’t be surprised.

Omega had that effect on people. He would know better than anyone.

He couldn’t think of a happier sight: his brother restored, Omega safe and happy, and all of them living on their new island home.

Or almost all of them.

As he walked toward the ship, Hunter turned to look back at the Archium.

“Oh, Tech," he said softly to the wind and sky. "If only you could’ve seen them together. You’d be so proud of them both.”

*****

It didn’t take long for Omega to fall asleep. She knew no one in the galaxy could sneak up on her with Crosshair by her side.

She couldn’t be safer.

After so many battles, missions and days of imprisonment, she reveled in the thought that her family was finally, finally free.

*****

Crosshair could sense the early morning light without even opening his eyes. He heard soft breathing next to him, and his left arm was heavy and numb.

Omega.

He flicked his eyes open and saw the silhouette of the Archium beyond the dangling limbs of the weeping maya tree. He glanced to his left to see her lightly colored hair against his shoulder.

He froze. He couldn’t risk waking her.

She still seemed sound asleep, and there was a blanket covering her legs and his own.

Hunter.

He shook his head and silently chuckled to himself.

Aside from his left arm being unmovable, he felt better than ever. A full night’s sleep in, who knows how long. Omega by his side.

He looked over at her again.

Before, he would’ve felt frustration and regret, thinking about how much she’d grown already and how much time he’d missed with her.

But he’d made his peace with it last night. Omega was in his life now. He had another chance thanks to her, his brothers and so many other clones’ efforts to save him, to help him see the light.

He wouldn’t waste all their sacrifices – especially Tech’s – by dwelling on everything he’d missed, in every sense of the word.

He’d make the most of the time they’d have together. He owed her, himself, all of them that much.

He couldn’t help but feel tears forming as he looked at her and contemplated it all.

Unable to use either hand, he blinked the tears away as best as he could and closed his eyes. Remembering what she’d once taught him, he focused on the sound of her breathing and his own. The distant waves, the rustling leaves, the chirping birds all faded into the background.

He knew it was vain to wish this moment would last forever. The light hitting his eyelids grew slightly brighter every second, and Omega would surely wake once direct sunlight hit her face in an hour or so.

So, he took it all in along with each one of his breaths.

This is who he was now, and he never wanted to go back.

COPYRIGHT 2024.

[wizardofrozz]

Ghosts of Kamino

CT-2697 "Sawbones", Alpha-23 "Fang", mention of CT-9181 "Aiden", CT-6116 "Kix", CT-7007 "Jax", and CT-2525 "Quarter"

Word Count: ~1.2k

Warnings: past violence, past medical procedures, angst, mention of war

A/N: I've been taken over by OC brainrot and needed to get this angst about Sawbones out of my system. There isn't any in depth detail about what happened to Saw on Kamino (that can be found here xx if you're interested) but this fic is a little on the heavy side.

Fang and Aiden are also two of my clone OCs while Jax and Quarter belong to @hetalianskywalker ❤️

Dividers were made by me 🖤

White. It's all there is to see in every direction for miles. Sawbones spent so many years walking these halls, feeling so small in comparison. Little '97 following in formation with his brothers as they went about their day-to-day. Now, Sawbones walks through the halls of Kamino: empty, pristine, cold. If only that was how he felt inside but the long-necks made sure that wouldn't be the case.

Saw is scheduled for a training class to update his medical license but he has a few hours to kill; the last thing he wants to do on Kamino. Moving on autopilot, he doesn't even realize where he's going until he stops in front of a familiar door. The only reason he recognizes it is because of the deep gash in the door frame. Saw smiles to himself, remembering when one of the other batches that shared a space with them first got to practice with long weapons. The memory turns sour just as quickly when he remembers what followed. 

Saw lets the door slide open, pointedly not looking at the door frame as he steps inside. Most of the cadet classes are still in session, meaning the pods stretching toward the ceiling should be empty. He still remembers where their five pods are and comes to a stop in front of the tower they called home for so long. Tilting his head back he recites their numbers as his eyes follow the pods from floor to ceiling. 

7007

2525

6116

2697

9181

The echo of soft, uncontrollable laughter fills his mind and Saw closes his eyes. Aiden's laugh used to drive the other cadets nuts but what he wouldn't give to hear his little brother laugh like that again. Or to hear Kix and Jax plotting to get into trouble. Quarter's unimpressed look when they did get in trouble. Maker, he misses his brothers. 

Letting his eyes drift open, Saw repositions his helmet on his hip and tries to fight off the inevitable. While this room holds good memories, bad memories aren't far behind. It's the paradox that is Sawbones. 

Aiden's laughter lingers here just like Saw's agonizing screams. His batch aren't the only ones scarred by his pain and a part of him is glad he hasn't come across the other batches they shared this space with. The other cadets who woke up to his hoarse sobs and his brothers' desperate attempts at soothing him. Saw didn't know what it was like when he was stuck in the medbay for days on end but he can imagine the rest of his batch weren't the most pleasant to be around. 

His throat feels tight, ash sitting on his tongue as his thoughts drift to the medical suite nearby. The room he spent long days and even longer nights wasting away in. So much of it is muddled in his head; oxygen masks, sickly gray skin covering long, cold fingers. And pain. Don't forget the pain. 

The back of Saw's neck stings and he quickly covers it, trying to rub away the feeling. It doesn't work, not really, and he almost expects to turn around to find a long-neck standing over him, empty syringe in their hand. 

There's no one there. Just the ghosts that haunt him even when he's lightyears away. They just seem more corporeal on Kamino, the home of Saw's worst nightmares.

The air feels too still without young voices echoing through the room and it starts to feel suffocating. The ringing in his ears sends a chill down his spine and he quickly turns to leave just as the door shoots open. 

Saw stumbles back a step. Relief floods his system seconds later when a familiar set of armor stands in the doorway, blue paint less pristine than the last time he saw it. The Alpha lifts his helmet off, shaking a few stray curls out of his face, and even years later, Fang looks the same as when Saw was a kid. 

There are a few more wrinkles around his eyes but at the end of the day, this is still his big brother. He's nearly as tall as Fang now but he still feels small even if he doesn't have to look up anymore. But there's the ghost of a smile on the Alpha's face, chasing some of the storm clouds away from Saw's mind. The same way Fang's presence did for so many years. 

"Thought I'd find ya here," Fang says, although he doesn't step into the room. His eyes drift around the space, looking up toward the ceiling before eventually lingering on Saw's face, and Fang's smile grows the slightest bit. 

"Been a long time since I've been in here," Saw notes, looking over his shoulder toward the tower of bunks. Not long enough if he's honest. 

"Surprised you wanted to see it again," Fang mumbles, crossing his arms, helmet dangling from one hand. 

"I didn't," Saw whispers, staring up at his old bunk. "I never wanted to come back here. Even in a body bag." 

"Why did you?" 

That made Saw pause, twisting back around to look at his older brother, the man who kept him as safe as he could and raised him along with the rest of his batch to be the men they are today. Why did he come back here?

The memory of Aiden and Jax's uncontrollable laughter comes back to him and the corner of Saw's mouth twitches. The smile isn't happy per se, more...forlorn. 

"Miss 'em. All of 'em. Can't even remember the last time I saw Kix without a blue hue." The words start spilling out and in the back of his mind, he curses Fang's uncanny ability to get him to spill his guts. "Guess I wanted to remember a time we were all together." 

"I know," Fang says, his voice soft just like when Saw was a kid, scared out of his mind. It's a comfort he's missed too. 

"Miss you too," Saw admits, dropping his eyes to the floor. 

A hand gently grabs the left side of his breastplate and Saw doesn't fight it when he's pulled through the threshold.

The hallways are bright, too bright, compared to the barracks, and Saw automatically squints. Fang throws an arm around his shoulders, a harder maneuver than the last time Fang did it years ago, and it brings a smile to Saw's face. 

"Come on, I know someone else who'd like to see your ugly ass." 

The insult shocks a laugh out of Saw and without thinking, he wraps his arm around Fang's waist, letting the older clone drag him down the hall. 

"You look just like me," Saw retorts, fighting off another laugh.

"My hair's better." 

Saw laughs again, his body bowing forward slightly but he catches the grin in Fang's face. 

The ghosts of his past still linger, waiting to drag Saw back to the brink of despair. That'll never change but that doesn't mean he's stranded alone. His brothers, younger and older, will always pull him back. They've done it his entire life and he knows they'll do it for the rest of their lives. 

And Saw loves them all a little more every time.

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[iamda05]

I was rewatching the episode where young boba tries to disguise with the clone cadets, the one kid had a blonde buzz cut, should of been rex since he has so little backstory, probably the least out of the main SW characters, and the other two clones, Jax should have been Kix and Whiplash should have been Hardcase, ANYONE ELSE MAD THAT REX HAS LIKE NO BACKSTORY HE JUST WOKE UP AND WAS A CAPTAIN he says experience out ranks everything but they don't show him get any before he's a captain

[mandalorianbrainweasel]

Older Boba/That One Cadet?? I like that very much!! How about a first kiss? :3c

Thank you for prompting this because it made me look up his name. Jax! His name is Jax. I love him. I'm sorry for what I put him through in this.

They're like fifteen and this didn't go how I expected, they took over. As you'll see by the word count.

a taste of wasting time

T. Boba/Jax. 1580 words. Inspired by every summer camp I've been to, but the kids have actually been taught weapon etiquette which unfortunately includes the Bullying. Dumb teenagers, mean kids, Boba's potty mouth, survival training but fun, mushrooms, first kiss.

Boba likes the nights on Concord Dawn.

Staying back on Mandalore, in Sundari, is fine. That’s where most of his family is. Para and their riduure, Paz, Kix and Fox, Sati’bu, Ba’tat Arla, the Babas.

He loves his family and he doesn’t really feel a desire to be spending all his time in the Slave I for another couple years straight and he doesn’t really ever feel like spending more than a couple weeks up here with the Mereel side of the family.

And he’s not even here with them, right now. Out of all of the family members he’s stuck with right now, it’s Omega. Sure, a few of the counsellors for the training camp are clones, and more than a few of the other verd’ike are clones, but that doesn’t mean a lot. Most of the other clones that Boba even knew before Para’s quest were Alpha class or Commandos. A few others he’d seen, yeah, but no one is really family-family instead of clan-family.

He’s in a squad with two other clones and three kids from other clans. Omega is off with her squad, well away from Boba, and it’s funny how a training camp that they were both at is the only time in the last two years that he’s gotten space from his sister.

He pokes at the fire in front of him, mostly occupied with staring at the sky while his squadmates are off setting up camp. He got teased for being the spoiled one and how this was probably all he could do.

Omega would probably have tried to take their faces off with her teeth.

He’ll show them, later. This is their first night in the wilds and he’s a damn good shot and Be’baba has been running him through training almost every day since Ursa Wren dragged him to Mandalore. And that didn’t stop after he got his first beskar, like he knows some of the other clans do, leaving training to the Academy clubs and these training camps.

He doesn’t know about what the other clones will have been used to since leaving Kamino, but he knows he’s been shooting and camping long before they ever got to.

“Oh, hey, you got the fire going,” one of the other clones in his squad says, dropping down beside him. It’s the one with the red tint to his hair—Jax—instead of the one who has her dark hair buzzed low—Vril, he thinks.

“What, think I couldn’t even manage this?” he asks, glancing at him derisively.

Jax shifts uncomfortably.

“You didn’t,” he realizes, furious.

“You like in a palace,” Jax points out.

“And you either live in a really nice apartment or on a clan compound,” he points out. “I learned how to start a survival fire when I was four. And I learned how to cook on a fire a couple years later when Buir decided I wasn’t going to fall into a soup pot.”

Jax snorts and covers his mouth before he breaks into giggles.

“Seriously, my squad last year wasn’t nearly as” mean “shitty.”

Jax at least ducks his head, ashamed.

“You do realize I live with my ori’vod, right? The Mand’alor? Do you really think they’d leave me defenceless and unable to take care of myself? We may be a family, but shit happens to everyone.”

“Hey,” Vril shouts, “Stop yelling at Jax.”

Boba and Jax both swivel their heads to her and Boba.

Well, Omega is preferable right now. Even if she might insight a feud over this. And she’s still a last ditch place to go. This area of Concord Dawn is pretty safe for someone wandering on their own.

He tosses the stick into the fire and heads out into the trees, strolling until he’s far enough they won’t hear him break into a run, angry tears prickling at his eyes. He wants the Lieutenants, and Para and Mij and Fordo and Ven’ti, and the Babas. He wants people who don’t want to see the worst in him. He remembers Korkie talking about this kind of thing, when Boba first started going to the Academy. Hell, he remembers stuff like this himself from his first months there.

He makes himself another fire when he comes to another clearing and has made sure none of the animal tracks around it are the kind of things that would bother him or be bothered by him. No tent, but he’s slept without a tent or a sleeping bag plenty of times.

Maybe an hour has passed when he hears more human-like footsteps, and he unholsters the blaster he brought—not one of Buir’s blasters, not for a few more years—and fires a warning shot.

The bolt of plasma sends a tree branch cracking down, and a clone yelps.

He doubts it’s Vril.

He sighs and reholsters the blaster. “I’m this way,” he calls, making another skewer of friendly-familiar mushrooms he’d found around here and setting it at the edge of the fire while he grabbed his own from where it had been roasting.

Jax steps through, rubbing his head. There’s a little scratch on his cheek that looks like it might bruise. “Hey. You...really got far out here. I don’t think I’d have gone this far.”

He shrugs. “I’ve always had to be kind of alone.” He peeks a mushroom off of the top of the skewer and pops it in his mouth.

Jax stares.

“There’s more,” he points out, motioning to the pile he’s made and the roasting skewer. “Wait for it to get brown, though.”

“Oh, uh. Okay.”

Again, Jax sits next to him.

“Sorry about, uh. All of that. I set her to rights about what we’d been talking about. The others, you know, they didn’t believe you?” Jax laughs hollowly. “They told me to come get you back because they’d get in trouble if you died out here, and Vril was too stubborn to come apologize.”

“I’m not going back until in the morning, then,” Boba decides, smiling as he eats another mushroom. “Let them sweat. I have my comm and I was going to ping our counsellor soon. Probably my ori’vod, too. Need to tell some member of the family, but if I tell my sister she’s liable to commit homicide. If not get her squad to join her.”

Jax laughs and finally it sounds like something that he’s letting himself be fully amused by.

Boba averts his eyes and goes back to munching, but he picks the skewer he set for Jax up as soon as it’s hitting the perfect shade and passes it to him.

Eventually, Jax eggs him into an actual conversation, and they chat about education modules—though Boba doesn’t mention his are for university classes. They give a report to the counsellor who agrees with Boba’s decision to let them get anxious with a kind of vicious smile that makes Boba wonder what happened last year. When the counsellor commends Jax for avoiding getting drawn in by bad influences, he really wonders.

But he doesn’t ask, not when Jax looks so beat up about it.

The next morning, after a night where they’d doze until an alarm warned them to check the fire, then doze some more again, they head back to their squad’s initial camp, after bagging up the rest of the mushrooms that they don’t eat for firstmeal.

When they get to the camp, they watch from the woods as the counsellors are scolding the rest of the squad about losing two members and how they’re going to have to send out a search party! Now why would those two have run off, hmm? Did this have anything in common with last year, hmm?

Jax finally has enough and Boba shrugs and starts whistling as they head into camp, the bag of mushrooms over his shoulder.

“Hey, Ordo, I got some of those mushrooms you like,” he tells the counsellor who had been in charge of his squad last year.

She grins, pushing the other young teens out of the way and going for them. “I don’t get how you always find these, Fett’ika! Seriously. I should never have told you they were my favorite, now you have bribery available.”

He sticks his tongue out at her.

“Anyways,” she adds, “We’re adding you two to Squad Beta. It’ll be fine.”

Boba raises an eyebrow. That squad is one from the above year. “If you say so.”

“Saxon’s in charge of them,” Ordo adds with a roll of her eyes.

“Oh, yes, then it will be fine,” he agrees.

Jax looks between the two of them. “Really?”

“Yeah, Aden’tra likes me best,” Boba says.

The rest of the camp goes fine, though Boba doesn’t find out what happened to the rest of his first squad of the year. They’re all packing up to leave when Jax takes him aside, then knocks him back into a tree and kisses him.

“I, uh, sorry. I hadn’t really said that. About the first night,” Jax says, looking down as Boba stares, shocked at him. “I, uh. Really like you. I’m sorry, if that was, uh!”

Boba kisses him this time, then grabs his comm and types in his code. “That’s me. You can ping me whenever.”

“Boba!” Aden’tra hollers. “Come on, Korkie promised to make the fritters if we get back before nightfall!”

He snorts. “I gotta go. Send me a message, okay?”

“Yeah,” Jax says, “Okay.”

[clonecest-bin-account]

Lil' Boba Fett and Clone Cadet Jax Sfw?

(This isn’t a ship I ever thought about, but now I gotta say I’m fascinated. Here you go anon!)

When the escape pod he was closed in with the clones becomes but a distant memory, Boba can’t help but to feel regret.

What he’s doing is right, he has no doubts about that. Mace Windu has to die, and he’ll stop at nothing in order to make this desire a reality.

He shakes his head, biding goodnight to Aurra and walking to his room, trying to think about something else, which is difficult considering that this is his life purpose.

It’s just been a while since he’s been close to his “family”, if he can even call it that - no, he can’t, he has nothing to do with them. This must be why he feels so weird.

Maybe sleeping it off will help.

 No, sleep doesn’t help. It would if only Boba could manage to close his eyes and stay still for a while.

He can’t stop thinking about the cadets: in order to do a good job at infiltrating their ranks, Boba has stayed on Kamino for about a week, which meant getting acquainted with the rest of his squad whether he wanted it or not.

Boba hadn’t missed Kamino one bit, but he has to admit that the cadets did make things more bearable. There was one in particular, Jax, that didn’t seem to want to leave his side, which made things harder for his mission but… Even now, Boba doesn’t quite mind it.

No matter how much he tried to act annoyed with him, he couldn’t bring himself to push him away. It felt nice being able to talk with someone who was - supposedly - his age.

There’s more than that and Boba knows it, no matter how hard he’s trying to deny it: Jax was the ray of sun of this week of infiltration, a welcomed breath of fresh air.

He liked him, he can’t deny it, and Jax liked him too, at least at first: Boba won’t forget the hateful look he sent his way when he left with Aurra, the way he called him a traitor. It shouldn’t be haunting but it is, and Boba hates it.

 Tomorrow he’ll go about his business forgetting this ever happened, uncaring about the cadets he left behind, the shadows of his father’s legacy who will never hold a candle to the real deal, however.

Yes, tomorrow he won’t care about this anymore, but for now he loses himself in his fantasy, wondering what would’ve happened if he stayed with them, or if could’ve managed to convince Jax to follow him.

For now, he dreams.

[alons-ycreeper]

It's not Kesett week yet but I already got something for No Order 66, but it's long so bear with me.

So obviously Order 66 was a big bust and no one dies, everyone is fine except for Shittyious and Dooky. (They just end up killing each but I'm too lazy to go into detail). Jedi move away from Coruscant to reconnect with the Force and relearn themselves. Clones gain freedom and half of Tipoca City because they make a little more than half the population so like by some legality they get half. I don't know it's just a draft. Anyway, with these new freedoms this also means the Alpha-ARCs can take legal custody of Boba who is still a minor (he's like 16 by now because ending a war and shit takes a while). So Alpha-02, Spar, and Alpha-17 pick him up from prison and take him back to Kamino. Hurry for Boba he finally gets to be a part of his giant ass family (thanks for isolating him, Jango).

Half way through Boba's angst filled stay with his brothers a Tusken Jedi by the name of A'Sharad Hett contacts the Alphas telling them Boba is being summoned by his people for community service for his past felonies against them with Cad Bane (they're more willing to forgive a misguided youngling than a full grown man like Bane). The Jedi Council has also agreed to this and since the clones are still very close to the space wizard monks they agree too. However, none of the Alphas can escort Boba to Tatooine so they ask the commander of a battalion headed that way if they could take Boba. The troopers in question are the 13th "Iron" Battalion headed to Tatooine to help some of the local small towns who are gaining independence from Jabba. The troopers are being accompanied by their former COs, Master Jaro Tapal and his padawan Cal Kestis, as well as Master Cere Junda and Knight Trilla Suduri. Boba isn't pleased about any of this.

Day one on the ship and Boba is reunited with the youth brigade cadets he'd met years ago when he tried killing Windu. Boba thought they'd hate him but Jax said he always knew Boba was one of them. They're how he properly meets Cal. Since their squad is around the padawan's age (Cal is 15½ and Kix fixed the aging for the clones right after the war because Nala Se works hard but Kix works harder) and became friends with him shortly after being adopted into Iron Battalion.

Cal has noticed Boba from the moment they stepped on the ship and is absolutely delighted when Jax introduces them. At first he's nervous and his awkward new height (thanks random growth spurts) isn't helping but that doesn't seem to matter because Boba thinks he's funny. His struggle with adjusting to his new tallness and gangly limbs makes Boba laugh because he's never met an awkward Jedi before. Cal is practically walking on clouds by the end of their little hang out. They go on like this the entire week it takes to get to Tatooine and everyone is starting to take notice how the two seek each other out.

They land at Mos Pelgo (in the process of getting renamed Freetown) but like shits already hit the fan sideways before they even got there. Hett is there with his tribe as planned but Boba's punishment will have to be delayed as they try to figure out this krayt dragon problem both the Tuskens and the townspeople are having. This is where Junior Deputy Cobb Vanth (17) meets Boba. Oh how the plot thickens.

It's basically the plot of Mando S2E1 but with more high schooler drama and teen love triangle that isn't actually a love triangle because Cal and Cobb both have feelings for Boba but he only has feelings for Cal so really it's a love V.

[kimageddon]

A Prince of Dathomir - Chapter 83

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Chapter Summary: Zaiya encounters a 'defective' clone. Notes: at the end!

Radical - Part 1

It had been so quiet without the antics of Alpha Company to keep her entertained. It seemed after the successful defence of Kamino, the Jedi and Kaminoans wholly agreed to Zaiya’s programs and the Alpha clones being deployed as specialist units to lead other teams in the GAR. 

Moreover, after her little chat with Rex and Cody, word had quickly spread that she was the big sister of the entire army. She was sure that was just an exaggeration on Jax’s part but she could not say she hated the name. 

The aftermath of the battle had left Kamino scarred and scorched. Some of the damage was still being repaired. There had been a big debrief and she’d been reprimanded for killing the general, however it was a slap on the wrist considering the warning she’d given on the attack itself. 

That too had been a sticking point. She’d been dragged into a meeting with Shaak Ti, Kenobi, Skywalker and the Jedi Council on a holo call to explain just how she had known about the attack. It was a question she’d been dreading but it was her fortune that the ways of the Nightsisters were not known to outsiders, and so they didn’t need to know that her foresight was not as common as she suggested it to be. Zaiya did admit to not knowing specifics, only that the sense of danger made her act. 

Perhaps they might think her as reckless but of all people it was Skywalker that had vouched for her to the others. Immediately she picked up that Skywalker didn’t have as high standing when it came to some of the council members, which she found very interesting. She would have to look up much more about the Jedi when she had the chance.

After this meeting they seemed to deem her not a threat to the Republic, much to her relief. Though she would have to try and keep her head down for the remainder of her time on Kamino… if that were possible for her of course.

For the rest of the galaxy, fighting had increased and she was now training ARC cadets and a separate class of Trooper that had seen combat and was now slated for the ARC program. It seemed there were more of them pending for the program every week. The strategies and lessons she and Jango had designed together were successful and now even revered. Funny what a few combat situations could do. 

She’d been getting the reports in to keep up to date with the most recent news and the current battle of great interest was the blockade of Crystophsis, though the information was spotty, being ‘big sister’ she had some perks. Getting information was one of them, and she found the chatter to be most interesting. The mention of a sith assassin had piqued her interest, especially the description, pale, tattoos, willowy frame. Even the name, Asajj Ventress, the latter similar to her own and the dossier on the woman made Zaiya shiver. If this woman was indeed a Nightsister, as Zaiya suspected, it meant things would become very difficult for the clones. Especially a Sith-trained one. It made her equally sickened to think - had Sidious chosen the other child - that could have been her. The idea of her striking down her own brothers… she dare not think of it. 

Instead she found herself incredibly intrigued by the report of a clone traitor, one that had rebelled against the Republic and had given away movements and plans to the enemy. Rex had been the one to tell her about it, saying how he and Cody had managed to trick and apprehend Sergeant Slick and take him into custody. By the time Zaiya had heard about it, Slick was already on his way back to Kamino for decommission. 

It didn’t feel right. 

Why had Slick turned on his brothers? Rex had only been vague, so she was determined to get to the bottom of it.

This felt important. The ship with the Sergeant on it was due to arrive in a few hours, she decided to get as much reading done on the reports filed, after a battle, the clone in question was caught after blowing up the weapons depot and several carrier ships. 

It had been Rex and Cody that had managed to catch him, they credited some of their ARC training as their reasoning for being able to anticipate the Sergeant’s movements. Some of the things said in the report were interesting, and once Crystophsis was clear, Slick had been on the first return ship to Kamino. There was too much there for her to ignore, so she decided to get to work, putting a little plan together of her own.

----

When Slick was dragged off the ship, Zaiya was waiting for him, beside her was one of the AZ droids and she escorted the traitor and the clones guarding him to one of the detention rooms. She hated this place, it was the coldest part of Tipoca City and one of the heaviest, the air itself felt thick, it was where clones were sent to be destroyed. Destroyed like they were objects, the whole thought  of it disgusted her. She had to move quickly however, lest one of the Kaminoans decided to interfere. 

The clone Sergeant sat opposite her and she dismissed everyone, ensuring there were no others to witness or record the conversation. 

“I need to know something Sergeant,” she began, his dark eyes looked back at her with contempt. 

“You want to know why?” he sneered. 

“Yes,” she replied simply, “I read the reports, but I want to hear it from you,”

“So you can call me deficient too? I’ve had enough of it, just get this over with,” he turned away. He projected anger and defiance, but she could feel that beyond it, beyond all of it… he was scared. She could not say she blamed him. 

“If having an opinion makes one deficient then we all are,” she replied calmly, “I know you will have mixed feelings about this, your brothers were hurt… but that’s not why you did it, is it? You’re not some heartless traitor, that doesn’t care for your brothers--”

“No!” he spun in his chair to face her, “I love my brothers, they just don’t understand!”

“No of course not, how could they?” she agreed, goading him to keep going. 

“No, they - they have been brainwashed to fight -- it’s not even our war!” he retorted, getting caught up now and opening up a little. “The Jedi commissioned us, sent us to fight, they keep me and my brothers enslaved! The worst part is, my brothers don’t see it! They don’t see how we are just sent to our deaths! Loyal to a Republic that thinks of us as objects rather than flesh and blood!” Zaiya was stunned, hearing her own thoughts straight from a clone trooper’s mouth. 

“Then you didn’t care for the credits,” she urged and Slick scoffed.

“I only needed enough to start a life outside of the army, to get out from under the heel of the Republic… but it was the Freedom I wanted! The sooner the war is over, the less of my brothers die and the sooner we have a chance to be free!” His fist slammed into the durasteel table and the Nightsister stared at him. She hadn’t fully made up her mind before this moment, but now she had spoken to him, she understood. 

“What would you do with it?” she asked, lacing her gloved fingers together on the table in front of her. Her usual all-black attire made her rather imposing, though that was its purpose. Slick looked back at her a little confused. 

“What?” 

“Your freedom. If you were not a soldier, what would you do?” 

“I… I would want to work for myself, be able to choose what I do, whether I served someone or not, it would be my choice who I was loyal to… and… and maybe I would have the chance to have a real life, a family of my own…” he trailed off and his carob coloured eyes shifted to the table between them, there was a wistful sorrow in his voice. “But it doesn’t matter, does it? I’m never going to get that chance and I am not going to be free…” 

“Never say never, soldier,” she told him and raised her comm to speak into it, “AZI, did you complete the task I assigned you?” she asked. 

[Yes, Lieutenant-General, the decommission report is complete.] 

“And the armour?” 

[I have it in the adjoining room,] the droid replied, she may have tampered with the droid’s functions just a little to make it more compliant. Zaiya stood and looked Slick over who sat there astonished. They'd stripped him of his rank and armour, and he would attract attention in just his body glove. Slick stared at her in confusion.

“What’s going on?” he asked. Zaiya faced him as she stood.

“Do you want your chance at freedom?” she asked him in a serious tone. 

“What…?” he seemed to be in disbelief but she didn’t have time for him to catch up. 

“Yes or no, soldier, what will it be?” she urged.

“Ye-yes of course, yes I want freedom,”

“Then I will need you to do everything I tell you without question going forward,” she told him and gestured for him to stand. He was understandably wary but seemed more compliant once she unlocked his binders. “Come on,” she urged, “we don’t have much time.” Slick nodded, his expression baffled but he followed her to the next room where the armour awaited. “Put it on, quickly.” The Nightsister returned to her comm, “is the leave form submitted AZI?” she asked.

[Yes, mistress,] the droid affirmed.

“Backdated?”

[To one month ago, as requested, Lieutenant-General,] it replied. 

“Good,” she nodded. 

A few minutes later, Slick was ready and she gave him a quick once over before informing him to stay close. 

“You’re my personal escort to my ship, I need you to act natural until we get there, can you do that soldier?” she asked.

“Why are you doing this?” he blurted, “everyone says I’m a traitor… I sent intel to the seppies… so-- why?” He spoke so emotionally she could not help but answer. 

“Because, Slick, you are right,” she said gently, looking into his visor. There was an understanding that seemed to pass through him and he saluted.

“After you, Ver’alor.” 

“Oh you heard that name, did you?” she chuckled as she left the room, Slick a step behind. 

“I heard some of the ARCs and commanders mention it, I don’t think I understood why, until now.” There was a warmth in his voice that was not there previously. 

“I hope I am worthy of it someday,” she replied with a smirk, leading him back down the corridor.

To anyone watching, it was just another clone. According to the records, Slick had been successfully decommissioned ten minutes ago. Still, they were not free yet, she still had to make it out to the hangar. 

There were soldiers everywhere, an inspection of some kind. Usually these events did not affect her. It would be troublesome if she were stopped though, and the ones conducting the audit wanted Slick’s details, it would not be easy to simply lie if they were doing head counts. She had to hope that they just ignored her for now because of her rank. As much as she detested the fact Slick’s actions caused the death of his brothers, she had to remember, the war would have killed them either way. 

“Trooper! Stop there!” It was a voice she didn’t recognise, likely one of the inspection team. Zaiya kept her eyes forward and trusted Slick to do as he promised and follow her lead. “Trooper!” called the voice again when they didn’t stop. It was only once the inspection officer caught up to them and blocked their path that she had to halt. 

“Is there a problem?” Zaiya asked in her most irritated tone. The Officer -- a ‘nattie’ as Alpha referred to them -- in an administrator’s uniform - almost jumped, having only just realised she was there… apparently he had just focused on Slick and been blind to her presence. 

“I am required to catalogue this Trooper, I need to take down his rank and--”

“I don’t care,” she snapped back. “This trooper is busy.”

“It will only take five minut--” 

“I do not have five minutes, officer, now step aside before I have to move you myself.” Zaiya was about the same height as the male but with her commanding aura she somehow seemed to loom over him. 

“I happen to be one of the Republic’s finest officers! Hand-picked for this--” 

“You’re going to be the Republic’s finest wall ornament if you don’t step aside in the next five seconds,” she threatened. The pompous idiot seemed to have picked up finally, that he had made an error and started to deflate. 

“You-- do you know who I am!?” he began but it didn’t have the same bravado behind it. Zaiya leaned in close to the mor’orn and smiled. An icy threatening smile.

“Do you know who I am?” she snarled and he got the point, sheepishly stepping back, she flicked a look to Slick. “Come on, Trooper.”

“Yes Lieutenant-General,” Slick replied sharply and she noticed the Officer stiffen out of the corner of her eye. 

She waited til they were out of earshot before speaking. 

“Nice touch,” she smirked.

“Was rather satisfying, wasn’t it?” he snickered. Luckily they had no further interruptions as she made her way to the small ship she had been assigned. Thanks to the efforts of the appropriated droid, her trip would not seem unusual were anyone to check on the records. 

They embarked and Zaiya quickly set about running the checks and took off once permission was granted. It was not until they had cleared the planet and hit the hyperspace lane that the two relaxed. 

“I can’t believe it…” Slick whispered, finally taking his helmet off. “I-I’m alive…!” 

“It’s up to you to keep it that way, from here on out,” she told him and leaned back in her seat for a moment. She let herself breathe a sigh of relief before forcing herself up again. “You’ll need a few more things before we get to Ord Mantell,” she explained and led him to the small spot in the back where he would be able to change. On one of the tables was a pile of fabric. 

“You’ll need to get rid of anything that can be recognised as belonging to the Republic,” she began and gestured to the pile. She didn’t have much, but there was at least a poncho, and spare clothing Jango had not taken with him that she’d managed to procure. “Once we arrive, we can get you some armour and weapons and everything else you’ll need, I have an associate meeting us there,” she nodded and turned away to give him privacy but he stopped her. 

“What happens once we get there?” he asked, Zaiya paused, the man was understandably nervous, but she didn’t want to overwhelm him. 

“Get dressed, it’ll be more comfortable than the armour, and we can discuss everything then,” she assured him and petted his pauldron. He glanced at her hand as she withdrew it. 

The Nightsister left him to get dressed and organise his thoughts… up until half an hour ago he likely thought he was going to be decommissioned. They used such a soft sounding word. They planned on executing him. Just outright killing him. She ran a gloved hand over her face. What was she doing? She was putting her mission in danger to save a clone slated for eradication. 

She shouldn’t do this. 

She couldn’t… she had to think of her own tasks and focus. She couldn’t save them. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't save all of these men from death. But she could save this one. Did it matter? The other clones wouldn’t know, it didn’t change their mindset, it didn’t fix the problem. Her gaze returned to the rushing blue streaks of hyperspace. 

Perhaps she didn’t need to, perhaps just one would be enough for now. She was roused from her internal debate eventually as she heard footsteps approach. Slick, now in casual wear and a poncho slid into the copilot seat. She turned to look at him, her elbow resting on her propped up knee. 

“So…” he started.

“So,” she nodded, giving him the time to ask questions. 

“You said I was right, what did you mean?”

“What you said about the Jedi enslaving your brothers. I agree with you, when your choices are to serve or die… how is that freedom?” she said and his eyes widened, as though she was the only one to listen to him in the last few days. 

“What happens to me now?” 

“As I said, we will stop at Ord Mantell, I have an associate that has agreed to help you work, get your own credits to give you a decent start. We will have new documents made, and you will have a new name. Keep the nickname of course, but this is your best chance at a life.”

“Why are you doing this for me?”

“Because you have seen the light, as it were, you can see the truth beyond what you were brainwashed to believe… and… you’re family.” She rested her chin on her hand. 

“So what they say about you being a sister to us…?”

“More of a cousin,” she shrugged and Slick cocked his head, confused, “Jango was a close friend of my father. He is family, and so are you.” He seemed stunned and she just shrugged, perhaps it was her own lack of familial bonding, or that she saw the Nightbrothers in these clones, or even her own time on Zygerria had changed her outlook. Maybe it was all of that. She didn’t delude herself into thinking she felt she needed to stand up for injustice… She knew she was selfish. She would not deny it, even to herself. 

“So your associate…?

“A bounty hunter, Mandalorian,” she nodded, “if you do well, he can help you get more jobs, once you have done one or two, then you can either keep going, or find work elsewhere, you have a choice now, you don’t have to fight if you don’t want to.” Slick leaned back in his chair… a laugh forced its way out of him and he devolved into relieved laughter, holding his head. She remained quiet, it would be a big change for him, and take some time to get used to. She didn’t know if he would be able to access the credits the Separatists had given him so she’d had to think of something. In the meantime, she let him process, waiting for him to calm down on his own time.

Notes:

Hello! There was one of you that guessed Slick and ding ding ding! You were correct! Very clever! On one of my rewatches I was contemplating how Slick was treated and while he did wrong… well I thought Zaiya would be the nosey type in this situation.

As always I loooove the comments, the feedback, it gives me life to read them every week! Thank you so much! I had a suggestion recently to split this into another part, is that something you guys would be interested in? Or would you prefer it to be all in one place like it is now?

My crime/modern AU fic (Sins of the Father) is also out and I am going to release another chapter later this week! It's the same characters from APOD because I just love writing Zaiya. So if you like Zaiya, then you can read more of her over there!

Next week we meet up with Adaji and we have some Adaji POV! Zaiya delivers a heartfelt confession and gets a call for help! Be sure to come back for that! Hope you are all safe and well! <3

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Taglist: (I am not sure why tumblr won't let me tag some of you, if you have an idea why, please lmk!)

@two-black-leviathans @fallenrepublick @eyecandyeoz @ashotofspotchka @sitherin-mxschief @littlepossss @octupus-on-the-moon @justalittletomato @nxctuaryninetythree @mach-opress @mustluvecho @nahoney22 @leotatombs @eloquentmoon @the-chains-are-the-easy-part @maulslittlemeowmeow @misogirl828 @alwayssnivellus @lifeless-being @lune-de-miel-au-paradis @bacarasbabe @morganlefaye13

[blackkatmagic]

when the dead tree flowers update

Chapter 35 is now up!

[flashthescalesian-art]

ALSO ONE OF THE CLONE PRISONERS FREAKIN LOOKED LIKE MY BOY COMMANDER JAX MINUS HIS SCARS AND I AM SCREAMING.

If y’all remember how I usually draw Jax’s hair, you might know which clone prisoner I’m talking about. Don’t have a screenshot of him otherwise I’d just show you.

[agoddamn]

CLONE BABIES :D... :(

These kids are kinda...pale?

Clone culture notes: the kids all have names and ask for one another's name; Whip, Lucky, Jax. Most have different haircuts and there's at least one blonde in the crowd. These kids look ten-ish (that is, five), which means they were corked before the Jedi found them. Seems like Kamino doesn't cull for hair color (and I didn't mention it at the time, but in the Slick episode someone's got gray eyes)

This instructor is also a clone and...has a comb-over. Jango's male pattern baldness genes are strong, huh...

There's also Very Obviously Boba Fett. Inclusive!

At least by this point, it's apparently standard for clone cadets to take field trips

Windu's boat: Endurance. Windu's admiral: Scottish; Kilian

One of the kids audibly says "oh my god!" on seeing Anakin. The greatest plot twist continues to be that Star Wars Swears are not in Star Wars

Anakin and Mace mutually razz one another, cute

WHAT is with this gunner wearing a...buoy? on his chest

In spite of the fact that a few kids were trying to bully Boba, the whole group gets excited and cheers for him when he makes the shots

First person I can think of to address a clone by number (a clone who definitely has a name, that is) is...this clone cadet instructor. Huh. Interesting. And this dude has a name himself--Sergeant Crasher.

"This was no accident" NO FUCKING SHIT, ANAKIN

Wilhelm ✅

Kilian was a bit abrasive during live fire training, but he tries to keep the cadets calm by telling them to go to the escape pods as a "drill"--immediately after nearly being blown into space, too. Cool as a cucumber, this guy

I have no idea why he's so determined to go down with the ship, though. Maybe a full evacuation wasn't possible and there's still a fair amount of people onboard? At least one clone said he was staying with the Admiral to try and land it; I can only assume they're doing so for a greater reason than cussedness

Boba, sorry, but did you just make a point of stunning a guy instead of killing him...and then leaving him at ground zero of an explosion??

Just, it's so weird that this show can say "kill" but otherwise acts like a G-rated cartoon where you're supposed to politely ignore the idea of any casualties from cool explosions

Aurra: "What do you think I'm going to have to do with them?" Boba: "Let them go?" Kid you are BIZARRELY naive for someone who just got "dew it"'d into nuking thousands of people

HE ALSO GETS "DEW IT"'D INTO LEAVING THE KIDS TO DIE GDJFKG

Kid you got. No willpower. I know you're like ten, but geez

OH, this is something I've actually been wondering about--nicknames. Seems like it is appropriate for clones to casually modify one another's names; "Whip" is short for "Whiplash"

[youngcheesecaketale]

Happy Thanksgiving EVERYONE! Since today is Thanksgiving, I’m going to write a Clone Wars Thanksgiving Story TODAY then tomorrow, I will HOPEFULLY finish Clonetober #21 Clones and Their Jedi(s) 3/10 part 4 of Cody and Obi Wan’s Wedding. In this Story, Cody and Obi Wan have a house but are not married yet. They are going to have a BIG Thanksgiving Dinner at the NEW House with their Friends and Family. I’m going to give you an idea of their House.

Cody and Obi Wan’s house is 4 floors (main, 2 upstairs, and basement), a BIG DINING AREA (great for Friends and Family over for the Holidays), a small dining area (perfect for the 2 of them), 5 ½  bathrooms, 6 bedrooms, a BIG MASTER BEDROOM for Cody and Obi Wan, a BIG KITCHEN, room for Obi Wan could relax (has a small indoor water fountain, a yoga mat for him to meditate, and flute music playing), a room for Cody Exercise Room, a BIG living room with reclining chairs and BIG FLAT SCREEN TV with a fireplace, and hidden library room just for Obi Wan. They also have a toy room so whenever Omega or any of their Friends and Family come stay over, they would have a room for the kids to play in.

 I also forgot to mention that they have 2 Loth-Cats and a cat tower for them to play on. One of them is white and the other one dark yellow. They are BOTH Obi Wan’s pets. The white one is named “Snow” (a boy) and the dark yellow one is named “Butterscotch” (also a boy) Cody has a Massiff who actually gets along with the Loth-Cats. He’s name is “Hero” because he actually rescued “Snow” and “Butterscotch” from the freezing cold winter. They were just 5 days old when he saw them in a small box in the alley. Cody brought them home to Obi Wan as a SURPRISE GIFT. The Loth-Cats are now 5 weeks old. Hero makes sure that they are safe and happy.

Cody and Obi Wan’s BIG MASTER BEDROOM has a King Size bed, a TV on top of a Fireplace, 2 nightstands on each side of the bed, a small table and chair in the corner, HUGE walking in Closet, two sinks, a shower, Jacuzzi Tub (perfect when Obi Wan is stressed), a toilet (the main thing you need in a bathroom), and big mirrors in front of the sinks.

Now that I told you about their BIG MASTER BEDROOM, I’m now going to tell you about their BIG KITCHEN. In their BIG KITCHEN they have a BIG GAS STOVE (the kind of one you would see on the TV Show “Chopped” which is good for when you are cooking for more than 2 people), 2 BIG DOUBLE OVENS, a BIG FRIDGE and BIG FREEZER (they are not together. They are 2 separate FRIDGE and FREEZER but not a walkin FREEZER), BIG SINK, Island (if you are wondering what an Island is doing in the kitchen, it’s a TOTALLY different kind of one that you are thinking of. It’s a freestanding cabinet in the middle of the kitchen), lots of Kitchen cabinets, and a walk in pantry. Good thing that they have 2 BIG DOUBLE OVENS because they are cooking 2 BIG TURKEYS this year because of how many guests they are having over.

This is who they invited. Rex & Ahsoka, Anakin & Padmé and their kids Luke and Leia, Qui-Gon Jinn, Fives, Hardcase, Jesse & Kix (they are dating), Fox & Riyo (she is still pregnant), ARC Troopers Blitz, ARC Trooper Colt, ARC Trooper Havoc, 99, Hunter, Tech, Crosshair, Wrecker, Echo, Omega, and Master Yoda. They also invited Commander Scott (my Clone I made) and Jax (from The Clone Wars) and Me because I’m married to Jax. ( I wrote about it in one of my Clonetober Story #8 Cadets and their Secret Admirers) That is 27 + Cody and Obi Wan = 29 PEOPLE/ …..I don’t know what Yoda is but I do know that Riyo Chuchi is a “Pantora”. That’s A LOT of Guests! Good thing that Cody and Obi Wan have a BIG HOUSE to have it.

Cody and Obi Wan told their guest a few weeks ago, to bring something for their Thanksgiving Feast. Rex & Ahsoka are bringing mash potatoes with a gravy boat and yam souffle. Anakin & Padmé were going to bring Padmé FAMOUS Chocolate Custard Pie but Anakin forgot about what his Wife was going to make and forgot to go to the store and the items they needed to make the pie. Anakin thought that Padmé already went out shopping but she was in a Senate Meeting and didn’t come home until it was TOO LATE to get the things. The store was already closed when she came home. Anakin stopped at a store to get a vegetable tray before coming over to Cody and Obi Wan’s house. Qui-Gon Jinn is bringing cooked carrots. Fives and Hardcase were going to bring BEER but Cody told them NO because that last time they had a Thanksgiving Feast (it was at Rex & Ahsoka’s house) they were so drunk that Hardcase somehow had his HEAD in the turkey before Rex was preparing it to be cooked. Cody told them that they can bring Sparkling Cider that is alcohol-free. Jesse & Kix brought 3 pies. One Chocolate, one pumpkin, and an apple pie. They also bought whip cream and Vanilla Bean Ice Cream with the pies. Fox and Riyo brought Riyo’s Grandma’s FAMOUS Stuffing. ARC Trooper Blitz, Colt, and Havoc brought a Green Bean Casserole and also 99 because it wouldn't be a party without him. 99 brought over some flowers because he didn’t know how to bake but he wanted to bring something. Cody told Hunter, Tech, Crosshair, Wrecker, Echo, and Omega to bring whatever they wanted to bring. Obi Wan told Master Yoda the same thing as Cody told others.

On Thanksgiving Day, Obi Wan and Cody were up early to make sure that everything was ready for their Guests. Obi Wan was worried that he had forgotten anything before they came over. Cody told him that everything was going to be OK as he kissed Obi Wan. After they kissed, they heard the doorbell ring. They were shocked. It was 4pm. Their guests were supposed to come until 6pm. When Obi Wan went to the door wearing an apron, he saw that it was Anakin & Padmé with Luke and Leia. Anakin KNEW that Cody and Obi Wan had a playroom so…..he could get some rest. Obi Wan wished that he would have called on the Hologram before having him come over early. Padmé helped Cody and Obi Wan while Anakin….he went into the rooms to take a nap in. A few minutes later, Hunter & his Brothers and Omega, came to help which…..THEY DID call on Hologram before coming. Now when I said that they could bring something, this is what they brought. Hunter brought a cooked turkey because he KNOWS how much WRECKER could eat. Cody and Obi Wan were glad that he did. Tech brought Fresh Rolls that he made just ACTUALLY what the recipe called for. Tech likes things to be PERFECT. Crosshair brought over a can of cranberry sauce. Wrecker brought over ice cream. Echo brought over a video camera to film. Omega brought over her LULA DOLL. Hunter told her that she can go play with Luke and Leia while they were helping Cody and Obi Wan.

As the other guests were coming, Cody asked Hunter, Tech, and Crosshair if they could help him keep an EYE on Fives, Hardcase, Anakin, and Wrecker to make sure they don’t get in trouble. They agreed and started finishing up helping Cody and Obi Wan. The only guest missing was Master Yoda. Obi Wan was worried if he got lost but a few minutes before it was time to eat, Master Yoda was finally here! This is what he brought. It was his FAVORITE meal. “Rootleaf Stew”. Yep. Obi Wan and Cody told him thank you and tried to hide it and make sure it looked like that everyone liked it. Cody did have 4 bowls of it for Fives, Hardcase, Anakin, and Wrecker. Let’s just say….it was payback from what they did at Rex and Ahsoka place last Thanksgiving. 

Once everyone was done eating and recorded THOSE 4 eating the stew, Cody and Obi Wan a few inflatable mattresses in the other rooms so everyone could rest from their “FOOD COMA” before heading back home. Cody and Obi Wan were so thankful for having good Friends and Family to celebrate this wonderful year. 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!

[thenerdycarat]

Theory Time

I might make this a series, but I’m not sure yet.

Anyway, I want to know what you think happened to the clone cadets from Star Wars: the Clone Wars. Specifically, I mean Jax, Hotshot, Whiplash, and all of the other ones from the latter part of Season 2. Knowing that clones grow twice as fast as the average human, did the cadets grow up to be part of executing Order 66 in Revenge of the Sith and then become Stormtroopers, or what?

I’d like to know your thoughts.