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teletraan-meets-jarvis · 2 years

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Pieces - Chapter 5

Chapter 5

AO3 Link

Pairing: Commander Wolffe/OC Issa Straun

Warnings: Swearing, drinking.

Word Count - 9.2k

A/N: ALRIGHT NERDS! I'M BACK HAHAHAHA.

After what feels like the world's longest hiatus, my personal life is back on track and this fic is ticking over once again. To apologise for my absence may I present a 9k chapter that I spent far too long agonising over. Biggest of thank yous to @wild-karrde - Karrde my friend, you are the reason this fic continues to live, thank you for all your help, advice, and for battling through my lack of commas <3, one day I will learn 😁.

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Steam clouded Issa’s lenses as she wrapped her thin hands around the mug of tea before her, lifting the red liquid to her lips. The Jedi took a sip and gave a content sigh as the warm drink did its work of fighting off the cool from the ship’s air supply.

It was her first moment of peace in little over a month she realised. The fighting on Antar 4 had been relentless, and the only reason for the battalion’s sudden respite was the fact that their initial campaign had been a success. They’d managed to push the Separatists out of the main city, and established a secure perimeter to keep them out, which gave Antar 4’s elected government the chance to begin their defence efforts against the local terrorists. There were a few moments where things had been tight and times when casualties had been higher than anticipated, but overall, their success had been noted by the Jedi Council and higher ups in the GAR.

That recognition is what led them to this point, being aboard the Triumphant and heading back to Coruscant. It seemed now that the 104th had proven themselves, Issa, her master and the battalion were being reassigned to a more pressing fight in the war.

This morning they’d welcomed the 182nd Legion and their general, Master Kolar. They spent a few hours bringing them up to speed on their surroundings before beginning the process of packing up and shipping out. It’d been a long day, but the troops were looking forward to sleeping in their own bunks again on the Venator.

As was she.

Fighting on the frontlines of a war was something Issa had truly had to experience in order to gain some semblance of understanding of what it would be like. Words and stories didn’t hold a candle to the real thing. It’d been grinding, dirty, and exhausting to the bone. The fear and uncertainty she felt each time she got a chance to close her eyes pushed rest and ease far from her mind.

It had been an odd feeling, not being able to slow her mind for such an extended period of time. Everything had felt thrown together and reactive, no matter how long they’d spent hunched over a holotable, strategising into the early hours of the morning. The Pantoran also didn't remember a time when she’d been among other people’s company for so long, having spent years in the calm and steady presence of only Master Plo on their extended research missions. She’d always found solace on her own, in her own safe spaces where she could unwind. But out there, she’d had no escape, especially with every sense being pushed to the extremes. It’d been overwhelming to say the least.

But, in spite of it all, she and a majority of their men survived.

We’re still here.

Since they’d returned to the Triumphant, Plo had given her the green light to retreat to her quarters to take stock of herself and what they’d all been through together the past month, while still fulfilling her new command duties but from a distance. It’d been a couple of days since she’d seen anyone really, but it had helped, so she was thankful for her Master’s understanding as always.

Having gotten used to sleeping for short bursts while on the frontlines, Issa was struggling to readjust back to a normal sleeping pattern. She’d spent a good hour that night tossing and turning in her bunk before giving up and hunkering down in the mess hall with a cup of tea and a few datapads.

Might as well use the time to get some new scenery and do some work.

As another smooth sip of tea warmed her throat, it hit Issa that it’d been nearly a year since the last time she’d had this particular blend, and for a moment she was transported back in time. She was back in Obi-Wan’s quarters at the temple with him and one of her closest friends, Anakin. The Jedi Master was a connoisseur of teas from around the galaxy, always trying to stop off and pick up different recipes while away on missions. He’d been particularly excited about the one he’d finally managed to source from a small village on Karlinus. The three of them sat in his sparse room while the steam of freshly boiled water drifted through the small space, quietly chatting and joking amongst themselves. She remembered Anakin’s face behind his Master’s back as he grimaced at the drink’s sweet taste, sticking his tongue out dramatically in a way he knew would have Issa chuckling. He'd always been one who sought out the more bitter flavours in life, like the ten cups of caf he drank each day.

With a knowing smile as he turned back around to the pair, Obi-Wan shook his head as he caught the way Anakin tried to hide his reaction from him. “I feel as though your palate might be a lost cause, my Padawan.”

The Pantoran smiled, shaking her head in amusement at the memory of Anakin’s failed antics. Issa couldn’t believe that the young Jedi she’d spent half her life training alongside had recently been promoted to the rank of Knight, making history as one of the youngest in the Order aged just nineteen. She was truly proud of her friend. It seemed he was truly destined for greatness, and Issa could think of no one more deserving. I’ll have to congratulate Obi-Wan on finally being free of his Padawan too.

As the feeling of nostalgia settled in warmly within her chest, Issa placed down her cup and grabbed her abandoned stylus so she could continue her notes on Antar 4. She’d been studying a battle plan when the door to the mess swished open. Issa noticed someone paused in the doorway for a moment before entering the room with a huff. “What are you doing up?” the new entrant questioned.

“Hello to you too, Wolffe,” Issa replied, not lifting her eyes from the work before her. “I’m going over those strategies we drew up with Book and Master Plo. I want to make sure I know them inside and out for the briefing on Coruscant.”

“Well you’re not going to be of any use to us half dead on your feet. You should get some sleep.”

“Could say the same to you, Commander. What are you doing up?”

Wolffe just grunted at her before making his way over to the caf machine and pouring himself a strong cup. Still maintaining his silence, he leaned back against the counter and stared down into the dark liquid before him. Issa chanced a moment to look her commander over. He was clad in his black body glove he usually wore under his armour, and his eyes were heavy with the beginnings of dark circles blooming beneath them. Her eyes traced up to his hair, which was slightly mussed, and his frown was even more downturned than usual, which was really saying something.

Wolffe had something on his mind, that much was obvious. Though it was also kyber clear that he didn’t come in here to talk. In fact, he was surprised to have seen her, which meant he’d likely been looking for some solitude.

Do I check on him anyway? Issa asked herself. She knew she would likely be met with a biting response demanding she mind her own business, but as her eyes flitted over to Wolffe once more, his sombre expression gave her the final push of concern she needed.

“Do you want to talk about it?” she offered quietly, averting her eyes so that they remained firmly on the datapads before her so as to not put him off with any unwanted attention. Issa and Wolffe weren’t exactly close. The clone commander was rather rough around the edges, and they were still finding their feet with whatever working relationship they were forging, which added a nice layer of uncertainty to many interactions between them.

“No,” Wolffe grumbled. Though he didn’t say anything else, which was more positive than Issa was expecting.

“Okay.”

Maker, this is awkward.

With a small nod, Issa pushed her frames higher up her nose and returned to her work while Wolffe began sipping at his hot caf. A good few minutes went by, and they settled into a rocky silence while Issa lost herself in strategies and plans. She became so engrossed in the data before her that when Wolffe spoke, she nearly jumped out of her skin.

“We lost some good men in that last battle.” Wolffe’s voice wasn’t loud. In fact, it could probably be called a whisper, but that didn’t stop it from feeling like he’d shouted into the quiet room.

Issa knew her eyes had widened in shock, confused and relieved that Wolffe was actually talking about what was bothering him. She peered up at him through her lenses and settled the datapads away from her, giving the commander her full attention. “We did. Wrexler, Vick, Kip, Dino and Zander were all great guys.”

Now it was Wolffe’s turn to look shocked. “You remember all their names?”

“Of course. Master Plo and I said we’d learn everyone’s names that first day we all met. We don’t say things we don’t mean. You’re people Wolffe, not droids. The lives we lose aren’t so easily swept away for us either you know.” Wolffe grunted again and fell silent, staring back into the mug in his hand as if it held the answers to whatever questions he was torturing himself with.

Feeling brave and maybe stupid, Issa took a steadying breath before choosing her next words carefully. “Do you… blame yourself?”

Wolffe’s eyes shot up to meet hers, his amber irises burning with something she couldn’t pinpoint, making Issa swallow. Shit, okay too far. Feeling her face flush with embarrassment, she held her hands up in an apologetic manner. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to overstep.” Great, that’ll set us back nicely. Smooth Straun.

As Issa mentally kicked herself, she noticed that something in her reaction to his heated gaze had caused Wolffe’s frustration at her to cool. His glare softened, and he averted his eyes to stare at the wall to his side as if it was suddenly the most interesting thing in the galaxy while bouncing his leg ever so slightly.

“Yes,” he eventually replied, biting the word out as if it went against everything in him to utter it. It took Issa a moment to realise he was responding to her question. So he does blame himself. Wolffe continued. “I’m their Commander, my choices lead to their deaths. I’m the person who's supposed to protect them.”

“That’s not your job alone, Wolffe. If that’s your logic, Plo and I are equally as to blame as you.”

“It’s different.”

“How so?” she asked. Her question wasn’t fuelled by impatience or frustration at Wolffe’s mindset but by genuine curiosity. Issa wanted to understand exactly the reason why he was putting this responsibility solely on his shoulders.

“Because you’re not one of us,” he snapped, eyes burning brightly once more. His harsh tone appeared to be an accident as a sliver of regret slipped onto his features while he flexed his jaw.

Issa gave him a soft smile. “It’s okay, I know what you mean. You don’t have to explain yourself. I'm not offended.” Every soldier lost is another member of his family gone, another face identical to his that was taken too soon. “It’s personal for you, I understand.”

Wolffe scoffed and lifted a hand to rub at his jawline, his fingers scraping across the rough, growing stubble there. “I don’t need a lecture on the losses of war, just so you know.”

Issa’s smile grew. “I wasn’t planning on one. I was just going to say that should you ever want to share that burden, Master Plo and I are carrying it as well, maybe in a different way, but we are. We’re here to support you, Wolffe, as much as you are us.” He didn’t have a reply to that, but Issa was happy that she’d been heard. She chanced a look down at the chrono on one of the datapads and realised it was very early in the morning.

“Hey, since we’re both up, fancy a spar? Might help tire you out.”

Wolffe took another sip of his drink with a raised eyebrow. “A spar?”

“What? Don’t think you can handle a Jedi?” Issa teased, which earned her one of Wolffe’s signature eye rolls, slow and exaggerated, and she couldn’t help but chuckle softly at his dramatics.

“Fine. But I'm not explaining to the general why his padawan’s pride is in pieces tomorrow.”

“Understood.”

The pair made their way to the training room. The open space was cast in shadow until the sensors detected their presence and triggered the lights to roll on. In the centre of the hangar was a blue mat, which Issa stepped onto gently. The plastic covering was cool beneath her feet as she stretched her arms above her head, sighing as some of the bones in her back popped. Kriff, I’ve been sitting down for too long. Across from her, Wolffe shook his limbs out and rolled back and forth on the balls of his feet.

“What sort of spar did you have in mind?” he questioned as he pulled an arm behind his back, stretching the Republic cog in the middle of his shirt even further across his broad chest.

Issa shrugged. “You’re my military teacher. I thought you could decide.”

“Fine. Hand-to-hand it is. You know the rules?” Issa shook her head and he continued. “Mostly anything goes, though no career-ending hits, and if your opponent taps three times you let go and the match is over. Clear?”

“As transparisteel.” At her confirmation, Wolffe locked eyes with her and met her in the middle of the mat. The area they were fighting on was rather large; the hangar the mat sat in was designed to house multiple gunships, and the mat itself was almost the size of one. Issa took a steadying breath as she tracked the strong commander in front of her.

“Sure you wanna do this Straun?” Waves of confidence rolled off of the clone as he stepped closer.

“I’m not going to break.”

“Alright.” The word had barely left his lips before he darted forward with a swing of his right fist. Issa managed to duck just in time to miss Wolffe’s punch, but her confusion left her open, which Wolffe utilised by delivering a swift kick to her ribs, winding Issa and forcing her back a few paces.

For someone so bulky, I thought he’d move a hells of a lot slower than that. Unfortunately the universe wasn’t that kind. It seemed the commander had plenty of training on keeping his speed up in a fight. The Pantoran heaved a few ragged breaths before she willed her breathing back under control.

“Sure you want to carry on?” The question was genuine, but the slight upturn on the corner of his lips made Issa bristle.

“Only just getting started, Wolffe.”

They traded blows back and forth fairly evenly from then on, Issa decidedly not underestimating her commander any further. She might not have had military training, but the ways of the Force lended well to combat, and her years at the temple hadn’t all been studying and katas. She’d trained on how to fight without her weapon just as much as she had with it. It was just a skill she hadn’t had to call upon in a real world scenario in a while. As she analysed Wolffe’s movements and opportunities for attack, her training slowly came trickling back on how she could lean on the Force to make her movements more swift, her attacks hit harder, her defensive positions more fortified.

By the time they were bone-tired and sweaty from their fight, Issa had managed to get a few good hits in on the clone commander, including a kick to his cheek that left the skin bright red. Overall, Wolffe had bested her more times and was the clear winner of the fight, but it was progress, both in her training to become a better commander and also in her relationship with Wolffe. This had been the longest the two of them had been left unsupervised, and they were both still talking to each other, which Issa felt was a great victory.

“Not bad, Straun, though you’re thinking too much. I can tell you were holding back at times. You don’t trust yourself. You’ve got to get more comfortable with your abilities if you want to throw your all into a fight.”

“Right.”

“We’ll try again when we stop off on Coruscant, bring a few of the men in so I can point some things out to you.”

“Sounds good. Thanks, Wolffe.” The commander nodded at her and the room descended into silence until an almighty yawn tore its way through Issa before she could stop herself. She met Wolffe’s gaze, a look of exasperated confusion conveyed through his raised eyebrow as she gave a sheepish chuckle.

He huffed at her with a shake of his head. “Let’s go back to the barracks.”

The pair of them walked in silence through the halls of the Triumphant, passing the odd pair of patrols on their way who always stopped to salute their two commanders. Finally they arrived at their neighbouring rooms and bid each other goodnight before Issa collapsed onto her bunk and drifted immediately off to a dreamless sleep.

—

The next day the 104th arrived on Coruscant. Issa, Plo, Wolffe and Admiral Coburn had been holed up in a meeting room for an in-person debrief of the situation on Antar 4. They’d spent hours divulging everything including their findings on the enemy, loss ratios and any future battle plans they had drawn up which could be passed onto the 182nd, who would be taking over the protection of the Republic-aligned moon.

It’d been a long day, but Issa felt confident that she’d been able to contribute to the meeting where appropriate rather than just listening and learning. They’d also been told that they’d be heading to the Outer Rim to Scariff. Apparently the Separatists were planning to build a factory on the planet and were shipping in large portions of materials for the development. The 104th’s job would be to disrupt the delivery of the materials and take out as many of the enemy forces as they could.

Since landing on Antar 4, it felt as though everything had been non-stop for the battalion. They’d barely had a moment's respite in the month they’d been fighting, and it was starting to show among the troops. Thankfully, Plo had convinced the council to extend their layover in the Republic’s capital for an extra couple days, giving the full squad some well-earned downtime.

The news of their first night off had sent shockwaves of celebration through the ranks of the 104th, which warmed Issa’s heart. They’d fought hard in tough terrain and deserved the time to themselves to revel in their victory and remember the brothers they’d lost. What had sweetened the deal even more for the soldiers was that the Republic had created a bar dedicated to the clones right here on Coruscant where they could drink for free and enjoy their downtime in peace amongst their brothers.

The Wolfpack were truly overjoyed with the news of a night partying and had even kindly extended the invite to their two Jedi to join them. However, Plo and Issa decided that the troopers deserved a real night off, away from their natborn commanding officers, as Issa had learned they’d been called.

At the GAR headquarters, Issa was chatting pleasantly with Admiral Coburn as they exited the meeting room, the pair trailing behind Master Plo and Wolffe. The padawan watched as the two men in front of her talked amongst themselves. It was clear to see in Wolffe’s presence how he respected his general, and while Issa was on the road to earning that respect herself, it warmed her to know that Plo had the same effect on other people as he had on her. From her few conversations with Wolffe over the past couple months, Issa had been gaining snippets on Wolffe’s views and the weight of responsibility for his brother’s safety that he shouldered, and it was clear that his trust was rarely given out. Issa was glad he at least had someone of seniority who he could truly put his faith into beyond the respectful level of courtesy he automatically gave as clone commander.

Admiral Coburn cleared his throat politely, drawing the small group to a stop. “Padawan Straun, Master Plo, Commander Wolffe, I’m afraid I will have to bid you a farewell here. Please enjoy the rest of your shore leave and I look forward to our first mission together in a few days.”

“Thank you Admiral, we shall see you soon,” Plo replied, nodding in goodbye as the naval officer turned on his heel and down an adjacent hallway, his shiny black boots clacking on the metallic flooring as he walked away.

“Issa, I believe we should head back to the temple.”

“Yes of cour-'' Issa was cut off by her comm chirping, the light flashing up at her from her vambrace. Her forehead creased as she clicked the button on the device. “This is Commander Straun.”

“Sir, it’s Sinker. We were hoping you could come down to the barracks with Commander Wolffe after your meeting.”

“Do I dare ask why?”

“Probably best you didn’t.” Issa could practically hear Sinker’s smirk on the other end of the line, picturing his silver eyes sparkling in mischief, likely with Boost and TP hanging over his shoulders.

“Alright, we’re finished now so we’ll head down.”

“Well it appears you have other business,” Plo suggested fondly. “Enjoy your evening Commanders.”

Issa’s eyebrows knitted together. “I’ll be back at the temple after this, Master,” she assured.

The Kel Dor said nothing as he inclined his head at the both of them and began walking towards the exit, leaving Issa perplexed. She chanced a look at Wolffe to see if he could elaborate on what had just transpired. Unfortunately all she received was a restrained eye roll before he silently led the way to the turbo lift, leaving her to trail after him.

During the battalion’s stay on Coruscant, their troopers were given bunks at the Guard’s sleeping quarters. The lower levels beneath the HQ practically acted as a clone hotel; there were levels upon levels of rooms for any visiting soldiers to use alongside the resident red and white troopers.

As the lift skid to a halt, the pair stepped out and made their way to where the 104th were staying.

—-------

The slow and deliberate thump of footsteps sounded. Followed by the scrape of something metallic being dragged across the floor.

The man held his breath, hands clamped over his mouth to prevent any sounds from escaping him as the attackers' steps sounded ever closer.

Suddenly all noises came to a halt, and the man could do nothing but wait… Until–

“Booooook, come on it’s going to be morning by the time you put that ‘pad down, vod,” Boost whined as he clipped his now polished vambrace back into place.

The strategist locked his datapad reluctantly and sighed. His perfectly crafted world for his story in his mind had now officially been shattered at the interruption. Can’t get a minute's peace in this place. A heavy weight fell onto the mattress next to him, causing the clone to bounce slightly.

“Yeah Bookworm, we want some attention for a change,” Two-Pint teased, wrapping his arm around his brother’s shoulder and yanking him into his side for a crushing hug.

Book scowled as he fought the stronger man for his freedom, his copper hair ending up more than a little ruffled as he broke away with a half-hearted frown. “You know I hate it when you call me that.”

The heavy gunner grinned. “I do.”

“Come on short-ass, be nice,” Boost challenged with a mischievous smirk, which only widened at Two-Pint’s pout at his own nickname. Serves him right, Book thought smugly.

“Alright alright, reign it in you lot,” Wolffe chided as he made his presence known with a humoured Commander Straun standing at his side.

“Commanders! Perfect timing,” Sinker called out pleasantly as he pulled his gloves on.

With one last ruffle of Book’s hair, TP and Boost moved away to find their boots. The strategist carded a hand through his red curls to try and tame them while his Jedi Commander walked over to take TP’s spot at his side.

The Pantoran bumped his shoulder lightly with her own and gave him a small smile. “Whatcha reading?”

“Ah, it’s nothing, just a thriller novel.” He tried not to sound too deflated, but he couldn’t help it. He loved reading, but moments of jabs with his brothers served to remind him that he was a bit of an outlier in their group. He wasn’t crazy about weapons like TP and Cloud, or strong like Boost and Sinker. Instead he favoured learning and reading as his method of developing his skills as a soldier. Book knew his squad didn’t mean anything by their teasing; it was their way of showing that they cared, but even still, it did a good job of highlighting just how different he was sometimes.

Of course, the Jedi next to him was somehow able to figure all this out without him even having to utter a word. With a gentle look in her eyes behind her lenses, she placed a blue hand at his shoulder bell. “You know, as much as the ‘Pack love to wind you up, your interests are what make you you Book. Your brothers would never want you to change or be ashamed of them. I hope you know that.”

“Yeah… I know.” He gave a small smile of thanks. Because he did know. But it was nice to have the reminder every now and then he supposed.

Seemingly content that she’d eased his worries, the Jedi looked up at the rest of the group. Their previously battle-worn armour had been cleaned and polished, not the the point of shininess as each scrape and scuff ingrained in the plastoid was a sign of each battle survived, but clean enough to not be caked with the mud and blood of their last campaign.

“So Sinker, you called?” Issa questioned as she caught the sergeant’s eye.

“Yeah, we’re going out sir, and you’re coming with.”

Still sitting next to Book, Issa sighed. “Guys we went over this-”

“Yeah but we’ve decided to overrule you, so there you have it,” Boost explained, leaving no room for argument.

“We want you to come along, Commander. It’ll be fun. You’re one of us anyway. Your insides were christened with TP’s brew,” Cloud added with a soft smile.

Smirking, Issa replied. “Oh so there is a reward for suffering through that.”

The heavy gunner in question somehow managed to pout even harder, which given his intimidating exterior, only served to make the room chuckle. “Hey! Don’t you all come crying to me when you want a night to unwind.”

“We’re kidding ‘Pint.” Sinker huffed as he threw his arm around his shorter brother’s shoulders and pulled him into a loose headlock.

Eventually the Wolfpack stopped rough housing and were ready to paint the town red, as it were.

—---

79’s was a beacon of life. Neon boards decorated the walls while the sound of laughter and chatter wove through the notes of the heavy bass music reverberating through the venue. The dance floor was already packed, clones and natborns alike dancing their troubles away, connecting with new souls as their inhibitions faded and bodies moved to the beat. At the bar, a group of pilots were sharing a round of shots while a squad of commandos in their heavy duty armour took quiet sanctuary in a booth in the corner, flirting with the beings who’d captured their attention.

Issa couldn’t quite believe that the Republic was providing such a normal place for the troopers to unwind. I suppose it’s the least they can do. After all, they are heroes fighting for the civilians across the galaxy, protecting their way of life.

As the Wolfpack made their way towards an empty table, Issa noticed a few of the patrons whispering as they passed. While most of 79’s was full of plain white armour, she supposed a maroon, wolf-stylised commander and Pantoran Jedi were a bit of a giveaway as to which battalion they were. It seemed their success on Antar 4 had been passed through the other ranks.

Next to her, Boost nudged her with his elbow, smirking. “How’s it feel to be famous, Commander?”

“Famous is a bit of a stretch.” Issa rolled her eyes at the sergeant who chuckled next to her.

“I don’t think that’ll be our last big win, so you best start getting used to it.”

Once the group had settled in their spot, Issa had offered to get the troopers their first round of drinks, allowing them to relax for a moment while she navigated the sea of bodies to reach the bar. After finally clearing a space for herself to lean forwards, the Pantoran drummed her fingers on the neon surface as she waited to be served. She was minding her own business until the being next to her gave her a nudge, knocking the Jedi off balance. Frustrated at the person’s lack of awareness, she spun around to confront them. That was her plan at least, but unfortunately the person she came face to face to made her pause, her fiery words dying on her tongue.

“Quin? What are you doing here?” Issa breathed.

There he was, Quinlan Vos, Jedi Master and Shadow, back from his extended mission like he hadn’t just disappeared for a year without a word. It’d been a while, but it appeared his flare for the dramatic hadn’t changed.

“Issa! I was supposed to meet Aayla but she got stuck doing General things, so I stayed for the free booze and pleasant scenery. Fancy seeing you here.” His honesty and cheeky smile were so familiar that it nearly made her heart ache. It’d been too long since she’d last had a chance to spend time with her friend and despite all of his bravado, Issa had missed him dearly. He looked well, a few new scars littered his bare upper arms and his dreadlocks had grown, extending to his jawline, but he was in one piece. A weight the Pantoran didn’t know she had been carrying suddenly lightened, and she smiled fondly at the Kiffar’s antics.

“The drinks aren’t free for you, you know,” she chided.

“Ah but surely they’ll have to take pity on a poor religious figure like me. Remember young Padawan, Jedi can have no attachments, which means no material items, which means no credits to buy those items, which means free watered-down Corellian ale,” Vos explained while lifting his drink in the air in a ‘cheers’ motion before taking a satisfied sip.

“That’s not how that works, and you’re incorrigible.”

“Thank you,” Quin replied with a beaming smile of pride.

Without another word, Issa launched herself at the man, locking her arms tightly around his neck and catching him by surprise. “I’m glad you’re home safe.”

Issa felt it as Quinlan relaxed in her hold and wrapped his own glove-clad arms around her middle, smiling into her shoulder. “Missed you too, kid.”

Issa was finally able to place her order and while she waited, she spent the time catching up with the man she’d come to look up to as a brother. His mission had been a success, as they always were, and he managed to take down a critical drug ring in the outskirts of the Mid-Rim.

Smiling with pride, Issa nudged the man beside her. “Sounds like another job well done.”

“Yeah, it went about as well as the Council would allow.” The end of his sentence was slightly muffled as he lifted his glass to his lips, but Issa heard him all the same.

She took a moment, trying to unpick the meaning hidden in Quin’s words. “The Council? I thought you were heading this as a Shadow?”

“Let’s just say if it was up to me, I’d still be out there.”

“Why?” Issa’s brows were furrowed as she tried to navigate Quinlan’s vague hints.

The Shadow Jedi seemed to have noticed her questioning look and snapped out of his mood with a heavy sigh. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to bring the mood down. Let’s talk about something else. How’s the war going, Commander?”

His sudden change of topics perplexed Issa. Whatever Vos found at the end of his assignment had him on edge, and seemed to be straining his already tenuous relationship with some members of the council. Not wanting to spark a debate about the politics of the Order at that moment, Issa let him off the hook for now and launched into her experiences of leading an army for the past month.

“You’ll have to come meet the Wolfpack. They’ve heard all about you.”

“All flattering things I presume.” Just as Issa went to reply, a light began blinking on Quin’s forearm, pulling his attention. “Ah I better get this, but I’ll see you over there in a bit.”

While Vos trudged through the many bodies to an exit, a striking Mirialan placed a tray of drinks in front of her, which Issa took with a quick ‘thank you’ to the bartender before using all her concentration to avoid spilling the ale as she finally reached the 104th’s table for the evening.

Now that everyone had a drink in hand, the Pantoran allowed herself the chance to relax, sliding into the spot Sinker had made for her at the edge of the booth, facing Wolffe across the other side of the table. His permanent frown was unsurprisingly still in place, but it was slightly softer than usual which was nice to see. This may be as relaxed as I'll ever see him.

After a round of ‘cheers’ and the first few sips of their drinks, they asked about Quin after having seen the two of them during their reunion.

“Do all Jedi make fashion choices alarmingly unsuitable for battlefields?” Wolffe cut in sarcastically, making Issa bark out a laugh she wasn’t expecting, nearly choking on her drink.

“Actually if Quin had his way, he would probably rather have a lot more of himself on display, but he needs things like the gloves he wears to prevent accidental use of his Psychometry. It’s a power that lets him see impressions or events tied to an object based on who’s touched or used it previously. As you can imagine, that can get quite invasive quite quickly.”

“Woah, can you do that?”

“Unfortunately not. Jedi all have similar basic skill sets, the standard things we’re taught at the temple, but some of us excel further in some areas or are born with special abilities. Quin was born with Psychometry. It’s a common gift among Kiffars, and it runs in his family. He’s grown incredibly skilled in it, but it can be quite overwhelming at times, hence the gloves. While psychometry is one example, some Jedi have been known to have deep connections with animals, plants, space matter and even technology, making them easier to read or utilise with the Force.”

“Have you got a fancy skill, sir?”

“I’ve always been quite good at illusions. In fact it’ll probably start to come in handy during the war so I’ve been working with Master Plo on pushing my skills a bit quicker than we normally would.”

Wolffe raised a suspicious eyebrow. “What do you mean by illusions?”

“Care to be a volunteer and find out?” At Issa’s challenge and smirk, Wolffe scoffed.

“Fine.” He was clearly intrigued but trying his damndest not to show it. The Jedi humoured him and took his feigned indifference as consent for her demonstration.

Issa closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Using all her concentration, she manipulated the molecules around her using the Force, picturing as each one shifted and changed to mimic the image she set in her mind. As she let the air out of her lungs, she allowed her eyes to flutter open once more and took in the clones surrounding her.

“No way.”

Issa spared a look down at herself, and sure enough, she was clad in white and maroon plastoid, the skin of her hands no longer blue, but a beautiful tan.

“That’s creepy, two Wolffes is the stuff of nightmares, turn it off!” Two-Pint squealed as he tried to hide behind Book, who rolled his eyes at the heavy gunner.

Vos chose that moment to slide into the Wolfpack’s booth, smirking and elbowing Issa in her side, breaking her concentration and shattering the illusion. “I see you’re doing your-” Quin paused to do a little waggle of his fingers, “-magic show.”

Huffing, Issa shoved the Kiffar back, making him chuckle and throw an arm around her shoulder. “Yeah well we can’t all read emotions like you. Gotta find my ways to be useful somehow.”

Quin then infuriatingly chose that moment to ruffle her hair, making her bristle slightly in annoyance as her troopers chuckled, Wolffe notably was taking great joy in her embarrassment at the hands of the Shadow as he smirked slightly behind his glass.

“When I tell you guys that your commander got us into some trouble over the years at the temple using those little tricks of hers.”

“Ha! I knew I liked you sir!” Two-Pint exclaimed with a beaming grin.

Soon introductions were made, and the rest of the evening was spent in pleasant comradery with the Wolfpack and Vos. Issa realised now that she’d been worried about nothing. Spending an evening with her troopers hadn’t seemed to have stopped them from being able to enjoy themselves and relax, and she’d be lying if she said she didn’t enjoy spending her free time hanging out with them. They were a fun group; even Wolffe had gradually loosened up ever so slightly as the night dragged on, matching the boisterous energy of his brothers around him as they joked and wound each other up.

It’s nice to see.

—----

Much to Book’s dismay, the Wolfpack and two Jedi had eventually gravitated to the dance floor as the alcohol in their system began to do its work. The strategist had cut himself off a few drinks prior to that, not interested in losing control of himself that evening. Subtly, Book had managed to excuse himself from his dancing battalion, giving him the chance to escape to the sanctuary of the bar where he could take a moment to himself. He even managed to snag an empty stool, pulling himself up and trying to catch a glimpse of one of the bartenders so he could place his order. Unfortunately, it was still fairly busy, so he was left to his own devices for a moment. To keep himself occupied, he spent his time eyeing up the liquor on the back shelf of the bar and trying to guess if he could name each luminous bottle. He’d definitely read up on enough world exports by now to be able to identify most of them, so he began cataloguing each spirit quietly to himself as he waited.

For not the first time that day, the peace in his mind was once again shattered, but instead of the cause being his squad, it was the result of a loud crash of a server droid clattering into one of the beer taps. Every being in the vicinity scattered in fear of being drenched as the tap went up in a dramatic fountain display, leaving the now damp Mirialan bartender to deal with the situation.

“Oh shit oh shit oh shit.” The bartender cursed as the battered ale tap continued to spew everywhere despite them attempting to use their hands to stop the spray. Unfortunately, the tactic only served to push the liquid to the floor as opposed to up in the air.

Looking around and noticing that no one was coming to help, Book pushed off of his stool and walked over to the scene.

“Excuse me, do you-”

“Look I’ll serve you in a sec, can’t you see i’m a bit busy?” the Mirialan snapped, huffing a breath to try and move their damp claret fringe from where it had fallen across their face. The sheer look of concentration as they attempted to fix their predicament caused the black geometric facial tattoos trailing down the centre of their forehead to crease between their brows. Book knew it wasn’t the time or place, but he dared to think that the bartender looked rather cute while flustered.

No, that is not helpful right now. Wise up, Trooper. Book cleared his throat, gearing himself up to try again. “Um, sorry, I was just going to offer some assistance. Your method of stopping the leak isn’t the most efficient. I’m happy to help.”

Those bright green eyes snapped up to his face, and he froze under the sharp gaze. Oh Maker I’ve stuck my foot in it haven’t I?

After a few dragging seconds, they finally relented, nodding behind them towards a cupboard. “Fine, there’s a wrench in there. Once you’re back we can get this sealed off and I’ll start cleaning up this mess.”

Book nodded and set about getting the tool as suggested. He ended up shoulder-to-shoulder with the bartender as he tried to get the pump to seal off while they protected his face from being sprayed with alcohol.

It seemed they made a rather good team as after a few seconds of fiddling, Book managed to stop the flow, making the Mirialan sag in relief as they were finally free to move once again. “Thank the Maker for that… and you, I guess. What’s your name, Trooper?”

“Oh, uh Book, and you are…”

“Jae, Jae Tevv.” They reached a soaked hand out towards him before realising what they’d done and retracting with a nervous chuckle. “So Book, huh? How’d you manage to end up with a name like that?”

“It’s unfortunately very simple. I always had my head in a book while growing up on Kamino.”

“I suppose I should’ve guessed. What kind of books? I’m always looking for some new things to add to my reading list.” Suddenly, Book found himself engaged in the most wonderful conversation about literature as the two of them fell into the flow of working as a team to fix the mess from the broken tap. Jae was incredibly well-read, enjoying a variety of genres that they spoke about with a deep passion. Book was pretty sure he had a dopey smile on his face, but Jae’s enthusiasm was infectious, so who could blame him? He could listen to them talk for hours, their hands gesturing wildly, eyes alight with excitement as they relieved one of their favourite romance novels, clearly excited to finally be able to discuss the story with another reader.

All too soon, the mess was cleaned and Book found himself running out of machinery behind the bar that he could tinker with to prolong their conversation. With a sigh, he slid the wrench back into the borrowed tool box and extended a hand to Jae to help them back to their feet from where they were scrubbing the floor.

“Thank you, Book. Both for the help and the conversation. I think I've finally met my reading match,” Jae said with a kind smile. “Now that the tap’s working again, can I buy you a drink as a thank you, something a bit more upmarket than that cheap beer the Republic is feeding you boys?”

“Ah there’s no need to thank me. Plus I best stop with the drinks now. Someone has to make sure my battalion gets home in one piece, and something tells me it won’t be my commanders.” Book spared a pointed look at his two superiors. Issa was on the dance floor with General Vos, Two-Pint, Sinker, Cloud and Boost, giggling and dancing without a care in the world, her drink sloshing dangerously close to the edges of her cup. Wolffe was seated a few tables away with one human and one Zabrak woman hanging off each arm as the three of them sank a shot each before he sat back and let the two shower him with attention. Jae followed his eyes and chuckled warmly.

“Well… If not a drink, how about dinner?” Their deep emerald eyes sparkled with the offer, making Book swallow nervously as his stomach fluttered. When did my collar get so tight?

“Uh, dinner?” he choked out.

“Yeah, dinner. Give you a chance to eat something that isn’t rations maybe. My treat, I can cook us up something.”

Book felt his face flush bright red as he averted his eyes. “Dinner. Right… yes. Dinner is good. Let’s… let’s do that.”

Jae beamed at him before grabbing his datapad out of his hands and tapping something into the notes. “Great, well, here’s my comm frequency. Drop me a message next time you’re planet-side, or if you have any more books you’d like to recommend in the meantime.”

“Yes… I'll definitely do that. Thank you.”

“No, thank you, Book.” And just when Book thought he couldn’t get anymore flustered, Jae leaned over and placed a soft kiss on his cheek. That was the moment Book’s brain finally short-circuited. “Stay safe out there, I'm holding you to that dinner.”

Jae disappeared across the bar, set on a mission to serve the backed-up requests of orders, leaving Book standing there like a tooka in the headlights as his hand lifted up to ghost over his cheek where Jae had kissed him.

—

It was 0300 by the time Book decided to corral his brothers, Jedi, and apparently General Vos. The Wolfpack and friends collectively stumbled out of the front of 79’s, giggling amongst themselves as TP told another Maker-awful joke.

As the laughter died down, Issa strolled up next to Book and swung an arm over his shoulder. Her dark eyes were sparkling with mischief, and the strategist shook his head in anticipation. “Soooo Book, where did you run off too?”

To his right, Sinker crept up and also threw an arm around him, officially trapping him for their questioning. “Did my eyes decei-” Sinker’s question was abruptly interrupted by a chest-shattering hiccup, “...ow… anyway, did my eyes deceive me, or did I see you talking to that cute bartender?” The silver-haired clone waggled his eyebrows, making the Pantoran to Book’s left cackle loudly in his ear.

“Well actually, I was. And um, I think… I think I’m going on a date?”

At his admission, the whole group paused and spun around to face him. Book felt his face begin to heat under their teasing gaze, and just when he thought it couldn’t get any worse, TP launched himself at him to crush the slighter clone in an almighty hug, knocking his previous two captors aside.

“Look at my little Bookworm, all grown up, going out on dates. It’s so karking cute it nearly brings a tear to my eye,” TP announced loudly while clutching Book to his side and wiping fake tears from his face, making the strategist flush with embarrassment as he shoved the heavy gunner off.

Everyone extended their congratulations to Book and finally continued on their way back to the barracks. As they walked the lower levels, Book chanced a look up to the sky above, littered with the shimmering lights of speeders flying in all directions, and he couldn’t help the smile that grew across his face until his cheeks hurt. Despite the cheeky comments, Book felt everyone’s genuine excitement and happiness for him which warmed his heart, and for the first time in his life, he felt like he was more than just a soldier bred to die on the battlefield. Because surely no cannon fodder could feel the sheer peace he felt in his chest at that moment.

—--------

Finally they reached the GAR HQ, and Quin cheerily went to bid them all a goodnight. But as he turned to Issa, his demeanour changed slightly. Issa had seen that look before during her years growing up at the temple. He was plotting something, and she had a bad feeling about just what was going on in his head.

“What is it? Why are you looking at me like that?”

With an air of nonchalance, Quin shrugged and lifted his hand to examine his finger nails before answering. “Do you remember that time you broke Obi-Wan’s favourite tea pot?”

The question sent a wave of guilt coursing through Issa, bringing the memory alive in her mind as she tried with all her might to push it away. It was years ago. She’d been trying to do something nice for Plo as Master Fisto had let it slip that the Kel Dor’s birthday was coming up. So Issa had decided that she’d try and make her Master his favourite tea as a surprise. She knew Obi-Wan had a full set that he brought out when he had people over, and she would’ve asked his permission but of course the young council member was stuck in the same meetings for the day as Plo. So, she’d made the decision to borrow it and leave a note, thinking Obi-Wan wouldn’t mind. But as she went to leave his quarters, she tripped and couldn’t get her hands out from under the tray quick enough to use the force to catch the fragile items, leaving her to watch as they hit the ground and shattered into a hundred pieces. She’ll never forget the image of Obi-Wan’s sad blue eyes as he cleaned the broken porcelain from his floor later that day.

The Pantoran cringed. “You know I do.”

“Well, you know how I covered for you and got a twenty minute lecture on my lack of appreciation for other people’s property and you said, and I quote,” Quin paused to clear his throat before his voice changed to a higher pitch, attempting to mimic Issa. “Oh Quin, my hero. Thank you, I owe you big time.”

“That’s not verbatim and I do not sound like that,” Issa huffed.

“Well the gist is there. The point is, I’m looking to cash in that favour. I know I said my mission is over and the council is moving me on to another problem, which is great and all, but I don’t think my job on this one is done just yet.”

“Well, did you tell them that?”

“Yeah, but they weren’t exactly happy with me. Apparently because of the war we’re spread thin, and they need me to move on. I’ve gone against their word one too many times now, so they’re watching me like a Blood Eagle this time. Listen there’s a guy on the lower levels here, level 1313. He’s got connections to the Narkabb family and there’s been rumours that the crime lord’s cousin is looking to take over while there’s a power vacuum. I just need you to go down there and find out if that’s true so I can put it back on the council’s radar for someone else to pick up.”

“Maker Quin, that’s a big ask. Plus I don’t exactly want to go around pissing off the council. The same council where my Master, who is freakishly good at telling when I'm lying, is a member.”

“Yeah well, you do have the sabacc face of a Tooka in Plo’s defence,” Quin conceded with a chuckle, before shaking himself and guiding the conversation back on topic. “But seriously Issa, this information could help us save some lives later down the line. The Narkabb family is bad news, and if they’re coming back with a vengeance. People are going to pay and it won’t be me; it’ll be innocent people.”

His words were starting to affect her, wearing down her resolve. “Surely there’s someone better suited for this. Have you not heard back from Desh yet on when he’s coming home?”

Quin sobered for a moment at the mention of his closest friend. “I still can’t get hold of him,” he admitted with a frown that looked far too out of place for the usually easy-going Jedi. The admission that Desh was still out there alone, his status unknown, sat heavily on Issa’s chest.

“Trust me, I wouldn’t ask you for this if I thought I had any other option,” Vos insisted.

Issa gnawed at her bottom lip as she weighed her options. She’d never gone against the council’s wishes before. There’s rules and hierarchy in place for a reason. But the urgency in Vos’s dark eyes was tearing at her logic. This means a lot to him, to save the people this family has hurt.

I’m so going to regret this in the morning.

“Ugh, fine, I'll do it. But I swear if I go down in front of the council for this Quin-”

“Kid, you won’t, I promise. I’ve got you covered. You're a lifesaver. Thank you.”

Issa crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the man before her. “Are you ever going to stop calling me ‘kid’?”

“When you stop being younger than me maybe.” Quin smirked at her before sweeping her up in a hug, mumbling his thanks again into her shoulder.

The pair bid each other goodbye and Issa jogged to catch up with her troops. The Pantoran just managed to join the clones in the lift before the doors sealed shut.

She allowed herself a moment to catch her breath as she tilted her head back against the durasteel of the lift and closed her eyes.

Maker’s sake, Quin. It’s been nearly ten years since the teapot incident, I can’t believe he’s been sitting on that for so long.

Next to her, Issa heard the small clang as one of the troopers copied her stance. Cloud quietly leaned a few centimetres closer before whispering. “Hey, everything okay? You seem tense.”

The quiet ones are always the most observant, Issa thought fondly.

“Yeah Cloud, I’m good. It’s just been a long day.” She didn’t expand further and he didn’t push, which Issa was beyond thankful for. The two of them stood in companionable silence as they observed the rest of the Wolfpack chatting amongst themselves while the lift continued to plummet down floor after floor to their accommodation.

The troopers had been kind enough to provide her one of their spare bunks for the night to save her having to sneak back through the temple in her inebriated state. Gracelessly, Issa nosed-dived into her bed for the evening, all background noise falling away as she settled into the hard mattress and flat pillow. As the dark bliss of sleep closed in around her, a final thought drifted through her mind, in particular an image of her Master’s amused, all-knowing look earlier that day when Sinker had first called. Issa smirked to herself at the reminder.

He knows me too well.

Taglist: @misogirl828

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wild-karrde · 2 years

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Karrde's Fandom Friday Rec #2

My next rec this week has to go to my good friend and beta-reader @teletraan-meets-jarvis for her fic Pieces. TJ just returned after a decent hiauts with a NINE THOUSAND WORD CHAPTER, and let me tell you, it was worth the wait. I love how TJ has incorporated her absolutely phenomenal OCs into the story of the Wolfpack and their evolution. Her Jedi OC Issa is wonderful and kind and I love seeing how her relationship with Wolffe is developing. In addition to Issa, there are some FANTASTIC clone OCs, including my OC Chuckles's batchmate Two-Pint and Book (who I love with all of my heart). If you're looking for a slow burn Wolffe/OFC fic that contains so much depth and wonderful characters, I cannot recommend this fic enough.

Participate in Fandom Friday to show your favorite creators from this week some love! :)

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toomanybandstocare · 1 year

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but the thot of 79s having a burlesque night??? you know during war there would be these travelling groups of singers and dancers for morale boost???

unlike usual the dance and techno beats, upbeat show music fills the club tonight. every booth overflows with troopers as the lightly shove their brothers for a better view. bar stools are reserved for COs to give them a front row seat to the show- some of the more bold men leave a small pile of credit in feont of them to watch the showstoppers bend down and shoot them a devestating wink before bending back into the dance routine. cheers, well-loving wolff calls, and hands drumming on tables send an electric energy through the air.

the mix of the troopers appreciation and buzz of show excitement makes you buzz as you twirl underneath the neon lights. tiny gemstones catch the light and exentuate your body movements in time with the rhythm. carefully strutting past the pint glasses and resting arms, you dance further to the end of the bar as the other performers move to let everyone get a glimpse.

you bat your eyelashes as you survey the new group of troopers. yet your gaze falls on three men sitting directly in front of you. each lean back in their seat, resting their drinks on the top of their armored thighs, as they meet your gaze with expressions of awestruck, attraction. dipping lower onto the table, you make out chipped yellow, blue, and gray paint that devorate their plastoid. twirling back up right, you land the final pose in time with your company and recieve thunderous applause, whistles, and cheers. when the lights flare and flood the room, you see that the clone in orange has a hooked scar on the left side of his temple, the man in the middle has a blonde buzz cut, and the third has a cybernetic eye. each man looks up at you with pride and adoration.

two of the clones offer their hands to help you off the bar. the other lightly rests his hand on your waist to stablize you once on the floor again. with a grateful smile you look each of them over and you heart pounds from their fleeting touches.

you join the rest of the show company to the make shift dressing room in one of the upper floor spare rooms and ler out a breath you didn’t realize you were holding once sat at your station. everyone’s buzzing and dying to join the boys downstairs once more for some dancing and chats. yet the molten gold gazes of the three men burn in the back of your memory as you try to relax and change into your club outfit. until one of the managers calls your name and places three roses onto your table with a water bottle and note. “compliments from the CO section,” she says with a excited smile.

you open the note and bite your nail to try to stop the growing smile forming on your face.

Thank you for show, mesh’la. Care to join us for an encore and drinks?

- Commander Cody of the 212th

- Commander Wolffe of the 104th

- Captain Rex of the 501st

quickly fixing yourself up and spritzing your signature fragrance, you dart out the door with shouts of encouragement behind you. weaving through the mass of club goers, some troopers stop to compliment you and thank you. some very confident who beam when you laugh in appreciation while some are flustered just by a flash of your smile. after chatting with one trooper for a few moments, a hand trails across your lower back and rests at the small.

“Don’t mean to cut this short, Fives, but I’m afraid they’re spoken for already,” Rex shoots you a small smile before nodding to his brother. his hand slips to your waist and gives you a tight squeeze while the two of you move away. he pulls you close to his side and one of your hands falls to rest where his compression top tucks into his utility belt. “Can’t let anyone else try to steal you away,” Rex explains with a devestating smirk tugging at his lips. you feel a wave of dizziness build the longer his hand rests on you.

Guiding you to a table on the raise level, you catch sight of Cody and Wolffe in a casual conversation. but the moment Wolffe sees you, his expression melts into ease. Cody’s gaze follows and the tip of mouth quirks into a soft smile as he get up to let you into the middle of the booth.

“There they are- Courescant’s star,” Cody says and rests his arm on the back of the booth behind you. his leg grazes against yours as he leans back into the seat. “Absolutely breathtaking,” he murmurs, almost to himself, as he takes you in. his golden eyes trail across your body and takes your breath away.

“What can we get you to drink, cy’are?” Wolffe asks. he leans forward and presses into your back. he hooks his chin on your shoulder. your cheeks blaze and you try not to squirm from the attention. his hot breath fans scross your neck and his nose trails up your jaw before he pauses at the shell of your ear. “The night’s only just beginning”.

#captain rex headcanons #commander wolffe headcanons #commander cody headcanons #the clone wars headcanons #clone wars headcanons #commander wolffe x reader #commander cody x reader #captain rex x reader #captain rex fics #commander cody fics #commander wolffe fics #clone wars fanfic #the clone wars headcanon #clone wars headcanon #the clone wars fic #clone wars fanfiction #counselor mythos post #camp halfwit bulletin post

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l-lend · 1 year

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hi ya!

'm just thinking about what might have happened if Fives escaped and was able to tell the Jedi about order 66. and how he volunteers to be the first person to undergo surgery to remove the chip.

could i request something fluff where he wakes up and his only request is to see you first?

Hey there friend,

I might have went a bit ham on this, so I'm happy to take another stab at Fives fluff for you if this doesn't measure up, just say the word. Also wanted to see if I could hit two birds with one stone since my bingo square for @clonexreaderbingo was "Tell me the truth". C'mon..it had to be Fives.

Psst...if you want the follow up, go check out "Reunited" by @photogirl894

Background art credit - Shiroi Learon

Blue divider by - @saradika

The door slid open to her abode. Silence swallowed her whole as she crossed the threshold into the dim lighting. White medic shoes abandoned by the door with a space left empty for a set of clone trooper's boots. He would have been on leave by now. His crooked grin would greet her as she would come home after a tough shift.

Now, her apartment became her torture chamber. The floor of the foyer still stung her knees. Her heart clenched at the memory. Her trooper would never come home. Every room a reminder of him. His favorite Coruscant liquor was still nestled in the freezer, hidden out of view by pints of ice cream that became a necessary purchase for lonely nights. His spare razor was still perched by the refresher sink; she would still hope to find those irksome dark hairs from him meticulously grooming that goatee. If she sat still on the couch long enough, she could almost hear his fake yawn that was usually followed by his arm snaking around her shoulders. The bed was often avoided. Too many memories were made between those sheets. Too much heart ache to untangle that left her sleepless. Resigned to her fate, she slouched down onto the couch in hopes of aching muscles and sore soles whisking her off to a dreamless slumber.

A sharp series of knocks ripped her from her thoughts. A deep sigh left her lips as she begrudgingly hefted herself to the door. A familiar face greeted her.

“Commander Tano,”

The togruta was silent taking in the medic's appearance for only a moment.

“I need you to follow me.”

A gruff swear left the medic's lips before she hustled to snatch up her shoes.

“Another load from the front lines or is it civvies with seppie-cough again?”

“You'll see.”

After a moment to lock up her abode, the medic followed after the young commander through the maze of buildings and into the nearby speeder. The pair were quiet as buildings and speeders alike streaked by as their transport weaved through the gridlock. However, the medic spoke up after the speeder passed the medical facility with no attempt at stopping.

“Where are we going?”

“The jedi wanted to see you about something.”

She frowned, “I don't think they'd be calling me if one of them was injured.”

“Let's just say you were specifically requested.”

The medic shook her head. Some things never change.

The speeder ride was uneventful as the pair were dropped off at the rendez-vous point. She followed her escort inside only to be greeted by the commander's master. Finally, someone who would hopefully not speak in cryptic tongues.

“General, please don't tell me.”

His smile barely curled his lips.

“I'm not injured, but I do need something from you.”

Her shoulders sagged, “Always happy to serve the GAR.”

With a jerk of his head, the women followed behind as they traveled deeper inside the building.

“We...made a bit of a discovery.”

“Are the seppies using bio weapons again?”

“We don't know, but we're getting to the bottom of things. I'm more doing this as a favor.”

They continued winding through identical halls until the jedi halted.

“This may be a shock, but take it slow.”

The door slid open and once they guided her inside, the medic finally glanced to what was reposed on a cot.

Her breath robbed from her as she crept closer. Bile rose from the pit of her stomach as she stared into a set of whiskey colored eyes.

“Hey babe.”

Her smile fell. What kind of sick joke was the galaxy playing on her? The lonely nights, the hollow pang in her chest as she would be forced to stare at the same face day in day out. Tears blurred her eyes.

“Fives...?”

His expression softened as he closed the distance. A hand gingerly taking one of hers.

“Re..Rex said you were...” She no longer trusted her voice as it pitched towards a sob.

“I know, babe. Rex doesn't know.”

“We need Fives to lay low while the Jedi council deals with some matters. There's a place in the Outer Rim where he can be safe until the senate needs him.” Anakin spoke up.

Another stream of tears graced her cheeks, “So that's it? You drop off and come back only to tell me you're leaving?”

The clone's hands moved up her arms gently bringing her into his embrace.

“No, baby. It's not like that.”

Her hands met his chest as she pushed gaining distance from him. Hands shaking as she attempted to glare through tears.

“Then tell me the truth.” She spat, “Tell me why I shouldn't walk out that door and pretend we never met.”

His eyes slid closed and he took a breath. He opened them after a moment stealing a glance to the jedi general before returning to his lover.

“I don't know if you'll believe me.” He shrugged his shoulders, “I hardly believe it.”

“Try me.”

He held his hands up, “Alright,” His lips formed a line for a moment, “When they made us, the Kaminoans put these chips in us, and...they make us do things. And those things aren't always good.”

“Does that mean you still have it? The uh...chip?”

“I found out about it after...well, after Tup, but mine's out.” He reached up to brush a bandage plastered against his temple.

“and...but what does that have to do with the council?”

“They don't know who had the chips put in, and they're aiming to find out.”

“and with everyone thinking you're dead..”

“No one would be looking for me.”

She sighed, “Well, you're right. That's pretty farfetched.”

He shrugged with the hint of a smile, “Told ya.”

“So you're off to the Outer Rim..”

His hands reached out for hers holding them between each of his, “Shuttle's got room for one more.”

The statement hung in the room drowning out everything else. Everything slid into place. A promise long forgotten of a quiet life together with the war behind them.

Her fingers squeezed around his as her pulse quickened.

“When do we leave?”

@locitapurplepink @rain-on-kamino @writing-positivelyexisting @burningfieldof-clover @padawancat97 @ahsokastechie

#fives x reader #fives / reader #cfb2023 #ct 5555 #clone trooper fives #tcw fives #arc trooper fives

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battlekilt · 8 months

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Hi! Can you tell us (me, I mean me) something more about the Little Troopers, please? Possibly something happy?🥺

Little Troopers is MOSTLY a happy thing, though there is some seriousness to it. It is crack approached seriously. However, we've got a bunch of Clone Littles scurrying around, which means hijinks and mayhem and entirely too cute for anyone's sake.

If Fox is a biter, Cody is a pincher. It is his childhood defense against brothers—it hurts, but it doesn't technically cause any harm, and it gets his point across.

Cody is a neurotic child, so persnickety he sometimes borders on obsessively compulsive about things. Just like their adult selves, none of the kids like messes—Fox is a little messier than the vod'ike he hangs with the most, but he is still likely to pick up after himself, even if he takes a little longer than the others.

How about I talk about Boba and Omega?

These two are the only Clones who don't get regressed. Boba is released from his imprisonment to study why he and Omega weren't regressed, and... no one ever sent him back to prison. Doesn't mean he isn't paying his so-called debt to society.

He's the nanny. Oh, of course, he absolutely HATES it.

Ok, he really doesn't. Not that he'll admit it.

See, Boba didn't get to play with a lot of other Clones. But, as a child, he wanted to play with them ALLLLL the time. With all his memories intact, he hasn't forgotten what Clones he had gotten to play with, and deep down...

He always wanted to be the Older Brother—and STAY the Older Brother. He wanted little brothers who didn't outgrow him and leave him behind because he was too little. Now he gets to chase after a toddling Fox while he has a little Rex on his hip. He has no shame in arguing with a pint-sized Cody—not that getting Cody to argue is hard or anything, no, he's just as argumentative as a Little as he was as a Clone Commander (much to Obi-Wan's delight)—over silly things, and he's actually very good at eating the lumpiest cupcake Wolffe makes in the kitchen.

Omega is... thrilled when she gets to visit Coruscant, where some of the other Clones are. Back on Kamino, when she isn't helping Nala Se research the cause of the Clone's age regression, she's playing with darling Alpha-17, Blitz, and Hammer. She has also really taken a shine to the menaces still known as The Bad Batch—Oh what a handful those seven Littles are!

Taun We is quite pleased to have more Littles running around.

Meme Ref.

#tag game: wip #au: little troopers

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ahsokathegray · 1 year

Text

I Bleed the Same || Thirty-Seven

Pairing: Rexsoka

Summary: Ahsoka and Rex try and make sense of who and what they are after Order 66 occurs. Figuring out what to do with themselves, they remain together for a period of time before parting in their own directions.

Warnings: slow burn, mentions of Order 66, ptsd, injury, death, and future nsfw situations

Word Count: 8,901

A/N: should I have split this into two chapters? probably. but I just couldn't and for good reason! anyway, I hope you all enjoy! I will return 9/12 since this was such a pivotal chapter and basically two updates in one lol ❤️

read on ao3! / series masterlist

There wasn’t a moment on the way back from Kashyyyk that Rex’s eyes left the two troopers on the floor. He sat beside Ahsoka, her wounded arm pressed tightly into his own while he kept his blasters pointed at the recovered clones. Saw’s team had gathered all of the binders used to enslave the Wookies, and so the troopers were bound before the jump to hyperspace was ever made.

Each time they began to stir or make noise, Rex stunned them without hesitation, his jaw tight and fingers aching.

Ahsoka lost track of how many times he had to sit there and do it. It tore at her heart, watching him have to put them, and himself, through it over and over again. But even the thought of allowing something else to happen to Ahsoka, especially at the hands of his brothers, was off the table for Rex. He’d do anything and everything necessary to ensure her safety.

They arrived back on Nar Shaddaa and the rush had resumed as if it had never even taken pause. The injured were loaded onto hover-stretchers and raced to the medbay level. Lux’s ship had seen the loss of one fighter, but the rest were quickly escorted to seek medical attention even if they appeared to be otherwise fine.

Numbers were precious these days. Everyone would be seen to.

The two clones were promptly whisked away, steadily making their way further and further from where Rex and Ahsoka stood. There was a swarm of fighters in the hangar, waiting desperately to see if their loved ones had returned from the mission.

“Hey!” Rex shouted, moving after the clones and pushing through the masses of people. “You can’t just take them like that! They need—” He stopped and frantically looked around for Ahsoka. She grabbed his hand, already standing right next to him, her other one holding onto her bicep. Stang. He leaned in and spoke only to her, “Come on, we need to get you up there.”

She nodded and he intertwined their fingers, starting to make a dent in the crowd and in the direction of the doors. The bacta and supplies on Bonteri’s ship had already been used up so there was nothing left for them to work with down here.

Rex just hoped like hell that Saw’s medical facility had more supplies than the cafeteria had rations.

All lifts were in use, so together they ascended the many flights of stairs, with Rex trying and failing to catch up with the troopers, shouting adamantly that they needed to be stunned or sedated as soon as possible. He refused to lose sight of both them or Ahsoka, but she trailed weakly behind him, keeping up only because he’d locked arms with her. There was quite a bit of blood on his cloak now from the pint she’d lost. He thought for sure that he’d have to carry her, but they’d made it successfully up to the correct floor.

The fact that Ahsoka was walking at all was a good sign.

This part of the building was also overflowing with fighters. Rex had caught a glimpse of the green armor of the first trooper that they’d rescued, stirring on his stretcher as his helmet was being removed.

Wading towards the doors, Rex finally reached them and tried to push past to get anyone to tend to Ahsoka’s wound. “She needs medical attention,” Rex pleaded over the many people talking, directing his request to whoever would listen. But the medics were all already preoccupied, tending to abrasions, removing tools from pouches, and assigning tasks to the medical droids. Either no one cared to listen, or they just hadn’t heard him in the midst of all the chaos.

Rex made his way towards the two troopers, whose helmets had now been removed and set aside. He wanted to have known who they were… but their faces weren’t ones that he was familiar with. One of them had grays in his hair and the other looked as if he was starting to let his reg cut grow long.

The clone waking up was disoriented, squinting at the lights around him. It wasn’t long before his sights locked onto Ahsoka, and the speed at which his expression changed from one of confusion to one of pure rage was instantaneous. The corners of his eyes crinkled and his nostrils flared. “Traitor!” he snarled, “You’re both traitors!” He thrashed on his stretcher and began stretching his fingers for a blaster that wasn’t there.

Two of Saw’s people rushed to his side and pinned him down, injecting something into the protruding vein on his neck. Despite not yet being awake, the clone beside him received the same treatment. His arm was clearly broken.

With both clones now strapped to their stretchers, one of the medics turned to Rex and Ahsoka. “You two can’t be in here. You need to leave,” a Halaisi woman said sternly.

“Ma’am, with all due respect, Ahsoka needs medical attention immediately. She’s already lost about a pint of blood,” he bit back harshly, forehead wrinkling in the way it did when he was frustrated.

She looked Ahsoka up and down, as if she was expected to know who she was. Begrudgingly, the woman sighed and asked, “And the cause?” But it was clear that she’d already lost interest as she rummaged through a cabinet to retrieve more supplies. Ahsoka’s pale color meant nothing to her.

Rex carefully pushed the cloak over Ahsoka’s shoulder and presented her arm to the woman. “She was grazed by enemy fire. It wasn’t completely cauterized before it reopened once she was caught in an explosion.” He emphasized the last word to put more precedence on the severity of the situation.

The fact that a nearby nurse droid was beginning to tend to the troopers gave him some relief, but Ahsoka needed care, too. Rex hoped he’d never be faced with such a heartbreaking ultimatum again, but if he had to choose, it would always be her life over theirs. Every single time.

Sighing, the woman moved to the next patient on the floor, “Grazes are the least of our concern right now. You’ll have to come back later. We have more serious injuries to tend to for our own people. Now, please give us room to work.”

Curling his lip, Rex turned and hastily walked them back through the crowd of people. The woman had only been bothered to listen to half of what he had to say. “Let’s go. We’ve got some leftover supplies in our room,” he said, his voice much softer when he spoke to Ahsoka. He cleared a path for her, getting them through the swarm of people and holding her hand securely in his. Rex picked up the pace once they were clear of the medical wing and made for their quarters, finally able to access a lift.

Ahsoka swallowed as they stepped in, the sterile fluorescents from the corridor slowly disappearing as the door slid shut. Her throat constricted and her heart began to race. Even the pulse in her lekku was noticeable now. Her mouth grew dry and palms sweaty. She stiffened where she stood, hyper-aware that her hand was still in Rex’s.

Was it her hand that was clammy or was it his? Was she merely falling into delirium?

The tension in the confined space was thick. Ahsoka was almost convinced that if she tried to move, she wouldn’t be able to. Swallowing, she allowed herself to try and looked up at him, her montrals humming with how still the air was.

Rex was faced forward, jaw clenched. He had assigned himself the mission of getting her wound tended to, blocking out anything that could distract him from completing that task. Her focus shifted back to the door, but she didn’t follow through, as Rex turned to face her. His eyes met hers. They had been hard and his features pinched, vibrating with irritation, but his gaze softened again as they found each other.

His throat bobbed and his lips parted to say something, but the lift dinged and the doors reopened. He flexed his free hand. Stepping back out into the brightly lit hallway, Rex led them to the right and squeezed her hand reassuringly in the process.

With their door now in front of them, Ahsoka remembered the last thing she’d said to him before they left the comfort of the hideously decorated walls. Rex pressed a panel button and their door slid aside, his hand falling from hers and situating himself behind her to see Ahsoka into the bedroom. His hands came to rest atop her shoulders now as he guided her to the bench at the foot of the bed, helping her sit.

Only once that task was complete did she realize how weak she felt.

“One moment. I'll be right back,” Rex said, flicking on a small lamp and then disappearing into the refresher. Ahsoka heard the sink water turn on and she began looking around at the details of their room. It was exactly as they’d left it, not a single thing out of place. The dust hadn’t moved in years and continued to stay undisturbed in their absence. The suite was quiet and dimly lit, but shone so blindingly with the memory of how they’d left it.

Going on the mission had acted as a brief distraction, but it all came rushing back to her now. There was no doubt in her mind that Rex had to be thinking about it as well.

As promised, he returned moments later with a basin filled with warm water. He set it down and then tugged on the cloak fabric that still hung around her shoulders. She shifted and helped him remove it, shivering as the material that smelled like him was lost and placed beside her. Ahsoka gripped the edge of the bench, trying to take away any trace of the pain that would soon be shooting up her bicep while Rex rifled through their med packs.

The supplies they had left would do the job perfectly, but he wanted to scoff. They’d proved, ten times over, that they were just as much Saw’s people as the rest of the fighters were. And if they hadn’t had these supplies in their bags, then…

Rex met her eyes briefly before turning to the injury on her arm. He took the sleeve of her jumpsuit and rolled it up over her shoulder, exposing more of the skin. Ahsoka held her breath.

The bandage he’d crafted out of fabric from his cloak had long outserved its purpose, successfully stopping the bleeding but doing nothing to heal it. He was just thankful that her face held a bit more color than it did on the way back to base. Kneeling and placing his hands near the makeshift bandage, Rex looked up to find her wide eyes once more. “I’m going to take this off now. You tell me when to stop and I’ll stop,” he informed her, seeing the hurt etched into her features.

She exhaled and nodded, “I’m ready when you are.”

With gentle hands, Rex began to untie the knot he’d made and slowly unraveled the strip of cloak fastened around her arm. Ahsoka closed her eyes, trying to keep her focus on the way his touch sent electricity through her body instead of the pain that slowly crept down into her fingers. She strained, trying to keep her breaths even, pressing her lips into a thin line as Rex continued.

“I can stop,” Rex reminded her and paused, his breath ghosting across her bare shoulder.

Ahsoka shook her head, jaw tight. “No. Keep going,” she said, clamping her mouth shut once the words had been said.

He was hesitant to continue, but did so anyway, unraveling the last bit of blood soaked fabric and tossing it aside. The poorly cauterized wound had collected dirt and debris. Thankfully, the majority of the bleeding had ceased on the return trip, but would’ve looked better had it not been so irritated.

Rex sighed, mentally reprimanding himself for allowing this to happen. How was Ahsoka supposed to trust him if he couldn’t protect her from harm? He shucked his gloves, pulling them off at the finger. Silently, he reached for a small cloth and hooked two fingers into it, dipping it into the basin. He shook off the excess water and repositioned himself on one knee.

“This is going to hurt,” he warned softly, looking up at her as he took hold of her arm below the elbow.

She only nodded, unable to conjure any more words with the way he looked kneeled in front of her. Ahsoka was well accustomed to field injuries and it was a miracle she didn’t get hurt more as a Padawan, but she knew the sting that was coming. Rex pressed the cloth on the surrounding area first, cleaning from the outside in. She hissed at the contact, her hand shooting up to cover his. He stopped immediately and she was met with golden eyes, swimming with concern.

“Sorry,” she said. “You can keep going.”

He waited for her hand to settle back over her knee and her posture to relax before he continued. In truth she really wasn’t that bad off, but in Rex’s eyes, her being hurt in any capacity called for urgent care. He worked diligently, letting up if she sucked in a breath a certain way and waited for her exhale before moving again.

Ahsoka bit her cheek and watched him from under her lashes, finding that his expression was pained. The inner part of his brows were turned upwards and the color of his eyes desaturated. She knew that look well. “Rex.”

His hand stilled at the sound of her calling his name and he just stared at the abrasion on her arm before giving her his full attention. One look into her eyes and his shoulders slumped.

“You couldn’t have done anything. Neither could I,” Ahsoka assured him in a hushed voice.

She could read him better than herself at times. Even if Rex didn’t admit that he felt as though he’d failed her or that he was personally responsible for her injury, she already knew. His eyes said everything. They swirled with intense emotions and they always gave his true feelings away. It was only until recently that she’d discovered just how honest they’d been this entire time.

Sighing and turning away from her, he responded, “I could’ve done something. I shouldn’t have trusted Bonteri to stay with you. I should’ve known there was more than just the one trooper in the trees.” The guilt and disgust in his voice was unmistakable.

The boys were nothing if not intelligent. Of course another camouflaged trooper had been taking cover in the brush as a reinforcement — just as the men of the 332nd had been waiting for them in the hangar… He wondered how many more men there had been on Kashyyyk that they just hadn’t been able to spot. If it really was the 41st corps — and he was certain that it was — they lived up to their reputation.

“Rex, I don’t blame you,” Ahsoka whispered.

“But you should. And I wouldn’t blame you if you did. You have every right.”

She placed a gentle hand on top of his broad shoulder, “We couldn’t have known the other one was out there. We only spotted the one. Besides, I’m happy to take on any injury if it means we rescue even a single clone.”

He looked up at her, tears threatening to spill. “Ahsoka, how can I call myself your Captain if I can’t protect you?”

Rex shook his head, but before he could turn away from her again, Ahsoka cupped his cheek in her palm. Instinctively, her thumb moved back and forth over the bone, providing him comfort. It’s what she wished she would’ve done in the hangar control room of the Tribunal those many moons ago. Smiling softly, Ahsoka continued, “Rex, you stopped being my Captain the moment that order was given. If there’s anyone left in this galaxy who will protect me, it's you. I trust you with my life and more.”

She felt him lean into her touch and relax, no longer seeking to turn away from her but turning closer. The end of the war and so much loss had caused them to temporarily lose sight of their capabilities. Even in the face of such a successful mission — finding not one clone, but two, and bringing them in — hadn’t been enough to heal the holes in their hearts. They were terrified to celebrate, terrified to get their hopes up out of fear of taking yet another devastating blow. Instead, Rex focused on the graze Ahsoka had sustained rather than the healthy status of his men, not allowing himself to relax until she was tended to.

“Rex, look at everything we’ve accomplished. These two men, possibly the one on Daro, Clone Force 99, Echo, Saw, the Martez sisters, even Bail. All of these ripples we’ve made have finally amounted to a wave of victory. And this?” she glanced down at her arm. “Once we get bacta on this, it’ll be healed by morning. I’ve taken on worse. You remember Jabiim.”

As soon as she said the planet’s name, those first days of being on the run came so clearly back to mind. They weren’t alone anymore. Where they once knew the very minimum, they now knew more than they could’ve possibly imagined — more than they sometimes wanted to. They weren’t sleeping on the ground, but rather in a bed… one they shared. And she once again had an injury that Rex was tending to.

Of course Rex remembered Jabiim. He’d never forget. Her lekku flushed and Ahsoka was silently thankful that just a single lamp illuminated the room.

“I do,” he said, looking into her eyes and undoubtedly remembering the events that took place there. Rex cleared his throat, flipping the cloth and dipping his fingers into the warm water. “I won’t allow anything to bring you harm ever again. Not while I’m still around and breathing,” he spoke confidently, dabbing her wound. “I swear to you, Ahsoka.”

She tilted her head and silently watched him clean her arm until he was finished. He produced a bacta patch and opened it with his teeth, coming to sit beside her on the bench and secure it to her bicep.

Rex’s breath fanned across her collarbones and her own breathing halted, trapped in her lungs. His touch was gentle as he centered the patch over her graze mark. Once it was applied, he carefully pressed it down and Ahsoka found herself somewhat disappointed that they’d reached the end of all this.

But Rex didn’t pull away. His touch didn’t part from her. Instead, his hands drifted down the length of her arms, the backs of his fingers caressing her supple skin the way he had the morning they’d left.

His heart was stuck in his throat, wanting to say what he was thinking but unable to get the words out. “‘Soka,” he managed, feeling the thrum of his pulse everywhere. His touches stopped at her wrist, taking and holding her hand in both of his. Again, his lips parted and Ahsoka felt her skin start to burn, lit aflame with the anticipation of what she knew he wanted to say. Her heart threatened to beat out of its cage as his warm eyes enveloped hers. “I need you to know that—”

But the door to their quarters slid aside and the light from the hallway flooded the suite, erasing the mood set from the single lamp that Rex had turned on. Both of them snapped their heads to see what had happened only to find Lux Bonteri standing in the doorway.

“Gerrera wants to see you both in his office,” he said, looking down at the nonexistent space that separated Ahsoka from Rex.

The pair hastily stood and met him at the door. “We’re debriefing already? There’s still fighters in the medbay,” Rex reasoned, annoyed that he and Ahsoka had yet again been cut short from the words that had weighed on their hearts for too long.

Lux ran a hand through his greasy hair. “This is just us,” he stated simply, his voice changing in tone.

So this wasn’t a debrief, then. Rex looked at Ahsoka and they both seemed to agree what this was about to lead to. He waited and let her pass through the door ahead of him, then wedged in front of Bonteri before the rakeweed could slot himself between them.

Rex’s blood was boiling over the lanky coward leading them down the hall. It took everything in him not to say what he really felt right that moment. It was bad enough just knowing how he’d treated Ahsoka in the past, but Rex had gained yet another reason to detest the boy. He was sure to bite his tongue clean off for how tightly he had to hold it between his teeth.

“What’s this about, Lux? What’s he want with us?” Ahsoka asked, looking distantly down the corridor instead of at him.

“I don’t know,” he answered, “But it didn’t sound like it was going to be too good.” Ahsoka chose not to respond and yet Bonteri took that as his cue to keep speaking. “You fought great out there, Ahsoka. I saw you with those two blasters. I think we made a pretty great team against those raiders.”

That was it. That was the line that set Rex over the edge. How dare he?

Rex’s lip quivered and he stopped dead in his tracks, fingers curling into fists. “You do not get to say that to her,” he seethed. “I asked you to keep watch at her side and what did you do? You turned your back on Ahsoka and allowed her to sustain an injury that could’ve very well taken her life! If you were a good team at all, you have only her to thank for that. You’re lucky that she, or any others on our side, weren’t killed at the hands of your stupidity.”

Lux’s eyes were round with fear, leaning back as Rex towered over him, nearly walking him backwards into a wall. He hadn’t been afraid of the clone on Onderon, nor had he been afraid of him on Kashyyyk, but he was now. He’d seriously underestimated, not just the Captain, but the clones as individuals.

Rex stepped away, collecting himself and reeling his anger back in, glowering at the kid as he returned to Ahsoka’s side. Her expression held no sympathy for Lux.

Bonteri brushed himself off and continued walking. He’d heard how the clones really were that loyal to their Jedi, but there was something more about the way that Rex was loyal to Ahsoka.

He was dedicated to her.

They reached Saw’s office to find the man that had summoned them standing in front of the windows again, staring up at the dark clouds swallowing the moon. “Close the door behind you,” he instructed, not bothering to look at who had even come in.

Lux did just that as Rex and Ahsoka walked the rest of the way to meet him. But Saw didn’t begin until his Lieutenant fell in line beside them. “It has come to my attention that one of the Separatist tanks was left operational after it had been reported neutralized. Ahsoka, you told me you recognized the last one you saw, and the raiders inside as the same ones you’d encountered earlier.”

Why was Saw repeating back to her what she’d told him on the ship? She and Rex shared an apprehensive look. He didn’t seem to know any more than she did.

“Is that right?” he asked, finally turning to face them all.

“Yes. But why–”

“And it was that same tank that went after you and wound up costing me a speeder bike,” he continued.

Ahsoka nodded, “That’s correct.”

Saw’s gaze shifted from her to Lux. “How unfortunate that this was the case. That my own Lieutenant reported directly to me that this tank had been blown to hell like the rest. If it had not been for Ahsoka and Captain Rex here, our people or even the Wookies, could have been caught in the crossfire and killed as a consequence,” he said, voice eerily level. “Would you like to tell me, Bonteri, why you gave me false numbers?”

His eyes went round yet again, wider than they’d just been in the corridor. Bonteri began to stutter, tripping over his words. “Saw, look it— Look, it was chaos out there and I didn’t— I didn’t have but one detonator, and—”

“You let the enemy catch you with one detonator on hand and you screw it up? All you had to do was attach it to the tank!” Saw bit back, his tone completely shifting.

Ahsoka’s brows knit together. “Lux, I thought you did blow it up. I heard it as I drove away in the transport.”

Rex hadn’t blinked. He was glaring at Lux with enough intensity to send a gundark running.

Lux looked down at his boots to evade the three sets of eyes trained on him. “I thought I could do what we were shown on Onderon and I missed the shot… And then when it didn’t blow up completely, I thought we might be able to bring it back here. We’re lacking that level of firepower,” he revealed.

“Bonteri, this was not— Look at me when I’m talking to you,” Saw raised his voice, causing Lux’s head to snap up to attention. “This was hardly the mission to pull a stunt like that! I’ll decide what weaponry we need and I’ll go through the right channels to do it. I ought to turn you loose right now and I would if I didn’t desperately need the people. This will be your first and only mistake. Do I make myself clear?”

“Crystal,” he answered curtly.

Saw looked his Lieutenant up and down with restrained anger. Ahsoka was surprised. He’d acted more rashly on Onderon. They didn’t know what to expect with him. It was chilling almost to see him this calm. The man before them was a loose cannon and not so easily predictable. But then Ahsoka put it together. Saw treated Bonteri a certain way because of the way that Steela had felt about him.

Sighing, Gerrera continued, “You’ll be solely on transmission duty until I decide otherwise. I can’t in good conscience allow you on any more missions right now.”

“That’s not—”

“Do not interrupt me when I am speaking!” Saw lashed, causing Bonteri to go silent. “Now go before I change my mind and demote you.”

Lux hung his head as he left the office, trudging back down the halls. Neither Rex nor Ahsoka watched him leave. They felt no remorse. He’d almost cost them the entire mission. But at the same time, they held themselves steady, preparing for whatever Saw had kept them behind for.

Rex cleared his throat, “Saw, with all due respect, why did you call us in here?”

The man in front of them still looked vexed, but his posture changed. He turned and walked towards the floor to ceiling windows, leaning against one of the beams. “It seems I owe you both an apology. I can’t say I’m too thrilled about the clones being here, but my contact told me you both did quite a bit of damage back there. Saved our asses from a problem one of my fighters created,” he revealed, referring to the incident he’d just sent Lux away for.

So neither of the clones they’d recused had been Saw’s informant. Rex looked at Ahsoka from the corner of his eye, both of them deciding to keep that bit of information to themselves.

“You shouldn't have had to, but you proved yourselves out there. The galaxy we thought we knew has shown its true colors and it’s good to know that the two of you weren’t a part of that. I’m just sorry you got mixed up in it. We have to be careful who we decide to trust these days,” Saw said. “I just did what I thought she would have.” He didn’t say Steela’s name, but he didn’t need to.

“We…” Rex started, remembering how they’d been treated upon entering Saw’s facility for the first time. “We would have done similar. Protecting the ones we love, blood relation or not, is above all else now.”

“It is,” Saw agreed, looking between the two of them and drawing his own conclusions. He knew how Rex had stuck his neck out for Ahsoka and his brothers both. “Your men will be treated with the utmost care my people can provide.”

Rex gave him a curt nod. “Thank you, Saw.”

The man shrugged his shoulders. “You’ll be able to visit them after tonight. And I’ll tell my men downstairs to allow you access to free use of your comms. From now on, you’ll both be expected to go on missions applicable to your skill sets. But no need to worry, I wouldn’t dream of separating you. You're more valuable as a unit. Otherwise, you’re dismissed, but before you go,” his eyes flicked to Rex when he said the latter part. “I’m gonna need you to ditch the clone armor. Even with a cloak, those troopers were able to easily identify you. Hell, the whole galaxy knows what that fucking armor looks like.”

Saw was right. This was a change that has been severely overdue. Rex and Ahsoka weren’t just doing recon missions and slipping around in the shadows anymore. His attire needed to match their new way of life. As attached to his armor as he was, he’d need to store it away for now.

“Understood, sir,” Rex said.

“Go. I want it done now. I’ll see you both at the debriefing tomorrow.”

The evening air whipped between Ahsoka’s montrals and picked up her lekku as they tore through the city streets on a single BARC speeder bike. Thunder rumbled above, the stars disappearing as another storm rolled in. Ahsoka pressed her face into Rex’s cloak and held onto him around the waist as he maneuvered them through the district.

She’d wanted nothing more than to return to their quarters after being in Saw’s office to finally address what they both longed to say. But she couldn’t complain. What was just an hour more if she’d already waited this long? Ahsoka nuzzled closer into Rex’s armored back, too eager to be pressed against him without it on the way back to base. She relaxed into him, feeling the wind and the night air on her skin, peeking her eyes open to get a glimpse of the shining city and the billow of her and Rex’s cloaks as one.

He stopped them near the outskirts of town, tucking their bike away in a spot hidden from passersby. The thrusters powered down and Ahsoka reluctantly peeled herself away from him. He brought up the coordinates to the shop that the fighter had provided them with and opted to take off his helmet. Saw’s concern was valid, they didn’t know what ill intended slime was slithering in these back alleys or anywhere else for that matter.

Another round of thunder boomed above them, a warning that the storm was creeping closer. They were running on borrowed time if they didn’t want to get caught in it.

“I didn’t realize how much blood I’d gotten on your cloak,” Ahsoka observed, pulling up her hood as they began to walk towards the abandoned shop.

Rex did the same and shot her a playful smile, “Ahsoka, I know you’re not about to apologize for bleeding on me.”

She laughed at that and shook her head, “Thank you for helping me, again. It seems without my lightsabers, I’m a much easier target.”

“I’ll always help you,” he promised, the corners of his lips tugging up into that lopsided grin, “And if you were an easy target, we’d still be on Kashyyyk right now and not in this pleasant neighborhood.”

Ahsoka didn’t let her mind linger over the visual of her and Rex cold and stiff on Kashyyyk long before she changed the topic. “So what do you think about our two troopers?”

His eyebrows shot up as considered her question. Despite sitting across from them the entire return trip to Nar Shaddaa, it still didn’t feel as if they’d actually brought them in. “I guess I haven’t allowed myself to think about it too much. I mean, my main concern is getting those chips out. That’s priority number one and we don’t know if Saw’s got the ability to do that kind of operation back at the compound.”

“Well,” Ahsoka thought aloud. “It was once home to a very wealthy Dowutin Senator. I’m sure the medical facility is much more grandiose than what we saw.”

“Good point. And I know, I saw those photos and letters you were looking through the other night. It definitely explains the size of our bed and the neck support of those pillows,” he teased, shooting her a wink. “Could you read any of that? I couldn’t but I also couldn’t figure out why a Dowutin Senator was on Nar Shaddaa in the first place.”

Ahsoka laughed, her lekku darkening underneath her hood at him calling it their bed. “No, I could only make out a few words. I keep wondering if— I mean, there's the photos and then this separate box of letters, if... Well, Dowutins aren’t native to this planet.”

Rex cleared his throat, knowing the box in which she spoke of, “They’re not.”

She looked at him, noticing the tinge of pink in his face. “You saw the other letters I’m talking about, didn’t you?”

“I did,” he answered.

“Do you think that the Senator and her partner ran away to come here together?” Ahsoka asked, her heart hammering in her chest.

“I do.”

Ahsoka saw the way that his eyes sparkled and she looked up at the dark sky. Perhaps sometime in the past, this planet had been less seedy and corrupt. Perhaps sometime in the future, she and Rex would do something similar to what the Dowutin couple had. She cleared her throat and turned to face him again, “So how far away is the destination?”

Rex checked their datapad. “About ten minutes up ahead. We’ll be able to slip through back roads for the most part, but it’s a bit of a maze through here. Some of the streets with more foot traffic, we won’t be able to avoid.”

They maneuvered silently through the city limits, moving steadily inward. More people were popping up and the sounds of life increased. Upbeat music began to thrum in their chests and the shadows lessened. Before they knew it, they turned a corner, making it to one of the more populated streets on the city’s edge. They’d been apprehensive to run into a crowd like this, but it was impossible to fight off the infectious joy of the citizens. For a planet ripe with pirates and outlaws, Ahsoka couldn’t help but view it in a new perspective.

She and Rex weren’t much different than them anyway, seeing as they were fugitives of the Empire.

Lights in all colors were hung from one end of the street to the other, lining the rails of homes and shops. A Pa’lowick woman could be heard singing from inside a bar. Many people were playing instruments outside and all kinds of food was being served. The first raindrops had begun to sprinkle down on them and Ahsoka held up her hand to catch them in her palm, but the people in the street didn’t seem to care or even notice. She shared a small smile with Rex, but they remained on guard, pressing past the festivities and on towards the next alleyway.

Before they could slip away unnoticed however, Ahsoka saw something tall and white flash past her from the corner of her eye. She slowed, looked around momentarily but found nothing, allowing Rex to continue leading the way.

“Everything alright?” he asked.

“Yes. I think,” she replied. “I thought I saw something but I guess not.”

Rex noticed the indecisiveness in her features and scanned the buildings that surrounded them. They’d just reached the most abandoned part of the city. Any noise they heard now was a noise to be concerned about. “Just a little bit further now,” he updated, turning another corner.

Again, the sky roared, the pattering of rain becoming more frequent. She didn’t like this. They needed to be able to hear and the weather was going to complicate that. The unmistakable crunch of glass then filled the air and Ahsoka peered through the squat, empty building next to her, seeing clean through it to the other side. In a swift motion, Rex’s helmet was donned and his blaster pulled.

Slowing her breathing, Ahsoka tried to concentrate on the world around her. She closed her eyes and focused on her center, moving past the weather, past the celebrations happening nearby, past the rodents chittering in the shadows. The Force was opening for her.

Her eyes shot open. “We need to run. Now,” she said, her legs taking her as fast as they could in the direction that Rex’s map pointed to. He matched her strides, not knowing what they were running from but not wanting to find out either.

He could hear the footsteps now and if that was possible over this weather, then their pursuer was too close. The rain began to come down harder, splattering off of his armor and splashing at their feet. The way ahead came in a blur, their path colliding with several sheets of rain, going directly into the storm. Their pursuer wasn’t letting up, and if they didn’t take a turn soon, they’d lead them right to their destination.

Ahsoka saw the flash of white again, accompanied by a tall antenna. She swallowed just as Rex pulled her down a narrow alley, weaving them through the maze of buildings. Even though she knew Rex was leading the enemy astray, she couldn't keep track of all of his turns. But she supposed that was the point in the case of their curious friend.

The rain had picked up, soaking them to the bone. Whether they were successful or not in losing who or whatever was tailing them, the rain seemed to have finished the job. Rex pulled out his datapad and checked to make sure he’d traversed the area correctly. He had. They were just one alleyway over from where they needed to be.

Footsteps sounded nearby and Rex pulled Ahsoka with him into a hidden alcove. He held her close to him, concealing them in the concave doorway and shielding her with his body. The pale, slender woman slowed when coming upon where they’d taken shelter, but quickly ran off in the opposite direction.

Ahsoka looked up at Rex through rain-beaded lashes, watching the water streak down the visor of his helmet. She raised her hands to remove it, pulling it off to look at the man underneath. Rex’s gaze was focused on her lips and his eyes flicked up to meet hers when the bucket was gone, but not as if he’d been caught, rather as if it was exactly where he wanted to be found. They stared deeply into the other as their chests heaved, minds already taken off of the fading threat.

If anyone had been around to witness them, they might’ve said that the pair looked lost, staring absently with baited breath as they tried to remain hidden. But that couldn’t have been farther from the truth.

And there was now no one around but them.

Whoever was following them could’ve been gone for several minutes now, but time felt as if it belonged only to them, like it had stopped completely. Ahsoka blinked the rain away, the water trailing down her cheeks. Rex was quick to catch it, his strong hand coming to cradle her jaw, thumb swiping the droplet away and into her skin. His fingers hooked into the dip where her lekku met her face and Ahsoka’s breathing hitched, feeling his bare knuckles graze the skin.

It was only then that she realized when he’d shucked his gloves in the bedroom, that he’d never put them back on. His touch was a sensation she’d never get used to and hoped that she never would.

She half expected Rex to pull away now that they’d lost the enemy, but Ahsoka knew that wasn’t where this was going.

“Ahsoka,” he whispered, the sound of her name just audible over the pouring rain. His thumb continued the motions on her cheek, running over her markings and caressing the supple skin. Rex’s fingers drifted downward, along her lekku and then pressing gently against her neck.

Swallowing, Ahsoka watched him as he did so. He broke eye contact, glancing over his shoulder. Quickly, he retrieved their datapad from his belt once again to look at the map. It was over too soon. “I actually think this might be a second entrance,” he said, pointing at the marked spot.

It looked like he was right. Ahsoka stepped aside and, sure enough, the building was marked with the same set of numbers that Saw’s fighter had given them. This was where everyone else had found luck in getting clothes without venturing too far into the city limits.

Once inside, Ahsoka pressed herself against the wall and her fingertips into the duracrete. Again, she inhaled deeply and filled her lungs with the life breathing around her. They were in the clear. She placed Rex’s borrowed blaster back in her hostler and he did the same, his shoulders relaxing and a sigh escaping his lips. Leaning her head back, Ahsoka caught his eyes and they laughed, something amusing about things never really changing for them.

Yet again, they were reminded of Jabiim.

Their drenched and heavy cloaks were discarded on the floor in a dark heap and as they stepped away from the entrance, surveying the room. The Partisans insignia was spray painted on the adjacent wall and crates lined the main room, separated into categories for easy ransacking.

Ahsoka held her arms, the wet clothing making the air seem chilly. Her fingertips brushed her bacta patch and it was only then that she realized she didn’t feel the sting anymore. It was soaked but nothing could keep it from healing now. Her jumpsuit, on the other hand, could’ve been wrung out to fill the basin that Rex was using earlier.

She looked down at the legs of it, the excess material leaving a trail of water wherever she stepped. Ahsoka hadn’t exactly been the one sent here for new clothes, but what could it hurt? It wasn’t like the jumpsuit was suitable for missions anyway. It worked fine, but she could find something better. Ahsoka pressed her tongue into her cheek, wondering if the cut of the pants legs was what made her an easy target.

Rex was on the other side of the room already, lifting tops off of crates. He had no idea what he was doing. Of course, he’d had other clothing items besides his armor, but they’d all been armor adjacent. Looking at all of these options and picking a new look wasn’t what Rex would’ve ever considered as a challenge, yet here he was, feeling like he was picking a new identity entirely.

In some way, he was.

Ahsoka moved somewhere behind him and he turned his head, finding the top half of her jumpsuit had been relocated around her waist. The little blue shirt she wore underneath was soaked too, showing the barest hint of skin of her midriff below the hem. He swallowed and looked away, the last morning they’d spent together springing to mind.

She was already pulling a pair of green pants from a crate and holding them up to herself when she felt Rex’s gaze. His ears grew hot and he averted his eyes, turning back towards his crate and trying not to think about the sound of Ahsoka’s clothes hitting the floor.

Seeming to notice the issue he was having, Ahsoka came to stand next to him. “I don’t think you’re going to find a new set of blacks in there,” she smiled. “Let’s see.”

Rex helped her rifle through the articles of clothing, picking things up and tossing them, none of the choices feeling like him at all or else not being well suited enough for the field. He looked at the pile that Ahsoka had begun to accumulate. None of it looked like anything he’d even consider wearing, but the smile on her face would make them difficult to veto.

“Ahsoka,” Rex sighed as she picked up a shirt in a repulsive shade of green.

She laughed, “What? I think it would look good on you. You don’t like this color?”

He hoped she was joking. “Not in that shade,” he clarified, eyes drifting down to her legs.

Her lekku warmed as she realized what he did like. She cleared her throat, picking from the pile she’d collected, “Okay, what about purple?”

“Purple?” he repeated, wincing at the shirt she held out to him. He also noticed that almost nothing in her arms had matched.

“Come on, Rex. There’s a bit of white too, just like your armor,” she tried.

He took it just to appease her. “My armor stopped being white years ago,” he returned, shooting her that half-dimpled smile.

Ahsoka laughed and rolled her eyes, going back to finish looking for herself. In no time at all, she was able to find a complete outfit, new boots, and vambraces. She adjusted the bands on her biceps and the new headdress, even fitting her holster back onto her leg, and finding a few more things for Rex. A different navy shirt was tugged over her montrals and she moved her lekku to sit over the patterned fabric, reaching behind her to attempt fastening the clasps.

She turned to ask Rex for his assistance, under the impression that he was still looking for options. But when she did, she found him with his bare back facing her, the shirt she’d given him slung over his shoulder while he buttoned a pair of pants she’d picked out.

Her lips parted, eyes unblinking as her attention was drawn to the ink in his skin.

Rex reached for his shirt, pulling it from its place over his shoulder to put on when he saw Ahsoka out of his periphery. His entire body stiffened and became aflame with heat, the place where his neck met his back burning in a shape that they both recognized. His features dropped and his jaw fell slack.

She’d seen it.

Rex immediately stood upright with a rarely seen look of fear painting his face. He didn’t even try to hide the ink now. There was nothing that hiding it could do. Rex cursed himself and wasted no time in crossing the room, coming to stand in front of her and deliver her the apology she deserved. “No. No, Ahsoka,” he whispered, “I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I had the opportunity so many times and should’ve taken it the first chance it presented itself. When you left, nothing felt the same. I’d never had to grieve a living person and you were the first. You’ve been every one of my firsts. I got it done as a reminder of the impact you had on my life and never once did I expect it would hold the deeper meaning that it has now.”

Ahsoka was speechless, her eyes pouring into his as she listened to every word. He needed her to say something… anything at all. Even if she decided that she hated him, it would be better to hear it than be met with this deafening silence.

She blinked and looked down briefly at his chest and the large scar across it, placing a steady hand underneath and stepping as close to him as she could. Orange, nimble fingers trailed upward and Rex watched her intently as she did so. She traced his clavicle and dipped over his shoulder, moving her touch to where the white ink was situated on his back — where her facial markings were on his skin.

“‘Soka, this… When I told you I needed you to know something, I wasn’t just talking about this… I’m not going to let myself get caught dying without telling you how in love with you I am and that I have been since you came back,” Rex pleaded, his voice breaking.

Ahsoka’s glittering blue eyes looked like they might shed tears. His chest tightened, knowing she felt the same yet doubting himself anyway. Her tongue darted out to wet her lips and her frantic heart finally calmed. “You’re not the only one. I have loved you from the very same moment,” she breathed, her other hand coming to rest behind his neck.

Rex closed the distance between them. One of his hands covering her hip and the other sliding under her rear lek, causing her to gasp. He walked them backwards into the crate behind her, leaning his head down while Ahsoka tilted her chin upwards.

And just as she did, they heard a noise up on the roof. The rain had stopped. Those were footsteps. Quickly, they parted and Rex threw their belongings into two bags, tugging the shirt over his head. He pulled on the boots he’d found and Ahsoka tossed his other items into the bag with his armor.

Together, they slipped out the second entrance and took an alternate route back to the bike, ducking under maintenance vehicles and under clotheslines. The bounty hunter was hot on their heels and exactly who Ahsoka thought her to be.

Aurra Sing had her rifle drawn, a look of disdain across her face. Ahsoka didn’t think she’d been recognized. The infamous Palliduvan would’ve been calling her by name otherwise, hell bent on killing her for what she’d done in the past. This was because of Rex’s armor. Saw had been right.

The Force surged through her veins once more, alive and at her disposal, but their survival hinged on not using it. Rex pulled her down a series of alleyways, some of them familiar from earlier, before they happened upon their bike. Ahsoka handed the bags to Rex and he secured them to the borrowed speeder, tearing out of the hiding spot and back onto the streets. Pressing herself into Rex, Ahsoka didn’t dare look back and risk her identity being compromised. She hugged him tight and closed her eyes, relaxing into him and feeling only Rex and not the armor that had separated them.

Ahsoka could let herself breathe knowing they’d lost Sing for now. Force, she could breathe now that she’d finally said it — that they’d both finally said it.

They entered the lower levels of the compound once more, pulling the speeder bike into the hangar. She and Rex were quiet as they stepped off, feeling as if the freedom fighters on watch somehow knew what had just transpired between them.

Rex insisted on carrying both bags, the one with his armor and the one with their drenched clothes, but Ahsoka managed to get him to let her carry the latter one. Silently, they made their way through the doors and into the corridor where the lifts were situated. Rex pushed the button to call one down. So many people had been down here just a short while earlier with not enough lifts to fit them all.

The mechanism dinged and the doors parted, so they stepped inside and stood shoulder to shoulder, entered their floor number, and watched as the doors closed once more.

Ahsoka’s chest still felt heavy, the tension in the lift having increased tenfold from what it was before. A small smile tugged at the corners of her lips. The bag in her hands swayed and she set it down, having no trouble convincing herself to move this time around. She turned to Rex, intentions clear in her relieved eyes.

But he was already looking at her — already on the same wavelength that she was. It was like the switch that had been half flipped for both of them had now finally fallen into place. Ahsoka took one step towards him and Rex dropped his bag at their feet, his hands taking their placements from earlier on her hip and under her jaw. They breathed in each other’s air and their laughs came out in breaths, just taking each other in one last time before their relationship changed forever.

Except it had already changed long before and they both knew it. Back when the galaxy was still good and the only thing that stood between them was a set of blast doors.

Rex dipped his head and their eyes fluttered shut, lips delicately brushing against one another before finally meeting in a searing kiss.

#rexsoka #rexsoka fic #my fic #I bleed the same #ahsokathegray

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eggdrawsthings · 3 years

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some brainless doodles

the Crosshair one is based on this meme. idk where it's from, my friend used it once and i can only think of Crosshair when i saw it lol *edit: Howzer neck looks damn weird so i edited it :v

*edit 2: i deadass forgot Howzer scar what in the heck lmao 💀

#tbb #the bad batch #clone captain howzer #crosshair #tbb howzer #tbb crosshair #clone trooper #star wars #thinking about these clones and their chip hurts my brain #no like seriously at this pint i gave up on guessing and just let the show tell me what it wants to tell me #just realised i like to draw characters leaning on things lmao #my art

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allzelemonz · 3 years

Text

Warning Shot: Crosshair X Gender Neutral Reader

The Bad Batch was on yet another mission, one that called for a particularly precise set of skills. Crosshair sat atop a hill as his brothers caused enough chaos below for no one to notice him. He had his sights on the target, a Seppie commander. As he brought his finger to the trigger a gleam of light caught his eye. Before he could see what it was a blaster bolt hit just a few inches from his arm. A warning shot.

Crosshair got up slowly, keeping his rifle’s barrel pointed down. He tried to get a look at the other sniper, but was only met with another shot, inches from his foot. It urged him off the peak. He spoke into his comm to inform Hunter of the situation and made his way down the hill.

The Sep got away.

Crosshair sat with his brothers at a campground, all of them trying to come up with a plan to get the commander. In the end Hunter came up with a standard plan, counting on Crosshair to be expecting another sniper this time.

It would have worked too, if you didn’t practically live in trees and on mountains and rooftops. The toothpick of a clone was in your sights once again. You’d picked a spot a long time ago, anticipating what the clones would do. You knew where your employer, the Separatist Commander, would be. It wasn’t hard to guess where the clone sniper would set up.

You made absolutely sure that the sun wouldn’t reflect off of you again, because this time your shot wasn’t going to be a warning. You had your finger on the trigger and began to squeeze.

“I take another look at your target.” A sly voice advised as you felt a gun pressed against your head.

You peered through the scope again and saw nothing out of the ordinary. Until the clone fell over. It was a decoy, a fake drawing that was mistakable at a distance. They’d tricked you.

“Why don’t you put down the blaster and come with me.” He ordered.

You let the rifle fall from your grip and got to your feet, hands in the air.

“Turn around.”

You did as he said. You faced the clone, now wondering even more how that decoy had tricked you.

“Walk.” He gestured with the blaster.

You glared at him with a hatred only someone being deprived of their money would know. The clone directed you to the bottom of the hill where he radioed his colleagues. You waited patiently, watching him in the corner of your eye. His rifle just needed to be pointed away from you for a moment.

You jumped at the chance. He’d let his rifle pint downward and you tackled him to the ground. He grunted as he hit the snowy forest floor and couldn’t react in time as you lunged at the blaster he’d dropped. You turned to shoot, but he grabbed at the weapon and kept it pointed away.

He threw a punch and you felt the throbbing pain in your jaw for a moment before the adrenaline rushed and you were able to kick him off. His grip on the rifle was better than yours, so he took the rifle with him.

You rushed to the clone, helmet now knocked off, and wrestled the rifle away. You only managed to toss it aside. You focused on the clone, trying to get a hit on him. His training was worth it because he kept blocking you punches. Eventually he managed to flip your positions, pinning you to the ground with no hope of escape.

The clone gripped your wrists on either side of your head and held your bottom half down with his own weight.

“You can let me go and I won’t bother you again.” You bargained. “I was just looking to get paid.”

“You’ll be arrested as an enemy to the Republic.” He spat.

“I’ll do anything, jail isn’t in my plans.” You pleaded.

The clone stared down at you for a moment before releasing your wrists. He sat up, still holding you down given the position.

“My team may benefit from two sharpshooters on our next assignment.”

“Yeah, yeah, I can do that!” You agreed.

Anything to get out of jail time. Pretty boys in prison do not do well. The clone stood and retrieved his weapon. You stood timidly, hoping he wouldn’t change his mind and shoot you.

“This way.” He led you further into the trees.

You followed close behind and pondered if the other clones on his team were as abnormal as him. You’d met clones before, but this one was very different. He was a bit taller, a hell of a lot skinnier, and much more… snake like?

You approached a group of clones, or maybe not? They were all different, not exactly the definition of clones. One of them was a hulking behemoth of a guy, another was missing an arm. These couldn’t be clones.

They were, in fact, clones. Wrecker had super strength, Tech had enhanced intelligence, Hunter had above average senses, Crosshair had impeccable sharpshooting ability, and Echo acquired a number of cybernetic enhancements. But, still, clones. You found it odd, but a job was a job and jail was jail.

Hunter, the apparent leader, briefed you on the mission. An assault of a Republic refugee camp was being coordinated for next week. That left you a few standard rotations to spend with the group that called themselves The Bad Batch.

Most of that time was spent trying to outshoot Crosshair. He had you beat on natural ability, but you had the experience. Sitting in front of the target resulted in a victory for Crosshair, but an unpredictable practice round gave you the one up. There was one thing Crosshair would never be able to beat you at, holding a position. Camping a spot.

You held your spot until it was physically impossible, Crosshair was more mobile. Which meant that he had to get used to a new spot, while you had the advantage of already knowing all the angles.

Needless to say, your victories frustrated him. He was not used to being outshot. This particular training session was not going well for him. As usual, there were makeshift targets set up in the trees and Tech had programmed droids to walk around. You had taken out over half of the droids and a fourth of the targets. Crosshair had already lost. He had gotten frustrated a long time ago, and frustration did not do well for aim. He heard the rustling of leaves and looked over to see the tall clone jumping down from his perch in a tree. You gathered your things together and followed after him.

“You alright?” You called out.

He was a few yards ahead of you, walking uphill. He stopped in his tracks, clearly annoyed. You took a step back in precaution.

“Go away.” He spoke in a hiss.

You were going to do just that, but something made you stay. You walked a bit closer and rested a hand on his shoulder. He shrugged it off and turned to face you. His eyebrows were knitted together in anger and he looked ready to rip you in half.

“Look, Crosshair, I get it.” You raised your hands in surrender. “You’re having a bad day is all. It happens.”

“Every training session with you is impossible.” He seethed.

“Okay, so it’s me.” You nodded. “What can I do to help?”

“Go away.”

“That’s not gonna solve anything.”

Crosshair growled and took steps towards you. You matched his pace and backed away. You were stopped by a tree, and before you could move around it, Crosshair had a fistfull of your collar. You were pinned to the tree with a very angry clone trooper looking down at you.

“I’m sure we can work together, it’ll just take more time.” You reasoned. “We can-”

Crosshair had pressed his lips against yours. His hands moved to cup each side of your face and you felt the tenseness in him dissaperate. You hesitated for a moment before pulling him closer by the waist and kissing back eagerly.

“You’re distracting.” Crosshair mumbled against your lips after a separation.

“Sorry?” You guessed at an appropriate response.

Crosshair smirked and kissed you again, pushing you back against the tree. His hands moved up to your hair, grasping at what he could. You kept him close, a hand pushing him into you on the back of his neck. Your other hand began to trail downward, but a snapping stick made you both separate. With blasters poised you faced the source of the noise only to find Wrecker.

“Hey, guys!” He greeted. “Uh, Hunter sent me to find you because, uh, you’ve been gone for a long time.” He added a smile to the end of the statement as if there was something to be happy about.

Crosshair sighed and put his weapon away. He pushed past Wrecker and walked towards the camp. You and Wrecker stood there for a moment. You wondered if he’d seen anything.

“Hey, uh, Wrecker, can you guess why our training took so long?”

“Probably because you keep wiping the floor with Crosshair!” He answered excitedly.

“Exactly!” You encouraged.

Wrecker seemed very proud of himself as he turned around and went back towards camp. You let out a sigh of relief, getting caught making out with a clone would not be good for you right now. Crosshair probably wouldn’t be in good graces with the concept either.

#star wars #star wars clone wars #star wars clone wars x reader #the bad batch #the bad batch x reader #the bad batch x male reader #bad batch #crosshair #crosshair x reader #crosshair x male reader #crosshair x female reader #crosshair x gender neutral reader #x reader #x male reader #x female reader

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meep-morp-s · 3 years

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Hello there!! Do you have any headcanon ideas about the clones and their favorite part of Halloween/spooky season?

Thanks for another ask Selenka!

Ooh Halloween! (I literally looked this up the other day and Halloween DOES exist in Star Wars. So this is all canon, the GAR celebrates Halloween and they take it seriously) I’ll do some headcanons for my fav troopers

1)Kix isn’t too into spooks (probably a bad idea to jump scare your vode who have been in very traumatic situations way too often) but he loves the aesthetics, he decks the medbay out in paper bat cutouts, orange tinsel, and a bowl of candy by the front office that he probably swipes chocolate out of more often than his patients

2)Jesse LOVES spooks. He watches all the slasher holos, has pints of fake blood, and likes to jumpscare the others. One time he got the General and Commander after popping out from behind a corner wearing a fake knife-through-his-head. Ahsoka jumped to the ceiling and Anakin nearly stabbed him, worth it! If someone scares him though, he has a very high pitched scream but is a good sport about it

3)Rex likes costumes. He would NEVER admit it out loud but he plans them in advance for months. Over the course of the war they also get more elaborate and impressive. The last Halloween of the war he dresses up like a vampire but they’re called to a battle and he takes down droids in full Count Rex-ula regalia

4)Fives is surprisingly superstitious. He knocks on wood, throws salt over his shoulder, and avoids black tookas like the plague. He has a good luck charm, too (but it’s not very helpful in the end 🥲)

5) Echo is not superstitious, doesn’t even believe in ghosts. It’s only after the war that he comes across a ouija board that Omega teaches him how to use.

#selenka tag #ough got a bit angsty at the end haha #captain rex #clone trooper jesse #clone trooper kix #echo #fives #halloween #ask game

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lost-on-kamino · 3 years

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-Marching to the rhythm-

Order 66 - Coruscant Guard It’s on Ao3 Rhythm awakens to a world that has completely changed overnight.

The Clone woke up slowly from his daze. He grabbed his head from where his bucket sat on him. Where was he? He remembered a thump and that he had something ringing in his head like alarm bells. He saw two other Coruscant shock troopers close by as he got to his feet.

Wait… This wasn’t Coruscant… nor the Guard Barracks where he had been. He had been looking over what tunes to install to his music device until the Chancellor’s order-

That’s right!

The Chancellor said something about the Jedi being traitors! And what was that number…? 66? From what he had heard from his Batchmates, they had been lucky to end up with some of the nicer Jedi Generals who understood them.

Beat was with General Plo and the 104th, the Kel Dor had understood her internal distress and allowed her to be as she pleased. She had made ARC Trooper out of their batch and it was one of the proudest moments for Metro Squad.

Tacet; his selective mute brother. Still talking when doing his duty, the ARF Trooper enjoyed listening to the 212th and General Kenobi. Last he knew, he was getting some extra help with signing Galactic Basic and was slowly opening up to many others.

And finally; Pitch. Stuck with the rowdiest, the 501st. Being an extra medic for that bunch of clones always helped. He had pulled up a fond friendship between Kix and Dogma of all people, had been relieved when the Guard had sneakily taken Dogma under their wing to prevent another brother being lost to Kamino’s grip.

And he; Rhythm was the last of their batch that stood. He tried to rattle his brain over how he got here when the other two Guards stood up before approaching.

“We need to sound the alarm, the Defectives are getting away-“ The Trooper comments, voice completely devoid of life. And that scared Rhythm.

Had he been like that? Were his Batch-mates? Was the whole GAR turned under this spell?

He seriously owed whoever hit him a pint or maybe the whole bar. But for now, the safest bet was to play along. He nodded under his helmet and followed along. Rhythm laid away that night in the barracks, the room too quiet for his liking. The ‘Defectives’, was that of Clone Force 99. He knew of them due to Echo and his connection to the 501st and that meaning, Pitch. They were being hunted for not following the Orders of the Empire, whatever that was. He poured into looking over his datapad during the night.

Discovering his world had changed in a click of a finger, or word of mouth.

There were a few things that stood out to him:

1. The Chancellor had been attacked by the Jedi, yada yada- they’re now bad (Good Soldiers Follow Orders) and were being hunted.

2. The Republic was shifted into the Galactic Empire under the support of the Senate.

3. Clones would help reinforce this.

4. People have gone into hiding who were a part of the plot to kill the Chan- no wait Emperor.

Rhythm laid his head back, brushing his tangle of locks from his face. He wanted to get back to Coruscant as soon as possible.

He needed to see if he was the only one, seeing as the Clones around Kamino were… He didn’t want to think as if they were gone. But… they weren’t them. Maybe he could see the Clone Force 99 knew something he didn’t; but like the Commando squad they were, they vanished. Though one of their Batchmates had been left behind, Crosshair or CT-9904 as he was going by now.

That was another thing that made him shudder.

They lost their names. All the clones had their armor and name. The Empire took that from them with this mass force mind-control crap. This wasn’t the Republic anymore… so he could care less. He wanted his Batch-mates and he wanted out.

So he made his plan.

He would sneak onto the next cargo ship to Coruscant. He will go the Barracks and steal some shiny Shock Trooper Armor to hide his identity. And then he will investigate. And if need be; grab everything that was still in his Locker and run. Force knows where, but not here.

- True to his AMAZING planning, he sliced his helmet into half listening to the Comm chatter and into when transports were going and leaving.

He kept watch, following his routes before rushing off in the dead of night with stolen ration bars and a cover.

He crept into the cargo hold of an outgoing ship and waited. He remained alert as he could, swapping the channels to try and sooth his nerves. He had been thankful for his playlist as he cuddled and quelled his unsettled mind. Rhythm was worried for his Batchmates, all separated around the Galaxy and in who knows what condition. He looked over his datapad quietly, ensuring that he wouldn’t be tracked on his journey; considering what he was looking at could be counted as Treason. But to his number, he didn’t care.

He slowly remembered bits and pieces.

The Blackouts, moments of time he had forgotten and found himself sitting in his bunk as if he had awoken from a nightmare. He wondered how Commander Fox was. He was the one who ended up giving his official job within the Guard; Communications Officer due to his first patrol as a Shiny to the guard. He had located a lost Twi’lek child who had been a bit frightened to come across the Guard and had refused to join them, not knowing a lick of Basic.

It was when Rhythm had sat down and responded in Ryl to the child’s question, he had been more responsive which had eventually allowed them to guide the child back home. Though the others had joked that Rhythm had made a little friend, Fox had commented on his knowledge of languages. The Shiny had explained that during the late nights of Kamino when he couldn’t sleep; he had a datapad in his pod hidden away so he could try out different languages, eventually working well enough on them without a guide; slowly working on sign languages in spare time during his night shifts. Apparently this had left a positive note on Fox’s mind as Rhythm found himself between working on Patrols and helping the Clones at the Communications center, the hub for most calls coming in from Coruscant about anything and everything.

It had been overwhelming at first; and there were thankfully moments when the caller suddenly realised that the clone they were talking to actually understood them, they had gone quiet before explaining the issue as Rhythm had silently laughed and continued on with his day.

It had also meant some additions to his armour, to gain a better signal for communications between the lower levers or worse affected areas where no signal was located. Rhythm honestly enjoys the days where the Guard ended up bringing in drinks from a rare rest day, where they traded stories about citizens and laughed them off over ridiculous things.

He had found out he was allergic to something in the drink and ended up in the medbay; that had been a fun comcall to his siblings when his throat was clogged and the poor Medic on duty had to explain what had happened.

Since then he had mostly stuck to rations and when looking at other food and drinks, he ensured to read the labels carefully or risk getting his ass handed to him by the scary Coruscant medics.

His head shot up when he felt the ship landing and quickly moved off to his hiding spot once more to wait for the crew to finish unloading. When he saw his chance, he ran and quietly slipped along the streets he had grown to know so well. He could tell when Patrols were going past and slowly found his way back within the Barracks of the Guard, quickly tossing his armor into his locker; not without grabbing a holopic frame and looking over it quietly. It was the last picture he had of his lost Batchmate, Chord.

Chord died during a training incident which had led to Tacat’s selective muteness and for Beat to work herself harder. They had their own ways to remember him.

Pitch had a piece of his vambrace armor which had belonged to Chord and left unpainted. Beat had his name on her shoulder pad. Tacet had tattoo’d his brother’s name on his wrist. And Rhythm had his picture which he’d always carry, except from that one day… and he would have been ashamed to leave Chord behind.

He quickly snuck off, grabbing a fresh batch of armor; seeing as this may cause someone to look into why CT-2895 was on Coruscant and not Kamino. Rhythm looked at the blank shock trooper helmet and shook his head, determined. He needed to find out what happened to his Batchmates and if there was… a slim chance he could save them. He stepped out of the locker room quietly before almost colliding with a familiar face.

The young human almost stumbled until Rhythm had grabbed onto her elbow, causing her to scan over his face or helmet. Carmya had quickly dragged him off soon after and Rhythm was debriefed on Coruscant’s changes.

Carmya Lanthac had been made temporary senator over her planet after the former Senator had been dragged off for rebelling against the Empire’s rule. She had felt extremely overwhelmed considering she was only an Aide. Secondly the Guard had been acting weird since, which Rhythm had quickly explained his half of the story. Carmya was upset there was nothing she could do for the guard, considering they had helped her through her first days of the Senate building and she repaid that kindness.

The two swore to look out for one another; and if Rhythm could, find any brothers who were like him.

Awake in this long Nightmare.

Rhythm found himself transporting his belongings to her apartment for safe keeping while he kept to the shift patterns and acted as blankly; keeping the act up as much as he could until he found what he needed.

His eyes not stopping and watching the young Senator at work; trying to find her own balance in this new world.

Rhythm took a deep breath and marched on to the Symphony within his heart.

#star wars #the clone wars #tcw #Coruscant Guard #Clone Trooper OC #Fox is mentioned #Metro(nome) squad #Communications Corrie Rhythm #rogue writings

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halzore · 4 years

Text

Tenderly

Characters: Fives x Reader

Note: Omg Look! It my two favourite things. Fives and Jazz. For the purposes of my sanity I am REFUSING to call it jizz. I need to have a strong word with George because frankly, its a travesty. Feedback is appreciated. Anyway, enough housekeeping. ENJOY!

Contains: Mild swearing, a female reader, a very good tune (listen here) and some actual tooth-rotting fluff.

Tags: @a-lil-perspective

Centaxday was a strange time for Fives to be going to 79s. Centaxday was usually either for work, or training, never for pleasure. But tonight was different, Echo was on mission investigating a separatist plot and Fives had to stay on Coruscant to run point, to chase any leads that made their way back to the mysterious metropolis.

79s was grimy as usual, a little less packed than when he had been here on leave with the 501st. The lighting was warmer, the pounding bass gone, the room filled instead with the chattering of Naval Officers having a cheeky pint together after a mundane shift.

His eyes scanned around the room. He cursed to himself, the informant was late.

Typical.

He made his way up to the bar, perching on a stool. A simple motion to the bar tender and he was ordering a drink. Thats when he heard the crackle of the microphone. The buzzing of the amp.

He glanced around and saw you setting up, fussing with the keyboard you had propped on a stand in front of you.

Strange, he thought. He’d never seen a live performance.

He shifted back around focussing on his drink, hoping that his stupid informant would show up soon, he looked pretty sad drinking alone without his squad. A few more swigs and Fives ears were greeted with the flourishing openings of the piano. An arpeggio leading somewhere, somewhere Fives was not sure.

He turned around properly this time, giving you his undivided attention.

“The evening breeze, caressed the trees, Tenderly.” Your voice was rich and sultry, unlike anything Fives had ever heard.

“The trembling trees, embraced the breeze, Tenderly.” You had not seen the ARC trooper, whose eyes were transfixed on your form. No, your eyes were closed, enjoying the melody, swaying gently as your fingers tapped the familiar accompaniment on the keys.

You opened them, looking out into the crowd, the sea of grey uniforms you had grown used to greeted you. The warm smiles from familiar faces as they soaked in the words from another one of your sets.

But then you saw him, a trooper, in armour.

You hadn’t seen one of those before, and he was looking at you as if you were the first person he had ever seen. A soft smile graced you features as you sang.

“Then you and I, came wandering by, and lost in a sigh were we.” Your eyes met, the trooper’s face morphed into a mixture of awe and surprise. You didn’t take your eyes off of him until you finished the last line.

“You took my lips, you took my love, so tenderly.” You could have sworn that the man’s life force had left his body, the vacant shock so plainly on his familiar features.

~~~

You were the most beautiful woman Fives had ever seen. He watched as your velvety purple lips moved, forming the heavenly tones. He couldn’t take his eyes of you. He watched as your fingers caressed the piano so gently, he traced every curve of your body as it gently swayed in time with your song. All thoughts of his mission had ceased to exist. He could only think of you

The muffling of the microphone being ousted from its stand brought Fives from his daydream.

“Alright my GAR boys, humanoids and other folk, thats my set for tonight,” A few whines of protest came from the audience. You chuckled a little. “Don’t worry, I’ll be back next Centaxday with more tunes for you. And remember, stay safe out there, there is a war going on.” You gave the patrons of 79s a wink before beginning to pack down.

~~~

Fives sat at the bar, nursing his drink.

How could he have let you go without saying something? He was kicking himself. So much for being the designated flirt of the 501st.

His informant hadn’t come, but he didn’t care. He only cared that his pride was hurt. He took a pitiful sip of fire whiskey and then hung his head.

“Hey handsome,” Fives felt a nudge on his shoulder plate. He looked over, it was you! “Ya reckon you could buy me a drink?”

Fives had forgotten how to function. You were standing in front of him, you came back? And that dress… Fives mind wandered.

“Eyes up here champ.” Fives shook his head a little, jolting him back to the present.

“Oh.. Uh yeah… sorry… A Drink!” The sheepish apology was quickly replaced with a manic quest to wave down the bartender. “Can I get something for our wonderful singer?”

You told the man behind the bar your favourite drink before perching yourself on the stool next to Fives. You two talked for hours, he was different to the officers that had hit on you in the past. This man was nervous, but he had game, much more likeable than some of the shitty moves some other clones tried to pull on you. You had never thought you would be a part of one of those stories you so frequently sung about in your songs, but here you were as a nice feeling started to blossom inside you.

“What’s your name?” You asked after a while.

“Fives.”

“Thats interesting.. but in a good way.” You hurriedly specified.

“Uh, yeah I guess.”

“What’s up?” There was a something settling on the face of Fives, you couldn’t tell what it was.

“A civvie has never asked for my name before.”

“Well I am glad I’m the first.” Fives fixed you with a big grin to match your own.

You continued talking, comparing war stories. His from the battlefield, yours from the back alleys of seedy pubs with awful men trying to hit on you. Fives was easy to laugh with, he was just easy to talk with. You felt safe. But the night was drawing to close, and your life had to go on.

“I’ve got an early start in rehearsal tomorrow, but I’ll see ya round?”

“Definitely.”

You exchanged holo frequencies, Fives promising he would try and come to your next gig. He got up to leave with you, slinging an arm around your waist as a crowd of your incredulous regulars stared him down with envy. You made it all the way out the door before you pulled him to the side and pushed him up against the wall.

The bewildered look that had been on Fives’ face when he first saw you had returned. You stood up high on your tippy toes, hands on his shoulders, your lips meeting his tenderly.

“I’ll definitely see ya around Fives.” A grin plastered on your face, you left Fives, and escaped into the night.

#fives x reader #arc trooper fives #halzore writes #clone wars imagine #when life gives you lemons #write a fic instead of facing your responsibilites

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teletraan-meets-jarvis · 2 years

Text

Pieces - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

AO3 Link

Pairing: Commander Wolffe/OC Issa Straun

Warnings: T - Alcohol, cursing

Word Count - 4k

A/N: As per usual, a massive thanks to @wild-karrde for beta-reading this for me and helping sound out some ideas 💚. This chapter is one we've both been super excited for as something we've been brewing for a while in both our fic verses will now officially become canon hehe!

Quick disclaimer in that Chuckles, one of the clone OCs mentioned in this chapter, belongs wholeheartedly to the fabulous Karrde! If you wanna read more about him please go and read their multi-chapter fic 'One Step at a Time' - on Chuck accidentally adopting two padawans after O66, it's everything you need and more! Also their oneshots/drabbles on him too!

Masterlist | Prev Chapter | Next Chapter

“That was so badass,” Two-Pint exclaimed while locked in an imaginary lightsaber battle with Boost, who was clearly winning. The two dashed through the doors to their barracks before continuing their brutal clash.

Everyone else followed the two joking soldiers inside at a much more relaxed pace, giving Issa the chance to take in her surroundings. The room was a basic rectangular shape, with barren metallic walls that matched the rest of the ship’s interior. A few lockers were also dotted along the perimeter, likely to house any specialist equipment and weaponry. The key feature in the room was the trooper’s bunks. Despite the bland state of their sleeping quarters, each trooper had something unique on their bunk, something to make it theirs: little trinkets, pieces of armour. It was nice to see their unique personalities reflected in their little slices of home already.

“Commander?” Two-Pint cut through her thoughts.

“Sorry? What’d I miss?”

The heavy gunner was grinning like a madman, and Issa was struggling not to find it incredibly infectious. “I was just wondering if you’d let us hold your lightsaber? Just for like two minutes, three tops.”

“Maybe not tonight,” she started, but was instantly met with the most dramatic baby Tooka eyes she’d ever seen by three soldiers of the Republic. Boost, Two-Pint and Sinker all pouted at her in unison. Great, they're already learning how to gang up on me. She heaved a sigh. “But one day… if you’re good.”

“I’m gonna hold you to that, sir,” Two-Pint replied cheerily, seemingly satisfied for now.

“I would be disappointed if you didn’t.”

With the ice officially broken, the group settled in for a night of drinking and bonding. Issa was sat cross-legged next to Book on his lower bunk; his space was very neat with his military precision made bed and perfectly organised stacks of different datapads perched in the cubby at the end, alongside a holo of the Wolfpack all armoured up without their helmets, which made Issa smile softly. Cloud sat contently on the floor in front of them, his back leaning against the bed frame as he quietly observed the conversations around him. Across from them, Sinker and Two-Pint were lounging while Boost sat on the floor with his legs kicked up between them on the bed, leaning his head back so he could peer upside down at the three of them across from him. Two-Pint had kept his promise and had set them all up with a battered alusteel cup filled halfway with the clear liquid Issa assumed was the infamous home brew he’d mentioned before. The young Jedi stared down into her cup, contemplating how much she valued her liver over bonding with her men before Book caught her attention by clearing his throat.

“I’m not sure if this is a personal question or not, Commander, so bear with me, but what’s with the double-ended lightsaber? I didn’t see many Jedi with those on Geonosis, and the design seems rather old-fashioned.”

“Well, Master Yoda does call me an old soul,” Issa replied, fondness overcoming her as she smoothed a hand over the long hilt attached to her waist. The etchings of the familiar pattern beneath her fingertips brought their usual sense of comfort, and Issa gave a small smile before turning back to look at Book. “It’s a perfectly fine question to ask Book. I was really into history when I was growing up at the temple. I’d sit and read for hours about Jedi through the ages. One day when I was very young, I snuck off to the library when I was supposed to be in bed and I bumped into Plo. Master Plo is a legend among the order, so when he caught me I started to freak out that he was going to get me into trouble. But when he saw how interested I was, we ended up chatting and it became a regular thing where we’d meet and he’d teach me more about our history.

“One of my favourite stories he used to tell me about was the Jedi of the Old Republic, and the themes and traits of some of our Jedi ancestors from that era stayed with me. There was one in particular called Satele Shan.” As Issa paused to take a breath, she noticed that all eyes were on her. The clones had taken to listening to her every word, seemingly very interested in her story which made her heart swell. I guess they haven’t had the chance to hear many non-clone stories before. Now with the urge to help capture their attention further, Issa leant forward and gave her best attempt at a history teacher as she relayed the tale of her favourite Jedi. “When the Sith returned over three millennia ago, Satele grew from a Padawan to a crucial member of the Jedi Resistance, even becoming the Grand Master of the Order. She was sort of my hero growing up, if that’s not too dorky to admit. So when it came to getting my lightsaber, my appreciation for Jedi history moulded the design of my blade into one not unlike Satele’s, hence the old-fashioned look. The Force heavily guides that stage in a Jedi’s life; it’s not so much of a free choice as it is a subconscious one.”

“It’s not dorky sir,” Cloud offered with a gentle smile.”We have the same thing with what bits of Mandalorian culture we were told about growing up.”

“Of course, Jango was a Mandalorian wasn’t he?” At their nods, she continued. “Would you class yourselves as Mandalorian?”

Sinker rubbed his chin in thought for a moment, seemingly weighing up the question as if he hadn’t really ever thought of an answer for it before. “Some clones do, but I think mostly Mandalorian culture just influenced us. We took parts of it and made it our own as we can’t truly relate to being a Mandalorian. It’s part of who we are and our history, but not our entire being. Us being clones comes first,” he explained, seemingly content in his answer, as were his brothers who nodded in agreement around him.

“We’ll have to teach you some Mando’a one day sir,” Boost piped up.

“I’d love that. My language knowledge isn’t the best. I know some Pantoran and Kel Dor but not enough to have a conversation. It’d be nice to pick up something new.”

Two-Pint smirked as he took another sip of his drink. “Working with Wolffe, you’ll definitely be picking up a few choice words in no time.”

The drinks continued to flow and so did the stories. Issa’s stomach ached, but she didn’t think she’d ever laughed as hard in her life as she had done in the past couple hours. The clones had spent the time reliving old stories from their childhoods on Kamino. Not only were the stories hilarious, but Issa also found herself learning far more about clone culture than she anticipated.

Boost and Sinker’s pranks, both successful and failed, on the other squads had taught her about the friendly comradery between the clones and the different ways in which they showed their affection. Book’s retelling of the hand he played in teaching the cadets back on Kamino shined a light on the clones’ upbringing and education, while Cloud’s desire as a kid to slice any piece of tech he could get his hands on emphasised the uniqueness between each of the men around her.

Two-Pint’s retelling of a tale involving the squad he went through training with had educated Issa about the concept of batchmates. It seemed that all the clones regarded each other as brothers but within those relationships, there were even stronger brotherly bonds, and most of them originated from the brothers a clone went through their training with, thus becoming ‘batchmates’.

She’d spent the entire evening coming to grips with the more clinical words the soldiers used while describing their upbringing; words like decant, engineered and growth tube were among the few which still managed to catch her off guard no matter how many times she heard them. They seem so similar to any other humans I've met. It’s always a shock to remember they’ve had such a different life.

Across from her, Two-Pint’s eyes were glassy. He had a beaming smile on his face as he told his tale animatedly, his hands moving wildly around him and sloshing the booze dangerously close to the top of his cup. “So Chuckles and I, we were sneaking to the commando barracks because we had this bet on with one of their lot on who’s brew was stronger-”

“By stronger he means more likely to melt through beskar,” Book mumbled under his breath.

“-when one of the karking natborn trainers busted us. We were stuck scrubbing the training rooms for three months.”

“Nah-uh TP, you’re leaving out some crucial details here. Tell the commander exactly the reason you two got caught,” Boost poked.

“Well… Chuck and I, we’re not hypocrites. We weren’t going to unleash our finest product onto our brothers without doing some quality control, so we trialled a few of our batches to find the best one to beat those karking super soldiers.”

“So you were drunk,” Issa concluded, shaking her head in amused disbelief.

“Tipsy, sir,” Two-Pint clarified. “But yeah, we heard some footsteps so we hid in one of the closets, and Chuck, surprise surprise, he started giggling. Not laughing, but giggling. Like a fresh tubie. The trainer yanks us out the closet by our collars, this absolute tree of an Ithorian, and Chuckles will not stop his giggle fit, and given the situation, it was pretty karking funny, especially because the big guy starts getting more pissed off by the second. So I can’t hold it in anymore, I start cackling my heart out alongside Chuck, and the trainer whirls round on me, crouches down to my eye-level and goes ‘What’s so funny two-pint?’. Kriffing low blow that, going after a man’s height as a last stab at holding your authority. Obviously that sent Chuck over the edge again. I nearly considered taking him to a medic he was laughing so much. The second we got escorted back to the barracks, half the planet already knew what’d happened thanks to Chuck, and that’s how I got stuck with my name.”

After the laughter died down from Two-Pint’s story, the others in the room shared who their batchmates were and it seemed to usually be a group of five. They also explained how different ‘classes’ of trooper were usually part of the same batches. For example, command clones such as Wolffe were apparently different to your average trooper, so the Kaminoans would usually keep them together in order to have clones with similar fighting abilities together in training. Sinker had gone on to shine a light on which commanders Wolffe grew up with and she was surprised to find she actually knew a few of them, not all of them personally but from the stories she’d heard so far from her friends at the temple who’d been partnered with them. Commander Cody was organised, loyal and had a brilliant mind for strategising from Obi-Wan’s reports and Commander Bly was a compassionate and warm leader according to Aayla. Compared to Wolffe, they were all so different, and Issa couldn’t help but imagine what such different personalities would’ve been like growing up, the thought making her chuckle.

“You not have anyone you were close with growing up, Commander?” Cloud asked quietly.

“There were a few of us around similar ages who ended up growing up together. I take it you’ve all heard about Commander Skywalker by now?”

“Who hasn’t?!”

Issa began to recount the time she, Anakin, Aayla and Desh had somehow fallen victim to one of Quinlan Vos’ many games. He’d sent them to play a prank on Obi-Wan and long story short, they’d ended up scaling down the side of the temple to try and sneak up on Obi-Wan during a recording session of his lightsaber forms. But of course Quin had given them the wrong room so instead they came face to face with Masters Mundi and Windu, who were less enthused about their antics and had them stuck in the archives for a few weeks sorting out old records.

Issa huffed with a grimace as she relived the unbelievably mundane punishment. “As much as I love Jedi history, that nearly killed me off. I’ve never been that bored in my life.”

“Well, we’re glad you’ve got a batch as well sir,” Boost offered kindly, lifting his cup in her direction.

The group murmured in agreement with the sweet sentiment before Two-Pint spoke up. “This Vos guy sounds like he’d fit in nicely with us clones.”

“Oh he would, but he and Desh are Shadows. They’re not assigned to any battalions. They work on the more… pointy Republic issues. Serious crime, slavery, stuff like that. They have to be subtle about it, so they usually work alone. They’re normally undercover so I don’t really get to see them much anymore. In fact, I haven’t heard from Desh in years actually, he’s been working his current mission for so long. I’ve stopped asking for updates on when he’s coming home or if he’s alright,” Issa concluded. Her chest grew heavy as she contemplated the fate of her friend once again.

Cloud placed a comforting hand on her knee and gave it a light squeeze. “He’ll come back sir. Sounds like he always does.”

“I hope you’re right.”

—--

As more drinks continued to flow, the conversation moved on from sombre topics to more light-hearted ones as everyone progressed beyond being a bit tipsy. “Right, Issa-'' a hiccup interrupted Boost’s words, making them all chuckle. “Shhhhh, you lot. This is important.” He said the words with such sincerity that Issa’s interest was piqued. Boost looked back at her, mischief glowing in his amber eyes. “Look, we’ve all gotta know. The Jedi, do you- ya know.” Much to Issa’s combined horror and amusement, the sergeant decided lewd hand gestures would be a simpler way of getting his question across as opposed to words.

Boost’s antics sent everyone in the room into fits of laughter. Issa took a moment to calm herself before speaking. “Yes, we’re not celibate. Attachments are forbidden, but not that.”

“So have you…?” Two-Pint questioned coolly.

“TP?!” Book exclaimed, looking scandalised.

Issa looked back at Two-Pint who was eagerly awaiting her answer. She smirked, a slight blush tinting her cheeks purple. “Yes. Nothing planet-shattering or anything, but I’ve had the odd encounter here and there.”

“You know, back on Kamino one of the commandos in the 41st Elite Corps had an arrangement with one of the bounty hunter trainers.” Cloud whispered the words conspiritarly and everyone whirled on him. By far the quietest out of the group, Cloud usually preferred to sit back and observe most of their socialising, but every so often he’d speak up, and whenever he did, he didn’t disappoint.

“WHAT?”

“WHO?”

”ARRANGEMENT?”

Everyone shouted over each other at the poor sniper, eager to get to the bottom of the juicy gossip.

Just as they’d convinced their quiet companion to relay the extremely crucial information, the doors to the barracks slid open, immediately interrupting their excitement.

“Oof busted,” Boost whispered loudly in his tipsy state, his hands still clasped around Cloud’s shoulders from his questioning. Standing in the doorway were Commander Wolffe and Master Plo. Wolffe’s eyebrow was raised as he assessed the situation with a signature frown, whereas Plo’s face creased in minute amusement.

“If you men are finished corrupting our commander, you can get some rest,” Wolffe huffed at his troops as he stepped to the side to allow Issa the room to get past. The troopers grumbled a chorus of, “yes, sir,” while Issa got to her feet and moved towards the doorway. Wolffe’s presence filled the small gap as she attempted to slip past him, a sheepish look on her face as she avoided his calculating gaze like a child being scolded.

Plo bid the drunken Wolfpack goodnight for the both of them before walking with Issa back to her quarters.

—

Wolffe rubbed a hand down his face, bracing himself for a long discussion with his drunk troops on the necessities of professionalism and respect for senior officers when one of his sergeants cut him off.

“Sir, they’re gone now… You want a drink?” Wolffe stared at Boost for a few seconds, eyes boring into him. The sergeant almost cringed under his intense look, until Wolffe finally held his empty hand towards him. Boost gave a little whoop of celebration as he grabbed one of the shoddy cups and poured a good helping of the clear liquid before passing it to the commander.

Wolffe didn’t hesitate to take a long swig and almost immediately regretted his decision. He would not sputter his alcohol in front of his men. By the Force, what in the Sith Hells did Two-Pint brew this with?

He cleared his throat as the alcohol burned down through his chest, warming him a bit too much from the inside out. “Two-Pint, I feel like I should report you to a medic if you think this proof in something ingestible is normal.”

“Hey, it’s not meant to taste good, it’s just meant to get you drunk fast. Now I may not be good at maths, but I’m sure the way to do that is to have as much alcohol percentage in as little liquid as possible.” The heavy gunner looked far too pleased with himself as he shared his reasoning. Book just facepalmed at the man from across the room while Cloud giggled.

“Who brewed for your batch back on Kamino, Commander?” Book asked.

“Oh that was Fox. Moron wasn’t subtle about it either. The Kaminoans nearly demoted him a few times, but the mir’sheb can lie through his teeth. He always managed to get away with it.” Wolffe paused to take another painful sip of his drink before continuing, his voice crackling as the alcohol burned at him once more. “It also tasted a lot better than this osik.”

“Beggars can’t be choosers, sir,” Sinker replied in a sing-song voice before braving another sip of his own.

—--

Plo was quiet as he set about Issa’s small space, making her some tea to help ease the alcohol in her system. The room was sparsely decorated, much like her home back at the temple, but Plo noted a few familiar keepsakes that she’d allowed herself to have over the years. A worn bolt from his ship, a tiny traditional Pantoran scarf which was folded neatly by the desk, and had been the one she’d been wearing when she was brought to the temple. There was also a small, red and blue millaflower potted in a clear vase that she’d been caring for ever since they found it on a mission to Naboo. The memory of the trip, as well as t brought a wave of contentment over the Jedi Master as he poured a steaming cup of his Padawan’s favourite Jogan fruit tea, which he passed to the fidgeting young woman next to him.

Issa’s blue hands clasped around the delicate cup, moving to take a sip before changing her mind and lowering the warm drink to her lap. “Master, something’s on your mind. What’s going on?” Plo met Issa’s wide dark eyes. They always were such a contrast to her bright skin and for a moment, she looked like a youngling once again, all wide eyed and eager to make him proud.

The Kel Dor took a seat next to his Padawan and placed a comforting hand on her knee. “Issa, while I appreciate your bonding with the men and what it does for morale, I feel I must still remind you of the consequences of what is likely to come.” He could see that despite Issa’s slightly fuzzy mind, she didn’t need to be sober to know exactly what he was trying to say. “I trust you to remember the fine line between friendship and attachment.”

Plo watched as the cogs turned in the young woman’s tipsy brain, brows furrowed and pulling at her facial markings. It was a few moments before she’d readied herself with a reply. “Master, with all due respect, I know these men are likely to die, and while the thought upsets me greatly, I can’t bring myself to sit back and keep my distance. Each life is a blessing in the Force, and I feel like we’ll all be better for knowing the clones. They’re kind, funny, and beyond intelligent. They’re good men, and I feel privileged to spend whatever little time I can with them.”

Issa looked content in her answer, giving herself a little nod as she finished her speech and looked back at him. For not the first time in his life, Plo was quite thankful for the mask which covered his features, as he was sure he would’ve looked taken aback at his student’s explanation. It struck him that everything she said was extremely obvious and very much true, and he hadn’t really taken the time to stop and consider a similar trail of thought. It seems as though I’ve been too busy trying to lead an army instead of understanding the people beneath the helmets.

Later that night while Plo tried to sleep, his Padawan’s words echoed in his mind. For all the years he’d been training as a Jedi, for all the people he’d taken under his wing, he sometimes forgot that the best part of mentoring a young mind was the way they actually shaped the mentor without even realising. In his uncertainty for their future, Plo now realised he’d been of course kind, but also reserved when dealing with the clones. Exactly why, he wasn’t sure. Was it the guilt surrounding their creation? Was it the fact he didn’t completely agree with the forced military conscription of living beings without their true consent? The list goes on, and while he harboured these fears and apprehensions, he now realised that all these issues were not the fault of the clones. They were here as the innocent party in everything, and yet they’re so passionate about trying to protect the principle of democracy and right to freedom, despite lacking these basic rights themselves.

In that moment, Plo swore to himself that he would do everything in his power for their men. Issa was right, they deserved to be known and appreciated for as long as possible, and that’s exactly what he and his padawan will do.

—

The next morning, Issa trudged into the Wolfpack’s barracks with her blanket wrapped around her body, a portion of the soft fabric acting as a tiny hood over her head. She felt like she’d been chewed up by a Sarlacc and spat back out again, and she only had one person to blame… Two-Pint, definitely him and his kriffing ridiculous moonshine.

“Feeling content in your life choices today, Commander Straun?” Wolffe asked, smug and arrogant. Issa didn’t have the brain capacity to retort beyond a moody huff and throwing him a rude hand gesture, which pulled a chuckle out of the men around them.

“Keep that up and I’ll let ‘Pint and Book do their demolition sims today,” Wolffe challenged, and the two troopers mentioned suddenly lit up like a Coruscant skyscraper.

The Jedi groaned as she pulled the covers up over her head. “I will throw myself out the airlock.”

“Is that a threat or a promise?”

“Bite me,” Issa retorted

“I wouldn’t go there sir. How else do you think he got his name?” Sinker offered.

“Because he snarls at everything.”

The sergeant smirked as Wolffe glared daggers at him, challenging him to finish his explanation. The silver-haired clone remained unbothered at the withering gaze and continued, extremely pleased with himself. “Nah, he bit one of his batch mates as a cadet.”

“YOU’RE LYING. Wolffe you feral child. Which one? Was it Cody? It was Cody wasn’t it?” Issa’s line of teasing was swiftly interrupted by the crackling of the ship’s comm system coming to life.

“General Plo and Commanders Wolffe and Straun requested on the bridge. We have an incoming transmission from Admiral Coburn.” The trooper’s voice was muffled as it was broadcast across the room, but the meaning was loud and clear. Issa and Wolffe’s eyes met, understanding passing between them.

It was time to go to battle.

Taglist: @misogirl828

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wild-karrde · 2 years

Note

Fic rec for Fandom Friday!!

@teletraan-meets-jarvis has a fabulous fic series called Pieces…her OC is Plo Koon’s padawan and it takes the reader to the start of The Wolfpack. Highly recommend!!

Alright alright alright SO, I am admittedly biased because I beta read for this fic, but I LOVE Pieces VERY MUCH. The amount of love TJ puts into each characters and her OCs is SO apparent. Issa is so interesting and wonderful, and each of the members of the Wolfpack have my entire heart. I mean, it doesn't hurt that Chuckles's batchmate/twin is prominently featured (I WOULD DIE FOR TWO-PINT. HE IS MY BEST BOI). I simply cannot shout enough about all of the things I love about this fic and TJ's writing.

I highly recommend this fic for any Wolffe fans out there, and I can guarantee it's going to be such a GREAT ride! Thanks for the rec!

Participate in Fandom Friday to show your favorite creators from this week some love! :)

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nimsajlove · 4 years

Text

Brothers (II)

Hey, finished the second part of my fanfic! Yay... I already hate it. Why do I do this to myself?

Brothers-AU AO3

Part I , Part III

*~*

Rex stood in the hangar and coordinated the loading of the new supplies. At least, he tried to. Because after Ahsoka joined them, he'd actually given up. She had helped, that was true. But she quickly met Hardcase and threw all of her plans, to continue working, overboard, just like the clone.

The captain saw a movement out of the corner of his eye and took a quick step to the side, laughing Hardcase ran just past him, Ahsoka perched on his shoulders. Rex looked at them, shaking his head, and was about to turn back to work, when he saw the accident happen. Cody stepped out of a door, followed by Waxer and Boil, and all three were knocked down. Hardacse stumbled and he and the padawan landed in the ball of troopers on the floor. "What is this supposed to be?", Skywalker asked, joining his captain. He shook his head, perplexed and tired, how could he keep these people under control? But then, he heard the laughter of everyone who was lying on the floor and actually seemed to enjoy themselves, it made him laugh a little too. Skywalker beside him looked at the whole thing a little longer, a smile tugging at his lips. “Snips, come on! If we get to be late again... “, he let the sentence unfinished and the togruta came quickly. "I'm here!"

Rex watched them go for a moment. The girl was chaotic, had a tendency to overestimate herself and exuded such euphoria, that some of his men became increasingly involved in her jokes. But he had also called her his sister and that didn't feel wrong. She was with the clones almost every day, ate with them and had already left her quarters a few times to sneak into the ones of the troops. When Rex caught her doing it, her answer was simple, that it was too quiet in her quarters and that after all the noise on the battlefields, she just couldn't sleep. She didn't distinguished between herself and the clones. Besides, she was a child. And his brothers deserved someone to make them laugh. "Hey vod!", Cody said and his brother snapped his fingers in front of his nose.

*~*

At first she hated the camps, in which she had to hold on for weeks at some missions. In the jedi temple there had been at least thick walls that created some privacy and a level floor, and no sharp stones or hills that lay exactly under the mat! So it had become a tradition, that Ahsoka meticulously inspected everything when setting up the tents and chose the place with the levelest floor. It didn't matter to her, whether her tent was there or any other one. The floor there was level, so she would sleep there too! She also liked to complain loudly, when there was simply no good place to sleep. Since this grumbling subsided quickly, it was ignored with a smile and sometimes a chuckle.

But there was something else, she had come to love during these phases in the tents. There was no private place to wash and the compact showers in the large wash tent were open and difficult to regulate, but there was hot water. In the temple, she only had the pleasure of lukewarm water for washing, the younglings and padawans were to be taught abstinence and how they should be grateful for the simple things. And she was very grateful for simple things. For example for the collectors, with which the water was heated up and then came almost boiling hot out of the shower. In return, she had willingly given up every bit of privacy.

"Are you serious?", someone grumbled as a group of clones poured into the tent. It was foggy and Ahsoka just held her face in the hot water jet. She heard the men around her and could almost feel the movement of her neighbors, everyone was so crowded. But it didn't bother her... "Turn off the water, otherwise I'll turn off the collector outside!", Jesse threatened and Hardcase laughed uproariously, he was already under a jet of water, cold like always. He said it grounded him. Ahsoka turned and let the water slap on her shoulders, just a few more seconds... "You wouldn't dare to do that, would you?", she grinned at Jesse, who rolled his eyes and turned on his shower, there was still warm water left, but when the sun went down it would be gone quickly. After a few more seconds, Ahsoka turned off the water and grabbed her towel, one of the few belongings she had on missions. While still in the foggy and full tent, she dried herself off and slipped into her clothes before stepping outside and inhaling the cool air. She loved that, just being able to stand clean and warm. Because they were never really warm or clean in the battlefield.

"Really Snips, I will never understand you.", her master muttered, who had probably been waiting for her next to the entrance. “Master, I refuse to wait to shower until all the warm water is used up. And it doesn't bother the men or me. If you would prefer a hot shower, you would definitely also not mind it.", she grinned and stretched. Skywalker smirked and then gestured her to follow him.

Her Master had joined them a little later than usual (his hunt for Grievous was not over yet), as had Rex and a few others. The clone captain was standing in the command tent with his helmet tucked under his arm. He looked a little tired, but relatively satisfied. "Rexter, good to see you.", Ahsoka grinned and lined up next to the clone, who actually had to smile and patted her lower back. "Will I still have the chance of a comfortable shower temperature?", he asked and Ahsoka grinned innocently up at him. "If Jesse doesn't uses it all.", she whispered and he rolled his eyes. "Sure.", he muttered, before drawing his and her attention to the news Skywalker had. Well, news for Ahsoka. She listened to the report of the incident at the rishi base and put her chin on her hand, looking strangely concerned.

"That must be tough, as a first encounter...", she mumbled and Rex laughed next to her. "Since when are first ones easy?" She giggled, then looked up. “If it is okay, they can come into the tent I'm in. There is still plenty of space.", she offered, with the hope that the new men would make friends quickly with her help. At times, the clones could be surprisingly cool when they decided not to take someone in their midst. Even if it was one of theirs. Skywalker smiled. "Is Hardcase in that tent too?", he asked and Ahsoka was confused, but said no. "Then that should work, shouldn't it Rex?", asked her master and the captain agreed. Full of energy, Ahsoka wanted to storm away again, still with her towel over her shoulder, when Rex held her back. "Don't let them act up with you, vod'ika." His smile took on a loving trait and she returned it. "Hey, if I get my way, the complaint will end up on your desk, not mine!", she grinned broadly and was gone.

She found the dominos quickly. “Oh Hevy, let it be! How about a good night's sleep before you mess with everyone here?", one of them asked, slightly annoyed, and Ahsoka immediately understood, why Skyguy and Rex didn't wanted Hevy and Hardcase in a tent. It would end in a fun, but for Kix exhausting, wrestling match. She came closer and quickly tried to grasp all the details that distinguished the men from one another. She could identify Hevy quite quickly, his tattoo wasn’t that hidden. It would make it easy for her. The one next to him also had a small mark of this kind on his face, but she could only identify it when she got closer. "What do you want, half pint?", asked one with a big grin on his face, his eyes sparkled jokingly but not maliciously.

"I'm Ahsoka Tano.", she introduced herself and as if you had flipped a switch in the men, they stood at attention. Did Rex talk about her? “Sorry, sir. Commader Cody had told us about you.”, one of them rattled down, the joker still grinning, but it wasn’t as broad as before. "He just didn't mention that you are so tiny." She puffed her cheeks and was already wondering, if Rex would be mad at her, if one of the shinys ended up at Kix right at the beginning, even if it flattered her that Cody had talked about her. Then two others joined in, de-escalating. "Leave Cutup, he doesn't know when to stop.", said the one with the five on his temple. The two next to him nodded affirmatively. "Yep, just ignore him.", said another and introduced himself as Droidbait. She nodded and let go of her crazy idea, Kix would probably have suffered a nervous breakdown anyway. Hardcase had kept him busy and without Jesse, Kix would have tied and gagged him somewhere. On the way to the tent, she listened to the clones closely, to learn how they talked und acted. The one with the five was actually addressed as Fives and was grinning and having an exchange with the one he called Echo. Ahsoka turned her head briefly and looked at the two, they seemed to be close. Hevy, Cutup and Droidbait were walking behind them and Cutup was wedged in the middle, while the other two teased him. Oh dear, such behavior would drive Jesse mad. The clone had never learned, how to sleep unless everyone was calm and relatively silent.

They entered the tent. “Pick a mat. Except this one! ", she explained and pointed at a sleeping place in the back of the tent. Fives raised an eyebrow and in Echo's eyes she could read the question, even if he didn't ask it. "Why?", Fives asked, grinning. Ahsoka straightened to her full, small, height and crossed her arms. "Because that's the only mat without any pebble under it, and I'll defend it with my life.", she grinned back and Fives laughed. "Okay, understood.", he amused himself, but respected the padawan's claim to ownership and threw himself on a blank mat a few steps away.

*~*

It should turn out, that Fives wouldn't show her such respect often. She liked the new clones, had Hevy and Cutup describe the fight to her in great detail. How Heavy saved them all with his knowledge! When Hardcase heard the story from the new comrade's mouth for the first time, he laughed his ass off, shortly afterwards they were laughing on the floor and it seemed as if Hardcase would have won, until Rex intervened. That was the second, when she was tempted to tease him with his plan until she got him to the point, where she could finally get him to race her across the camp. But Ahsoka dumped the idea again, she liked it when Rex laughed and didn't want to wipe it off his face.

The rest of the evening was quiet and Ahsoka almost clapped her hands in joy, when the food actually looked like something edible! The joy lasted only three seconds, Fives snapping a piece of her meal with astonishing elegance. "Never leave the food open for too long.", Echo muttered with a slight grin and Ahoska spun around to him. "And what manual was that in?", she hissed, before chasing after the fleeing Fives. The loud laughter of the rest of the group behind her.

She also learned, that Echo was the actual leader out of the two. Sure, Fives was level-headed enough to make decisions and loud enough to be heard. But whenever something turned against his brother, Echo came to the fore and took the lead. He put up with criticism better than Fives, who sometimes stood behind his brother a little offset and apologized quietly. Once, Ahsoka had even stumbled upon a fight, a shiny and Echo. She and Rex separated them and it quickly became clear, who had started it. Even if she never thought, that Echo would resort to such means. He was surprisingly composed and calm and she couldn't feel any agitation, even in the force. "You just be done with it like that?", she asked softly, watching Rex send the younger clone away a few meters from them. Echo shrugged and grinned. “Fives didn't hear it and never will! That's what counts."

*~*

She sat there with her mouth open and eyes wide, before jumping hastily from her bunk in her quarters and hurrying to the door. "You made it! And, how does that feel?“, she asked with a broad grin and ran a finger over Echo’s new helmet. Unlike the rest of the armor, they looked no different, but were brand new. Echo smirked and Fives shrugged. "Maybe a little heavier.", he said, fastening his grab on the helmet under his arm and she shook her head. "I didn't mean that, idiot.", she mumbled and now Fives had to laugh, while Echo looked at her openly and she saw something in his eyes, a loss. Who fell on Kamino? "As if he had given it to me.", he said. She never dared to ask, who he was talking about.

*~*

She liked Hevy, he was loud and always ready for a fight. Just like Hardcase, it turned out to be fatal to Kix's nerves having them both train together.

She loved Droidbait, the clone with the little smile was surprisingly good at distracting others from what they were about to do. Instead, they ended up sitting together and playing with some cards, Ahsoka spent almost every quiet evening on the cruiser like that. She lost many desserts to him.

Without Cutup she couldn't imagine to trade barbs with somebody. They could throw many things in each others faces, only to see how desperation grew in the others when they wanted to stop this madness.

Fives was irreplaceable, outwardly he was a bit calmer and more relaxed than his brothers. But if he came around the corner with an idea, it was the best prank Ahsoka had ever seen. They had caught Rex, for the first time ever! He was also a good speaker, more than once she considered going to him before a discussion.

Echo was very much like Fives, they often moved around the camps together. But if Ahsoka ever spent time alone with the reserved clone, a quick-witted and funny comrade would emerge. And his ability to remember everything from the manual was… incredible!

Kix was so important to all of them, even if Ahsoka was sometimes ashamed to rob him of the last nerve. And yet, he received them all again and again with open arms and brotherly rebuke. Sometimes with anger, sometimes.

Jesse was always by her side when she felt a little lonely. He could crack jokes and make bets with her that ended up in her chasing him down the hallways, nagging and laughing. But he was also very careful to stay close to her during battles, without getting in her way. She found it somehow nice, that there was someone who looked after her and did not hold her back, as her master did in her opinion now and then.

Rex was her oldest brother, even if she had never called him that before. Whenever they were just among the clones or when the jedi were not listening, he would quietly call her vod'ika and she loved it. He could just sit next to her for hours and look at the chaos with her, that they had to clean up together. But then, there was also this fire with which he spurred her on in fights and trained with her. Whenever she complained about her bruises, she just got another one from him. He was like a big old rock, unbreakable.

She respected Cody, but kept herself out of the way when he and Rex fought in mando’a, in the end no one could win. It was quite amusing, to see the sly twinkle in his eyes, though.

She adored her master, her Skyguy. Who approached everything with such ease that, despite the death and the devastation around her, she stood beside him with a laugh in front of the droids and enjoyed measuring herself against him. She had worked hard for his trust, and she honored it every time she brought a mission to a successful conclusion on her own.

She needed Master Kenobi, even if she sometimes believed, that Anakin needed him even more. But still it could sometimes not be denied, that his infinite calm and patience did some good for her too.

She admired Padme Amidala for her courage; if she were to choose someone as second master, she might have chosen the Senator. Had they been even closer, Ahsoka might even have seen her as a mother of sorts.

They were all part of her adopted family. Some were closer to her than others, and few did not even know she was thinking that way. And yet they were all there, always.

*~*

She was different since they came back. Rex and Cody had first noticed it, when she immediately ran after her master as he left the jedi temple. The two looked at each other for a long second, they thought the same thing. It was unusual for the girl, to be so clingy. Hardcase noticed, when she turned down his invitation to a small trial of strength. "Who knows, where this would go.", she had said quickly and was gone. Fives noticed it, when they were working on a droid together. She wired it incorrectly and it pinched the clone's hand, before she hastily ripped the cable out again. Fives wasn't entirely untalented himself and was used to work with her on the droids, but nothing like that had ever happened! Echo noticed, when he tried to teach her about the next planet. She was distracted and when he touched her arm, she nealy jumped off the bunk.

Kix was the first, after all, to confirm that something was indeed wrong. General Skywalker had turned up one evening, he justified it by not wanting to burden the jedi with it. Even he knew, that the clones knew Ahsoka very well. He didn't really said what happened, but asked whether a near-death experience might stick for a long time. Kix reported it to Rex, Cody, and Jesse. That same evening, Cutup complained that Ahsoka consistently stayed out of the clone quarters for the first time in a long time. Echo threatened, that he would give the girl another week to tell them what was wrong, Rex silently agreed.

In the end, they didn't had to wait that long. One night the door slid open and Ahsoka carefully shook Kix awake.

"Commander, do you have any idea what time it is?", he scolded in a whisper, but got up anyway and accompanied her out into the hallway. He watched her try to smile. “No, I lost my watch. What time is it?“, she asked and the smile looked innocent, but her eyes looked everywhere, just not at him. He looked at her whole figure, she was drenched in sweat. "Isn't it a little late for training?", he asked seriously, knowing that the jedi were strange sometimes. But Ahsoka had never seemed THAT strange to him. "Actually, I can't sleep and I was wondering, if you might have something for me.", she mumbled now and deliberately lowered her eyes to her feet. Kix hesitated for a moment, forcing Ahsoka to sleep with sedatives was not the best way, to deal with her obvious problem. It would only postpone the nightmares she must have been having. There were better cures for anxiety, than numbing it...Then he remembered one of the plans Hardcase, Hevy, Echo and Fives had made in their desperation and slowly nodded. A much better way, to deal with fear.

"Actually, there is something.", he smiled, grabbed her and dragged her into the quarters. There, he threw her into Fives' bunk, they both knew that the clone would simply grab everything he could get a hold of in his sleep. Trapped, she looked up angrily at Kix, who was very pleased with himself. This way, he would be able to go back to sleep and Ahsoka had no chance to wander the hallways at night. He also hoped, that a little closeness to someone alive and warm would calm her down. Because, if he was honest, this was something the jedi would never do for her. "Good night, commander.", he grinned and layed down again.

The next morning started just before sunrise with a whimpering Ahsoka. Wet and cold she sat up and woke Fives, Jesse and Kix, who had slept worse than he expected the rest of the night. There was a patient nearby, whom he needed to keep an eye on. Panicked, she looked around and took in the sight of the quarter, so warm and calm. When was the last time it was so beautiful? "I'm dead, right?", she mumbled in panic and it alerted the clones that were awake. Fives pulled her into an embrace from behind, she was freezing. Jesse mentally made a note to speak to Rex, and maybe the general, and Kix got up and rummaged in his, always ready, backpack for a sedative. "Not as long, as I can hold a band-aid.", he announced with a gentle smile and let her slide back into a light slumber.

He would learn, in a few hours, that her stomach couldn't take things like that at all. But what happened did not come out of her mouth, ever.

*~*

The day was beautiful, it had started sunny and with a couple of laughing younglings in the hallway. She dodged them grinningly and went to see her brothers, with a monthly ration of chocolate. She had lost, unfortunately. Fives or Echo alone had always lost the bets. But now, the two brothers had teamed up and her betting balance went straight down. The door to the quarters slid open and with a big grin she crept in, the clones were still asleep. It seemed liked it had been a long evening... With ease, like every jedi, she swung onto Kix's bunk. He was sound asleep, one hand clutching his datapad. By the force, this man was almost worse than Rex. However, the captain had developed the ability to live only on caf and dessert, something that Kix couldn't manage. Sighing, she let herself tilt back and dangled over her head in the lower bunk, Jesse. She grinned and stared at him, then started a small countdown in her head.

"Five, four, three ..." Before she reached two, Jesse opened his eyes, saw the girl and grimaced, before he grabbed something nearby and threw it at her. She skilfully dodged and laughed, that woke the others up. "Is that how you greet your chocolate?", laughed Ahsoka and sank to the floor. "Finally!" Fives practically threw himself out of bed on top of her, Hardcase and Cutup followed immediately. Buried beneath them, Ahsoka clutched the chocolate as tightly as she could. "Help?", she asked muffled and someone seemed to have mercy, Echo and Droidbait laughingly grabbed their brothers and pulled them apart.

The day was horrible. She crouched and massaged her temples, Master Plo glanced at her again, as did Wolffe next to him. "Are you okay, little Soka?", the jedi asked calmly and she forced a smile, her legs tingling as she stood up. How long had she been sitting in the hangar? “Yes, Master Plo. I'm just a little... tired.", she explained bluntly and clenched her hands into fists, she felt so endlessly tired and restless at the same time. As if she was waiting for something, she knew wouldn't happen. "I can understand, if the death of Master Piell is hard to deal with for you.", he started and she took a deep breath, that had also happened... God, her head hurted. "Yeah, exactly... I'll lie down a bit.", she mumbled and turned to leave. She heard Wolffe chasing after her. "Is there anything else, commander?", she asked, turning to face him. The clone was finally catching up, and although she could feel an unexpected affection, his face remained as cool as almost always.

"Commander, could I come up with a suggestion for a solution to your problem.", he asked and Ahsoka shrugged her shoulders, then she looked at him directly and something inside of her seemed to let go and her calm facial features slipped away from her. She wanted to cry, scream, and blame someone. Wolffe let the second pass and then he smiled, it was a real smile. “Afterwards, my brothers and I drink so much together that we don't remember how to walk. And the next morning, it's somehow easier to carry on and remember the good things. ” She had to smile, somehow she liked the idea. But Echo deserved better. “Thank you Wolffe, but no. I don't think that will solve my problem.", she mumbled tiredly and left Commander Wolffe and his concerned gaze behind.

At her privat quarters, she quickly closed the door, she didn't wanted to burden the other clones with her melancholy any more. It took exactly one second, before she had already grabbed her pillow and screamed into it. She screamed for a long time, until her voice was hoarse and low. Then she moved on to just sitting in the corner and staring at her feet. There was a knock, she didn't open. She didn't want to see anyone. Her comlink blinked and she accepted the request, it could have been someone important. Even though, it couldn't possibly be important enough to get her to stand up now. She had expected Master Skywalker or Kenobi. Maybe even Rex or Cody too.

"Vod’ika, open the door.", he called to her. Her brother sounded tired and exhausted, even though he hadn't even been there... She switched off her comlink and clawed her hands into the sensitive lekku until it hurt. Why was all of this so hard? It wasn't the first clone she'd lost on the battlefield! There was another knock, more forcefully. This time she could hear the gruff voice in her dark quarters through the door. "Open up now, or we'll do it!", he growled, she did not move an inch. After a few seconds, her door actually opened. Jesse and Kix stood in front of it, of course the medic had access to everything, that was necessary to ensure the health of everyone. Also the codes for the personal quarters. Jesse's face was hardend and slyghtly worried, just like his voice. Kix, on the other hand, seemed to be in agony and was already preparing something while walking. A sedative, Ahsoka assumed. She throw herself violently against her brothers' hands.

"No, stay away with that stuff!", she screamed and Kix paused, he knew exactly how she would react to such things and yet, he wanted to ease her for a few hours as well. She looked at him and suddenly, she was no longer angry, just sad. Everyone around her looked so sad and tired, that she had no right to be angry, right? Tears appeared in her eyes and she hastily wiped them away, only more came. "Where's Fives?", she muttered, the need to see him suddenly became overwhelming and she tried to get up. He had lost his closest brother and she felt bad, for not being with him. “Asleep, Hardcase and Hevy had to hold him down. He'll be okay.", Kix mumbled and suddenly more figures appeared behind Jesse, who turned his head back a little and let the other two clones pass. Hardcase looked so calm and she had never seen Rex so broken before. At that moment, something broke in her, something from which an unexpected seriousness and disenchantment would grow with her getting older. Now, she could no longer hold on and began to tremble, she realized why attachments where forbidden among the jedi. Rex leaned down and pulled her to her feet, Hardcase and Jesse grabbed her arms und hips and held her upright. "Come on, vod'ika.", Rex said and she took the first step.

#clones #clone wars #ahsoka tano #brothers-au #rex #cody #clone troopers #aaand where going down now I think...#why am I doing this again?#this is unexpectedly hard

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