bibannana · 2 years ago
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Wrecker *holding an egg in his hands*: Do you think eggs can be scrambled while in the shell?
Crosshair *agent of chaos (as long as it doesn't affect him)*: Do it. Let us find out.
Omega *nodding*: I think you can Wrecker!
Hunter *can see Wrecker breaking the egg and it going everywhere*: Don't try it. Don't.
Tech *placing down his datapad*: You can. If you spin the eggs-
Hunter *frowning*: Nobody is spinning anything.
Echo *who figured out the fastest way to scramble an egg in shell (through much trial and error, and a furious Rex covered with egg)*: I say we do it.
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m-o-o-n-s-g-o-o-n-s · 3 months ago
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Hello mooni! I was wondering if I could please send in a request for my beloved Tech and female reader with fluff with light angst?
I was thinking maybe reader and Tech get lost or in a pickle on a mission and is feeling quite nervous as this hasn’t happened to her before and Tech tries his best to comfort her which could maybe lead to Tech admitting his feelings for her? OR you could do anything you absolutely wish 🤍
huge thanks if you choose to do this and don’t worry if not, also, take your time! 🤍
Thank you 😊
this is so cute! i went back and forth for awhile on if i should make it from the reader's perspective or tech's, but ultimately decided reader's. hope you enjoy!
Tech x GN!Reader
Word Count: 1,786 words
Warnings: panic, panic attack (alluded too, not detailed/mentioned)
Genre: FLUFF, with a slight dashing of angst, as requested
Description: When a mission with Tech goes awry, feelings arise.
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Stranded Lovers
“Right, do we all understand the mission?”
You had definitely not been listening to Hunter explain your upcoming mission.
It was hard. Not that Hunter did it intentionally, but sometimes he did kind of just drone on in a way. You knew he meant well, but you seemed to never be able to focus when it came time to debrief.
Not with Tech around. 
He was quite cute.
He was endearing, that was for sure. You always made time to listen to him, never minding how he spoke his mind. It was so inspiring. His honeyed eyes, pretty lips-
No, no. 
Tech was a member of the team, and he was a part of the group. There were no feelings to be involved, and certainly no ideas of “cuteness” surrounding Tech. You didn’t have the heart to cause such a disruption to the chaotic flow of the Batch’s already chaotic lifestyle. 
You had caught eyes with him during the briefing though.
He sometimes wondered if that look in your eyes meant something, and you sometimes wondered if that look in his eyes-
“Hey. Are you ready?” Hunter called out to you. The rest of the Batch had already made their way out onto the planet, awaiting your arrival. 
“Yes, of course! Sorry!” You called back, running to join the others, daydream abandoned.
“No problem. Alright team, I think it’s best we split up. Cross, Omega, you’re with me. Wrecker and Echo, you take that path…”
That meant-
Maker.
You prayed you would focus better during the actual mission than you had in the briefing.
“You two will take that other path, and we’ll meet you at the checkpoint. Got it?” Hunter finished, pointing at you and Tech.
“We will rendezvous at the checkpoint. Good luck,” Tech said, turning abruptly.
He began to walk towards the path Hunter had pointed out ahead, you slightly behind him.
He was cute in his helmet-
No. Focus.
You decided to focus on the surrounding nature, easing your mind off of cute genius engineers.
Or a cute genius engineer in this case.
Focus.
Cadmium green surrounded the two of you as you slowly began to make your way through the flora. Tropical sunny yellows and hued rosy pinks of flowers brushed your ankles, almost floating among the greenery around you. Dewy drops slowly trickling down slopes of plants, tiny splashes at your feet. 
It was gorgeous.
“Don’t touch that. It’s poisonous, and will likely kill you within approximately 30 minutes,” Tech called. 
You had stopped in your tracks upon seeing a towering, flowering plant. Crismons blossoms decorated the plant, soft green leaves tracing the flowers. In curiosity, you had slowly begun to reach for the plant. 
He hadn’t even been facing you.
“You got eyes in the back of your head?”
You heard a tsk sound as you began to follow the engineer again.
“I believe you mean ‘do you’, and no. It is physically impossible to have eyes in the back of your head. Furthermore, I believe the strain on both sets of eyes would be incredibly painful if humanoids were to possess eyes on the front of their face, and the back of their head,” Tech rambled. 
You decided for the rest of the journey, no hands would be making contact with beautiful, strange plants.
The two of you continued on, greenery enveloping you, shadows melting away into the forest. 
It was actually quite relaxing.
Russet roots overlapped the damp earth, the sun bearing life to the planet around you. The continuous flowering vegetation presented a strange sort of haven for the life that thrived within the earth. 
Rarely did any of you get these sights anymore. Between running from the Empire, working for Cid, it was all so… 
Much.
In a strange way, you always felt like you were running, even when you weren’t running anywhere at all. 
“I believe we are close to our checkpoint with the rest of the group.”
You were pulled from the depths of your mind, attention meeting the engineer’s face, almost running into him.
He quickly caught your arms, your feet stopping inches before him. 
Why were your arms so warm suddenly?
“Sorry,” you mumbled.
So much for not running anywhere.
He shot you a quick shake of his head, turning back around to forge ahead. He wondered if you had missed the smile that graced his face. 
“It should just be up ahead,” Tech stated, walking a bit ahead of you towards a large canopy of leaves.
He held back a few leaves for you, allowing the both of you to enter into a small clearing.
And…
There was nothing.
No Hunter, or Crosshair, no Echo and Wrecker, no Omega, nothing. 
Wasn't this supposed to be the checkpoint?
“Uh, Tech?”
“Yes?”
“Where are we?”
Tech began furiously typing into his datapad.
“I- I’m not sure. I thought I put in the correct coordinates,” Tech mumbled.
Suddenly the greenery wasn’t so relaxing anymore.
“We’re lost?” You asked, panic slowly beginning to rise in your stomach.
“I wouldn’t say that. Let me just check my coordinates.”
You tried to remain calm, reminding yourself that Tech was a genius in all aspects, and he would definitely figure-
“It seems we are in a blind spot. I have no signal.”
The panic didn’t settle, in fact, it rooted itself in your mind much like the lush trees you had witnessed earlier in your journey. It began to grow slowly as the seconds passed in the realization.
You were lost. 
On some random planet.
With no way to contact for help.
“So not only are we lost, we’re stranded?” You questioned, turning to face the clone with wide eyes.
“It would seem so. No signal also means no comms, so it seems for the time being, we are in fact stranded,” Tech stated simply, seeming completely fine.
You were stranded on a foreign planet in the middle of nowhere, no Batch, and certainly no way to contact for help.
The jungle began closing in.
“What are we going to do?!”
Tech was surprised by your sudden outburst, yet he hadn’t quite caught on to the slow panic building within your mind.
“I suppose we shall wait, hoping the others will eventually stumble on us,” Tech declared.
The leaves felt like they were slowly unfurling, reaching to grab you. Flowers that were suddenly not only poisonous, but claustrophobic. Roots that would soon grab you by the legs, twisting you sideways.
“What if they don’t find us?!”
“I assure you we will be fine. The others will-”
“But what if we are stranded here for hours?! We don’t have rations! We have no way of knowing if this planet gets cold at night, and what if our blacks won’t keep us warm enough?! What if the others never find us, and what if-”
“Hey.”
You had somehow ended up on the ground, shaking. The panic of being lost, the thought of never finding your way plagued you. Your eyes frantically began searching the ground for an escape, your breathing erratic.
“Breathe.”
Tech once again took hold of your arms, warmth seeping through his gloves and armor. With shaky, but steady breaths, you followed Tech in a silent cycle of regulating your mind once again.
He hated seeing you like this.
For Tech, it was just another mishap on a mission, one he would correct for all future missions. He saw it as nothing more than just a mistake.
Somehow, his helmet had been abandoned in the panic, yet he hoped he was more comforting than a modulator. Your eyes had still been facing the ground, and he supposed the ground at this moment was more comforting.
“There you go, mesh’la,” he whispered quietly, your figure slowly relaxing.
The nature was no longer closing in.
The slight jitters in your stomach from Tech’s touch certainly were though.
Wait.
What had he just called you?
“What did you just call me?”
He stared.
He hadn’t meant to let that one slip.
“I- It’s a… Mando’a term of endearment.”
He had begun slowly rubbing circles with his thumbs on your arms. Jittery flutters danced in your stomach. 
Neither of you could look away.
“What’s it mean?”
It was as if you were both on autopilot, neither wanting to move, yet too entranced to stop.
Words were lost, there was no need for them now.
It was soft when his lips met yours. Delicate, like the leaves that had encapsulated the flowers you had seen. His hands had stilled against your arms, locked into place.
Locked into you.
Soon, slow became fast, feverish lips that devoured your own, a soft whine painting your lips as Tech pinched your bottom lip with his teeth. 
You wanted more, the pull of a magnet attracting you back to him, yet the lack of oxygen was soon enveloping you.
Tech pulled back, both of you gasping for air. A crooked smile spread on his face.
His heart skipped when he saw a matching smile curl on your lips.
“Beautiful,” he whispered, settling to place a peck on your forehead.
You thought you were going to faint, and not from a lack of air.
“How long have you thought about doing that?” You whispered, warmth growing as he suddenly became bashful. 
Maker, he was even more cute with that pinkish tint on his nose.
“For quite some time… mesh’la.”
This must have been some kind of heaven.
“Well it’s good that I’ve-”
“Hey! I found them!” A shout rang out.
Suddenly, Wrecker came tumbling through the flora in the clearing, followed by the rest of the Batch.
“Hey! You guys okay? We were super worried about you when you didn’t comm in at the checkpoint,” Wrecker exclaimed.
The sweet heaven around you broke, the jungle once again surrounding you as Tech, ever the gentleman, helped you up.
“Tech got us stranded.”
“Lost. I got us lost.”
“Stranded.”
“Lost.”
“Okay, that’s enough from you two. Let’s get back to the checkpoint and finish up this mission,” Hunter asserted, breaking up the ensuing back-and-forth.
The others began to slowly make their way back through the forest, though the strange look and smile from the boys and Omega was not lost on either of you.
As you both began to follow the Batch through the foliage, Tech trailed a bit behind the rest to catch the two of you alone again.
He caught your hand, lacing his own gloved fingers through yours. 
“I wouldn’t mind getting stranded again, mesh’la. I don’t think we were quite finished.”
He was so much more than endearing.
You smiled softly, catching that pinky hue on his nose again.
“I wouldn’t mind that either, Tech.”
tagging the lovely @nahoney22, as well as a few others! @hellothere-generalangsty @eyecandyeoz @baddest-batchers @moonstrider9904
If any of those tagged, or anyone else is interested in being on my taglist, here is the form to fill it out, or leave your interest in the comments. You can also find my taglist form on my pinned post!
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laughhardrunfastbekindsblog · 4 months ago
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Okay, my one and only major complaint about Bad Batch is that I don't think they handled Tech's death properly (I still don't think they should have killed him off at all, but here we are; and even if they intend(ed) to leave things open-ended to maybe bring him back later, the titular characters in the show wouldn't have known that); and with all the reasons I've seen floating out there as to WHY Tech's death was handled the way it was and why the characters reacted the way they did (or didn't), I just want to explain why none of the "reasons" cut it for me. If you're satisfied with how Tech was handled in season 3, I am genuinely happy for you (and lowkey jealous, ngl 😉). I've just been thinking about this a lot and need to spell it out!
Reason #1: "Why do we need to see more of the characters mourning? What we got was enough. We don't need a 2 hour episode that's all about the characters grieving." (Yes, someone actually used "2 hours" in their argument.)
Let's recap what we got: 1) A scene where Echo looks sadly at the Marauder's pilot seat, Wrecker actually sheds some tears (bless him), Omega's in denial, and Hunter tells Omega they're going to retire on Pabu because Tech is gone... followed up almost immediately by the villain dropping off broken goggles as the only proof that Tech was ever on Eriadu; 2) a scene where the audience is shown Tech's goggles but Hunter doesn't interact with them- instead, he looks at Lula, proving that his driving motivation is recovering Omega (which is fine when taken from the perspective that he can't do anything about Tech, whereas he can do something for Omega; but that perspective is ultimately just headcanon because the show never reiterates or follows up on this); 3) Wrecker alluding to Tech (not by name) to try to convince Hunter to be more cautious; 4) Omega name-dropping Tech (wait, does Crosshair even know what happened?... yay for context clues, I guess); 5) Echo name-dropping Tech in relation to data decryption with the team looking down sadly for 5 seconds (I timed it) before Crosshair changes the subject; 6) Phee name-dropping Tech in relation to her not knowing what m-count is; 7) Crosshair referring to Tech's information on Ventress; 8) Omega leaving Tech's goggles in the Archeum with none of her brothers around (hot take: it kinda bothers me that the goggles are given the same treatment as Lula, I totally understand the context/deeper meaning of Omega leaving her childhood behind by leaving Lula, but we're talking about the one relic they have of their fallen and irreplaceable brother being given the same emotional weight as a doll); 9) Phee referring to Tech having a discussion with her about Crosshair while Tech's goggles are in the background (and, noticeably, Crosshair doesn't react at all and just changes the subject back to needing a ship); 10) Crosshair says the squad died with Tech, Wrecker says Tech understood the risks, and that's that.
So, what we got was enough to establish that the characters were sad in the immediate aftermath of Tech's death, that some of them may have stayed sad about it all through season 3, and that the show didn't completely forget that Tech had been a main character at one point.
What we DON'T get is any real reference to what Tech meant to the family as an individual and a brother, any real indication of how the loss of Tech (distinct from the mission to save Omega) influences his family's actions or the story's overall narrative, any actual acknowledgement in the show of Tech's sacrifice having any meaning or the family moving past grief to express any form of gratitude for Tech's presence and influence on their lives, any reference to Tech having a true impact on 4 of his 5 siblings (Omega is the closest we get to witnessing Tech's continued influence on any of his siblings and even seeing that involves squinting/head tilts at times)... in other words, we get a few minutes of sadness, but never any catharsis. We see they miss him, but never does this truly inform the narrative or their decisions in season 3, AND it's left frustratingly vague where the characters are in the grieving process (more on that later).
Besides, no one (that I have come across, at least) was ever asking for a 2 hour episode. At most, Kanan got a 22-minute "eulogy" episode, and most of us aren't even asking for that. I'd have been at least minimally satisfied with a "Mayday moment" for Tech - and that scene lasted a grand total of 20 seconds. What would have been more satisfying would have been the show taking all those superficial name drops and converting at least a few of them into meaningful mentions indicating what Tech means to his brothers and/or how he continues to have an influence on his family and/or how his sacrifice is a motivating factor for them.
Reason #2: "There was no time."
Leaving aside the fact that there was apparently plenty of time and opportunity to make Tech (among others) a red herring...
Let's assume that the showrunners were not only told they only had 1 season left to wrap everything up, but were given highly specific time allotments for each episode to where they weren't allowed to add any scenes (I highly doubt this is what happened, but we're rolling with the "no time" thing here). You know what you do in that scenario when you're talking about something like following up on a main character's death that clearly has left your entire fanbase in an uproar? You MAKE time: you trim down the action scenes, you make the characters walk a little bit faster, you decide whether an extended scene of Echo giving Omega a crossbow that is never going to show up again is actually worth saving (I actually like the scene, by the way; just giving an example), you cut out a few of the extremely vague lines of dialogue Fennec and Asajj indulge in. What you DON'T do is kill off a beloved main character and then rely on convenient time lapses/time skips to just brush over all the fallout apart from a few name drops that do nothing to establish just how important said character was to the other characters in the show.
What's more, they could have EASILY included some true closure with ANY of the Tech name-drops/scenes that were already in the show. Have Hunter look at Tech's goggles before looking beyond them at Lula in 3.02. Have the brothers be present with Omega when she decides to leave Tech's goggles in the Archeum in 3.11. Have any of the brothers say one meaningful line about Tech while they're otherwise silently basking in the sunshine in the end scene on Pabu in 3.15!
Reason #3: "They're soldiers."
Of all the reasons given for why Tech's death was mishandled, I dislike this one the most. What does CF99 being soldiers have to do with the aftermath of Tech's death being reduced to perfunctory allusions? (If you want to get into the argument that soldiers in general have to figure out a way to "move on" and The Clone Wars didn't really spend any time on the clones processing losses after battles, let me just say I don't care for how this topic is covered in The Clone Wars either, and Bad Batch was a golden opportunity for the Star Wars franchise to move past this unfortunate trope.) Fallen soldiers in real life get memorials/funerals too, even if it's months after the battle. Fallen soldiers are honored and remembered by their families and those closest to them. If the show is trying to push the stereotype that soldiers move on from tragic deaths of comrades by being "stoic" and holding it all in and never talking about it, I strongly disagree with the perpetuation of this stereotype; and if the characters as soldiers actually DID grieve Tech in a healthy way, why didn't the show depict it?
Reason #4: "Star Wars writers don't know how to write meaningful scenes/payoff regarding death and characters dealing with death/loss."
The Bad Batch writers proved time and again how brilliant they are at writing emotional storylines with maximum payoff. Case in point: Mayday. Enough said (I'm writing too much on this general topic as it is).
Reason #5: "They got over it."
Maybe I'm reading things wrong, but a rather drastic change in behavior for one character (going from cautious and weighing all risks, to reckless and jumping headfirst into situations without proper backup), and another character including Tech's death as just one reason why he "deserves" to go on a suicide mission, does not read to me as the characters "getting over it." It reads to me as "avoidance behavior" and "continued internal conflict." (Granted, Hunter's more reckless behavior in season 3 likely had as much to do with the Omega situation as it did Tech's death, but the point still stands. And if the point DOESN'T still stand, then I've got even MORE issues with how this plotline was handled, so we'll just keep assuming it does.)
Furthermore, if the characters had truly "gotten over it," there shouldn't have been any hesitation or issue with them discussing and honoring Tech in meaningful ways.
Reason #6: "They DIDN'T get over it."
Right, and we ended the show that way, with no clear resolution to them actually coming to terms with Tech's death and honoring his memory. Great.
Reason #7: "Whatever. It's good Tech stayed dead. Tech's sacrifice meant something."
... Did it? Did it really? I mean, I know I say quite frequently that Tech's sacrifice is what made the happy ending possible for the others (because that's the only thought that got me through a rewatch of season 3). But the show, the narrative itself, certainly doesn't act like it really meant anything. Hunter says in the season 2 finale that they "weren't going to waste Tech's sacrifice" because they were going to retire on Pabu... and that discussion promptly gets forgotten and never brought up again, not even when the squad is trying to stay off the Empire's radar in season 3 after Omega returns. Never is there any discussion that "not wasting Tech's sacrifice" by hiding on Pabu to make sure no one else dies (a very understandable reaction, of course) also goes against the very mission Tech pushed for in the first place: rescuing Crosshair. Never do we hear Omega tell Crosshair, "Tech didn't give up on you, I'm not giving up on you, that's why you ARE going to escape with me." Never is there any talk about "Tech wanted us to live and stay together, so that is what we are going to do." Never is there any acknowledgement at the end of the show that they are all going to live in peace on Pabu because Tech made sure they could live.
The last half of season 4 of Rebels is full of references to Kanan's sacrifice actually meaning something and having direct tangible consequences not only for the family but for Lothal and the Rebellion. For one thing, the show itself literally spells out that the mission to shut down the Imperial factories on Lothal was actually a success because all the fuel reserves were destroyed - Kanan had died, but the mission had succeeded and directly led to the success of the bigger mission to completely free Lothal, and while this is very poor consolation for the loss of Kanan, at least the show openly acknowledged it. Kanan and his influence is also openly credited for Ezra foiling Palpatine's plans with the Jedi Temple and the WBW, Ezra learning to let go and again disrupting Palpatine's plans in the finale, and doing what was needed to ensure Lothal was fully freed.
Imagine how different Rebels would be if Kanan's death had been treated like Tech's: no mention that his role on the mission had any impact whatsoever. No reference to Ezra or any other member of the Ghost crew living up to what Kanan had taught them all - or, at best, there's a perfunctory reference in the epilogue that Ezra decided to keep using the Force the way Kanan had taught him to. No depiction of Ezra or Hera or Sabine or Zeb accepting Kanan's death and letting go of the pain while holding on to the memories. Nothing to show that any of the Ghost crew members act in memory of Kanan or that he is a motivating influence on them. No indication that Kanan's sacrifice drives Ezra to decide to follow up on their initial success with the factories and ultimately completely drive the Empire from Lothal.
Rebels just wouldn't be nearly as fulfilling.
Now, imagine if Tech's death had been treated like Kanan's, and maybe it will become more clear why I have a REALLY hard time agreeing with the argument that the show itself actually depicted Tech's death as "meaning something."
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romanstheory · 2 months ago
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Ride Slow a Bronco Nima One Shot
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Warnings: Smut, Size Kink, Edging, Alcohol, Bronco x Fem OC
Word Count: 2,610
Person in the picture
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"Respectfully Hunter, I'm not doing this match" Hands crossed tightly around my chest, my weight bearing on my right leg. "I told you I'm not doing another tag match and I meant that". The last tag match I was in I got abandoned and forced to compete in a handicapped match at NXT battleground. Hunter lets out a low sigh before rubbing his frown lines. "Look Lena that's understandable but this is what Creative has come up with for you. It's either this or nothing." Fuck. It's either this or nothing... this or nothing. My face curls into a frown before I finally respond "Who is my tag partner? Blair? Indi? Candice?" Not that it matters, whatever bitch he has me teaming with won't have my trust. Simply get it, destroy, and get out, I don't even want my hand raised at the end.
"Well creative is trying to mix things up around here... No pun intended. You'll team with Bronco Nima, they've got it planned out for a while since he split from OTM when the two of you got drafted to Smackdown from NXT." Hunter looks over his glasses at me "We're trying this all out to see how the crowd reacts. You two are total opposites so we figured it would be interesting." Bronco Nima... Even in NXT we didn't really speak. "We're your guinea pigs" A sarcastic huff leaves my lips before I shake my head slowly. "This or nothing Lena, just think about the opportunities this could bring. If this all goes well we could introduce a mixed tag title, of course, you and Bronco would automatically get a title shot." Hunter says resting his hands on his desk. An opportunity to make history makes this whole tag team thing more appealing.
"Some people are out in the ring rehearing and warming up, I heard Bronco is out there too. He already knows about the plans so I would go make a game plan with your new tag partner" He says before shuffling through a stack of papers on his desk. I nod and make my way to the empty arena. Voices echo through the deserted place. Superstars are littered around the ring, but only Bronco is inside. Rolling, running the ropes, shadow boxing. His 6'5 frame is striking even from a distance. I jump onto the ring, standing on the apron watching him. It's criminal how good he looks, sweat beading on his forehead, muscles pumped full of blood, a grimace across his face. I can just barely see over the top rope due to my 4'11 height.
Suddenly he stops what he's doing an that grimace turns into a smirk. "Can you even see over the ropes?" He chuckles. A swift eye-roll is my response to him. "You gonna come in or are you gonna fight with the ropes to get a good look?" His hands rest on his hips as his chest heaves up and down fighting to fill his lungs with air. Quickly I duck under the middle rope and get into the ring. "I'm guessing Hunter finally told you?" He says walking closer to me. With every step I feel smaller and smaller under the presence of..... him. "He did, and I'm not exactly happy about it but he mentioned a mixed tag title" Keeping my eyes on his feels like a full time fucking job at this point.
"Yeah, he said he knew you would give push back about it." He chuckles, that fucking chuckle. "You were talking shit about me with my boss?" My reply is quick and sharp. "Look I'm not exactly happy about it either I just came from a tag team the last thing I want is to be shoved back into one. That's beside the point, we're a team now so I need you to get your head outta your ass so we can practice" Bronco replies "I want us to try this finisher". My eyebrows raise to my hairline, nobody has ever talked to me like that. But shock aside I listen. We run the ropes and practice bumps over and over again until we have some sort of chemistry, and then it's time to try the finisher Bronco was so adamant we do. He slaps my hand to tag me in, I climb to the top rope, he backs into the corner. I step onto his shoulders, his hands in mine.... they have to be at least three times the size of my hand. Oh god.... My mind is racing... Get it together Lena. Once I'm stable I release his hands, and do a front flip onto the superstar laying on the mat willing to take the bump to help us.
Swinging my curly hair out of my face I smile and look up at Bronco who is returning the look. "Do that tonight!" Carmelo Hayes calls from outside of the ring. "I told you it was gonna be fire!" Bronco says grinning. He sits on the middle rope, gesturing for me to go through. I can help but to put my ass in his line of vision as I exit the ring. His gaze is like fire burning a hole through me. Before I know it he's just steps behind me, I can feel him still silently staring at me before I turn around quickly. "It's rude to stare Bronco, if you're going to look at my ass then at least tell me it's nice" I crane my chin to look up at him. "I don't know what you're talking about." He says with that dumb ass smirk on his face again.
---
I haven't seen or talked to Bronco all night, I huff loudly before lacing up my black boots before heading to the curtain. Jumping up and down in place to hype myself up I close my eyes and lean my head back. Soon after I feel those eyes burning through my body again. "You really have to stop staring at my ass dude. It's unprofessional" I say not bothering to look back or even so much as open my eyes. "It's crazy to assume that your ass is the one i'm looking at. There's a lot of ass around here, chaparrita" He says now standing next to me. "Yet clearly mine is your favorite because you keep staring a hole in it" Raising an eyebrow I shift my weight to my left hip, lips pursed together.
"Just don't fall on your fat ass while you're on my shoulders and we're cool. Wouldn't wanna bruise it" He winks when our music comes on... It's time.
---
My chest heaves as I climb to the top rope, Bronco already waiting in front of me seething at our opponent. His muscles tense as he awaits me to step onto his shoulders. The lights hit him in a way that makes him look damn near like a God. One foot and then the other onto his shoulder and then his big hands take mine just like we practiced. The crowd roars with excitement and he takes one, two, three steps and releases my hands before I front flip and land on the opponent. "one, two, three" The crowd screams before the bell rings. Flipping my hair out of my face I get up and scream. Celebrating, I walk backward straight into Bronco unknowingly. My ass presses into his thigh and those hands.... those big hands of his rest on my hip softly before reality sets in and my heart drops before I pull away from him.
"That was dope as hell!" Carmelo says dapping Bronco up before pulling me into a hug. "Welcome to the big league yall. Aye I got a section tonight and some of us are linking up y'all should pull up." My mouth opens to reject but Bronco interrupts "We'll be there" He says glancing down at me. We'll be there? Why the fuck would he say that? I..... We just worked our asses off in the ring the last thing I want to do is hear music blasting, I want to relax... But since he's already committed us to going I guess I'd better go take a shower. With an eyeroll I begin walking to the exit. "You really gotta get rid of that attitude of yours." Bronco says from behind me. "I don't have to do shit!" I retort. "I'll get rid of it for you, chaparrita" I can hear the smirk in his voice. "And stop calling me that! What does it mean?" I turn sharply. "Short, shortie, you're short" He cackles as he walks past me.
---
The music beats through my body like a drum, I refuse to ride with Bronco to the venue so I make my way through the crowd alone stopping at the bar to take a shot or two of liquid courage. I approach the section guarded by a security guard who lets me in without a word or hesitation. I walk in, immediately locking eyes with Bronco who has a glass of dark liquid to his lips. My body warms from the shots of liquid courage I took in minutes ago. Slowly, so slowly he walks toward me, gulping down the liquid. It feels like all eyes are on us, I can't tell if it's the alcohol making me think we're the center of the universe or if everyone really is staring. Wrapping his arm around me he bends down until his lips ghost my ear "You look good" His voice is rough and smooth all at the same time. I melt into his touch, I can't help myself.
I turn to him, pressing my body against his. He raises his eyebrows, sliding his hands down to squeeze my ass only making me press further into him. "You keep it up and we bouta leave early" His voice just loud enough for me to hear above the bass of the music. As much of a good time as that sounds like, my liquid courage has kicked in and I want to dance. Grabbing his big hand I lead Bronco further into the section moving my hips to the beat, my ass settles on his thigh like it had earlier in the ring. His lips purse into an o shape before he rests his hands on my hips, swaying back and forth with me. I can feel him growing behind me. but honestly, it just makes me move faster and closer to him. He buys us another round of shots before sitting on a nearby chair, pulling me into his lap.
"You know all these dudes keep staring at you, right? Like real hard" he chuckles "Trick basically broke his neck when you walked in". So I wasn't tripping. I shrug and gaze into the crowd of superstars in front of us all dancing no doubt drunk out of their minds. If they're staring, we might as well give them a show, right? Softly but firmly I grab his chin and press my lips against his. The taste of henny was still on his lips. Again his strong hands grip my ass, harder this time as if he's trying to rip my shorts off. Our lips disconnected with a smack, and our faces were still so close that I could feel his breath on my skin. "Don't do me like that if I can't have you, chaparrita." Bronco's voice low and raspy and I swear he could feel my excitement through my clothes the way I can feel his. Suddenly kissing him wasn't enough, I need all of him.
"I never said you couldn't" I purr into his ear. Bronco's eyes widen and he moves me off of his lap, standing quickly. "I'll catch you later Melo, something came up" Bronco says quickly dapping Carmelo up again but he says nothing only laughs. 'something came up' yeah his dick.
---
The hotel room for clicks shut behind us, my body buzzing with lust and liquor. Clothes fly off faster than anything i've seen before. Bronco picks me up with those hands I keep imagining around my neck. He presses me against the wall hungrily kissing my neck and chest. He nips and kisses my skin like he's been waiting for this moment, like he's been fantasizing about it and finally had his chance. It feels like a dam has broken between my legs when my eyes shoot open. My body craves his on mine, I need to be closer. His eyes meet mine, dark and low and without a single word exchanged he moves to the bed. Slowly he slides one finger into me, my body aches with a need for more.
"It's dripping already." He groans. His fingers are long and thick, it only makes me wonder what his dick looks like. Quickly he begins pumping his finger into me, eyes never leaving mine as I squirm around gripping the sheets like my life depends on it... and it very well might. As soon as my climax threatens to undo me he takes his finger out. "We come together." Is all he says. My body aches with need to release. He wants to edge me on, two can play that game. "Lay down." I demand and he listens willingly. Slowly I begin to straddle him, making sure he gets a good look at my body. I circle my hips around his long thick dick. Bronco grips my ass, making me gasp softly.
"You are about to make me lose my mind" He growls softly. Planting soft kisses along his neck and jawline I grind back and fourth along the length of him, precum threatening to come out. "We come together, remember?" I whisper before stopping my motion. Something animalistic takes over him and he digs his fingers into my hips, a surge of pain and pleasure jolt through my body before I lift myself and push his length into me slowly... so.... slowly. I sigh loudly, my body relieved to finally have him. Quickly I bounce up and down on him. Softly he grabs my hips, stopping me from raising again. "Ride it slow" He says softly "I wanna enjoy it, all of it." His voice is like some sort of mix between a moan and pure need, he needs to see it all.
Slowly I rock my hips back and forth, grinding and bouncing in between. His eyes drift around my body but always land back on my face even when he rubs soft circles around my swollen clit. My legs are stretched open around his thick waist, his long muscular arms glazed with sweat drape over my legs. "Fuck!" He growls "Lena! Fuck!". My name on his tongue is sexy. He presses himself into me from underneath making me yelp. "You're so fucking sexy" He groans. His dick glistens with my juices as he pushes in and pulls out of me over and over again from under me.
I bite my bottom lip and close my eyes, is this euphoria? My climax is approaching. His mouth gaped open before an inaudible sound left it. Lightning strikes through my middle and I let out a final yell at the same time that he lets out his final swear word and we are both finished. We come together. I collapse on his warm heaving chest before sitting up, hands in the area my face just was. "They're all going to know we fucked when we go back in next week." I say softly. A chuckle "Then they'll know not to stare so hard next week too." He replies
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merlincmgirl · 26 days ago
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Dirty Talk - Echo x FReader - NSFW
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Summary: Being forced to the sidelines with your riddur for company could be worse, but you were bored! Just the sound of Echo's voice was enough to get your mind wondering. He offers to help make your thoughts a reality.
Characters: Echo
Pairing: Echo x F!Reader
Word Count: 5,213
Warnings: PinV sex, fingering, oral sex (male and female receiving), dirty talk, teasing, use of derogatory language (once), bratty behaviour. If I've missed anything, please let me know.
Authour's Note: Echo deserves better, especially from the writers! My precious boy!
“We should be out there with the rest of the team, you shouldn’t have to be stuck inside babysitting me!” you grumbled, monitoring the communications between the rest of the Bad Batch.
Echo rolled his eyes, he had heard the same complaint for the 56th time already. The only reason he hadn’t said anything was because it was you, his love, ner cyare. But it was wearing a bit thin. “I’m not babysitting, and besides you could be spotted out there. It’s not safe for you to go wondering around markets when the governor has placed a bounty on your head” Echo reminded, glancing at you from the corner of his eye.
“All I did was accidently address his mistress as his wife” you pouted, crossing your arms and resting your feet on the corner of his chair.
“In front of his wife and a news reporter” Echo added, shaking his head at you. That had been a very eventful evening, resulting in your quick get away and as many apologies that Hunter and the GAR could come up with. It still hadn’t saved the governor’s marriage though.
“How was I meant to know he was having an affair? Or that woman was the planet’s primary news reporter” you huffed, glaring at the screen in front of you. Honestly, it wasn’t like you intended to cause trouble, maybe the governor shouldn’t have been cheating on his wife.
Echo pursed his lips and took a deep breath – all precursors to a lecture or rant from him. You settled even more comfortably into the flight chair, knowing you would need to do so to enjoy whatever he was gearing himself up to say.
“Well if you had read the briefing that Tech put together, mesh’la, you would have known what his wife looked like. Or realised that the woman who was standing next to him was not his mistress. She was standing behind them, why would his wife not stand beside him?” Echo lectured, eyes burning into yours as he went on. His low, grumpy voice was always something you enjoyed listening to. And when you two were alone in his bunk, it was more than enough to get you breathless. So when he started gesturing with his hand and scomp to make his point, you began to feel a bit heated.
“This is why it’s important to get all the details. It was wrong of the governor, but that doesn’t mean that we had to be the ones to expose his affair. I’ll give you that you didn’t know about the reporter, you couldn’t have known that, but next time mesh’la, perhaps listening to Tech when he tells us about a planet or government that we’re working for. I know he can go on, but it’s in your best interests, cyare” Echo ranted on, hand coming down occasionally to rub at the bare patch of skin at your ankle.
It was always so beautiful to see him so passionate about something, in this case, your inability to listen to Tech’s debriefs and noticing the little details. You didn’t mind, Echo only wanted to keep you safe and protected, he didn’t mean his words in a harsh way. You knew he would do anything to protect you. It was why you loved him so much, he took care of you in a way nobody else had before. “Are you listening to me, mesh’la?” he sighed, bringing you out of your head and back to the present.
“Of course I am! I know I should have listened more, sweetheart. I’m just glad to be here with you. Even if we are stuck on the Marauder” you smiled, leaning forward to place a kiss on his cheek. Echo returned the smile, his hand cupping your cheek briefly as he pressed a similar kiss to your own cheek before returning back to work.
Looking out the cockpit window, you could see a variety of different buildings from where you were docked. The planet’s architecture was beautiful, buildings in soft sandy colours with rich blues and greens mixed into the stone. It reminded you of the sea almost, the colours shimmering in the sunlight, just like the water reflecting the sun’s rays.
It was beautiful, and it just made you want to explore even more. Turning to your riddur, you forced a pout onto your lips. You knew he saw you, because his shoulders tensed up as he was listening to the comm chatter that was going on between the rest of the team members of the Bad Batch.
“Couldn’t we go out just a little? We wouldn’t even have to go far from the Marauder” you suggested hopefully, reaching out to rest an imploring hand on Echo’s scomp.
“Mesh’la” he huffed warningly, tone already showcasing how much he was not enjoying your behaviour at the moment. “We’re staying on the ship. We have to be prepared in case the others need a pick up” he said firmly, raising an eyebrow at you as if daring you to keep it up.
Which really, Echo should know better, because of course you would. He had set you a challenge, and who would you be to refuse it. Especially when you were bored.
“Fine!” you grumbled, looking back out of the window and ignoring his look. Echo narrowed his eyes at your simple agreement but went back to what he was supposed to be doing.
When you were sure that Echo was busy and engrossed in his work, you began to move the foot that rested in his lap slowly back and forth, underneath the kama that he wore. Occasionally your toes would dip into the small gap between his thigh plate and codpiece. Watching him from the corner of your eye, you could see Echo’s jaw clench but he continued on with his work.
Disappointed to not get a bigger reaction, you shifted around and sighed loudly, hoping to disturb him enough to make him pay attention to you. Again nothing.
Frowning, you began to think of something else to capture his attention away from the system displayed in front of him. Finally you spotted the answer to your problem. On the side next to you was your datapad. Grabbing it, you quickly began typing loudly on the screen, drumming your nails against the casing every so often. Clicking your nails against the datapad wasn’t working and only got you a small huff of air through his nose in annoyance. Still Echo didn’t react how you wanted him to. He wasn’t even touching your feet that you had left in his lap. He never missed the chance to touch you in one way or another.
Well, if he was just going to ignore you while you sat bored in the cockpit, so be it. You would at least try and fill the quiet that had settled in between you. Selecting a video that Omega had sent you, you leaned back in your chair and turned the volume up. It was of a little akk puppy chasing after a holoball, tumbling around and falling over it’s own legs. You couldn’t help but coo at the sight.
“Love, I’m trying to work” Echo bit out through gritted teeth. His shoulders had straightened and there was an obvious twitch along his jaw that made your heart beat a little faster.
“Work then, I’m not stopping you” you shrugged, keeping your eyes focused on the screen in front of you.
Sighing heavily, you felt Echo shift beneath you, hips adjusting in the chair before he seemed to settle. Glancing up through your eyelashes at him, you noticed that his pale cheeks were getting flushed. Either in annoyance or frustration you weren’t sure, but it did make him look even cuter.
Relaxing further into your chair, you waited a few more minutes before edging the volume up every minute or so, waiting for a reaction from him. Unable to help it, you laughed loudly at another video of a tooka cat, unable to muffle the noise as you became lost in the videos.
However a hand landed on your ankle, clasping the fragile bones tightly and tugging it closer to him. You looked up, blinking at him innocently. He looked annoyed now, jaw fluttering in anger as he scowled at you.
“You’re doing this on purpose” he accused you, thumb rubbing against your ankle, the pressure was enough to make you want to close your eyes and press into his hand but you refrained.
“Doing what? It’s not my fault I’m bored and you’re not talking to me” you huffed, crossing your arms to look back at him. He raised an eyebrow and let out a little scoff.
“Oh you want my attention, is that it?” he drawled, turning around to face you with an arch of his expressive eyebrow. He pressed a few buttons on the control panel in front of him before he levelled you with a hard look. “Why are you trying to distract me?” he asked, the rough tones of annoyance filtered through his voice making your stomach churn in desire for him. You loved when his voice got all deep and rough when he was rebuking someone or feeling annoyed.
Sighing heavily, you poked your bare feet into the seam of his hip, teasing him some more. “You’re not even talking to me… I like listening to your voice” you explained, shrugging slightly to help ease the nerves that you felt after admitting this to him.
“Oh” Echo breathed, back straightening at your answer and blinking a couple of times in surprise. He obviously wasn’t expecting that answer off his cyare.
“It makes me feel warm inside, like I’m safe and protected. But also… I don’t know, you make me want to drop to my knees in front of you so that I can be your good girl. Makes me want you to read one of my racy holobooks just to hear what the love interest could sound like in those moments” you admitted, biting your lip and looking away from him. Heat raced across your face, feeling like it was blistering your cheeks at how embarrassed you felt from your words. He would probably just politely say that he was flattered but it wasn’t something he was also interested in doing with you.
“Is that right, cyare? Maybe you’ll have to pick me one of your favourites, I’m sure I could get into them” he murmured, running his thumb against the arch of your foot, pressing slightly to ease the pressure there.
“Don’t tease me!” you pouted, covering your face with your hands at his words.
“I’m not cyare, I just didn’t realise that you liked my voice so much” he soothed, hoping to ease some of your embarrassment and worry. Carefully, he placed your foot on the floor, leaving the cool metal to spread a shiver up your body at the sudden temperature. “But maybe I should have guessed, you’re always get this glazed look in your eyes when I’m talking to you. Reminds me when we’re alone in my bunk, and you’re trying to keep quiet while we have some fun” he stated, leaning closer towards you, elbow on his knees.
“Echo!” you hissed, glancing to the comms in front of him in case the others were hearing your conversation. Thankfully, it was all turned off from your end. You didn’t think your skin could run any hotter until you heard his words, your cheeks colouring even more.
“On your knees, mesh’la. If you’re feeling bored, might as well give you something to entertain yourself with” he ordered, and you felt your panties dampen even further. Getting up from the co-pilot seat, you slid in between the control panel and his chair, settling in between his splayed thighs before you knelt before him. Your mouth watered, eager to listen to more of his demands.
Echo’s breath faltered for a moment, just staring down at you between his legs. You were gorgeous! He had never thought he’d ever get to experience the love and devotion you showed him, especially not after Skako Minor. He didn’t feel deserving of you, not looking like he did, not with half of him being more machine than man. But you didn’t think that. You loved him, every part of him, both metal and flesh. And you always would gently chide and rebuke him whenever he talked badly about himself, instead praising him and kissing him until he forgot all about the fear and hate he carried with him.
“Echo?” you frowned, recognising that his mind had gone elsewhere, and not a good place. Resting your hand on his, fingers twisted together you guided him back to the present moment. “Everything okay?” you asked worriedly.
The ARC trooper smiled softly, squeezing your fingers in his hand and nodded. “Just thinking about how perfect you are, cyare” he assured, scomp brushing a few strands of hair away from your face.
You turned and pressed a chaste kiss to his scomp before smiling up at him. His thighs tensed around you and his eyes fluttered shut for a moment. “I think you promised to entertain me, Corporal” you reminded him, dragging your hands down his thighs under his kama.
“That’s right, I did” he chuckled warmly, hands coming up to deftly unclip the codpiece and dropping it to the side with a small clang. Groaning at the relief of pressure, he deftly unfastened the compression suit underneath and freed his cock. It was already half hard, your words from earlier enough to chub him up. He reached down and gave himself a few pumps as you looked up at him, mouth watering at the thought of having him in your mouth. Of tasting him on your tongue.
“God, look at how eager you are. Bet if I felt you down there, you’d be soaked through” he rumbled, voice deep and rough as arousal thickened his words. Your thighs clench together, proving just how right he was. “Open up, mesh’la” he ordered, running his thumb across your bottom lip before dragging it open even more.
You helped guide him in, hands wrapping around the bottom of his shaft to keep him steady. However instead of pushing in all the way just like you expected him to. He keeps your mouth open, drool beginning to collect in the corners and leak down your chin. His cock was a warm, heavy weight against your tongue, and you couldn’t help but rub it briefly around his crown.
Echo let out a loud groan of your name, eyes sliding shut at the warm, wet feeling of your mouth surrounding him. It was enough to have him force his scomp arm to rest on the arm of the chair, not wanting to hurt you by trying to pull you closer or use too much force on your neck.
“Kriff cyare, you look gorgeous like this. Just keeping my cock in your mouth, those beautiful eyes focused on me. Such a good girl” he moaned, hand coming up to rest on the back of your head. When you tapped the metal plates of his thigh – your signal for him to carry on – he groaned and began sliding his length further into your open mouth, careful to not go too fast. Not yet anyway.
When the tip of his cock reached the back of your throat, you took a deep steadying breath in through your nose, feeling him weighing heavily in your mouth. Running your tongue along the underside of his cock, you tried to take him even further, wanting to gag on him. However, the hand on the back of your neck suddenly reached to tangle into your hair and pulled you away slightly. You whined around his length, looking up into his lust filled eyes with your own.
“Force, your mouth, cyare. So eager to be filled with my cock, is that it? Couldn’t focus on our mission because you were so desperate to get filled by my cock” he groaned, unable to look away as your eyes watered from holding him in your mouth.
You could feel heat pool and slick leak out of your cunt, drenching your panties in your juices at his words and actions. Just the feel of his length against your tongue and his pre-cum dropping onto you had your hips rocking forward, wishing you could reach down and offer yourself some relief. But you knew that if Echo caught you, he wouldn’t be happy. No, he wanted you to remember that you shouldn’t be trying to distract him while you were both supposed to be working.
“Sucking my cock really gets you off, huh? Go on love, I can see how much you need it.”
Blinking in surprise, you felt Echo’s leg move in between your spread thighs, offering his boot up to you. Was he serious? Did he want you to hump his leg while you sucked his cock? The thought did send heat shooting down your spine at the thought, but it would highlight just how much you were needy for him, and for some friction against your tingly clit. Seeing his encouraging nod, you settled yourself against his boot before finally rolling your hip, searching for pleasure.
After the first roll of your hips against the hard, shiny plastoid of his boots, you couldn’t restrain the moan that escaped your mouth, muffled by Echo’s cock. It had you reaching out to his calves, holding them as sparks of your arousal flittered to your core, tightening the knot of arousal even further. Echo, just moaned your name, feeling the vibration echo around his length as he pulled back before sliding back in swiftly.
“I remember my vods being desperate for you to look at them. If they could see you now, drooling on my cock, begging for relief as you hump my boot. They’d be so excited to see what a slut you are, but only for me. Right cyare? Only I can make you feel like this” he murmured, hips rolling against your face. You tried to get out a ‘yes Echo’ but it all came out in a garbled mess around his cock. “Oh, that’s it! My perfect girl” Echo moaned, feeling the vibration around his length.
The sounds he was letting out was almost too much and you ground heavily against his boot, eager for something to relieve the pressure that was building in your cunt. If he continued fucking your face, and you the rolling of your hips against the slight arch of his boot, then it wouldn’t be long before you both cummed from this alone.
The gurgles and spluttering noises as he pushed into your throat had you clenching around nothing, and you reached a hand up to hold his scomp, wanting to be touching him more, even with his cock forcing itself down your throat.
“Fuck! Stop, stop mesh’la!” he cursed, pulling out and holding your head away from him. Your ARC trooper panted heavily, breath coming out in short sharp jabs as he held you away from his sensitive length. You grumbled, wanting to taste more of his salty, unique taste. “I don’t want to cum down your throat” he murmured, shaking his head.
After a few seconds of you both calming yourselves down and taking in a few deep breaths; Echo reached under your arms and pulled you up to your feet. You let out a little squeal in surprise before he was up on his feet too, turning you both around until he was guiding you to sit in the chair he had just been occupying.
“There we go cyare. Need to open you up before I take you” he said, a smirk playing on his lips as you nodded your consent. God you wanted him to curl his long fingers inside of you and prepare you for him.
Echo gripped your hips, tugging you down until your ass was near the edge of the seat. Hooking his fingers into your leggings and panties, he dragged them over your ass and down your thighs, throwing them somewhere behind him. He helped pull your legs up as well, landing a kiss on each knee and grazing his teeth along them before looking at you, love, awe and lust all rolled into his beautiful whiskey coloured eyes.
“Spread your legs, mesh’la. That’s it… wider… wider mesh’la” he breathed, biting his lip as you hooked your legs up on the arm rests. He sunk to his knees on the floor in between then, his warm breath caressing your sensitive mound.
However, he didn’t touch you, much to your building frustration, preferring to look at you and take in your musky, heated scent and the clenching of your entrance as you were spread out for him. Like a beautiful feast he couldn’t wait to enjoy.
“Fuck, Echo please!” you whined, voice coming out more breathlessly than you hoped. Closing your eyes, you clenched your hands around your thighs. Both as to keep them spread for him, and because you needed at least a brief touch to remind yourself that you weren’t going crazy, waiting for him to touch you, to just do something.
“You’re gorgeous. Such a needy, little thing for me, aren’t you? I haven’t touched you yet and you’re already begging for me” Echo groaned, not taking his eyes away from your dripping slit. He wanted to run his fingers through your soaking wet folds, spread your lips and drink your juices straight from the source. The sounds you were letting out was making his hard as durasteel cock even harder, as you tried to encourage him to move.
Noticing the rolling of your hips upwards towards his face, he chuckled, gathered your slick on two of his fingers before pushing them into your quivering entrance.
The sound you let out at finally being filled and not teased was music to Echo’s ears. Your hot, tight walls pulsed around him, eager to pull his fingers even deeper into your core. He could feel just how wet you were, already leaking into the palm of his hand as he withdrew them before thrusting them back in, curling slightly to search for that sweet spot.
When he had it, you reached down to grip onto his pauldron, fingers curled tight around the smooth plastoid as you let out a cry of his name. Although you loved his voice, he was just as good with his hand and he could pull orgasm after orgasm from you with little more than his fingers.
“That’s it, mesh’la, you feel fucking fantastic surrounding my fingers, it feels like you never want to let them go. I’d be a happy man if I could stay here between your legs for the rest of my life” he growled, before nipping and sucking at the inside of your thigh to leave a mark.
Wasting no time, he pressed his scomp against your clit, activating a gentle vibration that had you clenching even tighter around him, hands coming up to the back of his head to push him closer to the apex of your thighs.
“FUCK! ECHO!” you cried out, body tightening as he used his scomp to push you over the edge, still keeping up his delicious thrust of his fingers inside of you.
“That’s it mesh’la, doing so good” he moaned, pressing his lips to your slit and catching your release on his tongue, swirling against your entrance to catch as much as possible. “Taste so good, mesh’la, can’t get enough of you” he grunted, his words pressed right into your folds, the gentle vibration combining with his scomp to keep you riding your high longer than you normally would.
When he pulled away, you practically sagged into the seat, completely boneless after Echo had knocked every thought out of your head apart from his name. He rubbed soothing circles on your thigh, pressing gentle kisses along your smooth and soft skin as he waited for you to catch your breath.
“You okay?” he checked in, noticing the small smile on your face that was aimed at him.
“Yeah… yeah ‘m feeling good” you murmured, trailing your fingers along his handsome face and down his neck. He closed his eyes, shivering slightly at the tender caress.
“Think you can go for more?” he asked, biting his lip.
“Kriff yes! Want to hear how you’re going to fuck me, trooper” you grinned, sending him a wink.
Echo smirked, eyes blazing with heat and want as he pinched your hip, enjoying the little squeal of surprise and happiness that you let out. “It’s Corporal to you! And why tell you when I can show you instead?” he grinned, pulling you up with a firm grip and spinning you around so that your back was pressed against his chest.
You shivered as the coolness of his armour was held to you, the temperature always a bit cooler than normal on the Marauder since your escape from the Empire. After all, you had to save fuel as much as possible, meaning the heating was the first thing to be sacrificed. He rubbed his hand up and down your arm before pressing a number of kisses to the back of your neck, sucking marks along the way as he dragged your shirt up with his scomp.
“Going to bend you over this chair and fuck you, mesh’la. Right where my brothers and I sit. Every time I’ll sit here I’ll remember this. How eager you were for me to fill your needy hole up. Every time I’ll send a comm or answer one, I’ll think about how much you love my voice. How wet it makes you” he murmured, fingers coming to brush against your folds.
You whimpered, his words sinking in as you realised just how open you were in the cockpit. Anybody could look up and see you through the visor at the front of the ship. Hell, Hunter would know exactly what you’ve been doing in here just as soon as he stepped on the ship, maybe before. The thought that this chair, this room would forever be remembered because you couldn’t help but feel turned on by Echo’s voice and the way he lectured you. It had you sinking over the chair, hands on the arm rest as your head hung between your shoulders.
“Oh, do you like that thought, mesh’la? That I won’t ever be able to forget what we’re doing whenever I’m in here. Going to get me hard just as soon as I walk in here” he chuckled, sliding his hand and scomp to your waist to pull your ass closer into his hips. He moaned at the feel of your ass cheeks brushing against his straining erection. “Ready?” he asked, thumb rubbing circles on your hip.
“Please Echo!” you groaned, gritting your teeth and pushing back into him even more.
“Alright, alright” he chuckled, notching the head of his cock at your entrance. With a final nod of consent from you, he slid home into your tight cunt. Your combined visceral moans echoed along the walls of the cockpit as Echo didn’t stop until he was fully inside of you.
You gritted your teeth, the feel of his length inside you was almost too much. It felt like his cock was carving a way into you, moulding your inner walls around him until he fit perfectly into you. Your hands gripped onto the arm rests, eyes fluttering as you became used to the sensation of feeling so filled by him.
“Fuck Echo, you feel so good. Feel amazing baby” you praised, reaching a hand behind you to catch one of his hips, squeezing tightly as you felt his hips quiver at your words and touch.
“How are you this tight? We were together last night” he breathed, shaking his head as he felt you clench and pulse around him. Inside of his head he was reciting the regulation manual of the command structure if there was no Jedi Commander. It wasn’t thrilling but it ensured that he wouldn’t end this sooner than he wanted.
“Come on, please Corporal” you breathed, throwing your hips back.
It had Echo flittering his jaw as he snapped his hips into yours, burying his length into your warmth over and over again until the sounds of both of your soft grunts and moans, and the wet squelching of your cunt was all that could be heard in the cockpit of the Marauder.
He wrapped his metal arm around your waist, pulling you even tighter to him and fucking himself as deep as he could go into you, angling his hips to find that spot that had you seeing stars. When he found it, you growled out, fists clenching and digging into the soft leather of the chair.
“Kriff, you’re so good! Fucking perfect cunt, can feel how much you want me. How much you need this pretty pussy to be filled by me” he growled into your shoulder, eyes closed tight as he focused on fucking you hard and deep into the pilot’s seat.
“Yes, yes, I need you! Please Echo” you cried, throwing your head back and reaching up a hand to cup the back of his neck. The shift in position had his cock pounding into the spongy part of your walls that had ecstasy burning through you. You groaned, tightening around him as much as you could as you felt your release approaching.
“My good girl, my good fucking girl” he grunted, hand sliding from your waist to under your shirt, pinching at your nipple and twisting it. The sharp shooting of pain and pleasure mixed together and you felt yourself gush around him as you was thrown over the edge. Echo gasped out your name, hips stuttering a few more times before he shot his load inside of you, pace faltering as he all but collapsed over you.
“Hmm, Echo, heavy” you complained, feeling the weight of him bearing down on you from your bent position over the chair.
“Sorry, cyare” he breathed, turning you gently both around until he could collapse in his seat, pulling you with him into his lap.
You spent the next few minutes catching your breath and soaking in each other’s affection and tender touches. Both of you didn’t want to move, happy to just be in this moment with your riddur. You ghosted your fingers up and down his arm, smile plastered on your face at how boneless and loved you felt. Echo smiled into your neck from where he was whispering sweet nothings into your ear. Such a contrast to the dirty words he was using with you before.
Echo hummed against your neck, pressing a light kiss to the spot under your ear before pulling away. He caught your chin, guiding your face to meet his own. His eyes danced in amusement and exhaustion as they met yours.
“Well cyare, entertained enough?” he grinned playfully at you.
You snorted in reply, sinking back into him and closing your eyes. “For now” you teased him, feeling a rumble in his chest at your answer.
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ghostofskywalker · 2 years ago
Note
Can I request a tech x gn reader where the reader gets injured upon landing instead of him?
warnings: spoilers for tbb episodes 1 and 2!!
hello! here it is, i hope you enjoy!! side note, i was researching what a broken femur felt like (i've never broken a bone so i have no clue) and from what i can tell, the pain is literally unbearable, so either tech is a hell of a lot stronger than people give him credit for, or they totally downplayed how painful this injury is!
words: 2,033
summary: after you get injured in the cargo container, it's clear that tech is worried about you, and you can't help but wonder how your injury will change the team's dynamic.
clone troopers masterlist
Why Serenno Isn't Exactly The Best Place For a Vacation
The crate came flying at you too quickly to move out of the way in time, and the crushing pressure you felt when it landed on your legs made the hope of escaping unscathed completely out of question. You barely registered the shouts of your name from the other members of the team, and even when they removed the offending object from your legs there was no break in the pain.
Constant and unfathomably sharp, the feeling of absolute agony took over to the point where you were blinking tears out of your eyes and trying desperately to think about anything but the ever-growing feeling of horrifying torment. “Are you okay?” you heard Omega ask, and you knew she only meant well, but you were in no shape to answer.
“I believe that you have broken your femur,” Tech said after he took out a scanner from his belt and ran it over your leg. “This is a very serious issue, and we will need medical attention as soon as possible.”
“Let’s hope we can get out of here soon then,” Echo responded, and you couldn’t help but agree with him.
There was no hiding the pain now, and you just let the tears flow freely instead of trying to downplay the cocktail of horrors you were currently experiencing. Echo and Tech climbed up the side of the cargo container to hopefully be able to see where it had landed, and Omega stayed by your side, her little hand finding its way into your larger one. You knew that she was worried about you, and you tried your best to offer a smile of reassurance, but you were sure that it probably didn’t seem that convincing. After being pulled up by a wire and eventually landing on the clifftop, you laid on the ground and stared up at the sky, desperately hoping that everything would all be over soon.
There was still so much at play and so much danger all around you, but it was going to be hard to focus on anything but the terrible pain in your legs at this moment. You closed your eyes in hopes that you might be able to trick your brain into believing that you were anywhere but here right now, and you heard snippets of conversation between Echo, Tech, and Omega.
“Can’t move well, if at all…”
“It’s dangerous to be so open and exposed…”
“Nothing we can do if…”
You floated in and out of consciousness the entire time, still trying desperately to cling onto happy memories of the past even though it has proven so far to be ineffective against this particular torment. You thought you heard Echo say something about checking out the area and searching for cover, but the next thing you truly registered was the sight of Tech leaning over you, a worried expression on his helmet-less face.
“What’s happening?” you managed to slur out, the pain starting to affect your speech.
“Echo and Omega are going to search for a suitable shelter while we wait for Hunter and Wrecker to return with the Marauder,” he said. “But unfortunately there is not much I can do to help you at this moment. The fracture that you sustained inside the cargo container will require more medical attention and skill than either Echo or I have to give.”
You nodded in understanding as Tech took your hand and gently pulled it up to place a soft kiss to your palm. The gesture did calm and ground you, even if just for a fleeting moment, and you were thankful that he stayed behind with you instead of Echo or Omega.
While you couldn’t ever put an exact label on the relationship you had with the Bad Batch’s resident genius, it was certainly more intimate than the one you had with the other members of the squad. But due to your own worry and the fact that neither you nor Tech were really great at expressing your feelings, the few kisses you had shared and obvious affection you felt for one another never received a specific designation, instead remaining as open and nebulous as the galaxy itself. But you did know one thing, and that was the fact that even though the pain in your leg had yet to subside even for a single moment, you couldn’t help the way you wanted to pull yourself off the ground and place soft kisses all over Tech’s worried face.
But clearly you couldn’t, so you had to be okay with simply holding his hand until Echo and Omega returned with an elderly gentleman in tow. It seemed that neither of them noticed the way your hand pulled away from Tech’s or the way he stood up quickly as they approached, and soon you were being gently pulled up and supported as you began the short (and immensely painful) trek to Romar’s dwelling.
The only thing that provided a little bit of hope once you reached shelter was the single painkiller capsule Tech found in his kit. It didn’t kick in right away, but by the time things got serious, the feeling of intense agony had started to fade, even if it only left you with a feeling of less intense agony.
When Omega disappeared, you kicked yourself for not noticing quicker. Tech and Echo had immediately ran out to check the war chest, sure that was where she had gone off to, and you sat there, wondering what you should do. It felt wrong to just stay here and do nothing while your teammates were out and likely experiencing immense danger, but the pain in your leg had simply not subsided, and you had a feeling that you would be stuck with this feeling for the considerable future, even if you were able to find some form of treatment for your leg.
But when neither Tech nor Echo returned to Romar’s home for a while, your mind took a turn for the worst. Pulling yourself up to a standing position, you hobbled to the door. “You won’t get very far in your condition,” Romar said gently.
You knew that it would probably be better if you stayed, but you just couldn’t stomach the idea of letting your team down. Being a member of this squad meant more to you than you could ever put into words, and you refused to sit by and stay out of the inevitable fight that was coming. “I’ll manage,” you responded to the old man, trying to hide the pain you were still feeling from your expression.
“Your friends seemed to foresee this happening,” he responded, and you turned around to see Romar holding a blaster out to you. You took it, overcome with an emotion you didn’t quite know how to explain, and after you thanked the man for all his help, you were stepping out into the night air and doing your best to ignore the horrible sensations you felt in your injured leg.
By the time you reached close to where you thought the cliff was, the pain in your leg had grown to nearly be unbearable, but you couldn’t focus on that now, because there were two troopers up ahead, their Imperial armor devoid of all the color and other things that made the Batch’s armor unique.
Stunning one of them was easy because they didn’t know you were there, but once your position was given away it got a little more difficult. Blaster fire scattered all around as you to took cover behind a tree, and you thanked the Maker that it only took one or two more shots to stun the other trooper. However, you weren’t out of the woods just yet (both literally and figuratively), because you had no idea whether or not more reinforcements were on the way, and you hadn’t yet seen Tech, Echo, or Omega.
As you took a tentative step forward, the uneven ground beneath your foot made you stumble, and the pain in your leg sent you careening forward. You threw your arms out as to not let your face hit the ground, but you were now completely stuck as you laid there, not enough strength left in your body to pull yourself back up.
The pain capsule from before was starting to wear off as the adrenaline from the fight also started to diminish, and you could barely register the sound of others approaching you, but you couldn't really recognize their voices. Hoping it was Tech, Echo, and Omega, you allowed your eyes to close, the inky blackness enveloping your mind and body like a warm hug.
***
The sound of steady beeping is what brought you back to the land of the living, and you were immediately startled by the brightness of this new location. The feeling of stabbing pain in your thigh had become a dull ache at this point, still intense enough to pull your concentration from anything else but significantly less powerful than it had previously felt. You shifted slightly in the cot you were laying on, and suddenly a hand appeared in your vision, gently landing on your shoulder to keep you from sitting up. “Calm down, you’re going to be okay.”
“I-”
“You shouldn’t move too much, it will disrupt your bandages.”
You knew that voice, and that familiarity is what got you to pause. Looking up, you got a better image of where you were. It was clearly some kind of medical facility, from the look of the beds and machines all around you, and you were laying on a cot. It was Tech that had stopped you from moving before, and he had a worried expression on his face. “Where am I?” you asked.
“Medical facility, courtesy of Rex’s information,” he responded. “They set and put a cast on your leg, but you will still need time to heal. Wrecker and Omega are currently picking out a cane to aid you when your leg has recovered enough to walk, apparently there were many options and they wanted to make sure you had the best one.”
You smiled slightly and nodded. The fact that your injuries had been treated explained the significant difference in pain level, but you knew this injury was not something that was just going to disappear. “When are you all going to leave?”
“Leave?” Tech’s eyebrows furrowed as he took in your question. “What do you mean?”
“I highly doubt I’ll be able to go on missions with you guys, and I wouldn’t want my injury to slow you down,” you said plainly. “I didn’t think you were going to wait for me.”
There was a moment of silence before Tech answered your question, and he reached down to gently take your hand in his. “There is not a single member of this team that thinks that we would leave you behind,” he said, his usual matter-of-fact tone having taken on a slightly softer edge. “And there is plenty that you can help us with even if you cannot be in the center of the action.”
“Really?”
Tech nodded. “Truly. I could not live with myself if we left you behind, just seeing you injured has been painful enough.”
At his words, you scooted over in your bed and tapped the spot next to you. “Come cuddle with me,” you said, hoping your silly request would be accepted and he wouldn’t find it odd or strange.
“But what about if the others see?” Tech’s eyes were wide behind his goggles, and if you were completely healed, you would have moved up to place a kiss on his cheek or nose.
“I don’t care if they do,” you responded. “I just want to cuddle with you.”
It took a moment, but Tech eventually obliged, gently slipping into bed next to you. When he placed his arm around you and felt you nuzzle gently into him, he immediately decided that he didn’t care what his brothers thought either. And besides, if the way Echo had looked at him when they were watching over your unconscious form on the ship was any indication, they probably already knew something was happening.
- the end -
i no longer have a taglist! if you're interested in being notified when i post, you can follow my library blog @ghostofskywalker-library and turn on notifications!
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photogirl894 · 3 months ago
Text
"Sun and Rain Part 2: Age of the Empire"
Chapter 39
"Hard Hits"
A "Bad Batch" fanfic!
Pairing: Hunter x fem OC, Echo (more best friend pairing)
A/N: Well y'all...you knew this was coming 😅
Today is my last day of summer break before going back to work and what a better way to show my despair at going back to work by posting a chapter full of angst?? 😜 If you like angst, then you're gonna have a heyday with this one! I've had one scene in this chapter written for a looooong time now, so it's great to finally put it out there!
Also, there's a fun Kimber/Hunter moment I threw in based off of this art I got commissioned a while ago 🥰 See if you can spot it!
Hope y'all still enjoy! (Just don't hate me at the end of this one 😅)
Taglist: @the-sad-batch , @nimata-beroya , @intrepidmare , @legolkenxbi , @tech-aficionado ,
@ladykatakuri , @d1n0-dan , @sammi9498 , @darthzero22 , @scarlettrose9901 ,
@thebadbatchscyare , @chxpsi , @ilikemymendarkandfictional , @4pplecider , @locitapurplepink ,
@l-lend , @nekotaetae , @eternalwaffle , @merkitty49 , @avathebestx ,
@idoubleswearimawriter , @techs-stitches , @fantasyproductions , @totallyunidentified , @dreamsandrosies ,
@theknightofivanhoe
《 Chapter 38
》 Chapter 40
All parts (Part 2) (Part 1)
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Explanation: Kimber and Hunter are now Crosshair's prisoners and things come to a head between the Bad Batch and Crosshair back on the planet where it all began....
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Huddled together, Kimber and Hunter found themselves on the floor of an Imperial shuttle, still in cuffs and now sailing through hyperspace on their way to an undisclosed location. Two members of Crosshair's team were in the back area guarding them and standing by the door that led further into the ship. 
A loud alarm rang through the ship, indicating the door was about to open. Hunter's head lifted and his eyebrows furrowed together, which gave Kimber the indication of exactly who was coming. The door slid open and in strolled Crosshair, glaring down at the two of them. Kimber took notice that he had Hunter's knife attached to his belt.
“Where are we going?” Hunter asked him. 
Crosshair got down in front of him and pulled out Hunter's comm device from one of his pouches. “You'll find out soon enough,” he stated as he turned the device on, “and so will your squad.”
“Wow…so quick to forget they were your squad once, too. Your family, no less,” Kimber snapped, which he ignored as he stood back up. 
“Using my comm won't work. They'll know it's a trap,” Hunter debated. 
Crosshair looked back at him and simply stated, “They'll still come for you.”
“Oh, stop being coy, Crosshair,” said Kimber, irritated. “Where are you taking us?”
He side-eyed her for a moment before answering, “Back to where this all started.” Then with that, he turned on his heel and walked back through the door, letting it close behind him.
Kimber and Hunter exchanged anxious glances, wondering what Crosshair could possibly mean. Kimber’s gaze dropped in thought to her bound hands. Where could he be taking them? What did he mean by “where it all started”? Did he mean the Empire? That would probably mean Coruscant, but that didn’t seem as significant. Or perhaps he meant Order 66, which preceded even the Empire. That happened for them on Kaller, but even that didn’t seem to strike her as important enough to return to. No…there had to be another planet. One that meant something to all of them.
Then it hit her. He wasn’t talking about where things with the galaxy started. He was talking about where things with their squad started...where everything went wrong for them. 
That meant only one place.
“I know where we’re going,” Kimber stated aloud, turning to Hunter. 
“Quiet!” the female guard sternly scolded her. 
Now even more frustrated, Kimber replied with a roll of her eyes, “We're just talking. Calm down.”
“Hey! We said quiet!” the other guard; a male one stated gruffly.
“Or what? You going to kill me?” she challenged, getting up to her feet. “I don’t think your Commander will be happy with that since we’re his prisoners.”
“Kimber, don’t,” Hunter warned her.
The male guard stepped forward and ordered Kimber, “Sit down.”
Feeling emboldened by her anger, she looked the trooper down and defiantly responded, “No.”
The trooper was quick to react as the butt of his blaster rifle forcefully met her stomach. The wind was knocked out of her and, with a choked gasp, she dropped to a knee and clutched her stomach. Hunter immediately moved to stand up, but the other guard approached and held her weapon at his head to keep him from moving.
“That’s for disobeying orders!” the soldier who hit Kimber cried out. 
She coughed and gasped for breath before letting out a light snicker. “You should know this about me: I don’t like following orders...especially when they come from Imperial scum like you.”
She didn’t know what possessed her to be this audacious to the Imperial soldiers, but her anger and animosity of the situation was overpowering all sense of logic and common sense. The consequence of her statement was then being struck again by the Imperial’s blaster rifle, this time across the face. She let out a loud, pained cry and Hunter called her name in worry. Her left cheekbone throbbed from the impact and she clenched her teeth, holding herself together. This was nothing compared to other punishments she’d suffered in the past, but that didn’t exactly make the pain any less impactful still. 
The alarm rang again and the doors opened as Crosshair stepped inside, having heard the commotion from the other side. “Stand down,” he ordered the two guards.
Stepping back and standing again at attention, the male guard informed him, “She defied our orders, sir.”
Crosshair glanced at Kimber indignantly and commented, “She’s good at that.” 
Then he walked up to her and took her arm, pulling her up to her feet and towards the door. Kimber tried to resist and she heard Hunter cry out for her, but Crosshair removed her from the room with ease and the doors closed behind them. Once they were alone, he lightly pushed her into one of the safety seats in front of him on the side of the small hallway. She cast a displeased look up at him and then turned away. She didn’t even want to look at Crosshair right now. All she could feel was resentment towards him as he stood there, looking down on her.
Then he spoke, his voice oddly calm, “He hit you hard.” Then she felt his hand carefully touching her hurt cheek.
With an annoyed grunt, she swapped his hand away with her bound hands. “What of it?” she asked back.
Stepping back, he said, “I gave orders that you both were to be unharmed. I should reprimand him for using such force on you.”
She scoffed at the notion of him punishing his subordinate on her behalf. “Save your false pity. I don't want it,” she said, turning even more away.
“It isn’t false. You think I want to see you this way?” he asked.
“I don't know, Crosshair. What do you want?” she questioned him, now looking back at him. “Because frankly, I can't figure that out. You tried to kill us multiple times, then we find out it's most likely not of your own volition and then you were practically begging me not to fight last time I saw you. You seemed almost like yourself, but you still hold allegiance to the Empire. Even now, instead of outright killing me or Hunter, you've captured us and you're taking us back to Kamino.”
His eyes widened slightly.
Cocking her head to the side, she added confidently, “Yeah, I figured it out.”
An impressed grunt sounded from his throat. Then he replied, “You always were sharp.”
Kimber rolled her eyes, unamused, and turned her gaze away. “Oh, don't act familiar with me now. Unless you have anything to say to me that's actually worth my time, I want to go back with Hunter.”
“Kimber, why must you keep fighting me?” he demanded. 
That question ignited a spark of disbelief within her and her head snapped back in his direction, fire in her eyes. “Why must I--? If you're seriously asking me that question, then you're way more far gone than I thought,” she spat at him. Then she shook her head and sighed with defeat. “I really don't know who you are anymore.”
Crosshair simply stared back at her, his eyes instinctively going to the red mark on her cheek that was already beginning to bruise. Even now, seeing her hurt in any way made his blood run hot. He couldn’t suppress that even if he tried. He just wanted her to see reason with the Empire; to see the bigger picture like he did, but she was determined to keep opposing him no matter what. She didn’t understand what he was trying to do...but she would. He would see to that soon. 
He walked over to the doors, turned back to Kimber and told her, “I would advise you stay quiet. Make it easy on yourself.” Then he activated the doors and stepped aside, allowing her back into the room.
Kimber just gave him one more displeased glance and walked back inside without saying a word to him. Hunter, who was still seated on the floor, looked up at her immediately with concern and seemingly relaxed slightly as he realized she was okay. She took her place back beside him on the ground, giving him a nod of reassurance. There was definitely a look in his eye that told her he wanted to say something admonishing towards her for how she behaved earlier, but was choosing to stay quiet lest they get in trouble again. 
All they had to do now was wait in uncomfortable silence until they reached their destination.
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They had no idea how long it had been when they felt the ship jolt out of hyperspace. Hunter reached over with his joined hands and took Kimber’s protectively in his own as they figured out they would soon be landing. A minute later, they heard the loud tapping of rainfall on the roof of the ship and Kimber’s shoulders sank. The rainfall confirmed they were exactly where she predicted they’d end up.
She turned to Hunter and mouthed silently, “Kamino.” To which, he nodded in understanding.
Soon, they were both told to get up by the guards and gruffly pulled to their feet. Crosshair came into the back with them, his helmet on over his head, and carrying both Hunter and Kimber’s helmets under his arm. The ramp to the ship lowered and Crosshair led his two hostages and the other soldiers out. Kimber recognized the Kaminoan hangar right away and could hear the clapping of the thunderstorms behind them outside. They were greeted by a young human male with light skin, brown hair and dressed in an Imperial officer’s uniform. Judging by the badge he had on his chest, Kimber deduced he was most likely an Admiral of some sort. He was escorted by five troopers; two in dark armor matching Crosshair’s and three in regular white armor. Crosshair and his group halted in front of the Imperial officer.
The Imperial asked in a deep, authoritative voice, “Where are the rest of them?”
“They’ll be here. We’ll intercept upon arrival,” Crosshair informed him. 
The Admiral directed his attention to Hunter and Kimber and stepped closer to them. “So you’re the ones they call ‘Hunter’ and ‘Kimber’,” he greeted them, his tone bordering on condescending. “The destruction your squad caused on Ryloth got my attention.”
Neither of them said a word to him and just remained stoic in their expressions.
It was then the Admiral took notice of the mark on Kimber’s face, which had darkened a bit more over time, and he commented, “A shame that such a lovely face like yours had to be so marred.”
She sneered, immediately annoyed at his backhanded compliment, and replied, “Keep talking like that and you’ll be saying that to yourself in a mirror.”
That earned her an elbow to the arm from Hunter, warning her to stay quiet.
“Admiral Tarkin described you as quite the feral woman…and I see he was correct in that regard,” said the Imperial. When he just got a glare in return, he turned back to Crosshair. “I leave this to you, Commander. Stay on schedule.”
Crosshair and his soldiers walked around the Admiral, forcefully pushing Hunter and Kimber forward, which aggravated them even more. They walked through the hangar and into the brightly-lit halls of Tipoca City, which was certainly something Kimber hadn’t missed at all. The strange thing, though, was that the halls were practically empty. There were no Clone troopers or Kaminoans walking around. Not even any young Clone cadets could be seen. Only a couple Imperial soldiers walked by and that was it. 
“Where are all the regs?” Hunter inquired. 
“When did you start caring about them?” Crosshair asked back, now with his blaster pointed at Hunter's back as they walked and having given Kimber's helmet to the other soldier with them. 
“No Kaminoans either,” said Hunter. Then it dawned on him. “This facility's being decommissioned.”
Kimber sighed as she now realized that upon hearing Hunter say it aloud. “Of course…,” she whispered. 
Hearing no reply to the contrary, Hunter remarked to Crosshair, “You don't seem too concerned.”
“Why would I be?” Crosshair questioned. 
Stopping to face his brother, Hunter responded, “Because the Empire will be phasing out Clones next.”
Jabbing his blaster into Hunter's chest, Crosshair stated, “Not the ones that matter.”
As Hunter glared at him, Kimber went on to ask him sharply, “What will that mean for me, then? I'm not a Clone. Are you saying I don't matter?”
“You've pushed your luck enough,” Crosshair answered her, “but I think the Empire could still make use of you.” 
“You think I’m just going to let the Empire use me the same way they’re using you? Not a chance,” she said snidely. 
The other trooper then pushed her forward with the tip of his gun and ordered, “Keep moving.”
The four of them continued on a few more feet and rounded a corner where they entered a Kaminoan security control room. The room was mostly lit by several multicolored holographic projections throughout. One of Crosshair's squadmates informed him that they had detected a ship entering the planet's system, but they had lost it below the scanner range, which Crosshair affirmed was the rest of Clone Force 99 and another one of the troopers said they would notify the scouts.
“Don't bother. They'll come to us,” Crosshair stated. Then he looked at Hunter and Kimber as he added, “They don't leave their own behind...most of the time.”
“Really? You're going to pull that card?” Kimber snapped as Crosshair removed his helmet.
“You tried to kill us. We didn't have a choice,” Hunter said sternly.
Crosshair sat down on one of the bowl-like seats in the room, scoffed lightly and asked as he placed a toothpick in his mouth, “And I did?”
Something about that simple question rendered both Kimber and Hunter speechless and they were unsure how to respond. Kimber almost said he did have a choice, but then remembered the inhibitor chip. In truth, he hadn't had a choice, but they hadn't known that at the time and that still didn't change the fact that he had shot at them and tried to kill them. All she could do was glance at Hunter with uncertainty, not knowing quite what to do. 
Hunter stayed quiet, too, for a moment, his mind going over every possible thing he could say to sway his brother. Despite how frustrated he was with Crosshair, there was still a part of him that wanted to get through to him. If not for his own sake, then for Kimber's. Crosshair's absence and actions had affected her the most and he hated seeing her suffer because of the chip in Crosshair's head. If there was a chance he could do something before the rest of his squad got involved, then he had to try and take it. 
He moved closer to Crosshair and said in a quieter voice so only they could hear, “Crosshair, we've seen what the Empire's doing...occupying planets and silencing anyone who stands against them. You know it's not right.”
Standing up from his seat and removing the toothpick, Crosshair replied nonchalantly, “You still don't see the bigger picture…but you will.”
“Ugh, just stop with the bigger picture talk. That's not what this is about,” Kimber put in, vexed at his inability to see past that mindset. 
Hunter sighed, exasperated. “Can't you see they're using you?” he asked, shaking his head. “It's that inhibitor chip in your head. It's making you follow--”
His words were cut off by the sound of an alarm blaring over the sound system and one of the troopers informing Crosshair that there was an unauthorized entry on one of the platforms. Hunter and Kimber exchanged knowing looks. The others were now inside the facility. 
“Right on schedule,” said Crosshair. “Time to go.”
“Crosshair, please, don't do this. I'm begging you,” Kimber pleaded with him. “Whatever you plan to do, leave the others out of it.”
He simply looked back at her and replied, “Who's the one begging now?”
As she gaped at him in disbelief, he shoved Hunter's helmet into his bound hands and then hers was given to her just as forcefully. Then they both were pushed forward again out the door by Crosshair's troopers. 
As they walked through the facility, the remainder of Crosshair's squad met up with them and continued on with them. Before long, Hunter and Kimber recognized where they were being led to. They were heading to the training room. Unfortunately, they both knew it would be easy for Crosshair and his soldiers to pick off the Bad Batch one by one since it was open ground. 
“I know what you're trying to do, Crosshair,” said Kimber as they kept going. 
Over his shoulder, he flatly replied, “Good for you.”
Knowing her squad's lives were at stake, she quietly said to him, “You said you wanted to talk back on Ryloth. Fine, then let's talk. It's not too late to stop this.”
“It is too late. You had your chance. All of this…will end here tonight,” he said back, quickening his pace away from her. 
She wanted to say more, but once again, one of the other troopers shoved her forward to keep her moving and she couldn’t suppress an annoyed growl at them. She wasn’t sure what to do. Maybe she should have just talked to Crosshair back on Ryloth when she’d been given the chance. Now, it might be too late…both for her and her squad. 
They soon reached the large training room and a wave of nostalgia hit Kimber right away. She remembered her first time in this room, fighting Droids on her own to try and prove herself to the Prime Minister. She remembered the last time they’d been to Kamino and the whole squad had been sent into this room to prove themselves to Admiral Tarkin and show the continued efficiency of Clone troopers. Now, they were back once more and it was most likely going to be the last place they’d ever see.
“Take your positions,” Crosshair ordered his troops, stopping Hunter and Kimber in place partway through the room and keeping his blaster aimed at their backs. 
The rest of the troopers situated themselves on either side of the room; two on the left and three on the right, but then they stopped around the center of the room instead of by the main entrance. Both Kimber and Hunter realized they were anticipating the Bad Batch were going to come up through the central lift instead of the entrance, knowing they’d still be following Hunter’s comm trace. They waited apprehensively for the rest of the squad to arrive. Kimber had a feeling the others would come up the lift instead of the entrance, thinking they’d get ahead of Crosshair…but unfortunately, he was already a step ahead of them. 
Kimber also took notice that one of Crosshair’s troopers had her sniper rifle on their back and she couldn’t help but sneer to herself. One way or another, she’d get her rifle back from them and if she had to, she would use it on that soldier first.
A few minutes later, just as Crosshair predicted, the central lift came up from below the floor and on the platform stood Echo, Wrecker and Tech with their weapons all drawn and Crosshair’s squad all raised their own weapons at them, showing the Clones they were outmatched. 
Patronizingly, Crosshair greeted them by tossing Hunter’s comm towards them and saying, “And here we all are…together again. You won’t be needing your weapons.”
The other soldiers slowly closed in on the Clones, warning them to get rid of their weapons. The Clones all looked to Hunter, who gave them a nod to comply. Begrudgingly, they all threw their blasters to the floor as well as a thermal detonator from Tech and Wrecker’s large vibroblade.
“See? Following orders isn’t so difficult,” Crosshair taunted them, though it was mostly directed at Hunter. Then he looked around slightly and asked the others, “Where’s your little sidekick?”
“You think we’d bring her here?” Wrecker questioned. He lifted his helmet up onto his head and added, “We’re smarter than that.”
“Lying was never your strength, Wrecker,” Crosshair stated. Then he ordered one of his soldiers to find Omega and they exited the room. 
Echo then called out, “Are you two all right?”
“We’re fine,” Kimber answered.  
“You are not. There is a contusion on your left cheek,” Tech pointed out.
Behind her, Crosshair snidely remarked, “That’s what happens to those who defy orders.”
“Yeah, something you used to be good at once,” Kimber said back. “Or have you conveniently forgotten that?”
Crosshair didn’t say anything back.
Soon, one of his troopers stated, “We’re running out of time, Commander.”
“Hold your positions,” Crosshair ordered.
It was then Hunter’s turn to look over to Crosshair and, with a glare on his face, he asked, “So this was your grand plan? Bring us here and kill us?”
“If I wanted you dead, you would be,” Crosshair said back, his voice turning dark under his helmet. “Not that it wouldn’t be justified.”
“Justified? Are you kidding me?” Kimber questioned, appalled. “What have we done that would justify killing us?”
“You betrayed everything we stood for,” Crosshair answered, “And for what? The Republic?”
Hunter responded steadfastly, “We’re loyal to each other, not some Empire.”
Crosshair then said five words that struck both Hunter and Kimber to the core:
“You weren’t loyal to me.”
The two of them went wide-eyed in shock and couldn’t find the words to reply to him. That wasn’t the response they were anticipating. 
He continued, “I was one of you. You may have forgotten, but I haven’t. And it’s why I’m going to give you what you never gave me...a chance.”
Crosshair’s squad all turned their heads to him in surprise and even the other Clones were astonished, too. Hunter and Kimber still remained silent. What did this mean for them? What was Crosshair really doing?
Just then, he put a finger up to the side of his helmet, getting a transmission. Then he spoke aloud, “Send her on a shuttle off-world.”
Kimber’s anxiety spiked hearing that. That meant Omega had been found.
“Crosshair, don’t,” Hunter said.
“It’s for her own good…and yours,” Crosshair said back.
Hunter pushed further, insisting, “Omega belongs with us.”
“Living among fugitives where she’s in constant danger?” Crosshair asked. Then he scoffed in bemusement. “You want to protect the kid, then let her go. Stop pretending to be something you're not, Hunter.”
Before she could stop herself, Kimber said snarkily back, “Oh, that's rich coming from you, Crosshair, thinking you have any importance in this Empire! You think this is who you are? You're no different than the regs you claim to hate so much.”
Turning to Kimber, Crosshair replied, “I am not. None of us are.” He looked back at Hunter. “You know this, too, Hunter. We're not like the regs. We never have been. We're superior.” Once again, his tone grew ominous as he went on, “The Empire can't protect the galaxy without strength. This is what we were made for. Think of all we could do...together.”
With one fluid motion, Crosshair then pulled out Hunter's knife from his belt and broke Hunter's cuffs with one downward stroke. Afterwards, he pushed him forward towards his brothers. Kimber inhaled shakily in fear of whatever Crosshair had planned.
“We were brothers once,” Crosshair said to Hunter, not paying heed to Kimber still beside him. “We can be again.”
Kimber wanted that more than anything; it was all she had wished for, for months and at any other time, she would've welcomed that chance without hesitation…but something in his voice indicated that what he was proposing was not what she or any of the others wanted. Something still wasn’t right.
Hunter inquired suspiciously, “Why would we trust you?”
In response, Crosshair aimed his blaster at them again.
“No!” Kimber cried out, going to run forward.
“Don’t move,” Crosshair ordered, whirling around on her and pointing his blaster her way. When she stopped, he then said, “I don’t want to make you a part of this.”
“Commander?” one of the troopers asked, puzzled at the favoritism his Commander was showing.
Kimber glared harshly at Crosshair. Now, he had the audacity to care about what happened to her and put her above his brothers? All she wanted to do was give him a piece of her mind, but with the blaster pointed at her, she was disgruntled and kept her mouth shut.
With that, Crosshair turned his weapon back to his brothers and then ordered his squad to stand down, but to everyone’s surprise, they actually refused his order and kept their weapons aimed at the Clones. The tension of the moment was almost palpable as the Clones and Kimber apprehensively waited for Crosshair’s next move. 
They weren’t prepared for what happened next. 
Crosshair fired his blaster…off to the side, where the shot suddenly bounced off the wall and around the room in the blink of an eye and, to the Clones’ and Kimber’s shock, all of Crosshair’s squadmates dropped dead to the floor, each of them with a smoking hole in their bodies. In that moment, the Bad Batch all discovered that Crosshair's reflective discs had been strategically placed throughout the room and had reflected his shot to kill his squad. 
He had been planning for this all along. 
When everyone looked to Crosshair with both curiosity and caution, he approached them, took off his helmet and asked Hunter, “Does that answer your question?”
“Crosshair…!” Kimber gasped out, still too stunned at what had just happened. She was stunned even more when Crosshair unexpectedly turned to face her and cut her bindings off with Hunter’s knife.
However, any hope in the situation was short-lived as Crosshair started walking towards them, his blaster aimed at them again. Hunter put himself in front of Kimber and they both guardedly moved back as Crosshair advanced.
“You all are meant for more than drifting through the galaxy. It’s time to stop running,” he said to them as he then lowered his weapon. Then he implored them, “Join the Empire…and you will have purpose again.”
Kimber could feel her heart dropping. She should’ve known this seemed too easy and too good to be true. “You think that’s what this is all about: not knowing our purpose?” she asked in unbelief.
“You really don’t get who we are, do you?” Hunter also questioned. 
Crosshair’s face darkened from the shadows that framed his face and his facial expressions contorted with enmity, his eyes widening with fury. “Don’t make the same mistake twice. Don’t become my enemy,” he threatened, a growl in his low voice unlike anything they’d ever heard from him before. 
“Crosshair…we never were,” Hunter countered, his expression crestfallen.
Finally, Kimber had had enough. She was so disheartened at Crosshair’s relentless insistence that they join the Empire and acting as though they were the villains in this situation. There were things she wanted to say to him that she’d been bottling up the whole time. Inside, she felt like a dam ready to burst and couldn’t let this go on any longer. 
She pushed past Hunter’s arm, stepped up and asked, “Crosshair...can you look me in the eye and tell me that you're truly happy with the Empire?”
“Kimber, no,” Hunter said warningly.
She ignored him and kept going, her gaze set intently on Crosshair and her voice strong and tenacious, “Can you look me...in the eye...and tell me that you would rather obey the Empire's orders and impose oppression on several planets than traversing the galaxy with us? I know you think we're meant for more than that, but would that really be so bad right now? Wouldn't you rather just be with us instead of helping spread terror through the galaxy?” She took another step closer to him and her tone turned to pleading. “You know what the Empire is doing is wrong. With them, you might have found a semblance of acceptance in a time of pain, but did you really find happiness or purpose? I refuse to believe you have. I know you think we abandoned you...and I am sorry for that.” 
Listening to her, Crosshair’s face seemingly began to soften slightly.
“You think you're giving us a chance, but that's not what this is. You now have a chance to escape all of this!” she said emotionally. Then she took a risk and moved even closer to him so she was directly in front of him, looking up into his face, and she laid her hands on his arms, which made him flinch. “Come back with us, Crosshair. Come back to your family, where you really belong. You need us...and more importantly, we need you. I need you. I need my partner back. I need my brother back. You and me, we're the eyes in the sky together...remember? I've said these things a thousand times and I'll say them a thousand more. Please, I'm begging you...come home, brother.” 
She released his arms and stepped back, her eyes searching his face for his potential reaction. There was conflict in his eyes as he glanced down to the ground, seemingly in deep thought. She wasn’t sure what he was thinking and she wished she could see into his mind. Had anything she said had an affect on him at all? Had she finally been able to get through to him? 
Finally, he spoke up, “Kimber…I--”
The alarms inside the room went off all of a sudden, which made everyone jump in surprise. Right after that, the turret towers rose up from the ground as did several rows of training Droids. This was an unexpected complication. To make things worse, Hunter suddenly sprinted past Kimber and tackled Crosshair to the ground.
“No…!” Kimber groaned at seeing that happen, just when she thought maybe she’d gotten through to Crosshair, but there was no time to focus on it as, a second later, the Droids started firing on them. 
Kimber quickly leapt and rolled behind the barricade closest to her as the other three grabbed their weapons from off the ground and started firing at the Droids. As she crouched behind her cover, she spotted the now dead trooper that had her sniper rifle and she pulled it off of their back.
“Serves you right,” she mumbled aloud as she put the rifle back together. Then she leaned back and placed her back against the battlement just as Echo crouched behind it next to her.
“Hey, why did you activate the Droids?” she heard Wrecker ask loudly in annoyance.
“This was not my doing,” Tech responded. 
Echo and Kimber both popped up from behind their cover and took some more shots at the Droids, which now seemed to be coming from every corner of the room.
“Ugh, they're everywhere!” Kimber complained.
“I don't know what brought them in here, but be careful, Kim,” Echo told her.
As she kept shooting at the Droids, she glanced over to where Hunter and Crosshair were still struggling against each other on the ground, wishing they would stop. Then there came a shot from high up, taking out one of the Droids closest to them. When she looked up, she saw Omega up on one of the towers, her bow drawn, and next to her was AZI, the medical Droid. All Kimber could do was hope the kid would stay safe in this fight. She continued fending off the Droids coming their way and she saw Hunter finally kick Crosshair off of him. They continued to fight as they got to their feet. Kimber wanted to keep her eyes on them to ensure they didn't hurt each other, but there were more Droids heading for them. Her first instinct was to protect both of them, so she continued shooting the Droids behind them. 
A few seconds later, she saw Hunter grab Crosshair around his waist, pick him up and then full on body slam him to the ground, rolling over top of him and coming back up with both his blaster in one hand and his vibroblade in the other. With Crosshair down for a moment, Hunter seized the opportunity to start shooting the Droids, as well.
Just then, another set of Droids came up from the floor right in the middle of the room; behind Hunter and in between the battlements everyone else was hiding behind. Kimber jumped over to the other side as Echo moved himself out of the way, too, as did Wrecker and Tech on their side. Hunter also turned around to fight them, leaving his back exposed to Crosshair. They were all now completely surrounded, but they weren't going to give up. 
Kimber fired at the new wave of Droids...and then heard the familiar sound of another sniper rifle.
Her head whipped around and she was astonished to see Crosshair had stood up with his rifle and was now also shooting the Droids. He wasn't running or trying to go for Hunter while his back was turned. He was actually helping her and the others fight the current threat! She couldn't believe it! 
The others noticed, too, and it felt as though they had an extra push to fight as hard as they could. Wrecker came out from behind the battlement, drawing his large blade, and stabbed the Droid closest to him, kicking it back to give everyone room to move. Everyone jumped out into the open at once, their weapons firing all around the room at the Droids. In that pivotal moment, with all six members of the Bad Batch back together in the same place, it felt as though they were fighting as a real squad again.
Kimber saw movement off to the side of the room and saw that the one remaining member of Crosshair's Imperial squad; the one who had gone off to find Omega had returned. Seeing that the rest of the squad had been killed off by their Commander, Kimber saw no reason to leave this one standing. She directed her sights onto the Imperial soldier and fired at her, but she were quick to avoid Kimber's shots as she backed out and ran out the training room's side door. Kimber ran forward a couple steps to go after her, but then she stopped, glancing back at her boys. She couldn't leave them now, not when they were in danger. They needed her here. She was just going to have to let the Imperial soldier go. 
As she ran back into the fray, Wrecker threw a Droid through the air that crashed into another one. Then Hunter ran at a Droid, jumped up onto it and stabbed right into its neck area with his knife. The Droid started short-circuiting and wobbling with Hunter still holding onto it until Crosshair took a shot directly at its head. As it toppled over, Hunter leapt off and the two of them shared a quick glance before diverting their attention to other incoming attacks. Wrecker, Echo and Tech had moved to higher ground while Hunter, Kimber and Crosshair stayed on the main level.
Kimber was shooting at the Droids and evading their shots when she found herself back to back against Hunter, who met her gaze over his shoulder, smirked and then told her as they continued fighting, “I couldn't say it before, so I'll say it now: you are by far the most hot headed trouble-seeker of a woman I've ever met.”
Knowing he was referring to her misbehavior back on the shuttle, she just grinned to herself and said back, “Compliment me later, Sergeant.” Then she took back up her rifle and resumed firing at the Droids, ducking out of the way of a bolt that shot just between them and springing off to the side. She fired a shot at the Droid that had just fired at them and it went straight through the center. 
“Kimber, behind you!” Wrecker called to her on the other side of the room. 
She heard the warning and turned around to see a Droid right behind her. Before she could react, the Droid shoved her, sending her flying back a few feet and her rifle fell out of her hand. She quickly sat up and saw two blaster bolts come from behind her and hit the Droid in the neck and the head. When she looked behind her, she expected it to be Hunter, but she was wrong.
Her savior had been Crosshair. 
He simply gave her a nod and went back to fighting the rest of the enemies. She was taken aback for a brief moment. He had saved Hunter earlier and now, he had just saved her. Surely, that had to mean something; that he still cared…maybe the Crosshair she knew was beginning to come back. 
Swiftly, Kimber picked up her rifle, got to her and rejoined in the fight. She noticed Omega had somehow made her way down from the tower to the ground along with AZI. The number of Droids left was dwindling down thanks to everyone’s efforts and very soon, all of them were taken down. Now, all that was left was dealing with Crosshair. Hunter and Crosshair were in the center of the room; Wrecker, Echo, Tech and Omega were all on one side and Kimber was on the other and they all closed in towards the middle of the room just as Crosshair faced Hunter…and Hunter raised his blaster at him. 
“Hunter, please don’t!” Kimber cried out, coming up next to him. She stole a look at Crosshair across from him and he looked conflicted...even minorly defeated. Though, when she looked back at Hunter, there was a forlorn look in his face and in his eyes as he gazed over at his brother.
Then he spoke, desperately pleading similarly to how Kimber had earlier, “Crosshair…forget the Empire. This isn’t you. It’s your inhibitor chip. We can help you.”
Crosshair shook his head and responded, his voice low again, “Wrong. I had my chip removed…a long time ago.”
That response stunned all the Clones and they were rendered speechless.
For Kimber…her world was shattered in an instant.
Crosshair’s chip had been removed? What did this mean? More importantly, when had this happened? Given all the things he’d done in general, to his brothers and the things he’d done to her, how much of it had been because of the chip and how much of it had been of his own volition? All this time, she’d believed he could never have done any of those things of his own free will; the Crosshair she knew and loved would never threaten her, his family or other innocent people! No…he had to be lying. There was no way this was true. Her blood ran cold and her body went numb just thinking about it.
Finally, Hunter broke the silence. “Since when?” he asked.
“Does it matter?” Crosshair asked in return, exasperated and with a shake of his head. 
“Yes!” Hunter growled at him, his teeth now clenching in anger at Crosshair’s reluctance to answer.
Kimber wanted to shout at him that of course it mattered when he got his chip out and to demand he tell the truth, but she was too stunned to speak. All she could do was stare at Crosshair.
Then, with a look of frustration, Crosshair responded to Hunter, “This…is who I am.”
“No...NO!” Kimber finally screamed, a mix of sorrow and outrage growing within her. “This is not who you are, Crosshair! Stop lying to us! I know you and you would never do any of this willingly! You would never! Please, tell me this isn’t true!”
He glanced over at her, but his expression remained unchanged and he said nothing back to her. That only broke Kimber’s heart even more and she felt incredibly betrayed, even more than she had before on Bracca. 
“No…it can’t be,” she thought despairingly in her mind.
As he turned his glaring attention back to Hunter, she noticed his hand that held his rifle twitch ever so slightly and his finger was inching up towards the trigger.
Crosshair brought up his weapon and a stun blast was fired.
Hunter watched as Crosshair got disoriented, fell to his knees and then collapsed forward onto the floor. However, he had been shocked to see Crosshair drop all of a sudden because the stun shot had not come from his own blaster, even though he had been a millisecond away from firing it. His head turned to Kimber next to him and he saw she was standing there, her eyes wide in sad horror, panting heavily and with her rifle raised.
She had been the one to stun him. 
Taking note of the pain in her eyes, Hunter sheathed his vibroblade, put away his blaster and approached her, gently placing one hand on her arm and the other on her rifle. “Easy, love. It’s okay,” he said to try and help calm her, lightly pushing down on her weapon to get her to lower it.
“No…it’s not,” she replied, tears forming in her eyes.
He removed his hand from her rifle and brought it up to her face, tenderly rubbing his thumb on her cheek and giving her an encouraging look, one that was silently telling her to stay strong. Even though what had just happened was heartbreaking, they were going to be okay and figure things out. She wasn’t confident in what he was trying to tell her, but she still appreciated his attempt to reassure her nonetheless and she leaned more into his hand, taking in what warmth she could.
After he stepped away, they realized everyone else was walking up to them and Omega suddenly came running down and threw her arms around Hunter, relieved to see he was okay. Kimber, however, kept her eyes on Crosshair unconscious on the floor. She didn’t know who she was really looking at anymore. What would she even say to him whenever he came to? She wanted to scream, cry, run away, punch him while he was down…then right then, she felt a pair of arms hug her around her waist, pulling her out of her thoughts and back into reality. When she glanced down, she found herself looking into the bright, brown eyes and smiling face of Omega. Grateful for the young girl’s comforting hug, Kimber laid a hand on Omega’s head and smoothed her hair, mustering up a smile for her. After the kid let her go, Kimber walked over to where everyone else was standing around, watching Hunter crouch down beside Crosshair and inspect his head.
A few seconds passed when they all heard beeping and Tech stepped forward, declaring urgently to Hunter while looking at his datapad, “Three Venators are descending into the city. We need to leave now.”
Heeding Tech’s warning, Hunter proceeded to pick up Crosshair’s rifle and pack, placed the pack on his own back and ordered Wrecker to grab Crosshair. “He’s coming with us,” he said.
Kimber hadn’t expected Hunter to say that, given the information she’d just learned about Crosshair. “We’re…taking him back?” she asked Hunter, a slight sliver of hope in her tone just as Wrecker lifted Crosshair and slung him over his shoulder.
He gave her a nod. “We’ll figure things out with him once we get out of here…but we’re not leaving him behind again,” he avowed.
She would’ve burst into tears in that moment if they weren’t in immediate danger, so she withheld her emotions for the time being. Putting her rifle on her back, she gave him a nod back and stated, “Let’s leave this Forceforsaken place.”
With that, the Clones, Kimber and AZI took off running from the training room and into the bright white hallways of Tipoca City, the urgency of their situation giving them the speed they needed. They were all reunited, they had Crosshair back with them--albeit a bit against his will--and now, they had to get away before the Empire cornered them and captured them. They had to move fast.
Suddenly, everything around them trembled. The ground shook beneath them and they all started to stumble and lose their balance. The lights in the corridor flickered briefly and then were suddenly shut off. Something was happening outside and it definitely wasn’t good. Hunter called to everyone to hurry and get to the outside lift. They picked up speed and reached the door to the outside, halting immediately as they got out into the rain.
To everyone’s terror, they saw and could hear laser fire raining down from the sky onto the city and everything before them was being destroyed. In seconds, there was a huge, thundering explosion directly in front of them, blowing up a good portion of the pathway. 
“Back inside! Go!” Hunter cried out, turning around and going back the other way.
Kimber turned to follow and saw that Omega was still standing in place, watching in fright the horrors that were unfolding in front of her as her home was being destroyed before her very eyes. AZI had grabbed her hand, but she wasn’t moving. 
“Omega, we have to go! Now!” Kimber cried frantically, taking Omega by the shoulders and giving her a necessary shove back towards the door and after the others.
Just as Omega started running, another laser blast suddenly hit the spot where she had just been standing, blowing up a chunk of the bridge, and the force of the blast sent Kimber flying backwards further down the pathway. She rolled and ended up going over the broken edge, but her hand quickly grabbed the ledge. Unfortunately, she could feel her gloved hand already starting to lose her grip on the ledge that was slick from the heavy rain. She heard, even over the sounds of the Venator fire, Omega and a couple of the others scream her name, but she knew that if any of them came out after her, they would more than likely get killed.
All she could do was yell, “Run!” just before her hold on the edge of the bridge was lost.
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yoitsjay · 3 months ago
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What If Blurb
Pairings: imperial! Hunter x inquisitor fem! Reader
Summary: what if Hunter's chip malfunctioned instead of Crosshairs? What if he had met you within the empire?
Warnings: cannon violence, force choking, fighting, death.
Word count: 689
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Hunter had been different since Kaller, when they received the order to execute the Jedi. Though his brothers were against the idea… they had no choice but to follow their leader. Echo, Wrecker and Tech however helped Kanan get away, despite the scolding they got afterwards.
They went back to Kamino and received new orders, but Echo, Crosshair and the others didn’t agree. Hunter had turned on them… though he himself felt betrayed by his own family.
Hunter nearly killed them if it wasn't for their combined forces against him. But he didn’t let go of that grudge.
He became a commander of his own elite squad, however there had been rumors circling of a higher ranking soldier joining them.
Hunter stood in front of the nat-born elite soldiers, his helmet firmly on his head. His armor had been repainted, minus the white half skull on his helmet, everything else on his armor was plain black.
The door to the barracks opened, and from the shadows of the coordinator emerged a masked figure, the same height as Hunter, maybe a few inches smaller. With the way the armor was shaped, Hunter could tell the figure was feminine.
“You are Rampart’s elite squad?” Voiced the figure, the helmet she was wearing had distorted her voice. Hunter stepped forward, removing his helmet as he nodded. “I am Commander Hu-”
“I don’t care.” Came the voice, and his eyes widened slightly. He then watched as the figure removed her helmet…
You stared at him, eyes yellow and orange, filled with hatred. She looked Hunter up and down before looking at the others. “I can tell that you will all fall. Vader promised me a squad worth my time.” You hissed.
“Oh I'll show you just how skilled we are.” Hunter hissed, and you narrowed your eyes at him, however he didn’t flinch.
You grabbed your saber off your back, and held it in front of you as Hunter pulled out his vibroblade. You snorted.
“Pathetic.”
You ignited one blade to start, deciding to go easy on the man in front of you. The others had long backed away, you and Hunter circled each other until you pounced first. He dodged your lightsaber attack, and went to strike you with his blade, however you easily moved out of the way, poising your saber in front of you.
Hunter then went for another attack, and you went back and forth at each other until he managed to disarm you. You were impressed, but going hand to hand just meant you didn't have to hold back. You punched, kicked and clawed, your sharp nails digging into the skin of his jaw, slicing down causing him to stumble back and begin to bleed.
You chuckled deeply, licking his blood from your fingers. He watched with wide eyes as you did so, before he went to strike at you again.
But he froze. His body tensed up and he started to levitate off the ground… and his throat started to close. Hunter gasped for air, and grasped his throat as he looked at you, seeing your hand raised in a choking position.
You then released him, and Hunter dropped to the floor.
“You will never best me.” you hissed, walking up to him before you extended your hand to him.
“But you may stand beside me,” you added. Hunter cautiously took your hand after a moment, and you pulled up to the floor. You then turned to the others, who were watching in fear.
At once you lifted them into the air, and threw them into the far sides of the barracks.
“A real team would aid their Commander. You all failed.” You hissed, turning to Hunter again.
“Let’s go, we have our first mission. Your old clone squad has been spotted on Bracca, why don't we go pay them a visit~” You cooed, sliding your helmet back on as Hunter did.
You were a formidable team, until the empire betrayed Hunter. He killed an imperial officer, and you aided him. But instead of being executed you both were taken to Tantiss…
Now the real challenge started.
Tag list:
Hunter:
Tbb:
@only-my-unexistent-fiances
All:
@moomoog017
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warsamongthestars · 6 months ago
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After the roaring rage of the last few days, how bout some hope?
ONWARDS TO THE CLONE WARS!
Me rewatching the TBB TCWshow Arc (... [sigh], again), and I caught a new thing.
See, Hunter and Rex are meant to be narrative foils to one another.
Rex is upright and honest, whilst Hunter is evasive and snarky.
Rex is a clean cut commander who is having doubts about the war, and Hunter is a scruffy sergeant who isn't really taking all this that seriously.
Rex using an algorithm to vary strategies and relies on defense. Hunter aggressively rushes in, and he and his team trust instincts instead of orders.
Rex keeps his cool under pressure, and when he loses his cool, he gets aggressive. Hunter tends to be a snippy worrywart, and shutsdown as a response to aggression.
The new thing is that, on other end, Echo is also meant to be a Foil and Contrast to Hunter... But where Rex and Hunter don't compliment each other--Echo does compliment the Bad Batch, just as much as he'd compliment Rex as a character.
When we get reintroduced back to Echo, inspite of his circumstance, he maintains good humor and though its a life threatening situation, he not only maintains his cool, he's back on his feet in hours.
He's got humor and optimism to Hunter's cynicism and worry, and can even work to outsnip him. Determination against any fears and pressure in the face of danger, to Wrecker's emotional state and phobias.
Social graces to Tech's technical graces (To a point, but I don't really want to rely on this as their contrast, but its the only one I've spotted outright... because its kriffin' typical. )
And to Crosshair? Well, instead of the "Reg"ular clone, meet the "Reg"ulations Clone. In fact, there's actually a comparison here. Both of them will simply march up to any officer and tell 'em how it is--with Cross its usually for purposes of hostility, but for Echo, its purposes of forwarding goals. I know a lot of HCs and Fanfics go into how Echo, with his regulations reading, is about chain of command--but Echo has never respected chain of command. As a Cadet, he outright jumped to General to ask for a Transfer. Echo gives no fucks.
Honestly, by his introduction into the Bad Batch, he fits right in.
If such relationships were given a show to expand on these comparisons and contrasts, it would've been great.
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wolveria · 5 months ago
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On Frozen Wings - Ch 12
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Pairing: Crosshair x Hunter
Rating: Explicit, 18+
Hunter thought he was going to lose everything on Tantiss. Instead, he got something back.
AO3
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Hundreds of missions completed with a one-hundred percent success rate. And in the end, they lost.
Or… thought they had.
Their infiltration into the base had gone awry almost immediately, their progress halted by a team of Imperial operatives just as well trained as the Batch. They were outnumbered and outgunned.
Hunter had been knocked out before they even had a chance.
He awoke in one of Hemlock’s labs, already in the throes of whatever machine he used to break the other clones. The insidious pain wormed its way into his skull, tried to pry him open and empty him out, like a burrowing creature that wouldn’t stop until he was a hollow husk.
And even through all of that, the throbbing in his head and Hemlock’s victory speech, which Hunter flagrantly ignored, he spotted Crosshair. Unconscious and trapped in another machine, his right hand ended in a stump that the medical droid finished cauterizing.
Sorrow buried deep in his chest, and then it ignited into rage as he watched Hemlock’s progress with a furious need to tear him apart. But he couldn’t break free before the machine sent him into a blinding, consuming hole where only agony existed.
It seemed to go on for an eternity until Omega freed them, only to be taken away by Hemlock. Hunter tried to follow, but he was unsteady, off-balance, his head a hive of angry hornets. A high-pitched ringing persisted, the planet wouldn’t stop spinning around him, and he distantly wondered if he was going blind, the edges of his vision dark.
He’d never felt so helpless. He hadn’t even sensed the operative behind him, poised to shoot, until Crosshair kicked him in the shoulder and knocked him off-balance.
Hunter saw the opening and took the shot.
Only after the electrospear was in the air did he glimpse what he’d first felt in the hanger. This was the closest Hunter had been to the assassin that had followed them like an ill omen.
Something was wrong.
The spear punctured through the middle of the assassin and pinned him to the stasis pod behind him.
Hunter couldn’t move. The electromagnetic signature, the heartbeat, even the hint of a faint scent that couldn’t be covered by the uniform.
But that heartbeat was fading. Hunter stumbled forward, grabbed the assassin’s helmet.
Please no, please no, pleasedon’t—
The helmet unsealed with a hiss, and he lifted it away.
Hunter was going to be sick.
He turned to Crosshair, whose own expression had gone abnormally pale.
“Help me,” Hunter pleaded. Not knowing himself if he meant getting him down or keeping him alive or—
“Here.” Crosshair grabbed Hunter’s vibroblade from where it was clipped to the assassin’s belt and held it out to him. “Use it.”
Hunter stared at him in horror.
“On the spear,” Crosshair instructed, his voice steady as he gripped his good arm around the assassin’s chest. “Cut through it. I’ll catch him.”
It was that calm, even tone that cleared some of the panicked haze from Hunter’s head. With great care and deep, slow breaths, Hunter sliced through the small space between flesh and metal. The spear separated from the pod, its edges glowing from the vibroblade, and they carefully set him on the ground. The spear was still impaled in his stomach, and before Hunter could reach for it, Crosshair’s words stopped him cold.
“We can’t remove it. It’ll kill him.”
He’s already dying, Hunter didn’t point out. Crosshair didn’t need him to.
Hunter could feel the assassin, or who they thought was the assassin, slip further and further away. But Hunter’s senses were also clearing, and he realized they weren’t alone.
“The others,” Hunter croaked. “They’re nearby.”
Crosshair immediately understood what he wanted—he called out Echo and Wrecker’s names, all while Hunter focused on the wound he had caused. They didn’t have any bacta left, and even if they did, this would need more than what they carried around in their supply packs.
And Omega needed him. Hunter was torn in two, hunched over the figure as he stared at his pale, bloodless face, praying to the Force or whatever deity would listen that he would open his eyes. Hunter needed to see them, proof that this was real.
Their other two brothers joined them, leaning against each other and looking worse for wear. Echo favored his right shoulder, and Wrecker had been shot at least once, but those injuries were forgotten when they saw the motionless figure.
Wrecker stumbled forward, his expression its own kind of fatal wound.
“…Tech?”
Echo pulled off his stolen helmet, his own expression brittle.
“We need bacta,” Hunter said, not addressing what they all could see.
“Hunter…”
“No,” he bit out and glared up at Echo. “He’s going to be fine.”
Echo didn’t say anything, but his expression said enough. Hunter ignored him, ignored everything, his only focus on the brother who needed them. There was no mistaking him for anyone else. The same stern features softened and slack in unconsciousness.
Hunter didn’t know how it was possible, but he couldn’t- he couldn’t lose him again.
But Tech was too still, too quiet, and his lips were turning purplish-blue.
“He’s not breathing.” Hunter looked up, desperate for answers, which instinctively made him look to Crosshair. “We need a bacta tank. There has to be one somewhere on this base.”
“Not enough time. My guess, his diaphragm is punctured.”
Before Hunter could insist they do something, Crosshair’s frown went focused and he left Hunter’s side to search a side cabinet. He brought back a black case and knelt opposite Hunter on Tech’s other side. He opened it, revealing several compartments, the bottom one revealing a long syringe containing some kind of solution, along with what looked like a battery pack.
“We have to wait for his heart to stop,” Crosshair said as he lifted the syringe and examined the liquid inside.
“What?”
“Otherwise, it will just send his heart into an abnormal rhythm.” Crosshair gave Hunter a grim look. “I’ve seen Hemlock’s doctors use it enough times. The reconditioning process is… harsh.”
Hunter couldn’t think about the implications of that, how Crosshair himself might have… No. He couldn’t think about it. Not when he was so close to the edge of something he feared he wouldn’t return from.
“Wrecker.”
Their brother took a moment to respond, his face streaked with silent tears, and he looked at Crosshair with a pleading sort of confusion that was painful to even look at.
“Grab that cart over there, the one with the tubes. Once we restart his heart, we’ll need to do his breathing for him.”
Wrecker obeyed without question, quickly bringing over the equipment and setting it up next to where they knelt. Crosshair grabbed the mask but didn’t put it over Tech’s face yet, and Echo hovered nearby, also ready to help. He looked even paler than usual, and it couldn’t be easy seeing a place like this, with his brother being used in a painfully familiar way.
Hunter grit his teeth and looked up at Crosshair, determined.
“What do you need me to do?”
Crosshair met his eye with the same determination.
“Tell me when his heart stops beating.”
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Hunter paced in front of the door to the surgery bay, which remained solidly shut despite how much he glared at it. It had been a long time since he’d been on a Republic medical station, and finding out Rex had a decommissioned one hidden away had been a lucky break. Maybe the Force had heard Hunter, after all.
He ached all over, his head splitting, and he could still smell the faint acrid stench of ozone and singed flesh from his own time spent in Hemlock’s machine.
But no one would be hurt by Hemlock again. He was dead, and even Hunter didn’t know who delivered the killing shot with how many bolts he and Crosshair filled him with.
Rampart was also dead, and Hunter’s only regret was that he hadn’t done the deed himself. Crosshair just seemed relieved at the news, a weight lifted off his shoulders that he’d hidden well but seemed so obvious now that it was gone.
Hunter was glad of that, he really was. He just couldn’t… settle. Couldn’t stop moving, and he continued his pacing in front of the door.
Crosshair eyed him from his spot on the bench, a toothpick in his mouth as he watched Hunter’s restless progress.
“You haven’t slept in three rotations,” he drawled. “Sit down.”
Hunter didn’t respond. How long did it take a medical droid and combat medic to finish three-hour emergency surgery?
“Hunter. You’re going to pass out.”
“I’m fine. How long since they started?”
“Twenty-six minutes. Sit.”
He almost growled a response about how he wasn’t a damn dog, but then he caught sight of Crosshair’s arm. The stump was wrapped in a medical brace, one that would provide pain relief and further healing after the cruel cauterization done by Hemlock’s droids.
Hunter let out a breath and allowed himself to sit next to Crosshair. Just the act of getting off his feet was enough for exhaustion to grip him by the neck, but he fought off its heavy weight. He wouldn’t rest until it was over.
Crosshair, apparently, had other plans.
“Come here.”
He pulled Hunter down onto his shoulder, and Hunter gave only token resistance. He naturally sought out Crosshair’s neck, burying his face there and breathing in his scent.
“Can’t sleep yet,” he mumbled but didn’t pull away.
“You’re not sleeping. You’re resting your eyes.”
Hunter let out a huff, too bone-weary to laugh. All he wanted was to pull Crosshair into his bed (their bed?) on Pabu and sleep for a week. The kids were being looked after by Echo, Rex, and Wrecker, and probably any other clone that happened to wander by. Maybe Hemlock had a point about clones being paternal, but it was the only good point he’d ever made in a long line of terrible ones.
Including what he’d said about Hunter having lost a member of his squad and history was about to repeat itself. He’d practically rubbed it in his face that Tech had been his operative this whole time.
Hunter didn’t know how Tech had survived the fall, or what he could remember, if anything. What was left of him after Hemlock’s torture? Hunter hadn’t been in that machine for long, and he’d felt strange for hours afterward, like his skin didn’t quite fit right.
Uncertainty plagued Hunter like a ghost, a shadow, not unlike how Tech’s absence had lingered over every decision he’d made since Eriadu. And now here he was. Crosshair had managed to restart his heart with the syringe filled with bacta, adrenaline, and some kind of experimental concoction that no one but Tech would have understood. The syringe had also been equipped with a battery pack that shocked his heart directly through the needle, and Hunter had to try very hard not to think about Crosshair enduring the same brutal procedure.
But it had worked, and Echo and Wrecker had carried Tech back to the shuttle while Crosshair and Hunter caught up to Omega. Hemlock had been waylaid by a group of freed clone prisoners who had managed to subdue and stun the clone commando he was always with.
Without his bodyguard, and a little help from Omega, they’d stopped Hemlock for good. Omega was finally safe, and she hadn’t let go of Hunter or Crosshair the entire journey away from Tantiss. They’d all returned from the mission, including some unexpected additions, such as the clone scientist Emerie, and a group of “Jedi tubies,” as Wrecker had taken to calling them.
They had survived. Hunter couldn’t quite believe it, and he knew part of that was due to the lack of sleep. They’d been trained to endure long periods of sleep deprivation, but this was pushing it even for them.
And with his pauldrons removed, Crosshair was very comfortable. He gently stroked Hunter’s hair, and he was so out of it he couldn’t remember when that started. He drifted in and out, fighting to stay awake. Tech still needed him.
He couldn’t fall asleep. Had to… be there when he woke up…
When the door slid open, Hunter sat upward so fast he almost headbutted Crosshair in the jaw.
Kix gave him a look of poorly hidden amusement, but there was softness there too. That had to be a good sign, right? He wouldn’t look like that if Tech was—
“How is he?” Hunter asked as he got to his feet too fast, his vision spinning. He shook his head, indicating he was fine when Kix tried to approach him, but he needn’t have bothered. Crosshair was right there at his side, looping an arm around his waist to keep him steady.
If Kix was surprised by their odd closeness, he didn’t show it.
“Stable. The surgery went well. No complications. He’s still out, but I think that’s best for now, keep him sedated and in a bacta tank.”
“For how long?” Hunter pressed, sensing something more than what Kix was saying.
“At least another three days, then I’ll reassess. It’s… not just the abdominal injury. There’s nerve damage to his spine.”
Hunter had tried to prepare himself for that. It was a lucky shot all he did was graze Tech’s spine with the spear, but still, Hunter wavered. He only remained standing because Crosshair’s supportive arm kept him that way.
“How… bad?”
“There’s a good chance of partial recovery. He may have some mobility issues, but I think he’ll do well with physical therapy.” Kix paused, as if to carefully choose his words. “That’s honestly not my biggest concern. It’s the brain damage he sustained while in Imperial custody. It’s extensive. And no, I won’t know how severe or how permanent until he wakes up.”
Hunter knew there were questions he should ask, but he couldn’t voice any of them. He simply stood there, trying to process Kix’s words.
“He might not remember us?”
Crosshair’s voice was quiet, and Kix’s gaze was sympathetic.
“He might not remember anything.”
They were silent for a long moment, and when he thought Kix might end the conversation, he gave Crosshair a curious look.
“But you went through the process, and as far as I know, you don’t have any memory recall issues. I would like to ask more about that, and the reconditioning procedure in general. The more I know about it, the better equipped I’ll be to ease him through this transition period.”
Before, Crosshair always shut down or changed the subject when his imprisonment on Tantiss was brought up. But he nodded at Kix, mouth pressed into a determined line.
“I can do that.”
“Good.” Kix glanced between them both, a brow raised. “But that can wait. You both need sleep, and I seem to have found myself with a whole medbay full of brothers requiring my attention.”
“Wait,” Hunter said as the medic started to turn away. “Can we… see him?”
Kix’s smile was soft.
“Figured you’d ask. He’s down the hall where the bacta tanks are stationed. Tank two, though I’m sure you’ll have no trouble picking him out.”
“Thank you, Kix. Really.”
The medic put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed.
“We’ve come a long way from Anaxes, eh?”
Hunter let out a tired chuckle.
“A lifetime.”
It really did feel that way. Hunter wasn’t the same person he was then, but that could be said of all of them.
Especially their brother suspended in the tank, Hunter and Crosshair watching him, side-by-side. He looked peaceful, slightly curled as he floated in the soft blue light, and Hunter was suddenly reminded of the clone incubators on Kamino. Something sharp twinged in his chest, settling into a dull ache.
He leaned against Crosshair, barely able to keep his own feet between the exhaustion and imbalance that Hemlock’s machine had caused. He’d have to have Kix look at him later. For now, he just wanted to see his family together again, in a way he hadn’t thought possible.
Worst case, Tech might not remember anything, but he was still Tech. Hunter was sure there was some part of him that would fight its way to the surface. Tech was just as much a soldier as they were, and he wouldn’t give up. He was too stubborn for that.
They would just have to wait.
“Think we can find a spare bunk?” Crosshair asked quietly, his eyes still on their brother suspended in the bacta solution. “At this point, any horizontal surface will do.”
Hunter considered it. He was far too tired to do anything, but if Crosshair wanted to just… well, use him, then—yeah, Hunter was fine with that. More than fine with it. He found himself wanting to touch Crosshair, reassure himself they were both still there. Crosshair still smelled too much like that place, and Hunter wanted to claim every inch of him until Crosshair smelled like… well, him.
At Hunter turning his head to nose against his neck and pull him closer, Crosshair gave an indignant noise.
“For sleep, Hunter.”
“Oh.”
He might have been embarrassed if he was more awake, but as it was, he was now exhausted with a confusing half-erection.
Crosshair sighed and tugged Hunter by his waist. Hunter looked back one last time, reassured himself that Tech was still there, and let Crosshair take him where he wanted.
Next Chapter
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arctrooperechy · 8 months ago
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KINDRED - A BAD BATCH STORY
Series Synopsis: The Bad Batch accepts an extraction mission to rescue a member of the Galactic Senate’s daughter.
Series Rating: Mature (though that will likely change as the story progresses)
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Prologue
19 BBY - OPEN SPACE
It was so...quiet. Uncharacteristically quiet for a ship full of four men and one child. Everyone was keeping to their own tasks on the ship as Hunter stood in the cockpit behind Tech in his pilot's seat.
Usually, a quiet moment such as this would be one Hunter would have savored. His enhanced senses meant feeling everything a bit more than everyone else.
And that was putting it mildly.
The sergeant learned how to quiet his mind years ago; it had been critical for his sanity and well-being. So no, of course it wasn’t the Kaminoans who taught him. And it wasn’t a member of the cuy’val dar, either.
Hunter had gotten the idea from his squad’s only friend: a gentle clone named 99. Hunter had struggled, hiding in corners when no one was watching and banging his little hands against his temples begging for silence. He thought no one noticed; but 99 did, approaching him quietly.
When trying to explain the problem, all he’d been able to say was, “it’s too loud, it’s too loud.”
99 had consoled him, stating that when things were too loud for him—when there was simply too much noise to think—he should choose a single thing and focus on it.
One thing. Focusing every heightened sense and every bit of his attention on one thing and allowing the sensation to wash over him wholly until it didn’t feel like he was really focusing on anything at all.
It took time to master the skill, through patience and seemingly endless practice. Wrecker had called it “Hunter’s quiet time” once, when they were still small. Tech had rolled his eyes and started to give the definition of “meditation” and Wrecker had covered his eyes with a groan.
Crosshair, the stoic sniper that he was, had joined Hunter for the practice numerous times over the years. It seemed to Hunter that they sought silence for very different reasons. But the pursuit to find that silence was altruistic on both their parts.Tech and Wrecker tried but it was simply in their nature to…well, not be quiet.
But tonight’s quiet was a different story. In the few hours since the squad had left Crosshair alone on Kamino, Hunter's mind had been a prison of memories and guilt. What if the Empire never sends a scout team back to Kamino? What if Crosshair was never found? What if he…
The scenario had to be in the back of everyone else’s head as well. He knew that as the squad's sergeant, it was his duty to speak up and offer guidance, hope, for his teammates.
But he had nothing. He stood in silence, hoping for someone to speak up and distract him from the gnawing insecurity clouding everything.
He stood in silence wondering if they’d made the right choice.
Finally, Wrecker spoke up behind him, ever in keeping with his optimistic and empathetic nature. "'Mega, how about we play some sabaac when we get back to Cid's?"
Omega snapped out of her trance and grinned as she replied, "oh, you're soooo on. Loser buys the Mantell mix for our last mission!"
Wrecker chuckled as he whispered to the girl, "you know Hunter covers that anyway." Omega giggled jovially as she and Wrecker continued their banter. Up front, Echo and Tech began discussing necessary maintenance for the hyperdrive once they were on land again.
Thankful for the chatter, Hunter began selfishly longing for the moment they touched down on Ord Mantell. Maybe the squad would have a chance to relax (for once) and take their minds off of the last several rotations’ events.
As wrong as the notion felt, Hunter thought that perhaps the more distance the squad put between themselves and Crosshair...the better.
-
CARIDA
Merritt Belaena couldn’t wipe the frown off her face. She wouldn’t wipe the frown off her face. One act of defiance, one thing she could control, was this frown. She would wear it until the day she died. If only to prove a point.
The previous evening had been typical. A beautiful gala in a beautiful gown. A lot of conversation she couldn’t remember. A bit too much to drink. An unwelcome wave of emotions hitting her once she retired to her bedchambers. A fit of tossing and turning before sleep set her free.
This morning had been anything but typical.
She had been jolted awake by one of the handmaidens, imploring her to follow. After a moment of back and forth, Merritt relented and was led to the study.
Senator Belaena’s study, that is.
The Senator being her mother; the study being a room no one was typically permitted access while she worked.
The handmaiden ushered Merritt inside and was away with a final thud of the door closing. She looked around the room and saw no servants, no troopers, and no onlookers; only her parents gathered near a corner talking hushedly to each other.
“Mother? Father?”
The pair turned to face their daughter with wild looks in their eyes. Merritt felt her stomach lurch as she realized whatever this was, it was not a good thing.
“Darling,” her father began as he walked over towards her. “We have some news that might seem a bit strange.”
Her mother sighed and walked to meet Merritt before her father had even reached her.
“You must go.”
“Go?” She was dumbfounded.
“Yes. You must leave Carida,” her mother responded sharply. Merritt noted a hint of emotion in her mother’s voice, something she’d only heard a few times in her lifetime.
“I don’t…what?” A small wave of panic began creeping over her, but she pushed it away with every bit of force she could muster.
“You must leave. And it must be tonight.”
Merritt could not for any reason begin to grasp what was happening here. Of all the things she expected to happen…this was not one of them. “Do I have no say in this?”
“You do not,” her father replied. “This is urgent and non-negotiable.”
“We’ve arranged passage for you off-world. You’ll need to be ready in the next few hours. We don’t have much time.”
“Stop.” Merritt took a deep breath before continuing. It was always so nerve-racking to speak to her parents, but it seemed even more daunting now. “What is going on?”
“Something’s happened with the Galactic Se—“ her father began until he realized he was being met with a harsh glare from the Senator.
“It doesn’t matter what’s going on. All you need to know is you’re leaving and your father will pass instructions to you later in the day.”
“Mother, I’m sure I can handle—“
“You. Are. LEAVING. There will be no discussion. That is final.” Her mother’s face had turned wholly red, the veins showing in her forehead and neck.
Merritt had learned a long time ago not to argue with the Senator. The outburst seemed callous at first, but she soon realized that hidden within the vitriol in her mother’s words, there was fear.
That fear did not soften Merritt’s feelings towards her mother at all. It was so characteristic of her to make demands with no discussion. Once, after a particularly difficult situation arose involving the family’s reputation, Merritt asked if she could be of any help. Her mother had not replied; but she’d overheard her later ranting that Merritt was “not capable” of bearing such heavy burdens.
Perhaps she was right.
And yet, here Merritt stood with what felt like the heaviest burden of all—the unknown. Her only ally, it appeared, was the frown on her face. She was on her own, she and that frown, now just as she had always been.
-
ORD MANTELL
Before the Batch could even settle in at Cid's, the Trandoshan was beckoning for Hunter to join her in the back.
The dimly-lit room was anything but welcoming on a good day. But now, when Hunter was desperate for a moment of downtime? It was even worse.
"Heard you almost died," Cid said nonchalantly. Hunter wasn't sure she was feigning the lack of sympathy.
"Been through worse. Nice of you to worry, though," he responded curtly as she took her usual seat.
"Well, I'm not quite ready to lose part of my top source of revenue yet," she shrugged, sifting through the items on her desk. "Besides, I've got a job for you."
Hunter sighed loudly as he started, "I think the squad needs to lay low for a bit."
Cid continued as if she didn't hear him. "Carida, planet that's been getting quite a bit of Imperial attention lately.” She activated a diagram from her holopad at the desk, showing the planet’s location in the Inner Rim. “The planet’s the site of a clone training facility that's been converted into an Imperial officer and trooper academy."
Hunter nodded quietly; he was familiar with Carida and the soldiers they produced. Why it was relevant to him, he hadn’t the slightest idea.
"Someone needs to be transported off-world, ASAP. Willing to pay a fortune," she grinned.
"Cid...the team's been through a lot lately. I'm not sure we're ready to engage in conflict with the Empire again just yet."
"Bandana, this is a quick extraction, easy score for you boys," she scoffed. "Details are on here," she explained as she tossed him a holodisc.
"No," Hunter said as he tossed the disc back towards her desk. "Not happening."
Before Cid could respond, a tiny voice piped up from the office's entrance. "What's not happening?"
Omega stepped in and sat on the arm of Hunter's chair.
“Tiny! Finally, someone with some sense. Dark and broody here’s rejecting a simple rescue mission I had for you all,” Cid said with a devious smirk. Hunter glared at her, knowing she’d used the right words.
“Rescue mission? Someone’s in trouble?” Omega’s eyes lit up; she looked to Hunter excitedly.
Before he could say anything, Cid made matters even worse by adding it was someone on an Imperial-occupied planet.
“Hunter, we have to go!” Omega exclaimed, beginning to tug on his arm.
“Omega,” he started slowly, “I just don’t know that the squad is ready for another mission just yet. There’s been…a lot that’s happened these last few days,” he finished.
She looked at him with a fierceness in her eyes, and he knew that was it. The kid was very persuasive and usually right…usually. “Hunter, we help people. Isn’t that what we do?” she asked firmly.
After a long pause and without looking away from Omega, Hunter spoke to Cid. “Just an extraction? This person is going to be ready for us…in and out, without any intense maneuvering?”
“Yup. And then we both reap a ton of credits. What could go wrong?” Cid smiled back with greed in her eyes.
Hunter sighed with a look back at Omega. He resolved to himself that this would be their last mission for a while, no matter what Cid bribed, or Omega pleaded. It wasn’t just that they needed rest; he was concerned his squad had been making far too much noise lately and needed to lay low for a while.
Perhaps one simple low-risk mission to provide them enough credits to relax for a long while wasn’t such a terrible plan.
“Alright, kid. Go round up the boys. Let’s make this quick.”
-
A/N: thank you for reading! After months of reworking, I am finally ready to begin sharing this TBB story. This is my first fic, so any tips or comments would be so helpful ❣️ I don’t know how to do a tag-list but if that’s something you’re interested in, please let me know!
-CC
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niobiumao3 · 11 months ago
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Clone Bang Sneak Peak
Hello all, this is Team 4 (@niobiumao3 and @flowerparrish) from Clone Bang 2023 with a sneak peak at our work which will be posted at the end of January 2024.
Begin Again
Rating: Teen/Gen (background relationships) No Archive Warnings Apply · Canon-Typical Violence Characters: CT-9904 | Crosshair, Mayday (Star Wars: The Bad Batch), Hunter (Star Wars: The Bad Batch), Tech (Star Wars: The Bad Batch), Omega (Star Wars: The Bad Batch), Wrecker (Star Wars: The Bad Batch), Phee Genoa Relationships: CT-9904 | Crosshair & Mayday (Star Wars: The Bad Batch), CT-9904 | Crosshair & Tech (Star Wars: The Bad Batch), CT-9904 | Crosshair & Hunter (Star Wars: The Bad Batch), background Phee Genoa/Clone Trooper Tech Word Count: 22.1k
Summary Mayday survives at the end of The Outpost. This has a lot of implications for Crosshair, chief among them: what exactly do they do now?
Flee from the Empire, obviously. And if Crosshair continues to not examine his internal turmoil over letting Mayday think Clone Force 99 are all dead when Crosshair knows all too well that they’re alive, that’s Crosshair’s business and no one else’s.
Until their paths cross and it’s everyone’s business, that is.
~*~
This fic’s core idea came from this post by @cloned-eyes, which posits what would have happened if Mayday had survived and he and Crosshair bailed together but don’t rejoin the Batch immediately. I took that and rolled with it.
Podfic by @flowerparrish|ao3 Writing by @niobiumao3|ao3
~*~
[Podfic sneak peak]
On a sigh, Mayday admitted, “Wrong. We’re deserters anyways, I guess I can just say that. And even if the order was to execute them…why…” He hesitated, struggling. “They lead us for years. Didn’t that mean anything?”
Those clones served alongside General Billaba for years. How could they turn on her like that?
Echo’s voice rang out in Crosshair’s mind. It had been like a warning bell to him back then; it was a relief to hear it now and know what it (hopefully) meant.
“No. Because of the chip.”
Mayday glanced up, eyes narrow. “What?”
“The inhibitor chip.” Crosshair tapped the spot on his head where the ion scarring remained. “Biotech implanted in us by the Kaminoans.”
Mayday went rigid. “Biotech.”
“It’s how they could ensure we’d follow any orders given.” Even horrific ones.
Mayday’s fingers tightened on his canteen, eyes scanning the floor in disbelief. “That—that can’t—” The denials were half-hearted at best, not even fully formed. Crosshair continued, undeterred.
“You said it yourself. Order 66 didn’t make sense. Why didn’t we arrest them? Why weren’t they put through due process?” Traitors don’t deserve due process, the chip would have assured him.
Mayday looked up at him, new understanding lighting his expression with horror. “You mean—you—”
Nausea threatened. Crosshair fought it down. “I tried to.”
“Tried.”
“He escaped.”
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skellymom · 9 months ago
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thoughts on the new bad batch trailer?
(i saw it had come out thru @techs-goggles9902 and couldnt be bothered to watch it for hours and now i have im so excited)
~ Jamie <3
youtube
Heeeyyyy, @fionajames <3
I just posted a spoiler...looks like someone is back w/their brothers...*cough* Mosshair *cough*
Please take my analysis with a grain of salt as Disney can post flashback scenes, scenes that might look to be part of a whole sequence but are two separate/several ones to throw us off. Plus these is plenty that they AREN'T probably including in the trailer. Should be interesting if there will be a second trailer for S3.
I don't see too much serious evidence that outwardly points to Tech. HOWEVER, I do see two "maybe" possibilities in the trailer and they are both wearing helmets:
Timestamp 1:03, The "X" Clone Trooper shown in the second half of the trailer. Now I have seen one trooper who unalived himself in the last season w/Senator Chuchi and Rex, so we know there are clones still actively working for the Empire. And, if you look REALLY close, Timestamp 0:36, there are more X Clone Troopers in the trailer scene right before the one w/Omega getting scanned. It's a shot from the top of the room showing what looks like 3 X Clone Troopers and a droid. Could one of them be Tech? Don't know.
Timestamp 1:14, The scene with the Imperial armored soldier in the cockpit of his ship lifting his left arm up. Did Tech steal a stormtroopers armor to save his brothers? Remember Tech's "hand signal" callback to S1? Is he signaling to The Batch? Or, also in Tech fashion, is he flailing because of an explosion as Tech sometimes does? Or, is it just a random stormtrooper and not Tech?
Looks like we get Fennec, Rex, Echo, Phee, Howzer, Cad Bane, Ventress, Palpatine, and Scorch.
The scenes in the trailer that REALLY has me scratching my head:
Timestamp 0:28 shows an Imperial Transport ship crashed and smoldering on a large hill. Is it the same ship from Timestamp 1:07? Faraway shot of several figures walking away: The one at the top of the hill looks like Omega. There is a figure either rolling down the hill: Wrecker? Although, silly me who works with dogs...it almost looks like a dog running down the hill. And a figure at the bottom that I at first thought was Crosshair...but then it kinda looks like Rex with the shadowy person walking next to them on the other side. It looks like Phee's hair. Or did this ship only carry Omega as seen in Timestamp 1:23? Did she meet someone on the planet to help her hide? Someone with a dog (I just remember the wonderful scene with the space puppy licking Omega's face and how happy her laugh sounded)?
Timestamp 0:33 is that Crosshair in the left hand side of the screen walking calmly in the opposite direction (that everyone else is running)? Is he settling a score? Is that Clone Trooper "X" (possibly Tech?).
What does the "il" uniform patches on each side of Omega's shoulders mean. I checked the Aurebesh language keys online. Doesn't match up with anything.
Who is CX-1??? Timestamp 1:15. Boba Fett????
Timestamp 1:21, who is the dude in the white and grey armor??? Wait...OH SHIT...is THAT WOLFFE???
I DON'T trust Emerie. She's creepy. Sorry. Not all the clones are tight with one another. I worry she's in secretly with Hemlock.
Are Fennec and Cad Bane working with The Batch? Or against them? Is Ventress teaming up with The Batch against Palpatine? Or is she truly fighting them at the end? Or is that just two separate scenes meant to look like they go together?
And, something that makes me sad: Both Hunter and Wrecker look older, more aged. They are still so handsome. However, with the stress of what they have gone through, plus their advanced aging...well, how long do they have left? The still of Echo doesn't look like he aged at all. Could it be that he isn't as accelerated due to what the Techno Union did to him? Or were The Batch genetically altered to be so specialized...but live even shorter lives than the Regs?
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sharknadoslutt · 3 months ago
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☆・° Changing Times・°☆
Series Summary: You’re a retired Bounty Hunter who met the Bad Batch at the beginning of the war through your unique line of work. Though your relationship with each member has teetered on romantic, to maintain professionalism and keep your wonderful friendships intact, you’ve never acted on those feelings. With the Imperial government beginning to replace the old Republic ways, in this series you navigate your new life among the infamous squad and decide what it is you really want.
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Chapter Five Summary: In the last chapter, you and Hunter just barely escaped Crosshair and his Imperial team. But now, exhausted and out of the job, you are settling in for the night on The Marauder, plagued with thoughts of 'What's Next?' Echo keeps you company, deciding it's finally time to get to know the woman the rest of The Bad Batch seem to be so obsessed with.
Ao3 | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4
Rating:18+ ONLY for adult topics such as sex work, strong sexual themes, and alcohol consumption. This chapter touches on Echo's trauma about his past. Pairings: Fem!Reader X The Bad Batch (This chapter is Echo and Hunter heavy)
Thank the stars that the Marauder had a shower. The ship's washroom was cramped, and the water pressure was awful, but being able to take a moderately warm shower and wash away the mess from today's unplanned adventure was otherworldly. The conditions did not allow you to become as well-groomed as you'd grown accustomed to in recent years, but at least you no longer smelled like sewage.
The crew was unwinding for the night while the ship's auto-drive navigated hyperspace. Tech, Wrecker, Echo, and Omega were in their bunks while Hunter was in the washroom, surely scrubbing the sewage smell off of his skin. You were unwinding in the cockpit, alone with your thoughts, reflecting on how you'd entirely uprooted your life today.
Glitzy’s Parlor had unexpectedly been your home for years now; in the blink of an eye, it was gone. You could never return there. Even if you could, things wouldn’t have been the same. You had no other home to turn to, no family. The only friends you had were on this ship…
You thought back to what Hunter said to Omega hours ago in the cargo bay.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen. That discussion hasn’t been had yet.. but I need you to know that I trust this woman. What happened today was not her fault. Not at all. And if she so chooses to stay with us, we will make her feel welcome.”
The heart of that man; you knew with every fiber of his being that he had meant it, too. But regardless of how genuine Hunter was, there still was a part of your brain that screamed no. That you needed to get off this ship and go on your own path… without the others. On your own once more. 
But right now, your heart knew being alone was the worst option…
You shifted onto your side, the fabric hammock that encaptured you like a cocoon twisted and swung slightly. Once you were comfortable and still, the hammock settled. You let out a loud, deep sigh. Your body may have been exhausted but your racing mind refused to allow true sleep.
This was not the first time you’d had to use this old hammock. You suspected it wouldn’t be the last either. Over the years, despite many attempts, none of your friends had been able to convince you to unpack your emergency bag. Spare funds, spare clothes, and a collection of small, yet necessary items to get you by in a pinch really made a hell of a difference when you had to go on the run in a split second. 
Tonight you were especially grateful for this hammock. The only other place available to sleep on The Havoc Marauder was Crosshair’s bunk… and that felt wrong. So you hooked your hammock up to the metal brackets on each side of the cockpit, giving you your own space for the night. 
“Umm…” You heard Echo peek in from the entryway of the cockpit. He quietly called your name. “I saw the light on while I was getting water. You alright?”
You leaned up slightly within the hammock to lock eyes with the paled clone.
“Yeah, I'm fine. Just having a hard time sleeping.”
“Not because of your wound, is it?”
Remembering how earlier Echo had been the first one to notice your blaster injury, you couldn’t help from feeling touched. Knowing he was worried was comforting. 
“No, I’m letting it air out tonight. There’s not much pain.”  You assured him. This was far from your first blaster injury, after all. 
“At least let me take a look.” Echo’s face was less than convinced, his lips pursed slightly as he gave you a disapproving look. He gestured towards the pilot and co-pilot chairs, wordlessly asking you to join him as he took a seat. “I’m certain I’ve examined more blaster wounds than you.”
Finding his genuine concern endearing, you jumped out of the hammock and sat across from the soldier, allowing him to take a gentle hold of your injured arm. He stretched out your arm, his eyes studying your face to gauge any reactions of pain. Then he blew on it lightly before allowing you to bring it back to your side.
“Always best to have another set of eyes look at wounds.” He shrugged slightly, resting his flesh hand across his lap to press on his metal knee as he sat in the pilot's chair. “But you are right. It will be fine.”
“Thanks, Echo.” You leaned into the chair more and let out a small yawn.
He nodded in acknowledgement and a comfortable silence followed as you both looked out the starport.
“You decide what you want to do?” Echo then asked, leaning back in the pilot's seat. His eyes were fixed on the ever-moving glow of hyper-space in the window. 
“No.” You admitted, looking forward as well. The beautiful sight was the reason you’d chosen to hook your hammock up here instead of the storage room. You thought the sparkling lights and soft hum of hyper-travel would lull your mind to sleep; you had been wrong. “I’m honestly still processing what happened today.”
“That’s fair.” He glanced over at you. “For what it’s worth… I think you should stay.”
Surprised, you turned to face him. 
“Oh?”
“Well, the men all think very highly of you. I learned that before we'd even officially met.” The smallest of smiles tugged on Echo’s lips. You could feel him trying to make a connection with you and you returned that sentiment ten-fold. “ I think we could use your unique perspective on things as we settle into whatever it is we are settling into.”
You didn't respond verbally but offered a small hum in acknowledgment. 
You had already been working with The Bad Batch for nearly two years when Echo joined their crew. He rarely joined his brothers at Glitzy's, not even for drinks downstairs. It was never said out loud but, considering what kind of debauchery went on at the establishment, you had a hunch he may have felt out of place there. Maybe he felt self-conscious at the possibility of a negative reaction due to his peculiar appearance. You couldn't imagine that wouldn't be a factor, especially since his brothers would regularly go there for female attention. 
But it was hard to say for sure since you did not really know him well. The most you'd honestly ever spoken with him was just earlier today when you’d met Omega for the first time.
Suddenly you felt Echo’s eyes drop to your bare stomach; your mid-drift was exposed. You suddenly felt vulnerable, not in a negative way, but just due to the way you were dressed. Since the injury was higher up on your arm, closer to your shoulder, you wanted to give it some time to air out before bandaging it up, so currently you only wore a bra and trousers. Considering the situation and how Echo was a soldier, you assumed him mature enough to understand the vulnerability you showed by sitting with him like this. After all, he had approached you while you rested to check your wound. 
Then you realized the true reason for his stare. Your scars.
“It’s my pulminodes.” You moved your arms, showing your bare stomach. A dim green light was visible through your flesh, signaling the medical device was operating properly. Surrounding it was the significant scarring from the past injury. “That’s what the light is.”
“Oh.” You met his gaze and there was blatant curiosity buzzing, however, there were no follow-up questions from him. You were pleased that Echo was polite enough not to push you for more information, but something about the situation pushed you to want to share with him anyway. 
“Years ago, before I worked at Glitzy's, I was a work-for-hire. And not the kind of work you'd hire the girls at Glitzy's for, I was a mercenary. And I was good at what I did.” Echo turned his attention to your face as you told the story. You immediately felt comfortable speaking to him and mindlessly continued to open up. “There was a mission gone bad.. Long story short, I got caught up in an explosion that took out nearly half of my torso. I was very fortunate to have been found and given immediate medical attention. After some serious surgery and about six months of bacta treatments, I'm as good as new.”
Echo's eyes flickered from your face to your scars.
“So, when you say partial, what exactly had to be replaced?” He asked.
“A partial pulminode had to be put in. I have one real lung and one artificial lung. Most of my ribcage was replaced with durasteel too.”
Echo nodded, taking in the information.
“I.. I haven't told anyone about that in years.” You chuckled suddenly, realizing that you'd just shared this information that you purposefully kept private with a man you hardly knew. You forced out a half-laugh to ease the mood. “You can understand why I'd normally keep such a blunder to myself. I got myself blown up and needed a new lung. No one's gonna hire someone with a track record like that.” 
“Heh.” Echo raised an amused brow, his gaze lifting from your scarred, glowing midriff to completely rest on your face. “I guess my warm disposition and handsome face just made you want to share that with me, then.” He joked, and even if it was self-deprecating you could tell he meant it in a playful way to make you feel at ease. 
You hesitated on how to respond to that. Of course you had wondered why Echo looked the way he did, why his appearance came off not dissimilar to a ghastly droid, especially when compared to a standard clone. But at the same time.. As you looked into his eyes now, with the shimmering starlight seeping in from the starport, you strangely found yourself admiring Echo.
There was a haunting beauty about the man that captivated you in this moment. It was a mix of the calm, self-assured aura he exuded but also how he interacted with you so directly, as if you were the only person in this galaxy. His demeanor was as casual as could be, but still so effortlessly intense. His energy directs you like a fish caught in a net, but instead of the boat drawing up said net to capture the day's harvest, it continues to guide the fish upstream on its natural course.  
Echo's eyes were striking, noticeably different from the other members of this cloned crew. His eyes were deeper and lighter, as if he'd already lived a hundred lifetimes, but still hungered for so much more. It was only after a few moments of altruistic eye contact that you realized you had been staring into them. You averted your gaze. He did not. 
“I'm sorry that we have not had the chance to get to know one another better in the past.” Echo offered after a beat, finally turning his head away and leaning back in his chair. “After my body was altered during the war, well, let's just say that joining this crew was the easy part.” A thoughtful pause, a brief flash of pain in his eyes. “.. Adjusting to life outside of this ship and military life was not.”
You listened as Echo shared his experience with you; how he had begun the war as a Trooper in the 501st, only to have been taken and experimented on. He spoke calmly at first, but you could feel a dip in his energy as he regaled how he had been mutilated and technologically enhanced. He remembered the pain, and the physical sensation of these cruel experiments, but he lacked any memory of the logistics of what happened during this time, comparing it to having been drugged. He told you about his mechanical enhancements and how he had droid-like abilities.
You were truly shocked at all that this man had endured. Your heart simply broke for him. You wanted to reach out and hug him, embrace this stranger, and give him comfort. To celebrate the fact that he was here among wonderful people in the Marauder, and that it was evident that he was a beloved member of this team, no, of this family. But you didn't know him like that, not at that level. Despite the fact that at this moment, it felt as if you'd known this man all your life, that simply wasn't true. So you resisted the urge to comfort him in this way, knowing that hugging may make things weird since you were shirtless. 
Instead, you reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder, looking at him with soft eyes that screamed ‘I see you, Echo’.
“Echo.. Wow. You've been through so much. I'm sorry.”
“Don't be sorry.” He paused. “I can't lie, I do miss my old body from time to time.” His gaze briefly flickered to your hand on his shoulder. Did you imagine things, or did his cheeks begin to flush? “Okay.. Most days I miss my body.” He let out a small breath through his nose, closed his eyes, and then looked back to the starport. “But I've made peace with it now. I'm among my brothers and that's all that matters. Plus, now we have Omega and she makes things a lot easier just by being her..” Just like the others, Echo's energy brightened at the mention of Omega. 
He then looks back at you, a warm gleam in his eye. 
“Maybe we'll have you too.”
The comment was sweet and endearing, obviously intended to make you feel welcome. But there was something about the way he said it that made your heart skip a beat. Between the way Echo spoke and the way he looked at you, it felt like he was hugging your heart. You felt safe and wanted here in his company, and it was a profound enough feeling to make you shiver. You had never felt this instantly comfortable with someone, and it was overwhelming, to say the least. 
Feeling weirdly sentimental and somewhat talkative, you decided to share that with him. 
“Echo, I-” 
“Nice to see you two becoming acquainted.” Hunter said from the doorframe, unknowingly cutting you off. His voice was calm and relaxed as he dried his hair with a towel. 
You looked to Hunter, then back to Echo, then casually removed your hand from his shoulder and rested it on your lap. Why did you feel flustered about that?
“It was long overdue.” Echo said simply, then standing up. “But I am beat. Just wanted to come check on her.” He glanced back at you, a gentle smile loose on his lips. “I'm glad you're okay. I'll catch ya tomorrow.”
Echo left the cockpit, leaving you and Hunter alone. 
Hunter hums slightly then comes to plop down next to you, taking Echo’s seat. He dries his hair for another minute, rubbing the towel furiously against his head. You can't help but watch with a smirk, a little intrigued watching your ever-favorite smooth informant groom himself in such close proximity. Hunter soon places the towel on the ground with a deep, content sigh then turns his gaze to you. 
Hunter's eyes had a confident sparkle in them which you were always attracted to. He had this brute appearance, haggard with dark tattoos, broad shoulders, and a seasoned soldier's attire. He operated as if fear was an unknown concept entirely, maintaining a calm swagger that screamed ‘I can easily kill you with my bare hands’. But when he spoke about his brothers, and now about this child who had found her way into his care, you saw right through that rough exterior and could see a man that cared so much. A man who cared so whole-heartedly, that he couldn't even understand it himself at times. 
No, Hunter was a softie and that was your favorite thing about him. 
“What a day.” He says, his tone is casual but the delivery is playful. He then smirks, shamelessly looking you over. “Never would have thought the Imperials chasing us off-planet like that would be how I finally got to see you shirtless.”
You laughed, rolling your eyes and spinning your chair to fully face him. Then, maybe a little too purposefully, you pushed your chest out slightly so your cleavage hung out more than it naturally should. He took instant notice, his eyes darting from your chest, then to your face. He repeated this, but ultimately looked into your eyes.
“It's definitely not the way I wanted that to go.” You tilt your head, your smirk fading into a tired smile. “But you know I’d be lying if I said I never pictured us getting to that point… But it never was supposed to get to that point, was it?” 
“So you say.” He breathed a laugh through his nose. “I doubt you would have let me get as much of a taste of you as I did if you didn't think it was the last time we'd ever see each other.”
“You're right on the credits there.” You chuckle, a slight flirtatious edge to it.  
You had enjoyed how the chemistry between the two of you seemed to gain more and more fuel with each new game of cat and mouse. Earlier, thinking that today was Goodbye meant there was no more game to play, which meant there was no consequence to giving in to those carnal desires. But, it wasn't Goodbye after all. If anything, you would be seeing a lot more of Hunter and The Bad Bad..
“But believe me when I say..” He added after a moment, his voice smug but playful. “It was a hell of a good taste..”
You tensed a bit, your core rising back to life as you remembered how good it felt to have Hunter’s mouth hard at work between your legs. The way he gripped your thighs with his calloused hands, holding you down against your desk as he teased you so knowingly. Stars, and how awful it was that he didn't get to finish..
“I, uh… I wanted to ask about that to be honest.” He said, his voice a bit uncomfortable as he approached the awkward topic. 
“Of course.” 
“I guess..” He averted his gaze, crossing his arms and settling into his chair. You were surprised to see a pout. “.. Okay, I'll be honest. I want to discuss it, as I feel something should be said, but I don't know what to say.”
“How poetic.” You teased then took over the conversation. You could tell he was relieved. “For the sake of maintaining what we have, Hunter, I think it's best we.. Forget that happened, right?”
“You're.. You're probably right.” He reluctantly agreed with a short nod. You then both laughed softly, the awkwardness melting away. Hunter then continued.
“Especially if you do plan on staying with us. I don't have any expectations on what your plans are long term, but I don't feel right about being the reason you lost your job, then immediately cutting ya loose.”
“I don't know, Hunter.” You responded. “I'm not sure what my plans are just yet, but I can't just shack up with you guys on The Marauder. It's cramped enough, plus the kid…”
“-First of all, don't hate on the ship. She's a dependable beauty, and we could figure something out for you, I'm sure. Plus..” He exhaled. “.. I, uh.. I really need your help getting out of debt. We need to get out from under Cod's thumb and I know you could be a huge resource to us figuring something out. You've got a gift for sniffing out these kinds of jobs and, I wouldn't tell the other guys this, but.. I'm a little desperate.”
You looked at Hunter and knew he was as serious as he was genuine. 
“I need to be able to find the resources to give Omega a stable home. She..” He sighed deeply and said your name. “..She's just a kid and doesn't need to spend her childhood running around the galaxy doing odd jobs. I want better for her.”
Stunned, you took in all that Hunter said. He wanted to settle down and make a home for this child. Never did you think you'd see the day when this soldier would be purposefully aiming for such a life? It touched your heart. 
“Okay. I'll stay and help you guys.” You agree. “At least until I figure out what my next move is.”
“Thank you.” Hunter smiled, running a hair through his damp hair and pushing it back. There was a comfortable silence and then he let out a big, deep yawn. The man stood up and headed out.
“And who knows.. By the time both of us figure out what we are doing, maybe I’ll even get to finish my meal.” He adds on slyly before exiting the cockpit. 
You could nearly feel his ego-inflating after that foul comment as he walked away, leaving you alone at the thought of him finishing what he had earlier begun..  
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pearlsinmyhair · 1 year ago
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༄ breath of venus ༄
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chapter five ~ fight or flight
word count: 3.3k
warnings: cannon typical violence. venus teases people. mansk and venus content.
glossary:
Sì ha tsa’sngeykäʼi: ‘and so it begins’
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“i am half afraid to hope for what i long for.” - Emily Dickinson, from a letter to Mrs. A.P. Strong.
Since she could remember, Venus had always sought out the sky.
Why, she did not know. She lifted her face to the wind like it was a friend, allowing it to breathe air into her lungs. She reached for the clouds from day one.
It was one of the many reasons she had tamed an ikran so young. She wanted to fly.
And fly she did. With her mothers guidance, she became a fearsome aerial hunter, and she even grew up to lead the young hunters of her clan.
They were a band of six boys and herself, all well trained in flight and combat. As she flew on Rutxïryo through the Halelujah mountains, she wished for their presence.
Only silence greeted her ears as they glided between floating land and vines. It was eerie, but she was glad for the quiet. It meant no hunters were out today, no Omatikaya for the recombinant soldiers to see.
She wondered if they had scouted her flying amongst the mist. She had flown Rutxïryo in a ‘danger’ motion a few times to ward off any friendly confrontation.
All the while, she’d been keeping one ear cocked through Rutxïryo, waiting for the marines to eventually find her.
She had debated ripping out the tracker in her arm and flying to freedom, but she could tell that it was deep. Too deep to dig out without something sharp, and too deep to do without bleeding a large amount.
She had looked for seze’awkx anyway to no avail. Besides, she didn’t want them to somehow see her fly towards High Camp.
No, running was too much of a risk. If she stayed, she could lead them astray.
Before she could debate that choice more, Rutxïryo alerted her through the bond. They banked hard around a large mountain to see the group emerging from the trees.
She let out her call, and the soldiers looked up in a mixture of fear and recognition. Ja raised his hand in greeting as she circled above, and she nodded to him. The rest of them glared with varying degrees of heat.
A good lesson, then.
She urged Rutx to a cliff, and he hooked his fore-claws into the rock. She looped her knees over the stirrups and laid back against the saddle, hanging upside down to look at the recombinants.
She smiled. “How was your trip?”
Quaritch gave her a cold look. Wainfleet had the audacity to look disappointed. Z-dog removed a leaf from her hair. Prager scoffed. Lopez’s tail lashed. Mansk lowered his glasses to look at her.
She laughed. They had thought that their blue bodies granted them safety. She knew of the so-called immune response of Pandora. The soldiers may not have fallen victim to it, but they were still a part of the food chain.
Something in Quaritch’s eyes sobered her slightly. The rest of them were curious as to why she was here, back in their grasps. But Quaritch knew.
You’re loyal. And I respect loyalty, his words echoed in her head.
He had known that she wouldn’t remove the tracker. He knew that people relied on her keeping their home a secret. He was a soldier and a leader, so of course he understood that it was better for her to come back than to try and flee.
It irritated her to know end that he had read her so well.
She clicked at Rutxïryo in thanks as she disconnected the bond. She leapt from the saddle, landing on one of the roots to the floating mountains.
“Look alive” she said teasingly. “You have a long way to climb.”
Someone groaned.
Quaritch paused as he reached a ledge in the cliff, taking a moment to breathe and check on his team.
“Too much, old man?” called the girl from above him.
He glared up at Venus, and she smirked.
“We can take a break if your back is hurting you. Or if you need a sip of water.” she offered mockingly.
“Can it.” he growled as he hauled his body up to her, and Venus waited until he stood next to her on the ledge. For all her mockery and jabs, she made sure that the soldiers behind her were still alive and climbing.
She had guided them through a well traveled route, reciting instructions as if she had said them hundreds of times. Maybe she had. They probably weren’t the first group she had taken to the rookery.
He glanced at her profile, noting how she didn’t seem to break a sweat. She glanced at him before shouting out to Lyle that he “shouldn’t grab that!”
He had told his squad about his relation to her when she flew away, and they had been respectful thus far. But now that he had claimed her as his daughter out loud to someone, it was more real.
Especially when he was starting to notice how similar they looked. The way Venus avoided meeting his eyes proved to him that she noticed it too.
When they all reached the ledge, Venus turned to the drop on the opposite side. She paused, and the recombinants looked at Quaritch in question when she suddenly leaped over open air to grab a vine.
A few of them shouted. Venus just reached up and started climbing.
“Well shit.” breathed Z. Quaritch agreed. He rolled his head to the side before following after the teenager.
It seemed like hours before they hoisted their bodies over a final ledge. They paused to breathe in the shade of a cave when they heard the squeals of ikran. Their ears flicked back as Venus took a step around the corner. She gestured for them to follow.
They rounded the corner to at least fifty ikran screaming and flapping. Most of them ignored their presence, but a few snarled at them or leapt from the cliffs.
They took up a position behind a fallen tree. Venus settled on top of it, and he reasoned that she didn’t need to worry when her ikran was near to protect her.
Lyle loaded a tranquilizer dart into the rifle. “I got this.” Quaritch said to him, taking the gun. As he took aim, Venus chuckled.
He looked away from the scope to her grinning face. “What?”
“Kids half my size do this with their bare hands. You’re really going to sedate her?”
Quaritch glanced at Lyle, and the corporal tilted his head.
Well?
“Sully do it the hard way?”
“What do you think?”
He let out a puff of air as he gave the gun back to Wainfleet. When he slipped over the log, he taped his shoulder with his tail.
Eyes up, we’re still in dangerous territory.
Venus’s eyes tracked him as he strode over to the beautiful turquoise and yellow ikran that had yowled at them. She was older, judging by her size, and impatient. She knew what he was here for. And he wasn’t getting it easily.
He hissed in her face, and she did it back. When she reached and snapped at him, he punched her solidly across the face.
Venus winced. It was a rather unusual approach, but it was working. He threw himself over her back, and she hissed, bucking and snapping at his flailing limbs.
“Did I mention you’re supposed to tie her mouth shut first?” she called.
“Thanks a lot kid!” he yelled back at her in a strained voice.
Wainfleet and the others looked at her uneasily. “Oh, he’ll be fine.” she assured them half heartedly. Right as he dropped over the side with a distant “woohoo!”
She and the squad rushed forward to the edge. Venus peered over the ridge right as Quaritch disappeared.
Wainfleet caught her arm loosely, preventing her from falling forward. She used his grip as leverage to lean even more.
When nothing emerged from the clouds, Wainfleet called it.
“Alright, let’s go. Oscar Mike.”
Venus didn’t move.
“C’mon kid.” he called. When she still didn’t step away from the ledge, he took a step next to her. “He’s down there.” she told him. “I’ve seen far worse.”
Lyle shook his head and stepped away once more, patting Ja’s shoulder as he walked past.
A rush of wings blew wind into her face as Quaritch rose riding his ikran.
“That’s right!” the colonel yelled as he hovered only a few feet above Venus. He looked down at her, a grin on his face.
She tilted her head to the side before she nodded.
Well done.
Venus was slightly impressed, but a pit formed in her stomach as soon as Quaritch landed. She swallowed in an attempt to dismiss it, but her gut churned.
This is wrong. This is very wrong.
Something about the recombs being able to tame ikran made the possibility of teaching them more plausible, but the look in their eyes hurt her. Like the ikran were nothing more than mounts, nothing more than something to be commanded.
Like all of Pandora, the soldiers only saw them as subservient beings to bend to their will. And Venus worried that nothing could change the way they perceived the world around them.
But she had to try.
Just like when they walked, the recombinants flying was slow. Wonky and unbalanced, they nearly fell off of their ikran multiple times. Venus had resigned herself to flying above the group so that she wouldn’t get bumped.
Quaritch was the most composed, but he was terrible at the partnership part of the bond. His mount bucked against him, with both mind and body, as he forced her to fly. Forced. He yanked at her limbs and pushed his weight harshly as if she were a machine. She had tried to correct it, but he had ignored her.
So Venus bit her lip and prayed that the she-banshee would lose her patience and throw her rider into a cliff.
Surprisingly, it was Lopez who first got the hang of it. He held his ikran lightly, and the male seemed to like his rider. She guessed that the marine had ridden a horse in his past life and understood the importance of a gentle touch.
She shifted on Rutx, and her ikran moved to fly under Lopez’s. The marine looked over his ikran’s shoulder at her, raising a brow. In response, she zipped up in front of his mount, causing them to halt midair. Rutx was snapped at, and Venus got a firm glare from Lopez.
But she didn’t miss the mischievous glint in his eye, nor the quirk of his mouth.
He knew what challenge she had given him.
They raced away from the group, diving down cliffs and gliding through waterfalls. Quaritch’s irritated voice commanded them to return, but Venus answered. “He’s making sure I get back!”
Venus and Rutxïryo soared into a backflip, arching so that Venus hung upside down for a moment before they returned to a stable position. Behind her, Lopez hissed.
She turned sharply to see him nearly lose his balance. In an instant, she and Rutx were beside the newly bonded rider and mount. Rutxïryo steadied the other ikran with a wing, and Venus reached for Lopez.
When they were both steady, Venus glided away. She shoved down the worried knot in her stomach.
Lopez gave her a small nod of thanks as they returned to the group. She flew to her spot above Quaritch, and Lyle watched her over his shoulder.
Lyle Wainfleet was not a stupid man. Loud? Yes. Obnoxious? Of course. But he knew many things just from watching. He was a good reader, and Venus avoided looking at him for it.
Lyle saw how her body stiffened, how her shoulders hunched. But she didn’t want him to see what emotions her body was mirroring.
Around her flew eight recombinant soldiers, resurrected marines that had fought against her parents for the right to destroy her home. They rode on eight ikran, symbols of Pandora and indicative of their status as one of the People. It was an honor that none of them were worthy of. And she had led them to it.
She felt ashamed. She felt like a traitor.
She should never have brought them here.
They returned to Bridgehead for saddles and supplies. Rutxïryo tittered anxiously, and Venus kept a hand on his neck the whole time to calm him. All around them, humans worked on machines and guns. It was too loud and too quiet. There was no home here, no resemblance to the forest which had once grown under the tarmac.
They landed and dismounted. A few soldiers rushed forwards with harnesses and muzzles, and Mansk’s ikran snapped at one.
It all happened in a flash. The soldier let out a shout, and another turned on his tazer and shocked the female banshee. She screamed and fell down, not used to the powerful electricity. Rutxïryo bounded towards them, hissing and spitting with rage he had only ever shown when Venus was injured. He stood over Mansk’s ikran and screamed at the soldiers.
The recombinants shouted for the soldiers to hold fire as Mansk and Venus rushed forward. Rutxïryo allowed Venus close, but he screamed again when Mansk tried to get near his own mount.
Venus paused as the soldier with the tazer backed away from the four of them.
There was only one reason that Rutxïryo would be so protective of another ikran.
Her thoughts were quick. He was at least ten, as he had been young when she tamed him. He was big, so he would have no problem commanding territory and hunting. And he knew Venus, so he didn’t worry about letting her near.
But Mansk was unknown.
She watched as Rutx nuzzled the female ikran’s beak.
By Eywa.
She gestured for Mansk to come closer, and when he did she touched his hand. He looked at her in surprise.
“I need him to know you’re not a threat.” she explained. “And the easiest way to do that is by allowing you to touch me.”
Mansk nodded, though she could still tell he was hesitant. She reached up and took off his shades, tucking them into her top. She could feel the squad looking at them, and it made the back of her neck prickle.
“Why would I be a threat?” he asked as he took her hand. She led him to the ikran as she replied.
“He does not know you, and he’s worried that you’ll hurt her. Because your banshee is mine’s mate.”
Mansk blinked at that but chose not to reveal any thoughts he had on the matter.
Rutxïryo performed the ikran form of glaring as they approached, and Venus raised the hand that was intertwined with Mansk’s. He leaned forward to sniff at him, breathing the scent of the marine beside her in. He snorted, most likely from the smell of RDA soap, and pulled back.
“Now your turn.” she said to Mansk.
He brought her hand down to his own ikran, and the female touched her chest with her snout. Evidently she approved, because she squawked at Rutxïryo, and the male ikran moved from standing over her.
She let go of Mansk’s hand as he knelt to examine his mount for any wound. She stroked at Rutxïryo’s neck, and he bent down to coo at her.
I’m sorry.
She shoved his nose playfully.
Don’t be.
When Mansk stood, the two ikran walked to the others. Quaritch’s snapped at Rutx, and he hissed at her.
The squad looked at them with raised eyebrows and smirks as they rejoined the group. Quaritch glared before he turned and led them into the belly of Bridgehead.
Venus leaned against the wall of the control center, quiet and observant as Quaritch and Ardmore discussed the traveling path that she and the rest of Deja-Blu would go on.
She had nearly cackled at the name of the squad when Ardmore first said it. It was comical, really. It belonged in one of the cartoons that Norm had shown her and the kids years ago.
She had zoned out of the conversation long ago. It seemed that Ardmore wanted her there just to make her feel uncomfortable, but the employees of the RDA that ran the room around her did little to frighten her. She had moved out of their way, watching as they flit around on their quick human legs. A small woman had tripped over her tail, nearly falling and splashing coffee on the floor.
Venus had caught her easily, and the woman had looked surprised when she had apologized. It was amazing just how oblivious these people were. Just like human Quaritch had, Ardmore utilized the overall lack of information of Pandora and the Na’vi to paint the world as hostile and savage. Pandora wasn’t kind, Venus conceded, but it wasn’t the hellscape that RDA propaganda claimed it was.
Even though Venus was tall, standing at 8’5”, the lofted ceilings meant that she could stand comfortably. Ardmore’s plan to make her feel alien failed in that aspect.
She tuned back into the conversation when she heard Ardmore say “Tawkami.”
Her mind instantly flooded with memories. Of a boy, of friends, of a distant clan whom she hadn’t heard of for sometime.
The plan was simple: they’d fly to them first. They were peaceful, and the RDA had made connections with them when their trade routes overlapped. It would be a long trip, but it had an easy resolution.
“It’ll be the first step to smoking Jake out” Ardmore claimed.
Ardmore dismissed Quaritch, and the man turned to Venus.
“Girl” Ardmore said right as Quaritch’s hand closed around her shoulder. “I have given orders to every single recombinant soldier to shoot you down if you pull a stunt like what you did today. You are a hostage and a prisoner, not a child being babysat.”
Venus glanced at Quaritch. He was turned away from Ardmore, and he dared to meet her eyes. The look on his face told her that Ardmore��s words were true, and the small wince told her that Quaritch had been told off for Venus’s so called ‘stunt’.
Do not fight her.
Venus narrowed her eyes at him before she looked back at the General.
“Noted, ma’am.” she said simply, before she turned and walked with Quaritch out the door.
By the time they returned outside, it was already dark. The squad gathered around them, changed and showered. Zdog popped a new piece of gum. When she saw Venus looking, she offered her a piece. The girl took it gingerly, popping it into her mouth. She winced at the sweetness, her mouth not used to the taste of human sugar. But she was thankful anyway.
“We’re flying at night?” asked Venus as they mounted up.
“Yup. Tight formation and clear sights. It’s gonna be an all-nighter.” Z explained to her.
Many of the marines had changed into more travel appropriate clothes. Mansk, she noted, had removed his long sleeve top in exchange for a high-necked tank like the one Prager wore. She also realized that none of the squad had worn boots.
Venus sighed as she connected to Rutxïryo, letting him stretch his legs one last time before they rose into the night sky, the glow of Polyphemus lighting their faces.
Sì ha tsa’sngeykäʼi.
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why is the tawkami clan important, you may ask? you might want to re-read chapter 0.5. there’s a certain someone who will make a reappearance later on.
here’s what i learned from my rest period - not every chapter needs to have a huge event in it. i have multiple very important plot points that i’ll hit, but i don’t want to rush through them. this story takes place over the span of months of travel, so i want to really flesh out just normal activity. this means that not every single chapter will be action filled. forcing myself to write thoroughly is hard, and learning to not rush is harder.
venus has been in my head for months, and i want to do her and her story justice.
i love you all, and thank you for all your love and support ♡.
taglist:
@xstarsmvxz @lisedanie @avatar4eva
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thewidowsghost · 2 years ago
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Hello, Kaitlynn. I have a Skye/Daisy X reader request.
Reader is a lot like May and has taken a liking to Skye, Reader overhears the team talking about Skye (after she gets her powers) and she defends Skye. (Skye being there to hear what she says.)
Defense (Dais x Barton!Reader)
Main Masterlist
Daisy Johnson Masterlist
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Glass shatters over Skye and (Y/n)’s heads.
(Y/n) grabs her girlfriend’s hand, pulling her along.
Skye’s hands tremble, and (Y/n) leads her down one of the staircases into a dungeon like Ward’s.
(Y/n) sits Skye down on one of the beds.
“Honey, you can do this,” (Y/n) brushes a tear from Skye’s cheek as the room continues to shake. “We can do this. I believe in you.”
“I can’t,” Skye whispers. “I can’t ma-ake it stop,” Skye’s voice breaks, more tears running down her face. “Everyone is at risk.
“Honey, look at me,” (Y/n) says, moving to sit on the bed beside her lover. “Focus,” she takes Skye’s hands, brushing the tops gently with her thumbs.
“Yes, you can,” (Y/n) turns her back on her girlfriend for a moment as a sword is stabbed through the barrier (Y/n) had just put up.
“Agent Barton,” Sif yells through the barrier. “Release the girl.”
“Like hell,” (Y/n) replies.
“(Y/n), she’ll get through!” Skye says, meeting her lover’s eyes with wide eyes.
“Ignore it,” (Y/n) tells Skye, though her voice was gentle. “Remember, focus.”
The barrier breaks, and Sif steps through.
In a quick motion, Skye leans forward, grabbing (Y/n)’s ICER from her belt, shooting herself in the chest.
The quaking stops and (Y/n) tears her gaze away from Sif.
Forgetting the Asguardian, (Y/n) lunges at the bed, tapping Skye’s cheeks with a hand.
“Skye!” (Y/n) leans over her lover’s body, pulling Skye’s head into her lap. Tears fall down onto Skye’s cheeks as (Y/n) runs her fingers through Skye’s hair.
“She harmed herself,” Sif says, but (Y/n) doesn’t respond, too focused on Skye.
Coulson and May charge down the stairs.
“Even though she knew it meant giving up her freedom,” Coulson says, stepping up to Sif.
“All to save the rest of you,” Sif finishes, her gaze falling back on (Y/n) and Skye.
“Don’t you see? She wants to get better,” Coulson tells Sif.
May walks over to the bed, resting a comforting hand on (Y/n)’s shoulder.
“If you take Skye away from the people she loves,” Coulson goes on, “she’ll only get worse.”
. . .
(Y/n) is walking from Skye’s hospital bed to their shared room when she hears voices.
The remainder of the SHIELD team is cleaning up the glass while Coulson and May take Vin-Tak and Lady Sift to a place where Lady Sif can summon the Bifrost.
"Jemma . . ." Fitz begins. "Um . . . I know you feel that I could have been, uh . . . a bit more forthright -" Fitz pauses.
Jemma chuckles sarcastically, "Forthright. Fitz, as understatements go I think that qualifies as an instant classic. You lied to me."
"Okay, so now we're even," Fitz replies, putting his hands on his hips. "Could you blame me, the way you were going on about Raina, that she's a-a-a plague to be eradicated?" Fitz questions. "I -"
"Skye is my friend. She’s different," Simmons retorts.
"Oh, yeah. Like I was your friend, and then I changed?" Fitz asks. "How did you handle that?"
By this point, the two had caught the attention of Mack, Bobbi, and Hunter, and (Y/n)’s eyes had glued themselves to the scene in front of her.
"Uh, t-the point is, secrets don't help any of us," Mack says. "Y/n) and Skye should have come clean," he says.
"What, and risk being locked up like animals?" Fitz asks. "Studied? Or who knows what else? No, I wouldn't let either of them."
"Oh, you wouldn't let them," Jemma asks.
"We could have handled them," Mack says. "In a way that would have kept everyone safe."
"It wasn't fair to us, Fitz," Bobbi says softly. "We had a right to know."
"A right to know," Fitz echoes. "What - is that the same way that Sif and the Kree had a right to know?"
"I think this situation's a little bit different, mate," Hunter responds.
"No, you would have done to them exactly what Sif and the Kree wanted to," Fitz argues.
"You don't know that," Simmons says.
"Yes, I do know that!" Fitz yells. "They would - You would - You'd 'handle them'! Mack just said it! Like, uh - Skye is something to be locked away in a cage somewhere. We should be protecting her."
"No, Fitz," Mack interrupts. "We're the ones that need protection from her." Then Mack goes silent, looking over Simmons's shoulder to meet (Y/n)’s eyes.
“You do understand that she shot herself to protect us?” (Y/n)’s voice was deathly quiet, though there was no doubt that the others could hear her.
“It was only an ICER.” Simmons replies and (Y/n) lets out a laugh, and the other’s wince at the slight hysteria in the sound.
“What if Skye hadn’t known it was an ICER?” (Y/n) says, her words taking on a harsh tone. “What if it had been an actual gun? She shot herself in the -” (Y/n)’s words break as she sucks in a breath of air. “She shot herself in the heart. If that had been a real gun, she would’ve -” her voice breaks again.
Mack, Bobbi, and Hunter’s gazes fall on something behind (Y/n), and the higher level agent turns, meeting her girlfriend’s watery gaze.
Skye looks so hurt, so betrayed that (Y/n) almost doesn’t follow. Then (Y/n) metaphorically kicks herself, knowing that her lover wasn’t mad at her.
Word Count: 965 words
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