#i thought of it because Crosshair and Hunter likely have really good night vision

[storminormins]

While you were waiting for season 2, I was studying the memes

Echo listening to the Batch’s insane plans like:

[masterjedilenawrites]

What about a reader that is drunk, going to do some nonsense, so both Tech and Crosshair stop her, and in the next day there’s a climate btween them? Pretty please 🥺

I wasn't sure what you meant by the last part of your request so I just let the scene play out in what felt like a natural direction, I hope that's okay! I'm happy to write something else if you'd like!

Tech & Crosshair & Reader | 1.8k words

You tried to hold back your giggles as you gathered up as many helmets as you possibly could. This was going to be great. You couldn't believe you hadn't thought of this before, it was probably one of the best ideas you'd ever had in your life. Your whole body seemed to shake with excitement. Or maybe that was just the alcohol. Nah... you hadn't had that much to drink. This was a genuinely good, smart idea.

You stumbled out of the closet and down the hallway, dropping a few helmets along the way but not even noticing. It was like the edges of your vision were out of focus but surely that was just the dim lighting of 79's. It'd always been hard to see in here.

"What are doing?"

The voice came out of no where, even thought its owner was practically standing right in front of you. Arms crossed, scowl on his face, eyes studying you as you juggled a half dozen clone trooper helmets in your arms for seemingly no reason.

"Back off, Crosshair," you slurred, trying to push past him quickly. Why was he always in your business?

The sniper was too quick for you even on your good days. He took hold of your arm and pulled you back before you entered the main bar area, keeping you in the relative privacy of the hallway.

"Why are you stealing the 501st's helmets?" he rephrased his question.

"It's not stealing, it's a prank," you protested, trying and failing to get your arm out of his grasp. Another helmet tumbled to the floor in the effort.

"Oh there you are," came a new voice. It was almost as if you were moving in slow motion as you tore your gaze from Crosshair and over at the newcomer.

"Tech, tell this jerk to get out of my way," you thought you said. But whatever actually came out was apparently not as understandable. Tech looked between you and Crosshair, confused.

"Um, okay. Why are you stealing the 501st's helmets?" he asked the same question as his brother.

As if on queue, another helmet slipped out of your grasp, though you hadn't moved. At least, you didn't think you did. You huffed and ignored Tech's question, turning back to Crosshair with pleading eyes. Both men were standing between you and your chance to pull one over on the 501st, a battalion infamous for their clever pranks. And you were not going to be stopped.

"Come on Cross," you drawled. "I'm pranking the regs, you should be proud."

Even through your crazed senses, you were still able to pick up the amused twitch of his lips. But he quickly suppressed it and turned back to his usual grouchy grimace.

"Normally I would," he said, "but not like this. Not tonight."

He took a pair of helmets from you and handed them over to Tech, ignoring your whiny sounds of protest.

"He's right," said Tech, placing the helmets on the floor in the corner. "Wrecker already upset some of them tonight, I don't think they'd find this very humorous. Besides, in your drunken state..."

"I'm not drunk!" you exclaimed, probably louder than you intended judging by the flinch both men gave in response.

"Your cheeks are flushed and your eyes are bloodshot," said Tech matter-of-factly.

"And I saw exactly how many drinks you had," added Crosshair.

Tech nodded at him. "Yes, we could go on, but that should be indication enough that..."

You cut him off again, this time with tears. You couldn't help it. The whine that had almost been perpetually eking out of you during this whole conversation grew into actual cries and whimpers. Before you knew it, your cheeks were wet and your lips trembled uncontrollably.

"You're both so mean, you never let me have fun, the one time I come up with a great idea and you shoot it down like I'm an idiot, it's not fair, all I wanted was to show you that I belong here with you guys, but none of you let me, you don't care about me at all, you're such fun-busters..."

You babbled on and on, only barely making any sense to the two men who'd now freed you from your armful of stolen helmets and were gently guiding you out of the bar. You clunked along between them like a baby learning to walk for the first time, unaware of where you were going or what was happening. You could only focus on your emotional speech, and then after a few minutes, your focus was redirected to the queasy feeling in your stomach.

Thankfully the boys got you back onto the Havoc and into the refresher before you spilled your guts. Crosshair held your hair back and rubbed a hand soothingly along your spine until the worst of it passed. You fell limp next to the toilet, unable to form any coherent thoughts in the aftermath.

"Come on," Crosshair said softly by your ear. He tried pulling you up, but when it was clear you weren't going to stand on your own, he picked you up altogether and carried you over the to bunks.

Tech had pulled out one of the cots, the one everyone on the ship agreed was more comfortable than the others and thus fought over the right for almost every night. He had it set up with blankets and pillows, and he stood nearby holding a bottle of water as Crosshair laid you down.

"Just small sips for now," Tech said, holding the bottle up to your lips and helping you get down a few quick swallows, enough to calm the burning in the back of your throat. You were vaguely aware of his thumbs wiping away the remnants of your earlier tantrum from your eyes.

"Fun-busters," you muttered before curling up on your side.

Tech looked over at his brother, who only rolled his eyes at your stubbornness.

"Good-night to you, too," he said just before you lost consciousness.

* * *

The next morning was... rough, to say the least. You'd been tipsy a few times in your life, but never full-on drunk, which meant you'd also never had to deal with a full-on hangover.

Your head was splitting open, you were sure of it. Every turn of your neck made you feel sick. There was a pressure behind your eyes and a lightness to your stomach. You wanted to stay in bed forever. But even more painful than your hangover symptoms were the memories of your behavior the night before, and the urge to make amends eventually propelled you to get up.

You found Tech first, fiddling with his holopad in the cockpit. He eyed you as you carefully lowered yourself in the chair next to his, keeping a hand up to shield your eyes from the rays of morning sunlight that crept through the windows.

"I'm sorry," you said in a low, raspy voice, getting right to the point. You knew Tech appreciated when people did that. He wasn't a fan of small talk and segues, not when there was clearly something important to discuss. "I was kind of a dumbass last night, wasn't I?"

Tech set down his holopad with a shrug. "You had too much to drink. You weren't in control of your mental faculties."

You smiled at his uncomplicated way of viewing things. But then came a cough from behind, from a particularly unamused sniper leaning against the doorway.

"You were a dumbass," he said just as plainly as his brother. Well, at least they were both honest, even if it was in contrast to each other.

"I'm surprised you remember," said Tech, quickly trying to move past his brother's more negative comment. "From what I've read, memory loss is common after heavy intoxication...."

You shook your head, immediately regretting the action as it made your head ring. "I don't remember a lot, just enough to be embarrassed. If I said anything nasty to either of you, I really didn't mean it, I swear. I was just...."

You trailed off, not sure what it was you were really trying to do. You'd wanted to pull a prank, but there'd been something else driving you forward, some other motive to want to do something so stupid.

"You called us fun-busters and cried because you didn't think we cared about you," said Crosshair through the customary toothpick in his mouth.

You looked at Tech, who gave you an apologetic look that confirmed his brother's words were true. You let out a little groan and slumped into the chair. A part of you was glad you didn't fully remember.

"Do you really think that?" Tech asked. "That you don't belong here?"

You shrugged. You still weren't sure about your feelings.

"I dunno... I guess, maybe sometimes... it does feel like you treat me the way you do the regs." You spoke slowly, discovering your own thoughts as you said the words. "Like I'm just along for the ride. Just a normal person who doesn't matter. I thought if I did something to them, you'd see I wasn't part of them. At least, that's what my drunk alter ego thought, anyway."

You gave another shrug and tried for a laugh but it didn't feel quite right.

Tech looked thoughtful for a moment. "You do realize most of the regs in that club were inebriated, too. But we didn't carry any of them to bed for the night."

"Or watch as they puked their guts out," added Crosshair with a slight wrinkling of his nose.

"Yes," Tech nodded at you. "We knew you've been feeling down lately, that's why Hunter suggested we all go to that bar in the first place, to give you a chance to have some fun. Crosshair and I kept an eye on you, and Hunter and Wrecker made sure those regs didn't get upset over your, ah, attempt at a prank."

Tech let his words linger for a moment as you finally raised your throbbing eyes up to meet his.

"You belong here. And we do care. We care because, well..."

He looked over at his brother and you followed his gaze. Crosshair took out his toothpick and pointed it at you.

"Because we're your family."

He put the toothpick back in his mouth with a wink and then turned to leave, showing that that was the final word on the subject. Tech looked at you with a soft smile, one that made you finally feel at peace. You hummed as you laid back against the chair and let the feeling really take hold within you.

You belonged with the Bad Batch. They were your family.

It was a very nice feeling.

[hellothere-generalangsty]

Gloved hand (Crosshair)

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

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

Word count: 2761

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

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

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

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

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

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

______________________________________

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

How ironic.

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

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

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

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

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

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

T’s your time to shine, Cross.

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

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

.

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

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

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

But Cross was alive. For now.

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

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

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

.

 “…Crosshair?”

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

“Crosshair, look at us.”

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

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

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

“How’d you do it?”

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

Keep talking, di’kut.

“I-”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Yes, Sarge.”

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

.

.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Aim for the kid.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“It’s fine, Omega.”

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

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

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

.

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

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

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

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

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

“Alright, sorry.”

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

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

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

.

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

“You should have surrendered.”

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

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

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

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

“You should have killed me in that depot.”

“Crossha-”

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

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

“Good soldiers follow orders.”

.

.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

You did this to yourself. Take some responsibilities.

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

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

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

Nothing.

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

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

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

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

“Mine’s not done yet.”

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

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

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

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

.

Don’t fall asleep.

[professional-dikut]

Here’s a super sweet Echo/Crosshair fic req from an Anon!

( i couldn’t decide between Cross and Tech, but Cross flowed better for some reason, so i went with him :D) I hope you enjoy ☺️ (slight TW for vomiting and sum self-destructive thoughts<3) Fic under cut ⬇️

Word count: 3339

"That should be all." Nala Se spoke slowly, turning away from the arc trooper and dropping the bacta shot into a waste bin.

Echo nodded and hopped off of the examination table as the Kaminoan turned to put a data pad away.

He glanced down at his legs as he tugged his sleeve back over his flesh arm.

Nala Se had given him another anesthetic—the second one this week—after he had stepped funny on one of his prosthetics during a course down in the simulator facilities. He'd taken a pretty un-graceful fall and accidentally tripped Hunter, sending the two of them tumbling down a ramp. Hunter was fine, but Echo's leg had been sore the entire day.

In fact, Crosshair had to catch him in the dinner-line when he'd almost toppled over from standing on his leg in a certain position for too long.

The sniper had given him a look and told him to go to the med-bay—no exceptions.

So here he was, in the med-bay, again, with his second painkiller of the week.

It was starting to become... troublesome.

He began to put his armor back on before deciding that he would just carry it back to the barracks since the batch would be going to sleep soon anyways. Well, Hunter, Crosshair, and Echo would be going to sleep. Tech and Wrecker usually stayed up to do their own thing for a bit before actually heading to bed. 

Sighing, he scooped up the plastoid in his arms and began to make his way out of the med-bay.

The bright hallways of Tipoca City seemed to burn through his eyes and into his newly peaking headache, causing him to squint as he turned a corner. He knew his way around the city, it was sealed into his brain after getting lost many times in the previous years, before he joined the bad batch. Before the thing happened.

The thing.

The thing that was becoming harder to keep up with day after day, becoming harder and harder to push aside. Harder to ignore. Harder to hide.

It was getting harder and more exhausting to fake being fine around the bad batch, to ignore the constant headaches and bothersome pains where his limbs were supposed to be. There had been so many times where Echo had skipped meals because he could barely stand, telling the rest of the batch that he was just worn out—which wasn't exactly a lie. Sleeping was becoming more difficult as well.

His nights were turning into readjustments, shifting around, blanket-no blanket madness. He'd stare up at the ceiling in the barracks, and pray to the maker that he'd be able to fall asleep for hours on end. Sometimes he'd sit up in his bed and scroll through a data-pad, looking at old rules and regulations to see if he could still recite them like he used to. It was all so different now, but all so similar at the same time.

The Batch was so understanding. They understood Echo. They helped him when he needed it, and they welcomed him as one of their own. 

But he wasn't one of them.

He was more machine than man. 

That was nothing like them.

The regs knew, the batch knew, and Echo knew. It was obvious. They knew what they were getting into when they accepted him into their squad. 

Echo's stomach lurched as he turned a corner, and another wave of pain flowed through his temples.

He was becoming the exact thing he told himself he wouldn't.

A liability.

A burden if you will.

All Echo did was slow the squad down, and mess up their flow. He couldn't do anything right without getting himself or one of the batch hurt. It was like a curse, that he literally couldn't function without. Without his prosthetics, he'd be of zero use or need to the squad, and would most likely be cast away to work in the medical facilities, or decommissioned.

So really, The bad batch was the only reason he was being kept alive.

And he just kept screwing it up.

They always told him, that he wasn't a problem, that he wasn't slowing them down, or burdening their team. But what if they were lying? Echo wouldn't be surprised if that was the situation. Tripping Hunter during the simulation wasn't the first time something like that had happened, it it most certainly wouldn't be the last.

So why did they keep him?

A weight began to settle in Echo's stomach as he turned down the hallway that the batch's barracks were in. 

He exhaled, and almost put his lunch on the floor.

He froze, and dropped a few pieces of armor as he slapped his hand up to his mouth. The sound of the plastoid clattering to the floor sounded in his ears much louder then they should've, knocking another pulse of discomfort through his skull. He turned away from the noise and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to ground himself as a bitter taste filled his mouth and bile bubbled in the back of his throat.

Echo's mind began to race as he stood as still as possible for a minute.

Clones were not supposed to get sick. He knew that for a fact, and had never met or seen a sick clone in his entire time being alive. It was threaded into them as mere test tubes, and continuously kept up as they grew, and went out to war. Clones were a species with one of the strongest immune systems in the galaxy, so there was really no reason for Echo to be feeling this way.

Well, there was always the thing. 

With most of his humanity stripped away, it was possible that some of his genetics and artificial health that the Kaminoans had pumped into him since birth was failing now. He was eating whats in the cafeterias—most of the time—which contained the nutrients and medicines that kept them all healthy and ready for battle at anytime. So why was his stomach betraying him?

He opened an eye and stared at the blank white wall for a second, before looking to the barracks and considering his options.

He could, go back to Nala Se and ask for some stomach relievers, or possibly another bacta shot, or, he could go into the barracks and attempt to fake his way till sleeping time, and hope that he didn't vomit all over Tech's equipment.

Nala Se was most likely already closing everything up and putting all her supplies away, so it was possible that he could catch her before she finished up. Although, she might consider his condition... unreasonable. If he kept coming to her with more problems, it would give her a pretty good reason to send him to the medical squads, where he would be less bothersome to her, or even to the decommissioning facilities.

Shit.

He wasn't even sure he could make it all the way back to the med-bay at this point. His hand was shaking, still over his mouth, and the nausea mixed with his splitting headache was doing nothing for his attempt at grounding himself. If he did go into the barracks, he'd have to make it to the bathroom before any of the squad saw him. 

Unless... Was the squad even in there?

Echo tried to remember what day it was through the thick fog that seemed to have settled in his head, and thought about what days the squad went to train in the sparring rooms.

It was... Taungsday? No. It was Centaxday. On Centaxday, the batch went down to the sparring rooms at around twenty-hundred, and trained till twenty-two hundred-thirty. So, if he could just...

Echo glanced down at the pieces of armor he'd dropped. 

His bracer and comm were on the ground, and his bracer had a chronometer on it. 

Slowly, Echo forced himself to swallow and took a deep breath, straightening himself out and closing his eyes for a moment. He leaned over, and hissed as another piece of armor tumbled out of his arms. He picked them back up and attempted to adjusted them with his prosthetic arm, before clicking the chronometer on.

It read twenty-hundred twenty-nine. Perfect.

Echo swallowed again before taking a step towards the barracks door. He kept his gaze straight ahead as his vision started to swim in front of him while he walked. Desperately, he reached out to the door with his prosthetic, jabbing the button on the panel next to it, dropping more armor at the lack of support.

A disgusting wave a nausea crashed over him as he stumbled into the wide room when the door hissed open.

Crosshair snapped his eyes up to Echo from his bed as he stepped down the stairs un-gracefully, dropping pieces of armor on the way.

He-

Crosshair.

Echo did a double take, whipping around to face the sniper on his bed.

He was the only one in the room. Perhaps he didn't want to spar tonight? Or maybe Echo got the days wrong...

"Echo?" Crosshair spoke from his bed, shifting his rifle to his other side as he cleaned it.

Echo opened his mouth to answer, but instead, dropped his all of his armor completely, and darted into the fresher to vomit. 

His stomach tensed, pushing up everything he'd eaten in the last few hours right into the toilet. He crouched down, taking a quick breath before throwing up more. His throat burned, and tears sprang into his eyes as he gripped the edge of the toilet. 

He repeated that, two or three more times, before sitting back on his heels and sagging into the wall next to him. 

He breathed heavily, holding his flesh hand over his still aching stomach as he let out a cough. A gross taste burned in his mouth and he grimaced, swallowing down another urge to vomit before letting his head tilt back to rest against the wall.

Why the fuck was Crosshair in the barracks.

"What are you doing." The man in concern said flatly, suddenly standing at the door of the small fresher.

Echo groaned, before leaning over to heave into the toilet once again. 

Pain pulsed through his head as the muscles in his stomach squeezed and cramped together, making everything about the situation ten times worse then it needed to be. A tear rolled down his cheek as his face heated up, humiliated in front of the experienced sniper.

"Are you okay." Crosshair said from behind him, voice literally emotionless.

Echo shouldn't be this weak. He was an ARC Trooper for kriff's sake. He was supposed to be the strong one. The leader. And here he was, barely able to make it through the day with out getting hurt or sick.

Another tear rolled down his face, and then another, before he was full on crying while emptying his stomach in the small space. 

"Echo." 

Echo coughed as his stomach stopped for a moment, giving him a second to breathe. He tried to wipe his tears as he heard Cross step into the fresher.

"What." Echo croaked, clearing his burning throat and lowering his head as he leaned away from the toilet.

The sniper suddenly crouched down next to Echo, resting his forearms on his thighs as he turned to look at him.

Echo looked away.

"Are you 0kay?" Crosshair asked again. He was only in the bottom half of his armor, his top half covered by his blacks like Echo was.

Echo looked up to stare at him. 

Crosshair blinked.

"I-" Echo tried, his voice watery. "I'm sorry."

He sniffled, wiping his face with his left arm as he leaned back into the wall again.

"For what?" Cross asked, his face completely neutral.

Echo breathed, trying to inhale through his stuffy nose, before looking back up at Crosshair again. 

A  broken sob escaped his lips, and then all hell broke lose from there. 

Echo cried. He cried hard. Weeks of built up emotions, all poured out in front of him like he was some scared cadet all over again. Tears streamed down his face as he cried into his hand trying to cover his weakness, only to cry harder as everything hit him right there. All his unprocessed thoughts, all the lingering emotions that hadn't been dealt with, all of the situations he couldn't prevent because of his condition. He sobbed harder, wishing he could just be normal, with out complications, or ever present headaches that liked to come at the worst times.

And Crosshair got to witness all of it.

At some point, the man had shifted to sit next to Echo against the wall, which only made Echo cry harder. Cross showed no sign of any emotion the entire time, just sat next to him, in his presence. It was kind of reassuring, but it was hard to focus on when a sob racked his body every five seconds.

Slowly, Echo's body began to calm down as he tried to take a few deep breaths. 

It took a few minutes, but eventually, he got himself to a point where he was just wiping silent tears away from his cheeks as he sniffled. His stomach felt a little better, at least.

The two of them sat like that for a good five minutes before Crosshair spoke again.

"What just happened?" He questioned slowly, turning to face Echo.

Echo gave a shaky sigh before attempting to speak again.

"I'm- Im sorry, for everything," He started, choosing his words carefully. "I'm supposed to be better, I shouldn't keep messing up like this. I know I'm slowing your squad down, I'm becoming more of a burden everyday, and I'm sorry. I keep getting hurt and hurting you guys, I keep getting sick and I can't do anything about it and I'm afraid I'm gonna get culled if this keeps happening and-"

Echo was cut off abruptly cut off by a hand turning him and pulling him into a tight hug.

Crosshair had pulled him into a hug.

Oh.

Even in the uncomfortable position, the hug shot right through Echo's chest and made even more tears spring into his eyes. 

He sniffled again, before burying his face into Cross's shoulder and letting out an annoyed whimper. 

They stayed like that for a few minutes, holding each other like it was the end of the world, and all they had were each other. Cross was usually cold and awkward with physical touch, but in his arms he felt warmer and more comfortable then usual. Echo sighed and relaxed into his arms as the sniper held him tighter.

"You are not a burden."

Echo laughed bitterly into Cross's shoulder.

"I dont-"

"You're not."

Echo looked up from his shoulder, pulling back to look Cross in the eye.

His face was level and relaxed, but his brow was furrowed in seriousness. The tattoo over his right eye was creased like it always was when Crosshair was being genuine, and Echo had to stare for a moment just to make sure. 

"But, I-"

"No." Cross said. "You are not a burden, you don't slow us down, we get hurt all the time, and you're doing fine. You don't need to do better."

Echo continued to stare as the sniper spoke with zero hesitation.

"You're fine just the way you are, and you absolutely will not be culled." Cross stated, giving a small nod as confirmation.

Echo blinked and stared at him.

"And you're most likely not sick, it's probably anxiety. Makes Tech sick sometimes too." The sniper said with a small shrug.

He sounded so real, and honest. There was no reason for Echo to not believe his words, but still, something in his head held him back. 

Echo grumbled a response as Cross took his flesh hand and gave it a squeeze.

"We'll work on it." Cross said, as if he’d read Echo’s mind. 

Echo gave a weak laugh as Cross pulled him close again, cradling the back of his head in his hand. Echo held on to him too, relaxing into Cross's calm and trying to get his legs into a more comfortable position. They were annoying, but he could deal with it if it meant getting to cuddle with Crosshair—which was a very rare thing known to the whole squad.

Crosshair pulled away for a second this time, and Echo looked at him, a flash of worry crossing his face.

The sniper cocked an eyebrow at him before smirking and getting to his feet, pulling Echo up along with him.

"You need sleep." Was all the man said before hitting the button on the toilet an dragging Echo out of the fresher and towards the beds.

"Cross, I'm not gonna be able to." Echo sighed as they closed in on Crosshair's bunk.

Sleepless nights were starting to become normal, and Echo wasn't seeing any hope for them stoping anytime soon.

"Sit." Cross said, gesturing to his bed as they stood next to it together. 

He rolled his eyes, and plopped down in the bunk as Cross wandered away to get something. Echo turned to glance at the target posters on the inside, and then to the neatly made sheets, and then the soft pillows. It was cozy, and also the same as Echo's bunk, but... definitely more cozy.

Echo began to remove his prosthetics as Crosshair came back with a cup in his hand.

"Here, drink this." He held the cup out for Echo as he set one of the prosthetics down.

Echo took the cup while Cross sat down next to him and began taking of the rest of his own lower half armor. 

He took a sip of the drink as Cross unsnapped his last thigh plate off before setting them aside along with Echo's prosthetics. The liquid was cool, and felt soothing in his stomach after the horrible nausea. His head was still hurting, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it was just ten minutes ago. Now that he had calmed down some, he was starting to understand Cross's suggestion about anxiety.

Echo was fine.

Or, at least he was going to be.

Downing the last of his drink, he leaned to the side to set the cup on the ground, and caught a glimpse of his scattered armor at the door of the barracks. Sighing, he facepalmed and began to turn to ask Cross if they should pick them up, but a pair of arms snaked around his torso before he could finish.

"We'll pick em up in the morning." Cross hummed into his shoulder, pulling him back into him.

Echo chuckled as the two of them fell back into the bunk in a spooning position. Crosshair pulled him close, tightening his arms and pressing a kiss to the back of his neck as he pulled his blanket over them. Relaxing into his arms, Echo felt his nausea begin to trickle away, leaving behind a content and warm feeling in his chest and stomach. Crosshair’s warmth and arms comforted him from their place around him, and he suddenly felt more grounded then he had then entire day.

A relieving sigh made its way out of Echo’s lungs as he listened to the harsh rain against the long window in the barracks.

Slowly, he let his eyes flutter shut. His head still ached, but it wasn’t as prominent, and more easy to ignore. Maybe he’d actually be able to sleep tonight.

The sniper fell asleep quick, almost immediately relaxing and settling into Echo’s back. He rested his left hand on Cross’s hand, and traced circles around the back of his palm until he started to slip into unconsciousness himself. His eyelids began to get heavier as his breathing steadied, and soon, his whole body relaxed—for the first time in a while—as he slept in Crosshair’s arms.

[mugichaaaa]

Bad Batch Analysis prt2

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

Without further ado let's get started. 

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

Training Sequence

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Cross lets-” 

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

“Right…” 

Hunter Civilian Clothing

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

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

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

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

The Final Part of the Clone Wars 

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

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

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

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

Crosshair as the traitor

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

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

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

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

Again Crosshair isn’t here 

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

Omega

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

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

The Explosion

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

Rex

*breaths in* 

REX I MISSED YOU SO MUCH 

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

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

AT-ET Walker

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

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

Saw Gerra

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

Fennec Shand

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[jessiebanethedragon]

so i randomly thought about a fic with crosshair with his iconic line "you miss me? how touching" and im kinda shocked about how it doesnt exist! so i went to you to request this 👉👈 bcs you're one of my fav fic writers and i'd like to see it from you, no pressure though! bcs i know you dont exactly have all your hours to provide us with fan content :] <3

Hello! thank you so much for this request i’ve been in love with the idea for so long sorry it took me ages to get it written! anyways here it is! 

love ya oxoxox Jessie

Miss you (Crosshair x separatist!Reader)

You met Crosshair in a hurricane of cruses, punches and a bloody nose on his part. And from the glare he sent you way after Hunter had wrestled you into binders, you knew the mutual feeling of hatred was obvious. And of course, when the republic so graciously offered to help you make amends, in return for separatist intel and a forgoing of your prison sentence they put you back into the clutches of Clone Force 99. 

Crosshair could not stand you. With enough cheek and sass to rival his own, and looks that were infuriatingly good, the resident sniper had it out for you. 

But to be fair, you hated him as well. You hated how tall he was, how his deceivingly slim frame gave way to sturdy muscle that your hands had been over top of on a singular occasion that you couldn't get out of your head. 

“Tell me the layout again.” Sergeant Hunter demanded, standing over a disastrously incorrect map of a separatist base. 

“You’d be better off without a map at all!” Exclaimed throwing your hands up in defeat, “the weapons room is here, on the west side of the basement. Not on the east side of the top floor.” You went through the entire map again and again, in order for Hunter to relay it to Tech when him and Crosshair got  back from intel. 

“I still don't understand why we have to be out in the middle of nowhere.” Tech’s voice crackled through the comms. 

“Because She can’t be trusted.” Crosshair hissed. 

“She has been completely honest with us thus far.” Tech retorted, 

“She has a name” You called into your vambrace, 

“Fine, The separatist cannot be trusted.” Oh you could hear the smirk in his voice now. And the damn sniper wore it so well… 

“Ex-separatist.” Wrecker kindly pointed out in your defence. 

“Enough. All of you, Tech what's your status?” Hunter cut in, giving up on the holo-map completely. 

“Approaching the south entrance stand by.” You furred your brows, south, why did they go to the south. You distinctly remember telling them to go North… oh, oh shit. 

“Tech! Abort mission!” You said into your comm, grabbing your blaster and pack off of the walls of the ship. “Tech! Do not approach the south entrance. I repeat do not engage at the south entrance!” Why, Why did they never listen! You looked at Hunter and Wrecker who seemed unbothered. 

“Where do you think you’re going, Spitfire?” Wrecker asked teasingly, “South entrance is unguarded.” 

“According to your map, but according to me the south entrance is next to…” “The Barracks.” Hunter finished for you, before running into the cockpit shouting into his comms. You and Wrecker shared a look of panic. 

“Are you coming with me or not?”  You asked him, and his eyes darted to the cockpit where Hunter was currently firing up the engines and the ramp that was beginning to close. 

“I’ll meet you there Spitfire.” He promised, brothers come first, you could understand that. And even though you knew the Havoc Marauder could get there faster, something other than your brain told you that you had to go on foot. And so you threw yourself out of the rising ship, and onto the forest floor of a separatist planet. 

And that, well that brings us to the present situation, finding yourself once again in a pair of binders and your comrades nowhere to be found. In hindsight, trampoline through the undergrowth like a bantha on spice wasn't the best idea. But maybe you cared more for Clone  Force 99 than you’d like to admit. 

“Where are they?” Whorm Loathsom sneered, far too close for comfort. 

“The term ‘they’ is pretty ambiguous, could you perhaps speci-fy” your sentence was cut off as his clawed hand met your throat, your own hands fumbling at his face as you struggle for air. 

“I’ll ask you again, traitor. Where are the clones you’ve been travelling with?” Loathsom didn’t let up on his grasp, and the corners of your vision were beginning to blur. 

“At... your... mother’s.” You choked out, still trying to wriggle out of his grasp. His claws were beginning to cut into your skin, and you knew blacking out was imminent. 

“I don’t think you have the time for sarcasm.” He hissed, increasing the pressure causing you to flounder in his grasp. “Now, i’m giving you a chance for redemption here. Tell. me. Where. They. Are!” Maker, you realized, he’s going to do it, he’s actually going to kill you. And just as yours eyes fluttered closed and you began to black out, you hit the floor with a resounding thunk. Only to be pulled onto your feet again and into something familiarly solid. 

“Miss me?” Crosshairs voice was heaven layered honey over the sounds of wheezing and laboured breaths. 

“Crosshair?” You gasped up at him, his arms around your frame moving to pick you up. 

“How touching, you almost look pleased to see me.” You blinked repeatedly at his smirk, before wincing as he began to move. 

“Where?” He asked, setting you down again. You tried to speak again but your lungs were still working double time. “What did they do to you?” He whispered, “I should've been faster.” 

“Crosshair,” you tried again, essentially mewling into his chest, “I can’t…. Can’t” you were panicked, scared, trying to chase a breath you just couldn't catch. 

“I’m going to kill them. I’m going to kill them all.” He snarled, standing up again with you safely in his arms. Maybe Clone Force 99 cared for you more than you thought. 

Bed rest sucks, you decide about one day into Techs mandated recovery schedule. What sucks more is him and Hunter marching you back to you bunk every time you try to get up. So, naturally, you resort to sneaking around during the night when the self-proclaimed medics of the Bad Batch are asleep. 

You clutch a cup of some kind of herbal drink, Wrecker and Tech keep them by the box load so you figured they must be at least decent. But right now you’re wondering if you missed something because the stupid wet herb-flower bag thing keeps flopping around in the cup every time you try to take a sip. And the thing is way too hot, so you resort to blowing the steam away as it rises. 

“Shouldn't you be in bed?” Crosshairs voice comes from the doorway into the hull of the Marauder. 

“Miss me?” You ask, mimicking him from before, enjoying the irony. 

“Nope.” He says, popping the ‘p’. You scoff at your mug of hot herbal whatnot. “Wrecker was beside himself though.” 

“Was he?” You tease your sniper, and a part of you wonders when he went from being ‘the’ sniper to ‘your’ sniper. 

“Yeah, inconsolable in fact.” Crosshair moves from the doorway over to your spot  in the hull of the ship. 

“Really?” you arch an eyebrow, standing in an embarrassing attempt to meet his height. But he’s closer than you calculated and in your adjustment you fumble and find yourself against the wall. 

“Aw, little Spitfire’s all choked up, mind the pun.” Crosshair sneers at you, stepping firmly into your personal space. 

“I do in fact.” You retort, “mind the pun, i also mind you in my personal bubble.” You go to plant a hand on his chest to push him away, but he’s so solid. Maker, why is he so warm and firm under your hands. Why, oh why, does he have to feel so perfect to your palms. And in the three times you’ve now touched him, Crosshair’s starting to feel familiar. 

“You gonna push me or just cop a feel?” He raises an eyebrow, but you miss it under the blush on your cheeks and your gaze hits the floor. His hand comes to your chin, index finger underneath while the thumb caresses your cheek. 

“I didn't get to thank you… for coming back for me.” You’re not sure where this is coming from, but it happens anyways. 

“You’ve got a weird way of apologizing Spitfire,” He murmurs looking back to your hands in his chest, watching your eyes react as he moves his other hand to your hip. He smirks oh so proudly when you sigh and relax into his hands, and move yours to hold his face and lightly  scratch at the short hair on his neck. 

“Crosshair…” You exhale looking at him, and the energy between the two of you does the rest of the talking as he leans down to connect his lips to yours. 

Kissing Crosshair seems to contradict everything else about him. It’s slow and soft, he takes his time memorizing the feeling and shape of your lips of his. And with all the time he’s spent pushing you away, now he’s pulling you impossibly close. Your kiss is akin to the second half of your nickname. Crosshair is on fire, but he can't bring himself to care. For you, he tastes of a forest after rainfall, crisp with mist and peaceful. You don't want it to ever end, but the burning in your abused lungs forces you to pull away. Immediately he pulls your foreheads together, a Keldabe kiss, because it’s the best he can get as you both heave for air. 

“I did miss you. And I was worried.” He tells you, lips brushing against your own  as he speaks. 

“I know,” You say, pressing a second kiss to his lips where you can both feel the other smile. 

[retrodaft]

It’s late at night but I’m spilling out some thoughts ( just an opinion)

I know that SW / tcw /tbb fans were getting emotional when, the Empire destroyed Tapoca city. But for me the first thought that came up was, good riddance. In the clone wars series they have the clones says it’s the closest thing to a home.

But you will not get same vide if you read Repcomm , many don’t have nice memories, ( many were beating up) and at one point the commandos mention a rumor about a Whole Group ( don’t remember number) of clones destroyed because they didn’t have 20/20 vision. You were born in that place and could put down before the war started because you didn’t meet the standards.

I wish I could have the same feelings as other fans or be more invested into the bad batch but the just didn’t do it for me. The emotional points didn’t hit me, like I should feel sad for Crosshair at the end.

But if it were me, I shoot him. I’m just thinking about the future , he already try to shoot at us. And if I had a child that he try to have shoot at, then doesn’t want to come back already made up his mind. Then I just end it now than having him come back to be a future problem/danger.

I think the other reason why I couldn’t get as invested ( besides not caring for the concept ) was for a show called the bad batch, it becomes less about the squad and becomes another attempt at a wolf and cub story.

I guess I was hoping that the show would bring more characterization and personality to get me liking the characters. Which it was close to, I like Tech and Echo’s banter ( wish we could see how they got to that point) but less than half way through the season we get the wolf and cub story.

I don’t expect anyone to agree on this part but… out of the whole squad Hunter has the weakest personality. He is just the leader there’s not much else ( heck if I’m being fair Boss has the same issue but even then the game gives him a lot of good one liners and banter with the rest of Delta squad to give you an idea)

I can’t help but think the writing team slapped the dad label on him to give someone character. Which is not to say the I don’t like Omega, I’m happy to have another female character that can have growth and a adventure. But I would have prefer for her to be introduced later in the season or in season two. Because it takes away so much screen time from the actual bad batch.

After watching the season, out of the squad I began to like Tech,( besides Echo) but I don’t like his voice or design. Dude looks like 30 year old white office worker, who’s already balding. I can picture him sitting at the cubicle typing away. Augh

Edit/ I really wished we got to see more of Wrecker and Crosshair , there’s potential to this duo. It’s disappointing we get to see a little of it. I feel, if the first season focus on bad batch or how they were ( before order 66) maybe I may have giving a shit about Crosshair. Because at least we could have seen how this duo interact give some characteristics so there’s some build up to Crosshair’s decision.

Speaking of miss opportunity it would have been interesting if the writing into why Crosshair didn’t like Omega. Like obviously he thinks she is taking his spot on the team, but also her bond with Wrecker would have been interesting to examine as that could have also been the reason. The brotherhood he had with Wrecker is now gone, ( cuz he joined the Empire) and Wrecker becomes a big brother to Omega.

[37-children-of-the-dreams]

Day #36: Love Story (Epilogue)

The day is finally here. Korkie and Crosshair might have been just a brain worm, but these two have been fun to write. So long boys. May the Force be with you.

---------------------

(Epilogue)

The rich deserts of Kalevala was shining through the windshield of the Katalyst and the passengers were happy to be back. Even if it wasn’t going to be for long. 

Fennec had the pilot’s pit to herself. Korkie and Crosshair were far too busy at their bedroom to be the pilots. Sarad was too busy playing with her wedding bow that she tore it apart. Crosshair was smirking too much for Korkie’s sake.

“That’s my duchess!” Crosshair said. “You look better with armor anyway.”

“Cross, she’s too tiny,” Korkie groaned. “She’s the size of a two-year old. Kryze would wear armor when they’re bigger. Also, today’s our wedding.”

“Well, it’s a Mandalorian wedding. Shouldn't we have armor?”

“We have weapons. No one is going to attack our wedding if they know what’s good for them.”

Crosshair smiled and kissed his fiancee’s forehead. It was a year since they’ve met and they’ve been through so much. The fights, the target practice, the bounties and having Sarad. They grew as partners and as a couple. And now they’re getting married in Kalevala.

Which was Crosshair’s idea. He wanted Bo-Katan to watch him marry her former nephew. Though, he said it was because he wanted to marry at the place they first met.

Korkie didn’t believe his excuse, but he wanted Nanny Rana to watch his wedding. Also, he wanted to see Bo-Katan faint at the sight of him marrying Crosshair while the Bad Batch was in attendance. 

The Bad Batch was already at Kalevala because of Crosshair. He wanted Rana to get them fitted for the wedding and he deathly knows how bad they were at wearing top-grade suits. Hunter and Echo were always trying to get away from wearing something they felt undeserving, Tech would be too busy talking about clothing facts to wear one, and Wrecker was just big. Yet, Rana seemed to know what to do since she sent a comm of them in their wedding outfits.

As for the Shands. Well, Luka was once a wedding officiant before Fennec was born and he did demand that he wear clothes fitting for a former officiant. Kristal wore a motherly blue gray dress that matched her husband’s clothes. Fennec wouldn’t stop beaming in happiness at the sight of her happy parents. She asked to wear a dress with leggings in case of a Bo-Katan attack.

As for the grooms and Sarad? Crosshair had a gray suit he asked Rana to prepare for his wedding. It was simple and made out of Beskar to make sure it would hold for years. Korkie wanted to wear the last outfit he ever created for his mother. A rather plain blue dress that he knows Bo-Katan would try to burn in anger. To match her fathers, Korkie made Sarad wear a gray and blue dress. With a now broken blue bow because it wasn't made with Beskar.

Fennec saw the Havoc Marauder and landed near the Bad Batch’s ship. The four exited the Katalyst with two boxes containing Fennec’s dress and Korkie’s wedding dress. Rana and the Shands greeted the four first. Then, the Bad Batch came out and hugged Crosshair.

“Congrats, Crosshair,” Hunter said. “I’m so proud to call you my brother.”

“I’m happy to know you’re the one giving me away,” Crosshair said.

They went back to the mansion to talk about the steps of the wedding. Korkie and Fennec went to their rooms to wear their dress while Crosshair was too busy cradling Sarad. Rana and the Shands went to the garden to finish up the place.

“She’ll always have bragging rights against future siblings,” Wrecker said. 

“Your next children would possible ask you for a recreation of the wedding,” Tech pointed out. “ Sarad might rally them if she wants them to understand what a wedding is.”

“Wouldn’t they already understand if they teach the kids?” Echo asked.

“They might,” Crosshair said. “But, I’d be happy to recreate the best day of my life.”

Hunter laughed. Crosshair had changed from the cold sniper they all knew. HE was kinder and warmer.

“It’s time,” Kristal said when she fetched them. “The place is ready, Fennec is there, Rana is getting Korkie and my husband is trying his best not to cry. Oh, and the birds are singing like it’s the biggest wedding in the whole galaxy.”

The Bad Batch and Sarad were taken to the garden where Crosshair met Korkie. He gave Sarad to Fennec and the girls went to their designated spot. Tech, Wrecker and Echo went to the opposite side of her. Hunter took out his arm and walked Crosshair down the aisle. Hunter was not going to cry before his brother said his vows. At the aisle, Crosshair looked at the entrance and smiled. Korkie was wearing the wedding dress like a true Duke of Mandalore and had a bouquet of beautiful flowers. Rana was already crying since she was full of happiness that she couldn’t wait. 

When Korkie took to his side of the aisle, Crosshair couldn’t stop laughing at the sight of his groom. He had a hard life as a defective clone, but what can he say now? He got the best man to marry him.

“Friends, Family and Guest,” Luka started. “We are gathered here to join these men as husbands in wedded life. If there is anyone who would deny this right, speak now--”

The door open and Korkie groaned in unsurpassed annoyance. Bo-Katan and her Nite Owls had arrived. They brought Amis, Lagos and Soniee with them.

“What now Lady Bo-Katan?!” Korkie screamed. “I know I’m not supposed to be here, but this place is where my husband and I met!”

Bo-Katan steeled herself as Amis, Lagos, ans Sonies said sorry to the wedding party.

“I’m not here to stop you,” she said.

Korkie and Crosshair gave her a surprised look. She had to be joking, right?

“I really am not going to ruin whatever this is. I’m just here to witness it and finally announce that Satine’s bloodline has finally ended. You’re more than open to continue. I just have to see the last of my sister leave Clan Kryze and be with someone I know might not have been the best pick, but the one that makes him happy for the rest of his life.”

Bo-Katan said nothing else and let the wedding continue by having her Nite Owls stand next to the doors as if they were going to exit the instant the wedding ended. Korkie nodded at his former aunt and her decision. It might have been more hurtful to her losing the last piece of Satine, but even they knew their relationship was not going to be the same anymore.

“Well,” Luka said. “Let’s get back to the wedding. I’ve read the entire book on Kryze weddings, and I know it’s time for the promise vows. Then after the vows, it’s the marriage vows to which they’ll be husbands for life.”

Korkie went first since he was a former Kryze.

“Crosshair,” he started. “When I first met you, I was an unhappy former duke who had his entire life destroyed and was exiled from Mandalore for whatever reasons. I initially wanted to use you to get away from Mandalore and anger my entire House because you were there in my visions getting me away from Mandalore. 

Then, I realize I’m not a master manipulator and stuck myself to you because why not? I’m already away from Kalevala and you’re a bounty hunter, so what were the chances?”

The entire wedding party laughed much to Crosshair’s dismay. He really know how to end up with Korkie of all Mandalorians.

“Then, we bonded. I know I made stupid risk that day getting the carbonite unit and almost got both of us killed, but I’m grateful that you saw that I was just trying to help. Then, I forgot the fuel for the hyperdrive and we talked about our respective families. Then, Tatooine where we met Fennec...”

Korkie took a breathe and finally cried looking at his Crosshair.

“What I’m just saying is, you had multiple chances to just ditch me and leave me for dead, but you didn’t. You said I was important when I needed to hear it. I made me feel important after all the pain I had been given after my mother’s death. You gave me a family again. I will never stop loving you and I will always love hearing that I’m your husband til the day I die. I love you, Cyare.”

Crosshair smiled. He knows it’s his turn, but he needs a pause. He took a breathe and spoke.

“You’re never going to stop being important to me,” he declared. “I was angry, lonely, and I had just broke away from my brothers. I wanted to show me I was capable of being a big-time bounty hunter and it lead me to you. I’ll never forget the day I thought I had you as a bounty, you were just sitting here in this garden ready for a deal that would change my life. I didn’t believe you until you almost killed that Death Watch commander and made me realize how true your deal was. 

Ans you’re right, we had a bunch of ups and downs, but you never gave up on me. I remember the day I was teaching Fennec how to shoot. We both know it was a disaster since I’m not a teacher, but instead of just leaving me in the rain, you came for me and told me I can always talk to you. Which is true because despite the fact I made you feel like we’re galaxies apart at times, you still wanted to be near me. You were patient and you did not take my words as a sign of backing off, but instead you kept telling me that I can talk to you. Then, you’re old friends came, and I really thought for one second you’d leave me for them. Yet, you never did and you made us trick them into thinking we’re already married by scarring Lagos for life with us kissing like it’s our actual wedding night.”

Lagos blushed as Bo-Katan looked at her with dismay. She never did tell Bo-Katan that Korkie and Crosshair might have done the deed before marriage. The Bad Batch had to hold their laughter as Bo-Katan looked like she was about to faint. They were betting with Fennec on this. One hundred credits on the line.

“And like you said, we have a family to ourselves because of our bond. Well, including my brothers and Fennec it’s a quite a chaotic family. Yet, it’s perfect for me. You healed me and I’d die fighting for this marriage, and this family. Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum, my darling Korkie. You’re forever the only one for me.”

“Now for the marriage vows!” Luka announced.

Korkie and Crosshair looked at each other’s eyes and started their vows.

“Mhi solus tome, mhi solus dar'tome, mhi me'dinui an, mhi ba'juri verde" (We are one when together, we are one when parted, we will share all, we will raise warriors.)”

The two Keldabe kissed first and kissed on the lips afterward.

The entire place erupted in cheers. Even Bo-Katan and her Nite Owls cheered for the marriage. Then, Bo-Katan went towards them.

“Please,” Bo-Katan begged. “Tell you didn’t pull a Satine. You know? As in did the deed before marriage?”

Korkie blushed and ducked his head on Crosshair’s suit. Crosshair shrugged as if to say ‘So what?’

Bo-Katan fainted to the happiness of Wrecker and Fennec. They did bet against Hunter, Tech and Echo that Bo-Katan might come and faint during the wedding. The three placed their credits to the winners as the Nite Owls grabbed her and steadied the heiress.

“You really are Satine’s son,” Bo-Katan said. “Going after the worst possible suitors and being in love with them.”

“At least I’m not a Jedi,” Crosshair pointed out.

“That kind of makes it less painful.”

Bo-Katan exited the mansion with her Nite Owls following her. Amis, Lagos, and Soniee stayed for the wedding reception. Which was minutes after the wedding. The food was great, the atmosphere was nice and the family pictures were one to remember.

As Korkie and Crosshair took their last couples photo alone. They took each other’s hand and closed their eyes. This was the best love story they had a part in. It felt like a dream come true to the both of them.

(That is my fan art of Crosshair and Korkie. It was a hard fought second place.)

[37-children-of-the-dreams]

Day #13: Ruin My Life

It’s official to me. Put a runaway duke and ex-trooper clone and there will be a fight. I mean, Fennec’s only there because she likes the drama. How else can you explain Fennec be calm all the time.

------------------

As the three finally made their way back to the ship, Crosshair had a hard time looking at Korkie’s face. The former duke didn’t seem to know anything about last night, and if he did, he was doing the same thing Crosshair was doing. Hiding the fact they slept next to each other in such close proximity. True, it was because they were in a tent, but the tent was big enough for them not to be near each other.

The three settled down in their respective seats in the ship. Crosshair at one of the pilot seats, Fennec at the other and Korkie was behind them close to the bunk beds. Crosshair turned on all the engines and the ship was off to another world.

“So, where we going?” Korkie politely asked. “Another safe planet for Fennec to learn her skills?”

“No,” he said. “I think we’re running out of credits.”

Korkie and Fennec looked at each other. They weren’t running out of credits. Korkie checked their account and they had enough for the ship’s fuel to be full and ready to go from one system to another. It didn’t make sense. 

“We’re not out of credits for now,” Korkie replied.

“Maybe to you, but I never had that much money in my life. So if I say we need the credits, we need the credits.”

“But, I’m not ready to go high stakes with my skills yet,” Fennec pointed out. “I just learned how to hit with the speed you wanted.”

“Just do it. We don’t know when we’ll spend all of the credits. So, we need more.”

Korkie wanted to say something, but one look at Crosshair, and he knew. Crosshair would not listen to him, nor would he look at Korkie. Korkie didn’t know why he was acting like this. He was happy last night and they were both far away from each other in the tent. Why does Crosshair have to make their partnership difficult in just a few hours?

As they were entering a bustling planet’s air space at night, Korkie was beginning to get annoyed with Crosshair. For the entire ride, Crosshair was avoiding him and not even listening to Korkie. The last straw was when he and Fennec were talking about making a new disguise. Korkie was loud enough for Crosshair to hear them say he was making a dress for Fennec to wear while doing to high end gossip spaces. Yet, Crosshair said nothing as they descend. 

“Crosshair is such a boring person,” he whined hoping to get a reaction.

It didn’t work. Crosshair kept looking for a good place to land.

“He possible doesn’t know any other color except for gray.”

Still nothing. Fennec began to realize what Korkie was doing.

“If it wasn’t for me, Crosshair would always be broke.”

Still no reaction. Fennec was rather surprised because that comment actually might have stung if it was her.

“I’m marrying you!”

Not one sound. Crosshair was wearing nothing to protect his ears from listening to Korkie. He knows Korkie was talking, he just wanted to avoid him. Fennec was gasping at Korkie’s outrageous antics. That really should work. Marriage is sacred to Mandalorians.

“If I marry you, I’m also divorcing you in an hour!”

Crosshair finally found a hanger to park and relaxed his back. He turned to his two comrades and smiled. Fennec was giving him a look that expressed confusion and irrational fear. Korkie was smiling in a psychotic way. Crosshair finally looked at him, but he still didn’t listen.

“Why?” Korkie hissed. “I’ve been trying to get your attention. Why are you being difficult?”

“Because I’m landing the ship?” Crosshair said. “Also, you’d really make a bad wife.”

Fennec went away from the two and prepared herself for some screaming. Korkie went to Crosshair’s space and just stared at him. Crosshair still sat, but his face was now stone cold.

“So you were listening? Crosshair, what is going on with you? I thought we had better communication. Can you please tell me what I’ve done?” “Nothing,” he answered. “Just give me some areas around here and we’re good. You stay here for your safety and just watch the ship.”

Korkie blanked out. He shook his head. This was not happening to him. He thought he could ran away from this type of mistake. The mistake of being someone’s puppet. Yet, here he is. 

“Am I just a glorified housewife to you? Am I just someone you can use because I told you I have visions? Crosshair, please don’t say anything like that. I thought we were partners.”

“We are,” he agreed.

Crosshair stood up and went to Korkie’s side. The royal was breathing hard, he looked confused, and he was shaking. Crosshair took both of Korkie’s arms and held them to keep him from doing anything ridiculous.

“You’re not my housewife, nor am I using you. It’s just you’ve made plenty of mistakes while being with me. I’m not letting you make a huge one here.”

“But you’re making a huge one with me. I’m not going to let you use my powers without me being with you.”

“You’re much safer in this ship.”

“I’m not becoming a prisoner again!”

“You’re not a prisoner! This was for family’s ship, you can do things here while Fennec and I are away.”

Korkie pushed Crosshair away and just growled at the clone. He thought thing were getting better with Crosshair. Why were things going back to square one? What happened that night? What did Korkie say in during his visions? 

“I’ll give one tip, but trust me. You’re. Not. Getting. Anymore.”

“So you’re divorcing me?”

“No, I’m just giving them to Fennec until you tell me what’s wrong. There’s a huge bar in the main plaza. They have patrons needing good bounty hunters. Go there, say ‘Is your King of Riches here,’ and get your stupid credits.”

Korkie exited from the cockpit and went to the bunk beds. He went to the end of the room and opened a secret coding lock. He answered the Kryze’s password and entered a small room filled with a king-size bed. Korkie launched himself to the bed once the doors closed and cried.

He truly does not understand why he had clung to Crosshair so fast that it hurts so much just from him wanting Korkie away. He blames Bo-Katan for ruining his thoughts on a good relationship. He blames his former friends Amis, Lagos and Soniee for ruining his trust on friendships. He blames himself for being so naive and good hearted that he thought a bounty hunter, and a former Jedi killer, would be a good partner. He cried harder and fell asleep crying.

Crosshair got out of the cockpit and saw Fennec wiping her rifle while shaking her head back and forth. She was not happy with what she had heard. She thought, despite everything, that Crosshair would never hurt Korkie so bad that he didn't want to talk to Crosshair. Guessing she was wrong because the instant Crosshair came out with a crooked frown and angry eyes, she knew it must have been painful.

“You really should have stopped him before he said he was going to marry you,” Fennec sighed. “I mean, he was just trying to get you to listen to him.”

“Shut up and get out,” he snarled. “We got our info. Just give Korkie some space and he’ll be back to normal.”

“No, he won’t. He was worried about you during the ride and you just avoided him like he was a bomb. You guys had weeks of being partners. He’s not going to brush this off like it was nothing.”

Crosshair said nothing and went out. The hanger person asked how long they were staying, but Crosshair just gave him enough credits for a week. Fennec shook her head as she followed him. She couldn’t understand Crosshair’s behavior herself. Just last night, Crosshair was happy because Fennec got her perfect shot and Korkie made food using his family sword. What happened? Was there an altercation with a bug and now he’s acting like the world’s about to kill him? Was Korkie talking too much in his sleep?

Actually, the Korkie bit would not have made sense. Crosshair got used to Korkie knowing his visions through sleep and listened for some words...

“What did Korkie do?” Fennec asked. “You guys were in that tent together. What did he do?”

“He can’t dream, so nothing bad.”

“But you’re mad at him!”

“Fennec, just shut up and let’s do the bounty.”

Fennec did shut her mouth, but she was not backing down from the fight. Korkie had done nothing wrong to her and Crosshair for all the trips they’ve been at. Which might not be much, but she knew enough that Korkie would never hurt a person, much less a bug. Crosshair was being so unreasonable and she knew there was one way to make him talk. Beat him in the bounty hunt.

At the bar, Crosshair and Fennec saw an unholy amount of gaudy clothes and glittery hair. This were all rich people and the sniper were in their den. Crosshair went to the receptionist telling her what Korkie instructed him to say. The receptionist took them to the VIP spot where they met a huge, and highly drenched in gold male Twi’lek. His lekku was so huge that it turned itself to a necklace and he had multiple females by his side. Crosshair waited for him to notice them, but grew impatient.

“Feeling a bit like a certain someone?” Fennec asked.

Crosshair said nothing and sat next to Twi’lek. The Twi’lek finally looked at him and laughed.

“I’m surprised that someone knew my code,” he laughed. “I do have a bounty on someone. Here you go!”

He tossed a puck at Crosshair who caught it. He left with Fennec as the Twi’lek whistled in her direction.

At the entrance, Crosshair read the puck and groaned. Their target was last seen at the other half of the city. Which meant they had to leave fast. Fennec and Crosshair ran to the nearest speeder rental and went as fast as they can to the other side of the city. The other side of the city was dump. The buildings were rotting and the smell are horrible. It was perfect for a target to lay low. Crosshair and Fennec parked their speeders near a dilapidated building and went on foot. The two looked normal for the people living here. They had worn clothes and scratched helmets. They had the perfect disguises.

It took them long enough to hear where the guy was, but when they did, they went to a broken down apartment complex and readied their rifles. Suddenly, shots went out and a full-blown shootout was happening. They were outnumbered, but they had better aim. The two hit enemy to enemy and their target was running away from them. Crosshair and Fennec left the complex and ran after him to the roofs of every building. Then, they were hit with a trap.

The target? The Twi’lek was his brother and he was the biggest rival to him. The problem? He had his slice of a gang. The snipers were on one side of a rooftop and the target and his gang were in the other. There wasn’t much cover and they had to hide behind a door roof. Then, one of the man’s goons got to Crosshair and pushed him off the building.

Crosshair thought it was the end for him. No forgiveness from Korkie and he failed Fennec too. Also, he never got to see his brothers again. 

WHIP!

Crosshair’s left hand was wrapped by a whip and he was airborne as he got back to the rooftop. Fennec had killed the goon who pushed Crosshair off, and was watching Crosshair get back on his feet as another person got in the fray. Crosshair gasped.

“No,” he said. “Not again.”

Fennec looked closer at the third person and also gasped. True, the person was wearing some sort of robe and had some hair accessory. But, the stance and the hair did not lie. Korkie Kryze found his partner and Fennec, and he was not happy. 

He donned on some wire-filled gauntlets and Kryze styled clothes with a mask to conceal his face. He had cascading flower ribbon in his hair and he had both the fan and the sword strapped to his hips. In one way, he looked like a runaway princess.

The target laughed and so did his men.

“Do your men just pushed my partner?” he asked.

“So what?” he guffaw. “It’s the way of life here.”

Korkie smile and took out a flower from his ribbon and tossed it to their feet. The men laughed at his attempt at throwing and crushed the flower. They weren’t laughing anymore. The men screamed as liquid nitrogen froze their feet and they couldn’t move. Korkie took out the fan and its safety coverings, revealing sharp edges at the tips, and a dagger underneath. Korkie rushed to them and sliced their lives away except for the target. The target tried to get away, but Korkie got to him and punched him out cold. He dragged the target to his two companions. Fennec was horrified by Korkie’s actions, but she could not blame him for being angry. As for Crosshair, he looked away from Korkie.

Korkie rolled his eyes and went to Crosshair’s side.

“I told you our partnership was never going to be easy,” he reminded the clone. “But I also told you we can mend it. You could have just told me I was moving in my sleep and bumping you during the night! I know I’m not the best tent partner, but don’t just get mad at me and avoid me like that! Say something. I have another room in the ship if you hate how I sleep.”

Crosshair looked at Korkie. His partner was close to tears and still had bloodshot eyes as if he cried before coming to their rescue.

“Fine, I will tell you next time we camp,” he agreed. “It just, I’m not really comfortable telling some people how they sleep.”

“Why? People in my past told me I do weird things when I sleep so I don’t do they as much. I can handle people telling me I have a weird way of sleeping. It’s natural for me to hear those.”

“Maybe, but you’re not my brother. My brother and I had cussed each other on our sleep issues every night , but you’re different.”

“How?”

“You’re my partner and I actually respect you enough to not tell you how bad you are at some things.”

Korkie blinked rapidly. Fennec watched their target sleeping while hearing the new drama between them.

“I really don’t how what to think of that,” Korkie said. “It’s nice, but you already tell me how bad I am. I’m getting immune to your insults. Most of them really.”

“So forgive me for my attitude?”

“Let’s have a shopping spree, and then I’ll forgive you. Starting with getting those credits, then killing the person who gave you the bounty and running off with their money.”

Fennec laughed at what she just heard. Korkie, nice, sweet Korkie wanting violence and death. How bad did he cry just for him to think it was okay to kill someone?

Crosshair sighed and nodded. This time, it was his fault that Korkie choose violence. They dragged the body as Korkie started planning their shopping.