#once again i'm begging you not to scrutinize my inaccuracies

[airlockfailure]

Axe and Ahsoka (and Anakin is here as well) Some Head-canons

My shift yesterday started in the pre-dawn hours so I got to see the total eclipse of the moon, but it also means I'm alone at work for a solid two hours before any of my co-workers arrive. We aren't allowed to have cell phones and the computers can't access music/radio sites so one's brain must keep oneself entertained.

So I'm thinking about clone pilot Axe, and how he's ten inches taller than the rest of the clones. How did he avoid decommission? He'd be so expensive for the Kaminoans, rigging gear in a larger size, customizing everything down to his nutritional intake, not to mention in the field he's a sizeable target compared to other clones.

I don't know how the droids' targeting AI works, but my HC is they're programmed to scan for life forms, and lock on heat signatures. This is partly why in my fics the cooling system in the clones' under armor is so important. Usually, larger people have a more body heat because it requires more energy to keep them alive. That makes Axe even more of a target.

So, my head canon is that this height discrepancy didn't make itself known until he was already trained. A mutation that didn't activate until his final growth spurt in the clone equivalent of his late teens.

This means, instead of adjusting for his specific needs, Axe is forced to go without those needs being met. He eats the same as the rest of them, and is therefore malnourished early on. He has to cram himself into a tiny cockpit made for people ten inches smaller than himself. His suit and armor don't work right to protect him from g-forces because he's bigger, his heart works harder, his blood travels farther. So my head canon is that Axe has much more wear and tear on his body than the rest of the pilots. His joints, his organs, especially his cardiovascular and respiratory systems, and I think his brain would suffer to an extent that he's likely using oxygen tanks made for normal clones, not giants. So he either runs out faster then the others, or is never getting enough air (either in his lungs or to pressurize his armor). *Don't question the space/atmospheric flight dynamics here, I don't actually care that much about the differences. Star Wars treats space too much like atmospheric flight for me to go the opposite direction. It's also more dramatic to treat space flight like atmospheric flight. SHHH I'm having fun, things don't need to be realistic. It's okay.

And all of that leads me to this: the person Axe relates to most among the 501st ends up being Ahsoka. She's too short for the ships. In my head canon the Jedi have to suit up for flight the same as the clones, because while a Master might be able to use the Force to correct blood flow and respirations, I don't think a Padawan could.

Of course, in my AU, Ahsoka is already a Jedi Knight (similar to Barriss Offee), working with Anakin until the 501st splits.

But she's too short for the ships, she has to stretch to reach the controls, she has to adjust to getting too much air, her suit not fitting her properly. (Because Sidious wants the Jedi to suffer damn it, the Republic already spent enough credits to make these things, they aren't spending more to accommodate the Jedi. What do you meant the Jedi are compassionate, good people and want to fight alongside their men and not from the safety of the Venators? Just kidding, Sidious knew they would do exactly that and intended to make it suck in so many ways.)

So of course Anakin overhears Axe and Ahsoka talking(complaining) about their mutual struggles in opposite directions, and being the hack mechanic that he is, he makes alterations to Axe and Ahsoka's bombers. Are these alterations safe?? More than likely not. Do the alterations extend to their suits? Sort of, but Anakin's ability with textiles while there (you think a slave from Tatooine doesn't know how to mend/alter clothes????), isn't as honed as it is with mechanical things.

And because everyone gets the same food, Ahsoka gives her extra to Axe. They usually eat together whenever they can. And Axe goes with her when the 501st splits into the 501st and 332nd.

So yeah, all that to say I think Axe and Ahsoka are good buddies and no Axe doesn't die, what do you mean?? Haha. Ha.

I need more coffee.