#to destroy it would you need to only wipe the data away?

[tremolo-legato-suckas]

i feel like it is Of Interest™ that the handsome jackhammer is one of those chuck-em-and-respawn-em type guns, yada yada digistruct, right.

but that also means that you can't just destroy one??? it's set to re-construct in like 1 second.

the implications. the consequencies.

[jasmine-the-fox]

Saved by technology

azv2448 sent me a very... interesting request... let us all see how it goes yes?

Here we go!

Markov has been suspicious towards Lila Rossi since her first day. While her stories interested the class… Markov noticed she would never show pictures or videos or anything to confirm her stories at all.

Because of this Markov did the one thing no one who believed Lila’s stories ever did… research her online, he found nothing, in fact he only found Alya’s blog as a result on Lila in the end… which told him she was a liar in the end. He tried to inform Max of his research but his best friend and creator ignores him… and then Markov uncovers something horrible and cruel.

After a while, the little robot discovers that not only is the class bullying Marinette while accusing her of doing horrible things to Lila that were simply not true, but Adrien was also harassing her to force her to date him.

Markov knew that what they were all doing was wrong… but it was clear that they were all too blinded to care about it so he took it upon himself to record all of there actions… who harms her physically, mentally, who steals her things, who destroys her things and each time Marinette rejected Adrien and told him she already has a boyfriend… which angered Markov greatly.

For a whole week he records everything… once he believed he had enough… Markov decided to go one last time to Max “Max? Please listen to me… Lila Rossi has done nothing but lie 100% of the time she speaks to you! If you continue down this path you will be no better then Hawkmoth!” he pleaded… but Max instead shut him down “Lila was right. Markov was a failure, I’ll to redo the entire work for the next one so this doesn’t happen again” he says as he throws Markov out the window of his room.

He didn’t care that Tim Drake was walking by when Markov hit him on the head before he caught him “Huh? Isn’t this a little like the little robot Nettie spoke about?” he mumbled to himself before heading to Marinette’s place. When he arrived Mari wasn’t there… instead it was her parent’s and the Kent’s who greeted him before together they got Markov to turn on once more.

“Where am I? Wait… is the Marinette Dupain-Cheng’s parents’ bakery?” he asked making Sabine confirm it… Markov quickly began to tell them everything he knew… Damian and Jason sadly came over at that moment… and had to quickly be restrained from going out to “talk” to the class and Adrien.

Bruce who was there contacted his lawyers while Clark and Louise began talking with Markov to get the footage he collected for an entire week, it was then that Chloe ran into the bakery in a panic “Quick! It’s Mari!” she cried out just as Kagami and Luka brought in Marinette who was injured “What happened!?” Jon asked as they brought her up to the couch to be examined and treated.

“It was Adrien. He ran over to us as we were on our way back and asked to speak to Marinette alone. We moved a little away and heard him trying to pressure her into dating him, she rejected him of course… and then Adrien attacked her. We rushed over to help her and then rushed here” Kagami explained as they discovered that Mari’s injuries weren’t severe.

Tim began to work to look at the data in Markov for the footage and added his own work “I updated your coding with my own… it should protect you from anyone who might try to hack you to wipe everything” he explained making Markov thank him.

It takes a while, but Mari wakes up to Markov apologizing to her for not getting Max to see the truth about Lila, of course Mari forgives him and offers him to live in her home “It’s not perfect but I hope it’s alright” she explained and the robot agreed to the offer. Within a few days, Markov has greatly improved Mari’s life… she wakes up early, is able to schedule different commissions she needs to work on, is able to quickly what she’s running out of and many more things including helping her parents at the bakery.

Soon, Louise and Clark go public with the fact that Lila Rossi is a liar, Adrein harassing Marinette and the footage of everything the class has done to her. Chloe helped by getting the police involved to investigate the entire thing while Bruce makes sure his lawyers help where they can… of course though… there is chaos… in which case Lila once more becomes Volpina who claimed all of this was a lie.

“I have proof!” she claimed as Ladybug, Queen Bee, Ryuko, Viperion, Superman, Superboy and the entire Batfam appeared before her “You mean you have an illusion ready to lie your way out?” Red Hood said as Nightwing knocked her out and released her akuma so Ladybug could purify it… of course Cat Noir wasn’t there… it wasn’t that hard for him to be hit with venom so his ring could be taken… revealing him as Adrien.

Hawkmoth reveals himself to akumatized her but the gang surrounds him and takes him down… revealing him to be Gabriel Agreste. He is quickly arrested for his crimes against Paris, Damocles, Caline and the class get sued for there actions towards Marinette. Due to there beliefs towards Lila, none of them think they did anything wrong to her at all, the lawsuits ruined all of them of course.

Chloe, Kagami, Luka and Marinette all moved to the states where they would be safe and away from the bad guys, they became so famous and popular that news spread all the way to Paris about them. The class of course regretted their actions… but Alya was worse, she tried calling Mari in the hopes she would be forgiven and helped but quickly received a cease-and-desist letter to never contact Mari again which broke her heart as she like the class wondered how their lives would have been had they not bullied her.

The last thing they heard… were Mari to Damien, Chloe to Jon and Kagami to Luka’s weddings. It was the top of the talk and the one thing people kept talking about. Of course the class often heard about it and deeply regretted there actions even more… each of them picturing what they would have been doing for Marinette’s big day had they not bullied her… Alya imagined the post she would have made for her blog (without Mari’s permission like always) Adrien imagined himself marrying Marinette, some imagined the party they have had for her while others imagined helping her pick her dress or what she would have made them to wear for her big day.

Meanwhile… Lila was seething with rage; it wasn’t fair that her life was ruined while Marinette soared into fame! It should be her marrying a rich and famous person, she should be the one having an amazing wedding… but instead Marinette was happy and enjoying her happy ending while Lila suffered for her crimes.

Good thing Max threw Markov out though! It was all thanks to him that Marinette got justice and is now happy!

[ghostly-omens]

watched the creation stream last night (i rarely catch streams live because work) and here's what i took from it.

qTubbo said himself he's 20 years old. he made creation before he joined the Operation, in a 'last effort to hold on'. Creation remembers the 'Old Order'. This was a very long time ago, before the island looked like what it is today. The Order today remains only in ruins in a single spot, so it may refer to a specific place instead of an organization (or both).

Creation, however, also says that Tubbo created it for Chayanne (and the other eggs, esp Sunny, is implied). Tubbo talks about joining the Operation while he is recording a message for Sunny, and also says he won't remember making said recording.

If Tubbo finds out about Creation, he will be 'shut off for good', and Creation will be the one who has to do it, even if it doesn't want to.

So Tubbo

-existed before the Island is what it is now, so long ago the ruins of his time are considered ancient

-exists in the present with no memory of this (was frozen in ice, probably mind-wiped)

-is 20 years old

-created Creation in the past, to protect eggs he would not meet until the future (from the perspective of the tubbo who created Creation)

-is able to leave messages with creation that contain direct knowledge of the future, despite the tubbo that exists in that time not being allowed to know he exists, because that would require him being 'shut off'

-qtubbo is not a robot

-was involved with something called the 'old' Order, which existed before the island looked like it does now. its implied by creation saying it was created in a last effort to hold on that the order ended or was destroyed. the order could refer to a specific place, since its ruins are found in a specific place and creation says its the only place the ancient remains can be found

-joined something he refers to as 'this operation', would not have if he'd known sunny was going to exist

ALSO

-center control is how Creation is able to teleport people and point at eggs (is that where it sends them, does it teleport them to a specific place?), like some kind of system Creation is able to make requests of

-center control

--tubbo of the present (from our perspective) won't remember recording the message, and leaves it with Creation (it is implied, i dont think its explicitly made clear that sunny received it, just that it was meant for her)

-doesn't refer to the situation in which sunny would be hearing it as him dying, but going away (tho this could just be using a common euphemism for death as people often do with children)

-center control delivers the data needed to resurrect tubbo by hiding it near his base, not in it. given the somewhat suspect nature of time in all of this, i think its worth noting they didnt leave a chest in the middle of a room, they made one in dirt nearby (where, hypothetically, it could have been waiting since before the house was even made, if you get my implication)

-they had this data at all

i have... theories. im watching today's stream now.

[yoitsjay]

The Whispers (Ch.2)

Pairings: Hunter X fem! Reader

Summary: you had saved Hunters family, and he promised to keep your secret. Now to Dathomir... where the whispers grow strongest.

Warnings: cannon violence, references and direct mentions to characters from Star wars Jedi: Fallen Order, but before that. Hunter starting to feel things maybe? Cid loves you surprisingly. Rip

Word count: 3,300

You had run out of rations before the week’s end, and the droids were still here, searching for any remaining survivors. In the distance you could still hear screams, but you knew you had to go out to gunt, to stay surviving. So while Merrin slept you gathered your things, holding your bow in your hands as you left the cave, slowly creeping through the forest, keeping your eyes and ears open for any animals, or for any dangers you might face. You could still hear your sisters screams in your head, angry cries… You found yourself crying, albeit silently, the tears just pouring from your eyes.

You shook away the anger and the hate. You moved forward. You heard something skittering so you lowered yourself to the ground, readyyour energy bow to shoot the creature, however when you saw two assassin droids emerge from the trees you lowered the bow, and pressed yourself into a tree, sucking in a deep breath, hoping that they didn't see you.

However when you poked your head out you heard a very childlike scream, and your eyes widened when you realized they had Merrin, and were about to execute her, but not before asking where the others were hiding. You quickly sprung into action, firing two shots with your energy bow before teleporting behind the assassin droids, slicing their heads off with your scimitars. And yet, in all your rage you were, and they grabbed Merrin because of it, and now you were surrounded, blasters aimed at you on all sides.

You were too blinded by your anger to see that it was a trap, they had been tracking you as soon as you left that cave but you would NOT let them kill Merrin, or you… so with all the energy you had, just as they started firing time seemed to slow, and a orb of purple seemed to expand around you and merrin, the energy you had created bursting from your body, destroying all the droids and life around you, trees starting to burn. Your adrenaline kept you going, and you grabbed Merrin and ran, and you didn't stop running, not until you were in a completely different place, one you'd never explored.

You only stopped when your knees started to buckle. You were exhausted, but you needed Merrin safe. She needed to be sa-

You woke up with a sharp gasp, sitting up abruptly, only to slam your head on the bottom of the bunk above you. You let out a loud groan, rubbing your head which you could already tell was starting to bruise. You heard some footsteps, and looking up you Noticed Omega by your side with a medpack at the ready, Hunter, Tech and the others all stood behind her, looking at you with curiosity, and distrust. Omega pressed an ice pack to your head, and you whispered a thank you, turning to face the men in front of you. “You have questions.” You stated rather than questioned, and Tech stepped forward, giving you a quick scan as he seemed to cross reference something before looking at Hunter, showing him the data pad.

“What are you?” Hunter asked, and you sighed. “I am a Nightsister, or I was… before my entire clan was executed, and I was left to survive, living with the fear that I would be found, and killed alongside my sisters..” You explained as water dripped down your face, you quickly wiped it away, revealing some of the markings on your face. “I don't want anyone else to know who or what I am” you stated, keeping the ice back against your forehead. “So you are from Dathomir?” Tech asked, and you nodded. “yes… after this mission… that was where i was going to ask you to bring me… I get these nightmares, and there's something or someone always whispering in my head… it's time i head back, discover how to rid myself of the voices and these nightmares.” You explained, looking at Hunter.

“The price of a witch is high, which is why I hide myself and keep these abilities secret. I don't want to die or get hunted… So please Hunter, keep my secret.” You begged him, Feeling omega place her hand on top of yours. You smiled for a moment, gripping her hand for a moment before letting go.

The man looked back at the others, who all seemed to share a look of agreement before they looked back at you. Hunter nodded to you before speaking. “You saved my family, I think we owe you more than just keeping a secret.” He said, and you let out a relieved sigh. letting yourself relax again.

“We can take you to Dathomir after we drop off what we got to Cid.” Hunter told you and you nodded, standing up and taking a step towards him, pursing your lips slightly before you pulled him into a sudden hug. You didn't know how else to express your gratitude. You pulled away from him, and he offered you a smile.

“Thank you.” You muttered to him, taking a step back as you looked at the others. “And thank you all as well, truely.” You added, looking back at Hunter with a smile.

“You know we work pretty well together.” You started, walking out with him to the cockpit. “Oh yeah?” He questioned, turning to face you. You grinned and nodded. “Well when we set those charges, we were like water and stone, they work together so smoothly that it just looks natural” You stated, sitting down in the cockpit.

You didn't say anything else after that as tech announced that the ship was dropping out of hyperspace, Hunter grabbed a seat beside you, pondering what you said.

The talk was Cid was over as soon as it started, The bad batch got their credits, and Cid seemed happy. However before you could turn around and leave, she gently grabbed your arm. “Hey, before you leave me in the dust with your new friends, I wanted to give you something. I know you've been improving with your sniping, so…” Cid trailed off before she ducked behind the bar, appearing moments later with a beautiful sniper rifle.

She handed it to you, seeing how big your smile grew. “Oh kriff Cid… it's beautiful, it matches the engravings on my scimitars… Thank you Cid.” You breathed out, pulling the Trandotian into a tight hug, however she quickly shoved you away, turning her head to the side.

“yeah whatever just go- and if you come back, stop in and say hi” She stated, pushing you towards the bad batch. You snickered, waving goodbye as you hooked the sniper on your back, letting it connect to a third magnet you had there, just for this moment. You walked up to Hunter, nodding.

You good with that thing?” he asked, and “Please.���the Trandotian into a tight hug, however she quickly shoved you away, turning her head to the side.

“yeah whatever just go- and if you come back, stop in and say hi” She stated, pushing you towards the bad batch. You snickered, waving goodbye as you hooked the sniper on your back, letting it connect to a third magnet you had there, just for this moment. You walked up to Hunter, nodding. “Are you good with that thing?” he asked, however you just shrugged. “I'm good, not great but good.” You stated, taking one last look at Cid before walking out with Hunter.

You made your way back to the Marauder, and quickly you snagged the fresher before anyone else, splashing some water onto your face, giving it a good scrub before drying it off with a stray towel you found. you set it back, and stared at your reflection, dragging your fingers over the markings on your face. You smiled, and walked back out of the fresher, looking over at the clones who were already off doing their own thing on the Marauder while tech set course for Dathomir.

You felt like you still needed some rest, so you made your way over to Hunter, tapping his shoulder to get his attention. When he looked up at you after fiddling with whatever he was working on, you smiled sheepishly. “Sorry to ask but- is it okay if I steal your bunk for a bit longer? I'm still quite tired and… If I'm going to face whatever is on Dathomir, I think I'll need some more rest.” You requested, not expecting Hunter to agree right away.

“Of course, thank you for asking. Go ahead and take my bunk, and if you need anything else just let me know.” He offered to you, and you smiled. “And you.” You replied, turning and walking away from him. You could feel his eyes trained on you still as you walked away, however you didn't pay any mind, and as soon as you reached the bed and got comfortable you were out like a light.

“You can't go!” Merrin shouted, fury in her eyes as green magic surrounded her form. You were standing by a ship that you stole from some unsuspecting travelers, ready to leave this planet for good. You stared at Merrin, shaking your head, noticing Malicos behind her with a smirk spread across his lips. “And you should just come with me Mer! It's not safe here, never has been and never will! And this… whatever he is, he's no good! I don't trust him and neither should you Merrin. If we leave we can find other clans! We can survive together like we always have!” You shouted back.

However Merrin only grew angrier, throwing a blast of magic towards you, which you quickly manipulated into your own magic, making it disappear. “I'm not going to fight you Merrin! Come with me or stay and rot with the pretender. But when he fails you, and you feel isolated, remember you had the chance to come with me and you didn't! Remember that when our sisters were massacred I was the one that kept you safe and made sure you survived!” You shouted, walking up the steps of your new ship, taking one last look at Merrin before you walked further into your ship. However you left the ramp open, just in case she changed her mind…

However when you took off, and Merrin was still standing there you simply sighed, closing the ramp and making your way out of the atmosphere. You had never flown but- there was always one way to learn, and you seemed to get a quick grip on the controls before selecting a random planet on the ships existing database, and you jumped to hyperspace, not looking behind you.

You opened your eyes after another dream, this one not as gory as the others but still equally as sad. You sat up slowly this time, rubbing your eyes before standing up. You fixed some stray strands of hair that fell from how you had it styled, and you made your way out to the cockpit, feeling refreshed and ready to take on your past… you didn't know how long you slept for, but the boys were still busy at work, making small repairs, or doing research.

You took a seat at the back of the cockpit, staring out the window and at the lights of hyperspace, a smile gracing your lips for a moment only for your mind to wander to Merrin… a sigh left your lips, one that was quickly picked up by Omega who was sitting beside you. “Are you okay?” She asked softly, tearing your attention from the window.

You looked down at her and smiled, nodding. “As good as I can be… I left someone behind on Dathomir… another Nightsister like me… I offered her a place with me but- she refused so I left her behind… I'm just wondering if… well… if she's still there… with that price?” You sneered at the last part, and Omega raised an eyebrow. “What prick?” She asked, and you sighed.

“A poser named Malicos. He told us that he was a jedi, and he could help us get revenge on those who killed our sisters but- I refused… Merrin however… she fell into his traps.” You muttered, looking away from Omega. “If I can avoid them… maybe it's all the better. But I have a feeling I'll need to confront her if I'm to rid myself of these nightmares.”

Omega nodded, and rested her hand on your shoulder for a moment before walking away. You heard some beeping coming from the center console and Tech quickly dropped the ship out of hyperspace. And right in front of you was the red planet of Dathomir. You let in a sharp breath, jumping slightly when you felt a warm and firm hand on your shoulder.

You looked up, relaxing when it was Hunter who was by your side. “You've got this. We'll be by your side the whole way.” he said, and you nodded. You entered the planet's atmosphere, flying over old ruins and burnt forests. You pointed out a good place to land and Tech did just that. Once fully landed you grabbed your gear and was the first to step off the ship. You inhaled, the long lost scents of your home filling your nose. You turned to Hunter, watching as the others piled out of the Marauder as well. “ready?” You asked them, staring ahead. “Dathomir’s terrain is dangerous, and some places are most likely blocked so we will have to find new routes to get to the center temple. So follow my lead, step where I step and we will be fine.”

You instructed them all sternly, but they were ready to follow your lead. Your magic felt strong here, and that was both good… and bad… regardless you started leading the way through the burnt forests towards the main temple. There were several different temples all over Dathomir, as well as encampments where your brother tribe lived, and you'd hope to avoid them because you really didn't want to get into a fight.

You and the bad batch walked for what seemed like hours, but was only multiple minutes at best. Tech was scanning the terrain and gathering data on the plants and soil. However when you approached a doorway, you signaled for everyone to stop. You sucked in a deep breath, channeling your magic through the door, hearing a soft click before the large doors opened slowly.

You raised your hand, a purple orb now floating above you, creating a light source that allowed not only you, but the others to see as well as you entered a cave system, one you knew well.

You lead them through, the only things heard being your breathing, or the grunts and coughs of those behind you. Nobody was really talking, and that was probably a good thing. The dead had ears here, and if Merrin was here there was a chance she could wake the dead… if she had Mother Talsins sphere.

A while later, you turned to face Hunter as another door was revealed. “We are getting close, the power of this place is growing stronger, and so are The whispers. Keep your weapons close, and if you see a living, stun, don't shoot. But kill any dead.” You explained, and you could sense the confusion. you sighed and with a swirl of magic you opened one of the beads cocoons, And summoned one of your dead sisters, who looked at you with her jaw slacked open, nothing behind her eyes. “Merrin isn't able to do this unless she has Mother Talsins sphere, and she most likely does, so just keep your eyes open.” You explained, closing your hand into a fist which rendered the dead nightsister into dust, which soon blew away from. The breeze.

You turned back to the door, extending your hand and your magic to open it. This time the door swung open with a bit more force than you intended, and you winced before walking forward. You stared up at the tall pires of the temple, and a sight left your lips. Despite that you continued forward with your newfound friends behind you… that was until-

“I never expected you of all people would come back here. It's been quite a while.” Came The sickly voice of Talon Malicos, who was leaning against the edge of the bridge to your side. How he got there so fast you had no idea, however when you heard the clicks of the batchers' blasters, you gestured for them to lower their weapons. “Malicos.” You sneered, glaring at him. “Why I'm here is none of your business. I suggest you stay out of our way.” You threatened, seeing him raise his hands with a chuckle.

“Please, don't mind me. Carry on with your business. I guess I shouldn't tell Merrin you're here either?” He asked, And Hunter noticed you tense up significantly. Suddenly purple magic lashed out at malicos like chains, and you brought him to his knees in front of you, anger in your eyes as you brought a magic chain to his throat and started to squeeze…

However when you felt a familiar warm hand on your arm, you released those chains, looking at Hunter with a newfound sadness. “Ignore him, let's keep moving.” He whispered to you, and you nodded despite those whispers telling you to end Malicos.

However you didn't, and instead you grabbed his face while he was still down. “Merrin made her choice. And like you, she will stay out of my way.” You spat on his face before letting him go, walking the rest of the bridge until you finally reached the temple, Hunter right beside you, just like he said he would be.

You lead them through the temple, following the whispers the louder they got until you reached what looked like an altar. You knelt down in front of it, grabbing a blade from your thigh as you brought it to the palm of your hand. You brought it up over the bowl on the altar, slicing a small cut in the palm of your hand, allowing your blood to drip into the bowl.

Green and purple magic clashed against each other in an uproar before your purple magic dwarfed the green. You rose back to your feet as two doors opened, one on either side of you. One would lead you to where you needed to go, and one… where your deepest desire lied. A sigh left your lips and you reached out with your hand, feeling with your magic in each door.

Eventually you stepped to the left side, and gestured for Hunter to follow. “Stay close now. No telling what could happen here.” You said softly, watching as they all got a bit closer to you. You lead them down until you reach a room. It was a large open space, one surprisingly unfamiliar to you.

You then turned to Hunter, placing a hand on his shoulder. “The rest I must face alone.” You stated, handing him your sniper rifle, grinning widely. “I'll come back for that.” You added, hearing him chuckle

“You better.” He rebutted. He found it odd however, that he was already caring so much for you. Maybe it was because you saved his family, or maybe it was because you were right. He was the rock that held everything together, and you were the fluid water that moved around him, and yet you fit together…

He watched as you walked away, disappearing down a dark hall. He turned to his brothers, gripping your rifle in his hands. “Best get comfy. This might take a while.”

[writingforfun7567]

Bad Batch Fanfic Our Love

Chapter 5–Sanctuary

Chapter Index

Summary—Crosshair’s trauma is still evident while Omega experiences her first panic attack in front of her siblings. The sniper is assigned to Ryloth while CF99 rendezvous with Rex, Echo and Kix on the safe haven of Alderaan.

Warnings—Trauma episode, POV changes, OCs.

Words: 8,648

Crosshair’s POV

As my ship travels through hyperspace, I think on the orders I had given to my squad while I was gone.

“Once I return, you are to destroy the power supply and wipe the data banks after transferring everything. Do you understand?” I had asked.

“Yes sir,” the squad all responded. I had a feeling I’d need some sort of insurance if I was going to actually go off planet for…personal reasons.

3rd POV

Crosshair’s shuttle drops out of hyperspace. The sniper returns just outside of Ankus’ atmosphere and his shuttle scans an approaching vessel. It’s the rest of his new squad. They attach vessels and the sniper opens the door to let them on. Crosshair let’s the attached ship go and plots the coordinates for Kamino as the rest of his squad mates walk into the cock pit with the sniper.

“Sir,” ES-03 walks up to Crosshair. He looks at the trooper.

“We wiped everything like you said and destroyed the power supply. No one can use the base now,” ES-03 and hands Crosshair a data rod.

“Everything?” Crosshair asks, just to make sure.

“Yes sir,” the trooper responds and Crosshair nods approvingly before motioning to sit. Wordlessly, the trooper sits down and the others follow while Crosshair powers up the hyperdrive. The stars look like streaks of light as the ship zips into hyperspace, heading back to Kamino.

As the ship travels through the hyperspace tunnel of swirling blue light, Crosshair listens to the chatter between the troopers. Mostly casual but none of them make an attempt to include him. Why would they? He killed ES-01 on Onderon before killing all those innocent people. The insurgents…the civilians. The others don’t understand. Crosshair notices that despite the visual similarities between their armor and clone armor, they are nothing like clones. There could be millions but none of them would ever understand what it’s like to be a clone. Crosshair’s time with Cody proved that. These new troopers didn’t understand the Kaminoans like the clones did. Not that Crosshair particularly cared about his new squad, but to be seen as useful to the Empire, Crosshair has to make this partnership work and he was certain that he wouldn’t get a another chance.

The sniper’s thoughts wander to Commander Cody. He said he was going to find his General. The last lead Cody had was the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. Crosshair growls instinctively at the thought. There was no point in going to the Jedi Temple. But Cody wasn’t a ‘shiny’. And Crosshair has his personal comm channel just in case. Crosshair feels a pulse of pain and scrunches his nose as his hand instinctively comes up to his head.

Crosshair’s POV

Permanent damage, Cody had said. And none of this would’ve happened if only Hunter had listened. But…it doesn’t matter now. I know the truth. I tried to help Hunter and how did he repay me? By leaving me behind on Kamino. He didn’t even know what Nala Se had done to me that day in the hangar.

“You really think we’ll leave Kamino?” I remember asking Hunter years ago, when we were cadets.

“We’ll leave and never come back,” Hunter had told me, putting a reassuring hand on my shoulder.

“Promise?”

“I promise,”

I shake my head at the memory. Liar. I feel a hand on my shoulder and I immediately jerk away, glaring through my helmet. ES-03 pauses and looks at me before I see the hand that touched me drop.

“What?” I snarl. ES-03 points and that’s when I hear a warning beeping noise. I must’ve been so absorbed in my thoughts I didn’t hear it.

“Sir, we’re approaching an asteroid field,” ES-03 says. I shut off the warning and I feel the ship lurch out of hyperspace. I see a huge expanse of floating rocks blocking the way. I hadn’t been excellent, but with Tech’s instruction, I learned a decent amount of flying during our training. I swerve my way in, dodging and weaving through. I put up the front shields at max power as we fly through.

I manage to fly through the asteroids successfully. The shields are down to 72% but otherwise, alright. The coordinates for Kamino are still in the nav computer and I let the ship’s autopilot take over. In no time at all, the ship arrives back on the stormy water world of Kamino. I’m struggling to see through the gray clouds, the rain and lighting but luckily I get the ship back to a hangar at Tipoca City.

The ship lands and my squad walks out first. I watch as the squad goes back to the barracks and I think about Cody. Cody hadn’t known about the inhibitor chips when I told him about them but part of me wonders if the chips were only for Order 66 and any orders after would be easier to question. I could’ve fought it had Nala Se not kidnapped and tortured me. She took out the chip but I can feel its effects. And I wouldn’t have gone through that if only Hunter had listened.

3rd POV

Crosshair and his squad are not needed so they head back to their barracks.

Meanwhile, in Lama Su’s office…

Nala Se has been summoned by the Prime Minister. The chief scientist walks in and is surprised to also see Governor Tarkin.

“Have a seat Mistress Se,” Lama Su tells her. Nala Se and Tarkin make eye contact as she moves to sit in the chair opposite him.

“Thank you for arriving so quickly. As you know, I am here to assess the value of all clones for the Empire. However, Emperor Palpatine has expressed that even though the clones of the army are of little to no value to him, the cloning technology is priceless,” Tarkin says. Nala Se blinks. It’s true the Kaminoan cloning technology is well-known throughout the galaxy, but that’s because everyone knows there’s more than one way to make a clone. The quality of Kaminoan clones is unlike any other.

“We offer our standard fee that we offered the Republic-“ Lama Su says.

“You misunderstand. We do not wish to place an order,” Tarkin says.

“Emperor Palpatine wants to use Kamino as a base of operations for his personal project,” Tarkin says. At first, Lama Su doesn’t reply, instead, he looks to Nala Se.

Even though they had commissioned the clone army for Palpatine, the Kaminoans are a neutral planet. Much like the Banking Clan, the Kaminoans claim no allegiance to anyone but themselves and accept orders from all over. However, both Lama Su and Nala Se were well aware of the Emperor’s true intentions.

Nala Se gives Lama Su a small nod before turning to Tarkin.

“I would be honored to work for Emperor Palpatine on his personal project. To make sure I am the right candidate for the job, I would like to learn more,” Nala Se says and Tarkin smiles.

“I’m happy to hear that, though I’m afraid that all I’m able to tell you is that Project Necromancer is classified to most except those with special clearance, which I’m afraid your Prime Minister does not have,” Tarkin glances at Lama Su.

“I must object Governor Tarkin. I have to approve and oversee every project Mistress Se works on,” Lama Su argues gently.

“Oh do not fret, we will keep you updated, however, the finer, specific details remain classified,” Tarkin assures the Prime Minister.

“Since we do have other contracts, we would suggest using a separate facility, one equipped for this classified project,” Lama Su says.

“The Emperor agrees and is already constructing many of his own personal facilities equipped with state of the art technology. However, he has already started working on Project Necromancer. We can certainly give you time to prepare but Emperor Palpatine has scheduled a visit within the rotation,” Tarkin explains.

“Very well. We will expect his arrival then,” Lama Su responds.

“Good. I believe that concludes my business with you. I will be in touch with the Emperor shortly,” Tarkin says, standing up.

“Prime Minister…Mistress Se,” Tarkin addresses them before walking out, leaving the Kaminoans alone.

“Until we learn of Emperor Palpatine’s true intentions, say nothing. We should be cautious,” Lama Su tells Nala Se, who hums in agreement.

Crosshair’s POV

As my squad exits the hangar, I see Admiral Rampart approach them. They will tell him everything no doubt. But Rampart is just another small ‘cog in the machine’ as Tech would say. My loyalties should be with those in actual power like Governor Tarkin. I’m sure I will be speaking to him in no time. I sigh quietly before taking my helmet off. Luckily my headache has disappeared.

“Hey! Crosshair!” I hear a somewhat familiar voice call out to me. I turn and see Crys and Trapper, the 212th troopers that I met in the mess hall after meeting Saw. They were the ones that told me about Cody and where to find him.

They have their helmets on but casually remove them as they approach.

“Glad to see you,” Crys greets and it takes me a moment at first. I’ve never been greeted like that by someone outside CF99 before, except from Cody and 99 of course.

“Did you find the Commander?” Trapper asks me. I nod.

“I did. He was injured but on the mend when I met up with him,” I explain. Seeing the concern on their faces, I keep going, “fractured femur, hairline I think. I’m not a medic.”

“Did he say what he was going to do after he got better?” Crys asks. I don’t answer at first. I probably shouldn’t tell them he’s going to go find General Kenobi, so instead, I tell them that I wasn’t clear on his plans, only that he’d return when he could.

Talking with the 212th troopers makes me think on the differences between them and my squad. As the 3 of us walk through the sterile, bright white halls, I see a Kaminoan walk past us, not paying us any mind, but I can’t help the instinctive step away from him I make. I hear Trapper grumble something under his breath. The Kaminoan looks towards us but none of us make eye contact and keep walking. Once we’re out of range, Trapper snickers.

“Long-neck lab scrabber,” he says.

“You dislike the Kaminoans too?” I ask.

“Dislike? Karrabast, they’re all a bunch of sleemos if you ask me. They may not experiment on us like you CT-99s, but you should hear how they talk about us. We’re just objects to them, weapons to fight a war,” Crys tells me. I hadn’t realized how much I actually have in common with the clones in general. They were regs…but…now they’re just…clones. Like I am.

“Yeah some of the commanders were shuttled out a couple rotations ago-“ I hear Crys say and that gets my attention.

“Do you know where they were sent?” I ask.

“No…and no one’s heard from them since. Like Commander Bly? No one in the 327th has seen him since Felucia,” Crys explains. 327th..that’s General Secura’s battalion.

“The Empire could be using them,” Trapper says.

“Using them? For what?” I ask. Trapper shrugs.

“I dunno, but you know they’d get every bit of usefulness out of us before throwing us away like garbage,” Trapper answers. The two continue talking while I wonder if they’ve seen or even know about ES-02, 3 or 4. The only reason I’m squad leader is because I was with CF99. If I wasn’t-

“H-Hey,” I stop in my tracks. The two stop and turn to look back at me.

“Crosshair?” Crys asks.

“I…I’m a new squad leader, now that I’m not with CF99,” I explain.

“But…I don’t like my new squad,” I admit, “I’m only with them so the Empire thinks I will be useful.”

“Your new squad? Who is it? Hope it isn’t anyone we know-“ Crys jokes, not understanding my seriousness.

“They aren’t clones,” I say and their eyes widen.

“Not clones? But they’re soldiers? I don’t understand-“ Crys says.

“Yeah, wouldn’t the Kaminoans want to create more of us so they can get more money?” Trapper asks.

“Please, just listen to me. They’re not clones. The Empire thinks that those who willingly sign up have more loyalty than us,” I explain.

Before either trooper could respond, Crys gets a call over his commlink.

“Crys, report to the briefing room-“ I hear a trooper say.

“Just…watch yourself…and your men. The galaxy is changing and…I don’t want you to get left behind,” I say. He nods and offers a hand. We grab forearms and shake.

“Take care of yourself Crosshair,” Crys says and I nod. I shake hands with Trapper and he nods as I walk off.

I wonder about clones who aren’t deemed useful to the Empire. There are millions of troopers. There’s no way the Kaminoans would be ok with the killing of millions of clones and I’ve never seen them make bad deals. And I’m sure Nala Se wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to have as many test subjects as possible. I feel the anger well inside me at the thought of the Kaminoan scientist. But as the anger comes, so does the pain in my head. I wince a bit. I take a breath and sigh when I hear my comm beep.

“CT-9904, report to my office,” I hear Tarkin’s voice.

“Yes sir,” I respond and make my way there, but not making an effort to hurry. I’m not surprised really. I knew my squad would tell him that I left my post on Ankus.

I finally get to Tarkin’s office and press the button. The doors open and I walk inside. Tarkin is sitting at his desk.

“Have a seat CT-9904,” he says. I cautiously walk up and take the chair at his desk.

“Do you know why you are here Commander?” He asks.

“I..don’t know, sir,” I answer, feigning innocence.

“You are here because you left your post on Ankus for a non-mission-related objective, is that correct?” Tarkin asks.

“Yes sir,”

“Why did you leave Ankus? Tell the truth and I’ll give you your next mission,” Tarkin says, meshing his fingers together with his elbows on his desk.

“Each of your squad mates gave different answers which leads me to believe you did not tell anyone of your ‘off-the-record’ objective,” Tarkin says. Lying isn’t really my style. It’s not that I can’t, I just prefer not to.

“I didn’t tell the others because I didn’t think they would understand, sir,” I explain.

“Well, regardless of what your squad would think, it is highly irregular to go off on your own,” Tarkin says.

“I’m sorry sir, I…I operated how I would with my old squad. Being the sniper-I usually am alone-“ I tell him. Not a lie…but not exactly the truth either. An…exaggeration if anything.

“Well if you cannot take the lead on this next mission, I’m afraid I’ll have to report your incompetence to Nala Se,” Tarkin says and my eyes widen.

“I will take the lead, sir,” I say, steeling myself before looking right at him. We lock eyes for a moment and when I can tell he won’t back down, I decide to take out the datarod ES-03 gave me. All the information about the abandoned base on Ankus. Tarkin takes the datarod and looks at it with a raised brow.

“Very well. We are still going through possible candidates to replace ES-01 but for now, you and the rest of your squad will report to Admiral Rampart,” he says. Easy replacement, that’s all they care about. I nod.

“Understood sir,” I say.

“Dismissed,” Tarkin tells me and I immediately stand up and hurry out.

“CT-9904,” Tarkin gets my attention right as I get to the door. I glance back over my shoulder.

“You are very valuable CT-9904. If you fail, Nala Se won’t just decommission you, she’ll use you until she’s finished with you. Do you understand?” He threatens. I nod.

“Yes sir,” I nearly growl out. The door opens and I walk out. I can’t go back to Nala Se again.

I walk out and feel my heart beating and a cold sweat makes me clammy. Nala Se. She tortured me. This pain in my head…it’s permanent, according to Cody at least. I’ve always hated the bloodwork, the diets, the injections. Nala Se would assure us as cadets that it was necessary for our development, to make sure our mutations were developing without hurting us. But it seemed like the other clones were being tested on half as much as us, maybe even less. None of us liked it. Plus, when we met Echo, he already had that fear thanks to the Techno Union so it was easy for him to relate.

My chest tightens and the pain in my head spikes with pain. The sudden intense pain sends a wave of nausea through me. I brace myself against the wall. Passing troopers either pay me no mind or give me a look, but everyone keeps walking. While it’s nothing new to be ignored by most troopers, I also have to assume that no one but me knows about the inhibitor chip and that they are probably being influenced by it still. The only way to stop the chip is to surgically remove it, something Nala Se did to me after she burned the chip into my brain permanently, causing the damage Cody told me about.

Meanwhile…

3rd POV

After saying goodbye to the Lawquane family, CF99 regroup in the Havoc Marauder to take inventory. While the boys busy themselves, the kids gather on the gunners mount. Maisy sits in Omega’s lap while the two older kids sit with their backs against the cool metal wall.

“What do we do now?” Maisy asks glumly. Omega looks at Wyyntrr.

“I…I’m not sure. But at least we have each other, right?” Omega asks.

“Yeah…I guess-“ Maisy answers. Wyyntrr sighs sadly.

A silence falls over the kids.

“You know I’ve never really had someone my age to…to help with the bad stuff,” Omega says. The two Jedi kids look at Omega. Wyyntrr whimpers at Omega. She looks at him, then down at Maisy in her lap.

“He asked if you were alone,” she explains and Omega nods.

“I’ve been alone my whole life, even before the war,” Omega explains.

“Before the war?” Maisy asks and Omega nods.

“I was 7 when it started, but even when the first generation clones were cadets, they didn’t really care for me. Not to mention Nala Se hardly ever let me out of her personal lab, ever since Alpha disappeared at the start of the war,” Omega says.

“Alpha? Who’s that?” Maisy asks.

“Jango, the donor, had an unaltered clone like me to raise like how Nala Se raised me,” Omega explains then turns sad. Maisy cocks her head slightly.

“I..I heard from Nala Se that the donor was killed right before the start of the war,” Omega explains before letting a bit of anger turn her face into a frown.

“A Jedi named Mace Windu killed him,” Omega says. Wyyntrr and Maisy’s eyes widen. The two were familiar with the dark skinned master. He was stern when he needed to be but he was strong and wise. While the two young Jedi never met him personally, they’d heard stories of his strength and calm.

“We know about him,” Maisy tells Omega.

Omega’s POV

My hand tightens into a fist. It’s not like I hate the Jedi as a group or anything like that. It’s just that particular Jedi that killed him. I didn’t know the donor and I don’t think he even knew about my existence, but I would’ve preferred the Kaminoans do their testing on him than me and before the war, they did.

“If it weren’t for that Jedi, I wouldn’t have been tested on by Nala Se. If it weren’t for him, Nala Se could’ve used the donor instead of me. That Jedi is why I had to be hooked up to all those machines and-and-the tubes-“ I start to go off, my anxiety and anger rising. The Jedi can feel it. Maisy scrambles off my lap and backs into Wyyntrr.

“Omega?” Maisy asks carefully. I feel my breathing speed up. My chest tightens and a cold sweat comes over me at the thought. No. No I can’t go back to Kamino-I can’t. Nala Se-

“Omega?” Maisy asks again but her voice sounds muffled and far away. I hear Wyyntrr roar with concern and he puts a hand on my shoulder, suddenly grounding me in the moment.

A warm almost calming feeling washes over me. Relief unclenches my chest and it’s easier to breathe. I look and see Wyyntrr and Maisy with their eyes shut. Wyyntrr has a hand on my shoulder and the other holding Maisy’s hand. The two seem…focused. Their eyes open and we make eye contact as I take a breath.

“I-…I’m sorry. That..that hasn’t happened to me in…a long time,” I say. The last time I remember feeling that way was when Kamino was attacked. I was 9. I’m 11 now and because it’s been a while, I’d almost forgotten what that fear and anxiety felt like.

“Rrr-rrrgh-urrrgh. Rrgh rrhh-rrrgh,” Wyyntrr says, looking right at me. I know he’s blind but..I’m sure he can see.

“A panic attack. He..he knows someone that had them,” Maisy translates. I look at him then down at the little girl.

“Are you ok?” She asks, clearly concerned. I nod.

“Nala Se spent my whole life pricking me with needles, locking me away in cold, sterile labs. She would put me in a tube to make it easier for her. I didn’t see my whole family get killed but…but it was still really, really bad. Do you understand?” I explain. I watch as Maisy seems to mull over my words, as if its a puzzle before nodding slowly.

Maisy’s POV

“Do you understand?” Omega asks me. I think on her words. She..she was hurt. For a long time. It’s not like what happened to the Jedi. It’s still a really bad pain but…a different kind of pain. I nod slowly.

“I..I think so,” I tell her, “was it a different kind of hurt?” I ask and Omega nods.

“It was. I still think about it sometimes…but…I just want you to know that you can talk to me about anything..ok? Both of you. I…I understand the hurt and pain,” Omega tells us. Wyyntrr puts a hand on my shoulder and we nod.

“You too. To talk with us. If you want,” I offer and she smiles and nods before ruffling my hair.

“Deal,” she agrees and I can’t help the smile that forms on my face.

“I am merely stating that we should form a plan instead of drift through the galaxy aimlessly,” I hear Tech’s voice say. I turn and the 2 older kids notice and pay attention as well.

“We have to be careful now Tech, we can’t assume anything anymore,” Hunter argues.

“Without the Republic, we’ll have to get our own credits,” Wrecker says.

“We’re soldiers Hunter. There’s not much else we are capable of. Child rearing is already pushing it,” Tech says. Mine and Omega’s eyes widen while Wyyntrr just looks sad.

“We’re bad for them,” I whisper, crawling back into Omega’s lap. She wraps her arms around me as Wyyntrr moves closer to us and drapes an arm over Omega’s shoulders. Omega doesn’t argue with me and I can’t help the tears. Without the soldiers, it’s just the 3 of us. How would we live? I feel Wyyntrr put a large hand on my back as Omega cups the back of my head, her fingers getting tangled in my thick, shaggy, wild dark brown hair.

I’ve never felt this way with the Jedi. The Masters wanted to take care of us, to teach us, to nurture us. They weren’t forced into it like the Batch.

“They got stuck with us,” I whimper sadly.

“Hunter and the others wanted to help us. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t have agreed to getting their inhibitor chips out,” Omega explains. My eyes widen. I…I didn’t know it was Omega’s idea.

“You…did doctor stuff…for me? Even though you hate doctor stuff?” I ask. Omega nods.

“Of course, you were in danger,” Omega says as if it’s obvious. I blink before launching myself at her.

“I love you, ‘mega,” I tell her, wrapping my arms tightly around the older girl. She chuckles and hugs me back, shifting me a bit to get a better hold on me.

“I love you too..both of you,” Omega says, pulling Wyyntrr closer and he chuckles, ruffling her hair. An alerting beep gets everyone’s attention.

3rd POV

The Havoc Marauder’s console starts beeping, getting everyone’s attention.

“There’s an incoming transmission..from Echo,” Tech announces.

“C’mon!” Omega tells Wyyntrr and Maisy. The young female clone hops down off the gunner’s mount and holds her hands up to Maisy. She drops down and Omega catches the Youngling and sets the little girl down while Wyyntrr slides off the edge, landing quietly next to them before hurrying to the cockpit.

Back on Kamino…

Crosshair manages to breathe through the pain and make it to Rampart’s office. He’s sitting across from the Imperial officer.

“So CT-9904, I’ve heard about your insubordination from Admiral Tarkin,” Rampart says. Crosshair remains neutral.

“You cannot say we didn’t give you ample opportunities to prove yourself. You’ve had the insurgents on Onderon, and the base on Ankus to prove yourself to the Empire,” Admiral Rampart says, “so despite how ‘valuable’ you may be to the Kaminoans, I can assure you that your worth to the Empire is based entirely on the success of your mission. You may consider yourself special among your kind, but you clones have yet to prove your worth to the Empire.”

“Yes sir, I understand,” the sniper responds with a growl.

“I’ve already informed your squad mates of your new mission,” Rampart says, handing the sniper a datapad.

Crosshair looks at it and when he gets to ‘location’, he reads ‘Ryloth’.

“Ryloth? Doesn’t the Empire already occupy that planet?” Crosshair asks.

“We have many patrols stationed in that sector, but our focus has been on Raxus, since that was the heart of the Separatists like former senator Mina Bonteri,” Rampart explains.

“You and your squad will eliminate the so called ‘freedom fighters’ including their leader, Cham Syndulla and any who follow him. After you’ve taken care of the threat, you will secure the city of Lessu, the capital without fail. Do you understand?” Rampart asks.

“Yes sir,” Crosshair says. Rampart gives the sniper a long, hard analyzing look before nodding in dismissal.

“Very well, you must leave immediately,” Rampart says and Crosshair stands and walks out, thinking on what Rampart told him.

“We have many patrols stationed in that sector, but our focus has been on Raxus, since that was the heart of the Separatists,” Rampart’s voice echoes in Crosshair’s mind. He hadn’t thought about it but if the Jedi didn’t win the war, then what happened to the Separatist leaders? Obviously when they rescued Echo they took out the Techno Union, but what about the others like Viceroy Gunray? Crosshair pushes that question into the back of his mind, choosing not to dwell on it. Instead he heads back to the barracks.

Omega’s POV

Tech plays the transmission and a hologram of Echo appears! He’s with two others, Captain Rex and another clone trooper I’m not familiar with. They look like they’re in a ship. I can hear ammunition firing and the hologram fuzzes slightly but Tech secures the connection.

“Am I glad to see you boys. We could really use some back up,” Echo greets. I can’t help but notice his black eye, split lip and how he’s holding his ribs.

“What’s going on Echo?” Hunter asks.

“You’re hurt!” I exclaim.

“I’m ok Omega, just a little banged up-“ Echo says.

“I’LL SAY!” A voice snaps off camera and Echo rolls his eyes.

“Don’t mind Kix, he can be…dramatic-“ Echo says.

“Echo!” Rex snaps to get the ARC trooper’s attention.

“Right-we’re in our ship—Rex is trying to take off now, but our deflectors were damaged and-“ Echo explains but another hit causes the ship to rock and Echo gasps.

“Rex! Get us in the air!” The other clone, Kix, yells.

“I’m trying! The steering’s jammed!” Rex answers.

“I’m on it!” Kix answers and I watch him race by. I hear the hum of an engine power up and by the relief on Echo’s face, I can tell they’ve taken off.

“I’ve put in the hyperspace coordinates, hang on!” Rex exclaims.

“We’re jumping to Alderaan—we need h-“ Echo says but the transmission suddenly cuts off from them going into hyperspace.

“Help-he was gonna say help-“ Maisy alerts, tugging on my sleeve. I nod in agreement.

“She’s right Hunter, Echo and Rex need us,” I tell Hunter. Wrecker and Tech nod at him, indicating they want to help too. Hunter nods.

“Alright, set coordinates for Alderaan Tech. We don’t even know what kind of trouble they’re in so be ready,” Hunter says and Tech nods.

Once Tech powers up the hyperdrive, the ship lurches forward and zips through the stars. Despite getting such urgent news, I’m a little…caught off guard when my brothers just…sit there.

“Shouldn’t we prepare?” I ask worriedly.

“It’s going to take a while to get to Alderaan. There’s not much else we can do besides wait,” Wrecker explains.

“But we can’t just sit here while Echo needs us!” I argue but my siblings don’t agree, instead Wyyntrr and Maisy just share a glance, then look at me, watching.

“We can’t do much while we’re in hyperspace. We just have to be patient Omega,” Hunter tells me. He walks up and puts a hand on my shoulder.

“I..I know but—but he was hurt-“

“Echo’s tough. Maybe even tougher than all of us. He’ll be alright,” Hunter reassures me. His voice is strong but calm. I sigh and look at him, then at Tech. Tech blinks but nods all the same before turning to Wrecker.

“Why don’t you take the controls Wrecker?” Tech asks. Sensing that Tech has something planned, the demolitions expert nods.

“Sure thing Tech,” Wrecker says and switches places with the goggled soldier. Luckily the ship’s nav computer and autopilot does most of the work. Wrecker just has to keep an eye on the ship’s scanner.

“When I get anxious about something, I try and get my mind to focus on something else,” Tech says, pulling out his datapad as he walks up to us.

“And what better way to distract yourself than by learning,” Tech says.

“Of course,” Hunter mumbles to himself but I hear him and can’t help the smile that forms on my lips.

Tech’s POV

“And what better way to distract yourself than by learning,” I say.

“Of course,” Hunter mumbles to himself and I see Omega smile a bit. I turn on the language vocabulary of my datapad and scroll through until I find Shyriiwook.

“Here, just start with the basics first. I will quiz you when you are ready,” I tell Omega, handing her my datapad. She takes it and looks at the screen.

“Shyrii-wook,” Omega reads.

“Cool!” Wyyntrr exclaims. I motion to come sit at one of the chairs in front of the main computer on the ship. Omega sits next to me while Maisy climbs up into the older girl’s lap. Wyyntrr stands behind their chair.

“Shyriiwook is an old language but one that isn’t too hard to understand-“ I explain and start teaching the girls, as I’m sure Wyyntrr is well aware of his own culture and language. I pull up more information about basic sentence structure and differences between formal words and slang I’ve picked up, with Wyyntrr correcting my slang every once in a while.

3rd POV

The transmission cuts out as Captain Rex manages to get the stolen transport ship into hyperspace, heading towards Alderaan. Rex groans in pain and grabs his side. There’s a piece of shrapnel piercing his lower left side! Echo’s eyes widen in shock when he sees his captain struggling.

“Rex!” Echo exclaims, “Kix! Rex is injured!”

“Let me see-“ Kix says and immediately gets Rex to turn in his chair.

“I-I’m fine-“ Rex says, gripping the piece of shrapnel sticking out of him.

“Damn right you are, now hold still or I’ll sedate you,” Kix threatens and Rex knows better than to test the medic.

“Why are we going to Alderaan?” Echo asks, having only heard of the planet, not understanding why they are going. Kix helps Rex take off his armor.

“I know someone that-GAAAH!” Rex suddenly cries out when Kix takes out the bloody piece of shrapnel. Kix immediately takes what’s left of the bacta spray and the last spool of bandages.

“Goddamnit Kix!” Rex snaps, though the medic just ignores Rex’s tone as he wraps the injury.

“I know someone that can help us,” Rex finishes and Echo nods when a beeping sound gets his attention.

“The hyperdrive’s overheating. I’ll be back-“ Echo says and hurries out of the cockpit to go fix it.

On Kamino, Crosshair gets back to the barracks and sees the rest of his squad. ES-02, 3 and 4. They’re already getting ready for the mission, so Crosshair just looks at them.

“Our next mission is on Ryloth,” Crosshair announces and is met with silence. ES-03 looks between the other two troopers, but does nothing because deep down, they all think the clone sniper is incompetent. Of course they would have no idea it’s because of the ‘procedure’ Nala Se put Crosshair through.

The only sound in the barracks is the sound of rifling and moving things around as the soldiers gear up and head to the hangar where their ship is.

Echo manages to fix the coolant leak that was causing the hyperdrive to overheat.

“Got it!” Echo calls just as the alarm shuts off. The ARC trooper heads back to the cockpit and sees Kix in the pilot seat instead. Rex is slumped in the copilot chair.

“How you doin’?” Echo asks worriedly as he gently places his hand on Rex’s pauldron. Echo notices that Rex is a bit pale. No surprise. The 501st captain sighs.

“Been better,” Rex groans and Echo smirks. Since his black eye has swollen up, Echo can only see out of one eye. Luckily Kix slathered the purple-ish blue bruise with bacta. The medic would’ve bandaged Echo’s eye but he needed it for Rex.

“You could say that again,” Echo says.

“We’re coming up on Alderaan,” Kix announces.

Their transport ship drops out of hyperspace and is heading towards a blue and white planet. As they get closer, everything becomes more and more distinct. The landforms come closer and forms along with the bodies of water as they fly through the clouds. The engines are still damaged from their escape and sputter slightly, starting to smoke. Alarms sound inside.

“Echo, turn on the secure emergency channel—3.149-45,” Rex instructs and the ARC trooper nods, doing as Rex says.

“Senator, this is CT-7567, Captain Rex,” Rex announces but at first there’s no response so Rex tries again.

“I’ll boost the signal as much as I can,” Echo says, flipping two switches and routing more power to the satellite dish.

“Senator Organa, this is Captain Rex, CT-7567, come in!” Rex pleads, the urgency clear in his voice.

“Captain Rex?! Am I glad to hear from you. What is going on?” Senator Organa asks when he hears the blaring alarms as Kix tries to pilot the crashing ship.

“Senator Organa, our ship has been damaged and we’re not doing so good. We could use some help,” Rex says.

“Understood. Head to these coordinates. Landing platform 3. I’ll be waiting for you,” the senator replies.

“Heading to the coordinates now,” Kix says.

“Thanks-“ Rex says before ending the communication.

They get to the landing platform and Kix opens the door. Kix and Echo each take a side and help Rex up. The soldiers walk off and see someone approaching the ship. An r-series astromech follows him, pushing a floating stretcher. Rex smiles.

“Senator Organa-“ Rex says as Echo and Kix help Rex onto the stretcher the droid is pushing.

“You’re in worse shape than I thought. We’d better get you inside, quickly. R2-C4, go prep the medical room and contact Fulcrum,” Senator Organa says. His droid beeps and rolls ahead of them.

While Echo and Kix seem confused about who the senator is and what exactly Fulcrum is, they continue to follow the politician.

“I was surprised to receive your transmission captain. I thought you had split off-“ Senator Organa begins to tell the captain.

“I got a little…sidetracked,” Rex admits as they get inside.

“Sidetracked?” The senator asks and the captain nods.

“I’ll explain later-“ he says and Senator Organa nods back.

Echo’s POV

We get Rex inside and the Senator has his personal doctor look Rex over. Luckily the shrapnel didn’t pierce anything vital, but he’ll need 10 stitches. Senator Organa even had the doc look me over, and despite my protests, Rex insisted. But I must admit I’m not sore anymore, my eye does feel better and my lip doesn’t sting.

“Thank you for helping us Senator Organa,” I say and he smiles.

“Of course. I’ve always been a big supporter of clones and clone rights, thanks to Senator Amidala,” he says, a small sad smile barely visible on his face but concern creeps in.

“But where are you coming from?” He asks.

“The Jedi Temple. We went back for our medic, Kix-“ Rex says, getting his attention. Kix puts a hand on the captain’s shoulder and Senator Organa turns sad.

“So…you know? You know that the 501st-?” The senator asks tentatively and Rex nods.

“Yeah…yeah we know,” Rex answers glumly. Kix doesn’t say a word. Being the only one that was at the Temple when it happened, no one can blame him.

“They’re all…gone…except for us,” Rex says. I…I guess I had thought that after my torture on Anaxes, I wasn’t the same. That I wouldn’t have belonged like I used to. Especially since Rex told me what happened to Fives when he and the others rescued me.

3rd POV

As they talk, Senator Organa’s droid, R2-C4 suddenly beeps alerting the others.

“What is it R2-C4?” Bail asks. His droid beeps and spins his top once.

“A single vessel is approaching?” He asks and the droid beeps again.

“It’s ok. They’re friends of ours,” Echo says.

“We contacted them earlier. They’re coming to help us,” Rex says and Bail nods.

“Then they shall be welcomed. R2-C4, once they’re in range, direct them to landing pad 1,” Bail instructs and his droid beeps.

The Havoc Marauder drops out of hyperspace. Surprisingly, Omega managed to pick up the basics of Shyriiwook and can understand Wyyntrr…a bit. Tech flies the ship towards Alderaan and gets a transmission from R2-C4 saying to land at landing pad 1, so the pilot follows the instructions.

Bail, Rex, Echo and Kix all watch the Marauder land and the door opens. Hunter walks out first followed by Tech, the kids and Wrecker bringing up the rear.

“Echo!” The kids exclaim. They all run and Echo kneels down and open his arms to return the gesture. Hunter turns to Bail.

“Thank you so much for keeping an eye on them. They…mean a lot to me,” Hunter says. Bail smiles and nods at the sergeant.

“Anything I can do to help. Come inside, I would like to speak with you,” Bail says and Hunter nods before motioning to the others to follow the senator.

Hunter watches as Omega reaches out and grabs both of the Jedi’s hands and he smiles to himself. The group heads inside and while Hunter does have a bit of a sensory problem here, it’s not nearly as bad as it is on Coruscant and he’s able to easily move past it. Having all the running water and nature around really helps.

“This way,” Senator Organa tells us. Hunter sees pieces of art lining the hall and wonders where they are.

“This is my home,” the senator answers Hunter’s unasked question. A woman walks by holding a baby. She smiles at the group when she spots the kids and nods.

“There’s food in the kitchen Bail,” she tells the senator.

“Thank you Breha,” he tells her as she winks and walks to a room, presumably a nursery.

“That is my wife, Breha Organa and our daughter, Leia,” Bail says and glances at the kids.

“You’re a father,” Hunter says and Bail smiles at him, nodding once.

“Just like you,” he says.

“Woah-I’m not a-“ Hunter tries to argue, but Bail just chuckles, cutting the sergeant off.

“Whether you are or aren’t, you take care of these kids,” Bail says, looking at the children.

“Mr. Bail sir-what is this?” Maisy asks, interrupting. She’s pointing on the counter since the little girl cannot reach.

“That is a meiloorun. A type of fruit. Wanna try some?” Bail asks. Maisy looks to Hunter.

“Can I?” She asks and Hunter nods.

“I’ll get you kids set up before we talk business,” Bail says, glancing at the soldiers.

“Business?” Wrecker asks.

“The senator explained to us that he’s been having trouble gathering support in the senate since Palpatine took over,” Rex explains.

“Support? For what?” Hunter asks as Bail loads up plates of food ranging from meat and bread to fruit and even desserts. Bail has the group sit at their family table. The kids eat but Maisy can’t cut her food. Omega notices, but is in the middle of eating. On the Youngling’s other side, the medic, Kix, also notices the trouble and offers to help.

“Here, do you need help ad’ika?” Kix asks Maisy. She nods and lets the medic help her.

Hunter’s POV

Kix helps Maisy with her food, and I give him a grateful nod and he smiles at me as we talk with Bail.

“I’ve been in contact with someone who’s been fighting the Empire, but during their latest transmission, I’ve learned that he’s been captured,” Bail explains.

“Who is it?” Tech asks.

“The Ryloth freedom fighter, Cham Syndulla,” the senator reveals.

“Ryloth? Isn’t that a planet occupied by the Empire?” I ask.

“No, but it might as well be. The Empire’s presence has grown in the last few rotations and I’ve lost contact with Cham himself. I’ve just been getting by with information from one of his supporters,” Bail says.

“So what do you want from us?” I ask.

“I know you only came here to retrieve your brothers—and of course you do not have to agree, but I’m told that your squad takes on the impossible. If Ryloth is going to survive, if the people of Ryloth are going to survive, they need Cham. And so does his family,” Bail explains.

“His family?” I ask and Bail nods.

“From what I’m told, he has a wife and a young daughter, probably around their age,” Bail says, motioning to Omega and Wyyntrr.

“We’ve done plenty of stealth and retrieve missions before. We can easily rescue Cham Syndulla,” Tech says.

“Yeah, but our fuel and supplies-“ Wrecker tries to be reasonable.

“Will be supplied for you, whatever you need,” Bail interrupts.

“W-Wait wait-anything?” Wrecker asks and Bail chuckles.

“We have a fully stocked armory. Feel free to take what you need,” Bail says.

“Alright!” Wrecker exclaims.

“You can even leave the kids here with me,” Bail says and all 3 kids’ eyes widen.

“No-no that’s too much of an imposition Senator. But we could use the resupply,” I say and Wrecker smiles. Once we agree, Senator Organa gives us all the information he has.

“Cham and his wife are being held in an Imperial prison inside the Capital. They rotate guards every 6 hours and don’t bother going to their home, it’s already under Imperial watch,” Bail tells us.

“How do you know this?” Tech asks.

“His informant is Captain Howzer.” Bail says and I see Rex’s dark brown eyes widen.

“You know him?” I ask.

“Not personally, but I know of him,” Rex explains, “he’s a good man, we can trust him.”

“I know it’s a lot to ask. But know that if you succeed, you may be giving not only Ryloth, but all those who oppose the Empire a fighting chance,” Bail tells me. I wonder what he means by ‘all those who oppose the Empire’. Are there others besides us clones? The Jedi are all gone except for Wyyntrr and Maisy so…who else would stand up to the Empire?

“Don’t worry Senator, suicide missions are our specialty,” Wrecker assures Senator Organa.

Senator Organa takes us to the armory and while Wrecker gathers what he thinks we’ll need, I look around until I spot a set of vibroknives.

“Good eye. Go ‘head, they’re of no use to me,” Bail says, putting a hand on my pauldron.

“Are you sure?” I ask and he nods.

“Why do you have all this stuff? I thought Alderaan was a peaceful planet?” Wrecker asks. Bail nods.

“Yes we are but during my time in the Senate during the War, I became close to not only other senators that shared my views, but also with the soldiers, the Coruscant Guard,” Bail explains.

“The boys in red,” Rex says and the senator nods.

“After helping him out when Coruscant was attacked, he gave me the only thing he had an abundance of—“ Bail says, motioning around.

“Weapons,” Wrecker says and Senator Organa nods.

“The Coruscant Guard always had to be well equipped. Chancellor Palpatine insisted on it from what Commander Fox told me once,” Rex explains and Bail nods.

“Well I have no use for anything here aside from a simple blaster,” the senator says.

“We’ll make good use of it,” Wrecker assures him and Bail chuckles. I help Wrecker gather supplies while Senator Organa takes Tech to a supply closet back in the kitchen with the kids.

“Hunter,” Rex says, getting my attention.

“I know you’re…well, apprehensive, about doing this, but we have to,” Rex says and I guess my face must’ve been showing more than I intended. I sigh.

“I just don’t want anything to happen to the kids,” I say and Rex nods.

“I understand,” Rex replies sincerely.

Tech’s POV

Senator Organa takes me to the supply closet to stock up on rations and basic supplies.

“This should get you all through a few rotations,” the senator tells me. I nod. Even though it’s been an adjustment having the kids with us, I’ve managed to learn how to stretch what little resources we have.

“Thank you Senator Organa,” I thank the kind man.

“Thank you all for doing this. I…I didn’t want to tell your sergeant that Cham’s daughter was the one to call for help,” Bail tells me. I blink in surprise.

“I..thought you said there was a clone captain-“

“Yes, Howzer is with her. But he wanted to lay low and hide. He thinks…he thinks the Empire will leave once they get what they want from Cham, but I know the Empire won’t leave Ryloth,” Bail says. I nod.

“It was his daughter that convinced me to get help. So when Captain Rex told me about you all, I couldn’t pass up the chance to ask,” he explains.

“I see. Well as I’m sure you know, we are known for our success with difficult missions,” I tell him and the man nods.

“I am aware. Are you sure you won’t reconsider leaving the children here with me? I can assure you they would be safe and looked after-“ He asks. I nod.

“They are safer with us. They could put you and your whole family in danger,” I assure him.

“Because they’re Jedi?” He asks and I blink.

“I did not say that-“

“You didn’t have to. They’re wearing Jedi robes and they have the braids. But the older girl with short curly blond hair…she looks like you,” Bail says, referring to Omega and I nod.

“Omega is a clone, like us,” I confirm.

“We can keep the children safe,” I assure him and he nods.

“A father knows best,” he replies understandingly and I blink. I…I must admit I am unfamiliar with parental roles. I manage a nod. I’ve always thought we were more like brothers.

After we finish up, we gather back in the main room and I see Rex and the trooper called Kix talking with the children.

“The last I heard from Howzer, he was hiding out at Cham’s old abandoned outpost 10 miles southeast of the city,” Senator Organa says and I pull up a map of Ryloth on my datapad. I search a 10 mile radius around the capital and find the abandoned outpost.

“Found it,” I announce and Hunter nods.

“Here, one last thing before you all leave,” Senator Organa gets our attention. He pulls out a comm device.

“This will reach me, and only me,” he says, handing it to me. I take it and put the device safely in a utility pouch on my hip. We head back out to our ship on the landing pad just outside the luxurious-looking house.

“Thank you for everything Senator Organa,” Hunter says and the older man nods. The kids wave at him and he smiles and waves back.

“As the Jedi say, may the Force be with you,” Senator Organa says. Maisy and Wyyntrr smile.

“May the Force be with you,” the two kids repeat. Wyyntrr roars and picks up Maisy before walking up the steps to the Marauder.

We say our goodbyes and Hunter assures the senator that we will succeed. Bail Organa waves at us as I power the ship up and start flying towards Ryloth.

“I’ve put in the coordinates, prepare to jump,” I announce as the ship lurches into hyperspace.

3rd POV

Bail Organa watches the Havoc Marauder fly up into the sky, disappearing into the clouds. He’s relieved since he knows those soldiers did not have to accept his request. The senator walks inside and passes his wife.

“I’ll only be a moment,” he assures her with a kiss to her forehead. She smiles and caresses his cheek lovingly before nodding and walking off.

Bail gets to his office and shuts the door. He gets to his desk and turns on the hologram. An image of a symmetrical design appears. Two angular lines jutting out at the bottom with two diamonds.

“Senator Organa,” the voice greets.

“Ahso…Fulcrum, you should know I met with 2 surviving Jedi, both young children,” Bail explains.

“Surviving Jedi?”

“In the care of a squad of rogue clone troopers,” Bail explains and at first, Fulcrum doesn’t answer.

“Were they safe?” Fulcrum asks eventually.

“I believe so. These clones…they care about those kids,”

“Tell me everything you know about them,” Fulcrum instructs.

End.

[sukimas]

witch from mercury spoilers

-i hope they're saving some of those tomato seeds. miorine would be sad if she had to start from scratch with new cultivars

-it is really nice that everyone's accepting earth house's help now, though. they finally get that recognition they needed. i hope the goat's ok though

-there is one (1) sympathetic adult in this damn show

-"if control of the fronts were lost, a massive loss of human life would occur at the very least." does this mean what i think it means. please let it mean what i think it means

-congratulations to everyone who predicted lauda of all people would get schwarzette! now: why the hell is it got purple permet stickers

-delling is STILL in the Fridge For Men despite miorine's continued mental breakdown. petra's also there now

-now, granted, miorine absolutely deserves that mental breakdown. i did basically predict that what she did wrt trying to free suletta was playing right into prospera's hands; if she had instead informed someone in power about QZ we would not be in this situation right now.

-if the control of the fronts thing from earlier is true, and with the destruction of the SAL fleet, it might just be that prospera wants to create a world where ONLY ericht can live in happiness. mom of the century (only half ironic this time)

-GUNDAM CALIBAN! or, well, calibarn, per subs. really nice that it's in keeping with the play by being considered a "demon", since it has no protection from the data storm whatsoever. congrats suletta for being invincible with the power of love. (well, probably not invincible yet, that wouldn't be dramatic and in keeping with the tempest. but she will be!)

-where IS miorine? i don't remember all the fronts in this anime, but she's not at the school or plant quetta, i don't think. there's just a normal benerit front out there, right? they say that she's in sector L4, so she should be about 60 degrees of the earth's orbit away from the moon. i don't think we know where that would be relative to the school, though that of course has to be at another Lagrange point (unless it's spending one billion dollars on staying stable in order to remain easy to access; it wouldn't be able to stay in low earth orbit alone thanks to being approximately city-sized, though. i think; i'm not an orbital dynamics person)

-interesting move from peil. let's see how that works out for them. i wonder if we'll see a sixth elan; wouldn't make much sense to just toss pharact out on its ear without destroying it in some way, it looks too cool.

-quiet zero is waaaaay out at the L2 point, on the far side of the moon. same as side 3 in UC gundam. rookie mistake by gundam governments: you gotta watch the far side of the moon or else. there's dudes with plans there. interestingly, though, L2 is an unstable equilibrium, so you'd have to transport fuel there to keep QZ from falling out of orbit even if nobody is there. of course, that's basically the only option, since all the other Lagrange points are visible from earth and at least L4 is already occupied by hostile parties.

-speaking of quiet zero: "hey i want to end war so nobody has to suffer from it anymore" -delling "sweet that sounds like a great idea. let's make something that definitely could not be used to take over the world by force and cause untold destruction to do it" -prospera "sure that's awesome" -delling

-i hope that didn't wipe out the WHOLE SAL army, though. that would be anticlimactic.

in conclusion: the payoff for these two seasons of buildup is starting to go off and i am quite excited. however, seeing as there are three episodes left, there is NO way the earth problems are getting resolved in a satisfying way unless literally all life on the planet is wiped out which i don't think wfm wants to do. i am a bit concerned for how the miorine reunion is gonna go (she is holding a green tomato in the end card, after all- now she's the one with some growing to do) but i figure they can work it out. i trust them.

[zorilleerrant]

With a turn of the wrench, you put the final touches on your time machine. If there were more time, you might pretty it up, slap on a coat of paint or at least match the finishes on the metal across the whole thing, but if there were more time it wouldn’t be a race anymore. You could probably decorate the whole thing and jump back to here, but that’s a short hop away from looping back on your own timeline, giving yourself the answers to every nagging problem that plagued you along the way.

Your heart flutters in your neck as you picture what the other three would say, flattery and faint praise in turns, and all of that assuming that you beat them, but you’ll never know until you complete a full hop, back here and tell them before they tell you first. Hope they’re not looping back in on their own stumbling blocks, the way you’re ignoring the urge to, because none of you are sure what that would do to the spacetime continuum, and anyway, that’s cheating.

You’re going to beat your friends fair and square, full human trip through time, and nowhere it’s going to interfere with each other’s lives. You were all kind of joking when you made that promise, but only kind of, and it’s too tempting with something this monumental to heckle each other into slowing down, let alone everything else that might cause problems along the way, so you go with the next best thing.

Christian Times ho, where you can get filmic proof of – something. You don’t know. It’s impossible to prove a negative, so you’d have to be gathering all kinds of data for the kind of payoff that doesn’t, really. Fact and figures aren’t faith. You’ll just have to figure it out when you get there, if you get there, if there’s a there left when you do and the same here here on the off chance you get back safe and sound.

You should be. It should be. You think you’ve worked out the kinks by now and all the trial runs came back as sure as you can be, ready for someone to take that first bold step and, what, you’re going to let someone else hog the glory? Just because you’re scared of what you’re liable to see between here and the other side? Someone needs to make a trip to prove it works. Why not this one? Why not you?

You close your eyes against the pull of the tide and you’re abstractly sorry when you open them again, safe and sound somewhere and sometime else. It’s like exiting the haunted house with your eyes scrunched shut, not scared by the monsters, but sure you missed out on something. You’ll have to keep them open on the way back, even if what you see isn’t something you wanted to see, you’ll have to.

You’re not sure you will.

You’re not sure what it means to be out of your own time.

You’re not sure causality is what you’ve always thought it was, if time is this uncertain, if events might not happen in order. You’re worried you’re going to step on a bug and destroy half the planet. Wipe out your own lineage. Cause mass extinctions well outside of orderly events. Prevent the invention of your own machine and be marooned here, or never exist.

It’s easier to lean into the bit. It’s easier to track down Jesus in the vast array of people who don’t speak your language but are well used to foreign tongues, communicate through mime and expressions and the expectations of crowds. It’s funny, right? It’ll be funny when you go back to your friends and they ask where you’ve been, what little slice of time you picked out to slide onto your plate, of all the places in history you might have gone. It’ll be funny when you say you got a picture of Jesus, you don’t know, doing something embarrassing, or un-Christian, or offensive to the modern sensibility, or just not being there at all. It’ll be funny and you and your friends will laugh and then you’ll compare notes and then you’ll collaborate and buff everything to a shine and patent together and be billionaires. It’ll be funny.

A few days into sleeping in the streets and trying to beg food and water off people, you think maybe it isn’t so funny. You think maybe you committed too hard to the bit. You’re still pretty sure you can find your way home, find your way to the machine and back the way you came, but then what proof will you have you went anywhere? You think you maybe should’ve brought camping gear or something. You think maybe it’s good you didn’t, that maybe the half-assed sheet toga that you’re wearing is anachronistic enough.

You find him by accident. You’re bleary eyed and half asleep and he’s handing you a cup of water and telling you in perfect modern English to drink it.

“Jesus?” you ask, unsure whether you’re hallucinating. You never expected to actually find any of them, let alone one with perfect ringlets catching the sun just so, like you’re looking up into his eyes through stained glass. You’ve just been wallowing in your own sunk cost trying to decide when to cut your losses, and there he is.

“Please take me home,” he says, and the kind of wist in his voice leaves you thinking all the other times you used the word were only half full at best.

“Isn’t this your home?” You’re not sure what you mean by this. You’re not actually sure where you are. Or when, because, come to think of it, your chronometer was never that well calibrated, and you were always the worst at the pure math, the best at applied mechanics, which was why you were so sure you’d finish first, but never with the calculations, and you should’ve put a stop to it and had someone else double check your work.

“My name is Joshua Nazarean. I’m from 2346. I’m here on an expired license. My ship broke down and I have no way back,” he whispers hurriedly, like someone’s going to overhear you and strike you down or whatever. He glances over his shoulder, and no one’s there, and he turns back to you and says, “please. Take me home.”

You stare at him. All those words are things you’ve heard before, not in relation to this exact circumstance and certainly never back in time in parts unknown, but they make sense from a standpoint where you’re not looking too hard. You’re not looking too hard. It’s very hard to look when your head is pounding this much. Every sip of water you take tastes like grit and some sort of algae. “How long have you been here?”

Josh nods sadly, like he expected this kind of question from you, and you’re not sure who that’s an indictment of, but you’ve never had this kind of conversation before. Even when you sometimes used to practice back in middle school with your best friend, overcoming anxiety through overdramatic performance, you never concocted a scenario like this. You talked to martians and robots and fairy queens, but never a time traveler, never when you were one and they weren’t supposed to be at all. “Almost two years, now.”

“Two years?” you ask, incredulous, because that’s either too short or way too long, but he barely notices your interruption and continues, urgency held at bay only because, and you only know this from being on the other end of it so many times, he doesn’t know you yet.

“My machine broke down and you know how it is when they think they’re that far gone, and I know I should’ve brought backups, conservative, too conservative, I should’ve set the thresholds higher, but it’s too late now, huh? Maybe I could’ve fixed it, if I’d brought equipment, or you could, or – I don’t know. Dust and gone, by now, I guess.” You recognize small talk even when you don’t recognize it, and you know Josh’s patter is there to put you at ease, try to commiserate over the same damn thing, and, what, is he offering to fix your time machine? But your ship isn’t broken at all, it just doesn’t hold two people. Yet.

“Shouldn’t you be keeping your head down?” you ask him, finally making sense of the way he keeps tossing his hair through the rays of light to cascade down his shoulders. It’s not for effect. It’s because there’s a crowd around him so much of the time and he’s worried he’s been followed, and if he’s been followed, he, like you, will never get out of here. “You’re going to cause trouble, being all, you know.”

“You don’t think I’ve tried?” he snaps, and then closes his eyes, and rubs his hand across his beard, and takes a few slow rhythmic breaths while you try to get your bearings. The daylight is bright but you’re not sure what that means. It might be early morning or late afternoon. You’re hungry and for some reason you can’t go home yet, but it’s hard to think what that might be. “All I’m doing is telling people to be kind to the planet, and each other, and themselves. I haven’t said anything. I haven’t said anything! I just – there’s a plan and we’re here to help him build it, and that’s it. How is telling people there’s hope for the future supposed to endanger the future? Why won’t they leave any of us alone to just, fuck, try to do it!”

You whip your phone out and snap his picture. It barely has battery but it manages to capture his image before it dies, and he blinks at you in mild surprise. You figure there aren’t many cameras or phones in this time. Not none, apparently, but less than either of you grew up with, or hopefully will see again. Soon. “Try to endanger the future?” That doesn’t sound right to you and you take a moment to collect yourself. “Try to tell people things.”

He huffs a sigh at you and shrugs. “I’ll tell people whatever you want, honest I will, only they’re getting a little heated about it, and I don’t exactly want to pretend to worship the emperor, you know? Like it’s a little bit creepy, when that’s an actual for real dude, but they don’t like it when – well, let’s face it, there’s a lot of things they don’t like.” Josh sits down next to you, then, back to the same wall you’re leaning against, head in his hands just like yours.

“Listen,” you say, and wet your lips, and try to get your tongue to obey you. You try sipping the water again, but it’s just as awful as it’s been, and you put it down. “Listen. I don’t know if I even can take you with me, and that’s leaving the timeline aside and all.” He’d have to sit in your lap and everything and who knows how far that’ll throw the math off, plus what if his arm, or worse, his head or something, fell into the timestream because he wasn’t all the way in the Faraday cage?

“Oh, please, the fucking timeline, there’s like sixteen of us and no one can tell us apart, you’re telling me you really think they’re going to miss one hippie more or less? I’m not native to the timeline like they are, either, I shouldn’t be here anyway, so if anything, you’ll be correcting an error. Stopping me from making waves and saving the whole motherfucking world, how’s that for continuity?” He smiles at you charmingly, like he expects you to pull out your phone again, like he expects sales numbers on that smile alone, and you wonder how anyone thinks he belongs in this time period with his radioactive pearly whites.

“I’d love to help,” you say, wishing you’d opened your eyes to see what was on the outside of the bars instead of breathing in time with your palms pressed flush against them trying not to lose your way to madness. “I can’t take you.”

“Look, I’ll pay the fines, right?” Josh pleads, and his fingers are gripped too tight around your elbow now as he leans into your space, his eyes filled with the kind of horrors he probably wasn’t too afraid to look at on his way here. “My uncle’s literally a timeline lawyer, he’ll make sure no one can press charges. What, what do you want? I’ll pay you back gas money, upgrade your ship, whatever you want. You want a TV show? My friend makes TV shows, she’ll make you one for free, I promise, ten thousand views guaranteed. You want a horse? I’ll give you a horse, just take me home.”

“I don’t want a horse,” you say, because that’s all you need. A whole extra human body’s going to be hard enough to drag through the fabric of the universe, how does anyone think you’d fit a horse in there? And what would you do with a horse if you had one? You’re pretty sure your apartment doesn’t allow horses anyway. Still, it’s a surprisingly compelling argument.

“Please,” he says, forehead resting against the cool brick of the shaded wall, as you notice he’s sweating in the sun. You might be sweating too, if you’ve gotten enough of that water down. Hard to tell with everything so blurry anyway. “Please,” he says, “I just want to go home.”

“I mean my machine can’t take you,” you say, and then roll the words over in your head. They aren’t quite right and you don’t want to sound rude, but you’ve got to explain to this guy there’s nothing doing. Nothing against him, and you mean no offense, but it’s just not going to work. “I mean it definitely can’t fit you, I don’t know whether it can take you. I don’t even know whether it can take me, yet.”

He pauses. Blinks long and slow enough that you can make it out even as you squint, and then Josh clears his throat. “Wait,” he says, finally looking you up and down, looking at your dirty, torn bedsheet that seemed like such a fun idea when you put it on. Looking at the phone still in your hand, scrutinizing it like the cracked case is going to tell him anything. “Wait,” Josh says, again, holding his breath, “what’s your name?”

You tell him. He introduced himself, after all, and it’s only polite, but he loses it when you tell him, fist into the wall so hard it had to have broken at least one of his fingers, and a litany of swears you recognize only by their cadence, not the words themselves. He give you one last forlorn glance, swears again, and hightails it away.

“Never mind. Never mind. Forget I said anything,” he says, and leaves.

You’re an atheist that used a time machine to prove Jesus Christ didn’t exists but instead you and him had a deep conversation in perfect English

[misfitwashere]

Biden Experiments

How it might go, from here to victory

Timothy Snyder

Jul 09, 2024

The morning after the Biden-Trump debate, I had a good feeling. Perhaps it was the setting: I was in the woods, near a lake, away from the screens. I didn’t watch the debate live, but heard about it from friends. When I was asked by a stranger that day what I felt, I said that “this is a chance that has been given to us to think things over, a chance that we might not otherwise have had. And now we should use this chance.”

What would it mean to do that?

I could see how a bad debate could become a good discussion because I believe that Joe Biden is a decent and competent human being who cares more about his country than about his own feelings. This is far from just a personal impression. The NATO summit is this week: it is impossible to overstate how much trust President Biden has restored among our friends, and how much more the United States is now respected around the world than it was under Trump. Joe Biden’s record in domestic policy is unrivaled since FDR. He has made mistakes, but he has also learned, following his party, generally in the right direction. Unlike many of us, he has shown that he can change his mind. I trust that he will realize that what we face is a political question, not a medical or a personal one.

The question, narrowly, is how his political party might maintain control of the executive branch and might regain a majority in the House of Representatives. We are at a moment in history when this is not a matter of policy or politics but of regime — of the continuity of our republic.

The question, broadly, is whether the United States will continue to exist. Donald Trump has made it very clear that he will seek to change our regime to one of an authoritarian type.

Now, the continuity of a democratic system of government sounds like a moral question, and it is. But when we appreciate the grandeur of a moral challenge, we still have to think about the politics of victory.

Let us imagine that, for independent voters, Biden’s age is more of a concern than Trump’s crimes and authoritarianism(see Data for Progress’s 28 June survey for some striking data to this affect). If you want to stop Trump from destroying the republic by winning an election, what do you then do?

You can try to persuade the media to expose Trump’s record and plans, and to explain how much Americans have to lose under authoritarian rule. I have been doing this non-stop for seven years. I will keep doing it. Others should too. Yet it would be unwise to imagine that this, even if somehow perfectly achieved, is all that needs to be done.

This is a time when we need imagination more than impulse. Because the stakes are high, our emotions speak loud and clear. We might admire the president, and so find change hard to imagine. We might fear the future, and so avoid the additional fear associated with change in the present. But when we listen to our own fears we could be screening out our fellow Americans. So in imagining what President Biden might do, we should try to bracket our own attitudes.

We must also remember that, impressive as the Biden administration has been in domestic policy, every single gain will be undone should Trump win. Biden will have no legacy after a Trump victory, because it will be wiped out, every last little thing. The institutions will be changed so that even restoring the legacy later will be impossible. The only way for Biden to leave a meaningful trace in history is for Trump to lose.

For this reason as for so many others, the one thing that matters is keeping Trump out of the White House. The decision of how best to achieve this is President Biden’s to make. He is in office, he has the delegates for the convention, the nomination is his if he wants it. What might be helpful is a sense of what the possibilities are. And I do think that there are possibilities.

Perhaps the president, this time, will simply insist on the status quo. But there might be a next time, another opportunity, in days or weeks, to consider what might be best. I am no longer in the forest and have been on-line and in touch with other Americans. I realize that most people did not grasp the post-debate moment as I did, as an opportunity. But I still believe that it is, despite all of the hurly burly.

The media’s drastically unfair treatment of the Biden administration and its disastrous failure to cover Trump correctly (for a decade, with honorable exceptions) has contributed to a defensive posture among Biden’s supporters. This is completely understandable. But it can be taken too far. If your position has become: “let’s boycott the New York Times, CNN, MSNBC, Stephen King, and Jon Stewart,” you might not be able to reach other voters. When we bang our heads on the inside of our silos, that’s not a party.

If a situation like the bad debate arises again, a repetition of the defensive posture will be ineffective and undignified. If Biden himself decides to pass the torch, his supporters, above all the devoted ones, will see the point of what he is doing. And people who are not his supporters might as well.

Perhaps President Biden will simply stay the course, as he has affirmed. That is one choice, among others. It should be seen as one choice — which means seeing the other choices. The president went on Morning Joe on 8 July and spoke of his own political instinct. It is formidable. But an instinct reveals itself only in reaction to a situation. It can’t be wrong to clarify possible ways that Americans might keep the authoritarian out of office, preserve the republic, and open the future.

The crucial voters are the ones who have not yet made up their minds, or who might stay home for lack of enthusiasm. The issue at hand is beating Trump, ideally by a large margin, which will require millions of people who are not dyed-blue Democrats. Framing the discussion of Biden’s candidacy personally, as a devotion contest, immediately creates a sense of us-and-them. What we need is a verdict on what will work best to avoid the whole country falling into a permanent politics of us-and-them, which it will, if Trump wins. And that means considering the continuation of the status quo as one of several possible choices.

To see staying the course as one option among others, we need to have some positive sense of the alternatives. There is little original in my summary below, aside from the names; others (Adam Serwer, Anne Applebaum, Ezra Klein, to name three) have offered creative proposals and said a number of these things first. I should emphasize that a number of Democrats, elected officials, activists, and voters, are also talking about a similar range of possible courses of action.

And so here is my brief summary of four options, in the hope that it might help us see some light, this week or at another point.

Operation Consistency. Continue as before the debate. Pros: this will seem simple. An effective Biden communications teams can keep doing what it is doing. Operation Consistency preserves the advantages of incumbency. The president will get credit for continuing domestic and foreign policy successes. One can imagine that the standard factors (the good economy) and the unusual one (the risk of tyranny) will click into voters’ minds as time passes and the election nears. Cons: Being a good president is not the same thing as running a good campaign. Operation Consistency will not end the discussion as to whether Joe Biden can do both — unless it is endorsed as one of many options after a discussion or a process. I believe (and I could be mistaken) that this option is the most likely to be criticized in coming months. What appears safe in the moment might be the least safe over time.

Operation Carnival. Between now and the election, the clear landmarks are the two conventions (Republicans 15-18 July, Democrats 19-22 August) and a second presidential debate (10 September). But this doesn’t have to be the case. The Democrats could conquer the summer news cycle by adding something new. In this scenario, the president’s resignation from the race is accompanied be the announcement of a rapid process to select the Democratic slate for president before the Democratic convention in August. This could be a series of debates among leading Democrats, along with rapid mini-primaries or something similar. Like the two further scenarios below, this would make of Trump the old, predictable candidate. Cons: there will not be much time, and some Democrats will complain, understandably, that this is a mechanism to leap over Kamala Harris. This objection could be met, should the vice-president willingly join the contest, on the logic that what is needed is the best candidate to beat Trump. Pros: This would make life difficult for Trump, who will not know who the nominee will be until after the Republicans’ own boring, scripted convention. It would attract the attention of the media, who would suddenly have a more interesting set of events than the two boring, scripted conventions. As with the options below, Operation Carnival would make it much harder for the media to obsess only about Biden’s age and health. Regardless of who is chosen, Democrats would also have a sense of who the rising stars of the party might be, which would be useful for a party that has been a bit too dynastic for a bit too long.

Operation Convention. Normally, the conventions are ritualized: the delegates have been assigned as a result of the primaries, and they appear and do the expected. But President Biden could free his delegates to do as they please, and the convention could be organized into debates or discussions. Cons: Democrats who are not delegates might feel that this process did not include them. Of course, delegates themselves can consult other Democrats or the public (see option 2). Ranked voting at the convention would likely prevent the chaos that some people seem to anticipate from endless rounds of voting. Pros: as above with 2., Republicans would not know whom to oppose at their July convention, Democrats would see a number of talented politicians in action, and the convention would be interesting, in anticipation and in reality. And, as with 2, an unpredicted but effective slate could be identified.

Operation Kamala. Cons: Vice-President Harris does not have an overwhelming national profile, at least thus far. Pros: these would be different in the two possible variations of Operation Kamala. The weak version of Operation Kamala goes like this: the president releases his delegates but makes it clear that he supports Vice-President Harris. She thereby becomes the presumptive nominee and carries the show at the convention. This could be combined with variant 2. or 3. to generate a vice-presidential candidate chosen with input from the outside. Meanwhile, Biden remains president. Right now, we are asking Biden to do two things: the hardest job in the world, being the president, plus another very hard job, running for president. Doing one of them instead of two might be the reasonable way forward. But one could also be creative about which of the two jobs is best for him in the second half of 2024. And thus the strong version of Operation Kamala: the president resigns from office, and Harris becomes the president. This would be the most decisive possible move, ending the entire process. It would make of Harris the incumbent. As Biden’s supporters say, he has an excellent team, and we electing a team and not just a person. Harris would keep the team. She would have experience as president of the United States before the election. The strong version of Operation Kamala would free Biden to act as her surrogate on the campaign trail, a role in which he would be extremely effective, and in which he would be seen as generous and patriotic. This would be a special victory lap: celebrating his presidency and his career, and working for the future. I think he would get astounding numbers and roaring ovations if he did this.

People are nervous, which is understandable. Time is short. None of these choices is without risk. Operation Consistency is also involves risk. The question is: what is the least risky here? Which of these approaches is most likely to preserve the American republic? And which is most likely to generate a sense of hope and positive energy that will reach Americans in general? I think a President Biden who considered these options (or someone else’s better list) with his team, as part of a process, would make the right call.

I don’t fear this election. I think people will work hard and the right side will win. My concern is this: that the people on the right side, motivated by fear, will miss their chances. Giving the president options is an act, after all, of loyalty rather than disloyalty: to the man, to the office, to the legacy, and to the country.

[chrisbannor]

531

Chapter Twenty Seven: What Matters

Author: Chris Bannor

Yi couldn’t take his eyes off the fires. No matter what else was running in his head, his eyes were on the orange lights that flickered from below the Skylines. Like hell itself was trying to rise up and swallow them all.

“You warned him to get out. At least you were able to do that,” DaQi tried to comfort him. His lover came up from behind and wrapped his arms around his waist, setting his chin on Yi’s shoulder.

He relaxed back against DaQi. This was the only solace he craved. The only solace he had tonight. What could make any of this okay?

“It’s not about that,” Yi said softly. And DaQi couldn’t know, because all these years he’d believed he was human. Yi didn’t have that.

“What is it about then?”

“I lived there,” he confessed. “Not passing through or as a cover. I lived in the Builds. I loved the Piles, with the dirt and the muck and the neon and the people who defied all that to live happy lives. I was a part of that community. And there are two truths that I can’t escape while I’m watching this. That the people I knew are being hurt because I was there. And that if they had known what I was, it mattered. The Confessor was an isolated data point. An outlier. They would have torn me to shreds if they could. They would have found out and turned me in if they didn’t destroy me where I stood. They went into my office, into my home, and smashed everything. It was all just stuff but…” he stopped because it hurt too much to say it. He needed to though. He needed DaQi to understand.

“I always knew that my secret was dangerous. I knew people were scared by the idea of us. But I somehow thought that who I was would matter more than what I am.”

He felt DaQi’s head bowed down to rest against his neck and he took comfort in the arms that tightened around him.

“I’m so sorry they don’t see how wrong they are.”

He dropped his head and gave himself a few minutes to grieve. It was all the time he had to spend on the people who hated him. Still, he ached for Xian and hoped the old man and his burger shop survived. Which was stupid. The old man was probably with the protesters, demanding his head.

“Yi,” DaQi pulled him around and it wasn’t until then that he realized there were tears on his face. It was the simulation of human tears, but it was as real as bleeding.

And his heart was fucking bleeding out right now.

He let out a sob as he pulled DaQi close. For the first time in seven years, he let it all fall away and gave free rein to his emotions with the one person who could protect him from them.

He didn’t want to know how long he spent like that, releasing his grief, and being consoled by his lover. Instead, he stepped back and let DaQi wipe his face dry with his hand. He laughed softly as he caught DaQi’s hand and traced the tattoos still there.

“I look good in tattoos, right? Dangerous.”

Yi shook his head as he looked over to the fires again. He went back to reviewing the video feeds and stopped when he reached the footage of the tunnels.

“Shit, DaQi. The soldiers at the tunnel. I didn’t look closer because we were leaving. They’re not human.”

“What?”

Chan Yi sent the feed he had to DaQi and he saw the moment DaQi confirmed it. “They’re AI. This is what Mariner Tech has been manufacturing all these years.”

All the news feeds he’d been monitoring went black at the same time and Yi stood up straighter as a new message flashed over his optical display.

MARTIAL LAW HAS BEEN DECLARED FOR ALL LEVELS OF DOCK CITY.  IT WILL REMAIN IN EFFECT UNTIL THE RIOTS HAVE BEEN CONTAINED. STAY IN YOUR HOMES. LOCKDOWN MEASURES ARE IN EFFECT.

They watched the message blink a few times before the news feeds resumed. They both came to the conclusion at the same time.

“Sandus has control of the city.”

Author's Note: And Sandus has started to make his move. But are the AI soliders that he's set out in Dock City the came as Yi and DaQi? Or some other invention that they need to worry about?

[strykingback]

EVENT: Rescue Mission Phase 2- The Horrifying Truth Behind Immortalis

"MAMA! IM SO SORRY!!! MAMA!!!!" Zek would sob in his mothers arm turning from a cold hearted Sniper back to the little boy that once knew how to love life with his family, while Atya held him so tightly.

"Zek... you dont have to apologize! Im just so glad you came here was all!" She said kissing his forehead...but she wondered what had happened to him but they were far from the clear.

"I dont mean to interrupt the celebration, but we are far from being out of the woods. Ms. Sunna. We have to get you out of here as soon as possible. I'm certain Leonidas is handling the evacuation efforts quite well and may have called in for extra support from the guards of the Corvette Runners. However as-" Eros spoke until.

"Wait! We need to gather the data for this success! For the first time in fifteen years we have finally made a successful serum for Project Immortalis!!!" One of them spoke.

Finally Zek snapped back into his seriousness pulling up his mask hiding his scar as he rushed up to one of the scientists. "YOU DONT GET TO SPEAK CYKA!" He would shout grabbing them and pulling them close to his face. "Dont... you know the reason why we did Project Immortalis..."

"Aye to create Immortal Soldiers for your illegal PMC, that Zek here almost brought down if it wasnt for that one sniper that managed to use an explosive bullet that laid him out." Eros answered with the Scientist nodding.

"Of course, but there was more to it amongst the one hundred forty nine thousand failed experiments we had to do something with them in order to cover our tracks...." The scientist spoke.

"What the bloody hell are you on about...."

OST: Dark Truths...

Guangxian was clacking away at the computer he was on while copying everything onto a thumbdrive to send to the Atlesian Government mostly Ironwood to ensure that any remnants of the Solitas Liberation LLC force that was remaining would be wiped out.

However something had caught his eye... "Cloning experiments...? Now thats interesting.." He said while clacking away to find more information on it.

"Cloning should only take at least around fifteen to nearly twenty five years though, Guangxian. Usually this can be possible because of the users blood as it contains enough DNA to- " Krieg would speak

"That just enough of a blood sample or genetic material like skin or hair has enough to be cloned in its entireity the hard part would only be is to make that perfect clone." Hermes answered interrupting Krieg which he crossed his arms as earlier they found a literal document about his torture and what had happened to him while he closed his eyes.

"Add onto the fact that there was the....documents and schematics about Fusion Energy.... which if used on a living being would be nigh impossible, due to the Democritus Particles easily being able to overwhelm normal human genes and the central nervous system leading to death by Fusion Poisoning... but if you can create something that not only contains it in a way but also to apply it to medicine through nanites or even a simple salve..." Krieg said closing his eyes before opening up with a realization.

"Oh no...." He said with shock.

"Which leads to our ultimate question.... if the Solitas Liberation PMC needed an immortal army... why need the documents on Hermes, living human experiments, documents on the Fusion Energy schematics. Last but not least being a Cloning Project..... hmm, this leaves me with one last question... where are the failed experiments that was talked about?" Guangxian said leaning back in the chair before typing it up.....and thus... to the trios horror it was revealed to them.... which left them all horrified.......

Krieg would only gag at what he saw before moving away to throw up somewhere...

Hermes only stared with horror in his eyes

Guangxian could feel his hands trembling... as he remembered he said it himself: "To destroy anything and all related with Project Immortalis..."

"GET TO EROS, ZEK, AND LEONIDAS NOW!!!!" Guangxian roared out with urgency for the first time ever which Hermes nodded and began to run using his light magic to carry himself there..

Back with Eros and Zek the two scientists led them down a hallway which they both pulled out their keycards and tapped them both on the screen at the same time scanning it until completed... as finally the hallway would be revealed to them....

"Wha- its just a normal bloody hallway. Oi you're fucking with me yeah?!"

"Not quite..." One of the scientists said within the glass hallways as the synthetic casings within the glass revealed one thing...as the "visor" was lifted off of those casings...

It was A ROOM FULL OF BRAINS.... and then almost like in unison...

THEY ALL STARTED TO LOOK AT THE GROUP OF FOUR....... WHILE THE MECHANICAL SPINE ATTACHED FLAILED WITH WORRY...

"YOU FUCKING BASTARDS!!!" Eros shouted slamming one of the scientists to the wall while the other pulled out a pistol only to have Zek pointing his rifle at the other scientist. "I wouldn't try that if I were you Cyka...."

"Get talking... five minutes." Zek said with a bit of rage in his voice.

"After our first failed experiment with Project Immortalis our benefactors including the CEO wanted a way to preserve the brain in a way.... just in case if it failed. However, they wanted a better idea from it to create the future of a regular PMC soldier by putting them through simulations through it then implanting them in a proper body...

Thus every time we had failed to procure an immortal soldier.... we would cut the brain out and place it inside of the shells you see there and then....we restimulate the brain and thus putting them through active combat simulations...." The Scientist explained, which in response Eros swiftly knocked out the first scientist while Zek handled the other one by knocking him out with the butt of his rifle.

"There you guys are... glad I was able to make it in time before you started planting charges." Hermes said sliding to a halt.

"Cant believe I almost committed a literal war crime. Hermes, Call up Command..."

"We NEED to get those brains out of here.... along with the hostages and bring down whoever is doing all of this...."

[lackenthusiasm-moved]

Yknow, I made this joke because I wasn't serious beyond it being a happy coincidence but the more that I think about the similarities and differences of "discovering thousands of people who have been stored away" I think there's more to be said regarding what this could mean for Fallout season 2.

Like obviously there's a couple key differences: In Westworld, the people Caleb reacts to seeing are Outliers and are in cryo because they experience genetic disorders and mental illnesses that can't be cured. The goal is that Incite, the corporation that put them there, will one day have all the information needed to be able to "fix" them all and send them back into the real world to live perfect lives.

The people Norm reacts to seeing are Vault-Tec Management, representatives of THE corporation that destroyed the world so they could one day rule it for profit. Maybe not everyone working at Vault-Tec was evil-evil themselves, but the 4 people we see who remain loyal to Vault-Tec in the show; Barb, Betty, Bud, and Hank— are shown to be ruthless in protecting their own self interests.

Both Norm and Caleb have a moment where they discover that they are each an end result of a carefully selected plan.

Caleb is an Outlier, but Incite had enough data on him that they were able to treat him for PTSD and send him back into the world with only a few adverse side effects.

Norm is the direct offspring of a Vault-Tec employee as part of a plan where the goal was to create a bloodline of the perfect management type, ensuring that Vault-Tec would never die.

A lot of the fandom expectation with Westworld was that Caleb was going to release the frozen Outliers from their pods and lead them as an army to fight back against Incite, but... That didn't happen. Instead, Dolores—who Caleb is helping to start a revolution— activates an EMP which causes a facility-wide shutdown. The frozen Outliers are never once brought up or seen again after this point, so for all we know, the life support systems shut down and they died down there in their pods.

A lot of the fandom expectation with Fallout right now is split between Norm simply following Robo-Bud's advice and letting himself be frozen in Hank's pod in 31, or managing to escape and raising an army by telling the 32-33ers what he found in there.

Personally? I think Norm will be able to escape...but he'll have to find a console which could either dethaw all of the 31ers or kill them and it seems like an easy choice to all of us (I think I know what choice I'd make if this were presented in a game), but...would Norm be able to live with himself if he killed all of these people? When he learns ftom Bud it was Vault-Tec who dropped the bombs, he's rightly horrified, and he doesn't say "You wiped the surface clean?" he says "We wiped the surface clean?" which to me indicates that he wants to include himself as being just as accountable for what Vault-Tec did as they are despite the fact that he is 200 years removed from the incident.

On the flip side, would he be able to live with the consequences of waking these Vault-Tec representatives up and potentially setting them loose in the real world? Doing that could be a lot like setting an invasive species loose in an area that it's not native to.

If I had a nickel for every time I started writing a character who discovers thousands of people have been placed in cryogenic storage to be guarded by a robot based off of a human mind, I would have TWO nickels! Which isn't a lot. But it's weird that it happened twice!

[no-one-at-all75]

New Toy (NSFW) (Female Reader)

KAY/O x Reader smut

Words: 1,502

This is sexual so no minors!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Honestly, you knew this was going to be difficult. How were you even going to start this conversation?

You asked KAY/O to meet you in your room for something important. You tried to hype yourself up before this point so you wouldn’t be nervous, but that didn’t work out. So here you where, red faced and looking at the floor while the robotic agent was standing in front of you waiting.

“What did you need?” He asks. His only mission in life is to kill and complete tasks given by Brimstone. He was definitely not built for what you had in mind.

“Umm..” you didn’t know what to say, or how to phrase what you wanted to ask. It’s not like he is going to tattle to his mom right? Wait. Killjoy is basically his mom.

Fuck.

Then again if you tell him it is classified he wouldn’t tell anyone.

Right?

Well you hoped so. You swallowed all your nerves and looked up at the robot and looked at his screen. His usual triangle face was there like usual. Your face was burning now as you get ready to answer his question.

“I need you to do something for me.” You mutter out. You then dig into your pocket and find the hard drive that you could plug into him that has… research. So he could understand. You pull it out and show it to him.

“This hard drive has the info I need you to memorize then destroy. Once you think you understand the assignment come back to me ok?” You confirmed with him as you hand over the small metal piece. His robotic hand gently plucked it from your finger tips and brought it to his screen to analyze it. He looks back at you and nods.

“Affirmative (Y/N).” He confirms. You give him a small smile as he turns away and starts to walk out. Before he can leave however, you add in that no one can know what this is. He nods at you again as he leaves your room to go and download the data you gave him.

You breathe a sigh of relief and lay down on your bed exhausted from the anxiety you just faced. You know this will take either a few hours or a few days depending on his schedule. You hoped it was a few hours.

You slipped into a nap since you didn’t get much sleep from the night before. During that nap KAY/O downloaded what was on the hard drive and watched it over and over again. He was curious as to why you would need his help with this, but then again humans are tricky so maybe it is required of him to do this. Although none of the other girl agents have asked him this before. He was stumped and very curious to see how things will play out between you two later.

Once he was done analyzing all the videos and had a basic knowledge on what to do. He destroyed the hard drive like you wanted, crushing it between his fingers and palm. He also found the code that allowed him to vibrate and heat up incase agents were cold and needed heat. He didn’t know why he would need a vibrating option, then again he didn’t know a lot of things. Maybe it was necessary for humans to have a vibrating thing in their life.

KAY/O then wandered to your room to finish his mission and gain his next task from you. He walked down the hallway with careful steps because he didn’t want anyone knowing what he was doing in agent corridors. He wasn’t exactly allowed in this area since he only needs to recharge and not sleep or shower (unless he has blood on him then Killjoy would need to wipe him down) so he didn’t require a room.

He finally made it to your room without being seen by anyone. He slowly twisted the handle and opened the door and walked in. He heard soft snores as he closed the door and walked deeper into your room. The site he saw was cute and made his screen flash up a ‘:)’ as he saw you sleeping. He saw lots of agents sleep but you were different for some reason. He didn’t know why. Hopefully Killjoy can shed light on this later but for now he needs to finish a mission.

He walked over to your bed and slightly shook you awake while saying your name. You mumbled a bit before cracking open your eyes to see the robot in your room. Your brain didn’t register why at the moment so you scooted over for him to lay down as well. He turned his head to the side like a curious dog but then remembered what was on the hard drive and laid down next to you observing your figure as the bed dipped due to his weight.

“I have analyzed the information on the hard drive and understand the assignment.” He spoke. Your eyes shot open as your brain finally connected the dots and shook you out of your sleepy trance. You immediately sat up and looked at his screen. Your face grew red. You tried to get words out but none came. He fully laid down on your bed with his arms crossed behind his head.

“I believe this is the position you’d want me in correct?” He asks. You nod as you gain the courage to swing your legs over his frame and straddle him. Since he was a big robot designed for killing, your legs didn’t really meet the bed instead they were fully on him. You then began to feel a little warmer down in your groin and felt the vibrations start. You let out a small moan as you felt the same pleasure you would with a vibrator, but even better.

You avoid looking at his screen due to the pleasure and embarrassment you were feeling. You let your hair cover your face as you panted and continued to let out small moans. You felt yourself become wetter and wetter as the vibration rocked your core. He looked at you still in curiosity. You seemed to be enjoying this since the women from the videos had the same reaction. Which meant he was doing good.

He couldn’t help but feel something different that definitely wasn’t in his code. He felt almost human in that moment. He wanted to hold you and do things the men did in the videos he studied. He didn’t know what this would do exactly but he knew he wanted to try it. He sat here happy with himself as he helped you get off or cum (or that’s what the videos said).

Your moans only grew louder as you felt the knot in your stomach start to unwind. You were suddenly looking up and tasted metal on your tongue. You see KAY/O’s arm raised and notice his fingers in your mouth. This was a bit shocking to you at first but then you relaxed into it and let the saliva drip down his metal hand and onto his mechanical body below.

“I suggest we keep quiet. No one is supposed to know about this remember?” He questioned you not knowing if you remember saying ‘no one can know about this’. You nod your head and hold his hand to keep his fingers in your mouth.

He then saw your face blush more as your hips started to rock against him trying to get to your release. He increases the vibrations which cause you to almost scream in pleasure as your clit was being stimulated so much.

You couldn’t hold on for much longer after that. Even with his fingers in your mouth you were still a moaning mess. You couldn’t talk since you had fingers in your mouth but he knew he was doing good by the way you looked. He liked seeing this side of you, disheveled and desperate. Your hair a mess, spit running down your chin, and your underwear growing a very noticeable wet spot.

He then heard your moans come to a stop as you slid off of him to stop the overstimulation you were taking in. The cum almost dripping through your underwear as you catch your breath. He stops vibrating and turns off his heat as he sits up more and looks at you. You give him a smile and hold the hand that was covered in your saliva.

“Thank you KAY/O. I really appreciate it.” You thank him. His screen flashed a ‘:3’ making you smile more.

“Anything to help (Y/N).” He responded in his usual robotic tone. He then got up from your bed and started to leave when he paused for a second at your door.

“Let me know if I can do this again for you (Y/N).” He says as he twists your door knob and leaves you alone with your thoughts.

[korpuskat]

For gunk-ice-tea’s RaMayttra prompts, Day 26: Enraged. Rating: PG/Teen WC: 777 Warnings: Fighting, hurt no comfort

=====

It was a failure. Months of planning, of production, reviewing and updating dozens of iterations of designs, all that he had done was now scrap in the streets of France. All a waste- time, resources, his energy. Nothing came from it- nothing! He'd lost his compatriots and still he had nothing to show for it!

His faceplate is incapable of emoting, and yet you can see the tension rise in him. The squaring of his shoulders, the hum of his processes ramping up- and the soft crunching of glass as his fist closes around a data cube. Tiny shards fall from his hand, glittering in the bright display of the screens before him. He pays no attention, doesn't even realize it's shattered. On screen, an omnic talks to a reporter, describes how Overwatch saved him from a Titan. An omnic. You don't want to look to him again.

"Fool!" Ramattra spits, "A coward groveling at the feet of our oppressors, do they really think I would let my army harm our people? I'm trying to save them!"

Metal groans behind you- and if you had to guess he's crushed a dent into the table. You turn carefully, slowly. I'd never hurt you, he'd sworn to you, but you can't entirely summon that trust now. He's spent years keeping his rage carefully leashed- saving it for the personal, gratifying nature of using his fists to overcome resistance. Now it's different. Like it's humming just under the surface, itching for an ounce of satisfying destruction. His base programming is scratching at the edges of his thoughts, HUD lining up combatants.

"Ramattra," It's as much a plea in itself as a call for his attention. His head barely moves, but you can feel the burning of his optics focused on you. It is different. You resist the need to squirm under his hateful gaze. "It's one battle. There will be more."

"One battle." Ramattra repeats quietly. A calm before the storm. You picked wrong. "With every battle we lose my people are suffering, dying. Only a human could see that as an acceptable loss!"

You grit your teeth and fight the urge to rise to his bait. "I didn't say that. I meant-"

His thoughts are racing, processes running out of control. "Oh, I know what you meant," He stands slowly, "You meant to remind me that this war is ongoing, that I've managed to underestimate bunch of a bickering, clueless humans! I somehow forgot the only thing you beasts love more than destroying yourselves is destroying omnics!"

It's all you can do to stand up straight, to stare up into the black rectangles of his faceplate. Rage- you hold on to your rage, let it make you brave just long enough. Your eyes may water and your lip may wobble, but you won't break down here. "Not all of us."

It's a line Ramattra has heard before- and yet this time it's ice water to his circuits. He can see now, pulls back from the tunnel vision- his HUD is flashing red, warnings of run away processes. His optics refocus, settle on your eyes- hard and hurt- helpless to watch as the first tear rolls over your cheek.

You turn and leave him, wiping your face as you go.

He feels- he feels- sick is what his vocabulary banks produce for him, unable to define the mix of shame and grief and regret and the still-lingering rage any better. Sick. He is... unwell, no- destabilized, like core processes have frozen mid-operation. No critical alerts ping in his memory, but he runs a self-check anyway. He must've- that's the only reason he would...

No, he knows. Ramattra looks down at his desk. On the left, there's a perfect imprint of his hand. On the right, the shining, glittering shards of the data cube he'd destroyed. He touches the dust, sweeps one finger through it.

He sinks back into his chair. The self-check dings complete, no errors found. He idly toys with considering his own repair system is faulty, but he knows. His temper has always been... a problem- his need for control, even if by pushing away what he cannot control. An essentialist would say it's in his very nature, unable to escape his original purpose. Ramattra cannot bring himself to disagree.

One by one he forces his locked-up actuators to disengage, releasing the tension across his body.

Later, he will stop by your quarters and apologize. He can't bring himself to do it yet- and you need time to calm down. Instead, he looks back to the screen and watches as they pan over the absolute destruction of Paris.

[mysticpetals]

Could I get 10 with Jake and MC? Thank you!

Pairing: Jake × mc

Notes: Thanks for the request! I went with fluff since you didn't specify. It feels good to be writing again, here you go <3

P.S I have no idea how electronics work so apologies about any inconsistencies.

━━━━━━━━ ✤ ━━━━━━━━

"Glitch! You can't run away forever, just come here!" Jake chased after his cat, well, technically both of yours, now that you had moved in with him.

He had been at it since the morning and it was now one in the afternoon. Today was Glitch's bath day and safe to say, he wasn't too fond of the idea.

"Stop it! You're gonna break something!" He put his hands up, trying to placate him but the cat had other ideas.

In retrospect, you should have seen it coming and intervened before it got to this but you weren't too keen on joining Jake at that time.

Glitch ran across the table where Jake's laptop was opened and his face dropped, eyes widening in horror as he saw Glitch ram into the thing and both of them fell on the ground.

Jake's gasp alerted you and leaving your task in the kitchen, you strolled into the living room, eyebrows going up at Jake's position on the ground and a hyper Glitch running past you.

"What happened?" You approached Jake, and instantly softened upon seeing the teary look on his face.

"It's broken." He sniffled and you saw the laptop in his hand, screen cracked and hinge broken.

"Oh baby, can't we get it fixed?" You gently removed the broken device from his hands and gave him a hug.

"I don't think so."

You frowned at his dejected time and decided that you would do everything to get it working again.

"I don't think I can get Glitch to bathe today," he mumbled into your shoulder and you squeezed him in turn.

"Sure, no problem. Get some rest, you've been at it since the morning. I'll make you those pancakes that you love."

He leaned back and gave you a watery smile, nodding and making his way to the bedroom.

You glanced at the destroyed laptop and felt your determination strengthen.

------

The next day, Jake woke up alone in bed and his mood instantly soured, remembering what happened yesterday and now even you weren't with him to cuddle his stress away.

Sighing, he got out of bed, going about his daily routine and called for you once he was done.

"In here!" You called from the balcony and he was confused as to when you got there without him noticing.

"What are you doing out—" his words got stuck in his throat as he saw you smiling, Glitch sitting by your best and a brand new laptop on the little coffee table beside you.

He stood there for a minute or two, trying to process what it meant and only your laughter brought him out of his head.

"But wasn't this expensive?" He questioned, walking to you but you only shook your head.

"You needed it, Jake. And besides, the hard drive is your old one. I figured you'd like to have the data back."

"I'm so in love with you," Jake said in awe and you blushed, shying away from the compliment.

"Come here and see how you like it, dummy."

Jake couldn't wipe the smile off of his lips for days.

[kalpasio]

An Engineer's Dream

Job of Your Dreams

A Kalpas x Reader angst fic, chapter 2 below!

Oddly enough, you didn’t get into any trouble. In fact, none of the Grey Serpents even glanced your way. The only interaction you had was when you turned in your latest project, and then he was gone. You were certainly suspicious at this point, and rightly so. Your next project was simple, yet you were given a deadline three times longer than you’d need. Maybe the reason you’d been allowed to stay out was because they wanted you to repair the hall you’d found.

Knowing you were being used like that had you on guard, but if you got to keep using that gorgeous workshop, you weren’t going to say anything. By midafternoon, you were free to go back to your hiding spot, and by dinner time you had lights on, and some of the terminals functioning. You still had quite aways to go, but from here on out, it seemed the issues were less due to hardware and more due to everything being wiped from the computers.

The next day, you didn’t even bother showing up to work, you went straight to the secret hall. After a minute or two, you realized that nearly every single file in the system had been corrupted. While you had the ability to fix the problem, the process was in no way pleasant, and you found your reflection in one of the still-black screens grimacing back at you.

The day came and went, and the only progress you’d made was in repairing the terminals default screen so it now read ‘Fire Moth,’ and increasing your chances of carpal tunnel. A night’s rest, and the next day went much the same. It wasn’t until a week later, you finally got something promising, or at least you thought.

A new program, named APONIA, appeared and an hour later you were receiving data from it. But where you were expecting a file full of more things to decode, there was only a chat box that popped up. When you tried to close it, it opened back up immediately, so you simply ignored it and went back to work. A few minutes later, you looked over to see new lines had been added. Some of the words or letters were missing, but for the most part you could make out the meaning.

“Please,” was all the first line read. Then, “Rest your hands for a moment. I’ve seen the work they’ve done; fighting and building, destroying and creating. Take this time to relax a bit. We will still be here when you are ready.”

Seeing the words made your brows furrow. First of all, it sounded ore like a person than a program, and second of all, how did it know who it was talking to? Reading over the lines you sighed. Really, they could be referring to anyone, not just you. Sure, you built and fought with your hands, but couldn’t the same be said about a doctor fighting death, or a child destroying a block tower? It didn’t matter, you supposed, and went back to work.

“You are always so stubborn, rushing to get things done and never recognizing the joys around you at this moment.” The window moved to cover the piece of code you’d been working on. “Please,” again that one word was on a line alone. “Take a break.” At the strange chat box’s insistence, you removed your hands from the keyboard.

Stretching them above your head, you let out a content groan, then stood and stretched your legs as well. Maybe you did need a break. Checking the time, you noticed the lunch hall would be closing soon and you’d been working for four hours straight. Grabbing food would give you a chance to move around a bit, and you could come right back and resume your work while you ate.

Nodding to yourself, you put your plan in action and executed the first half flawlessly. The second half, not so much. When you returned and placed your food on the table nearby, the screen looked the same as it had when you left. As soon as you sat down, however, the APONIA chat box took over the entire screen, blocking your attempts to get work done. Huffing, you started eating your food while attempting to end the program with one hand. Your entire lunch was spent like this until all your food was gone and you gave up.

“Fine!” you shouted at the screen like it could hear you. “You win! Gah, now I understand why no one came down here.” Marching over to the junction box you’d replaced, you were about to turn off the power when the screen previously covered by the chat box returned to the files you’d been cleaning up. Cautiously, you walked back over, almost worried the window would change again if you moved too quickly.

APONIA still sat on the side of your screen, cursor blinking, waiting for you to type a message, but otherwise it didn’t move. It stayed like that until it was time for dinner when you got another polite, yet demanding, reminder to eat. Another popped up when curfew was approaching, and you were too tired to argue this time, readily leaving the ‘Fire Moth room’ as you were calling it now, and turning in for the night.

In the morning, APONIA was the first thing to greet you—literally, asking how you slept the previous night. On a whim, you typed a response into the box, only to receive another line right after. “Please, make sure you sleep well, this cursed place is not worth your well-being.” Well. That was certainly ominous.

APONIA was easily the most frustrating program you’d ever worked with. If you went too long without a break, it would stop you, if you missed a meal, it would stop you, if you stayed up too late, it would stop you. It was annoying, but you figured that whoever worked down here before you had a bad habit of neglecting themselves and made this program to help. Everyday you would get messages that felt like you were talking to another person, and the files within the APONIA project folder had names that sounded out of place.

There was only one image file in a format you’d never seen before, and the files you could understand made it seem like APONIA almost had a personality and a life’s worth of memories. The folder itself was also extremely large, holding hundreds of terabytes of data. A few other projects on the terminal were roughly the same size, but it was another week before you fixed a second one.

When you made your breakthrough, you nearly cheered, but in the next moment you were concerned. The APONIA chat window popped up again and you saw a message that sounded like it was congratulating you. Then a second chat box opened over the first, this program’s title being KALPAS.

“I’m so glad to see you again, Kalpas,” the first window read. Almost instantly the second window responded.

“Aponia.” There was a pause, but the moment your fingers touched the keyboard, the KALPAS box flooded with messages, the gist of which seemed to be that this program wanted the APONIA program gone. APONIA didn’t acknowledge this and instead seemed to speak to you.

“Don’t mind him, Kalpas truly means well. For his sake, however, I think I should leave you be while he adjusts.” For the first time since starting the program, the APONIA dialogue box left your screen. It was still running in the background, but you had no way of telling what it was doing.

“Where the hell am I.” The KALPAS window was finally done running lines up your screen and sent a new message. It very well may have been directed to the other program, but since you were the only one able to respond right now, you did.

“Terminal FM-1024 in the World Serpent base,” you typed back.

“Get me the fuck out,” was the response. Not that it made you any less confused. For a few seconds, you stared at the screen, unsure what to even ask for clarification. What the hell kind of program was this, and what did it mean ‘out’? On a monitor you weren’t using, out of the corner of your eye, you saw a third program start up, this one titled VILL-V. Several dialogue boxes popped up and closed before you could read them, making you worry there may be some type of virus you’d accidentally accessed.

After ten seconds of rapid flashing, the VILL-V program closed itself, and a holo-projector on the far side of the room turned on. It was clearly damaged, the image it created was flickering like no other, but you were still able to make out the basic shape. What vaguely looked like an unreasonably tall man took a determined step towards you, only for half of his leg to disappear mid-step. Quickly he moved back and crossed his arms over his chest. The hologram was so blurry, you couldn’t make out his face, but new messages appeared in the KALPAS box.

“Well?” you read, “Are you going to do your job?” Obviously, you were only reading, and there was no way for you to make out the tone behind the words, but you read them with a sneer that had you pissed.

“Not if you’re gonna treat me like that,” you mumbled to yourself. Moving from your chair, you walked over to the corner where the projection stood, somehow managing to look impatient. Standing outside its range, you looked at the hologram from a couple of angles while its gaze followed you.

“Obviously there’s some damage to the unit, but I’ve never seen something like this. Our matter-projectors are much different, so unless you’ve got a manual, this might take a while to fix.” You spoke out loud, but certainly weren’t expecting a response. Yet, the image in front of you huffed, the fuzzy outline becoming even worse for a moment. “Can you hear me?” That would be new, a hologram that listens. After a moment with no response, you relaxed, feeling slightly better.

“I’ll take that as a no—” The projection shook its head and pointed angrily towards the terminal. Rolling your eyes, you walked back over to see there were new messages.

“You’re the mechanic. why the hell would I have the manual.” The next line simply said, “Yes.” Followed by “I just said-! Go look!”

“You can hear me, but not speak yourself…you wouldn’t happen to know sign, would you?” You joked, there’s no way you’d be able to make out anything with how fuzzy the image was, but still there was a flat ‘No.’ in response to your question. “Cool. So. I have no clue what kind of weird shit Grey Serpent is trying to do down here, or what kind of program you are,” you saw words appear on the screen, but chose to ignore them. “And I doubt anything good will come of this, but I’m gonna try to repair your projector so it doesn’t feel like I’m having a seizure every time I look at you.”

“I’m not a program. I’m a sim,” you finally read the new messages.

“That’s nice,” you hummed, then sat in front of the computer trying to find any information on the projector. Around six seconds in, and the VILL-V program opened again, finding the repair manual as well as schematics for the room you were currently in. Just as before, VILL-V was gone right after, but you had everything you needed now.

It appeared as though there were dozens of projectors, even some under the large table nearby. Each one had a specific area it was responsible for, and there were some areas that had a supplemental projector for in between two main ones. In total, there were thirty-two hologram units, and only one was partially operation, the rest were busted. On the bright side, this meant you had plenty of chances to use the workshop nearby.

Getting to work, you grabbed some tools, came back downstairs, and promptly took down one of the projectors. It was well hidden in the wall, but once you found it, you had no problems getting it out and bringing it back to the shop. Before you left, you checked to see the blurry image in the corner had sent you any messages, but there was nothing new, so you headed up.

Technologically speaking, the holograms were a marvel. Somehow, they projected a tangible 3D image, while also being able to make it seem like any sound was coming from the image. It was similar to the holographic training rooms which used matter projectors to simulate Honkai beasts, but these simulations were much more lifelike, all the way down to generating body heat.

Even using the manual VILL-V had pulled up, it took you four days to complete the first projector. Each day, the blurry hologram would be waiting for you, a message already present on the terminal, complaining about how long it was taking you to fix anything. Part of you wanted to take longer out of spite, but you were too eager to see the final project to hold out.

Last night you had finished the repairs, so today you were going to return the projector to its housing and do your first test run to see if it worked. Kalpas’ greeting this morning was simply a fuzzy scowl you could hardly make out, but he seemed to be playing nice for now. Quickly grabbing the tools you needed, you set about reinstalling the unit, the whole process taking less than ten minutes.

Standing squarely in the middle of the area this projector covered, was a decidedly not blurry Kalpas. The scowl you’d seen that morning was actually a brown and orange mask that covered his face, coupled with his—unreasonably built—arms crossed over his—also very large—chest. This man was a good foot taller than you, and for a moment you wondered if the calibration for the hologram was off. When the room grew hot, you were certain something was wrong, except the next second there were flickers of fire surrounding him.

“Took you long enough,” His voice was deep, and he spoke slowly, sounding more bored than angry.

“Glad I fixed your ability to speak just for you to insult me,” you rolled your eyes. “Does everything feel normal at least?”

“No.”

Waiting for Kalpas to elaborate, you raised an eyebrow before prompting him, “Care to tell me what’s wrong?”

Raising his fist to eye level, Kalpas flexed it for a moment before releasing the tension and letting the hand drop to his side. Slowly, his gaze moved to meet your own through his mask, but he still didn’t give you an answer.

“Great. Well, when you figure that out, you let me know.” Done with this sorry excuse for a conversation, you cleaned up your tools and moved to take the next projector down and carry it to the workshop. Kalpas’ eyes followed your movements, but he didn’t attempt to follow you at all.

With that out of the way, you came back down to sit by the terminal. A friend, Varsha, had written a program for you that would help clean up the corruption within the files. It would take time, and some points would still need you to look them over, but at least you would have slightly less to worry about. Now that you knew what you were doing, repairing the projectors took much less time. That night when you left, the second one was already half-way done, and Varsha’s code was running smoothly.

“Good night!” you waved to Kalpas, who gave the same scowl he’d given you that morning, and then you were gone.

I should really learn how to put linebreaks in tumblr. I'm just lazy and I know they turn out funny on mobile (because I read too much on here)

[antimonyandthyme]

Crux

1k, Sebastian Vettel/Mark Webber; X and Y sitting by a campfire and opening up; 2010 version

Sort of a prequel to this, the present day version.

@cedobols, this one’s for you.

“Let me see,” Mark said.

Seb pulled his hand back, a kid concealing a stolen cookie. “It’s just a scrape.”

Mark said again, low and insistent, “Let me see,” and Seb was helpless to obey. He turned his palm up like an offering. Mark squinted in the firelight. “You’ve got some dirt in there.” And then he smiled, and it wasn’t mean. “Got carried away gathering all that wood, huh?”

Seb huffed, feeling small and silly. He hadn’t known what to do while Mark set up camp like a man hellbent on showing every survivalist up. He hadn’t known how to set the water filter up, or how to start a fire. Exasperated and slightly fond, Mark had said, “You can at least get some firewood, right?” And Seb had tripped over his feet to comply.

Hah. Tripped.

He frowned miserably at his stinging palm. Mark’s hands felt oddly comforting cupped around his.

“Alright, sit.”

Seb sat. The fire was a nice stripe of warmth against his side. He got the childish impulse to tuck his knees under his chin, wrap his arms around his shins. Lose himself in the glow and quiet. Mark was rummaging in his pack, and Seb watched his back muscles shift. He thought he understood why people went camping.

“Alcohol wipe,” Mark said, like he wasn’t sure if Seb would bolt. “Will sting a little.”

Seb wanted to stick a tongue out at him. “I’ve fallen down before you know.”

“Good to know you’re human like the rest of us.”

Seb stuck his tongue out now. “Maybe just a little faster.” Not the wisest move to antagonize someone while they had a literal sore spot to use against you, but the mountain air was making him stupid.

Except Mark just shook his head, and continued handling Seb like he was fragile. Strange that you could find such gentleness and callousness mixed into one man.

He pressed the wipe down, and Seb held fast against the sharp pain. “You’re all tensed up,” Mark said. “This will go easier if you relax.”

In a brazen act of defiance, Seb said, “I bet you say that to all the boys.”

Mark blinked. Seb blinked back, frozen.

And then Mark tucked his chin down, and his shoulders started to shake. “Jesus, Seb.” His eyes curved up when he laughed. His edges blurred in the flickering light, like they were sanded down to softness. Seb held himself even stiller, willing this moment to last. “That mouth of yours just runs itself.”

Seb flushed. Only Mark hadn’t meant it that way, of course he hadn’t. He scrambled for something to say. “I need people to understand me.” In debriefs, where even Rocky’s eyes glaze over as he rattles on for an hour. With the engineers, discussing builds and data until they tire of his presence. Under the stars, opposite Mark, suppressing the delirious urge to bare his underbelly.

He hadn’t meant to sound as plaintive as he did. Mark gave him a look. “I understand you just fine.”

The need to win at the expense of everything else, yeah. Mark understood that about him just fine. Seb found himself fishing for more. “Yeah? Even before I ran my mouth?”

Mark exhaled, and it sounded suspiciously like a chuckle. “I don’t think there was ever a time in which you didn’t run your mouth.”

He had to concede the point. And anyway, it would be selfish to wish the rest of the season away. They’d known what they were getting themselves into when they signed. Yes, I’d bleed myself out for a win. Yes, I’d go on a camping trip with my teammate so that we’d stop biting each others’ heads off. Yes, I’d go back to destroying him on track like nothing ever happened.

Mark tied off the last bit of bandage securely. His hand lingered on Seb’s for a second more. “Think you can manage to keep away from accidents until morning? I don’t want Christian to kill me.”

“Since when were you afraid of him?”

“Since there would be no witnesses to prove I didn’t secretly push you off a cliff.”

They were grinning at each other now. A truce had no business feeling this good. Seb considered the rough feel of the gauze against his palm, and longed for some softness. “Well. I might need some supervision.”

Mark rolled his eyes, but it wasn’t a rejection. He undid Seb’s sleeping roll, arranged it a careful distance away from the fire. And then he undid his own, and shook it out right next to Seb’s. Mark settled himself on the outside. It seemed symbolic somehow. “Coming?”

Seb hurried over with the same clumsy urgency not unlike a puppy, uncaring that he looked too eager. Slid under the polyester smoothness of the sleeping bag, still smelling as if it had been pulled out of its box just the day before. He lay there and listened to the wood crackle and pop, a soothing counterpoint to Mark’s even breathing.

Mark pointed up at the sky. “That’s the Southern Cross.”

Seb stared. All he saw were stars, pooling around the tip of Mark’s finger as if drawn to him by some unseen magnetic force. Even the stars, Seb thought to himself. No wonder I stood no chance. “Where?”

Mark reached over, and their shoulders brushed. He drew his finger from Seb’s eye, back to the horizon. Seb followed the line of sight, looking harder than he’s ever looked, hoping the sky would spill her answers. “Right there. It’s one of the clearest constellations.”

Seb nodded, seeing nothing. He let Mark’s voice wash over him. The fire burned on his right, and Mark was a furnace on his left. The sleeping bags were paper-thin between them. Feeling this warm should be impossible. He sidled closer.

Mark paused, imperceptibly. And then he continued painting lofty pictures in the sky. Seb’s eyes slid close; his head drooped such that it was tucked into Mark’s side. In his imagination, he felt Mark gather him closer.