Sometimes I look at that group holo and think Echo was trying to imitate Cody’s hairstyle. Of course this is just a dumb thought/quick doodly sketch and really has no relevance to anything in particular it’s for funsies
The holo was just one of many out of the stack Finn had taken from the Resistance records storeroom to supplement his thus far rather one-sided historical education while he recuperated, but his eyes were drawn as if by tractor beam to the tiny lettering printed on the side.
CT-7567 - that sounded like a stormtrooper designation. And below that - CC-2224. CT-5555.
Clone troopers. To hear the First Order tell it, they had been an ideal to strive towards and ultimately exceed, the perfect soldiers who had ushered in the Empire thanks to their absolute obedience and uniformity.
But when Finn booted up the holo, he saw the faces of individual men, and to his surprise, names. Rex. Cody. Fives. Echo. Tup. Kix. Jesse. The list ran on and on. He saw a dizzying range of tattoos, elaborate painted designs on armor, intricate patterns shaved into hair - even the tilt of one clone’s eyebrows set him apart from the furrow of his brother’s, a playful twist of the lips here against a harder line of determination there.
Finn didn’t know how many hours passed as he sat riveted by the holo-record. Despite the cruel circumstances of their creation, the clones had risen above being the emotionless tools they were intended as, had minds and hearts that refused to be reduced to mere organs. One had even come close to unmasking the vast conspiracy behind the rise of Palpatine. A pawn, rising against the chessmaster. And though the clone, no, the man (Fives, Finn burned the name deep into his memory) had ultimately failed, reading about how he defied everything he knew so he could fight for what was right set something to steel in Finn’s chest.
He raised his fingers to pass through the projection, as if he could absorb it into his very self like the tattoos that marked so many of the men. Finn would not let those names be forgotten.
ETA: Thanks for the warm reception on this picture/ficlet! (especially these awesome tag ficlet-comments) - I just want to clear up a few things I’ve seen in the reblog tags of this:
1) I’m very flattered that some are tagging this as the novelization, but this is just my own writing. :’D
2) This ficlet is meant to take place after the events of TFA while Finn’s in recovery - I imagine Finn finds the records in some Resistance storeroom (I don’t think the First Order would look kindly upon Fives for one! And since now Filoni says Rex lives to RotJ I can picture him telling his story to the Rebellion.) It’s important to me that Finn decided to defect on his own due to his intrinsic strength and goodness! I just imagine him finding records about clones as kind of extra encouragement after the fact.
anyway, thanks for the support this has gotten! glad to see so many fellow finn and clones fans popping up!
Rex: *sighing and flopping into a chair* Finally, got rid of Fives and Hardcase for a while. They should be gone for hours, time for some peace and quiet.
Kix: How did you manage that?
Rex: I sent them to the store for an item that doesn’t exist.
Well, this season is just going to be an emotional rollercoaster and I’m just not prepared for the end. I’m so happy Echo is alive, but at what cost? He looks so fragile/ruined, and even if he does survive the state he’s in, he’s going to go through order 66. So no matter how long we have Echo back for, we just know he’s going to die and I’m already crying. This episode brought back A LOT of Fives trauma for me, his ending was so devastating in season 6. To know that Echo will find out what happened to Fives will be soul destroying. But I’m very intrigued to see where this is all going to go.
The Bad Batch we’re awesome again, I’m going to miss them after this arc is complete. I’d love to know what happens to them during order 66. I hope we get to see that. I’m also hoping we get to see Rex, Wolf & Gregor discover & take our their order 66 chips.
Animation was on point again, the fight scenes were epic and I loved the primitive race they introduced. They were pretty damn cool.
Lastly the fact that Rex fully knows about Anakin & Padme is so heart warming to me. Anakin really trusts Rex enough to know all his secrets. I love that Rex helps Anakin to sneak away so he can have his cute little hologram calls with Padme she was looking hella pregnant in this episode too. I wonder if we’ll see her tell him this season? But, let’s not forget THAT Obi-Wan line to Anakin about Padme!!! He fully knows already about them and he’s choosing to keep the secret for his brother the feels man! The feels!
“Here, I’ve got an idea.” Fives held out his hand. “Take my hand, and Quill’s too. For every three steps you take, Quill and I will swing you forward, yeah? Sound good?”
Kiran lit up. “Yeah!” He grabbed both men’s hands quickly, biting his lower lip in concentration. “One… Two… Free!”
EVERYONE LOOK AT THEM I’M CRYING. They could be a whole little family. <3
Thank you to @space-b33 for doing a fun art trade with me!
Probably one of the cutest things I’ve drawn! And this is how I will remember them bc nothing bad will ever happen. Ever.
Fives reached for his blaster as he jolted awake and found himself aiming it at Tup, who had raised his hands over his head out of instinct. Fives lowered the blaster just as quickly as it had been raised. “I’m sorry.”
“You were screaming in your sleep again.” Tup lowered his hands but refused to step back. Instead, he laid a hand on Fives’ shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.
Fives raised a hand to his face and squeezed the bridge of his nose between his fingers. With every breath he expected to breathe in the volcanic scent of Lola Sayu. The absence was anxiety inducing. He couldn’t form a response over the beating of his heart in his ears.
“Let me call Kix.”
“No.” Fives protested, meeting Tup’s gaze for the first time. “Don’t call Kix. I’m fine.”
“You’re shaking.” Jesse had snuck up behind Fives and now placed a hand on his other shoulder. “How much sleep have you gotten in the last week?”
“I’m fine.” Fives shoved their hands off his shoulders and stood up, swaying slightly from the sudden blood rush. When Jesse reached out to steady him, he pushed his hands away. “I just need some fresh air.”
Literally nothing will ever be funnier than Fives roasting Anakin with a dick joke in the clone wars. It’s hard to believe that it actually happened, but it did. That is canon. Peak Star War right there.
