@therealmrsobi-wankenobi and I both agree that Tech’s first attempt at a joke would be making fun of how short Hunter compared to the rest of the Batch
I don’t care what you think you saw, I did not just go to Walmart to purchase toothpicks, and I most certainly did not put one in my mouth the minute I got back to my dorm
still the most badass Crosshair moment, change my mind
I just sent this to a lovely friend of mine yesterday because she was curious about the ricochet discs on Crosshair’s utility belt. So OBVIOUSLY I had to show her one of the sexiest ways they were put to use!
Why, that’s the best introduction to the ricochet discs you could have possibly given her!
“The lawyer is going to be there, right?” It wasn’t the first time Alpha had asked the question, but you were nervous enough that you didn’t mind the repetition.
“Yes, she said she would be attending the meeting in-person, to advocate for me.”
“Good.” Alpha gave a decisive nod. He had approved of Nora Czajak since she had first sent you a holomessage offering to represent your case.
“I’m not a public defender, but I take an interest in cases that are unusual, or ones in which I think the defendant made the right choice,” she had explained. “I think this case has the potential to be impactful, maybe even set a precedent for Senate workers who feel they’ve been abused. It may never make it to trial - in fact, that’s my main goal - but I would appreciate the chance to be part of it. I’ll represent you pro bono, of course.”
You had thanked Nora Czajak, especially since she had made that final offer. Free representation wasn’t common, especially for lawyers who represented clients like the ones her firm did. Still you had been hesitant when you called her back.
“There’s no guarantee that the Senate will even try to charge me with anything,” you had told her. “This is just a preliminary meeting to discuss what happened on Kamino, and how it affects my contract.”
The lawyer’s eyes had sharpened at that, but her voice stayed gentle. “You’re right: there’s no guarantee that the Senate will try to charge you. But there’s also no guarantee that they won’t. And If they’ve already mentioned contract negotiations, you’ll want me there. Or, if not me, then some other form of representation. I know it’s difficult to hear, but the Senate is a government authority in the middle of a war. The attack on Kamino was widely publicized and the Republic is being criticized. They need to put the blame on someone. Your main concern is to make sure it doesn’t end up on you.”
At length - and with much urging from Alpha - you had agreed, and Nora Czajak had taken on your case. He had liked her blunt speech and distrust of the Senate from the beginning, but she had truly won his loyalty when she had negotiated for him to be at the initial meeting and every one following.
“After all, his perspective is valuable,” she pointed out. “He has been your companion almost since you arrived on Kamino. He knows how the training processes work and he’s seen everything you’ve done for this report. More importantly, he was witness to the situation with your supervisor and was one of the first to respond during the battle. I feel very confident saying that he has earned the right to be present at these meetings.”
And so here Alpha was, fully armored and sitting beside you in your office. He had wanted to stand behind you, but you had refused to let him. First, it would look a bit too much like you were bringing a bodyguard to a holomeeting. That would give the wrong impression of how argumentative you planned on being, and it would relegate Alpha to the status of muscle rather than active participant.
Second, and slightly more important, Alpha towered over you when he was standing. If you were in the frame, his entire head would be cut out of the holo projection.
You had finally succeeded in getting him to sit down, but Alpha looked so incredibly grumpy in the frame beside you that you couldn’t help but laugh.
“You laughin’ at me, neverd’ika?” Alpha asked, glancing over at you with a wounded look on his face.
“Not at all,” you reassured, bumping his shoulder with yours. “Just thinking about how you’re going to scare the poor Senate assistant designated to go over our case.”
Alpha smiled at you for referring to it as ‘our’ case rather than just yours. He had insisted that the situation had been brought about by both of you rather than just you… though he maintained that the Senate was at the most fault.
“You look nice,” Alpha said abruptly. “Too fancy for a meeting with some di’kut, but… yeah. Anyway. When does this start again?”
“Any minute now,” you told him in an effort to keep from smiling like a love-sick idiot. You were, in fact, a love-sick idiot, but that didn’t mean that Alpha needed to know that. Instead, you channeled that energy into bouncing your non-broken leg as you strummed your fingers anxiously. Why hadn’t the meeting started yet?
“Hey, breathe,” Alpha reminded you, his large hand settling on top of your strumming fingers and your bouncing leg all at the same time. “Easy. I know neither of us like meetings much, but we’ll get through it together.”
“Together,” you agreed with a nod, your heart aching at the same time.
When the screen finally connected to the feed from Coruscant, you found yourself looking at a Nikto - impossible to tell whether they were male or female, though it didn’t truly matter - and Nora Czajak.
Nora looked furious, but when she greeted you and Alpha, her voice was as smooth and professional as ever. “I would like to present to both of you the honorable judge T'roir'krivov Oiplis.”
Alpha stiffened beside you as you blinked to hide your own shock. “A pleasure to meet you, Judge Oiplis.”
“Judge, I must once more protest against these proceedings,” Nora told the Nikto. “We were specifically told we would be having a preliminary meeting with a representative of the Senate’s administration offices, not a judge.”
“Your protests have been noted and recorded appropriately, Miss Czajak,” the judge told her, voice steady. “But we must press onward. Administrator, would you be so kind as to explain your involvement in the events leading up to the attack on Kamino?”
You looked at Nora before you did anything more, but she gave you a slight nod, so you did as Judge Oiplis had asked. The judge seemed particularly interested in how you had been the one to request the Kaminoans allow an unknown ship to pass through their security measures.
“I’m afraid it does seem rather conclusive, administrator,” the judge said regretfully. “The Kaminoans want to hold you personally responsible for the damages, as well as the loss of troopers and cadets. The Republic is in favor of putting you on trial for treason.”
Your stomach dropped. How had things gone so wrong so quickly? Alpha squeezed your hand, a menacing scowl on his face.
“You haven’t asked for my testimony yet, Judge,” he ground out, voice deeper than you had ever heard it.
Judge Oiplis glanced at him in curiosity. “Of course, how could I overlook that? Do you have anything to add?”
And Alpha started to speak, telling his side of things from the time you had arrived on Kamino. He talked about how you had thrown yourself into work with a focus that had made him worry about you. He told the judge how you had spoken with every contact the Republic had provided for you, then sought out new ones to give the most accurate representation of Kamino in your report. He spoke about the meals you had skipped, the late nights you had pulled.
You were flattered, but also wanted to sink through the floor at the grin Nora kept sending your way, waggling her eyebrows in a way that managed to look lascivious even through a holocall.
“All of that time and effort put into this report and her supervisor tried to have her booted off the project,” Alpha said eventually. “Not once, but several times. In fact, Brid tried to have her fired outright. She was made to question every order, kept on her toes every time the Senate contacted her. She may have been the one who made the final call to let that ship in, but every other part of the problem was a systemic failure on the part of the Senate. I think she’s just another unfortunate being who the Republic is trying to punish for their own failure. And though I’m just a lowly Captain and Advanced Recon Commando trainer for the Grand Army of the Republic, and my opinion holds no weight… I think she should be rewarded for identifying the system’s flaws before the Separatists chose a larger target. Maybe even Coruscant.”
“That is an excellent point, Captain Alpha-17,” Nora mused, pointedly emphasizing Alpha’s title. “It is clear that there is a breakdown in the Senate’s communication and security systems. If our hard-working administrator had, in fact, neglected to instruct Kamino to admit the ship, it is likely the Separatists would have tried to take advantage of those same weaknesses to attack another target. Maybe Coruscant, maybe not, but it wouldn’t surprise me a bit if some clever Coruscanti citizen were to realize how close the planet came to an attack…”
“If she had reported the breach through the proper channels, it would have been investigated and the problem solved,” Judge Oiplis countered.
“Would it have?” Nora asked, skepticism thick in her voice. “I think not. And why should an administrator who had been treated so poorly put her faith in the same system to help her? Besides, has anyone provided you with the frequency that was used to call Kamino and plant the instructions for the ship’s arrival?”
When the judge shook their head, Nora flipped her datapad around and displayed it. Judge Oiplis’ eyes widened. “That’s a Senate-specific frequency.”
“Exactly,” Nora said, tucking the datapad away once more. “Unless we expect every civilian to do layers of digging into every government communication, there is no way for the Senate to insist that the administrator had not done her due diligence in making sure the communication was legitimate.”
“Thank you all,” Judge Oiplis said. “I will review this information. We will have another call at this time next week to either gather additional information or discuss my decision on this matter, as needed. Until then…”
And the judge swept out of the room, leaving Nora alone. She beamed at the holoprojector. “That was perfect! Alpha, especially you!”
You turned to glance quizzically at Alpha. “How much of that was planned?”
“Systemic failure was mine,” Nora admitted openly. “And rewarded for identifying flaws and so on. The rest was all Alpha. I told him to tell the judge the truth, what he had seen in your time working on Kamino. And he did a beautiful job. Verymoving.”
A red tinge crept up Alpha’s neck, but he kept his gaze firmly on Nora. “What do you think the odds are that they’ll try to take it to court?”
“Low,” Nora said immediately, confidently. “Extremely low. I didn’t even usemy threat to sue them for attempted breach of contract - though that is still an option, by the way - because I’m so sure the case will be dropped.”
“Well, if you do decide to sue for breach of contract, let me know,” Alpha told her grimly. “I’ll testify.”
“Alpha…” you admonished with a weary sigh.
“I’ll keep that in mind, Captain,” Nora agreed, eyes bright with amusement as she turned them your way. “You’re a lucky girl to have such a good man in your life.”
You stammered out a flustered agreement and watched Alpha’s hand tighten on his thigh. Did the compliments bother him that badly, or was the reaction caused by the suggestive way Nora had phrased them? Either way, you cut yourself off so you wouldn’t make him more uncomfortable.
“All right,” Nora said, her all-business tone cutting through the tension of the silence that had stretched a beat too long for comfort. “You two relax for the rest of the night. I’ll be in contact with details about the next meeting. For now, go think about something else. Have fun for me!”
You stood too quickly, trying to ignore the sight of Nora Czajak’s wiggling eyebrows as she faded from the holoprojector’s blue-tinted image. Unfortunately, you had forgotten to factor in the lack of balance that came from having one leg in a cast and you began to topple forward.
Alpha caught you without any reaction, making the motion seem so wholly natural that you forgot to be embarrassed. “Easy there, little one. You did well.”
“I didn’t do anything,” you disagreed. “You did well. Thank you for saying all of that.”
“I just told the truth,” Alpha said, glancing away. You did the same, your face heating as your mind helpfully reminded you exactly what he had said. When Alpha spoke again, it was with the air of a man bringing up an unpleasant topic. “Are you ready to talk about what that meant?”
Ah, so it was an unpleasant topic after all. You tried to avoid his eyes, but it was hard. He had stayed sitting down while you stood, and you were close to the same height because of it. “I didn’t know there was going to be a judge. It means the Senate didn’t tell me everything.”
“It means the Senate set you up to take a fall,” Alpha told you. Now his eyes met yours, his gaze intent and piercing. It was too much, too close, and you wanted to look away, but you couldn’t. The raw honesty in his face held you, kept you staring back as the muscles danced in his jaw. “They’re going to blame you for everything, ruin your life and try to put you in prison, all so they can hide their own failures.”
“That seems a little dramatic,” you protested weakly. “They probably-”
“No,neverd’ika,” Alpha said, eyebrows flattening into a stern line. “I understand, you think the best of everyone, but you need to know this. The Senate doesn’t care about you. The Republic doesn’t care about you. War makes people do terrible things, especially when they’re in positions of authority like that. If the Republic has to choose between doing right by you or keeping the public’s trust by denying their mistakes, which will they choose?”
You could feel your expression change as a wave of cold fear washed through you at that. If Alpha was right - and he probably was - there was no chance that the Republic was going to let you walk away from this unscathed. The needs of one person against those of the entire Republic? It would be far easier to paint you as a traitor and be done with it. Your eyes fell to your feet as you considered that, but they darted up again as Alpha reached out to take your hand in his.
“I’m sorry, little one.” He seemed to be telling the truth. For once, his scarred face was filled with sympathy without an edge of mocking or the cruelty that could sneak in every now and again. His dark eyes were soft and sad, and you wanted more than anything to erase that look from them.
“Maybe prison won’t be so bad,” you offered half-heartedly.
The change that came over Alpha’s face was almost comical. His brow crinkled in confusion as bewilderment, realization, anger, and determination flashed across his face at incredible speed. His hand tightened around yours - too tight for a moment, but he relaxed his grip as soon as he realized.
When Alpha spoke, it was with a grit and unmoveable strength that told you he had no intentions of changing his mind. “You will never see the inside of a prison. You’ll never see the inside of a courtroom, if I have anything to say about it.”
“Alpha, you said it yourself,” you reminded him gently. “The Republic is going to try to paint me as the one at fault for all of this so they don’t lose the trust of every planet who swears loyalty to them. How am I supposed to fight against them when they’re trying so hard to take me down?”
“You aren’t fighting against them,” Alpha growled. “At least, not alone. I know a dozen men who would vouch for your character and I was there for most of the situation pre-attack. I’ll testify for you in a heartbeat. If that doesn’t work, I’ll threaten anyone who tries to push the issue.”
“All that means is that we would end up in prison together,” you said with a small smile.
“Nah,” he denied, sounding abruptly unconcerned. “If it comes to that, I’ll steal a ship and you and I will run to Wild Space. We’ll live away from the Republic if that’s what it takes.”
You didn’t want to encourage him, but as you sat there, listening to Alpha plan a hypothetical future for you both, you couldn’t help the broad smile that spread across your face. He saw the change in your expression and an answering smile crossed his face as he listed civilian jobs he thought you could each do. The fact that he clearly had no idea what a civilian job entailed only served to make you break into giggles.
“What, you don’t think I could be a water-watcher?” he asked, sounding playfully offended.
“I’m sure you could be,” you countered, “but I’m not sure what that even means. Are you watching to keep people from stealing the water? Are you trying to check that nothing comes out of it? Making sure it isn’t sentient?”
“All of ‘em,” he answered. “That’s why I’m the best.”
“You’re ridiculous… but if anyone could convince people to pay them to do it, you could,” you said, trying to keep any hint of inappropriate feeling from your face.
It was a challenge, especially sitting this close to Alpha when he was in one of his rare playful moods, and you ended up glancing down. Unfortunately, your gaze landed on where Alpha’s hand still held yours and he abruptly pulled away, clearing his throat.
“Now, we have most of a week before the judge calls back,” Alpha said, standing up and stretching his shoulders. “You can’t stay here by yourself all day and I have some work to get done. You’re coming with me to the ARC area. At least for today.”
“That’s probably not a good idea.” You didn’t enjoy turning him down so bluntly, but if Alpha had work to do, you would only be in the way.
“It’s not an idea at all, it’s the plan,” Alpha told you, passing you the crutches before he started moving toward the door of your office. “Come on.”
You stared at him for a moment, but positioned the crutches and followed him. Something in his expression warned you that Alpha wasn’t playing games. If your choices were between walking to the ARC area of your own volition or being carried like a child, you would rather walk, even if you had no interest in going to the destination.
Walking through the halls of Kamino was a little uncomfortable for you. It had been nearly a full month since the Separatist attack and much of life in the raised cities of Kamino had returned to normal. Training had been back in session for the past week and the platform that had been destroyed was already being rebuilt. The stilt itself had been largely undamaged, and could be repaired rather than replaced. Certain areas were still marked off with neat signs written in both Kaminoan and Basic, warning that structural instability could be present, but those areas were getting less common every day.
The biggest difference between pre- and post-attack for you was how you were being treated. Surprisingly, the difference didn’t stem from the Kaminoans. No, despite their attempts to use you as a way to force payment from the Republic, the Kaminoans treated you with the same polite, distant manner they always had. The biggest change was from the cadets.
Since you had first stepped foot on Kamino, the cadets had found you interesting enough to talk to and about. You had found their attention flattering, if a little overwhelming, but you weren’t egotistical enough to think it was due to anything other than being one of the first human females that these cadets had ever seen. Alpha had told you that almost verbatim the first day you had met him. For better or worse, the cadets watched you, followed you, and flirted with you any chance they got.
Or, more accurately, they usedto.
Now it was rare that a cadet would even look at you as you walked through the halls of Kamino. When one did, it was usually to eye you suspiciously before he walked away. When Alpha saw it, he wasn’t happy (you could tell by the muscle tensing in his jaw), but he didn’t speak up on your behalf, either.
You couldn’t blame them - Alpha or the cadets. You had hurt Kamino, took away the slight bit of safety the cadets felt here as they were learning to be soldiers. Of course they would treat you with suspicion. What proof did they have that you hadn’t brought the Separatists here on purpose? You would have been wary, yourself. And when one considered that they had lost brothers during the attack? Well, you understood why they had closed ranks, keeping their pain among brothers. Alpha understood it as well, which was why he was doing his best to overlook the new attitude among the young troopers.
You were broken out of those thoughts when you heard raised voices. You were getting close to the ARC area and the noise was coming from the area ahead. You glanced up at Alpha. The captain was frowning, but something about the angle of his brow told you that he didn’t know what was happening, either.
You would have told him to go ahead so he didn’t have to wait for your slower pace, but you were just around a corner from the ARC area and there was little point in it now. You picked up your pace as much as you dared and Alpha followed suit.
When you got to the doorway that led into the ARC’s training area, you found a group of cadets arguing with some of the ARCs-in-training. You kept pace with Alpha as well as you could, but when you heard some of the specifics of what they were saying, you stopped short.
“Don’t let her in there!”
“You can’t trust her! None of us can!”
“If she sees where the ARCs train, how long will it be before there’s another attack?”
“She risked her life to get intel for us during that fight,” Neyo told them, voice deadly.
Drift nodded, sounding more serious than you had ever heard him. “And she did everything possible to keep from becoming a hostage.”
“Yeah,” a tall boy added, looking at the crowd of disgruntled cadets. Three more cadets guarded the speaker’s back. They all looked vaguely familiar, but you couldn’t quite place them. “Why don’t you worry about the real threat here?”
A murmur of action ran through the group of cadets at that and they all began to push closer.
“That so?” one cadet asked with a smirk. “And who exactly is the real threat? You?”
“No, me,” Alpha announced, striding forward. You couldn’t see his face, standing behind him like you were, but he didn’t sound happy. “As a matter of fact, I’m the real threat to Kamino. Look up the rescinded order to stop incoming traffic to Kamino. It’s got my authorization code. Is there something you cadets wanted to say to me?”
Alpha had been lovely with you during the past month. He was kind, attentive, entertaining. He was comforting when you were feeling guilty over the loss of lives during the attack, but he also wouldn’t let you wallow in self-pity. You looked at him and saw a friend - someone you had deeper feelings for, but a friend more than anything.
That changed as you saw him now.
He was in full authority mode, standing there as Captain Alpha-17, trainer of the ARC troopers and trusted leader of troops for the Jedi. He was impossibly tall and broad, cutting an imposing figure even without the bulky plastoid plates of his armor. He stared the cadets down without the slightest hesitation, letting them choose exactly how they wanted to proceed. No matter what decision they made, he would deal with the outcome.
“And you don’t think she’s a traitor?” someone asked.
Alpha laughed. It was not a happy sound. “Kid, I’ve met the Chancellor, and he’s less dedicated to the Republic than she is. She’s no traitor.”
“But that’s what the Republic has said - that there’s a chance the attack was orchestrated from inside of Kamino.”
“How did you get access to the holonet?” Alpha asked him sharply. “You need to learn what news sources to trust. Whatever one wrote that isn’t worth your time. The truth - the real truth - is that the attack came from somewhere inside the Senate, not inside of Kamino.”
“Didn’t you teach us that the only people we can trust are brothers?” one cadet asked, looking more confused than angry now.
“Yes, absolutely,” Alpha told him with total confidence. “Can you trust me?”
The cadets nodded.
“And I trust her. So as long as you think my judgment is sound, I never want to hear another word about her being a traitor. I was there for what happened before the Seppies landed here, and I know the truth. There are people who want to hurt you, but none of them are in this room. Keep your eyes open and your wits sharp, but never forget who had your back when it cost them. Look at her leg. She paid that price with blood and bone. She’s a warrior, not a traitor.”
You struggled not to look away when the cadets glanced in your direction, but you managed to hold their gaze. They still didn’t look happy to see you, but they also didn’t look outright hostile anymore. It was an improvement, no matter how slight.
“Now get out of here,” Alpha ordered. “I know you’re supposed to be doing your own training, not hanging around the ARCs.”
The cadets dispersed, but four of them stayed behind - the same four who had spoken up on your behalf. Alpha motioned you to join them while the entire group entered the ARC area.
When you caught up, Alpha gestured to the four cadets. “Do you remember them?”
You smiled apologetically. “You all look so familiar… but I can’t place you. I’m sorry.”
“The last time we met, I believe you were suffering from a rather great deal of pain,” the cadet wearing goggles told you.
“And had carbon monoxide poisoning,” Alpha muttered.
You shot him a look, but smiled at the cadets as you introduced yourself and offered them your hand to shake.
The cadet with slightly longer hair than you were used to seeing spoke first. “My name is Hunter, ma’am. It’s nice to see you recovering.”
“I’m Wrecker,” said the tall boy who had threatened the other cadets. “You’re pretty.”
“Crosshair,” the thin cadet told you simply, rolling his eyes at his brother.
“And I am Tech,” the goggled one announced, just barely managing to pry his attention away from the datapad in his hand.
“I didn’t know they let cadets have datapads,” Drift said, glancing around Alpha’s shoulder.
“They do not,” Tech told him. “This particular datapad was discarded by a Kaminoan who believed it was unusable.”
“I guess it wasn’t?” Neyo asked.
“I repaired it with very little difficulty,” Tech replied, glancing at the screen once more.
“You four helped during the Separatist attack,” you said slowly. “I think I remember. You had blades you were throwing, and you had a gun.”
You pointed at Hunter and Crosshair in turn and both nodded. Alpha’s hand rested gently on your shoulder. “She still has trouble remembering what happened during the second half of the battle.”
“It comes back in bits and pieces,” you explained, trying to ignore Drift elbowing Bacara gleefully at Alpha’s casual touch. “But what are you doing here? Did you get an instant promotion to ARC troopers? You did handle yourselves well.”
“No, we’ve just liked keeping them around,” Monnk told you, slinging one arm around Crosshair and the other around Wrecker. Crosshair pushed his arm away while Wrecker tried to put the ARC into a headlock.
“We’ve been teaching them some useful tricks,” Alpha told you blandly, but you saw the warmth in his eyes when he nodded back at Hunter. Alpha had taken these cadets in as his own. You were glad to see the connections forming, especially between troopers as highly regarded as the ARCs and non-standard cadets like Hunter, Tech, Wrecker, and Crosshair.
“What’s going on out- Oh. Hey, Captain,” Faie greeted as you reached the section where most of the ARC training actually happened. “Are you back?”
“Yeah, and I’ve brought a visitor,” Alpha told him.
Monnk looked at you with an air of sympathy. “Should have known it was just a matter of time before the captain made you start doing drills with us. Brace yourself.”
“She’s not here to do drills, di’kut,” Alpha said with a scowl. “Her leg’s broken!”
“Sothat’s how you get out of drills,” Drift mused, grinning when Alpha shot him a glare.
“She’s going to be here observing,” he corrected. “So you’re all going to be on your best behavior. Right?”
“Yes, sir!” the four young cadets agreed immediately. The ARCs took a slightly different approach, agreeing lazily or - in Drift’s case - grinning at you as he sent an obnoxious wink in your direction.
“Drift,” Alpha sighed. “It’s not going to be a good day for you, is it.”
Drift grinned at him, too. “It’s always a good day when we have such a lovely guest watching ARC training. Maybe you should join us for a few exercises, show her what exactly you have to offer in the strength and physical fitness departments?”
“Eight laps, full kit,” Alpha barked, turning away from you while he issued instructions to the ARCs as well.
It was a good thing, too. You weren’t sure what kind of look you were wearing, but you were worried it would give you away far too easily. As you noticed the scarcely hidden glee on the ARCs’ faces, you sighed. It was going to be a long afternoon.
—
Author’s Note - I said I would post more chapters in May, remember? Obviously, I wasn’t able to wait too far into the month before I posted something!
It’s so lovely to be back, friends! Thank you to everyone who has continued being interested in this story despite the hiatus, or those who have just found this story and are interested in seeing where it goes! I hope you enjoyed, and I’ll be back with another update soon!
On Dec. 18th I’ve started a role play game server on discord as I have informed you previously.
So far we’ve seen great progress and there are quite a few active players. A small but very harmonious community has grown that inspires each other creatively.
We have skilled fanfiction authors who in particular enjoy the multiple possibilities for developing their OCs.
There is a main story line that is quite serious business, and the plot that is developing is already now much better than some stuff that’s launched by official sources.. ;D We create the plot together in an associated brainstorming channel.
We also have various off-topic RPG channels that are used for free play and fun.
The RPG is ongoing and not connected to certain times, which is easily manageable, since it’s exclusively written. There’s no pressure to participate, we’re all working hard but party even harder.
If you are interested in what we do, you can ask me here or on discord (Commander Neyo#8826). Perhaps you would be down to play one or multiple OCs or also a canonical character; several clones and Jedi are still available. Max Rebo is still free as well. ^^
Omega was a bad influence on Wrecker. The brawler had always been high-energy, but with the child around, actively encouraging his behavior… The two had become completely incorrigible. It had already been difficult for Crosshair to find a place on the ship to escape Wrecker’s roughhousing. With Omega involved? Escape was impossible.
Nevertheless, following their most recent “mission” (if it could even be called that—these days, they were little more than errand boys for Cid) Crosshair was determined to find some semblance of peace. So, after Cid had shut down operations for the night, Crosshair sat himself down at the bar, and helped himself to a drink.
He wasn’t even sure what kind of alcohol it was. He’d grabbed it without looking and poured himself a shot. Cid had long since gone to bed, and she was sure to give Crosshair a load of shit for stealing a shot in the morning, but for the time being, the sniper couldn’t bring himself to care.
Before taking his shot, he helped himself to the pantry and made himself a second drink: a cup of hot coco, which would serve as a chaser.
Crosshair was a notoriously picky eater. He had a particular dislike for bitter things, and alcohol fell squarely in that category. Not that that stopped him, of course. He was a high-strung individual, he liked the nerve-dampening effects of alcohol far more than he hated the flavor. Unfortunately, his brothers made fun of his eating (and drinking) habits mercilessly, so he only took his drinks with sweet chaser when they weren’t around to mock him for indulging himself.
He held his breath and downed two shots, followed quickly by a mouthful of hot coco. Immediately, the warmth of the alcohol settled in his something and he exhaled contentedly, leaning back and closing his eyes.
Then, he heard them: Wrecker and Omega, thundering down the hall, shrieking.
Crosshair scowled and bent forward, nursing his hot drink, guarding it close to his chest with the hope that both children (because honestly, Wrecker was just an overgrown child) would overlook his choice of drink.
When they didn’t immediately come bursting into the room, Crosshair began to let his guard drop once more. His tired eyes fluttered shut, be brought the drink to his lips-
Something soft impacted the back of his head with a great deal of force. If his reflexes weren’t so exceptional and superior, the hot liquid would’ve splashed all over him.
“Hey, watch it!” he snapped angrily, turning around so sharply that he nearly gave himself whiplash.
Omega and Wrecker immediately froze, a pillow clutched firmly in Omega’s arms.
The bastards were pillow fighting!
Not only that, but they had the absolute audacity to look guilty about it!
“Sorry, Crosshair,” both of the children said in unison.
The sniper huffed. He felt a little bit bad about making them feel guilty. Just a little bit. “Eh… You two…” He grumbled, then turned back around and took a sheepish sip of his drink.
Behind him, Omega and Wrecker, remained silent. Crosshair didn’t need to turn around to know that they were eyeing the pillow on the ground, debating whether or not it was safe to retrieve it. There was some whispering and Crosshair rolled his eyes when he heard Omega suggested, “Just sneak over there and grab it! He won’t notice if you’re extra quiet!”
Crosshair couldn’t help the way his lips twitched upwards into a smile. Ah, the poor girl had no idea that Wrecker was utterly incapable of sneaking in any capacity.
“Yeah! You got it!” Wrecker whispered, much too loud. Crosshair could practically hear the ‘thumbs up’ in his voice.
Damn Omega. She was a bad influence on Wrecker, and Wrecker was a bad influence on Crosshair. From droid-killing competitions to wrestling matches, Wrecker never failed to bring out the playful side of his surly, silver-haired little brother.
And a pillow fight was no exception.
With a heavy sigh, Crosshair resigned his relaxing night to be ruined, and took one last sip of his sweet drink.
Just as Wrecker’s fingers slowly dug into the pillow, Crosshair bent over, snatched it from his hands, and smacked him over the head with it.
“Got you,” he said, practically dripping with smugness.
Wrecker looked up at him with big eyes, and Omega screamed, “Pillow fight!” and smacked Crosshair with her pillow before scrambling back down the hall.
“Go get another pillow, then sneak around the building to cut her off. I’ll trail her from behind,” Crosshair said, and Wrecker laughed.
“kriff yeah! Pillow fight!” he exclaimed. He saluted Crosshair, then shouted, “Omega, you better watch out!” Before barrelling out of the room.
With a fond smile, Crosshair watched him go, before extricating himself from his bar stool. Holding his breath, he took one last shot, chased it down, and followed Wrecker into the hallway.
THANK YOU, @ct-crosshair, VERY MUCH for your fine addition! I love it!
Crosshair plays harmonica. Wrecker plays banjolele. It started as a dare but evolved into an actual thing they did together at campfires between missions.
Crosshair fights with the rest of CF99 every time he has to use eye drops - it’s almost impossible for him to have his eyes opened during application of the medicine. Wrecker, more often than not, has to put him in a headlock for someone else to pry his eyelids open.
It leaves the Bad Batch baffled how Kix does it so… efficiently.
ANavy shower (also known as a “combat shower”, “military shower”, “sea shower”, “staggered shower”, or “G.I. bath”) is a method of showering that allows for significant conservation of water and energy (…). The total running time of this kind of shower can last less than two minutes – using an initial thirty seconds or so to get wet, followed by shutting off the water, using soap and shampoo and lathering, then rinsing for a minute or less.
the idea for this comics was inspired by this video about one of the most… adorable WWII soldier - Corporal Wojtek:
(Apparently I can’t do time stamps[?] so if you just wanna see the shower bit, go to 9:15 - 9:56 minute mark, but I recommend watching the whole thing!)
