We’re In The Endgame Now

TBB SEASON 3 IS OUT WOOOOO

Layers

(Art is by my friend soap)

Chapter 1: The Waterfall

Warnings: None

Genre: Fantasy/Short Story

The limestone rocks dig into my already peeling fingers as I grasp another hold, hauling myself up to the edge of the cliff. I’m greeted by the sight of lush green trees looming over me, shielding me from the sun’s rays. I look behind me, reveling in the view of the sparkling blue ocean. 

“I’ll explore up here and abseil down in a bit!” I shout down at the person belaying me, taking a few steps into the cluster of trees before untying the rope from my harness. 

I set my bag down next to a tree, collapsing down onto a soft bed of leaves, inhaling that sweet familiar forest smell I recognise from home. I sigh as I lean back against the tree, staring out at the islands clustered together around the one I’m at. It’s so much better than being in the city. There, the constant need for caution strangles me, but here, the freedom comforts me.

It’s been 10 years since my parents divorced. I think I’m coping well. At least, I hope so. Climbing’s the only thing that makes me feel alive.

I wish I could stay here forever. 

I stuff my water bottle back into my bag, zipping it up and throwing it over my shoulders, before standing up and walking into the maze of trees that stands in front of me.

For a cliff, there’s a hefty number of trees up here. I keep walking for a few minutes, the thick canopy blocking most sunlight. Tree roots litter the ground, threatening to trip me every few steps. 

I hear birds singing. Perhaps there’s a nest nearby, with eggs inside. I wonder if they’d taste good. 

As I continue walking on, the singing of the birds starts to get drowned out by what sounds like a…waterfall? I don’t recall ever seeing a waterfall on the map. The leaves crunch under my footsteps. Until I realise they aren’t leaves anymore. They’re bones. Not human bones, but eerily similar. 

I should probably head back.

I turn around to walk back to the cliff, but a little voice in my head tells me to keep going.

What do you have to lose anyways?

Besides my life and my money?

Could be fun. Don’t be a wimp.

Taking a deep breath to calm my nerves, I continue walking ahead. The bones staring from the ground sending shivers down my spine. The sound of the waterfall keeps getting louder. A few moments later, I stop in my tracks.

I’m greeted with a black frame with its interior glowing a dull blue. The waterfall sounds seem to be coming from inside. The frame is covered with vines which hang over the blue light of the portal. The pulsing portal seemed to emit a mysterious yet inviting aura, and I can’t help but unconsciously drift towards it. 

Excuse me, what?! Um…I should probably go now before I get sucked in and die.

As I turn around and take my first step away from the portal, I feel a sharp tug at my core and I find myself plummeting down a waterfall, water splashing into my eyes and mouth and nose, barely any time to scream as I hit a pool of water feet-first, plunging into the dark depths. Yet it’s surprisingly warm. 

I quickly swim up, hanging onto my bag as I break the surface, taking a gasp of air.

It smells sweet. Like rainwater. Glowing blue flowers float on the surface of the pool, seemingly undisturbed by the cascade of water just a few meters away. In fact, the whole pool seems undisturbed. Bag in hand, I swim over to land and haul myself up, scanning my surroundings, still shaken from the fall.

What…was that…?

The terrain is vibrant. Too vibrant. Layers of red and white and teal and blue form the cliffside that the waterfall flows down from. 

Am I dreaming?

I pinch myself to check, my heart rate skyrocketing as I feel the pain. 

No no no... This isn’t good. I need to get back.

I run a few steps backwards, hoping to get a good view of whatever I just feel through, but all I see is an empty black frame. It would be too risky to free climb back up, especially since this is unknown territory.

The ground looks a somewhat like a staircase. Layer after layer of vibrant-coloured rocks lead down to a little village in the distance. Trying to calm my nerves and failing miserably, I sling my bag over my shoulders and head down the “stairs”, towards the village. 

The sky is painted yellow and orange and red, as if the sun is setting. But I see no sun. It will probably get dark soon. I start to pick up the pace as I worry about what may come out in the night, despite the seemingly peaceful surroundings. 

The colourful gravel crunches beneath my feet. But soon, the ground starts to even out. The layers start to disappear, leaving flat ground for me to walk smoothly on. Night has fallen, the sky now a dark blue spreading as far as I can see. 

The gravel slowly starts to turn into a tiled path. There are houses on both sides of the path, their lights giving off a warm yellow glow. I smell sugar donuts coming from a short building that has the words “Baked Stuff” on it.

My stomach growls.

I want donuts.

I head into the building, a little golden bell that’s connected to the door ringing as I walk in. 

“Welcome!” a…human-shaped mass of stone says. Its arms and legs look exactly like the cliff with the waterfall. I blink, pinching myself again to make sure I’m not dreaming.

“Um…hi,” I wave awkwardly at the stone person.

“Prices are stated here,” the stone person says, pointing to the little pieces of paper with a number written on them.

“I’m sorry…but what is the currency here, and how do I get some?” I ask.

The stone person narrows its eyes. “You’re new here, aren’t you?”

It knows?!

I stand still, my eyes scanning the stone person up and down, looking out for any threats, body tensing up.

“...Yes…” I say with a strained voice.

The stone person bursts out laughing. “Look at your face!” It doubles over, clutching its abdomen, before regaining its composure and standing up straight. It’s slightly shorter than me with its short, stubby legs. It passes me a donut with some blue glowing cookie crumbs on it. 

“Here. It’s on the house. Made from Waterfall Flowers,” it says, and I take the donut, hesitantly taking a bite.

The sweet yet sour flavour explodes on my tongue, and it reminds me of lemon sorbet. 

“Good, isn’t it?” the stone person asks, the rocks on its face moving to form something resembling a smile. I nod, my mouth full.

“If you’re looking for a place to stay for the night, there’s an inn a few houses down. Tell the receptionist that you’re my friend and you should get a free room. Have a good night!” the stone person calls as I walk out of the shop, waving goodbye. “Thank you!”

I walk down the path, devouring the donut in a few bites, before reaching the inn. Another stone person stands at the reception, little blue glowing rocks embedded in its body. 

“Hi…uh…I'm friends with the person at the bakery…she said I could get a free room here?” I walk up to the counter, avoiding eye contact. 

“Oh? Sure! Yours is room 130,” the receptionist says, passing me a glowing blue flower.

I take the flower, unsure of what to do with it, but not daring to question the receptionist. Something feels off about these people. It probably doesn’t help that they’re made out of literal stone.

Soon, I reach room 130, finding a flower-shaped lock on the door. I press the flower into the lock, causing it to glow before the door swings open in front of me. 

The room is carpeted, a single bed in the middle and a toilet near the entrance. Without hesitation, I throw my bag to the floor and fall onto the bed, letting the softness hug me to sleep.

When I wake up, I’m no longer in the room. Layers of rock press against my back. Glowing blue vines immobilise me. I hear the waterfall.

What’s going on?!

I struggle futilely against the vines. It smells sweet. Almost too sweet. Panic starts to set deep in my gut, rendering me frozen.

Some of the rocks on the walls slide down next to me, clinging to the vines almost as if trying not to fall. A few move to box me in against the cliff, forming a large humanoid shape. Little blue lights decorate its surface. 

A collection of voices ring out simultaneously. I hear the shop owner and receptionist’s voice, along with a few others I don’t recognise.

“Hehe. You really are like the others.” 

Into the Dark

Chapter 3: Imprisoned

Word count: 872

Warnings: none! (for once)

When I open my eyes, everything's dark. I can't see anything. I'm starting to think I'm still out cold, but when I slap my face with my palm, I can feel it, so I'm probably awake.

Probably.

My metal arm is working now, I can feel my fingers moving when I flex them. Even though I can't see anything around me, I can sense that I'm in a room. I can just make out the faint outline of bars in front of me. This is a prison cell. And I'm the prisoner.

I'm constantly hearing whispering, it almost feels like it's coming from the walls around me. 

"CAN YOU SHUT UP?!" I shout, and the voices go silent for a moment, before I hear the whispering start again.

I can see black lines running up my body. They weren't there before. I instantly start scratching at them, trying to get them off of me. They refuse. I keep scratching, my skin is flaking now, and I'm causing more harm to myself than the black lines on me.

Eventually I stop, knowing that the black lines won't go away. I can literally hear them telling me that it's no use.

They feel weird on me. It's as if I've had them all my life, but they're only deciding to come out now. I can feel a tingling sensation on my skin, and I'm blaming the black lines for it.

My weapons are gone. Nothing to blast my way out of here with. I stand up and walk towards the bars, looking at the area outside my cell. There are many other cells, but they're all empty. I'm the only prisoner here, and guards are stationed outside my cell. 

I've broken out of prison before, but that was when I could actually see the stuff around me. I can't see 10 meters ahead of me.

I think been in too much war. I literally haven't even asked what is happening, like any normal human would.

What is happening?

I put my hands against the bars of my cell and try to look out further. I suddenly feel a strong force on my arms, and when I look down, I see the darkness from the bars spreading out to reach the black lines on my arms, and they connect, and they're pulling me in. I try to pull my hands away, but the darkness is too strong. It won't let me go.

Suddenly, a blade extends into my cell and cuts me free. I only get to catch a quick glimpse of the blade before it retracts again. It's black and has orange highlights on it which are barely visible.

"Okay, lesson learned, don't touch the bars," I say to myself.

I lean against the wall of my cell, sitting down. I recognized this as one of the cells from the Other Realm. I got captured here before, but I escaped with ease. This was one of the less secure prisons in the Other Realm, where they used to put the captured rookie mech pilots.

I press a hand to my forehead. My head hurts from all the voices that I'm hearing in my head. 

I look up to the bars. 

What are these things made out of? 

I think they're the same stuff as the black lines on my skin, based on how they connected with each other just now.

Some voices in my head are now louder than others. Some even project images into my head. One of the prison that I'm in, another of what the world has just become, and...me? In my cell? I look around, scanning my cell for any security cameras. There's none. How am I supposed to escape if these guys in my head can see everything that I'm doing? Maybe they can't and they're just trying to scare me from trying to escape.

"Don't bother trying to escape. We're watching you," one of the voices says. 

They can read my fucking thoughts now?

"Language," one of them says.

Shut up.

"No."

I swear if you don't shut the fuck up right know I'm gonna cut my own head off.

"With what? You have no weapons."

Am I seriously having a conversation with myself right now?

"Not with yourself. With us."

Who's us?

No reply.

HEY ANSWER MY QUESTION BRO.

No reply either.

I look down at my body. Ever since I arrived here my injuries from the past battle haven't been visible. 

I press a hand to where the cut on my face was in the previous battle. I can only feel black lines covering it-

WAIT WHAT?!?!!?!?

I remove my hand from my face and glance down at my hand, there's nothing. There's a tingling sensation on the area where the cut is. After a while, I decide to check the wound again.

I only feel skin and a few black lines.

Did those things just heal me?

"Yes, they did. Now you better get comfortable, because you're gonna be here for a long time."

I smirk. 

You don't know me. I can bet that by morning, I'll be outta here and on my way back to base.

Into the Dark

Chapter 4

(this is the last one I wrote should I continue this story)

Word count: 1.6k

Warnings: Violence, profanity

I'm so used to thinking in my head now, having conversations with the darkness on the walls and the bars. The darkness on the bars are slightly more aggressive than the walls, but they'll do. 

Yes, these things can talk to me in my head. I'm not going crazy, hopefully, at least. It's been a few months now, and I'm planning my escape attempt. I really thought it would be faster than this, but I gotta make sure that I don't mess up. Hopefully I'll get to see the outside world, or at least what's left of it. The other voices in my head sometimes flash images of the outside world into my head, pictures of ruins of my city, pictures of both realms covered in clouds of darkness. I really hope that they're lying.

I've managed to teach some stuff to the black lines on my skin, they can extend out from my body and possibly out of the cell to unlock it and free me. From there I could take out the guards and find Eclipse, my informants (black lines) on the walls have told me that Eclipse is in a hangar in the prison. If I could get to it, I could bust my way out of this prison. 

Back in the day, they taught me how to pick the locks of these things, and I pass on that information to the black lines on my skin, and somehow, they understand. I've tried it a few times on the prison bars. Usually the bars envelop my own black lines, and they immediately pull back after feeling a stinging sensation. 

Cope with it you fucking weak asses.

It's painful! 

They always reply this, and then flash an image of someone getting an electric shock into my head. I'm guessing that's what it feels like to them. 

Cope with it.

But-

I said cope!

I've been studying the guard shifts. There's 2 guards that are always sleeping while on duty. And luckily for me, today's that day. I command my black lines to extend through the bars. As they pass through, the darkness on the walls merges with the black lines, but they transmit what's going on outside the bars to me. I command the lines to pick the lock and free me, and I receive a few confused looks from them.

How?

I sigh, and give them instructions on how to pick the lock. They follow, and soon enough, the cell's unlocked. The black lines instantly retract back to my body, screaming out in pain.

OW! IT HURTS!

Deal with it. And don't make any noise.

I silently run out of the cell and through the hallways. My time in prison has heightened my senses, I can tell when other Dark Ones are nearby. That's what I call the people made out of the darkness. 

I can hear a few of them talking about going to the hangar, and I hide behind walls, careful not to touch them, and follow the Dark Ones, and eventually reaching the hangar. I can just about make out the outline of Eclipse, but Dark Ones are swarming the hangar.

Shit, I think.

What's wrong?

Shut up.

I scan the surroundings, looking for possible cover. There are crates that I could hide behind if I was kneeling down. But there's not many of them, and some of them are getting moved by Dark Ones. Not very reliable cover. There's a few other mechs, which I recognize as enemy ones from my time in the war. Could take cover there. Not gonna try passing off as a Dark One.

I see the next group of Dark Ones pass by, and I have around the span of a few seconds to run towards one of the enemy mechs. So I sprint behind the closest one and hide there, breathing heavily but softly. My nerves are acting up, they usually don't do that. Maybe it's the fact that I'm in enemy territory, not that I haven't been there before in battles.

I run behind another enemy mech, and I can see the black lines on it extending out, looking at me almost curiously. I make my way towards the other one, only stopping a few moments to catch my breath and keep my cool.

Slowly, Eclipse comes into full view. At the sight of it, I smile slightly. It hasn't changed since I left it there. Sure, there are a few broken parts, but besides that, it looks good.

And it's the only piece of familiarity in this wretched place. 

I glance over at the Dark Ones just passing by, holding my breath as they walk in front of the mech that I'm behind. I can hear my heartbeat in my throat. I clench the fist of my metal arm, making the slightest sound. I bite my lip, trying not to panic. From what I've seen from the alert guard rotations, Dark Ones have good hearing. Good thing that these ones are engaging in their own conversation, I can hear them from here.

When they pass by, I run up to Eclipse and climb up it's legs to reach the torso, where the cockpit is. I cling to Eclipse's torso, trying to force the cockpit open with my black lines. I see some Dark Ones coming, and I climb to the back of Eclipse, hoping that they won't see me. 

Suddenly, I feel a tugging force on my leg, and it's strong. I can't resist it, and I'm forced to the ground. Black lines on Eclipse. 

Around my neck now, pushing down on it.

I can't breathe. 

I try to force them off of me, but they merge with the ones on my skin, and I can hear them crying out, trying to help force them off of me. I can almost see them fighting with each other for control over the lines on my neck. 

I'm pinned to the ground. I can't move. Black lines from Eclipse starting to make their way towards my legs, and now towards my torso. 

"Eclipse..." I really hope voice activation is working, my voice is hoarse from weeks, no wait, months of not speaking. 

Screaming. Burning. Fire and smoke in the darkness when it came. 

"...flamethrower."

Nothing happens for a moment.

And then Eclipse turns around, flamethrower at the ready, pointing it at my neck and then igniting it. The black lines on my skin rush from body to protect my face and the areas where the black lines aren't covering my neck, and I can feel the heat from here, I'm sweating, but I can also hear screaming and voices crying out for help.

It hurts!

Burning...

Haha, die trash

Screams from not my own black lines, but the ones around my neck, and they slink back onto Eclipse, and I'm gasping for air, sitting up and climbing back onto Eclipse. "Open."

The cockpit opens and I climb inside. Dark Ones are already coming, one runs to close the hangar doors. I start up Eclipse as best as I can, some of the lights in the cockpit and flickering, and the hangar doors are starting to close.

I use my flamethrower to burn the black lines anchoring Eclipse to the ground, and then I fly through the doors just before they close, and into fresh air.

It's not fresh at all. It's dark. Not the clear night sky kind, but the foggy type. I can barely see in front of me. I look back, and enemy mechs with Dark Ones piloting them are flying out of the now reopened hangar doors.

I speed off, occasionally looking behind me and firing a few shots at the enemy mechs, but my priority is to get to the Rip. 

Suddenly, Eclipse's thrusters shut off, and I'm now plummeting to the ground. The systems are beeping, flashing red, and I'm trying to turn them back on, but the screens say that the thrusters are jammed. 

Fuck those black lines. Must've jammed the engines.

I look back, enemy mechs speeding towards me. I fire a few shots at their cockpits, but the bullets pass right through the pilots. 

Black lines make their way to the cockpit and threaten to come inside. Enemy mechs getting closer, almost at arm's length. I use my flamethrower on them, but the cockpit's preventing the pilots from any damage. The black lines on the mechs move away, but does little damage to the mech itself.

My altitude's decreasing rapidly. Screen says 400 feet to the ground. I know the game's up. They're gonna get me. I try in a last-ditch effort to reroute all power to the engines, but they just won't start, and then one of the enemy mechs grabs me, and I'm engulfed in darkness.

When I wake up, I'm in a different cell. The bars are above me now. High above me. 

Where are we? I ask my black lines. Hopefully they've been conscious while I haven't.

I don't know, I woke up the same time as you did.

Useless shit.

I receive a small jab in my skin for that.

A door opens in front of me. One that I didn't know existed until now. A Dark One, clad in what looks like armor from the ground fighters of this realm, but of course covered in Darkness, grabs me by the arm and leads me out into what looks like an arena.

My eyes widen. I look across the place, and see another Dark One standing there, with a black laser sword. I look up above him, and see yet another Dark One sitting on a chair, looking down at us, smirking. Or at least I think that's what it is on his face.

The Dark Lord. The Dark One that's holding me by the arm says into my head. I glare up at the "Dark Lord" dude and he stares back.

The door closes behind me. I'm not handed any weapon. The Dark One that was leading me out just now walks to the center of the arena, and then shouts into our heads.

"Fight."

What I take as my opponent runs towards me, laser sword raised, ready to strike.

Our Own Choices

Chapter 3

After Rex said that he would let me go on some less dangerous missions with him, I've been training harder than ever. I'm still better at melee than shooting pistols or blasters and Rex has taught me how to disarm explosives and use some of those droid poppers on droidekas.

I haven't joined him on any battles yet, but when he told me that I could help him hunt down General Grievous on Saleucami a few days ago, how could I say no to that?

I've gotten a set of clone trooper armour for myself, I've made a few modifications to them considering I'm still quite short, about 163cm for now. Rex even gave me the permission to paint my armour black to blend in with the night sky if I ever needed to, and I added some orange highlights. I've got some grenades clipped to my belt, and a knife compartment up my sleeve. My helmet has a voice modulator so that the others don't recognize that I'm a girl by my slightly higher pitched voice.

I fly a ship to Saleucami and I see a bunch of jedi cruisers making their way down to the planet's surface, and I follow them. When we land, I see a bunch of speeders heading down from the cruiser and Rex and General Kenobi walking out. I run towards them.

"Who's this?" General Kenobi asks.

I awkwardly stand behind Rex, not sure what to say.

"His name's Aris. He's on the younger side, but he's a good soldier. He's just a little shy," Rex says. I look up at him. "I'm not shy."

I can see General Kenobi's eyes widen slightly when he hears my name, but it's not that obvious to Rex or any of the others. 

The general turns to Rex and says that we're gonna go towards the wreckage of the landing transport first.

"Go get a speeder," Rex nudges me in the side and we both go to get a speeder each before we head off with some walkers.

The greenery of Saleucami feels so different than the barracks and machinery that I'm used to, it makes me feel a lot more calm. I mostly move behind the walkers and other speeders, so that they hopefully won't pay much attention to me.

We reach Grievous's ship in a while, and some of the other troopers are checking out the wreckage, while I'm staying close to Rex and Jesse.

We go report in to General Kenobi.

"The crew compartment's almost entirely destroyed," Rex reports.

"We'll split into teams. Rex, take Jesse, Hardcase and Kix and search those wetlands," General Kenobi says.

"Yes sir," Rex says, before motioning me to follow him and Jesse as we walk away.

"And, Rex, if you get a visual on Grievous, contact us before you engage."

Rex nods before putting his helmet back on and we get on our speeders and drive off into the wetlands. 

I never get to see so much green on Coruscant, this would be a nice place to train. Maybe I should suggest that to Rex. 

Rex and the others are driving so fast, I try to keep up but I'm still lagging behind, I don't wanna drive too fast because I have no intention of dying today.

And then I see Rex get shot down in front of me, he flies off his speeder. I freeze, my breath hitches, and I hear gunshots not too far away.

I stop my speeder and jump off, running towards Rex's lifeless body, kneeling down beside him.

"Rex?" I shake him by the shoulders gently. "REX?" I shake him harder. He still doesn't move. My voice cracks. "I swear if you are dead...I'm gonna kill you. Rex? Rex, wake up, please..."

Dad...

My vision starts to blur inside my helmet, I know tears are starting to form but I cant clear them right now because I can't take off my helmet, so I just try to blink them out of my eyes. 

I barely notice Kix coming over to check on Rex, they take off his helmet and then tell Jesse to come over here, I'm still shaking Rex by the shoulders, trying to get him to wake up.

Jesse and Hardcase come over. 

"How bad?"  Jesse asks.

"Pretty bad. I need to remove his armor to see the full extent of the damage," Kix replies.

I check Rex's pulse, it's weak, but it's there.

"Those snipers might have called for backup," Hardcase says. "Unless we wanna start getting picked off one by one, we should find better cover first."

Some animals start walking over to us, they kinda look like the walkers, and they're noses are probably longer than most of the clones' dicks. How do I know? Rex may or may not have told me the sizes of all the clones' dicks.

"Wait a minute. Those critters are domesticated," Jesse says.

"Sir?"

"I think we're on farmland. And where there's a farm, there's usually a farmer," Jesse says.

I roll my eyes from under my helmet. "No shit smartass."

Jesse ignores me. "Let's find his homestead."

Jesse and Kix sling Rex onto their shoulders and puts him on a stretcher which Kix attaches to his speeder and I just follow them from behind.

It's sunset now. The sun casts an orange glow over the land as we reach a small house. Kix arrives up next to the door and this female Twi'Lek holds up a rifle and points it at him.

"We want no trouble here," she says.

"Easy with that weapon, ma'am," Jesse says as he takes off his helmet. "We're here as friends."

"State your business," the Twi'Lek says pointing the rifle at him.

I arrive back up behind Jesse, remaining silent.

"Our friend's been hurt. We need-" Kix gets cut off by her. "I'm no doctor. So just-"

"We have a medic ma'am. We just need a place to tend to him overnight," Jesse says.

 2 kids run out behind the Twi'Lek. My eyes light up. I haven't seen kids for a long time. Not since Kamino.

"Get inside, both of you," the Twi'Lek says and the kids reluctantly head into the house. "Look, there are some benches out back in the barn. It's the best I can do."

"That'll be fine ma'am. Thank you."

So we head to the barn and set Rex down on one of the benches, I lean against the wall at the far end of the barn, spinning my knife and keeping myself distracted while the others take care of Rex.

I hear Rex waking up and I run over, pushing my way past Jesse. He's shirtless, and has a medpatch on his chest.

"What? What happened?" Rex asks as he opens his eyes. 

"Commando droids took a potshot that would've gone straight through your heart had it been two inches to the left," Hardcase says.

"I can't move my arm," Rex says.

"You have some nerve damage," Kix tells him.

"Understood. Now patch me up and let's get on with it," Rex turns to the side.

"Sir, you're in no condition. It will heal, but it'll take time."

"We're getting under way, Kix. That's an order."

"Sir, as the team medic, when it comes to the health of the men, including you...I outrank everyone. So I respectfully order you, sir, to get some-"

I hear someone clearing their throat. "Excuse me." I turn around, it's that Twi'Lek again, she's carrying a plate of fruit. "If that's not enough-"

"That's plenty. Thank you, uh..."

"Suu."

Some droid ball-like thingy comes into the room and one of those kids I saw just now runs in, picking it up.

"I told you to stay in the house," Suu says.

"I couldn't help it, mom. It got away."

Then the kid looks at Rex and stares at him. "You look like my daddy."

"Shaeeah. Don't both the soldier. Now get inside with your brother."

"Yes, mom."

"My husband is away, delivering our first harvest," Suu says as she passes the plate of fruit to Jesse. "Do you require anything else?"

"No. Thank you, Suu."

Kix takes a pistol and puts it beside Rex's good hand.

"Resume the search without me," Rex says. "Jesse, you're in command." Jesse nods. "I'll be fine." He sighs.

"I'm staying with the captain," I speak up.

"Kid, you're going with them. That's an order," Rex says.

"I'm staying with you here, captain, whether you like it or not."

Rex sighs. "Fine."

As Jesse, Kix and Hardcase leave the room, I finally take off my helmet and set on the floor beside him. I throw my arms around his neck and hug him tightly. Rex chuckles a bit and hugs me back with his good arm.

"I was so worried," my voice cracks.

"I'm alright kid, I won't die from a simple shot like that."

I let go of him and sit down on the floor beside him, playing with my knife again.

"You want some water?" I ask, looking up at him.

"Nah ad'ika, I'm fine."

"I'll get some anyways." I put my helmet back on, standing up and heading out of the room. 

I head to the house where Suu came out of just now, and I knock on the door. Suu opens it, and lets me in.

The place is well-lit, and it seems quite cozy. Better than the barracks, at least. 

"I need some water," I tell Suu, and she goes to get some, returning in a short while. I see the kids looking at me from a corner, and I awkwardly wave at them.

"You're a little short to be one of them," Suu says as she hands me the water. "And you don't take off your helmet like the others."

"That's none of your business. Thanks for the water." I walk out of the house and back into the barn where I give some water to Rex.

"Thanks ad'ika ," he says as he drinks it.

I take my helmet off and set it down on the floor, sitting next to it.

"Yknow you can trust some of them to not reveal your secret. They're good men," Rex says.

"I don't trust any of them."

"Well, you should. It's good to make some friends."

"I don't need friends.  I already have you, Fives, Echo and Hevy-"

"Kid."

I look down, sighing. "Hevy's gone, I know."

Rex pats my head with his good arm and messes my hair up a bit. I smile slightly and lean against the wall.

"Don't move too much. We don't want the injury to get worse."

I forgot there was animals in the barn, so in the middle of the night, some random animals go drool on both me and Rex, and on my armour.

When I feel the liquid dripping on me, I instantly wake up and wipe it away. Some of it dripped on my helmet.

"Hey! I just got the new paint job!" I push the animal away.

And then I hear the faint sound of metal and footsteps. Rex's hand reaches for his pistol, and I draw my knife and sword and inch along the walls to where the sound is coming from.

I see the person making his way closer towards Rex in the room, he doesn't see me because of the colour of my armour. 

I see Rex try to shoot him but his pistol gets knocked out of his hand and the person points his weapon at him.

I quietly run behind the person, and grab his shoulder, pulling him backwards and putting my knife over his throat. "I wouldn't try anything if I were you."

I see the person's eyes widen. "Who are you?" he asks. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm the one asking the questions, not you." I press the knife to his throat. "Drop your weapon."

"Let go of him. He's a clone," Rex orders, and I kick his weapon to the side, slowly drawing my knife away from him and putting it back in my wrist compartment, and slinging my sword onto my back.

"So...I see the war has finally made its way out here, and I guess I can expect a visit from some droids soon," the clone says.

"What's your number and rank?" Rex asks, sitting up. 

"Heh. My name is Lawquane. Cut Lawquane, and I'm just a simple farmer."

"You're a deserter."

Cut chuckles. "Well, I like to think I'm merely exercising my freedom to choose, to choose not to kill for a living."

"That is not your choice to make," Rex says, as the lights in the barn turn on. "You swore an oath to the Republic. You have a duty."

"I have a duty, you're right. But it's to my family. Does that count or do you still plan to turn me in?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Yea you do, he seems like a nice guy," I speak up again.

Cut looks at me. "Well thanks, kid. And I suppose you won't try to kill me again, will you?"

I look at him. "Only if you give me a reason to."

"Daddy! You're home!" the kids come running over and hug Cut. I instantly reach for my helmet, but Rex puts a hand on my shoulder.

"Fine," I groan, before sitting down on the floor next to him.

"Look what I drew you, Dad!" the other kid holds up a drawing. Cut chuckles and pats the kid on the head. "That's great Jekk."

"I see you two have met," Suu says.

"He looks just like you, daddy. I told him," one of kids says.

"Ah, you did, huh? I was just making our guest, Captain, um...what's your number?"

"Rex. I also have a name, believe it or not."

"He was injured. His men brought him here," Suu says. "I told him he could stay, just for the night."

"Of course he can. We never turn away those in need, do we?"

"No, we always help anyone we can," one of the kids sasys.

"You look hungry, Rex," Cut says.

"No, I'm fine, I'll stay here," Rex replies quickly.

"No, you have to eat with us, pleaseeee?"

"Please????"

Cut chuckles. "They're never gonna stop until you say yes."

"Alright, I'll join you."

Cut helps Rex stand up and as I watch them as they walk out of the barn, still sitting on the floor.

Cut turns back and looks at me. "You coming?"

I nod and put on my helmet. "Yea sure."

I keep quiet at the table as I eat. I don't take my helmet off, I just eat from under my helmet, Rex nudges me in the side to tell me that I can take my helmet off, but I shake my head.

"Yes, well you and I may be clones, but we're still individuals. You have a name rather than a number, Captain. Why is that?" Cut asks.

"Perhaps our leaders feel it's a more efficient way or distinguishing us," Rex replies.

"More efficient than a number? Hmm. I doubt the Kaminoans think that way. Still, a name has to make you feel unique, especially in an army where everyone looks like you and talks like you."

"Not everyone," I speak up.

"Actually, I've never really thought about it," Rex says.

"Yes, you have."

"Well, how would you know?"

"Because I'm as close to you as any life-form can be." Cut passes Rex his food and leans in. "I've seen how you look at my family, our home. Come on, Rex, admit it. You've thought about what your life could look like if you were to also leave the army, choose the life you want."

Rex looks at me. "What if I am choosing the life I want? What if I'm staying in the army because it's meaningful to me?"

"And how is it meaningful?"

"Because I'm part of the most pivotal moment in the history of the Republic. If we fail, then our children and their children could be forced to live under an evil I can't well imagine."

"If you were to have children, of course, but that would be against the rules, wouldn't it? Isn't that what somebody programmed you to believe, Captain?"

"No, Cut. It's simply what I believe. It doesn't matter if it's my children or other people's children. Does that meet with your approval?"

"Perfectly. To each his own. That's what I always say."

"What does that mean, daddy?" one of the kids asks.

"It means you can do anything with your life that you want to."

"Why don't you take your helmet off?" Suu asks.

"I'd...prefer not to," I reply.

"Aw cmon, please? We wanna see your face," the kids say, and they starts begging me to take off my helmet. I look at Rex, and then Cut, and then they both nod at me, and I hesitantly take off my helmet.

"You're a girl version of Daddy?" one of the kids asks.

I chuckle. "I guess you could say that."

"Why are you out in the field so early? Don't you have training to do back on Kamino?" Cut asks.

"I ran away from Kamino when the war started, got caught in a skirmish, Rex found me and took me in."

"And I'm guessing you had no choice?"

"No. I chose this life. I want to fight for the Republic. No matter how much of a mistake I am to the Kaminoans, I'm still a soldier, and I wanna do my duty."

"Isn't that what you were programmed to think?"

I fall silent. 

"How old are you?" Suu asks.

"14," I reply. 

"You're fighting in a war when you're so young?" one of the kids asks. 

"I wouldn't consider it young but-"

"Yea, she is, I trained her myself," Rex says, and I can hear a hint of proudness in his voice.

"Do you have a name?" Cut asks.

"Yea. It's Aris."

"That's a cool name," one of the kids says.

I nod at them.

After dinner, Cut and Rex go play some Dejarik and Cut tells Rex his story, and Cut lets the kids go outside and play for a few minutes, and he tells me to keep an eye on them. I nod and follow them outside. 

They're playing hide-and-seek in the fields, and I put my helmet on, following them. I see the older kid called Shaeeah scare the living hell out of Jekk, and I smile to myself under my helmet. 

I wish my childhood was like this.

"Look. In the field," Jekk says. 

I look out in the field and see a metal structure that looks like it crashed into the field.

"Stay back kids, I'll go check it out," I say, before running inside the structure.

Clearly they have a hearing problem, because they follow me inside. 

I walk through a dark hallway, pistol and sword drawn, and find myself in a dark room full of lifeless commando droids. I get ready to shoot them before they can do anything, and then they suddenly power up. I look behind and I see Shaeeah who accidentally pressed the button to power them up.

"Run!" I shout to the kids. "Go tell dad!"

I shoot as many of the droids as I can before they start moving, and I run out of the structure, hiding in the field, hoping that they won't hear or see me. I hold my breath. I can hear my heartbeat in my ears, it's so loud.

I make my way through the fields and back to the house. I see 3 commando droids circling around it. 

I take a deep breath and steel myself before drawing my knife and stabbing one in the head, drawing my pistol and shooting the other, and Cut shoots the last one with his rifle.

I nod at him. "Thanks."

I hide with him behind the wall, it's all quiet, but I can hear footsteps around the house, my breathing quickens, the inside of my helmet is warm.

Suddenly, a commando droid holds Cut by the neck, and I shoot it in the head with my pistol, almost hitting Cut. 

Another commando droid comes from the door and Cut shoots it before I can. I don't like this. 

"Why isn't Rex here?" I whisper to Cut.

"He's backup in case we die," he replies.

"So you think we're gonna die?!??!?"

"That is a possibility."

"Okay, point taken," I gulp as I hear a creaking sound coming from the floorboards.

I cautiously walk over and open the trapdoor, and then a bunch more commando droids come out. I stab one in the head before backing up and shooting at them. They're also shooting at me and Cut, and a blaster bolt grazes my hand, it cuts through my glove and I can feel the burning on my hand.

I take cover behind a wall, and shoot the droids from there. I see Cut get trapped under some debris that fell from the ceiling, and I draw my sword, slicing through 2 of the commando droids and shooting another in the head, and then suddenly I feel a strong grip around my neck, I look back and see another commando droid, the grip is getting tighter and I can't breathe...

Cut forces the debris that he's stuck under off of him, hitting the droid that's strangling me, and it falls to the ground, the lights from it's eyes turning off. I'm breathing heavily, my throat feels like it's pressed in, I cough a bit as Cut takes out the rest of the droids.

I hear blaster fire from upstairs, Rex must be taking care of the last ones. I see Cut wrestling with one of the commando droids and I go over to help him, stabbing it in the head.

And then Rex falls from the ceiling and the last commando droid grips his neck, trying to strangle him like its counterpart tried to strangle me, and Cut shoots it in the head, causing it to let Rex go. Rex staggers back, coughing a bit.

I hear the kids calling out for Cut, and he reassures them, telling them that it's over.

Rex puts a hand on my shoulder. "Good job, kid."

"Thanks Rex," my voice is hoarse and I cough a bit, receiving a bit of a concerned look from Rex. "I'm-" I cough a bit. "I'm fine."

"You sure?"

I cough again. "Y-yea."

The kids and Suu come down the stairs and hug Cut, and Rex and I lean against the wall. I sigh. "Rex, have you actually thought about leaving the army before? Yknow, you could have a family, be away from all the war for once."

Rex looks at me, and I take off my helmet. 

"I already have a family. I wouldn't have it any other way." 

And then he pulls me into a hug and I hug him back tightly. 

In the morning, Rex and I have to leave, we put our stuff onto one of these animals and then we get ready to leave. 

"Captain Rex, are you going to turn in my husband?" Suu asks.

"I'm sorry Suu. It's my duty." I glare at Rex. "But in my condition, I probably won't remember any of this."

Suu looks happy.

"You're still a deserter, Cut, but you're certainly not a coward."

The kids come and hug my waist. "Promise you'll come back sometime?" they ask, and I nod, smiling at them before putting my helmet back on.

Rex receives a transmission from General Kenobi.

"Captain Rex, are you still with us?"

"Yes, General Kenobi. I'm still with you and thankfully on the mend sir."

"That's great news. We certainly missed you at the party."

"Does that mean I missed out on some action?" I speak into the comlink.

"Quite a lot of it, actually."

"Sorry sir, I...had to attend one of my own."

"Can't wait to hear about it. We're standing by."

"You're welcome to stay, Rex," Cut says.

"This is your home, Cut. My family is elsewhere." Rex looks at me, before we get on the animal thing and wave to Cut and his family, before riding off into the sunset.

We meet up with General Kenobi, and then we get back onto the Jedi cruiser, and before I head to my barracks, Rex stops me.

"You did good, ad'ika," he says. 

"Thanks, captain," I smirk under my helmet.

"Yknow I could get used to you calling me that, right?" Rex laughs a bit.

I chuckle.

"I know you'll never get used to it."

HOLY SHIT I NEVER REALISED AAAAAAA

Remember what I said.

It took me a while to realize what Hunter meant when he said this to Echo. I was rewatching Clone Wars season 7 and I gasped--

Hunter basically said that Echo's welcome to come back to them. That he has a place in their squad, their family, even if he has a different path 😭😭😭

i need more crosshair drowning scenes im just addicted to crosshair suffering atp

i think the clone operative is tech for a few reasons:

the tech turn when he lands the ship

the goofy ahh flopping onto the rocks

callback to one of the episodes where tech falls down a waterfall??

the limping

the frustration with technology and reliance on it

delusion

reasons i think it cant be tech:

crosshair said it didnt work on him cos he was defective so it wouldnt work on tech either cos hes also defective

reasons why its soup clone:

yes

Our Own Choices

Chapter 15

Warnings: Violence, swearing, possibly blood

When we all return to the Marauder, Tech takes a look at the lightsaber wound on my arm, applying some cooling burn cream and injecting some sort of medicine into the wound, before bandaging it up.

"Thanks," I sigh as the cream numbs the burning feeling.

"You do not need to thank me. It is standard protocol that wounds are tended to after a mission," Tech replies without even looking at me, typing away at his datapad, before heading to the pilot's seat.

I sit at the back seat with Echo, Tech and Wrecker had them installed when we went for a quick supply run shortly after I joined them. 

Gonky waddles over to me from the back, making some "gonk" sounds, which I understand as "Is your arm okay?" I smile and pat Gonky on the head. "I'm fine."

He seems to enjoy the gesture as he nudges me a little with his metal body. I take off my helmet and pat Gonky on the head again, breathing in the scent of the ship as I lean back in my chair. I can never get sick of the smell. The familiarity of Echo's scent, that minty one from Crosshair, the dirt from Hunter because he always sniffs it like it's cocaine, gunpowder for Wrecker, and Tech smells like the 501st barracks if the air was sour. Hunter says I smell like chlorine. I love the smell, it feels so welcoming, almost like the 501st, but in a different way.

I put my helmet back on as I remember that I'm supposed to act like a "good soldier" who "follows orders" to gain Crosshair's trust and maybe help him remove his chip like how Fives did.

I sigh as we take off for Kamino. If order 66 was issued, most Jedi would be dead by now.

Even General Skywalker.

At least Commander Tano left the order, so she should be safe.

How's Rex? Will he be back on Kamino? Is he okay? Should I comm him?

Echo puts a hand on my shoulder, noticing my worry. As much as I try to hide it, he's known me long enough to notice the little habits I do when I'm worried.

"Ad'ika, everything's going to okay," he says, looking at me with a slight smile.

"I'm just worried about Rex. Maybe I should comm him-"

"You can do it when we get back to Kamino."

I sigh at the mention of our home planet. I never wanted to go back there. Never wanted to go back to the white, sterile prison I escaped from just before the war started. But hey, it's not like I have much of a choice.

I keep my helmet on throughout the journey. It's more comfortable, really. No one gets to see my face in case I commit a war crime or something. Crosshair and Hunter fall asleep on their seats while I turn on the music from my datapad and connect it to the earpiece in my helmet, listening to Avicii music.

After a few hours of finding a bunch of music to listen to, I hear Tech say, "We are coming up on Kamino." 

I switch off the music, still keeping my helmet on.

"It's good to be home. How long has it been?" Wrecker asks.

Not good to be home. And 180 rotations based on their schedule. 

"180 rotations in a standard cycle, but galactic zone changes but the adjusted figure at around 205."

Oh. Damn.

"Wut?" Wrecker asks.

Are you that stupid?

Echo sighs. "A long time." He sounds so fed up, rolling his eyes when Wrecker agrees.

I sit behind Hunter and Crosshair, listening in on every conversation. I notice Crosshair turning to look at Hunter, who responds, eyes closed, with a "What?"

"You sure that Padawan died when he fell?"

"Sure I'm sure. Why?" Hunter opens his eyes as he talks.

"Well, usually when someone falls you look down, not across."

"Well some of us don't like to watch," Hunter replies as he stands up and walks to where Echo, Tech and Wrecker are. Crosshair and I remain at the back, I silently observe as he crosses his arms. 

I hear thunder crashing from outside the ship, and it shakes me to my core. Only Kamino thunder sounds like that. I remember hiding in my bunk every night, trying to drown out the sounds of waves crashing against the supports. My squadmates laughing at me for being a coward, saying it was because I was defective.

One of the days the storms were much worse than usual. The thunder too loud for my liking, I could almost feel the waves reaching to the platform. I was sneaking out of my barracks, when I saw 99 carrying blasters to the weapon storage area.

"Hey Aris," he called out when he noticed me. "What're you doing still up?"

"I couldn't sleep," I admitted. "Thunder was too loud."

99 puts the blasters he was carrying to the side and puts his arm around my shoulder, guiding me into the barracks where the rest of my sleeping squadmates are.

"Cmon kid, let's get you to bed."

I climb into my bunk as another crash of thunder startles me, and I curl up into a ball in my bunk.

"Everything's going to be okay kid. Just relax and think of something else," 99 says as he puts the blanket over me, tucking me into bed. I smile up at him. "Thanks 99."

He gives me a short nod, his half-smile making the wrinkles on his face even more pronounced as he walks out.

That night I had the best sleep of my life.

And now 99's dead. And I'm all grown up. I sigh as I push the urge to cry down and focus on the present.

"Unidentified transport, transmit your clearance code," A voice from the front of the ship says.

"Clearance code? Don't they know who we are?" Echo asks.

"Must be a protocol drill," Tech replies. "Transmitting clearance code."

"Authorization confirmed. Proceed to landing bay one-tac-one."

Tech pilots the ship into the landing bay. The door of the ship opens and Hunter and Tech walk out first, with me following behind them. If I'm in the middle, hopefully no one will notice the new addition to the squad. Echo, Wrecker and Crosshair walk out behind me, all of their helmets off except me and Crosshair's.

Clones patrol the landing bay, and I spot the familiar crimson armor of the Coruscant Guard troopers. I scoff at the sight.

Fucking Coruscant Guard. Murdered a good soldier who just tried to do his duty. I would kill them any day.

"Shock troopers? What's the Coruscant Guard doing here?" Hunter's voice interrupts my silent trash talking of the Coruscant Guard. 

Oh. Right. Forgot they were supposed to be on Coruscant.

"Level five lockdown remains in effect. Security teams, report to the command center." A voice on the speakers says.

Lockdown? For what? Kamino doesn't look like it's in any danger.

"This isn't a drill," Tech observes.

How perceptive.

"Aw man. What did we miss now?" Wrecker sounds disappointed.

"The end of the war," a random shock trooper answers. 

"Say that again, trooper?" Hunter asks.

"General Grievous was defeated on Utapau. The separatist leadership has collapsed. The war is over."

"Just like I said," Tech says. 

Of course. He's usually right.

Wrecker gasps dramatically. "It is just like you said."

I roll my eyes at Wrecker's comment as I watch troopers carry a body laid out on a stretcher covered by a piece of cloth.

A body? On Kamino? No battles happened recently...

A lightsaber falls out from under the cloth and onto the floor.

A Jedi.

So I was right. Most of the Jedi are dead.

The shock trooper picks the lightsaber up from the floor as the rest of the batch look at each other with a look that says, "something's not right".

"Is there a problem?" The shock trooper asks.

"No...problem. We'll just head to our barracks then," Hunter says, looking back at the rest of us for a moment before walking off, with the rest of us following.

"Best hurry. There's a mandatory general assembly at 1500," the shock trooper says.

We walk through the sterile, almost blinding white hallways of Kamino. I instinctively stay close to Echo, not to the point of looking like a clingy child, but still within half a meter radius of him.

Echo looks back at me. "You okay?"

I take a deep breath to calm my nerves. "Yeah. I just...never thought I'd find myself back here. Again." It's my way of saying, "I don't want to be back here. I'm so scared." 

Echo gives me a short nod, which is his way of saying, "Everything's going to be okay" in public. We pass rows of troopers marching towards somewhere, in an almost robotic way.

"It's not just the clones on Kaller," Hunter says. "All the regs are acting strange." Tech looks around. "Let's test that theory." He proceeds to walk up to a random clone and asks, "Excuse me, trooper. What division are you from?"

Obviously annoyed, the clone elbows him in the side with his blaster. "Step aside."

"Oh, well they seem the same to me."

"I'm not surprised. I'd be annoyed too," I speak up, trying to lighten the mood. No one replies.

We reach their barracks and the moment the door opens, I'm greeted with the scent of oil, rotting food, and sweat. I scrunch up my nose under my helmet.

Tech walks in first, then Wrecker, who exclaims how it's good to be back while setting his helmet on a crate.

"The smell's getting worse," Echo comments.

"You're still new. You'll get used to it," Hunter reassures him, patting him on the shoulder. Crosshair pushes past the both of them. "Speak for yourself."

I hesitantly walk into the barracks, the smell gets stronger when I enter. I look around, observing my surroundings. It's quite messy, Tech has a bunch of random parts scattered on the table, Echo has a hammock at the side, and Crosshair's bunk has crates in front of it to block people from entering it.

This is the first time I'm entering their barracks. The last time they went back to Kamino I refused to go, and they went to pick me up in a few days. Those few days were the best of my life.

Crosshair goes to sit on the crates blocking his bunk while the rest of them go to sit at the table in the middle of the room. Wrecker marks the board for the number of missions we completed.

Still keeping my helmet on by instinct, I walk over to Crosshair, who's currently chewing on a toothpick, helmet off.

"Um. Can I have one?" I awkwardly gesture to the toothpick in his mouth.

"No," he replies. "Go away."

"Look we need to get you to the medbay right now or as soon as possible."

"Why?"

"Because there's an inhibitor chip in your head which basically makes you follow orders blindly and it's working for all the other clones except us but it's working for you and-"

"I'm fine."

"No you're not you carried out Order 66 and-"

"Shut up," he says in a dangerously low tone. My temper starts to flare up.

"Make me."

Crosshair stands up from the crates and cracks his knuckles, ready to draw his knife if things escalate. I draw my knife and get into a fighting stance.

"Woah woah woah. Easy," Hunter says as he pushes us apart. I glare at Crosshair, and he glares back. Not breaking eye contact, I sheathe my knife and shove Crosshair over just for good measure before heading over to sit next to Echo. 

"11 more successful missions," Wrecker says with a grin. "Like there was any doubt." He goes to sit on his bunk, picking up his tooka doll.

"Kaller wasn't a win," Echo says. 

"Says who? We completed our objective."

"Not every objective," Crosshair speaks up, picking up his rifle and examining it. I draw my sword from my back and start sharpening it absentmindedly, just needing something to do with my hands. 

"Hunter let that Jedi kid escape. Or do you want to keep lying to us?"

Hunter stands up and looks out the window. "I don't like to think of executing our commanders as a mission objective."

Crosshair stands up from his position on the crates. 

"An order is an order."

"Since when?"

They glare at each other for a moment before Echo breaks the tension. "None of this makes sense. Those clones served alongside General Bilaba for years. How could they turn on her like that?!"

"Because of the regs' programming," Tech speaks up.

"What programming?" Hunter breaks his death stare at Crosshair to ask.

"It's been well documented that the Kaminoans inhibited the cognitive functions of clones-"

"To engineer them to follow orders without question," I finish. Tech glares at me like I just committed a horrible war crime.

"Ha! We sure don't!" Wrecker shouts, assaulting Crosshair with his tooka doll.

"Obviously we are different. They manipulated pre-existing aberrations in our DNA resulting in your brute strength, Crosshair's sharpshooting skills..." Lucky son of a bitch. "...Hunter's enhanced senses and my exceptional mind. My guess is we are immune to the effects of the programming. Though I can't be 100% certain of it.

"Well Crosshair isn't and he's in fucking denial," I say with a sarcastic smile underneath my helmet. Crosshair is walking over to probably punch me in the face when Echo gives him a glare which makes him back off. He knows how protective my ori'vod can be. 

"What about Echo? He was a reg before he joined us. And Aris," Hunter asks.

"Well see guys Echo was probably damaged on Skako Minor because look at him right now no offence ori'vod, and since I'm an actual defect they probably didn't even bother I mean they were gonna terminate me anyways," I laugh under my helmet. Echo pats my shoulder. "Good thing they didn't then."

"All personnel report to the staging area for a briefing on the state of the Republic," a voice says over the speakers.

"This is one meeting I don't want to miss," Hunter says, walking to the door.

"First time for everything," Tech comments as we all head to the staging area. Troopers stand in neat rows, helmets on as they stare up at the holotransmission of a hooded figure, they look almost robotic. The thought of their individuality...Fives and Echo's chaotic nature, Hardcase's constant urge to shoot something, Uncle Wolffe's sarcasm, Rex's parental instincts, all gone...it gives me chills. I'm hardly paying attention until I hear the word "Jedi".

"...And the Jedi rebellion has been foiled. The remaining Jedi will be hunted down and defeated!" The hooded figure says. "The attempt on my life has left me scarred and deformed."

"You can say that again," Wrecker says. I almost burst out laughing.  

"But I assure you, my resolve has never been stronger! In order to ensure the security and continuing stability, the Republic will be reorganized into the FIRST GALACTIC EMPIRE! For a safe and secure society."

Galactic Empire????? Man the Republic sounded so much better though-

Everyone starts cheering, except me and the batch. What's so exciting about Jedi getting killed? Right. Must be the inhibitor chip.

I look around to try and find any 501st members. None here. I'll comm Rex later. Right now, I need to focus on getting Crosshair's chip out.

I sigh as I glance at Echo, who looks equally confused as me.

"Ori'vod?" I turn to Echo.

"Yeah?"

"I need to talk to you in the barracks later. It's about Fives."

He lets out a sigh. "Okay vod'ika." 

a/n: IM BACK IN THE HOUSE BOISSSSSSS

hiiii ive recently been writing more original stories but i (hopefully) remember my sw and tbb ocs

oldest: Aris (yes they mostly have the same name 😭)

-anakin skywalker’s twin sister

-uses 2 lightsabers

-obi wan’s padawan alongside anakin

-when she’s 15 she’s sent on a mission on her own as a padawan cause she proved herself to be capable

-she gets transported to ninjago cause force shenanigans 💀💀💀

-in season 5 of ninjago they find this thing called the realm crystal so she goes back to her universe and fights in the clone wars

-she eventually leaves the order for the ninja and anakin feels like she abandoned him and thats around the same time ahsoka leaves the order

-she rejoins the ninja and goes through ninjago seasons 8–16

-she senses order 66 happening in the force and anakin turning so she uses traveller’s tea to go help

-in short she almost dies to anakin so she goes on the run and gets mando armor cos yes :D

-also in short she and anakin defeat palpatine and yay :D

-istp/istj, arrogant, cocky, “violence is always the answer, fuck morals”

newest: Mayday (not the clone mayday)

-13 years old in the part of the book i am at so far

-protective of his best friend aris (not the one above)

-good with a knife

-istp, cold and detached to random people but a sweet puppy to aris :)

(mayday x aris art when theyre like 23)

-becomes a soldier in the future

-survivor of the 1-7th Population Games

Welcome back to another OC Sunday Spotlight!

Aka the time in which every Sunday I'll come up with a prompt and anyone and everyone has the opportunity to answer with as many OCs as they wish!

You can reblog this post, answer in the comments, or come up with your own post to answer the prompts! And feel free to submit prompts as well!

It's an excuse to yap about your OCs so feel free to do so! Add pictures, links, or anything else regarding the OC in the spotlight if you'd like! And in addition, feel free to tag any mutuals to hop on the stage :D

Let's get this show started!

SPOTLIGHT ON: Oldest and/or most recent OC(s)!

Here are mine :D

OLDEST: KHEA NULTEZ

🌟 aaaa those doodles are when I first came up with the concept of her at the beginning of last year 🌟 she was the first like,, fully-fledged Star Wars oc I've ever had actually - i'd doodled ocs for star wars before but they were all only headshots and nameless :/ 🌟 she's been through a handful of changes and I keep giving her more and more trauma (whoops-) 🌟 find out more about her here!

NEWEST: HUIHANA 'HANA' YUN

🪷 recently came up with a BUNCH of new ocs but Hana is the most recent one of them all 🪷 she's the adopted mirialan/human daughter of Hunter and Jung (another OC)! 🪷 she's part of the group of fan kids I have for the bad batch and I initially had it so that Hunter and Jung were only raising Omega but then I was like - "nah, they'd adopt so many kids" - and came up with her :D 🪷 her name means "lily/lotus" in Maori while 'hana' means "one" in Korean 🪷 find out more about her here!

💫 Check out last week's prompt! 💫 Join the tag list here!