Without Hope, We Have Nothing.

Without hope, we have nothing.

(Spoilers and speculation included a bit further down)

This is actually a post about the Bad Batch and not Star Wars Rebels, but this bit is important so...

Try not to cry when you remember that Tech is the one who taught Hera Syndulla how to mask her ship's signature, a move that made her a massive threat to the Empire and a move that she often used to her advantage. She was such a threat to the Empire that they wanted to capture her alive so they could make an example of her for her years of defiance.

And then also try not to cry when you remember that when Hera was taken prisoner by the Empire, Kanan Jarrus sacrificed his life to free her and save the future of the Rebellion. Try not to cry when you think about the fact that Kanan Jarrus aka Caleb Dume was the Jedi padawan the Bad Batch protected (except for Crosshair) from the Empire during Order 66 by claiming Hunter killed him.

Hunter, Tech, Wrecker and Echo lied to the Empire to protect a Jedi.

And Tech taught Hera how to evade the Empire when the Bad Batch helped her family (Chopper included) escape Ryloth after being accused of treason.

Clone Force 99's actions had a direct outcome on the success of the Rebellion. They refused to commit treason against the Republic and all they did was commit treason against the Empire. They were strong enough to resist the effects of the inhibitor chip (Crosshair and Wrecker for awhile), outright ignored Order 66 (Hunter and Tech), or were tortured and turned partially into a machine against his will by the Techno Union and used as a weapon against the Republic who, upon rescue, immediately jumped back into Separatist territory and fucked their asses up (Echo). Luckily, with the help of Rex, they got their chips removed after Wrecker tried to kill all of them.

Everything under the cut is pure speculation. I'm having a galaxy brain moment, I just have no idea if it's pointing me in the right direction or not lol.

If you disagree with me, I don't need you to rudely tell me why.

After his time on Tantiss, Crosshair can now identify with Echo more than anyone else in the Bad Batch (and Tech if CX-2 is Tech).

When they went to rescue Echo, Crosshair is the one who snidely told Captain Rex that he would have left Echo behind too.

Which is exactly what happened to Crosshair when the Empire turned him into a weapon against his own brothers. He had no choice because the Empire attached him to a machine and amped up the effect of his inhibitor chip so he could not disobey orders.

Rex told Cody "I think Echo is still alive" and Cody told him that was impossible. Anakin accompanied him on this rescue mission with The Bad Batch (we know Cody would have too if he hadn't been injured).

I think that if Tech is CX-2, Crosshair already knows or highly suspects it. He's terrified of Tantiss. I think we're going to have a parallel moment of Crosshair possibly saying the same thing, knowing that he could never leave a brother behind again after what he went through, especially if CX-2 is Tech. (I also wouldn't be surprised if Omega suspected something after her trip back to Tantiss with CX-2.)

We never saw Echo's body after the explosion. Instead we got this image. An empty helmet and a droid arm.

Crosshair defected from the Empire when he witnessed the Empire tell him that Mayday was only a clone and not worth giving medical attention to. Those actions resulted in the death of Mayday and that's when Crosshair chose to shoot an Imperial officer between the eyes (similar to Dogma's execution of General Krell in many ways).

If Tech is CX-2, that is the second Bad Batcher the Empire has turned into an enemy against his brothers.

This is the last we saw of Tech.

Hemlock was fucking lying when he said that Tech's glasses were all they recovered. Why the hell would he have found Tech's glasses and not Tech? All we see below him are clouds. And this is the last bit of Tech we see. That gun is in the shot with his glasses for a reason.

I feel like this is going to parallel Echo's rescue from Skako Minor. Tech and Echo are both highly intelligent huge ass nerds (remember that the battle plans being used against the Republic were written by both Rex and Echo, and Cody acknowledged that Rex was one of their best strategists in the GAR) who always ended up working best together.

Part of me wonders if we are heading into a show centered on the clone troopers in a post Order 66 world going up against the Empire as they try to rescue more of their brothers. Enough to become a problem for the Empire.

Part of me also wonders if the inclusion of Force sensitive children in the Bad Batch means Rex will need to call Ahsoka into the fray. Wolffe has only appeared once so he hasn't even switched sides, let alone even started blocking Ahsoka's messages to Rex yet. During the Clone Wars she had to save Force sensitive children from Darth Sidious. During the Rebellion, the saved more Force sensitive children from Darth Sidious. It makes me wonder if she is also going to save Force sensitive children from this too? I might be reaching a bit too much here, but it could be a possibility! She seems to always show up when Force sensitive children need to be rescued from Darth Sidious.

No matter what ending we get for the Bad Batch, I know it's going to leave us with hope for the future because the message in Star Wars has always shown us that hope will always be stronger than fear.

A simple act of kindness can fill a galaxy with hope.

Without hope, we have nothing.

These episodes are all relevant to Echo's journey. The Domino Squad was referred to as a bad batch and Echo was the one who seemed to struggle the most with orders that conflicted with doing what needed to be done. He is the one who memorized the regulations manual after all. And now the Bad Batch are on a similar journey because they have never trusted regs before, but now it seems they might have to trust the regs to come to help them the way they helped Rex and Echo before the war ended. The way they helped Gregor after the war ended.

Embrace others for their differences, for that makes you whole.

The search for truth begins with belief.

Survival is one step on the path to living.

Trust placed in another is trust earned.

If I'm wrong, I'm wrong, but that's a fanfic I can always write!! I don't want to get into who I think is going to die or survive, but I have my suspicions there too and I'm already in too much pain to keep going.

Fractured Minds

Chapter 3 - Injuries

Part 3/?

Word Count: 1,462

Warnings: Angst, characters in pain

Authors Note: Happy May the 4th, everyone! Just wanted to let y'all know that there may not be any new parts of Fractured Minds for a while.

Enjoy!

Crosshair puts his right hand on Tech's shoulder reassuringly.

Crosshair: Omega's safe.

Tech: Where is she? Is she on the ship?

Crosshair: Look, she's just a few rooms down, she's fine, you don't need to worry-

Tech tries to get up, but the shooting pain in his ankle stops him in his tracks. Phee quickly stands up, holding him back from getting out of bed.

Tech: Ngh-!

Phee: Easy, brown eyes, easy.

Tech lays back on the bed, catching his breath.

Phee: Yeah, there we go.

Crosshair: Don't over-exert yourself. You've been out for a week, you're still recovering.

Tech: I have to go see her! I need to know that she is alright!

Crosshair: Tech-

Tech: Crosshair, I shot her!

Crosshair: I know!

Tech suddenly stops, looking at Crosshair surprised.

Tech: You... know?

Crosshair sighs, nodding his head.

Phee: He was the one who found you and the kid, brown eyes.

Tech: ...Omega... is she?

Crosshair: She's alive.

Tech sighs.

Tech: When can I go see her?

Phee: A couple days, brown eyes. For now, you gotta rest, and we gotta get the doc to come check up on you.

Tech looks at Phee, puzzled as to who she was referring to.

Tech: The doctor?

Phee: Oh, right, you haven't met Emerie yet.

Crosshair: I'll go get her.

Crosshair turns and walks out of the room. Tech notices something he hadn't before. Crosshair's left hand is gone. That was his fault, he remembers, he'd cut it off while he was under the Empire's control.

"Apologies will be made later," he tells himself. He turns back to Phee.

Tech: Phee, who is Emerie?

Phee chuckles a bit.

Phee: All I'm gonna say is: congrats Tech, you're a big brother.

A few rooms down...

Emerie tapped the datapad in her hand, updating her ongoing log on Omega's condition. She looked over at her sister. Still the same as she had been the day before.

Omega was laid down on the bed, eyes closed, bandages on her hands and shoulder, a heart monitor beeping right next to her.

Then Emerie looked over at Hunter. He had barely left Omega's side since the incident. Emerie will never forget the look of pure horror he had when he saw Omega being carried to the ship. Hunter will never forget the sense of pure dread that washed over him when he saw she had been shot.

He'd had nightmares about losing her, starting about a month after she had joined them, and most of them were not pretty. When she had been shot for the first time, a week or two after Kamino, she woke up just a couple hours after.

But it had been a week. A week since she had been shot and she still wasn't awake. Hunter held Omega's hand tight, but not so tight that it would hurt her. He brushed a stray blonde hair out of her face, one that he knows would have annoyed her if she was awake.

"Go! I'll catch up to you!" were the last things she had said to him. Those words rung in his ears ever since, because he knew she didn't mean it. She wasn't planning on making it back.

He felt the tears sting his eyes again, but he blinked them away. He had to stay strong. For her. Emerie looked over at him. She hesitated for a moment, before walking over to Hunter and putting a comforting hand on his back. He looked up at her.

Emerie: Don't worry, her vitals are stabilizing themselves, she will wake up soon.

Hunter sighs.

Hunter: Thanks, Emerie.

Emerie: No problem.

Hunter looks back at Omega. Emerie looks at Hunter worriedly, moving her hand up to his shoulder.

Emerie: You should go get some rest. Omega wouldn't want you sleep-depriving yourself while she's gone.

Hunter: No, it's fine, and she's not gone she's-

Emerie tightens her grip on Hunter's shoulder, looking down at him coldly.

Emerie: Hunter, you have not slept in two days. I will not hesitate to sedate you again.

Hunter looks up at her surprised, but then sighs. He stands up, letting go of Omega's hand. Emerie starts guiding him towards the door, her expression softening a little.

Hunter: Okay, fine. Just- keep watch over her, I don't want her to suddenly wake up and be alone in here, and if her condition starts deteriorating, please call me, and-

Emerie: Hunter. It's okay. I've got this. Go get some rest, you'll feel better in the morning.

Hunter hesitated for a moment before nodding understandingly. He made his way to the door, but stopped in the doorway. He looked back at Emerie and smiled at her.

Emerie: What?

Hunter: Nothing, it's just... you sounded just like her... just now.

Emerie: Well, we are clones of each other, so we obviously would have similar-

Hunter: I don't mean in that way, I mean... you both have the same way with words, and the same way to intimidate people into taking care of themselves, of course.

He chuckles.

Hunter: ...I don't know why we ever doubted that you were our sister.

Emerie is surprised by this sudden compliment, but turns away from him, looking back at her datapad.

Emerie: Goodnight, Hunter.

Hunter: Goodnight... little sister.

Hunter left the room. Emerie stood there frozen for a moment. The words "little sister" repeating in her mind. She smiled a little, but then she looked back up at her sister, who still laid there, her breathing steady and calm.

Emerie had read through Omega's medical records out of curiosity once, and they listed that she had been comatose before. It was when she got the chemical burn on her shoulder when she was 9, but she had only been asleep for a few days. This had been a week.

Emerie approached Omega's bedside. In truth, Emerie didn't know when or if Omega was going to wake up. Her vitals had been steadily increasing in the past week, but at a slow pace. At their current rate, Omega wouldn't wake up for months, if she even woke up. There was a low chance Omega would actually die this way, but Emerie didn't want to test the odds. She put her hand to Omega's forehead. No fever. That's good. No fever means no infection. She checked that off the list.

Suddenly, the door to the room opened. Crosshair stood in the doorway.

Crosshair: Hey Em.

Emerie turns to look at him.

Emerie: Crosshair.

Crosshair: Just came to tell you that Tech's awake.

Emerie: Oh, okay- I'll go check on him, see how he's doing.

Crosshair: I'll keep an eye on Omega.

Emerie: No need, I can call-

Crosshair: I'll keep an eye on Omega.

Emerie is silent for a moment, before nodding.

Emerie: O-Of course.

Emerie walks out of the room. Crosshair looks back at Omega. "She seems so... peaceful. Almost as peaceful as the day on the beach. God... was that really only a month ago?" He thought to himself. Everything had changed. Crosshair walks over and kneels down beside her.

Crosshair: Hey, it's just me, again.

When Emerie said that Omega could hear them, they all tried to get her to wake up. It failed, obviously. Now they'd sometimes have small one-sided conversations with her, mostly Hunter and Wrecker. Crosshair put his right hand on her hand.

Crosshair: Just so you don't forget, I did tell you so. I told you "if you went back to Tantiss, you probably wouldn't make it out in one piece."

Crosshair looked at the ends of her hair, browned and blackened from a blaster bolt giving her an "unwilling haircut" as Wrecker called it. Crosshair smiled a little, but only for a moment.

Crosshair: Well, I was right about someone not making it back in one piece.

He looked down at the stump where his left hand would connect to his arm. He frowned.

Crosshair: Y'know, we all miss you. I've been trying to keep up with the meditations while you're asleep. It's helped a lot, actually. Not like I need to worry about it anyway, since my left hand isn't shaking anymore. Get it? ... yeah, I know, bad joke.

Crosshair looked at her face. The dark circles around her eyes had lessened from the last time he'd visited. He pet her head a little.

Crosshair: You should probably wake up pretty soon, everyone's going crazy without you. Batcher's worried about you too.

Crosshair looked over at the Lurca hound, sleeping in the corner, leg twitching a little while she dreamt. Crosshair looked down, tears starting to form in his eyes again.

Crosshair: Please, Omega. Wake up. I can't do this without you. I can't do this alone. You can't leave me here alone.

Chapter 1: Awake | Chapter 2: Escape

3 notes View Post

lnamelless

1 year ago