niobiumao3

[niobiumao3]

Being with the Batch has definitely upped Echo's sass levels 😏

(Or he's just done with everyone's bullshit and this is how he deals)

The other Batchers: Hunter, Wrecker, Tech, Crosshair and Omega

Image ID: [A portrait of Echo. He is shown from the shoulders up and is facing forward. He is looking to the right, one eyebrow raised and a smirk on his lips. His skin and his eyes are darker than in canon and his face is less emaciated, though he still has sharper features than the other clones. He has the slightest hint of stubble growing back in on his head. End ID]

[niobiumao3]

Preparing for Tantiss

Summary: While the Bad Batch secure the coordinates to Tantiss, Rex prepares a ragtag team of familiar faces to follow him to the Imperial base.

Word count: 1.3K

Warnings: A hint of Rexiyo; a smidge, a sampling, an infinitesimal iota, if you will 😊

Notes: I’ve been saying for awhile that the "cavalry" in The Bad Batch finale might not just be clones, but it occurred to me only today to write it tf down, the last two episodes be damned lol This takes place during season 3 episode 13 of The Bad Batch, "Into the Breach." Look to the tags for the “familiar faces” - the cast is too long to list here. I wrote this in a rush, but it builds off some ideas I'm using for a series about Riyo Chuchi and the Clone Underground, specifically using Orto Plutonia as a base and the working relationship between Rex and Riyo. The first chapter of that series, for those interested, should be posted this week.

“Careful with those proton torpedoes!”

“Don’t scratch my ship! I don’t care how well the Republic—"

“Father! Can I show Jek ze fighters?”

The small airbase on Orto Plutonia had proven more useful than Rex could have imagined. Clearing an area large enough to host more than half a dozen starships was a challenge, but the clones and the Talz braved extreme snowstorms in record time. Fortune seemed to smile on them today as the sky cleared and the wind calmed to a whisper. Ready the fleet, the breeze seemed to say. All the ships had spilled out of the hangar and into the open air, everyone enjoying the rare bout of good weather. Rex watches the fruits of his quick and dangerous labor from the edge of the field.

“Transmission from Pantora, sir.” A clone hands Rex a holoprojector, and Riyo Chuchi flickers in his palm.

“How are preparations coming along, captain?” Riyo learned to dispense with pleasantries when it came to Rex and his missions.

“Very well, senator.” Rex learned to keep his reports short when it came to Riyo and her transmissions. “It’s a tight fit with all the aircraft, but we’ll be ready in half a rotation. Hopefully by then, Echo will have transmitted the coordinates.”

Riyo nods, but can’t hide her concern. “Be careful, Rex. I can hold off the Senate for awhile, but not long. If Tantiss is as secretive and well-guarded as you say, people will want to know everything if something,” she searches for the right word, “explosive happens.”

“Understood.” Rex nods. “You be careful yourself.” It’s an earnest warning, but he looks around and finds no one within earshot. He smirks and tries his luck. “Try not to attract any more bombs while I’m busy.”

She huffs, looks around, and counters, “Try not to blow up any more bases.”

Rex returns her smile. She nods, and in an instant, she’s gone. Rex tucks the holoprojector in his belt.

“Uncle Rex!” Shaeeh calls and tugs at his arm. Rex’s heart thumps hard in his chest, taken off-guard by the surprise attack. “Can I come?”

Suu tiptoes from behind and grabs her daughter by the waist and off the ground. “Ay, no, we need someone to watch ze base while we are gone.” She nuzzles Shaeeh on the cheek before putting the child down.

“They’re ready for inspection,” Howzer announces, gesturing towards the noisy airfield. The captains fall into step.

First up are two Y wings parked across from each other. Cham Syndulla climbs down from the cockpit of one while Cut Lawquane stands up from the wheels of the other. Their kids play in the space between.

“Ready and operational, Rex,” Cut reports, wiping his hands with an oil-ridden rag.

“As iz ours,” Cham adds. “Eleni iz ‘aving some trouble with ze turret, but—”

“All fixed!” The men look up in time to see a wrench fly in the air and land with a loud clink on the ground. Eleni appears from the turret, smiling and wiping her forehead. Hera laughs as Chopper rolls loudly, arms flailing, to pick up the wrench.

“Good work.” Rex nods at the men before moving on.

Several meters away is a Nebula-class freighter. An astromech speeds from under its chassis towards Rex, stopping too late and bumping into his shins. He grunts in pain but otherwise ignores the collision. He rubs the droid’s dome.

“Hey, R7. Where’s Rafa?”

“You can’t bank at that speed, Trace!” Rafa’s voice turns the captains’ attention to the left. “The motivators will—”

“You watch! The Silver Angel can handle anything I throw at her.” Trace sees the captains watching her and her sister argue for the umpteenth time. “Oh, hey, captains.” She gives a short salute.

Howzer crosses his arms and shakes his head, but Rex is amused. It reminds him of the first time they met, right after Padmé’s--

“Whoa, Wookiee alert!” Rafa stops Rex’s train of thought. He turns to see three adult Wookiees approach from the right.

Howzer still can’t contain his shock at their ship. “How did they get their hands on a gunship?”

Rex sometimes forgets Howzer had been stationed far from most of the action of the Clone Wars. “General Tarfful fought in the Battle of Kashyyyk,” he gestures towards the heavily-armored Wookiee, “with Master Yoda. And lucky for us, he’s no friend of the Empire.”

A protocol droid ambles from behind the Wookiee general and ahead to the clone captains. “Hello, I am C3-LT, protocol droid for General Tarfful.”

Rex nods. “Please thank the general for his help. We’re well aware of the trouble on Kashyyyk and know that the Wookiees can’t spare much in the way of arms and soldiers.”

The droid turns to the Wookiee retinue and belts out a mountain of Shyriiwook. Tarfful answers in turn, and the droid translates.

“The general says that he is happy to help the clones liberate their people. He says the clones are brave warriors who will always have the Wookiees’ help whenever they ask.”

Howzer continues to be surprised, his eyes wide at the show of loyalty. Rex nods, and Tarfful drops a heavy hand on his shoulder, shaking the captain and roaring in what the clone assumes is a battle cry. The Wookiees turn around and return to their ship.

Rex starts towards the clones’ fighters at the far end of the field when a freighter lands just outside the perimeter. Everyone stops to watch. The snow settles before the ship’s pilot descends from its platform.

“Afternoon, boys,” Phee greets the approaching clones. She stops at the end of the ramp when she sees blasters aimed in her direction. “Hey now, is that any way to welcome Tech’s—”

Rex sighs and lowers a clone’s blaster with his hand, signaling everyone to stand down. “Easy, men. Echo comm’d us about this.”

Phee walks up to Rex. “Name’s Genoa. Phee Genoa.” They shake hands cautiously. “You must be the one in charge.”

“The name’s Rex. Howzer here will catch you up.” He peers behind her and up into her ship. “Where are the cadets?”

Phee smiles and calls out, “It’s alright, boys. Time to play.”

Three clone cadets appear from the belly of Phee’s ship, running in a line down the platform and stopping in a line next to Phee. “Reporting for duty, sir,” one of them announces before saluting.

Rex kneels down on one knee and addresses the boys. “Alright, troopers.” The cadets snap to attention. “Can I count on you to make sure each ship is supplied with its maximum amount of fuel before sunset?”

“Sir, yes, sir!” They chant and salute in unison before running towards the hangar.

Phee chuckles as Rex stands back up. “Is that what you did when you were a cadet? Fill up fuel tanks and clean starships?”

Rex smirks but holds off on telling her stories of caustic chemicals and hazing rituals on Kamino. Instead, he offers, “You’d be surprised what a clone cadet can do at that age.”

Phee puts a hand on his arm and presses, “Are you sure this will work?” Her concern is genuine.

Rex seems to consider her question seriously for a moment before he shrugs. “It has to.” He gestures for her to follow Howzer.

Rex turns around and gazes into the distance. The sun is beginning to hide behind a line of mountain peaks to the west. The air starts to chill. Gregor will have dinner ready soon, and Rex knows that for some, it will be their last meal. But when he turns back to the airfield, all he can see and hear are smiles and laughter, determined faces turning into friendly ones and idle conversations turning into detailed ones. Rex smiles. For now, hope is still on the horizon.

[niobiumao3]

[niobiumao3]

doodle

[niobiumao3]

tech textposts

[niobiumao3]

bangs x 10^-9

What started as a warm-up sketch, turned into a set of lovingly-crafted nanobangs. I miss those silver bangs of his!

[niobiumao3]

Phee’s the big spoon

#tbb tech #phee genoa #techphee

[niobiumao3]

lmao

[niobiumao3]

I'm sad that I don't have time for new drawings. I have a picture that I drew before. It's just Hunter. handsome boy<3

In my opinion, he is the most handsome but Wrecker is the one I really love.

[niobiumao3]

Whatever happens these next two episodes, I take comfort in knowing the Bad Batch tumblr community will be here to offer comfort and lean on one another for support. I’ve enjoyed my time here, from reading theories and fanfics, to admiring the art. I cherish this time.

And worry not. The Bad Batch as a series is coming to an end, but it will continue to live on through stories, artwork, and the love we have for these characters.

Thanks for being here, everyone. You are appreciated and loved ❤️

May the Force be with us always.

[niobiumao3]

[niobiumao3]

"My Exceptional Find"

Dedicated to the TechPhee community of Tumblr. Your fierce loyalty to this ship and the characters within it inspired this little fic. 🧡

She remembered clearly what she had told him that night as they sat on the Archium’s stone steps and watched the stars drift from one side of the sky to the other. “We’re friends, Tech. Soldiers have briefings. Friends have conversations. And this conversation might have to continue when I’m not so bone tired from sea surge clean-up. Can I hear more about your brother’s sparkling personality tomorrow?”

He had smiled at that. “Of course. Good night. I hope your sleep cycle will be conducive to—”

“Sweet dreams to you too, Brown Eyes.”

[niobiumao3]

You can get my prints at my main shop and my Etsy page. Any support, like or follow would be greatly appreciated. Thank you! <3<3<3

https://www.etsy.com/shop/LightSpringRain

[niobiumao3]

I wish there were less self sacrifice theories in TBB because. The thing is.

Self sacrifice is not really a big character defining thing for a clone character. Like, what a shock, the people raised from birth to view themselves as expendable cannon fodder are willing to sacrifice themselves at the drop of a hat, call the news right now immediately.

I simply have no desire to watch any of the batch self sacrifice. And even though I think he's alive, I didn't like it as even a potential ending to Tech's story either. It adds nothing, says nothing, it is literally the starting point that every clone is born on. Your individual life means nothing, you were created to die in battle.

And the show is supposed to be about finding a purpose outside of that, being more than just soldiers, and yet theory after theory wants to just box them back into dying as soldiers and oh my God its boring to even envision. Clone characters dying has been done over and over and over again, the batch actually surviving is just plain the more interesting option.

[niobiumao3]

Don’t be suspicious ✨

Don’t be suspicious ✨

[niobiumao3]

[niobiumao3]

Hang in there, folks.

8 days and 4 hours to the finale.

1 day and 4 hours to the penultimate ep.

We'll know, one way or another, how this whole Tech situation turns out. I personally have hope we'll see him again, and he'll be back to us changed but himself, in the way anyone who's been through it would be. I find it easier to hope for that than to do otherwise.

I blame no one for despairing. We do seem to be dealing with a Winter Soldier plot and, well, I didn't really want that, at all, but it is what it is. I'm willing to wait and see if they can Gravity Falls their way out of this.

In the mean time. Here's hope for more Phee in the next couple of eps, a bit more Tech before the show ends, and everyone making it out of there in one piece. Together, reunited, etc.

#star wars #the bad batch #tbb tech #speculation #mostly just feels #hang on guys #I know it seems like #they can't really do a good #CX-Tech turn around but until we have #the final 2 eps in hand #there's no much point to catastrophizing