#Army Armor Veteran

[mattykelevra]

19 Kilo as FUCK!! ARMOR VETERAN

#19Kilo #Army Tanker #Army Armor Veteran #Us Army Veteran #Us Army Tanker

[walkingthroughthisworld]

#tank #tankers #us army #char #tahk #el tanque de guerra #kampfpanzer #abrams #abrams tank #veteran #armor branch #this we’ll defend

[thatdeadaquarius]

Okay so-- i was reading some sagau posts and came across this one where the reader was an army vet and my brain just Did Its Thing--

So now I'm here to inflict this on to you--

Would guns be considered as catalysts. And would they only do Phys Damage.

Me reading this ask:

😶 😐 🤨 🧐 🧐 😰 🥲 😭😭😭 💀

STOP YOU'VE INFLICTED ME WITH PSYCHOLOGICAL DMG FROM THIS ASK 😭

(Also srry took so long to respond, when i didnt realize how short this was/was just sitting over here 😓)

^ For the sake of gun imagery being a lot/maybe staff might hate me for it,

we'll put this gay shit instead (i almost mispelled to "gay shot" lmao)

☆

Sun: Army Veteran Reader, Gender neutral Reader (you/they/them)

Orbit: SHORT Headcanons

Stars: everybody bc i think itd be funny

Comets & Meteors: Content Warnings: gun stuff, mild violence, mild cursing & Trigger Warnings: Gun fun everywhere

THIS ASK HAS ME GIGGLING TO MYSELF LIKE A MANIAC

You're out here having a whole gun they let you take for off-base

And u ofc have a license so u can conceal carry

(idk how non-american gun laws work, but tbh ours are so fucked idk how they work here either, just that an army guy i knew once could have his gun when he got back home)

And ofc ur just paranoid enough (more like it just makes u feel safe)

That when u get yoinked into a portal to a silly little brightly colored gacha game fantasy world, the gun comes with 💀

Id like to add in my silly little "ur in a video game, so video game rules" AU version of genshin so:

The only other gun (ish) wielder (Mika) has unlimited bolts

Sooo I'd think your gun would be the same jfc lol

NO BC YOUD SCARE THE ACTUAL SHIT OUT OF EVERYONE IN UR VICINITY IN A BATTLE

BC GUNSHOTS ARE A DIFFERENT TYPE OF LOUD

When u first stumble into abyss monsters/hostile creatures of the realm, u nearly scare off a Lawlachurl bc every shot's like thunder to these bitches😭

So not only the monsters but the vision holders think u fucking summoned lightning

OMG THE BULLETS ARE SO FAST THEYD PROBABLY NOT SEE IT

ESP BC DISTRACTED BY GUNSHOT LOUDNESS

SO U AIM THIS LITTLE BLACK CROSSBOW (???) AND THINGS JUST DIE (OR GET RIDDLED WITH HOLES) WITH NO CLEAR ARROW STICKING OUT

STOPP- you're becoming a witchy god or smth to all of Teyvat bc it just looks like hella high level magic atp to them LMAOOO

Rumors of you get out of hand and say u just point or snap ur fingers and things get wounded/just die on the spot 💀

Oh another difference between Teyvatians seeing ur gun vs. crossbow (what they know)

Is that guns are wayyyy more destructive

Like an arrow would get shot but it'd bounce off of things like rock or wood or metal, maybe dent a little depending on how close

But a bullet goes thru that shit so easy, and leaves a whole little explosion behind, once again depending on range

(I once saw a Mythbusters episode? of them proving bullets would definitely go thru car doors, like movies lied to u, this is why drive-bys acc work like for gangs)

Lmao, the image of you in like full armor with a Teyvat made automatic gun after showing it to blacksmiths

Makes u just more convincing as a god, esp bc military training

(Ppl like Gorou and Kokomi begging for military tactics/training ur world has done)

...

....Ok.

I'll address it.

But only so u dont think im stupid later.

Yes, the Fatui have guns.

No, this not the same as having a glock LMAO

End of story.

(Also, urs runs on bullets, whereas the Fatui rely on magic/delusions to power theirs, plus they dont seem as fast or destructive as urs, more "explosions aimed at you" than real bullets)

Which,,, u leave the managing of ppl copying ur gun to ppl like the Qixing or smth, but make sure to give them advice on good gun laws if teyvat accidentally revolutionizes bc of ur advanced gun that anybody can wield (non-vision users)

Thats the best ive got abt that

Oh, also enjoy being praised as a War god now.

:)

☆

... dammit i had smth i was gonna tell u guys-

Uh what tf was it, it was important

OH

Next post is the Eldritch God Oneshot! Look out for it :) !!

☆

Safe Travels Kid,

💀♒️

♡the beloveds♡

@karmawonders / @0rah-s / @randomnatics / @glxssynarvi / @nexylaza / @genshin-impacts-me / @wholesomey-artist / @thedevioussmirk / @the-dumber-scaramouche / @chocogi / @fallen-starr / @areaderofbooks

If you wanna join a taglist, DM me what for! "Pspspsss, please tag me for [All SAGAU posts, Only SAGAU Language AUs, diff fandom, etc.]!"

(If you ever wanna drop, just DM me! "No more taglists/[specifically this AU/fandom] please!")

#lookie i made my first border image guys!! 🥺 #a little rough but eh #i used a stock image and then added that little moon #also this gun shit takes me out i could write just a whole crack oneshot abt ending up in teyvat with a gun lmao #genshin sagau #genshin impact #sagau #genshin isekai #genshin imagines #my asks #gender neutral reader #genshin impact sagau #self aware genshin #✨️forgot all my tags again✨️ #uh #genshin harem #i mean what #genshin x reader

[sotwk]

The Fighting Abilities of Thranduil, his Sons, and Warriors of the Woodland Realm

The following are all headcanons as written into the "Sons of the Woodland King" (SotWK) universe.

History of Warfare in the Woodland Realm

The First Age Silvan elves of Greenwood the Great developed systems of combat equivalent to "real world" martial arts, similar specifically to wushu (Chinese martial art).

Close-quarter combat is more efficient in tight spaces, and therefore well-suited for densely wooded areas in the Greenwood forest.

It is useful for one-on-one fighting and stealth attacks, which was usually all the Silvans needed to defend themselves, since they did not participate in warfare prior to the Second Age.

Before the arrival of their Sindarin overlords, the forest-dwelling Silvans used only weapons that might be considered "primitive" by the High Elves: bow and arrow, daggers, spears, and staffs, but they used these to great effect and in tandem with their unarmed fighting skills.

When Oropher, his son Thranduil, and their kin arrived, they helped the Silvans ward off attacks from rogue orcs and monsters that survived the War of Wrath and threatened to infest their lands (separate HC post about that here). In gratitude and admiration, they accepted Oropher as their king.

The Sinda introduced other types of weaponry and styles/methods of warfare, including longsword, phalanx, and cavalry. They also promoted blacksmithing as a trade and art (albeit not as sophisticated as their Noldor counterparts), so real armor and stronger weapons were created.

Over many centuries, the fighting techniques of the Silvans and Sindar merged to develop the combat style that was practiced in the realm from the Third Age onward.

Images above: Spear fighting is highly-utilized by Greenwood warriors, and every soldier excels in both one-on-one combat and fighting as a unit. Inspiration can be taken from the deadly style of Achilles from the film Troy (2004).

Thranduil the Warrior King

Thranduil is acknowledged and remains unsurpassed as the greatest warrior in the Woodland Realm's history.

In his role as Prince of Greenwood, he was instrumental in forming and enhancing the military forces of the Woodland Realm throughout the Second Age. A veteran of the War of Wrath, he understood that a strong army was vital for the protection of any kingdom.

Among his countless talents, combat is Thranduil's strongest and most favored, the one he takes great pride in honing and exercising. (In contrast with his father Oropher, who was an expert politician first and foremost.)

Young Thranduil was also passionate about sharing his knowledge, and devoted his time in both training his Silvan brethren and, more importantly, learning from them and absorbing their combat culture.

Thus, the distinctively flashy yet lethal hybrid fighting style that married Silvan martial arts with Sindar swordplay was developed and wielded perfectly by Thranduil.

Thranduil is also a brilliant tactician and field commander, who served as General of the realm's armed forces for many centuries (until his eldest son eventually succeeded him in the role).

He is known for always leading the charge in every single battle, stubbornly rejecting the use of his kingsguard on the field (much to father's chagrin and wife's anxiety). But for this, he is revered by his soldiers, all who would sacrifice their lives for him without hesitation.

Thranduil and Oropher were frequently at odds when it came to policies on managing their military forces and engaging in outside conflicts. Had it not been for Thranduil's push for more training and investing in better armor and weaponry, the realm's losses during the War of the Last Alliance would have been even greater.

After he ascended the throne, Thranduil made it an even greater priority to increase the strength of Greenwood's army, which fortuitously saved the realm from being caught off-guard and overwhelmed when the Necromancer began his assaults from Dol Guldur.

Images above: Thranduil's sword-fighting style and battle prowess is very similar to that of Prince Nuada (also an elf-prince!) from the film Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008).

Thranduilions: The Warrior Princes

The Elvenking passed his combat knowledge onto his sons by training each one of them personally.

For centuries, the princes also trained alongside the rest of the realm's armed forces and gradually grew in skill, each according to his own unique talents.

Crown Prince Mirion, the king's eldest and heir, inherited leadership of Mirkwood's army around TA 1200, when he was named General and "Protector of the Realm", as he was a fierce defender of the Woodland people during the rise of Dol Guldur. (Upon his untimely death, the role reverted back to Thranduil.) He is physically the strongest of the princes, even stronger than his father.

Prince Gelir Thranduilion (fourth-born) is famed for being the realm's most talented archer and hunter, eventually becoming Captain of the Spider-hunters.

Prince Legolas Thranduilion (youngest) is the most acrobatic, creative, and "playful" fighter among his brothers, being the most naturally agile. He is also quick to learn just by observing, and so carries the fighting styles and tricks of his older brothers with him.

Prince Arvellas Thranduilion (third-born) is the least trained and and experienced in the fighting arts among the princes, not for lack of talent, but because (like the Elvenqueen), he chose early on to devote himself to academia and the healing arts instead.

Five Princes of Mirkwood: Personal SotWK commission by hffhifjou (click to enlarge)

Prince Turhir: Born for Battle

While all the Thranduilion Princes are skilled warriors with their own styles, the most naturally gifted and the most like his father in martial strength, skill, and ferocity, is Prince Turhir Thranduilion (second-born).

Turhir can be described as the ultimate fighting machine: brutally strong, virtually inexhaustible, extremely fast (esp. for his 7'6 size), and possessing flawless battle instincts. He is also uniquely hard of body, and in the rare times he sustains injuries, he recovers with no help necessary from healers.

Over the entirety of Thranduil's kingship (Third Age), Turhir is the only one, anywhere in Middle-earth, to have ever bested the Elvenking in single combat--and he did so several times during the Third Age, proving he had the potential to surpass his father in fighting ability.

In TA 542, Turhir was granted the role of Master Trainer of the Greenwood armies, making him responsible for teaching many of the young soldiers that fought for Mirkwood in the wars of the Third Age.

But where was he during the Battle of the Five Armies and War of the Ring?? To be revealed in future HC discussions and/or SotWK fics.

Images above: The spear is Turhir's favorite weapon, and his skill with it is best exhibited again by Prince Nuada from the film Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008), especially in this training scene.

Thank you for reading!

For more Thranduil/Mirkwood headcanons: SotWK HC Masterlist

Tolkien Headcanon tag list (plus some others who have shown interest in this subject--thank you all!): @quickslvxr @laneynoir @auttumnsayshi @achromaticerebus @tamryniel @friendofthefellowshipsnerdblog @blueberryrock @aduialel @glassgulls @ladyweaslette @klytemnestra13 @jezzibee @creativity-of-death @heilith @fizzyxcustard @absentmindeduniverse @lathalea @tamurilofrivendell @jordie-your-local-halfling @laurfilijames @i-am-pinkie @ladyk8tie @princesschimchim1325 @kazimina @scyllas-revenge @asianbutnotjapanese @conversacomsmaug @lemonivall @ratsys

#sotwk headcanon #thranduil #thranduil headcanon #legolas #mirkwood #mirkwood elves #the elvenking #oropher #lord of the rings #tolkien #tolkien headcanons #tolkien elves #sotwk ocs #thranduilion

[twinterrors29]

Anakin retires after the war to be Padme's arm candy and stay-at-home-dad

she always picks out very fancy matching outfits for him and herself

one time, Obi-Wan is also invited to the same event, and Padme takes the liberty of dressing him appropriately as well

Satine, however, sees the results in the Space Society pages and tears across the galaxy to Coruscant

if anyone is going to be dressing Her Jedi, it's going to be HER

this launches a passive-aggressive tug-of-war over Obi-Wan's wardrobe, including his casual and work clothing

before long, he seriously considers accepting Cody and Alpha-17's offer of armor to escape the madness

unfortunately, he makes the mistake of articulating this desire where both of them can hear

Satine and Padme simultaneously turn to the clones, and can't help but notice how THEY all seem to be wearing their armor still, even though they're no longer in the army

this, of course, is a Problem, and needs to be Rectified

it quickly becomes a Senate-wide competition to see who can dress troopers the best as they each drag in their colleagues to ensure full coverage of all the GAR veterans

Anakin, the sadist, finds this all very entertaining to watch

#star wars #the clone wars #clones #padme amidala #satine kryze #anakin skywalker #obi wan kenobi #commander cody #alpha 17 #fashion

[fascinatedhelix]

Some Bionicle headcanons, illustrated. Details below the cut!

Basically this whole doodle page is about Spherus Magna's mostly organic residents, specifically the Agori and Glatorian. Going clockwise...

The ear shapes are kind of my personal solution to the "how do these guys differentiate species/class just by looking, when they're not really built all that different besides height and armor?" Agori and Glatorian are pretty straightforward; Agori have short pointy ears, and Glatorian have long pointy ears. The Bone Hunters have more of a butterfly shape, with a more pronounced "shell" and points at the tip and lobe of the ear, and the Skrall have a sort of lynx tip situation going on. With the Skrall, I wondered how they might tell apart classes from birth, so I went with giving the classes different coloration. Soldier class males and all females would simply have the tip of the ear in black, Elite class males would have more of the hardened cartilage darkened, and the Leader class males would have a distinct bright stripe marking their ears.

I'm using Berix and Gresh as examples of what I think the Agori and Glatorian look like without their helmets. For Berix, I kept in mind that his face is exposed most of the time, and he gets his ass kicked for "stealing" every other Tuesday, so he's covered in scars. The looping ponytail/bun thing is a Water Tribe tradition, marking an unmarried young adult. For Gresh, he's still a bit green and his face is thoroughly covered by his mask, so most of the scarring is localized to the tips of his ears (which chafe against the helmet). He ties his hair back very tightly, because it gets tangled in the breeze and in tree branches all the time.

The eyes don't glow, but they do reflect! I kinda modeled them after the eyes of a cat, with big irises, vibrant colors, and reflective retinas. It'd make sense to have better night vision on a planet riddled with nocturnal monsters and very long nights, and also it's fun.

Magnan hair tends to grow very quickly in childhood, but slows down a great deal as they age. As such, the regular cutting of the hair is strongly associated with children, and the growing out of the hair to the point of being able to tie it up is seen as an important mark of adulthood. However, the cutting of the hair as a gesture of grief, particularly among widows and widowers, is one of the socially acceptable reasons a Magnan might cut their hair. Hence, here's Gresh struggling to brush out some wind-blown knots in his hair, while Ackar teases him for not being totally used to the care routine that comes with it. Ackar, meanwhile, has a bit of gray in his old widower hair (not quite a recent loss, but enough to still be noticed; nobody asks him about his husband anymore).

Malum demonstrating what it looks like when these guys are mad to the point of snarling. I imagine that, if the bones are metal, then so are the teeth. It's actually kind of interesting if you think about the implications of that. Metal teeth would likely be way harder to break down by bacteria, and they likely don't consume nearly as much sugar as we do. At the very least you don't have to worry about your teeth rotting out in the apocalypse.

Kiina demonstrating the telltale signs of a Core Wars veteran, namely the old scars, the clipped ears, and the back brace. Scars are self explanatory, but why the ears and brace? Given that the Elemental Lords seemed to have degraded from their original mental state since their transformation, it makes sense that they'd probably be less than kind to their soldiers. Clipping the ears not only removes another potential area for infection, but also acts as a sort of hazing ritual; those too squeamish to face the shears wouldn't be fit for the army. The brace is a response to deteriorating spinal implants from the war. Glatorian tend to develop back problems later in life anyways simply because they're so tall by nature, but the spines of soldiers were reinforced en masse to make them tougher and more capable of handling the strain of carrying equipment and supplies over long distances.

And a cute little doodle of Mata Nui watching ants, because that seems like something he'd do. Imagine going on walks with that guy; he'd be like JRR Tolkien on a nature walk, he'd just be staring at a bug for like 20 minutes.

#bionicle #my art #headcanons #kiina #berix #gresh #ackar #malum #agori #glatorian

[elisemscott1122]

List of Mandalorian Armor Color Meanings (Canon and Fan-Made included in this list)

* Black: (Canon)

- (Quest for) Justice

* Famously Worn By:

- Boba Fett

- Tarre Viszla

- Members of Clan Eldar

* Blue: (Canon)

- Reliability

* Famously Worn By:

- Jango Fett (accents)

- Mandalorian Neo Crusaders: common/lower ranks

- Bo-Katan Kryze

- Paz Viszla

- Heavy Infantry

- Nite Owls

- Koska Reeves

- Axe Woves

- Army (lower ranks)

- Popular among Mandalorians

* Yellow: (Fandom based)

- Remembrance

* Famously Worn By:

- Higher ranks of Mandalorians

- Members of Clan Rook

* Gold/Sand: (canon)

- (Quest for) Vengeance

* Famously Worn By:

- Mandalorian Neo Crusaders: Field Marshals

- The Armorer

- Clan Wren

- Ursa Wren

- Tristan Wren

- Boba Fett (pauldron)

- Clan Vevut’s Sigils

* Copper: (fandom based)

- Unknown

* Famously Worn By:

- Unknown

* Gray: (canon)

- Mourning a Lost Love

* Famously Worn By:

- Jango Fett

- Pre Viszla

- Din Djarin (the Mandalorian)

- The Mandalorian Guard

- The Mandalorian Royal Guard

- Boba Fett (jumpsuit)

* Green: (canon)

- Duty

* Famously Worn By:

- Boba Fett (chest plates)

- Popular among Mandalorians

- Members of Clan Eldar

* White:

- A New/Fresh Start (canon)

- Purity (fan based)

* Famously Worn By:

- Imperial Supercommandos

- The Clone Army

* Orange: (canon)

- a Lust for Life

* Famously Worn By:

- Mirta Gev

- Sabine Wren

- Members of Clan Eldar

* Red: (canon)

- Honoring a Parent

- Love

* Famously Worn By:

- Boba Fett (helmet/vanbraces)

- Ghes Orade

- Revan

- The Armorer (accents)

- Maul’s Supercommandos

- Higher ranks of Mandalorians

- Members of Clan Jeban

* Maroon: (fan based)

- Power

* Famously Worn By:

- Boba Fett (helmet/vanbraces)

* Crimson/Scarlet: (canon)

- Defiance

* Famously Worn By:

- Mandalorian Neo Crusaders: Rally Masters (mid commander rank)

* Brown: (fan based)

- Valor

* Famously Worn By:

- Din Djarin (The Mandalorian, early season 1)

* Pink: (fan based)

- Respected or Respecting Someone

* Famously Worn By:

- unknown

* Silver: (fan based)

- Seeking Redemption

* Famously Worn By:

- Din Djarin (the Mandalorian)

- Mandalorian Neo Crusaders: field veterans on the front lines

- Members of Clan Rook

* Custom Painted:

* Famously Worn By:

- Sabine Wren

* Purple: (fan based)

- Luck

* Famously Worn By:

- Sabine Wren

- Members of Clan Rook

#starwars #tv shows #mandalorian #the mandalorian #disney plus #star wars #tv series #Mandalore #mandalorian armor #clan #armor #color meanings

[mattykelevra]

😜😁🤙💦💦

#Army Armor Veteran #Army Tanker #M1A1 Vet #M1A1 Driver #Tanker Humor #Us Army Vet

[walkingthroughthisworld]

Larry Taylor was born in 1942 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He grew up in a family and community that emphasized the importance of military service. His great-great-grandfather fought in the Civil War, his great-uncle in World War I and his father and uncles in World War II. 

Larry Taylor joined the U.S. Army Reserve Officer Training Program at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Upon graduation in June 1966, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army Reserve, then joined the regular Army in August, volunteering as an armor officer. 

He joined the U.S. Army Reserve Officer Training Program at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Upon graduation in June 1966, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army Reserve, then joined the regular Army in August, volunteering as an armor officer. After graduating from the U.S. Army Armor School at Fort Knox, Kentucky, Taylor quickly realized he was better suited to be a pilot than an armor officer. He had already obtained a fixed-wing pilot's license before joining the Army and thought that experience would make it easier to learn rotary-wing flying. 

After receiving permission to train as a helicopter pilot, he attended the U.S. Army Primary Helicopter School at Fort Wolters, Texas, and then advanced helicopter training at Fort Rucker (renamed Fort Novosel in 2023), Alabama, where he qualified as an Army aviator in June 1967.

Taylor served in Vietnam from August 1967 to August 1968, flying some of the first Bell AH1-G Cobra attack helicopters in combat. Serving with D Troop (Air), 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry, 1st Infantry Division, Taylor flew over 2,000 combat missions in UH-1 and Cobra helicopters. He was engaged by enemy fire 340 times and was forced down five times. The U.S. Army awarded him at least 50 combat decorations, including the Silver Star, 43 Air Medals, a Bronze Star and two Distinguished Flying Crosses. He also received the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Bronze Star.

 Among his many harrowing operations, the most dangerous and frightening took place on June 18, 1968, when he rescued a four-man long range patrol team at significant risk to his own life. For his heroic actions that night, the Army awarded him the Silver Star, which President Joe Biden upgraded to the Medal of Honor in 2023. Taylor concluded his military service as a captain with the 2nd Armored Cavalry in West Germany. 

After his Army service, he operated a successful roofing and sheet metal company in Chattanooga and was involved with several veterans' organizations. He has also been a generous donor to charitable nonprofit organizations in the Chattanooga area. Taylor and his wife, Toni, reside in Signal Mountain, Tennessee.

(via Captain Larry L. Taylor | Medal of Honor Recipient | U.S. Army)

[thepatchycat]

(Spoilers for TCW Season 7 and Tales of the Jedi)

They can’t stay together.

Rex wants nothing more than to keep watching her six.  Hers is the only one he has left to watch.  But he doesn’t have a unique face with which to blend into a crowd, and a clone not serving the army is an easy deserter to spot.  With every Jedi and ex-Jedi slated for galaxy-wide persecution, Ahsoka can’t afford any extra scrutiny.

So, once they have buried their dead, once Ahsoka has quietly attended another funeral on Naboo—because of course Senator Amidala’s death would be piled upon the rest, one more name to add to an immeasurable litany of friends and brethren lost—they make for Takodana.  A stolen Y-wing won’t draw too many eyes when half the other ships on the planet are just as illicitly sourced, and there’s enough vegetation to hide it in besides.

They land in an out-of-the-way forest clearing, and Ahsoka ventures into the small city of Andui to procure supplies, bidding Rex to rest while he has the chance.  He’ll need to move on with the stolen Y-wing and his veteran’s armor and his one-of-millions face, soon.  Ahsoka will find her own way from here; if she has a plan, it’s safer for both of them not to tell him.

Rex will go warn Cut Lawquane about the chips.  After… he doesn’t know.

He catches what snatches of sleep he can, out in the woods, until Ahsoka returns.  They share a meal in silence, and then split the remainder of their meager provisions.

Then it’s time for him to leave.

“You take care, kid,” Rex says quietly.  They stand face-to-face, two souls with nobody left but each other, soon to be nobody left at all.  “Keep your head down.”

“I will,” she replies.  “You do the same.”

He swallows and glances away.

“Rex.”  She reaches up and touches his cheek, tilting his face so he can’t avoid her gaze.  “Promise me you’ll take care of yourself.”

Maybe Ahsoka will be able to survive quietly, find some hidden corner of relative peace.  He hopes so.  But Rex has never lived his life without fighting, and he’s never lived it alone.

“I promise,” he says anyway.  He’ll try, even if he’s not sure how.

Satisfied, she nods, and then she leans up on her toes and wraps strong arms around his neck to pull him into a hug.  She should be taller than him one day, a fact she used to like teasing him about.  He wishes he’d get to see it happen.

“This might not be forever,” she whispers in a voice as unsteady as he feels.  

But they both know it could be.  Not that that’s really new.

He embraces her in return and holds her tight for as long as he dares, eyes burning.

Then he lets her go.

#Star Wars #TCW #Captain Rex #Ahsoka Tano #TCW Spoilers #TOTJ Spoilers #TOTJ has me all up in my feelings again #Rex loses every one of his brothers and then has to leave his sister too #Who has also lost everyone she knows #It just. They kill me. Every time. #Someday I will write happier things for them but today is apparently not that day #Patchy Writes #CW Grief #Lemme know if I need to add any other tags

[the-shattering]

Chapter 16: Ashes

Odrum, Irozia

Odrum had been reduced to a pile of ash and death. Caleste, Edrahn, and the knights picked their way through the wreckage of destroyed houses. The cloth masks on their faces kept the worst of the stench out. They guided their horses carefully so as to not to trod upon the charred bodies that remained intact. Edrahn was grasping her staff so tightly that Caleste was worried that it’d snap in her hand. She’d have reached over to hold Edrahn’s other hand to comfort her if she wasn’t grasping her halberd with a similar tenseness. There was no telling if whatever had attacked the village was still lurking around the thick smoke that still blanketed the town and reduced their visibility to only a few dozen feet around them. They needed both their hands free in order to react quickly to whatever threat may arise.

“What could have done this?” Emmon asked. His voice was scarce above a whisper, as if concerned about alerting an unseen enemy.

“Odrum may be a small village but they certainly would have been able to defend themselves from any bandits coming in from the Barrens,” Caleste said, “A desperate lord from the Southern Kingdom perhaps?”

Edrahn’s lips pressed into a thin line and she shook her head. She hailed from the Southern Kingdom before she had met Caleste — she knew her people, “No lord would be this ruthless, this … destructive.”

“I agree,” Emmon said, “If they were desperate for food and resources, I doubt they’d burn everything to the ground before they could loot the place. Not to mention it would be suicide to go against Irozia — especially with an act of violence as egregious as this. We may have had years of peace but the Southern King knows that Queen Venera has him outmatched.”

Caleste looked down at the ground below her and almost wished she hadn’t. A ghastly skull clad in a blackened helm stared back up at her. She flinched back and brought her horse to a sudden halt.

“What is it?” Edrahn asked and Caleste felt her cheeks flush in embarrassment and shame from being so quick to spook.

“Nothing to be frightened of,” she said and regained her composure before she dismounted next to the corpse, “Just the dead body of a soldier.”

She knelt down to examine the charred remains. The corpse was mostly buried in the rubble of a collapsed house with seemingly only its head intact. Her confusion at the situation deepened as she got a better look at the helmet clad skull. The fire damage could explain the inhuman look of the skull but the helmet itself? That didn’t look like any helmet she was familiar with. It certainly wasn’t a helmet any member of a town militia in her countship would be wearing. She surmised that the body she saw must have been one of the raiders. However that didn’t help her much with identifying who exactly it was that just destroyed one of her towns.

In fact the mystery only deepened as she stared down at the skull and the helmet it wore. Most helmets from the Southern Kingdoms were conical nasal helms with maille aventails that covered the face and neck. Bandits, or really any warrior from the Barrens, wore thick cloth as their armor and usually wore no helmets.

This helmet was made of some form of metal, though Caleste wasn’t entirely sure it was iron, and it was in the shape of a brimmed hat. Under the helmet the creature wore a maille coif made of the same blackened metal as the helmet. She placed a few fingers on the helmet, rubbing it slightly to see if it were soot that would rub off. Her hand came back only slightly darkened by soot but the metal of the helmet remained a deep, glossy black.

“This isn’t any metal I’m familiar with,” she said and looked up at Emmon who had approached to examine the skull.

He shook his head, he hadn’t seen metal like that either.

Caleste carefully lifted the helmet from the skull and she heard Emmon make a noise of shock. The man was a hardened veteran, a soldier who had fought in the queen’s army during her campaign to retake the throne. He had seen far worse than this, they both had.

The skull looked almost human to Caleste — everything seemed to be in the right place at least: Two eyes, a nose, and a ghastly gaping mouth with soot stained teeth. However there was something still unsettling about it, something that stirred a feeling deep in her veins that she was only vaguely familiar with.

She reached out to touch the maille coif and as one of her fingers brushed the skull it crumbled into a heap of ash. She drew her hand back, her finger that touched the skull tingled slightly as if it had been shocked.

“Caleste?” Edrahn asked, her voice was laced with worry.

Caleste stood up and attached the helmet to one of her saddlebags, “We can’t do anything for the poor souls here,” she said, “Let’s go.”

“Where?” Emmon asked.

“Where do you think?”

Anger and indignation had been building up in Caleste like a thunderhead on a summer’s day. Sure she felt sorry for the people who died in Odrum and the child who now sat in her castle who was likely the only survivor of the carnage. But more than that she felt pissed.

No one marched into her countship and made a mockery of her. First the terrible winter and now this … this insult. Caleste, the noble and heroic countess who couldn’t protect her own people.

She couldn’t stand by that.

She needed to find whoever did this.

They needed to pay.

“We’re going to find who’s responsible for this, and make sure they never do this to me again,” she said.

Emmon looked uncertain, “M’lady I’m not sure this is a good idea. Look at what destruction these raiders wrought — we should get reinforcements.”

“We haven’t the time,” Caleste said, “They could be marching on Caleston as we speak. Are we not the best warriors in the queendom? Did we not prove that over and over again? We can prove it once more.”

Her tone allowed for no further argument though Emmon looked as if he wanted to press the point. He sighed and gave a curt nod, “I’ll send Theran and Lovac to look for any trace of where our attackers went.”

“Good,” Caleste said, “Have them start looking to the south of the settlement.”

“You still think this is the Southern Kingdom,” Edrahn said.

Caleste looked to her wife, “Who else could it be Edrahn? They suffered through the same winter as we had. I know you don’t want to believe your people did this but who else could it have been? This doesn’t look like the work of simple bandits.”

“I think your desire to prove your worth is clouding your judgment.”

“I think your love of your people is clouding yours.”

Caleste would always marvel at how Edrahn, despite being a head shorter than her, could manage to stare down at her. She wasn’t about to back down though — she knew this had to be the Southern Kingdom. It literally couldn’t be anyone else.

Edrahn wasn’t going to yield any ground either, “So if the Southern Kingdom did attack us as you so adamantly believe — to what end? What could they possibly gain from this?”

“It’s a tactic,” Caleste said, “Encroach on my territory, raze a few villages to the ground, and burn our farmsteads … It’ll become too big of a problem for me to ignore and so they’ll force me into a battle.”

It’s what she would do. It’s what she had done.

“So you’re giving them what they want.”

“I’m putting a stop to this before it becomes a big problem.”

Caleste looked away from her wife and back over the ruins of Odrum; her mask slipped slightly and she hurriedly readjusted it. The stench of death and smoke was very familiar to her yet it still was nearly overpowering. Perhaps she had lost her touch in the years of peace.

She furrowed her brow in confusion as she retied the mask — she had smelled what she would have expected from a scene like this: the acrid scent of burnt houses and the nauseatingly sweet stench of charred flesh. However added to the smell was the pungent, nose stinging stench of sulfur.

#part 1: fracture #the shattering web novel

[lightly-toasted-ice]

Urd, Veteran of the Toa-Dark Hunter War

Seeking conquest, the Shadowed One sent an army of Dark Hunters to take Metru Nui. Naho, a Toa present on the island, sneaked past the mercenaries’ blockade, and brought nearly 100 Toa back to the city with her. Among those Toa was Urd, a capable and fearless Toa of Ice.

He was instrumental in driving the Dark Hunters out of Ko-Metru, though his ruthlessness set him apart from the rest of his fellow Toa. In particular, his usage of a Mask of Fear was frowned upon, though none could deny its use. Urd sealed the Toa Mangai’s victory in Ko-Metru by single-handedly fighting back a squad of ten Dark Hunters without breaking a sweat, biting frost notwithstanding.

Unlike most Toa of Ice, Urd relished in battle, and quickly earned a dire reputation among both his enemies and his allies. When Ko-Metru had been won, Urd remained in the Metru to protect it in case more Dark Hunters showed their faces. Eventually, the Toa were drawn into the Canyon of Unending Whispers and ambushed by a massive force of Hunters led by the Toa traitor, Nidhiki. Lhikan, who led the army of Toa, countered by calling in the 300 other Toa that had arrived on the island in secret. The war ended here in a truce; the Hunters left with Nidhiki in tow, and the Toa were hailed as heroes. The Toa Mangai eventually diminished, with most of the 300 returning to their own homes across the next 2,000 years.

Urd returned to his village on the Tren Krom Peninsula, where he resumed his Duty of guarding the Matoran. Contrary to his zealousness in battle, he was gentle when it came to his Matoran. When he returned from battle, tattered and torn, they made his recovery comfortable, and plated his Mask of Fear in copper as recognition of his service. While he approved of the gesture, he took to wearing a Mask of Clairvoyance in the meantime, and placed the coppered mask on his wall.

Centuries of relative peace came and went, until a band of nine Dark Hunters seeking revenge against the Toa that had bested them in the war found Urd’s village.

Unfortunately for these Dark Hunters, Urd had been prepared for such an occasion. He once more donned his Mask of Fear, long since set aside, and commanded the Matoran to flee, but not before handing one of them a Toa Stone. Urd met the Hunters at the center of the village, pale moonlight glinting off his armor and axe as his nine foes encircled him.

The battle that followed was swift and brutal. Armor was hewn, weapons snapped in two, and shields shattered into splintered timbers as Urd fought alone against the onslaught.

As the sun rose over the village, Urd stood alone, his armor pitted and scarred and his mask cracked in half. He cast a glance at the nine bodies scattered around him. He knew their faces, but didn’t care to know their names. ‘What would be the use?’ he thought. The rush of battle had begun to subside, and the pain of his wounds made itself known. Urd’s breathing grew labored and his vision dimmed.

Urd’s mind turned to the past as he staggered away from the village. He remembered being a Matoran, fishing idly beneath the baking sun. He remembered becoming a Toa, and the pride he had felt as a Destined hero. He remembered taking his Mask of Fear, and his vow to never misuse it. ‘Guess that promise fell by the wayside.’ Lastly, he remembered Naho rising from the sea, a heat-shimmer that resolved into a Toa hero, pleading for help. He asked why, and she told him of the Dark Hunters that were trying to conquer some far-off island paradise. Urd answered the call, hungry for battle.

A pleasant coolness settled over the Toa of Ice. He raised his head and saw that he was beneath a tree - his favorite one. He would sit beneath it and watch the Matoran go about their days, smiling as he did so. He smiled now, too, but weakly. His time was up. The race run, the book read. He sat between two roots that were the perfect height to be arm rests and turned his gaze to the east, where his last sun would soon rise.

#bionicle #long post #sorry about that #viking-inspired #trailer pagan shit

[gasha40k]

As stated in my last post, World Eaters have occupied the vast majority of both my 40k time and my 40k energy for a number of months now. I’m even planning on joining a local league with my Khorne army, which I suppose means they’ve usurped the Thunderbearers as my “main” army, even though I love all of my tiny plastic sons equally. But regardless of the fact that they’re not exactly my primary army, the Thunderbearers are still my little men. The World Eaters may be my favorite faction, but they’re not my fully custom homebrewed little men that I’ve been collecting, customizing, and writing for years now.

I think it’s a good time to start working on my Astartes again. GW has been releasing a lot of banger kits recently, and since the turn of the edition, my drop pod strats have been more viable than ever. I’ve got some plans for the army going forwards, so I wanna talk about some of those here.

The new Company Heroes box is one of my favorite Primaris kits ever released. Each one of these sculpts fucking rocks, but I’m particularly interested the two decked out Veterans. Even more particularly the dude with the heavy bolter. Thing is, the actual datasheet attached to the kit is kind of mid, so instead of actually using the squad, I’m gonna cannibalize the kit for bits.

The Captain and the Ancient will be used as their solo datasheets. Not sure what I’ll do with the Champion, but I’m thinking I’ll use him to build a Librarian. The two veterans, however, are both gonna get recycled into Captain models.

Zaraf Görefried “the Red Roar” Redfale, Lord-Captain of the 2nd Company, forgotten prince of Manticore

Each Thunderbearers Company is a semi-autonomous armada, a vast independent warfleet of such concentrated force that it resembles a microcosmic Chapter in and of itself, albeit one with incredibly diminished numbers.

Due to their high levels of operational freedom, each Thunderbearers Company contains unique cultures and subtle variances of the Chapter’s doctrines. As such, those leading the Companies—the Captains, known interchangeably as Lords—are the greatest paragons of their fleet, representing most succinctly in both character and action the ideals of their individual Company.

Because of this, I’m trying to kitbash an interesting and characterful model for each Captain. Their model should tell a tale about them as an individual, but it should also be the clearest visual representation of their Company’s tactics and culture.

Perseus Lahan, “the Thunder Hand,” Lord-Captain of the 3rd Company

So going back to the Company Heroes, the robot lad is going to get converted into Perseus Lahan, the 3rd Captain. Perseus is known as “the Thunder Hand” not only for his sick ass gilded golden arm, but for his ruthlessly efficient decision-making and his finely honed (yet seemingly endless) temper.

This model is a pretty simple conversion, but super effective as a Captain, I think. I may also replace the circular thang on his power pack with a better iron halo, but I’ll get there when I get there.

Lazarus Sicane, “the White Wind,” Chapter-Master of the Thunderbearers and herald of the great storm

Heavy bolter guy gets better treatment than the robot arm guy though, of course. He’s gonna get converted into my Chapter-Master.

This will be Lazarus Sicane, the savior of the Chapter. He wields Exaction, an ancient, hyper-artificed bolt cannon that may or may not contain a dominated Warp entity. Lazarus is responsible for a lot of things in the Thunderbearers canon, including but not limited to reunifying the decimated Chapter after the opening of the Great Rift. He is, for all intents and purposes, the Chapter’s greatest hope, and one behind which all of its fleets rally.

I’m really excited to get this guy built because he’s kind of the quintessential Thunderbearers model. Old mark armor, lots of robes, gothic shit all over, a gargantuan ballistic cannon, and a metric fuckton of purity seals. He’ll also be super cool for narrative purposes, and definitely a bit of a centerpiece model.

Accompanying him will be a squad of Terminators, the Storm Guard, whenever I pick up a squad of those.

2nd Company Specialist test color scheme, courtesy of a friend

Since Companies are their own autonomous things, it makes sense for them to have their own heraldry, as well. To add some visual variety to my army, I’ve decided that a few of my dudes (specifically my Gravis units) are gonna get some red coloring to denote them as members of the 2nd Company.

The 2nd Company has a large quantity of recruits sourced from the world Manticore, which is a big hostile ball of frozen red sands. The red ceramite is an homage to the red-colored armor that warriors would wear as camouflage in the sand dunes.

I’m not entirely decided upon what color scheme to run with. The red helmet and red shoulder pad are cool, I think, but a red helmet and a red weapon may also work just as well. I’ll do some coloring tests to decide on what works best, but that’s about all I’ve got regarding loreposting and planning for my Space Marines. Outside of the Company Heroes, I’m gonna grab a Gladiator Lancer at some point, as well as an Impulsor. Gotta get my armor up.

#warhammer 40k #miniatures #kitbash #loreposting #adeptus astartes #thunderbearers

[m4a1-shermayne]

You honestly believe the allies would have crushed the Soviets in 45/46? Because honestly I find it hard to believe, given the Soviets superiority in numbers and material. Not to mention, how could the allies justify turning on a key ally even if they won?

The idea that the Soviets had a superiority in numbers or equipment is laughable to say the least. When we look at the losses that the Soviets sustained during the war and the final resting positions of their divisions in June of 1945 we notice numerous key factors. 1. The Soviet division is much much smaller than the average Allied division so it would look very much like the Allies are completely outnumbered almost 10 to 1. To add to this, the remnants of the Wehrmacht would have rightfully wanted revenge for the last few years of the war and in theory around 100,000+ would have joined the Western Powers to take up arms against the Soviets Again. While the Soviets might have an advantage in numbers if the war was to begin here, it's foolish to think that the Western Allies wouldn't redeploy some of it's other Armies from numerous other fronts (Italy for example)

2. The Navy. Not only did the Soviets not have a Navy but the US had millions upon millions of veteran troops stationed in the pacific *still* fighting during May which would have been vital for not only reinforcing but eventually outnumbering the Soviets. The United States lost roughly 500,000 of the 16 million men they put in boots while the Soviet losses were astronomically higher. At the same time, the addition of the largest navy ever put into action was still fully fit and ready for action which would have allowed for massive amounts of logistical and fire support for any operation.

3. The Tank Issue. Russian tanks were not popular due to their reliability, ergonomics, and just overall poor efficiency. The T-34 seeing a loss rate of 80% through out the war and their factories still producing tanks such as the T-34-85 and IS-2 with quirks that made both of these vehicle suffer efficiency issues. But instead of fighting German tanks that were often plagued with similar issues and were employed improperly they're now facing well lubed and battle hardened machines that would only grow in number given time. United States supplied Sherman tanks were superior to the T-34-85 (in numerous ways) which would have given most US armored divisions the edge against their counterparts. IS-2 tanks would be seen as hard targets but not impossible to dislodge considering the fielding of new 90mm Anti Tank Guns as seen on the M26 and M36 vehicles.

4. Logistics. The Soviet Union suffered a Famine in 1946 due to numerous reasons such as the ending of lend lease and the difficulty of growing a multitude of crops in such a short span of time. With the tap of lend lease being turned off the Soviets will now find themselves with severe shortages in raw materials, consumer goods, war material and even food. The Soviet Army would have a matter of months to go before it faced a massive supply chain breakdown.

5. Air Force. The VVS had been heavily reliant on American and British gasoline imports since the war started. Soviet Aircraft engines were rated to run on a much lower octane level in comparison to Western Engines which resulted in poorer performance. Lend lease provided over 50% of all Soviet Aviation Gasoline during 1941-1945 which would imply that many units of the VVS would be grounded due to shortages after such a change in supply. On the contrary, the advanced designs of the allies and the superior logistics would allow for an edge in air superiority against a now weakened enemy air force. Late war production aircraft would be shipped to the ETO and allow for an even greater efficiency. Since most fights happened at low altitude on the Eastern Front the Soviets never bothered to produce high altitude interceptors they would haven't had any dedicated defense against the current B-17 or B-24 fleet let alone the much newer and more effect models such as the B-29.

What a lot of people fail to realize is how close the USSR was to running on fumes during the early parts of 1945 and without lend lease a lot of their major offensives (such as bagration) wouldn't have been nearly as successful without said supply. At the same time the Soviets will no longer be fighting kids armed with panzerfausts or armored vehicles that are deprived of fuel and instead the Veteran armies that they called allies for the past few years.

The justification for such an invasion could quite easily be something as simple as the rape of Berlin or the numerous early war Soviet aggressions. The bottom line for this invasion is that the Soviets had 6 months~ to secure victory and after that would haven't been able to keep up in supply, manpower or vehicles. But at the same time no one really knows what would have happened as all of this is just speculation.

#debate

[rexxdjarin]

Captain's Log: Chapter 11

Advocate

Series Summary: The galaxy is in turmoil. The Republic has fallen, giving rise to the sinister reign of the totalitarian Empire, led by the insidious Emperor Palpatine. The millions of valiant clone troopers of the former Grand Army of the Republic are now blindly sworn, against their will, to protect a regime they once sought to destroy. After being saved from a terrible fate by his former-Jedi ally and close friend, Ahsoka Tano, seasoned veteran CT-7567 Clone Captain Rex remains loyal to the pillars of Democracy, freedom and truth that shaped the former Galactic Republic. We follow him now struggling to deal with the personal aftereffects of survival and finding his place in the galaxy alongside the only person he has left. You. The love of his life.

[previous] [next] part of Captain's Log series post on ao3

Pairing: Captain Rex x Fem!Reader (she/her pronouns used) Word Count: 9.1k Series Rating: Explicit (18+ only, Minors DO NOT INTERACT) Chapter Summary: A little rest and recoup is all they've ever asked for. But when the time to act calls upon us, the best of us choose to answer. What would you choose? Chapter Warnings: P in V sex! (return of the hoes [affectionate]), slight brat taming if you squint, Fingering, Cunnilingus, Pregnancy Mentions, Mature Themes, Language, Political References, References to Canon Plot, References to Canon Deaths

“Mesh’la?”

An expectant whisper filters into the echoes of a dream I’m slowly leaving, the imagined landscape disappearing into a fade-out of blackness.

“Mesh’la?”

I exhaled slowly, my eyes lifting groggily in their exhaustion to the sight of the soft gray light of dawn filtering into our room. We must’ve landed. I don’t remember this room even having windows.

“Mesh’la, you awake?” He whispered urgently, his voice soft and thick with sleep. I hummed grumpily, fighting to keep my eyes open.

“Am now.” I grumbled, craning my neck to search for another comfortable spot I could dig into to slip back into sleep. He laughed quietly, my grouchy quip apparently endearing to him. I turned my face to glance at him. I could just make out the golden flecks in his brown eyes, staring at me. He had inched as close to me as his broad shoulders could bring him.

“Can’t sleep.” He grinned sheepishly, the tiredness prevalent on his handsome face. The kind he hadn’t felt since his very last real mission with his men.

“So you had to wake me up to join you?” I teased, pulling our blankets up to my face and hiding myself from him behind it.

“I think I just needed to hear your voice. Talk to me. Tell me anything.” He asked, his voice quieting with such a soft request, finding the courage within him to ask for help. He was working on that. He rolled over, resting his head right next to mine and nuzzling into my neck. “My mesh’la.”

I slowly rolled over to face him, curling an arm around his back and dragging my nails along the buzzed hair at the nape of his neck. “Rex. My sun, moon and stars...” I started, muttering the words of comfort into his ear. “You’re so loved. Admired. You’re my safety. Our little family will be together soon. And we can hold our ad’ika between us every night.”

“Gonna be hard to get me to sleep with a reality like that, my love.” He whispered, a soft hum of satisfaction filling the room. His arms curled around my waist, enveloping my whole body in a shroud of tan skin and taut muscles. He’d taken his armor off and left it in the corner of the room beside the helmets of our other two companions. They’d probably long since left the room to tend to the ship, check on our position and give us all some time to ourselves.

It would be our reality soon. Whether we were prepared for it or not. Maybe we should’ve been more cautious or spent less time all over each other. But with the way the galaxy was going, who could blame us for indulging in the one thing no one could ever take from us?

I did want this more than anything. For Rex and I both. A new life. We could take Gregor and Wolffe and hide out somewhere in the Outer Rim. Quiet and safe. Raise our little one between the four of us. There were no better role models than the three men I’d found myself living beside. There were no better men than the clones to fulfill a Father’s role. And certainly no better man than Rex to actually be my child’s Father.

It was wildly unplanned and it was going to be stressful. But for the first time in months, we were happy. Truly happy in a way the Empire couldn’t violate or destroy. The little one within me was our hope growing stronger everyday.

“How are you feeling…about everything?” I asked, resting my lips on his forehead and running my fingertips further down the faded scars on his neck from all those rotations ago. “Are you worried?”

He pulled his face back to look up at me, bright eyes under thick dark lashes. “No, not worried, mesh’la, never worried. Surprised, yes. But not worried. We’ll adapt and figure out what we need. You know I’m good at that.”

“I’m glad one of us is calm.” I sighed, my breathing shaky and uneven. “I’m...nervous.” I admitted, “it’s going to be different. I’m going to look different.”

“Yeah, so? You’re going to become even more fierce and feisty to protect the little one. You have no idea how sexy you are to me when you’re like that…” He chuckled deep down in his chest, “…your little scowl. Girls at 79s were so scared of you. Some of the boys too. Course that was because if they got within 3 feet of you I’d put them on garbage duty.”

I hugged him closer, “I didn’t need you to protect me then. Not like I do now.” I thought back to that cell. Cold. Not just physically, but emotionally too. Like there was no way anything could ever be happy again. It closed in around me the longer I sat there, wondering what was going to happen to me. “I’ve never had to be afraid like this before.”

Rex sighed and leaned forward to rest his forehead on mine. “None of us have.” His fingers curled in the hair behind my ears as he kissed me softly. “Things will be different. But we’ve got each other. We’ve got Gregor and Wolffe. Maybe soon we’ll have Cody. I hope. We’re in good hands. The baby will be too.” He tried his best to reassure me, but we both knew what was at stake. We couldn’t keep going at this alone. We needed help.

“Do you know where we are?” I asked, trying to change the subject and push my apprehension aside. I squinted in an attempt to make out anything in the landscape of the planet we landed on.

“Carida. In the mountains. Should be good for a little while. Nothing’s really out here. We can regroup. Wolffe took us down a few hours ago.” Rex glanced over his shoulder at the sun slowly peeking through the window just over a mountain peak. “We didn’t want to wake you.”

“Is everyone else feeling okay? It looked like Wolffe took a beating.” I whispered, pulling myself closer to Rex’s chest and burying my face in it. “I’m not just worried about myself. I…I worry about all of you.”

“He’s okay. He’s been worse. Think it’s more emotional damage than anything. Both of them are sort of traumatized. Not being able to save Fox. Wolffe is taking it pretty hard. We need to give him some time to breathe.” He sighed, stroking my hair between his fingers and inhaling the scent of me to keep himself grounded. “How much longer can we keep doing this, mesh’la? Seems like the deeper we get into the truth the more I question the point of all of this.”

I could see what he meant. The war took its toll on everyone. Most especially the clones. After all they’d fought for, everything they endured, it was starting to feel more and more like we were entranced in a battle we’d never win. After what we’d seen the last day and a half, I’m not sure there even is such a thing as winning in war. Both victory and defeat brought us catastrophic loss, with survival hardly being a considerable enough prize under the circumstances. 

Rex, Wolffe and Gregor were three such men who barely even recognized the meaning of failure much less the physical act of doing so. But one look on Wolffe’s face as we sat on the bunk room floor last night said it all. Resolve was fracturing and those who hadn’t died already were realizing that surviving in the galaxy that was being rebuilt was a fate worse than death. It was no wonder they were questioning the point.

“If we don’t keep trying to save your brothers, who else will?” I asked solemnly, placing a soft kiss on the scar on his chest. Slowly I sat up, remembering the intel I stole from the command station. “We still have the holodisc. If the right people see this…maybe we bring this to Bail. We have the proof now. Of the chips, of the order..that the Empire is planning something horrible. He could find a way to help us.”

He sat up too, leaning on the wall of our bunk and cradling me in his arms. His chin rested on my shoulder and his arms looped protectively across my belly. “You remind me of her sometimes.” He muttered.

“Padmé?”

“Yeah.” His nose nuzzled into the skin under my jaw, eyes closed as he searched inside himself for the same fighting spirit he once knew on instinct. “She always found hope when there wasn’t any. You have that gift too.”

I hummed my agreement, chills going up my spine at such a compliment. I tried my best to reel myself in and be gracious about their pain like she would have. They needed time. Even if I didn’t. Even when I couldn’t wait. “I suppose…we can’t risk contacting Bail so soon after what we stole. It could implicate him.” My shoulders sagged, my hands fumbling for Rex’s, still resting on my belly. “Even with all that we know, I still feel so helpless. I don’t like waiting around.”

“That’s where having three expert strategists comes in.” He laughed softly, “we might be tired. We might be questioning everything, but we can’t stop fighting. Mesh’la, I don’t think we know any other way.”

I turned my face to rest my forehead on his, warmth beginning to flare in my lower belly again. “Well I know that’s not true. You’ve got lots of other talents, baby.” I smirked, caressing his cheek with my thumb.

“Hmm you’re right about that.” He leaned forward, capturing my lips between his and nibbling on my bottom one softly. “Pretty good kisser I think.” He said smugly, his hands on my belly beginning to walk up and down my sides underneath my top.

“Just good at kissing though. Don’t think you have any other skills.” I teased, kissing him again and slowly moving to allow him to lift my shirt off me.

“Now you’re just baiting me…” he accused, his traveling hands now cupping one of my tits in his grasp. “Want to show you all the other things I’m good at, little brat?”

I sighed softly at the contact, his hands kneading at the plush of both breasts now. “Prove it.” I retorted, raising an eyebrow at him and trying to further tempt him.

He laughed maniacally, moving my hair aside to kiss up and down my neck. “Hmph- you’re in for it now.” His roaming hands smoothed down my belly again, trailing one even lower until he brushed over my center with the heel of his palm. “Spread these legs for me. I’ll show you what else I’m good at kissing.” He whispered, his voice husky now with arousal.

“Oh…okay, my love. Show me.” I gulped, the rasped words setting butterflies alight in my core. A rush of overwhelming desire and heat flowed through me. Probably the hormones kicking in by now. I did as he asked and parted my thighs, allowing him to help me wriggle out of my bottoms. My bare cunt perfectly exposed and ready for his taking.

“Good girl.” He cooed, his palms lightly gripping my thighs as he let the cool air of the room rush past the wetness now coating my exposed lips. “Soaked already. All for me?”

I nodded affirmatively, our eyes meeting as he looked back up at me to get my confirmation. “Always for you, Captain. Can’t help what that handsome face does to me.”

He cocked an eyebrow and winked, “hmmm I better watch myself then. There’s quite a few handsome faces like mine.” He joked, sliding his palms further up my thighs toward my center.

“Uh-uh.” I shook my head, “there’s no one like you, Rex. Promise.” I smiled, “you just want to find more ways to tease me.” One of his hands pulled back up to tweak a nipple between his fingers.

“Oh yeah? You seem to be enjoying it.” He muttered darkly in my ear, “let’s see how much, pretty girl.” His raspy voice at a deep rumble in my ear, the vibrations in his chest spread across my back deliciously. As he palmed my breast, gripping and kneading it, his hand slid over the crease of my thigh, cupping over my mound.

I hissed at the contact, his fingers trapping my heat and becoming coated with my arousal. Two of his thick fingers divided, tracing down either side of my opening obscenely. “Oh Rex…” I drew in gasp and exhaled a lilted squeal. He hummed his delighted approval in my ear, kissing the spot right below it as his two fingers circled around my leaking hole.

“Yeah? You like that?” He asked softly, his thumb joining his soft petting as it slid through the wet silk of my center to rub my clit. I closed my eyes and let the torturous tingle begin to radiate outwards from my center. “Little more then.” He muttered, his middle finger gently pressing into my fluttering entrance, my hips immediately bucking forward to pull him in deeper.

“More. Lot more. Please…Rex. Fuck that feels…so good.” I whispered, my soft moans cutting the silence on the ship. His fingers curled, pressing that spongy patch inside and beckoning with a few slow flicks of his fingers. The squelching sound of my arousal echoing around the bunk was positively depraved.

“So hot, mesh’la. You’re doing so well for me. Getting you so wet, fucking you open so you’re ready for my cock.” The filth poured out of him, his fingers spreading my entrance taut around them as he pushed them into the knuckle.

“Wish we…mmm…recorded this.” I groaned, laughing softly as he languidly slowed to a halt. He withdrew his fingers and brought them to my lips.

“Someone’s a talkative little thing today…” His fingers traced my bottom lip, my arousal dripping onto it. “Suck. Taste yourself for me.” I obliged, wrapping my lips around both soaked digits and lewdly bobbing my head back and forth. Soft suckling sounds followed as I let the sweet tang of me coat my tongue. I hummed around his fingers and held onto his wrist, mimicking all the filthy things I was used to doing on his cock.

He gripped at my hip again, his erection prodding painfully into my backside now. This was turning him on like crazy. “How- how’s it taste?” He stuttered.

I popped off them and kissed his knuckles. “Good, Captain.” He released a pent up huff and without warning rolled me over onto my back underneath him. The weight of his chest caged me in and I closed my knees around his hips.

“My turn.” He smirked, his rough palms running over the outline of my waist. The ravenous look of a man starved met my gaze as he slowly sank down to his knees by the side of the bunk. “Let me taste this perfect cunt. Can’t wait anymore.” A trail of kisses followed as he slowly made his way down my torso to my center. He positioned my thigh over his shoulder just like he liked, the other hand pressing my thigh into the bed to keep my squirming at bay.

My boyfriend, looking like he was about to devour me, made every hair on my body stand on end. His expanded pupils trying their hardest to take in all of me spread open before him. He eased himself down, maintaining eye contact as he pressed a soft kiss to my clit. The pressure made me shake with anticipation instantly, his tongue darting out to flick the little bundle that could have me coming apart in minutes.

I reached my hand out for him, our fingers entwining as he received it. “Look at me, baby. The whole time. Don’t look away.” I begged, the fiery golden brown in his eyes my favorite sight to focus on as he took me to heights unknown. He arched his brow at me as if to say he absolutely already knew and relished in that fact.

His tongue pushed more pressure onto my clit, starting an ever increasing pace as I felt the tension rising in my core. He groaned, clearly enjoying the taste of the arousal between my lips on his tongue. “stars…Rex…right there.” I whimpered between sighs of ecstasy. Moving one hand to grip the edges of the bunk, the other rested on the curled blonde fuzz at the crown of his head. “Don’t know what’s…b-better, how good you look or- fuck- mmmf how good this feels.”

The tip of his tongue circled the swollen bud, pulling back the hood of my clit with one hand while he relentlessly lapped me into a frenzy. His dark eyes flickered with a playful lust as he pulled back with a slow devious smirk. “How good you taste, mesh’la. How pretty you look when you come for me.”

My eyes rolled back as he flattened his tongue and licked a long stripe through my folds. He hummed darkly, the sweet tang of me on his tongue clearly satiating him the way nothing else could. I tried to keep my eyes shut, to focus on the wave of pleasure ebbing closer and closer. But as hard as I tried, I couldn’t look away. His pretty, strong jaw, coated in slick, his dark eyes hooding closed as he inhaled the scent that drove him deeper into his desire for me. “Oh..my…” I gasped, a high-pitched whine filling the air instead of my breath.

He twirled teasing circles around my entrance, forcing my hips to buck closer to him. My nails scraped the metal edge of the bunk and I arched off the surface, tossing my head back to moan loudly. I could feel him grin wickedly against the sensitive skin of my thighs closing in around him. “My girl…look so pretty for me like this. All spread out for me.”

With both his biceps he pushed my legs apart, his hands moving up the length of my sides and making goosebumps crest along every inch of skin he touched. His every touch was like a spark lighting me on fire in his wake. Slowly, his palms found their way around the curves of my breasts, kneading at the flesh he’d bruised with his own fingerprints probably hundreds of times before.

His brows furrowed in thought, as he squeezed both hands tightly around the roundness of them. “They’re gonna get so swollen soon. When I lay you on your back like this, I can watch ‘em grow. Feel how much they ache to be touched. And fuck am I going to want to.” He tipped his chin forward, lips connecting with my clit again while his hands worked both my breasts at the same time.

“Mmm yeah…gonna spoil you a little with them. R-Rex…let you have whatever you want from me.”

“So like always then?” He quipped, chuckling softly as he sped up the motions of his tongue between my folds. “Can you give me a little something now, my mesh’la? More of the taste of that perfect pussy on my tongue. Need you to come so good for me.” The rhythm carried my pleasure higher toward its peak.

I felt the familiar burn of bright satisfaction knotting tighter in my belly, the licking heat dropping between my folds and onto his waiting tongue. “So close…I’m so close.” He quirked a brow at me, clearly impressing even himself with how quickly he’d brought this on for me.

“I know, pretty girl. I can always tell. Know you so well.” He muttered, his tongue sliding down my slit, his nose bumping my swollen, over sensitive bud. “How your little cunt flutters…craving the way I fill you, how you whine because you need me so bad…” I gasped, high pitched cries of his name filling the room. He shifted his grip to pin my hips down to the mattress with his forearm, working me faster and harder than before. I dug my nails into his shoulder and moaned loudly, losing complete control of my lower half. “Your body trembling as you wait for it to take you…I’m right here, darling. Ready to let you soak me. Come for your Captain, I know you need it. All over my face…come for me.” He cooed softly, his words a stark contrast to the devious smirk drawn across his lips.

The breath caught in my chest as he pressed his tongue up through my folds to beat at my clit in a delightfully sensual rhythm. He knew exactly what he was doing, lighting the burning coil in my belly on fire. Searing heat tore through my nerves as I felt the blissful blanketing of pleasure surging inside me.

“There she is. Yes, mesh’la, that’s my good girl.” He encouraged flicking at the little bundle every few seconds to keep the high going as long as he could. Tears pricked my eyes at the corners as my high flooded the space between my legs, Rex humming in delight as he lapped up every drop. “So sweet. Want you nice and slick and ready for me.”

I moaned desperately, my walls collapsing around nothing not doing enough to satisfy my need. I wanted to be stretched around him. I needed to feel him spear up into that spot only he’d ever been able to reach, to pound into it until it numbed my limbs and wiped my mind clean. I could feel my hole fluttering with each pass of his tongue licking up through my folds. “More, more. I need you.” I begged, desperation breaking my focus on him.

His eyes ignited with a flicker of lust from where he looked up from between my legs. He winked and smiled happily, “what was that, my love? What do you need?” He teased, slicking his thumb up my folds and drawing the digit into his mouth. His opposite hand caressed my waist, gripping my hip bone for leverage as he pulled himself back up to hover above me. “Use your words, mesh’la.”

I bit my lip and wrapped my arms around his back, hoisting myself upright by latching onto his unbelievably strong upper body. My lips collided with his urgently, tasting myself all over his tongue as they twisted together passionately. He pulled me into his chest with one arm, rolling me into his lap as he seated himself down onto our bunk. His eyes shot down to where our centers bumped each other, signaling that he’d been ready to take me since the second he parted my legs. All I had to do was ask.

“Your cock, Captain. I need it.” I pleaded, letting my folds graze over top of it to tempt him with my heat. “Please.” I whined, rocking my hips forward and feeling his chest heave at the contact. A low rumble emanated from deep in his chest, his hands shooting down to clap onto the globes of my ass hard enough to leave a mark.

“Just wanted to hear you say it, little tease. Gods- you feel so good already. So hot for me, huh? Drives you crazy having me so close. Imagine how I feel…” he fell backwards, making it easier for me to slip myself right over top of him. His large hands guided me against his length, slicking himself up with the release he’d just dragged out of me. “You want me, mesh’la? Go ahead…sit on my cock. Show me how good you can take all of it.”

I braced myself, gripping onto his shoulders while looking deep into his eyes, the desire overtaking him just as much as me. I sunk down onto his cock, the dull ache inside instantly soothed by the pulsing of his stiff cock against my walls. My mouth dropped open and I giggled into a relieving smile, the familiar mix of pleasure and pain permeating every part of my soul. “Ahh fuck…Rex…” I smiled happily, my head lolling forward to rest against his broad shoulder.

“You feel it, mesh’la? How I spread you apart? You love it, don’t you? How it fills you…I know you do.” He chuckled, his firm hands on my hip bones as he began to rock me back and forth on top of him.

I rested my palms on his pectorals, his cheek brushing mine as he encouraged my gentle motions up and down on top of him. The width of him prodded into me deeper each time I settled my center on his. “I do, baby. I crave you. Like this. Making me whole. Filling me deep. I love it.” I rasped between exhales and reverent whispers, fading out into softly squeaked out little moans he loves so much.

Our eyes met, both burning with flickers of our ardent devotion to each other. He hummed softly, trying his best to stay in control as I pulled him closer and closer to the madness of his climax. “I can feel it. How you close in all around me, each time I move you throb a little harder. So good, huh, mesh’la? So fucking…hot for me.” He rambled, guiding his palms along the dips of my hips up to the curve of my waist.

“So…so good, Rex. You’re so strong I can’t hold it…much longer…” I groaned loudly, tossing my head back and exposing my neck, breasts pushed out enough for him to take full advantage of. The muscles in my lower belly screamed for release, collapsing in around him and seating me fully in his lap, unable to muster the strength to lift up again.

In a flash his hands shot up to knead my breasts in his palms, his tongue laving over the buds until they peaked with hardness all over again. He kissed sloppily up into the hollow of my neck, biting and sucking a deep bruise into the silky, untouched skin. “Don’t hold back then. Let go, mesh’la. Come right here on my lap. Let me watch it take you. Show me how pretty you look coming all over me, my perfect girl.” He urged, his kisses now trailing up my neck to just below my ear, his nimble fingers tracing over every mark he left in his wake.

I rocked into him just once more, my hands struggling to grasp onto some part, any part of the safety of his warm chest. I let my head drop to his shoulder, my palm sliding up his chest to settle against his neck. I sang out a loud, desperate moan, pressing my face into his neck. The tension in my core finally broke, dissolving into star dust that tingled outward through every inch of my skin, through every drop in my bloodstream.

His firm hand gripping my waist seated me perfectly in his lap as I writhed in ecstasy, my hands scrabbling at any inch of him I could grab and scratching my nails down his skin to mark him like he had me. “There you go, darlin’. That’s a good girl, let it take you. Love feeling that little pussy pulse all around me. Fuck! That’s so good.” He groaned, his thrusts up into me speeding up erratically as he chased my high with his own.

I tried to catch my breath, tightening my walls even more to increase the tension. He practically winced as the drag of my walls against him siphoned every last ounce of strength out of him. “Now you…come for me, Rex. Fill me. Show me how much you love when I’m your good girl.” I seduced, whispering the filth in his ear and leaving trails of hot kisses down the corded muscles in his neck. He was straining the longer I spoke, his grip on my waist a bruising one as he drove himself deeper and harder.

“Fucking love it. My perfect…filthy girl. Don’t want to ever…” He gasped, three erratic snaps of his hips following as he held me down in his lap. “Don’t want to ever stop fucking you…mesh’la..fuck…” He moaned salaciously, the death grip I’d locked him in finally becoming too much. With a final drive into me, he rocketed his release up into my waiting belly, the soothing warmth of each rope coating my walls.

“Rex.” I whimpered, panting breaths of heated exhaustion across every little kiss I’d left along his jaw and cheeks. I curled my hands on top of his on my waist and turned my hips in circles around him. His chest was heaving as he watched my breasts bounce in front of his face while I coaxed him through an intense climax.

With a final shiver, we both collapsed backwards, splaying both of our overheating bodies in a tangled mess over the wrinkled white sheets. Both of us twitched as undercurrents of pleasure and aftershocks took turns rocking us. His fingers intertwined with mine in a desperate lock on my hips, each of us feeling our hearts pounding out of our chests and into the others’.

“Mesh’la.” He muttered, his hand cupping my chin to guide my face up to his. “Been wanting to do that since before…”

“I know, Rex. Me too.” I brushed my fingers across the worry and anger furrowing his brow, relieving his fears just as I had his need. “No matter what happens, my love…we will always have this. Forever.” I promised, cupping my hands to his cheeks and softly kissing him.

“And longer.” He replied with his signature little side smirk. I could feel myself blushing, my cheeks getting even warmer than they were before as we came down from our highs. His big brown eyes twinkled with a spark of admiration and devotion and I could see the happiness he felt in the way he gazed at me. I leaned forward to brush our noses affectionately and he inched even closer.

With our foreheads pressed together, we exchanged kisses. Soft, fervent, affectionate and tender, lips pressing together and parting only to take in the breath we needed to continue. I stroked the stubble on his jaw and closed my eyes, each breath we shared sealed with a kiss. We fell asleep just like that.

–

The swaying of trees silhouetted by snow capped mountains came into view as we lowered our ship in the remote forest of Alderaan for the second time in just a few months. Gregor rested the ship down in a small clearing in the trees only a few clicks west of the Royal Family’s palace.

Luckily, we didn’t have to break in this time. We were to be met here in the woods by Bail to escort us into their home by nightfall. Alderaan was quiet and peaceful, its people asking only the right questions and never hesitating to step in to help those who needed it.

We were in desperate need of that help now.

Wolffe and Gregor took some mild convincing. They were skeptical that any high ranking senator would be interested in seeing clones infiltrating their home planet. They understood that people were going to be afraid of them. They had a right to be. Even if the three clones in our little company posed no more of a threat to innocent people than I did.

Bail of all people understood that. If not solely because of my convincing. And because Rex showing up to grieve over the news of Padmé’s death beside us both proved he wasn’t still affected like the others were.

I could trust him. We could trust him. Hopefully, after we left here, we’d have a plan in place to get more people to trust us.

“Still not sure this is such a great idea.” Wolffe grumbled, he being the most skeptical of all four of us. “From what I hear, Appo and his men…your men- scared him into fleeing the Capital. Wouldn’t blame him for thinking we’re all a bunch of unhinged lunatics.”

Gregor snorted, “he works in the Senate. He’s around a bunch of raving lunatics every day.”

“Yeah well Senators don’t carry DC-17s on each hip.” Wolffe retorted, rolling his eyes clearly self-conscious about how we’d come across.

“You sure about that?” I smirked, pulling one of the weapons I’d claimed from our ship's makeshift armory out of my pocket and brandishing it in the air.

Rex laughed, spinning his own blaster into his pocket as we prepared our stuff for departure. “Careful, cyar’ika.”

“Great, she’s got your penchant for showing off too. You two are quite a pair.” Wolffe’s mouth curled into a wry grin, his hands fumbling around to close the pack he’d filled with supplies. Guess a Commander doesn’t like to be unprepared for anything.

“And that’s why they’re going to be a trio soon. Stars help us all.” Gregor giggled, “bet it’ll be one cute little bug tho. Last time I saw a baby was on Kamino.” He ran his hand over his hair and scratched the back of his neck nervously. “What’s gonna happen to all the little ones?”

I frowned, slinging my bag over my shoulder and holding the puck with the secret intel in my hand. “They didn’t say. But I’m afraid of what we might find out. Maybe we could ask Bail.”

“I doubt he’d get the clearance. Things are becoming harder and harder to gain access to. The Empire controls who knows what intel now. To maintain order and control.” He spat, his lip curled in disgust and his signature perma-scowl deepening in anger. “That’s the kind of galaxy we live in now.” Wolffe explained, shuddering as he looked out the starshield at the landscape in front of us. He sighed, trying his best to keep his emotions at bay. “But I don’t think the little ones are going to live to see any of it. The cadets either.”

Rex shot me a pitifully anxious look, fiddling with the gauntlet plate on his hand. An unspoken signal that meant the same applied to our own little one. I gulped down the knot in my throat and subtly nodded in understanding. He stepped toward his brother, resting the same hand on his far shoulder and pulling him into his side. “Not if we have anything to say about it, right? We can stick up for them. And if we don’t, then who will?”

Wolffe closed his eyes briefly, letting his shoulders sag under his brother’s comforting embrace. He shook his head as if to shake off his apprehension and anxieties, looking between Rex and I before he spoke again. “I think you’ve got a little too much politician in you now. Both of you.” He turned, shrugging Rex’s arm off his shoulders before stepping forward. “Let’s go. Before I find the sense to change my mind.”

Rex opened his mouth to interject but I raised my hand, urging him to drop it. He nodded his understanding and let me follow after Wolffe, knowing he wouldn’t put up as much of a fight if I was the one to coax him forward.

I fell into step with Wolffe, leading the way with Gregor in tow and Rex at the rear. As we disembarked from the ship's docking ramp, I could see the outline of a tall hooded figure waiting in the shadows of the tree line. I motioned the boys toward where the figure stood clearly waiting for us.

“I see you’ve made progress.” The familiar level baritone rang out in the cool forest air. As we finally approached, he removed the hood on his coat, the welcome soothing grin and friendly dark eyes of Bail Organa greeting us once again.

“Not enough, I’m afraid…” I responded, looking up at him with fear in my eyes that I hoped he could read. He stood tall and firm, a powerful statue of justice in a galaxy becoming increasingly corrupted by evil. The concern grew the longer he looked over me, wear and tear clearly evident. Without further hesitation, I lurched forward and hugged him tight, happy to be truly safe for the first time in weeks. He softly patted the top of my head.

“And yet still a significant enough ordeal.” He sighed, holding me by my shoulders as he settled me back on my feet in front of him. “Who have you brought along with you?”

I stepped back beside them, Rex’s arm curling protectively around my waist to steady me. Both Gregor and Wolffe stepped forward shoulder to shoulder and assumed their usual positions of formality. Not out of necessity, but of a desire to seem less threatening.

“I’m Gregor, sir. 212th Attack Battalion, Foxtrot Group. And Imperial Academy defector.” Gregor responded first, a clever smirk drawing across his now stubble covered face.

“Ah, a Clone Commando. Impressive.” Bail nodded graciously, “Especially the imperial defector part.” He reached out his hand and shook Gregor’s, who looked at his hand like he’d been given a great honor. Bail turned to Wolffe next and asked, “And you are…?”

“Commander Wolffe. 104th Battalion.” Wolffe stood rigid, his apprehension only obvious to us.

“The 104th? Jedi Master Plo was your General, correct?” Bail asked softly, Wolffe’s serious scowl breaking in deep anguish at the memory of what happened to his beloved General. Bail rested his palm on Wolffe’s shoulder and bowed solemnly. “I am deeply sorry for your loss. He was a respected colleague and a trusted friend. We mourn him and all Jedi we lost here on Alderaan.” Bail finished, patting Wolffe on the shoulder in an effort to comfort him.

Wolffe looked away, the deeply rooted pain of the loss still a very sore subject for him. “Thank you, Senator Organa, sir.” He said quietly, clasping his hands behind us back to help him keep his composure.

Bail turned on his heels to face where Rex and I stood eager to get a move on and gestured for us to follow his lead. “Please follow me. Let’s get the four of you settled in. We can talk after you’ve all gotten cleaned up and been fed. You’ve all come a long way.”

We exchanged glances to confirm quickly before following him to the well-hidden transport he had arrived in. The ride was quiet as the boys and I huddled together for comfort, the reality of our situation finally starting to dawn on them.

This was not the Republic anymore.

There was no Republic escort on bright, shiny starcruisers and transport ships to bring us to the surface. There were no more welcome committees or fancy banquets. No carefully negotiated treaties or scheduled shifts with down time for every clone in the squad.

Never again.

Now it was smuggling ourselves on and off even formerly friendly worlds. Making supply runs and intel exchanges under the cover of shadows. Negotiating or doing odd jobs for spare credits or rations. Sneaking into safe places in disguise and riding in broken down crawlers and speeders to dissuade suspicion. This was what a rebellion looked like and the jury was still out on how involved we wanted or were even allowed to be.

—

For what it’s worth, the Organa family palace was stunning. Clean and elegant in a simple and sophisticated way. There was more focus on greenery, life and the beauty of the elements than there was on garish ornate showmanship like back home on the highest levels of Coruscant.

In a lot of ways, the Royal Palace of Alderaan reminded the three boys so much of Kamino. Their first and only real home. But without all the emotionless sterility constantly being reinforced in the smooth white walls. And luckily without all the rain.

The weather had grown colder since the last time Rex and I had visited. Their summer had come and gone, the leaves on their trees beginning to fade to amber, scarlet and gold under the waning power of the planet’s orbital sun. Though, the orange rays streaming into the windows right now did a number on the sunken, malnourished, and scarred faces of Gregor, Wolffe and Rex.

All of them sat around a large banquet table, each on their fourth helping of warm nerf stew, a delicacy in a time where food was starting to become more and more scarce. The waning warmth of daylight glinting off the bridges of their noses provided just enough essential energy to freckle and bring color back to their tanned faces. As if spending even just a few hours here could add years back onto their already sinfully shortened lives.

The sight of them huddled together, interacting domestically the way normal brothers should, brought a level of inner peace to my heart that I myself had never even known. Family. It’s all they ever truly had. A brotherly bond that innately came before all else. A higher duty to their own that they were slowly discovering was their only true purpose now. 

Something I never had growing up alone and in constant survival mode on the lowest levels of the most populous planet in the universe. Being surrounded by trillions made having no family an even more isolating and lonely experience. I was glad that despite everything they’d suffered, at least they didn’t have to go through it alone.

That simple fact was precisely why we had to come here. We owed it to the rest of their brothers across the universe to not abandon them, to not allow them to suffer anymore than they already had. Even if Wolffe and Gregor didn’t like the odds, even if they were aware of the mighty risk, it wouldn’t take much convincing to remind them that we were the best chance the clones scattered around the galaxy had for being freed. Somehow, some way. We had the tools at our disposal to make our best effort.

Rex reached across the table for my hand, holding onto it loosely as I watched them all interact. I couldn’t help but smile. This was our family now. This was our little one's family. In its immediacy, it was small. Though their true family numbered in the millions. And, amongst the four of us, it was irreparably damaged, the scars of battle and loss too deep to ever fully heal. But it was our family and there was love here that would never lessen, even as the size of the entire family inevitably did.

“So what are we doing here on Alderaan? Why here?” Gregor posited, scraping up the remaining broth from his bowl with a sizable piece of biscuit.

“Bail Organa was my mentor. And he’s a friend. He’s watched over us from the beginning of all this. And from what I can tell…seems like he and his wife Breha are not content with just sitting around as the Empire siphons all the happiness from the galaxy.” I responded, looking around at the excess of furniture filling the open palace room. It was intentionally exorbitant, having more than they needed looked like the pinnacle of luxury. Yet, a closer look would tell you that that was not its true purpose.

Every piece littering the room was a place to lay one’s head. A resting place. A safe bed for weary travelers. There was far more than necessary for just Bail and his partner or their visitors. These were beds intended for life forms on the run from the Empire. The palace on Alderaan wasn’t an example of the height of the galaxy’s richest, most well connected elites.

The Royal Palace of Alderaan was a safe house for the formation of a Rebellion.

A galaxy wide resistance effort unlike anything they’d ever seen before. Bail understood that people, livelihoods and entire planets were fractured by the Empire’s squeezing fist on the galaxy. He knew that people would need to be rescued under the guise of charitable work or educational retreat. This was his masterful way of recruiting lifeforms to the cause and joining them together in an organized yet untraceable way.

I think he’d hoped there was a part of me that wanted in. That with three well-trained, brilliant strategic Republic war heroes and a rule-breaking, former whistle-blowing crime syndicate mole turned Senate aide, we could become vital pieces of a growing effort to make things more difficult for a terrifying fascist government.

Yet, here we sat, injured, traumatized and afraid for our lives. All of us completely unsure if anyone would ever believe what we had to say, proof or not.

“Sounds like he intends to start a Rebellion.” Wolffe muttered, wiping his face with a cloth napkin and sighing. “What does he need us for?”

“He doesn’t. We need him. At the very least, I can tell him what I found out at that Imperial compound. Show him what’s on the holodisc.” I pulled the puck from my bag and turned it in my hand a few times. “Should at least alarm them enough to discuss what to do about the remaining clones.”

“What makes you think anyone will care what happens to us?” Gregor questioned, the tiniest hint of a waver in his voice.

“Because you’re innocent. You were all pawns in the Emperor’s plan.” Bail’s voice rang out, reentering the room from his personal quarters on the other side of the palace. He wore a pleasant grin, one that held the promise of progress behind it. “And now you carry the proof of this. We can show the others.”

Rex spun around in his seat and cocked his head, “others, sir?” His gaze bounced over everyone at the table and then back at Bail.

Bail laughed softly, gliding across the span of the room toward the last empty seat at the elegant banquet table. “Yes, Rex. There are others who share our disdain for the Empire’s increasing chokehold on our personal liberties. I think you’ll find you recognize some of them.”

I concentrated hard, trying to remember the names and faces of people who had come and gone from his or Padmé’s offices or meetings we’d held. “I can think of a few who were always friendly with us. Not sure who is still around or- alive anymore.” I admitted, resting the puck on the table between us.

“Senator Mon Mothma of Chandrila. Though that should come as no surprise to you.” He smirked, resting a flimsi filled with names on the table in front of him. “Senator Riyo Chuchi of Pantora, Cham Syndulla leader of the Free Ryloth movement, Senator Lux Bonteri and Saw Gerrera of Onderon…just a few who have agreed to hear what you have to say.”

“Saw, eh? Trained him myself. Heard the Imperials did a number on his men recently.” Rex looked down at his plate, picking at the still sizable amount of food he’d left behind.

“And Senator Chuchi was uhm…close to Fox. She’s been a big supporter of clone rights from the beginning.” Wolffe added, perking up as a little more life entered his rugged frame.

“They’ve all agreed to meet us at a safe point. Where we can discuss the intel you’ve provided us on that puck and further steps…if we all come to an agreement.” Bail explained, looking around the table for more enthusiasm than we were giving him at the present moment.

I closed my eyes and thought for a second about the experience of each of these leaders during the Clone Wars and afterwards. A few of them would be well within their rights to refuse to speak with three members of the group of men that ultimately destroyed their worlds. “That’s a big If, Senator Organa. Do you think they have any sympathy left for our cause?”

Bail looked away out the window at the sun just starting to dip below the tallest mountain peak in our view. “They may.” He turned back to me, resting his hand on mine. “But many will require some convincing. That’s where your passion, your skills and all you’ve learned as our aide all these years will come in. You have to find a way to influence them into believing that this is doing what’s right by all of these men. There is no one else who will do it for you. Are you up for the task?”

The three men at the table whose very lives I held in my hands looked at me with more hope than they’d been able to muster in a long while. Probably since the worst day of their lives derailed everything that they’d ever known. They had faith that I could make the right people believe the truth. With all the love I had for my partner, his brothers, my friends, my new found family and our future little one, I could do it. I could use everything I know to be the real truth to communicate the very real and present danger imminent not only to the loyal, innocent men we’d trusted for years but to the galaxy as a whole if we let them continue to suffer.

“I’ll do it. But I’ll need all your help.” I replied, pressing play on the puck to start up the message I’d stolen. “We all need to listen to what this Rampart...is saying. We will have to connect the dots of each of our stories into one succinct truth.”

Rex looked at me in a haze of admiration and pride. “Mesh’la, you’ve got us all until the end. What do you need from us?”

“Let’s start with your stories. What led you here? How do three decorated former Republic clones defy a mandated order with no side effects? What makes the three of you immune to what so many others cannot control?” Bail wondered aloud, examining the scar on Rex’s hairline.

“Well, sir, that’s a long story. One that’s going to be pretty painful for us to each tell more than once.” Gregor admitted, rubbing the side of his bicep to assure himself. “Maybe we should each record our accounts of the situation. Document it so we don’t have to physically attend. Don’t think it’ll be safe for us to get emotional in front of people who are already scared of us.”

“Agreed.” Wolffe uttered sternly. “Don’t want possibly the only three survivors of this…order…to be in the same room with dozens of people who could sell us back to the Empire at any moment. Even if they mean well.”

Bail hummed his understanding. “You both make a good point. Perhaps only one clone is needed to attend with her to be a representative for your experiences.”

“I’ll go. I have the most to say anyways.” Rex said decidedly, “though, there is information that even I am not at liberty to share. There is also intel that I cannot access without clearance. Irrefutable proof from a reliable source is what saved my life. We can tell Fives’ story. But we’ll need his report to do it. It’s likely encrypted by now. Locked away under a secret passkey. The only other shreds of proof are the scans of our brains and the chips in our heads. We can provide all this too…if necessary.”

“All information is pertinent at this point. Is there anything else I might need to know?” Bail exchanged glances between Rex and I, like he knew there was some piece of vital information we were leaving out.

Which of course we were. The two most important pieces of information.

One. That I was actively carrying the offspring of a clone. That his survival as the baby’s Father was always going to matter to me more than to everyone else. Which made my interest in the entire matter more personal and more biased than the political sphere of influence would particularly care for.

And two. Ahsoka.

Ahsoka was the reason Rex survived the chip.

A jedi was the reason they gained access to Fives’ file with enough time to extract Rex’s chip.

Ahsoka was alive.

And as far as we knew, there was no one else aware of this truth. And no one else could ever know. The protection of the whereabouts of any jedi was a secret we would die to uphold. Many others, even the best of senators, might not be as noble.

“Nope. You know all that we do. Likely even more.” I replied, tapping into my former undercover operative training to remain calculatedly coy. Wolffe and Gregor squinted at me curiously, somehow able to tell that I wasn’t being entirely forthcoming about something. They just didn’t know what.

The baby was obvious to them. But what else it could be left them puzzled and Rex’s lack of suspicion made them even more aware that something wasn’t being fully communicated to them. I knew them both well enough now that I was sure they’d be itching to find out as soon as we were out of Bail’s earshot. The annoyed look on Wolffe’s face was enough to tell me we were both in for a stern talking to once this meeting was over.

“Fair enough, my friend. Now, I’d like to know your stories. We’ll record on my holocomm. This is going to be a long night. Don’t hesitate to let me know when you want a break.” Bail tapped a few buttons on the holopad and the blue projection ray began recording.

Wolffe stood up from his seat. “I’ll go first. I have several things I’d like communicated. Permission to swear, sir?”

Bail laughed out loud, clasping his hands together. “My permission is not necessary to be truthful, Wolffe. But swear you may.”

“Right…now where the fuck do I begin..” He rolled his eyes, folding his arms and starting at the beginning.

We only had the night to explain months worth of traumatic experience after traumatic experience. Each a bit darker than the last. We were to ship out the next morning to the Atrivis sector for a meeting with every known supporter of a future…rebellion as they were calling it.

It was our first real step toward progress since we’d saved Gregor from the Imperial Academy. It was messy, impromptu and disorganized, but I suppose Bail preferred it that way. The less we all looked involved with each other, the better we’d fair.

As excited as we all felt that we were finally getting somewhere, there was an underlying current of danger that I couldn’t shake. None of us knew what was to come of this. It was all or nothing now.

And let’s face it, it was three clones' words against millions. No matter what the truth really was, I didn’t like those odds. 

--

real authors note: can you tell andor has done much to politically inspire me right now lol? this fic has basically become an unnamed/physically undescribed oc...if you want to know more about her check here or send me an ask!

taglist (please let me know if you'd like to be added/removed):

@literallydontlook @sleepingsun501 @moonstrider9904 @thefact0rygirl @fett-djarin @starwarsmeninhelmets @zinzinina @kaminocasey @pinkiemme @queenquazar @galacticgraffiti @loversoncsilla @ashotofspotchka @rexandechosandwich @calkestiis @jocastaslibrary @twistedstitcher27 @wild-karrde @patchmates

#wip captains log #wip captains log chapter 11 #captain rex x reader #captain rex x f!reader #captain rex x you #captain rex smut #captain rex x fem!reader #post order 66 #the clones fanfiction #captains log!reader

[transmechanicus]

Anything specific you would want to see for new 40K units? Mechanicus or otherwise

More heavily armored Skitarii with Volkite and Gamma blasters because Fuck All Life, with augmetics that makes them look a little more buff. Probably would fill the role of bodyguard unit.

Remastered basic Servitors

More fucked up Genestealer mutants that look like alien crabs courtesy of your local Biophagus

Darkmech daemon possessed bodyguard Skitarii

Death Guard killteam focused around alchemists and plague creators maybe with a little culture dish of daemon flesh.

New Marine Elite for 1K Sons, their army feels like it lacks the variety of characters that CSM or Death Guard have.

New Deathwatch Veterans but with more alien derived technology like the Xenophase Blade, only it’s obviously Tyranid or Drukhari weaponry jury rigged onto a bolter frame.

#my stuff #asks #wh40k #warhammer 40k