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beardeddetectivepaper · 2 months
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zegalba · 5 months
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Irving Penn: 'After Dinner Games' (1947) Location: New York City
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xoverit · 3 months
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WOW The Concern
Tacoma, Washington. (December 2023)
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one-time-i-dreamt · 3 months
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Pinterest charged 1.99 USD to reply to comments, and I kept replying to comments. I could not stop complaining about this, so this girl took me out on a date for vending machine Domino's pizza.
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pierrelucstl · 2 months
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How was your Sunday? I hope it was better than Kyouko's...
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letslovefood · 1 year
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scr4n · 5 months
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American hot pizza from Dominos 🍕🔥
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digitalfossils · 2 months
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sonadow4life · 15 days
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Decided to draw sonic singing anyways
This is the post it was based off
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And this was sketch (seriously wtf happened how)
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just your average evening in the dan and phil bunker mansion🍕🏠🍕
fulfilling a request from the @phandomgives raffle! tysm to @obv10usly for the fun idea and being just so understanding and patient with me as i drew this 💛🤩💛
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beardedmrbean · 2 months
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A 300-yard wooden railroad bridge in Central Texas fell after catching fire in a dramatic collapse captured on cellphone video Sunday. Lometa Volunteer Fire Department Capt. Jamie Smart said Thursday that nobody was hurt in the blaze in rural Lampasas County.
Jul 16, 2014
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joe-england · 1 year
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- If you enjoy my work, please consider supporting me on Patreon! -
Part 1
Part 3
Bonus Stage
This turned out to be surprisingly popular on Twitter!  So far it hasn't attracted many new patrons, but it's still very nice to be seen.  I hope everyone here is enjoying it too, though it's a passion project stealing time away from my original work!  But like I said, it's good practice for Witch Warp.
Footnotes:  Anne’s feet.  Maybe it’s taboo, but it’s my AU, so I figured I’d have my druthers regarding Anne’s famous footwear (specifically, that she's canonically disheveled and always missing a shoe).  Her new boots are based on a design by a storyboard artist.  Mr. Applegate says he drew them on a lark, but I liked ‘em.
Speaking of body parts, the conditions which the Calamity Trio receive here are based on a fan theory which became popular prior to the show’s completion.  In my version, each wound flowers from a previous trauma - Anne’s clobbered arm, Sasha’s scar, and Marcy’s spinal injury.
Anyway, thanks for being patient while I humor my muse.  I'll get back to my own shared universe soon!
(Part 2 of 3)
Tab for a Cause
Everytown for Gun Safety
Top-Rated Charities for Ukraine
The Trevor Project
National Abortion Funds
RAICES
- Joe
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askthenoises · 10 months
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Do you know a "The Noid"?
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Yeah! He's my uncle! Here's a little photo of both of us when I first got my cafe! Love Uncle Noid to death! Though, I haven't seen him since the incident.
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11oh1 · 17 days
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fantasyproductions · 11 months
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A Bad Batch Fanfiction
Word Count and tags: 5.8k- Hurt/comfort, whump
A/N: Another story I wrote back in 2021- this one is Echo focused! Hope you all enjoy!
Trigger Warnings: PTSD, anxiety and panic attacks
Summary: As Echo continues to go on missions with the Batch, he finds himself battling not only the enemy, but his inner demons as well. Guilt and regret begin to eat away at him and he finds himself questioning everything. Why hadn't he done something different? Why did bad things always happen to those he cared about? And why did he survive while others around him fell?
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Art credit: @echojedis Thank you for letting me use your art in this post! 🥰🥰
Taglist: @techs-stitches @nahoney22 @zaya-mo @photogirl894
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Maybe it was the screams echoing through the dark… maybe it was the explosions ringing in his ears…maybe it was the pounding in his chest, the unsteady and heavy breathing… maybe it was the gunfire or the smell of burning plastoid… but for some reason, Echo didn’t know where he was. One moment, he was at the Rishi Outpost, Droidbait’s cries piercing his ears as he fought against the oncoming assassin droids before being brutally shot and killed by the unfeeling machines, Cutup’s strangled scream as he was eaten alive by the Rishi Eel… The next, he was running towards the shuttle at the Citadel, the heat of explosions surrounding him, Fives calling his name from somewhere behind him… suddenly, he was back in the training room on Kamino, with Hevy shouting some obscure orders. Nothing around him was making sense… it was all wrong… So wrong, and he didn’t know why!
     “Echo! Echo, come on, we have to go! Echo!!” He could feel himself being shaken by strong, lean hands, which suddenly stopped shaking him and instead began to drag him along in a staggering run. Who…
     “Fives?”
     “What?” The voice sounded confused. There was a garbled sentence, a shout, and suddenly, large hands hoisted Echo into the air. He felt himself being flung over a shoulder, heard the sound of running feet, explosions… the sound of hydraulics, the explosions fading… Echo winced as he was flung down into some kind of chair. He made to rise - he had to get back! Wait… back to where? Back… to what? Thin hands grabbed his arms, pinning him to the chair, when he tried to move, they pushed him down, and his pulse quickened. No no no! Not again!
     “Get off me! Let me out! Let me out! Get them off of me!”
     The hands around his arms loosened slightly, there was muttering… then the hands let go, but before he could move, he felt his helmet be removed, felt the air on his face as the stench of sweat and smoked filled his nostrils.
     “Echo? Ec--- can you---?”
     He shook his head, trying to gain a grasp of his surroundings… The voices were growing distant, the ringing in his ears became worse.
     “Let me go… I have to… get back… they need me… my… brothers…” His body grew heavy, his thoughts, hazy. Finally, he succumbed to it… the cold… the dark… the silence.
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     “Sir, the Republic ship has returned to the planet below.” Grievous growled, glaring at the droid beside him, which was holding up the data pad for the General to see, as though it had accomplished some feat worthy of praise and a promotion, rather than having committed a grave error that would inevitably incur its leader’s wrath.
     “I can see that, you useless--- ahugh, aHUGH!” Grievous’s body wrenched as a hacking cough escaped him, and he knocked the droid aside with one hand, taking a seat in the center of the ship’s bridge. “That hit we got in must have taken out their hyperdrive or they wouldn’t have gone back. The enemy attempted to break into our database! They obviously never stood a chance, but they must be hunted down and eliminated, or Dooku will have my head!”
     The droid tapped a finger thoughtfully on its chin. “If Count Dooku does disassemble you like you say he would, does that mean I’d be in charge?”
     Grievous grabbed the droid by its head, ripping it from the rest of its body as its fellows watched. “Any more questions?” There was silence in the bridge.  “Deploy a squadron! I want them eviscerated!”
     “Roger roger!”
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     “I’m sorry, Hunter, I don’t know what came over me…” Echo rubbed his head, which was still throbbing slightly. He sat, slumped, in the same chair he had passed out in on the Marauder, which had been landed expertly by Tech between two large rock formations on the edge of a mountain.
     The sergeant of Clone Force 99 put a hand on Echo’s shoulder, shaking his head. “It’s alright. No one was hurt. Grievous’s forces caught us all off guard.”
     “No, it wasn’t that… I… I didn’t know what was going on. I was seeing things that weren’t there… It’s like I was…”
     “Hallucinating?” Tech suggested. “You were. Such episodes are very common in people suffering from some form of PTSD, a case of which you are very likely to have, given past experiences.”
     “Yeah, but I wasn’t just hallucinating… I heard what was going on around me, I felt it when someone started dragging me along while running, and when someone picked me up. I heard the explosions and the blasterfire… that wasn’t all fake, was it?”
     Hunter shook his head. “No, that all happened. Tech started pulling you in the right direction when we were retreating, and then Wrecker carried you the rest of the way. We were under heavy fire from the clankers the whole time.”
     “So really, you were associating what was happening around you with past experiences, no doubt losing yourself in the illusion.” Tech added.
     Echo blinked slowly, thinking back through the mission. “Yeah… that sounds about right.”
     “The real question is: how do we keep that from happening again?” Crosshair stepped up alongside Echo, a toothpick between his teeth. “We can’t just have you freezing in the middle of the battlefield like that - you’re going to get yourself or one of us killed.”
     “C’mon, Cross - go easy on ‘im!” Wrecker nudged the sniper, who scowled.
     “He was a sitting duck and jeopardized the entire mission. If Tech hadn’t already retrieved those files –”
     “You’re right.” Echo rose slowly from his seat, looking morbidly at Crosshair, who seemed slightly surprised by how readily the former ARC trooper at accepted and agreed with his accusations. “I’m not sure what happened to me… but I did put the mission at risk. More importantly, I put your lives at risk. I’m sorry.”
     “No one had any way to know that would happen, Echo.” Hunter folded his arms, smiling slightly. “But now that we do, we’ll figure out how to keep it from happening in the future. There’s a big difference between a conscious decision to do something stupid on the battlefield and stuff like this. Don’t beat yourself up about it.”
     “Besides,” Tech adjusted his goggles, grabbing his tool kit. “You need to stop moping so you can come help me with the hyperdrive. It was damaged during our escape.”
     Echo took a deep breath, straightening up. “Right.” He exited the ship with Tech, and Crosshair looked over at Hunter. “You weren’t going to ask him?”
     Hunter sighed. “He probably doesn’t even remember what he said.”
     Crosshair pulled the toothpick out of his mouth, falling gracefully into the pilot’s seat. “I suppose…”
     “Besides…” Hunter leaned against the wall of the ship, looking out the viewport. “Tech will ask him anyway.”
     “What makes you so sure?”
     Hunter chuckled. “Simple. He’s Tech.”
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     “Hey, Tech, can you pass me that spanner?”
     “I’m a little busy at the moment.”
     “Well, I’m currently keeping the guts of this piece from falling out of the ship by holding it in place with my arm, so unless you want me to move and get the tool myself, giving us one more thing to fix in the process, I suggest you give me the spanner.”
     There was a short silence, and suddenly, Tech’s hand reached around the corner of the ship, along with the requested tool.
     “Thanks.” Echo continued working on his portion of the shuttle, while Tech ran diagnostics on the hyperdrive as he repaired the wiring.
     “Do you recall what you said while we were retreating earlier?”
     Echo blinked, making a face. “What?”
     “When I was attempting to stir you from your hallucinations during our mission, you were muttering a bunch of words. But there was one you said clearly, while looking directly at me.”
     Echo froze for a moment, licking his lips. “I don’t remember… what was it?”
     “You said ‘Fives’. You repeated several other words again and again, but they made no more sense than ‘Fives’. Five what?”
     Echo stiffened, tightening his grip on the spanner as he jerkily made some adjustments. “It’s… a name. Not a number. Fives was my squad-mate and a fellow ARC trooper in the 501st.”
     At first, Tech did not respond, but when he did, it was with another question. “Then the other words you said were names as well?”
     “Maybe. I don’t remember what they were.”
     “Hevy, Cutup and Droidbait.”
     Echo felt the pained feeling in his chest grow, and he nodded. “My other squad members. They died on the Rishi Moon Outpost when Grievous’s forces attacked.”
     “I see…”
     Echo shook himself, finishing up his adjustments. Why had he said their names? He knew they were all gone. Everyone but Fives had been gone for a while - why had he been thinking about them? Of course, he missed them, they were his squad, his brothers. He grew up with them, trained with them daily! But they were gone, and he had come to terms with that.
     Augh, what did it matter? He wasn’t in his right mind when it had happened anyway…
     He closed up the compartment and put the spanner in the toolbox. “I’m all done over here, how about you?” Tech did not respond, and Echo raised an eyebrow. “Tech?” He walked over to the corner of the ship, looking over at the bespectacled clone, who was staring at the wires in his hands blankly. “What’s wrong?”
     Tech jumped, almost dropping the wires. “Nothing. Are you finished?”
     Echo folded his arms. “Yeah, I just said I was. You good?”
     “I am fine. I just have to make a few minor calibrations and we should be ready to depart.”
     “I’ll let Hunter know.”
     As Echo returned to the ship, Tech worked on the adjustments, but he was lost in thought once again. He didn’t know how to react when Echo had told him about his old squad. The only thing he could imagine is how he’d feel if he lost his own. And the thought terrified him.
     Until a few days ago, Tech hadn’t really understood Echo much. He had been willing to accept him as part of their team, not as readily as Hunter, but certainly not as slowly as Crosshair. The mission (nightmarish and embarrassing though it was) had helped him to understand his new squad member, and he knew that, though Echo was prone to anger at times, and almost always grumpy about something, (never as bad as Crosshair, but some days the former reg gave the sniper a run for his money) he had a good handle on his emotions otherwise.
     At times, signs of his PTSD had become very apparent: the reluctance to go into small or very cold places, the panic he would get when in a medical wing, etc. Several times, Tech had awoken to Echo’s fitful noises as the former 501’st trooper suffered from night terrors. But it had never reached the point of full-on hallucinations. 
     Tech wondered for a while if maybe Echo’s recent episode was due to stress, and the manifestation of that stress had resulted in hallucinations with people and places derived from his subconscious. The trigger could simply have been the sudden surprise attack they had received. It seemed to be the most sensible answer.
     If it was stress, however, than what was the actual source? Was it a singular source, or various factors? Was he simply sleep deprived, and it was taking a toll on him? They hadn’t been at Kamino for very long before they had had to leave for this mission, and he had been doing nothing but sleeping upright and on hard surfaces for weeks before that. One night was hardly enough time to recover properly from lack of rest, Tech knew that all too well. Or maybe-
     “Stop overthinking.”
     Tech jumped again, whipping around. He hadn’t seen or heard Crosshair approaching. “What?”
     “You’re overthinking something again. You have that look on your face.”
     “I do not know the ‘look’ to which you are referring.”
     Crosshair spat out his toothpick, folding his arms. “He’ll be fine. Stop worrying.”
     Tech blinked. “I’m not.”
     “Uh-huh, sure.” Tech sighed, closing up the compartment and putting away his scanner. He hated it when Crosshair somehow knew everything going through his head. Offering counsel was a card the sniper rarely pulled anymore, but when he did, it was annoyingly accurate.
     “C’mon, we need to get that file back to Cody.” 
     “Right.”
     Echo came around the corner suddenly, almost bumping into the two of them. “Oh good, I was wondering when you were going to grace us with your presence. Ready to go?”
     Tech nodded, starting forward, when suddenly, the proximity sensors on the ship went off, and the growing sound of vulture droids could be heard overhead.
     “We’ve got incoming!” Wrecker bellowed, and the three clones outside the ship made a dash for the door. Blaster fire peppered the ground around them, striking the rock formations around the ship. A large chunk of stone broke away from one, falling directly towards Echo.
     The trooper moved out of the way, but the boulder was blasted apart mid-air by the droids, and large chunks were scattered through the air. Echo’s eyes widened as the largest piece headed straight for him, and he staggered as he made to move again.
     “Look out!” Thud! Echo gasped as he was knocked to the ground, small stones hitting his armor, a larger one landing directly on his right arm, pinning it him to the ground. He looked around in a panic, eyes wild… and felt his heart sink as his gaze landed on Tech’s broken form, lower half trapped beneath the large stone. “Tech!” There was no reply.
     “Wrecker, help him!” Hunter pushed the rock off Echo’s arm, hoisting the pale clone upright. “Crosshair, the droids!”
     Crosshair hesitated for a split moment, torn between following Hunter’s orders and running to help his brother, who was not responding to Wrecker’s calls as the larger clone approached. With a curse, Crosshair raised his Firepuncher and began blasting at the oncoming droids, which were coming back around for another attack.
     Wrecker heaved the boulder off of Tech’s legs, gently lifting him up and onto his shoulder. He ran towards the Marauder, Hunter and Echo close behind, with Crosshair bringing up the rear, still shooting at the droids. He had taken down four of the six, but the remaining two were drawing uncomfortably close for him to be standing in the open any longer. He retreated inside the ship and Hunter threw himself into the pilot’s seat, starting up the engines and quickly taking off. Crosshair clambered into the gunnery, taking out the remaining droids in rapid succession. Once he was certain the coast was clear, he returned to the front of the ship, where Wrecker had laid Tech out carefully on the floor.
     Hunter, who was still piloting the ship, kept glancing back, clearly worried. “Talk to me, boys! How is he?!”
     The sniper’s gaze traveled down the length of Tech’s beaten figure, eyes pained. “He’s unconscious, probably a concussion, minimal harm to his torso, from the looks of things. But his legs…”
     “They’re both broken…” Wrecker’s voice was hushed and worried, and Crosshair took a deep, sharp breath. Tech’s legs were bleeding in multiple areas, lacerated by his shattered armor. Though he lay flat on his back, his legs were at an unnatural angle, and they had been dangling uncharacteristically limply when Wrecker had carried him.
     “We need to get him in a bacta tank soon. If we do, he should be able to fully recover from this.”
     “Alright.” Hunter gritted his teeth, grasping the controls tightly. “Everyone hang on, this is about to get bumpy.” Wrecker strapped Tech down on one of the storage shelves they used as bunks, and the ship shot forward and upwards, rattling and beeping, shaking and jarring everyone where they sat. It shot out into space, and Hunter dodged as Grievous’s ship began to attack, surrounding them with blaster fire.
     And all the while, Echo stared blankly at Tech, his mind swimming, ears ringing. Why… why hadn’t he been faster? Why hadn’t he moved out of the way? Why had Tech shoved him aside, taking the hit for him? Why was this always happening? Every time! This was the cost of war, he knew it! He knew people died - that’s what soldiers did: fought and died for what they believed in, for each other! He had seen so many clones fall in battle, it shouldn’t have come as a surprise, and yet, seeing his comrade… his brother… lying broken and bleeding, because of him… Echo felt as though he was going to be sick. This was his fault. It was his fault that Droidbait had been shot down - he should have gone out to help! His fault Cutup had been consumed by that eel - he should have kept a better eye on the rear! His fault Hevy had to stay behind - he should have checked the remote, hell, he should have checked all the gear more efficiently!
     And Fives - if Echo had actually listened to him, if he had paid more attention to his surroundings, maybe he wouldn’t have been caught in the explosion, maybe Fives would have had someone by his side, to help him with whatever he was going through before he died, or maybe he could have prevented Fives’s death entirely… He should have done better… just like on this mission. He should have done something! But he didn’t… and now his brother was lying unconscious and bleeding on a slab of metal, like an animal, wounded and left for dead.
     And like always, there was nothing he could do… he was going to lose someone again. Another soldier down, another friend gone… another brother fallen.
     The Marauder’s hyperdrive activated and the blue streaks of light engulfed the ship, sending them towards the rendezvous point with General Kenobi’s fleet. Echo watched as Hunter rose quickly from his seat, snatching up the med kit on the way. With Crosshair’s help, he began stripping Tech of his armor, careful not to remove the plastoid lodged in his legs, for fear of him losing more blood.
     The made quick work of what little they could patch up, and Hunter checked his brother’s vitals. “His pulse and breathing are weak and unsteady, but we’re almost there.” The sergeant looked over at Echo, whose breathing was also measured and shallow. “Echo… are you alright?” A nod. “You got any wounds? We should patch ‘em up before -”
     “I’m sorry.”
     Hunter blinked. “What?”
     “This is my fault, I’m sorry. This whole mission… I -”
     “Stop it.”
     Echo blinked, raising his head slowly to look up at Hunter, who was frowning, his arms folded. “Stop blaming yourself and apologizing to us. If anyone should hear your apology, it’s Tech, and I highly doubt he’d accept it anyway. He pushed you out of the way and put himself in harms danger, no one else. That was his decision. It may have been a stupid one, and it got him hurt, but because of it, you’re alive. So focus less on apologizing to him when he wakes up and more on the thanking him bit.”
     Echo stared, unsure of what to say. Hunter sighed, shaking his head. “Look, Echo. I know you’ve been through a lot. I know you’ve still got a lot you’re going through. But having a pity party or apologizing all the time isn’t going to do anything, for you or us. So instead of beating yourself up, just focus on moving forward. We’re here if you need anything.”
     Echo said nothing. It wasn’t a pity party; he wasn’t sorry for himself. He was angry! But how was he supposed to explain that to someone?
     The ship exited hyperspace, and Hunter returned to the pilot seat, bringing the Marauder into the Republic cruiser’s main hanger bay as quickly as possible, while Crosshair sent out a call for a medic. Wrecker carefully lifted Tech from the shelf, placing him on the gurney the medics had procured, and Echo slowly walked down the stairs, watching after them as they took Tech to the medical wing. They had to have a couple troopers hold back Crosshair as he tried to go with his brother, but finally, the sniper angrily returned to the rest of his squad.
     “He’ll be alright.” Hunter put a steady hand on Crosshair’s shoulder. “We’ll go see him as soon as he’s out of the bacta tank. Meanwhile, let’s get those files to Cody and General Kenobi.”
     Crosshair scowled, letting out a slight hissing noise, and he shoved past Hunter and down the hall. Wrecker kept tossing worried glances towards the medical wing, before following his brothers, and Echo walked soundlessly behind them. A strange burning sensation was forming in the pit of his stomach with each step he took, and he shook himself, trying to get rid of the feeling. But no matter what he did, it only got worse…
     The four clones entered the bridge, where General Kenobi was in a holo-call with Jedi Generals Mace Windu and Shaak Ti. The Togruta turned to face the Batch as they approached, smiling softly as Hunter presented the files to the Jedi.
     “Thank you.” Obi-Wan nodded politely, plugging the drive into the computer. “These files contain a complete list of all our medical stations the Separatists currently have knowledge of. They’ll know we have taken them and will most likely attack some of our stations as soon as they discover precisely what information we obtained, so we must act quickly. We should re-direct our fleets to intercept at these locations.”
     “Actually General, if I may…” Hunter stepped forward, motioning to the drive. “Tech accessed the files through a back-door in the system and erased any traces of the files we went through and copied. They’ll access their systems and it’ll look like we weren’t able to get what we needed before they attacked and drove us out.”
     Mace Windu’s eyebrows raised in surprise, while Kenobi stroked his beard thoughtfully. “You’re certain Grievous will have no way of discovering your hacking?”
     “Yes sir. Tech’s the best there is.”
     “Very well. We should still act quickly, but this will definitely give us an advantage. Thank you, Sergeant.”
     Shaak Ti looked around at the squad, her brow furrowing. “Where is Tech? I do not see him here with you. I do, however, see a new face.”
     Hunter nodded. “This is Echo. He only joined our squad recently, so you wouldn’t have met him when we last saw you, General.”
     Shaak Ti’s  eyebrows jumped, her eyes wide. “Echo… from Domino Squad?”
     Echo blinked, stunned. “You… remember me, General?”
     The Togruta smiled, laughing softly. “Of course, I remember you, Echo. Your squad was a troublesome one. One I recall fondly. I’m glad to see you’re alright.”
     “Thank you, ma’am.”
     Hunter jerked a thumb behind him towards the door. “Tech sustained some injuries on the mission. We were attacked by Vulture droids while making repairs to our ship, and Tech got pinned beneath a large boulder that was blasted off the surrounding rock formations. He’s in the medical wing right now… and, if it’s alright, we’d like to go check on him as soon as possible.”
     Shaak Ti nodded, waving her hand. “Of course. Go take care of your brother.”
     “Thank you, General.”
     “First,” Mace Windu cut in. “We’ll need your squad for another upcoming mission. Since you’re a man down, we’ll be transferring someone into your unit in the meanwhile.”
     The clones all stiffened, a deep scowl forming on Crosshair’s face. Working with other units was one thing but having a reg transferred into their squad to replace Tech?!
     Hunter shook his head, his face stony. “No need sir. We’ll be fine on our own.”
     Mace raised an eyebrow. “I’ll be the judge of whether or not four clones are sufficient for a deadly mission, Sergeant.”
     Echo felt as the tension in the room grew. The horrid feeling in the pit of his stomach had become unbearable, and anger bubbled up his throat. He knew he should just keep quiet and obey. There was nothing wrong with working with other clones… but this wasn’t the same. They wanted to replace Tech. Temporary or not, the very idea made Echo’s blood churn. had to say something… he couldn’t just stand there. Not again!
     He took a deep breath, stepping forward, but Hunter held out a hand, stopping him, his shoulders straight, jaw set.
     “With all due respect sir, no one is going to be able to replace Tech. It’s simply not possible.”
     Shaak Ti turned to face Mace. “This squad is comprised of enhanced clones, each with their own skill. Tech is the smartest clone there is. The Sergeant is correct when he says replacing the trooper is not an option.”
     Mace nodded slowly, considering. “Very well then. Check on the status of your teammate. If he can be back on his feet within the next eight hours, you five will go alone. Otherwise, I’ll assign some men to your team for this mission. Understood?”
     Hunter gritted his teeth, nodding. “Yes sir.”
     Hunter grabbed Echo’s shoulder the moment the doors snapped shut behind them. “Echo, you need to calm down. I saw that look in your eyes earlier- you were about to lose it. Pull yourself together!”
     “I just… I can’t take it anymore!” Echo whipped around to face Hunter, a deep scowl on his face. “I’m sick and tired of just accepting whatever I’m told and throwing my hands up in the air! I’m tired of seeing my brothers being treated as nothing more than numbers! We’re not just numbers, Hunter! We’re not some tool they can cast aside!”
     The Sergeant squeezed Echo’s shoulders tightly, looking at him straight in the eyes. “I know, Echo. And trust me, no one agrees with that more than the men on this team! I appreciate you wanting to stand up for Tech, but you lashing out wouldn’t have solved anything. There’s a better way to go about it. I get it, you’re angry, I am too, and it took all I had to not flip Windu off then and there! But remember… we won’t be able to help anybody if we get ourselves in trouble.”
     “If he wasn’t a stupid hologram, I would’ve punched him so hard, he’d never wake up!” Wrecker growled, cracking his knuckles menacingly, and Crosshair gritted his teeth.
     “The next time I see him, I’m going to put a blaster bolt through his head!”
     Hunter sighed, looking at his brothers. “No one is doing anything to the General. Do you want us to end up in front of a firing squad? Look, our team walks a very fine line. You have to know when to follow orders and when to say, ‘screw it’. Got it? Now… let’s go check on Tech.”
     It turned out Tech was still in the bacta tank when they arrived, but the doctors were happy to inform the Batch that he would be out and fully recovered within the next six hours. They were told they couldn’t just stand and wait in the medical bay, so they were sent out and returned to the Marauder.
     Wrecker got bored sitting around and pulled out some kind of tiled board game, setting it up on top of Gonky before Crosshair came along, gave it one look, and rolled his eyes, rearranging the pieces in the correct order. Wrecker was about to argue, but stopped, realizing his mistake, and the two settled down into a half-hearted round of the game. (Crosshair won within a few moves, much to his brother’s dismay.)
     Wrecker ended up falling asleep on one of the storage racks, while Crosshair sat quietly and cleaned his weapons in the gunnery, one leg dangling over the ladder, the other propped up as he leaned comfortably against the wall. Echo took a seat in the pilot’s chair, with Hunter across from him, Gonky and the game board between them. They didn’t say anything… just sat in companionable silence.
     Echo gathered up the game pieces and began standing the rectangular tiles on end, lining them up in a row.
     Hunter gave him a curious look. “What are you doing?”
     Echo tilted his head thoughtfully, looking at the pieces. “You know how kids will line up a row of dominos until they decide to tip one over, and the rest cascade as they’re knocked over by the ones in front of them?”
     “Yeah. Wrecker used to do that with these tiles all the time. Is that what you’re doing?”
     Echo didn’t reply, but instead asked another question. “Well, you know how sometimes, if you don’t line the pieces up correctly, if you space one too far apart, it doesn’t get knocked over? Just because it’s too far away.”
     Hunter nodded slowly, adding some pieces to the row of tiles.
     “Yes. I also know that sometimes, it’s just far enough, that the piece before it barely misses it, and for a moment, you’re sure it’s going to fall. But then it doesn’t, and all the pieces after it are left standing as well.” Hunter bumped one of the tiles over with a finger, causing them to cascade, but they didn’t make it all the way, because the last tile to fall didn’t reach the first one he had placed. He looked meaningfully at Echo. “All because that one piece didn’t get knocked down. Sure, it may be left standing, while all the other pieces before it fell… but now it’s not the only one.”
     Echo made a half-hearted smile, still staring at the tiles. “I suppose you’re right.” He looked at Hunter, who gave him a pat on the shoulder, rising from his seat. “Thanks.”
     “For what? I thought we were just talking about dominos.” He winked, grinning, and pulled out his data pad to write the mission report, leaving Echo to stare at the row of tiles in front of him. Most had fallen… but the five Hunter had placed were still standing.
            After a few hours, Tech was out of the bacta tank and on his feet, though he was still a little wobbly. Crosshair started scolding the doctors for not keeping him in long enough, but Tech assured him he was fine. “I’ve been floating in liquid for the past several hours, of course my legs are going to be like this - my muscles are too relaxed, I need to exercise them.”
            Echo sat on one of the beds in the medical wing, thinking over the day’s events. He was tired and sore, and mentally exhausted. But that terrible feeling in the pit of his stomach had left him, and his anger had dissipated. Maybe it was because of what he let out earlier with Windu… maybe it was his conversation with Hunter… He wasn’t sure. But he felt somewhat better.
            He looked over at Wrecker, Crosshair, and Hunter, who were all teasing Tech about his wobbly legs. It was nice, seeing them argue, smile, and laugh… He hadn’t realized it at first, but they all reminded him of his other squad a bit. None of them were exactly like the others, but little details in each of them reflected something he had seen in his former team. It was sad… odd… but also very comforting.
            The more he thought about it, the stranger his behavior over the past day seemed. He still wasn’t sure what had caused it. Maybe he just had so much pent-up frustrations, so much… regret. But it wasn’t time for regrets. He would always have them. Many people would. The only thing he could do right now was move forward and live the life he had been given a second chance at. A life with no further regrets.
            He tilted his head thoughtfully as he realized: that’s what Fives had always done. He never wallowed in self-pity. Never stood there, feeling bad and doing nothing to fix the situation. He had regrets too, Echo knew that. But Fives took each blow in life and used it as a lesson, whether he took it gracefully or not (more often not.)
            Echo sighed, stretching as he rose from his seat, still looking at the Bad Batch. A random thought popped into his head, and he smiled to himself. Fives would have liked them…
            As the doctors went over some documents with Hunter that were needed for Tech to be discharged, and Wrecker and Crosshair argued over the purpose of different odd-looking medical instruments, Echo approached Tech hesitantly. “Listen, Tech, I… I’m sorry.”
            Tech blinked at him, clearly confused. “Whatever are you apologizing to me for?”
            “Well, you got hurt because of me.”
            Tech adjusted his goggles. “While I understand why you say that, it is not an accurate statement. I made the decision to put myself in harm’s way. It was to protect you, yes, but it was a decision I made on my own. So, although I appreciate the apology, it is not necessary.”
            Echo swallowed hard, clearing his throat. “Well, if you insist… then I guess all I have left to say is: thanks. Thank you for saving me.”
            Tech’s face softened, and a small smile formed on his lips. “You are most welcome.”
            “Alright boys, time to move out.” Hunter clapped his hands together, heading out the door. “Cody’s called us to Hanger B - we’ve got another mission.”
            “We don’t have to deal with General Windu again, do we?” Wrecker whined, and Tech looked at him in confusion before turning to Hunter.
            “What does he mean? I didn’t realize Jedi General Mace Windu was even here.”
            “He’s not. We spoke via hologram.”
            “He seems pretty desperate to have someone take care of this blasted mission.” Crosshair muttered, placing a toothpick between his teeth.  “He was even willing to have us replace you, that son of a-”
            “Crosshair!” Hunter shot him a look as they walked down the halls, and Crosshair shrugged.
            “It’s not my fault he’s an absolute piece of - ”
            “Crosshair!”
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             After a short debriefing from Cody and Obi-Wan (who, thankfully, was the only Jedi present) the Batch loaded up into the Marauder. Tech went to go sit in the pilot’s seat to get ready for take-off, but Gonky got in the way, still positioned comfortably between the two front seats, the game pieces still on its head.
             Tech looked at the tiles in confusion. “None of these pieces are in any order pertinent to the game they are meant for.”
             “Oh,” Hunter said, throwing himself into a chair. “We weren’t really using them for that game.”
             Tech gathered up the pieces, and Wrecker took Gonky and began using the droid as a weight. The bespectacled clone cocked his head, looking at Hunter. “Then what the stars were you using them for?”
             Hunter smiled, looking meaningfully at Echo, who gazed fondly at the tiles before glancing up at Tech.
             “Dominos.”
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