#clone trooper vet series

[clonesimpextra]

WE HAVE A NAME FOR VET CLONE FROM KENOBI!!

Lucasfilm Publishing Panel at SDCC just announced a Dawn of the Rebellion Visual Guide and showed a page with Vet Clone, who’s OFFICIAL NAME is Nax!

#vet clone #clone troopers #kenobi series

[mando-chicken]

Tiny Spots | Clones and Their Cats

“When Commander Thorn’s Tooka, Spot, goes missing, he enlists the help of his brother, Commander Fox, to try and find his beloved pet. When they find her, however, they’re both in for quite the surprise.”

Another chapter based in the ‘Clones and Their Cats’ universe. The basis is literally just what it says on the tin - some of the clones have cats (and some other pets too) - all these fics will largely focus on the clones and their animal companions. Not all chapters/works are in chronological order, this one is set a few months before the first one.

Other works in the series:

Cat Sitter

Read on AO3

Tag List:

@cxptain-rex​ @spaghetti-666​

A knock at Fox’s door caused him to groan loudly, scrubbing at his face with a hand, before glancing at the chrono that sat on his desk, noting that he had been working at the massive piles of flimsi before him for almost two hours. His frown deepened when he also noticed that he had only managed to get part way through the first pile. “Come in,” he huffed, snatching the next document from the pile and scanning the mess of words that seemed to go on forever without actually saying anything of any real importance.

 Fox immediately narrowed his eyes when Thorn’s familiar head popped through Fox’s doorway, offering him a sheepish grin. “Uh, hey Fox, is Spot in here?” the younger clone asked, glancing around Fox’s office and at all of the usual hiding places of the Tooka in question.

 “Haven’t seen her all day,” he shook his head, returning to reading the flimsi before him, “did you try checking the storage rooms?” The sound of an affirmative, “the street out back?” Another affirmative, “and what about the Doctor? You know Spot likes to hang around at the vet clinic or at her apartment when you’re out on patrol.”

 “Dalthic says she hasn’t seen her either.” Thorn’s voice is unusually subdued, and when Fox looks up he can clearly see the way his eyebrows wrinkled. He still seemed to be glancing around the room, as if expecting the cat to suddenly poke its head out of one of the flimsi filled crates – something the animal was indeed prone to doing – because the boxes in Fox’s office were clearly superior for a Tooka to sit in compared to any other.

 Fox made a respectable effort at holding back an exhausted sigh, only allowing a brief puff of air from his nose to signal any sort of displeasure. Sure, technically it was none of his concern what happened to the cat, but Thorn absolutely adored the little creature and it was rather sweet the way he lit up the moment he spotted the ginger furball. Admittedly, Fox himself had grown somewhat fond of the Tooka, enjoying her quiet company when he was stuck in the office, even if he could live happily without the unseemly number of cat hairs that coated his blacks and found their way into his cups of caff. Not that he would ever admit such a thing aloud, that would only encourage more brothers to try and get their own hands on a pet.

 “She’ll be fine, Thorn, she knows the streets as well as any Guard,” he breathed, “I’m sure she’ll be back here in time to wake you up for feeding tomorrow morning.” Thorn had learnt very quickly that cats did not tolerate late feeding. Whenever he was out, Spot had evidently decided Fox was the lucky person who would get woken up by her ungodly screeching for food, forcing him to feed the animal, lest he have to spend the next few hours trying to sleep through the sound. So much for her being Thorn’s sole responsibility.

 Thorn only frowned at his words, shaking his head slightly, “that’s the thing, she hasn’t been to my quarters this evening, and it’s hours past feeding time. You know she’d never miss out on free food and especially not a main meal.” The trooper was shifting slightly, his fingers drumming along the side of his helmet as he clutched it in one of his hands.

 It was enough for Fox to take pause in consideration, the flimsi in his hand drooping slightly as he began to think to himself. No matter what, Spot was always present at mealtimes, often arriving a little while early to ensure no one forgot her feed.

 “And it isn’t just that either, she’s been throwing up recently, and keeps trying to hide from everyone. I thought she just wasn’t feeling well and it’d pass on its own in a few days, but now…” he trailed off with a sigh, looking down at the floor. It was typical of Thorn to think he had somehow failed his pet before they even knew if anything was actually wrong with her – a habit it seemed he had picked up from Fox himself – and he decided to quickly put an end to the line of thought.

 “Look, vod, I’m sure she’s fine. Have a little faith in her.” Fox placed down the document he had been working on, “go on and do your patrol, the boys will be waiting for you. I’ll just finish up these priority documents and then I’ll go and look around the barracks.” He was fortunate to have finished most of the priority work beforehand, only a few documents required for important meetings within the senate the following morning, and the rest could wait a while longer. It wasn’t as though Fox expected to get much further through the nasty piles of flimsiwork anyway.

 Seemingly, his reassurances were enough to take off some of the edge off Thorn’s worries, and the other commander was quick to give Fox a nod, straightening up and sliding his helmet smoothly into place. “Thanks, vod.” Thorn’s shoulders lowered slightly, as if his tension was slowly being drained away.

 Fox nodded back, beginning to shoo his fellow commander from the room with a few waves of his hand, “don’t worry about it, just make sure to keep the little beast in your quarters where you can keep an eye on her once I find her.” From the way Thorn snickered slightly and muttered a quiet ‘sure’ as he left, Fox’s gruff, annoyed tone hadn’t exactly come out as such.

 Within half an hour Fox had managed to scribble the final approval signature into place on the documents he was working through. He placed it on the pile of completed work with a relieved sigh, taking a moment to roll his wrist, frowning slightly at the way it ached with the movement. Although it wasn’t quite late, Fox knew he would have to be awake before dawn to begin some preparations for a guard detail later the following day, so he was determined to get a reasonable amount of rest beforehand.

 After taking a few moments to ensure everything was left in order, Fox exited his office and began the short journey to the main barracks attached to the lower story of the Guard building. If the Tooka wasn’t in Thorn’s quarters or office, the local alleyways or harassing the local vet for affection, then there was a solid chance she would be hiding out in the barracks.

 Luckily for Fox, the men were good at keeping their sleeping areas practically spotless – as per the regulations – so there were only so many places Spot could try to hide. But it seemed that no matter how many rooms he checked, nor how many brothers he spoke to, there were no signs he could find that would lead him to the cat’s current whereabouts. No one had seen her, not since the previous evening at the latest.

 Fox had been searching for well over an hour before Thorn eventually returned from his short patrol of the nearby area, only just taking the time to switch out with the next trooper assigned the route, before he was back to Fox’s side, questioning him on his progress. They both agreed to spend only another hour searching for Spot at the most, knowing they were both needed the following morning. Despite their efforts, however, neither of them could find the elusive feline, and Thorn was eventually the one to call the search off, albeit reluctantly.

 Defeated, but agreeing to spend some time in the morning continuing their search, Fox returned to his quarters for the night. It took him only a few minutes to mindlessly work his way out of his armour, setting it all aside in a neat pile, before he fell back onto his bed. The thin mattress did little to cushion his small drop, but he hardly cared, moving into a slightly more comfortable position on his back before grabbing his datapad from the side table.

 He silently skimmed through the ever-growing list of updates, ensuring there was nothing that urgently needed his attention. The screen of the datapd was the only feature illuminating the room, and Fox was silently musing to himself about how the Guard medics Fibula and Tibia would probably be berating him for causing potential eye strain, when he picked up the distinct sound of a Tooka’s meow.

 Practically rolling off the edge of the bed, Fox quickly dropped down to the floor, using the brightness of his pad to light up the small space beneath his bunk. It took him all of about four seconds – enough time to curse Thorn and the tube he was birthed from – before he reached out and snatched up his comm unit, calmly summoning the other commander to his quarters.

 By the time Thorn managed to reach him, Fox had switched on the lights and had settled himself on the floor. “When you adopted Spot, what exactly did the vet tell you to do?” Fox asked, glancing up at Thorn. His voice was soft and almost conversational, but his eyes glinted dangerously in a way that had the other commander shrinking slightly under the older clone’s gaze.

 “The Doc’ told me plenty of things I’d need to do…” he slowly answered, curling in on himself further when Fox made a show of taking in a deep breath, holding it for a moment, and then releasing it. He was mad. “Why do you ask, ori’vod?” Thorn was scared to ask but prayed to whatever deity was out there that he could perhaps try and suck up to the other commander and somewhat lessen his wrath, or at least what amount of it got directed towards him.

 Fox, however, saw through his futile attempt, eyes narrowing on his dangerously, “Don’t you ‘ori’vod’ me, Thorn,” he growled, “come and look what your cat’s done.”

 There was little room for argument with Fox’s tone, and cautiously, as if approaching a fierce predator, Thorn slunk his way closer, sliding down to kneel on the floor beside Fox’s bed. He glanced under it, only to gasp in both surprise and slight delight at what he saw. “Spot’s had kittens?!” he whisper-shouted, trying to be considerate of the five, tiny bundles of fur currently snuggled up close to Spot’s side. Thorn had the sense to at least attempt to look sheepish, but it was hard to maintain it with the way he kept having to fight down the urge to grin at the adorable kittens.

 “I thought you said you’d gotten her splayed months ago!” Fox couldn’t help snapping, “what the kriff are we supposed to do with kittens, di’kut?”

 Thorn gave a nervous chuckle, scratching at the back of his neck, “Uh, yeah, about that…” he merely offered an apologetic smile, though it began to look more and more like a grimace the longer Fox scowled at him. “Look, I’m sorry, but I got caught up with all the chaos we were having recently, and it just slipped my mind.”

 Fox had practically buried his face into his hand by that point. “That still doesn’t answer my question. We don’t exactly know how to deal with newborn kittens, nor what we should do with them.”

 “We can just ask Dalthic, she’s a vet, she’ll know how to look after kittens,” Thorn replied, reaching out to gently nudge one of the restless baby Tookas with one of his fingers. The fearsome clone commander looked as though he was going to burst into tears and desperately clutched his chest with a hand when the kitten made a tiny ‘mew’ sound in response.

 Fox already had his datapad out, shooting a brief message to the vet who had been kind enough to help Thorn adopt Spot in the first place. “You’re going to have to apologise to the poor woman, I’m sure she doesn’t appreciate being woken up at this hour,” he grumbled, sparing a glance at Spot and noting tiredly that it was indeed his blanket that the cat had stolen to give birth on.

 Thorn nodded, but didn’t seem to be paying much attention, too absorbed with stroking Spot’s head, informing her of just how adorable her kittens were. Spot was vibrating with happiness, purring so loudly that Fox was slightly worried the walls would start shaking if she purred any louder. “Some of the other brothers have mentioned wanting pets, maybe we could keep the—”

 “Absolutely not.” There was no way they would be keeping the kittens, much less giving them to other brothers in the Guard to keep as pets. As far as Fox was concerned, they had already broken enough regulations by deciding to keep one Tooka in the barracks, six would just be asking for trouble. “We’re not going to be keeping any of them, as soon as they’re old enough we’ll give them to the Doc’ and she can find them homes.” He absolutely meant it, no matter how put-out Thorn looked at being so quickly shot down.

 It was six weeks later, when Spot was happily sitting in one of the crates in Fox’s office, with four kittens spread out across his desk’s surface and one kitten attempting to lay on top of his datapad while he was using it, purring away happy and content, that Fox realised yes, they would indeed be keeping the kittens.

#writing #star wars #the clone wars #commander fox #commander thorn #coruscant guard #clone troopers #clones and their cats #vet among the stars #pets #tooka #loth cat #unbeta'd #we die like men #a couple of my ocs are mentioned #but that's about it

[zenosanalytic]

THE SACRED TEXTS!!! EPISODE 3

I just finished the 3rd season of Clone Wars(2008) and I have Thoughts!

s3 is typically where I’ve seen ppl saying Clone Wars gets gud but, for the first half of the season, I was pretty skeptical. Until ~ e11 the season’s dedicated to filling in holes from the earlier seasons which, frankly, didn’t really need to be filled? Like: I’m not really sure WHO, in the audience, would be sitting around wondering “gee, I wonder what’s going on with Mandalore’s trade-policy during all of this?”?? Or “was a Republic Army sent to help Ryloth when it was first invaded, and what happened to it?”??? And most of this not only felt pretty unnecessary, but was also pretty Meh (:T There were good bits! Like, I didnt ACTL mind the Ryloth ep, and it acts as a declaration of sorts that it’s now both open-season on Jedi(yeah, technically Kit Fisto’s ex-padawan Vebb died in Lair of Grievous, but he was very much An Outlier), and more broadly open-season on named&faced humanoid characters.

To give an example: not ONLY does Domino Squad from Rookies in s1 get a fleshing-out backstory(which is... very Pat and derivative and convenient, but the characterization is ok given they’ve only got one 22min ep to do it in. & I liked 99′s whole role as basically surrogate dad to all the other clones), but pretty much ALL of them, I think, end up getting killed off during the season? Like I said it’s a clear statement they want to break with the past while building on the “hey fans: CLONES ARE PEOPLE! THEIR SITUATION IN THIS WAR IS MONSTROUS!!” message the series has been soft-peddling from the beginning, but I feel like they didnt really commit to it enough. Like: IF they had stuck with the Domino survivors throughout the season, if we’d gotten to see them in episode after episode, gotten to know them better alongside the other members of Rex’s ARC battalion, gotten to see them face dangers and survive them, only to watch, agonized, as they, and the rest of the Battalion vets, slowly get picked off in the increasingly dangerous missions of the second half of the season, then that would have made the message MUCH more effective, AND made the Citadel and Padawan Lost arcs much more tense.

And really all of the impactful deaths of the season sort of feel like that. Like: we get one episode to know Mina Bonteri(a human, of course) and her family before she’s killed off(though i did Dig how unceremonious and unsentimental it was; that really got across the stakes involved and the sorts of scumbags Amidala, and the audience, are dealing with). We get even less time with the Jedi killed by Oppress; a few seconds at most(and btw it’s kind of HILARIOUS how he just... bulls in there and wrecks em like it’s nothing, after two seasons of ep after ep of uneventful cat-and-mouse. Of course that’s undermined by him&Ventriss, then, utterly failing to be successful against Dooku, purely because the plot demands it |:T) Same with Master Piell. Ziro we know much better, but he was also a fairly annoying caricature and his final eps went out of their way to use him to introduce EVEN MORE annoying caricatures so, while his getting gunned down is successful in showing violence and violent death as sudden, unsentimental, and pathetic rather than heroic and worthy, we dont really care. And that’s further undercut, pretty seriously, by his being a caricature; pathos is hard to pull off with an object of laughter/scorn as it risks just making their suffering funny to the audience(which... is the OPPOSITE of what you want to accomplish). This isnt helped by having the Jedi who find him basically shrugging at his death before racing into a Cool Fight. The “Force Wielders” in the Mortis arc suffer from the same problems(and also: Force Dualism&”The Chosen One” Talk: BLEAGH!). The only one of these they manage to get right, to me, is Kalifa’s death in Padawan Lost which, due to us getting more time to see her sitch and hear her&the other younglings talk about it, genuinely ends up having an emotional impact(if still feeling super-convenient and a bit improbable)((also I love the inclusion of a predator ep, even if they’re cheap dime-story predators)).

The same goes for all the non-death falls and endangerments. The corruption of the Mandalorian Prime Minister falls flat because we barely know him, and he’s never been portrayed as sympathetic or, for that matter, as anything other than a factotum. The only Pantoran we know in Sphere of Influence is Senator Chuchi, and more than half the episode is dedicated to the Prime Minister, his Son, and his(interchangeable) daughters(and we never see any of these characters again in the season); the ep comes off as nothing more than an excuse to reference Greedo(and Im annoyed by him speaking common all of a sudden. Who watching CW would have a problem with subtitles?).

BUT! They’re trying!! They’re moving in the right direction!!! I’m happy about this ^v^ And the later half of the season, while I have my problems with certain episodes, and the continued non-human stereotypes, and the convenient writing, and the not-great(tho getting better!) dialogue, is actually kind of entertaining, and attention-bearing. Arc Troopers, the 2nd ep of the season, is Solid! The Mortis arc is good, overall! The Citadel and Padawan Lost arcs are Compelling!! I like the Witches of Dathomiir, even if their Arc is “Meh” because the series IMMEDIATELY undercuts their cool concept(aside from the laser-bows which are LEGITIMATELY Stupid. I’m sorry; I will not argue over this they’re Dum) by having their plans, and all the implication towards deep plots&cunning manipulation, turn out to be empty and fruitless(ie, Dooku totally should have been terribly wounded by all this, which would have also been cool re: Sidious, as it’d imply THAT WAS HIS PLAN ALL ALONG! TO WEAKEN THE GROWING POWER OF HIS APPRENTICE AND DRAG THE WAR OUT EVEN LONGER!!) Also: the Witches, rather than being “magic users” drawing from the “unique power” of their ~evil planet~(a swamp, of course, following long-established Magic the Gathering tradition u_u) should have just totally been a non-Sith(possibly Pre-Jedi) sect of Dark Side Force Users. I really like the idea of Non-Jedi/Non-Sith(since they’re literally just two sides of the SAME tradition; the Sith are literally Jedi Heretics) Force Traditions being out there in the galaxy, and this was a good chance to build on that which I felt they didnt do enough with, and hope they WILL do more with in future(I especially like the ideas of force-attuned poison? Like what if they could “poison” or “curse” people THROUGH the Force? That would be sweet as hell :3).

Another improvement is in the action in this season. It’s not at a level I’d call “thrilling” or anything, but it feels much less like stiff, rote, weightless FLUFF than it has in the two previous seasons. Frankly I think a lot of this is just their engine and how ppls joints just sort of SNAP into position during fights, and also the excessive acrobatics of the prequel-style, both of which makes it feel unnatural, predetermined, and performative rather than deadly and vital(like excessively practiced and robotically acted choreography, basically). But, having said that, you see ppl make mistakes, you see consequences FOR those mistakes, and thus there is SOME sense of danger and weight to it that makes it more compelling than it has been in the past, and this should be praised uwu

And I like that the Politics are a lot clearer and more forefronted in this season than previously! While the Corruption Arc on Mandalore did feel rather hollow, rushed, and After-School-Specially(and, I DEEPLY resent its peddling of offensive and baseless anti-Ophidian tropes >:( ), it’s core message abt the dangers of profiteering and the corrupting influence of profit-seeking(ie Capitalism) on politics and society is a good one and clearly delivered. The Amidala episodes in this season Knock it out of the park consistently, and especially on their messaging ^v^ ^v^ Also, I DIDNT MIND the very fillery C3PO and R2 ep! Yes: it was essentially a waste of an episode since Bane was working for the Hutts to spring Ziro in s1′s Hostage Crisis & there’s basically NO WAY they wouldnt have been able to provide him with a set of plans for the Senate building(and the prison, for that matter), but WHATEVER: it was Kind Of Fun and I like seeing those two be an old bickering married couple and C3PO freak out over getting praised; IT WAS FINE!

So, while there werent any standout ep that I REALLY ENJOYED like Trespass in s1 and R2 Come Home in s2, and I very much didn’t like the 1st half of the season, I think I do have to concede that s3 is An Improvement, overall. I’m actually a bit excited over moving on to s4, given the upward trajectory this season ends on quality-wise owo

Oh: and the Ahsoka redesign? Neat uwu uwu(if untentionally Hilarious since they havent been changing her model over time so she just... grows three feet and bulks out in, like, a single night, presumably. Togruta Puberty must be HELL :p :p :p)

#Star Wars #SW: Clone Wars(2008) #Clone Wars s3 #Long Post #zA Opinions #zA Reviews #TV Shows #Summaries

[silverwings22]

Angel With A Shotgun: Chapter 28 Collection

Series warnings: Smut, language, Order 66, medical trauma, abuse, Canon typical violence

Chapter Warning: canon typical violence, racism, discussion of slavery

Translations: Suprisingly, no Mando'a this time.

Previous chapter: https://silverwings22.tumblr.com/post/670215410004672512/angel-with-a-shotgun-chapter-27-aliit

Next Chapter: https://silverwings22.tumblr.com/post/670219406641709056/angel-with-a-shotgun-chapter-29-the-burden-of-the

“Mando, your comm’s blinking.” Angel was sitting in the co-pilots seat, spinning it around in a circle casually. “It’s been blinking for days.”

“I know.”

“Aren’t you gonna look at the message? What if it’s important?”

“It’s from Greef Karga. It’s probably not.” He sat stiff as a statue in the pilots seat beside her, hands on his thighs.

“Who?” Angel twisted around again, shifting so she was draped sideways over the arms of the seat and her boots were barely an inch from kicking him when she spun in another rotation.

“Guild leader.” His helmet turned towards her.

“Oh. The one you told me you shot when you stole Grogu from the Imp on Nevarro?”

“Yeah.”

“Then let’s listen to it. If it’s something dumb, I’ll take care of it for you. He doesn’t know about me.”

Mando paused. “Why are you offering to get into more trouble for me?”

“You’re my brother now, right? I’ve done way harder stuff for my other brothers.”

“Like what?”

She grinned lopsidedly and started counting on her fingers. “Been cut open, exposed to highly addictive chemicals, been shot at by Geonosians, evacuated a heavy cruiser by bypassing chain of command, got my shoulder dislocated, been shot by one of my brothers at one point, took on Jabba the Hutt’s goons-”

“I get it. Fine, we’ll listen to it.” He flipped the comm and a dark-skinned man in a leather duster appeared on the holo.

Angel listened with interest as he talked about Imps on his planet, endangering and stifling his little town. “It could put you in good graces with your Guild… and get the heat off Grogus trail.”

“But he wants to use the kid as bait.”

“Yeah, that’s not happening.” She shrugged. “We might need some backup…. Lisha could stay on the ship with the kids, but even two Mandalorian’s aren’t equipped to handle a city full of Imps.”

“I know some people who might help. Cara Dune, on Sorgan. She’s a former Rebel Shock Trooper… and an Ugnaught on Arvala 7 that I met when I got the kid.” He mused. “They’d probably help.”

She nodded. “Not a bad idea. Let’s go get them. I think taking out Imps might be good therapy for me.” Her smile was a little dark. “I’m never going to forgive them for what they did to my brothers.”

He nodded. “You sure about it then?”

“Oh yeah. Fuck the Empire.”

Mando chuckled. “Then we’ll go to Sorgan first. Dune might take some convincing.”

She nodded thoughtfully. “Hopefully she doesn’t hate clones. Otherwise the ride to Nevarro’s gonna be real fucking awkward.”

Cara Dune was a tough, muscled mass of tattoos and green armor. They found her scrapping for cash in a tavern. “Ooh. That looks fun.” Angel mused thoughtfully.

“You’re classier than that, Angel.” Mando huffed.

“Pfft.” She set Koty and Grogu down in a couple chairs at a table and flagged down a barmaid to get them and Lisha some bone broth. Mando waved Cara over once she’d finished her fight and collected the bets.

“Nice to see you again, Mando. I see you got a couple friends finally.” Cara chuckled, eying Angel. “Missus?”

“Basically a sister.” Mando clarified. “Dune, this is Miss Lisha and Angel. Miss Lisha and Angel, Cara Dune.”

The two younger women shook hands. Cara was about two inches taller than Angel, Mando noted, but Angel had the presence to back up the cocky way she stood without bluster. “Nice to meet you.” Angel said mildly. “I heard you’re a vet.”

“Yeah.” Cara grinned and tugged her short sleeve up to show her tattoos. “You? You walk like a soldier.”

“Grand Army of the Republic.” Angel decided to throw the truth down like a gauntlet. Cara raised an eyebrow.

“Support?”

“Special commando.”

“Only clones were special commandos.”

“I know.”

Cara looked at Mando. “Whatever you want, no. I’m not dealing with clones. They betrayed the Old Republic, she’ll betray you too.”

“My brothers had control chips in their heads. Mine malfunctioned. I’m no traitor, and neither were they.” Angel said sharply. “We’re trying to protect a little green baby, and we need help. I thought you rebels were brave.”

“You got a smart mouth for a fucking copy.” Cara hissed. “I fought the Empire your brothers helped put in power.”

Lisha, ever the peacekeeper, tried to wiggle in the middle of the two puffed up warriors. “Let’s just talk about th-”

Angel straightened up, adjusting her weight to the balls of her feet. “Tell you what, Trooper. You and me, one on one with that fancy fight belt. If I win, you help us.”

“And if I win?” Cara smirked.

“Fifteen thousand credits. It’ll set you up however you want.” Angel shrugged. “I was saving for my own ship.”

“You’re on.”

Angel turned around and took her helmet off, setting it on the table. “Watch this for me, Koty.”

“Okay, Mama.” He smiled.

Lisha sighed. “Angel, dear…”

“I gotta do this, Lisha. It’s… an honor thing, at this point. Nobody talks about my family like that.” Angel walked out into the middle of the tavern with Cara, and they hooked themselves together with the spar belt.

Koty looked at Mando. “Mama’s mad.” He said plainly. “She’s gonna kick that lady’s butt.”

“I think you’re right, kid.” He chuckled, ruffling the boys hair and sitting down to watch the show.

Angel planted her feet as the plasma tie flickered to life. Cara was still smirking when the clone rocked her hips back and snatched her slightly off balance. That was all the opening Angel needed, going low and tackling Cara by the knees. Cara was startled, slamming into the ground on her back. Angel’s entire body twisted, throwing Cara onto her stomach. Her arms were wrenched behind her back.

“No way in hell.” Cara grunted. Angel brought her elbow down hard in the middle of Cara’s back, knocking the air out of her. Her beskar plated thighs trapped Cara’s hips to the ground and Angel leaned over, lips an inch from her ear.

“You’re strong, I’ll give you that Trooper. But my kid’s watching, and Mama don’t lose.” She pinned Cara’s legs with her own. “You give?”

“N-no way.” Cara hissed, shoving her knees under her and throwing Angel over her shoulder. Angel hissed when she landed on her back, but was getting her knees up as Cara dove, and caught the Rebel in the chest. Cara went tumbling left and Angel rolled after, this time wrapping an arm around Cara’s neck and pulling her back into an arc.

“I’m starting to like you.” Angel chuckled, squeezing her bicep tightly. Cara’s face was quickly turning purple. “Come on, verd’ika, you can give in or you can black out.”

Cara gasped for air a second longer, fists pounding backwards into Angel’s plated thigh. She only succeeded it making her hand ache right to the bone as the clone laughed in her ear. Finally, she had no choice but to smack the belt, signally she’d lost and gave up.

Angel let her go with a smile. “That was pretty good. You’ll definitely be good in a fight.”

Cara coughed. “Not bad yourself… Didn’t think you guys could fight like that…”

“Well, I grew up a little different than my brothers. I’ll show you my tattoos on the Razor Crest. Go get your shit and we’ll get moving.” Angel held out a hand, and Cara blinked before shaking it with a faint smile.

“I guess you’re not so bad, Angel…”

“Gar.” Angel chuckled.

“So… the little one over there is your kid?” Cara mused, following her back to the table.

“Yup. His name’s Koty, and he will ask you to tell him everything about the Rebellion and if you’ve met his uncles Obi-wan and Cody.”

“Those names sound vaguely familiar, actually.” Cara chuckled. “But I don’t know them personally.”

“Neither does he. They went running with the Rebellion right before he was born.”

“How come you didn’t join up?”

Angel plopped down in the seat beside her son and lightly pinched his cheek fondly. “Would you think less of me if I said it was because of a man? This one’s dad, to be specific.”

Cara chuckled. “Not a fighter?”

“Very much a fighter. He was a bounty hunter, and didn’t want to pick sides. So I offered only what I could from Tattooine to Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa, and stayed with him. He was all I had before Koty was born.”

Koty crawled into his mom’s lap and smiled. “Hi, Miss. Are you our friend now?”

Cara chuckled. “Yeah, I think I can be friendly. I’m Cara.”

“I’m Koty.” The boy giggled.

Cara looked at Mando. “Alright… what are we doing?”

“This place looks like back on Tattooine.” Koty cooed from his mother’s hip. They’d stepped off the Razor Crest onto Arvala 7, following Mandos lead to his Ugnaught friend.

“Yeah. You thirsty, baby?” Angel pulled her canteen up and let him take a drink, wiping his chin with her glove. “We’re gonna go see ba'vodu Mando’s friend…. What’s this guy's name, Mando?”

“I… have no idea.” Mando shuffled a little uneasily.

“You want to go ask the man to put his life in danger and you don’t know his name?” Lisha frowned, carrying Grogu in a sling on her back. He was less wiggly than Koty, and she liked doting on him just as much as the miniature Mandalorian.

“You guys don’t know mine.”

“That’s Creed.” Angel shrugged. “You just never asked him, did you?”

“... no. I didn’t.”

“You, Mando, would have gotten along with by brother Rex really well. He was also a chaotic dumbass that fooled everyone into thinking he was a brilliant and competent warrior.” Angel smirked.

“Shut up.”

“Make me.”

“You two really do bicker like siblings.” Cara laughed. This trip had actually been entertaining, despite her original misgivings. Angel was witty and snarky, and seeing her get under the stoic man's skin was hilarious.

Angel chuckled. “What can I say? Once a little sister, always a little sister. But I think I’m older than Mando, so…”

Koty looked at Angel. “Can I have a little sister?”

Her heart clenched tight at the innocent question. How did she explain to a four year old that there would never be anyone in the galaxy she’d want to have a baby with but his father, and that the man was gone forever? She deflected the immediate pain with a smile. “You’re getting big enough it takes two arms to hold you. Where would I put her?”

He frowned, thinking hard about this new concern as they approached the scrap shop and tent that was the Ugnaughts home. The little pink skinned creature invited them in immediately, pleased to see Grogu and even more pleased with Koty’s cheerful greetings.

Mando laid out the problem at hand as Angel sat on a crate with her boy and checked on Lisha. “You okay? If he’s getting heavy we can put him in Mando’s bag, he naps in there all the time…”

Lisha chuckled. “He’s the size of a cabbage, he’s fine. Aren’t you, little one?”

Grogu cooed eagerly, ears pricking at the mechanical clanging of a droid walking up with a tea tray.

Mando’s reaction was sudden and violent, his blaster whipping out to face the droid. Angel froze, curling over Lisha and the kids as she waited for a fight or explanation.

The Ugnaught ran over. “Stop, stop. The droid is no longer a hunter, I reprogrammed it.”

“It tried to kill the kid, I don’t want it near him.”

“It does not hunt. It serves now.” The Ugnaught protested.

“Easy, Mando.” Angel murmured. “It is carrying a tea tray.” Mando growled through his vocoder. The Ugnaught nodded, and slowly his blaster lowered and made its way back into his holster. Angel set Koty down between Lisha and Cara. “Sit tight. Mando, let’s take this outside.” She all but dragged her shining companion by his cuirass and the scrapper followed behind, out to the edge of the blurg corral. “Alright. Let’s talk this out, gentlemen.”

Mando looked over. “Ugnaught, I-”

“My name is Kuiil.” He said firmly.

Mando sighed. “Kuiil. I just need help. The kids in danger, and I’m not using him as live bait…”

“Do you trust me, Mandalorian?”

“From what I know, yes.”

Kuiil looked at Angel. “And you, ma’am?”

Angel’s fingers drifted across her crystal thoughtfully. “Yes. You’re trustworthy, and you care about the child’s well-being….” her eyes sharpened a little and she pulled her helmet off to look Kuiil in the face. “You were a slave… weren’t you?”

“Very perceptive. How did you know?” He nodded.

“I… just know stuff, sometimes. I’ve been a slave, and lost my brothers to the Empire’s same cruelty.”

“Then you understand. I am not a fighter, but I can craft things. The droid can protect the children.”

“I don’t-” Mando started.

“If you trust me, you will trust my work. I have spoken.” Kuiil chuckled.

Mando sighed. “I hate this.”

“Welcome to negotiating.” Angel smiled and patted his pauldron. “It’s fine. If the droid is a danger… well, let’s just say my family is really good at spin-kicking droids to scrap.”

Kuiil chuckled. “The blurgs will come too. I have spoken.” He walked off to get them ready.

Angel blinked. “Oh kriff… they’re gonna be in the cargo hold with me and Koty, aren’t they?”

“Welcome to negotiating.” Mando smirked under his helmet.

#boba fett #boba fett smut #medical trauma #mando smut #din djarin #ptsd #original character #explict #eventual smut

[jasonfry]

Author’s Notes: The Secret Academy, Pt. 1

WARNING: These notes will completely spoil Servants of the Empire: The Secret Academy. Haven’t read it? Stop and go here.

(Go here for notes for Edge of the Galaxy, here for Rebel in the Ranks and here for Imperial Justice. )

Part 1: Zare

Imperial Justice was torture to write, but The Secret Academy was actually fun! Final chapters are like that ... if you’ve put in the work. I’d spent three books establishing the characters and their motivations, laid the groundwork for the themes I wanted to explore, and then layered in complications and reversals. The fourth book was the chance to make all that pay off, and I enjoyed doing it.

Rather than alternate chapters as I had in Imperial Justice, I split Zare Leonis’s and Merei Spanjaf’s stories and followed them one at a time, without intercuts. I’d considered doing that in Imperial Justice, rejected the idea, but now thought it made sense.

I had a dopey reason for doing that, and a smart one.

The dopey reason: I was still annoyed at not being able to end Imperial Justice with Zare running into Beck Ollet inside the tower – a cliffhanger that had made me cackle happily. Splitting Zare and Merei’s stories would give me a second chance at that moment.

The smart reason: Imperial Justice had separated Zare and Merei and concluded with Merei’s discovery that Zare’s transfer to Arkanis wasn’t a reward but part of the Inquisitor’s plan. Taking away the intercuts was a way for the reader to feel a little bit of that separation and anxiety.

One challenge in The Secret Academy was unexpected. Story Group sent back my outline for Books 3 and 4 with a note that by the time Zare got to Arkanis, the Inquisitor would be dead, killed off in Rebels’ Season 1 finale. That would certainly change my story! I scrunched the books’ timeline a bit and was able to get the Inquisitor and Zare to briefly overlap on Arkanis, but that was the most I could compress things.

So I leaned into it. I reasoned that the Inquisitor’s offstage demise fit with an idea I’d been playing with – that Zare, for all his bravery and determination, also gets a bit lucky. In Imperial Justice, Zare decides he won’t follow another immoral order even it means he’ll never find Dhara, and is saved from dismissal when Oleg’s warehouse raid goes awry. The Inquisitor’s death would be another bit of luck, as his plan is to return to Arkanis and break Zare. I don’t think that undercuts Zare or his quest – one thing I like about Zare is he isn’t a Jedi, a veteran commando or some kind of superhero. He needs a little luck; most heroes do.

One idea I continued from Imperial Justice was Zare’s “shadow story” – a not too different tale in which Dhara was never kidnapped and Zare remained the loyal young Imperial officer he’d assumed he’d become. Arkanis essentially resets Zare’s cadet career and the shadow story culminates with the training exercise on Sirpar. Those scenes are some of my favorite in the book – they show Zare as a young officer who improvises intelligently, drives himself and his troops to accomplish unlikely goals, and earns those troops’ loyalty and affection. He’s come a long way from the kid impatiently killing time at AppSci.

But as in Imperial Justice, Zare eventually has to ask himself what he isn’t willing to do to find Dhara. In the previous book, being ordered to take children into protective custody is his breaking point; in this one it’s being ordered to murder a fellow cadet.

No aspect of The Secret Academy attracted more interest than the revelation that Brendol Hux’s Commandant’s Cadets are forerunners of the First Order stormtroopers overseen by Brendol’s son Armitage. The funny thing, to me, was that the connection with The Force Awakens came late and was a lucky break.

I’d known since Edge of the Galaxy that Dhara was being held in a mysterious tower on Arkanis, that Zare would try to get inside, and that Beck’s unexpected reappearance would ruin everything. From a storytelling point of view, the Commandant’s Cadets were merely the mechanism that would get Zare into that tower at the right time for the hammer to come down. 

But why did they exist? I was up against a problem that’s common in richly detailed fictional universes. I wanted the Cadets to have a purpose and be more than a generic bunch of Imperial “mean kids,” but if that purpose never affected any other Star Wars story, readers would know from the beginning that the Cadets had failed to achieve their goals.

In November 2014 I visited Lucasfilm for meetings about DK’s The Force Awakens – Incredible Cross-Sections and got a synopsis of the upcoming movie, accompanied by on-set photos. Finn’s origins reminded me of both clone troopers and the Jedi; a few minutes later, it struck me that General Hux was awfully young.  

Somewhere between those two thoughts I saw an opportunity: what if the plan to raise children as stormtroopers dated back to the Rebels era, and came from Hux’s father?

Story Group’s Pablo Hidalgo liked the idea and ran it up the chain. I braced myself for a reason the answer had to be “no.” When I got a “yes” instead, I wrote as fast as I could and then crossed my fingers.

The connection made sense within the Star Wars galaxy: the elder Hux had served alongside clones and Jedi during the Clone Wars, seen the deficiencies of the stormtroopers, and imagined a better way that drew on his wartime experience. That program began in secret and was taken up by his son to create the First Order’s soldiers.

It also solved my plot problem admirably and turned a weakness in The Secret Academy into a strength. Before the release of The Force Awakens the Hux connection would spur interest in the book; afterwards, new readers would see the Commandant’s Cadets as a real threat, because they’d know that Hux’s program had succeeded beyond his fondest dreams. 

Notes on Part 1:

The first scene was the original ending of Imperial Justice, but I decided I didn’t want to introduce a new planet that late, and preferred ending with Merei and Tepha wondering if they’d ever see Zare again. Moving it was an easy change, at least. 

I wanted Arkanis to be something new for Star Wars – a waterlogged world that I likened to what you’d find if you turned over a log. I also wanted the Academy and its surroundings to feel plucked out of a gloomy Gothic tale. A lot of things in The Secret Academy are pretty shameless goofs on a well-known Gothic novel and movie, in fact. 

it was a pain ensuring Zare’s cadet service fit the chronology of the first two Rebels seasons. The initial idea was that Rebel in the Ranks and Imperial Justice would cover a full academic year, with the top cadet earning a transfer to Arkanis for the next year. Chiron would back Zare, while Roddance supported Oleg. But I couldn’t figure out what to do with Zare and Merei over that second summer, and feared readers would get impatient that Zare wasn’t trying harder to rescue Dhara. Fortunately, Rebel in the Ranks had introduced the possibility of a midyear transfer – an offhand line that became critical once the Inquisitor’s death forced me to speed things up. But how to get Zare to Arkanis? The obvious answer was for Merei to slice a transfer into the system, but that struck me as a lazy, unconvincing solution. I got so lost in blind alleys that I missed the solution Story Group found: the transfer wasn’t a reward but an unexpected order from some Imperial. I realized that Imperial should be the Inquisitor: it was plausible, solved my chronology problem, let me have a confrontation with Zare on Arkanis and added to the story’s tension. Whew! 

Contrary to what’s stated here, the journey between Lothal and Arkanis isn’t a short one. That was my fault: I was working off the idea that Lothal was near Kessel, a bit of head-canon I’d gotten used to and so failed to vet. There was no reason to define that here; doing so led to an unforced error.

Note that Colonel Julyan challenges Zare with a question about grav-ball and leadership, as Sergeant Currahee did in Rebel in the Ranks. In the earlier book Zare ducked the question; now he gives Julyan a thoughtful answer that reflects his experiences.

Julyan’s lessons reference Legends material: Admiral Screed, General Romodi (before his appearance in Rogue One), the Order of the Terrible Glare and the Empire’s campaigns in the Western Reaches. Much of this was taken from The Essential Guide to Warfare and additional material written for it. It seemed ready-made for Julyan’s teaching and unlikely to confine future storytelling, so why not use it?

I invented the diplopod as a mount for Sarco Plank in The Weapon of a Jedi, only to see my beastie get subbed out in favor of the happabore, appearing as an Easter egg for The Force Awakens. I liked the critters, so I put them aside for some future project. The Secret Academy gave me an opportunity not just to use the diplopod but also to kill one in a gross way.  

I liked the bit where the Inquisitor invites Zare to come out of the weather and into the shelter of a stasis projector. In that context politeness seems decidedly menacing. 

Scaparus Port was fun to write – equal parts Treasure Island and some gloomy town out of Cthulhu, what with its salt-encrusted gloom and fisherfolk missing limbs and scarred by sucker marks. Arkanis is just a nasty place.

Scaparus was the right place to bring back the jogan fruit, or more specifically its scent, which makes Zare remember Beck Ollet’s orchards on Lothal. Scent unlocking memory is a theme throughout Servants of the Empire, working up to its critical role in the climax. Here, it’s a heartening renewal of the connection between Zare and Merei that suggests their break might not be final after all.

I never explicitly stated it, so I’ll leave it to Wookieepedia to work out the canonicity, but Gesaral Beta is supposed to be the planet where it rains razors of glass on Ania Solo in Dark Horse’s Legacy series.

I enjoyed writing the demented beach scene with Hux and the cadets debating how to raise nerfs. The sea monster is an homage to the great Jack Vance, who imagined a similar predator in Ports of Call. (If you’ve never read Vance, fix that posthaste!) Note that Zare’s reaction to the nerf’s death is quite different than the casual cruelty shown by the other cadets.

Sirpar was another attempt at a new setting. Its heavier-than-standard gravity is noted in Legends depictions of the planet; I added making the light so intense that the cadets had to take precautions against it. Light would vary dramatically from planet to planet, another Jack Vance idea I didn’t recall seeing in Star Wars. I decided to try it and liked the results. 

Note that the accident set to befall Penn Zarang will be dismissed as a “slight weapons malfunction.” I’m all for little nods like that as long as they don’t interrupt the story or distract a casual reader. 

Perhaps emboldened by my success tying the Commandant’s Cadets to The Force Awakens, I looked for an even stronger connection. Might Anya Razar and Captain Phasma be one and the same? I decided that was a dumb idea and never proposed it, but did suggest a scene with DDM-38 pushing a red-haired baby in some kind of space pram. Lucasfilm shot that down, and rightly so – less was more. There’s awesome fan art out there of a baby Hux in the arms of his creepy nanny droid, though. 

My original treatment had Zare, Chiron and Roddance all transferred to Arkanis as part of the “valedictorian” storyline. When that idea got abandoned I decided we’d explored that triangle sufficiently on Lothal, but did need to bring Chiron back for the finale. I liked dropping him into the middle of Zare’s dilemma about the Commandant’s Cadets as a tempting but dangerous lifeline. That was also a bit of misdirection: since Chiron can get into Area Null, he’s a potential route to Dhara that would let Zare escape having to kill Penn.

We’ll see Cass again in A New Hope, as an aide aboard the Death Star.

Next time: Speaking Bocce and the Case of the Missing Bounty Hunter. Right here!

#author's notes #star wars #servants of the empire #writing #storytelling

[iamjcalvarez]

Before audiences were introduced to the most notorious bounty hunter in the galaxy on-screen, BOBA FETT had a radically different color scheme that aligned him with the Galactic Empire. Hasbro’s “Prototype Armor” Action Figure gives fans a glimpse…

The first glimpses into exactly who Boba Fett was when the bounty hunter was featured in an animated segment of the largely lampooned and infamously hard to find Star Wars Holiday Special that aired in 1978. The purpose of the televised special was meant to appease the long wait between the initial release of Star Wars and its highly anticipated sequel The Empire Strike Back. Although it’s been retconned and ignored as part of actual “Star Wars” canon, it introduced the gunslinger…riding a dragon no less!

Before the prequel series revealed even more than we ever wanted to know about The Fetts at home (in the age of cloning, no less) Boba Fett was establishing a mystique for himself that would follow him right up to the character’s fully realized introduction in “Episode IV”. The bounty hunter’s origins immediately took on a near-mythic level! So many fans began to speculate about the man hiding behind the mask, especially when kids all around the country collected their eligible tokens to send away for the 3 ¾ Kenner action figure that fired a missile from its pack!

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on who you might ask) Kenner had to jettison the firing jetpack and limit the figure’s “special features”. It would seem that Boba Fett was definitely one of the characters in George Lucas’ Star Wars saga that would enjoy a narratively rich evolution that goes all the way to the drawing board as is evidenced in the BOBA FETT (Prototype Armor) Action Figure part of Hasbro’s STAR WARS The Black Series collection of 6” highly detailed and heavily articulated figures.

#gallery-0-5 { margin: auto; } #gallery-0-5 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 33%; } #gallery-0-5 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-0-5 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

Super-Trooper

The armor worn by Boba Fett was first suggested as a preliminary design meant for the Imperial Stormtroopers; a variation of the faceplate can be seen among the sketches workshopped for Star Wars: A New Hope. When the bounty hunter was taking shape for his inclusion as part of the drama developing as part of the backdrop for Episode IV he was interpreted as a type of “super stormtrooper”, an agent on the Imperial payroll that would be employed to hunt our heroes across the galaxy. Many of Ralph McQuarrie’s design influences were retained.

Keeping with the design style and palette of the stormtrooper garrison, it seemed appropriate that if Boba Fett was little more than an elite agent of the Empire at the time, he would follow the same suit. His initial armor, as vetted for the film’s screen test, was the mostly white version, that is interpreted for the Prototype Armor action figure; this was before the Mandalorian armor was given it’s more battle-hardened gunmetal grey with orange and blue highlights. The action figure does present the armor detail rather beautifully in this rawer form.

It’s very easy to see why the Mandalorian anti-hero has developed the following that he has through the years as part of the saga. We now have a fuller and richer context for the background of this character, and especially the instrumental role Fett plays in aspects of Star Wars lore such as The Clone Wars and the rise of the Empire. His “father” Jango Fett provided the template DNA material that leads to the creation of the Republic army; all of which traditionally wore white plated armor. It’s no surprise that Boba Fett’s prototype look was cast in ivory.

BOBA FETT (Prototype Armor) | STAR WARS The Black Series | available through retailers on Amazon $24.99

UnBoxing | BOBA FETT (Prototype Armor) Action Figure Before audiences were introduced to the most notorious bounty hunter in the galaxy on-screen, BOBA FETT had a radically different color scheme that aligned him with the Galactic Empire.

#Collectible #Featured #Star Wars #The Black Series

[swipestream]

In Search of a Galaxy Far, Far Away

The Disney revival of Star Wars has been riven with controversy and growing discontent. For every Rebels, there has been an Aftermath or three–and host of blogs, podcasts, and videos from fans searching for that lost feeling of a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Fortunately, in the frontiers of independent science fiction, a small band of authors have taken upon themselves the challenge of reviving the laser sword and droid adventures of the original trilogy in all new stories, new settings, and new innovations on the familiar formula. On the eve of the release of The Last Jedi, let’s take a look at two of the most recent novels to recapture a bit of that old Mos Eisley magic.

*     *     *      *      *

Fans looking for a mystical sword and planet adventure in the mold of A New Hope should try Isaac Hooke’s STAR WARRIOR. Like many indie/frontier science fiction stories, Star Warrior is a genre-blender, combining a roaring sword and planet adventure with elements of the litRPG genre and a even a dash of cyberpunk. Tane, a hydroponics farmer from a backwater planet, goes into town for nanotech augmentation. While there, he attracts the attention of an ancient extra-dimensional foe as well as the Volur, an order gifted with the ability to wield the Essence. Per the cover:

“Soon Tane finds himself on a frenzied flight across the galaxy with a woman who can warp the very fabric of spacetime, her bodyguard–who’d just as soon kill Tane than protect him–and a starship that calls him snarky pet names. He’s on the run not simply from the aliens but the whole damn human space navy.

“He only wished he knew why.”

LitRPGs mean character sheets, and Star Warrior‘s nanotech system has them in spades. Like many an RPG, the more Tane uses a skill, the more it levels up. Buying nanotech allows him to increase these skills, although Tane suspects the leveling system is a scam by the companies to make people buy more nanotech. After all, the first hit is free…The crawl of characters sheets during these segments is admittedly not to my taste, but the explosion of the litRPG genre over the past couple years shows that there is a market willing to embrace them. Fortunately, Isaac Hooke makes the crunch make sense in terms of the setting and the story, preventing the occasional digression into the stat sheets from grinding the plot to a halt.

Star Warrior also seamlessly melds Luke Skywalker’s Jedi journey with Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time. Tane steps into the journey of Rand al’Thor, complete with analogues to Aes Sedai, Warders, saidar/saidin, the Forsaken, and the Prophecies of the Dragon. Seamless is not an exaggeration, as the cosmology behind the two parts of the One Power conveniently map to the Light and Dark Sides of the Force. Furthermore, Tane’s journey takes him from a farm attacked by near-mythical aliens to an Essence reservoir of immense power that will reveal his destiny.  It’s Eye of the World dressed in the pulp/movie-serials space adventure of Star Wars, stripped of the bramble of viewpoint characters and the battle of the sexes that hampered the Wheel of Time. It helps that Thane’s personality is closer to the pulp mold than Rand al’Thor. And there are enough starfighters, droids, and aliens to please readers thirsty for more Star Wars.

*     *     *      *      *

For those who prefer a more militaristic take on the Star Wars formula, there’s Galaxy’s Edge, the breakout series of 2017 by Jason Anspach and Nick Cole. Released on a monthly basis, this saga of a spreading galactic civil war starts with GALAXY’S EDGE: LEGIONNAIRE and the Battle of Kublar. And in the words of Sergeant Chhun:

The galaxy is a dumpster fire. A hot, stinking, dumpster fire. And most days I don’t know if the legionnaires are putting out the flames, or fanning them into an inferno.

At Kublar, Sergeant Chhun gets his answer. As a member of the Legion, an elite fighting regiment that the Empire’s stormtroopers should have been, he is thrust into the mire of a peacekeeping mission alongside Victory Company. But when their cruiser Chiasm explodes overhead, what should have been an annoying milk run turns into a debacle of the likes of Black Hawk Down. Now, fighting every step of the way towards their eventual extraction, the skills of Sergeant Chhun and Victory Company are put to the test as an entire planet tries to wipe them out, spurred on by the meddling of rebels. And it is this spark that will soon blaze into civil war.

If Star Warrior patterns itself on A New Hope, Legionnaire is pure Clone Wars. Like the animated series, the troopers are a mix of numbers and nicknames, fighting for each other with all the grit and professionalism demanded from contemporary mil-sf portrayals. Meanwhile, the machinations of a corrupt and decadent government threaten to erase what the Legion has purchased with blood. If this is a familiar story to vets and history buffs, it is one played out on the headlines of the last fifteen years. When recounting the genesis of the series, Jason Anspach said, “Legionnaire was an idea I had after reading a soldier’s memoir recounting his time fighting house-to-house in Fallujah. I thought, what if I wrote a book like this, only put in a Star Wars-like future? And so, Legionnaire was born.” The result, as one reader put it, is “a work of military science fiction so detailed you can feel the equipment and choke on the dust.”

The fires of the Battle of Kublar forge iron bonds between the survivors that get tested time and again as, each in their own way, they fight to prevent the slide into disillusionment and chaos. And when the Legion splits in the civil war, those siding with the usurping forces do so in an attempt to force the Legion to return to the ways that once brought it glory. This adds a welcome touch of moral complexity to the ensuing war that Star Wars lacks..

Later books will expand into smugglers vs. bounty hunters and intrigue, but the heart of Galaxy’s Edge is the remnant of Victory Company and the Legion.

*     *     *      *      *

Star Warrior and Galaxy’s Edge: Legionnaire are only two of the current wave of homages in the spirit of Star Wars. If you enjoyed–or have written–others, feel free to leave a note in the comments.

In Search of a Galaxy Far, Far Away published first on http://ift.tt/2zdiasi

[clonesimpextra]

Every day I come onto SW social media and battle misinformation. Y’all. This is not Vet Clone lmao

I know y’all saw some misleading info on SWNN. It’s important to note that SWNN is an unofficial Star Wars news source who likely received a press pack from Hasbro about this and then summarised incorrectly.

For comparison, here’s the press release from another unofficial Star Wars news source, From 4-Lom to Zuckuss:

They clearly describe Appo here in relation to the Jedi Temple and Order 66, not Daiyu like SWNN did. Further, they provide this quote directly from Hasbro:

“STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES COMMANDER APPO figure, inspired by the character’s appearance in the STAR WARS: OBI-WAN KENOBI live-action series. A Clone Trooper in service to the Galactic Republic, Appo participated in several critical battles against the Separatists. He accompanied Anakin Skywalker to Coruscant’s Jedi Temple as part of Order 66.”

Again, nothing in the DIRECT QUOTE from Hasbro itself connecting Appo to Vet Clone. This was just a lack of double checking on SWNN’s part. Please don’t spread the misinformation!

#clone troopers #commander appo #black series

[mando-chicken]

War Dogs | Clones and Their Cats

“Hardcase has come up with a flawless plan to get their brother a gift. Kix isn’t so certain that it’ll be a good idea. Jesse just wants to see what sort of chaos he can encourage Hardcase to create.”

A fic focusing on our boys in the 501st in the ‘Clones and Their Cats’ universe. The basis is literally just what it says on the tin - some of the clones have cats (and some other pets too) - all these fics will largely focus on the clones and their animal companions. Not all chapters/works are in chronological order, this one is set just after the Citadel.

Other works in the series:

Cat Sitter

Tiny Spots

Read on AO3

Tag List:

@cxptain-rex​ @spaghetti-666​

“I still think this is a terrible idea.” Kix was doing his best to soothe the headache that was already threatening to rear its ugly head by massaging his temples, but the very thought of what Hardcase was suggesting was utter madness and would undoubtedly end in nothing but more stress for the already overtired medic. The fact that Jesse was actually agreeing with Hardcase’s mad scheme certainly wasn’t helping either.  

 Hardcase simply chuckled at his brother’s plight, grinning from ear to ear like his plan couldn’t possibly backfire and get all three of them into some serious trouble. “Ah c’mon Kix, you said it yourself, the poor guy is barely eating, won’t speak to anyone, and only sleeps when he drops from exhaustion,” the heavy gunner reminded him, his smile faltering slightly for the briefest of moments, “if he won’t let any of us in to help then maybe this little fella can help where we can’t.”  

 “Y’know, ‘Case does have a point. It’d take his mind off what happened for a little while at the very least, and you were the one to bring up the topic.” Jesse simply placed a hand on Kix’s shoulder, offering what he hoped was a reassuring smile, before leaning back into the waiting room chair.  

 Kix merely subjected his brother to a harsh stare, crossing his arms with a huff, “all I said was that animals were good for lowering stress, I never said that we should up and get one on a whim.” He was glad that the vet clinic was otherwise unoccupied – they'd thankfully chosen a quiet day when there were neither clients nor vode coming and going – he only pitied the receptionist who had been subjected to almost an hour of their back and forth arguments. Before he could continue to counter his brothers’ madness, the door to the adoption section of the clinic slid open, one of the resident veterinarians stepping through accompanied by a medium sized crate.  

 Hardcase leapt to his feet, energy radiating off him as he beamed up at the vet, “Is it all done? Is he ours?” 

 Dalthic simply laughed good-naturedly at his enthusiasm, holding out the crate for him, “He’s officially been registered to you,” she confirmed as the clone gingerly took the crate from her arms, “I know you said he was a gift for one of your brothers, and he doesn’t have a name yet, so feel free to drop in again soon and I’ll update his details for you.” 

 Hardcase seemed just about ready to run for the door and sprint back to the barracks, but Kix managed to keep a hold of him long enough for Jesse to confirm a few last questions. “You did it discreetly, yeah?” he asked, unable to stop his brow from crinkling slightly.  

 The doctor nodded, her expression becoming serious, “Of course, I’m well aware of the potential risks you’ll face if the GAR find out that he belongs to you, I’ve taken care of the details so that nothing can reveal that he is registered to clones, it just shows up like any other patient file.” She waited until they all breathed a collective sigh of relief before continuing, “however, we’ve only been able to adopt out Tookas to you boys since they can easily be hidden; this guy will not be quite so easy to hide, so if you do have any dramas feel free to bring him back and I’ll see if we can arrange something else.” 

 Kix knew that Dalthic was a friend to clones, he’d heard plenty of stories of her helping brothers adopt pets under the table, and she’d even helped Denal to adopt Torrent, the sweet kitten in the barracks next door to theirs, but it was reassuring to have her confirm it in person. “That’s great to hear, we’ll make sure he’s taken care of, ma’am.” 

 Apparently, that was as much talk as Hardcase could stomach, eager to get back with the newest member of their squad as he already began walking towards the door, “thanks again, Doc!” he shouted back, his signature grin firmly back in its rightful place.  She offered him a brief wave and then he was gone, already out into the bustling streets of Coruscant. Jesse tried to offer an apologetic smile on behalf of their rather excited brother, but the vet simply waved him off with a genuine smile of her own. “I’ll see you boys later,” she hummed, offering Kix and Jesse a nod in farewell.  

 The two brothers were quick to go after Hardcase, managing to weave their way through the lunchtime crowds with little difficulty. They caught up with him soon enough, and from there it was only a short walk back to base. With it being noon, most of their brothers were already in the mess, so there wasn’t anyone to stop them or to question the strange crate one of them was carrying through the barracks and soon enough they reached their destination.  

 It had been almost two weeks since the Citadel and Fives was not doing well. He had survived and managed to escape, yet it felt as though his very heart and soul had been abandoned on the platform alongside his missing batcher.  

 He hadn’t cried. There’d been no time for him to actually let down his guard enough to process what had happened until they had been safely whisked from the planet’s surface, and then he’d been swarmed by brothers trying to offer their support. They wanted to do right by him, to keep him surrounded by caring people at all times, yet he’d never found himself feeling lonelier. In truth he wasn’t sure he even wanted to stop feeling lonely. 

 The numbness was better than the agony that twisted through his chest every time he so much as glanced at Echo’s empty bunk. It was better than having his emotions raw and spilling over the threshold where the Captain and the rest of his vode could see it. It was better than accepting that his brother was no longer by his side where he’d promised to always be.  

 He was tempted to ignore the knocking someone was doing on the outside of the barracks. All of the other brothers were either training or in the mess hall, so whoever was knocking was obviously looking for him. Knowing that they’d likely just try and track him down later, Fives shouted for whoever was seeking access to enter, not bothering to glance up from the datapad he was looking over – and by looking over he meant staring mindlessly at the display while he allowed his thoughts to run rampant – he was, however, snapped from his trance when he heard something heavy being placed on the floor.  

 Rolling over onto his side, Fives regarded the three brothers who’d entered the barracks, taking note of their rather sheepish expressions. Hardcase was clearly anxious or excited about something, Jesse kept glancing between the aforementioned brother and Fives, and Kix looked as though he was half a second away from snapping at the other two troopers, or perhaps slapping them both upside the head.  

 “Well, are you going to tell him or not?” Kix crossed his arms over his chest, assuming his ‘irritated medic’ stance, which was usually enough to send most men running for the hills, “you geniuses came up with it, I’m not going to be dragged into it with you.”  

 Fives simply rose a questioning eyebrow while Jesse spluttered out an indignant sound, “Excuse me? This was Hardcase’s idea, I just encouraged him.”  

 Kix looked just about ready to argue the statement, but Fives was able to stop him from going any further by raising a hand. He’d already pulled himself up into a sitting position, allowing his legs to dangle freely from the edge of his bed as he frowned up at the three brothers gathered before him, “what do you guys need to tell me?” Hardcase was grinning and Fives was briefly worried by what sort of mania his brother had in store.  

 “Well, I saw something the other day and we-” Kix shot Hardcase a foul look, “I, thought you’d like to have it.” he finished, fingers itching to get on with it. When Fives didn’t say anything further, he continued, “but you need to, uh, close your eyes.” 

 Fives’ frown only deepened, he really wasn’t in the mood for any surprises – he was tired and just wanted to be left to himself – but he knew better than to try and argue with a brother as stubborn as Hardcase once he’d set his mind on something, and closed his eyes, albeit with a slightly defeated sigh. He heard the sound of the crate being opened, followed by something scrabbling against the smooth floor for purchase.  

 “Okay, okay, hold out your hands,” he could hear the energy in the other clone’s voice, followed slightly by a poorly concealed chuckle, probably from Jesse.  

 He held out his hands as instructed, suddenly wishing he’d been wearing his gloves, just in case. But to his surprise, what his hands met was warm and soft, and Fives suddenly jerked, eyes snapping open when he felt the thing move. “What the kriff–” looking up at him, whole body squirming with uncontained energy and excitement, was a small Ring Dog, and not just any dog, but a puppy. It was wriggling about, its rear end swaying from side to side from where Fives held it, dangling in mid-air as its tail wagged at about a mile a minute.  

 “Hardcase, where the hell did you find a puppy?” the ARC trooper near enough choked out, still reeling at the thought that his brothers had somehow not only managed to find a dog, but somehow also sneak it into the barracks. At his words the puppy made a soft bark, only growing more excited when Fives looked away from the other trooper and back at it again.  

 Hardcase himself looked to be absolutely beaming yet again, pleased that Fives had asked, “well, you see, I was out with Jesse and Kix the other day at Seventy Nine’s and we overheard one of the Guards talking about his pet Tooka, and that reminded me of Denal and how he has Torrent, and how happy she makes him, and then Kix mentioned something about pets helping to lower blood pressure, and then—”  

 “We adopted him from the vet clinic a little ways down from the Guard base.” Jesse suddenly said, cutting off whatever lengthy rambling Hardcase was about to spiral into, much to the aforementioned clone’s disappointment if his expression was any indicator. Fortunately, Jesse didn’t seem to be too worried by the glare being pointedly levelled at him.  

 “Yeah!” Hardcase quickly continued, “we thought that maybe ya could do with some company.” The longer Fives actually stared at Hardcase, the more he could see that, while excited, the trooper was rather nervous, his fingers twitching restlessly at his sides. Clearly, he was worried about what Fives would think of their ‘gift’, but before he could speak up Jesse once again chimed in.  

 “But hey, we’ve already disturbed you enough, we’ll just leave you to it.” Neither Kix nor Hardcase were able to argue, for Jesse grabbed both of their arms and began hastily dragging them out of the room.  

 Fives blanched for a moment, looking between his retreating brothers and the puppy still swaying in his hold, “wait, ‘Case, Jesse, what am I supposed to do with this thi—” he was cut off by the door to his quarters being abruptly closed as the other three clones made their escape. Still slightly stunned, it took him a moment to finally come back to his senses, gently placing the puppy down on the floor. Immediately it began to sniff at his feet and legs, occasionally making a pleased huffing noise, before looking back up at the ARC trooper with its big brown eyes.  

 The puppy just about reached Fives’ knees when stood, covered in a thin, oak-coloured fur, with several rings of chocolate brown wrapping around its legs and tail. A small blue collar hung around its neck, and Fives was quick to reach out and inspect it, turning it around in his hands to try and find if it had a name on its tag.  

 Finding no tag he was forced to assume that the dog had yet to be given a name. He recalled that Jesse and Hardcase had called it a ‘he’, and with a quick glance underneath the happy pup, he could confirm that it was indeed a male. He still had no idea if he’d be keeping the animal – clones weren’t exactly the sort of people who could keep pets – but he couldn’t just leave the poor thing nameless, regardless of whether he would be keeping it or not. He would have to speak to Echo, he had always been better at picking names than— 

 His face fell as a quiet voice inside reminded him that no, he wouldn’t be receiving any help from Echo. Not now, and not ever again.  

 With a sigh Fives dropped back onto his bunk, staring up at the bunk above as his thoughts quickly began to sink their talons into his mind, dragging him down into the deep abyss. He had no one to help him, Echo wasn’t there to grab his hand and pull him from drowning in the pitch-black waters of his inner thoughts. But someone else was.  

 Fives was jerked from his trance-like state by a cold nose nudging at his hand, followed briefly by several slobbery licks to his fingers when he still didn’t respond. He looked down to the puppy, meeting its eyes and watching as its expression exploded into joy the moment he did so, tail already back to wagging at its ridiculous speed.  

 “What can I do for you, dog?” he asked quietly, moving to run his fingers over the puppy’s head. The dog simply offered him a bark, attempting to lick his hand the moment he stopped his petting motions. “Why don’t you come up here?” Fives asked, patting at the top of the mattress to try and encourage it to join him. The moment he stopped the Ring Dog did just as he was asked, springing from the floor and landing on the bunk beside the clone, already shoving his head under Fives’ arms and trying to reach the ARC’s face to give him a good licking.  

 Fives wasn’t able to stop the laugh that suddenly escaped him, trying in vain to try and swat away the determined pup and save his face from slobber. A single lick to his chin was the closest the dog got, but he seemed to be satisfied with his efforts, plopping down on Fives’ chest and huffing in his face. “Stars, your breath stinks, dog,” he groaned, scrunching up his nose and trying to turn away. The dog merely wagged his tail again.  

 “You think that’s funny?” The dog simply wagged his tail faster. He had only a moment to brace himself before the puppy launched at him again, this time trying to lick at Fives’ ears. And for a long, blissful moment, the mourning ARC trooper is rendered a laughing, happy child.  

 The next morning, Rex is more than relieved to see Fives wandering around the base. He’s still not interacting with his brothers as much as usual, still a little withdrawn from his surrounds, but he’s not completely closed himself off, and for that, the Captain is willing to overlook the small puppy following around at Fives’ heels. If continuing to pretend he is completely oblivious to the animals ‘stealthily’ being acquired by members of the 501st means that his men have the chance to actually heal and have some sort of joy in their depressing lives, then it’s something he would happily do a thousand times over.  

#writing #star wars #the clone wars #fanfic #clone trooper kix #clone trooper hardcase #clone trooper jesse #arc trooper fives #arc trooper jesse #clones and their cats #pets #dogs #puppies