It was crowded in the dimly lit bar, a man dawning a pair of old goggles caked in decades of dirt and blood sat adjacent to a masked man- hiding underneath a Mandalorian helmet. Mandalorian was fidgeting uncontrollably as the goggled man calmly and gracefully glided his fingers across the screen of his datapad, the anxiety radiating off of the mandalorian was now getting on the goggled man’s nerves.
“There’s no need to be so jumpy,” adjusting the goggles as he softly tapped on his colleague’s helmet gently, “We’re safe here, Fidget.” Mandalorian, Fidget, tried his best to calm down. Upon seeing the goggled man’s reassuring smile, Fidget started to slowly calm himself.
“Why are we here again, Tech?” Fidget tilted his head quizzically, subconsciously bouncing his leg under the table; hoping that Tech wouldn’t notice. Tech had explained to Fidget that they were waiting for Tech’s “old crew” who had believed he was dead after he had plummeted from the sky right before their eyes. Upon mentioning this Fidget was brought back to the past, brought back to the time him and Tech had first met. The spectacle wearing man only remembered waking up in some dinky, dimly lit room; the smell of cinnamon and vanilla wafted through the warm air as he lay on the cot.
“Oh good,” a voice caused him to freeze in his spot, “I didn’t think you’d wake up, to be quite frank I didn’t think you were even still alive!” The Mandalorian man stood gleefully across the room from Tech. The clone looked at him and reached for his blaster which he forgot was lost during his fall.
“Who are you-” Tech groaned as he tried to get up. “Where are we?”
“Easy there,” Mandalorian tried to get the man to calm down, “I found you unconscious and bloody not too far away from my base- which is here.” Tech was confused as he looked Mandalorian up and down. The man before Tech didn’t seem like a threat. Mandalorian introduced himself as Fidget, a scrounger of sorts- a scrapper? Whatever he was, Tech was glad he wasn’t Imperial, he was taking care of him. Fidget was bouncing around the room left and right, trying to make Tech as comfortable as possible; getting the clone bandages, water, warm food, blankets, medicine- you name it. The clone was grateful but confused. This man had just met Tech, why was he helping him without questions.
“You… have a hideout on Eriadu?” Tech sounded flabbergasted and somewhat amazed. Fidget shrugged, he had many hideouts.
“I’m what you would call a drifter,” Fidget smiled, “A nomad of sorts.” Fidget took off his helmet to show that he meant no harm. Tech glanced over the man, as if he were scanning for any hostility, Fidget was just a normal guy. Sleek and short jet black hair, eyes as black as the void- with a hint of red if you look at them from a certain angle- his slim figure seemed to have caught the spectacled man’s eyes. Weeks went by after the two of them had met, Tech was slowly getting better and Fidget was slowly opening up. Tech had broken both of his legs during his fall, he was frustrated that he couldn’t be up and about like usual. Fidget did his best to help the clone with his recovery; things ranging from physical therapy, emotional support and being by his side.
“I have another hideout on Tatooine,” Fidget mentioned one day while he and Tech were cleaning the items that Fidget had brought back from his scavenging rounds- spare parts, some rations, scrap metal and somewhat salvageable medical supplies. “I have a bacta tank stored there, it can help speed up your recovery process.”
“Why are you doing this?” Tech looked up at his new friend who gave him a puzzled look, to be quite honest, Fidget didn’t know why he was helping a man he just met. The man shrugged in response to the clone’s question, it seemed like the two of them didn’t have any answers. Months had passed and the two had become close friends, Tech had made all the observations and notes he needed on Fidget. Something about that man was calming.
“Fidget?” Tech’s legs were finally fully healed, his sense of balance however was shit, “Why did you help me? You could’ve just left me.”
“You looked pretty banged up,” Fidget shrugged and leaned against the table, “Plus I’d rather help out a clone than imperial scum.”
A tap on his shoulder yanked Fidget out of his memories motioning to the group of men that wandered into the bar, his old teammates. Tech directed Fidge to stay seated while he went to greet his brothers. Fidget sat there, obedient yet his leg continued to bounce. As Tech got the attention of the 3 men who walked in, the mood in the bar had changed. The men stopped and their expressions looked as if they had seen a ghost, the larger of the men- his right eye was milky and the right side of his face scarred- lifted Tech by the collar and started yelling something in anger.
“WHO ARE YOU?!” the large man scowled. “WHY DO YOU LOOK LIKE TECH?!” Fidget saw the scene before him and he jumped in, trying to yank Tech from the large man’s grip, pounding his fists on the large man’s chest, which did nothing. One of the other men in the group, he donned a red bandana and half his face was tattooed- or scarred? Fidge didn’t know.- calms the large man. Tech remains calm, he fixes his goggles before turning his head to the bandana wearing man.
“Put him down, Wrecker,” the bandana man says calmly, “That is Tech.” The large man- Wrecker- stared at Tech in shock, everyone stared in shock. Fidget instantly clung onto Tech’s arm once he was set back on the ground like a lost puppy, once everyone had calmed down and took a seat at one of the booths. Everyone had so many questions for Tech, you’re alive? How did you survive? Who is that? Is he Imperial?
“Hunter,” Tech began as he readjusted his goggles, “Wrecker, Echo. This is Fidget.” The goggled clad man gestured to his friend who was hiding behind him. Tech sighed and stepped to the side so that his brothers could fully see the smaller man which gained a look of pity and sympathy. Hunter suggested that the 5 of them take a seat and discuss everything; anything from how Tech survived his fall, to how he met Fidget. From how he got here and how he escaped Eriadu. Tech answered all of them as if they weren’t important, sometimes flashing a few glances in Fidget’s direction since the small man had not said anything in a while. Tech still had yet to explain how he and Fidget had come to meet.
“Fidget,” Tech sighed as he placed a hand on the small man’s shoulder, Fidge jolting at the physical contact, “Why don’t you say something? Introduce yourself.” The Bad Batch had never seen this side of Tech. Tech wasn’t the kind to mention some information due to the fact that he thought that it was “obvious”. The men waited for a response, for the man to take his helmet off, for anything. The man in the beskar clad armor reached for his helmet but stopped before changing his mind.
“H-hello,” Fidget mumbled, his words coming out in a soft and mellow voice, “It’s nice to meet you.” The Batch just stared at the tiny mandalorian, his beskar was colored in mostly red and blue- the armor looked like it could use a good polishing. The Batch was genuinely curious about the mysterious man who had saved their brother, yet had their suspicions. The silence between the 5 men was suffocating until Wrecker broke the silence with booming laughter.
“HIM?!” The large man pointed at Fidget, “THAT’S THE SMALLEST MANDALORIAN I’VE EVER SEEN!” Placing a hand on his chest as he laughed, looking at his brothers to see if they would join in the teasing of the poor mandalorian. Fidget was visibly getting more and more irritated by the second; mixed with the amount of people, the horrible lighting, and the loud laughter coming from Wrecker the mandalorian could feel a sensory overload bubbling up. Fidget was now wobbling, trying to keep himself standing upright, Tech noticed and wrapped an arm around the mandalorian’s waist. Tech shot Fidget a quick and reassuring glance before looking back to his brothers.
Hours have passed after the introductions, by now everyone had become comfortable with each other, Fidget now knew of these four mens’ plight. Not only had they lost a brother and sister- and recently finding out a brother came back from the dead- the mandalorian vowed to help the clones.
“I’ll come with you,” Fidget peeped, gaining pensive stares from the men. Hunter, the clone with the red bandana and face tattoo, pulled Tech away to speak with him privately leaving Echo and Wrecker to keep watch on the mandalorian who just blinked at the two men. As Hunter spoke to Tech privately, Echo and Wrecker thought it would be fun to question the mandalorian themselves. Where are you from? Are there Imperials there? How did you end up in Eriadu? Why were you on Eriadu? Are you with Death Watch? In reality it was just Echo pouring out the questions while Wrecker just tried to swipe Fidget’s helmet off to see his face, only to get reprimanded by his brother.
“Tech,” Hunter spoke softly so the other three wouldn’t hear, “I understand this man is your friend-”
“He saved me, Hunter,” Tech corrected his brother, “He is my savior.” Hunter could not believe the words coming from Tech’s mouth
“Okay, but we don’t know him, we don’t trust him.”
“I can assure you, the mandalorian is no threat.” The spectacled man glanced back at the three men, seeing Wrecker was poking the two antennae on the Fidget’s helmet. “He is more afraid of you than you are of him.” Tech began to explain what the mandalorian had gone through, when Fidget was lost in the middle of nowhere as a child it was a rogue clone who saved him. This clone cared for Fidget like a father cares for his child. When the Republic fell and deserters were being hunted down it was Fidge who witnessed this rogue clone be executed by his own brothers in the most brutal way. He ran before they could spot him, taking the clone’s MKII shuttle in his escape, tears streaming from his eyes.
“He will not harm us,” Tech finished, “He trusts me, and I trust him. That’s all that’s important.” Hunter sighed and glanced over his brother’s shoulder, his attention on the little mandalorian. He couldn’t help but cave in.
“He’s in.” Was all Hunter breathed.
yousharknotpass
vaporwave
baratheonpilled
kaledo-art
areudirty
tangentwithtanner
stormborns
