I know people want a clone rebellion show showcasing the clones and how they start the uprising and free their brothers from the Empire and how they chose to live a normal life or fight in the rebellion. I want that too don't get me wrong.
BUT
I think the creators are holding out on it for a reason.
That would be the most gut-renching, soul sucking, heartbreaking, trauma inducing show in the existence of Star wars lore imaginable! For by the time we get to a New Hope, or heck, Return of the Jedi, we only know of two clones still alive, Rex and Wolfe, and that's a big assumption too, assuming that Wolfe lives into the last movie and that also goes for the Bad Batch and Omega.
In the clone rebellion show, we would watch our clones fight for each other, free each other, and have hope of a better future, but somehow and somewhere along the line, we would watch them face a near oblitrrating extinction, forcing the very FEW survivors to go into hiding. We would find new favorites and watch them die, we would find some old favorites and watch them die, we would watch them get gunned down and wiped out execution style for desertion. And we have seen only a few of these happen on a very small scale in the shows before.
Can you imagine watching that on a much larger scale? We would essentially be watching the death of the Jedi all over again but with clones. The very clones that half the fandom roots for and draws art of and write stories for.
They would all die.
So anyway those were my random thoughts 😁👍 time to draw some silly characters!
Through the time portal they emerged in the back rooms of the bar with their cart of instruments and synths when Tore took in a deep breath and started coughing. “I was goin to make a joke-” he coughed more.
“-but it smells like tears, stale drink, and hanky-panky.” Nara finished with a grimace. “I hope they cleaned the freshers at least.”
They were already wearing most of their outfits so all they had to do was set up and do a sound check, which went smoothly. And once they were done, Nara went to check the fresher and she was surprised at how clean and decorated it was. While she was gone, the kid who ran into Tore, a young adult female Tholothian who was probably just making her way in the world, approached Tore with starry-eyed wonder. “Wow! You did not waste time!”
Tore turned towards her with his friendly smile but quickly looked away once he saw what outfit she was wearing. It was rather revealing and he instantly became uncomfortable. “Yeah! It was no problem!” He rubbed the back of his neck as he took a shy step back once he saw that she was inching closer.
Oh crap.
Here's the thing about Tore. If you ask him, he will say that he is attracted to women, but he would never be in a romantic relationship or have relations with a woman. He has his personal reasons for this decision that a rare few know about. So, in a situation like this, he's uncomfortable when women are dressed in such a fashion.
The girl played with her outfit with one hand as she slowly approached him: a smooth black and red ankle length skirt with leg slits going up to her hips, a corset and fishnets exposing most of her breasts, and an ornamental gothic style head piece going around her head and red draping beads around her fleshy tendrils. “I don't know how I can repay you for helping out on such short notice!” She sounded sincere, but it also sounded like she was hoping for more.
Tore tugged on the collar of his shirt while still looking away. “Weeeell the agreed upon payment is good enough for me!”
The girl pulled out a bottle of liquor from behind her back and presented it to him. “Can I interest you in a drink?”
Nara! Help!
Tore held up both hands and smiled awkwardly. “Look, I appreciate the offer lass, but I'm not interested. I only wanted to help.”
The girl's smile grew a bit more seductive as she stepped closer. “Oh you don't need to worry! It's just a drink!”
“Girly, listen.” The girl jumped back as Nara appeared back on stage with a very controlled neutral expression. “I know you want to show him your appreciation,” Nara walked over to them, “but he's not interested and he politely declined your offer. There will be other men here tonight who could satiate your appetite.”
The girl pouted. “Your brother is just being shy.”
“He's not my brother.” Nara smirked as she rested an arm on Tore's shoulder with her other hand on her hip.
The girl blushed really hard. “O-oh! I did-didn’t mean- I didn't know!”
Tore interrupted the girl as he poked Nara in her ribs. “We're not romantically involved either.”
Now the girl looked confused as she searched their faces. “That. Doesn't make sense.”
Tore and Nara gave each other a knowing look and chuckled. “We're just friends.”
The girl looked between them skeptically. “No one is just friends for friends sake nowadays.”
“Well,” Tore began, still facing Nara, “You're lookin at a couple of oddballs then!”
The girl held the bottle out closer to Tore. “Well, if you two are not involved, then what's the harm?”
Tore began fidgeting. “No thank you lass.”
Nara considered the bottle thoughtfully and asked to look at it, which the girl hesitantly allowed. Nara turned the bottle in her hand as she and Tore looked at it and spoke in a strange tongue together. Then Nara said, “Seeing how you wont listen to my partner or myself, maybe you'll listen to this: He's not interested. You can find someone else to woo.” Then Nara took out a knife from somewhere in her skirt and cut the neck of the bottle cleanly off as if it was soft butter, then handed the top part to the girl as she put her knife away.
The girl felt her stomach knott up from fright and indignation as she stared at the severed piece in her hands. How dare this woman do this! That bottle wasn't cheap! But the cut was perfectly smooth. And why is she speaking on his behalf? All she wanted to do was talk and maybe get tipsy to where she could have him alone. What was wrong with that? All the girls talked about it! And why not with a band member? She could get in a few shows for free! She looked back up at the woman in front of her, comebacks and insults ready to go, until they locked eyes and her resolve melted. Nara’s eyes were somehow glowing gold under her hat, her face and posture warning the younger girl from speaking of the subject again. How was that happening?!
“Word of advice, girly, seeing how you're still young and seemingly inexperienced: when someone says no, take it, and leave.” Nara handed the bottle back to the girl and the latter quickly scurried away, though not before calling out, “I only date tall guys anyway!”
“Heard that one before!” Tore yelled back. “I'm only 5’6”!”
“I think some woman called you a short king once.” Nara said as she adjusted her skirt. “Hopefully she'll learn not to be pushy and respond well to rejection. Are you sure you want to do this show?” She turned back to her friend with concern in her eyes.
Tore shuddered as he rested his head on his partner's shoulder. “I already said I would and I'm committed at this point.” He glanced up at her. “What about you?”
Nara pulled Tore into a hug. “I have your back.”
He returned the firm embrace. “And I have yours.”
Nara snickered. "Looks like you were flirted with first!"
Tore groaned. "Dang it! The bingo card war begins!"
Back again with another Random Baking Thoughts about the Bad Batch and on today's episode
Height(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*.✧
I was doing maintenance on the proofer today and I got the idea to measure everything about it. The panels, the racks, the room, the door and the entire machine and this is what I've found
The inside panels are 4'2" which roughly where Omega is in season one
The outside panel is 5'11" where Hunter is and with both of these panels being these heights, it's kind of funny and cute in my head that Hunter and Omega can't be separated. Even in objects
The racks behind the panels are 5'10.5" which was what Tech's new height was? Kind of?
No one cares about that
ANYWAY
If we go by the old information though of Tech and Crosshair being the same height of 6'4" then their heads would touch the ceiling inside of the proofer
And poor Wrecker would have to stoop to get into the proofer at all
Summary: Novali wakes up on the Marauder after Crosshair kidnaps her and tries to escape but becomes incapacitated due to amplified side effects of being stunned, which turns out to be dizziness and nausea
Word count: 3,426
Warnings: distress from being kidnapped, throwing up, medical things like needles and heart palpitations
Did I skip day two? Yes, because I was exhausted🥳
Her vitals are stable now," spoke a male voice. Novali grimaced in her sleep.
Who was that? The voice sounded like it was coming from her left side.
"I think she's waking up." Spoke another yet female voice.
Who is that??
"It's about time," spoke yet another male. "She's been out of it for three hours."
That one sounded way too familiar.
Novali stretched out her senses and found that she was not at home. But she was in something that was moving. And in pain. Everything stung but the one man said something about vitals. A small flex in her arms indicated that she had a needle and with the rise and fall of her chest, she could feel stickers of a heart monitor. And electric pulses around her heart.
"That's because she went into cardiac arrest when you stunned her-" spoke the first voice. Novali suddenly remembered the man who broke into her apartment and attacked her.
That third guy was the one.
Her heart rate shot up.
I've been kidnapped!!
She scrambled away from the group to her right side and found a wall. She was in a bunk of sorts which only added to her panic. In the room she saw through the bunk opening was a wall that had a weapons rack, a man with goggles and a data pad, a young girl with blond hair, and the armored legs of her attacker. She gasped as her heart fluttered from the sudden movement, but mostly from the fact that these were the same people who were at the restaurant earlier that day asking her about singing. Did they seriously not take no for an answer? What was going to happen to her? How was she going to get home? What about her family? She placed one hand over her heart out of reflex and found that her shirt had been cut open and her tank top rolled up. A sudden rage took hold of her.
"Miss Penske!" The goggled one said. He looked worried. "You need to calm down for your heart's sake."
Not as long as I'm trapped it won't be! She thought. She began to yank off the cords to the heart monitor stickers, and the needle in her arm prompting the goggled man to reach for her hands.
"Leave those alone! Those are very important to -Ack!" Novali launched herself at the man with a yell thanks to the wall while armed with her needle. The man and the girl dodged out of the way so that she landed with a thud on the metal floor but quickly scrambled up to dodge the goggled one. "Omega stand back!" He ordered the girl, who quickly backed up looking just as worried.
Novali did a quick scan while pulling down her tank top and saw a door just beyond the man who kidnapped her and she saw that it was the unhappy one who stood at the ready and was scowling at her. Screw you! She yelled in her head as she glared back. The goggled one yanked the needle out of her hand by the cord and she ran between the seat and the monitor only to be blocked off by the scowling one. She took this opportunity to run into him while yelling, despite the fact that he was wearing armor, and slammed them both against the other wall. She realized why one doesn't run into an armored person. The impact left her dizzy and bruised, unfortunately, as she stumbled away from him and the door, only for him to catch her wrist.
"You seriously tried that again?!" He snapped at her. Novali grunted as she tried pulling away from him, then started pulling herself more in a circle towards the door in her effort to escape. The unhappy scowly one saw what she was doing and immediately grabbed her arm with his other hand and yanked her towards himself as she yelped. "Don't you dare try to open that door!" He grabbed her other forearm to try to hold her in place as she continued to push and pull against him.
“Let go of me!” Novali tried to remember what her brother-in-law had taught her if this situation ever occurred, and the only thing that came to mind was knees. She tried to kick his left knee, but he dodge it and quickly unbalanced her with his own leg. Novali nearly fell backwards, but the scowling one managed to have her spun around and placed her in a choke hold.
That's when the nausea suddenly hit her and her knees buckled, and the man had to hold her up with his other arm wrapped around her. All her strength was leaving her limbs to focus on her organs, but she didn't want to give up fighting yet. She had to get away! She tried to stand up with a growl as she continued to fight to pull herself free, but someone came from behind them and stabbed her with another needle, causing her to yell in pain. Her heart started doing more jumps as the nausea and spinning grew way worse, causing her to go limp in the man's arms, her legs no longer wanting to support her body. She shut her eyes tightly to keep the spinning to a minimum and clung to his arms with whatever strength she had left and started to gasp for air as the fluttering grew worse.
"Lay her down quickly! We need to stabilize her heart!" The goggled one commanded, his voice sounding far away and yet very close at the same time.
Novali felt herself being lowered to the floor. NONONONO! With one final effort and scream she fought to free herself with more pulling and kicking.
"Wrecker!" The goggled one yelled urgently. "Help hold her legs down while I adjust the heart pulsers!"
"What's happening back here?!" Spoke a loud voice followed by equally loud feet that seemed to crash on the floor with every step.
Novali was at her wits end. She had to escape! Her heart was going to explode! She was going to throw up! She felt two massive hands hold down her legs with barley using any real strength. That sent her over the edge. "LET! ME! GO!" She screeched with tears falling down her cheeks.
"Crosshair, hold out her arm so that I can get to the pulsers without interference!" Novali felt her left arm being held away and she tried to fight it still, but it was futile. Her heart seemed to be running a marathon without her and her dizziness and her nausea grew all the worse and she feared she would die. Not yet!! She begged. I Don't want to die yet! Not by these people! She felt one hand press down on her chest forcibly to stop her wiggling and another to the pulsars that did some sort of adjustment before she heard it go to a data pad and do some clicking there. There was a strong electrical surge that caused her to gasp.
Her heart stopped.
Her strength was gone.
For a moment there was nothing.
No one breathed or moved.
The pulsers began a new beat that reactivated her heart to a slower pace than what it was. Novali took in quick breaths of relief as did everyone else. "Now I need you to breathe slowly, Miss Penske." The goggled one said more calmly but still very stern. "In through the mouth and out through the nose." She did as she was told and tried to breathe slowly, but her fear and tears were making it difficult, so it took several minutes but she started breathing normally again and her heart was now functioning properly, but unfortunately the dizziness and nausea still remained. The goggled one sighed in relief. "That's better. Now let's get your arm cleaned up before that becomes infected."
"Do I still need to hold her legs down Tech?" Wrecker asked.
"I'm not sure, that injection should still be amplifying the effects of being stunned thus leaving her incapacitated, but she has shown fierce resilience to it up until now."
I hate you. Novali thought.
"Here's the other medkit Tech." Spoke Omega who had watched the entire scene unfold from the corner of the shuttle. She was disturbed by the whole thing; from Crosshair kidnapping Novali, trying to stabilize her vitals, and watching her fight like a wild animal trapped in a cage while almost dying twice in the process. Now, she watched the young woman lying limp in her brother's arms and hands while another was cleaning her arm of blood.
"I think she's done fighting." Spoke Crosshair. He felt Novali's grip on his arm slack significantly when Tech restarted her heart, and now it was barely holding onto him. He loosened his arm around her shoulders but kept his hand on her just in case she was faking it. She opened her eyes slightly and tried to sit up, but the room and everyone in it was spinning like they were on a merry-go-round. She fell back down and covered her eyes with a sickly moan. He snickered. "Looks like she won't be trouble for a while."
I hate you more. More tears streamed down Novali's face.
"Well that's good!" Wrecker removed his hands from Novali's legs. "I hope she doesn't do that again. That was scary to listen to." He looked at Novali's face and saw how green and pale she was. Oh boy. That's never a good sign. He went to their storage and found a bucket of sorts and brought it back to set it next to Crosshair, who gave him a questioning look. "You'll thank me in a second." Then he went to his bunk to grab an extra blanket before sitting down in a chair by a monitor. Omega moved next to him and he saw how scared she was. She shouldn't have seen any of that. "Come here kid." He placed a hand on her and noticed it was eerily quiet in the ship. Crosshair, why did ya do this? We would've figured somethin out.
"That was more disturbing than anything else." Spoke another voice. Echo emerged from the cockpit to see what the end result of the fight he and Hunter had listened to. He found Novali on the ground being restrained by Crosshair and cleaned up by Tech with Omega looking disturbed and Wrecker looking worried. It really did sound like Crosshair and Tech were wrestling a wild animal and finally got it sedated, but it was a person and not an animal. A person who was sweet and kind towards them at the restaurant and made people smile or laugh with her theatrics when handing out food and laughed at herself whenever she tripped or caught falling food, a person who was singing out number orders and singing to the music in the store. She now laid half on the ground and half on Crosshair looking exhausted, sick, and scared out of her mind after fighting, yelling, and screaming for her life. Very opposite of what they saw earlier that day. Though, he would probably be more concerned if she hadn't acted that way.
"I agree." Hunter emerged after Echo. "Though I can't say it wasn't an appropriate reaction, considering the circumstances." He glared at Crosshair.
Before Crosshair could say anything, Novali suddenly lurched to the side where the bucket was and threw up. Everyone was glad that she didn't miss, including herself. Thank you Wrecker for this bucket. She thought. Then the smell hit her nose. Oh that's gross! Oh that's gross. She opened her eyes slightly and saw her lunch spinning in the bucket. There goes that. Holy crap What in the world did you inject me with sir?! She groaned as another wave of nausea hit her and she threw up more.
"At least the injection is working." Tech said as he moved away from her. "She'll be like this for an hour or so." He looked around the ground and saw blood splatters here and there. He shook his head. Time to disinfect the haul.
"Move outa the way Crosshair!" Wrecker shoved his brother aside and draped the blanket across the woman's back. "Just let it all out." He told her. "No good holding it in. Unless you want to explode." At that Novali chuckled slightly before she laid her arms across the bucket and rested her head on her arms.
Omega tentatively came to the woman's side and gently placed a hand on her back. The woman froze. "It's all right." Omega said. "We're not going to hurt you."
Novali bitterly spat in the bucket. "Why am I here then!?" She cried out weakly. Someone better give a kriffing good explanation!
"That is an excellent question." Echo crossed his arm and scomp with a hard look at Crosshair. "Why is she here Crosshair?"
Crosshair pulled out a toothpick and spoke matter of factly. "We needed a singer for this job and we happened to find one in the first place we stopped at. Why let this opportunity slip away when we have very little time to waste to go looking?" He leaned back against the ship acting as if he had done nothing wrong.
"I. Said. No!" Novali panted in the bucket, trying to fight another wave of nausea.
"Too late now." Crosshair shrugged his shoulders.
Hunter pinches his nose. "Crosshair!" He drew out his brother's name. "I thought we agreed to not ask anyone to help us."
"You saw the layout of that place," Crosshair pulled out his toothpick and pointed it at Hunter. "We can't get near that room without someone in it. And the only ones who go back there are the favorite singers."
"I'm not that great of a singer." Novali commented, hoping to deter them from using her.
Tech turned back from his cleaning. "You are not a professional, that is true, but from how you sang, projected your voice, stayed in tune and in time with the music, and acted, I perceive you did have vocal training in your life and that is something that we can work with."
Novali lifted her head slightly and glared at Tech. "You're not helping!" She pointed her finger at him before laying her head back down to throw up more.
"I'm merely stating the obvious." Tech shrugged and went back to cleaning.
"So, you had some training in singing?" Hunter asked her. She gave him a thumbs up. "How long?"
That's a good question. She paused. How long has it been? Novali began counting on her fingers as she recalled her time in school and ended at nine and wiggled her hands to indicate that she was done counting.
"Nine years?" Echo asked. Another thumbs up. Things were starting to look more favorable for them, unfortunately. Echo rubbed his neck. "Did you perform any?"
Novali reluctantly nodded her head. Stop asking me questions! Her stomach tried to eject more food, but all she ended up doing was gagging and coughing.
"Here, Let's dump this out." Wrecker said. He bent down to retrieve the bucket, much to Novali's dismay. She clung to it weakly, afraid of letting it go in case she was going to throw up again. She didn't want to throw up on the floor. "Don't worry I'll be quick." He pulled it away and went to the fresher to dump it. Novali wiped her face with the blanket before folding over into the fetal position, showcasing how small she could be when curled up. She looked almost as small as Omega, who was still next to her.
"Just don't spill that, Wrecker." Tech said from the bunks. "I don't want to have another mess to clean up."
Hunter snorted. "If he does, then Crosshair can clean it." At that Crosshair flung his toothpick at Hunter who dodged out of the way.
Echo grew worried as he saw how Novali was shaking. "Tech, do we have anything to help her nausea?"
Tech shook his head. "She just needs to wait it out."
"You said an hour right?" Hunter asked.
"That is correct." Tech answered.
"That'll be enough time for her to decide then." Hunter said. Wrecker came back with the now empty bucket and set it down next to the young woman.
"Decide?" Novali asked from being hunched over. She dreaded what was about to be said.
Hunter scratched his head. He didn't approve of what Crosshair did but everything was looking favorable for their squad to achieve this next mission. "You have the training needed to help us with this mission that would otherwise be difficult for us to achieve on our own. You would be paid for your help if that is incentive enough."
Novali laughed bitterly. "I don't do bribes!” She suddenly sat up and barfed again into the bucket.
Then Crosshair spoke. "If you don't do this mission, then we won't take you back home."
Everyone turned to look at him with a mix of shock and anger. "Crosshair, what’re you sayin?" Wrecker asked.
"If she won't take the job, then she can't go back to her planet. She knows too much about us for us to be safe." He locked eyes with a blue wide-eyed Novali. "If a bribe won't be enough incentive to keep her mouth shut, then she can't leave our sights or she would tell the authorities who would contact the Empire."
Novali's face contorted with anger. "I don't know who the heck y'all are!" She yelled, then shook her head as she became dizzy yet again. "I only know your names and that's it!"
Then Tech interjected. "So you would contact the authorities?"
"Why wouldn't I?!" She growled back as if the answer was obvious. They all stared at her and she silently cursed herself. Don't give yourself away, you idiot! She banged her head against the bucket with a groan. It didn't help with her dizziness. Curse you Tech and this dang injection! Curse you Crosshair for kidnapping me!
"Well, I guess that answers that question." Tech said. "If a bribe won't work to keep her quiet, then we have to figure out what to do with her if she won't take this job. That would mean she would not return home."
Novali lifted her head back up looking more worried. Of course that would be their course of action, but she had family back home and they needed to leave before the Empire showed up, and two of her brothers who were about to be first time parents. She couldn't miss that! "Please Don't do that to me!" She begged, with more tears threatening to fall.
Crosshair sneered. "So, a threat to keep you from your home is enough incentive?"
"I-you- YOU NERFHERDER!" she stammered out in rage.
"Enough of this!" Hunter ordered. "Wrecker, Omega, you two stay back here with Novali for the remainder of the hour. Crosshair, Tech, Echo, up front so that we can discuss this.”
When the team split up, Crosshair gave Novali a hard look that said, “Either you do this or say goodbye to your family.” And Novali fired back, “I'll gut ya in your sleep!” Crosshair smirked since he had won their first match albeit with help, but she was the one on the floor with a barf bucket. Though as he left the space, he felt guilt and shame creep up into his soul again over what he just did and tried to shake it off. But something told him it wouldn't be that easy.
Novali dry heaved into the bucket once again. What was she going to do? Did she have to go through with this? Must she go through with this? Was this the only way to get back to her loved ones? Or was there another way?
“Here. Let's move you to the fresher for a bit.” Wrecker said as he gently picked her up. The action scared the young woman and she wrapped all of her limbs around the container and whimpered while she shook. Oh dear. “Hey, I'm not gonna to hurt ya. I'm just gonna move ya to a better spot.” And into the fresher he placed her where she could throw up into the toilet, but she still clung to the bucket for dear life with her tears landing in the bucket with soft little splats. Wrecker hoped everything was going to work out fine for everyone.
