#smoke squad

[menchmark]

[fromryloth-tocorellia]

Reunion

“Fives, I would like to speak with you a moment, if you are amenable.” Amused by the phrasing, he nodded. She reminded him of General Unduli a bit, or maybe Secura.

“I’ve never heard ‘can I talk to you for a sec’ put so formally, but yeah, I’m amenable.”

It was hard to tell with her coloration, but he thought Kashk blushed slightly as they stepped off to one side. They sat down on a pair of equipment crates, and Fives waited. Kashk cleared her throat, considering her phrasing for a few moments.

“One of the individuals recently adopted into Smoke Squad is also formerly 501st.” Well, less recent now, but still. Fives raised his eyebrows, but gestured for her to continue. “He is young, and yours is not exactly a small outfit, so I do not expect you to necessarily have known him, but I think seeing someone with familiar colours might do him some good. He has had a...” She trailed off, and then finished, “difficult time adjusting.” Fives was surprised at the pain in the words.

“Has he not been accepted into the squad, or...?” Kashk shook her head quickly, dispelling the notion.

“He is loved and fiercely protected, he is one of our own. Qetryscelyon and Levi have ensured he knows as much. It is just... It’s very hard to see one so shiny with so many... With so much baggage.” She swallowed hard, and at that moment Fives realised that the two of them were, practically speaking, the same age, both only 20. He knew how much pain someone could accumulate in so short a time, and clearly, so did she. Fives reached over and touched her hand for a moment, hoping to calm her a bit. Kashk took a deep breath to steady herself, and he felt her settle again. “It took some time for him to trust me. He has not spoken much of his time before we found him. I don’t even know what company he was in or who his captain was, and I don’t think either Qet or Levi knows much more.”

“I’d like to meet him,” Fives agreed quietly. “Even if I don’t know him personally, maybe seeing I’m from the same unit, was in the same battles, will help him open up to the rest of your team.” To be honest, knowing there was another 501st-er had set Fives’ heart racing. He knew he wasn’t alone, obviously, surrounded by vode. But it was different when it was your unit.

Kashk nodded. “I appreciate it. I’ll introduce you when we arrive.”

---

Dogma was waiting with the rest of Smoke Squad. As the crew had taken the Chameleon, he and the others had been kicking around the freighter until the rest got back. Dogma himself had mostly spent time in the medical bay, not for injury reasons, but because it was quiet. Peqa let him use one of the rooms as a place to be alone without too much stimulation, and had also taught him a few basic first-aid techniques because he’d been curious. Now, though, he sat with the Smokies who’d remained in one of the rec rooms. Max, Shrapnel, and Punk had been up to their own shenanigans, though Sie had kept an eye on them, and the evidence of their latest exploit was clear in the color of Punk’s hair, now a kind of chemical green. Dogma smiled slightly and shook his head.

“I still can’t believe they decided to take all the sensible ones and leave you nightmares to your own devices,” he told them.

“Yeah, well, the voices of reason return momentarily, we had to do our best with the time available,” Punk grinned.

“Besides, they took Trig, and Sie watched and made sure we stayed alive,” Shrapnel pointed out. Sie shrugged.

“They did. They did not break anything either. I believe Levi would count that as a win.”

“If you say so,” Dogma snorted, eyeing Punk’s hair.

“Hey, my hair is not broken. It is magnificent.” Punk waggled his head at Dogma, who simply rolled his eyes. Shrapnel chuckled and nudged Dogma’s arm.

Sie’s comm beeped. “They’ve arrived, they’ll be up in a bit. Apparently Cain’s lot have a newbie who is gonna be given the tour.”

“Wonder if it’s anyone we know?” Shrapnel mused, leaning back. It was a solid quarter of an hour, though, before the ones who had returned actually made it to where they were waiting. Shrapnel in particular was getting restless, and Dogma had to reach over and poke him to stop him drawing on his own arm with a marker.

Levi came in first, giving a wave and a nod. Trig followed, grinning, and hurried over to plant it on the floor between Max and Punk. Qetryscelyon smiled at them all and raised his eyebrows at Punk’s hair. Peak muttered something about ‘reckless idiots’ but sat on Punk’s other side anyway. Dogma frowned.

“Where’s Kashk?” he asked Levi quietly.

“Just behind, she had to wait for Cain’s newbie to drop his stuff, but she wanted to introduce him to the rest of the Smokies.” Levi nodded to him and the others who had stayed aboard. Dogma swallowed the sudden nerves that formed a knot in his throat.

“Right.” New vod. New worries. Did they know of him, what would they think. Levi squeezed his hand gently, and Dogma shot a brief, grateful smile to his ori’vod. They both turned to the door. A few minutes later, Kashk came through. She turned and held out a hand to the doorway, and a clone with a small tattoo on his temple walked in.

Dogma felt the air sucked out of the room. He stared at the ARC in front of him, remembered flashing eyes and red walls and the last time he’d seen this particular clone in blacks, pulling the gun from the holster on his brother’s hip, the flash of the bolt, the hand on his back, the hopeless expression, the cuffs. All of it, in a rush of memory that almost knocked the wind out of him. And the other man was staring right back.

“Fives.” His voice came out cracked. “I’m so s-”

He was cut off by Fives’ equally choked, “Dogma, you’re alive.” A few quick steps brought Fives across the room and without another word Dogma was enveloped in a crushing hug. He was almost clinging to Fives before he realised it, and it was another few moments before he also realised he was crying. Fives held Dogma to him as he trembled, feeling the slighter young man’s head settle against his shoulder, the faint damp of his tears. He gave him a little squeeze, taking a deep, slow breath, and then another, until Dogma started to match his rhythm. “There you go,” he whispered. “Breathe. It’s okay.”

“You’re here,” Dogma managed. “How?”

“Cain got me out.”

“They sent...?”

“No. Rex... He let me go. Gonna fudge the report so no one goes looking. I’m out, for good.”

Dogma nodded slightly, finally letting himself relax properly in Fives’ hug. “It’s safe here,” he whispered, and he meant it. “You’re safe. These jetiise... They’re nothing like him, they’re safe.” Saying it aloud to Fives, Dogma realised, was what he’d needed to hear himself. And he meant it, too. He trusted every person in this crew, including the jetiise. It had taken so long... But he was sure of it. Fives would be safe here, because Dogma knew he was.

“Thank you,” Fives whispered. With everything that had happened on Umbara, Fives had seen jaded suspicion and nerves settle in where Dogma’s confidence and self assurance had been. He’d only really trusted other clones, and even Skywalker had been suspect after that final confrontation. They had not been close to start, but Krell had been shot with Fives’ gun. After losing Echo, then Hardcase, then the others in the battles on Umbara, Fives had wanted to protect Dogma, and couldn’t. Watching his little brother taken away had been one of the hardest things in the galaxy, and finding him here and himself and alive... He was so, so happy to find him again. “I’ve missed you. I am... so glad you are here.”

“Me too,” Dogma whispered. Finally the two of them separated, and Levi looked over at the pair, then at Sie, who shrugged and nodded. Shrari was smiling softly to herself.

“Are you all right, otherwise?” Dogma asked carefully. “You’re... With Panther, right?” Fives nodded to both questions.

“Cain has offered to give me a tour of the ship with Blink.”

“May I join you?”

“If you want, sure.” Under the smooth confidence, Dogma thought he could detect gratitude. He smiled.

“I would like that.”

[fromryloth-tocorellia]

CAW 2020 - Day 1: Spare Time

Smoke Squad:

It's an open secret that Smokies have holodrama nights. They all know the plotlines are stupid and ridiculous and tangled, but they are a fun distraction and they help everyone relax. They never really discuss it outside of their ship, because it is a Special Them Thing, but Dogma, Shrapnel, and later Tup get essentially inducted and Max gives them the high-speed rundown on where the drama is currently at so they're caught up enough. If you miss Holo Night for whatever reason, you will be excitedly caught up on what happened the next day by whichever vod catches you first.

Individually, they all have different hobbies. The most notable ones are ARC trooper Qet, who cooks and starts learning to draw and gets quite good at it, and Sie, who learns tailoring and embroidery and is very excited in his way when Ilar, Qet's son, shows interest, and he teaches the little Twi'lek a lot. He's very proud of Ilar's tailoring skills, and helps him embroider his first big project (a lightweight jacket for his mother).

Panther Squad:

Most of Panther Squad have interesting hobbies. Bard, as his name suggests, writes music and poetry and practices with his bes'bev, and collects tea. Careen claims that curating caf varieties counts as a hobby, while his best friend, Xhona, says it's simply the physical manifestation of his caffeine addiction, but she'll still bring him new ones if she finds them. Recoil wrestles with anyone willing including Allesh the giant gal-panther, and when he isn't, he actually really enjoys reading plays and trying out the parts in his room (if he wasn't a soldier, he'd be an actor). Nuhur likes to paint, usually with acrylics or tempera, but sometimes watercolour. No one is quite sure what Blink does for a while when he disappears, until someone (who shouldn't have been there either) finds him lying in a ceiling vent with a datapad and disecting the phonetic structure of Gree: he does online university courses on linguistics and xenoanthropology. He finds it difficult to study in his room. Jaig keeps to himself for a while, and it's Fives who finally finds out that he likes to tinker with things. He got good with figuring out where things go with the Force, and he did build his own lightsaber and a number of different types of non-lethal explosives (specifically miniature smoke bombs which could be used for a quick getaway).

Pel'verd Company:

Cody would insist that Feedback's favourite hobby is annoying him. (It isn't, that's just because Cody is his older brother and he can.) Actually, it's writing. Pulse, Rahn, and Blackout have a habit of getting into mischief, which most people wouldn't expect from Blackout until they remember he is both a tactician and Pulse's best friend. Pyr's is biochemistry, especially trying to figure out ways of making things more efficient or effective, and keeping track of his brother to make sure Ink doesn't do anything stupid (he's a bit harsh, but Ink did also forget to eat for four days once so...). Kohs likes cooking when he can. Ink does... Whatever his current hyperfixation is. Dawnwatch likes nature documentaries, and Milo will watch them with him when he gets the chance. Totem practices swordwork, often with Feedback, Tak, or Rahn. He finds the repetition soothing. Morpheus is... Well, it seems to be people watching, which is fair, but even Dawnwatch, who becomes closest to him, doesn't quite know.

Wolfpack boys:

Plasma enjoys doing makeup, especially eye makeup. He's got his bright orange tattoos, so he likes experimenting with them. Parsec runs, especially at night when he can't sleep. Eclipse spends an inordinate amount of time in the sparring room and is the best hand-to-hand fighter they've got. Orbit watches anything he can get his hands on, and does essentially parkour (get down from there kid holy shit).

[fromryloth-tocorellia]

Levi: I am a very serious captain, I will take care of my brothers and be responsible.

Also Levi: knuckles,,, cronchy

[fromryloth-tocorellia]

When I find myself in times of trouble

Qetryscelyon comes to me

Speaking words of wisdom

"It's okay, kiddo."

[fromryloth-tocorellia]

After getting hijacked by the gentle kindness of my most Older Brother OC to help me deal with my choice paralysis I made a meme for it, please allow a soft big bro to help you be kind to yourself

[fromryloth-tocorellia]

Qet has very neat and pretty handwriting, it is part of why his sketches are so precise when he starts learning. 

[fromryloth-tocorellia]

I feel like Dogma would take up poetry? Like after he gets taken in by Smoke Squad and as he is recovering from the trauma of Umbara he starts writing poetry as a way of getting through everything in his head, his fear and his pain, and gradually it goes from a way to work through all of that to a way to look around and, eventually, forward