Here’s the second part of my masterlist for this RP blog. There’s a few smaller ones missing, though, so if you notice something that’s not there, or something that’s in the wrong place, feel free to let me know and I’ll try to include it!
I’ll probably be updating this list around every 2-3 weeks, so some of the more recent stuff might not get on here immediately. Most of these links are from my blog, but some of them are from my mutuals, so be sure to give them lots of love! Thanks for all the support everyone!
New Stuff (mostly chronological order, top is oldest)
501st’s armor gets replaced with dresses: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4
Tup remembering the crazy night before Comic Day
More with Commander Wren (meet lothcat): part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7
Shiny Tup response to ask (pre-umbara 1)
Dogma and Tup won a spa package from 79’s
Tup received a compliment from an anon
Jesse doing Tup’s hair (unfinished): part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4
Anons are mean to Dogma (or other clones): part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4
what is a chip? Who is general tiplar? part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4
Tup wants a ship cat
Tup’s favorite brother
Civvie (@mun-of-the-501st-verified) submits a best friend application
Vod’ika talks with their mouth full
Mildly concerning anons: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5
Why Tup has long hair
Cotton-eyed anon and the birds and bees
Affectionate anons: part 1, part 2
Did Tup ever dye his hair?
Anon temporarily turns off inhibitor chip
Protecting vod’ika
Tup dream vacation
Umbara Part 2
Landing on Umbara: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5
Umbara 1 making Umbara 2 stress-inducing: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4
(checking in on Vaughn during Umbara): part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5
(Dogma’s having trouble too): part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5
(what is even happening on umbara?): part 1, part 2, part 3
(tup feels guilty he wasn’t there for his vode): part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4
Watching Dogma and Vaughn in medical: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4
Mom tup
Post-Umbara: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5
Tup gets sweets from an anon: part 1, part 2
Anons donates to the umbara campaign: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4
Random Asks
Tup is called baby: part 1, part 2
Is Tup a bit of a pushover?
Tup gets tired of being called adorable
Clone Trooper Peck: part 1, part 2, part 3
Funny story anon
Anon asks about the future
Tup is accidentally savage and insults/compliments Fives
Echo is a good organizer
How many troopers does it take to…
Poncho the Clone
Captain Pyrex
New mission: Wielu (surprise beach trip)
Wielu as a campaign (before it is a vacation): part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4
Wielu as a vacation: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4
Tup the chick magnet: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4
Tup doing touristy beach stuff: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5
Hardcase leaves the GAR
Tup stuns Dogma, Hardcase, and Echo to stop them from hurting each other: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6
Lying civvies making the rp-ers laugh: part 1, part 2
Tup cooldown after stunning his vode: part 1, part 2, part 3
(Clone Trooper Marsh)
Tup falls asleep and gets buried in sand by Peck: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4
Status of clone trooper minors
Dogma wakes up: part 1, part 2
Anon wants to throw Tup
Tup wants to give his vode the attention they deserve
Vaughn gets stuck in a wall
Wielu time difference
Tup and Vines: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6
More Wielu: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4
Echotup bonding on the beach: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4
Ominous anon: part 1, part 2, part 3
Tup’s memory of the Kamino attack
Possible smores?
Tup’s favorite kind of bread: part 1, part 2, part 3
Tup and the Breakfast Club: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4
Who will fill Hardcase’ role now that he’s gone?
Tup Fears: part 1, part 2, part 3
Other Random anons: part 1, part 2
(drunk anon trooper): part 1, part 2
Next Episode of Tup is a Klutz: part 1, part 2
Tup could not lie to save his life
Tup has no sense of fashion
Hardcase returns to the 501st
Pregnant anon?
Heading to 79’s
Vaughn dyed their hair and got a tattoo
Stargazing on Wielu
Watching the sunrise
Mission Report: End of Wielu Arc: part 1, part 2
All Mission Reports (only three so far)
Umbara: part 1, part 2
Wielu: part 1
Update: Apparently I’m too busy to reliably update this (sorry!), but here’s a link to my archive. I hope it works on the app! link
Clone Trooper Tup from the 501st legion was one of my earliest fan art drawings and the urge to open his gorgeous hair hasn‘t faltered yet ✨😎
So my 501st follower milestone has been a while but here‘s the redraw I wanted to do for a long time! 😽 And he has the Winter Soldier vibes 🫠
Closeups and canon hair bun version below 👇✨
I can't tell what hairdo I prefer, just let me be weak for long hair 😽
✨
Having a hard time drawing like I see it in my head, but perfectionism has to be kicked out as it threatens to block executive functions and lacks fun 🤓
“Where’s… Fives? I gotta… gotta tell him— gotta warn him… it’s a—“ Echo paused to let out a wheezing cough, the painful sound making Fives’ heart ache. “— it’s a trap— t-the citadel.”
Another thready breath. “They’re waiting for us—“
Fives pushed past the tightness in his throat to respond. "I’m right here, Echo. We’re not at the Citadel anymore. We’ve got you,” Fives’s voice broke as he tried and failed to sound more confident than he felt.
At Fives’ voice, Echo turned to face him briefly, but his gaze went straight through him, unseeing. He coughed again, body shuddering against Fives’ armor before he turned back to Rex, asking again, “W-Where’s Fives? Where is he... where is my brother?”
Ch. 31: Reunion
“Where’s… Fives? I gotta… gotta tell him— gotta warn him… it’s a—“ Echo paused to let out a wheezing cough, the painful sound making Fives’ heart ache. “— it’s a trap— t-the citadel.”
Another thready breath. “They’re waiting for us—“
Fives pushed past the tightness in his throat to respond. "I’m right here, Echo. We’re not at the Citadel anymore. We’ve got you,” Fives’s voice broke as he tried and failed to sound more confident than he felt.
At Fives’ voice, Echo turned to face him briefly, but his gaze went straight through him, unseeing. He coughed again, body shuddering against Fives’ armor before he turned back to Rex, asking again, “W-Where’s Fives? Where is he... where is my brother?”
Fives looked helplessly at Rex, whose eyes were soft with sorrow— not pity, but close to it, as he glanced between his ARC troopers, unsure how to help. All this time, he’d been so sure that Echo was alive, but to see him here in front of them, body emaciated and marred by scarring and gleaming durasteel in equal measure, the words “I told you he was alive!” churned bitterly in his chest.
He’d never wish that one of his brothers was dead, but he never could have imagined the state that Echo was left in, clinging to life by a thread and unable to recognize his closest brother.
Hopefully he’d be a little more with-it once Tech figured out how to unplug him from the machines, but for now, all Rex could do was wait, and even that grated on him as he heard the commotion in the hallway get quieter with every passing minute as the rest of the Bad Batch dealt with the last few clankers.
Looking up as the doors whooshed open, Rex saw General Skywalker’s expression soften the smallest bit at the sight before him. Rex had been quick to inform the others over comm about what they’d found– who they’d found, and Rex was grateful when the General seemed to compartmentalize and focus on the here and now.
“Situation’s almost under control out there. How’s it going in here?”
Tech was the first to reply from his spot at the central console. “I’m still trying to decrypt Echo’s cerebral interface. Until I do, we cannot disconnect him from the computer system.”
General Skywalker nodded, a crease of worry between his brows. The enemy knew they were here now— so much for stealth— and they were running out of time. Turning to the huddle of troopers around Echo, General Skywalker leaned down to get a better look at the trio. “How is he, Rex?”
Rex shook his head, tone somber. “He’s too weak to walk. Very disoriented. Doesn’t even remember how he got here. He remembers being at the citadel, but that’s about it.” He left out the bit about him being unable to recognize Fives, but as the ARC trooper’s arm tightened around his missing brother, Rex knew what Fives was thinking about.
“Any word on the extraction squad?” The General asked, even as he knew the answer.
“We called it in, but no word back.” Rex responded.
He’d done a basic check on Echo with their medscanner, and in theory he should be safe to move once he was removed from the machine, but Rex still couldn’t push away his worry. A basic medscanner checked lab values, skin integrity, fractures, and internal bleeding, but even the most complex medscanner would struggle to account for all the changes that Echo had been put through, even to Rex’s untrained eye. It certainly didn’t account for Echo’s mental state.
Anakin huffed out a resigned breath at the news. “Well that’s no surprise, we knew when we got into this that we’d be on our own.”
The doors opened again as the rest of the Bad Batch joined them, Hunter’s voice tense as he spoke. “It’s gonna be more difficult to get out of here. There are several squads of droids closing in.”
Rex didn’t need enhanced senses to know they were running out of time.
Flipping on his infrared scope, Crosshair adjusted his grip on his firepuncher from where he stood near the door. “Enemy approaching— droids. Lots of them.”
General Skywalker nodded an affirmation, “How long do you think you can hold them off?”
“How long do you need?” Hunter countered. They’d hold it off as long as they could– the Bad Batch never failed a mission, after all, but even he knew that a General’s safety ranked over a rescued POW, and it would probably only be so long before they had to cut and run, if Tech couldn’t get him unplugged.
Thankfully, Tech hadn’t let them down yet.
“Tech, how much longer?” Anakin called, an edge of frustration entering his voice as they got closer to being pinned down by the droids.
“Not yet, I need more time.” Tech replied. He’d managed to wade through the auxiliary systems’ security and life support passkeys, but now he needed to figure out which systems were self-sustaining and which were truly necessary. Echo had apparently taken damage to his pancreas in the initial explosion, for example, but he could survive the rescue attempt long enough to be unplugged from a bulky continuous glucose monitor, but if those cybernetics were stabilizing spine function or diaphragm function, they’d be in a lot more trouble.
While Tech busied himself with rooting around Echo’s life support software, the others secured the room, with Hunter and Crosshair sealing the doors as best they could in such a short time.
Between the steady marching of droids and a new whirring noise Rex could hear on the other side of the door, he knew it wouldn’t be good to get caught in the open if they stayed put for much longer.
Thankfully, Tech came through just in time, turning towards them with a victorious nod. “I’ve got it! We can unplug him now.”
Rex stepped forward to offer his help, but Fives was already there, squeezing Echo’s shoulder with a quiet murmur of support and steadying him when the jolt of removing the neural interface caused his previously tenuous strength to crumble.
Letting out a rattling wheeze, Echo’s breathing was shakier than it had been before, but less mechanical, more real, and Rex took a knee in front of the duo just in time for Echo’s eyes to meet his own, the hazy unseeing gaze from before replaced with recognition and painful hope.
“Rex!” Echo croaked before giving a painful cough again, sagging into Fives’ hold.
“What is it?” Rex asked, anxious to see just how much had changed with the neural interface removed. Thankfully, he didn’t have to wait long before Echo responded with another small cough and a familiarly lopsided smile that made Rex’s chest ache in relief.
“I’ve got a big headache.” Echo laughed, wheezy but full of life.
“Better to feel something than nothing, old buddy.” Rex gave Echo’s shoulder a squeeze, just to reassure himself that the other was real.
They weren’t out of the woods yet, but Rex would take this Echo any day over the shell of himself he had been.
As Rex turned towards the others to better secure their position, Echo glanced down to see two familiar arms supporting him. Blinking twice, Echo twisted around and jolted at a familiar face he thought he’d never see again, with Fives’ ARC helmet long-removed.
“…F-Fives?” Echo stuttered, breath thready with disbelief, and Echo had barely a second before he was engulfed in an achingly familiar hug, returning it with surprising strength even as internally his mind raced. The algorithm– the mission– he’d been so sure that Fives was dead– and by his hand, no less…
But here he was, a firm steady presence keeping Echo from crumpling to the floor.
Fives’ guarded expression crumbled into pure relief and warmth, but Echo didn’t miss when his brother’s voice turned thick. “I’m here, vod. I’ve got you.”
Speech muffled against Fives’ armor, Echo trembled in his hold. “I-I thought you were dead…”
Fives’ voice was wet as he responded, arms wrapped around Echo like he’d never let go. “Funny, I could say the same thing about you.” He gave a teary chuckle, and for a moment, Fives could have forgotten the droids outside, or even the other troopers in the room before General Skywalker brought him back to reality.
“It’s a touching reunion, guys, but we need to get out of here, now!” He ordered, not unsympathetic, but definitely feeling the encroaching pressure of the Seppies just outside their door.
Thankfully, Fives could always count on Echo to have a plan.
“I– ” Echo gave another wheezing cough before managing to catch his breath, pointing to a vent in the ceiling. “T-There’s an exhaust vent that leads to the cooling system— right there.” He’d ran the numbers before, and that was their best way out of this mess.
Another concerning crash sounded outside, and Crosshair gave a sharp status report. “They breached the front door. It won’t be long before there through the second.”
Before Fives could so much as protest, Echo moved with surprising speed, shuffling towards the nearest scomp port. Fives’ heart leaped in alarm, suddenly terrified that his batchmate would collapse– or electrocute himself– or turn back into the hollow image of himself that he was before. But not even two seconds later, Echo was removing his scomp from the port as the vent above them opened with surprising smoothness.
“That should get it open.” Echo smirked in satisfaction, and Fives screamed internally at his batchmate’s newfound skill, torn between worry and feeling impressed.
His batchmate was alive– now Fives just had to keep him that way.
After a narrow escape through the vents, and a spectacular explosion that Echo had dreamed about for years, they were navigating the tunnels as fast as they could, and Echo was doing his best to support himself with Fives’ help. His prosthetics ached with the cold, but between the adrenaline of the escape and a carefully dosed painkiller that Tech had administered earlier, Echo could almost carry his own weight. Even still, spots clung to his vision, and he could feel the slight give in his joints as he attempted to stand under his own power. He’d like to think it was getting easier, but that might just be wishful thinking.
As the squad paused at an intersection, Echo took a moment to survey the rest of their group. His senses might not be what they used to be, but these troopers definitely weren’t standard issue— although, really, neither was he.
“Huh, this ventilation corridor acts as a cooling system for all the computers in the facility.” The one with the goggles, Tech, marveled to himself as he led the squad through the maze of corridors.
“How did you know it was up here, Echo?” General Skywalker asked quietly, walking alongside them while Fives supported Echo, with Hunter, Wrecker, and Crosshair bringing up the rear.
Glancing up from his unsteady legs, Echo raised his chin defiantly, eyes bright with wry humor. “Well, they got access to my memory— and I got access to the Techno Union Database. All their plans, inventory, building schematics— everything.”
The Seppies thought they’d had the upper hand, and while Echo didn’t have a leg to stand on for most of his time as a POW, either figuratively or literally, heh, he’d been able to dig his fingers into their systems the minute he figured out how his interface worked. Not that he could do anything with the information he gained at the time, but it was definitely coming in handy now.
All this time in captivity, the Seppies had done their best to turn Echo into a droid– another lifeless cog in the machine of war… but Echo had never been very good at doing what he was told.
And he’d happily use that knowledge to get his rescuers out of a tight spot, planwise.
“You mean you can find us a way out of here?” Hunter asked, intrigued.
Pausing his stuttering steps, Echo turned around to face the others, straightening to his full height the best he could. “Well, there is a way, but you’re not going to like it.” He grinned.
Running on adrenaline, pain meds, and pure glee at seeing Fives alive again, it probably looked a bit crazed— but he had his batcher back, he was out of that durasteel box, and prosthetics be kriffed, if any Seppies tried to get between him and a fast exit, he’d show them exactly where they could shove their servos.
“I don’t know about this…” Fives muttered uneasily as the hermetically sealed doors opened, nerves spiking as Echo leaned closer to the sheer drop in front of them to get a better look. Echo hadn’t always been this… fragile, but surely he hadn’t always been this fearless.
“I’m telling you, there’s a landing pad on that other building.” Echo yelled, voice cracking as he attempted to make himself audible over the wind.
Physically diminished as he was, Fives couldn’t help but feel like Echo was simply… more than when he last saw him— more personality, more unwavering determination, more genuine shereshoy– lust for life– even as he leaned perilously close to the edge of their escape route and made Fives’ stomach drop in dread.
He’d never been afraid of heights before, but that was before his last living batchmate leaned over a thousand foot drop without so much as a safety line.
Mind made up, Fives reached into his utility belt with one hand to grab his grappling line, even while the other arm stabilized Echo. “Hold up a tic,” He called to the others, shooting his line at the door at the other end of their escape route, securing the other end to the wall near them and tugging on it to check the stability. It wouldn’t bear the combined weight of more than one or two troopers, but as a handhold, it was better than nothing, and all he could do for now.
“Worrywart.” Echo snorted in amusement, rolling his eyes even as his body trembled with the exertion of keeping himself upright. He’d have to stand on his own to cross their pipework bridge– it was too narrow for Fives to support him, unless he wanted to be carried entirely.
“Someone has to be,” Fives countered in a familiar refrain. For some reason, everyone in the 501st was convinced that Echo had been the reasonable one in their duo, but it was Echo that always took the biggest risks, running first into the line of fire and doing what no one else would, trusting Fives to be where he always was… just one step behind him.
But this time, it was Fives who took the first step onto the bridge, trusting Echo’s plan to get them home free, and with a moment of hesitation, the others followed.
“So you think there’s a ship we can steal?” Hunter asked as they started crossing the gap, tone belaying begrudging respect for the reg’s rather inventive plan.
“Well, I hope there’s a ship we can steal.” Echo responded, one hand on the grappling line railing.
Sending a worried glance back at the rest of his squad before continuing, Hunter had to raise his voice to be heard above the wind, Hunter replied. “Let’s hope this trip isn’t for nothing!”
Fives had half a second to wonder at the Sergeant’s tone before he remembered the big guy’s fear of heights.
“Oh boy, I can’t even look. Just keep walking, Tech.” Wrecker moaned, voice full of nerves.
“That’s fine, but if you fall, don’t take me with you.” Tech countered, keeping his eyes on his own footing. As long as Wrecker didn’t look down, they should be able to—
“Uh oh, I looked!!! Augh!” Wrecker cried, one hand gripping the grappling line railing even as his steps quickened. “I think I’m going to be sick! Not gonna panic—“
“Hang on, Wrecker! We’re almost there.” Hunter called out reassuringly.
Wrecker’s breathing quickened as he attempted to get ahold of himself. “Gonna be okay, breathe!” He muttered to himself, and he’d almost managed to get a handle on his nerves when the durasteel door in front of them whooshed open with a metallic hiss.
“Droids!” Fives barked, unholstering his twin pistols even while General Skywalker leaped to the front of the group, intent on blocking any stray blaster bolts.
“Turn around, go back!” The General ordered, but the words had barely left his mouth before another squad of droids opened the service door behind them, spilling out onto the pipework behind them.
Surrounded on all sides, the General’s lightsaber could only do so much.
Pivoting rapidly towards the oncoming droids, Crosshair had half a second to be grateful for the reg’s convenient handrail when his boots threatened to slip out from under him on the slick piping, righting himself with a stumble before bringing his rifle up to bear. Hopefully nobody saw that— especially not a reg.
His hopes were shattered when Echo met his gaze, shooting him a brief look of concern, face surprisingly expressive even while his eyebrows creased with the effort of keeping himself upright. “You good, vod? I’d offer to give you a hand, but I’m a little short on those at the moment.” He joked wryly, pitching his voice to be heard above the wind.
With the General up front and Wrecker behind, they had a small buffer between them and the droids. Unfortunately, that buffer went both ways, and other than tossing his last droid-popper towards the landing behind them, Crosshair couldn’t get a good angle on the droids surrounding them. Tough as it was, even Wrecker’s reinforced armor wouldn’t hold up forever.
Rolling his eyes under his helmet, Crosshair couldn’t help the snarky reply. “How long have you been waiting to say that one?” He asked before he could stop himself. He could practically hear Hunter’s voice in his head, fretting about offending the poor reg.
Thankfully, rather than being offended, Echo let out a wheezing chuckle before responding. “There’s a lot more where those came from!”
The glee in his eyes only doubled when Crosshair rolled his eyes hard enough to be visible even while wearing his helmet before tossing him his holdout, a modified DC-17. Echo caught it easily with his one good hand, without hesitation, and Crosshair's estimation of the other trooper went up another notch.
Echo didn’t end up needing Fives’ handrail, as the General leaped forward, taking out the squad of droids ahead of them while Tech and Wrecker tag-teamed the droids behind them, but when he stepped off their pipework bridge and his legs gave a definitive wobble, it was Crosshair who gave him a steadying hand up to the relative safety of the vent door.
Echo was just thinking their plan would go off without a hitch when they arrived at the landing platform to find it completely empty, not a ship in sight.
“Does anyone else have any brilliant ideas?” Hunter asked, wishing that just one of their missions could go the way it was supposed to.
Thankfully, Tech was never one to disappoint.
“I do have a brilliant idea!” He exclaimed triumphantly, retrieving his datapad from his belt. “When the locals attacked us, I recorded their creatures’ distress signal.” Tech continued enthusiastically.
Crosshair rolled his eyes again before explaining. “He records everything; it’s a hobby.”
“—Which allows us to call those creatures to us!” Tech finished, finally finding the audio file he was looking for, and without preamble playing it at full volume for anyone within the nearest five klicks to hear.
“Ow! Enough with the sound!” Wrecker complained, covering his ears over his helmet, and after another second, Tech obediently deactivated the screeching sound, looking towards the horizon for their ride out of here.
Turning to the others, General Skywalker spoke up again. “We need to make sure the droids don’t follow us back to the Skakoans. Do we have anything that can slow them down?”
“I think we’ve established that the Techno Union is anything but neutral in this war,” Rex added, looking to their resident demolitions expert for suggestions.
“Finally!” Wrecker’s eyes practically sparkled as he raised his helmet to scan the landing platform for critical junctures and loadbearing beams within the durasteel architecture. He’d just managed to place the last of his charges by the time that Tech spotted their ride. Flying towards them at full-tilt, the loose formation of nearly twenty giant creatures careened towards them, the line breaking like water on rocks as they arrived at their tower.
“Now, how do we get on them?” General Skywalker asked, looking back at Tech for an answer.
“How else? We jump!” Tech exclaimed, and the others gave him a dumbfounded look.
Echo felt his already taxed energy reserves shudder at the idea, but given the options of jumping or having Fives haul him out of here like a half-drowned tooka, he knew which he’d choose.
“I’ll go first,” General Skywalker called before neatly flipping himself towards the nearest Keeradak, with the rest of the squad following soon after. Fives had just enough time to give a squeak of protest when Echo jumped before his stomach lurched with the drop, landing hard at first but then buoyed upwards by an invisible force– or Force, apparently– before he could wrap his arms around the keeradak’s neck and pull himself up to sit on its back, with Rex’s help.
Blinking spots out of his vision in time to see Fives take a running leap towards the keeradak just behind theirs, Echo was relieved to see that they all made it out in one piece. The explosion they left on their way out burned into his retinas, and Echo would have it no other way.
“How you holding up, Echo?” Rex called as their ride glided back towards the Skakoan’s settlement, practically home free.
“Never better, sir!” Echo grinned back. He might be running on fumes at this point, and he’d definitely overtaxed himself in this escape in ways that he’d be feeling for a long time, but he was free, he was breathing fresh air, and he had his batchmate back again; he couldn’t ask for more.
Somewhere between landing at the settlement and returning to their ship, Echo’s vision turned to hazy mush, each step burning through his nerves before Fives finally gave into the urge to cart his batchmate back to the ship like a crate of overripe meilooruns.
Echo could vaguely remember Tech giving him some kind of glucose gel once they got back to the ship– probably not the best thing to consume on an empty stomach, but it was the best they had at the moment for upping his blood sugar– but as he fell asleep on a standard-issue bunk, joints aching, curled up under a blanket and sandwiched next to his closest brother, Echo would take all this pain and more if it meant this moment in time was real.
And it was.
—————————————————
AO3 Link:
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
The squad arrives at Purkoll, but tension sparks between Fives and Rex as they ask the question, “Is Echo really alive?”
Ch. 30: Retrograde
“Are those scopes… Jedi issue, sir?” Fives asked, feigning nonchalance while using his own, much larger scopes to get a better idea of their target.
General Skywalker shot him an amused glance, the statement even earning a snort from Crosshair, before he responded. “Stay focused, Fives.”
Rex sighed audibly, shaking his head with weary amusement even while he wondered at the change in dynamics since the previous mission together. Things had been… tense, with Clone Force 99 during that first mission, and even moreso after one of their own had been injured. But with Crosshair on the mend and Fives’ natural charm putting the others at-ease, Rex couldn’t help but feel grateful for the other’s presence— decee jokes aside.
Even the General seemed willing to play along with the ARC’s particular brand of humor, although privately Rex wondered how much of it was an attempt to deflect from the mission’s true purpose.
He still wasn’t sure where Fives stood with the premise of the mission, and he’d noticed the way the other’s expression shuttered every time Echo was brought up. But whether Fives believed it or not, Echo was alive— and soon, Fives wouldn’t have to take Rex’s word for it anymore.
At this point, Rex’s main worry was what condition they might find Echo in— the Seppies had never been known for their stellar prisoner treatment. They’d try their best, but the 501st was stretched thin on this campaign, and any backup would be a long time coming. They were on their own for this one, for better or worse.
Taking out his own scopes to get a better look at their target, Rex grimaced slightly at the tall spires poking their way up from the planet’s surface.
“Hope nobody’s afraid of heights,” the General quipped, and he didn’t miss Hunter’s sideways glance towards Wrecker.
Voice full of denial, Wrecker attempted to defend himself from the unspoken question. “Well, I’m not scared of nothin’— I just… when I’m up real high, I’ve got a problem with gravity…” He ended sheepishly.
The others’ doubtful silence didn’t last long though, as Tech spoke up next. “Speaking of problems, I am no longer picking up Echo’s signal.”
Rex protested, “I-I don’t understand… you said it was coming from this city.” They’d just had Echo’s signal a minute ago—
Tech hummed thoughtfully. “I can only speculate, but it is possible that there’s a latency issue with the frequency, caused by all these atmospheric disturbances.” He paused, unsure whether to discuss other potential causes for the signal cutting out.
In the end, it was Hunter who addressed the elephantine in the room. “Or maybe they sent a signal to lure us into a trap—And maybe your friend’s actually dead.”
The others glanced between Rex and Hunter in shocked silence, and Fives couldn’t quite hide an instinctive wince.
“…Well, I can’t be the only one thinking of that.” Hunter muttered, crossing his arms defensively in the tense silence that followed. He’d lead his brothers successfully through any mission, but that didn’t mean taking unnecessary risks, and as much as he liked these regs, he had to wonder what could justify risking all their lives for a single trooper.
“Look, every mission could be a trap.” Rex defended, gesturing wildly. “This one is no different. I’m telling you, that signal is being sent by Echo himself! He’s alive!”
He looked back to Fives for support— but to his surprise, the ARC trooper remained silent, shoulders tensing. All Fives’ earlier humor had vanished, almost like a switch had been flipped.
After a long moment, Fives let out a slow breath of air, refusing to look Rex in the eye as he spoke.
“Rex, I— look, I think you’re letting your personal feelings get in the way of the mission. And Echo… this can’t be him. Whatever this algorithm is, it’s smart enough to predict your battle strategies– it probably knows your weak points too, Rex…” His voice broke, “…Echo is gone, and we left him to die.” Fives finished tiredly, voice heavy with defeat.
Rex protested, heart thudding in his chest. “You can’t mean that— don’t you want your brother back?!”
Of all people, Rex had been sure that Fives would believe him about Echo being alive. And intentional or not, Fives’ refusal felt almost like a betrayal, as much as Rex tried to convince himself otherwise.
Eyes burning under his helmet, Fives’ emotions surged as he responded hotly, “Of course I want Echo back! But there’s a difference between missing my vod and running headlong into a suicide mission!” His shoulders shuddered with the effort of keeping his emotions contained, and he couldn’t help the flood of relief when the General intervened, undoubtedly sensing the emotions threatening to overflow.
“That’s enough— Fives, you and Hunter take the others and scout the area for a tower entrance. Rex, you’re with me.” He ordered, gesturing for the group to separate. Fives didn’t hesitate, leaving the rest of the squad trailing behind him.
“Still not sure why we’re going to all this trouble for a reg.” Crosshair muttered to himself, but the others were already long gone.
Turning back towards Rex, Anakin put a hand on his shoulder before speaking. “Rex… I hate to say it, but you have to prepare yourself for the possibility that Echo is dead, and this is all a Separatist trick.”
“Sir, I have watched so many of my brothers fall during this war…” Rex responded, thinking of Teth, Geonosis, Umbara, “...And I try not to hang onto any one of them.” He removed his helmet, voice bleeding with earnestness. “But that changed when I heard the Separatist transmission. It was no algorithm. That was Echo’s voice, I know it!”
It was Echo— it had to be.
“I hope you’re right. But if, for some reason, you’re wrong…”
“Then I’ll deal with it.” Rex stated, tone final.
He’d lost brothers before— it wasn’t anything new to him— but he wasn’t letting any of them go before he had to.
———————————————————
Forging their way through the dust storm and heavy atmospherics of Purkoll, the squad regrouped in front of the largest of several spires, barely visible through the fog.
Hunter gave the General a lazy salute, nodding towards the others. “We’re in business, General. Tech regained Echo’s signal. It’s coming from this tower— how’s it going, Tech?”
Preoccupied with gaining access to the lift’s entry console, Tech took another moment before responding just as the door slid open. “Sorry it took so long.”
“Hey, Crosshair, check it out,” Hunter ordered, knowing the sniper’s enhanced eyesight would pick up any traps they might otherwise miss.
Moving in swiftly, Crosshair took point and scanned the space for any hidden components, feeling uneasy. He preferred overwatch to designated bomb squad, but Purkoll was too high up for any sniper’s nest to be effective, and he wouldn’t be able to watch his brothers’ backs from there.
With one final glance around the room, Crosshair lowered his rifle. “Yeah, it’s a lift.” He confirmed, voice dripping with sarcasm.
“Well, we already knew that,” Tech griped, continuing inside.
“Wait—wait—wait— A lift?!” Wrecker asked, dismayed. “How far up are we going?”
“Don’t worry Wrecker, I’ll hold your hand.” Hunter teased, earning a snicker from Crosshair and a fumbling protest from Wrecker.
“Hey, cut it out, Sarge!” He pushed past the Hunter with a false sense of bravado. “Just gimme some droids to crush!”
As the turbolift rose, the General spoke again. “Remember, this is a stealth mission. No blasting, no blowing things up. Nobody knows we’re here.”
Unfortunately, his reminders went out the window when the lift doors opened to a squad of clankers that sounded an awful lot like battle droids, despite their avian appearance.
“Intruders! Blast them!”
The room erupted in blasterfire, but they barely had time to scramble for cover when Wrecker barreled towards the droids with a roaring battle cry.
Wrecker’s quick, albeit loud, response took care of nearly half the droids in the small hangar, but the ensuing crossfire ensured that any attempts at stealth would be in vain.
“So much for stealth.” Rex sighed into his helmet, taking out his dual pistols to join the fight. Something told him this mission would be a long one.
————————————————————
Making their way through the compound and losing Echo’s signal once more, they ended up doing things the long way round. Rex couldn’t help but feel a little discouraged at their lack of progress. Apparently Echo’s signal only activated during active data transfer, so they were manually searching the spire for any signs of a prison hold or a data conduit.
They’d split up to cover more ground, but it was Tech, Hunter, and Rex who stumbled across the fortified doorway, not long after Echo’s signal reactivated.
“In there.” Hunter pointed, senses agreeing with Tech’s equipment. He couldn’t make out what, but there was definitely something in the room ahead.
“Tech, open this door.” Rex ordered, coming to a stop in front of the control panel. It was definitely more complex than anything they’d seen in the facility so far, and Rex knew those extra security measures must be there for a reason.
Tech had just started to plug in to the control panel when a nearby holoscreen activated, and a heavily modulated voice remarked coldly, “You clones are so predictable.”
“Wat Tambor.” Rex growled, voice thick with vitriol. This was the Seppie who’d taken his brother away.
Wat Tambor regarded Rex like one might regard an insect under their boot. “Your algorithm predicted nearly every move you made to infiltrate Purkoll.”
“There is no algorithm!” Rex shouted, slamming a hand on the panel while Tech continued working behind him. “We know you’re holding a prisoner of war here.”
Tone cold and precise, Wat Tambor feigned nonchalance in the face of Rex’s accusation. “Prisoner? I don’t know what you mean, Captain.”
After all, prisoners were sentient beings, capable of independent thought, and the algorithm was neither. Without their experimentation, that clone was nothing.
“I am leaving here with my friend!” Rex repeated, tone dangerously low.
“Your friend is dead. His mind is ours.” Tambor’s voice filled with cruel satisfaction, and Rex’s stomach twisted at the confirmation– they had Echo, and he didn’t know what they might have turned him into.
“Liar!” He roared, banging on the door once again, even as the rushing in his ears ceded to metallic clanging– no, marching, and several squads of clankers converged on their location.
“Execute them.” Wat Tambor ordered before shutting off the holoscreen and leaving them to their fate.
Scrambling for cover, Rex ignored the way his heart pounded in his chest, trying desperately to provide enough cover for Tech to open the door. If it had just been them, they might have been overrun, but thankfully the others must have heard the commotion and came running, with Fives sliding in next to Rex as the General deflected a few blaster bolts headed their direction.
“Tech! Open that door for Rex!” Anakin ordered, taking cover behind the entryway.
“Yes sir!”
The seconds felt like hours before Tech finally gave an affirmative nod and the door slid open.
“I hope you find what you’re looking for, Captain.” Hunter remarked even as the others formed up in their defensive position in the entryway. Rex hurried through the door, and after a long moment and a quiet curse, Fives joined him.
The moment they stepped through the doorway, the temperature dropped a good ten degrees, and Rex grimaced to himself.
“I don’t like the look of this.” Rex muttered, eyes drawn to the large console taking up most of the room, but his steps stalled and his blood turned to ice when he saw the metallic pod embedded into the system, with a viewport too high for him to see.
With shaky hands, Fives removed his helmet, looking like he was going to be sick. Dull grey and cold as a morgue, the pod was more than large enough to hold a body.
“I’m definitely picking up a life form in there.” Tech reported, seemingly unmoved by the eerie lab, and in that moment, Rex wished for that kind of composure. “It seems to be a stasis chamber. I think I can get it open.”
Kneeling by the console and pressing a sequence of keys, Tech looked upwards just in time for the pod to slide open with grinding hinges and a limp body– no, they were alive– to fall forward.
Veins protruding and skin deathly pale, the trooper’s pupils darted back and forth in unseeing saccades, and Rex felt his stomach drop as familiar features jumped out at him, despite the countless wires and durasteel components making up the majority of the trooper’s lower body.
Echo was alive– and the Techno Union had tried to turn him into a droid.
“Echo– Tech, we’ve gotta get him out of here. Figure out how to unplug him from–” he stuttered, breath catching in his throat, “--from this mess.”
Reaching forward to support Echo’s weight, it was Fives who disconnected a small charging cord from the droid-like limbs barely holding up his body. Even with Fives helping, Echo was far too light, and his skin felt like ice.
Glancing at Fives with a shared look of trepidation, Rex saw as Fives’ expression crumbled, squeezing one of Echo’s hands in his own, even as the other’s gaze looked through them, unseeing.
“What have they done to you?”
—————————————————
Blood rushing in his ears, Fives’ stomach dropped into his boots when they opened the pod and an emaciated trooper– Echo, it was Echo– slumped forward like a droid with its power cell depleted. If it wasn’t for the way his chest stuttered and his eyelids twitched, Fives would’ve assumed he was dead.
But it was Echo– scarring and mechanical limbs aside, it was him. Familiar scars from a bad fall on Felucia and even their matching tattoos, “For Hevy” - Fives’ was on his bicep, and Echo’s was below his left shoulderblade, and there it was, right next to spinal implants and connection ports.
It was Echo… or whatever was left of him.
Fives’ ARC training took over as he unhooked Echo’s limp form from the metal sarcophagus. Those hutuun’la shabuirs hadn’t provided him anything resembling clothes, so Fives could see where durasteel met scarred tissue, both legs replaced with prosthetics just above the knee. His torso was a jumble of tubes and medical equipment, but skin and bones underneath. Fives tried not to look too hard at the delicate micro-plating screws in his head, or the large cable snaking from the base of his skull, and he couldn't help but wonder, how much of his brother was truly left?
There were more medical ports than Fives knew how to remove safely, so he kept his movements careful as he and Rex lowered Echo to the ground between the two of them while Tech continued his efforts to disconnect Echo from the holocomputer apparatus.
“What have they done to you?” Rex murmured, kneeling beside Echo, expression breaking. Fives took position just behind Echo, acting as a sort of backrest while he rifled around in his belt for a spare set of briefs for Echo– they weren’t much, but they were better than nothing. He wished now that they'd had the foresight to bring more- a medic, some blacks- anything. Fives had just managed to get them on when Echo seemed to come back to himself, just a little and began to speak.
Fives had half a moment to feel relieved before the content of Echo's words reached him.
“We… we have to get to the shuttle to escape the citadel— No! I’ll go first—no…” Voice painfully weak, Echo gave a feeble struggle in Fives' arms, but he could feel the others' limbs shaking with the effort of holding himself upright, and a pit of dread started to form in Fives' stomach. Even now, they could hear the battle going on in the corridor, and an outpost like this was bound to have hundreds, if not thousands, of clankers at the ready.
Getting Echo out of this hellhole wasn't going to be easy, not like this...
“No— no—” Echo's voice cracked as he cried out in distress, mind still out-of-reach. Fives squeezed his one remaining hand gently while Rex attempted to ground him.
“Echo— Echo, it’s Rex. I’m here.”
There was another long silence before Echo finally seemed to register the world around him, although his eyes were still glassy and confused. “Rex—y-you came back for me.”
Rex breathed a quiet sigh, worry lines deepening, wishing they could have been there sooner. “Yes— Yes, we did.”
Echo glanced around the room for the first time, but his eyes didn't seem to focus on anything around him but Rex. “W-What happened? Where am I?”
Rex's voice slipped into a familiar, reassuring tone. “It’s okay Echo, you’re safe now. Just sit tight, trooper. You’re going home.”
At that, Echo slumped back into Fives' hold, more from exhaustion than relief. Fives squeezed his hand again, locking eyes with Echo. He wanted to say something- anything- to his batchmate back from the dead, but his breath caught in his throat at Echo's next words.
“Where’s… Fives? I gotta… gotta tell him— gotta warn him… it’s a—“ He paused to let out a wheezing cough that made Fives’ heart ache. “— it’s a trap— t-the citadel. They’re waiting for us—“
Finally, Fives pushed past the tightness in his throat to reply, "I’m right here, Echo. We’re not at the Citadel anymore. We’ve got you,” Fives’s voice broke as he tried and failed to sound more confident than he felt.
At Fives’ voice, Echo turned to face him briefly, but his gaze went straight through him, eyes unseeing. He coughed again, body shuddering against Fives’ armor before he turned back to Rex, asking, “W-Where’s Fives? Where is he... where is my brother?”
Fives' breath left his lungs, like he was staring down the vacuum of space.
Echo didn’t recognize him… and Fives didn’t know how to fix that.
AITA for telling my brother that I wouldn't love him if he was a worm?
I can’t believe I’m writing this, but people are saying I should apologize, and I think this whole thing is ridiculous, and I could use some outside advice.
For context, I (9 M) have a batchmate named Frup (9 M), and we’re pretty close. For any natborns, batchmates are like our twins or closest brothers. Frup was the oldest in our batch, and I was in the middle, but now it’s just us. Frup is a lot more outgoing than me, so a lot of his friends are mine by association, but they’re generally closer to him than me.
Well, Frup likes to spend lots of time on the holonet, watching tooka videos or cooking tutorials. I’m not nearly as into them as he is, but recently there’s been a fad of asking people if you’d still love them if they were a worm. The other night, we went out to 79’s for a drink, and about halfway through the night, Frup started asking if we’d still love him if he was a worm. When he got to asking me, I told him no.
Worms are gross. They’re slimy, they don’t have any legs, and I’ve seen General Skywalker slurp them down like noodles if we’re running low on rations. I’d rather starve than eat worms, and I couldn't imagine loving one.
I’m in the 501st, and before I joined the battalion, they had a mission on Geonosis where half a platoon got infected with mind-controlling brain worms! At first I thought it was just a story to scare the shinies, but I’ve read the mission reports, and those things are nasty. I’ve seen a couple worms while we’ve been on campaign, and they always give me the creeps.
I thought this was a reasonable answer, but when I told Frup that I would not still love him if he was a worm, he burst into tears and was inconsolable for at least ten minutes. He hasn’t talked to me since. It’s been a day or two since then, and the others have been giving me the cold shoulder too.
At first, I thought Frup was overreacting— there’s no way my vod would ever actually be turned into a worm, and it’s a stupid question anyways. If Frup was a worm, then he wouldn’t be Frup anymore. All the things that make him Frup would be gone, and I’d miss my vod if he was gone. He couldn’t be replaced by a worm.
I tried telling Frup this when we were at 79’s, but he wasn’t very coherent by the end of the night, and he’s been avoiding me ever since.
I’ve tried asking the others in our squad what to do, explaining my side of things, but they just say that I should apologize to Frup, without explaining why Frup reacted that way, or why it was wrong to say that I wouldn’t love my vod if he was a worm.
He knows I care about him, and that I wouldn’t say that to hurt him… right?
And he knows that I hate worms. What kind of answer did he expect?
Advice for navigating this situation would be helpful. What do you think? AITA for saying I wouldn’t love my vod if he was a worm?
AITA for banning my vod from the communal fresher after he stole the last of my conditioner?
I am the youngest trooper in my squad (9 M), and sometimes I feel like my vode don’t take me seriously. They’re always ruffling my hair, calling me a kid, and one time my vod, let’s call him Softcase (12 M), wouldn’t stop giving me the kids menu when we went out to try natborn food (the nuna nuggets weren’t half-bad). But recently, my other vod, Sixes (11 M), has taken it too far.
As clones, we don’t have a lot to call our own, but I’ve always put a lot of effort into my hair, compared to the average trooper. It’s not easy to get it looking this good, and most clones with longer hair don’t care for it nearly well enough. But after saving my shore leave stipends, I’ve been able to afford a nice hairbrush (only brush while damp) and some higher quality shampoo and conditioner. I’ve figured out how to ration it to make it last— sometimes our shore leave can be a little unpredictable, and I’ll stock up on extra if other battalions are willing to trade, but for now, what I have is all I’ve got.
That being said, if one of my brothers wants to try it occasionally, I’m happy to share. It’s fun to have common interests with my vode, but sometimes they’ll take a one-time thing as blanket permission.
A while back, Sixes asked if he could use my conditioner, and I let him— again, once is totally fine. But then he’s using it the next day, and the next. One day, I walk into the fresher and find him shaving and using my conditioner to style his goatee, using way more than necessary for his facial hair.
I confronted him about it later, explaining that conditioner was meant for hair, not goatees, and that maybe he shouldn’t use as much of my conditioner, especially without asking me.
I thought I’d told him no more, but maybe it got lost in the conversation, but a few weeks later, easily two weeks before our next scheduled shore leave, I go to take a shower after running drills and when I go to use my conditioner, it’s completely empty.
Again, I keep track of my haircare supplies, and I should’ve had enough for at least another week and a half, but it was all gone, and I had a sneaking suspicion about the culprit.
When I confronted Sixes about it, his only response was a sheepish “Whoops,” before making his exit. I’ve seen him since then, and he’s shown zero remorse. My vod asked him if he was afraid of retaliation, but he just laughed, clearly not understanding the gravity of the situation. He thinks it’ll blow over, but I’m not letting this one go.
Did he tell me that my conditioner was running low? No. Did he attempt to replace it, or even leave an apology note saying, “Sorry, I’m a di’kut and I used up all your conditioner”?
No, he did not.
He left the container, empty, with the rest of my fresher kit, and I only realized it was empty after doing my entire haircare routine, leaving me without any way to retain the natural oils in my hair. I had frizzy hair for the next two days, until I managed to trade for some travel conditioner. Two days!
I don’t know how he sleep at night.
I asked around, and I’m not the only one Sixes has “borrowed” from. I put my foot down. Enough was enough.
My other vod, Catma, works in admin, and he knows his way around the access logs. Apparently there’s a precedent for limiting certain crew’s access to specific portions of the ship in cases of repeated infractions, and it barely took five minutes to get Sixes banned from our bunkroom’s assigned fresher. It’ll take special approval from the Captain to get it removed, but he’s on our side at the moment.
When Sixes realized what had happened, he tried to get it removed, and then he tried to use other vode to sneak past or leave the door open, but they weren’t having it. Now he’s trying to convince me that I went too far, but I am done.
Do I care that the next nearest freshers are three hallways over in the shinies’ barracks? Nope.
Do I know how much longer it takes him to get ready in the mornings when he’s being swarmed by overeager shinies asking for recommendations on how to impress command enough to get chosen for ARC training? Serves him right.
What do you think? AITA for inconveniencing my vod only half as much as he is inconveniencing me?
Big fan of DBB’s hc of Fives where he survives and retires to start a tauntaun farm on Hoth 🥲 also, Tup’s there too because both of them deserve to live a peaceful life 🥲🥲
Redraw of them in fluffy cloaks because that’s always fun!
