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lablass-2882 · 5 months

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A bit of an early treat for y’all.

Since my move actually went pretty quick. I guess having a big family who all own trucks/SUVs makes for light work, huh?

The meta reason is that I needed a break from arranging and putting together my apartment. So, I decided to finish this piece.

Introducing Alpha Squad. They are a small part of bigger Phoenix Squadron Unit in the Rebel Allience.

Click for better quality

And some close ups.

These aren't the squads final designs. They're more of a first pass that I am comfortable with showing off. Putting faces so sorts to names.

Going from left to right.

Captian Tally. Alpha Squads fearless 2nd in command and probably one of the best hand to hand fighters in the Rebellion. She is not to be pissed off, ever. Tally is Trapper's daughter but was raised by Cody after Trapper's death.

Commander Aurora. Leader of Alpha Squad and its resident caf addic. She is well known for her calm and collected attitude even when under fire. Her father was a member of the Corrie Guard, but she was raised by Fox and Thire.

Sparks is Alpha Squad tech maniac, hacker, and general trouble maker. She loves messing with all manor of machines and tech. She is the daughter of Comet, Sinker and Boost.

Head Medic Mako. The calmest and strongest member of Alpha Squad, Mako also has the honor of trying to wrangle all of his half siblings into the medic tent when shit goes sideways. He was adopted by Woffle after his mom abandoned him, and his clone dad is long dead.

Lieutenant Arrow. The unofficially weapons master of the group and the resident grump of the Squad. Arrow would be hard pressed to admit to it, but he loves his crazy siblings. They are just way too loud sometimes. He is Longshot's son.

Twig. One of two expert pilots for Alpha Squad, Twig, along with his twin Branch, make sure that the Squad gets where it needs to go. Regardless of laws, physics, and sometimes all common sense. His dad was a member of the 501st

Branch. One of the best pilots among the clone units, Branch is fearless, loves to go fast, and is always on the go. Along with her twin brother Twig, the squad always gets where it needs to go. Maybe not always in the sensible way tho. Her dad was a member of the 501st.

And last but not least.

Max. He is the Jack of all trades among Alpha Squad. He's a mechanic, a cook, an assistant to Mako, good at logistics, and is generally a level head dude. He does tend to get overwhelmed by his siblings' antic tho. He father is Dogma.

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firewoodwander · 4 months

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12. While laughing + Wooley/Longshot

Mistletoe prompts

12. Laughing

The game of cards in the middle of Ghost’s barracks is still going when someone pulls out their secret stash of Engineering’s Best. Wooley had been forced to fold out gracefully several rounds ago but Boil, Trapper and Forage are stuck battling it out over fierce poker faces.

Daze jostles Wooley’s arm until he relinquishes his cup for refilling. Vex and Bez have cranked up the volume on the shitty deep space radio station they’ve tuned into and are dancing between the rows of bunks. Caper is plotting something, grinning and secretive with Longshot, poorly hidden in the back of the room; Wooley eyes them as he takes a sip of his drink.

Kriffing stars, this shit could put them all at the bottom of the ocean—no matter how good Vex claims his tolerance is.

At least the lieutenants are distracted by the game, he thinks, amused by the way Atoll rolls his eyes and pretends he can’t see Waxer sneaking looks at everybody’s hands.

The end of Wooley’s bunk dips, and he looks over to see Longshot making grabby hands for Daze’s bottle.

“Don’t think I didn’t see you being sneaky about something over there,” Wooley tells him. Longshot grins around the neck of the bottle and splutters when he swallows, messy and somehow still charming.

“Just some harmless fun,” he says, and winks. “Promise.”

“Mm hm.” Wooley leans in and knocks their shoulders together. “Does it have anything to do with the mistletoe that disappeared from the lounge this afternoon?”

“Couldn’t possibly say.”

Caper appears on the top bunk next to where Vex and Bez are making fools of themselves. He crawls forward and holds out his arm, a small twiggy thing with pale berries dangling from his fingers.

Wooley and Longshot contain their grins until Bez glances up and makes a noise of utter outrage; half the room cracks up and cheers, whistles chiming in from several different directions.

“They get all the fun,” Wooley complains lightheartedly, but Longshot shuffles closer and pulls something out from behind his back.

“’Course I couldn’t let that stand,” he says, and with a cheeky grin offers up a tiny branch of their very own mistletoe. “They won’t miss a little bit like this.”

Wooley grabs Longshot’s wrist and pushes it above their heads, giggling like a tubie who most definitely knows better as he leans in to kiss the laughter off his partner’s lips.

It’s ridiculous and their teeth click more than their lips kiss, but it’s sweet and it’s perfect and it’s hilarious. Wooley swipes hair from his eyes and leans back in to kiss Longshot again.

#cloneshipping #writing tag #Wooley/longshot #clone trooper wooley #clone trooper longshot #mistletoe prompts

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trudemaethien · 7 months

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longshot/sgt fox + turn

immediate thoughts: coruscant rush hour traffic and watchman bent bullet trajectories, kennedy conundrum, parkour

aaaaand i just realized this said SGT fox dammit dammit dammit OK u get a bonus (under the cut), while I go write the right Fox smdh@myself

“I know 501st is our companion battalion and all, and I do want to see those yahoos again, I do, but at the cost of having to hot-bunk? Sheesh, haven’t had to trade off a bed with a brother in a hot minute.”

“Oh, quit your bitching, Longshot, because if the logs officer hears you he might assign you to share with someone who farts uncontrollably, or wets the bed or something,” Trapper teased loudly, grinning. “Oh look, it’s your turn. Wish ya luck!” With that he gave Longshot a shove up to the billeting window.

The logs officer, who had a side-shave and a little neutral symbol tattooed on their face peeping out from the fall of curls across their other cheek, glanced up at him and passed a smaller-than-usual stack of bedding out of the window. “Your five-oh-first partner has the rest and is already in residence,” they intoned with the air of having already said it a hundred times and planning on scores more. “3-76 in ba—hang on—“

But Longshot had already snatched up the auto-printed tag of flimsi. “3-76 in bay 22, what’s the matter with it?” he inquired with an edge of suspicion.

The logs officer sat on their hands and looked like they’d been dared to shoot the extremely salty, sour undiluted electrolytes from a ration packet. “Nothing,” they said tersely, impatiently.

“Uncontrollable farting? Pees the bed?” Longshot pressed, and the logs guy bit back a smile in spite of themself. They’d definitely heard Trapper giving him a hard time.

“So…?”

“Nothing,” they repeated. “Just, ah, recognized my own bunk number—I promise I’m not some yahoo who makes a mess, don’t worry. You’re not weird or gross or anything either, are you?”

“Depends,” said Longshot flirtatiously, leaning on the window’s pass-through ledge, “on just what weird kind of mess you mean.” He winked reassuringly.

Behind him Trapper groaned.

“Hm,” the trooper said, noncommittal.

“You got a name, new bunkmate?”

“What’ll it take for you to turn that tag back over to me?” they countered.

“Your name,” Longshot insisted, pushing his luck.

They stared at him for a moment, considering. “You’re holding up the line,” they finally said, prim as anything. “I’ll find you later, I’m sure. Move along.”

Smirking, Longshot stepped off. “Well, you know where I sleep.”

Hot-Bunk, Bunkmate 🔒 https://archiveofourown.org/works/51632134

Bonus (cdr fox):

“I said you could fill out your ranks with shinies, Two-Four, not kriffing Jedi, you absolute cheat!

“I did not! And kark off with that number bullshit, Tenten. In front of my men?”

“What the hell do you call this, then?” Fox gestured to the impossible marked trajectory, motions abrupt and infuriated. “There is no way in the realm of un-force-assisted physics that a trooper could pull off a longshot like that.”

“Oh, I like that,” said an awed voice behind Fox and he whirled to see the starry-eyed shiny listening in—not that he was being particularly circumspect in his tirade. “Can that be my name, Commander? Longshot?”

“No,” said Fox direly in the same breath as Cody overruled him.

His voice was fond and approving and full of shit. “Of course it can, it’s an excellent name, ‘37,” Cody said without looking at Fox.

The newly named Longshot did, however. “Thank you, sir, it really is—a good name and a high compliment.”

“It was not a compliment,” Fox grumbled. “You special in the head?”

“No, sir, no, of course not, forgive me” the kid said, still mostly unsubdued but at least trying to act respectful.

“I’ll —maybe— consider forgiveness, if you can explain to me in detail how the kriff you got it to turn like that?!”

“Certainly,” Longshot said, cheeky again, “over a cuppa caf?” No ‘sir’ now, was this punk flirting?

The absolute audacity.

Not many people knew what an unfortunate blusher Fox was and the tally had just gone up. Fox decidedly didn’t look at Cody who was definitely smirking like a vat-reject.

“Make it something stronger,” Fox said, grappling his dignity back under control, “and you’ll be the one paying, Longshot.”

If he’d gotten one illogical shot to hit an improbable target, why not let him go for another?

Bullet Bending 🔒 https://archiveofourown.org/works/51632269

#star wars tcw #fanfiction #cloneshipping #my fic link #tumblr prompts #ask answered #clones #rated t #clone trooper longshot #sgt fox #two unrelated responses #cdr fox

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thivell · 4 hours

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woah hey! I’m glad people liked the lil comic I drew! 💕💕 have some doodles for more tookaverse!

#tookaverse #thivellevil #ahsoka tano #obi wan kenobi #captain rex #commander cody #clone trooper wooley #clone trooper trapper #clone trooper longshot #clone trooper fives #clone trooper echo #clone trooper kix #clone trooper jesse #Clone trooper helix

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cyarikashi · 1 year

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Ice Skating With the 212th

Hello everyone!

I recently went ice skating and got the inspo to write this. I originally wrote this for my sister, who loves her mans, Commander Cody. I made the nickname "Mir'ika" from the word 'mirdala' which means clever, or intelligent. This is my first Star Wars fic ever! I hope you enjoy <3

Pairing: Commander Cody x medic!reader

Summary: You are the medic for the 212th, and you go ice skating with them while on leave

Tags: fluff!!

Word Count: 2.2k

You watched as the members of the 212th battalion went around and around on the ice. Some of them were more confident than others- even the General and Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi was gliding gracefully across the ice. He was mesmerizing to watch; it was almost as if he had wings. You'd thought he must have done this a million times before, but then again, you figured he had plenty of help through the use of the Force.

You had your skates on, but as the battalion's medic, you felt it a duty to make sure nobody got injured, even if ice skating was a million times less deadly than an actual battle. You had skated a couple of rounds with the men but you felt like you'd be able to keep a better watch from the sidelines.

You couldn't help but worry about them. You had grown very close to the clones over the course of the war. You were conflicted with your own inner feelings about it though. You knew there were those who were apathetic towards the war, and those who thought of the clones with disgust- or as less than human. But you had seen them in action and gotten to know them as individuals. Each one had their own name and personality and they cared so much for each other. They were loyal to the Republic, almost to a fault. You struggled with the knowledge that the clones were basically slaves to a Republic that condemned slavery, but the clones themselves either didn't realize this or didn't let it bother them. They were bred for war, but you knew they deserved so much better. You kept a stiff upper lip when treating their wounds, but internally your anxiety skyrocketed whenever someone got hurt.

You smiled and waved as Waxer and Boil skated by, the former helping the latter keep his footing. You shook your head with a laugh as Boil lost his footing again. You could tell he was just fine by the way he was laughing his ass off while sitting on the ice. Longshot skated by, giving you a double thumbs up as he swerved around the two.

"Doing okay, Wooley?" You asked, as he made his way around the rink. He was clinging to the edge and you could see his legs wobbling as if he might slip any second.

"Ha, well mir'ika, it beats getting shot at, that's for sure," he huffs, as he makes his way in front of you. You give his glove a pat as he passes.

"You're doing great, keep at it!" You encourage him, "the ice has nothing on you!"

He looks back and gives you a big grin, though he stumbles a little as he does. You move to help him, but he reinforces his grip, assuring you that he's fine. You give him a thumbs up and look back over the ice. As you do, your breath catches when you see him.

Commander Cody.

He was halfway across the ice heading your way. His hat and mittens matched the bright orange of his battalion's colors. He was skating tall and fluidly. He skated the way he led his men: with complete coolness and confidence. You two made eye contact, and he gave you a small smile. You watched as he sped up a little, and then turned around and skated backwards for a moment. When he turned, his eyes immediately seeked yours, and he gave you a slightly bigger smile when he saw that you had still been watching him. He continued towards you as he did a small spin.

He stopped right in front of you.

"Having fun, mir'ika?" He asked, with a soft voice. He was hanging onto the railing, almost as if he was going to slip. All of his former confidence on the ice seemed to have dissipated the closer he got to you. "Don't you want to skate a little more?"

You felt your face get a little warmer at his changed demeanor. He was so collected on the battlefield or when he was discussing strategy with General Kenobi. . . But he always seemed nervous around you. At first it worried you sick, and you were thankful you spent most of your time in the medbay surrounded by ailments to help calm your nerves. It was important to you that the commander you worked under trusted you with the health of his men. After a while, your nerves eased as more of the men warmed up to you, eventually becoming a treasured member of the group and even given a nickname by the clones. Commander Cody had always been respectful, and kind, but he always seemed unnerved in the medbay even when you tried your utmost to assuage his tenseness. His pulse was usually unusually higher than normal, but you figured that leading an entire battalion of your brothers in the middle of a war would warrant a high blood pressure and pulse.

"I wanted to make sure nobody got seriously hurt," you replied, "I feel like I can see better from out here. If I'm doing rounds, I might miss someone falling."

Cody felt his heartbeat pick up. You were extremely diligent and dedicated to improving the lives of his brothers. He couldn't help but feel warm at your admission- this was supposed to be a team building experience...but his vod knew what it actually was: they were on leave and they deserved to have a good time. And that included you.

Cody cleared his throat a little before speaking.

"Everyone's having a lot of fun, and they're all okay. These are some of the finest men in the Grand Army of the Republic, mir'ika, they can handle a little slip."

He was looking down at his skates, sliding them back and forth as he stood there. At first, a jolt of panic shot through you. Was the commander condemning you for being too serious on what you knew was supposed to be finally a fun shore leave? Maker knew the clones deserved it. But after a second of thought, you softened at the clone in front of you. You thought you might as well have some fun while it lasted.

"Are you suggesting I abandon my duties, commander?"

Cody's head snapped up at your question. His grip tightened on the railing, and he opened his mouth to answer before shutting it again.

You couldn't help but give a laugh. "Or are you offering to skate with me for a while?"

He cleared his throat and nodded his head. He could feel the heat in his cheeks and wondered if you could feel it radiating off of him in waves.

"I- I think it would be good for the men to see you participate. They... want you to have a good time. We all do."

You smiled at Cody and made your way onto the ice. You skated up to him, and he almost looked a little panic-stricken but held out his arm regardless. You smiled and took it and the both of you took off.

You glided with ease next to Cody, who seemed to have forgotten all his previous vigor. You went along wondering if you were actually the one stabilizing him.

Trapper sped up and passed the both of you, doing a small spin as he did. He got close enough to Cody to make him stumble a bit. He huffed and looked down at you. You raised an eyebrow and nodded your head once towards Trapper in response. Cody got the message- he smiled at you and you let go of his arm. He sped off to catch up to Trapper, doing a circle around him. You laughed at Trapper's surprise, and Cody gave you a bright smile. He set off again and did a few more twirls, each one a little faster and more impressive than the last. Each time, he looked to you almost as if for approval.

If he was being honest with himself, it pleased him to see you so happy and carefree. More often than not, you had the steely look of determination on your face when you were tending to the injured, though Cody could tell that underneath that cool, hard and serious exterior lay worries and doubts. He could tell because he often did the same thing. Leading men into battle and seeing his brothers die was enough to break anybody down, but Cody knew his vod looked up to him for a sense of security and control.

But shore leave was different. This was a time for the clones to have fun, destress, and in some cases, go wild, though Cody strongly discouraged that. One too many calls about shinies causing a ruckus from Fox had gotten Cody to learn his lesson and steer his men from doing anything too crazy. But here on the ice, with all his vod padded and cozied up, Cody didn't see any harm in a few bumps and bruises. His vod were pretty tough; they were bred to be so.

Cody skated back towards you, smiling as he did so. His cheeks and nose were dusted with a reddish hue against his deep golden skin. He made it up to you, and you could see hesitation in his hands. You smiled, and grabbed one and held it as you skated forward.

"That was very impressive, Commander," you smiled up at him, "is there anything you're not good at?"

At this, Cody's hand gripped yours tighter. He looked down at you, and you could see part of his scar peeking from under his hat. His eyes were bright and he looked more flustered than anything. You smiled brightly at him, and gave his hand a squeeze back.

You broke eye contact just in time to see Waxer and Boil, who were making their wobbly way across the ice, right in front of you both. You gripped Cody's hand tight, and made a yelp as you both crashed into the pair of clones.

"Waxer! Boil! I'm so sorry, are you okay?" you asked, as you scrambled to get up and help bring them to their feet.

Both gave a booming laugh and smiled up at you. "We're fine, mir'ika, but the commander's not looking too hot."

Adrenaline immediately flooded your body as you looked to Cody, who was still sprawled out on the ice. He let out a low groan as he tried sitting up.

You got down on your knees to check him.

"Are you okay, Cody?" You asked, frantically looking over his body for any injuries. "Did you hurt anything? Can you stand?"

Cody managed to sit up, and looked at your face, which was full of worry and emotion and he was never more sure in his life that he was in love with you than at that moment. He grabbed one of your bare hands with his gloves- you had ripped them off when you knelt next to him- and you gave him a puzzled look. He could feel his heartbeat in his ears, and wondered if you could hear it too.

"Mir'ika," he said in a thick voice, "I'm okay. I...think I better join you on the sidelines for a while though, if that's okay." He didn't want to admit it, but his tailbone hurt quite a bit. He took a hard fall on his ass when you two had been distracted and knocked into Waxer and Boil.

You noticed Cody wince as you helped him up. You both made your way slowly to the entrance of the rink, and you sat Cody down on one of the benches that lined the rink.

"Are you sure you're okay?" You asked, trying to give him a stern look but faltering.

He gave you another smile, reassuring you that he just needed a break. You nodded, and told him to wait there for you to get back. He watched you leave, cursing himself for causing you to worry. You headed off to find him a blanket. Once retrieved, you brought that and two hot chocolates back to Cody, who had remained in his seat just as you instructed.

He smiled as you wrapped the blanket around his shoulders, and thanked you for the hot chocolate. You stood there contemplating him for a moment before speaking.

"You know you don't have to get injured just to see me, right?"

Cody choked on his hot chocolate at your comment, and you couldn't help but laugh.

"I'm sorry Cody," you said smiling and sincerely, "it's my fault you got hurt. I wasn't paying attention."

He was quick to counter you, blaming himself for being distracted. His cheeks were flooded with a dark red color, and you warmed at the sight. You sat down next to him, taking one edge of the blanket and putting it over your own shoulder. You were sat thigh to thigh with the clone. You looked up at him and smiled. You could tell he was tense.

"You know, it's a medical secret, but I think I might have the perfect ailment for you."

Cody furrowed his brows and looked at you quizzically. You giggled again and breached the space between you two. Your lips met his and he went rigid against you, until softening and melting into the kiss. He finally broke the kiss to come up for air, and rested his forehead against your own. Cody closed his eyes and willed his heartbeat to slow down lest it beat right out of his chest.

"Thank you, mir'ika, I think that did just the trick. I feel much better now."

#commander cody #marshal commander cody #clone troopers #clone simp #commander cody x reader #commander cody x you #star wars #tcw #star wars the clone wars #212th attack battalion #212th shenanigans #clone trooper waxer #clone trooper cody #clone trooper boil #clone trooper longshot #clone trooper trapper #swtcw #swtcw fic #fanfic

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eloquent-apollo · 3 months

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What if Cody, Boil, Longshot, Crys, Wooley and Waxer once got fucking drunk and tattooed each others named on the soles of their feet?

Cody has Waxer, Boil has Crys, Longshot has Wooley, Wooley has Cody, Waxer has Longshot, Crys has Boil

Waxer now insists he is Cody’s favourite brother and he cant deny it because he has his fucking name tattooed on his foot so he goes back and gets Rex’s name tattooed above it out of spite

#star wars #star wars the clone wars #clone wars #commander cody #clone trooper waxer #clone trooper boil #clone trooper wooley #clone trooper crys #clone trooper longshot #captain rex

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alamogirl80 · 2 years

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My design for Longshot for my Mandalore Cody AU

“And I’ll Follow the Light in You” Codywan

#star wars #the clone wars #tcw #longshot #clone trooper Longshot #mel’s art #codywan au #clone trooper #and i’ll follow the light in you #Star Wars art #the clone wars art #fan art #digital art

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clonefandomevents · 1 year

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212th Bingo Rules and Rewards!

Rules:

There aren’t really a lot of rules, just like our other Bingos. Just two major big ones that are necessary for your work to be part of the Bingo.

It must be centered around a member of the 212th Cody, Waxer, Boil, Wooley, Gregor, Trapper, Longshot, Gearshift or any other named 212th trooper. 212th OC clones are also welcome, as long as they are one of the golden troopers! Since he is a member of the 212th, Obi-Wan is also acceptable. But since this is a clone centric event we do ask that at least one of the vod'e are also a main character. As long as one of them is the focal point of the creation, then it qualifies! All ships, other characters including OC’s and scenarios are welcome as long as it is 212th focused.

Respect other people’s creations! Because this is open to all ships and characters, it is only plausible that someone’s creation wont be to your liking. If it is brought to our attention that anyone participating in the Bingo is harassing other participants for what they are creating, then they will likely be barred from continuing to participate. This event is designed to give love to the 212th and built up the community, and we can’t do that if we are attacking each other.

The most important thing is to have fun! We want everyone to enjoy the event

Rewards:

Currently, we have no set end timeline for the Bingo. It will run for as long as people wish to play! With the open ended timeline, we wanted to set incentives for completing bingos! There are three levels of rewards.

Bingo Line: If you complete a straight line, vertical, horizontal or diagonal, you will be able to request either an icon/header or a gif!

An X, a Square or an Aurebesh 2 (Top row, the third row and the bottom row with one connecting the third and top), you will be able to request either a short fic (500-1000 words) or a sketch to flat color art.

If you complete a blackout, you can request either both a short fic and sketch art, or a longer fic (up to 5000 words) or fully shaded and complete art.

Please note that both mods are participating in other fandom events and do have real life obligations as well. The Rewards may not always be able to be instantaneous, but we will do our best to get them finished within a reasonable amount of time of you completing a bingo.

Posting:

Posting will be really simple! If you post on Ao3, be sure to add it to the Collection, ‘212th Bingo 23’. If you post on Tumblr, tag us at clonefandomevents and tag your post with #212thbingo23. If you plan on posting somewhere else, please let us know so that we see what you have created!

We will have the bingo card request form up soon! Meant to have it done by today, but those real life obligations got in the way. It will be soon though, as we can’t wait to see what you all have in mind to create!

Here is an example of an aurebesh 2 bingo! (Also, I am just now realizing the 2's in the card are wrong. So, if you make a bingo in the style of how they are on the card, that is also 100% acceptable!)

#212th bingo #212th attack battalion #fandom event #fandom bingo #commander cody #clone trooper waxer #clone trooper boil #clone trooper wooley #captain gregor #clone trooper longshot #clone trooper gearshift #clone trooper trapper #212th oc clones #bingo rules and rewards

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reneeofthestars · 1 year

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Peril on Patrol!

Forgot to post this! This is a fic that I had the privilege to write for @vodeanzine , a Clone Trooper Zine!

This piece features Sister, a clone trooper of the 212th!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/45644128

word count: 2226

* * *

Sister could never decide if she loved or loathed being on patrol.

On the one hand, it was critical for the security of the base. She was proud that Commander Cody trusted her skills to be among the first line of defense.

On the other hand, it was painfully boring.

Well, “boring” wasn’t quite the right word. Patrolling the perimeter of the hastily-established base required Sister to be focused and disciplined, alert for anything that might signal a hostile presence. But a good patrol meant nothing happened, which often led to strung-out nerves for no reason. So, every clone regularly on patrol duty had developed the skill of keeping watch for anything out-of-place, while also using the opportunity to relax.

Now, Sister uttered a quiet laugh, filtered through her helmet.

“Don’t tell me you actually watch those Jedi romance holos?”

“Sure,” Wooley said, inclining his own bucket towards her. “Jedi romance, Deep Space horrors, Wild Space adventures, Shilian dramas – I haven’t found a genre I don’t like.”

Sister shook her head. “Romances are fine, but I can’t watch the Jedi ones with a straight face. Not now that I know they’re only people.” She pivoted suddenly and scanned the land behind them, hands tight on her blaster rifle. Rusty-red scrubgrass, arching silicone formations, and looming crimson plants surrounded them, but her HUD didn’t detect any movement, heat signatures, or electromagnetic signals. No sign of any Separatists or local fauna following them through the Anaxes forest. She walked backwards for a few paces before turning around again. “Still clear.”

“Figures.” Wooley did a brief scan of the foliage to the right before looking up as they passed beneath one of the red plants. “Y’know, those remind me of the piona jellyfish back on Kamino.”

Once he mentioned it, Sister couldn’t help but agree. Long, undulating tendrils dangled from the bulbous, blossoming tops; so similar to the frills that dragged lazily behind the incredibly toxic – and absurdly large – languid invertebrates that drifted through the Kaminoan seas.

“Uh, they are plants, right? Not some sort of creature lying in wait for a tasty clone to devour?” She deliberately maneuvered around a particularly long tendril.

Wooley shrugged. “Could be a clone-eating plant, too. You never know with this galaxy.”

And what a galaxy it was. In the short time she’d been outside of Kamino’s torrential storms, Sister had seen more creatures, people, and landscapes than her studies had prepared her for. She did another sweep of their surroundings. Still no droids or lifeforms around. The creatures here seemed skittish.

They lapsed back into silence as they climbed a particularly rocky slope. It proved to be a hill, set at a higher elevation than the land around it. They paused to catch their breath, and Sister gazed around. A light mist wrapped around their legs, hugging the ground and stretching as far as she could see, weaving among the stalks and trunks of the reddish land. Spires of rounded rocks dotted the landscape, casting long shadows as the sun sunk lower behind hazy mountains.

“Do you ever miss Kamino?” Wooley asked, staring at the sunset.

“No.”

Sister was surprised how quickly she answered. She’d answered so seriously, without thought, that her voice dropped nearly to her brothers’ pitch.

Wooley’s helmet tilted slightly. “Not even a little?”

She cleared her throat. “No,” she said again, raising her voice to a more comfortable pitch. “I never felt… safe. I don’t know about your division, but in Tipoca City, to be different was to risk disappearing. The Kaminoans didn’t like ‘different’.”

Wooley nodded, but didn’t say anything.

“But my brothers took care of me. They always protected me, always made me feel safe.” Kamino was never home to Sister; home was wherever her brothers were. She pulled herself out of her reverie. “Do you miss it?”

Wooley sounded sheepish as he admitted, “Sometimes. But I might just miss the idea of it. Life was so slow and steady back then, and now it’s nothing but movement, you know? Sometimes, I just want to have a chance to rest like we used to.”

“Rest will come.” She didn’t bother to say more; they were both thinking it. Sister adjusted some controls on her HUD and did another sweep. The Republic base was well-concealed in the distance, and only came up because she knew what she was looking for. Beyond that, no structures pinged on her scanners.

A comm notice popped up on Sister’s HUD. Moments later, Trapper’s voice crackled in her ear. “You two are standing out like sunburnt taun-tauns up there. If you’re done with your sightseeing, it looks like our patrol loops are about to intersect. Want to join up for the last leg?”

Wooley nodded, and Sister replied, “It’ll be good to have you.”

“See you in three minutes, vod.”

Together, Sister and Wooley began their descent down the other side of the hill. It was considerably steeper than what they’d just climbed, so it took some careful maneuvering.

As they got back below the treeline, Sister asked, “Where do you want to retire to?”

Wooley gave a startled laugh. “Retire to? I think we need to survive the war first.”

“C’mon, you’ve thought about it.” Sister bumped him gently with her shoulder. “We’ve all thought about it. Don’t get bogged down with the existentialism.” She paused, considering the landscape bathed in red sunset. “I’d get a bunch of brothers to settle on Christophsis. The land’s covered in these gorgeous turquoise crystals. The way the light catches at dawn and sunset – I’ve never seen so many colors.” After nearly a decade of the stark white walls of Kaminoan cities, she was determined to experience as many colors as her vision spectrum would allow.

Wooley was quiet as he thought. He parted a particularly dense patch of scrubgrass with his rifle before moving on. “Of the places I’ve been,” he said at length, “I think I’d like to live on Ryloth. The area we were in was hot, but there are a bunch of different biomes to roam between. I like the Twi’leks. They’re good people, and, I dunno … I’d like to help them, if I can.”

Heat signatures registered on Sister’s HUD. She held up a hand to quiet Wooley and adjusted the specs. She relaxed; the forms were clones.

“Trapper, how goes the western bank?” Wooley asked as the other two came around a low-grown plant. He took a moment to lean his blaster against a boulder and shake the stiffness out of his arms. Sister followed his lead; the tightness in her limbs relaxed and she took in a steadying breath.

“Nothing to report,” Trapper answered as he approached. “Unless you count a nesting viper that Longshot tripped over.”

“You said you wouldn’t bring it up,” Longshot grumbled from behind him, squaring his shoulders.

“I lied,” Trapper replied mildly.

Sister grinned at Longshot, even though he couldn’t see it. “I didn’t know you were here! You get reassigned?”

“My squad just got back from a survey on one of the orbital moons.” Her batchmate took off his bucket and wiped his brow. “Nothing there but a bunch of rocks.” Longshot pulled out his canteen and took a swig before offering it to Trapper.

“We’re not supposed to take our armor off –” Wooley started nervously, before Trapper thumped the canteen against his chestplate.

“Drink,” Trapper ordered. And Wooley removed his helmet to drink.

Sister removed her bucket too, shaking out her thick dark hair. The elastic holding her hair in place had broken an hour ago, and had been falling into her eyes.

As she fished around in her utility belt for a replacement, Trapper grinned. “It’s grown out a lot, eh? Looks good.”

“Grew fast at first,” she answered as she wound her hair around into a knot to fit under her helmet, “but it’s slowed down now. Hasn’t gone past my shoulders yet.” She fastened the elastic just as Wooley handed off the canteen. She took it gladly; she hadn’t realized how thirsty she was. As she lowered the container, she spied an odd expression on Longshot’s face. “What?”

He shook his head, smiling. “Nothing. Just – I was looking at a holo I have of us on Kamino. Your face is a lot softer – rounder, maybe – than it was then.”

“The rest of my weight’s redistributed too. I thought the saying about food going straight to the hips was an expression, but apparently not.” Sister toasted him with the canteen. “Hormones work wonders.”

Longshot took the canteen back from her, but before he pulled away, he clapped her on the shoulder and inclined his head. “I’m happy for you, Sister. We all are.”

Sister beamed and pressed her forehead against his. “Thank you, vod.”

They stood a moment more before Sister gave him a slightly-less-gentle headbutt. “I guess we’ve loitered long enough.” She donned her helmet, and the others followed suit. As they resumed their joint patrols, she said, “So, Wooley and I were talking about where we’d like to retire. He says Ryloth, I say Christophsis. What about you two?”

“Naboo,” Longshot answered immediately.

“You’ve been?”

He raised a shoulder in a half-shrug. “No. But you’ve seen the holos. It’s beautiful, peaceful. I think it would be nice to learn about art… or whatever else they teach there.”

“I suppose our education of the arts is severely lacking.”

“I could get used to life on Coruscant,” Trapper mused, trodding through a tangle of scrubgrass. “Plenty of nightlife, drinks, opportunities – never a dull moment.”

“This is your retirement, Trapper,” Wooley reminded him. “We’re talking about when we’re old and not good for fighting.”

Trapper shrugged. “Fighting’s what we’re for. I’m never not going to be good at it.”

Sister checked behind them for any movement. “Now I’m imagining Ninety-Nine in a fistfight in some seedy cantina with neon lights.”

“I’ll be lucky if I’m in Ninety-Nine’s shape by the time this war’s over.”

Sister laughed as she pushed aside a short tendrilled plant –

And almost walked right into a probe droid.

Sister reeled back as the droid let out a high mechanical whine of surprise, its numerous dangling limbs convulsing instinctively. Its black-domed head spun on its axis, bulbous lenses flashing as it swiveled to each of the clones.

“Blast it!” Trapper shouted.

Sister didn’t need to be told twice; adrenaline surged through her veins. She felt a smug satisfaction that the stress of patrol wasn’t unwarranted this time. She sprinted to the right as Wooley lunged left, Trapper charging forward as Longshot backed up to get a better aim.

But the droid recovered as quickly as the clones. It spun into the air, red blaster bolts screaming down around them. Sister dove behind a boulder for cover, rock fragments splintering around her, and spotted Longshot taking a defensive position in a shallow crevasse, Wooley darting through a thick grove of the red plants.

Trapper didn’t look for cover; he raced straight towards the droid, trying to draw its fire.

It worked.

The droid’s lens narrowed in on Trapper, its extra blaster ports recalibrating –

Sister raised her blaster rifle and fired. The antenna comm system jutting from the dome exploded, Wooley’s shot disabled the main blaster with a spark and a flash of blue, and Longshot’s careful aim left the droid short-circuiting, broken shards where its main photo receptor had been.

The probe droid sputtered in the air a moment more, then tumbled to the ground with the groan of electronics and the crash of metal.

Trapper didn’t take any chances. He put one, two, three more bolts through the droid’s chassis in quick succession.

The silence was almost as deafening as the sudden blasterfire. Sister pivoted, narrowing her scanners, sweeping the area for any more droids. There were none.

“A scout?” Longshot growled as they gathered around the husk of metal.

Wooley was already tapping into the comms. “Patrol Osk to Base, come in, Base.”

Squatting down, Sister knocked more of the chassis apart, peering into the sparking wires and metal bits. The comms crackled a moment more before Commander Cody’s voice sounded in their helmets. “Base here. Status report.”

“We just ran across a Separatist probe droid,” Wooley said above her. “It’s destroyed now, but we don’t know where it came from.”

“Did it transmit a signal?”

They all exchanged a look. “No way to tell, sir.”

There was a pause, then the Commander switched to full-range comms. “I want all patrols back to Base immediately. All forces are to pull back while we evaluate a new situation.”

“Yes, sir,” all four of them said at once.

Her brothers made as if to start moving, but Sister didn’t stand; she plunged her hands into the depths of the droid, doing her best to avoid the still-live wiring.

Longshot looked down at her. “What are you doing?”

“Getting its brain,” she replied as her gloved fingers found their target. She gave a sharp twist, and the processor fell into her hands. She withdrew it, holding the rectangular object up. “Might have something useful on it.”

Trapper nodded. “Good thinking, Sister. C’mon. Let’s get moving.”

They set out at a brisk pace, keeping alert as they moved through the strange red forest.

Sister wasn’t worried; not when she had her brothers with her. Whatever happened, they’d face it together.

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