A/N: Just a heads up, when a character mentions a year, I use Coruscant years instead of BBY. The said year mentioned is 7958 ('58) which is technically 19 BBY. Just a heads up.
Enjoy the story!
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22 BBY, Month 5
Rylann
Rylann winced at the training bolt that hit her shoulder, groaning aloud at the thought of restarting the training session. She turned off her saber, tapping the side of the head device, the blinder uncovered her eyes. The training probe shut down, landing in the palm of her hand. Even though she knew she'd have to restart the training session to go a full five minutes without getting shot, Rylann really didn't feel like it.
Instead, she tossed the probe and headpiece onto her bed, attaching her sleek, silver-hilted saber to her belt. With Shaak Ti still on Coruscant, Rylann found herself becoming extremely bored extremely quickly. Though the Bad Batch, as her friends called themselves, had spent some time with her, they still had their own training they needed to go through in order for them to graduate as their own clone force.
Rylann had testing coming up for the Knighting as well. Rylann was graduating a little older than most, though that was her own fault. She wasn't grasping the concepts fast enough if at all. Rylann was glad that Shaak Ti was her master in moments of her own failure, for the Togruta was patient and walked her through it. And with Shaak Ti gone, it was up to Ry to take up initiative and practice on her own. But Ry was so tired of practicing. That was all she had been doing the past few days.
Tonight she had the night off from training with the Batch since they had a lot of meetings to go to regarding graduation, but she still found herself antsy to train. She'd been at it for at least a couple of hours until this point. She walked over to the wall device, clicking it to find the time.
"Eleven o'clock?" she exclaimed in shock. Surely not! She had been training for four hours trying to get this drill down. She had been so adamant to get it perfect to show the Batch that she had lost track of time. No wonder she was sore! Four hours of straight training, and not to mention all the hours she'd trained over the past few days with the Batch.
A knock sounded at her door, snapping her from her thoughts. Who could it be this close to midnight? Rylann thought, slowly making her way to her door, sliding it open. Hunter waved as Tech and Wrecker popped their heads up from behind him. Rylann looked out the door to come face to face with Crosshair leaning on one shoulder against the wall.
"Hello," Rylann said, looking down the hall to see if there was something going on. "What brings you to my abode?"
"Can't friends visit each other?" Crosshair asked, an antagonistic smirk donning his lips.
Rylann laughed. "Even you will have to admit, an eleven o'clock visit from friends can at least be questioned."
"We are here to celebrate!" Wrecker exclaimed too loudly in the hall. Hunter shushed him, looking to Rylann desperately.
"Come on in," Rylann stated, stepping aside for them to enter. Suddenly, she felt very conscious of the mess in the room. Using the force, she threw some old clothes into the laundry basket, and rushed over to kick some books under the bed. "Make yourself at home."
Tech automatically drifted to her desk against the wall, examining the monitor and set up she had going on. "Oh, look at the harddrive."
Rylann flushed, realizing that she never had anyone besides Shaak Ti and Ahsoka enter her room before. She suddenly became very aware of her decorating choices and lack of organization.
Hunter sat on her bed, looking up at the poster on the wall of the Galactic Games. "What are the Galactic Games?" he asked, pointing up at the large lettering on the wall.
"It's a tournament of different dangerous events," Rylann exclaimed, sitting beside him, hugging her legs to her chest. "It's hosted on different planets every seven years. I want to go to the one in '58."
"That's only three years away," Hunter said, smiling.
"Hopefully, I'll be a Knight by then so I can go to it," Rylann stated, shyly. "Shaak Ti didn't let me off of training a few years back—not to mention Master Kenobi and Anakin were investigating fishy business during the Games."
Wrecker plopped down on the mattress, his weight sending Hunter and Rylann into the air. "We could all go when the war is over."
If it ever ends, Rylann thought bitterly, looking down. "I'd like that," she finally stated, nodding. An awkward silence hung in the room as Crosshair entered, the door sliding closed behind him. "So, you said you were celebrating?"
"Oh, yes," Tech said, sitting in the rolling desk chair, spinning to face them. "We have been assigned a clone force name and operations packet."
"So, you're graduated?" Rylann asked, excitement surging through her body.
"No, but it's preparing us for when we do," Hunter explained, looking at his wrist comm.
"We actually have a test date now," Crosshair said, sitting on the edge of the desk, looking over Tech's head. "Five months."
"We get to go to Coruscant!!!" Wrecker yelled, bouncing on the bed beside them. His shifting weight sent Rylann flying into Hunter, his strong arms catching her. She flushed, embarrassment shooting through her as she removed herself from him, using the force to pull her bean bag chair towards her. "Sorry," Wrecker said, embarrassment etching itself across his face.
"All good," she replied, plopping onto the bean bag, looking up at the broad shouldered clone.
Crosshair visibly rolled his eyes, standing up. "I don't know about you guys, but I want to get to celebrating."
"How are we going to accomplish that?" Tech asked, swiveling to face Cross. "It's not like the caf is open."
Wrecker pouted. "Aw, I'm so hungry."
An idea formed in Rylann's mind. "Follow me." She sprung to her feet, opening the door to her room. She waited by the door, gesturing for them to follow. "Come on you, slowpokes."
"What does that even mean?" Crosshair sneered, brushing past her, but she saw the grin forming on his face when his brothers' attentions were diverted.
"It's of agricultural origin, regarding the poker they used to keep animals from escaping," Tech stated, raising his finger as he walked by Rylann.
Hunter passed Rylann without a word, raising an eyebrow as he passed. Wrecker on the other hand was grinning ear to ear, laughing maniacally in excitement. "What we gonna do? Better be food!"
"You've got your priorities straight," Rylann replied with a grin. As the Batch left her room, she exited, door sliding closed behind her. The boys stood awkwardly in the hall, waiting for Ry's next move.
She brushed past them, stopping next door in front of Shaak Ti's room. Looking both ways to make sure no one was watching, she typed in Shaak's passcode, her master's door unlocking. "Come on in, boys," she said, striding into Shaak Ti's suite. Rylann couldn't wait until she became a Knight. Maybe then she'd get an epic kitchenette like her master.
Shaak Ti's room smelt of vanilla and lavender, homesickness washing over Rylann. She didn't want to admit it, but she missed her master. Even if Shaak Ti pushed her and seemed distant at times, she could be quite encouraging and that was what Rylann needed at the moment.
"Are we allowed to be in here?" Hunter asked, breaking the silence as the boys filed into the extremely organized and clean suite.
Crosshair plopped down on Shaak Ti's cream sofa, leaning back into it with a sigh. "Regardless of being allowed, this is nice." Wrecker was about to plop down next to him, but Crosshair swung his leg over the other cushion. "Not a chance, buddy," he said, flipping the remote in his hand to turn on the Holovision on the wall across from him. "I'd rather not go flying through the ceiling."
"There's a loveseat, Wrecker," Rylann said, gesturing to the seat in the corner that Wrecker would take up just for himself. She gave the larger clone a reassuring smile before shooting a glare at Crosshair.
Crosshair just shrugged. "More room for me." He turned on the crime channel, watching the latest Coruscant assassination case, which Rylann tuned out. She'd rather not think about how dangerous the planet was that her master was currently located.
"You're such a jerk sometimes, Cross," Ry said, turning on her heel to enter the kitchenette. Hunter and Tech found their way to the bar stools on the island, watching her as she pulled out a few ingredients from the mini fridge and cabinet. "All Shaak Ti has that hasn't gone bad is soup mix."
Crosshair glanced up from the Holovision, popping up like a Genetian daisy. "May I help?" he asked, tossing the remote onto the arm of the couch.
Rylann paused in her movements, watching the tall clone as he practically bounded over to her. Hunter slid off the stool to steal Cross's spot on the couch, Tech quickly following suit.
"Dibs on the remote," Tech exclaimed, snatching the device from the arm of the couch as Hunter grabbed for it.
"Kriff." Hunter frowned, crossing his arms as he sunk deeper into the couch, eyes glazing over as the archaeology channel was switched on.
"What type of soup is it?" Cross asked, the voice of the accented narrator almost drowning out his voice. Was Tech also deaf? Why did he need to turn the volume up so high?
"No idea," Rylann replied with a shrug as she handed him the round cylinder. "It's in Togruti. It's probably native to Shili, her homeworld."
"Most likely," was all Crosshair said as he turned the canister in his hands, testing it with a shake. "Let's try it."
【 ⌖ 】
Crosshair
Crosshair watched as Rylann scraped the burned soup from the bottom of the pot, face flushing from the steam wafting up to her face—and probably embarrassment. She looked up, meeting Cross's eyes. "I promise you I am not a bad cook," she quickly let out with a huff. "I'm just no good at making stuff up."
"Or reading Togruti," Crosshair added, making sure she didn't forget. He knew she didn't, but he loved to rile her up. Her reactions made her nose scrunch up and he loved it when she did that.
There it was, the nose scrunch. "Hey, I know more than you, Hotshot," she remarked, waving the scraper at him, before turning back to put elbow grease into it.
"Since dinner is ruined, what will you do now?" Tech asked over the loud archaeologist's voice.
"Yeah," Hunter stated with a grin. "You'd better be making food still."
"Yeah!" Wrecker agreed, sending his fist into the air. "We're starving."
Rylann frowned, nostrils flaring slightly. "We're not your slaves."
Tech tilted his head at her, adjusting his goggles. "Do you trust any of us to be in your master's kitchen?"
Rylann huffed after she was silent for a moment. "No, I don't."
"So, you and Chef Cross make us something good to celebrate," Hunter teased, turning back to the show.
"You're so dead next time we spar, Hunter," Rylann threatened, but Hunter just ignored her.
He pointed to the screen in faux enthrallment. "Oh, look at those old bones," he stated dryly. "So interesting, can't talk now, Ry."
With a huff, Ry turned back to the pot, scraping the bottom, movements sharp and stiff. Crosshair walked over, nudging her shoulder which made her even more tense. "Hey, I got this," he said, offering his hand. "You can start making whatever you want."
"Soup from scratch," Rylann said, handing him the scraper, fingers brushing against his for a moment, stopping his heart in his chest. Why? He didn't know.
"Sounds good," he said, clearing his throat as started to work on cleaning the pot.
The pots clamored behind him as Rylann prepared the new batch of soup. She quietly got to work, the accented narrator filling in the awkward silence that settled in the air.
Hunter slid into the kitchenette, leaning on the counter as he watched Crosshair cleaning the pot. "That's quite the mess," Hunter said with a grin. "I am surprised you let the soup burn."
"Shut it, Hunter." Crosshair frowned, shooting his brother a look. "That was the last of our worries. You try reading Togruti instructions."
Hunter looked at Crosshair deadpanned. "You could've asked Tech. He has translators in his goggles."
Crosshair's expression fell. He didn't even think about that. "Oh."
"Hey, at least we learned something," Rylann cut in, elbowing Crosshair reassuringly. "We can't follow directions."
"That's old news, Ry," Hunter chuckled, making his way over to the padawan. He peeked over her shoulder as she cut up an onion. "What are you making?"
"Genetian vegetable soup," she said softly, not looking away from her cutting board. Hunter leaned on the counter, still watching her work. Cross could tell Ry was self-conscious. He had noticed it earlier when making the soup mix, so he had stopped watching her to make her feel more comfortable. But it angered Cross that Hunter, who usually could pick up on social cues, was making Ry uncomfortable.
"Hunter, would you like to help me by drying off the dishes?" Crosshair asked, voice a little sharper than he anticipated. Hunter looked over, raising a brow before coming over.
Hunter silently grabbed a towel, drying off any dish that Crosshair finished washing. He looked at Cross, asking him without words what was going on. Cross replied by nodding his head to Rylann and giving their secret battle hand signal for "leary." Usually they used that signal for Wrecker and heights, but Cross suspected that Hunter could fill in the blanks.
Rylann stopped chopping, diverting Crosshair's attention to her. She looked up at him, a sheepish smile growing on her face. "Do you guys mind if we turn off the show and I turn on the radio?"
Tech immediately turned off the Holovision, tossing the remote beside him. "Of course," he said as he walked into the kitchen.
Wrecker grinned in excitement, bounding up from the loveseat. "Finally. I'm sick and tired of learning about old things!"
Tech rose a brow, adjusting his goggles. "You realize these old things have shaped who we are today."
"Eh," Wrecker shrugged. "I just wanna blow things up."
"Didn't know you liked to blow things up," Rylann stated, tossing the diced onions into some oil in the pot.
"You're joking, right?" Crosshair asked, looking her way. She returned the look, dark hair falling from her braid across her eyes. The look of hurt crosses her gaze, sending Crosshair scrambling to save himself. "Wrecker can't go a training session without saying 'explosion.'"
"Yeah," Wrecker agreed with a deep, rumbling laugh. "We don't blow them clankers up enough."
Crosshair watched as Rylann's lips perked up into a small smile. She seemed distant though from the vacant look in her eyes.
As Hunter, Wrecker, and Tech debated the probabilities on the battlefield, Crosshair picked up a towel, his long strides closing the distance across the kitchen between him and Rylann. "Are you okay?" he asked, lowering his voice for only her to hear.
Rylann turned her gaze to him, biting her lip in thought. "I just don't like the idea of you all going off to fight."
Crosshair didn't understand her sentiment, though he didn't want to just brush her off. He was good at doing that to everyone's chagrin. "We were made for this," he said, carefully choosing his words. "We were created to go off and fight."
"Doesn't mean I have to like it," Rylann said, brushing her hair behind her ear, looking intently into his eyes. "Creating life just to destroy it doesn't settle right with me."
Crosshair didn't respond immediately, moving over to click on the radio. "Which station?"
"Anything with Loth Pop," Rylann stated, shaking her head as he switched each channel until an upbeat tune came on. "That one."
Crosshair wanted to cringe. The music was upbeat, driven, and fun—not how he liked his music. He liked contemplative or classical—not this space junk. But he saw the brightened look on Rylann's face, which made it all worth it. It had been a while since Crosshair had seen Ryle smile.
"Who is this?" Hunter asked, tapping his fingers to the beat on his crossed arms as he leaned on the counter.
"Dey Gelo," Rylann said, a grin breaking out on her face. "He is my favorite artist. He's from Lothal and has a few albums out now."
"What song is this? I like it," Wrecker asked, doing the hokey wave move with his arms. Cross rolled his eyes.
"Then It All Goes Away," Rylann said, practically bursting from the seams. "'It goes like—'" she started to sing off key a bit, but she paused flushing to add broth to the onions. "Anyway, what did you learn about the graduation stuff besides the date?"
"We got assigned a clone force name," Tech stated, leaning his forearms over the island counter.
"Clone Force 99," Wrecker exclaimed, voice gravelly from excitement.
Rylann tilted her head in interest. "Don't you know someone called 99?"
"That's the point," Crosshair said, cringing at how harsh that sounded. He didn't mean it to sound that mean. "It's in honor of the first defective clone."
Rylann nodded, adding crushed tomato to the broth. "What are you boys most excited about?"
"Caf privileges," Wrecker stated, watching hungrily as Rylann started to add mixed vegetables to the soup.
"Freedom," Crosshair said, wanting to get his answer out of the way. Rylann glanced at him knowingly, sending him a reassuring smile that sent peace throughout his body.
"Duty," Hunter finally said, scratching his chin in thought. "It's about time we put our training to the test."
Rylann nodded, turning to Tech who was silent for once in his life. "What about you, Tech?"
"The specialized armor and equipment," Tech said, pulling out his tablet. "I already started the design process, though I'm struggling with aesthetics."
"Yeah, we need to look cooler than all the regs," Wrecker agreed, hitting his fist on the counter, shaking the stacks of dried dishes.
Rylann stirred the soup, narrowing her eyes. "I might know someone who can help with that."