Heyo, human beings from outer space!
It's October, which means ✨chaos✨ and also I'm starting Whumptober, which I will never be able to keep up with, but I'm trying anyway~
Requested by DontTriggertheunicorn and inspired by a random comic i found on pinterest.
Read on if you dare.
As soon as Fives and Echo were assigned to the 501st, they'd been dragged into a RACTT training session. Echo had scoured his knowledge of reg manuals to figure out what the acronym meant, but he couldn't remember.
So he and Fives just showed up and hung in the back, waiting to figure out what was happening. They expected to hear Rex's voice ringing out over the crowd of troopers.
"Morning, boys!"
Echo jumped back a little, startled to hear the shrill voice of a... female? He and Fives shared a look. This had to be a trick, didn't it?
"I hope you slept well and ate something because we're not going easy on you today," came that female voice again.
Fives and Echo tried to peer through their brothers to see what was happening, but they were too thickly packed to see to the front.
"Divide up, men," the Captain's voice finally ordered. "Half to Commander Tano, half to me. We'll rotate around."
Commander Tano?
The room shifted, splitting the sea of clones in half. Echo and Fives leaned aside to stare down the line of troopers, only to see the tiniest being either of them had ever been near. A Togruta, orange skin shining bright beneath the lights and sharp teeth even brighter.
Rex spotted to two marveling at the child and cleared his throat.
"Oh yes, we got some shinies," Rex said, and Echo couldn't tell if it was to the troopers or the child. "Fives and Echo, get up here."
Clumsily they scrambled up the aisle, all eyes on them. And came to a solute in front of Rex.
"At ease. Fives, Echo, this is Commander Tano, I expect you to treat her with utmost respect," Rex said, gesturing to the tiny thing.
She grinned up at them and stuck out her slender fingers for a hand shake. Echo was surprised at how solid it was.
"Welcome to the 501st," she said.
Echo didn't know what to do, so he opted to nod politely out of courtesy.
"Now back to your spots," Commander Tano said, "and get ready for a training like none other before it."
She was right. Echo had never even fathomed such a training session. Turns out RACTT was a 501st-specific acronym that stood for "Rex and Commander Tano Training."
Rex and Tano rotated through the training room, working the men on equipment and then drilling them. At one point Tano made the men run, and whoever was the slowest had to do pushups while she sat on his back.
She was light but all their arms were jelly.
When Echo thought it was finally over, Rex and Tano joined the groups together and brought them around for hand-to-hand combat. That wasn't so shocking, but when Tano pranced to the center Echo snorted.
"Alright, who's up first?" Tano called. "What's wrong, are you scared of me?"
"Yes, sir!" someone shouted and the laughter rang about.
"How about one of our shinies?" Tano called out, voice shaking with amusement. "There you are, who'll it be?"
Echo stepped back and Tano ginned, waving Fives up and calling him by name.
Fives gave Echo a betrayed look but hesitantly made his way up to stand across from Ahsoka.
"Ready?" Rex said, and Fives took his stance carefully. "Begin."
They just stood there for a long moment, staring at each other. Echo peered around the troopers with a frown.
"You get first move, Fives," Tano said. "C'mon shiny, shoot your shot."
"I-I don't want to hurt you," Fives squeaked, the sound barely audible.
"Just hit me!"
Hesitantly Fives tossed a pulled punch. With a flash of orange movement, Tano snatched his wrist and hurled him over her shoulder, slamming him to the floor. Fives made a choking sound, air knocked from him.
He kissed the floor, and hard.
The room burst into laughter at once and a few men leapt forward. Echo reached him first, rolling him over to his back as he groaned.
"How many fingers am I holding up?"
Fives glared at him with a groan. "Twenty-two."
"Where's the medic?"
"The shiny's dying of embarrassment!"
Fingers pressed into Fives' neck. "Cardiac arrest!"
"Chest compressions! Chest compressions! Chest compressions!"
Someone slapped Fives in the chest while someone else grabbed the shiny's face, bringing their head so close that Fives flailed. Half the men were practically rolling on the floor with laughter.
"Alright, settle down. Give the man a second chance," Rex said, clearing the sparring space.
Tano was still shaking with laughter when Fives dragged himself to his feet. He didn't hesitate this time, but slipped right past him and ended up on top again.
The score totalled twelve to nothing in Tano's favor when Rex told him to sit down because both his eyes were black.
And it became his life-long goal to beat her in a spar.
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Word Count: 814
Published: 1 Oct. 2023
I'm still sick. thought I was getting better but I can't stop coughing and I currently have a headache. I'm sick of being sick. And tired of being tired.
Requests are open, feel free to message me or make a comment if you have any ideas!
Bye, peoples!