Breaking Down Hunter And Omegas Relationship.

Breaking down Hunter and Omega’s relationship.

It’s about time I finally got around to making this post, and what better time to do so then the first Friday without a new TBB episode (I’m heartbroken yall 😞 what am I supposed to do with my timeeee)

I’m going to do this by going through each episode individually. Over the past week I’ve rewatched them all, and these are my favourite details between the iconic Clone Force 99 Sergeant and his chaotic space daughter/little but also older sister.

I’m going to separate this into a little series- covering each episode in a separate post, which I’ll have tagged as the series progresses. Once I’ve tackled these two, as they’re my favourites, I’m going to move on to each individual Batcher and perhaps a few other dynamics such and Hunter and Crosshair, or Wrecker and Omega! Let me know what you guys would like to see!

Aftermath: S1/E1

Okay! Kicking it off with the ‘official meeting’! Around the 20 minute mark in episode 1, ‘Aftermath’.

We first see Omega scanning each squadron of clones alongside the Kaminoans, on the look out for her (unbeknownst) brothers. Her little excited gasp when she finally makes eye contact with Hunter is so endearing, and definitely very sweet. It is noticeable that she is very quick to disappear, most likely out of pure excitement, and the knowledge that this would be the only time Nala Se couldn’t put a hand out to stop her from leaving. Hunter’s face, on the other hand, is a little more neutral, he doesn’t know this little girl yet, he’s never met her before, it’s a strange image and certainly something he isn’t use too, but he’s clearly endeared by her! Little does he know this is the start of something beautiful.

I know the reasoning behind this is due to his enhanced senses, but I think it’s a nice touch that Hunter is the one to recognise Omega’s lingering presence in the corridor. His lack of involvement in the conversation between the other Batchers, who were discussing the difference between the Republic and the Empire, shows that he was very concentrated on assessing her sudden appearance. He took to her quite well.

This little sweetheart was just “😇” behind them for a good minute. She was so ready to follow them and finally reunite with her brothers. Goodness I love her. She isn’t shy or apprehensive, as we’ve seen she can be around new people, she’s very forward and excited to meet them. Now, while Wrecker and Tech give a very sceptical response to her appearance, Hunter seems much more curious, rather than alarmed. He willingly smiles at her, he starts to crouch to her level, he’s almost gentle with her, he asks her a very kind question too- not a “who are you?” or “what do you want?”, instead it’s just a “what are you doing on Kamino, kid?” He knows it’s no place for a sweet little girl like her. He has no reason to be rude to her, so he isn’t.

When Nala Se announces Omega is a medical assistant- and a disobedient one at that -Hunter pulls a face of confusion and almost pity, he can’t quite make sense of her involvement in such a way, and as we see later, he doesn’t actually believe this to be true. Yet he never seems to take this out on her directly, it’s a very mature and tactical trait of his.

Omega’s little wave, Part One. She’s just so happy to finally meet her brothers again, and I love that for her.

Omega’s little wave, Part Two. Finally mustering the courage to sit with them in the mess hall, she’s trying her best to remake her connections, and although they all seem extremely surprised by her presence, Hunter is the first to fully address her, while the others seem much more reserved. Can we also address how panicked she became when she thought they didn’t recognise her? She can’t relive that trauma again, and I truly pity her for it.

Omega tries her best to make conversation with them, stating they don’t fit in like she doesn’t, and here’s where we see Hunter’s own patience begin to falter, and I don’t think either of them are to blame for this. Omega just wants to befriend them, she’s been waiting her entire life to meet with them again. But to Hunter, he is being suddenly reminded of the whole reason the regs hate him and his squad. “They don’t fit in.”

However- this is all forgotten when this exact situation falls into place, the regs don’t run to coddle Omega- “oh sweetie don’t sit with them, they’re defective.”, instead they taunt her, claiming she’s another member of the Bad (‘sad’) Batch, I think this is the first incident where Hunter sees Omega as one of them. She’s getting picked on for her new associations, and he’s going to stop it from happening.

This child straight up throws food at the other clones because they insulted her brothers. I absolutely love her lmao. Immediately, we notice it’s Hunter who runs to her rescue when the reg prepares to throw hands with a literal ten year old-. Another instance of him being her primary protector, he wants to diffuse the situation, even if he’s also angry that the regs treat both him and his squad terribly on the daily.

Now for this next point I really think Hunter put two-and-two together. When chatting in the corridor, everybody left Omega alone, while sitting with them in the mess hall, she was picked on and quite literally almost punched by a fully grown adult. He also knows exactly what Lama Su is capable of, and even has a rough idea in regards to Tarkin and his tactics. He knows that he and the boys have already caused enough trouble for this kid, and they don’t want her to endure anything else. He’s already began to put her best interest forward, perhaps not as lightly spoken as one would think, but it’s certainly a start, especially in comparison with the other batchers.

This can be seen later on when she catches them in the hanger and Hunter rolls his eyes upon her arrival. I must say, Omega’s poor little face when she is inevitably left behind once again…I understand Hunter doesn’t know they’ve already left her once before, but I can’t imagine what must be going through her mind at that moment. People often forget this is a child.

Next I bring us to Omega listening in on Nala Se, Lama Su and Tarkin discussing her brothers. She knows immediately they are being set up for failure, and she needs to do something about it. And who does she approach? That’s right, the sergeant himself! He seems quite sceptical at first, but as soon as she says she needs to speak to him, he softens. He crouches to her level, his eyes ease and he becomes less rigid. He takes her concerns gently, almost like a parent easing their child’s irrational fear of the dark, he’s reassuring but assertive. This continues as she insists she should come along, he isn’t rude to her, but he is insistent. He doesn’t want her getting hurt. But from Omega’s point of view, she’s being left behind (again.) she knows things are different now and she is no longer safe wherever she is, but the boys don’t see it that way, and you can see it breaks her heart, despite Hunter’s attempts to offer reassurance. The way he turns back to her after she calls out again, he’s still not ready to dismiss her, and I bet my life she wanted to tell him of their relations there and then, but she hesitated.

“Something about her I can’t figure out.” His mind is on her, she’s caught his interest, he feels this need to protect her, he just doesn’t know why yet. When he looks back, their eyes don’t leave one another until Hunter boards the ship, and Omega anxiously rings her hands as she watches them go. They’ve already established a connection that warrants both of them holding second thoughts when assessing one another. “Kids aren’t your area of expertise.” maybe not, Crosshair, but he’s definitely established a base with Omega, one that they’ve both settled in on.

As soon as Hunter realises the Empire is spying on them, his immediate reaction is to think of the little girl who warned him of that very situation. It doesn’t cross his mind that she’s just a kid, like it does with Crosshair (“we’re taking the word of a child now?”), but instead he immediately takes heed of her word and begins to consult his own thoughts on what to do. When Tech is explaining Omega’s origin, Hunter looks off in the direction they had just come from, as if remembering the children they had almost been forced to kill, and linking them to the very same child he had left on a planet soon-to-be riddled with imperials. Confirming she is one of them, Hunter’s first reaction is that they need to go back for her, that she needs them. He doesn’t even react to Crosshair’s jab negatively, instead he makes it clear that this is NOT a negotiation, he is going back for her and that is that.

Back on Kamino, Omega is just pleased to be scanning through her brothers room, this is most likely the closest she’s been to them since she was a toddler and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that it’s Hunter’s bunk she takes to first, after examining Lula of course (as any child would. Even I want a Lula and I’m 18 lmao)

Moving along to the reunited brig scene, we see once again that Hunter crouches to Omega’s level, he is continuously very gentle with her, he is never rough or brash, he is calm and collected. Everybody steps aside to let him by because it’s clearly established that he is most likely the one to talk to her properly, the others have seen them interact multiple times now, it’s evident. Upon Omega’s insistence that they shouldn’t have come back, Hunter merely makes light of it (for her sake), stating they had come back for her. She’s suddenly all hyper and smiles, she’s ecstatic over the fact they came back for her, and she lets them know, and Hunter continues to make light of it, still for her sake. That’s what a father does

When the argument between Crosshair and Echo breaks out, Omega’s worried eyes immediately trail to Hunter, and they stay on him until Crosshair’s head begins hurting, and she changes her approach to the situation, but in her moment of panic and confusion, it’s Hunter she seeks out. Upon the arrival of the regs (who are ready to retrieve Cross,) we see the poor kid leap back in surprise as Hunter is hit, covering her mouth and squeezing her knees together. She has seen brutality before, heck she lives on Kamino, but to see it against her brother directly, it’s a new level for her, one her childlike emotions can’t conceal very well.

Skipping ahead slightly, we’re moving on to my second favourite interaction of this episode, the mimicking. Omega has a blatant connection with Hunter, she wants to be just like him because she adores and looks up to him. She copies every little movement he makes, even the indifferent ones such as shifting his forearm or moving his fingers. Hunter immediately picks up on this, and he too is endeared by her curiosity, he moves around a lot to see if he can catch her doing it; and when he does, he’s attentive towards it. We see this habit never quite stops later on in the series. She continues to do this for at least five minutes, both when they’re forming the wall, when they’re telling Wrecker to quieten down, when Tech is explaining the plan, she never stops no matter where her main attention lies.

There isn’t much to say about Omega’s escape through the wall, but it’s nice to see Hunter offer reassurance and direction for her. And her clear excitement to follow his orders and finally be apart of the squad offer an extra connection between them. It’s very sweet.

Finally when they’ve suited up in the hanger, it is Hunter she finds comfort in. She’s clearly afraid, so she falls to him, simultaneously he drops to her after the first shot is fired, this could be because it was an easier position to fall to, but I also like to think it’s because his first priority was protecting her, she’s not a soldier, she needs him. Alongside this, he immediately pulls her to safety when she reaches out for Wrecker, he does his best to reassure her that Wrecker will be alright and they must stay put, as they’re only using Wrecker to get to them. Although they are both suffering in the predicament, Hunter takes charge in a military fashion, while still managing to approach Omega appropriately.

Alongside this, he makes sure Omega has the plan in her head before ordering the rest of the crew into action. He does well to ensure her safety first, knowing full well she isn’t a trained soldier and will need extra instructions on exactly what she should be doing.

However, Omega, seeing the danger, disobeys orders briefly to rescue her brothers in their time of need. She follows Hunter’s lead and manages to knock the gun from Crosshair’s hands, and just for a moment everybody is still, even she, because nobody can quite believe she just did something so…daring! (And when they’re on the Marauder, it’s very clear Hunter is very impressed with her skill, and he lets her know!)

When finally aboard the Marauder, Hunter is the first and only one to notice Omega’s juvenile enjoyment when looking out at the stars (although I don’t blame the others, as they were busy helping Wrecker). He makes a pleasant little conversation with her, with a gentle smile on his face, and the tone of his voice is everything in this scene, “where’d you learn to do that?”, this is VERY similar to how Cut speaks to her in episode 2, Hunter is clearly parental material, it couldn’t be more conspicuous!

When Tech asks the leader of their squad for a plan, Hunter leaves no hesitation in taking Omega’s childlike advice, no questions asked. She suggests friends, he thinks of Cut, and off they go. They’re already a team and she’s been on the ship for five minutes lmao-

Taking into consideration that he knows she’s never seen hyperspace before, Hunter crouches down to her again (I LOVE it when he does that), smiles and insists she straps in so she won’t miss her very first hyperspace view, and we see from the absolutely beautiful look in her eye as she watches the stars that it’s all so damn worth it, and Hunter was the one who made that happen for her. Not only that, but he stands aside her and watches for a reaction; he finds her so incredibly cute, her reactions to things, her entire aura is just the personalisation of the word “wow!”, and I don’t think this man can get enough of it!

Just look at his smile!

Okay now THAT turned out to be much longer than I expected! I told the discord server yesterday that I had a tendency to analytically rant but I didn’t think I was this bad haha. I will have the other posts prepped and ready for posting for tomorow, and I’ll be linking them here once they’re up! I hope you guys have enjoyed my analysis on my new favourite Star Wars parental-child duo! These two are honestly admirable in so many different ways! They have some amazing qualities and beautiful development between them! So much love for our ‘Megs and Hunter!

Fault

Yoooooo it’s here!!!! Enjoy this chip fic between Crosshair and Omega (who are going to need some uncle niece interactions, Dave.) No TWs really, besides mention of blood and a significant cut? Enjoy 💕 (also, I made up all of the CT numbers besides Crosshair’s. If we get any canon confirmed, I’ll edit it.)

CT-9904 opened his eyes, the back of his head throbbing. He glanced around.

It was a fairly small room, with a bunk and a chair. He had one restraint on his middle, holding him to another chair in the center of the room. Pathetic. He could break that in a split second.

His attention was drawn to muffled shouting coming from across the ship. His brain automatically identified the voices.

“We have to help him!” CT-9902. Nickname: Wrecker. Traitor of the Empire.

“We know, Wrecker,” CT-1409. Nickname: Echo. Traitor of the Empire.

“We don’t have the supplies necessary for the surgery just yet. We’ll have to make a supply run,” CT-9903. Nickname: Tech. Traitor of the Empire.

“Then we make a stop at the nearest planet. We’ll have to keep Omega on the ship with one of us since that bounty hunter’s after her,” CT-9901. Nickname: Hunter. Traitor of the Empire.

Omega was a name he was not familiar with. At least, he didn’t think he was. There was something in the back of his mind that was pressing forward with each voice, but he passed it off as residual pain from being knocked out. After all,

What else could it be?

Small footsteps caught his attention. They were too light to be any of the traitors. Perhaps an animal?

The door opened with a hiss, and CT-9904 startled when he was greeted with a child.

She glanced both ways before stepping inside, carrying a glass of water. “Hello,” she said, giving him a small wave.

“What do you want?” he hissed, trying to intimidate her. She shrugged.

“Just came to check up on you. I brought you some water if you want it.”

He glared. “How do I know it’s not poisoned?”

“If we were trying to kill you, we would have done so on the battlefield.”

We…

“You’re one of the traitors.”

Her eyes widened a millimeter before she shrugged again. “I guess. My name’s Omega, although you already know that.”

He did know that.

Why?

“Once I get out of here, I’m reporting you all to the Empire. They won’t be merciful.”

“No, you won’t,” she said simply, setting the glass down beside her and sitting on the bed. “We’ll get the chip out, I promise. None of this is your fault.”

He scoffed. “You act like I don’t have a choice.”

“Do you?”

He faltered. Did he?

He ignored her question. “Y-You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I do, and I know you know that. It’s not your fault.”

His headache grew stronger. What was going on? “Shut… up.”

Her eyes seemed to stare straight through his soul. He didn’t like it. “None of us blame you for this, Crosshair. Not Hunter, not Wrecker, not Tech, not Echo. None.”

Something snapped. Something changed. He didn’t know what, but suddenly the child sitting in front of him wasn’t an enemy, and the men in the other room weren’t traitors. But- but they wer-are! They are traitors of the Empire!

Since when did he care about the Empire?

Since the Jedi attempted the Emporer’s life. They disobeyed orders.

But… since when was that an issue?

He shook his head madly to try and get rid of the swarming thoughts. “What are you doing?” he snapped, breaking the restraint on his middle. The girl didn’t flinch.

“I’m helping you. The Empire can’t hurt you anymore.”

The Empire…

“They can,” he breathed, and he couldn’t believe the words came out of his mouth. Those were the words of treasonists. Traitors. He wasn’t.

Was he?

“They won’t,” she said firmly, and he was almost inclined to believe her. The thought immediately repulsed him. The Empire never hurt him. This… this child was planting treasonous thoughts in his head. Was she a Jedi? Was he being mind tricked? Was that why a bounty hunter is after her?

“You’re a Jedi,” he hissed, venom in his voice as he stood up from the chair. Her eyes widened.

“What- Crosshair no! I’m- I’m not planting the thoughts in your head! That’s you!”

“Liar,” he snapped. A tear rolled down his cheek. Why was he crying? His eyes landed on a knife that was resting on a counter next to his rifle and gear. She backed up into the wall.

“Crosshair, you know I’m not a Jedi. Please!” she yelled, her eyes glassy.

The pounding in his head distracted him from the voices silencing in the other room.

In one fluid motion, he grabbed the knife, slashing it across where her neck was.

She twisted her head to the side. The knife caught on the base of her neck, dragging to the side, then up underneath her chin and up to the corner of her lip.

She screamed.

CT-9904 paused, the knife resting inches away from her face. What had he done? The girl looked up at him, her brown eyes wide with terror. Blood flowed steadily from the gash. Too much blood.

“Cross… pl-please.”

“Omega!!”

He shot his head up, but couldn’t get his body to move. The sound of pounding footsteps rang throughout the hallway.

The door opened and Hu-CT-9901 ran in, blaster drawn. “Step. Away. From the kid.” he growled.

He dropped the knife. It clattered to the floor, and he realized with a start that his hands were shaking.

“I said step away from the kid!” He barked. CT-9903’s head appeared over CT-9901’s shoulder, and his eyes widened when they landed on Ome-the girl.

“Hunter,” he whispered. “I need to get to Omega.”

Hunter glanced over at her, and his gun started to shake. “Cross. Please. Step away.”

CT-9904 obeyed. What other choice did he have? It was that or his life.

He knew that wasn’t the reason.

Tec- CT-9903 rushed in and dropped beside the girl. He put a hand on her cheek, and they exchanged a few words before she turned back to the Sargent.

“Hu-Hunter, please. It… it wasn’t his fault.”

“Omega,” he said, his voice sounding more terrified than angry.

“Please. He- he’s in there. I saw him.”

His gun dropped, and CT-9904 sighed in relief.

“Wrecker!” CT-9901 called. CT-9902 came in.

“Where’s the kid?”

CT-9901 nodded in her direction, and CT-9902’s skin paled slightly. CT-9903 picked up the girl.

“I’m going to see what I can do for her. Echo has the medkit prepared, yes?”

CT-9901 nodded.

“Then let’s go, Omega.”

CT-9903 promptly left the room. CT-9902 turned to the Sargent. “Echo said we’re about a parsec away from the nearest planet.”

“Good,” he sighed.

CT-9902 shifted his weight. “Echo… uh, gave me a sedative. For Cross.”

CT-9901 nodded in understanding, taking the hypo from his grasp. He turned to CT-9904.

“Are you going to fight me on this?”

His legs were shaking something fierce, but he stood his ground. He would fight till his dying breath for the Empire. That’s what he was made for. That was his purpose. He- he…

“No,” he said, and he scowled at how meek he sounded.

The Sargent’s eyes seemed to soften, and he approached him carefully before sticking the hypo in his neck. CT-9904 dropped onto the bed. He was vaguely aware of the blood staining the spot next to him before his vision went dark.

------------------------------------------------------------

Years went by.

The cut healed into a thin, white scar, curving from the middle base of her neck to the right side, going up the middle right of her jaw, and just barely past the corner of her lip. Whenever she was asked about it, she would always say she got it from a ship crash.

Crosshair would always flinch.

If anyone ever gave him a funny look, he would say that he was the one piloting the ship. The others would always be quick to butt in and say the ship had been sabotaged, and there was no way for him to avoid the crash.

Crosshair couldn’t look at Omega for a long time, and the thin, white line haunted him for the rest of his life.

@in-the-crosshairs

The Bad Batch taking care of a sick Omega

Hello! I am back with more Bad Batch stuff, I started out writing these as headcanons then got carried away and now they’ve sorta turned into drabbles/blurbs/mini stories. Maybe one day I’ll write an actual story.

You can find my other stuff here and here.

So this has been done before, but I wanna do my own spin on it. This is how I think the Bad Batch would react to Omega being unwell and how they would look after her. I love writing about the Dad Bad Batch interacting with Omega, it gives me life. Basically, they all encounter Omega sick at one point and this is how I think it would go. The boys won’t get sick since they are genetically engineered to withstand most illnesses, but Omega is not.

Warnings: Sickness (nothing explicitly described, just mentions of general unwellness), a plethora of fluff, some swearing, slightly AU possibly since Crosshair is in it. Some angst too. Also, it’s pretty long. I tried my best to look for spelling/grammar mistakes, but I may have missed some so sorry in advance!

Hunter:

Sergeant Hunter usually prided himself on his keen senses most of the time, they sure had gotten him and brothers (and Omega of course) out of some arduous situations. And this time was one of those times he thanked the Kaminoans for making him ‘defective’, because he sensed that something wasn’t right with Omega.

They were taking a break from mercenary life and were on a nice, warm planet to rest for a couple of nights. Omega was excited as they were gathering supplies for the trip. But the next day after they got there, Omega, usually the first to wake up, slept later than usual. Hunter knew for a fact that something was amiss. He could hear that her heart was beating faster than it usually did, and he could hear her quiet little whimpers and shuffling as she tossed and turned.

He immediately went to her little room on the Marauder to check on her. She was awake, and his heart broke at her little face, screwed up with obvious discomfort. Her hair was plastered to her forehead with sweat. Now, clones were genetically engineered to not get sick, but Omega, being an unaltered clone, clearly was not.

He immediately called on Tech, the squad’s de facto medic, to come and take a look at her. He concluded that she was suffering from the flu, and that she would recover in a few days, with plenty of rest, fluids, and medicine if needed. The rest of the batch offered to take it in shifts to look after Omega but Hunter, being the dad that he is, refused and insisted that he look after Omega until she was better whilst everyone else enjoyed the break, so that’s what he did.

He made sure that she drank enough water, and made sure that she was comfortable. He moved her to his bunk, and begrudgingly let his brothers take over when he could hardly keep his eyes open.

He held her hand and felt his heart clench when she moved to sit in his lap, clinging onto him. He adores his little Omega and it hurt him to see her unwell. He stroked her back and whispered comforting words to her whilst she drifted in and out of sleep. “Don’t you worry, ad’ika, I’m here to look after you,” he said gently, “I’ll keep you safe.” And from that moment on, any time Omega was unwell, she would usually seek him out first and he would stay by her side until she was better.

Wrecker:

Wrecker was using Gonky as a weight, like he always did. He always had so much energy and doing this helped. Gonky didn’t seem to mind either, kicking his legs lightly and beeping happily every time he was hoisted up. Having this routine helped focus his mind and calm him down, especially before or after a mission.

The ship was quiet, aside from the quiet chatter from his brothers. Omega was strangely quiet, and he put Gonky down, intending to ask her what was wrong.  Suddenly, Omega let out a rather loud and obnoxious sneeze that had her rushing forward in her chair. It was an impressive sneeze, Wrecker had to admit, even Gonky chirped in what could only be described as awe (or the droid equivalent of awe, anyway).

He guffawed loudly and patted Omega on the back, whilst the others looked on. Hunter went to stand up to go to her, obviously sensing something that the others couldn’t, but immediately hissed in pain and sat back down again, as he had evidently aggravated his chest injury from a blaster shot by that damn bounty hunter who took Omega on Bracca. Wrecker’s blood boiled at the thought of those bounty hunters.

Hunter pointed out that Omega was coming down with a sickness bug, as he recognised the symptoms. Omega tried to insist that she was fine, but another loud sneeze followed by a slight coughing fit proved otherwise. Tech confirmed that she was coming down with a common cold and should rest for a day or two until she was better.

She tried to refuse, not wanting to go to bed and miss out on any fun, but after a few stern looks from the others and a pointed scoff from Crosshair, she stood up to make her way to her little room. Before she could get there, however, Wrecker scooped her up and carried her the rest of the way. He then went to his bunk to get his extra warm and fluffy blanket, along with Lula, who, in his opinion, was the best medicine and could make anyone feel better.

He then went to her room and tried his best to sit beside her, but being as big as he was, it was a struggle. But somehow, he managed. Tech brought Omega some water, and Wrecker busied himself with trying to cheer her up and make her feel better. He told her silly jokes, and funny stories about him and his brothers, and made her smile. He let her cling to Lula as he recited funny stories about him pranking Crosshair when they were cadets on Kamino.

He loved making Omega smile and it made his heart soar when she did. He knew that he and Omega had a special bond, and he was glad that they escaped with her from Kamino. He was relieved that they managed to get her back from that bounty hunter, and he was impressed that she had actually managed to escape on her own. She was a little ray of sunshine in their small family, always full of curiosity and wonder and he couldn’t imagine life without her.

Tech:

Tech knew a lot about, well, everything. From fixing the hyperdrive on a ship, to the benefits of giving someone a hug. The knowledge that he held within his exceptional mind was important to the squad, and Omega loved to listen to what he had to say. She would often follow him around the ship when he was making repairs and ask him question after question, which he didn’t mind because it was refreshing to not be brushed off for spouting out ‘useless info’.

On one such day, Omega was dutifully helping him around the ship whilst Echo was holed up in the cockpit and the others were out gathering supplies. However, he could tell something was off about her as her movements were rather sluggish and she wasn’t enthusiastically asking about anything and everything like she usually did. He quickly came to the conclusion that she must be under the weather.

He checked her over and deduced that she was over-tired and needed to get some rest. She tried to protest, but was cut off by a large yawn. He helped her to her room and made sure she was comfortable, fluffing her pillow and tucking her into her blankets.

As he made to climb back down the ladder, Omega reached out and held his wrist in her little hand and asked him to stay. He hesitated for a moment, as there was work to be done on the ship, but when he looked into her tired, pleading eyes, he didn’t have the heart to say no, so he climbed into her room and she made room so that he could sit beside her.

He put his arm around her shoulder and sighed, racking his brain for some information on how he could help her get to sleep. He remembered reading that dim lighting can help a child sleep, so he used his datapad to dim the little lights Wrecker had installed in her room. He also remembered reading that reading or telling stories to a child can help them sleep, so he again racked his brain for a story he could tell her.

Before he could think of something, Omega spoke up. “Tech.. could you tell me a bit about the Jedi?” she asked shyly. He paused for a moment, thinking about the Jedi and what had happened to them, a pang of guilt finding its way into his heart. But he powered on and began to tell her about the Jedi and their powers, harnessed from the Force. After around ten minutes, she was fast asleep.

He slowly and quietly got up and left Omega’s little room, pausing briefly to brush hair away from her eyes. Who would’ve guessed that in the midst of the fear and turmoil in the galaxy a group of ragtag clones, bred for the sole purpose of fighting, would adopt a child into their ranks, especially one as pure and special as Omega? Tech would never have guessed that in a million years. But as he continued with his work around the ship, he thought about how happy he was that she was with them.

Echo:

Echo spent a lot of time in the cockpit of the Marauder. He liked to watch the stars, and he liked the swirling mass of brightness when they were hurtling through hyperspace. He also liked to stare out of the viewport when they were planetside, watching the comings and goings of the natives, or watching the sunsets and moons. When he first came aboard the Marauder, he wasn’t quite sure how he would fit in with the ragtag group of clones who had named themselves the Bad Batch, but they had let him aboard their ship and even made him his own bunk, and made him feel at home. And when Omega came aboard, he made sure to make her feel at home too.

On a quiet night on a quiet planet, Wrecker, Tech and Hunter had gone out to do an easy job for Cid, whilst he remained on the ship with Crosshair and Omega. Crosshair was outside of the ship sitting on the grass, cleaning his rifle, as he always did. Omega was in her room, electing to stay behind because she was tired. Echo thought nothing of this, as she was only a child and needed more rest than he and his brothers did.

He was starting to doze in the co-pilot's seat when he heard hesitant footsteps approaching behind him. Now, if this was a few months ago, his reflexes would have kicked in and he’d have launched himself out of his seat with alarming speed, blaster at the ready. But he knew that the only other person on the ship was Omega, and that Crosshair was keeping watch out front, his sharp eyes scanning for possible danger. “Echo?” Omega asked, her voice quiet and strained, a strange lilt to it as if she was on the verge of tears.

He swiveled around in his chair to face her. The lighting in the cockpit was dim, but he could still see her. She was standing holding her stomach, and everything about her stiff posture and hunched shoulders told him that she was in pain. He immediately stood up and went over to her, kneeling down in front of her. “What’s wrong, little one?” he asked her gently. She heaved out a little sob and told him that she had a sore tummy.

He then guided her to sit down in the co-pilot's seat that he had just vacated whilst he went to look through the medical supplies they had on the ship. He returned a minute or so later with pain medicine and some water.

He sat down in the pilot’s seat and gave her the medicine, and then gave her the water to take a sip. She sighed slightly and slouched back in the seat.

It appeared she was starting to fall asleep, so he tried to tell her to go to bed but she said she wanted to stay with him, and he just couldn't say no to her. So they both sat in comfortable silence in the cockpit, the only sounds to be heard being the odd beep from Gonky. Echo leaned back in his seat, glancing over every so often to check on Omega, who was just tiredly looking at the sky from the viewport.

He was starting to doze off himself again, his eyes closed, when he heard Omega stir beside him. He opened his eyes and saw that Omega had vacated her seat and was standing in front of him, rubbing her eyes. He watched her for a second and was about to ask her if she was alright, when she climbed onto his lap and curled herself up to his chest.

Echo froze for a few moments, unsure of what to make of this new turn of events. He had hugged Omega before when she had awoken from a nightmare or if she was upset, but this was something new.

Before the Citadel, physical touch was normal for him. He often hugged his brothers and found that he enjoyed the comfort it gave him. However, after he was rescued from Skako Minor, it was like he had to relearn some things, what he liked and disliked, and physical touch was one of those things. The Bad Batch didn’t regularly hug each other, but touches to the shoulder and other such things were not uncommon. But he found that after Omega joined them, hugging her had made him realise how comforting it can be for both him and her.

He slowly put his arms around her, and rested his chin on her head, rubbing her back soothingly. Soon enough, Omega was fast asleep and Echo found himself falling asleep too, happy that Omega was safe in his arms. When Crosshair came back onto the ship, he saw them both sleeping in the cockpit and he couldn’t help but let a soft smile grace his features at the sight of them. He grabbed a blanket from the bunks and gently laid it over them, before going back outside to resume his watch.

Crosshair:

Crosshair sat on his bunk, an ever-present toothpick hanging from his mouth whilst he disassembled, reassembled and cleaned his customised 773 Firepuncher sniper rifle. It was second nature to him and he didn’t even have to think about what he was doing. He enjoyed and took pride in setting up and cleaning his rifle. It was a part of him and who he was, and he enjoyed the routine.

The ship was quiet, the only people on it being himself and Omega, as the others had gone to gather some much needed supplies. He preferred staying behind, not liking going to stall after stall and store after store, looking at item after item and listening to his brothers haggling, so he decided to stay behind with Omega, who said she wasn’t feeling great. Hunter had tried to stay behind with her but Crosshair pointed out that he was the best at haggling and Hunter reluctantly left, only stopping to get Omega tucked up in his bunk under a mountain of blankets, with some water nearby and some medicine.

At first, Crosshair wasn’t sure what to make of Omega. But he had grown used to her presence and even began to enjoy it. They had grown closer and they bonded over him training her how to shoot her bow more accurately and he had even comforted her when she was upset. She usually always wore a smile on her face and it was enough to even bring a smile to Crosshair’s usually scowling face. His heart hurt a little at seeing her huddled under the blankets, looking so small.

He paused to look over at her every so often, making sure she wasn’t getting worse. He could hear her steady breaths as she slept, and he put his rifle to the side and stood up, flicking his toothpick into the waste-bin next to his bunk as he did so. He gently pressed his hand to her forehead and noted how her temperature didn’t feel as if it had gotten higher, but it didn’t seem like it was getting lower either.

He picked up the cup of water Hunter had left and gently roused Omega from her slumber. She looked up at him with bleary eyes, scrunching her little nose up in confusion. “Kid, it’s time for a drink of water,” he spoke softly to her. He put his hand behind her head to support her and tipped the cup slowly to her mouth, making sure she took a few small sips, before laying her back down again. He brushed her hair away from her head and began to stand up again, but she made a small noise of protest when he went to move.

By the way she looked at him, he knew that she wanted him to sit with her. After all, that’s what the others did when she was unwell. He hesitated for a moment, then let out a soft sigh, moving onto the bunk and leaning his back against the wall. Omega shuffled closer to him and reached out her little hand to take his. At first, he did nothing, he just looked at her small hand grasping his. Then he sighed quietly again and held her hand, rubbing his thumb gently across her knuckles.

“Please... don’t leave me,” Omega breathed, sounding scared. Crosshair’s breath hitched in his throat, and he swallowed thickly, having never heard Omega sound this way before. She was usually the life and soul of the group. “I’ll never leave you, Omega. I promise.” he replied, the words coming out oddly strangled.  His heart clenched again and he tipped his head back against the wall, a surge of affection and protectiveness going through him, thinking about how he would do anything for Omega.

tags: @eyecandyeoz @kratosfan6632466 @radbatch @crashbandicute @by-the-primes @justalittlecloud @itsjml

Image description: This is the face of an angered smol bean. If you see this face, turn around, run, and do not look back. If you are not fast, hide and pray it does not find you. This smol bean will fight you.

Its main forms of attack consist in angry looks, various food items, as well as plates and trays said food items may be contained in. It will also take advantage of its smolness to leap at you and bring you down with its bare hands.

In some occasions, and if you are lucky enough to still be alive during your encounter with the enraged smol bean, a much larger bean will emerge, aiding the smol bean by appearing threatening.

While the larger bean utilizes many similar attacks to the smol bean, the larger bean is not to be underestimated. It is ruthless; it will enjoy throwing you across the room.

If you have made the grave mistake of engaging both the smol bean and the larger bean in combat, there is a 99.04% chance another group of beans will apear to support their kin.

I beg of you, if you see you begin to anger a smol bean, stand down from your fight, lest chaos will reign.

Beware the Bad Beans.

War

Omega has concerns, and Echo can’t sleep. Their conversation leads to talk of a certain teenager Echo hadn’t heard about in a long time.

(This summary sucks, just read the fic)

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Breaking down Hunter and Omega’s relationship: Pt 3.

Hi everybody, I’m back with this weeks post on our favourite father-daughter-space-duo, the third instalment of the series! Thank you all so much for your positive feedback and discussions that have taken place over the last couple of posts, it means a lot to me to see my insights so neatly examined! I don’t really think the post itself needs much of an introduction, itself quite self explanatory! And I hope you enjoy!

(Pasted paragraphs: I would just like to add a disclaimer here. I am, in no way whatsoever, slating the other batchers for having differing relationships with Omega. I absolutely adore everything single one of the boys, and I think they all have wonderful and unique interrelations with her. Although I may point out these different approaches in comparison to Hunter’s, I am not stating these engages are wrong, just different is all!

I’m going to separate this into a little series- covering each episode in a separate post, which I’ll have tagged as the series progresses. Once I’ve tackled these two, as they’re my favourites, I’m going to move on to each individual Batcher and perhaps a few other dynamics such and Hunter and Crosshair, or Wrecker and Omega! Let me know what you guys would like to see!)

Replacements: S1/E3

The opening scene in this episode is everything for these two. This is Omega behaving like an authentic child, a child in the midst of winding down with her datapad, leaning against Gonky, just…existing. She isn’t expected to be on hand for medical assistance, she isn’t studying, she isn’t working, she’s just living within herself, enjoying herself. Hunter makes a light comment, observing she doesn’t look too comfortable, allowing Omega the option to respond, she can either agree and ask to sit upfront, or she can stay if she’s happy to do so, but it already opens the door to a certain amount of communication between them. Of course, she insists she is fine and accepts her ration bar, yet before she can return to her seat on the floor Wrecker joins them, allowing their brief ordeal over the ration shortage to occur. I love both Omega’s immediate selflessness as she offers Wrecker her food, and Hunter’s sudden interruption in this little sequence. He doesn’t even l allow room to consider her proposal, instead his immediate thought is to ensure this little girl can eat, especially considering she doesn’t even have anywhere to sleep (as we see this has been weighing on his mind by the mention of its necessity)

Omega’s response to Wrecker’s denial to accept her food- “Okay 😇.” Bless her little heart, she projects so much innocence with every word, and we can see from Hunter’s endeared little smile that he absolutely adores this about her. Upon Wrecker admitting that he hasn’t quite gotten use to Omega’s presence (which he looks very upset about, poor Wrecks 😔), Hunter insists that none of them have, but Omega isn’t making much fuss or complaining. This suggests that their brief conversation after leaving Saleucami is still heavily weighing on Hunter’s mind, he has taken his promise to both her and Cut quite seriously, and although both he and the rest of the batch are all still educating themselves in regards to Omega, she isn’t holding any resentment, and trusts them to make correct decisions in regards to her best interest.

I only want to briefly address the crash scene as their interaction are minimal, but I absolutely love how despite the fact that Wrecker is a lot closer to Omega, and ultimately does help her strap in, it is Hunter who takes presidency when addressing the situation. Although, as the leader, he has a lot of orders to cover to ensure they land without too much damage and every member of the squad is safe, his first priority is to ensure Omega is secure before he can move on to his secondary concerns. This relates back to the parental relationship of putting the guardian’s life second to the child’s. (To quote Shelby from ‘Glee’ “parenthood is about accepting the fact that your feelings and that your life and your body, that they all come second to making sure the child is happy and safe” which Hunter demonstrates perfectly here.)

I love how both Omega and Hunter look to Gonky as he slides past her and into the cockpit where Hunter is seated and is easily able to stabilise the unit once they finally land, (thanks to Tech’s amazing manoeuvring of course). I immediately noticed that when addressing the squad, Hunter’s head is veered more so towards Omega rather than Wrecker, where he asks her “are you alright?” with extreme emphasis on the “you”. This ties back into the previous point that Hunter’s new priority is her, as out of the entire squad she is in need of the most protection and reassurance. Alongside this, I discerned Omega’s body language as primarily Hunter-centric, she hangs her head in his direction throughout the entire crash, despite the fact Wrecker is much closer to her. She still finds the need to seek out Hunter specifically. This also mirrors their heavily pronounced relationship, which we see much more of throughout the season.

“I-Is…it…over?” Oh Bless. I love how she looks between both Hunter and Wrecker, unsure of where to direct her scattered and fraying attention.

Swiftly shifting towards the power capacitor hunt and Omega accidentally dropping Crosshair’s weapon kit, we see the entire batch deflate at the awkwardness of their sudden situation. Unknowingly, she has just resurrected a resented emotion for them, something they haven’t learnt to completely handle in the short amount of time they have been separated from their brother, and yet although his face falls harsh for a mere moment, Hunter is the first to immediately soften and approach Omega’s ‘mistake’ with a gentle tone, kindly explaining the device and its origin to her. And while everybody else completely avoids eye contact with the child, Hunter tries his best to meet her eye, most likely to add reassurance and strength to his explanation, for her sake.

I won’t delve too deep into this, but I’d also like to note that throughout the explanation in regards to Crosshair’s actions, Hunter seems to be the most…tense, this supports the later revelation that he has taken his own actions very personally, and is deeply frustrated with himself for leaving his brother behind, and bringing Crosshair up revives these feelings, which he has no doubt been trying to suppress. Omega immediately notices this, as she watches him retreat into the cockpit, with a clear sense of curiosity and concern for him. I love the effort by the animators to mirror the looks these two share behind one another’s back.

Maybe this is me potentially entering headcanon territory, but I speculate Hunter was the one to allow Omega to play with the oxygen masks. It isn’t uncommon for guardians of children who have come out of a traumatic experience to allow said child to play with a positive association to their ‘safe person/people’, in which case Omega’s safe people would be the batch, and therefore their association to the use of the oxygen masks would help her calm down after an upsetting crash landing and a tense conversation in regards to Crosshair.

Omega’s little lip tremble when the lights cut out….this poor kid isn’t use to pitch black :( no matter the dreary atmosphere of Kamino’s torrential storms, Omega was always kept inside the brightly lit walls of Tipoca City, and although Nala Se’s lab isn’t particularly well lit, it isn’t plunged into complete darkness like the Marauder was, sparing the emergency dim lighting which barely cast a shadow.

Her explanation of the Ordo Moon Dragon is so juvenilised with a small sense of dramatics- “it was THIS big, with a LONG tail!” This gives a gentle hint back to Omega’s childlike immaturity and her true age, both physically and mentally, which we see Hunter truly consider throughout the rest of the episode.

When Omega insists she wants to go with Hunter to retrieve their missing part, Hunter doesn’t even have to think twice before he denies her request, and his sole reasoning is because, “that thing could be dangerous.” and as we know his top priority is keeping her safe. But, of course Omega being Omega, she gives Hunter a pretty decent response, she is a part of their squad, and should be allowed the chance to prove her place amongst clone force 99, especially for something as quaint as a retrieval mission. Instead of outright denying her once again, Hunter ponders her reply for a moment, before agreeing, with the additional gentle reminder that she MUST stay close. Her excited little smile as she jumps from her standing position on the co-pilot’s seat to the floor, rushing past Hunter and straight for the exit, highlights her excitement to finally participate and assist Hunter on a mission of their own, which we see perplexes, yet intrigues him.

While exploring the moon’s surface, I immediately notice that sparing a brief moment of watching the floor, Omega’s eyes never leave Hunter, not even for a moment. She is completely complacent in regards to his rule to stick close to him, which is further continued throughout their second chat over Crosshair.

Without surprise, Omega copies Hunter’s actions a few times too, especially when tracing his hand throughout the dust. This is where she asks, “could I learn to track like you?” and here I’d like to specifically focus on the “like you” segment of her sentence. It shows a clear connotation between Omega’s desire to be just like Hunter, which we’ve seen she already had in episode one, and the natural desire to be considered a soldier amongst their ranks. Equally, I love how Hunter doesn’t outrightly reject her request, he simply says “it’s an enhanced skill,” which suggests he probably couldn’t exactly teach her how, but he appreciates her enthusiasm and finds her request almost quite cute.

Moving right along to their secondary Crosshair conversation, I absolutely love Hunter’s facial expressions throughout this passage. He isn’t harsh or crude, instead he is quite sullen, yet in a sympathetic tone. His entire demeanour is taken down slightly, and I believe this is to shield Omega from Hunter’s true self-hatred and deprecating emotions towards their situation. He is careful to explain himself to her, without adding too much honesty in hopes that he won’t unnecessarily worry her. Once again, this ending furthers the blatant protective connection between them. Furthermore, Omega’s reaction is so pure, yet extremely wise for her age and knowledge level. There is still a sense of juvenility to her widened eyes and the movement of her hand snaking it’s way around Hunter’s forearm comfortingly, and yet she still does her best to comfort him in the same way that he has done for her on multiple occasions in their scarce time together, sparing the Nexu event. We see this immediately makes Hunter smile, which is a pleasant thing to notice after the intensity of their conversation. In short, she makes him smile, she helps him, and vice versa.

After Hunter is attacked by the dragon, I can’t help but notice Omega’s worried little face as his mask is knocked aside and he begins to gasp for air. Even after he falls unconscious and she rushes to fix his mask, she still manages to push aside her anxieties to secure his safety and design a brief plan in her mind after backup becomes unavailable, I personally see this as a matter of Omega taking Hunter’s initiative to complete the mission, after assuring herself he is once again breathing and safe for the time being. I also love her little double take, one final look at her guardian before she takes off into the dragon’s nest, she’s so sweet.

Skipping ahead slightly as there isn’t much to cover in regards to Omega’s little lone adventure into the cave, upon Hunter’s return to consciousness I absolutely LOVE how after sucking in a few puffs of necessary air, his first, almost immediate, thought is Omega. He doesn’t even notice his blaster is missing (which we see later on when Omega returns it to him), his instant reaction is to call her name and start tracking her. And his worried expression as the realisation that she’s gone after the dragon dawns on him :( this man cares SO much.

THEIR. REUNION. IS. EVERYTHING. As her little head pops up out of the nests opening , he immediately scoops her up, crouches down to her level, pats her shoulders, rubs her triceps, and the first thing he says to her is “are you okay?” None of this angry shouting from the previous episode, no reprimanding for running off or disobeying orders, instead he makes sure she’s unharmed, and he’s so caring about it. This is character development at its finest. After assuring that she isn’t injured he, very tenderly, asks what she was thinking, insisting he was extremely worried about her. I’d also like to note Omega’s reaction to this, she doesn’t shy away from Hunter like she does in the second episode of the season, instead she excitedly explains that she completed their mission, even going far enough to say that she “tracked the dragon, like you did.” Further complimenting their close and confident bond with one another, she truly looks up to him. The realisation on his face that although small and somewhat dependable, she is no liability and can support herself and the others if needs be. The look is so…parental.

Upon their return to the ship, I love the way Hunter automatically lifts his arm to allow her little blonde head to rush past him and make way for a seat in the cockpit. Kiddo knows the rules, strap in before we take off, Hunter doesn’t even have to tell her.😇

I absolutely adore Hunter’s curious smirk as Wrecker leads Omega to her surprise, alongside the fact he is the first to follow them to see whatever their injured batch member has planned for the little one. I’d also like to note that he actually stares at Omega as they approach the gunners nest, only briefly breaking to take a look at Wrecker, but primarily his sight falls to her.

Her face…when she discovers her room, his face when he watches her jump up and giggle as she turns to thank Wrecker, these two absolutely melt my heart, I swear. He’s admiring her happiness, that splash of childlike innocence he and the batchers never got to have, exactly what he’s seen Cut give to his children, what he wants to give to her. It’s absolutely beautiful.

“I’ve never had my own room before.” Hunter’s split moment of realisation here, before he steps forwards and reassures her that she is “a part of their squad” their family, it’s just so charming to his character and role as her custodian. Omega’s equally gentle smile as she looks back to him, head resting against Lula’s ears shows her clear sense of peace in her new environment. I also think it’s absolutely adorable that while the other batchers share glances between themselves to silently thank Wrecker for his sweet act of kindness, Hunter only partakes for a moment, before he continues to watch Omega settle in, her head now falling against the wall, staring out into the inky black of space, with the new addition of her comforting fairy lights, which I’d like to specify are a warm yellow, in comparison to the bright white of the Kaminoan facilities. This contrast provides a nice device between Omega’s new comfort with her family on the marauder, and her cruel upbringing on Kamino. She is happier here, and Hunter and the others will do whatever they can to ensure she is always happy with them, as we can see from his consistent looks of admiration for her.

I hope you liked my analysis of Hunter and Omega’s relationship in episode three of The Bad Batch! Of course, I’d love to discuss these two with anybody who might be interested, so please feel free to drop me an ask or a DM, and if you’re captivated enough I’d totally recommend looking out for my future posts on the topic!

As always, much love to our ‘Megs and Hunter, thank you for reading! 💛

Part One: Aftermath

Part Two: Cut and Run