Pardon the delay, I am (still) under the weather. Speaking of delay, this is going to be the last upload on this story until at least the end of December. I'm not sure what's going to happen after that, but I think there will be a pretty long hiatus. I just can't keep up with three stories and gradschool. I thought I could, but after writing nearly over 300k words in the span of two years I'm just too burnout to continue to do so and be healthy. The current outlook is as of January, Fallen Not Forgotten will be the only "live" story (three uploads a month hopefully). Once that story is finished, I'll switch back to this one. While this is my fav, and the fan fav, I can't put the energy I'd like to towards it and to recover from burnout, I need to make a drastic change to my workload. There's other reasons, but I've info-dumped enough.

As for this chapter itself, there's lots going on here, from jealous Hunter, to the first chronological Shad and Codes interaction, to the first TtFR mention of canon, to Shad's first hyperspace jump! And the first mention of my clone OCs! And me realizing that much of what I covered in ch 4 was actually covered in ch 12 of OtR so oops.

CW: Canon mentions, O66 reference, language.

A load of supplies, and plenty of Hunter glares, later and we were off. Heading to parts unknown. A little exciting, a little scary, but I could tell the Batch were eager to be off on yet another adventure. As much as he'd griped and groaned about the chaotic nature of my stories, Hunter looked absolutely thrilled.

Hell, they all did!

I had to admit, it was nice being able to talk about my species and planets and-

Wait.

Wait a minute.

Wait a damn minute.

Hunter ran into my back as I suddenly stopped. Gripping my shoulders to steady himself, he ventured, "Er, Icy?"

"Tech," I said, looking at the engineer as he moved towards the cockpit. "You have a record of everything we talked about on the trail, right?"

He tilted his head. "Why, yes! I have a log of everything you have told us regarding this new galaxy. Why?"

"Because I am havin' a major moment of deja vu. I could have sworn I mentioned Mysteria and the Red Raiders and Rageryan height differences." I turned to Hunter. "And didn't I tell you about the Network before?"

Hunter's brow furrowed as Tech went for his datapad. "I... Actually that does sound familiar." His eyes widened. "Wait, you did! When I first took you aside to ask about your species, you mentioned the Network." He held his head. "How did I- how could I have forgotten?"

Tech, datapad in hand, gasped. "Shadow, you did talk about the Rageryan clan! It was the first day on the trail, after you told us the story of Alphians' creation!"

"Wait, even Tech forgot?"

"Forgot what?" Crosshair said, returning to the main cabin with his armor off.

"Shadow told us many of the details before!" Tech said, anxiously pulling on his dark ginger curls. "And I forgot! Me!"

"We all forgot," Hunter stressed. "But how?"

"Realm Walker nonsense?" I suggested. "I forget things, or know things I shouldn't, all the time. It could be... the longer you're around me the more you may also be affected."

"But I have not forgotten anything related to our missions before we met you!" Tech protested.

"It could just be stuff surrounding me personally." I laughed nervously. "I mean, can still drop me off-"

"You are not goin' anywhere," Hunter said firmly, arms snaking around me and holding on tightly.

"Why would Squeaky be leavin'?" Wrecker asked, finally joining us after stripping his armor like Crosshair.

"Shadow's Realm Walker status caused us to forget some key details of the journey to the Vault!"

"I wouldn't say key details," I countered. "I still remember everything that happened on the trail in vivid detail. We just forgot that I talked about Mysteria."

"I remember you talkin' about it, Squeaky!" Wrecker said.

"How? What? Why didn't you say anything?!" Tech demanded, grabbing the front of Wrecker's blacks.

Wrecker grinned sheepishly at me. "Because I love hearin' Squeaky talk about their world and seein' their eyes light up."

Warmth spread across my cheeks.

"Ugh, mushy," Crosshair grumbled, nose wrinkled.

I shot a glare at him. "Don't be a cynical slug, Twigtwat."

He raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. "Twigtwat?"

"Did I stutter?" I said, rolling my eyes.

"Ok, so at least we know it isn't a blanket case of amnesia," Hunter said, ignoring Tech as the engineer continued to argue with Wrecker about not being told sooner. "But it will be something to look out for."

"Sorry 'bout that," I apologized, rubbing the back of my neck.

Hunter rested a hand on my shoulder and squeezed. "Not your fault. Besides, Wrecker's right. It's nice seein' you talk about your creations."

I grinned. "Well, I can certainly ramble on about 'em, that's for sure," I replied.

"And I can certainly listen."

"Get a room," Crosshair said, rolling his eyes.

"Hey!" I retorted. "You got a kiss earlier, now I'm flirting with the Sarge. Share, Twiggers, share!"

"Don't like sharin'," he shot back, but a small grin tugged his lips.

"Boo hoo for you."

"Speakin' of sharin' and kissin'," Hunter purred, hand shifting to the underside of my chin. "How about one?"

"How about we get movin', so we can do that in a more private area on Kelusia?" I replied.

The other truth was I didn't feel like kissing so soon after the last one, it just wasn't my thing, but I didn't need to hurt Hunter's feelings. I'd bring up my general dislike of kissing eventually, so the boys knew, but for now I'd just evade the topic.

Hunter sighed. "Very well, cyar'ika." He raised my chin. "I look forward to it."

After dragging Tech away from Wrecker, we finally set off again into the galaxy. As we broke through the atmosphere, the blue fading away into inky black, the comm began to beep.

My ears flicked up. This was the first time I'd heard the ship version!

"Never gonna get over how cute these are!" Wrecker laughed, petting one.

I blocked his hand away, only for him to block the block with his other hand. Unsurprisingly, we quickly descended into a slap-fest much to Hunter and Crosshair's amusement.

"Aren't you a high rankin' martial artist?" Crosshair teased from his spot atop the counter.

"Aye!" I yelled over our slap-fighting. "We black belts call this controlled sparrin'!"

While respectable, the other senseis were all goofballs. Not a single one had all their braincells, but we owned our collective insanity. Plus, it made training hella fun.

Hunter cleared his throat. "Ah, well. Tech, who's contactin' us?"

Tech, having removed the top portion of his armor along with the other Batchers, jogged over and tapped on some buttons. Must have left the ship on autopilot. "Ah! Cody is contacting us."

Cody?! As in Commander Cody?

"Aight, Imma head out," I chirped and, before the boys could react, ditched Wrecker then dashed into the small storeroom at the back of the ship. Climbing the wall ladder and wriggling up into the overhead crawl space above the bunks and main cabin, I made myself comfortable where I could hear the conversation but safely remain hidden.

The Batch seemed to have other ideas. Primarily, Tech.

"Shadow, what are you doing?" he asked from behind me, voice echoing around the crawl space.

"Escape and Evasion," I replied with a flick of my tail.

Tech climbed over my legs and wedged himself beside me. Warmth filling the space as his broad shoulders rubbed against mine, he tilted his head. "From Commander Cody?"

My ears pinned as I met his inquisitive gaze. "I don't like authority, ok?"

"Do we need to be wary of Cody?" Hunter called from below.

Currently? No. Later?

Possibly.

Season Two of their show looked downright ominous. Wait, had season two been a thing when I jumped into this universe? Hell, had the Bad Batch show even been a thing? I didn't think so.

Don't I usually get an info flash right now for things like this? Or did it all just kinda upload itself last night while I slept? Are infodumps still a thing? Or is the writer just like 'nah, there's enough nonsense to keep track of already'? There are quite a few shenanigans and side plots active right now. Or maybe the chaos is just temporarily on hold and we will soon return to our regularly scheduled bullshit.

"Shadow?"

I slid the panel open slightly. "Just pretend I'm not here!" I called down.

"And if he asks about you?"

"Uh." Well, shit. "Fine. But I ain't talkin'!"

"I'll patch him through, then."

The sounds of a hologram warbling to life reached me. "Boys! How goes the mission?"

The man didn't sound anything like Dee. Instead, he sounded pure Tem. Not super surprising, since the Batch themselves sounded more like Tem but with the qualities Dee gave them.

Wonder if any of them can do the voice switching like Dee. My money is on Crosshair.

"It's going well, Commander," Hunter replied. "We've acquired the location for the Kelusyte and we're on our way to get the crystal. Should be reporting back within a week if all goes well."

"Did your guide calm down?"Commander Cody asked.

I swear if they told him I was a spaz at first, imma throw hands.

Hunter chuckled. "Yeah, they certainly have."

"Have!?" came the shocked reply. "They're still with you?"

He wouldn't make them leave me, right? Surely not! Even if he tried, I wouldn't give up my boys that easily. Not after every I went through to earn my place amongst them. I'd sacrificed too much to throw it all away now.

Tech rested his head against my shoulder comfortingly and I leaned my head against his in thanks, curling my tail over his back.

"They're the only ones who can access the jump gate to the planet," Hunter replied. "Conventional hyperspace won't work."

"Why not? And where are they?"

"Hidin'," Crosshair chuckled, glancing up.

Bitch!

I slammed the sliding door shut. "May the sins of your past forever haunt you, traitorous barracuda!"

"Shadow, is it?" Commander Cody asked, barely audible over Wrecker's laughter.

I slid the panel back just enough to peek out. "Aye? Commander, sir, person?"

It was hard to make the finer details due to the hologram, but this was certainly not Clone Wars animation Cody. This was live action Cody, curly hair and all.

"Commander Cody works," he said gently. "Why are you up there?"

"I'm in introvert, ok?"

"I see. Then I must thank you for being willing to accompany Clone Force 99 on this mission. I assure you that they will get you home safely."

Wrecker announced, "Already have! They're one of us now!"

The commander was silent for a moment. "You four picked up a civvie?"

Just try and separate us.

"They're our partner!" Wrecker grinned. "And a Realm Walker!"

"Wrecker!" the other Batchers and I yelled in unison.

"Oh! Uh... sorry!" Wrecker apologized, rubbing the back of his neck. "I was just excited about Squeaky, that's all!"

"Realm Walker?" Commander Cody echoed in disbelief. "I leave you four alone for five rotations and you not only get a polyamorous partner, but a Realm Walker for a partner?"

Five rotations? Pretty sure it'd been longer than that. Unless that planet we met on rotated faster? Or was I miscounting?

Meeting day, farm day, jungle day, Vault day, battle day, then today. Yeah, no, that's five. Huh.

What was the name of that planet anyway? Even Tech didn't know! Did Trevor? Did some alternate version of me?

Remember, the answer to everything is 42.

Planet 42. Worked for me. I'd tell the boys later. All we needed now was an Improbability Drive.

As if that ain't what's guidin' our adventures already.

"What can we say?" Hunter said with an innocent shrug. "We're irresistible."

Commander Cody shook his head. "Here I thought the 501st had a knack for picking up strange friends."

Rex? Rexster? The King himself?

Wonder how differently things would have gone had I wound up being sought out by the 501st, Anakin, and Ahsoka.

Why did I get the very weird feeling that quandary was gonna come back to bite me this mission?

"Can Shadow hang with you four?"

"Hells yeah they can!" Wrecker boasted. "Should see 'em fight! Saved both the Sarge and Cross a few times!"

My cheeks warmed at his praise.

"Then I look forward to meeting them," Cody replied. He glanced up at me again. "Perhaps the whole them and not just a disembodied voice coming from a pair of eyes."

I laughed nervously and shut the panel.

"Let me know when you boys get back," Commander Cody said after a chuckle. "And, Shadow, good luck. Hope they aren't as stubborn with you as they are with me."

"Stubborn? Us?" Hunter gasped in mock offense. "Hardly. And if you think we're stubborn, you haven't met Shadow."

"Rude!" I yelled.

"Stay safe, you five. Cody out!"

I heard the hologram fizzle before Hunter called, "Can come down now, Icy. He's gone."

I stuck my head out. "Hey, I need more warnin' before meetin' important figures!"

"Didn't know he would call."

"Sorry about revealin' ya, Squeaky!" Wrecker said, standing under the crawl space.

Shuffling out of my hidey hole, I dropped down into his arms. He easily caught me, barely flinching with my weight, and maneuvered me into a bridal carry. Cradling me close to his chest, he chuckled. "Just proud to call ya our lover, that's all!" he said, nuzzling my cheek.

I curled my tail around his arm. "Eh, it's alright," I said uncertainly as his stubble scratched my skin. "Just worried he might go around tellin' the Jedi."

"He'll keep you a secret," Hunter assured me.

Would he really?

Tech poked his head out of the crawl space. "Shadow, what did you mean by Cody is an important figure?"

"He's one of the main clone characters in the show."

"How many clones do you know?" Tech asked.

I swallowed and glanced at Crosshair, remembering all too well what happened the last time I brought up regs. And what followed...

He narrowed his eyes, then sighed. "Won't get mad."

"You sure?"

He nodded. "You're our partner, not theirs." His stern gaze wavered, the commando shifting in place. "Shouldn't have accused you of bein' disloyal before... the attack."

"At least you admit your fault," Tech huffed, earning himself a fierce glare.

Any shame in Crosshair's expression shifted immediately to defensive hostility. "Watch it, Four Eyes."

"Fellas, don't start," Hunter growled, then turned to me. "Go on. Which clones do you know?"

"Alright." I took a deep breath. "There's... Cody, Waxer, Boil, Crys, Woolley, Rex, Echo, Fives, Droidbait, Cutup, Hevy, 99, Jesse, Hardcase, Tup, Dogma, Jek, Rys, Thire, Thorn, Chopper, Slick, Jester, Axe, Ace, Matchstick, Kickback, Sketch, Trapper, Ponds, Hawkeye, Wolffe, Boost, Sinker, Bly, Buzz, Lucky, Flash, Ridge, Redeye, Mixer, Coric, Hotshot, Whiplash, Jax, Crasher, Fox, Warthog, Appo, Gregor, Atin, Alpha-17, Darmin, Boss, Sev, Scorch, Vaughn, Zak, Inc, Vere, Longshot, Charger..." I frowned. "I'm forgettin' a few but those are the names I remember off the top of my head. Then of course y'all. And Boba and Omega."

The Batch stared at me in disbelief.

"Fuck!" I exclaimed. "Forgot Kix and Oddball!"

"How do you... remember so many?" Wrecker gasped.

"I love clones. They were always my favorite characters aside from Ahsoka."

"Commander Tano? General Skywalker's padawan?" Tech said. "Why?"

"She was the spunky spitfire who kept up with all the boys and could kick anyone's ass. A role model for young me," I admitted. "Then she began to grow wiser and more mature, just as I did. I don't know, she's like a tether to the show for me. Top female character of all time, and definitely top five characters male or female."

"Why did you like the clones?"

I shrugged. "Dunno. I always like badass and strong characters. Captain Rex was the main character of the show other than Ahsoka, so saw a lot of him. The clones were also a bunch of madlads, which I always love. But plenty of fans love the clones, it ain't just me. In fact, many people make clone characters. Like, ocs."

"Have you?" Tech chirped.

I nodded. "Aye. Haven't written anything official with 'em, but I do have 'em. Thirteen of 'em in fact."

"Woah!" Wrecker exclaimed. "Where are they stationed? I wanna meet 'em!"

"I concur," Tech added. "The characters of yours we have met so far have proven quite interesting, and so I would enjoy studying those you have made for our universe instead of your own."

I chuckled. "Well, actually... you probably will meet 'em. Because they're at the Heart."

"What?!"

Tech dropped down. "But you said only you could access your universe!"

"Willingly. These guys accidentally went through a wormhole on their way to the Battle of Kamino. It was two pilots, an ARC, a separate medic, and a squad of nine that also had a medic."

"What are their names, Squeaky?"

"The pilots were unnamed but got their names after they crash landed. Crasher and Glider. The separate medic, Patches, also got his name afterwards because the injuries from the crash resulted in vitiligo."

Wrecker frowned. "Huh? What's vital... Viti...?"

"Vitiligo is a patchy formation of pale skin caused by an absence of melanin," Tech supplied.

"Oh." Wrecker's attention returned to me. "Who's the ARC?"

"Jaro."

Hunter crossed his arms. "Know what that means, right?"

"Mando'a for 'insane act of reckless stupidity'," I snickered. "His name was originally Mayhem, but ended up being Jaro."

"And the squad?"

"Sergeant Kal, Corporal Jet, Medic Ghost, then Eagle, Tanner, Stiff, Flip, Cinna, and finally Gadget."

"Sergeant Blade?" Crosshair asked.

"He's good with a knife."

"Like our sarge!" Wrecker laughed.

"Well. Kal, Tanner, Flip, and Gadget are all loosely based after..." I rubbed the back of my neck. "Y'all."

"Ooo, let me guess!" Wrecker said with a grin. "Tanner is me, Kal is the Sarge, Gadget is Tech, and Flip is Crosshair!"

I nodded. "Correct! Tanner is short for tannerite, Kal is of course blade in Mando'a, Gadget is actually a misnomer because he breaks every piece of equipment he touches, and Flip... well he flips people off a lot cause he's a grumpy bastard."

"Flattered that's the impression I gave you," Crosshair snorted, finally speaking up.

"Hey, you had the vibe in the Clone Wars."

"What about our show?" Wrecker asked.

My cheerful grin quickly faded. "That's... a different story," I replied quietly.

He cocked his head to the side. "What happens to 'im?"

"Let's just say it was a downgrade." I huddled into Wrecker's chest. "Among other things."

Horribly scarring and traumatic. A shitty plot choice. Pisspoor writing.

Wrecker cradled me closer. "Good thing this timeline is different!"

I nodded firmly, hugging his neck tightly. "Yes. This is far better."

Crosshair nodded as well.

A few moments of silence passed, broken by the occasional beeping from some sensor somewhere, before Hunter cleared his throat.

"So, Shadow, any thoughts on getting to your galaxy?"

I shook my head and slipped from Wrecker's arms. "Not really." Leaning on the console of the shrunken main room monitor, I braced my hand against the control panel. "Max said it was in my head but-"

"Coordinates accepted."

I launched myself into Wrecker's arms in true Scooby Doo fashion at the automated voice. "Nani?!"

Tech rushed to the cockpit as the hyperdrive engine whirred to life. "Unbelievable!"

I jumped back out of Wrecker's arms and dashed into the cockpit, followed quickly by the batch. "Tech?!"

His hands flew across the console. "The nav computer is online! But I didn't activate it!" he screamed, darting back and forth before dashing to one of the monitors. "Fuck!"

"Language!" Hunter immediately yelled.

"Irrelevant!" Tech snapped back. "Shadow, what did you do?"

"Bro, I didn't do shit!" I yelped, anxiety rising at the stimulus overload from the yelling and the lights and the beeping and shit too much!

Tech frantically gestured towards the screen. "You're sending us to the edge of a black hole at the brink of Wild Space!"

Black hole? Wait.

I snatched his wrist as he reached to deactivate the hyperdrive. Or maybe he was doing something else, I didn't know shit about this technology. "Don't shut it down!" I yelled over the warbling sensors.

He looked at me as if I had grown two heads, which I was half afraid I actually had because that wouldn't be the craziest thing to happen lately. "I have to! The gravitational pull from the black hole will tear us apart!"

I shook my head. "No, listen!" I turned to the others. "That thing I was talking about. Earlier, before Cody called and before that Sullustan showed up."

"Yeah?" Hunter asked, glaring at Crosshair and Wrecker as the larger man groaned and gave a rather smug Crosshair a handful of credits.

Where'd he even have those stashed?

As Tech says, irrelevant!

"The way to get between galaxies are black holes, but special ones. They're controlled by cosmic beings called Gatekeepers. This." I gestured to the screen. "Is most likely one of those."

"Most likely?" Tech sputtered. "I will not fly my ship based on a hunch!"

"Since when?" Wrecker demanded. "You do it all the time!"

"Blaster fire is not nearly the same as a black hole!"

"Got a better idea, nerd?" Crosshair snorted, credits held tightly as he crossed his arms and shifted his weight to one leg.

Sassy sniper.

Tech began to speak, only to stop short. He looked at me. "Can you guarantee me that this will not tear us apart?"

"Can't guarantee anything, you know that," I retorted. "But Cross is right, minus the name callin'. Do we have a better option?"

Tech groaned loudly. "I suppose not."

I released his wrist. "Then, Techie, the next move is yours."

He continued to glare at me before he groaned again. "Fine. But should we be consumed by the black hole my last words will be 'I told you so'."

"Fair enough."

"Gonna watch this jump, Icy?" Hunter asked.

My ears flicked up and I eagerly turned to the viewport. "Wouldn't miss it for the galaxy," I replied honestly, grinning.

Tech slid into the pilot's chair and rested his hand on the hyperdrive. He hesitated, glanced at me, and threw the switch.

Special thanks to patrons Jesse and Lil for their continued support!

Also, from Nov 1st-Dec1st I'm running a special where if you buy a $25 headshot commission, you get a signed, remastered hardcopy of the first book in the series, Off to a Great Start completely free! Yes, I mean a fully printed and formatted book with page numbers and everything. The PDF will still be available since I hate paywalls for content, but this is just if you'd like a book hardcopy. An official announcement will be posted Nov 1st so keep an eye out for that!