Hey everyone! Happy late Halloween!
OneLittleSpark18: I have bad news for the rest of the fic...
Okay, before we get started- STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING AND WATCH THE TRAILER FOR THE BOOK OF BOBA FETT IT'S FINALLY OUT HOLY CRAP. I honestly used to not care that much about Boba, as he doesn't do much in the OT and is an angsty child in AotC and Clone Wars. But then he showed up in the Mandalorian Season 2 and it completely changed my view. It helps that we have Temeura Morrison playing him now and that man is amazing and I love him. So now I'm really excited for the Book of Boba. It looks so good.
This chapter is a combination of self indulgence and plot progression.
Um, there isn't actually any Mando'a in this chapter. Huh.
Chancellor Amidala's office was so clean and pretty. Omega especially loved the view of Coruscant. She had enjoyed her time on Saleucami, but she could admit that Cut's farm was dirty. She felt bad when she got distracted by the speeders and buildings when she was supposed to be working on her speech. Chancellor Amidala was helping her a little, but she said it would be most effective if Omega wrote most of it.
Chancellor Amidala had gone to some other meeting. Fives and Ahsoka were with the Chancellor, as well as all the other Senators, but the Batch had to stay in the office. Senator Burtoni was here and they couldn't take any chances with her. Kal Skirata had been here, and had left her with more candy than she knew what to do with. He was now doing a security sweep with the Null ARCs. So the Bad Batch were alone.
Omega read what she had written over again. She was presenting today after two weeks of preparing. Chancellor Amidala had told her that what she had was perfect, but Omega found herself second guessing everything she had put down. Her stomach did an uncomfortable flop at the idea of talking in front of so many people.
She glanced up to where Echo was sitting at the Chancellor's desk. His brow was furrowed as he read his own datapad.
Omega got up from her spot on the floor and approached her brother.
"Are you finished with yours?" She asked.
Echo glanced at her.
"Just about." He said. "Is yours ready?"
Omega nodded.
"I don't know if it's good enough." She confessed. "I bet yours is really good though."
Echo snorted.
"Speech writing wasn't taught on Kamino." He said. "I'm not sure this'll be up to regulation."
"I'm just glad I don't have to write one!" Wrecker said from where he was leaning against the wall.
"I would think you would be glad to have something to do." Tech said, not looking up from his datapad. "As you have spent the last two hours complaining that you were bored."
"I had something to do!" Wrecker protested. "Til Echo was a spoilsport!"
"If you kept bench pressing the Chancellor's desk, it was going to break." Echo said. "And I can't fix that like I can fix Gonky."
"We should have brought Gonky." Wrecker muttered.
"Aren't you two trying to write a world-changing speech?" Crosshair asked.
He and Hunter were both staring out the large windows. Omega knew Crosshair was keeping an eye out for potential threats. Hunter was doing it because he didn't know what to do with himself.
"I'm finished." Omega said, laying her datapad down.
"Let me see." Tech said, holding his hand out.
Omega frowned. She didn't know if she was comfortable with Tech reading her speech. He tended to be very blunt when judging efforts.
"I just want to check the grammar." Tech said. "Politics is one of the few subjects I'd rather remain a mystery."
Omega handed the datapad over. Tech snatched it and began scrolling. She watched him for a moment, but she was getting antsy. She was too nervous to stay still.
"Wrecker, do you want to do push-ups?" She asked.
"Yeah!" Wrecker said, brightening.
He dropped to the ground and Omega climbed onto his back. She laughed as he dipped up and down under her and counted aloud. Occasionally she glanced at Echo, to see if he was bothered, but he seemed to have turned on his sound dampeners.
"One hundred!" Omega declared as Wrecker finished. Wrecker got up and she tumbled to the ground, laughing.
"I dunno what I did without you to keep track." Wrecker told her.
"Yes, counting isn't your strong suite." Tech said.
Omega stifled a giggle as Wrecker shrugged.
"What do you want to do now?" Wrecker asked. "We could try finger curls again."
"I am not splinting your broken fingers again." Tech said. "Wrecker, I keep telling you, there aren't biceps in your fingers and there are more efficient ways to strengthen your grip than having Omega hang off of them."
"Omega." Hunter said over Wrecker's annoyed response.
His voice was so serious that Omega briefly wondered if she'd done something wrong.
"The meeting starts in an hour. Chancellor Amidala just commed and told me to get you ready." Hunter said.
Wrecker and Tech stopped bickering. Crosshair glanced over and Echo looked up from his datapad.
"Oh." Omega said. "Okay."
She stood there for a second, hands pressed tightly into her stomach.
"Hey." Wrecker said. "You okay?"
Omega nodded stiffly and fought the nausea writhing in her stomach. She was glad Echo was going to be with her, but she wanted all of her brothers there. She knew that they would be watching and making sure no one would try to hurt her, but she wasn't worried about that. She would rather them be there in the pod. She was sure no one would laugh at her or tell her her speech was stupid if Crosshair was there glaring at everyone.
Wrecker patted her back. It wasn't one of his normal, teasing slams to the shoulders. It was the special, gentle pat that he did whenever she was upset.
"You'll do great." He said. "Don't be scared."
"You don't have to do it if you don't want to, Omega." Hunter said. "We can tell Chancellor Amidala you changed your mind."
"No!" The word burst from Omega's mouth. "I have to do this."
She did. It wasn't right for the clones to be slaves under the Kaminoans. And Omega knew that Echo had a lot of brothers that he loved that were on Kamino. She had to help put things right.
She still couldn't move.
Echo put a hand on her shoulder.
"I'm nervous too." He said. "But if Fives can do it, so can we."
"Fives threatened a Senator." Crosshair said. "Perhaps he isn't the greatest role model."
Echo shot him a look.
"Come on, let's go see what clown costumes we have to wear." Echo said.
Omega felt a little better with his hand guiding her to the changing room.
Omega's eyes widened as they went in. The small room was filled with gowns in a rainbow of colors. Some looked serious and stark and others were fluffy and fun. Omega reached to touch them. Echo shook his head.
"These dresses probably cost more than my parts." He said. "I don't want to have to sell my legs if we mess anything up."
Omega giggled and focused on the two outfits draped over a chair in the middle of the room. One was colorful and much smaller than the other, white outfit.
"I think this one's mine." Echo said, lifting the white outfit. "Go ahead and get dressed first. Then Chancellor Amidala will have time to fix anything we can't figure out."
"Nah, Echo, that one's yours!" Wrecker had leaned into the closet and was pointing at a fluffy yellow dress that looked like a cloud.
"More your style." Echo replied as he pushed Wrecker back. "Good luck, Omega."
He stepped outside and the door closed. Omega stared at the outfit. It was white, red, and blue, like her normal clothes, but much, much fancier. It came with a simple picture, showing how it went on. She was relieved that it was a tunic. She didn't know if she was up for a dress yet. The sleeves were long and wide, hiding her hands. The fabric was softer than anything she'd felt before. Luckily, it was fairly simple to get on,though the strips going around her arms were a little tricky.
She left the dressing room and returned to her brothers.
"Any trouble?" Echo asked.
"Nope!" Omega said.
"Wish me luck, then." Echo said.
He retreated into the dressing room.
"Woah, 'Mega!" Wrecker said happily. "You look like a real Senator!"
Omega felt her cheeks go warm and she looked down.
"Thanks, Wrecker." She said. "It feels too fancy, though."
"Likely because it is made of Fleuréline weave." Tech said. "An extremely expensive material."
Omega felt her heart skip.
"How much is it?" Omega asked cautiously.
"Do not fret, Omega." Tech said. "I doubt Chancellor Amidala would allow you to wear it if she did not rightfully trust you to take care of it."
Omega nodded, her cheeks getting even warmer. She glanced up at Crosshair and Hunter. Crosshair wasn't looking at her, but he was smirking in a pleasant way. Hunter was smiling at her, eyes shining with pride.
"You definitely look the part, kid." He said.
Chancellor Amidala returned within a few minutes with Ahsoka.
"You look lovely, Omega." The Chancellor said.
"Thank you." Omega said.
"There's one more thing to your outfit." Chancellor Amidala said. "Is Echo in there?"
"Just a minute!" Echo called.
Five minutes later he emerged wearing the sharp white outfit.
"Sorry that took so long." He said. "Buttons tend to be an issue."
"You look very handsome Echo." Omega told him.
Echo smiled at her and ruffled her hair.
"As best as I can, anyway." He said.
"You four may want to get into position." Chancellor Amidala told the rest of the Batch. "Is your ship ready?"
"Better than that." Tech said. "I will be able to start it remotely."
"Hopefully it won't come to it, but I've instructed the Senate Commandos to keep the way to the landing platform clear." Chancellor Amidala said.
"You shouldn't have bothered." Crosshair said. "We can do that well enough."
"Just put a pair of Wrecker's used socks in the hallways." Echo said.
"Hey!" Wrecker said. "You guys live with them!"
"Omega lost consciousness the first time you took your boots off in front of her." Tech said. "I believe the rest of us have suffered severe damage to our olfactory senses."
"In any case," Hunter cut in. Omega thought he looked embarrassed. "We can handle ourselves. We've got a plan."
"Hopefully we won't have to use it." Chancellor Amidala said. "Now please,"
Hunter nodded and gestured to the rest of the Batch.
"You'll do great, Omega!" Wrecker boomed. "You too, Echo!"
Omega smiled her thanks as Wrecker left the room.
"Yes, good luck to both of you." Tech said as he followed Wrecker.
Crosshair didn't say anything, but gave them a nod as he left.
Hunter came and knelt in front of Omega.
"You'll do fine, kid." He said. "We'll be there if anything goes wrong."
He looked up to Echo.
"You keep an eye on her." He said seriously.
"When don't I?" Echo asked.
Hunter frowned.
"Tech probably has a list of all the times Omega's gotten lost."
"Please don't have him get it." Echo said with a roll of his eyes.
Hunter patted Omega on the shoulder before following the rest of the Batch.
"Come with me, Omega. We have to finish your outfit." Chancellor Amidala said.
Omega followed her back into the dressing room. The Chancellor sat Omega down in a chair facing a mirror and table. Omega thought her own reflection looked scared.
"Do you want to read my speech?" Omega asked.
"I've been keeping track of it. It's very well done, Omega." Chancellor Amidala said as she picked up a brush.
Omega tried to hold still as the Chancellor ran the brush through Omega's short hair. She winced as the snarls tugged at her scalp.
"You have lovely hair, Omega." Chancellor Amidala said. "Why don't you grow it out longer?"
"Tactical disadvantage." Omega said promptly. "And I don't like taking care of it."
Chancellor Amidala laughed.
"But Hunter has longer hair than you." She pointed out. "Isn't that a tactical disadvantage?"
"Well, Hunter's Hunter." Omega said. "He's good enough that it doesn't matter."
"Hmm." Chancellor Amidala said. "Who cuts your hair? It's well done."
"Tech." Echo said. He was leaning against the doorway of the dressing room. "He learned how after Hunter's er- well meaning first attempt."
"It looked really bad." Omega giggled. "Kinda like Crosshair's."
"It was terrible." Echo admitted.
Chancellor Amidala finished smoothing Omega's hair back and took a pendant and chain from the table.
"Do you like it?" She asked, holding it out for Omega's inspection.
Omega gave a little gasp. The shining black pendant was in the shape of the clones' visors.
"I love it!" She said.
"I thought you might." Chancellor Amidala said. She began fastening the chains to Omega's hair. "Echo, I've been thinking. We can't just keep calling the clone, clones. It dehumanizes them to the eyes of the public. Do you have any ideas?"
Echo frowned.
"I'll think about it." He said. "But I don't know if I can come up with anything good. I'll ask Fives too."
Chancellor Amidala seemed to wilt at the mention of Fives.
"Is Fives okay?" Omega asked.
"Fives-" Chancellor Amidala paused. "It isn't his fault, but he wasn't meant to be a Senator."
"I could have told you that." Echo said. "He speaks his mind too freely and doesn't give a-" He glanced at Omega "womp rat's bottom about what people think."
"No." Chancellor Amidala agreed. "If you could choose a representative for the clones, who would you pick?"
"Oh, that's a hard one." Echo said. "Commander Cody's a good choice. He's used to dealing with higher ups. I'd say Rex, but he doesn't like office work. Well, none of us like office work. Thorn might be good. We've all heard how zealous he is about the Republic."
"What about you, Echo?" Omega asked. "You like the Republic too."
Echo was quiet for a moment.
"I'm sure they'd prefer a normal clone." He said softly. "I don't represent the majority."
Omega met Chancellor Amidala's eye in the mirror. She seemed to be thinking the same thing as Omega. Omega had limited experience with regs, but from what she'd seen, Echo was still like them in nearly every way. She thought of the reports she'd seen on Kamino, of the injured, the killed, and the MIA. Echo was all of them. He knew the war almost better than anyone.
If anyone represented the majority, it was Echo.
The Senate chamber was huge. Omega turned her head this way and that, trying to count all the different pods and different species. Even Echo looked surprised.
"Come on and sit down." Fives grumbled.
He was nervous, Omega could tell. He wasn't even supposed to talk, just sit there as the representative. Omega wished they were in the pod with Chancellor Amidala and Ahsoka. They were a much calmer presence than Fives.
Their pod remained docked as Chancellor Amidala began the meeting. She greeted everyone there, including some CIS representatives. Omega felt her stomach twist more. She wasn't going to address just the Republic?
"This meeting is to address the issue of the status of the clone troopers of the Grand Army of the Republic." Chancellor Amidala said.
Omega shrank down in her seat at all the annoyed mutters that burst from the other pods. She could make out a few people's words.
"Aren't you ever going to give this up?"
"Hasn't your 'representative' shown what they really are?"
"There are more important matters than the clones!"
Fives was staring at the ground. Echo's face had twisted with indignation.
Chancellor Amidala waited patiently for the noise to die down.
"I have a special guest with us today. ARC Trooper Echo-"
"What is this?" Omega recognized the wizened Kaminoan woman who was speaking. "All clone troopers, aside from ARC-5555, belong to the Kaminoans! I demand you return our property!"
Omega squished down harder in her seat. The senator hadn't seemed to recognize her yet.
Echo stood.
"That's where you're wrong, Senator Burtoni." He said. "I was the property of the Techno Union according to the laws on seizing weapons during war. Yesterday I was bought from them by the Republic. And now I'm a free man."
The chamber had gone silent. Omega could see the people from nearby pods just staring at Echo.
"Do I have your permission to go ahead, Chancellor?" Echo asked.
He was still staring at Senator Burtoni.
"Please, Echo." Chancellor Amidala said.
"Like Chancellor Amidala said, my name is Echo. My number is CT-1409. I was an ARC trooper." He said.
Omega felt a burst of pride for her brother. He was standing tall in front of so many eyes, speaking clearly and proudly.
"For the beginning of the war, I was like any other clone." Echo went on. "I fought for the Republic. I was willing to die for it. I lost many brothers and still marched on. I did my best to protect the people. Then, on a mission to recover vital information for the Republic, I was caught in an explosion and presumed dead."
Echo straightened even more.
"When the war ended, the Republic requested the return of all prisoners of war. The Separatists released only a few dozen individuals, even though hundreds of clone troopers were taken captive during the war. It wasn't until the Republic received the list of military assets recovered that the captured clones were discovered. I was one of the numbers on that list."
Echo's remaining hand clutched at the edge of the pod. Omega wanted to go stand by his side, but it was too early. Chancellor Amidala had said to keep inconspicuous until it was her turn.
"Most clone troopers captured by the Separatists were sold to Trandoshans to be hunted for sport. Others were kept, tortured for information, and eventually executed." Echo glanced briefly towards Omega.
She felt sick. She didn't want to hear the awful things that had happened to the clones.
"That is not what happened to me. I was sold to the Techno Union. You can see a part of what they did to me."
Echo held his prosthetic arm out and slowly gestured to his head with it.
"I am percentage wise, more machine than man. Many of the enhancements performed on me were not necessary to keep me alive. They were, however, necessary for another purpose."
Omega wanted to cover her ears. Echo never talked about what the Techno Union did to him. She could see his hand was shaking.
"The Techno Union broke into my mind with the modifications they forced on me." Echo said. "I was put into stasis and was used to provide an algorithm that calculated the best way to thwart Republic plans."
Omega heard Echo's voice break ever so slightly.
"I was used to murder hundreds, if not thousands of my brothers. Civilians died because of me. Innocents died because of me. And I had to watch it all."
Echo suddenly let out a bitter laugh.
"They couldn't even get my neural enhancements right. Every time data was inputted or outputted from my mind, it caused me pain. I had to have their work fixed in order to use what I was given."
Echo inserted his scomp into the pod and a towering hologram appeared in the middle of the senate chamber. It looked like blueprints, but of a human body. Echo's body. Omega shuddered as Echo slowly and deliberately went through every modification done to his body.
"I was awake for it all." He said. "I had to watch them turn me into a machine."
The chamber was as still and silent as the grave.
"You may be asking yourself whether the Techno Union would have done this to anyone." Echo said. "I can tell you that Wat Tambor chose me specifically because I was a clone."
He removed his scomp and the holo clicked off.
"The Techno Union has signed, like many systems, an accord banning the experimentation on sentients. They have been very careful to adhere to these." He said. "As it so happens, my brothers and I are not considered sentient. I was not the first the Techno Union attempted to turn against the Republic. I was merely the one that survived."
Omega bit her lip. Other clones were mutilated like her brother? Echo looked over the crowd.
"I'm here to tell you that we are sentient." He said. "The Techno Union knew that their experiments required a sentient mind to work. We were the perfect loophole."
Echo's shoulders seemed to slouch slightly.
"Thank you for listening." He finished.
He turned around and sat in between Fives and Omega. Omega reached out and patted his shoulder.
"Good job." She said. "You were very brave."
"I'm sorry you had to hear some of that." Echo said. He looked very tired.
"I have asked one other person to speak today." Chancellor Amidala said.
Omega stood and swallowed her fear as best she could. It was her turn.
"Hang in there, Omega." Echo said. "It wasn't as bad as I thought."
Omega stood where he had been as Chancellor Amidala continued.
"This is Omega." Chancellor Amidala said.
Omega could almost feel the weight of every eye on her.
"Chancellor Amidala, this is too far!" Senator Burtoni cried. "That child is the property of the Kaminoans!"
Sudden mutters filled the room. Omega wanted to shrink back.
"According to the current law, yes." Chancellor Amidala said. "However, I ask that she be allowed to speak."
"Who is she?" A senator called, cutting off what Senator Burtoni was going to say. "Why is she the property of the Kaminoans?"
"I thought they only owned the soldiers!"
Several other people called, sounding shocked and alarmed. And then-
"Let the girl speak." A man Omega didn't recognize said.
He wasn't part of the group of Senators that were the Chancellor's friends.
"Yes, let her speak!"
"What does she have to say that you don't want us to hear?"
All of a sudden the Senate chamber was filled with clamors to hear Omega. She didn't know if this helped or made the whole thing worse.
To Omega's shock, Senator Burtoni had sat down, her pod floating away from the center. The voices died down and every eye was on Omega.
Omega took a deep breath and looked down at the holo prompter.
"Hello." She said. "My name is Omega. I am a female clone of Jango Fett."
She looked up and saw the glint of Crosshair's scope. She felt braver.
"I was an experiment by Nala Se, to see if a female clone could be created with Jango Fett's pure DNA." She said. "I had five sisters, other female clones created at the same time. Four of them died when they were decanted."
Omega paused, calling on fuzzy memories of a dark haired little girl that shared Omega's eyes.
"My remaining sister was decommissioned because-" Omega stumbled over the words.
Though the memories were vague, the emotions she had felt when her sister was taken away were sharp. Omega blinked back tears and found she couldn't read the clean words on the teleprompter.
"Because she wasn't good enough." Omega said. "The Kaminoans said she was defective, because she wasn't quite as smart or strong. We were three when they took her away."
Omega swallowed one more time.
"My brothers, the Bad Batch, discovered me on Kamino. I was being kept and observed and I wasn't ever allowed to leave. My brothers took me away and kept me safe." She said. "But I have more brothers. Millions of them. And they're stuck on Kamino. If they don't do what the Kaminoans want, or are too different, the Kaminoans take them away. They- they kill them."
Omega tried to find eyes in the crowd of pods to look into. She wanted them to know what it meant to be on Kamino.
"When I was Nala Se's lab assistant, I sometimes would be with her when she observed the clones. She would decide if they were up to her standard. And if they weren't, they were terminated. Even if they were babies, or cadets about to graduate."
She had expected to be interrupted, but the crowd watched her silently.
"None of my brothers had the choice to become soldiers. If they didn't fight, they would be killed. Some were. That's what I want. For all my brothers to have a choice."
Her last words rang out and echoed around.
"Thank you for listening." Omega said.
She turned around and walked back to her seat in a daze. Echo quietly put an arm around her shoulder.
"Well done." He said.
All of a sudden the room exploded into noise. Omega flinched. But no one seemed to be yelling at her. They were talking amongst themselves hurriedly. Fives leaned over and put a hand on her shoulder.
"I think you made an impact." He muttered.
He smiled and his eyes sparkled for a moment. Then they seemed to dim, and his smile seemed forced. After a moment it faltered and he turned away. Omega was confused. Wasn't he happy that it had worked?
So yeah, this is just me writing out my dreams of a happy Bad Batch family. Honestly, all of them are so fun to write and their dynamic is a blast. Note, if I haven't mentioned it before: Crosshair accepted Echo, so I think if Omega was introduced to him in a different setting, he would totally adopt her. So hence his actual affection here.
We've got some set up for future events and finally some progress. I finally have some headcanons that could actually be canon. Echo not being the only experiment but was the only one who survived makes sense to me, and Omega not being the only girl clone created also feels right.
And SIT DOWN BURTONI YOU HAG.
The reason there's not Mando'a in this chapter is because I also headcanon that Batch actually didn't get a lot of Mandalorian exposure in their upbringing. They were separate from the other clones and probably had very specific training. Echo obviously has more of a connection to Mandalorian culture, and he's teaching Omega. For the rest of the Batch it's not a big thing.
I have some ideas for what the clones as a people would be called, and I might poll you guys on what to call them later.
I really enjoyed writing this chapter and I hope you enjoy too!
Anyway, wear your masks, remember to review, and have a great few weeks!