'Sup my dudes! I hope everyone is doing great! No spoilers about Kenobi in the comments, I haven't been able to watch past the first two episodes because I've been so busy and I just know it's gonna be emotionally exhausting.

IrishDrunk14: Oh man, movie theater strangers are the WORST. I was crying at a movie once and the people in front of us asked if I knew it wasn't real and I was like DUDE LET ME HAVE EMOTIONS OKAY. You may want to avoid reading future chapters in movie theaters if I'm honest. Just because movie theater strangers CAN and WILL judge you. Hopefully this chapter delivers as well! (AND I KNOW I KEEP GOING BACK AND WATCHING THE TRAILERS. AHSOKA IS JEDIIIIII)

Paladin Stormwind: Why thank you very much! I hope this chapter is as bravo worthy~

Logan: I'm going to be honest. I have been writing this fic for *checks notes* two years now? And that was a very early little plot point that the story has kind of grown out of. Fives transferred his feelings to Ahsoka, and then now is in no condition to think about things romantically. And I think Shaak Ti knew.

Okay, going back to the Bad Batch! Let's see how Omega and Echo do as senators!

Mando'a translations at the end!

Omega tapped her finger on her desk, staring at the datapad in front of her. The words on it seemed to blur together. She sometimes had a hard time reading political jargon, but today was especially bad. She was too on edge to comprehend what was before her.

"Echo?" She asked her brother, who was sitting at his own desk next to hers. "Do you know what this means?"

Echo looked up and squinted at her datapad. He shook his head after a moment.

"Sorry, vod'ika." He said. "No idea."

Omega bit her lip and brought the pad back down. Hunter and Wrecker were no help, and while Crosshair was slightly better at understanding it, he was on his rounds. Even if Tech had been there, he probably wouldn't be able to decipher much either. The attendant that Chancellor Amidala had assigned to them had the day off, so Omega couldn't ask her.

Omega felt like crying with frustration.

"Omega," Echo said kindly. "The meeting's in thirty-five minutes. You won't be able to make much progress with that in that amount of time. Why don't you come help me narrow some of these names down?"

Omega eagerly dropped her data pad and scooted her chair next to Echo's. Chancellor Amidala insisted they couldn't keep calling themselves 'the clones.' Echo had been working on the name for their 'species.'

"I've narrowed it down to these." Echo told Omega.

Omega looked down at his pad and saw several Mando'a words in a list. Echo was teaching her Mando'a, but some of the words were still unfamiliar to her. Many had to do with the words for 'brother', 'many', and 'warrior.'

"What does Tal'solus mean?" She asked, pointing it out.

"One blood." Echo replied. "I came up with that one. Or, well, Fives did, a long time ago."

He got a wistful, far away look on his face.

"I like it." Omega said.

He smiled at her.

"I like it too. I hope the rest of the clones do as well."

Omega's holo chirped. She scooted back to her desk and pressed the button to answer it.

Another one of Chancellor Amidala's lent attendants appeared in the form of blue light.

"Senator Omega," She said. "Senator Burtoni is on her way now."

Omega felt the blood drain from her face.

"But our meeting's not for a half an hour!" Omega said.

"If you don't mind my saying, Senator, it's a ploy." The attendant said. "She is trying to undermine your power. Don't let her. You can refuse to see her until the proper time."

Omega took a deep breath.

"Okay." She said. "Thank you."

She turned off the holo and looked at Hunter.

"Hunter, please go into the hallway and tell Senator Burtoni to wait." She said.

It was still a little odd giving orders to her brother and Sergeant. But he was her bodyguard and she was a Senator. She was supposed to, right?

He nodded and slipped out the door.

"I'll go too." Wrecker said darkly. "Just in case. I think she's scared of me."

Omega tried to laugh at that but only managed a hysterical giggle.

"Calm down, Omega." Echo said. "She can't force you to do anything you don't want to. She can't hurt you and she can't take you back."

Omega nodded. She went back to her desk and picked up her datapad. She decided that she couldn't decipher her current project, but she would move on to some easier ones. She was going to do what she had planned to do during this time, regardless of Senator Burtoni. The next message she had was an invitation to a dinner with Chancellor Syndulla and Senator Minx. Omega was about to start her reply when her comm beeped. She looked at it. She thought she knew who it was.

"Don't, Omega." Echo said.

Omega swallowed and rejected the incoming comm. She had only typed out a greeting when the comm beeped again.

"What if it's someone else?" Omega asked. "And it's important?"

"Then they'll try to contact me." Echo said. "Keep working."

A few minutes later Wrecker's voice sounded distantly through the walls.

"You're not goin' in until Omega says so!" He shouted.

Omega froze. Burtoni was right outside by the sound of it. But the meeting was in twenty five minutes. Burtoni would have to wait.

Omega only managed to finish the one, short response. Burtoni had attempted to comm fifteen times in the last twenty minutes. Part of Omega wanted to just send her away and not meet at all. But she was a Senator, and she couldn't avoid meeting with people she didn't like.

When the time came, she hit her comm.

"Tell Senator Burtoni she can come in, Hunter."

"Right." Hunter said.

Omega braced herself for the sight of the wizened Kaminoan female sweeping into the office. Echo had stood, moving to put his hand on Omega's shoulder. Wrecker and Hunter followed Burtoni. Both of her brothers' faces were angry.

"Hello, Senator Burtoni." Omega said.

She did not invite her to sit down. She didn't want her there long.

"You took long enough in meeting with me." Senator Burtoni said. "A word of advice, child. You mustn't show such obvious bias in dealing with your fellow senators."

"Our meeting was set for this time." Omega said. "You arrived early and I had other duties to attend to."

Burtoni snorted.

"What is this meeting about, Senator?" Omega asked. "You didn't tell me when requesting it."

"I have come-" Burtoni paused and Omega realized she was uncomfortable. "For a favor."

Omega stared at Burtoni.

"A favor." She repeated.

"Yes. A simple one." Burtoni said. "As you know, the Kaminoan economy has taken a huge blow."

"Since cloning was declared slavery, yes." Echo said, a bite in his polite words.

Burtoni only briefly glanced at him.

"It is not only that." She said. "Customers refuse to deal with us because of our past, even when the contract would not involve sentients. We have the potential to provide services for genetically modified foodstuffs, conservation efforts, and animals for labor."

Omega privately thought that maybe there was a good reason why no one wanted to deal with the Kaminoans anymore, but she waited for Burtoni to continue.

"Having those who dealt with us before endorse us would go a long way." Burtoni said. "Unfortunately, there are only two factions who have that ability and the Republic has refused to do so."

It took a moment for what Burtoni was saying to sink in.

"You want us to endorse you?" Echo said.

Burtoni ignored him and just looked at Omega. Omega was about to say no when Burtoni began to speak again.

"Only a small percentage of our population was involved directly with the Jango Fett cloning project." She said. "If the Kaminoan economy fails, millions who did your kind no wrongs will suffer."
That gave Omega pause. Burtoni continued, a smug look on her face.

"I had heard that you support the aid of Separatist worlds, Senator." She said. "Those worlds caused the deaths of millions of clones. Why is Kamino any different?"

Her words hit Omega to the core.

"I- I'll consider it." Omega said.

She tried very hard to imply that the meeting was over.

"It would be best if you decided soon." Burtoni said. "For the sake of the Kaminoan economy."

"I understand." Omega said. "Please, I need time to think about it."

"I will expect a response in a timely manner." Burtoni said. "Good day."

Echo waited for the moment the door had closed behind Burtoni to give a derisive snort.

"A favor." He said. "A favor. From us."

"It seems reasonable." Omega said.

"Reasonable?" Echo said. "Omega, she's asking us to endorse them! Tell the world that they abused us competently!"

"Echo's got a point." Wrecker said.

"We can't punish them forever, Echo." Omega said. "If we want to help the CIS, we have to help the Kaminoans."

"Ah, kid's got a point." Wrecker said.

Echo glared at Wrecker, who shrugged.

"Don't feel pressured into doing anything you don't want to do, Omega." Hunter said.

Omega frowned. She didn't quite know what she wanted to do. Echo did have a point. They owed nothing to the Kaminoans. But on the other hand, they wanted to do honest business now without hurting anyone. Shouldn't they encourage that?

"I'm going on a walk." Omega announced.

Hunter's brow immediately furrowed. Omega rolled her eyes.

"Crosshair is out doing his rounds." She said. "I'll just follow his track and he can keep an eye on me."

She couldn't think clearly here, with Echo radiating indignation.

Hunter gave a tight nod and Omega left the office.

There weren't many people around. The office level always saw less traffic than the lower levels. That was good. Omega didn't need any distractions.

Should she help the Kaminoans? Surely not every Kaminoan had been actively involved with the clone army's creation. Should they suffer the consequences too?

Before long Omega found that her thoughts had taken her to an empty wing. It was where many of the senators who had defected to the CIS had had their offices. Omega started to turn around. It was the edge of where Crosshair patrolled and she didn't want to be scolded by Hunter.

"Omega."

Omega turned slowly to see a Kaminoan standing in the hallway, staring at her. At first Omega was confused. The Kaminoan was dressed as an attendant or administrator, but she sounded like-

Omega's face went numb.

It was Nala Se.

No. No. Omega had left over a year ago. She had left Nala Se. But she was back. Nala Se had come for Omega's brothers. She was going to take them away again. Omega was going to be alone.

She barely heard Nala Se's next words.

"It is time to return." Nala Se said.

An instinct Omega had thought dead reared its head, screaming at her to listen to Nala Se. She needed to be obedient. If she was obedient, maybe Nala Se would let her see her brothers.

She almost had bowed her head and followed Nala Se before she remembered where she was. She wasn't on Kamino. Her brothers were here. Nala Se wasn't in charge any more. She could not take Omega's brothers.

Omega straightened up, mustered her courage, and looked Nala Se in the eye.

"No." Omega said.

Nala Se's eyes narrowed slightly.

"You are my lab assistant." She said. "You belong with me."

"I don't belong to you anymore!" Omega said. "I won't go with you."

"You are being ungrateful." Nala Se said. "The project that produced you was cancelled. You were to be destroyed. I stopped this."

"You didn't stop them from killing my sister!" Omega said. "I was alone my entire life, except for you! And you were barely there!"

Omega felt tears form in her eyes.

"You knew how lonely I was! You controlled me with it, with just glimpses of my brothers when I was good!"

"I kept you safe." Nala Se said.

"You kept me hidden!" Omega said.

She wanted to keep yelling at Nala Se, but managed to stop herself. She was a senator, and she should act like one. Omega took a deep breath.

"No, Nala Se. I will not go with you. Thank you for taking care of me until I went with my brothers." She said. "But I'm happy now. I don't want to see you again. Please leave."

"I was afraid that would be your answer." Nala Se said. "How unfortunate."

Omega expected Nala Se to turn and leave, but the Kaminoan doctor continued to stare at her.

"It would also be unfortunate," Nala Se continued. "If the genetic defect present in each member of Clone Force 99 was exploited."

Omega's heart seemed to stop. Was Nala Se saying what she thought she was saying?

"What- what defect?" Omega managed to say.
Nala Se tilted her head.

"The defect that I designed in each of them." She said. "I knew that the inhibitor chips had a chance of being ineffective. I needed another way to ensure they would not get out of control."

Omega couldn't breathe. This wasn't right. She and her brothers were supposed to be free.

"If you do not return to Kamino, I will be forced to terminate Clone Force 99 using that defect." Nala Se said. "And if I am killed, CT-9904, I have left orders for Clone Force 99's termination to be carried out upon my death."

Omega hadn't noticed the lone, gangly figure at the end of the hallway. Crosshair had his Firepuncher rifle aimed at Nala Se's head.

"Get out." Crosshair said.

Nala Se ignored him, looking at Omega.

"I will give you one galactic month to make your decision, Omega." She said.

She turned and walked away. Crosshair kept his rifle trained on her until she was out of sight. Then he broke into motion, striding quickly towards Omega. His expression was murderous.

"I can take care of her." He said. His voice was surprisingly soft. "She's still in the building. Say the word and I can make sure you never see her again."

Omega struggled to hold back a sob as she shook her head.

"You heard her." She could hear the shaking in her own voice. "If she dies, someone will still come after you."

"She was bluffing." Crosshair said firmly. "She never threatened us with that during our training."

"But what if she's not?" Omega said.

"So what, you'll go crawling back to her to be her pet?" Crosshair snarled.

Omega had never felt so lost, not even when the Bad Batch had first been taken from her so long ago.

"We can't tell Hunter." She finally managed. "He'd panic and make us leave."

"Doesn't sound so bad to me." Crosshair muttered.

"We can't leave!" Omega said. "Echo and I are the senators!"

"Then what do you propose we do?" Crosshair said. "She wins either way!"

Omega's mind raced. She would not let her brothers die because of her. She couldn't.

"We need to tell Tech." She decided. "Maybe we can figure out if she's telling the truth."

Crosshair nodded sharply.

"Not Wrecker or Echo." He said. "Too many people will complicate things."

Omega agreed. She loved Wrecker dearly, but she couldn't see how he could help in this situation. And it wouldn't be Echo's problem. He was a reg. He wouldn't have the defect.

"We should go back." Crosshair said. "We can't let them suspect something's wrong."

He was right. Hunter worried too much already. They needed to act as if nothing was wrong until they could talk to Tech. They still had a month.

A month. A month to figure out if Nala Se could kill her brothers on a whim. If they failed, Omega had to go back to Kamino or her brothers died.

Crosshair frowned down at her.

"We need to-"

Omega burst into tears. Without thinking she reached out and pressed herself against Crosshair. She felt him go rigid, but he didn't push her away.

It took a while for Omega to quiet herself. Crosshair had stayed where he was for the duration of her tears. But he had stayed, and that was all Omega had needed.

Hunter, Wrecker, and Echo all seemed to know something was wrong the moment Omega and Crosshair returned.

"Omega?" Hunter asked, standing. "What happened? What's wrong?"

Omega didn't trust herself to speak without crying again, so she let Crosshair take over explanations.

"Nala Se followed her." He said. "She tried to get her to go back to Kamino."

Anger and fear flashed across all of their faces. Wrecker moved forward to crush Omega into a hug.

"You told her to kriff off, right?" He said.

Omega nodded and Wrecker relaxed a little. She heard Hunter demand more details from Crosshair, who responded without giving too much away. Omega let Wrecker hold her until she felt she could pretend everything was fine.

"I'm okay." She lied. "I've- I've got things I need to get done."

This is important too. She reminded herself as she got to her desk. She pulled the proposal from Senator Clovis up again. It still didn't make any sense. She felt that sometimes the other senators used difficult language on purpose to confuse her and Echo. She stared at it a while, trying to force her mind from the looming problem to focus on the words in front of her. Crosshair, who hadn't returned to his rounds, moved around the desk and peered over her shoulder.

"Let me see." He said, sounding almost kindly.

Omega let him pluck the datapad from her fingers. He studied it with a raised eyebrow. Then he snorted.

"They've used a droid to write this." He said. "Had it replace most of the words with more obscure versions."

"Oh." Omega said and bit her lip. "Should- we be doing that?"

"No." Crosshair said. "Anyone who would be impressed isn't worth your time."

Omega nodded and waited as Crosshair scanned the document.

"I know it's about the relief effort." She offered when he didn't say anything.

"It is." Crosshair said. He was sneering at the pad. "It's asking you to add your signature to a document saying that you won't support any relief efforts to Separatist planets."

"What?" Omega asked, shocked. "But I've been saying we should be helping everyone!"

"They may be trying to take advantage of our inexperience." Echo said with a grimace. "And maybe they think we'll be against helping the CIS because we're clones."

Crosshair handed the datapad back to Omega.

"Don't pay them any mind." He said. "They're just scum."

Omega turned her attention to drafting a response. This was easy and she was able to put away her fear and focus on it. Omega had a tendency to be polite, which Chancellor Amidala said was a good thing. Omega also was not hesitant in saying what she thought. Senator Organa had once complimented her on her 'straight forward' way of putting things.

Senator Clovis, She wrote. Thank you for taking the time to include me in your effort.

Chancellor Amidala had told her to always thank people in her responses.

Omega then went on to give all the reasons why she would not be signing her name to his anti-relief document. It was ridiculous to her that they would consider not helping people. It wasn't their fault the war happened. Even if it was, they weren't the enemy any more. She knew Echo struggled with that.

Omega jumped as Wrecker burst through the door. She hadn't noticed he had gone.

"Here!" Wrecker said proudly.

He dumped what looked like fried dough wrapped in a greasy napkin on her desk. Omega picked it up. It smelled wonderful.

"Thanks, Wrecker!" She said.

Wrecker grinned broadly. His solution to when Omega was upset was often food. It worked most of the time. Not today. Omega only felt a little better when she bit into the sugar crusted dough.

"Anyone else want one?" Wrecker asked.

Echo shook his head, but Hunter nodded. Crosshair took one without a word. Wrecker shoved the remaining ones into his mouth.

Echo's comm beeped. Omega looked over to see Tech's holo hovering above the desk.

"Tech!" Echo's voice immediately became worried. "Is Fives okay?"

"I'm fine!" An annoyed voice said from somewhere unseen.

Echo relaxed.

"Yes, Fives is fine." Tech said. Even through the limitations of the holo, Omega could tell he was excited. "I thought I should let you know, I have cracked our genetic code. I can stop our advanced aging."

At Tech's news, the room crammed with the Skirata clan was silent. Ahsoka herself was in shock. She had always known that her men never had long and she had accepted it. When she had realized she loved Rex, she had to deal with the fact that she would outlive him by decades.

Rex had a strange expression on his face. His brow was furrowed, as if he was concentrating on what the information meant. Ahsoka took his hand and squeezed it. To her surprise he squeezed back with a beskar grip. He had closed his eyes tightly.

In the few weeks since his first breakthrough he had improved, occasionally making his own choices and showing hints of emotions. Nearly every day Ahsoka or Bardan would reach into his mind, very slowly widening the crack into his true self. But he was still quiet and obedient. If he was left to his own devices, he was lost. He still needed orders for most things. He could only speak in platitudes from the Kaminoans or repeat certain phrases they read in Corellian Nights.

But every night he came to her quarters and asked for her to read to him. And every night he would fall asleep by himself. He hadn't been sedated since they'd started.

He was showing more emotion now than he had since his breakdown.

Ahsoka realized that Tech was still talking to Kal.

"I'm positive." Tech said. "It will require a series of chemical treatments, but it is fairly simple. I can send my findings to you if you wish to check my work."

"Please." Kal rasped. "I-I can't believe it. Vor entye."

"It was a welcome challenge." Tech said. "The data will arrive shortly."

His holo shut off. The room stayed silent.

"Kal'buir." Fi said. "I need a bigger retirement fund."

Kal laughed, but it sounded more like a sob. All of a sudden, Darman and Etain were weeping in each other's arms, most of the NULLs were gathering together to speak, and Kal was grabbing any clone within his reach.

Ahsoka pulled Rex down into an embrace. Her heart swelled and tears came to her eyes. Another wrong had been righted.

Rex didn't hold her back, but his head dipped against hers.

"No." He whispered.

Ahsoka froze.

"What?" She choked out.

She could feel his mind struggling to form his reasoning, struggling to find words he could explain with.

"It is-" He paused. His breathing had become labored. "It is not stable."

It was likely a reference to Rex himself. Not stable probably meant his current state.

"You're getting better." Ahsoka said. "It won't be forever."

She was beginning to believe that herself.

He was silent for a long time.

"Orders?" He asked.

"Only if you want to." Ahsoka said.

Rex shook his head.

"Orders?" He asked again.

Ahsoka was overwhelmed. He was talking more than he had in weeks, even if it was just in snippets of book quotes and army speak. They could cure the clones' curse of a premature death of old age. Her own emotions were battling within her. She wanted so desperately for him to take the cure. She knew that if she told him right now, he would take it regardless of his feelings.

"No." The lie burned on her lips.

He was still for a moment. Ahsoka caught her breath as his hands slowly came up to take her arms.

"I'll take this one." He said.

"Rex," Ahsoka said. She pulled away and took his shoulders. "It doesn't matter what I want. This is your choice."

He looked at her. A tenderness she hadn't seen in him since before Kamino was hiding behind his eyes.

"I'll take this one."

She could feel his fear at the prospect. He was terrified of living as he was for a full lifetime.

Captain Rex was nothing but selfless.

"I love you." Ahsoka said.

For a moment she thought he would say it back. Instead she saw him sinking back under the surface of 7567. He had exhausted himself. His face became blank. Ahsoka let him.

Mando'a:

vod'ika: little sibling (sister in this case), affectionate

Tal'solus: one blood. Based off of Fives' speech in Season 3 Episode 2. Slightly changed from the quote: "Look around, we're one and the same. Same heart, same blood."

Vor entye: Thank you. lit. I accept a debt.

Kal'buir: Papa Kal

Okay, starting from the top again! First off, yeah the clones need a name for their 'species' other than 'the clones' because realistically there are going to be other cloning projects and they aren't the only clones in the galaxy. It took a long time to decide what their name would be. It was always going to be in Mando'a, but I went from 'children of Jango' to 'echoed brothers' and I finally settled on Tal'solus. I like the way it sounds and it fits with Fives' little speech in season 3. So they'll be known as the Tal'solus people, and maybe individuals will be Tal'solians. I dunno, that part is still up for debate.

The scene with Omega and Burtoni's meeting initially started as a meeting where Burtoni brings Nala Se and that was all the meeting was about. Nala Se was just like 'hey come back' and Omega was like 'no thanks' and that was it. Luckily my editors gave me some key changes that not only makes this chapter more satisfying, but also drives the story forward a little.

The whole reason Burtoni goes after Omega is because specifically she knows Omega is kind hearted and justice oriented. Echo is too, of course, but he suffered a bit more first hand at the hands of the Kaminoans and he is far less likely to see their point of view. And it's still a tall order for Omega, even with Burtoni's points.

And of course Nala Se isn't going to give up Omega easily. One of the key things I decided about how Nala Se treated Omega is that she manipulated Omega using the Bad Batch. If Omega was good and obedient, Nala Se would let her see footage of the Bad Batch. And she was always telling Omega that if she was good enough, she could meet her brothers. (Side note regarding this head canon, Nala Se thought that the chips had worked in the first episode of the Bad Batch so she was like 'hey you can see your brothers now' and thought they would dismiss her but instead they all immediately adopted her in their hearts)

I know it's been a minute since that chapter, but I have mentioned Omega's sister before, during her speech to the senate.

And here's the greatest suggestion my editors gave me: have Nala Se have something to hold over Omega's head. And now I get a little arc revolving around Crosshair and Omega. I hope it makes sense that Omega and Crosshair decided to only tell Tech. Hunter would def panic, Wrecker can't do much to help them, and Echo is unaffected by the threat and too many people could complicate things. Also, I adore the idea of Crosshair's love language being threaten your enemies. I feel like he is the ultimate I WOULD KILL FOR YOU kind of guy. He thinks he's being tender when he says he'll kill Nala Se. He is not. I know we all want Crosshair to hug Omega, but he's really not the hugging kind of guy. It says a lot about how much he cares for Omega here that he doesn't mock her or push her away.

I also love the idea that the Bad Batch are all really bad at figuring out overly political speak. The clones are very straight forward individuals. Cross is better than most, though. And I really liked the idea of idiots basically using the thesaurus to write their missives, thinking that it'll impress people. (Yes I think Rush Clovis is an idiot) I apologize if Omega trying to reply to the message is a little jarring after Nala Se's threat, but I had written it before I had decided that Nala Se was gonna threaten the Bad Batch and I liked it too much to axe it. Oops. But Omega is trying desperately to act like everything's okay.

And then, finally, we have the cure.

Quick note about Rex's lines. I realized that I was either going to have to write an entire novel from which to take lines from, or use a different source. Since Corellian Nights is kind of a riff of off Han Solo, I decided that I would use A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back as the sources. I change the lines a little bit here and there, but I want to be as limited as Rex would be in trying to speak. My editors say it works and I hope it works for you guys too.

This scene with Rex and Ahsoka was my editor's favorite Rexsoka scene so far. She was so excited when I read it out loud. I hope you guys like it too!

That should be everything for now!

Stay safe, remember to review, and have a great week!