Prequel Days
Plot: Being the only known female clone is hard, but Omega doesn't let that stop her throughout training or becoming a soldier and fighting with her brothers. And then she's assigned to the 501st.
Author's Note: I know I didn't need to do this, but I just watched the seventh season, and I really wanted to talk about her meeting Ahsoka, and from there it was like, why not? Lol
ALSO I haven't written anything in this universe in forever. So apologies if I forgot or changed something ;-; I was too lazy to reread all the parts I did before... so I'll just continue writing with the disaster this thing is. I hope that's okay with everyone :(
~ Rivana Rita
The war is rougher than Omega expected it to be. She shouldn't be surprised about it, but she still froze up with she saw her first brother fall at her side, and earned a blaster shot to the thigh for it, and here she is, glaring grumpily into space in the medbay waiting for the medic to check her over.
Beside her, the togruta sighs. "Hey," she says tiredly, eyes on the ceiling. "You okay?"
The question startles her, and Omega glances sharply at the other girl. "I'll be fine," she answers over the snarky I got shot in the thigh, what'd you think? That comes to mind. "Why're you here?"
"Ugh. Electrocution. My master things I need to stay in the medbay on pain of death."
Omega starts, though she doesn't know what else she expected. Why else would a togruta be here for? "You're a Jedi?"
"Yeah. I'm Ahsoka. Tano. Anakin Skywalker's padawan."
Whoa. She feels a little mind-blown. When the boys talked about their commander, she didn't expect a kid barely up to her shoulder in height, and skinny enough she thinks she could snap in half with a poke. Ot break a bone, at least. Omega thought she was a civilian, though when she looks, she can see the beads lining her montrals to form a padawan braid. "Oh. Sorry, commander, I didn't realize."
Ahsoka waves her off tiredly, eyes closed. "That's fine. I don't much like being a commander anyhow."
The comment makes her frown. "Why not? What's wrong with it?"
"I'm a Jedi," Ahsoka answers matter-of-factly, "I'm not supposed to be fighting in a war."
Except, without the war, the clones wouldn't have a reason to exist. Omega falls silent, lying back down and staring listlessly up at the ceiling. She tries not to let the words hurt. She knows Ahsoka didn't mean that.
"The Jedi's purpose was to make sure things never even got this far," Ahsoka continues, quieter, "Not to fight and lead. I wasn't trained to be a fighter. I'm not... meant to lead your brothers to their deaths. I've been here for years, but I still got almost all of my men killed." She sighs, defeated, like she's getting all the air forcibly ripped from her lungs. "We won, but no one ever asks the price it costs." She sniffs softly, swiping at her face. Is she crying?
"They never talk about what the war's like on Kamino," Omega admits, "I lost some brothers I knew, and the... Kaminoan who created and raised me died a long time ago." Nala has been gone for a long time, and it still hurts, but she's gotten used to this. She was meant to be more than a lab assistant. Or at least she can be. "But they never talked about injuries, about how people die. About... the things I've seen since coming to the fronts."
And it's... dark.
"My master keeps telling me I have to fight. And I'm getting used to it, but I can never get numb to it like he can."
She's heard how the boys talk about him, and it sounds far more complicated than it is to Ahsoka. "How old are you?" she asks.
"Almost sixteen."
"Same."
Ahsoka jolts violently, head turning to the side to look Omega up and down. "You're sixteen?"
"Yeah. I don't age like my brothers do."
"Whoa." Ahsoka blinks, blue eyes wide. Her eyes are blue. Omega's rarely seen blue eyes before, and they're very different than brown. They look... human. Almost. Just a shade to brilliant. She thinks. Not like Kaminoans. "I didn't know there were any clones like that. I thought you were all the same. Look-wise, I mean. You all look different, just..."
Omega smiles at the awkward fumbling. "I used to be a lab assistant before Nala Se died. They didn't know what to do with me, so... they sent me here. Put me through training like my brothers, and here I am."
"Oh."
They're cut off when the door opens and one of her brothers enters. Judging by the marks on his armor, he's the medic, and he's followed by the general. Anakin Skywalker. He flashes Omega a brief smile and turns to Ahsoka.
"No," she grumbles. "Don't start."
"Are you okay?" her master asks her anyway.
Ahsoka rolls her eyes skywards like she's begging for some sort of spiritual savior. "I should be out there helping."
"No, you needed this break."
"I –"
"The general's right, kid," the medic replies, running a scanner over her. "You do need to be resting right now, and taking it easy for a few days. That's also an order."
"I'm your commander," she complains. "Technically, I outrank you."
"When it comes to your health, I outrank everyone, sir," Omega's brother tells the commander with a straight face.
Omega makes the mental note never to mess with him. He's scary.
"You're doing well, commander. Just stay in bedrest a couple more days, and you're good to go." The clone, introducing himself as Kix, comes over to Omega to check her over, too.
"So, you're our sister, huh?" Kix asks, curious, as he works over putting bacta on her leg and cleaning the injury. It looks more unpleasant than she realized, and it burns. She winces a little, but stays still as her brother does the work.
"Yeah. Captain Rex says I'm technically still a shiny."
He laughs. "I can tell."
"Even though I'm older than you," she adds with a small smirk.
Kix laughs again. "You're older?"
"Yeah. I was one of the first clones created, except I'm a pure genetic replication, I think they said. But I still managed to get to the front." She offers him a smile, and Kix returns it, even if he's too distracted to look at her face.
"You're doing well. Hope you stay around longer."
"I'm planning on it," Omega promises. Her leg is throbbing.
Kix pats her shoulder. "Get some rest, sister. Don't walk on it too much until it's healed. Should be gone in a couple of days."
"Thanks, Kix."
Anakin and Ahsoka were talking in the background, but now that Kix steps back and moves on to the next person, Anakin turns to Omega. They fought together on the battlefield, and she likes him, but talking about it under more domestic circumstances is a bit different. "Hi," he offers, "Sorry, this is probably an awful first night aboard my ship."
Omega laughs. "It's not that bad. I've never been with another girl before. Not counting Kaminoans."
"I'm surprised none of the boys heard about you yet."
"Me too. I was a fairly popular topic of conversation." She still managed to not quite be close with anyone or form a proper squad. She's always been... different, and she got assigned to the 501st because she didn't fit anywhere else. She doesn't really fit here, either, but the 501st itself is pretty unorthodox.
She could never have a proper squad or belong anywhere except her brothers, and she has no idea what happened to the Bad Batch from so long ago. She knows they were put into status when the cloning operation was paused and slowed for a while. But... she doesn't know.
"How was it for you?" he asks sympathetically.
Her pause must've given him the impression it wasn't good. "I mean, it was," Omega answers, "I never got a squad. Most of my brothers do. It just... was different. I was always different. And I wanted to be normal. I just never got the chance to be."
"I understand," Anakin tells her, with more understanding than she thought anyone would ever have. "When I was with the Jedi, things were... difficult for me. I came to the Temple late, and I never quite fit in. I never have anywhere. I've always been different. Different from everyone. Even here as a Jedi..." He glances around the room, mostly at Ahsoka, emotions warring on his face. "I don't feel at home."
Omega wonders what's happened to her brothers, if they're... in action yet. She never saw them on Kamino, either. Not that she was ever transferred from the main facility she trained in, but it still really confuses her sometimes. "I know how hard this can be," Anakin continues, "I hope whatever happens, you can find belonging here."
Omega nods her thanks to him. She doesn't really get what Ahsoka means about him, she's not asking. That would just be... weird.
**w**
Omega, Anakin, Rex, Jesse, and Kix raid Watt Tambor's little operation on Skako Minor, with Ahsoka's much appreciated help. She seems happier on this mission than most, oddly – things that aren't about leading, stealthier seems to have her happier. But this mission turns out different than others when they pull out Echo. He's... a wreck. The Separatists really went through him in their attempts at turning him into a droid, and for all Omega's seen in the war, it's never been quite like this.
And, apparently, Echo's best friend, Fives, died while he was away, and that leaves him devastated.
Omega and Kix look him over in the aftermath. She's no medic, but she knows enough about medical things from her time on Kamino to say that she can at least somewhat help.
"I'm sorry about what happened," Omega tells him finally, sitting at her brother's bedside.
He shrugs, though the weight in his eyes says he doesn't mean it. He cares. Deeply. "Thanks. I guess I always knew he'd get into trouble without me."
Omega laughs, though sobers fast. It's more a statement of fact than a joke, and definitely not an amusing one despite the way he set it. "Still," she says, "I knew other brothers who were different, many years ago, but I never saw them in years. I don't even know if they're still alive."
"Squad?" Echo guesses.
"Something like that." Not really, no, but their relationship is way more complicated and too confusing to explain. In her head, it's simple, but out loud, not so much. Other regs don't get it. "I knew them when I was little. I didn't grow up like the rest of you. I was raised in Nala Se's lab. I was her lab assistant. There was this other batch that came in there, when I was... maybe four. I don't remember. I was a kid back then. I barely remember before anymore, but I know when I remember before then that I was down there alone. It was so empty most of the time. And so dark. Then my brothers came, and they were the first people I ever saw other than the Kaminoans."
And honestly, she's never been close with anyone other than her brothers, and they're hardly more than a distant memory now. Just... whispering fragments, really. Bits in dreams.
"I lost my whole squad," Echo says with a shake of his head. "I was gone for a year, and the war's still going on. I'd say I can't believe it, but actually, I can."
She's not surprised either. They have no idea how much longer the war will drag on, but what's going to happen to the clones afterwards? She has no idea. She never thought about it, but she's... a bit worried. It just feels like... like something people should be considering, maybe as early as now.
Or earlier.
Not that it matters right now. She needs to figure out how to take care of Echo, and she doesn't really know how to. do that. She doesn't know who could do that, actually, because all their brothers are busy. They're all focused on the war. They don't have time to deal with how Echo is going to need help all the time, and how he's going to adjust. He needs to adjust to his body and relearn how to function.
He only has one hand.
"They're going to have to send you back to Kamino," Omega points out quietly. "To get your... mechanical parts fixed."
Echo shrugs. "I don't know. I think I like it like this. They made me different, and I wake up to you. You're the most non-regular clone I've ever seen. I think, maybe I can use it nicely against the Seppies."
Hm. It's not a bad thought, actually. "But to use your skill right, you couldn't go forwards on the fronts all the time."
"I know. I'm sure my general will figure it out. He always does. He's different. Different from the other Jedi."
"I've noticed," Omega answers, smiling fondly. She's noticed how he is with the clones, how he never forgets their names, even if to most people they all look the same, and when he's barely met them a day before. Sometimes, she wonders if he forgets anything.
"He's used to the death. But it still hurts him. You can see it."
She nods, twitching when the medbay door opens, only for it to reveal the Knight himself.
Echo laughs. "Speak of the devil."
"I just wanted to see how things were," Anakin says, brushing a hand through his hair. Omega's starting to pick up that it's just a habit he does when he feels awkward or uncomfortable, and he seems to do it whenever something regarding personal interactions comes up. He's... sensitive. And she likes him. "I'm sorry about what happened at the Citadel. I should've seen that coming."
"I choose to take that fall, sir," Echo replies firmly, "That wasn't your fault."
"I talked to Kix. We're going to have to send you back to Kamino for a while. I can make prosthetics for you if you like.
"It's fine, sir. Really. I think I'd like to use some of this on them." Echo looks down, studying his scomp. "You know, they tried to make me into a weapon, and they did, but they never counted on how it could be used back on them. I'd like to turn it back on them. I can hack anything if I figure out how to control this."
"You're probably gonna need some kind of headpiece for that," Omega points out.
"I could help with the wirings," Anakin says, "I'd like to, but with the war, I don't know."
"That's fine," Echo assures with a shake of his head. "You don't have to, sir. It means enough that you offered."
"Thanks. I just wanted to offer, after everything that's happened... you're gonna need some special treatment, Echo. And if you want to stay like this, neither you nor Omega are normal clones. Maybe... it's time you stopped trying to be."
Her and her brother exchange glances. "What do you think we should do?" Echo asks.
"I don't know. That should finally be your choice to make."
Omega turns to Echo as soon as Anakin leaves, an idea slowly forming in her mind. She was trained as a sergeant, though she never made it to a squad. "What do you think?"
"The general always says nothing happens by accident. He's right, you know. My being found right after you somehow made it into action..."
"Maybe we can be a squad," Omega suggests with a shrug. "You can do things the other clones can't. So can I. I was trained as a commando. And a sergeant. I just never made it work with any group of my brothers before."
"A two-person squad?" he asks with a laugh.
"I think we'd be more effective like that. Together?" She smiles a little shyly, though Echo reaches out and grasps her hand, squeezing it tightly.
"Together," he vows.
**w**
Saying goodbye is hard. Ahsoka is visibly disappointed, but Omega's going to where she needs to be, fighting for the galaxy, so her and the togruta bid farewell. "May the Force be with you," Ahsoka tells her, smiling, though it looks pained.
"I'm sure we'll see each other again," Omega promises, patting her shoulder. She'll be fine. Anakin will take care of her. He's different. His mind is different, she's come to see, and he explained it to her once, that he and Ahsoka clash because he was raised differently, and he cares more about her then anything else.
Then the Jedi. Everything.
He shouldn't, but he does.
And omega waves goodbye to him and all the friends she met. It hurts to leave.
But she knows this is where she's meant to go.
And that, right there on Anaxus, was the start of Clone Force 99.
Named after the brothers she'll probably never see again.
**w**
Omega rarely thinks about the days before her and Echo were s single squad anymore. She'll look back at them a bit nostalgic, as she remembers Anakin and Ahsoka and the entirety of the 501st. She'll miss them, but she's happy with what she has now, a time with her brothers, with Echo, both of them doing what they were always meant to.
Together.
*muffled sobbing*
Final Notes: Reviews are always appreciated! ^-^
Come hang out on Discord (delete spaces), discord . gg / nqSxuz2 or find us on tumblr at fanfictasia (our more serious blog which does have controversial posts on it; I won't be offended if you choose to block it, promise), and disastertriowriting (which is our fun blog with crack posts or incorrect SW quotes)
We've got a YT channel for tributes! (delete the spaces) youtube channel / UC_g1M5rSCxJUzQCRS29B6pA
