The Kid of the Batch

If you're gonna talk smack then prepare to get smacked

~5 years prior~

It's another rainy day on Kamino. Crosshair sits in the Batch's barracks cleaning his rifle. The Batch was on another assignment, it being one that Ivy could not go on. So Crosshair has the pleasure of being the one who is stuck on Kamino with Ivy. As Crosshair continues to clean his rifle he hears a knock on the door. Crosshair sighs and sets his rifle down on his bed and gets up to answer the door. As the barrack door slides open Crosshair sees an older clone trooper.

"CT-9904?" The reg asks. "Yes?" Crosshair says as he pulls a toothpick out of his pocket and puts it in his mouth. "I need you to come with me," The reg says as he steps to the side. Crosshair sighs and shakes his head as he leaves the Barracks and starts walking down the hallway, already knowing what this is regarding.

Ivy sits on one of the seats inside Shaak Ti's office. As the door slides open Crosshair sees Ivy sitting in the chair with an ice pack in her hand, a kid holding an ice pack to his face, and the kid's commanding officer. Shaak Ti looks up, "Crosshair, glad you can join us," she says as she looks back at Ivy. "Jax, will you kindly explain why we are all here?" Shaak Ti says as she folds her hands together.

"She's crazy!" Jax shouts as he holds the ice pack to his nose. "Am not!" Ivy looks at Jax and shouts. "Yeah you are, you punched me in the face!" Jax shouts back at Ivy. "If you didn't want to get smacked then you shouldn't have been talking smack," Ivy says as she leans back in her chair while crossing her arms. Crosshair looks down at Ivy not showing it on his face but he's proud of her.

Shaak Ti sighs and leans back in her chair. "Ivy, why did you feel the need to punch Jax?" Shaak Ti says in a calm voice. Ivy sighs and sits back up, "Well we were practicing our short-distance shooting and Jax had already finished because he got it first. So of course he was rubbing it in everyone's faces. Well, I also had finished and I was helping out another cadet who was struggling a little bit because he had only worked on long-range shooting, But of course, Jax went on about saying how that isn't normal and a real clone trooper could get it immediately like he did. He also said how the defects always find each other. I already told him to stop multiple times so at this point I snapped and I punched him" Ivy says as she looks down at this last part.

Shaak Ti shakes her head and she looks over at Jax. "Jax we are all on the same side here, and that was not an acceptable thing, especially to say that to your brothers and sisters" Shaak Ti states. "I'll apologize to Lucky, but not to her, She's not even a real clone," Jax says as he sinks into the chair and gives Ivy a dirty look. "Ivy, Crosshair, you two are free to leave now," Shaak Ti says. Crosshair nods and places his hand on Ivy's shoulder and leads her to the Batch's barracks.

Ivy sits down on her bed and stares down at the ground. Crosshair kneels in front of her and gently strokes her hair. "I already talked to Tech and the rest of the Batch they already know and are gonna be here any minute," Crosshair says in a softer and more gentle voice than he usually does. Ivy just simply nods and continues to look down at the ground.

After a few minutes of silence, the barrack doors slide open and tech runs in. He tosses his stuff onto the table and sits in front of Ivy. "What happened?" He says calmly and gently takes her hand to look at it. "I punched a kid in one of my training classes," Ivy says quietly. Wrecker leans against the table as he sets his helmet down trying not to laugh. "Ivers why did you do that?" Hunter says as he sits next to her and gently strokes her hair.

"Because he was being mean to my friend, and Uncle Cross always says if someone is talking smack you gotta smack the attitude out for them," Ivy says as she looks up at Hunter. The Batch all look at Crosshair and he just shrugs. "Hey, she stuck up for her friend and herself who was being bullied, can't say we didn't do the same as she did when we were her age," Crosshair says as he sits on the table next to Wrecker.

The Batch all look at each other and nod in agreement with Crosshair. Tech looks up at Ivy and tilts his head slightly. "Something else on your mind Iv?" Tech asks as he continues to look at Ivy's hand. "Jax said that I'm not even a real clone and that I'm a defect and defects always find each other" Ivy says as she looks away from Tech and at the floor. Tech stops what he's doing and looks up at Hunter and over at Crosshair and Wrecker. The Batch just looks at each other and then back at Ivy with a slight hint of sadness in their eyes.

"Do you believe him Iv?" Wrecker asks as he walks over to Ivy and kneels beside her. Ivy looks up at Wrecker and shrugs. "Well, I'll tell you somethin' you are a clone no matter what at the end of the day you are a clone, hell you proved him wrong when you punched him" Wrecker places a hand on Ivy's shoulder. Ivy smiles and she nods her head. "You are not defective Ivy you are anything but that, You are one of the most special and talented clones that I know. You are resilient and you are better than all the regs combined" Tech says as he puts the ice pack back onto Ivy's hand.

"But there is one thing that you have than most of the regs," Tech says. "What's that?" Ivy asks as she looks back up at Tech. "Babygirl, you are so much kinder and caring than most of the regs. You saw how Jax was when you were helping your friend with his shooting, he was making fun of him but you took time out of your day when you could have left, you helped him train and teach him. That's what matters, so who cares if you're defective? You are so kind, smart, passionate, and so much more. Screw Jax he's a little douchebag" Tech says as he reaches up and strokes Ivy's hair.

Ivy smiles and hugs Tech. "Thanks, Dad," she says while continuing to hug Tech. Before anyone else can say anything there is a knock on the door. Hunter looks over at the door before getting up and opening the barrack door. "Ivy it's for you," Hunter says as he moves aside. Ivy looks over Tech's shoulder and sees Jax with his commanding officer. Ivy gets up from her bed and walks over to the door.

"Hello Jax," Ivy says while looking him up and down with a small glare in her eye. "I'm sorry," Jax says, clearly doing an awful job of trying to sound sincere. "How's your hand?" He asks as he continues to stand impatiently clearly wanting to be anywhere else. "It was better before you decided to run your face into my fist," Ivy says jokingly. Before Jax can say anything mean, his commanding officer grabs his shoulder and looks at Hunter and Ivy. "Apologies for Jax's behavior," The officer says before walking away with Jax.

The door slides close before Ivy turns around and Hunter puts his hand on her shoulder. "You're gonna give 'em hell Ivers," He says proudly as he walks further into the barracks and starts to talk about the next mission. Ivy smiles and follows behind Hunter excited and happy that she made him proud.