Summer of Bad Batch 2024

Back to Black

Yes, I'm getting behind on these but they will be finished eventually!!

This was originally going to be for my Star Wars Series One-Shots book but I found a way to incorporate SoBB so I figured I'd add it to this collection instead!

Also, as a FYI, italics are flashbacks.

As always, comments and votes are very much appreciated! Enjoy!!

Week 5 Alt Prompt: "Need a hand?"

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"We're approaching Courscant." Hunter announced walking from the cockpit to the hold.

"All the armor's been stripped." Echo said, tossing Hunter's helmet towards him. "But we're still not gonna blend in."

Hours later and Hunter was still thinking about that moment. He held his helmet gently, turning it around. The dark visor stared back at him. No identifying markings, no color, just black intercut with grey lines. It looked almost exactly how it did when they first got their helmets. He felt a sharp pang in his chest at the thought of that day.

"I can't wait to add modifications to these!" Tech exclaimed excitedly. His eyes were wide behind his goggles as he took in his special helmet. The HUD visor was added since his goggles wouldn't fit comfortably under a regular one.

"Yeah! Mine looks cool!" Wrecker said, hugging his helmet to his chest. It had a different design than most but Wrecker loved the round design a lot more.

Crosshair was silent, taking in the cutout for his scope and the range finder. Though he didn't vocalize his excitement, the small smile and shining eyes gave it away.

Hunter's helmet looked the most like a reg helmet. His visor was just the eyes, the downward extending part covered and making it a lot more functional.

"Can we paint them today?" Tech asked, already dragging the tip of his finger in designs and a twinkle in his eyes. Hunter smiled fondly, going to grab the buckets they nabbed a few days prior.

"I don't see why not." Hunter said, putting the buckets down and giving the brushes to each of them. "Need a hand?"

"No, I should have it handled." Tech immediately dipped the bigger brush into the white and started painting all over his helmet.

"Uh, isn't the point of special black ops commando armor that we have black as the base of our armor?" Wrecker asked, also dipping in his brush to the white but only covering a portion of the front.

"Yes, however, I prefer the uniform white and adding the black and red details atop the base." Tech explained, taking care to avoid getting paint on the plexiglass of the visor. Though he planed to replace it for a much better display, this one was staying for at least a few missions.

That was Tech's way of saying he didn't like the aesthetic. But it was okay, if that was what he preferred, that was okay.

Tech had helped in one way or another with each of their paint designs. He messed with the paint so Crosshair could have a circle target on his visor while still being able to see through it. Wrecker's helmet had dampeners set to the frequency of explosions, protecting his ears, and later was adjusted to account for the hearing loss in his left ear. Hunter's half skull design was all Tech's idea.

Come to think of it, Crosshair had painted the smaller skulls and 99s on of their armor. Looking back at his youngest brother, he saw the all black armor with his helmet between his hip and arm. If he imagined hard enough, Hunter could almost see the red and white designs though there was no trace of the colors.

Hunter looked again at his own helmet. The teal and orange half skull , before that red and white, gone. Tech's design that he had drawn up long before they got their armor.

Tech climbed onto Hunter's bunk, several designs pulled up on his datapad. He leaned into his older brother, head resting on Hunter's shoulder, datapad resting between the two and swiping through each one before settling on the one that stayed on his helmet for years.

Now, it was gone, stripped for a covert mission. They'd painted over designs before and it never came off easily. So Tech would always help painting it back on.

He wouldn't be there to help after this. The designs were still on his datapad but Hunter never liked using his datapad without him there. Without a shout to not touch his stuff, he had everything everywhere in a way that he liked.

A beep from the console snapped him from his thoughts. The ship they were attached to was about to exit hyperspace. He had to focus. Omega may be captured but she was still alive. He needed to focus.

"Suit up. We're exiting hyperspace soon." Hunter called back, slipping into his sergeant voice. He flipped a few switches before moving towards the hold. Crosshair shot him a look, probably knowing what he'd been thinking in the cockpit. He was always good at that. Wrecker gave him a soft pat on the back and a small smile. They were here. Alive. Safe.

"Let's go save our sister." Wrecker said, patting his back once more. Hunter nodded once, a determined look on his face. He turned to Crosshair, who took in his expression a moment before smirking.

"Yeah, she's probably waiting for us to pick her up." He said, jokingly. Hunter smirked back and put his helmet on. It felt like the beginning of the war. Confident, mission plan, brothers at his sides. This would end good, he knew.

"Alright. Bad Batch, suit up." And with the dawning of helmets, and side eye and scoff from Rampart, Clone Force 99 was ready for whatever the galaxy threw at them.