Wednesday, May 21st, 2025 09:15 pm
| *\o/* | Word Count | Step Count | Headache? |
| Daily | 0 | 7,811 | yes |
| Monthly | 12,133 | 194,216 | 7 days |
Tags:
Tuesday, May 20th, 2025 11:30 pm
| *\o/* | Word Count | Step Count | Headache? |
| Daily | 470 | 8,833 | no |
| Monthly | 12,133 | 186,405 | 6 days |
Tags:
Wednesday, May 21st, 2025 06:00 pm
This is your check-in post for today. The poll will be open from midnight Universal or Zulu Time (8pm Eastern Time) on Wednesday, May 14, to midnight on Thursday, May 15. (8pm Eastern Time).
Poll #33148 Daily Check-in
Open to: Access List, detailed results viewable to: Access List, participants: 14
How are you doing?
I am OK.
10 (71.4%)
I am not OK, but don't need help right now.
4 (28.6%)
I could use some help.
0 (0.0%)
How many other humans live with you?
I am living single.
6 (42.9%)
One other person.
5 (35.7%)
More than one other person.
3 (21.4%)
Please, talk about how things are going for you in the comments, ask for advice or help if you need it, or just discuss whatever you feel like.
Tags:
Wednesday, May 21st, 2025 06:58 pm
The clowns running the FDA have proposed restricting access to covid vaccines, to people over 65 or who have certain medical conditions. There's a public docket for comments on the proposal.
Your Local Epidemiologist has a good post about the proposal, including that the people suggesting this know that nobody is going to do the placebo-controlled tests of new boosters they want to require.
Possible talking points include:
Families and caregivers wouldn't be eligible for the vaccine, even if they share a household, unlike the current UK recommendations.
Doctors, dentists, and other medical staff wouldn't be eligible either.
My own comment included that the reason I'd still be eligible for the vaccine is a lung problem caused by covid.
Seriously, this is just exhausting.
Your Local Epidemiologist has a good post about the proposal, including that the people suggesting this know that nobody is going to do the placebo-controlled tests of new boosters they want to require.
Possible talking points include:
Families and caregivers wouldn't be eligible for the vaccine, even if they share a household, unlike the current UK recommendations.
Doctors, dentists, and other medical staff wouldn't be eligible either.
My own comment included that the reason I'd still be eligible for the vaccine is a lung problem caused by covid.
Seriously, this is just exhausting.
Wednesday, May 21st, 2025 02:05 pm
Wednesday, May 21st, 2025 04:37 pm
The clowns running the FDA have proposed restricting access to covid vaccines, to people over 65 or who have certain medical conditions. There's a public docket for comments on the proposal.
Your Local Epidemiologist has a good post about the proposal, including that the people suggesting this know that nobody is going to do the placebo-controlled tests of new boosters they want to require.
Possible talking points include:
Families and caregivers wouldn't be eligible for the vaccine, even if they share a household, unlike the current UK recommendations.
Doctors, dentists, and other medical staff wouldn't be eligible either.
My own comment included that the reason I'd still be eligible for the vaccine is a lung problem caused by covid.
Your Local Epidemiologist has a good post about the proposal, including that the people suggesting this know that nobody is going to do the placebo-controlled tests of new boosters they want to require.
Possible talking points include:
Families and caregivers wouldn't be eligible for the vaccine, even if they share a household, unlike the current UK recommendations.
Doctors, dentists, and other medical staff wouldn't be eligible either.
My own comment included that the reason I'd still be eligible for the vaccine is a lung problem caused by covid.
Tags:
Wednesday, May 21st, 2025 09:24 pm
Hello to all members, passers-by, curious onlookers, and shy lurkers, and welcome to our regular daily check-in post. Just leave a comment below to let us know how your current projects are progressing, or even if they're not.
Checking in is NOT compulsory, check in as often or as seldom as you want, this community isn't about pressure it's about encouragement, motivation, and support. Crafting is meant to be fun, and what's more fun than sharing achievements and seeing the wonderful things everyone else is creating?
There may also occasionally be questions, but again you don't have to answer them, they're just a way of getting to know each other a bit better.
This Week's Question: We all probably have multiple WiPs, but which of yours has been hanging around longest, waiting to be finished?
If anyone has any questions of their own about the community, or suggestions for tags, questions to be asked on the check-in posts, or if anyone is interested in playing check-in host for a week here on the community, which would entail putting up the daily check-in posts and responding to comments, go to the Questions & Suggestions post and leave a comment.
I now declare this Check-In OPEN!
Wednesday, May 21st, 2025 09:32 pm
L and I are both out of practice when it comes to, uh, sailing the high seas, so when we wanted to watch Pride we walked over to the local library and borrowed the DVD. (The library has two entire #BookTok shelves btw.) Which turned out to be a great choice because we really enjoyed the DVD extra about the actual history. Finding out that there were actual LGSM members walking in the march at the end made it even better.
Such a good movie. Even before I watched it, a gif set of the ending (which of course I can't find again rn) was one of the few things on Tumblr to reliably get me teary-eyed. (The other one being the story of the RMS Carpathia.) Learning about the characters that were based on real people, and their fates, and then of course of the waves resulting from their actions, was a very good finish. (I was slightly embarrassed that I didn't remember where I knew Gethin's actor from until I read Andrew Scott in the end credits.)
I agreed to house&pet-sit a couple of times for friends that are leaving for a three week vacation next week, so on Monday I got the introduction to the house. I expected that I would most look forward to spending time in the garden and/or pool, and also take advantage of the fancy kitchen, maybe the Xbox Gamepass or Switch, but that's before I got the introduction to the VR glasses. Now I suspect I will spend a significant amount of time playing Beat Saber. You have lightsabers! And move to the music! Idk maybe the shine will wear off quick but I'm really looking forward to playing.
Such a good movie. Even before I watched it, a gif set of the ending (which of course I can't find again rn) was one of the few things on Tumblr to reliably get me teary-eyed. (The other one being the story of the RMS Carpathia.) Learning about the characters that were based on real people, and their fates, and then of course of the waves resulting from their actions, was a very good finish. (I was slightly embarrassed that I didn't remember where I knew Gethin's actor from until I read Andrew Scott in the end credits.)
I agreed to house&pet-sit a couple of times for friends that are leaving for a three week vacation next week, so on Monday I got the introduction to the house. I expected that I would most look forward to spending time in the garden and/or pool, and also take advantage of the fancy kitchen, maybe the Xbox Gamepass or Switch, but that's before I got the introduction to the VR glasses. Now I suspect I will spend a significant amount of time playing Beat Saber. You have lightsabers! And move to the music! Idk maybe the shine will wear off quick but I'm really looking forward to playing.
Tags:
Wednesday, May 21st, 2025 09:21 am
I typed up a whole thing but deleted it because it became tedious to type, let alone read.
Highlights of the wedding weekend: delicious food, seeing many of my relatives, dancing, dog wrangling, the entire afterparty
The afterparty was a lot more fun, some absolutely delicious BBQ and lots of sitting around chatting, then I played volleyball and then we all hung out by the bonfire. We cleaned up all the party stuff Sunday relatively quickly, which surprised me. My brother was up until 7am that morning and woke up extremely hungover around 2pm, which was about the time we had wrapped up cleaning up everything.
Highlights of the wedding weekend: delicious food, seeing many of my relatives, dancing, dog wrangling, the entire afterparty
Lowlights: staying up very late each night and waking up at 7am, a girlfriend of one of my brother's friends getting very drunk and being weirdly obsessed with my dad and then asking invasive questions about each of the family members
I'm still recovering from the absolute messing up of my sleep schedule. I was the only sober person at various points, so I drove S and L over to the hotel where we hung out after the wedding and then home, so sleep time that night was at 1am. They did ditch a lot of the traditional wedding nonsense like groomsmen and bridal party, the traditional dances, speeches, all that stuff, so the ceremony and reception were very streamlined and nice. Lots of socializing time plus the food was amazing. I got to take care of the dogs and walk one down the aisle and then take them home, which was a nice little break and I got back in time for the reception.The afterparty was a lot more fun, some absolutely delicious BBQ and lots of sitting around chatting, then I played volleyball and then we all hung out by the bonfire. We cleaned up all the party stuff Sunday relatively quickly, which surprised me. My brother was up until 7am that morning and woke up extremely hungover around 2pm, which was about the time we had wrapped up cleaning up everything.
Tags:
Tuesday, May 20th, 2025 09:20 pm
- Improvement from the book: I can tell people apart! Yay!
- Didn't recall that Pin-Lee is the lawyer until I went to go check who played the character. But I can tell them apart!
- Pin-Lee is so fucking hot.
- Gurathin's my fave. IIRC from the first book, he was the only one to distinguish himself as an individual character and I didn't like him. But he's so good here. Definitely favorite character.
- There is something about Skarsgard that is driving me bonkers, and I think it's his voice/accent. Everyone else is so individual and he sounds so... like, it would be one thing if he sounded robotic but he doesn't. It sounds better when it has the helmet-voice-modifier thing going, but in general... IDK still feeling the whole "completely miscast" vibes.
- Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon: every single person involved in this -- from the writers, to the set people, the props people, the hair and makeup people, the special effects people, the actors, the editors, everyone who had anything at all to do with it -- are having the time of their life doing this and it shows.
Tags:
Tuesday, May 20th, 2025 09:13 pm
1. Dear Eric: We are retired grandparents to 7-year-old twins who live close by. We are delighted to help with kiddo chauffeuring, grocery shopping or anything else needed by two very hard-working parents.
Today after dropping off groceries, my wife noted that the refrigerator, in her opinion, had an unpleasant odor and was very quick to share her opinion with my son-in-law. She is also rather critical of many of his habits. And her opinions are not without merit. But my mother always said, "less said, better mended."
When I say to my wife, "too much mother-in-law," I catch hell.
I think something has to be said to mend this or should I just go back to my corner?
– Too Many Opinions
( Read more... )
******
2. DEAR ABBY: I lost my daughter to cancer five years ago. She was only 36. She left behind a husband and three children, ages 3, 5 and 7. While my daughter and her husband worked, I was their "nanny granny" five days a week. I would also take them overnight on weekends. More often than not, I had more waking hours with my grands than their parents did. We were extremely close and bonded.
After my daughter passed, my son-in-law asked me to move in to help. I was in a position to do so, and it went OK the first year. Then some cracks began to show, and we ended up having a huge fight over money (though it wasn't REALLY about money). After I said some horrible things about him on Facebook, he took the grands away from me. It has been two years, and I have begged his forgiveness to no avail. What can I do? -- MISSING THEM IN MARYLAND
( Read more... )
**********
3. DEAR ABBY: I have a full-time job and am in pretty good health. I have one son, "Brian," who is married and has three children. My problem is that my son is often rude to me. I was a single mom who raised him on my own. I thought I was a pretty good mother. His wife is super sensitive to any comment I make and finds fault with almost anything I do. They spend a lot of time with her family and exclude me.
If I make a comment about Brian's wife, he gets mad and calls me hateful or rude. I have been good to both of them, helping in any way I can, yet they do not take that into consideration. Brian and I get into arguments over this. Sometimes I have gone overboard and told him he needs to figure out what his problem is with me. He never tells me why he behaves like this. They don't visit me or bring the children over. They say they are busy, but they always find time to visit her family, their cousins, etc.
Must I give up on having any kind of relationship with them? I love my son and would like to be a part of his life, but I don't think I should accept him being critical of me all the time no matter what I do. If I try to talk objectively with his wife, she says I'm trying to start something. Please help. -- HEARTBROKEN IN GEORGIA
( Read more... )
*********
4. DEAR HARRIETTE: My family and I are gearing up for our annual family vacation. My oldest child is in a relationship and has been badgering me about wanting to bring his girlfriend. I would prefer not to bring her along on an intimate weeklong trip because I feel that her clothing can be rather revealing, and she doesn't seem shy about PDA. I have two much younger children, and I don't think they need to be exposed to that on their summer getaway. Besides, I don't plan to pay for some sort of couples' trip while the rest of us are trying to catch up and bond.
I shared my stance with my son and explained that it's OK for some things to be family-only, and he's now refusing to join us unless I extend an invitation to his girlfriend. My son is already away at college, so his younger siblings really cherish the time they spend with him on these vacations. I'm torn here. Are my concerns unreasonable? -- Vacation Ultimatum
( Read more... )
Today after dropping off groceries, my wife noted that the refrigerator, in her opinion, had an unpleasant odor and was very quick to share her opinion with my son-in-law. She is also rather critical of many of his habits. And her opinions are not without merit. But my mother always said, "less said, better mended."
When I say to my wife, "too much mother-in-law," I catch hell.
I think something has to be said to mend this or should I just go back to my corner?
– Too Many Opinions
( Read more... )
2. DEAR ABBY: I lost my daughter to cancer five years ago. She was only 36. She left behind a husband and three children, ages 3, 5 and 7. While my daughter and her husband worked, I was their "nanny granny" five days a week. I would also take them overnight on weekends. More often than not, I had more waking hours with my grands than their parents did. We were extremely close and bonded.
After my daughter passed, my son-in-law asked me to move in to help. I was in a position to do so, and it went OK the first year. Then some cracks began to show, and we ended up having a huge fight over money (though it wasn't REALLY about money). After I said some horrible things about him on Facebook, he took the grands away from me. It has been two years, and I have begged his forgiveness to no avail. What can I do? -- MISSING THEM IN MARYLAND
( Read more... )
3. DEAR ABBY: I have a full-time job and am in pretty good health. I have one son, "Brian," who is married and has three children. My problem is that my son is often rude to me. I was a single mom who raised him on my own. I thought I was a pretty good mother. His wife is super sensitive to any comment I make and finds fault with almost anything I do. They spend a lot of time with her family and exclude me.
If I make a comment about Brian's wife, he gets mad and calls me hateful or rude. I have been good to both of them, helping in any way I can, yet they do not take that into consideration. Brian and I get into arguments over this. Sometimes I have gone overboard and told him he needs to figure out what his problem is with me. He never tells me why he behaves like this. They don't visit me or bring the children over. They say they are busy, but they always find time to visit her family, their cousins, etc.
Must I give up on having any kind of relationship with them? I love my son and would like to be a part of his life, but I don't think I should accept him being critical of me all the time no matter what I do. If I try to talk objectively with his wife, she says I'm trying to start something. Please help. -- HEARTBROKEN IN GEORGIA
( Read more... )
4. DEAR HARRIETTE: My family and I are gearing up for our annual family vacation. My oldest child is in a relationship and has been badgering me about wanting to bring his girlfriend. I would prefer not to bring her along on an intimate weeklong trip because I feel that her clothing can be rather revealing, and she doesn't seem shy about PDA. I have two much younger children, and I don't think they need to be exposed to that on their summer getaway. Besides, I don't plan to pay for some sort of couples' trip while the rest of us are trying to catch up and bond.
I shared my stance with my son and explained that it's OK for some things to be family-only, and he's now refusing to join us unless I extend an invitation to his girlfriend. My son is already away at college, so his younger siblings really cherish the time they spend with him on these vacations. I'm torn here. Are my concerns unreasonable? -- Vacation Ultimatum
( Read more... )
Tuesday, May 20th, 2025 08:00 pm
1. Dear Eric: My brother has children with whom I was extremely close when he and his wife got divorced in 1989. He never supported his kids, never paid child support and drank away everyone’s money, including $20,000 in rehabs that my parents paid for.
My brother asked me if he could borrow $5,000, and he would start making payments to pay it back. For the sake of my niece and nephew, I loaned him the money. Unbeknownst to me, my brother was borrowing money from everyone in the family. Soon, everyone in the family found out what he was doing and cut him off.
Fast-forward to three years ago (I’m now 56, and my brother is 72), he reached out to me again. Not to borrow or pay back money, but to reconnect. Through our limited conversations, he keeps asking for my address or an invite to my house. I never extended the offer, and I did not give him my address.
Brother recently told me he has been sending $200 to $300 every couple of weeks to my niece, now 40, a divorced mother of one son. He is also putting several hundred dollars a month in a trust for her 9-year-old son. I told him, on several occasions, since he has money to spare, he can send me money each month to pay me back. He laughs and blows me off.
I’m extremely ticked off that he disregards the sacrifice I made.
I blew off my brother and the $5,000 years ago and I don’t care to rekindle relationships that have been dead for 35 years. What I want is the $5,000 repaid. I have two kids in college and I’m partially retired. I’m not charging him interest for the past 35 years, but I should. I don’t think I can be blunter with my request, nor because of the time that has passed, would I have legal recourse.
If you have suggestions, I would appreciate the help.
– 5k Would Make My Day
( Read more... )
***
2. Dear Annie: I never thought I would be in this position, but I have become estranged from my adult daughter. We used to be incredibly close. When she was younger, we had long talks late into the night, and we would laugh until we cried on road trips. I was there for every heartbreak, every success, and I truly believed we had a bond that would last a lifetime.
But over the past few years, things began to shift. She started pulling away and setting boundaries I did not fully understand. Small disagreements turned into long silences. One day, she stopped returning my calls. I reached out with cards, messages and birthday gifts for the grandchildren, but I rarely get a response. She has told me she needs space, but she will not say why or what I did to cause this distance.
I have apologized more than once for anything I might have done to hurt her, even though I do not know exactly what it is. I feel like I am grieving someone who is still alive. I miss her every single day, and the pain of being cut off from my grandchildren is almost too much to bear. I see photos online and feel like I am watching their lives go on without me.
I want to respect her wishes, but I am also holding on to hope that one day we might reconnect. Is there anything I can do to begin to repair this relationship, or do I need to accept that she may be gone from my life for good? -- Grieving the Distance
( Read more... )
****
3. Dear Annie: I'm struggling with how to move forward after my adult daughter, "Rachel," cut me off two years ago. We used to be close. I raised her as a single mom after her father left, and we leaned on each other through a lot. Things started to change after she got married. Her husband, though polite, has always kept a distance from me. I tried to respect that, but honestly I felt pushed out. It feels like the beginning of their relationship marked the end of ours.
Our last real conversation ended badly. I had asked if they would consider spending part of the holidays with me instead of always going to his family. Rachel got defensive and said I was making her choose. I said something in the heat of the moment that I regret: I told her she'd understand when she had kids of her own. She hasn't spoken to me since.
I've sent birthday cards, texts and an apology letter, but she never replies. I don't know if I should keep reaching out or give her space. I miss her terribly, but I also don't want to keep reopening the wound. How do I respect her boundaries without giving up hope? -- Left Behind in Louisville
( Read more... )
My brother asked me if he could borrow $5,000, and he would start making payments to pay it back. For the sake of my niece and nephew, I loaned him the money. Unbeknownst to me, my brother was borrowing money from everyone in the family. Soon, everyone in the family found out what he was doing and cut him off.
Fast-forward to three years ago (I’m now 56, and my brother is 72), he reached out to me again. Not to borrow or pay back money, but to reconnect. Through our limited conversations, he keeps asking for my address or an invite to my house. I never extended the offer, and I did not give him my address.
Brother recently told me he has been sending $200 to $300 every couple of weeks to my niece, now 40, a divorced mother of one son. He is also putting several hundred dollars a month in a trust for her 9-year-old son. I told him, on several occasions, since he has money to spare, he can send me money each month to pay me back. He laughs and blows me off.
I’m extremely ticked off that he disregards the sacrifice I made.
I blew off my brother and the $5,000 years ago and I don’t care to rekindle relationships that have been dead for 35 years. What I want is the $5,000 repaid. I have two kids in college and I’m partially retired. I’m not charging him interest for the past 35 years, but I should. I don’t think I can be blunter with my request, nor because of the time that has passed, would I have legal recourse.
If you have suggestions, I would appreciate the help.
– 5k Would Make My Day
( Read more... )
2. Dear Annie: I never thought I would be in this position, but I have become estranged from my adult daughter. We used to be incredibly close. When she was younger, we had long talks late into the night, and we would laugh until we cried on road trips. I was there for every heartbreak, every success, and I truly believed we had a bond that would last a lifetime.
But over the past few years, things began to shift. She started pulling away and setting boundaries I did not fully understand. Small disagreements turned into long silences. One day, she stopped returning my calls. I reached out with cards, messages and birthday gifts for the grandchildren, but I rarely get a response. She has told me she needs space, but she will not say why or what I did to cause this distance.
I have apologized more than once for anything I might have done to hurt her, even though I do not know exactly what it is. I feel like I am grieving someone who is still alive. I miss her every single day, and the pain of being cut off from my grandchildren is almost too much to bear. I see photos online and feel like I am watching their lives go on without me.
I want to respect her wishes, but I am also holding on to hope that one day we might reconnect. Is there anything I can do to begin to repair this relationship, or do I need to accept that she may be gone from my life for good? -- Grieving the Distance
( Read more... )
3. Dear Annie: I'm struggling with how to move forward after my adult daughter, "Rachel," cut me off two years ago. We used to be close. I raised her as a single mom after her father left, and we leaned on each other through a lot. Things started to change after she got married. Her husband, though polite, has always kept a distance from me. I tried to respect that, but honestly I felt pushed out. It feels like the beginning of their relationship marked the end of ours.
Our last real conversation ended badly. I had asked if they would consider spending part of the holidays with me instead of always going to his family. Rachel got defensive and said I was making her choose. I said something in the heat of the moment that I regret: I told her she'd understand when she had kids of her own. She hasn't spoken to me since.
I've sent birthday cards, texts and an apology letter, but she never replies. I don't know if I should keep reaching out or give her space. I miss her terribly, but I also don't want to keep reopening the wound. How do I respect her boundaries without giving up hope? -- Left Behind in Louisville
( Read more... )
Tuesday, May 20th, 2025 07:33 pm
Sending Family Back (5975 words) by Sharpest_Asp
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Star Wars: The Clone Wars [2008] - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebels, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: CT-7567 | Rex/Ahsoka Tano
Characters: CT-7567 | Rex, Ahsoka Tano, Bultar Swan [Star Wars Prequel Trilogy], Original Character(s)
Additional Tags: Force Shenanigans, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Time Travel Fix-It, Kriffing Sith Pans, Background Character Death
Summary:
When Ahsoka Tano was subdued, Rex worried. He wanted to just enjoy the fact he was with her and their child, away from all of the other demands on their time, but something was wrong. It wasn't even in how firmly she dominated their loving, when Little Bit was asleep. It wasn't in the fact Rex kept catching her studying something on her data pad, or the sad looks at Little Bit and Rex when she thought Rex wasn't paying attention.
Something had happened, something had changed for her, and he had a bad feeling about how this family time would end.
His first indication that he'd been correct to worry was Little Bit whimpering as the ship was starting its landing approach. Ahsoka was flying solely by sensor, or maybe Arseven was handling more of that since his wife seemed to be not quite there. Rex put a hand on Little Bit's small montrals, reassuring her by touch, but he wasn't unharnessing her until they were firmly settled on the ground.
Ahsoka wasn't as out of it as he thought, because once they were down, she was the one to release their daughter's harness and scoop the girl up, tucking the child to her chest.
"Shh, only here a bit, Little Bit," Ahsoka reassured. "Rex, grab that pack please?" she asked, indicating the rather larger than usual one to her. That she asked him to, that she wasn't just lifting it in the Force, and instead carrying their daughter toward the hatch had all of his warning beacons on high alert in his tactical mind.
"Tell me what's going on, 'Soka," he said, gruffly. It was not his first appeal for information, but this time he was going to stand firm on getting answers.
She paused, turning so she looked him dead in the eyes.
"I'm going to make everything right. Or, rather, I am going to make it possible for you to fix it all. All of my notes on who enabled, who profited, who tried to help, are in that pack," she said with deadly seriousness.
"And we're on … this world, that makes our daughter forget how fearless she is, to do this? Unless you have some way of changing the past, there is no making it all right again, only undoing what we can!" The way her markings shifted above her eyes made Rex listen to what he'd just said, and his own eyes went wide. "That's impossible, even with the Force!"
"Not here, not where so much was destroyed, not where so much of the Force bled into the Dark Side itself," Ahsoka said quietly. "I can open the way. You can fix it all, both of you."
"But… why not you?!" Rex demanded, glimpsing the idea that their family was being torn apart by this mad plan of hers.
"I… will have to make the path. And when you succeed, all will be as if it never happened. So … I must be here, not then, or I cannot open the way." Her eyes pleaded for understanding.
Rex's head hurt, but the sorrow on her face was too strong for him to question finding a different way. He didn't even question that he would do this. She thought he could… and she'd made sure he would have their daughter, even if he couldn't have her at his side, leading him on this.
"Who are you sending me to?" he asked, even as he realized she'd been putting their daughter to sleep with the Force while talking to him.
"Not sure of that part yet, Rex. Can't even be sure of how much time I will be able to give you, but I'll do my best to put you both somewhere you'll be able to work from quickly."
"Not our unit, or Cody's," Rex pointed out, half a question.
"No. Not after… no. We were right. So be careful of that," she said, remembering the fear for their daughter when they'd found her gone.
Rex grimaced; he'd been fairly certain. He grew quiet, letting her lead, the pack firmly in place and he snagged his helmet as they reached the door, having already been in his modified armor, just like Ahsoka was.
"The biggest pain is going to be watching us do that idiotic dance," he grumbled, trying to lighten the mood.
"Necessary one," she corrected. "We were both too young and inexperienced to even think about it, no matter what my past self would have wished at a younger age."
Rex chuckled, then sighed. "Point. Though Little Bit here is going to make that a bit different."
"So it will, but. They'll have a different future to decide for themselves, because you will win." Her faith in him was rock solid, and he took a deep breath. He felt like he'd been backed into a corner, yet… she was sending him on this desperate mission because they all needed to believe a better way was possible.
That she was giving up their daughter, sending the child back with him…
…well, he was no scientist, but maybe when he changed things, she simply would not be, and would not have to miss them as much as Rex knew they would miss her.
Rex understood now why Ahsoka had put Little Bit to sleep before sending them back. He wanted to retch up his entire last week's worth of meals as the world unmade itself around them, and then remade itself on a ship in hyperspace.
He couldn't be that weak though, dropping to a knee to get their daughter tucked more into his protection, because there were vod'e snapping alert all around them, and even the Jedi's hand strayed near her lightsaber. He squinted through the readings on the HUD, focusing on that one, not his long-lost brothers, and dragged in a breath at recognizing the Kuati woman.
"General Swan, ma'am, asking you to touch the Force right now, and acknowledge how strange our arrival is," he said quickly, because his brothers were very itchy at an invasion, even if he had taken a purely defensive pose.
"I don't know you, but I do know the Force is roiled, and … something allowed you to arrive." There was a pause. "Both of you… and one a youngling."
"Yes ma'am," Rex said, slowly raising up enough to reveal the Togruta-blooded child who was no longer asleep, but had followed her training to remain still and silent. Amber eyes that were a match to those of nearly every man present, looked at the Jedi with awe.
"Bultar?" she chirped, because Rex had relaxed, and there were no longer any blasters aimed his way, because the Jedi was calm.
"You know me, little one?"
Little Bit gnawed at her lower lip, realizing she might not should have said that.
"Pardon, ma'am, but my daughter's not quite old enough to grasp all of the strangeness of our mission." Rex met the woman's eyes, even though his helmet was hiding his features. Still, it was his helmet, and he knew Little Bit favored her mother enough that this Sentinel Jedi was putting pieces together rapidly, as impossible as they all had to seem.
"Bultar Swan, Jedi Knight. Commander Thrust is to my left, and further introductions will take place later for my men," Bultar said easily enough.
"Improbable as it sounds, my name is Rex, and this is Little Bit — or Atin — and I need to deliver intel to you, ma'am," Rex said after a heartbeat. If she insisted on including Thrust, this was going to get tricky, when he really needed to speak alone to the general.
"Let's say I am inclined to agree. But we are in a hostile situation, and my men will wish reassurance, as they do not have the Force to hear your honesty."
Rex set Little Bit down on her own two legs, then reached up to swipe the helmet off… and he could all but feel the men around him go rigid to see the age written into his face, more than they had been reacting to the change in his body from hard living and the aging before Ahsoka had beaten that back.
"I would trust any man here with my daughter, ma'am, while I speak with you," he said firmly, knowing none of the men would doubt his intentions being honorable, not when he was basically surrendering his daughter as surety against their general's safety.
Bultar proved, in the next moment, that she was worth the faith Ahsoka had put in her. "Little Bit, would you be willing to keep the Commander company while I talk to your father?"
"Elek," she answered cheerfully. Every man here was an uncle she hadn't met yet, and Rex almost pitied them as she was bound to steal their hearts right away.
"If you're sure," Thrust said cheerfully, even as he regained enough composure to look Rex in the eyes, promising a slow death to him if this was some ploy. He approached them, and offered a hand to the girl, who fearlessly took it.
Then again, the child had survived being a 'guest' on Mustafar with the monster of the Empire. What did she have to fear, Rex mused, following Bultar to her ready room.
Once they were in there, and the door was shut, Rex sagged a little from his militant response to being back near a unit of his own brothers, then indicated the pack.
"May I take this off? Fulcrum said all of her notes were in here, and knowing she picked you to send us to makes me want to get them in your hands faster," he said. "As you, ma'am, are one of the strategists, and intel gatherers, from what I remember of this time."
"I'm curious about 'Fulcrum', but go ahead." Bultar waited patiently in her chair for him to do so, looking for the world like she was perfectly at ease. Rex pulled out an actual flimsi pad, one of the fancier kind with the locking binder around it. He put his thumb to the lock sensor, said the passphrase, and the binder popped open.
"Fulcrum is who you know here and now as Ahsoka Tano," Rex said. "And yes, Little Bit is her daughter."
"But with your eyes, and a darker cast to her skin," Bultar said evenly. "Togruta hybrids have always been rare."
"The Force had opinions," Rex said with a half-shrug. "Wasn't planned, but wouldn't change it for anything, not now." He kept the notebook in front of him for the moment. "Ma'am? There's intel in here you will not want to believe. You cannot tell it to Thrust or any vod until after a certain technological issue is dealt with.
"And you absolutely must not involve Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, or Pong Krell, to name three that I have reason to believe would cause things to go a lot worse." He hesitated, knowing at least some of the next was personal, for his General's sake, but he knew how to phrase it. "And not Windu, not when he's balancing the whole damn Order in this mess."
Bultar did frown then, but she seemed to accept the addendum of the Master of the Order easily enough. "Your own General — here and now, anyway — and your former one. I have had little to do with Master Krell, so have no basis to object there, yet the first two? I wonder."
"Kenobi is more because he'll handle Skywalker wrong," Rex admitted. "Krell… has either already Fallen or will in the near future, given what he did that I know about. I'll tell you that bit later, but it's secondary, has to be, because of the real problem."
"And Skywalker?" she pressed.
He slid the notebook over. "After you flip through the first few pages, you'll understand more, but I'll add my piece after."
She took it, but did not start to read until after she had fully centered herself in the Force, and shielded herself adeptly. Whatever the notebook contained was going to be troubling, to say the least.
The notebook was not in Basic, but the code used for it was one that she, Lissarkh, Kit Fisto, or Areen Jepet could have read like Basic. A handful of other Sentinels, or those trained by them, maybe, yet Bultar was fairly certain Ahsoka had to have had one of them in mind all along. Granted, Rex had translated a few spots, just to verify for Bultar what she was reading.
It held a timeline, warnings about certain events yet to come in the near future — and the part about Pong Krell had clarified Rex's choices — and a plea to get Skywalker out of the Chancellor's direct shadow. The names of those who had risen to power, who were known to have benefited were useful. More so, the names of those who had been eliminated swiftly and those who Ahsoka could vouch for from this Rebel Alliance would give them potential allies to work with.
"What a bucket of bantha spit you handed me, Commander Rex," Bultar said, after many minutes of just meditating to lock all of her knew knowledge down. "I know the end, but must find a path to get us there that is perfect, allowing nothing to start the endgame as he sees it."
"We fix the chips, that's one step in making certain it can't happen," Rex said. "And please, General, I barely wore that rank for one campaign. Best to just call me Rex, or Leverage if you need a call sign. Ahsoka's choice, to match her being the Fulcrum of the Rebellion."
"Apt." Bultar never, ever wanted to see any of this come to pass, but the idea of her tiny 'sister' growing up to take that kind of burden before her eighteenth year was horrifying on a different level from the rest of it.
No, she admitted to herself; she kept circling back to that because she could not conceive of how the rest had come to pass, even after seeing the way Ahsoka had mapped it out for her.
"Leverage, then, to prevent confusion with your younger self." She stood, realized how late it is. "I am certain Thrust would have fed your daughter by now, but are you hungry?"
"Could eat. Need to see her more," Rex admitted, a wry half-smile that was counter to his sad eyes showing.
Bultar closed and locked the notebook, handing it back to him. "Keep that safe. I intend to invite a Sentinel who has more experience, that I would trust with the lives of all our men, to come and she will wish to read it."
"Yes ma'am." He placed it back in the spot inside the pack that would protect it from most damage. He then stood, turning to the door, and letting her precede him so that Thrust and his men would calm down. No sooner did he clear the bulkhead than Little Bit flung herself off a console and ran to him, climbing his armor adeptly to nuzzle into his face and neck.
Rex didn't need to see it, knowing that had done a lot for his brothers. Bultar did see it, and felt some of her resolve tighten further, to give these wonderful men a chance to know a future that held children in it.
Bultar let herself eat with her men, using the time to further lock down her visceral horror. Not for the first time, she cursed her first master for getting himself killed. She needed to think as clearly as he had, if she was going to save everyone. Perhaps, she would be wise to ask for better expertise, from someone more distant to the full conflagration.
Even as she was planning, she was observing the way the child was affecting her men. Some were uncertain of what to do or say with her, but many laughed and smiled, playing games. The games all seemed to be dexterity things, with Little Bit herself familiar with them. Bultar surmised the child had access to other troopers than just her father. The journal had hinted at hidden safe spots for those like Rex.
When the meal came to a close, Bultar designated one of the younger troopers to show father and daughter to the other cabin with a 'fresher.
"Atin," Rex called, and the girl immediately came, climbing his armor in that adorable way of hers.
"Stubborn, is it?" Thrust asked.
"Takes after her mother," Rex answered blandly to that.
"While my kinswoman has been known for that tendency, I rather doubt she is mismatched by you in those tendencies." Bultar's claim on kinship was deliberate, to set the stage for kin ties to help her men accept the difficult days ahead. It was even true, from a certain point of view, given that Plo Koon was Bultar's second master and Ahsoka's Finder.
"Perhaps."
While Atin — the girl both preferred that name from any one not her father and lived up to it — was stealing the hearts of all of her men, Bultar was using secure channels that only the Sentinels knew existed to get Areen Jepet, her grand-Master, to join her with a trusted healer. They were on a recon mission, picking up data from listening stations, so it wasn't that difficult to linger long enough for Areen's smaller ship to make it into the cruiser's hangar.
The Falleen and Devaronian arriving set Thrust's worries even higher, but Rex had told him he'd be told in due time.
Due time was after a brief unconsciousness, and as Thrust stared at the chip with its spider-like attachments, he was brought fully up to speed. Three others, all first years and possessing slicing skill, had also been 'ambushed' for surgery.
Only one of them got physically ill to hear the intel aired, while all three Jedi did their best to be soothing.
"We shift our listening," Thrust said, once they moved to the brainstorming session on how to unravel the tapestry of deceit. "Concentrate more fully on trying to intercept the Count's communications."
Areen sighed. "That will not work. I am long familiar with his ways, and he is unlikely to trust any means of direct communication. The routing would be tricky enough to be easily suspect of manipulations to make it appear as if they had connected to Coruscant."
Thrust frowned, closing his eyes to try and find a better path.
"We'll be investigating those who profited, trying to find the links of graft and corruption that tie back to him," Areen soothed.
"I have contacts among the press," Knight Krieth Nimpur, the Devaronian, said, smiling with malice for the enemy. "If I can arrange to acquire a trace of his blood, rumors of Force ability could go out with a midichlorian count."
Bultar rolled her eyes, but nodded. "First strike in raising credibility concerns, even if there is no consensus on that theory."
"But first," Rex said firmly, "we slice the damned chips and find a way to use its carrier signal to short them out!"
"Absolutely," from Areen married to Bultar's "Of course!" and Krieth's "Yes," soothing all of the men present.
Thrust was on an enforced rest break, and had been 'trapped' on the floor by Atin falling asleep on his chestplate. He turned his head, catching Rex's softer look at his daughter.
"Not planned?" Thrust asked softly. "Your little one."
"No. The Force was meddling, Ahsoka swore. She was going through a final growth spurt, putting together the nucleus of the rebellion for those senators that stayed loyal, and got whammied with realizing she had caught.
"Togruta don't typically hybridize, so I have to agree with her."
Thrust considered that, considered his own carefully kept crush on his general. "Can I ask how you two… ya know."
Rex snorted. "We'd grown close, vod, but not like that. Not until after… though she'd been waiting for both of us to catch up on experience. Seems she'd known, like she knew about the nightmare, about us in general, that I was eventually going to be the one. I gave her so much grief over how reckless she could be, but turned out that youngling knew how to keep her heart cloaked, to protect us all."
"Commander Vod'ika, I hear," Thrust said, acknowledging clone gossip about the 501st's padawan-commander.
"Think it was Jesse first called her that," Rex said with a lump in his throat. "For what it's worth? Once we get things moving, don't wait forever to tell her, vod. No tomorrow is promised, and I've got good intel that says she feels the same, just… power balances."
Thrust let out a breath, as this older brother, this man who had been a legend to them on Kamino even, said that. "Trust in that, yeah," he agreed, making plans to have a private talk with his general, once they cracked the chips' coding.
Areen was the one to insist that Plo Koon be the one to handle the Jedi High Council, once they had shorted out the chips en masse by using its own carrier signal. That meant he had to be briefed, which led to him arriving with Sinker and Comet as his fellow ARC crew.
Atin had, without warning, followed Rex and Bultar to the bay, but her presence would be one more confirmation of the story that had to be told. She watched the Kel Dor and his Wolf Pack members step off the ship, before making a disgruntled sound.
"What is it, Little Bit?" Rex asked, even though he suspected. His own chest had twisted up at the idea of who might be with the Jedi.
"Hoped for Uncle Growly," she chirped, and Plo Koon really looked at that older vod holding a child not much bigger than Little 'Soka had been in her first year at the Temple.
"Master, it appears that your Foundling went and found a way to save us all," Bultar said, while Plo was processing everything.
"I… wish I could say that I see, but I am completely at a loss," Plo Koon admitted.
"General Buir, if I hadn't lived it, I'd be as lost," Rex said, encouraging Little Bit to move to his shoulders instead of his hip. She looked over at the very tall Jedi from that lofty position and suddenly brightened.
"I'm going to be older than Pel, yes?" she demanded, head hanging over Rex's to peer at him from above.
"Believe so, and you're not to remind xie of that once xie is born," Rex said, getting a pout.
"Wouldn't be right. Won't be my Pel from then, but will be my Pel now."
"Sorry, General," Rex said watching the sensory organs flex. "Your friend Lia's child is… was from this new point of view… her best friend."
"And with this exchange, I find myself quite intrigued… and hopeful." Plo had been mildly strong-armed into granting that request, because of the war, and Lia was not yet delivered of the child.
"Good," Bultar said firmly. "Because we broke a piece of it and now we need the High Council brought onboard with our plans to end this war."
Comet and Sinker, having slowly processed that yes, that was Captain Rex, but older, could only stare, especially at the biter gleefully using Rex as her vantage point.
"Let us get to work then," Plo said firmly. "You are… a Rex? From some point of the future?"
"Yes sir. And this is Atin, now she's chosen her own name. Might hear me call her Little Bit, though."
"I am glad, if shocked, to meet you both."
"Save the 'shock' for the meeting," Bultar said glibly, leading them all back to the space they had turned into the 'war room' for undoing the future Rex and Atin came from.
Rex and Atin stayed with Bultar's unit as the others moved out to begin the arduous task of breaking the spider-web of deceit tying the galaxy into an unwinnable war.
It took months, but as Bultar's unit was small, gathering intelligence, and only occasionally fighting in space, it was the safest way to keep the source of their knowledge out of sight of all. Bultar's quartermaster even manufactured a full set of plastoid, with basic communication and sealed systems for Atin, welcoming the challenge.
She immediately descended on the 'art' cabin, and painted it with 501st blue to show her allegiance, splashed by an orange mixed to match her mother's skin. The symbols made no sense to the men — but Bultar recognized them as Kel Dor symbols for 'peace', 'clan', and 'honor'.
"Her best friend is — was and will be? — a child of master Plo's, she sometimes fusses in the more basic Kel Dor words, and now this?" Bultar teased Rex. "Care to tell us more about life that brushed Dorin?"
Rex smiled fondly. "General Buir either has or will ask for the second moon to be tunneled and sealed, large enough to house two legions," he said. "Ahsoka found out about it when she went to ask for a Sage to help her learn more of the Force. So we had somewhere to fall back to, somewhere to put the brothers we stole back, or the ones we found that had overcome the chips.
"Healer Lia became our primary point for helping be certain the men would live, as she was adept with psychological trauma. We never asked her to come up; Wolffe would take them down to her, and the quarters that had been the General's were converted to support the effort." His eyes twinkled. "You were a cute youngling, General," he said with amusement.
She groaned. "All of his holos," she said, nodding as Atin's recognition of her made even more sense.
"We learned a lot, and it helped Ahsoka heal past the betrayal, mostly, though she still wondered at how he'd ever agreed to go along with it. Him and General Ti were the worst for her."
Bultar winced, remembering the conversation about Ahsoka not being a Jedi. "It would be. Finder and Hunt-Mother." She shook her head. "Not happening now. Even if, in the end, it was likely what saved her from being killed to break Anakin further, there's not going to be a reason or chance now."
"No ma'am," Rex agreed. "I didn't have any of your men, but with the tasks your unit has, they would have been quickly assimilated. You, however, we knew did not die in that first wave."
"And yet I was not with Ahsoka," Bultar said resolutely. "Do you have any idea? I find myself morbidly curious."
"What little we could make of the rumors, you lured the Emperor's mad dog into a cortosis mine. He survived, and you nor the others in your group did not," Rex said simply. "Apparently Knight Koon also faced him, on Coruscant. That filtered into one of our Senator's spy rings, and was passed on to her."
"At least we tried," Bultar said. "And don't you dare repeat that platitude of the Jedi."
"Never," Rex said. "Though I did finally realize what it meant. 'There is no try' means only to put all you are into any effort, and even if you fail, you did do it."
Bultar smiled broadly, nodding. "My first Master managed to lead me to understand that," she said, letting herself remember the good years, not that last agony of him dying so far from her.
"Interesting man, from all I ever heard," Rex offered.
"Yes, he was. I bet you heard some intere— "
"General, Commander Rex, to the bridge," came an alert, and the only thing that soothed Rex as he shoved his bucket on to accompany her was that the lighting didn't dim to throw power at shields and weapons.
Even Jedi swiftness didn't out-pace Rex's space-eating stride, and they arrived together, Bultar's eyes going to Thrust immediately.
"Secure comm waiting for you, General," Thrust reported. "Coruscant origination. Encrypted."
"Thank you, Commander." She moved to her work space, keying in her codes to bring it up on the display there. She had to read it twice, before drawing in a deep breath.
"Livewire, keep your arrays out listening for any unusual motion or comms from the Separatist side," she said firmly. "Count Dooku is confirmed dead on Serenno, assassinated apparently."
"That… is a distinct change," Rex said, shocked. "We learned, from a source I'd rather not mention, that a Sentinel was there, with that mission, but… he wasn't protected enough from the Dark Side, not until he found the ally I prefer not to mention."
Bultar's lips thinned, before she looked him dead in the eye. "Vos?"
Rex nodded once.
"Maybe he touched something or someone that let him hold onto hope," she murmured. "Force knows what he had to be getting when he touched one of you."
Thrust jerked, and then he nodded sharply. They'd had Vos aboard a couple of time, dropping intel, and it had always been difficult.
"I'll hope so; Cody liked him well enough," Rex said to that, and he meant it. This certainly had to have some sort of fall out on the side of the Jedi saving his brothers, and themselves.
Atin drew in a gasping breath, coming up out of deep sleep with her hands scrabbling at her own throat, sounds of distress in the shrill Togruti pitches. Her eyes were unfocused, and it was all Rex could do to get her into his arms and trap her hands once he could tell there was nothing physically wrong.
Just as quickly as it had hit, it subsided, and Rex felt a phantom ache in his chest, almost like the scar was throbbing with energy. He pushed that aside, just stroking his daughter's head, trying to soothe her from the crying that had settled in.
"Buir!" Atin managed to sob out, and Rex realized he was catching a phantom Force feeling off whatever had just happened in the 501st's area of operation. Only… how were they going to find out, and was Ahsoka of this time alright!
Thrust was the one to answer his burning questions, and Rex was glad of that. Atin was occupied by the General — she'd come with Thrust and offered to do Force lessons with his daughter — and Thrust had settled on the bunk.
Rex took the hint and came to sit next to him, not protesting the arm slung around his shoulders.
"Despite all of your warnings, Skywalker and the 501st wound up on Coruscant at the Chancellor's beck and call," Thrust began. "Details weren't shared officially, but a Lieutenant Tok was too enraged to not put some of it across our coded channels."
"That's 'Soka's company leader," Rex said, his chest tight with apprehension.
Thrust nodded. "The Chancellor, braced with evidence by the Security Council inside the convened Senate, ordered Skywalker to prevent the intended arrest. Tok says the general resisted, until the sleemo implied Amidala would also be implicated and dragged down with him."
Rex closed his eyes, leaning harder into Thrust's hold.
"Commander Tano reacted to Skywalker's submission to the manipulations, and … Skywalker used the Force against her."
"Kriff!"
"Tok's half-squad, and the half-squad under Arc Trooper Fives reacted admirably, vod," Thrust said firmly. "They stunned the general, and even a Jedi can't shrug off or defend eight blasts from hand-picked troops."
Rex shifted to actually look at Thrust. "Ahsoka?" he asked softly.
"Was dropped, thought to be unconscious, as pandemonium broke out," Thrust told him.
"Thought to be?"
That got a small laugh. "The Guard got their buckets on straight, and went after the real traitor, the Chancellor. Somehow, Fox and Thire still up and aiming, when the Chancellor threw lightning in their direction — and Commander Tano managed to intercept and hold it on her crossed lightsabers, buying them the chance to make the kill."
Rex drew in a deep breath, then let it out. "Always with the save," he murmured. "I thought she was out when Grievous nearly killed me, and she intercepted him then too.
"Skywalker?"
"Jedi custody for evaluation and treatment. As the war is not officially over, but the Senate ordered defensive actions only, Tano and your younger self are commanding the 501st with Admiral Yularen's vote of confidence backing the choice."
"That's a hell of a thing," Rex said, not letting his concerns over Yularen crop up; the man, at this point in history, had still been loyal to the Republic. And Ahsoka — his Ahsoka — had believed that Yularen might have been trying to curb the Empire from the inside. He'd roll with that idea for now.
"I told my general, and she felt the Force disturbance from Little Bit the other night, so she decided I'd better tell you Tok's story ahead of whatever official announcements come down the lines," Thrust told him, squeezing.
"I appreciate that," Rex said, even as he wondered just how things would go from here.
"…rex…"
The voice was so faint, and yet it pulled at Rex, drawing him out of his sleep, even as Atin stirred on her bunk.
Why did the Force make demands when they were sleeping?
"rex…"
That was Ahsoka, his Ahsoka… he knew her voice, knew that she was weakening against whatever this was.
"Atin, reach for your buir with all your heart!" he told his daughter as she sat up, her eyes big and hope shining in them. Rex focused on Ahsoka, on the smell of her, on the feel of her muscles coiled for action, on the brilliance of her mind. He didn't know if Atin could focus the Force the way they needed, but they had to try.
A flash of energy that left dancing spots in his vision, and then there was another body in the cabin with them, collapsing against Rex's waiting arms. Atin wavered, half-fell off her bunk, and stumbled over to them both. Tears and quiet murmurs of 'I have you', 'You're here' followed… which was how Bultar found the family when she overrode the quarters' lock to see what had happened.
Slowly, Ahsoka turned her face to the Jedi, unashamed of the hold she kept on her mate and child.
"Thank you, for believing," she said in a hoarse voice, making Rex actually notice she was injured, scorched and bruised all over.
"Kind of hard not to," Bultar said in her driest tone. "You need medical."
"Probably," Ahsoka admitted, and Rex did his best to help her fully to her feet.
"You came back to us," he murmured.
"Can't leave my clan to face the future alone," she answered, even as Bultar scooped Atin up, to keep her from climbing one of her parents.
They were a little wobbly all the way to medical, with Ahsoka explaining the Emperor had attacked her in that place, suspecting her aim to destroy the universe he had built. She quieted long enough to let Bultar look her over, then finished the tale.
"When he was killed at this point, the universe began to fold in on itself… and I reached for you both."
"Did he … manage something like that?" Bultar asked in worry.
Ahsoka smiled. "No… he'd already been made one with the Force."
Rex could only stare, as she reaffirmed how deadly she could be.
"Well, I guess we get to figure out a galaxy that has twice the trouble of a Tano in it," Bultar said with amusement.
Their laughter was a needed draught against how close they had come to losing her in that other timeline, the one they had worked to undo.
Somehow, Rex thought they might actually not find trouble for some time… because they'd given far too much of themselves already to stop it all.
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Star Wars: The Clone Wars [2008] - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebels, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: CT-7567 | Rex/Ahsoka Tano
Characters: CT-7567 | Rex, Ahsoka Tano, Bultar Swan [Star Wars Prequel Trilogy], Original Character(s)
Additional Tags: Force Shenanigans, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Time Travel Fix-It, Kriffing Sith Pans, Background Character Death
Summary:
After The Adventure of Buckethead and Little Bit, Ahsoka gambles everything on a Force ritual to send Rex and Atin back, to undo it all.
Sending Family Back
When Ahsoka Tano was subdued, Rex worried. He wanted to just enjoy the fact he was with her and their child, away from all of the other demands on their time, but something was wrong. It wasn't even in how firmly she dominated their loving, when Little Bit was asleep. It wasn't in the fact Rex kept catching her studying something on her data pad, or the sad looks at Little Bit and Rex when she thought Rex wasn't paying attention.
Something had happened, something had changed for her, and he had a bad feeling about how this family time would end.
His first indication that he'd been correct to worry was Little Bit whimpering as the ship was starting its landing approach. Ahsoka was flying solely by sensor, or maybe Arseven was handling more of that since his wife seemed to be not quite there. Rex put a hand on Little Bit's small montrals, reassuring her by touch, but he wasn't unharnessing her until they were firmly settled on the ground.
Ahsoka wasn't as out of it as he thought, because once they were down, she was the one to release their daughter's harness and scoop the girl up, tucking the child to her chest.
"Shh, only here a bit, Little Bit," Ahsoka reassured. "Rex, grab that pack please?" she asked, indicating the rather larger than usual one to her. That she asked him to, that she wasn't just lifting it in the Force, and instead carrying their daughter toward the hatch had all of his warning beacons on high alert in his tactical mind.
"Tell me what's going on, 'Soka," he said, gruffly. It was not his first appeal for information, but this time he was going to stand firm on getting answers.
She paused, turning so she looked him dead in the eyes.
"I'm going to make everything right. Or, rather, I am going to make it possible for you to fix it all. All of my notes on who enabled, who profited, who tried to help, are in that pack," she said with deadly seriousness.
"And we're on … this world, that makes our daughter forget how fearless she is, to do this? Unless you have some way of changing the past, there is no making it all right again, only undoing what we can!" The way her markings shifted above her eyes made Rex listen to what he'd just said, and his own eyes went wide. "That's impossible, even with the Force!"
"Not here, not where so much was destroyed, not where so much of the Force bled into the Dark Side itself," Ahsoka said quietly. "I can open the way. You can fix it all, both of you."
"But… why not you?!" Rex demanded, glimpsing the idea that their family was being torn apart by this mad plan of hers.
"I… will have to make the path. And when you succeed, all will be as if it never happened. So … I must be here, not then, or I cannot open the way." Her eyes pleaded for understanding.
Rex's head hurt, but the sorrow on her face was too strong for him to question finding a different way. He didn't even question that he would do this. She thought he could… and she'd made sure he would have their daughter, even if he couldn't have her at his side, leading him on this.
"Who are you sending me to?" he asked, even as he realized she'd been putting their daughter to sleep with the Force while talking to him.
"Not sure of that part yet, Rex. Can't even be sure of how much time I will be able to give you, but I'll do my best to put you both somewhere you'll be able to work from quickly."
"Not our unit, or Cody's," Rex pointed out, half a question.
"No. Not after… no. We were right. So be careful of that," she said, remembering the fear for their daughter when they'd found her gone.
Rex grimaced; he'd been fairly certain. He grew quiet, letting her lead, the pack firmly in place and he snagged his helmet as they reached the door, having already been in his modified armor, just like Ahsoka was.
"The biggest pain is going to be watching us do that idiotic dance," he grumbled, trying to lighten the mood.
"Necessary one," she corrected. "We were both too young and inexperienced to even think about it, no matter what my past self would have wished at a younger age."
Rex chuckled, then sighed. "Point. Though Little Bit here is going to make that a bit different."
"So it will, but. They'll have a different future to decide for themselves, because you will win." Her faith in him was rock solid, and he took a deep breath. He felt like he'd been backed into a corner, yet… she was sending him on this desperate mission because they all needed to believe a better way was possible.
That she was giving up their daughter, sending the child back with him…
…well, he was no scientist, but maybe when he changed things, she simply would not be, and would not have to miss them as much as Rex knew they would miss her.
Rex understood now why Ahsoka had put Little Bit to sleep before sending them back. He wanted to retch up his entire last week's worth of meals as the world unmade itself around them, and then remade itself on a ship in hyperspace.
He couldn't be that weak though, dropping to a knee to get their daughter tucked more into his protection, because there were vod'e snapping alert all around them, and even the Jedi's hand strayed near her lightsaber. He squinted through the readings on the HUD, focusing on that one, not his long-lost brothers, and dragged in a breath at recognizing the Kuati woman.
"General Swan, ma'am, asking you to touch the Force right now, and acknowledge how strange our arrival is," he said quickly, because his brothers were very itchy at an invasion, even if he had taken a purely defensive pose.
"I don't know you, but I do know the Force is roiled, and … something allowed you to arrive." There was a pause. "Both of you… and one a youngling."
"Yes ma'am," Rex said, slowly raising up enough to reveal the Togruta-blooded child who was no longer asleep, but had followed her training to remain still and silent. Amber eyes that were a match to those of nearly every man present, looked at the Jedi with awe.
"Bultar?" she chirped, because Rex had relaxed, and there were no longer any blasters aimed his way, because the Jedi was calm.
"You know me, little one?"
Little Bit gnawed at her lower lip, realizing she might not should have said that.
"Pardon, ma'am, but my daughter's not quite old enough to grasp all of the strangeness of our mission." Rex met the woman's eyes, even though his helmet was hiding his features. Still, it was his helmet, and he knew Little Bit favored her mother enough that this Sentinel Jedi was putting pieces together rapidly, as impossible as they all had to seem.
"Bultar Swan, Jedi Knight. Commander Thrust is to my left, and further introductions will take place later for my men," Bultar said easily enough.
"Improbable as it sounds, my name is Rex, and this is Little Bit — or Atin — and I need to deliver intel to you, ma'am," Rex said after a heartbeat. If she insisted on including Thrust, this was going to get tricky, when he really needed to speak alone to the general.
"Let's say I am inclined to agree. But we are in a hostile situation, and my men will wish reassurance, as they do not have the Force to hear your honesty."
Rex set Little Bit down on her own two legs, then reached up to swipe the helmet off… and he could all but feel the men around him go rigid to see the age written into his face, more than they had been reacting to the change in his body from hard living and the aging before Ahsoka had beaten that back.
"I would trust any man here with my daughter, ma'am, while I speak with you," he said firmly, knowing none of the men would doubt his intentions being honorable, not when he was basically surrendering his daughter as surety against their general's safety.
Bultar proved, in the next moment, that she was worth the faith Ahsoka had put in her. "Little Bit, would you be willing to keep the Commander company while I talk to your father?"
"Elek," she answered cheerfully. Every man here was an uncle she hadn't met yet, and Rex almost pitied them as she was bound to steal their hearts right away.
"If you're sure," Thrust said cheerfully, even as he regained enough composure to look Rex in the eyes, promising a slow death to him if this was some ploy. He approached them, and offered a hand to the girl, who fearlessly took it.
Then again, the child had survived being a 'guest' on Mustafar with the monster of the Empire. What did she have to fear, Rex mused, following Bultar to her ready room.
Once they were in there, and the door was shut, Rex sagged a little from his militant response to being back near a unit of his own brothers, then indicated the pack.
"May I take this off? Fulcrum said all of her notes were in here, and knowing she picked you to send us to makes me want to get them in your hands faster," he said. "As you, ma'am, are one of the strategists, and intel gatherers, from what I remember of this time."
"I'm curious about 'Fulcrum', but go ahead." Bultar waited patiently in her chair for him to do so, looking for the world like she was perfectly at ease. Rex pulled out an actual flimsi pad, one of the fancier kind with the locking binder around it. He put his thumb to the lock sensor, said the passphrase, and the binder popped open.
"Fulcrum is who you know here and now as Ahsoka Tano," Rex said. "And yes, Little Bit is her daughter."
"But with your eyes, and a darker cast to her skin," Bultar said evenly. "Togruta hybrids have always been rare."
"The Force had opinions," Rex said with a half-shrug. "Wasn't planned, but wouldn't change it for anything, not now." He kept the notebook in front of him for the moment. "Ma'am? There's intel in here you will not want to believe. You cannot tell it to Thrust or any vod until after a certain technological issue is dealt with.
"And you absolutely must not involve Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, or Pong Krell, to name three that I have reason to believe would cause things to go a lot worse." He hesitated, knowing at least some of the next was personal, for his General's sake, but he knew how to phrase it. "And not Windu, not when he's balancing the whole damn Order in this mess."
Bultar did frown then, but she seemed to accept the addendum of the Master of the Order easily enough. "Your own General — here and now, anyway — and your former one. I have had little to do with Master Krell, so have no basis to object there, yet the first two? I wonder."
"Kenobi is more because he'll handle Skywalker wrong," Rex admitted. "Krell… has either already Fallen or will in the near future, given what he did that I know about. I'll tell you that bit later, but it's secondary, has to be, because of the real problem."
"And Skywalker?" she pressed.
He slid the notebook over. "After you flip through the first few pages, you'll understand more, but I'll add my piece after."
She took it, but did not start to read until after she had fully centered herself in the Force, and shielded herself adeptly. Whatever the notebook contained was going to be troubling, to say the least.
The notebook was not in Basic, but the code used for it was one that she, Lissarkh, Kit Fisto, or Areen Jepet could have read like Basic. A handful of other Sentinels, or those trained by them, maybe, yet Bultar was fairly certain Ahsoka had to have had one of them in mind all along. Granted, Rex had translated a few spots, just to verify for Bultar what she was reading.
It held a timeline, warnings about certain events yet to come in the near future — and the part about Pong Krell had clarified Rex's choices — and a plea to get Skywalker out of the Chancellor's direct shadow. The names of those who had risen to power, who were known to have benefited were useful. More so, the names of those who had been eliminated swiftly and those who Ahsoka could vouch for from this Rebel Alliance would give them potential allies to work with.
"What a bucket of bantha spit you handed me, Commander Rex," Bultar said, after many minutes of just meditating to lock all of her knew knowledge down. "I know the end, but must find a path to get us there that is perfect, allowing nothing to start the endgame as he sees it."
"We fix the chips, that's one step in making certain it can't happen," Rex said. "And please, General, I barely wore that rank for one campaign. Best to just call me Rex, or Leverage if you need a call sign. Ahsoka's choice, to match her being the Fulcrum of the Rebellion."
"Apt." Bultar never, ever wanted to see any of this come to pass, but the idea of her tiny 'sister' growing up to take that kind of burden before her eighteenth year was horrifying on a different level from the rest of it.
No, she admitted to herself; she kept circling back to that because she could not conceive of how the rest had come to pass, even after seeing the way Ahsoka had mapped it out for her.
"Leverage, then, to prevent confusion with your younger self." She stood, realized how late it is. "I am certain Thrust would have fed your daughter by now, but are you hungry?"
"Could eat. Need to see her more," Rex admitted, a wry half-smile that was counter to his sad eyes showing.
Bultar closed and locked the notebook, handing it back to him. "Keep that safe. I intend to invite a Sentinel who has more experience, that I would trust with the lives of all our men, to come and she will wish to read it."
"Yes ma'am." He placed it back in the spot inside the pack that would protect it from most damage. He then stood, turning to the door, and letting her precede him so that Thrust and his men would calm down. No sooner did he clear the bulkhead than Little Bit flung herself off a console and ran to him, climbing his armor adeptly to nuzzle into his face and neck.
Rex didn't need to see it, knowing that had done a lot for his brothers. Bultar did see it, and felt some of her resolve tighten further, to give these wonderful men a chance to know a future that held children in it.
Bultar let herself eat with her men, using the time to further lock down her visceral horror. Not for the first time, she cursed her first master for getting himself killed. She needed to think as clearly as he had, if she was going to save everyone. Perhaps, she would be wise to ask for better expertise, from someone more distant to the full conflagration.
Even as she was planning, she was observing the way the child was affecting her men. Some were uncertain of what to do or say with her, but many laughed and smiled, playing games. The games all seemed to be dexterity things, with Little Bit herself familiar with them. Bultar surmised the child had access to other troopers than just her father. The journal had hinted at hidden safe spots for those like Rex.
When the meal came to a close, Bultar designated one of the younger troopers to show father and daughter to the other cabin with a 'fresher.
"Atin," Rex called, and the girl immediately came, climbing his armor in that adorable way of hers.
"Stubborn, is it?" Thrust asked.
"Takes after her mother," Rex answered blandly to that.
"While my kinswoman has been known for that tendency, I rather doubt she is mismatched by you in those tendencies." Bultar's claim on kinship was deliberate, to set the stage for kin ties to help her men accept the difficult days ahead. It was even true, from a certain point of view, given that Plo Koon was Bultar's second master and Ahsoka's Finder.
"Perhaps."
While Atin — the girl both preferred that name from any one not her father and lived up to it — was stealing the hearts of all of her men, Bultar was using secure channels that only the Sentinels knew existed to get Areen Jepet, her grand-Master, to join her with a trusted healer. They were on a recon mission, picking up data from listening stations, so it wasn't that difficult to linger long enough for Areen's smaller ship to make it into the cruiser's hangar.
The Falleen and Devaronian arriving set Thrust's worries even higher, but Rex had told him he'd be told in due time.
Due time was after a brief unconsciousness, and as Thrust stared at the chip with its spider-like attachments, he was brought fully up to speed. Three others, all first years and possessing slicing skill, had also been 'ambushed' for surgery.
Only one of them got physically ill to hear the intel aired, while all three Jedi did their best to be soothing.
"We shift our listening," Thrust said, once they moved to the brainstorming session on how to unravel the tapestry of deceit. "Concentrate more fully on trying to intercept the Count's communications."
Areen sighed. "That will not work. I am long familiar with his ways, and he is unlikely to trust any means of direct communication. The routing would be tricky enough to be easily suspect of manipulations to make it appear as if they had connected to Coruscant."
Thrust frowned, closing his eyes to try and find a better path.
"We'll be investigating those who profited, trying to find the links of graft and corruption that tie back to him," Areen soothed.
"I have contacts among the press," Knight Krieth Nimpur, the Devaronian, said, smiling with malice for the enemy. "If I can arrange to acquire a trace of his blood, rumors of Force ability could go out with a midichlorian count."
Bultar rolled her eyes, but nodded. "First strike in raising credibility concerns, even if there is no consensus on that theory."
"But first," Rex said firmly, "we slice the damned chips and find a way to use its carrier signal to short them out!"
"Absolutely," from Areen married to Bultar's "Of course!" and Krieth's "Yes," soothing all of the men present.
Thrust was on an enforced rest break, and had been 'trapped' on the floor by Atin falling asleep on his chestplate. He turned his head, catching Rex's softer look at his daughter.
"Not planned?" Thrust asked softly. "Your little one."
"No. The Force was meddling, Ahsoka swore. She was going through a final growth spurt, putting together the nucleus of the rebellion for those senators that stayed loyal, and got whammied with realizing she had caught.
"Togruta don't typically hybridize, so I have to agree with her."
Thrust considered that, considered his own carefully kept crush on his general. "Can I ask how you two… ya know."
Rex snorted. "We'd grown close, vod, but not like that. Not until after… though she'd been waiting for both of us to catch up on experience. Seems she'd known, like she knew about the nightmare, about us in general, that I was eventually going to be the one. I gave her so much grief over how reckless she could be, but turned out that youngling knew how to keep her heart cloaked, to protect us all."
"Commander Vod'ika, I hear," Thrust said, acknowledging clone gossip about the 501st's padawan-commander.
"Think it was Jesse first called her that," Rex said with a lump in his throat. "For what it's worth? Once we get things moving, don't wait forever to tell her, vod. No tomorrow is promised, and I've got good intel that says she feels the same, just… power balances."
Thrust let out a breath, as this older brother, this man who had been a legend to them on Kamino even, said that. "Trust in that, yeah," he agreed, making plans to have a private talk with his general, once they cracked the chips' coding.
Areen was the one to insist that Plo Koon be the one to handle the Jedi High Council, once they had shorted out the chips en masse by using its own carrier signal. That meant he had to be briefed, which led to him arriving with Sinker and Comet as his fellow ARC crew.
Atin had, without warning, followed Rex and Bultar to the bay, but her presence would be one more confirmation of the story that had to be told. She watched the Kel Dor and his Wolf Pack members step off the ship, before making a disgruntled sound.
"What is it, Little Bit?" Rex asked, even though he suspected. His own chest had twisted up at the idea of who might be with the Jedi.
"Hoped for Uncle Growly," she chirped, and Plo Koon really looked at that older vod holding a child not much bigger than Little 'Soka had been in her first year at the Temple.
"Master, it appears that your Foundling went and found a way to save us all," Bultar said, while Plo was processing everything.
"I… wish I could say that I see, but I am completely at a loss," Plo Koon admitted.
"General Buir, if I hadn't lived it, I'd be as lost," Rex said, encouraging Little Bit to move to his shoulders instead of his hip. She looked over at the very tall Jedi from that lofty position and suddenly brightened.
"I'm going to be older than Pel, yes?" she demanded, head hanging over Rex's to peer at him from above.
"Believe so, and you're not to remind xie of that once xie is born," Rex said, getting a pout.
"Wouldn't be right. Won't be my Pel from then, but will be my Pel now."
"Sorry, General," Rex said watching the sensory organs flex. "Your friend Lia's child is… was from this new point of view… her best friend."
"And with this exchange, I find myself quite intrigued… and hopeful." Plo had been mildly strong-armed into granting that request, because of the war, and Lia was not yet delivered of the child.
"Good," Bultar said firmly. "Because we broke a piece of it and now we need the High Council brought onboard with our plans to end this war."
Comet and Sinker, having slowly processed that yes, that was Captain Rex, but older, could only stare, especially at the biter gleefully using Rex as her vantage point.
"Let us get to work then," Plo said firmly. "You are… a Rex? From some point of the future?"
"Yes sir. And this is Atin, now she's chosen her own name. Might hear me call her Little Bit, though."
"I am glad, if shocked, to meet you both."
"Save the 'shock' for the meeting," Bultar said glibly, leading them all back to the space they had turned into the 'war room' for undoing the future Rex and Atin came from.
Rex and Atin stayed with Bultar's unit as the others moved out to begin the arduous task of breaking the spider-web of deceit tying the galaxy into an unwinnable war.
It took months, but as Bultar's unit was small, gathering intelligence, and only occasionally fighting in space, it was the safest way to keep the source of their knowledge out of sight of all. Bultar's quartermaster even manufactured a full set of plastoid, with basic communication and sealed systems for Atin, welcoming the challenge.
She immediately descended on the 'art' cabin, and painted it with 501st blue to show her allegiance, splashed by an orange mixed to match her mother's skin. The symbols made no sense to the men — but Bultar recognized them as Kel Dor symbols for 'peace', 'clan', and 'honor'.
"Her best friend is — was and will be? — a child of master Plo's, she sometimes fusses in the more basic Kel Dor words, and now this?" Bultar teased Rex. "Care to tell us more about life that brushed Dorin?"
Rex smiled fondly. "General Buir either has or will ask for the second moon to be tunneled and sealed, large enough to house two legions," he said. "Ahsoka found out about it when she went to ask for a Sage to help her learn more of the Force. So we had somewhere to fall back to, somewhere to put the brothers we stole back, or the ones we found that had overcome the chips.
"Healer Lia became our primary point for helping be certain the men would live, as she was adept with psychological trauma. We never asked her to come up; Wolffe would take them down to her, and the quarters that had been the General's were converted to support the effort." His eyes twinkled. "You were a cute youngling, General," he said with amusement.
She groaned. "All of his holos," she said, nodding as Atin's recognition of her made even more sense.
"We learned a lot, and it helped Ahsoka heal past the betrayal, mostly, though she still wondered at how he'd ever agreed to go along with it. Him and General Ti were the worst for her."
Bultar winced, remembering the conversation about Ahsoka not being a Jedi. "It would be. Finder and Hunt-Mother." She shook her head. "Not happening now. Even if, in the end, it was likely what saved her from being killed to break Anakin further, there's not going to be a reason or chance now."
"No ma'am," Rex agreed. "I didn't have any of your men, but with the tasks your unit has, they would have been quickly assimilated. You, however, we knew did not die in that first wave."
"And yet I was not with Ahsoka," Bultar said resolutely. "Do you have any idea? I find myself morbidly curious."
"What little we could make of the rumors, you lured the Emperor's mad dog into a cortosis mine. He survived, and you nor the others in your group did not," Rex said simply. "Apparently Knight Koon also faced him, on Coruscant. That filtered into one of our Senator's spy rings, and was passed on to her."
"At least we tried," Bultar said. "And don't you dare repeat that platitude of the Jedi."
"Never," Rex said. "Though I did finally realize what it meant. 'There is no try' means only to put all you are into any effort, and even if you fail, you did do it."
Bultar smiled broadly, nodding. "My first Master managed to lead me to understand that," she said, letting herself remember the good years, not that last agony of him dying so far from her.
"Interesting man, from all I ever heard," Rex offered.
"Yes, he was. I bet you heard some intere— "
"General, Commander Rex, to the bridge," came an alert, and the only thing that soothed Rex as he shoved his bucket on to accompany her was that the lighting didn't dim to throw power at shields and weapons.
Even Jedi swiftness didn't out-pace Rex's space-eating stride, and they arrived together, Bultar's eyes going to Thrust immediately.
"Secure comm waiting for you, General," Thrust reported. "Coruscant origination. Encrypted."
"Thank you, Commander." She moved to her work space, keying in her codes to bring it up on the display there. She had to read it twice, before drawing in a deep breath.
"Livewire, keep your arrays out listening for any unusual motion or comms from the Separatist side," she said firmly. "Count Dooku is confirmed dead on Serenno, assassinated apparently."
"That… is a distinct change," Rex said, shocked. "We learned, from a source I'd rather not mention, that a Sentinel was there, with that mission, but… he wasn't protected enough from the Dark Side, not until he found the ally I prefer not to mention."
Bultar's lips thinned, before she looked him dead in the eye. "Vos?"
Rex nodded once.
"Maybe he touched something or someone that let him hold onto hope," she murmured. "Force knows what he had to be getting when he touched one of you."
Thrust jerked, and then he nodded sharply. They'd had Vos aboard a couple of time, dropping intel, and it had always been difficult.
"I'll hope so; Cody liked him well enough," Rex said to that, and he meant it. This certainly had to have some sort of fall out on the side of the Jedi saving his brothers, and themselves.
Atin drew in a gasping breath, coming up out of deep sleep with her hands scrabbling at her own throat, sounds of distress in the shrill Togruti pitches. Her eyes were unfocused, and it was all Rex could do to get her into his arms and trap her hands once he could tell there was nothing physically wrong.
Just as quickly as it had hit, it subsided, and Rex felt a phantom ache in his chest, almost like the scar was throbbing with energy. He pushed that aside, just stroking his daughter's head, trying to soothe her from the crying that had settled in.
"Buir!" Atin managed to sob out, and Rex realized he was catching a phantom Force feeling off whatever had just happened in the 501st's area of operation. Only… how were they going to find out, and was Ahsoka of this time alright!
Thrust was the one to answer his burning questions, and Rex was glad of that. Atin was occupied by the General — she'd come with Thrust and offered to do Force lessons with his daughter — and Thrust had settled on the bunk.
Rex took the hint and came to sit next to him, not protesting the arm slung around his shoulders.
"Despite all of your warnings, Skywalker and the 501st wound up on Coruscant at the Chancellor's beck and call," Thrust began. "Details weren't shared officially, but a Lieutenant Tok was too enraged to not put some of it across our coded channels."
"That's 'Soka's company leader," Rex said, his chest tight with apprehension.
Thrust nodded. "The Chancellor, braced with evidence by the Security Council inside the convened Senate, ordered Skywalker to prevent the intended arrest. Tok says the general resisted, until the sleemo implied Amidala would also be implicated and dragged down with him."
Rex closed his eyes, leaning harder into Thrust's hold.
"Commander Tano reacted to Skywalker's submission to the manipulations, and … Skywalker used the Force against her."
"Kriff!"
"Tok's half-squad, and the half-squad under Arc Trooper Fives reacted admirably, vod," Thrust said firmly. "They stunned the general, and even a Jedi can't shrug off or defend eight blasts from hand-picked troops."
Rex shifted to actually look at Thrust. "Ahsoka?" he asked softly.
"Was dropped, thought to be unconscious, as pandemonium broke out," Thrust told him.
"Thought to be?"
That got a small laugh. "The Guard got their buckets on straight, and went after the real traitor, the Chancellor. Somehow, Fox and Thire still up and aiming, when the Chancellor threw lightning in their direction — and Commander Tano managed to intercept and hold it on her crossed lightsabers, buying them the chance to make the kill."
Rex drew in a deep breath, then let it out. "Always with the save," he murmured. "I thought she was out when Grievous nearly killed me, and she intercepted him then too.
"Skywalker?"
"Jedi custody for evaluation and treatment. As the war is not officially over, but the Senate ordered defensive actions only, Tano and your younger self are commanding the 501st with Admiral Yularen's vote of confidence backing the choice."
"That's a hell of a thing," Rex said, not letting his concerns over Yularen crop up; the man, at this point in history, had still been loyal to the Republic. And Ahsoka — his Ahsoka — had believed that Yularen might have been trying to curb the Empire from the inside. He'd roll with that idea for now.
"I told my general, and she felt the Force disturbance from Little Bit the other night, so she decided I'd better tell you Tok's story ahead of whatever official announcements come down the lines," Thrust told him, squeezing.
"I appreciate that," Rex said, even as he wondered just how things would go from here.
"…rex…"
The voice was so faint, and yet it pulled at Rex, drawing him out of his sleep, even as Atin stirred on her bunk.
Why did the Force make demands when they were sleeping?
"rex…"
That was Ahsoka, his Ahsoka… he knew her voice, knew that she was weakening against whatever this was.
"Atin, reach for your buir with all your heart!" he told his daughter as she sat up, her eyes big and hope shining in them. Rex focused on Ahsoka, on the smell of her, on the feel of her muscles coiled for action, on the brilliance of her mind. He didn't know if Atin could focus the Force the way they needed, but they had to try.
A flash of energy that left dancing spots in his vision, and then there was another body in the cabin with them, collapsing against Rex's waiting arms. Atin wavered, half-fell off her bunk, and stumbled over to them both. Tears and quiet murmurs of 'I have you', 'You're here' followed… which was how Bultar found the family when she overrode the quarters' lock to see what had happened.
Slowly, Ahsoka turned her face to the Jedi, unashamed of the hold she kept on her mate and child.
"Thank you, for believing," she said in a hoarse voice, making Rex actually notice she was injured, scorched and bruised all over.
"Kind of hard not to," Bultar said in her driest tone. "You need medical."
"Probably," Ahsoka admitted, and Rex did his best to help her fully to her feet.
"You came back to us," he murmured.
"Can't leave my clan to face the future alone," she answered, even as Bultar scooped Atin up, to keep her from climbing one of her parents.
They were a little wobbly all the way to medical, with Ahsoka explaining the Emperor had attacked her in that place, suspecting her aim to destroy the universe he had built. She quieted long enough to let Bultar look her over, then finished the tale.
"When he was killed at this point, the universe began to fold in on itself… and I reached for you both."
"Did he … manage something like that?" Bultar asked in worry.
Ahsoka smiled. "No… he'd already been made one with the Force."
Rex could only stare, as she reaffirmed how deadly she could be.
"Well, I guess we get to figure out a galaxy that has twice the trouble of a Tano in it," Bultar said with amusement.
Their laughter was a needed draught against how close they had come to losing her in that other timeline, the one they had worked to undo.
Somehow, Rex thought they might actually not find trouble for some time… because they'd given far too much of themselves already to stop it all.
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Tuesday, May 20th, 2025 05:58 pm
This is your check-in post for today. The poll will be open from midnight Universal or Zulu Time (8pm Eastern Time) on Tuesday, May 20, to midnight on Wednesday, May 21. (8pm Eastern Time).
Poll #33144 Daily Check-in
This poll is closed.
Open to: Access List, detailed results viewable to: Access List, participants: 29
Open to: Access List, detailed results viewable to: Access List, participants: 29
How are you doing?
I am OK.
16 (55.2%)
I am not OK, but don't need help right now.
13 (44.8%)
I could use some help.
0 (0.0%)
How many other humans live with you?
I am living single.
10 (34.5%)
One other person.
12 (41.4%)
More than one other person.
7 (24.1%)
Please, talk about how things are going for you in the comments, ask for advice or help if you need it, or just discuss whatever you feel like.
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Sunday, May 25th, 2025 03:49 pm
We're pretty clear on the cause, she got tangled up in some vines, and we've washed her foot carefully with soap and water. We'll wash all of her later and maybe soak her foot with some epsom salt, that should help. Well, I mean, the bath will just make her smell better, but the soak should help. I really, really don't want to go to the vet this week if I can avoid it, but if the swelling won't go down we may have to.
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Tuesday, May 20th, 2025 08:26 pm
Hello to all members, passers-by, curious onlookers, and shy lurkers, and welcome to our regular daily check-in post. Just leave a comment below to let us know how your current projects are progressing, or even if they're not.
Checking in is NOT compulsory, check in as often or as seldom as you want, this community isn't about pressure it's about encouragement, motivation, and support. Crafting is meant to be fun, and what's more fun than sharing achievements and seeing the wonderful things everyone else is creating?
There may also occasionally be questions, but again you don't have to answer them, they're just a way of getting to know each other a bit better.
This Week's Question: We all probably have multiple WiPs, but which of yours has been hanging around longest, waiting to be finished?
If anyone has any questions of their own about the community, or suggestions for tags, questions to be asked on the check-in posts, or if anyone is interested in playing check-in host for a week here on the community, which would entail putting up the daily check-in posts and responding to comments, go to the Questions & Suggestions post and leave a comment.
I now declare this Check-In OPEN!
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Monday, May 19th, 2025 07:53 pm
I put off doing this meme for a few reasons, the first being that I thought it looked like a thing that would be hard to gather. But ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
corvidology assured me it wasn't, and I trust them. ❤️ The second was because I knew that a lot of it would be HP, and as I've discussed before, I have complicated thoughts of my output in that fandom. But, I am proud of a lot of the works I produced, and feel like most (if not all) of them have always been a Fuck You to Rowling, so… here goes.
( Sort of interesting…ish )
Any key takeaways? Just that I need to write more, and tag better. ❤️❤️
corvidology assured me it wasn't, and I trust them. ❤️ The second was because I knew that a lot of it would be HP, and as I've discussed before, I have complicated thoughts of my output in that fandom. But, I am proud of a lot of the works I produced, and feel like most (if not all) of them have always been a Fuck You to Rowling, so… here goes. ( Sort of interesting…ish )
Any key takeaways? Just that I need to write more, and tag better. ❤️❤️
Tags:
Monday, May 19th, 2025 08:46 pm
| *\o/* | Word Count | Step Count | Headache? |
| Daily | 486 | 8,349 | no |
| Monthly | 11,663 | 177,161 | 6 days |
Tags:
Monday, May 19th, 2025 08:44 pm
It's a short week at work, so I'm hoping to make the most of it and properly relax at least some this coming long weekend. Of course, I have to make it through the week first.
( Rambling about my plans for the week under the cut. )
( Rambling about my plans for the week under the cut. )
Tags:
Monday, May 19th, 2025 05:59 pm
This is your check-in post for today. The poll will be open from midnight Universal or Zulu Time (8pm Eastern Time) on Monday, May 19, to midnight on Tuesday, May 20. (8pm Eastern Time).
Poll #33142 Daily Check-in
This poll is closed.
Open to: Access List, detailed results viewable to: Access List, participants: 20
Open to: Access List, detailed results viewable to: Access List, participants: 20
How are you doing?
I am OK.
13 (65.0%)
I am not OK, but don't need help right now.
7 (35.0%)
I could use some help.
0 (0.0%)
How many other humans live with you?
I am living single.
8 (40.0%)
One other person.
9 (45.0%)
More than one other person.
3 (15.0%)
Please, talk about how things are going for you in the comments, ask for advice or help if you need it, or just discuss whatever you feel like.
Tags:
Saturday, May 24th, 2025 05:17 pm
I named her that, not the company. I thought it was a pretty, old-fashioned name, something buoyed by the fact that Charlotte in Charlotte Sometimes is told by her 50-years-ago counterpart's younger sister that it's funny that she has such an old-fashioned name - and that book was written in the 1960s!
Take a look at how often the names "Emma" and "Charlotte" appear on each state's top three names for girls.
******************
( Read more... )
Take a look at how often the names "Emma" and "Charlotte" appear on each state's top three names for girls.
( Read more... )
Monday, May 19th, 2025 05:04 pm
With or without feet.
There's a few people in that thread adamantly going up and down asserting that, duh, how could the rest of us be so dumb as to not know that certain types of toilets are specifically designed to be flushed with the foot. None of them have provided any sort of evidence for this claim, which makes me think that their evidence boils down to "Mommy told me when I was a kid" or "Well, I flush with a foot so I just sort of assumed", and - man, I hate when people do that. Fucking back up your claims, or at least qualify them. "I was told by my preschool teacher, but I've never verified it" would be a lot more honest and less annoying.
Anyway, I have emailed the manufacturer most often mentioned in the comments to ask for their opinion. Mostly because that is how things ought to be done, but also because if these flushers are designed to be flushed with the foot, great, but if not then we have to ask if the other contingent, which is equally vociferously asserting that foot flushing increases wear and tear on the mechanism and causes breakdowns, needs to be taken seriously. Because what's really not okay is breaking the toilet for everybody who comes after you - and sure, you'll say that you are not the sole person responsible for breaking the toilet that much faster, but c'mon, everybody says that.
So let's see what we see, and in the meantime, let's also all wash our hands. With soap and water, thanks.
There's a few people in that thread adamantly going up and down asserting that, duh, how could the rest of us be so dumb as to not know that certain types of toilets are specifically designed to be flushed with the foot. None of them have provided any sort of evidence for this claim, which makes me think that their evidence boils down to "Mommy told me when I was a kid" or "Well, I flush with a foot so I just sort of assumed", and - man, I hate when people do that. Fucking back up your claims, or at least qualify them. "I was told by my preschool teacher, but I've never verified it" would be a lot more honest and less annoying.
Anyway, I have emailed the manufacturer most often mentioned in the comments to ask for their opinion. Mostly because that is how things ought to be done, but also because if these flushers are designed to be flushed with the foot, great, but if not then we have to ask if the other contingent, which is equally vociferously asserting that foot flushing increases wear and tear on the mechanism and causes breakdowns, needs to be taken seriously. Because what's really not okay is breaking the toilet for everybody who comes after you - and sure, you'll say that you are not the sole person responsible for breaking the toilet that much faster, but c'mon, everybody says that.
So let's see what we see, and in the meantime, let's also all wash our hands. With soap and water, thanks.
Monday, May 19th, 2025 09:22 pm
***
Title: no finer details than yours
Author:kat_lair
Fandom: Guardian RPF
Character: Bai Yu/Zhu Yilong
Tags: Sensuality, Getting Together, Drabble Series/Sequence (Mix & Match)
Rating: T
Word count: 100 + 100 + 100 + 300 + 300
Summary: Anything is possible when you want it bad enough.
Author notes: This was my![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
seasonsofdrabbles assignment, written for facethestrange whose likes I had fun shoving in here.
no finer details than yours on AO3
( no finer details than yours )
***
Title: no finer details than yours
Author:
kat_lair Fandom: Guardian RPF
Character: Bai Yu/Zhu Yilong
Tags: Sensuality, Getting Together, Drabble Series/Sequence (Mix & Match)
Rating: T
Word count: 100 + 100 + 100 + 300 + 300
Summary: Anything is possible when you want it bad enough.
Author notes: This was my
seasonsofdrabbles assignment, written for facethestrange whose likes I had fun shoving in here. no finer details than yours on AO3
( no finer details than yours )
***
Tags:
Monday, May 19th, 2025 08:45 pm
Hello to all members, passers-by, curious onlookers, and shy lurkers, and welcome to our regular daily check-in post. Just leave a comment below to let us know how your current projects are progressing, or even if they're not.
Checking in is NOT compulsory, check in as often or as seldom as you want, this community isn't about pressure it's about encouragement, motivation, and support. Crafting is meant to be fun, and what's more fun than sharing achievements and seeing the wonderful things everyone else is creating?
There may also occasionally be questions, but again you don't have to answer them, they're just a way of getting to know each other a bit better.
This Week's Question: We all probably have multiple WiPs, but which of yours has been hanging around longest, waiting to be finished?
If anyone has any questions of their own about the community, or suggestions for tags, questions to be asked on the check-in posts, or if anyone is interested in playing check-in host for a week here on the community, which would entail putting up the daily check-in posts and responding to comments, go to the Questions & Suggestions post and leave a comment.
I now declare this Check-In OPEN!
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Monday, May 19th, 2025 01:54 pm
Hey all, if you'd like to join the crafting hangout, it is tonight from 6-8pm ET!
Video encouraged but not required!
Topic: Crafting Hangout
Time: Mondays 6:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 973 2674 2763
Tags:
Monday, May 19th, 2025 12:49 pm
I got a fistbump from Tom Cruise yesterday.
No big deal.
For context, I went to the Mission Impossible red carpet event opening yesterday. The New York Adventure Club had gotten 20 red carpet passes issued to them, and because I get their newsletter, I was able to sign up and get in - a case of the right place, the right time, and knowing exactly where to look. There was waiting in line, there was standing in line, there was making sure I had the right information readily available, there was getting up as close to the front of the line as possible and then getting right up as close to the wall to the red carpet as possible. There was more waiting. There was a trivia question giveaway of sweatshirts and backpacks - to many, many people dressed in cocktail attire, no less - to keep energy going, and then the entertainment professionals getting people cheering.
During the waiting, I kept watching the crowds around me and on the other side of the fence. The way people were arranging cameras, getting microphones set up. I saw cast and crew walking around, glimpsing recognizable faces on the other side of the partition. The waiting around before and after intense, brief moments of activity seemed fitting, for what I know about making movies. Lights, camera, hang on, hold on, give me a moment, camera again, and then it's action. I watched pigeons fly around, and I joked about the largest animal that could be knocked unconscious by the sound system. I looked at the architecture of Lincoln Center and appreciated how Robert Moses might've liked this use of the space for a whole lot of reasons.
I got two passes and brought a friend with me, who kept checking her phone, as did many people around us. I took a few photos of Cruise at a distance, half a selfie with him, and not much else. I didn't want much else. I wanted to be right there in the moment. I wanted to take the three seconds I'd have to say something of momentary value to someone who meets more people in a day than I've probably met in the last two years.
He was announced, he was cheered for, he came out with fireworks and blaring music. He stood and smiled and waved as people looked at him, watched him, tried to capture a piece of him. There was gasping and there was cheering and I wasn't above looking at him standing there, a small army's worth of cameras from TV to handheld to drones all pointed at him. I thought about how the night before, people had waited to catch a glimpse of him walking from a car to his hotel door, and how video footage of that was uploaded to the internet, so yet more people would know where to go that night and where to wait. The architecture of Lincoln Center meant people could come out on balconies to look down at him, and people across the street could walk to the roofs of their buildings and stare down through binoculars like he was some kind of rare bird.
I knew he'd never be my friend.
Not in a negative way. I like to think we'd be friends, if the heavens parted and angels sang and we had genuine reason to speak to one another for more than a handful of seconds. It's a thought I'm happy to entertain. It's something I know won't happen unless the heavens part and angels sing. Meeting him on the red carpet was wonderful, and it wasn't celestial. I met a man. A handsome, charming man who's been meeting people for over forty years now. He's gotten quite good at it. He never learned my name and I already knew his. Everyone knew his name. Everyone there, and everyone who was watching him from far away.
We'd all been given small posters for cast and crew to sign, and I knew he'd stop for as long as it took him to deliver his signature. I'd known it was coming for some days, so I'd had time to prepare a few words to get them out as quickly and cleanly as possible.
I told him, "Minority Report was the first movie of yours I saw in a theater and I've been a fan ever since." He said he'd had a lot of fun making that, I said I'd had a lot of fun seeing it. I said, "I got these passes through the New York Adventure Club, and I'm sure the movie's going to be an adventure."
He gave me an adorable scrunched-up smile. And he offered me a fistbump.
Naturally, I took it.
There were other people who came by. I recognized the bird pin on Simon Pegg's jacket and told him, "A swift bird for a swift man!" and he liked that. I commented on people's clothing, occasionally asked for a handshake, and kept looking around at all the people coming by - the huge camera rigs, the tiny iPhone mounts, the drones buzzing by. The other actors, the sailors coming off an aircraft carrier, generally famous people I didn't recognize. Everything spinning around the gravitational pull of the star.
I got a pass to an early screening, and had a good time - anything more specific can wait a few days. But I'll still say it was a delightful movie to look at, and I couldn't understand why the person next to me kept regularly checking her phone. Later, I could barely understand why people were clustering around the service entrance's door in the hopes of glimpsing Cruise - barely, because I'd have liked a glimpse myself, and as much as I'd wanted one, I knew it was late and he'd probably like to get some sleep even more than I did, and if he was using the service entrance like I'd thought he might, that spoke to a level of necessary caution I shudder to think about. The only way he'd have been safe from people looking at him is if he'd gotten into a vehicle and then left the building, and even that would require several decoy vehicles.
I was there, and I felt the pull, and I still don't quite grasp it. I'm hoping I can hold onto that.
Yesterday I got a fistbump from the biggest movie star on the planet.
No big deal.
No big deal.
For context, I went to the Mission Impossible red carpet event opening yesterday. The New York Adventure Club had gotten 20 red carpet passes issued to them, and because I get their newsletter, I was able to sign up and get in - a case of the right place, the right time, and knowing exactly where to look. There was waiting in line, there was standing in line, there was making sure I had the right information readily available, there was getting up as close to the front of the line as possible and then getting right up as close to the wall to the red carpet as possible. There was more waiting. There was a trivia question giveaway of sweatshirts and backpacks - to many, many people dressed in cocktail attire, no less - to keep energy going, and then the entertainment professionals getting people cheering.
During the waiting, I kept watching the crowds around me and on the other side of the fence. The way people were arranging cameras, getting microphones set up. I saw cast and crew walking around, glimpsing recognizable faces on the other side of the partition. The waiting around before and after intense, brief moments of activity seemed fitting, for what I know about making movies. Lights, camera, hang on, hold on, give me a moment, camera again, and then it's action. I watched pigeons fly around, and I joked about the largest animal that could be knocked unconscious by the sound system. I looked at the architecture of Lincoln Center and appreciated how Robert Moses might've liked this use of the space for a whole lot of reasons.
I got two passes and brought a friend with me, who kept checking her phone, as did many people around us. I took a few photos of Cruise at a distance, half a selfie with him, and not much else. I didn't want much else. I wanted to be right there in the moment. I wanted to take the three seconds I'd have to say something of momentary value to someone who meets more people in a day than I've probably met in the last two years.
He was announced, he was cheered for, he came out with fireworks and blaring music. He stood and smiled and waved as people looked at him, watched him, tried to capture a piece of him. There was gasping and there was cheering and I wasn't above looking at him standing there, a small army's worth of cameras from TV to handheld to drones all pointed at him. I thought about how the night before, people had waited to catch a glimpse of him walking from a car to his hotel door, and how video footage of that was uploaded to the internet, so yet more people would know where to go that night and where to wait. The architecture of Lincoln Center meant people could come out on balconies to look down at him, and people across the street could walk to the roofs of their buildings and stare down through binoculars like he was some kind of rare bird.
I knew he'd never be my friend.
Not in a negative way. I like to think we'd be friends, if the heavens parted and angels sang and we had genuine reason to speak to one another for more than a handful of seconds. It's a thought I'm happy to entertain. It's something I know won't happen unless the heavens part and angels sing. Meeting him on the red carpet was wonderful, and it wasn't celestial. I met a man. A handsome, charming man who's been meeting people for over forty years now. He's gotten quite good at it. He never learned my name and I already knew his. Everyone knew his name. Everyone there, and everyone who was watching him from far away.
We'd all been given small posters for cast and crew to sign, and I knew he'd stop for as long as it took him to deliver his signature. I'd known it was coming for some days, so I'd had time to prepare a few words to get them out as quickly and cleanly as possible.
I told him, "Minority Report was the first movie of yours I saw in a theater and I've been a fan ever since." He said he'd had a lot of fun making that, I said I'd had a lot of fun seeing it. I said, "I got these passes through the New York Adventure Club, and I'm sure the movie's going to be an adventure."
He gave me an adorable scrunched-up smile. And he offered me a fistbump.
Naturally, I took it.
There were other people who came by. I recognized the bird pin on Simon Pegg's jacket and told him, "A swift bird for a swift man!" and he liked that. I commented on people's clothing, occasionally asked for a handshake, and kept looking around at all the people coming by - the huge camera rigs, the tiny iPhone mounts, the drones buzzing by. The other actors, the sailors coming off an aircraft carrier, generally famous people I didn't recognize. Everything spinning around the gravitational pull of the star.
I got a pass to an early screening, and had a good time - anything more specific can wait a few days. But I'll still say it was a delightful movie to look at, and I couldn't understand why the person next to me kept regularly checking her phone. Later, I could barely understand why people were clustering around the service entrance's door in the hopes of glimpsing Cruise - barely, because I'd have liked a glimpse myself, and as much as I'd wanted one, I knew it was late and he'd probably like to get some sleep even more than I did, and if he was using the service entrance like I'd thought he might, that spoke to a level of necessary caution I shudder to think about. The only way he'd have been safe from people looking at him is if he'd gotten into a vehicle and then left the building, and even that would require several decoy vehicles.
I was there, and I felt the pull, and I still don't quite grasp it. I'm hoping I can hold onto that.
Yesterday I got a fistbump from the biggest movie star on the planet.
No big deal.
Monday, May 19th, 2025 07:29 am
( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )
Tags:
Friday, May 23rd, 2025 01:01 am
but we've got a new semi-feral slipping into our house, one of last year's kittens. So, uh, I'm still not allowed to fix that basement window I guess?
****************
( Read more... )
( Read more... )
Sunday, May 18th, 2025 10:10 pm
Sunday, May 18th, 2025 07:37 pm
Sunday, May 18th, 2025 10:48 pm
Tags:
Sunday, May 18th, 2025 08:36 pm
| *\o/* | Word Count | Step Count | Headache? |
| Daily | 2,073 | 9,890 | no |
| Monthly | 11,177 | 168,327 | 6 days |
Tags:
Sunday, May 18th, 2025 08:21 pm
This is your check-in post for today. The poll will be open from midnight Universal or Zulu Time (8pm Eastern Time) on Sunday, May 18, to midnight on Monday, May 19 (8pm Eastern Time).
Please, talk about how things are going for you in the comments, ask for advice or help if you need it, or just discuss whatever you feel like.
Poll #33136 Daily check-in poll
This poll is closed.
Open to: Access List, detailed results viewable to: Access List, participants: 29
Open to: Access List, detailed results viewable to: Access List, participants: 29
How are you doing?
I am OK
17 (58.6%)
I am not OK, but don't need help right now
12 (41.4%)
I could use some help
0 (0.0%)
How many other humans live with you?
I am living single
11 (37.9%)
One other person
13 (44.8%)
More than one other person
5 (17.2%)
Please, talk about how things are going for you in the comments, ask for advice or help if you need it, or just discuss whatever you feel like.
Tags:
Sunday, May 18th, 2025 05:51 pm
Another week gone...
Ncuti Gatwa from The Importance of Being Ernest? | gif set
Cher & Stevie Nicks with two album covers, years apart, that could be a diptych | photos
Richard Lasher's iconic picture of Mt. St. Helens taken 45 years ago today | photo
Agatha Christie Statue unveiled in her hometown | gif set
Hot Air Balloon time lapse of take off | vid
Kid Transformer Cosplay with transformations | vid
Lord of the Rings reimagined by a visual artist | art, character references
Ncuti Gatwa from The Importance of Being Ernest? | gif set
Cher & Stevie Nicks with two album covers, years apart, that could be a diptych | photos
Richard Lasher's iconic picture of Mt. St. Helens taken 45 years ago today | photo
Agatha Christie Statue unveiled in her hometown | gif set
Hot Air Balloon time lapse of take off | vid
Kid Transformer Cosplay with transformations | vid
Lord of the Rings reimagined by a visual artist | art, character references
Tags:
Sunday, May 18th, 2025 09:18 pm
I was caught unawares in the background of photos taken yesterday after the game, and I was so amused by the exhaustion evident in my position and expression that it had to become an icon.
(I was revived with cake and a drink shortly after this was taken.)
Tags: