After The War, Rex Does A Lot Of Thinking About The Entire Thing, About How It Was Unnecessarily Bloody,

After the war, Rex does a lot of thinking about the entire thing, about how it was unnecessarily bloody, how it cost the lives of millions of innocents (Jedi and clones combined). He thinks about his brothers and their sacrifices, about how they’d thought they were made to protect the Jedi but were never meant to be anything more than their executioners.

Rex has many regrets. He knows there’s no use in dwelling on what could have been, but if there was one thing he could change, it would be that he listened to Fives the first time around, both during Umbara and in that decrepit warehouse.

Rex comes to the conclusion that Fives had always been smarter than him. He’d been the best of them all, willing to do whatever it took to save as many lives as he could.

Fives had indirectly saved Ahsoka and Rex and any other clone who got their chip out, but Fives himself had been killed for attempting to save others. No one had been able to save Fives.

It pains Rex to think that Fives will be forgotten over the course of time, that Fives would only ever be a speck in the entire course of history. Fives was a great man, possibly one of the greatest to ever live in Rex’s opinion, and great men deserve to be remembered. Rex knows he himself will also only ever be a speck on history, but he resolves to do what he can to make sure that this great man is remembered.

He writes down every detail he knows about Fives: from Domino Squad, to Rishi, to the 501st, to the promotion to ARC after the Battle of Kamino, to the Citadel and losing Echo, to his bravery on Umbara, and finally to Ringo Vinda and the discovery of the chips. Rex doesn’t know all the details of Fives’ private life, of course, but he writes what he observed.

He makes sure that whoever stumbles upon this will know that Fives was passionate, brave, kind, funny, loyal, and incredibly intelligent. Rex notes his penchant for impassioned speeches with a chuckle. He never understood how Fives came up with those on the spot, but he supposed the ARC had always been a natural leader. Fives had been a voice that his brothers had always rallied behind; Rex always admired him for it. He had always been sure of himself and his brothers, even at times where Rex couldn’t find that confidence in himself.

Rex keeps what he’s written about Fives with him at all times. He sends a copy of it to Echo one day, knowing that Fives’ twin will be glad to have it. The days on Seelos with Wolffe and Gregor become monotonous, and he catches each of them reading the memoir at some point. One has to pass the time somehow, anyways.

When Rex joins Ghost Crew, he regales them with tales of his brothers. He talks about Fives the most and practically begs them all to carry on his memory. He can see a piece of Fives in each of them, especially in the young Ezra Bridger.

On Endor, after the Empire has been defeated, Rex meets one Luke Skywalker. They mourn and remember Anakin Skywalker together, but later Luke begs him for stories about the Clone Wars. Rex cannot help but speak about Fives, and when he mentions the memoir, Luke asks if he can see it. Rex readily agrees, and decides to ask Luke a favor. Rex knows that his time is running short, and soon there will be no one left alive who knew Fives. He asks that Luke pass on the story of the greatest man Rex ever knew, and Luke easily agrees. Rex leaves his writings and the old holopic of himself, Cody, Fives, and Echo with Luke and passes on a few months later.

Luke tells his family of Rex and Fives. They all read the manuscript, awed by the stories held within. Young Ben Solo adores the escapades of Fives and wants to be just like him when he grows up. Luke decides that Leia can keep the manuscript and holopic so that she can read Ben stories from it while he’s younger, but it stays with her even after he’s joined Luke’s school. Besides, Ben has read the stories so many times that he no longer needs the words in front of him. He joins Luke in telling his peers of the greatest man to ever live and asks them all to carry on the memory as well.

Things don’t go quite as planned. Ben does not grow up to become like Fives, but instead becomes the very thing Fives had fought so hard to destroy. He forgets the stories and kills almost everyone who would remember them.

The manuscript and holopic, however, remain with Leia. She keeps them to herself, waiting for the right person to share the stories with. She finds that person in a deserter stormtrooper who doesn’t quite know how to find his place in a world he’d never set foot in before. She gives him the manuscript and holopic and asks him to carry on the memory of the person inside.

Finn, too, is amazed by Fives. He finds a kinship in him— clones and the stormtroopers of the First Order are not all that different, it seems. He resolves to pour the same passion that Fives had into his own work with the Resistance. Without realizing it, he even picks up Fives’ tendency for passionate speeches, which amuses Leia to no end.

Finn spreads Fives’ story to his friends and many other members of the Resistance. The phrase “same heart, same blood” takes root in its members, inspiring them all to fight against tyranny.

One day, a wayward clone trooper finds his way into the Resistance. To say he is shocked to hear his dead brother’s name spoken with such reverence is an understatement, but soon he gets the story out of Finn. Kix nearly breaks down into tears, never imagining that one of his brother’s legacies could’ve lasted this long.

Eventually, the First Order is defeated, and the galaxy can finally rest. The Resistance puts up statues of its heroes from both the original Rebellion and the new one. One, however, stands out from the rest. It is of a clone trooper.

The statue of Fives stands tall and proud in the center of Coruscant. The holopic had been useful in capturing his likeness, as had directions from Kix. Fives stands with his helmet tucked underneath his left arm, his right arm held up in a salute. There is a relaxed smile upon his face, one that reassures anyone who gazes upon it.

Underneath it is a plaque that reads:

“Fives

Not Just Another Number

But A Great Man”

—————

I got emotional about how no one would remember Fives and this is what happened. I have zero (0) regrets and I hope you enjoyed this! At first I was just gonna write an analysis but I thought this would be better expressed through a fic. I wrote it all on tumblr and I’ll post it on Ao3 sometime but it’ll be a bit. I know the ending sounds like that quote from Captain America but it’s what fit haha, it’s not intended to be a reference to that at all. Thanks for reading!

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bunnygo21

2 years ago

if you’re up for it I’d love to hear all your cass & tim head canons

DUDE okay so I've got a lot of them

They've been mistaken for twins until people get a good look at them. This happened a lot when they were younger, Batgirl and Robin, enough that it's a running gag between Dick, Babs and Steph that they refuse to explain to the others. Bruce knows the joke he just pretends he doesn't, and it bothers Damian especially so much

They're twins spiritually. Cut from the same cloth (Bruce's) into different articles of clothing, but from the same cloth nonetheless.

They're all vibes. Literally all vibes.

Cass knows Tim's lame and a loser and everything, but like...that's her little brother. Her amazing, amazing little brother. She won't deny he's a freak and weird and a loser and strange, she knows he is objectively if nothing else, but it's part of what makes him him.

They rarely refer to Bruce as "Bruce" to each other. It's always "him". 'You sound just like him right now.' 'He sent you didn't he?' 'This was his idea, wasn't it.'

Cass told Tim that when she's Batman (when, mind you, not if), Tim can be her partner. Tim was very touched but said he won't be Robin then and he doesn't want to go back to Robin. Cass told him that she never said anything about Robin and that Batman’s only been a girl once so they can change the rules a bit.

Cass is Tim's odd-perfect-skilled-kind-good big sister and Tim is Cass' genius-weird-sweet-good little brother and it's a dynamic so unique to them. They're mirrors, and they're aware of the fact, but haven't put much thought to it except that they are.

Tim talks and thinks a lot, Cass doesn't talk a lot and she's good at detective work when she puts her mind to it, but she rather wouldn't a good percentage of the time. So she lets Tim do it for her when he can because he's good at and likes it, and in return she points out when he's overthinking and catastrophizing and getting too into his own head about stuff and drags him out of it.

They're each other's favorite siblings, hands-down.

Cass gets in Tim's space a lot, physically and into his stuff. Tim has slightly more courtesy about it, but knows she's fine with him in her stuff and space so does so a lot.

They don't always get each other but they love each other and that's enough for them. It makes up for it, to them.

Same haircut! Steph cuts their hair with kitchen scissors in the middle of the night while exhausted and she's the only stylist they accept. She charges only Tim.

These two are autism and audhd solidarity so sometimes they're coninhabiting the same space content, sometimes Tim's talking about everything and anything and Cass is listening, sometimes they're there in complete silence.

They both knew and cared about Batman (either as a figure or as a hero) before Bruce (the man and their dad) so they make the distinction a lot more and a lot clearer than everyone else.

They both want to go to Bludhaven again, keep Dick company and maybe settle down again, but they were so sad the last time they were there that they associate the city with horrible memories.

They're both fashion disasters but Cass wears whatever's most convenient and Tim genuinely think he dresses well. Cass sees nothing wrong with Tim's fashion sense and Tim sees no reason to too say anything about hers, especially since he knows she doesn't care.

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bunnygo21

1 year ago

It's kinda poetic that most of the Jedi who survive 66 are younglings or half trained Padawans. Cause for all the propaganda painting the Jedi as baby stealers who sentenced those children to death, every single one of those Jedi are children whose Masters did everything in their power to keep that baby alive - even when it meant their own death.

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bunnygo21

1 year ago

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bunnygo21

2 years ago

What about ‘far too young to die, far too old to live.’ For the fic ask game?

Definitely Tim! A study of his non-aging and how so much has happened to him yet he's not allowed to pass his teen years. He's eighteen and hey, his little brother is fourteen now. Remember when he was six years younger than him? Tim was sixteen for, um, fifteen years? He thinks? He's seen countless of his loved ones die and move on and age and grow and he's eighteen. He's eighteen and he can't die, it won't let him die, they will not let him die, but they won't let him live either, and he's so so tired. He's so tired, but he's Robin! (He. He left Robin behind didn't he? Isn't Damian Robin? Why are there two Robins? Why did he go back?) Robin doesn't give up. Robin doesn't die, except when he did and she did and he did and he did and wow, Tim's the only one that hasn't died? Maybe he wants to die. Maybe he doesn't want to be Robin. Maybe he wants to be Nightwing or Batgirl or- or, maybe even Batman! (No. Not Batman. He's seen what happens when he's Batman.) But, please, he wants to live, but everyone keeps going back, regressing, forgetting what they've been through together, who they are, and Tim too, but suddenly they're back to normal and it's like nothing ever happened. And Tim's the only one that knows. He's too young to die. He's too old to live. He wants. He's stuck in a funny kind of limbo, isn't he?

...

He's so tired. He's so, so tired.

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bunnygo21

1 year ago

honestly my hc for when Anakin uses a fake name is he picks the name of someone he loves (Kitster, Sheev, Obi-Wan, etc), and then he goes with like a different last name from someone else he loves, (Whitesun, Tano, Kenobi, Naberrie, etc)

anakin put on the spot: oh um shit yeah um my name is um sheev....kenobi

employee who asked for his name to put on his star wars starbucks coffee cup: ok

anakin now thinking about his ancient old buddy sheev marrying his best most handsomest buddy obi-wan: um actually can i get a do over

employee: on your drink order?

anakin: umm on my name

employee:

anakin, sweating and now picturing sheev and obi-wan's passionate yet tender wedding night: please

employee:

anakin:

obi-wan, standing next to him holding a cup with 'ben :) ' on it, picking up every thought in anakin's head because his shields are down and he is projecting into the force: please can he have a do-over.

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bunnygo21

1 year ago

the thing that gets me about about barbie is that barbie land wasn’t even purposefully a matriarchy, barbie land came about because of the way little girls were playing with their barbies, it wasn’t created by mattel it was created by the people using the toys, so the fact that the barbies ignored the ken’s and had girls night every night wasn’t because they had some bias against him, it was just an accurate depiction of how kids play with barbies. I had some ken dolls as a child and they were essential to the plot in the sense that of course my barbie has a boyfriend because that represented the world i saw around me, but also he didn’t have any purpose in my dream world because i was only interested in what the girls were doing because they represented me and how i wanted to be, I wanted girls night every night I wanted the girls to be president and austronauts and not because of some inherent feminist idea but because I was a girl and I wasn’t thinking about boys, ken was an accessory. this movie wasn’t made to change the world but it showed a different perspective than what we usually see which I thought was fun. Men don’t have to be the centre of all our stories and its not even because we hate them, sometimes we’re just not thinking about them

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bunnygo21

2 years ago