revivalproject | Fall In, Troops!

Entry tags:

Fall In, Troops!

WHO: Omega and open~
WHERE: Outside of the library
WHAT: Patrolling like a good soldier!
WHEN: Nnnow?
WARNINGS: N/A

"All right squad, let's go over our mission again."

The young clone squats before several mothkittens, the latter in various states of attentiveness. One's sprawled out on its back, watching Omega as she gestures, another sits watching her hand the way a cat would a laser pointer, and the last two are a pile gnawing on each other, paused for the moment as they watch her anew while still holding onto an ear or a tail in their mouths. Up in a tree behind them is a larger mothcat, appearing content enough to lounge as she watches the children at play.

"We'll be patrolling the southern perimeter of the city square," Omega details, using the twig she has in hand to start tracing a rough map in the dirt. "Launch and I will take point, then Trapper and Tumble, and Dart, you're our rear guard. We'll start out facing the lakeside and keep to this side of the road. -yes, that's it right there, Dart. Can I have my stick back?"

She sighs as the little mothcat tugs at the twig she holds, grinning as she shakes her head and tugs it back a little before letting the winged furball roll about with it. Turning her attention to the one she's called Launch, she holds her arms out to catch the mothkitten as he predictably leaps up. "Okay, I think we're all set. Trapper, Tumble, Dart, let's go." Nodding to herself, Omega stands, letting Launch hop back out of her arms before she turns towards the tree and salutes the larger mothcat.

"We'll be back soon, Tony. Sure you won't come with us today?" She'll take that yawn as a no. "All right then. We'll see you later," she giggles, turning to head along. Naturally the mothkittens are quick to drift off in different ways than she'd outlined, but she doesn't seem to mind terribly as she sticks to her 'patrol' assignment.

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Unfortunately while Tony's plan had been a fair one, Omega hadn't really very much experience in that sort of play to fully commit to one role or another. Did she ignore facts or was she supposed to balance it somehow? Playing pretend was not her forte.

The girl did seem to relax a little finally, once her feet were on the ground. Once the 'Iron Menace' let her go, she hurried over to scoop up the exhausted mothkitten, holding an arm out for the others. "You all did fine," she said, doing her best to juggle them as she tried to fish out her water bottle from her bag, a trade-off made as one settled inside.

"I'd rather you not eat them," Omega told Tony as she carefully poured some water into the bottle's cap, holding it by Launch so he could lap at it.

Without his wheels, the Iron Man dropped down an inch, where he remained for a hesitant minute, watching Omega tend to her pets, trying to figure out how new angle now that the villain, the skates, and the science hadn't done much for her. Eventually, he pulled off his helmet as well, fussily combing back his hair with his free hand as he strolled closer and offered, "Do you want to come by some time and make them a fountain? It's going to be getting hotter for a while yet, you know, and you could keep it by your place, give them something to climb on and keep cool..."

Three of four mothkittens had decided they rather liked the bag she'd sewn at the faire, and Omega was just thankful they weren't heavy as she let them each have a turn at the water. She looked up at Tony as he came over, smiling now that he'd removed his helmet, brighter still at the suggestion.

"Could we?" She'd never thought about making a fountain before, but then most of her mechanical knowledge came from the necessity of having to help AZ-3 with maintenance. "I think they'd love that."

That was a promising response, and Tony tried to smile back and not look as worried as he felt, tucking his helmet under one arm casually. "Sure, 'course, got plenty of junk lying around that should be put to use, and it looks like you're already dialed in, you've got the mothcat market cornered," he said with a nod toward her very well-received bag design. "And--listen, Stardust, if you like magic--" he offered, starting to grimace for even offering it, but she had seemed interested, "You should ask Billy some time. He could probably make you a grapefruit. Make a grapefruit for you. I wouldn't eat it, honestly, god knows what that could do to you, but he could do it."

"I'd need some help figuring it out. I've never built a fountain before," Omega said, easing the last mothkitten into the bag with the others. They seemed for the moment sated for thirst, and now it looked to be about naptime.

She arched a brow at Tony as he brought up magic and grapefruits once again, looking amused. "I don't think I've seen Billy's magic yet. I've seen Ezra's and Lark's though. Ezra said magic covers a lot of different things." She made a bit of a face. "I'm not sure I get it though."

"We'll make you an expert in no time," Tony assured her, head tilted inquisitively, trying to assess if that meant that there were things she had built. "It'll be the best thing you've ever made. Mothcats from around the world will flock to visit the installation."

Omega looked charmed again about the magic, so maybe Tony shouldn't be a complete asshole about it, but there was no one who could possibly control the sympathetic roll of his eyes at how impossible magic was to understand. "That's the point. If it made sense and could be replicated, it would be science," he complained. "Flashy, though."

Surely no one could say no to more mothcats! Omega looked pleased at Tony's confidence in her, anyway.

Well, she wouldn't say charmed, but it was always amazing to witness. Flashy was something Omega agreed on, a thoughtful frown on her face even as she nodded. Clearly not something either of them were very familiar with.

"Did you make this?" she asked, diverting to a question that had been nagging at her ever since Tony had made his own flashy appearance. She reached for his armored hand, and now that she wasn't being carried off she could give a proper look over in admiration.

Not sure what Omega meant to do with his hand, Tony offered it out flat, then turned the palm up to show her the repulsor and how he had been controlling his flight. "This is all science, sweetheart," he reported with pride, before his encouragement had mixed in the impression that Tony would be doing any magic himself. "What do you think I've been doing when you're not around to keep me busy? It was either this, or you'd be taking me on walks every three minutes, too."

The girl snorted, as though it wasn't obvious that this feat was scientific and not magic! "I've never seen such boosters used for armor mobility. These remind me of A-Zee's, but more compact," she said as she traced a finger around the repulsor and glanced down at his feet.

"It's amazing," she continued, smiling up at him.

"It is incredibly cool, please, don't hold back, I won't tell Echo how lame you think his armour is," Tony encouraged, prideful lift of his chin betrayed by his wry smile. "Who's Ayzee, and when are we scheduling their upgrades?" That wasn't an offer that he was too worried about following through on, fairly certain he would have noticed someone else flying around here without magic.

"It's a lot brighter than my brothers' armor. Shiny too." Omega laughed. "But I guess I can't be surprised. You like attention."

She started back towards the tree the other Tony lounged in. Seemed like a good time to return the kids, sleepy as they were. Already they were dozing in her bag. "He's a medical droid I knew back on Kamino," she explained, smiling fondly. "I'd help with maintenance checks for him."

There was very little Tony could do to defend against this very casual accusation, leaving him frozen where he stood with his hand still up in some shock at her youthful wisdom, then forced to jog after Omega for a few steps to catch up when he came up with the airtight, "Everyone likes attention."

Kamino remained something of a mystery to Tony despite prodding both Omega and Echo when he could, so he considered Omega's fondness closely, still trying to shape it. "You really kept that place running all by yourself," he said. "No wonder they wanted you back so bad."

It was an observation! Omega glanced back at him when she realized Tony had lagged behind, brow arching in faint amusement at his...defense?

She stepped over to Tony the mothcat's tree perch, carefully unloading the children one by one in the shade at its base. "I'm not really sure what they want. Or if they even have any say in things anymore," she said quietly, her smile fading. "Ever since the Empire took control, things were a lot different. They don't seem interested in more of the Kaminoans' clone army."

Omega's tone took Tony by surprise, making him unsure that he actually understood her. It made sense that she wouldn't want less of the clones in the universe, but surely she had personal experience enough to not want more of them, either. Whatever else the Empire might have done, that one sounded like a good call. "Should there be more?" he wondered. She was the one with the personal experience. Tony had just made clones, hoping they'd never actually have to be used.

"There's still so many developing. I don't know what will happen to them. I don't think production's stopped yet, but I don't know how the Empire will affect everything." Omega looks over at Tony.

"I know we're not supposed to exist, but...we do. But we're all people. I don't have anything against the other soldiers. They can't help but follow orders because of the chips the Kaminoans implanted."

"What do you mean, 'developing'--They're alive, they're just...?" Tony had to ask, and was left flapping his free hand with no real idea of how to finish that question. Most of what Omega seemed to do was care for the other clones, she hadn't mentioned much of a life outside of that. "They don't have to be soldiers," was the best way he could interpret what Omega was trying to say. Echo didn't seem incapable of living his own life while he still had the chip.

Omega brought her hands up, shaping a small space between them. "Embryos. They're all in separate containments, attached to a ring, and there's multiple rings set up like a tower. There's a whole room full of them."

It was hard to describe even when she'd spent a good amount of time there, given she was the chief geneticist's assistant.

"No, they don't have to. But...I don't know if they have a choice. As soon as they're old enough they get sent into flash-training. Becoming a soldier is what they know they're supposed to be." Her brow furrowed. "...we met a friend of my brothers though. A deserter. He has a family. We helped them get off the world they were on because the Empire was starting to become a presence there, and I don't know what they would've done if they found out about him."

Standing in the embryo room would probably make some adjustments to Tony's perspective, too, so his dubious frown didn't last long and he looked away purposefully, focusing on the mothcat considering them from the tree and giving a luxurious stretch. He didn't feel quite so conflicted about arguing that they could have been given a choice instead of the training, and luckily Omega already seemed to be part way there, letting Tony's gaze drift back to her as she considered the alternative, and the mothcat came slinking down the tree toward the kittens.

"You didn't become a soldier," he added. That was at least two. That was a pretty significant margin of error.

"I wasn't supposed to be one." Omega wasn't really sure why she was made, really, but she'd never given it much thought. The why's weren't nearly as important as the who's, and once she'd 'met' the clones who were to become Clone Force 99, she'd been determined to find them again, even if perhaps her kinship to them had been one-sided. But they'd been the first clones she'd shared the labspace with, even if they weren't aware of it.

"Everyone else is. It's what they were made for. The Kaminoans consider the clones their property. The Empire is making use of a resource until they don't need it anymore." And then whatever happens...she wasn't sure. But it was clear if you weren't for the Empire, you were considered against it, and that was a dangerous place to be.

Tony was fairly certain Omega wasn't anywhere near what she was supposed to be at this point, so he cocked his head, eyes narrowed, not really accepting that as an argument. "I wasn't supposed to be a superhero," he retorted, bracing his helmet in both hands in front of him. Arguably, he wasn't a very good one, that much had been made very clear to him, but he had still forced his way into the role, and only split his time doing what he was supposed to. Surely, clones could be terrible superheroes, too, if they really wanted to.

That was, admittedly, a little more difficult for a group of people who were recognized as 'property', and Tony pursed his lips, shifting to hug his helmet with an apologetic furrow of his brow. Mostly because he pressed again, more softly this time, "Should there be more?" It was sounding like Omega didn't think they would have a good life either way.

Her brothers weren't supposed to end up being surrogate fathers either, but perhaps it helped that Omega fancied herself as a new recruit and eager to learn whatever they could teach her. But now they were soldiers without an army, still working out the ways of the galaxy. What was supposed to be and what was just didn't seem to matter too much these days.

"...no," Omega replied, and at least she sounded firm in that.

This turned out not to be such a reassuring answer as Tony had expected, though he was more sure that he did understand what Omega was saying when it seemed as though they agreed on this point. He offered a small smile, then combed her hair back gently to assure her, "That doesn't mean there never will be. More of them will get out, they'll have families of their own." With a sniff and a raise of his chin, he declared, "You're not that special," then shot her a sidelong look with a wry grin.

She wasn't so sure she believed that, but she could hope that maybe there'd be a better life for some of them. Despite the armor, Omega went in for a hug around his torso. She let go to look up at him with a wrinkle of her nose.

"I didn't want to be special. I just didn't want to be alone anymore."

Tony had to let his helmet drop to his side to wrap a solid arm around Omega's shoulders, then cradle her head carefully, not sure how much of this hug was sought for comfort after that bleak exchange. He was in no rush to let her go, though, even as she wrinkled her nose at him, making him breath a laugh in return and ruffle her hair again.

"Sounds to me like you're on a roll. What's the next plan?" he encouraged, looking very much like he believed she would figure out a way to manage that one, too.

For comfort, for thanks. Omega was reluctant to pull away, even as she tried to keep a straight face when he ruffled her hair.

"Well..." She tilted her head, affecting a thoughtful pose. "I wanted to check on our rock friend, if he was still around. But first, maybe something to eat? Your talking about food earlier made me hungry."

Fall In, Troops!

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