I wasn’t a die-hard Tech Lives believer (more of a “I HOPE Tech Lives” believer) but the end of the show has me grieving hard all over again, so here’s my little ode to Tech based on things I’ve noticed about him from rewatching the show:
Tech LOVES his brothers, and he genuinely misses Crosshair. When he has his heart to heart with Omega in the ipsium cavern, the way that he mentions Crosshair—even though that wasn’t even really what they were discussing—shows how often Crosshair is on his mind, so much so that he can’t really talk about people leaving and changing without bringing him up. When they get the Plan 88 from Crosshair, Tech is vocal and insistent about doing whatever they can to bring Crosshair back—because “he is still our brother.”
Tech is incredibly moral. Not that he’s any more moral than I think generally TBB is, but he’s not afraid to speak up when he sees something that he disagrees with fundamentally. “The systematic termination of the Jedi is a big one for me.” “There’s a fundamental different between taking fire in battle and being used for target practice.” Even in just the first episode, we see how firm his opinions are, based on what he believes: that people are people, that HIS BROTHERS are people, that they deserve better, that there is such a thing as right and wrong.
Tech may be practical, but that doesn’t make him any less crazy than his brothers—in fact, I would argue he is one of the more unhinged members of the bad batch. His plans and ideas see everything factually, factoring in risk not as an emotional factor but as a numerical one. He knows their skills, and what they are capable of, and he pushes them to those capabilities, even if the resulting strategy is absolutely insane. The best part is, as insane as he may be, his brothers trust him, because, as Tech himself said, he is seldom wrong.
Tech has a beautiful sense of wonder and awe for the world around him. How many times do we see him go wide-eyed as he encounters something that absolutely fascinates him—even if that thing is a Zillo beast that just ate an entire Imperial crew.
Tech is INSANE. Not unhinged, like I said earlier, but skill-wise, ability-wise, he is an absolute powerhouse. I will forever be grateful to the writers of TBB who gave us a techy, intelligent character who is not your average scrawny computer guy that we get in action movies. You have to have a lot of guts to be the guy in your squad who turns your back on the fight to bend over a computer and hack into a file or break an encryption or alter the programming—already a delicate operation, but with the added risk of getting shot with your back turned. He frickin wields double blasters so that he can shoot more clankers more efficiently (if that’s not practical Tech, I don’t know what is). He DOESN’T WEAR LEG ARMOR SO THAT HE CAN CARRY HIS TOOLS WITH HIM INTO THE FIELD. In “Faster,” we see his hand inching towards his blaster, ready to defend and protect the second it’s necessary—and you know he would’ve beaten anyone to the draw. He fought a group of Imperial troopers!!! With a broken leg!!!!!
Tech was amazing, and I hate that he’s dead, that we never got to see him grow old, that he never saw Crosshair again. But WHAT A LIFE HE LIVED.
I love the implication in TCW S7 that the other clones have heard about CF99, but it’s all just rumors, random pieces of gossip and information. Because with an army of that size, information is bound to get distorted, especially when it comes to an elite force like The Bad Batch. An elite squad of clones that performs special and black ops missions with a 100% success rate?? Are you sure?? I heard that…
And even better, I bet the batch encourages all of the rumors and even spreads some themselves. Those droids that were ripped to pieces?? Yeah, Hunter did that with his teeth. Crosshair? One time he took out an entire legion of droids from twelve kliks away in the dark and the seppies didn’t even know until morning. Wrecker once rigged a chain reaction explosion so masterfully that it blew up an entire tectonic plate on the volcanic planet they were on. And the only reason Tech hasn’t hacked into every Separatist database on the galaxy and destroyed them on the inside from his datapad is because he’s too busy saving entire star systems with piloting skills that rival Anakin Skywalker’s.
Omega: I went boating with Lyana today and we saw a sea turtle!
Echo: nice! Reminds me of this mission I did as an ARC trooper on this water planet. Fives and I found this turtle and we swam after it. But as we were swimming it got speared by these locals that took us captive. Turns out they were cannibals. Tied us to a spit and put us over the fire to roast. Comms were out and we were miles from camp so I thought we were gonners. Fives got us out by convincing the locals that we would be tastier if they fattened us up first. Then we snuck laxatives into all their food and used the window to escape back to camp. Made it back in time for the start of a battle against the separatists. Ha, good times.
Omega:
Hunter:
Wrecker:
Tech:
Echo: pass the peas, please.
Echo would 1000% drop the craziest lore in the middle of dinner with the batch and then just ask them to pass the peas and continue on like nothing happened, meanwhile the batch is like “you did what????”
*Echo and Tech devising battle strategies at 2am on Echo’s first night with the batch*
Echo: —and then, that’s when we would use the cannon to launch wrecker straight into the wall—
Tech: —yes, and at the same time, you and Hunter can be on either side rigging the explosives—
Echo: —which Crosshair will shoot from the other side of the battlefield from on top of the Rancor that we kidnapped earlier—
Hunter: *whispers to Crosshair* this might have been a bad idea.
Crosshair: *sips his coffee* I, myself, have always wanted to ride a rancor.
“Tech told me all about your…SPARKLING personality” I wanna know what Tech told Phee about Crosshair that made her so confidently sarcastic in that moment, like
Tech: oh yes, our brother Crosshair. Best sniper in the GAR, possibly the galaxy. He always kept an eye on us through his scope while we were on the battlefield.
Phee: that’s ni—
Tech: sure, he is cold and unyielding and incredibly stubborn and a little arrogant, but he always means well. He does like to pick fights with regs, but you can’t blame him, after being bullied all his life.
Phee: I guess we all have our—
Tech: there was that time where he got super upset with Hunter for not murdering that Jedi on Kaller. Then he tried to convince us to murder civilians. But he abandoned us for the Empire after that, so it wasn’t really a repeating problem.
Phee: wait—
Tech: that was when he shot Wrecker. Oh, and he tried to roast us alive in a spaceship engine. That was all under the influence of the inhibitor chip, though. Supposedly he’s had it removed since then. So his murderous tendencies have probably chilled out a little bit.
Phee:
Tech: he also used to eat glue.
Thanks @laughhardrunfastbekindsblog
This feels like cheating hahaaaa but just the other day I re-saved this photo to use as the cover for my bad batch playlist on Spotify.
Am I safe?? Considering the types of missions they get sent on, prolly not lol but I would be in mortal danger with them any day XD
Lowkey I have no idea who to tag haha, tag yourself friends
thanks for the tag @amalthiaph !! felt like making a new thread
this is my recent saved pic so technically im stuck with two characters, and i'm definitely safe
no pressure tags: @orion-tyche @magicandmundane @bossboudicca @kurlyfrii @ladywren7 @ahsokashawarma1138 @royallykt and anyone else who wants to do this!!
The Bad Batch’s favorite underrated movies when they were cadets:
Tech: Atlantis, because let’s be honest, he totally daydreamed about discovering and saving a lost civilization as an eight year old
Wrecker: The Iron Giant. Innocent yet emotionally intelligent kid, giant super strong robot, explosions—that movie is so Wrecker coded, except he definitely cries at the end and the rest of the batch has to be up all night consoling him (“the whole point is that the robot LIVES, Wrecker” “b-b-but they never see him again…”)
Crosshair: Treasure Planet. Like can we all agree that deep down inside, Crosshair is just a Jim Hawkins, aka angsty teenage boy that needs some Love and Attention. Except he would rather die than admit why that movie resonates with him
Hunter: Brother Bear. Mountains and wilderness?? Check. Brothers?? Check. Bears?? Check. 8 year old Hunter literally just wants to be a bear
Not me begging all my friends and family to watch The Bad Batch, acting like that show isn’t the reason I cry myself to sleep every night
It really is so cute and sweet how the bad batch collectively works really hard to teach Omega everything they know, even though (they don’t seem to realize) their knowledge and skill set is literally so unhinged: how to disarm literally any bomb ever, how to hack into any computer, how to steal locate valuable data, breaking and entering, extensive knowledge of every weapon in existence, stealth and reconnaissance. These super soldier brothers suddenly find themselves in a position where they are raising a child, and they don’t know much about raising children, except you’re supposed to teach them right?? So teach her they do, but they go straight from “this is dirt” to “this is how to aim an energy bow, don’t worry about stun settings lol” but in the most heartfelt and genuine way possible because for them, that is the most important thing and that is how she will survive in the galaxy when they aren’t there to protect her anymore. Like Hunter, babe, most dads are out here teaching their daughters how to ride a bike, but sure, you teach Omega the fastest way to disembowel a droid with a vibroblade, that is valuable knowledge
Okay so between S1 when Echo snatched that trooper doll for Omega, and S3 when he brought her that crossbow, is it acceptable to assume that he would just like…bring her things? All the time?? Sometimes the batch isn’t 100% how he acquires some of the stuff he brings home, but Omega is always so excited when Echo has another gift, and sure it’s not usually something super grand, but it’s just his way of letting her know that she’s part of the squad and the family and maybe part of his way of making up for the fact that she doesn’t really get to be a kid all the time.
I just also think it’s funny how his gifts get progressively more dangerous…first it was like “here’s a doll for you to play with, kids need toys” and then it was like “here’s a lethal weapon, shoot straight”
Echo: *wakes up in the middle of the night, hears loud crunching noises, stumbles out into the cockpit of the Marauder* Hello???
Wrecker: *freezes, dozens of empty cookie packages around him, a cookie halfway in his mouth*
Echo:
Wrecker:
Wrecker: *holds out a cookie* don’t tell Hunter.
Echo:
Echo: *accepts cookie*