Off to a Great Start

This is the main page for the first book in the Adventures!AU series. For a detailed, chapter-by-chapter summarization, see Off to a Great Start (Chapter Breakdown).

# Description

While sitting in my room, vibin', I'm suddenly launched into the Clone Wars universe and find myself on a world in the Outer Rim. Salt ensues, but I soon realize I have bigger problems; the Bad Batch is after me to help them on a mission. Why, you may ask? Good question. Let's find out together.

# Summary

Awakening on an unknown but Earth-like alien planet in a place called the Outpost, Shadow Hyder finds themselves greeted by a familiar face; Trevor Stu. Yet this is not the first instance of this happening; a few months prior in their time, they ended up in the universe of the 2011 Tintin movie. After being informed that they have been transported into the Star Wars universe during the era of the Clone Wars, Shadow finds that there is a bit of a twist; their original stories have crossed over with canon. Not only are they an Alphian with trace amounts of Relk in their blood, granting them telekinesis along with the standard Alphian power set, but they also possess two lightsabers. What's more, according to Trevor there are some major characters on their way to talk with Shadow, although he only tells them that the characters are clones. Aggravated at the Mary Sue-esque feel of it all, Shadow makes the mistake of asking questions and experiences massive info-dump flashbacks much to Trevor's amusement. After a failed nap, Shadow begrudgingly meets Trevor in the Outpost library only to find out which clones have come after them; Clone Force 99.

They attempt to sneak away quietly, only for Trevor to call them out and drag them over to the commandos. Shadow attempts to deflect the men, but Sergeant Hunter remains persistent in getting their help on the mission. After Trevor then abandons Shadow, the fandom hopper gets their first look at the squad's faces, which bear more resemblance to the live-action actor Tem, and realizes that the universe is not *quite* canon but canon a bit to the left. Rubbed the wrong way by Crosshair and calling the man a homicidal twig, which greatly amuses Wrecker, Shadow distracts the men and bolts. The resulting chase encompasses the Outpost's library, a tunnel system, a large four story playground in the Outpost, a foam pit, a hill, and a large, fake Anthill. During the tunnel system chase, Hunter does catch up to them but allows them to escape in order to keep the chase going a little longer. Although they initially manage to evade the men, Shadow finds themselves trapped in a dead end and grapples with Hunter. The match turns ugly when Tech attempts to sedate them and Shadow is forced to reveal their telekinetic abilities to escape.

Distressed by the turn of events, Hunter orders Crosshair and Wrecker back to the ship and follows Tech, who has Shadow cornered in a higher level. Shadow angrily grumbles to both men that they may be beaten but they are still leery about joining the mission which they know nothing about. Sergeant Hunter relents and tells Shadow why the squad is after them; they seek a place called the Vault to learn the weakness of an alien species and Shadow is the only one who knows how to get there. After another round of salt later, the trio head back to the ship. Encountering Trevor on the way, Shadow snaps at him for leaving them alone to deal with the Batch. Both then argue about who had it worse in the previous fandom jump, where Trevor got shot between the legs while Shadow was hit by a truck and had a building collapse on them. Hunter demands to know how the two are even alive, only to receive the cryptic answer of "plot armor". When both he and Tech express doubt over this, Shadow reveals they have two blade scars across their stomach from an incident on the ship Leaving Trevor behind, Shadow is questioned by Hunter if there is anything he should know about Shadow. Although Shadow tries to deflect the question, they are forced to admit something is unusual after Tech points out their inhuman quirks but Hunter agrees to let them tell the whole truth later.

Returning to the *Havoc Marauder*, Shadow has a brief verbal altercation with Crosshair who sics Wrecker on them. Carried aboard the ship and given some bacta for the wounds sustained by the chase, Shadow is given a more in depth briefing on the mission and shown a video of the invaders. Upon realizing it is none other than their Alphian species, Shadow agrees to help the men on their mission and the group head back to the Outpost to speak with Trevor again. While on the way, Hunter pulls Shadow aside and reveals he knows they are a member of the species but will not attack them for it since they have agreed to help. Meeting the others in the nearby barn, they are confronted by James and Shadow attacks him after he calls the Batch "lab rats". Unbeknownst to Shadow, their fight with James manages to earn them Crosshair's respect. Trevor, who joined them at the barn, stops the fight and offers to let the Batch stay in the apartment next to Shadow's. Shadow heads back to the Outpost with Tech and Crosshair as Hunter and Wrecker go to hide the *Marauder*. After the latter two join the others in the Outpost cafeteria, Shadow and Crosshair have another altercation that ends with Shadow leaving the commandos to take a shower.

After finishing their food, the commandos head up as well and do a search of Shadow's apartment. Tech is ordered to check Shadow's room, and the engineer is confronted by Shadow while the others discover the fandom hopper's lightsabers. Hunter questions Shadow as to their origin, causing them to experience another infodump that sends them to the floor. As tensions die down, Shadow reveals their feral form to the men before heading into their room once more. Joined by the commandos after the men shower off as well, Shadow shows off some of their martial arts skills before the group settles down to watch some TV before bed. Later that night, as Shadow and Tech (who is sleeping on the sleeper sofa in Shadow's apartment) chat about different topics, Hunter wrestles with his thoughts on Shadow. The sergeant tries to get Shadow and Tech to quiet down, only to leave flustered which Crosshair teases him for. Finally, after bidding Tech goodnight, Shadow also heads to sleep to build up their energy for the next leg of the mission.

# Characters

In order of appearance, the main characters of *Off to a Great Start* are:

* Shadow Hyder
* Trevor Stu
* Sergeant Hunter
* Corporal Crosshair
* Tech
* Wrecker

The minor characters, in order of appearance, are:

* Scooter Clark
* Sunbeam
* Rushing River
* James Kilroy

# Settings

* The Outpost
* The Anthill
* *Havoc Marauder*