Chapter Text
The hydraulics hissed as the ship landed. The men of the 212th clone battalion clamored around getting ready to depart the gunship. The doors opened and the men climbed out. Commander Cody was greeted by Jedi general Obi-wan Kenobi. “Welcome back Cody, I’m assuming the pickup went well.” The general stepped around Cody to greet the four shinies as they stepped out of the gunship.
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I was the last one out of the gunship. I lined up next to the other three shinies in the landing zone. My new Commander, Cody, was speaking to who I could only assume was a Jedi. The Jedi was dressed in tan robes with a brown belt around his waist. From the belt hung a lightsaber. The Jedi turned from the commander to me and the other three. “Hello men. Welcome the Jedi temple of Coruscant. I am your Jedi general Obi-wan Kenobi. You may call me sir or general,” the man said with a kind smile. All four of us replied with “Yes sir,” simultaneously with a salute. The general chucked “At ease men, remove your helmets and introduce yourselves please.” Remove our buckets? Isn’t it regulation to keep them on?
After a moment when none of us moved, Commander Cody spoke up. “It’s alright boys, take your time to get comfortable. But do remember we do have to show you to our barracks.” The shiny on the opposite end of me removed his bucket with a shaky sigh. “Hello general. My name is CT-2783. But you can call me Flight,”
The General nodded, “Welcome to the 212th.”
The shiny to Flight’s right removed his bucket. “CT-6854, call me Bronze,” he said with a salute. General Kenobi smiled. The one to my left simply said “CT-1857, I uh don’t have a name yet.”
“Don’t worry shiny, we’ll fix that,” Cody said. He then turned to me, “Your turn,” I swallowed and removed my bucket. “Hey, I’m Shots. My number is CT-6708.” The general raised an eyebrow. To my left Bronze snickered.
“That's strange, you don’t seem to be on my list,” Cody said as he peered at his data pad. “You sure you got on the right ship kid?”
“Yes sir,” I replied
“Now hold on, it says here, you are supposed to be with the 501st, but you weren’t supposed to arrive until the next rotation.,” General Kenobi said as he looked at the data pad. The 501st? The same reckless, most popular battalion in the entire GAR?!? That 501? That can’t be right. I stared wide eyed at the general. “No problem at all, just a mix up.” He said.
The general turned to commander Cody. “Would you mind taking your men to their barracks? I shall deliver Shots to his.” He asked. “Not at all sir,” Cody replied. “Alright men, with me.” With that Cody and the rest of the 212th left me with general Kenobi.
“Shall we go?” The general asked me. I nodded and shoved my bucket back on my head.
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The walk was silent. But I took that time to take in the beauty of the temple. The high ceilings made it look a lot larger on the inside. Some of the pillars had carvings in them. Some had paintings of things I will never attempt to understand. The amount of doors and halls made it seem like it went on forever.
After a few minutes I realized that the general was speaking to me. “I’m sorry, I didn’t get that. Can you run that by me again,” I said with shame. Good job. On your first day you already disrespected someone.
He cleared his throat. “Yes, this is your barracks,” he replied waving his hand at a door to his left. “Now I have to return to my own men. I trust you will do well with these men. They’re some of the best people I know. Go find Captain Rex, I’m sure he will be able to help you settle in,”
“Thank you, sorry about the mix up,” I said as he turned to leave.
“You’re welcome, and don’t apologize it was an accident. I will see you later Shots.” With that he turned the corner and was gone. Before I turned the doorknob I took a second to gather my breath. Make a good first impression.
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I turned the knob and walked in. There was so much going on all at once. All that registered in my brain was that something small and fluffy was sprinting at the door. Oh and the multiple people cheering, one was not. They were circled, some on bunks some standing around the animal. So I did the first thing that came to mind. Move. I dived out of the way and whatever was running at me ran straight through the doorway and out of view. I looked up, all of them went silent. Whatever that was, it was probably meant to say in here. There goes that first impression. “Sorry,” I said quietly.
“It’s alright, Hardcase brought a wild animal here. And HARDCASE IS GOING TO GO GET IT!” Said the same trooper who hadn’t been cheering. It’s an ARC trooper. That’s probably Captain Rex. One of the troopers slid off the bunk landing on the floor. “It wasn’t my fault, I wasn’t the one who let it out!” Hardcase returned. The ARC trooper pointed to the door and glared at Hardcase. He sighed in defeat and walked out the door. The ARC trooper sighed and looked at me.
“What are you doing here anyway trooper?” He asked.
“I was sent here from Kamino,” I muttered. I took a second to get a better look at the room. The room was lined with bunks. In the back left corner there was a door, and another opposite from it.
Ha, we’re all from Kamino shiny,” Another trooper spoke up. “You’re going to have to be more specific.”
“Okay, well I was assigned to the 501st but I got sent with the 212th an entire rotation early,” I said.
“Alright then, welcome to the 501st,” the ARC trooper said. He stood and walked to me and shook my hand.
“General Kenobi said I needed to find Captain Rex. I’m assuming that’s you,” I said with to much confidence. I hear someone laugh behind me. So he’s not Rex. Great.
“No, Captain Rex is probably in his quarters with General Skywalker doing reports. At least I hope that’s what they are doing.” The ARC trooper shot a glacé towards the door in the back left. “I am Echo, what’s your name shiny?”
“I’m Shots,” I say. Echo smiles at that.
“Do people call you Shots because of how many shots you can drink?” Someone asked behind me. I turned to find another ARC trooper leaned on the doorframe with a smirk on his face.
Echo sighed. “This is Fives, we try to ignore him.” Echo said as he closed his eyes. “Go ahead and introduce yourselves guys, I’m going to go get Rex.” Echo walked away headed for the door in the back left.
I looked around at the men in my new battalion. One of the troopers on a bunk spoke first, “ Hello Shots, my name is Dogma.” I smiled and waved up at Dogma. I took a mental note of the physical appearances of all of the troopers. Dogma has a tattoo in the shape of a V on his face and bucket. Echo Has a blue handprint on the chest plate of his plastid armor. Fives has a small tattoo of the number 5 on his forehead.
The second trooper to speak up is Jesse. “Hey brother, I’m Jesse. Welcome to the 501st.” I thanked him.
The rest of the troopers introduced themselves. I can’t believe they’re so nice to me. The Medical trooper Kix even offered to show me the way to the medical bay in case I get injured. Tup is shy, I like him,
The clone they called Hardcase walked back through the door with a sad look on his face. “He got away,” he said looking down.
“Who got away? Said a voice behind me. I turned to find Echo and another trooper. Captain Rex? The trooper only had one pauldron unlike Echo and Fives who had two each. Rex also had buzzed hair. But in golden yellow instead of black. The Captain looked as if he just woke up, yawning as he walked around Tup.
“ No one Rex,” Jesse replied. “Where is General Skywalker?” And as if on cue the door in the back left of the room opened again. General Skywalker had long brown curly hair and was significantly taller then the clones. He wore robes like General Kenobi, but his were darker. He also looked very tired.
It was just then that Rex noticed me. He shot Echo a look and said “So that’s what you woke me up for.” He then walked up to me. “Hello My name is Captain Rex. I am the leading officer of the 501st. And this,” he put his hand on General Skywalker back as he came to stand beside him, “is Jedi General Anakin Skywalker,” the General blinked. “What’s your name trooper?”
“I am CT-6708, call me Shots,” I said looking at the general who just started to wake up fully,
“Hmm CT-6708? Is that correct?” I nodded. “What are you doing here? You’re a whole rotation early.”Captain Rex observed.
“Oh, It was just a mix up. That’s all.” I replied. Rex nodded.
General Skywalker finally spoke up. “Hey Shots, welcome to the 501st. I’m General Skywalker. Please know that if you are struggling with anything we are all here for you. Being new is difficult, but we are all in this together.” Skywalker said with a kind smile. Many of the other troopers nodded when he said this. Maybe this will be better than my batchmates.
Just then Rex’ comm beeped. He looked down at it and sighed. “Spare time is hard to come by in a war,” Rex said.
“What is it Rex?” Echo asked, looking up from his data pad.
“We have to head out for Rodia tomorrow morning,” Rex looked at me “Get some sleep Shots, tomorrow is going to be your first day. Bunk with Kix for now, we will have to get yours soon.” I looked at Kix. He nodded and smiled. “And to the rest of you, be ready early.” Rex and General Skywalker turned around and went back to the back left room.
I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to find Echo. “Sleep well rookie. Just so you know, that’s Rex’s room,” he points to the left back room. Then he points to the right back room, “And that one belongs to Fives and I. So if you ever need us just knock.” He and Fives then left.
Maybe this won't be nearly as bad as he thought it would be.