Author's notes
Hello readers and potential fans, this is my second time writing fanfiction and I'm a huge star wars fan so I figured why not write a star wars story. The setting will take place before Geonosis during Star Wars episode II and the switch over to star wars the clone wars. Hope you like it :).
Tippoca city, Kamino
-2 days before battle of Geonosis-
It had finally stopped raining. Kamino wasn't much to look at when the entire planet was under a tempest, a world full of gray and black. But when the rain stopped, it was beautiful. The deep blue waters filling the entire landscape with a jumbled mess of white and gray clouds filling the light peach sky. The sun itself peeped around the clouds and its rays would would race down to the water. 'If only I could stay and enjoy the view' I thought to myself sadly.
"CT-7562!" A voice exclaimed.
I turned around to see my CO and old friend jogging towards me. CT-7567, captain of my platoon, was wearing his phase I standard ivory armor with maroon detailing on the armor identifying his rank. His helmet in the crook of his left arm, a single maroon line going straight down the middle. His face was full of life and optimism, his eyes chocolate and his short hair blonde. Although his hair style was different from mine, we were the same person and yet two different stood in front of me and clasped my shoulder, a wide smile plastered on his face.
"I've been looking everywhere for you '62, we have a simulation battle in ten minutes. We're going up against Sigma platoon" He explained while taking his hand off my shoulder.
"Then why the excitement, will just mop the floor with them?" I asked sarcastically while smiling.
"Cause Alpha-17 will be watching and rumor is that he is looking for potential Arc recruits!" He exclaimed while throwing his free arm up to the air. Hearing this made my eyes widen and left my mouth agape.
"This must be big then! Hold up I'll get my armor and gear, where is sim going to take place?!" I asked while running towards where our bunks were located.
"Sim bay E3!" He shouted, his voice fading into the distance.
-5 minutes later-
By the time I had arrived at the sim bay, both platoons were almost ready for the sim. Both platoons had 30 men in each divided into 5 squads and led by either a captain or sergeant. The field was a large area with dark grey flooring with white details, small hill tops and cover. Platoons would always start off on either the east or west side, there was a sign saying my platoon was on the west side of the field. I walked towards my platoon,vCT-7567 was standing in front of the men discussing tactics.
When he saw me, he ordered the men into position, then he and another soldier walked towards me. The other soldier was CT-7564 or Denal as he liked to be called. He was wearing the same phase I white armor as '67 but his was completely white. His helmet was already on and a DC-15s in his hands with barrel pointed towards the ground. '67 was also wearing his red helmet and he had a DC-15s.
"Glad you could make it '62, nice gear" Denal stated while looking at me.
My armor itself was the same as his except for a burgundy line going down from left shoulder all the way to my hand and my left and right leg armor were completely red. There was also a maroon crosshair off to the right side of my helmet. My armor colors were to identify troopers who were snipers. I was armed with a DC-15x and had a small holster on my right thigh armor for a DC hand pistol.
"Thanks Denal, so '67 whats the plan?" I asked, looking at '67.
"Squads A and B will move up the middle while Squads C and D take the left and right flank . We and the rest of Squad E will move around the field and help as we see fit. Any questions?" '67 asked both of us calmly, his excited demeanor had changed.
Usually during sims CT-7567 would change from a outgoing and friendly trooper to an all serious captain. But despite that I could see a hint of excitement in his eyes. Before I could say anything the comm crackled into life.
"Platoons, this is Alpha Arc-17" when '17 said this, '67 nudged me and gave me a small grin.
"This sim will not only be a test of your skills for each and everyone of you but also to see who has what it takes to potentially become Arc troopers" '17 explained.
Suddenly the floor light up red, slowly it started to change to yellow. Everyone knew that the sim was about to start, all troops from our platoons got into position by the time the color was green. Then a siren went off indicating the match had started.
Each Squad went off in the direction they were supposed to. As soon as Squads A and B moved forward they came under heavy fire. Two soldiers dropped immediately while the rest ran to cover.
"Squad C move to support A and B" '67 shouted.
Squad C moved to a small plateau on the left flank. Immediately they began to fire at the enemy but they were too far away to see from here. I aimed my sniper off towards where the blue bolts where coming from. About 24 troopers were taking cover in the middle, firing upon Squads A and B. C had taken out three enemy troops but then came under fire as well. I looked to where Squad D was and they were also under fire from the other platoons 5th Squad. My Squad had taken cover just behind A and B also firing down the middle.
" '67, almost the entire platoon is down the middle with the last Squad trying to take out D!" I shouted to him urgently over the sounds of blaster fire.
"Alright! '62 head over to D and help them take out that Squad, then fire on the troops in the middle, the rest of you were moving to C to get a better vantage point, move!" '67 yelled.
Squad E immediately got up and ran to the left flank while under fire. One of the troopers got hit in the leg, he collapsed to the ground but Denal grabbed him by his arm and dragged the soldier into cover. While this was going on I ran over to D, a few bolts whizzed past my head but other than that I managed to make it into cover next to D.
The sergeant of the Squad was trying to set up fields of fire but wasn't having much luck. He had lost half his men from enemy fire while him and the other two troopers were returning fire sporadically. I look down my scope to see the entire enemy Squad hadn't lost anyone and was keeping D pinned. I kept viewing through my rifle until i spotted their sergeant. His alabaster armor with emerald details made him stick out from among the rest of his team. I fired a single shot that impacted his helmet, knocking him to the ground. All the members of the enemy Squad looked down at their fallen sergeant, shocked to find their nco on the ground. Squad D quickly took the advantage and took down three more soldiers while I shot the rest. D's sergeant walked over to me while the other two troopers formed a perimeter and secured our 'fallen' soldiers.
"Thanks for the assist, did the captain give any other orders?" The sergeant asked calmly.
"The captain wants your Squad to fire on the middle, the rest of the platoon is there" I answered.
"What will you be doing?" The sergeant questioned while the rest of his Squad moved towards us.
"'67 ordered me to flank the enemy" I lied while grinning under my helmet.
The sergeant just nodded and Squad D moved toward cover and started firing towards the enemy platoon. I began to move toward where the enemy platoon started on the field. I respected '67 and loved him like a brother but sometimes he doesn't always go withe the best option. At the same time I wasn't going to take away a Squad from him just because I didn't agree with him.
Finally I was behind the enemy lines, there was multiple pieces of cover to hide behind and a couple small hills for a vantage point. I settled onto a small hill, my rifle leaning against a piece of cover while I observed the enemy platoon. About ten troopers were on the ground but the rest of them were still firing at the enemy. I checked the hud on my helmet to see that we were down to 16 troopers not including me. I aimed at the trooper that was farthest away from his comrades, I would probably be able to only get a few down before I was caught. I quickly fired into the back of a soldiers helmet, he fell forward with a slight thud. I aimed at another two soldiers and knocked out them out. I was about to take down a sergeant when a hail of sapphire blaster fire slammed into my cover. I quickly ducked down and slid off the hill into another piece of cover. I poked my head around where I was to see two troopers firing on my previous position and slowly moving forward. I took out my hand pistol and quickly snapped of a few shots, hitting the first trooper in the chest.
The second one took two bolts to his shoulder but he ducked back to cover. I slung my rifle over my back and rushed the trooper with my pistol. I jumped over the cover just when the soldier was peeking his head out. I kicked him right in his face forcing him on the ground. I fired a single shot to his forehead and dove to the ground. By now the enemy platoon should of noticed that they were losing people quickly. I crawled over to another hill closer to the enemy. I unslung my rifle and leaned against a small barricade to see the enemy captain and a sergeant moving towards where their troopers had fallen. 'Dumb move Sigma, without a captain this battle is as good as ours' I confidently thought to myself. I quickly fired two shots, both going into the chest of the captain, falling into the arms of the sergeant. I then took out my pistol and shot the leg of the sergeant, then another bolt landed on his helmet.
With these two casualties, what was left of the enemy platoon stopped firing and looked to their rear. They saw most of their platoon on the ground including the captain and an enemy sniper not too far away from them. About half of what was left of Sigma aimed their DC-15a's at me but then a torrent of blaster fire pelted Sigma. Immediately five Sigma troopers fell, the last two tried to run while firing but were also shot.
After that a siren went off, signaling the end of the of the simulation. All troopers that had gotten shot began to get off the ground, some moaning from the bolts shocking their bodies. The soldiers that got hit in the head (most were because of me) were especially groaning from the pain. All the troopers from my platoon started shouting and hollering out of joy from winning the fight. Some of Sigma were arguing with each other about who's fault it was for losing. I walked towards my platoon looking for the captain. I found him with his helmet in his hand and a sergeant talking with him. When he noticed me walking toward him, he excused himself and walked towards me. He had a small sad smile on his face but overall he did seem glad that the battle was one.
"Nice job with helping out D, their sergeant told me what you did. Why did you disobey orders?" He asked, a frown forming on his face.
I could understand why he was upset. We trusted each other to back the other up, from how he was looking at it he probably thought I betrayed him.
"I saw an opportunity and I took it, I helped the battle end quicker and I took out Sigma's captain. I knew you gave me orders but i found a better solution and I wanted to make things easier on you and the platoon" I answered sympathetically while placing my hand on his shoulder.
"Alright brother, things were easier with them sending troops to their rear while we moved forward" He answered while smiling at me.
"How many men did we lose?" I asked, concern in my voice. Even if this was just a sim, if it had been real we would have lost brothers.
"We lost half our platoon" '67 replied, his frown back on his face.
"You did your best and still managed to save the rest of the platoon" I told him comfortingly while squeezing his shoulder.
"Officer on deck!" one of the nearby troopers shouted.
Immediately all the troopers lined up in a single row, both platoons standing next to each other. In front of us was Alpha Arc-17 along with two kaminoan scientists. Arc-17's armor was phase 1 Arc trooper armor. The difference between his and ours was that his armor had a kama around his waist, a single pauldron on his left shoulder and life support backpack. His entire armor had blue details on it. 'They must of also been watching the simulation' I thought to myself. 17 immediately walked over to my platoon.
"This platoon did fairly well, managing to maintain combat effectiveness and taking down the enemy. The captain coordinated and adapted to the situation around him very well and did his best to keep his men alive" the Arc explained while gesturing towards '67. '67 nodded to this as A-17 continued.
"The only problem that showed was when your platoon sniper went off on his own and I doubt he was ordered to. CT-7562 step forward" the Arc trooper ordered.
I stepped out of line, walking toward 17 and standing in front of him at attention.
"Tell me soldier, why did you go off on your own?" 17 questioned, his tone condescending. Even though it seemed he was angry it felt like there was more to it.
"I found an opportunity to take more enemy than I could of originally if I were to follow my orders sir. I wanted to protect my brothers" I answered calmly feeling confident in my answer.
"Thats not the answer I'm looking for trooper" 17 growled at me.
"Sir?" I asked him, confusion drenching my voice. There had to be something I wasn't looking at.
"Turn around" the Arc trooper stated calmly. I turned around and was facing my platoon. He
stood right next to me looking at the troops as well.
"Tell me what you see" he said quietly.
"Um, my platoon sir?" I said, still confused as to what he was trying to show me.
He grabbed me roughly by the helmet and made sure I was looking at the troopers in front of me.
"Who is your platoon?!" He shouted at me angrily.
I started thinking really hard on what he was trying to get me to see. The people in my squad were '67, Denal, and the other members of my platoon. I didn't know the rest of my platoon that well but they were still my brothers. Then it hit me.
"My brothers sir" I answered him calmly, more confidence in my voice than the last time.
The Arc trooper let go of my helmet and gestured to my platoon.
"That is your family trooper, your brothers. Its already going to be hard enough watching them die around you, but how would you feel if you couldn't be with them during their last moments? How do you think they would feel if they weren't with you before you died? To do that to them is selfish trooper get that through your head" he said sternly.
My head slightly lowered at hearing these words. I had never thought about it like that and I felt like I had let them down.
"However" A-17 said, my head raising up to look at him.
"Your reasons behind your actions are just and you had your brothers in mind. You do have what it takes to be an Arc, you easily know when to move and when to wait. When to attack and when to retreat. You even have the ability to sneak around, if you didn't have a nickname I'd call you prowl". I blinked when he said that name, I didn't have a nickname and that name sounded like it fit. "but you still have a ways to go. Look to your captain" my eyes widen slightly when he said I had potential to be an Arc but they grew bigger when he mentioned '67.
"He is a fine example of an Arc trooper, he cares for his brothers and will fight beside them rather than stay in the rear. All he needs is experience in actual combat. So follow his example and you will make Arc trooper. That goes to the rest of you as well, am i understood?" He asked to the rest of my platoon.
"Yes sir!" Everyone shouted earnestly.
"Alright, you are dismissed" 17 ordered.
My platoon got out of attention and began to walk out of the sim room, Denal and '67 slowed down long enough for me to catch up. I glanced over my shoulder to see Alpha talking to Sigma. 'Probably about how to be better at aiming and coordination' I thought to myself smugly. Even if we were all brothers I still liked to be better than most, plus Sigma would always try to compete with my platoon.
"So what do you think of what 17 said?" '67 asked curiously, his question snapping me out of my thoughts.
"I think I should take what he said to heart, but if going solo means you and the rest of my brothers then I would do it again and again. And I kinda like the name Prowl" I said to him while smirking.
Denal smacked in the back of my head and looked at me like I was crazy.
"Are you nuts?! What about being an Arc trooper?" He exclaimed in shock.
"Who cares, I want to be an Arc but I want my brothers around to see me become an Arc" I stated, annoyed for him hitting me.
Just like him and every other clone, I wanted to be the best and that would mean being Arc trooper. But at the same time I didn't mind being a grunt as long as I had my brothers.
"Pff, whatever 'Prowl'. All I need to know is that I'm going to be Arc trooper before both of you" he retorted cockily.
"And notice how 17 didn't mention you about being an Arc" I said innocently with a small smile on my face while '67 started to laugh.
Denal said nothing but growled at me while lightly pushing me. I pushed him back a little harder and ran past both him and '67.
"First one to the barracks is an Arc trooper!" I called to them while laughing. It only took half a second before both of them were desperately trying to catch up, calling out playful banter to each other and to myself.
-2 days later, 5 hours before invasion of Geonosis
Excitement. Apprehension. Fear. That's what everyone was feeling right now. Word was just announced over the intercom system around the city, telling everyone that we would be deployed in a few hours and were to report to hangar C. After that it was like mad dash for everyone to get their gear and run to the hangar. Right now my platoon, along with the rest of our unit was in the hangar about to load on a large ship. They said it was an acclamator-class ship and we would deploy from it.
In my opinion, the ship was just ugly. It pretty much had the design of a large grey arrow head. The only decent thing about it was that it could carry a lot of troops and equipment into battle. The only reason why we were about to load on the ship was because we would be in the first wave on some planet, geo-something I think it was. All the clones around me including myself were fully armored and had their weapons with them. An assortment of DC-15a's, DC-15s's, DC-15x's, and rocket launchers.
Right now vehicles and equipment were being loaded onto the ship. Our giant six-legged walkers were slowly lumbering onto the loading ramp while gunships would fly through the ship's hangar. On a small balcony in the hangar we were in was Lama su and Alpha-17. Lama su had an observant look on his face while Alpha's face was emotionless, his arms crossed over his chest. All the clones were lined up in parade formation, '67 at the front of the formation since he was a captain and Denal was to the right of me. I saw Alpha step forward on the balcony to a small microphone, when he cleared his voice it could be heard across the entire hangar.
"Congratulation brothers. You completed training and are now marching off to defend freedom and the Republic. Look to the Jedi for guidance and leadership and you will not fail. Look to your brothers, for they will bring the best in you and the will to survive no matter what and I promise you that not only will you not fail but you will win this war! Am I understood!" He shouted into the microphone, his voice full of pride.
"YES SIR!" All the clones and I roared in unison, determination being the only feeling emotion in our voices.
"Good! Now move out!" Alpha yelled.
And with that we marched towards the assault ship, ready to face whatever the galaxy threw at us.