Dramatis Personae
Nahar ar'Kirilu'ar'Clau'Cwen'ar'qui'Feralis (Murder) - 17 year old Feralis female. Permanent rank in Confederation military: Captain. Nahar is from an old military family, and a bloodline bred specifically to be combat officers. She is a classic beauty by the reckoning of her own people, with deceptively delicate features, dappled white fur, sharply angled violet eyes, and a slender, agile build. Nahar holds nothing but contempt for the males who pursue her for her bloodlines or looks, though the only male she could stand as a life partner only wants her as a friend. She is known for being somewhat chatty, though she prefers to socialize on her own terms. Nahar is the strongest "active" fire talent to be born in over three hundred years, in addition to being one of the most powerful Force-sensitives to be born to the Feralis. She came by the nickname "Murder" during training, where she proved to have an exceptional aptitude for weapons. Nahar suffers from mild PTSD, as a result of spending her entire adult life as a soldier.
Luna'tar ar'Kirilu'ar'Clau'Cwen'ar'qui'Feralis (Sass) - 17 year old Feralis female. Permanent rank in Confederation military: Captain. Luna'tar is Nahar's yearmate and clanmate, and is frequently mistaken for her twin. She is nearly identical to Nahar, save for her different scar patterns, and eye color. Luna'tar had to pretend she was dead for a year for an undercover op, but did not reveal herself to Nahar for another six years, mostly because they were never on Ventriss station at the same time. She gained the nickname "Sass" because of her devastating sarcasm, though she is a skilled diplomat. Luna'tar serves in the same battalion as Nahar, the 5th Re'carta.
Tal'ler ar'Kirilu'ar'Clau'Cwen'ar'qui'Feralis (Slice) - 16 year old Feralis female. Permanent rank in Confederation military: Captain. Tal'ler is Nahar's one year younger sister, and, if she weren't 10 centimetres shorter and one kilo lighter, indistinguishable from her elder sister. She had the misfortune to be picked for a top secret military operation that required her to play dead. Unfortunately, she ran into the same problem that Luna'tar had had, and was unable to make contact with Nahar. Tal'ler came by the nickname "Slice" when she showed a strong aptitude for code-slicing, "Slice" being short for "Code-slice". She is also a member of the 5th Re'carta battalion.
Horus Skirata (CT-10/80888 | ARC-80888) - 18 (Biological age) year old In-Between(Late generation Human-Feralis hybrid) - Rank in GAR: Sergeant. One of only two female clones in existance, Horus narrowly escaped termination. She has blue-black hair and fur, both with metallic gold and copper flashes, with metallic silver hairtips. Her right eye is gold, and her left eye silver. Horus is trained as both a sniper and a medic. She prefers to use sarcasm to make her point, viewing wisecracks as inelegant. Horus is incredibly protective of those she considers aliit, family.
Prologue:
The vat was opened, and the unit designated CT-10-80888 was decanted. To say the Kaminoans were unhappy was an understatement.
"This clone is FEMALE you fool!" Chief Scientist Ko Sai snarled. "It was supposed to be MALE!"
"I am sorry, Chief Scientist. I do not know what happened." Fel Re apologized.
"Well, terminate the unit. It is defective." Ko Sai ordered.
Sergeant Kal Skirata walked into the room, curious as to what the kaminiise were doing. He overheard Ko Sai's order, and shoved Ko Sai out of his way. When he saw the "defective" clone, he lost his temper and took her from the Kaminoan.
"She isn't defective!" Kal yelled. "She is perfectly normal, so why were you going to terminate her!?"
"It is female, not male. Only males were specified in the order made by Master Sifo-Dyas." Ko Sai replied.
CT-1080888 chose that moment to swipe at Kal with birth-soft claws. Then, she lashed wildly out with one downy wing, hitting him in the face.
"She's got fight in her." Kal said. "I'll bet she'll be as good as her brothers, kaminii."
"It is still female, and therefore is defective." Ko Sai said coldly.
"I'll take her, kaminii, and raise her to be as strong as her brothers." Kal growled at the Kaminoan.
Kal stalked out of the room and bumped into Jedi Master Nahar, a Jedi who occasionally passed through Kamino.
"Sorry, Nahar. I didn't see you there." Kal apologized.
"It's all right. I was listening to you chew out that kaminii." The Feralis Jedi replied. "If you hadn't stepped in, I would have. You know how I feel about kits being hurt."
Kal walked to his quarters, and stopped dead outside the door, realizing that he was going to have to explain to the Nulls why he had a baby with him. Shab. Not only am I going to have to explain to the Nulls, I've also got to think of a name for her. "A name can wait." Kal muttered.
"Kal'buir, why do you have a baby with you?" Ordo asked when he saw Kal carrying CT-1080888.
"The kaminiise were going to terminate her for being female. I had to step in." Kal answered.
"Oh, I understand now. You couldn't just let that happen to anyone, buir." Mereel chimed in.
"If i hadn't stepped in, ad'ike, Master Nahar would have." Kal stated. "I think the whole of Tipoca heard her after she learned of your near termination."
"Yes, she certainly was loud. I didn't think a Jedi would be that noisy about her dislike of such actions." Jaing added.
"Anybody have any name suggestions?" Kal asked.
"How about Horus, since her right eye is gold, and her left eye is silver?" Kom'rk suggested.
"Horus... Isn't that some falcon god?" A'den asked.
"Yes, but I still think it's suitable for her. Just look at those wings." Kom'rk pointed out.
"Point. I do think it's a good name." Kal said. "She does look rather hawk-like. I think she's going to grow into a heartbreaker, though I pity the male who runs afoul of her."
Chapter 1:
"Wake up, Racer, Blaze, Tiger, River! It's time for our final test!" Horus yelled at her sleeping squadmates.
When her brothers didn't wake up, she delivered a hard poke with her index claw.
"That hurt, ner vod." Racer complained as he sat up.
"Well, if you don't wake up when I call, then I will poke you, you chakiri. You really don't want to be late for the final test." Horus stated with some annoyance.
"Not like they would do anything to you when they know Kal, or Murder, would kill them if they hurt you." Blaze pointed out.
"We still need to get to that test, though." Horus reminded them. "At least, if you really want to be ARC troopers."
The boys got dressed in record time, though with some complaining about Horus and her internal chrono. They walked down the hall and into the testing room only to find Horus standing there waiting for them.
"What took you boys so long?" Horus asked. "I manage to get dressed, brush my fur, preen my feathers, and braid my hair in ten minutes, so why does it always take you half an hour to get dressed and run a comb through your hair?"
"Ner vod, we do have to remove our gear from the locker. You have yours right next to your bed." Tiger reminded her.
"You're right, but that does not take more than 5-10 minutes." Horus stated. "It only takes me five minutes to put my armor on, and I have tail and wing plates to deal with."
The first squad enters the test area, and immediately started blasting droids. Once they have disabled the droids, they head for the Citadel. As soon as they reach the Citadel, they fire their cables and start climbing. When that squad reaches the top, they grab the banner and the test ends.
"All right, ner vode, it's our turn now." Horus said.
Horus's squad charges into the test, but, unlike the first squad, they don't shoot randomly, but carefully aim their shots. River takes a slight graze from a droid's blaster bolt, but keeps moving. Horus herself climbs to a reasonably high place to start sniping, making full use of her claws on the way up. Once she achieves a suitable altitude, she begins picking off droids and the gun emplacements on the Citadel. After the last droid and gun emplacement is gone, she glides down to rejoin her squad. Together, they charge the Citadel, and fire their ascension cables. Then, they begin to climb to the top. Once they reach the top, they grab the banner.
"Congratulations on your test." Nahar said. "That was some very good sniping Horus."
"Thank you, sir." Horus replied. "I hope that we did well, sir."
"You did well, younglings, despite having only nine years of training." Luna'tar praised the cadets.
"You taught me that trick, Murder. You always say that a sniper should always try to shoot from a high place." Horus said, with some pride in her memory.
Horus and her squad prepared to ship out for Geonosis, proud that they were good enough to finish their training early. As they packed, they heard some jealous muttering from the other squads in their batch.
"Why do they get to leave early, when they were always into trouble?" The leader of one squad complained.
"Maybe it's because we were better trained?" Horus asked sarcastically. "Or maybe it's because we trained directly under Kal'buir and Master Nahar?"