A . R . C.

a . d . v . e . n . t . u . r . e . s

Lieutenant Cub shuffled from foot to foot, his eyes echoing the agitated movements. The typical Lieutenant's helmet tucked neatly under his arm allowed for a certain amount of cover - he'd let his hair grow out, and now it cascaded in curls across his forehead, his own method of rebellion. His other brothers were staring ahead stockily; it would have been obvious that he was the only one to break formation in the line if not for his hair.

If the Clone had been aware of his jumpy movements, he would have certainly been thankful that it was not a Jedi stood in-front of him. Instead, a stern faced ordinary human was pacing before them. He almost laughed with incredulity; aware of his prowess with battle tactics, the elite of the army, it seemed silly that they would be under the command of one that was so beneath them. Prejudice was never a part of either his programming or his personality - but these were hardly normal circumstances.

"Well, you've achieved your life's work. As was always intended, you have two options; retirement or to pass on your elite battle training to your new successors, the Stormtroopers."

Movements ceased with one heartbeat, suddenly seeming out of place in this small room. After all that they had been asked to do, it seemed too good to be true that they could retire; he understood that his purpose had always been to fight with the Republic ... The Empire ... but surely it was a foolish move. ARC Troopers were outspoken and rebellious, a fact which seemed to have been forgotten in the confusion and rush of his final order.

"ARC Commanders; ARC Captains, ARC Lieutenants and ARC Sergeants - some of you will choose to end your duty here, others will continue. Which shall it be?" Too soft; he was used to barking orders in the rush and anticipation of battle, not this.

Cub wished that he could look to his side in that moment, to raise his eyebrows and silently ask what they thought of the proposition. Some had been personally trained by the Jango Fett, others had worked themselves up to this title - all had undergone training that set them apart from the average Clone ... training that made them very dangerous to have roaming free, even under watchful eyes. As a tight knit collection of elite squads, Cub felt certain that many would be undergoing internal conflict, just like him. Still - he was unknowing of how many had followed their orders - some may have still felt an allegiance to the cause that saw the Jedi fall.

As if on cue, the Lieutenant felt a movement brush his arm. Sure enough, the solider to his left had stepped forward. "It is my duty to serve, Sir."

"Very good, Captain. We'll expect the best from you."

Tension could have split the air like a knife; it hadn't dawned on the battle weary that they would have to make a decision in that moment. It was all very well on the battlefield, where quick thinking was needed. Up until this point, tactics had never been needed outside of training facilities, ground where grass had no stains, just scrap metal from clankers; 'born' into a life without changes, routine after routine and shot after shot, decisions would have to be made for the future now. The future was something even the most forward thinking of Clones had never really considered, and Cub had a feeling that this was being taken advantage of.

Was retirement an illusion? Being watched by The Empire hardly seemed a comfortable life, if they were even offering a true solution. He could feel his heart beating heavily, a dizziness in his head. He was capable of it, he knew that much - he'd already outsmarted the orders from above once before, although he was sure that in the years to come they'd be turfing out the betrayers. Capable, capable, capable - he'd made it this far, hadn't he? Brave, commanding, noble and loyal, that was him ... but he picked his loyalties carefully.

Ignoring the questions that were clouding his thinking, the ARC Lieutenant snapped into action, nodding his head and moving his feet slowly in succession of each other, heavy boots now planted ahead of the others. "I wish to retire. Somewhere I haven't fought."

"That is acceptable, ARC Trooper C-" Just as the Commander was interrupted, Cub's own head snapped backwards in surprise. He would have never expected that some of his brothers would be on the opposite side of the spectrum to him; rebellious and forthright about the Jedi, rather than ... this. Now they had their chance, it seemed.

Cub knew that action against his brothers was an act that would mean strict punishment - possibly even correction therapy back at the Kamino labs. He enjoyed the valor of fighting just as much as the next Clone, but he was not shortsighted. It had, however, taken some time for him to process what was going on; he would have assumed that the over lookers would have intervened, and yet again he had forgotten that they were not the Jedi, and likely not capable of holding the best warriors back from tackling down another.

The sound of heavy metal crashing to the ground separated from the grunts of Clones splitting their formation lines, each curious to hear the arguments - and beatings - going to be put forward. The ARC Trooper Lieutenant's helmet had hit the ground as he raised his arms to block the others fists, managing to heft out a labored sentence. "I-I served in The Clone Wars,"

"And you should not forsake that duty now! I don't know about the rest of my brothers, but these Jedi and any Rebels will make a nice difference from those Clankers!" Hissed back his attacker, ducking under Cub's defenses to take him down with a loud 'humph' from both men.

Eyebrows furrowed with slight annoyance and hands over his face to deflect the blows, he suddenly lifted his knees upwards in retaliation. This effort proved to be enough to afford him some breathing room, and a chance to roll to the side and hastily get to his feet, by which point several Captains, Sergeants and others alike had grabbed the arms of the fuming solider, holding him back.

"You should know that you won't be fighting; you'll be training others to fight for you. What did you think you'd be doing?" There was an air of superiority about his voice, but it wasn't intended; he just couldn't help pointing out that none of these brothers would be hunting down either Jedi nor Rebels.

"And how could you, of all people, Cub, turn your back on this? You're a legend," The other paused, obviously finding it hard to articulate his passion without the brute force of fighting. "it'll harm the reputation of The Empire."

After several seconds (that seemed like several minutes) of Cub simply staring, he screwed up his nose in disgust and spat at the Lieutenants feet.

"They'll be people looking for you. We all did it, Order 66 - and some aren't happy. I'll be rooting them out while you'll be running from them."