"You don't fight like normal men. Normal men stop running, stop shooting, stop punching, stop living. You will fight better."

- Sargent Ehud, Member of the Cuy'Val Dar,

Seven years before the battle of Geonosis

1

Command

Cassus woke up in a med bay. He was surprised he was alive. Then he saw the droid next to him. With one move he ripped its head off. Then Cassus reached for the surgery knife it was carrying. He jumped out of bed and ripped of the curtain surrounding his bed. 'The seps caught me' he thought. There were men he didn't recognize. With horror he saw his reflection. His entire left cheek was a crisscross of scars, and there was a red line from his right temple down to his left jawbone. He had a prosthetic left eye and a severely broken nose. It also appeared he had broken his jaw and had it reset.

He made a move to rush out of the enemy medbay when he saw two clone MP's in gray armor. The commander lowered the knife cautiously. They took one step apart, and in between them walked a man in brown and tan robes. This had to be one of the jedi generals.

"Hello trooper, my name is Boaz." The man said in a liquid voice. He lowered his hood to reveal a human face. "I am a gurlanin. We are shape shifters. I thought this would be less frightening than my actual form. Are you well enough to walk?" Cassus felt a dull pain in his right leg, but other than that was good.

"Yes, Sir." The commander said formally. They began to walk down the hallways of what Cassus guessed was a Venator class cruiser.

"You performed well on Geonosis Commander. Your efforts allowed the destruction of a factory and the ability to take an entire sector of the planet. The men under your command were unfortunately killed in action. We were able to form one company from the entirety of your battalion. They are currently deployed with the 212th. We are orbiting Coruscant. And I have a job for you. The war has been going on for two months."

"The republic commissioned nine specialized Battalions called Shadow Battalions. Six were destroyed on the trip to Geonosis. The nav computer flew them through a sun. The other three are currently in cryogenic stasis. We plan to thaw one of these, The 3rd Shadow Battalion, for a mission. They need a commanding officer. I am offering you that position. We also need you to lead a specialist squad we put together. Will you help me?" The general had shapeshifted from a human into a black creature with glossy fur. His orange eyes looked up questioningly.

"What's the difference between this battalion and other clone units?"

"They can adapt to almost any environment, they can operate alone, and they are most comfortable far behind enemy lines." The Gurlanin smiled, showing his fangs.

"Who's in this specialist squad?" Cassus asked, still getting used to speaking. The wolf-like face smiled again.

"Follow me." The gurlanin led him into an office. On the table were six profiles. Cassus picked up the first one. A blaze trooper photo was on the front.

"That's Dante. He's a pyromaniac. The next one is a republic commando. His name is Dom. He was being considered for reconditioning because he loved his job too much. He's been caught on multiple occasions building homemade bombs. They've both been diagnosed with clinical insanity. The sniper is an ARC trooper. Your tech expert is a genius. His genes got screwed up during the cloning. He actually rewired the machines when he was two years old so the kaminoans wouldn't find out. The ARC is Jacob, and we call the engineer Ben. The medic is the best. He's called Patch. He lost his eye and refuses to get a prosthetic, so he wears an eye patch. He's also a scout trooper, and possibly the best at that as well."

"You're going to have your hands full with the last two. One wears a prototype armour. He stands about as tall as an AT-RT in full battle gear. He is great at fighting, but he just doesn't stop. He snuck out of med bay to be deployed. John is his name. The other is a clone assassin. He loves his job, unfortunately. He's your melee expert. His name is Solomon" The General smiled. "What do you think?"

"Sir, all do respect, these men are lunatics." Cassus said horrified.

"Of course they're crazy, but they're the best at what they do. You have two months to train them. I will give the mission layout after that time. Dismissed." The General was extremely cheery. and Cassus didn't like it. The men he was in charge of were loose cannons.