A.N. ~ so, since it's been seven chapters, just a recap that I don't own Star Wars. Only OCs, OPs, and OTs (Original Things). Enjoy!


Training with Fives is harder than I expected. The physical and mental exercising is difficult, though he assures me I'm doing excellent for someone my age, and says that I excel in hand-to-hand combat.

I'm up early and training late, losing pounds to small rations and exercise. One day I wake up and Fives is shaking me.

"Wha—? What time is it?" I scramble out of bed.

"Half an hour after our usual meet up."

"My alarm must've malfunctioned." I tap the small box and it starts blaring at me. I turn it off quickly with a start of surprise.

"Get to the Mess double time." I nod and get to work as soon as he leaves. I change into a fresh set of clothes, wash my face, and speed walk to the Mess Hall. I get food and eat it fast.

I'm so absorbed in the meal that a hand tapping my back ends with me almost slicing Tup open with unsheathed arm-blades. My nerves are still on end. You can't turn off three years of caution in a few weeks.

"Sorry, Tup." He shrugs it off.

"Aren't you supposed to be in training with Fives?"

"My alarm didn't go off." I swallow the last mouthful.

"Better get going, then."

"Yeah. See you."

"Bye." I drop off my tray and hurry out. As soon as I'm past the door an arm wraps around my shoulders. On instinct of training, I drop, grab the hand, scurry backwards through their legs, and end up with the attacker at my mercy.

"Very good. You're a fast thinker." I let go and get up. Fives turns around.

"Should I be expecting more pop quizzes later?"

"Only if you're late."

"That's a 'yes' in disguise. I'm forty minutes late for the rest of the day." I protest.

"Then you better be on your toes." After we get to a quiet corner of the ship, two white armoured soldiers jump us. I hold off on my arm-blades, but dart around. I get the one I'm fighting against a wall and unsheathe my weapon, holding him there.

The other one tries to grab me and I twist. The after result is my holding both attackers on the wall at blade-point. Clapping from Fives makes me sigh.

"Another pop quiz?"

"Yes. You can let them go now." I step back, they step forward.

"You're not going to tell anyone about this, right?" One says.

"You shouldn't be embarrassed, seeing how it's Twitch you were fighting. I'll keep it quiet."

"Thank you, sir." They stand at attention for a couple seconds and walk away. Once they're out of hearing range I face Fives.

"Their secret dies with me."

§ § §

After weeks of training, I get restless. We're supposed to go down and fight on a planet soon. I forgot its name in five minutes. I've sharpened my arm-blades, washed up, tied my hair back, and have fifteen minutes to spare before heading down to the hanger.

My leg has since healed, though a little sore, my side is a slight twinge away from being better. I decide that if I walk slowly, I'll reach the hanger in ten minutes.

I head out and walk at a leisurely pace. Just as I thought, I reach the hanger in ten minutes. Rex waves me over.

"You look tense." I shift weight from foot to foot.

"Just living up to my name. Am I really late or really early?"

"Early, though not very. There are the men now. Commander Cody is joining us, and he's very by the book. Address him as 'sir', salute, and do all the things you usually don't do."

"I get this feeling I should resent that comment." I immediately recognize the yellow-marked armour and the unique helmet. He was at the battle where I got shot. He had told me I was too young to use guns. Him and what proof? I stand at attention when he comes up. I'm looked up and down quickly.

"You're coming?"

"Yes, sir." I answer.

"Join the other troops, then." I salute and walk quickly to the others. I don't see Fives or Tup, which means the only one here who knows me is Rex.

Well, drat. What was I expecting? That since we all know each other we'll be assigned to fight together every time? I have start using common sense.

A trooper bumps into me. I hop out of the way before he can trip or push against me anymore.

"What the—what's a kid doing here?" He says. This is a general reaction that I'm by now used to. I feel conspicuous with my blue marked gauntlets, size, and gender.

I'm not sure if it was a rhetorical question until he looks pointedly at me. Somehow, saying that I'm a part of the 501st Legion doesn't seem like it would fly.

"Hey, lay off. You wouldn't be asking if you saw her fight." A clone with no distinguishing marks on his armour pipes up.

"Oh, really? Did she beat you up?" Now I can step in.

"No, but plenty of dead Umbarans couldn't say differently." I say. Now I know who this clone is, the one who is defending me, at least. One of the two who helped with that 'pop quiz' a couple weeks ago.

"Alright, cut the chatter. Onto those ships, double time!" The Commander breaks in. I hurry on with the others. The ride down is shaky and I can tell someone is shooting out there. The ship jolts and I only keep my balance because I'm holding onto a handle. The pilot starts talking over the comm.

"We've been hit. Expect a rough landing." I groan inwardly. A rough landing most likely means 'brace yourself, we are going to crash, but I'm wording it differently so you don't worry'. The ship wobbles. I keep my face blank.

Unlike the others, I don't have a helmet to hide whatever I feel. That's a luxury I refuse. A helmet would slow me down and probably make it difficult to see. The deck shakes and I can feel how quickly we're descending. My ears pop. The shaking is really bad now.

"Hold on!" I hear over the comms. A second later we hit the ground. I lose my grip on the handle (to my credit) just after most of the others do. I ram against the wall, and a few troopers. As far as I can tell, the ship is rolling. I tumble around with the others until we stop. I grunt as I get up.

It's dark, but I can see enough in the emergency light. I check for vitals. Only a couple are alive: Commander Cody and the clone who was criticizing me earlier.

Oh, great.

I check the pilots, then return to the others. I shake the Commander until he wakes up, and then the other one. When he doesn't stir, I take off his helmet and slap him. Once again, the trick somehow works. It's almost like when a machine is malfunctioning and starts working after you hit it. I hand him his helmet.

"Is anyone else alive?" Cody asks.

"No. We're the only ones left." I reply. He tries the doors.

"Blast! They're jammed." He mutters.

"The glass in the cockpit is broken. We could get out through there." I offer. Cody nods.

"Take what weapons you can carry and let's get going." I sling a sniper rifle over my shoulder along with a couple of DC-15s, stuff a DC-17 hand blaster identical to the one I already have in the spare holster on my belt, and grab a comm link.

The others straighten, wearing spare guns. I wait until they go before following. When they get out, they struggle through the small space, where I slip through quickly and easily. I don't comment on how much difficulty they had, seeing how the cockpit was my idea anyway.

We move out carefully through the gorgeous green buildings. I stay in the back, arm-blades drawn and a gun in hand. My body aches from getting knocked around, my side giving me the most grief, but I don't even insider complaining. I've been watching the buildings carefully. There is movement in the windows.

"Commander, something is in the buildings." He looks up. The farther we walk, the more sure I am that this is a trap. I've been catching flashes of smudgy yellow in many windows.

I finally can't take any more. My head swivels back and forth, I'm somehow fidgeting and walking at the same time, my finger hovers over the trigger. A loud shot rings out and chaos ensues.

The man in front of me falls over with a black hole in his back. I start towards him, but Cody barks for me to stop.

"He's dead. We gotta move." Red laser bolts are flashing everywhere. I dodge one, block another, shoot at a window where I saw a droid, and all the while running with the other clone. A shot almost hits him, narrowly dodged by a sudden burst of speed. We go down an alleyway, safe for the moment from enemy fire.

"Getting shot at is currently postponed until further movement, thank you." I mutter. We are stuck.

"The comms are useless." Cody growls. I shove him over the second I hear the blast. I twist and shoot at the droids filing into the narrow space. Only two can come at a time since the entrance is so narrow. I shoot left, the Commander shoots right, until we are once again safe...ish.

"I owe you one, kid."

"That depends on wether we live through this." I drag the nearest droid farther in and hold it up, creating a makeshift shield. It's heavy, making my arms tremble, but should do the trick. The Commander grabs one for himself.

We are shot at the second we come out, but with our backs to the building, and the droids protecting our front, we crab walk toward the Republic base. A blast nearly hits my head. The sparks sting the back of my neck as we keep moving. After a while, the shooting slows down until it stops.

I don't lose any caution, though, and continue as we had been until I'm sure we have made it far enough inside Republic territory. I dump the droid onto the ground, swing my shoulders to loosen them up, and nod in satisfaction. Didn't get shot. The droid I used however, is covered in scorch marks and riddled with dents.

"Good work, kid. You definitely know what you're doing." Cody's words make me happy, except one.

"Thank you, sir. My name's not 'kid', though."

"You have a point there. Let's hear it, then."

"It's—" I hear noise and my head snaps to the side. Some clones walk out and I sag with relief.

"Commander! Are you the only survivors?" One asks.

"Yes." They lead us back to the base, where a medic gives us a once-over, then sends us on our way. I head to the Mess Hall and am given the usual small meal that has become the norm lately. I eat it quickly, leave quickly, and end up with no where to go quickly. No sleeping quarters assigned, nowhere to rest. I'm bone-tired after going through an ambush.

"Good to see that you're alive." I whip around and find Rex standing behind me.

"Same could be said about you."

"Do you have anywhere to sleep?" I shake my head. He gestures and I follow as he walks.

"You have a talent for making me think you're dead or about to be." He has a point there.

"Because I so wanted our ship to crash." I say.

"Good point. So did you drive Cody crazy or get on his good side?"

"I think I'm on his good side. Hard to tell, though."

"Heh. I hate to say this, but wake up call is in two hours." I wince.

"Thanks for the heads up. We going for a battle?"

"Yes. You're with me and General Skywalker."

"Good to know." We reach the makeshift barrack. "I'll see you in two hours."


A.N. ~ once again, a Buffy line was in there somewhere. Chapter Eight's appearance has a sketchy timeline. Likely sometime in the next seventeen hours. Please review, positive and negative comments...