THE GREAT HALL, MARINE INFANTRY ACADEMY CORULAG - 3644 BBY, WEEK 17, DAY 1, 1057 HOURS


Kat adjusted herself in the seats beside the great hall. The hall was decorated with cloth and holographic flags of the Galactic Republic, it's armed forces, and the great ship, shield and rifles emblem of the Galactic Republic Marine Corps. She always found the combination of holographic flags and bright lights in the same enclosed space too blinding. She struggled to try keeping her bearings.

She sighed as she looked at Izzac, then to the other Marines around her. She was one out of four hundred Marines that are not due to be promoted in today's mass ceremony. They are not allowed to be in the ranks…. At least for today.

It'll come eventually.

In the center field of the hall, formations of Marines stood at attention in their camouflage utility uniforms. Unlike boot camp, occupational training graduation was much less grandiose. No proudly smiling and crying families, no elaborate and hot dress uniforms, no complicated drills...

There were, however, long and arduous speeches.

"Attention! General on deck!" Kat stood tightly at attention, eyes forward.

"At ease!" Today is a great day, for all of us here, for the Marine Corps, and for the Galactic Republic! Your graduation marks the beginning of your Marine Corps career. You will be expected to be doing your job to the best of your abilities. The path ahead will not be an easy one..."

She tried to listen, but one could only listen for so long. Kat fell asleep sitting upright and with her eyes was only awoken by the cheers of the entire great hall. She cheered alongside them, genuinely happy for everyone, even if she was still a filthy private.

The general that gave the speech stepped off the platform, donning her cover. A Major stepped up.

"Marines to be promoted to Lance Corporal, step out three times, and stand at attention!"

Only three hundred and fifty, out of more than fifty thousand, stepped out.

The major lowered and deepened his voice "To all that shall see these presents, greetings… Know that by reposing special trust and confidence in the abilities and fidelities of today's Infantry Academy graduates, the Marine Corps hereby appoints these Marines to the rank of Lance Corporal..."

For some reason, she felt a sting at those words. Corporal.

"...These appointees will therefore, carefully and diligently discharge the duties of the grade to which appointed by carrying out all manner of things thereunto pertaining..."

Kat exhaled out of her nose, almost too loudly. "What kind of Basic is that? Sounds like a long dead person speaking from the grave…"

"...And we do strictly charge and require all personnel of lesser grade to render obedience to appropriate orders. And this appointee is to observe and follow such orders and directions as may be given time to time by superiors acting according to the rules and articles governing the discipline of the Armed Forces of the Galactic Republic. This order is valid on the authority of the Galactic Republic Marine Corps on this 294th day, of the year 21,409. "

That long? My God… The numbers never made sense to her, for both how long the Republic has been around, and for how long it has been since she said goodbye to her parents at the spaceport. It seems to both not matter and the most important thing at the same time. Such numbers and times never made sense to her.

There was a deafening silence before the order to pin their rank was given. Every instructor and training officer had a droid alongside them, holding their brand new rank insignia in a tray. Kat clenched her jaw as she saw the Marines get pinned one by one. Each Marine saluted after receiving their new rank, before stepping back into formation.

After the first ceremony was done, a second ceremony was done, this time with those to be promoted to Private First Class. The same promotion warrant speech was read with minor differences, but the ceremony took longer as instead of three hundred Marines, it was more than fifty thousand. Kat, not caring at this point, tried to catch a few winks. She made sure to not slump forward, as that will attract the ire of her superiors.

The promotion and graduation ceremony ended with a "Good luck, do good, and may all fortunes be with you!" before they all fell out back into their barracks.

Kat collapsed in her bunk. She never cared for overblown pomp and circumstance. Not even in the Marine Corps, with all its rich history and tradition.


RECRUIT BARRACKS, WEEK 17, DAY 4, 1607 HOURS

Kat and the rest of her platoon had been spending the last three days getting ready to ship out to "the fleet", or their units.

After a litany of briefings on equipment and duties that seemed to last hours, she was glad to be sitting in front of her military datapad, making her own choices. Or so it seemed.

They were given three choices of where to be stationed, and although this was taken into consideration, their ultimate location and particular unit was up to the Marine Corps.

Her first choice was Brentaal IV. There were three divisions stationed on the planet - she chose it because she wouldn't have to spend too much time or credits on travel every time for long term liberty.

Second was a Marine Expeditionary Force. These were combined arms units, ranging from as little as a battalion all the way up into a full sized legion of a quarter million Marines, where they would be stationed with a naval task force or fleet roaming the galaxy, ready to respond to any crisis. She liked the idea of travelling the galaxy and going to different planets.

Finally, she chose a different planetside station - Naboo. If she couldn't be stationed close to home, she might as well be stationed somewhere faraway, somewhere she has never been and even better if it is somewhere nice. The bubbling streams, grassy plains and rolling hills sounded serene compared to a harsh world like Tatooine. For a world so close to the frontier of Republic space, especially after the Treaty of Coruscant, it was quite peaceful - at best, she could be part of a Quick Reaction Force.

But one could never know.

Next up was weapon choice. The Marine Corps trains its Marines in the basics of all types of weapons, from anti-vehicle rockets to vibroblades, but it lets its Marines choose their primary weapon after specialisation training - the idea was that a Marine could fight better if they is allowed to carry what suits their duties and situations best in combat - and the military table organization and equipment (MTOE) always has a surplus of weapons of all types for potential ballooning of size in times of all out war.

However, this choice is only allowed to be made once - any further changes in the future would require submitting a lot of forms and takes a lot more time. Kat pondered carefully. There were three choices for her occupational specialisation, all variants of the BT-27 rifle : The BT-27L Battle Rifle with its longer barrel and range, the normal BT-27, and the shorter barreled but lighter BT-27C carbine.

She ruled out the battle rifle - the longer barrel makes it hard to handle in close quarters combat. As a breacher, the carbine seemed the sensible choice for her - CQC is where she would be the most. But having done exercise in the vast desert and tall mountains, she wondered if the extra five centimeters would make a difference if things go bad quickly. She looked up across the room and asked her fellow breachers.

"What primary are you all carrying?" "I'm taking the carbine. I'll be stationed at Coruscant I hope, so I don't need the extra range and I'll be damned if I have to carry the extra weight," said Jorvy.

"I'll get the rifle - I'll be going to advanced mountain warfare school when I get to the fleet," said Beeral. "Oh, look at you, going the extra mile! I'll be glad if I don't have to even look at another mountain in my military career…" said Izzac. "Izzac? What are your choices?"asked Kat. "I'm going for the carbine - Jorvy's right - I'll be damned to hump that thing around with all my other gear,"

"Huh… Well… I guess I'll go for the carbine, then," she murmured to herself as she filled out the electronic forms on her 'pad. "If I need to fire another extra hundred meters I think I'm screwed even without the extra range," "Oh you'll regret yourself with that kind of thinking, Kat," said Beeral. "OK, here's my logic at least, Beeral - as breachers, we mostly are upfront in close quarters, right? It's better to have a weapon that suits the situation you're in the most…" "Ah, you're right Kat. I'm still not giving my full rifle," "Suit yourself…"

Kat sighed as she went back to filling out even more forms for things she didn't know there was a form for.

You stubborn-

"Where did you choose to be stationed, Kat?" asked Izzac. "Either back home at Brentaal, out with a MEF, or somewhere out in the frontiers - I choose Naboo," "That's close to the frontlines, isn't it?" "There hasn't been a proper frontline since the Treaty," "She's right, you know…"said Jorvy. "Where are you going, Jorvy?" "I chose the open option - I don't mind, truthfully," "And you, Izzac?" "I chose the open option, too…" "You don't mind, too?" "No, it's just I don't know…" "You should've chosen somewhere nicer, Izzac. What if they station you in some dunghole like Mustafar or Hypori? Be like Kat here - at least she put some sort of thought…" "I'm doing a full enlistment or two at best… Just going to do my part, then I'm off…!" Izzac said before laughing.

She chuckled a bit, but she had one thought in mind as she did so.

You stubborn- You stubborn banthas.


AUTHOR'S NOTES

Chapter 15 aaaaaahhhhh I've never written anything this long I never thought I would get this far :D

Depending on how my uni works go, this would be my last chapter in a while. Furthest I would go is maybe Chapter 20 before another short break if things get busy.

Speaking of this chapter : This is another technical chapter, so any feedback and reviews are always appreciated!