Thanks for the support so far, appreciate it. Keep on fav, following and send me some feedback. There will be some mandalorian in this story or Mando'a, and the translations will be on the bottom. Also the story that inspired me was called 'Lucky To Be Alive' by Vagabond-Minded.
Here's the first chapter of the story, and I hope you like it.
I own none of the content, except for Huntress.
Clone Cadet's (1)
Tessa sat in the barracks, psyching herself out. It was working, but she was still feeling the nervous. She and her brothers in the squad were going to go on the Practice Test for the first time. After that, they would take the final test that would decide that they would be made into Troopers. The alternative was going to be placed into maintenance along with the defective clones, including 99.
She was the only girl in the entire Clone Army, and wasn't planning on failing.
But, things weren't looking good, she and the squad didn't' seem to connect and work together. She kept on blaming herself for it, she started to think herself as a distraction.
The rest of her squad told her she was crazy, and they were proud to have her along with them. That helped but she still had the small feeling.
She got out of her musings when someone tapped on her shoulder. She looked up to see CT-782's confident look.
"C'mon Tess, the practice test awaits. I can't wait to blast some droids." He said.
Tessa rolled her eyes, CT-782 had a tendency to be overconfident and full of himself.
"I'm coming, can't let your ego deflate." She joked.
She picked up her DC-15A Blaster Rifle, which was her favorite go-to weapon, and walked to find the others.
CT-782 narrowed his eyes at her, but grumbled and walked after her.
The others were waiting for them. CT-27-5555 looked over, grinned and said," Glad you make it Tess. C'mon."
Tessa grinned and walked with them. CT-27-5555 or how he wanted to be called 'Fives' and CT-21-0408 who everyone kept on calling him 'Echo' were the ones she was closets to. She knew she could always rely on them. The close third was CT-4040, who always encouraged her.
Tessa fixed her hair, which was in a small bun, and placed her helmet on her head. She was planning on cutting it shorter once they graduated, and get a tattoo, but she didn't know what to get and where to put it.
Tessa had long black hair that reached her shoulders, but would always have it in a bun or ponytail, she always found it a hindrance when it wasn't. She had the same skin tone as her brothers, and bared a close resemblance to her male counterparts, but she always counted herself lucky that she looked more like a girl. (If you want a face-claim, I'm thinking of Zoe Kravitz)
They all got on the platform and waited to get to the training ground. Tessa held the familiar wait of her Rifle, and she waited for the inevitable shit-show that was about to happen. She had faith in everyone, but she knew they were going to do something wrong.
As soon as they made it to the top, the first person to go head first was CT-782, and he fired his Z-6 around. Which was a blessing as the rest of them got to cover, and Tessa covered their rear.
She wasn't named Huntress for just any reason.
Tessa had a tendency to block out everyone around her as CT-782 jokingly called it 'the zone'. That's how she got all of her perfect shots during Target Practice. It was a bad habit, but she didn't do it when her drill instructors were around. Master Chief Bric was mean, bossy and could care less about them.
Which was fine by her, because she didn't give a damn.
She took out the sentries in the towers first, all were headshots. Satisfied, she then ran to cover. Which was occupied by Fives and Echo.
"And the Huntress is out of her cage." Fives joked.
Tessa rolled her eyes, and fired at a droid that was nearby.
"This is command. You must break through the enemy lines and take the tower." The command said her headset.
Tessa growled in annoyance when Echo repeated the orders. Sometimes when he did that, she was tempted to bash the butt of her Rifle over his head.
"Yeah, yeah, we heard Echo." Tessa grumbled.
"Stop calling me that!" Echo snapped at her annoyed.
"Stop repeating every order!" CT-00-2010 snapped back from his cover.
He then had to duck when Tessa fired her Rifle and two droids went down.
"Watch your surroundings you di'kut." She said with smirk.
CT-00-2010 sent her grateful look.
"Less yappin', more blastin'!" CT-782 yelled, and fired his heavy weapon at the top row of droids. "Let's smoke these com-doms, and move to the citadel!"
"CT-782, your breaking formation!" Echo said with a frown.
"Just follow my lead, will ya? And Tess, don't hog all the droids!" He responded.
"Why don't you stop being a showoff?" She mocked.
"Don't make me come back there!" He threatened, but she wasn't scared.
Tessa gritted her teeth, he always knew how to get on her nerves.
"Ooo, so scared here. I'm quaking in my boots." She quipped.
Fives groaned and said," Will you two knock it off?"
"He started it!" Tessa blamed.
"Huntress." Echo warned.
No one really called her by her full name, only Bric, El-Les or sometimes Master Ti. The Kaminoans always called her clone or by her designation number. Her brothers only called her that when they were crossed, trying to grab her attention or when something was serious, and she wasn't being serious herself.
"Ugh, fine." She grumbled.
She let out a small shriek when a blaster bold nearly got her head.
"Bloody clankers! Take this!" She yelled, and fired at a couple of droids, including the one that nearly shot her.
"You just had to piss to her off." CT-4040 said to CT-782.
"He is clearing a path, c'mon!" CT-00-2010 said and followed behind him.
Unfortunately, he was the one in the squad who always got the most attention from the droids. Tessa rolled her eyes, and wordlessly went to take some of the heat off of him. He also would've been hit by a giant shockwave, if wasn't for Fives jumping in and saving him.
"Thanks, CT-27-5555." He said.
"It's Fives! The name is Fives." He snapped back.
Tessa ducked from a blaster bolt, and then had to move to where Echo was.
"How about, we follow orders! This is our last practice test-"
"Will you shut up with the instructions? You aren't in charge!" Fives snapped.
"That's because none of us are! We all have to work together; we haven't done that since we started training and the other practice tests!" Tessa yelled back, feeling herself getting angrier.
As things continued, Master Ti and both Chiefs watched as they fought the droids and argued with each other.
"This particular unit seems to have some trouble. What do you recommend?" Master Ti asked and looked at Bric.
"Well I'm no Jedi, so forgive my bluntness. But I say; they fail. Send them down to maintenance with 99 and the other rejects." Bric said.
He was the one to personally train the squad, and he knew how much of a joke they were.
"We can't fail the yet!" El-Les said, who was more passionate and cared more about training the cadets, unlike Bric.
"This is only a practice test! And besides, the Citadel Court was designed to be a difficult challenge." He continued.
"Although I don't agree with is sentiment. Bric isn't wrong. These cadets are far from ready." Master Ti said.
Shaak Ti felt all the clones who had went through the academy were like the younglings or Padawan's back at the Temple. All them trained and made mistakes, but that was part of the learning process to becoming a Jedi.
She always worried about if they would past the trials or not. If they didn't, then they would be sent to the Agricultural Corps.
While for Clones, they would be sent down to maintenance.
She felt Domino Squad was able to pass, but they needed an extra push to learn to cooperate fully with each other.
Back down in the training ground, CT-4040 was getting impatient and said," I can't get anything from here!" He said and bolted.
"I'll go watch him." Tessa said and ran after him, and Fives did as well to get a better vantage point.
"No! We have to follow orders!" He said and stood up, but ultimately got hit in the chest by a shock blast and went down unconscious.
"Sorry, can you repeat that?" Tessa joked, which got a couple of chuckles from the rest of the squad.
"The one called 'Echo' never adapts to the situation." General Ti commented.
CT-782 continued to create a path, but he failed to take in his surrounds. That caused him to take a shot in the back and falling to the ground, and he was out.
"CT-782 seems to follow his own path," El-Les commented. "He can't do it all alone."
CT-00-2010 and Fives hid behind a barricade and waited to make a move.
"You go, I'll cover you." CT-00-2010 said to Fives.
"I'm the better shot! You go!" Fives said.
Due to being to engrossed in their argument, they both ended up getting taken out.
"Look at those two; arguing on the battlefield, you end up dead. And let's not forget about the last two." Bric said.
Tessa looked around her surroundings and said," You go, I'll watch your flank. By Jango's Bones I know you need it."
"Right go it." CT-4040 said with an eye roll.
Tessa watched his rear as he moved up. She fired a couple of shots, and waited for the right moment.
She wasn't watching and a droid manage to get a shot at her. Her Rifle was hit and she let out a quick scream.
She dodged it and made a leap for her Rifle, and looked up to see a droid closing in on CT-4040.
"Watch out!" She said and leaped onto the oncoming blaster fire. She ended up getting hit a couple of times, it stung, but it hurt more when she landed onto the ground, and ended up getting taken out.
"Huntress seems to put her fellow cadets safety above her, and she seems to fight with CT-782 a lot. This may not be good in the end. Her time may be short lived." General Ti said.
"Then we tell her to knock it off and make her see reason, or else we can her. But I'll admit, if she wasn't Trooper, she would make a good Bounty Hunter. Considering how good her aim is." Bric said.
"Hmm, indeed." El-Les said.
CT-4040 finally gave him when he found himself surrounded, and saw Tessa's body nearby. He stood up and raised his hand s and said," I surrender; I surrender!"
"Need I say more?" Bric said, not caring about them.
"If these cadets cannot get passed their short-sighted selfishness. Or for Huntress's case, being too selfless and to get along with everyone… they will never come together." Master Ti truthfully said.
Master Ti had seen many things over the years, granted she wasn't that old, but she spoke from experience.
"Unity wins war gentlemen. Computer: End exercise for Domino Squad."
Tessa shook her head as she got up, her head still feeling dizzy. She rotated her arm, due to it feeling the brunt of the impact when she fell to the ground. She could also feel the annoyance of not passing started to creep up on her.
She saw CT-4040 having a little trouble getting up. She went over to him and held out her hand. He grinned and gladly accepted it.
"Thanks, Tessa, and thanks for the save, you didn't have to."
Tessa shrugged and heard CT-00-2010 said," We almost had it that time."
"Oh yeah. And we all look nothing alike either." CT-4040 said with an eye roll.
"Sorry about the mess, 99." CT-782 said the clone that was in maintenance.
Tessa felt really sorry for the clone. Not only was he one of the few who couldn't pass. But he was also deformed, and in the eyes of the Kaminoans who was a failure. But she and the other clones tried to give him as much as respect as he deserved. Just because he was different, didn't mean he wasn't their brother.
"Uh, it's okay boys, and girl. Nice try!" He said.
As soon as they made it back into the Barracks, Tessa got out of her armor and into her jumpsuit. She did hiss slightly when she felt where the stun shots had hit her, but she knew they weren't bad enough that she needed Salve or Bacta.
She climbed up the ladder, opened up her bed and laid down.
She sighed in annoyance. Again, they couldn't make it through the course again. She was starting to feel as if she had done something wrong.
She then raised a brow when she heard CT-4040 and Fives talking to each other.
"So I says to her, 'baby, you and me could really-"
"You've never even met a girl!" Fives said, knowing he was making it up.
Tessa rolled her eyes and looked below her bunk and cleared her throat. Fives and CT-4040 looked at her.
She had a fake interested look and said," So, what are you guys saying about never meeting a girl?"
Fives blushed a little and said," Uh yeah, I, uh sorry Tess."
Tessa rolled her eyes, she was fine with them joking about her, but sometimes it got on her nerves.
"It's fine, your lucky I didn't have my Rifle on me. Or else you would get clonked on the head." She lightly threatened and laid back down.
"Why does she always threaten to hit us? She loves us." CT-4040 said.
She grinned a little bit. She heard CT-782 throw his helmet on the ground in frustration, and heard 99 start to talk to him. She tuned them out and started close her eyes for a bit, but she opened them, and looked down after she started to hear Echo talk.
"Guys, we've got to follow orders; come on!"
"I don't know. I think we did rather well." CT-4040 optimistically said.
"Quick jokin' around!" Fives said.
"Can we please stop arguing?" CT-00-2010 tiredly said.
"I second that." Tessa thought.
"Can you stop being droid bait out there?" CT-782 said with a glare. "You're getting in my way!"
"Actually, our way." Fives said.
"Guys, we have to work together. We're a team, and we all look out for one another. That's what the best do." She said as CT-00-2010 opened his bed next to hers.
"You wanna be the best? Then you gotta think like it! And I'm thinking like an ARC trooper."
"ARC Troopers follow orders." Echo said with a glare.
"He's right." Tessa said.
"Care to repeat that, Echo?" CT-782 dared.
Echo just knocked into his shoulder, making him stumble. CT-782 then grabbed his shoulder and they started to fight. The others yelled at them to stop, and Tessa was the one to jump down and try to break it up.
"Well you two knock it off?" She said and pushed them apart.
"Stay out of the way, Huntress." CT-782 barked.
Tessa narrowed her eyes and said," I want to graduate to, but it doesn't have to involve us fighting. Di'kut."
CT-782 shoved her a little and said," Don't call me that."
Tessa's blood boiled, she was about to cock her fist back when Bric broke them up.
"Cut it out! If you three would focus on fighting droids as much as you do fighting each other, you might stand a chance out there!" He scolded.
"Sorry, Master Chief." Echo said, feeling ashamed.
"Yeah, sorry Master Chief." Tessa said, starting to calm down.
"Well, Master Chief, maybe our problem comes from our training. I'd rather be taught by a Jedi than some mercenary Bounty Hunter!" CT-782 said glaring him down.
"Jedi don't have the time to train grunts like you." Bric said as he pushed his armor with two fingers. "That why they hired me!" He angrily said.
Tessa leaned against the ladder, as everyone else got down from their bunks as they listened to Bric.
"Listen cadets! When you were assigned to me, I had high hopes for you! Now we're approaching the end of your training and you haven't advanced nearly enough. Even this bad batch, 99, has more sense than you guys have, and he's a maintenance clone!" Bric lectured.
"You- you don't give them enough credit." 99 said, feeling a little of shame.
"You're all a waste of my time." Bric said with a huff and left.
Everyone started to go back to their bunks, and Tessa looked at 99.
She placed a hand on his shoulder and said," Don't let that beroya get to you. Your still one of us."
99 nodded and said," Thanks, Huntress." He said and walked away.
Tessa got back into her bunk and pushed the button to move inside. She was hoping tomorrow would be different, and she was excited to, considering they were going to meet some ARC Troopers, and their final test, she was hoping to whatever God was there that they all would pull it off.
Tell me how I did and I hope you all enjoy it.
Translations:
Di'kut- Idiot
Beroya- Bounty Hunter
