This tragic but weirdly insightful method of teaching continued for several months. Periods of instruction ranging from close quarters combat and blaster training to what oil made a helmet shine best were taught to him at a dizzying pace.

Jake tried his best to keep up and to his gratification as the time passed he got less and less looks of disappointment. He could almost say Rasha looked at his efforts approvingly…..almost that is.

"Kriffing fool! How many times have we gone over this red to black and blue to green." He stopped his hand as he attempted to put blue to black on the back of his slicing practice terminal. Grunting In frustration he nodded and continued his task of slicing into the system lord help him; he was an infantryman for a reason.

Beep beep beeeeeep the terminal chimed with the final sound indicating a success. Shaking her head and rubbing the bridge of her nose " you have as much talent for this as a gondark has at piloting."

Giving her a full look " I told you that when we started this I'm a grunt not a egg head." He stood up and dusted off his hands. "Besides all of this I think I've done pretty good at all this mandalorian stuff don't you think?"

Nodding her head "yes as much as it pains me to admit you have taken to the training well and have progressed well." Looking at him for a second she nodded her head. " so much so that I've asked for us to be a part of tonight's raid on the imperial supply depot."

Eyes opening wide, a smile appearing on his lips "an operation hell yeah! What's the detail." He couldn't express how much this excited him. He understood victory starts with training but he was starting to itch with no field time.

"There will be a gathering to discuss the details of the mission. Understand we are simply accompanying we are to do what we are told and nothing more is that understood?"

Nodding understandingly he understood his place as the lowest man in the pole. His place was to learn not question "I understand Rasha"

Appeased, she nodded " You have proven yourself and will be given the weapons and armor of a warrior. Be sure you treat it with respect. The armory will be our next destination."

"We'll that works for me glad I'm not going into combat unarmed." Nodding forward they took off towards their destination passing other warriors and civilians.

All that they passed gave nodded and words of respect to Rasha while either ignoring him or giving him a distrustful look. He was used to it at this point he'd discovered at some point though that Rasha was someone of high renown in the clan. It made him feel like he had a famous sister and he was a snot nosed brat that followed her everywhere.

After a short period of walking they came up to the armory. Which looked to him to be a traditional one, a secure area with a window that the armorer could see who was requesting arms and armor. As they came up the armorer raised his hand in greeting " hail Rasha what do you require from the armory today?"

"Hail armorer I require mission gear for my initiate armor with standard attachment ,jet pack and a blaster pistol." The armorer nodded and went to work behind his cage.

Jake thought about the equipment he might be getting. 'Probably getting an ascension cable, mobile com unit and a wrist scanner.' All things he was trained on but he was only getting a pistol? "Rasha, why am I only getting a pistol?"

Turning around to face him " the reason is because you are coming along to see how you are expected to act as a group. You are not an integral part of the plan, you are along for the ride and to defend yourself nothing more."

Frustrated but placated he nodded " I understand I don't like it but I get it."

"Good now I think I hear the armorer" turning their attention back to the window the armorer had indeed returned. "As requested Rasha the gear you have requested we do not often use , it's good for it to be used. Good luck."

Taking the gear they started to walk away " why doesn't this gear get used often."

"You are in a weird situation. Most do not join clans; they are born to them and often family's have generations of armors and weapons to pass down. So while this gear might be used for a replacement for totally destroyed gear; it is never anyones one's first choice." Turning the corner of an intersection they came upon a meeting style room.

"You will leave your gear in the corner and take a seat. The briefing will be here shortly." Doing as he was told he took a seat next to Rasha.

Rasha looked over at him "remember your place Jake we are here for experience nothing more". Jake nodded

As they waited about 12 people entered the room all fully armored helmets on. He recognized the last one to enter the room a monster of a man that'd been in the forest with him before. Jin was his name. Looking at him now he was easily 6.7 320 pounds of muscles. 'hm he looks kinda like the mountain from Game of thrones.' Jake though absently.

Jake had entered an odd situation in the last couple of months he wasn't scorned or looked at with mistrust anymore he was just kind of ….ignored? This situation was no different, passing him Jin nodded at Rasha "greetings Rasha it will be good to have you on our mission." With that he strolled past the duo and motioned for the meeting to begin.

Jin messed with the controls of a holo table and an image of a small base popped into view. "Welcome warrior we have been tasked by Elder Sal to raid this outpost and destroy it and it's occupants."

Jake mind shot back to his time as a squad leader and listened intently, understanding one piece of information could equal death or mission failure. " We will attack at night under the empty moon. Squad 1 will attack here" he motioned at the left hand side of the map where a medium height wall was. "Your goal is to draw the enemy in after that squad 2 will flank them with jet packs and crush them between us."

Jin swept his gaze amongst his warriors "are there any questions?" Jake had several questions. In fact raising his hand he cleared his throat. "Do we have enemy numbers and equipment?"

Turning his head to him he stated his helmeted gaze unnervingly at him in a cold deliberately slow tone he said "such things are unimportant Jake masters." Returning his gaze to his warriors Jake couldn't understand why his question wasn't important.

"Jin how is it unimportant we——" he was interrupted as Jin spun around again "initiate are you the leader of this raid!"he thundered. Taken aback and caught off guard "ahh no I …"

Stomping over to him "you will not question the words of your superior initiate! You have no standing in this clan. You have been ALLOWED to accompany us because of the respect I have for your teacher." Looking over at Rasha "your student Shames you Rasha he does not know his place."

Looking over at her face Jake could see the simmering anger. "We are leaving Jake" she said slow and deathly. Understanding his predicament he nodded and walked out.

Walking for several minutes they turned into a random room whirling around to face him"Jake what did I tell you! I stuck my name out for you and what do you do?" She got directly in his face "you question the raid leaders plan and speak out of turn to a superior!"

"But it's important information to know!" He tried to explain "what if they have armor we would need to bring extra munitions." Throwing his hands in the air "what if we don't have enough ammo for the amount of soldiers and what about a disengage plan or conditions?"

Looking exacerbated Rasha threw her hands up " we are mandalorians there are no better warriors in the galaxy. We have made these imperials look like fools time and time again. What does it matter!"

Looking at him with a steely look "you will prep your gear and cause no more kriffing trouble do you understand!"

Jake looked down and mumbled "I understand." Rashas eyes flashed with anger and indignation "I SAID DO YOU UNDERSTAND!"

Startled Jake finally said "yes! yes! I understand Rasha dang."

Nodding her head appeased at his sincerity she turned around and walked away " I'm going to talk to Jin to see if he'll still allow us on his raid pray that he does."

Jake was coming to a realization that the only thing more dangerous than a mandalorian was the mandalorian ego. He hopped it wouldn't get anyone killed tonight. Shaking his head he did as he was told.

————-

Jake crawled through the underbrush of the forest Rasha directly in front of him they crawled until they came to the edge of a clear cut area that surrounded the base.

With them was the 6 members that were supposed to be the flanking force. Being on this world for several months now he had observed that the world was heavily forested. The mandalorians used this to their advantage, often using the forest as cover and concealment for themselves and their bases. The empire however made large ugly metal bases and planted them wherever they wanted so out of place you could probably see them from orbit.

The base was fairly standard from what he could see. About a kilometer or two square it had a medium wall surrounded the base with two exits one on either side. In the center was a raised tower with a com array and was surrounded by several multi floor prefab buildings. On the wall troopers patrolled endlessly in stuffy military order. On each corner of the base what looked like auto turrets we're constantly sweeping looking for anything unfriendly to unleash their furry upon.

The lead mandalorian, a female by the name of Kria held her finger to her ear "flanking force in position ready on your signal."

Rasha qued him on single Channel. Accepting the Que she spoke slowly " remember Jake this will be real no more training. Once the fighting starts we will jet over the wall and encircle the enemy during this stay close to me."

Jake nodded " I understand good luck Rasha". The moment of battle was upon them and he felt the familiar drip of fear which he stomped down on aggressively. Adrenaline would soon replace any feelings.

Several loud explosions rocked the base as the primary attacking force leveled their sides turrets and took out the sentry's. The whoosh and light of jet packs lit the night followed by the sound of rapid blaster fire.

The sounds qued his adrenal response and he could feel his muscles tighten and his heart rate pick. He could see that most of the guards rushing off in the direction of the fight leaving only a single soldier and the turrets on their side.

Several minutes of fighting went by before the com sparked to life "enemy committed , flanking force attack!" With that everyone stood to their feet and rushed the wall. Two mandalorians on the ends leveled their jet pack rockets at the turrets and let loose with a whoosh and a bang.

Automated defenses neutralized the group, keyed their jetpacks and rushed over the wall. The single guard, taken by surprise not expecting another attack, was taken out as Rasha landed on him aggressively and shot him in the helmet point blank before rocketing off to catch up.

Kria barked orders over squad com " Eian, Benks take the left flank and close on the rear. Rish and Tiel the right flank the rest with me in the center!" The mandos rushed to comply.

Rushing behind the group Rasha and himself came upon the battlefield. Several mandalorian were spread out and were firing from positions of cover trying to cause as much damage as possible. At the center was Jin standing out of holding a heavy blaster shooting away at the imperials with no mercy gunning down any who dared stick their heads out of cover.

Looking at the battlefield Jake could easily see that at least 2 platoons of 45 men were being held back by the might of the 6 warriors In front of them. Superior arms and armor were a telling factor in this fight but given enough time the soldiers would overwhelm the mandos.

Coming to the same conclusion Kria shouts "Charge!" which was met with a thunderous cry "for the clan!" As the warriors charged the rear facing line of the imperials.

The fighting quickly dissolved into a one sided slaughter. Both sides pressed in and pinched the enemy force into the vice of the on rushing mandalorians.

Jake was starting to get in a flow with Rasha covering her flanks and taking shots at any target of opportunity. In contrast Rasha was once again a tornado of violence her preferred weapons of two twin heavy blaster pistols felled a soldier with each shot.

The slaughter went on for several minutes till by his estimate they'd killed or wounded at least half the enemy. "Retreat! Retreat!" Shouted one of the soldiers with an orange pauldron. With that the remaining soldiers fought their way to a side and attempted to scatter back to a new position.

Meeting the second group they combined back into one team. Kria stood triumphantly with her foot on the body of a dead trooper "Ha! The cowards flee, prepare to chase them down!" Kria made it two steps into her charge before a loud discharge of a blaster was heard and a smoking hole was shot between Krias visor killing her instantly.

Body falling to the floor lifeless one of the warriors shouted "sniper! Take cover now!" All thirteen of them hit the deck and scrambled for cover as high powered blaster bolts started peppering their position.

Seeing people bunkering down Jake shouted "did anyone see the shot ?" This would get bad real quickly if they couldn't regain the initiative.

"I saw a flash at a rooftop close to the center of the base!" Shouted one unidentifiable mando.

Jake oriented himself quickly and took several deep breaths before sticking his head out of cover. Looking at the mentioned structure he squinted his eyes to focus. A flash and a crack was all the warning he got before ducking quickly back into cover and a bolt slamming into the stone cover that he was behind. "Confirmed!" Jake shouted.

Turning to Rasha who was in cover beside him "I know it's not my place but if we stay pinned here we're gonna get overwhelmed we need to Regain the initiative."

Nodding her head "you're right." He could see her coming off her knees to a crouch she activated her com "mandalorians we need to regain the initiative on my mark, break from cover and scatter into two man groups and close in in the central tower."

Agreements came over the squad come. "Alright on the count of 3. 1—-2—- crash!" Rashas count was interrupted by the unmistakable sound of the stomping feet of walkers. Everyone had the unmistakable chill go down their spine as they looked out of cover and saw 5 AT-ST walkers lumbering towards them with infantry swarming around them.

Eyes going wide in his helmet. 'They weren't retreating, they were regrouping!' High explosive bolts started to hammer around them Taking massive chunks out of the ground and their cover. "It's a trap!" Jake shouted.

Jin came over the com " all units we need to retreat back to the forest!" As he said that rounds kept impacting everywhere around them.

"We're gonna get blown to pieces unless we deal with those walkers!" Rasha shouted.

The infantry was starting to come into range and was letting off pot shots at them, largely inaccurate but performing the job of suppressing fire.

Looking for a solution he swept his eyes over the mandos around him. All of them had used their rockets on the initial attack not for seeing the need to save them. Letting out an grunt of annoyance " i fucking told you we need more roacket!"

Eyes shooting around the previous battlefield he spotted a dead stormtrooper with a rocket launcher about 10 meters from his position. Bingo he thought with a grin bumping Rasha " hey rocket launcher on that trooper" He pointed at the trooper. " tell them to cover us as we break for it and scramble to the flanks!"

"Right!" Nodding "mandos in my mark covering fire cover us as we get a rocket launcher……….covering fire now!"

Jake and Rasha dashed out of cover and scrambled over to the launcher "Rasha grab the rounds!" As soon as he grabbed the launcher he activated his jet pack and rocketed off.

Landing on the wall catwalks he shouldered the launcher and took off at a run to get to the side of the walkers before they noticed him Rasha railing him closely. " Jake what's the plan!"

Coming to a knee behind some cover " we need to flank the walkers and hit 'em from the side if the rules of armor hasn't changed their armors weakest in the side."

Giving him a thumbs up "alright I understand let's go!" With that they resumed their sprint till they came to the side of the advancing enemy force. The walkers were still causing hell and at least double the infantry as before. Just as he had thought this was looking more and more like a trap.

Coming to a knee again he checked his weapon to see if it was loaded he was gratified to see both tubes were loaded. " alright Rasha when I fire I want us gone as soon as we fire if we stay too long they'll light us up." Taking aim he activated his com "all units prepare to break contact on my hit." Leading his target slightly he fired, letting one rocket launch.

The rocket flew straight and true. It slammed into the walker closest to them, staggering it and sending shrapnel into the troops closest to the walker shredding them.

Jake was about to shout in success when the walker righted itself and turned towards them. Eyes wide " fuck Rasha move!" Taking not a second longer both activated their jet pack and flew off just as the walker destroyed the catwalk where they just where.

'Fuckers tougher then I thought' still in the air Jake took aim once more and let loose another rocket aimed at the head. His shot went low and struck one of the leg joints. The walker took a step on the damaged leg and collapsed on itself falling down neutralized.

Surprised but happy Jake landed on the rear of the formation of enemy's and scrambled behind a wall. " load rockets!" He urged Rasha who did so quickly. 'Strong at the head, weak in the legs!'

Loaded up once again he activated his jet pack and went back into action jetting from one location to another trying to remain alive. Firing rockets as he went and causing mayhem to keep everyone's attention on him while the other forces retreated.

"Load!" He yelled for the 3rd time Rasha slapped his helmet "you're hot, this is the last round!" Nodding in understanding he sighted the last two walkers still moving.

Jetting into the air he sighted down his sight once again and let loose his final rocket nailing the walker in the knee killing it. Dumping his launcher his com barked " Rasha we're in the forest all living accounted for."

'Alright this is it time to retreat' whipping around he found Rasha still at the last load point around 100 meters always. firing at random targets. "Rasha time to go!"

Turning around she broke started running towards him. 'Alright regroup and retrea—- wait a second why was he spinning around?' The world was spinning around and his ears were ringing like church bells.

He hit the ground his helmeted head bouncing of the ground leaving him on his side. He felt nothing in his body, but eyes continued to work. He saw a much more imposing storm trooper with angular armor kick him onto his back and level a sniper rifle at his face.

Looking down the barrel his mind, still foggy and disoriented, came to the understanding that he was going to die. His hearing came rushing back with a snap of the sound of the battlefield assaulting him once more.

"Mandolorian scum when you go to hell tell the rest of your kind that the commandos sent you"

"AHHH!" A mighty yell came from behind them as a figure slammed into the trooper. Knocked down his rifle discharged inches from his head spraying debris everywhere.

"Fracking die!" Faculties returning to him he attempted to sit and saw Rasha on top of the figure trying to get one of her blasters pointed at the enemy.

The trooper wasn't having it and quickly, knocking the blaster out of her hand. He reversed their position and started quickly raining punch's down at Rasha who held up her arms to protect her face.

Quick as a whip Rasha reached down grabbed her knife and slammed it into the thigh of the soldier repeatedly. Getting the small amount of space she needed she reared back and slammed her knife into the helmeted head of the trooper.

The body slumped over Rasha, its heavy weight pinning her down. Finally able to get up on shaky feet he staggered over to Rasha. Coming to her he fell to his knees and sloppily attempted to get it off of her with his aid she hip thrusted the body off of her.

Rasha quickly scrambled up to her feet and grabbed her fallen blaster. Kneeling down she took her knife and took the helmet off to reveal a Pacific Islander looking face.

Rasha threw down the helmet and spit "clones."

The adrenaline high that was keeping him standing was quickly abandoning him. Starting to get woozy and Dizzy he started to fall forward just to be caught by Rasha "cmon Jake let's get out of here before more show up."

I know clone were being phased out at this point but I always thought they were better. So in my eyes it makes sense to keep the clone commandos around till there was no more. Please leave a review!