Weeks after surviving the disastrous defensive on Ryloth,

Raid, Shock, and Awe have been promoted to ARC Troopers.

Now, in the company of the rest of their brothers they must select a new squad.

Can they find the right rookies before General Skywalker comes to transport them off Kamino?

Raid sighed, rubbing his eyes and leaning back against his chair. He set down the data pad he was holding, leaving it on the desk as he stood and walked to the window for the fifth time. He passed Awe, his fellow clone trooper, who napped stretched out on the floor. Beside him, Shock sat reading from his own pad. All three clones were dressed in their Kamino clothes: red tops and bottoms sporting the emblem of the Cloners on their shoulders. Shock looked up as Raid passed silently, before returning to his reading.

Leaning against the sill, Raid peered out into the dark Kamino night and through the pouring rain. Below the amphibious Topica City raged the sea, sending sprays of water many metres high, crashing and breaking upon the solid, firm foundation that held the mighty capital of Kaminoan power upright. Occasionally, with the flash of lightning, Raid could spot the form of the underwater tunnels, connecting city to city and to their other facilities, both above water and below. Truly, the rounded architecture of the tall, lanky people was to be marvelled at, but Raid's thought path found him focusing on other things; pressing matters that kept him up at night, deep in thought.

Early that morning, the three of them had officially graduated from ARC Trooper training and received their full ranks as ARC Commander Raid, and ARC Captains Shock and Awe. The promotions themselves were given about a standard month ago, aboard Jedi General Anakin Skywalker's flagship, the Resolute, facing about sixty saluting soldiers. Since then, the three clones and their other brothers, Joystick, Dusty, Shuriken, and the astromech C1-M8, or Mate as they called him, had returned to Kamino: their birthplace. ARC Trooper training had only taken them a few weeks, which was a surprise to the trainers. Raid and his boys had excelled in the course, quickly advancing through it and almost beating the fastest time holders: CT 7567 'Rex', CC 1004 'Gree', CC 3636 'Wolffe', and CC 2224 'Cody'. Meanwhile, Dusty and Joystick found themselves occupied with more flight training and Shuriken in sniping specialist class to brush up on their skills.

Four days from then, Skywalker and his fleet would stop by Kamino for a resupply before moving on to Coruscant: the heart and soul capital of the Galactic Republic. That meant Raid had four days to select a rookie squad to join the Outer Rim Garrison if he wanted to rebuild it. Otherwise, becoming a Commander was pointless, as he had only received such a high jump from Private for his bravery, survival skills, and desire to recreate the two-company unit that was decimated on Ryloth, defending the inhabitants.

Raid walked back to his desk, leaning down and picking up the stainless-steel handle that lay upon it. He fingered the lightsaber, modified slightly from its original format. It belonged to late General Ima-Gun Di, leader of the Outer Rim Garrison. Having recovered it from the battle, Raid had held on to it, learning slowly how to use it. As it stood, he could hold his own against a Padawan, specifically Ahsoka Tano, for about fifteen seconds before being disarmed. He smirked, thinking about the impetuous, sassy, good-nature, teenaged Togruta. She was a favourite amongst the 501st Legion, and with the six survivors of Fang Company. She had good instinct for combat, and a snarky streak a mile wide, but she was compassionate and cared for her troops. The last time they'd seen her, she had been resting after an intense battle against the Separatist super-warship, the Malevolence. Joystick was ecstatic to fly a Y-Wing in the assault, and Dusty was doubly so to fly with Skywalker in a battle.

Raid was drawn from his thoughts by the door suddenly whooshing open with Dusty and Joystick stumbling inside while supporting each other. The two were covered head to toe in brown paint and laughing hard.

"Whatcha do this time?" Shock asked politely, not looking up as they stumbled by.

Dusty grinned his evil little grin. "A couple shinies ain't so shiny no more."

"Why did you mess with Kilo Squad this time?" Raid faux groaned, really not caring one bit. Kilo was, after all, an arrogant bunch that were the southside's star squad and dissed their less-successful brothers often.

"They said Mate was an 'outdated piece of hardware that would do better melted into parts for a farmer's tractor,'" Joystick said with contempt, finger quotes abounding as he made his way towards the refresher on the left side of the room. "They'll think twice before bad talking my droid next time."

"Next time we're throwing them overboard and into the ocean," Dusty chortled, grabbing a spare pair of clothes. "If you need me, I'll be taking an hour in the second refresher and too busy to help with whatever important thing you try to bother me with!" With that, the doors were shut, and things were peaceful again.

On the floor, a smile crept up onto Awe's face, his eyes still shut tight. "Three... two... one..."

The door opened again. Shuriken walked in, a DC-15X over his shoulder and a data pad in his hand. He looked around before going to sit in Raid's unoccupied chair. "Hey, you seen the terrible two? Nala Se passed me and said they assaulted Kilo again. Something to do with paint, dodgeballs, and a live chicken-rat?"

"Don't know 'bout the chicken-rat, but your wanted criminals are wasting our hot water right now," Shock replied, looking up with a smirk. "How was sniper daycare today?"

Shuriken shrugged. "Meh. I excelled, as always. Skjander Valar put me in the roll for the best snipers to graduate his class. There are twenty others on the list, most of them Commandos. Anyway, how's your shiny shopping going?"

Raid snatched his data pad from the desk and hit a few buttons before handing it to Shuriken, who propped his rifle on the desk. "We've narrowed it down to the four squads in Area 51."

"51, aye?" Shuriken scratched his chin, scrolling down. "Mostly good scores. Some notes on 'disruptive behaviours' on this one. Hmm... two troopers almost reevaluated. Why these four squads?"

"I dunno," Raid confessed, running a hand down his face. "I felt like we should check them out."

"Gotta do it quick," Shock admonished. "General Skywalker and his fleet will be here soon."

"Well, how about the four of us go and see now," Shuriken said, standing and putting the pad down. "Schedule says they'll all be training soon."

Awe opened his eyes and glanced at the refresher doors. "You sure we can leave them to their own devices?"

Raid squinted at the doors and sighed. "...yeah, it'll be fine. Anyway, can't have them murdering our potential recruits."

Shuriken clapped his hands together. "All right then! Get yourselves presentable to intimidate the rookies, ARC Troopers."

The alarm had been going on for not even two minutes before troopers rushed to muster at the action station. Lining up by squad, four rows of shinies stood at attention, armour polished and weapons in hand, awaiting the arrival of whoever triggered the alarm, no doubt their instructor for an unexpected drill. Slowly, snickers began to spread as clones started to notice something was amiss with one of their brothers. It all quieted down when the door opened, and a figure entered the pure white room.

Their instructor, Arjhan Ki'don, a dragon folk, sauntered forth. He was a seven-foot tall, hulking figure, with dull blue scales covering his body. A thick tail swayed behind him as he plodded heavily inside. Beneath his scaled brow were his reptilian eyes, one green, the other bronze, hardly moving but surely seeing everything and anything. His large maw housed numerous jagged, pointy teeth that glinted wickedly in direct light. Two large horns swept back on his head, curving slightly upwards. In his large, three clawed hands was clenched a large, single-bladed vibro-axe with a long haft, which clacked on the ground like a walking stick as he moved. He wore used, yet well-kept brown armour, with a large, spiked right pauldron. A grey cloak was incorporated into his suit, the ends somewhat torn and not without holes. Hanging from his belt which was clasped in place by a large, steel buckle, was a vibro-sword and a DC-15S carbine, decorated with swirling red draconic imagery. A forked tongue flicked between his teeth as he regarded his troops.

"Troopersss," he rasped in a deep, scratchy, sibilant voice. "Today, we have some special guestsss." He gestured towards the doorway as Raid, Shock, and Awe strutted through, wearing their newly earned and decorated experimental Phase I ARC Trooper armour, characterised by the difference in helmet shape, extra chest plating, kamas, and pauldrons. Freshly dried red-brown paint marked them in the customised fashion of the Outer Rim Garrison. Behind them entered Shuriken, his normal marked armor donned. Conspiratorial whispers and excited mutters passed amongst the troops. "May I present ARC Commander Raid and hisss cohortsss, Captain Shock and Captain Awe. These gentlemen are looking to recruit one of your squadsss for their unit." Arjhan stepped aside, allowing the ARC Troopers to move closer.

"That's right," Raid said, hoping he sounded officious. "We are from the Outer Rim Garrison of the 303rd Legion. We are looking for troops to start our new Company: Fang Company." He began walking down the line. He looked over the rows of shiny troopers, most of them spiffy and ready. A few had armour that was a bit too loose in places from hasty dressing, but one trooper in particular gave the Commander pause. "Trooper, where is your armour?"

The clone wore nothing save it be a pair of black boxer shorts and his helmet. At attention, he gripped his rifle upright and stiff. If not for the fact he was completely out of uniform, he would have been a top-notch, respectable trooper. "Sir, the alarm came suddenly. Drill Seargent Ki'don has said when the alarm sounds, to report no matter what! We need to be ready to fight immediately." A few sniggers hissed out among his companions, but a stern, helmeted look from Awe shut them up.

Raid, though greatly amused, shook his head sternly. "This is not what I'd call 'ready', soldier. Next time, gear up or the clankers might have an easy trooper breakfast."

"Sir yes sir!" he responded sharply, saluting smartly.

Raid suppressed a giggle as he marched on, inspecting the rest of his unit. One was several inches taller than the rest, whilst another was a few shorter. That was odd. Clones were all exactly the same size and height. Another man in the squad was missing a shoulder pad, and the one beside him was a bit stockier than average. These guys were... strange, is what Raid thought. The next squad was fully uniformed and the same in build, like they should be, but Raid found himself glancing back at the... odd squad.

"Why should I pick from among you?" Raid asked loudly, repeating what his own Captain, Keeli, had asked him when he was lined up in a situation much like this, not that long ago. "Are you brave?"

"Yes sir!" The troopers shouted in unison, all straightening further, if that was possible.

"Are you loyal?" He questioned, marching back down the line.

"Yes sir!"

"Are you skilled?"

"Yes sir!"

"And do you think you have what it takes?" He turned on a random trooper, seeing his own reflection in the man's visor. Raid saw something that had frightened him when in their shoes; the yelling ARC Trooper, that day he had been lined up to join the Garrison. He had shipped out, unaware that only weeks later he'd face death head on, watching his friends and brothers perish in a gruelling defense on the hot, humid plains and forests of Ryloth.

"Yes sir!"

Raid marched back to their Seargent, who looked on with pride. Or he assumed it was pride. It was a difficult thing to tell the mood of such an expressionless lifeform, unless it began hissing, roaring, and baring fangs; then it was angry. "Seargent Ki'don, your men impress me with their enthusiasm. How do they perform on the field?"

"Would you care to join usss in training?" the dragon asked.

Raid glanced at Shock and Awe before addressing him. "I believe that we have the time. Let's see-"

"Sorry we're late!" a voice shouted, and internally Raid cringed, turning to watch Joystick and Dusty barge in, helmets in hand. "We got caught in protocol droid speed traffic."

"Supply day, crates everywhere," Dusty explained, looking at the assembled troops who still stood at attention. "Oh, the rookies are here already? That's dandy. How many of them know how to play Dejarik?"

A few shinies coughed to cover up their laughs, while Shuriken shook his head in embarrassment.

Awe walked over, putting a hand on Dusty's shoulder. "Now's not the time. We're in the middle of-"

"Wait, what's with him," Joystick asked, pointing like a child at the trooper in his underpants. Both pilots marched towards him, Joystick donning his bucket, and Raid followed to try and keep the chaos to a minimum. "What're you doing, dude? Where's your armour?"

"I was rushed, uh..."

"Joystick, and this is my compatriot, Dusty."

Dusty put on his helmet then held out his hand. "Charmed, I'm sure." He held it aloft until the trooper hesitantly shook it, which was an awkward eight seconds. "What's your name, good sir?"

"CT 5332."

Joystick snorted. "That ain't your name. What? No name yet? Alrighty, you said you were rushed, that's why you're so... underdressed, huh? How about Rush?"

"Guys," Raid hissed, frustrated.

"Nah," Dusty dismissed, putting a hand under the front of his helmet like he was thinking. "Flash... Sprint... Speedy?"

"Speedo," Joystick announced decisively, and laughter wracked the ranks. "What? Jealous? I bet none of you have any names like that!"

"Squadsss!" Arjhan shouted hoarsely, and all the troopers straightened once more. Even Joystick and Dusty flinched, looking over at the hulking warrior as if just noticing he was there. "Prepare for a training simulation in Room 12. I want you fully armoured and at your bessst. Today, one of your groups isss leaving Kamino, and the onesss that don't are taking over Kilo Squad's duties for a rotation! Dismisssed!"

Troopers instantly fled the room, eager to be ready. The Seargent walked off after them in a dignified, proud manner, axe clacking on the polished floor. As the room emptied, Raid guided Joystick and Dusty towards the others. Once they were within range, Shuriken slapped both of the pilots upside the head.

"The hell?!" Dusty blurted, dodging away and cradling his armoured noggin. "What was that-?"

"For being a di'kut, you karking moron! That's why," Shuriken said angrily. "Don't you get that this is important?"

Joystick whipped his helmet off, grinning charismatically. "Exactly. It's so important we tried doubly as hard to make it funny!"

Shuriken muttered a truly vulgar expression, shaking his head.

"Hey, language," Shock scolded, hands on his hips. "There's no undoing it. We have to roll with it."

Raid sighed. He had hoped to make a good first impression upon these troops, but obviously that was out the airlock. "We roll with it. Come on, let's see how these guys work together."

"You shoulda stayed in the shower," Awe mumbled, side-shoving Joystick.

"And become wrinkly like Yoda? No way. Besides, I sense the fun has only just begun."