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Chance
Eila frowned as she wandered through the rows of growth pods, staring at the identical faces. It was almost unsettling to see so many of the same person. If she hadn't been around the Clone Army already, she'd probably decide they were no better than droids.
"These particular clones won't be ready for combat for another year, but the forces you will be taking are fully trained," the Kamimoan ahead of Eila and her Jedi Master, Asha, informed them.
"Does everyone get a tour like this?" Asha asked.
"Not everyone, no," the Kaminoan informed her. "However, it is not every Jedi who personally oversees the training of their forces."
"How long does the training usually take?" Eila asked.
"From where your troops are, there is only one week left, including the final test," the Kaminoan said. "These clones require a few more months before they can begin training."
Just then, there was a high, piercing hiss as steam spewed from a tank ahead of them. After a second, the bottom of the pod opened, spilling the thick, blue fluid of the tank and the clone within onto the floor. He groaned, slowly beginning to push himself up and pulling the breathing mask off before beginning to remove the various tubes attached to his various implant ports and connected to his bare body with IVs. Eila frowned at the clone. Whereas the others all looked to be late teens, this one was still young, mid-teens at most. The Kaminoan's head tilted to the side slightly.
"So young," the Kaminoan mused, turning to a diagnostics screen next to the pod. "It seems this clone's a failure. The accelerated aging didn't take."
"So he ages like a normal human?" Eila asked.
"That's right," the Kaminoan nodded. "It seems like he was aging faster, but for some reason, his aging seems to have slowed back down. A shame. He was meant to be trained as a commando. Oh well. We'll have him studied and disposed of."
Eila frowned. Were the Kaminoans always so cruel? Just killing a clone because he wasn't perfect? But there was something about this clone. Something different. He watched the three of them in silence, taking in their appearances. The pale-skinned Kaminoan standing double Eila's height. Asha's pale blue skin, royal blue hair, and dark eyes, standing a full head taller than Eila with her robe's hood down. Eila's light green skin, violet eyes that seemed to shimmer in the light of the growth pods around them, her dark purple hair tied into a bun with the bangs framing her face and parted on the right side, the dark diamond tattoos forming a line of two interlocking columns down her chin from her lower lip and four diamond tattoos arranged into a larger diamond on her forehead.
"Master," Eila said. "This clone..."
Asha nodded. "I feel it, too. Sir, perhaps this clone should be tested. I believe he may be sufficiently capable even as he is."
The Kaminoan hummed thoughtfully, then nodded. "Very well. If he is able to succeed in training, would you like him to join your forces?"
"Yes, please," Eila nodded.
"Very well," the Kaminoan nodded, holding up a communicator. "Please have clone RC-Five-Five-Six-Three dressed and start his training."
"Right away," a clone's voice responded.
The Kaminoan continued on, and Asha and Eila followed.
Eila watched interestedly as RC-Five-Five-Six-Three sparred with one of the clones' Mandalorian combat instructors. The Mandalorian was pressing him hard, but the clone was able to keep up. As Eila watched, the fight transitioned from unarmed combat to wielding wooden staves, to knife combat. And through it all, the clone held his own well. He couldn't beat the Mandalorian, but he made him work for it every round. And once they were finished, the Mandalorian rewarded him by giving him a Mandalorian combat knife, a kal, as a souvenir. It was a beskar weapon with a bare metal grip and a hexagonal blade about six inches long, a rectangular cutout along the center of the blade.
"He's doing very well," Asha commented, stepping up beside Eila as the clone in question was taken to continue his rifle and general combat training.
"Yes, he is," Eila agreed. "He's caught up to the rest of the clones already, and he'll be finished training with his new commando squad along with the rest of our forces."
"His learning curve is incredible," Asha agreed. "Even Force-sensitive, learning months worth of training in a week is amazing. Well done requesting he be spared."
"There's never been a Force-sensitive clone before," Eila said. "I couldn't let him be killed."
Asha nodded. "He'll be an asset."
Eila nodded, eyes continuing to track the clone's progress as he worked his way quickly through one task after another. Asha watched Eila for a few more moments, then smiled slightly.
"I'm going to go and oversee the final exams," Asha said.
"I'll come with you, Master," Eila said, turning away from the clone.
"You're alright," Asha smiled. "Keep an eye on him. I'm interested in seeing what he can do. He seems to excel at combat."
Eila nodded, and Asha walked away, Eila turning back to the front, watching as RC-Five-Five-Six-Three continued his training.
"You will be placed on a squad of four commandos," the Mandalorian instructor explained. "Your commander will be RC-Eight-Three slash Five-Five-Six. Goes by Skipper. Your marksman will be Crosshair. Your demo specialist is Boomer. All three passed their exam, so this will test only you. You will be assaulting a gate controlled by the Separatist Army."
"Understood," the clone nodded.
"Don't worry, Ace," Skipper said, setting a hand on the clone's shoulder. "I've been watching your training. You'll do great."
"Ace?" the clone asked.
"You're amazing at everything you do," Boomer chuckled. "You're almost as good a shot as Crosshair, you're the best hand-to-hand fighter our instructors have ever trained, and you even managed to get that young padawan's attention."
Ace frowned. "The Padawan? Commander Eila? She and General Asha oversee all the clones' training."
"That's true," Crosshair admitted, "but instead of watching all the squads' final exams with General Asha, the commander was watching you shoot targets at the range."
Ace shrugged. "I don't know. Anyway, what's the plan?"
"We'll have to see what we're up against," Skipper said.
"The exam is ready," the instructor informed them. "You may begin whenever you are ready."
Skipper nodded to the others, and they all gathered their weapons. Each of them had a DC-17m blaster rifle, the grenade launcher and sniper attachments for them, a DC-15s sidearm, all of them loaded with the electric blue training rounds. The droids' similar yellow rounds would hurt and cause numbness for a clone, and theirs would disable a droid without damaging it, but they wouldn't kill. The DC-15 sidearms were the only exception, since they couldn't be loaded with training rounds, as they charged their own shots, but they were able to be set to stun, so they would still work, albeit at the cost of frying the droids' systems. In addition to the weapons, Boomer had a minigun with him, which he lifted as though it were easy, and Skipper had a second DC-15s. Ace was the only one with a knife, though his kal was both a special case and also useless against droids.
"We're ready," Skipper nodded.
Their instructor nodded and opened the door for them. The four of them ran out, immediately ducking into cover behind a pair of large metal walls. All around them, a storm of yellow blaster bolts crashing into the world around them. Ahead of their position, there was a massive gate set into the opposite wall. It towered over them thirty feet, then had a catwalk above it. To either side of the door were a pair of columns of heavy machine guns. And scattered around the massive room, including dozens in between them and the gate, were Battle Droids, and Super Battle Droids.
"Ace, throw a grenade into that group of Supers on the left!" Skipper instructed. "Boomer, as soon as the grenade goes off, take the supers on the right! Crosshair, clear the top of the gate!"
All three nodded, and Ace hurled a grande out of cover. They only had Droid Poppers, electric grenades that would short out droids, and they wouldn't immediately take down Super Battle Droids, but it would stun them for nearly thirty seconds. A moment later, as it went off, the Supers began to spasm as the blast also caught a handful of normal Battle Droids around the five Supers. And as Boomer stepped out to begin spraying his designated group of four Supers, Skipper fired a single grenade into the group of stunned Supers, wiping them out as Crosshair began to rapidly pick off the droids along the top of the gate while Ace, and then a moment later Skipper, began to rapidly blast the droids scattered around the ground. After a few more seconds, Crosshair and Boomer had finished their tasks and Skipper ordered the assault to begin in earnest. All four charged, Boomer falling behind but strafing the entire right half of the battle with his minigun, slaughtering the droids on that side rapidly. Ace, Skipper, and Crosshair did the same to the left side with their DC-17s, Crosshair having traded back to his carbine configuration.
The guns along the sides of the gate began to swivel toward them and they all ducked into cover. They began to stagger their advance, one moving at a time and the next starting toward a different piece of cover just as the next was about to get down. They advanced quickly across the room, but it began to change. The square tiles making up the floor began to move. Some rose to make cover for the droids, others rose or dropped to make obstacles. Some places simply opened to release more droids. They all adapted instantly, Skipper shouting commands over the chaos and the others obeying without hesitation. Ace smiled as he grabbed a Super that had been released from the floor beside him, too close for it to blast him and used it as a shield from a rain of yellow blaster bolts, returning fire around the droid. Just as he finished, his blaster ran empty, and he grabbed his DC-15s, continuing to blast droids as he ran with the others. Then, as soon as he'd reached cover, he put the sidearm away and reloaded his rifle.
After a couple more minutes, they'd reached the gate, the cannons unable to target them, just as another wave of droids, this time including Droidekas, rose from the opposite end of the room, trapping them against the gate.
"Destroyers!" Ace shouted in warning.
"Grenades!" Skipper ordered.
Everyone dove into cover using a few low walls beside the gate, still out of the cannons' line of fire, swapping to their grenade launchers, then fired. Four explosions decimated the droid reinforcements, but the destroyers survived, as did a few Supers and a single normal Battle Droid.
"I'll draw their fire!" Ace volunteered. "You all get to the top of the gate!"
The others nodded, and Ace took off at a sprint. The droids all opened fire instantly, but as he ran, he returned fire with his DC-15s. The Battle Droid went down first, then a Super. A pair of Supers went down as he stopped for a moment to target them more carefully, and then he was moving again as his pistol recharged. He swapped it for his rifle, firing quickly, and after a moment, only the Droidekas were left. As Ace continued to run around and fire at them to hold their attention, the others used their ascension guns to get to the walkway at the top of the gate where the controls were. However, as they hit the button to open the gate, instead of the gate responding, a loud buzzer sounded and the Droidekas stopped firing as the exam ended.
"Well done, troopers," Asha congratulated them.
Ace looked up at the observation window, seeing Eila smiling widely at Asha's side.
"You will make a fine addition to the Clone Army, RC-Five-Five-Six-Three," Asha continued. "The Kaminoans will be supplying you with armor before you head to the ship tomorrow. For now, you'll have the rest of the day off."
Ace smiled, nodding, and he and the others all left the training room, heading back to the barracks.
"You were excellent, Ace," Skipper commended. "You really are good at everything. Even being bait."
"Thanks," Ace smiled. "So, what kinds of missions will we be doing?"
"Anything they order us to do, I guess," Skipper shrugged. "We follow orders."
Ace nodded. "I suppose so."
They all chatted for a while about what they thought life as a commando would be like, eventually getting dinner, then headed to bed.
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