-Darin-

I sat in my room on Kamino and waited to know my results. The test was a complete joke. Pretty much completely vocabulary and procedures and military codes that I already knew. They had allotted me an entire four hours to finishing the thing. I finished in a little less than two, but they refused to take it until the four hours was up. So I sat there for the remaining two hours wanting to repeatedly smash my head against the table.

At long last, I heard a knocking on my door. I checked the time. Two hours. It took two hours to grade the thing. I opened the door and a Gand Jedi came in.

"Kravhenn."

"General Ansi." I had heard quite a lot about Bool Ansi from Ker, as he was her Master. However, I don't think the reverse is true.

"I am here to report that you have passed with flying colors. I will take you to Flor We now."

I figured that I'd passed, but it was still exhilarating to hear it. I followed the Jedi through the bright white halls until we entered a room which had a group of Kaminoans surrounding a holoscreen. They turned to me and one of them stepped forward.

"Thank you Bool."

Ansi bowed and left the room.

"Congratulations Darin."

"Thanks."

"I shall take you to meet your platoon." She turned to the other Kaminoans and said "We will continue this later" before leaving the room with me in tow.

As I followed her, I felt a pull through the Force that came from behind a door to the side that was being guarded by troopers.

"What's that?"

"Detention. For defective soldiers." She spit the words out as if the idea that any were defective was insulting.

"Can I check it out?"

She looked at me curiously. "Why would you want to do that?"

Thinking quickly, I said "Maybe I can salvage some so they aren't wasted."

I could sense a spark of hope in her. I know the Kaminoan custom. Any "project" labeled defective was insulting. The possibility of redemption would not be passed up.

"Of course."

In the room, cells lined every wall. Little windows in the doors showed that there were multiple guys in each cell.

"How many are there?"

"48. A little less than an entire platoon."

"Why were they called defective?"

"Disobeying orders."

"Are any cases related?"

"They are all the result of one incident."

Interesting. "Who started it?"

"The captain."

"May I speak with him?"

She nodded and a few guards went to a cell and ushered a couple men out and into a different cell.

"Room is ready, General."

I entered the room and was surprised by how spacious it was. It had plenty of space to comfortably fit five prisoners. I realized that this wasn't originally a prison. It was used for something else entirely, and when the men were sent here to be fixed they were forced to make this room a prison. It didn't help that the Order mandates the use of a prison for the defectives and that no more than five prisoners are allowed per cell.

A man was lying on one of the bunks. He was tall with long dark hair tied in a loose bun. Not a hairstyle I was particularly fond of but to each their own. I assumed this to be the captain.

"Good afternoon Captain."

No response from the lying figure.

"I said good afternoon."

Nothing.

"Respond, Captain."

The man fidgeted slightly, but didn't acknowledge my existence.

"TR-7254, I gave you an order" I barked.

"To hell with your orders" he muttered.

"What did you just say?"

He finally sat up and turned to me. "I said to hell with your orders! To hell with you!"

"TR-7254-"

He got up so that he was standing over me. "Don't call me that! My name isn't TR-7254! It's Tag!"

I remained seated. This seemed to make him uncomfortable. I could tell he was expecting to be punished severely for his outburst. It's the usual response to outbursts such as his own.

As I sat there silently and looked up at him, I could see his defiance cracking and falling away. He slowly started to back away and sit back down.

When he was seated, I spoke. "Let's begin again. Good afternoon."

"Why are you here?"

"I wanted to speak with you."

"I have nothing to say."

"Would you at least humor me?"

"Not like I have much choice."

I ignored the response and asked "Why do this?"

A spark of anger flashed in his eyes. "For as long as I can remember, I've been trained for one purpose, and that was war. I was taught to follow all orders, even bad ones. And I'm expected to die for this war. I'm expected to be indistinguishable from all the others. You assholes make sure of that. You make us wear those stupid uniforms. Take away our names, leave the numbers. I'm expected to be a droid, and guess what? I'll never be one! I have feelings, and I care about my men! I won't let them march to their death like their lives mean nothing! I make my own decisions! And I don't care if you kill me! Go tell your bloody Order that I'd rather die a free man than live as a slave!"

I stood up and smiled. "That can be arranged." I went to leave but stopped. "I'll see you around."

I left and found Flor. "I see no defects. I'll take them."

"What about the platoon that you were assigned?"

"I'll take them too."

"Having control of two platoons on your first assignment is not allowed."

"Is that a written or unwritten rule?"

A small smile appeared. "You already know the answer, don't you?"

I nodded. "As I said. I'll take both."

-Tag-

Later in the day, I was yanked out of my cell and placed in cuffs along with my cellmates. I looked around and noticed that the other men were also cuffed. I turned to one of the guards and asked "Where are you taking us?"

"Your time has been cut short." They started escorting us through the spotless corridors.

That Jedi. I told him that I'll die a free man and he told me it can be arranged. We were being executed. If he wants to kill me, that's fine. I'll accept that. But I won't let him kill my men. They don't deserve this.

We reached a room and were forcefully shoved inside. When the whole platoon was inside, the door was slammed shut. The room was silent. Nervous glances were exchanged.

I began searching for a way to escape. I had to get my men to safety. I tried to open the door we came through, but it was locked. I looked around and found a door on the other side. I pushed past my guys until I got to the other side and found the door to be open. I peered through and saw a platoon of freshies on the other side of the room. None of them were looking our way. I spotted a door to the right that must lead to the hall. That's our escape. I crept to the door and found it to be unlocked. I motioned for my guys to follow me.

A loud voice rang through the room. "Tag! So glad you could join us!"

The door I was holding was yanked out of my hands as it closed and locked. I turned to the voice. It was that Jedi from before.

"Come now. And bring your men. I'd hate to have to force them out."

"Leave them out of this! Take me! Leave them alone!"

He sighed. My whole platoon seemed to be thrown out in the open. They mumbled some curses and looked around.

"Why are you being so difficult?"

"BECAUSE I'M NOT LETTING THEM DIE!"

He seemed to find this amusing. I noticed that the freshies were looking at us out of curiosity.

"Come now, Tag. Nobody is going to die."

This threw me. "But… but…"

"Yes, I know what you thought. But don't worry! You're all safe for now!"

I hesitantly started walking towards him and the freshies. I could hear my men doing the same.

"If we aren't being executed, then why are we here?"

"You will be joining me as part of the 603rd!"

I started to run away, but realized that I couldn't move. It was like I was frozen in place.

"Seriously? I give you a chance at a new start and your first instinct is to run?"

"I told you I won't be a part of it! I'd rather die a-"

"Yea yea die a free man blah blah blah. I remember." He waved his hand and I felt myself float to him. "You assume that I will be the same?"

"You're all the same."

"Do you realize the irony of what you just said?"

"I know your kind. You pretend to be nice and friendly, but believe the same things they all do."

"And why do I believe the same thing that they all do?"

"Because you were raised by them!"

A victorious smirk appeared. "So were you. You were raised by them. From birth. Trained, augmented, and numbered. And yet, you rebelled. Why can't the same thing happen with me?"

I was at a loss for words. He let go of the Force and I dropped to the ground. I struggled to come up with some response, some comeback, but nothing came. I finally looked at him, defeated, and said "I don't know."

"I know you don't." He motioned at the freshies to stay and lowered his voice so that only I could hear. "As you can see, that right there is a platoon of new soldiers. Young men who grew up the same as you did. Augmented, trained, and primed for the whole propaganda brainwashing shtick. Look, I recently became a General and have no clue what I'm doing. I need a Captain who can think for himself and who knows what he's doing."

I looked at him in surprise. "But you seem much older."

"I'm 22. Don't let the beard throw you off."

He shook his head. "I can't. I refuse to be treated like an inferior."

"I won't treat you like inferiors."

"How do I know you aren't lying?"

He smiled. "I was treated that way. Hated it. Destroyed any possible loyalty to the organization."

"Then why be a General? Why stay a Jedi?"

"People need help. People who have been kriffed over long enough."

Before I could say anything, he made his way to the freshies. I turned and motioned for my men to follow me, then went to stand next to the freshies. I figured that if I didn't, he'd just Force us in place.

"Troopers! My name is Darin Kravhenn. I am the General of the 603rd. Before joining, you must do something very important. You must choose a name." He rolled up his sleeve and raised his arm. Clearly, I could make out some black lettering. "I am E-1143. But I go by Darin. I too have a number. But I choose to have a name. So then you must choose as well."