"Troopers, get set! Come one, pick up the pace! Go, go, go!"

It was one of the Republic Dockyards now. The major port that once acted as a landing and take-off pad for expensive cruise ship liners was re-fitted into a military base some time after the first Battle of Geonosis, igniting the start of the Clone Wars.

What used to be manned by aliens of all species and breeds guinding in yacht ships and first-class passenger cruisers, were all filled with men in pristine white armor and colored frames.

Clone Troopers.

"CT-0492, pack up more ammuniations into the storage bays. CT-0050, we need more plasma rockets for what we're up against ,get some extra crates. CT-2010, CT-341, there's some rations set up in the hangar move it over to load up onto the ship."

Among a tight knight squad of battle-ready Clone Troopers was a squad leader marked with emerald frames. He was part of the 57th Fighting Ground Platoon and was given the rank of Captain to lead special armed forces into dangerous situations. This is his third deployment in leading this special unit, and even though this wasn't his first time at the rodeo - he made sure everything is ready.

"Hold up, Soldier. What's this box for?"

"U-uh. I don't know sir. I was given order by the Commander in charge to load it with the rest of the equipment. D-did I do wrong sir?"

"No, trooper. You're fine. if you were working out of protocol, I would shoot you myself."

"That was a joke right?"

"..............................................................."

"........... Beginning Checklist."

"What? Did I say something wrong?"

The Captain of the Clone Troopers preparing a several LAAT Gunships tilted his head. He didn't understand why the trooper didn't hear his sarcastic laugh. Was it a glitch in the system?

"Hey."

"Hmm?"

The Captain perked his helmeted head up from thought and turned to the voice that called behind him. It turns out the one who called him tried to get his attention by tapping his shuolder.

The armor was too efective in abosrbing physical impact.

"Do you know where--"

"Ah. You must be Commander Luke Skywalker. Delta-092 reporting for duty sir."

"...Heh?"

The Captain got a chance to see this young man standing before him. He wasn't tall, even the clone outranked him in that category. His body was covered in pieces of armor that look a bit outdated, or even made from junk pieces connected together with wires and coils. It all looked hand made and supporting something across his right arm.

Also, he had an eyepatch covering a 5 inch long scar over his left eye.

"... Who the h*ll is Luke Skywalker?"

"Hmm? You're not General Skywalker's son?"

"Wh-when did he have an affair and pop me out!?"

The boy with the eyepatch was both visibly shaken, yet kept his grimace on the entire time.

"No. I'm not Skywalker's love child. Get your facts straight of I'l hit you."

"Yes sir. Let me take my helmet off first before you break a bone."

"No. I said 'Or'. You need to reject the first option before I resort to the second option! N-now put your helmet back on!"

"Yes sir!"

The Clone Trooper adjusted his helmet and checked for the sealing. Once his internal HUD was back up online, he could still see the boy with the eyepatch frowning.

"... Before we proceed--"

"Ah yes, the inventory checklist. Right away. Trooper, get me that datapad!"

The Captain turned to one of the fellow troopers who saluted and tossed a fragile looking data pad. The Captain caught it as if it were a frisbee.

"Five Gunships, two AATs, seven ASTs, six Armored Carapace---"

"Wai-wait. Soldier. Th-that's not what I was asking, I--"

"We have 100 Clone Soldiers on board, a mixed of units from the ARC Trooper and a squad of Commandos. We have three Starships, the Judgement, Wisdom, and Song, and--"

"Trooper. Are you listening to me? I neeed to--"

"100 Kilos of Ammunition, 80 kilos worth of explosives, extra heavy ordinances, and--"

All the tapping to the shoulder had no effect to get the Captain's attention, so the boy with the eye patch resorted to his trump card.

Grab the soldier by the armored shoulders and shake him.

"Er. Y-Yes Sir?"

"Where the h*ll is your bathroom?"

"I...Beg your pardon sir?"

"I got lost. I was lucky I made it here, but I can't find your god-d@mn bathroom... Where is it?"

The Clone Captain in question didn't have a response up front. The Jedi couldn't tell if he was laughing or thinking it through, but he soon got an answer to determine whether he could trust his Clone Soldier

"East Maintenance Wing, Second Floor up the stairs on your left."

"Thank you soldier."

"I suggest you take the third floor. Cleaner."

"...What's your name soldier?"

"CT-0555. They call me Pup, sir."

"Why?"

"I believe it's my obsession for the GT-Manticore Bullpup rifle sir."

"I see. Captain Pup right?... Carry on."

With that, the Captain watched the young man dart off to find the nearest bathroom.

"Funny Guy, that Commander. I think I like him."

[+========+]

"Hmm. So, this is Galgetha?"

"Yes, sir. We're right outside of the planetary perimeter. We've placed all ships out of their radar so we are undetected. Your order's sir."

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

"Is it just me or this place really small?"

Lota Lota, the Jedi Knight with the eyepatch and wierd armor, wasn't frowning but the way he was squinting looked like he was.

He was now on board the Flagship of the operations group the Republic Venator-Class Judgement. Standing on the bridge filled with Clones and Republic Oficers alike, he and the Captain of the Clone Soldiers Battle Platoon were staring out of the main view port.

Indeed, the planet was small. And this wasn't even from a far away distance. It almost looked like the size of a moon compared to other planets like Coruscant or Tatooine.

"Here are the reports sir about the planet. It's a type of Jovian Planet, meaning it's made out of gas. However, it could be from the pressure in this part of space or the strength of its gravity that collected fine particle materials. Origin wise, it turned into a bit of a thriving dwarf planet."

"Which makes me wonder how did that level of science and animal ears appeared in the mutation process."

"I beg your pardon sir?"

"Nothing. Please continue."

"Yes sir!"

The Captain stomped a salute and continued to read off of the datapad in his hand, tapping and flicking the screen with his armored glove hand.

"The Seperatist had acquired control over this planet. There were no planetary defenses or anti-orbital systems, so they easily acquired supremacy here."

"My guess because it's no bigger than a moon, a handful of cruisers was enough to subjugate the planet. By the way, what level of technology are the locals at."

"Sir?"

"You know. How advanced if their civilization?"

"Uuuh. There is no data on that subject sir.."

"Yeah. Medieval. This is going to be a big problem."

[+========+]

"What are your orders, sir? General Windu has given us order to follow your command, so please guide us."

"Hmm."

Lota Lota made that off hand remark while he was staring at a hologram of the general landscape of the planet's territotry. A scout fighter had been dispatched to secure general information and to find a good blind spot for a small team insertion.

Luckily the area was also clustered with faint ice dust and remained from drifting meteors, so the three republic ships were able to stay hidden in the ice trails until further notice. Right now, they were planning to deploy but not in full force yet.

"I guess we need to assess the situation on Galgetha."

"Yes sir."

"Then we figure out where are the enemy hiding their bases."

"Yes sir."

"Then kick their @sses."

".Ha-ha. Well said, sir."

"Hmm."

Lota Lota made another sound with his throat, his one eye gazing over the 3d Hologram. He, Captain Pup, and several hand-picked members of the fighting platoon for this mission were huddled around, waiting for instructions.

"Did the scouts find a blind spot?"

"Standing by...Just received coordinates. We can head out any time."

"Okay, time for a speech I guess."

The Jedi Knight placed on this unit cleared his throat. It made all the soldiers turn and snap a crisp salute.

"You're going to die. All of you."

There was a thick silence that filled the entire hangar, Those words were heavy enough to keep the Clone from exchanging confused glances. They stood still, as if hearing this was a daily occurrence. It wasn't really, even for these soldiers born to fight, die, and win a war. The Jedi Knight was very conconscious in selecting those exact words.

"There. I said it. There's no point to hide the truth when it's only going to nag at you all and drag out the mission. So listen carefully because I dislike repeating myself."

"You, all of you, will die. I am no exception. This mission was meant to be a suicide run from the start. This is because we're expendable."

Captain Pup said nothing. But he did turn to glimpse at the Jedi Knight who was saying those words without fear or lies.

"I'm no leader. They call me a jinx and I might curse you if you so much as look at me the wrong way. But no matter what, if something needs to get down, then bet your clone @sses I'm here to fix it."

The one called the Jinx of the Order frowned.

"They expect us to fail, the fake members of the Council. Once they see us slip, then they have every reason to give up the people locked up on that tiny planet that no one cares. I know this may not be learned in school, but do you give a d@mn?... DO YOU GIVE A D@MN SOLDIERS!?"

"SIR, YES SIR!"

"DO YOU WANT TO SAVE A STRANGER!?'"

"SIR, YES SIR!"

"ARE YOU READY TO PAY THE TOLL WITH YOUR LIFE!?"

"SIR, YES SIR!"

"THEN I'M SURE AS H*LL THAT I'VE GOT YOUR YOUR BACKS! YOU GET MINE!"

Rifles fell. They didn't drop, they stabbed themselves into the hard steel floor only to leap back into the soldier's arm in a form of ceremonial salute.

"Are you boys ready to kick robot @ss?"

"READY, AYE READY!"

"Hmm."

Lota Lota made that sound in his throat with a lazy nod.

"Clocks ticking. Battle stations and deploy in 0600."

With a unified salute, the Clone Troopers bolted off to their respective locations. They loaded up on their gunships, mounted armored vehicles, and prepped all the ammo crate they could stuff in a single gunship.

"...Wow."

Captain Pup somehow broke his protocol as a soldier, and just turned to Lota Lota.

"Usually, the previous commanders either say nothing or give us this long-winded speech that went on for hours. How long did it take you to prepare?"

"Just now."

"You're amazing sir."

"Hmm."