𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝘿𝙀𝙑𝙄𝙇'𝙎 𝘼𝘿𝙑𝙊𝘾𝘼𝙏𝙀 • 𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙝 𝙫𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧

EIGHT

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CHAPTER EIGHT:

A Confidence Boost

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MY FIRST MEETING WAS INTENSE.

Admittedly, I had skipped the first few that I had been invited to out of utter fear, but after three weeks I could no longer use the excuse of getting lost on my way to the meeting room.

I sat in silence, observing and listening to the others. From what I understood, Rebel activity had been detected on Takodana, and there was thought to have been a large base in the city of Andui.

Though Captain Kon spoke monotonously when informing us of this, his words excited me. It wasn't that I was glad that a Rebel base had been found, but that anything worth mentioning was happening at all. It had been a long two weeks since the Katarin Manar incident, and I was feeling unstimulated.

General Rivven sat directly opposite me, to the right of Vader, a smug look growing on his face. "All eyes are on you, General Damri."

My heart skipped a beat as the attention fell onto me, making me clear my throat. "They are?"

Captain Kon put down his tablet, his stoic demeanor sending a chill down my spine."100 Stormtroopers are to be deployed to Andui in four days, and every single one of them will be armed with your weapons."

His words made my stomach drop, my palms beginning to sweat under the immediate pressure. "Four days?" I repeated, my voice small.

"Don't fret; you will be given an engineering team to assist you. They will build copies of the weapons of your choosing; all you need to be concerned with is teaching the troopers how to use them," General Rivven explained, slightly relieving me.

"Weapons of my choosing?" I repeated with a frown. "Will you be making the final decision?"

He sighed, seemingly unhappy, but before Rivven could reply to me, Vader did. "I am giving you full control over this mission, General Damri. You will choose the weapons, and you will give the Stormtroopers an assembly during which you will teach them to use said weapons. The assembly will be given tonight, once you have made your decision."

Nodding at him, I knew I was to agree no matter whether I truly did or not. I could deal with the consequences of my agreement later.

I spent the rest of the meeting going through every gun I had ever designed, hoping there'd be one clear contender to put forward to Rivven. This was my first official task as the Stormtrooper Armorer, and it could either make or break my career upon the Death Star.

There was the classic Pyrowave, which shot out fireballs that caused intense destruction. However, the Pyrowave wasn't particularly the best for one-on-one combat, and it didn't offer instant fatalities.

Then, there was the Hard Shot, but I wasn't content with arming 100 Stormtroopers with miniscule canons, especially when they were taking on a large Rebel base.

Ticker guns were out of the question due to their low impact, which only left one.

The X-A1 Destroyer. It looked similar to what the troopers were already armed with, but I knew it did at least 50 times more damage with just one shot.

"And you're sure it's what you want to go with?" Noa asked me once I informed him of my decision, to which I confirmed with a nod.

"Absolutely," I replied firmly. "No doubt about it. It might not completely blow Rivven away, but it'll definitely leave him no space to complain."