The Knave's Crusade

Comrades: 10

Vass shook her head in disgust as she remembered the white gas seeping around them, they couldn't see anything. The sound of Agent Bankole taken set her blood ablaze, the kid and starship engineer didn't deserve to be involved. Was there anything that she could've done differently?

A cold hand snapped Vass back to reality, it was Krekor, his eyes filled with worry. Vass ripped her eyes from the vast oceans of Kamino. Waves shook the sides of the metal city, gray clouds loomed over the planet, strange birds dipped into the raging tides. There was a silent nod between them.

Vass led Krekor to the training hall with Alta, Raeth, and Yarla lined against the black wall. Each wore stern faces, their armor a pristine white, and their blasters were loaded. Vass examined her tired looking men and beckoned them to resume resting position.

"If you don't know, we were ordered to come to Kamino to continue our training and to begin searching for Agent Bankole." dictated Vass, "We have been paired with CT-9904's Elite Squad. I will be blunt. If you have any complaints about being led by a clone, you are more than welcome to be honorably discharged from the military."

No voice spoke up, so Vass saluted her troopers and dismissed them. Yarla caught up to Raeth as he exited and punched his shoulder. A harsh smile spread across his lined face and he flipped Yarla onto her back.

"What was that for?" snapped Yarla.

Raeth pulled her up. "You never stop doing that."

"That's the fun part," joked Yarla.

Alta gently tapped Yarla's arm. "Yeah it is! It's the best when you can beat up each other and it's seen as training."

Krekor put his arms around Alta and Yarla. "At least you two have a sense of humor, unlike Vass."

"I heard that," shouted back Vass from over her shoulder, sending chills down Krekor's spine.

A harmony of various laughs filled the empty hall, each remembering what their mission was.

---

A tall man with short cropped hair stared into their souls, forever frowning. His squad consisted of a woman with dark hair, a man with burning eyes, a woman with tanned skin, and a soldier with blue eyes. Vass did not break the tall man's stare with hardened eyes.

Vass curtly asked, "Can I help you?"

"No." snidely remarked the man, "I'm Commander CT-9904. I will be taking command of your squad."

"Over my dead body," shot back Vass.

CT-9904 grimly smirked. "I can arrange for that."

"I would love to see that," growled Vass, her hand inched to her blaster.

"That is enough!" commanded a determining voice, "Trooper Stolane will remain in charge of the Bankole Squad, but they will work with you."

An older human male stormed in, his brown eyes tore through the crowd. Badges of the Vice Admiral stood out against his crisp uniform, it was the infamous Rampart. Vass and CT-9904 stopped instantly and saluted their commanding officer.

"Both squads will commence training together to prepare you to find Agent Pascal Bankole, Captain Tels Eto, and Lieutenant Kulan Jal," notified Rampart, "You're dismissed to begin training."

Vass led her squad next to CT-9904's down the long hall to an expansive training room. It was sheets of metal creating the walls, in the middle was a glass enclosure that had black moving walls. It smelled of burnt metal after when repairs were done.

"We should begin with learning each other's names," advised Vass.

CT-9904 crudely remarked, his toothpick in his hand now, "That's a waste of time."

"I know," agreed Vass, "but we will work together and need to communicate. I'm Trooper Vass, that's Raeth, Alta, Krekor, and Yarla."

CT-9904 pointed them out as he walked away. "That's ES-01, ES-02, ES-03, and ES-04."

"Can we know your names?" inquired Alta.

ES-03 retorted, his eyes seemed to dim down, "No, it's important for us to keep our identities private due to the nature of this mission."

All of the troopers were led into the training room, each tense. Vass and CT-9904 took their in front of their squads, a rifle was slung over the clone's shoulder.

Vass said with a crooked smile, "Let's begin."

Hologram droids were activated by a droid in control of the arena, walls were pulled up and down. Krekor ducked behind the closet wall to avoid a blue bullet, it skimmed the ground and vanished. Yarla jumped up from behind and shot the droid that aimed at Krekor.

To the right of them ES-01 was separated from his squad, so Alta ran and slid to his aid. She spun around till they were back to back. Then, they were firing at holograms in a ring of fire.

A bright light was directed at CT-9904, nothing made him fear it, however he saw something red hit it. Vass glared at him from over on top of a barrier and vanished to help Raeth and Yarla. Raeth had Yarla on his shoulders to give her better accuracy and Vass rolled her eyes at this.

"Whatever works for you two," called out Vass as she vanished again.

Yarla chuckled as Raeth grinned and they went about their training. All the troopers continued to build their skill while they struggled together.

A droid determined, "That training is now over. Please exit through the left doors."

Yarla stumbled after Raeth and saw ES-04 laying on the ground. ES-04 took Yarla's hand when she offered it to her. CT-9904 led them out, Vass was on his heels.

Vass spit out, "Good work, Commander."

Vass left CT-9904 in silence with Bankole Squad catching up to her.

Further down the hall, Vass' hologram rang out and an blue image of a hairless human appeared. A smile cracked against their face, their eyes glowed darkly across the screen. The storm troopers surrounded Vass, each trying to view the human.

Alta excitedly asked, "How are you doing Commander Typhe? Are you flying right now?"

"I am, my officers and I are heading back to Coruscant to visit families." Gaabenk answered, his voice strained, "It's been awhile since I've my kids."

Raeth crossed his arms. "How are you really doing?"

"The divorce has been difficult, but thankfully I got full custody," revealed Gaabenk.

Yarla apologized, "I'm sorry to hear that. If you need to talk to anyone you have us."

"Thank you, I'll keep that in mind. I've got to go now," briefed the Commander.

All of the storm troopers waved good-bye and then the hologram was shut off. Vass encouraged her squad to keep going forward, to find Bankole and the Commander will be okay. They continued their routine and grew together.