When the Cavalry Comes.

XLII

"Absolutely not."

"It's the best match."

"Fives, they will kill each other in a week."

"I have faith in them."

Kix glared at the lieutenant, arms folded. "Fives." He groaned. Fives's stubbornness was notorious among the 501st, even worse than Kix himself. Kix hated really arguing with his brother, despite how often it seemed to happen.

"Look. She's gonna be a great commander when she reaches ARC. This squad will help teach her what she needs to learn. She knows the basics of command, and yes, it will be awful at first, but it's for the best."

Kix looked over the proposed squad. The captain, having come out of bacta the previous day, had already signed off. They just needed Kix's signature now, as head medic.

"Fives, her new corporal... he's a real piece of work." He hedged. That was an understatement. "She'll be his twelfth Sargent and his eighth complete new squad. They all end up dead."

"Viper's old. More importantly, he knows what makes a good commander. Yeah he's more than a little gruff-"

"He's outright hostile and aggressive. He attacker his own teammate once over a stolen ration bar."

Fives winced. "Yeah there was that incident..."

"Forget the others, him and Cavalry are a blaster pack with the stern dowels removed waiting to explode." Kix groaned.

"She has somebody who will already die for her there, and she has potential to make good allies with the other two. They're twins, true twins from the same growth jar. Like me and Echo." Fives shuffled the paperwork on his desk.

"And they have the worst case of hero worship for you I've ever seen. They're gonna be all over her just for the chance to meet you." Kix was at his end. "This is the most impossible squad if I'd ever seen one."

Fives gave him a look. "I don't care what you think they'll be. Just sign the kriffing papers."

Kix sighed, mentally apologizing to Cavalry.

"Sir yes sir." He grumbled, scribbling his name and CT number before storming out of the office.

~

Kix was half way through his second bag of jelly beans when Cavalry knocked on his office door.

"Hello to you too." Kix grumbled as she hoisted herself up onto a relatively clear area of his desk and stole a handful of jellybeans.

"Did I do something to Fives?" She asked quietly, shoving several of the candies into her mouth at once, grimacing faintly at the clashing flavors.

"So you got your assignment then?" Kix asked.

"You knew?"

"I signed off on it." He admitted. "No, kid. Fives doesn't hate you. You did nothing wrong."

"Then why is he trying to get me killed!" Cav burst out, pulling a datapad out and slamming it into the desk angrily. "The only redeemable member of this team is Whiteout and he's only got one good arm! Bait and Lure are hopeless, they've barely progressed past 'shiny' and won't listen to anybody who's not a super human commander like Fives or Rex or Commander Tano!" Cavalry threw her hands in the air.

"If they don't get the whole squad killed by being idiots, then my new Corporal will kill us in his sleep! Viper, Kix. Like the animals that have no qualms about eating each other and their offspring. Cracker still has the scar on his face from when he accidentally misplaced Viper's rations while they were squad mates."