Shattered Stars (TCW)

Chapter 2 -- Lessons

Jedi Knight Taska Rokanh and clone Captain Ace of Hail Company are getting to know each other before being thrown into battle to defend the Republic. The strange new army is intimidating and confusing. Though the young knight is inexperienced, she hopes to be ready to lead her men effectively--the safety of the galaxy depends on it.

“And in this formation, you use the men as a pointed shield to push through a crowd, similar to a plow. It’s most useful when you’re facing many adversaries from one direction in a tight space with little air support. If the enemy has gunships, though, I wouldn’t recommend it. We would likely be obliterated that way,” Ace said, the small holo on the table corroborating his statement. They had been this way for the past three hours at least.

Taska nodded intently, making a few short notes on her holopad. The comm on her wrist activated. “It would seem we’re needed on the bridge,” she told the captain.

“Yes, General,” he said, turning off the holo and following her.

* * *

“We have our first mission,” Admiral Terallo informed them. “We’ve found several dormant pods of battle droids on some larger asteroids in the Zarrebar system. We believe they are due for an attack any day now. We already have forces in place trying to find and neutralize all units, but our division has been assigned to guard the ground cities. We probably won’t be seeing a lot of action today; regardless, we’ve been instructed to use at least one company per sector.”

Taska nodded along, sure that this would be a mission she could handle. She made a note to herself that although military strategy was not something she studied, logic was always heavily emphasized. I can do this. 

“It’s going to take a few hours through hyperspace to get there,” the admiral continued. “Inform the men, get any gear around that you need, and rest up if you can. I want us completely ready and on the gunships one hour out.”

“Yes, sir,” Captain Ace nodded. 

“You,” Admiral Terallo said, turning to focus his full attention on the new General. “Do you know what you’re doing when it comes to grounded defense? I’ll be running air support if needed, but I need to know I can trust you to not get everyone killed.”

His words stung. Taska reminded herself not to let her ego get in the way. “I believe that I can operate efficiently,” she replied. Pulling up a holomap of the several areas they would be defending, she explained her strategy. “And the captain would lead this company here,” she said. “I believe each of these lieutenants or sergeants should be capable of holding their own with that amount of troops here.”

The admiral nodded and looked at her with respect for the first time since she had met him. When Taska looked up, the captain nodded at her kindly. “Very good, sir. I’ll relay the plan right away.”

They landed on the surface of the main planet of Zarrebar, everyone’s ears popping as soon as they got close to the surface. 

“Planetary pressure is about 105% of what we would experience in artificial gravity conditions,” Taska told her men through the comms, recalling what she had studied during her padawan years. “On the bright side, we don’t have to worry about not having enough oxygen to breathe.”

They began their trek to their positions, allowing the troopers to adjust to the stronger gravity of the large planet. As she had been taught, Taska kept an eye out for everything around her, and did not fail to admire the dusty rings surrounding the planet. 

“Civilians have already been evacuated to the emergency underground chambers in the cities,” she reminded the squads she was in charge of. “The city guard should’ve gotten everyone, but do a quick lifeform scan if you can. If we do get into a fight, we don’t want anyone caught in the crossfire.”