Project Ares Gold Edition

Chapter 12 - First Strike

Republic Military Complex - Coruscant

Chief was currently going over some reports with Echo regarding recent Separatist movements while Fives was busy hammering the men with PT. Suddenly the door opened and a large noise sounded through the opening. Instinctively, everyone stopped what they were doing to watch the arrival of three large containers that got dropped in the middle of the room.

As one of the troopers in red saluted Chief and handed him a datapad, the trio of Coruscant Guard troopers left Blue Team to wonder what they had just received. Reading a note that said "Your welcome - Fordo", Chief gave Fives the signal to open the containers.

Revealing a dozen sets of ARF trooper armour that was painted in digital grey-scale camo. The men were excited beyond comprehension, quickly grabbing a set each, they immediately ran up to their room to start painting blue markings on their new armours. Though most commanders would be disappointed or even furious that the clones were already 'ruining' their perfectly new armour, Chief understood that besides loyalty, honour, brotherhood and duty, the clones valued identity more than anything else.

After a few hours of customization, Chief called his men to the centre of the room where he would first inspect their gear before giving out some assignments for the clones. Quickly breezing past the ARC twins, Chief trusted that they were squared away and that they knew what was expected of them. Next came Blitz and Streak, who probably had the most unique looking armour out of their fellow brothers. The base of the armour was the standard grey camouflage ARF trooper gear, but the two had decided to equip pilot helmets and rebreather packs to make them more adept at their specialty.

The EOD brothers were next, and at first glance, Chief could definitely tell that they had opted for the more heavily armoured route, equipping pouldrons around their shoulders along with an secondary piece of breastplate armour to protect them against any shrapnel. Both Shrapnel and Thermos were equipped with a bandolier that was loaded with grenades and breaching charges. Giving a nod of approval for his demolitions crew, 117 turned to the medics, who appeared to have the most standardised armour of the lot. The biggest indication of their role being the medical cross on their shoulder plates and the satchel each of them carried that was filled with painkillers and medical equipment.

Despite having slightly different roles, both June and Romeo had glued adaptive clips into their armour where they could easily equip different ghillie suits that were specialised for the specific environment. In addition to this, June had attached some extra magazines on his arms for easier reloads on longer sniper deployments while Romeo outfitted his helmet with a built in macro-binoculars that allowed him to do his role much easier and efficiently. As for Gears and Static, their armours were easily unique given the amalgamations of gadgets and gizmos strapped around their bodies that were specifically tailored for their assignments.

Static being the communications expert included extra radios on his belt in case a team member needed a replacement along with heavily upgrading his helmet with an antenna and additional radio suite. This allowed for him to reach out further with his transmissions and co-ordinate more clearly with team members while also being able to intercept enemy signals and communications. As for Gears, the field mechanic's helmet included a pop-down visor that would provide protection against the bright welding light that would often accompany his role.

In the back of his mind, Chief knew that there was something coming down the line, he didn't know what it was but something felt off. As a result, he wanted to prepare as best as possible. Assigning Fives and Static to get in touch with the 501st, Chief wanted to know what the status was on the frontlines. Of course, with his clearance he could read the redacted files and reports, but those reports were still very filtered, getting a first-hand account was far more valuable and that's what the two clones were being tasked with.