Star Wars: The Lord in Exile

Breaking Ranks

Inside the Imperial complex on Lothal, a squad of Stormtrooper cadets marched along the floors following Taskmaster Grint in perfect uniform fashion. They all wore identical white outfits with training helmets except for the top four of the class, who wore helmets decorated with coloured markings to signify their skills. Upon reaching their destination the burly Imperial officer stopped and addressed the squad.

"And halt!" he ordered before turning to face Commandant Aresko. "Squad LRC–077 for your inspection, sir!"

The Commandant stood on a platform as he spoke, "Cadets, you entered this facility as children. And in a few short weeks, you will leave as soldiers. By the time you complete your training, you will be prepared to serve your Emperor. Today, we will test your strength and resolve. Are you ready to become stormtroopers?"

"Sir, yes, sir!" they all shouted.

"At ease."

A cadet took off his white and red helmet and it turned out to be Erza who was disguised as a Stormtrooper cadet. He looked at the helmet and started losing focus, ignoring the calls of his fellow cadet until he started shaking the blue haired boy.

"Dev? Hey, Dev. Dev!"

"What?" Ezra muttered in confusion.

"Dev Morgan, you in there?"

"Oh, yeah. Dev Morgan's in here, all right. Th–That's me."

"Wow. You must really be feeling the pressure."

"Sorry, Jai. Who's under pressure? Not the guy who's won every assessment."

"Yeah, but today I can taste victory."

"You said that yesterday and went hungry."

The two laughed and began playfully fighting with each other, until the floor they were standing on began to sink down. The cadets all wavered by the sudden shift but composed themselves quickly. The platform the two officers stood on floated and hovered over the pit the cadets were now in.

"Cadets, you are descending into the Well... and must climb out with all deliberate speed. You will be given the honor of serving as aides in Imperial headquarters. Those who lose will be serving Taskmaster Grint... and wish they'd stayed at the bottom of that well."

"I'm taking that prize,"Jai Kell declared.

A cadet in green markings then pushed Jai from behind, "Not today, Kell."

"Back off, Oleg." Ezra glared, pushing the boy's arm away.

"You too, Morgan. You're both going down."

"Actually, we're going up."

The two began grappling while the others began cheering, but they all broke up and got their helmets on when they heard the taskmaster speak.

"The assessment begins in four, three, two..."

"How exactly are we going up?" Jai wondered.

"One!"

Platforms emerged from the ground and the walls, showing the cadets had to parkour and jump their way up until they made it out of the box.

"There's your answer, Jai." Ezra comments before running off.

The boy jumped from platform to platform quickly, making his way to the top as fast as he could, other cadets started moving and Ezra turned to his friend.

"See you at the top!"

Jai smirked underneath his helmet, "Yes, you will. From below!" he shouted before moving as well. The commandant looked at the cadets and smirked as he lifted his control pad, making eye contact with one cadet close to the top.