To The Victor Goes The Spoils

Ryloth, Nabat

So, after a brief stint at a Republic resupply station, and less than a day of down time, the men of the 2532nd are shipping out. Apparently we are getting assigned to a Jedi general; I've browsed her file, and the thing which stands out most immediately is that Master Drayhu is a Wookiee.

We're meeting her on Ryloth and the first assignment will be delivering relief supplies to the areas already reclaimed from the Seppies. My boys in the 2532nd are highly mobile which is helpful to making relief efforts increasingly efficient. We aren't supposed to stay long, just long enough to get the planet back on its feet.

As we break atmo, I can practically hear the buzz of excitement from the clones. We hadn't had a Jedi general, and hadn't even had contact with the Jedi in any substantial way since Geonosis. The gunships let us down just outside a mostly ruined city where there was what appeared to be a staging area.

We weren't really Mandalorian, but by nature of our genetics, we could pass, and thanks to my upbringing as a commando, I could even blend in. "Yaim" is Mando'a for "home" and to a certain degree, that assault craft is where we slept, ate, and lived when we weren't on campaign.

It was home for us, not just because we lived there more often than not, but because our brothers lived there. All clones are brothers, but some are closer family than others, and we all got on well. The squads got along both with themselves and each other. It could hardly be surprising that we were a tight knit group.

Back to the business at hand, however, there was still fighting on the planet's surface, but it was travelling further and further North towards the capital city. We weren't here for that though. I had seen some activity going on in the city center, so the second we touched down I had my men getting prepped to trek over there.

According to the reports I had read, the city of Nabat had been captured and used as a Separatist stronghold before General Kenobi had liberated it. It was now to be the base of operations for the relief efforts, at least until we had the capital city of Lessu.

Yaim was forced to land further out from the city as we weren't sure exactly what shape the city was in and we didn't want to trigger a rock slide or anything of the sort. We begin marching in atop our AT-TE towards the city center, and most of the way I hear the unmistakable growls of Shyriiwook.

It was too far away for me to really make out the words, but I assumed that I had finally found our Jedi general. Finally, the AT-TE came to rest just outside the circle and I hopped off. I saw the towering mass of brown fur that could be nothing but a Wookiee. I began the slow march in and approached the Wookiee.

She was staring in our direction and I was almost unnerved. Sure, the AT-TE were about as subtle as an orbital barrage, but still, almost no one else was acknowledging our presence, and certainly not for more than 5 seconds. I approached, gave the Wookiee a snappy salute and introduced myself.

"RC-5448, Captain Victor, I assume you are General Drayhu?" I added the slightest bit of a question at the end there. I had never met a Wookiee in person, and I had read how tall they are, but it doesn't really register until you're standing right in front of one.

It's not necessarily intimidating, per se, but it does frame the issue. I wasn't scared, but I was cautious to be courteous and professional, and not just because she was supposed to be my new commanding officer, although that played a substantial role in it.

After all, if you weren't intimidated by their physical presence, you had to have at least a healthy respect when you realized that the Wookiee in front of you can pick up and throw you with her mind since she belongs to an ancient order of warrior monks who possess mystical powers that you don't really understand.

She bows slightly, almost more an incline of her body than a proper bow, but it gets the point across. My Shyriiwook isn't exactly great, but I like to think it's passable as she says, "[I am master Drayhu. I take it you are the officer in charge of the 2532nd?]"

The droid beeps and in a nearly monotone voice repeats, "master Drayhu wishes to know if you're the officer in charge of the 2532nd." I give it a side eye which is imperceptible behind my visor and reply in the affirmative, "I am, my boys are here with much of the supplies we were asked to bring, though more yet remains on our assault craft."

"I can understand Shyriiwook, though so the droid isn't necessary with me. The same cannot be said for my men." She looks to the droid and instructs it to deactivate its translation module. I'll admit, I had never seen an astromech with a translator function so it was at least interesting from an engineering perspective.

She growls in a tone that I am increasingly convinced is one of friendliness, "[It is good to meet you, Victor. We move out tomorrow to the next site. I will show you a path around Nabat for the AT-TE to use that will cause minimal disturbance. We are leaving supplies for the next few days here, but the rest will come with us.]"

I turned from the general and over my comms instructed, "Jiffy, Judge, keep your cargo, for now we're only offloading Jericho's supplies." I turned back to General Drayhu and awaited our next set of instructions. Her face seemed inscrutable to me so I took a moment to further take in the surrounding details.

The city seemed pretty badly devastated, but that being said, the buildings themselves seemed to be largely intact. Apparently the natives built tough structures. That's something I could appreciate. It probably helped that from what I had read and heard, the 212th hadn't employed detonators nor rockets when seizing the city.

A figure approaches us, one whom I initially mistook for one of the native Twi'lek, but the tendrils on her head were far more numerous than the two that Twi'lek have, and her eyes are black orbs with neither iris nor sclera that I could see. She was bright blue and dressed in robes that practically screamed Jedi.

"[Leh, this is Captain Victor, he's the commanding officer of the 2532nd. Victor, this is Leh Noss, my Padawan learner.]" Leh Noss gave me a nod. "It is good to meet you, Captain." I give a salute, "I guess that makes you Commander Noss then. I apologize, I did not notice your name on the briefing."

"[Confusing, but ultimately unimportant. We should unload the supplies, meet everyone else, and prepare for our departure in the morning. It is a long trek to the next site.]" "It is not necessarily that they didn't include Commander Noss in the briefing, but I had many documents to read, so I skimmed them all."

"I probably overlooked her, and I will do better in the future." I could have let her assume it was a clerical error, but I would rather that she has an understanding of my capacities and that this mistake likely rested at my feet, not those of our intelligence operatives.

The general nods and looks towards the AT-TE and most of the boys. "[Let us meet the rest of the unit.]" she growls, and begins to stride towards them, her long legs carrying her a great distance with every step, and her staff tapping rhythmically in time with her footfalls.

I don't have to run to keep up, but I cannot afford to amble lest I be left behind. "Unfortunately, you'll have to wait to meet the pilots as they are all with the assault craft, but for now you have command of three AT-TE, piloted by Jiffy, Jericho, and Judge. Jiffy is the highest ranking of them at Lieutenant."

"Aside from them, you'll have command of a platoon of jet troopers under the immediate command of Lieutenant Dodger. Additionally, you have a platoon comprised of a mixed group of ARF, Heavy, and standard infantry. They're immediately commanded by Lieutenant Hammer."

"Other officers include Second Lieutenant Flip and Major Sergeant Halo who are also jet troopers immediately under Dodger. You also have Second Lieutenant Fuse, and Major Sergeant Duct who immediately answer to Lieutenant Hammer. Finally, we have Sergeants Hardball, Flurry, and Dice who act as further squad leads."

"These last ones are immediately under Hammer's Command. Finally, I command all of them and answer directly to you and Commander Noss. If you have any desire to redistribute command structures we can work on it as we walk, or if you have any questions I will answer them to the best of my ability."

I await any questions she may bring up and I mentally go down the list of troopers who might be able to pick up Shyriiwook quickly. She growls, "[the squads may stay as they are. For the time being, I would like to meet with the lieutenants and figure out how to best handle communications.]"

I wince inwardly, "For the immediate future, you will likely have to relay orders through Commander Noss or me, but I am hoping that some of the boys will be able to pick up at least key commands easily enough that it should only be a transitional period."

She nods, "[we will start with their names. I will start every sentence with the name of the one I am talking to. That should help them recognize the sound. I suppose I should also start with teaching them basic orders during our trip. I will try to use gestures when possible.]"

The general turned to Commander Noss and rumbled, "[You should strive to repeat the orders whenever possible. Repetition is key.]" The commander nods, "of course." It was good that we weren't immediately being deployed to combat given the language barrier, that would likely prove messy... and very, very costly to the 2532nd.

Unfortunately, I doubted that in her time as a Jedi, General Drayhu had learned Mandalorian Close Combat Hand Signals which formed the basis of Clone Hand Talk. That said, the general seems to have a not insignificant head on her shoulders so she'll probably pick up CHT faster than the boys will pick up Shyriiwook.

We arrive at where the AT-TE are waiting, and Fuse's boys are dutifully offloading Jericho's walker. They seem to have a handle on things, but I tell them, "hold off on unloading for a second; I want you all to meet General Drayhu and Commander Noss. They're our new commanding officers."

"Hammer, Jiffy, Dodger, a moment." I waved them over and dismissed the rest to return to their work. "As you all heard, this is General Drayhu and Commander Noss, our new Jedi commanding officers. General, Commander, the one with the flight pack is Dodger."

I pointed and moved my finger to Hammer, "The one with the Z-6 is Hammer. You won't find a tougher nut to crack this side of delta squad." I move my finger so that I'm pointing at Jiffy, "finally, we've got Jiffy. If you need overwhelming fire support, Jiffy is your man."

--

Dawn comes and finds the 2532nd getting geared up for morning PT. In mere minutes, Sergeant Hardball is shouting at us, "PICK UP YOUR FEET, I'VE SEEN HUTTS MOVE FASTER! K'ATINI" We run two laps around the whole of the city before Hardball lets us be done with morning exercise.

Hardball enjoyed having a few extra people to yell at since much of the 212th still remained in the city. PT being finished up, most of us head into the city center after picking up our morning caf. The sight which greets us is a unique and bizarre one.

In the center of the city square, Commander Noss is repeatedly striking General Drayhu with a stick and General Drayhu is moving about as if to dodge the strikes, but she moves into the path of the blow as often as she evades it.

I sip on my caf, my helmet tucked happily under my other arm, and the familiar weight of my Deece resting on my opposite hip. I hear one of the boys approach me, and I feel a hand clap on my shoulder. I look behind me and it's Hammer's medic, Splint, "Should we interrupt this exercise?"

"I don't think the general will suffer any injuries worth noting. She's smart enough to refrain from any too destructive behaviors... I think." Splint shrugs and walks back to his squadmates. General Kenobi approaches, but from my position well towards the edge of the city square, I can't hear what he says.

Eventually, he takes the stick from Commander Noss and after a few sweeping test swings, strikes General Drayhu squarely. General Drayhu laughs uproariously at General Kenobi's apparent shame. Jedi are a weird bunch.

General Drayhu works pretty hard with the lieutenants to get them to learn their names, and soon enough, they can distinguish their own names. I think some live fire drills might make them recognize certain basic commands quicker, but first we would need plenty of downtime. Maybe I'll ask the general for some recordings that I can use to train them.

Eventually we're heading out to deliver the relief supplies. It's good to be moving again, and we have no shortage of work to do here. Soon enough, General Windu has chased the Seppies to the capital city and he's ready to dig them out. I wish I could be part of it, but my duty lies elsewhere for now.

The droids started firebombing the Twi'lek villages, and I, for one, will not stand for them to torch any more civilian targets. We break out the launchers and half of us are constantly on high alert. Scopes are broken out and we watch the skies, daring the tinnies to try for it.

Any droid bombers dumb enough to enter our airspace were treated to a volley of rockets and a spray from the AT-TE laser cannons. The mass driver cannons were unfortunately useless for this application, but we managed without them.

Commander Noss tried to converse with me casually a few times, but every time, it seemed, she got interrupted by a droid patrol or incoming hyenas, or any number of other minor intrusions. She seems harmless enough, and I genuinely look forward to working with her.