To The Victor Goes The Spoils

Coruscant Downtime Pt. 1

The Ryloth campaign ended and we shipped back to Coruscant for resupply and to await our next set of deployment orders. We must be doing well for now because there are a bunch of us who are awaiting our next set of orders. The 212th is here and Cody has allowed Hardball to keep running PT for the 212th as well as the 2532nd.

There's also the 501st, who we passed by but didn't meet on Ryloth, and they usually serve under General Skywalker. There's the 327th under General Secura, the 21st Nova Corps, also called the galactic marines, under General Mundi, and the recently reconstructed 104th battalion under General Plo Koon.

I'm desperately trying to scrub my gear, as Mimban was over two weeks ago and I am still finding mud in the nooks and crannies. If I am ever deployed to another mudball, I might just go awol. I won't, but I'll fantasize about it. In my sisyphean endeavor to finally have satisfactorily cleaned gear, I am interrupted by a call over my comms.

Dice's voice rings out loud and clear over my comms, "Uh, Captain, we're going to need you down here." I look over at Dodger, "Go see what they want." He dutifully stands and marches down to the main floor of the compound where Dice probably was.

All too soon, though, I get a call from Dodger, "Apparently, they really need you, sir, this is not something you can delegate to me." I pick up my gear and don it, holding my helmet casually under one arm. I hike down there and when I arrive, I demand, "Alright. What was so absolutely important that you had to drag me away from cleaning my gear?"

"Mimban, was two weeks ago, and I'm still finding mud." Cody sighs and explains, "They are arguing over which unit is superior. They even bet on it. So, to simplify the bet, they wanted to compare commanding officers. That, is why we are here."

On the one hand, this is the easiest way to do it, but it doesn't really speak to the whole of the unit. I offer in exchange, "Why only the top? Why not each group pick 5 lads, then we go at it, small unit tactics?" One of my fellow officers wearing the maroon of the 21st Nova Corps chuckles, "Probably cuz that's your specialty."

"Yeah," I counter, "but it offsets individual skills a bit more. More about you as a team than individual lethality." The commander in the gray of the 104th nods saying, "Fair enough, and that would demonstrate our own abilities to lead."

An officer in the yellow of the 212th smiles. "True, but we aren't all equipped or experienced in small group tactics." No, the 212th has a darker yellow; this one is much lighter, he's from the 327th. I really need to learn my fellow officers' names.

"Yeah, poor Cody here hasn't done small group work since training," a soldier in the blue of the 501st adds. That's almost certainly captain Rex given the Jaig eyes on his helmet. Cody glares at him while many of our brothers laugh at his expense.

One of the boys from the... he's wearing yellow, and it's darker... 212th, steps forward saying, "Hey, we called you here to settle a bet, not discuss philosophy." Cody fixes him with a withering glare, "care to repeat that, Waxer?" Another of Cody's boys steps forwards, "Come on Commander, the bets are already set, can't we at least settle them?"

Cody shakes his head disapprovingly, "No, Boil." Rex shrugs, taking a half step forwards, "I've got no objections. Besides, I've got an easy test to see who's the best." I find myself intrigued, and apparently I'm not alone. The officer from the Galactic Marines asks, "Oh? How's that?" Rex gets a grin which I don't completely appreciate.

Rex asks, "raise your hand if you're willing to fight Victor one-on-one." The Galactic Marine and the Officer from the 104th raise their hands and mine rises to join them. Technically I would absolutely fight myself, although it wouldn't be a particularly interesting fight. I grin big and ask, "so who's going first?"