3rd POV
"We are coming up on the drop zone Commander." A Kithomen pilot announced as they entered the atmosphere of the planet that they had been requested to aid.
"Set us down." Hyker, Commander Thorn's first in commanded ordered as he came and stood beside his old friend whilst holding on to the rails above his head. "What do you think we'll find here then?" He asked as he inspected his pistol.
Turning to look at her friend with her helmet in her hands she smirked. "A few damsels in distress." Rose smirked as she secured her helmet on her head. "Why else would command send us." She rhetorically asked, her voice had become slightly mechanical because of the helmet.
(On the ground)
"So, when are these reinforcements meant to arrive?" Anakin asked as he, Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, Cody and Rex walked to the command centre.
"Hopefully today." Ob-Wan replied as he looked over the holo-map. "I don't know how much longer our forces are going to last." Obi-Wan said gravely as he remembered how large the casualty list had become since the beginning of the fight on this planet.
"General, I've just received a transmission. There's a gun ship inbound and it's not one of ours." Rex informed the group after accepting the call through his comms.
"Well, let's go and great them." Obi-Wan stated and walked out of the command centre.
(Thorn's group)
"Set us down." Rose said to the pilot who acknowledged the command had landed at the drop zone and opened the blast doors. Walking out of the gun ship with their weapons securely attached to them, the Austereans were met with two and a half Jedi and what they believed to be a few clones.
"Republic? Really?" Scabs said unamused as he walked out of the gun ship, his voice was also slightly mechanical as he surveyed the drop zone.
"Yeah, be nice." Rose huffed as she walked towards the awaiting welcome party with her team following behind. Her team consisted of; Hyker, Scabs, Mik and Snakes.
"Thank you for sending support." Obi-Wan Kenobi greeted as the rather intimidating group of soldiers approached.
"Sounded like you needed the help." Hyker joked as he looked slightly down at the Jedi because of his height. "Shall we?" He gestured to the command centre to which the Jedi nodded and guided the five Austereans past on looking clones and to the command centre.
Once inside the command centre the group were met with even more clones which caused them all to let out a quiet sigh. "Why so many?" Mik sighed through their comms with a slight shake of his head.
"We appreciate that you probably don't know much about this mission that we asked you to come here to help with." Kenobi started as they gathered around a holo-table.
Taking off their helmets, the group looked at the map that had been displayed. Everyone apart from Obi-Wan were surprised at the faces of the new soldiers. Rex looked towards Anakin with a confused look to which his general returned. They were not what they were expecting.
Rose was the last one to remove her helmet and looked around the room at the number of clones. Her blonde hair tied back in a braid with a few bits falling loose framing her face slightly. "Yeah well, we're all you're getting." Rose informed the Jedi and the few clones surrounding them which caused everyone to stop what they were doing and look at the five in shock.
"There must be a mistake." Anakin Skywalker said as he looked at the five surrounding him. "We specifically said that we needed a whole battalion."
"Yeah well sorry to disappoint you." Scabs snapped as he lent against a wall behind Rose. "We've got our own problems." He scoffed which caused Rose to give him a look of disapproval.
"Don't start Scabs." Rose snapped without turning to look in Scabs' direction. "Wait outside. Me and Hyker will discuss the next steps." Rose told the rest of her team, and without any argument they secured their helmets and left the command centre. "Commander Thorn." Rose introduced herself as she looked at the five standing around the map as her team left the command centre. "Beside me is my Lieutenant, Hyker." Rose gestured towards the rather large intimidating man as she placed her helmet on her hip.
"I am Obi-Wan Kenobi, and this is Anakin Skywalker and his padawan Ahsoka Tano. The two clones you see are Commander Cody and Captain Rex." Kenobi introduced.
"Well now that the pleasantries are out of the way we can get down to business." Rose smirked as she adjusted her helmet that sat on her hip, Hyker doing the same. "I take it you didn't get the communication about that battalion you so kindly asked for." Rose informed looking between the two jedi.
"No clearly we did not." Kenobi said as he placed a hand on his chin in thought slightly stroking his beard in the process.
"Right well I'll tell you what it said." Rose said as she displayed her own map from her wrist comm. "What you're looking at is our home being attacked. All of our forces are engaged in battle or protecting the facilities and the capital." Rose explained.
"You should count yourselves lucky we're here." Hyker spoke up bringing the attention of the room away from the battles playing to him. "Commander has had to leave the battalion to come here and help. Not forgetting the fact that we're basically disobeying our Council by coming to your aid."
"Who are you under attack from? And I thought you was aligned with the Republic." Ahsoka spoke up receiving disapproving looks from the two Jedi masters and amused looks from the two unknown soldiers standing before her.
"We call them the growth." Rose sighed as she paused the video on one of the creatures. "Damn near impossible to kill."
"Looks worse than a Gundark." Rex commented causing Hyker to let out a heart chuckle.
"Oh buddy, you don't know the half of it." Hyker replied as he glanced at Rose who didn't hold the same amused look. She subconsciously rubbed her hand over her armoured right forearm where she had a rather old scar from a previous run in with one of the Growths brutes.
"We don't align ourselves with neither of the Republic nor the Separatists. Short version, we're not involved in your war." Rose answered bringing her hand away from her forearm and turning to answer Ahsoka's question. "But seeing as General Plo Koon and Commander Wolffe sent me a message requesting aid on your behalf, well here we are." Rose informed the group which caused Obi-Wan to smile softly, but Anakin and Ahsoka just looked even more confused.
"Wait, you know Master Plo?" Anakin asked Rose who nodded.
"Yes. Him and Commander Wolffe sent us aid a few rotations ago on some bloody suicide mission our council sent us on." Rose answered swiftly before looking back at Obi-Wan ready to continue with the strategy. "So, what's the plan?"
"Well, seeing as you're all we're getting." Anakin spoke up sassily causing Hyker to roll his eyes. "General Kenobi and Commander Cody along with the 212th will be leading the assault here." Anakin started and pointed to a location on the holo-map. "We are going to need at least two of your men to help Obi-Wan to push through that barricade." Anakin stated as he zoomed the holo-map in on a rather large fortification that the Separatists had in place.
Taking a closer look at the barricade Anakin pointed at, Rose brought a hand up to her chin in thought as she subconsciously rubbed her thumb over the long scar on her chin, one of the many that littered her body. "That looks like it's going to take quite the bit of fire power to take it down." Rose commented before sharing a look with Hyker in contemplation. "Mik and Scabs will go with you. Scabs is one of the strongest men in my battalion and Mik well, there's not a lot he hasn't blown up." Rose commented to which Hyker nodded in agreement with a knowing smirk.
"Myself, Ahsoka, Captain Rex and the 501st will be leading the assault from this direction. Along with yourself, Hyker and your other team mate." Anakin stated as he pointed to the holo-map again and looked up at the two Austerean soldiers to see if they approved.
"Snakes won't like not being able to do things our usual way but," Hyker stated with a sigh as he analysed the plan the Jedi laid out. "I suppose we'll have to make do." Hyker nodded before looking towards Rose for the final say. When he received a firm nod, he looked back at the Jedi Generals. "Okay." He commented with a slight shrug.
"And how do you usually do things?" Ahsoka asked genuinely curious about the way these new soldiers worked.
"Fire at will and hope for the best." Hyker shrugged as he joked which caused Rose to let out a small chuckle at her Lieutenant and at the horrified look on Ahsoka's face.
"He's joking, we're not that bad." Rose reassured as she shook her head at Hyker. "But Scabs is going to have to put up with it. If this is where they want us, then that's where we'll be. We're following their orders this time Hyker." Rose stated as she continued to analyse the holo-map.
"Good, then we're all in agreement. We move out as soon as the troops are ready." Obi-Wan concluded the briefing and excused himself along with Anakin. Ahsoka, however, followed the two Austereans.
"So, you've both seen a fair amount of war I'm guessing." Ahsoka asked as she tried to keep up with their fast pace.
Hyker looked down at the small Togruta and smiled softly which caused Rose to scoff. Hyker had always been a softie which completely went against their training. "You're a curious youngling." He commented as they reached the rest of the squad who were sat on a few crates near the gunship.
"Padawan and yeah I am." Was all Ahsoka said as she sat on a crate and looked at the five strangers whilst they examined their weapons. "I want to know about you. About why you all look so intimidating and well, everything." Ahsoka said rather confidently whilst she studied Rose who had placed her helmet back on her head and was studying the base with one leg up on a crate and had her blaster resting across her laps.
"There's not much to tell kid." Scabs spoke up first which caused Ahsoka to frown slightly at how soft his voice was compared to earlier, but his facial expression told a completely different story. It seemed that Rex and Cody were also curious as to who they would be fighting beside as they too came over and sat on a crate.
"How so?" Cody asked as he sat down on one side of Ahsoka whilst Rex sat on the other side. Almost as if they did so to protect her from the five strangers in case anything happened.
"I suppose we're like you clones." Mik stated as he gestured between his group of comrades as he held his helmet inspecting the new scuff marks, he had recently acquired from fighting the Growth. "Apart from we're not clones. We were genetically modified though." He pointed out with a slight smirk almost as if he was trying to make a joke out of their situation.
This had only peaked the threes interests further about the group. "Modified how?" Ahsoka asked as she leant forward with her elbows resting on her knees. By just looking at the soldiers, there was no indication of any modification. Apart from a few were really tall and muscular but if you looked at the Commander, there was no indication that she had been genetically modified.
This time however, it was Snakes who let out a sigh before answering. "We're not like average people." He started whilst taking a quick glance between his Commander and Hyker to see if he should continue. When neither stopped him from explaining, he continued. "We aren't copies of the same person, no offence." He said as he gestured to the two clones who nodded their heads as a way to tell him that there was no offence taken. "Some of us didn't have a choice in the matter. Some of us volunteered. But now, our senses are heightened, so is our agility and strength. Our bodies were transformed into, well this. We were trained to kill, nothing more, nothing less. And we can withstand more physical injuries than normal people. Emotions are a no-go area."
"In other words, we're hard to kill." Mik piped up with a cocky smirk trying to diffuse the tense convocation that they had now found themselves in.
"So, this was done to you and you agreed to this?" Rex asked as he looked at the five surrounding them. Each one slowly moved their gaze so that they looked at their Commander who had yet to say a word about what had happened to them. She was still looking out into the base with her helmet on, so the clones were unable to see the look of sadness she held on her face.
But finally, she spoke up after a few moments of silence. "Not everyone agreed." Was all she said before she stood up and walked away from the group.
The group fell silent for a moment as if they were mourning a lost soul. "We didn't mean to offend her." Ahsoka muttered, afraid she had made the woman angry. Hyker looked down at the youngling opposite him and smiled softly.
"You didn't." He said softly whilst leaning on his knees as he watched his Commander walk towards a ridge. "Thorn's never been one to talk, especially about this. She was one of the few who didn't have a choice in this life. She's been in these wars a lot longer than us four have. She lost one of her brothers to the experiments. The other one survived but she hasn't seen or heard from him since." Hyker started to explain to the three.
"So, this was done to her against her will?" Ahsoka asked as she looked at the figure sat on the ridge whereas Rex and Cody held sympathy for the woman. They knew what that felt like.
"Yeah I guess you could say that. She was only a child when they put her through the process." Hyker muttered, his soft smile slowly melting off of his face and in its place was a sorrow filled frown. "Our people were desperate. Our forces couldn't hold against the Growth. So, our Council came up with a special task force called the ADFE's. At first their efforts had been successful, but those victories were short lived. They then made us. At first, we were only numbers but as time went on we gained a name. We soon ended up being called Austereans. They made us to fight against the Growth. Where they had speed, we had to be faster, wiser. Our technology had to be more advanced. We could not lose our world to the Growth. The rest is classified." Hyker spat as he looked down at the ground.
"You volunteered." Cody stated as he looked at the remaining four. Slowly, each one looked to the ground. Almost as if they were ashamed of what they had been turned into because they went ahead with the procedure to protect their home world.
"Why?" Ahsoka asked as she tried to figure out why someone would volunteer for those experiments.
"Because if we didn't, it still would've been children." Snakes muttered solemnly still looking at the ground refusing to meet their gazes.
"Orrostumaðr, Ótta-lauss." Mik muttered as he looked down at his weapon laying in his hands.
"Orrostumaðr, Ótta-lauss" Scabs, Snakes and Hyker muttered in return before all four of them looked towards the ridge Rose resided on.
"What does that mean?" Ahsoka asked curious of the language that the soldiers in front of her spoke. She had never heard it before, and she was sure that it wasn't in the books at the Jedi temple.
Looking towards her, Hyker held a soft smile. "Warrior without fear young Jedi, warrior without fear." Hyker translated softly before his soft smile melted off of his face being replaced with the previous look of sorrow.
Unbeknownst to the group, Anakin and Obi-Wan overheard the whole convocation and looked towards the figure on the ridge. Wondering whether or not she wished she had a choice in the matter. And if she did, would she have chosen the same fate? And how old was she when the Council had done this to her?
"We're ready to move out." Obi-Wan said as he approached the group. They all nodded and Hyker stood up from his place and connected his comm through his helmet to Rose's.
"They're ready to go." He stated but got no reply. The only sign he got from Rose was her standing up and making her way back to the group already geared up with her weapons and ammo packs strapped to her, ready to go.
"Scabs, Mik you're to go with General Kenobi and the 212th. Myself, Hyker and Snakes are with General Skywalker and the 501st. Any problems contact us through the comms. Make sure you're connected with the Republic frequency. And Scabs, behave." Rose ordered her men as they stood to attention.
"Sir, Yes Sir." They all saluted, and she saluted back before turning to Anakin.
"We're ready whenever you are." Rose stated as she looked towards Anakin, Ahsoka and Rex whilst Snakes and Hyker stood beside her and Mik and Scabs went off with Obi-Wan.
"Good, then let's move out." Anakin ordered. Rex nodded in acknowledgement before turning to his men.
"You heard the General, lets move!" Rex shouted and soon enough the 501st were on the move with Anakin, Ahsoka, Rex, Rose, Snakes and Hyker at the front.
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So, here is the new story! I've been working on this for a while now so here is the first chapter, do let me know what you think! Any comments are welcome.
Now. Kithom is a planet I have made up (at least I'm pretty sure its not in the Star Wars universe) and the language they speak is kind of derived from old Norse but not fully (if its wrong then I'm sorry in advance.)
Any translations will be written in the authors note at the end here ☺️
Orrostumaðr, Ótta-lauss = means warrior without fear
I hope you enjoy!!
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