Xena's tale: The Clone Wars

Chapter 4 The New 104th battalion

(Xena's POV)

For the next couple of hours of hyperspace travel, I helped the men with fixing up some damaged ships. "Okay, try the engine now!" I yelled from underneath the ship and heard heavy feet moving into the ship. I then screamed, "Just wait until-" I was immediately cut off by the black smoke that got all over me and I heard one of the men say, "That did it!"

I got out from under the ship and all the men held in laughs, but eventually they all laughed at the black smudges on my face. When the pilot came out from the ship, he looked mortified at me. I chuckled at the look on his face and said, "Don't worry trooper, but next time wait for me to be out from under the ship before starting the engine."

All the men couldn't keep a straight face and started laughing their heads off. The pilot looked embarrassed, so I said, "Hey, don't worry. This is not as bad as the time I accidentally poured oil all over Master Plo while fixing up a ship."

The men looked like I was crazy, but the pilot said, "Wait, what! How did that happen!" I got a rag to clean my face off and said, "I was working on repairs for a ship with Master Plo, when my Dagonar accidentally spilled oil she was carrying." I talked more about the story, which made Lunar jealous and want to come out.

Just then my chest glowed and Lunar jumped out from it, roaring. She was in one of her more bigger forms, making her tower almost one of the gunships.

The men screamed and ran away while one even fainted, but Lunar just laughed. I walked up to Lunar and glared at her. "Lunar no, you shouldn't have done that." She looked to the ground and nodded and I looked at all the men and said, "Sorry, she loves doing that to new people."

I went to the clone that fainted and helped him up, while the other clones came out from their hiding spots. Lunar came close to me and the trooper was shaking, but I reassured him.

"Don't worry, Lunar won't hurt you. She is quite eager to meet you all." I went up to Lunar and placed a hand on her head to calm her down. I gestured to the men to approach us and after some time, one of the men stepped forward along with what looked like his twin.

When they were only a few feet away, I held out my hand and said, "Hold out a hand, each." They both looked at each other, but they both did and I guided their hands onto Lunars snout and when their hands rested on Lunar, she let out a pleasant growl.

The other men looked as Lunar started to rub against the men's armor, asking for scratches. I laughed and said, "Scratch under her chin and you'll be her best friend."

One of the men did and she leaned more into their scratches as the other men went over to Lunar. Lunar loved all the attention and as Lunar was given all kinds of attention, all of us gathered in a circle to talk.

"I must say I have never seen anyone dash as fast as you twins." The twins laughed at the response as did the other men and after that comment, I said, "By the way, what are your names? I realized I never asked you about them, and no I don't mean your numbers." All the men looked at each other and then at me with sadness, and I felt so bad for all of them.

"So, you all don't have names?" I asked them all and they all nodded. Lunar nuzzled into the men and I thought for a second and said, "Well, we need to change that."

All the men just stared at me like I was crazy and one of them said, "What do you mean?"

"Well, if we are all going to fight in this war, I want to know what all my men are like. That and I don't think you all deserve to be called numbers, you are all more than that."

All the men stopped petting Lunar and looked at me, wide eyed, at my response. I clapped my hands together and said, "Alright, who wants to go first?"

The men just looked at each other and then both twins looked up at me and one of them said, "Could... we go first?" I smiled and said, "Of course, now what should your names be?"