Lines Crossed

Chapter 1

The drop-ship shook and rattled while we entered orbit. It never bothered me though. I whistled a tune once we broke through the atmosphere but the glares I got from the other troopers showed that I was not exactly going to get a standing ovation for an encore.

You have probably been thinking what am I doing joining the Empire, but, it have to admit it has its perks. Some people called it controlling others but my friend always saw it as preventing a threat and I stuck with that.

The drop-ship doors opened and the visors in our Stormtrooper helmets blocked the harsh sun.

"Here I thought Coruscant had its scorchers."I said holding my hand out infront of me.

The suit kept me cool but little could be done when you are on a desert planet like Tatooine. We stepped off the drop-ship and I looked around at the fortress ahead of us. We all lined up and marched forward to the base while the sand storm tried it's best to throw us off course.

"Welcome to the Wookieriders, Fresh meat." The commanding officers said as we marched forward.

Why do we have that name? Before my friend made me sign up this group was assigned on Kashyyyk when Order 66 was put out and finished off the Wookies they were fighting along side with. Something about that doesn't seen right to me.

Just as we reached the outer walls the alarms went off and that was my welcome to my first day of being a Stormtrooper.

"Sand people! All hands to their stations!" A commanding officer yelled.

An explosion shook the ground as muzzle flares came from all over. Our commanding officers rallied us inside while the sound of cannon fire from our guns filled the air.

AT-ST's walkers stepped past us while we stumbled from the ground shaking due to the cannons only being a few feet away.

"Whoa! You see that, kid?" Knockout said as we ran with the rest of the group.

My friend "Knockout" was a clone but after the republic fell he shacked up with the empire. Later in his career he found me on a mission and took my under his wing. He's been my friend since.

"Yeah, you'll be able to see better if we keep running and keep that head!" I grabbed his head and dropped it down along with the rest of.

"Barracks! Move, troopers! Move!" Our officers yelled at us like we were back at basic training.

We all huddled into the barracks with ash, dirt, some blaster scorches, and whatever else I forgot to mention. I sat down with everyone and put my blaster between my legs and looked around through the left side of my helmet because the other side was covered in dust from the storm.

"Anyone go for another run around the base? No? Alright." I laid my head back against the wall and breathed heavily.

That ladies and gentlemen was my welcome to Tatoonie. The next day was better but that was not saying much. After the little sleep we received the morning march around was as expected: horrible. I marched beside Knockout but he was used to it after all these years of training he had over me.

The marched seemed to drag on, but we came to a stop, standing in line formation facing our commander.

"We received orders from Lord Vader himself. We followed the attackers to their base and will show them what happens when you threaten the Empire. Staging grounds. Move, troopers!"

We saluted and walked off to what seemed like a war but would be a little opposition. The drop-ship was dark and all that was visible was the light hitting our helmets from the small panel lines in the haul. We readied our blasters and checked our comms.

"Listen up, Wookie Riders. We have a limited window due to Lord Vader not wanting to waste troops on small targets like this. We'll have limited support on this with one squad and speeders coming in to shack up the defenses while we go in and take out any opposition. Do I make myself clear, soldiers?" He yelled as the drop-ship shook from the coming storm.

"Yes, sir!" We all yelled back at him.

"Aye, kid. Stay behind me." Knockout said.

"Yes, because all that time at basic training and I'll stay behind you during my first firefight." I said back turning my head at him.

The sounds of speeders below us and blasters firing ahead was the only sound we could hear while our officer stood in front of us. A green light hit our visors. We serve the Empire and serve we will.

"Green light! For the Empire!" Our officer yelled out as the drop-ship doors opened.

We hit the ground running while the storm gave us cover from the blaster fire ahead.

"Dark Troopers, take out their defenses!" Our officer lead the pack while our special Dark Troopers followed behind him.

Blasters only bounced off their armor but their cannons shredded the base walls enough so that we leaped through the gaping holes. Just then a sudden scream was heard and sand people began rushing out from all sides.

"Troopers, blast them!" Our officer yelled out.

The Sandpeople were little challenge to us, however one managed to surprise me and I fell to the ground. It's battle cry rang through my ears while I tried kicking it away. I quickly reached for my pistol and aimed it at the Sandperson. It stared at me for second or two, as if it understood what was going to happen. Not much good could come when there is a blaster aimed at you. I almost felt bad unloading that cartridge into its chest.