Worth: A Star Wars Story

18. A Land of War and Reason

I met my squad at the headquarters the following morning and was met with dubious looks as I quickly grabbed my pack and hefted it onto my back. "What?'

"Where were you last night?" Red asked, narrowing his eyes. I may not have seen it behind his helmet, but I could hear it in his voice.

"Oh... Out."

"Out where?"

"Kando," Tor frowned, his helmet tucked up under his arm all business-like, and I knew that I was in trouble if he was using my name, "you know that according to Article Twelve, section forty-six, paragraph four, clause three that all Clone personnel must remain within GAR grounds and that overnight fraternization with citizens of the Republic or allies thereto related is-!"

I snapped a finger to my vocoder and hissed out a shush in a vain attempt to not get busted by anyone else, but at the mention of fraternization, I heard Red gasp. "Oh, you didn't."

Grek began to giggle furiously, "Oh hohoho, no way!"

"Shut your mouths right now," I hissed, but all it seemed to do was make both of them start giggling harder.

"Oh, Cap, you are punching!" Red reached up and slapped my back as my shoulders sagged in utter, devastating defeat.

"Punching a quick way into reconditioning," Tor muttered, though I knew that he wasn't going to be the one to rat me out. If anything, Red and Grek's big mouths would get me in trouble first. 

Before I could even begin to start lecturing, much to my surprise, up came a slightly nervous looking Ryder. His bucket was in his left hand and he held the strap of his pack with his right, looking between us nervously. "Uh, hi, Cap. So... Stone said that I was with you for this op since I'm the navigation specialist. That gonna ruin your style?"

I sometimes forgot that we had a reputation among the others in the Guard for refusing pretty much everyone's help in favor of flying solo. The fact of it was that we worked faster together without outside help. Without anything or anyone holding us back, the synergy we had was priceless and highly efficient.  Whenever someone assigned a new trooper to help us, they always got that nervous look on their faces.

"Ah, come on, Ryd'ika!" Red walked over and wrapped an affectionate arm around Ryder's shoulder. "It's you! You're practically one of Breaker Squad already!"

"He's got a point," I chuckled as I watched Grek do the same, both of them pulling Ryder along with them as they went to finish loading our weapons and gear onto the nearby transports. Tor sighed and followed along with them while I decided to check in with the other captains and commanders and see if they needed anything

What I found was a surprise. Standing there at the docks were whole battalions of Clones. I recognized the indigo armor of the 82nd. I had caught wind that they had delayed a day going in thanks to the typical transportation issues, but I had never seen so many of them in one place. The indigo armor paint was incredibly varied, and it was then that I realized something. "Is that...?"

"Pick your jaw up off the floor, Captain Corrie." I turned to see several more clones I didn't recognize. However, it became quickly apparent that they were from the same group as the 82nd - more specifically, the newly created 1st Air Assault Corps. "What's wrong? Never seen an Air Assault legion before?"

"I've arrested more than enough of you to know that they only pick the most obnoxious meatheads that they can find," I turned to face them completely. I half expected them to be mad, but I was met by a small chorus of chuckles instead. "Captain Kando. Coruscant Guard, Breaker Squad. You, gents?"