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wanderinginksplot · 2 years

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Gar Cyare Chapter Seven

Continuation of my Alpha-17 x fem!reader story. (Probably at least novel-length by now, tbh.)

If you're confused and feel like you missed a chapter, don't panic! There was a chapter posted on my NSFW sideblog. I originally labeled it as Chapter 5.5, but I'll probably rename it to Chapter Six to keep the numbering consistent. If you're worried you missed something, you can read this post about minor (SFW) things that happened in the chapter.

Word Count: 6,300

Warnings: descriptions of intense training, high expectations, lectures, extremely vague references to intimacy.

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*The Previous button will bring the user back to Chapter Five, as I don't want any unwary readers seeing something they would rather not.

---

Ramikadyc (A Commando State of Mind)

“But they just left!”

“Yep.”

“Isn’t that a little…”

“A little what, neverd’ika?” Alpha asked, eyes traveling quickly over the screen of his datapad. When you didn’t answer him immediately, he paused to glance up at you. “Soon? Sudden? That’s how the GAR works, if you forgot. Efficiency. At least, that’s what they say.”

For several reasons, you let his grumbled statement stand without argument. First, he wasn’t wrong. For all that the Grand Army of the Republic claimed to be a fast-moving, flexible marvel of an organization, it was bloated with far too much structure to be anything of the kind. Everyone had been excited about the formation of a centralized army, and half the commanding officers were in place despite having only the barest hint of military experience. You had learned that friendship with a Senator was the qualification that mattered the most.

Second, you didn’t debate with Alpha because you were still processing your own surprise. The last ARC group had just left a few days before and Alpha was already preparing for the newest group to arrive.

“It just seems strange,” you concluded eventually.

Alpha lowered his datapad, settling back in the chair he had claimed in your office. “When would you bring them in? How long would you schedule between groups? What would be your justification for more time?”

You shrugged, unprepared to answer so many questions. “I just feel that you could do more in-depth preparations if you had more than a weekend between departures and arrivals.”

“I’m the only ARC trainer in the GAR,” Alpha reminded you. “They come in small groups, usually five or six men per group. The training lasts six weeks. That means that ARCs are already being added very slowly. In fact, the GAR needs to lose fewer than one ARC per week if we have any chance of breaking even.”

“That’s-” You cut yourself short and shook your head tightly, knowing exactly how the rest of the conversation would go if you objected to that cold view. Instead, you focused on numbers. “Are the casualty numbers high enough that the GAR needs to worry about running out of ARC troopers in the near future?”

“Not at all,” Alpha replied smugly. “I’m a good trainer and I train ‘em right. Typical casualty rates tend toward two lost ARCs per year. We're aiming for none.”

“I’m not surprised,” you told him. Flattery didn’t work with Alpha - as he reminded you regularly - but you were trying to make it a habit to tell him when he did something noteworthy or impressive. Alpha had been treated poorly by far too many people. He trusted you, but that didn’t mean you stopped earning his trust. Besides, he heard more about his flaws than he ever had about his strengths. You couldn’t hope to even that out, but you could try. “If I didn’t already know it, you proved it with your last group. They were extraordinarily talented fighters and strategists. That’s something you made sure of. You keep your men alive.”

Alpha glanced away, fiddling with the datapad. “If you say so.”

You beamed. It wasn’t often you got to see Alpha flustered, but you treasured it every time. After a moment, though, your eyes traveled down to the datapad Alpha was holding. It was a twin to the ones scattered across your desk, but you were willing to bet that his held vastly different information. Yours was taken up by your report while Alpha’s… Well, you had no idea what was on that datapad.

There was a lot you didn’t know about ARC training actually, despite the fact that you were dating an ARC trainer.

“You’re going to give yourself a headache if you keep doing that with your face.”

Alpha’s warning made you realize that you had been frowning absently at his datapad. You smoothed your expression, smiling as he chuckled.

“What are you thinking about that has you so serious?” he asked.

“I was just realizing that I don’t know much about ARC training,” you admitted.

Alpha shook his head. “That’s because it’s all classified. You probably know too much already.”

“I have top-secret security clearance,” you reminded him. “I needed it to write this report, which is also classified. Almost everything that has gone into it is classified information, meant to be read by people who also have high security clearance.”

“So, what are you saying?” Alpha asked, now frowning himself. “That you want to… observe the ARC training process?”

“No…” you trailed, reconsidering even as you said it. It wouldn't be a bad idea, honestly. The report wasn't due for some time, and including information about the ARCs would be smart. Since you were already contracted to write a comprehensive report for the Senate, you might as well make it truly comprehensive, right?

The fact that it would add more work and - accordingly - more time to the process was worth considering, too.

"Actually, yes," you told him decisively. "I do want to observe the ARC training process."

You watched with some hidden amusement as Alpha processed that. His jaw tightened, brows lowered over eyes that were carefully studying your face.

"You won't like it," he said eventually.

The laugh you gave was accidental, but Alpha didn't seem like he was in the mood for excuses. "I'm sorry, I know. I'm not asking because I think it'll be fun or because I want to watch you work. I think it's necessary for the report."

"You're going to write about me?" Alpha asked, sounding stunned.

"Of course," you admitted. "I was always planning on it. You're the only ARC trainer on Kamino, and one of the few troopers who is designated to train the men."

Alpha scowled at that, too. "You're going to tell a bunch of di'kutla senators that I'm not good for anything but instruction?"

“Never,” you told him fervently. “You’re qualified for everything. Training the men to survive is just what you chose to do. Besides, do you care what the Senate thinks?”

“I care what you think,” Alpha revealed, pretending to read something on the screen of his datapad.

“Then you know exactly what I think about you, Alpha.” You stood, skirting the desk to press a kiss to the warm curve of Alpha’s cheek, round with the pout he was trying to hide. “But if you need me to remind- oof!”

Alpha had waited for you to keep speaking, biding his time until you weren’t focused as strongly on him, then he had snagged you by the waist and pulled you down into his lap. His arms wrapped around you, keeping you in place as he cradled you to his chest.

“That was your first mistake, neverd’ika,” Alpha said, sounding thoroughly satisfied with himself. “Never get within arm’s reach. Didn’t Trem teach you that one?”

“She didn’t tell me I should worry about an attack from my boyfriend!” you protested, laughing as Alpha gave you a smacking kiss every time you tried to push away from him. Eventually, you gave in and settled where you were, positioned in an undignified sprawl across his lap. “What’s your plan here? Distract me until I forget about observing ARC training?”

Alpha ducked his head, dropping a kiss on your lips and steadily deepening it until you felt dizzy with too much sensation, too many emotions, and not enough air. When he pulled away, it was with a wry look on his face - an odd counter to the passion you had felt from him a moment before.

“I know better than to think I can distract you from anything,” he told you. “My mirdala civvie. You’re smart. Stubborn, too. Stubborn enough to be stupid about it.”

“Thank you.” If your voice was dry, who could really blame you?

“Anytime,” Alpha replied, unbothered. “And neverd’ika? Maybe you’re not observing ARC training because you want to watch me work, but we both know you will anyway. You won’t be able to help it.”

You stared up at him, unsure of whether he had intended to come off as overly confident as he had. Hewas in a strangely cheerful mood, so maybe…

Alpha flexed his arms, his pecs firming at the edge of your vision. As far as you were concerned, that only confirmed that he was indeed preening and you couldn’t hold back a giggle at the realization.

“I can have more than one reason to watch ARC training,” you demurred. Alpha grinned at you, but your smile softened into one of fondness. “Confidence looks good on you, Alpha.”

“Thank you, little one.” Alpha gave you a gentle squeeze, then let his grip loosen. “You should go back to your own chair or I won’t get anything else done today, and they get here tomorrow.”

Now you were the one pouting, but you did as he suggested - it turned out that you were just as susceptible to distraction. “Fine.”

You went back to writing your report, laying an outline for the section about ARC training. It was sparse, based only on what little you already knew, but you really had gotten distracted by your boyfriend. Had he agreed to letting you observe, or would you need to push a little harder? That may be unpleasant, but you wanted to include ARC training information in the report.

Before you could get too lost in your own thoughts, Alpha cleared his throat. With his gaze still locked on his datapad, he said, “Be in the ARC training area by seven-thirty tomorrow morning.”

—

You arrived at the training area slightly before seven.

Alpha was already there, but glanced at you questioningly when you stepped inside, eyebrows jumping up his forehead in shock. "What are you doing here already? I said seven-thirty."

"I know, but…" You shrugged. "Over the last few months, I've learned that the phrase, 'if you're not early, you're late' definitely applies to the GAR. I didn't want to risk missing something."

After another moment of silent contemplation, Alpha gave an impressed nod. "Smart."

"And stubborn," you finished for him. You were rewarded with a smile.

"Exactly. And since you're stubborn enough to stay here, I need you to be smart enough to listen to me. I need you to observe, not participate. Training these men… it isn't just physical work. That's a big part of it, but there's mental work that needs to be done."

You nodded slowly. "Physical and psychological training. Is that so they can handle the intensity of the missions they're going to do?"

"Partially," Alpha said, glancing at the chrono on his wrist comlink. "It's also an old military trick. People can adapt faster in a hostile environment, learn to change the way they do things so that it's reflexive."

"Twisted, but I suppose I see the logic," you admitted. "So am I going to ruin the hostile psychology by being here?"

Alpha shrugged. "I'm not sure. I've never had a civvie sit in on ARC training."

"Well, do you need me to hide?" you asked. You hadn't realized that Alpha was worried about your presence there, and now you were, too. The idea of destroying the effectiveness of an entire ARC group’s training was very concerning.

Alpha was staring at you as if you had started speaking in your best impression of a B-1. “They’re troopers designated for ARC training; they’ll see you. Believe it or not, I think having a civvie hiding in the training room would probably be more distracting than one being in here at all.”

You huffed at his lack of faith in your reconnaissance skills. “Fine, then what do you need me to do?”

“Just sit there,” Alpha said. “Make your notes, but try not to speak. If you have questions, write them down. I can’t stop to answer questions and I can’t explain my reasoning without giving away too much to the men.”

You nodded solemnly, but Alpha didn’t look convinced. “Don’t- try not to look too pleasant. Don’t smile if you can help it and definitely don’t smile at them. I need you to play the role of an impartial observer, or as close to it as you can get.”

“I am an impartial observer,” you reminded him. “That’s basically the job description.”

“You’ve never been impartial about anything in your life, neverd’ika,” Alpha told you with a snort. Before you could get too offended, he ducked to press a kiss to your forehead. “It’s one of the reasons I couldn’t help myself around you.”

You shook your head, trying to pretend you were still irritated by his too-accurate observation, but you were rapidly losing the fight. Instead, you held up your datapad. “Can you tell me a little about the men who are coming in? If I can’t ask questions in front of them, knowing who they are before they get here will help me take more accurate notes.”

Alpha nodded. “This is a standard group. Five men, just like the last one. Ready?”

As soon as your fingers were poised over the screen of your datapad, you looked back at Alpha. ”Ready when you are.”

“There’s Salvo, a commander from the 22nd Air Combat Wing. Obviously, he’s a pilot, but the 22nd has seen its fair share of combat. Next is Aftermath from the 327th Star Corps, an infantry unit. We’ve got one named Maw. He’s from a squad in the 104th Battalion - the Wolfpack, they call themselves - which tends to get more search-and-rescue and aid missions than the other battalions, but I expect he’s seen some combat.”

Alpha paused while you wrote all of that down, but when you caught up, you arched a brow at him. “Why does the Wolfpack get fewer combat missions? I thought all units of the GAR were supposed to be infantry-focused.”

“They are, but…” Alpha sighed. “The 104th was decimated early in the war when the Seppies targeted their general’s fleet.”

“Oh, no,” you said, feeling stupid for the shallowness of the sentiment compared to such loss. “What happened to the escape pods?”

It wasn’t something anyone had taught you specifically, but you had briefly investigated the battleships used by the Republic. Each Venator-Class Star Destroyer was equipped with a fair number of systems that would start up in the event that a ship had been disabled or destroyed. There were hundreds of escape pods and, if more than twenty were deployed in a span of ten minutes, the ship would send an automatic distress signal to a predetermined location, regardless of whether the communications systems had been activated. For an entire fleet and the battalion it carried to have been destroyed, something catastrophic had to have happened.

“The escape pods were used. From all reports, anywhere from sixty to seventy percent of the personnel were evacuated from the ships,” Alpha told you, the muscles in his jaw flexing with emotion. “The Seppies hunted down the pods. Only one survived: one holding General Koon and three of the men. It’s been a while since that happened and the 104th has brought in enough men to be a fully-functioning battalion again, but the GAR still tries to give them missions that are more strategic or aid-oriented than the other units.”

“That’s horrible,” you murmured.

“That’s war,” Alpha countered, but there was darkness behind his easy acceptance, a deeply burrowed sense of pain that made you bite back any harsh reply you may have given.

Instead, you cleared your throat softly and looked back at your datapad. “And the last two?”

“The last two are from the same unit: the Torrent Company of the 501st Legion. It’s an infantry division. The men call themselves Fives and Echo.”

“Fives..?” you repeated, the name sounding slightly familiar.

“You met him once,” Alpha reminded you. “He and one of his brothers were trying to flirt with you when I interrupted.”

“Yes, I remember!” you said with a fond smile. “Wait, that was only a few months ago. How are they already going through ARC training?”

Alpha grimaced and it was enough to make you brace yourself. “Their first duty station was attacked during their second week there. They stopped an invasion of Kamino - before the big one. Two of their squad were killed at the start of the occupation of Rishi Outpost, but Fives, Echo, and their brother Hevy helped Marshal Commander Cody and Captain Rex get the Republic’s attention before the attack could land. Hevy died in the attempt.”

Your stomach twisted at the thought of so much death, but you pressed on. “And that made the GAR decide to give them ARC status?”

“No, that made Captain Rex decide to bring them into the 501st,” Alpha told you. “They were actually close enough to help with the invasion on Kamino with the 501st. They were part of the forces that repelled the Seppies. They did a good enough job that Captain Rex requested they receive ARC training.”

With a nod, you finished making your notes and summarized what was displayed on your datapad’s screen. “So we have Salvo from the 22nd Air Combat Wing, Aftermath from the 327th Star Corps, Maw from the 104th Battalion, and Fives and Echo from the 501st Legion. What are your preliminary thoughts?”

“Why?” Alpha asked, sounding suspicious.

With effort, you managed to avoid rolling your eyes at him. “Because I want to know how you approach training. I want to see what you’re planning with minimal information about them.”

“Minimal information?” Alpha asked, sounding slightly offended. “Clearly, you don’t know how in-depth the GAR’s files are. I’ve read all about these men.”

“That’s not a real answer,” you chided.

Alpha smirked, but didn’t argue. Instead, he pointed at the seat you normally took when you came to the ARC training area. “It isn’t, but we’re out of time. They’ll be here soon.”

You grimaced at him, but sat down. You scarcely had time to arrange yourself and prepare your notes before the door opened to admit a group of men dressed in the typical clothing the troopers used to exercise and train.

That was the most disconcerting thing about working closely with the troopers: they were all so young. The cadets were the worst ones for making your heart hurt - something about a lost childhood made you morose and sentimental - but the ARCs weren’t so different. Troopers were tapped for ARC training at different ages, of course. Salvo seemed older than the others, a hint of silver in his dark hair when he turned his head the right way. In contrast, Fives and Echo were so young that it seemed impossible they had already been through so much.

Silence reigned as they arranged themselves in a line and stood at attention. Alpha stood at parade rest in front of them, hands clasped neatly behind his back. He watched them all, meeting each man’s eyes before giving a slight shake of his head.

“We have a lot of work to do here. I hope you troopers are up for it.”

You could see the already straight spines straighten even further as if the men could gain Alpha’s confidence through posture alone.

Alpha continued, the troopers hanging on every word. “I’m Captain Alpha-17, your instructor. You’re here with me for the next six weeks. By the time you leave, you’ll have either proved yourselves worthy of ARC status, or you’ll go back to your units without it.”

He paused as if to let them speak or ask questions, but the quiet in the room only thickened until it felt hard to breathe… and you weren’t even one of the ones he was directly addressing.

When they had all marinated in the ringing silence, Alpha said, “Today we’re setting a baseline for your abilities so we can track improvement. We’ll be doing a series of to-failure exercises, followed by a mission. Find a place and get ready. I trust you can keep your own counts. I’ll be watching for form. If you get sloppy, I deduct from your numbers. Understood?”

Five cries of, “Yes, sir!” echoed around the ARC training area as the troopers scrambled to do as Alpha had ordered them.

And so you watched as Alpha led the group in their exercises. They were generally grouped into major muscle groups, though he liked to hop around a bit. Push-ups, crunches, squats, pull-ups, planks, lunges… the moves blurred together, though you were surprised how slowly they passed. Eventually, you realized that you hadn’t know what to-failure exercises were. They literally were meant to be done until the troopers’ muscles were unable to do each one any longer. With their strength, stamina, and excellent physical condition, they did impossible numbers of each move.

When the troopers were left lying on the floor, panting for breath as their muscles trembled, Alpha gave a sharp whistle between his teeth. “That’s enough of a break, men. We still need to get some work done today. Follow me.”

Everyone stood, a surprising lack of grumbling among them, and followed Alpha from the room and down the hall to the arena where the troopers were tested for basic abilities before they were allowed to ship out for their first duty assignments. You had never seen the ARCs use that area before, but there was a lot you hadn’t been around for.

You followed them into the training area, careful to stand in the marked observation area. The room was designed to be completely changeable, and you had no desire to be standing on a section of floor that was suddenly designated to be high in the air at a strange angle.

“Your mission-” Alpha started, but was soon interrupted.

“Captain, why is a civilian allowed to observe our training?”

If memory served, the trooper who had asked that was Aftermath. He was the trooper with an appearance closest to what you would consider ‘standard’. He was older than the pair from the 501st and younger than Salvo. He didn’t have a tattoo like Fives or Maw, and no facial hair. The only thing that distinguished him from the others was that his hair was cut a bit longer than you typically saw. Amusingly, the front section of his hair was a nest of curls, featuring one particularly thick spiral that stubbornly hung over his forehead, no matter how many times he had tried to brush it back into the rest of his hair.

Alpha, unsurprisingly, looked less than pleased with Aftermath. “First, don’t interrupt me. Second, 4960, if you manage to do something more than sit on a bench and breathe, I’ll let you ask dik’utla questions. And if you manage to impress me -unlikely - I might even answer.”

Aftermath straightened and Alpha shook his head. “Fall in.”

Perhaps you shouldn’t be surprised that all of the men had immediately obeyed the simple instruction, but Alpha hadn’t even raised his voice. You couldn’t help but think that was something worth making note of. When the men had arranged themselves in a line once more, Alpha walked in front of them, pacing slightly as he spoke:

“Listen up, because I’m only gonna say this once. ARC training is one of the most challenging things a trooper can do, and ARC status is one of the most impressive distinctions a trooper can have. You’re here because you were identified as the most competent man or men of your particular unit.” He glanced around, letting the self-congratulations get started before he said, “And I’m here because I was identified as the most competent ARC trooper and the best person to train you men. But we’re not here to discuss my osik luck. Let’s get started.”

“Your mission is to get the flag,” Alpha said simply, gesturing to the room behind him as it arranged itself into a preprogrammed configuration. It wasn’t complex, but it definitely looked challenging. The platform holding the flag lifted into the air, taller and taller until it was towering over your head.

“Your secondary objective is to slice into the data terminal. In this scenario, the flag should be treated as a hostage and the data to be retrieved is sensitive information,” Alpha continued as you frowned. What terminal was he-? Ah. There was indeed a data terminal far to the other side of the room and up a slightly smaller platform. “Blasters are on the table. I’ll be listening to your HUD feeds to evaluate your performance. Time starts… now.”

And then Alpha stepped back next to you as the troopers scrambled into action. He entered a code into the control panel on the wall and the observation area lifted into the air slightly, just enough to see everything without being ridiculously far up.

“I’ll transmit the audio so you can take accurate notes,” Alpha told you, removing his helmet as he did so. You soon heard the crackling sound of inter-HUD communication. It appeared the men were arguing.

“We need to get to the hostage,” a voice said. “That’s our first priority.”

“Echo,” Alpha helpfully supplied.

“First, we need to create a chain of command,” another voice interrupted. As Alpha identified the speaker as Salvo, he continued, “We need to make sure the right person is issuing orders.”

“Kriff issuing orders,” a third person bit out, and you recognized Aftermath by his impatient tone. “We already have our orders.”

“Let’s split up.” This one was Fives, according to Alpha. “Three of us go get the hostage and the other two try to slice the terminal.”

“Too much droid interference,” Salvo told him. “We’ll need at least two people providing cover fire at all times if we don’t want to be taken out.”

“We should go for the terminal first,” a previously unheard voice opined. Through the process of elimination, you identified it as belonging to Maw even before Alpha confirmed that for you. “If I can slice into it, I can lower the platform holding the flag.”

“Why would we need it lowered?” Fives sounded disdainful.

“Do you see any equipment around here?” Maw asked sharply. “None of us have ascension cables. We’ll have to scale the wall. That’ll be easier with it lowered.”

“That’s cheating!” Echo chided.

“No such thing,” Aftermath told him. “As long as we complete the mission objectives, we’ve done what we needed to.”

“Yeah, plus this is all a test,” Maw reminded the group. “Why would the captain have placed an active data terminal in here if he didn’t expect us to use it?”

“Do the ARCs usually argue this much?” you asked, curious.

Alpha shook his head, but a small smile played around the corners of his mouth. “At first? Yeah. There’s a lot they haven’t figured out yet. It makes the first few days of training a shock for them. But the sooner they get over it, the sooner I can start teaching them what they really need to know.”

You made a note on that, as well as the arguments made by the different troopers. Such small details probably wouldn’t make it into your report, but they could be helpful while you were writing, depending on what happened with their first practice mission.

By the time you were paying attention to the audio feed again, the argument had dramatically increased in fervor.

“Our orders were to retrieve the flag first, then the information if possible!”

“But I can slice the terminal and increase our chance of success in retrieving the flag!”

“I think we can get both done. Might as well do the slicing first.”

“It would be faster if we split into groups. Maybe part of our evaluation is how long we take. The less time, the better.”

“Like I said, we can’t split up. We need to plan for interference. No fewer than two men providing cover fire per team. The math doesn’t work out.”

By the time the men started for the lower platform and its data terminal, Alpha had pulled out his own datapad and began to make notes.

The troopers scaled the platform with ease and Maw sliced into the terminal less than three minutes later as the others returned simulated bolts fired from Kamino’s practice droids. The platform lowered until it was nearly level with the ground, the sides sloping instead of steep. The troopers made their way over to it, scaled it easily and took the flag.

“Endex,” Alpha announced, his loud voice carrying through the large room. The simulated blaster fire stopped from both the droids and the troopers, the lights returned to uniform brightness, and the platforms lowered into the floor until it was even once more.

Salvo and Maw approached where the observation platform had eased back to ground height. Salvo presented the flag while Maw offered a small data chip. Alpha took them both, glancing curiously at the data chip.

“Where did you get a chip?” he asked. It was a good point - data terminals didn’t come pre-supplied with blank chips ready for information storage.

Maw smiled. “I erased one of the non-essential chips so I could rewrite it to hold the information we needed to retrieve, sir.”

Alpha nodded thoughtfully. “Fall in, men.”

After the troopers had done so, Alpha said, “Let’s start with what you did right. You completed both objectives. You used some creative problem-solving. You worked as a team. Everything else wasosik.”

You were extremely grateful you were standing out of the men’s line of sight. You were sure the shock on their faces was mirrored on your own.

“Fives,” Alpha said. “You were overconfident about getting both parts of the mission done, but you didn’t argue for your idea of splitting up. If you toss out ideas and don’t back them up, all you’re doing is creating more confusion. Come up with the plan you think will work best and fight for it to happen.”

Alpha turned to the next man. “Aftermath. You were the only one to argue against creating a chain of command. You were right: it didn’t matter who was giving orders out there. You already had the only orders you needed. But you were too worried about beating the best time to focus on what needed to be done. For the record, time does factor into your score. And you wasted yours.”

“Echo. You were right about the orders you had been given,” Alpha told him. “The data terminal was a secondary concern and shouldn’t have had equal weight in your planning. But there is no ‘cheating’ on a mission. Anything you can do to give yourself an advantage is fair game. The enemy isn’t gonna play fair. Make sure you don’t, either.”

“Maw.” Alpha continued, turning to the trooper in question. “You did something I’ve never seen another man do: you sliced into a data terminal to change the layout, then rewrote a data chip… all in under three minutes. That’s impressive. However, none of that matters in the real world. None of your missions will happen in an ARC training area. Slicing in to lower the platform wouldn’t work on a real mission, and it shouldn’t have been such a big part of your plan. Definitely not important enough to put aside rescuing the hostage.”

“And now for Salvo,” Alpha announced, looking at the man in question. “You wanted to be in charge out there. You wanted to be the one issuing orders. Fine. That means you take the heat for what went wrong. And plenty went wrong.”

Salvo ducked his head, but Alpha was pitiless. “You wasted almost two minutes arguing about a chain of command. As an ARC trooper, you’re outside of the chain of command. Missions are done as effectively as possible. No one needs to be in charge. Get that idea out of your head. You had a good point about cover fire, but you didn’t think about the possibility that three or even four of you could have gone for one area or the other to draw fire and let the last man covertly go for the hostage or the data terminal. And since you were so determined to keep the men together - men who are training to be individual forces of nature when it comes to completing objectives - the correct order would have been hostage retrieval, then data retrieval. From now on, leave the orders and training tome.”

“Yes, sir,” Salvo agreed hastily, embarrassment written across his face. “Sorry, sir.”

“Let this mission be a lesson to all of you,” Alpha told them, addressing the group as a whole once more. “Intel is vital. Yeah, GAR intelligence is spotty at best, but it’s better than nothing. I studied your files, all of the information about your past missions that was passed on by your officers. This mission was planned to test your strengths and show your weaknesses. I think we covered weaknesses pretty well, but if you have any questions about how I knew what I did, you need to pay more attention to your post-mission briefings back with your units. This information was pulled directly from them. Now, does anyone have any questions about the mission?”

“Yes, sir,” Echo said. When Alpha nodded at him, he continued, “We didn’t have any ascension cables. How would we have gotten onto the platform without lowering it?”

Alpha watched him steadily. “Trooper, do you know we keep holos of every training group’s final exercise? With you and Fives both coming from the same squad, I rewatched your final training holo. This wouldn’t be the first time you scaled a wall with no ascension cables. Domino Squad did something new that day, something no one else had thought to do before. That flexibility of thought is your best tool as an ARC.”

“But there were guns on the Citadel tower,” Fives reminded him. “There were none on this platform. Sir.”

After a dry look at the hastily added ‘sir’ at the end of his statement, Alpha returned to the control panel and began to enter data. A thin platform rose a short distance in front of the troopers, easily twice their height.

“Echo, you’re gonna help me with a little demonstration,” Alpha announced, heading for the new platform. When he was standing in front of it, Alpha tapped his shoulders. “Stand on my shoulders and reach for the edge of the platform. Don’t pull yourself onto it, just hold the edge.”

It wasn’t an elegant process, but Echo managed to do as Alpha had ordered, standing on the captain’s shoulders as he got a firm grasp on the platform’s edge.

“Alright, hang on,” Alpha told him. “I’m going to use you to climb.”

And you watched, stunned, as Alpha began to climb up Echo’s body, using his feet, waist, and shoulders as hand- and foot-holds until he had gotten to the top of the platform. He reached a hand down to grasp Echo’s forearm, hauling him up with ease until they were both standing on the top and looking down at the other troopers.

“Your gear can save your life. You should always be as equipped as possible, on a mission or not,” Alpha reminded. “But even when you don’t have equipment, you’ve been engineered with advantages that most species in the galaxy don’t have. You can lift more, run faster, survive longer. Those are all tools that you can and should use.”

Alpha stepped forward and off of the platform. You were surging forward before you could stop yourself, your heart battling for a place in your throat with the scream that was taking up most of the room. Alpha rolled as he hit the ground, managing to stand at the end of the motion.

You had managed to keep yourself from screaming, but your desperate motion must have caught some attention. Maw was watching you curiously and Echo’s eyes flicked in your direction from his vantage point on top of the platform.

“Any other questions?” Alpha asked, tone casual.

There were none and he gave a satisfied nod. “Good. Dismissed.”

Echo copied Alpha’s dismounting procedure and caught up with Fives as the troopers all left the training area. You turned to Alpha in the recently abandoned room. “Are there really holos of past training sessions?”

Alpha’s expression turned comedically guarded. “If I say yes, are you planning to spend the next few weeks watching all of the final missions?”

“No,” you denied, letting a slow grin turn the corners of your lips upward. “I was just going to suggest that we move somewhere with fewer cameras.”

“What-?” Alpha started, though he cut himself off fairly quickly and began to smile as well. “I didn’t know that in-depth conversations about training were a weakness of yours.”

“You’re a weakness of mine,” you admitted openly. “And it’s interesting to see you in your element. This was a new experience for me.”

“Hey,” Alpha said with a scowl. “You’ve seen me in an actual battle.”

“That’s true,” you agreed, pretending to think it over for a moment. “Though weren’t you teaching in the battle, too?”

“No, I-” Alpha cut his denial short, his scowl growing even more fierce. “I don’t teach, I train.”

By that point, you couldn’t hold back your laughter anymore and Alpha’s displeasure turned to false offense. “Are you teasing me, neverd’ika? And people say I’m rude. I let you come here and watch my training process…”

“Come on, Alpha,” you urged, still chuckling. “Let’s go somewhere with fewer holocameras.”

Alpha’s shock when you waggled your eyebrows was palpable, which only made it all the more entertaining for you. You steered him where you wanted to go with only the slight touch to his hand you could manage while looking casual enough to fool any observers. Of course, the stupid matching grins sprouting across both of your faces would probably give something away, but you couldn’t bring yourself to care just then.

---

Author's Note - Thanks for reading! If you find any mistakes, please let me know! I'm having trouble with the site today. I did my best to fix what went wrong, but I may have missed something.

Salvo is a canon character, though he may be part of the Legends now. Fives and Echo are obviously canon. Maw and Aftermath are OCs. Aftermath was mentioned in a previous one-shot of mine, but never directly seen. If you have any questions, please let me know!

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