Saga Clone War: An Alpha the ARC trooper short story- PART ONE

DISCLAIMER: Everything belongs to George Lucas, as if that isn't obvious. I own nothing and I'm getting no money for this- period.

AUTHOR: JD.

SUMMARY: This little AU plot bunny was inspired by the movie The hunt for Red October, with a Star Wars twist of course. The story takes place shortly after the events of EP3, but within the AU setting I've established in my other fics- "What I Know" and the OC story The Training of a Ghost. No OC's in this one though, just some recognizable faces in new situations.


Clone War: An Alpha the ARC trooper short story

Part One

Peering out from behind the rocky outcropping, Alpha could see his pursuers disembarking from their landing craft. How had his life come to this? He wondered, as he watched the Stormtroopers prepare for their hunt. Once he had been a Captain in the Grand Army of the Republic, an Advanced Recon Commando- the elite. Now, he was hunted by mere Stormtrooper commandos, slaves to the Emperor's will.

Well, they weren't exactly mere Stormtroopers, not their Commander anyway. Commander Thire 4477 was no ordinary clone, Alpha knew that for sure. Thire had been one of the first hundred graduates of the advanced officer-training program for the Grand Army of the Republic. Thire's mentor, the man charged with instructing this member of the second generation of Kaminoan bred clone soldiers? Why none other than Alpha himself, the irony of it was indeed thick. Thire and his comrades had graduated during the height of the clone wars, and they were now the elite.

Alpha and his fellow ARC troopers were obsolete in their genetic design, equipment and training, at least according to the Empire. Why had the ARC troopers fallen so far out of favor? The answer to that question lay in their training. Unlike the Stormtroopers as they were now known, the ARCs had significantly more independent thought- a severe defect by Imperial standards. Not to mention that they had been hand trained by Jango Fett, who had instilled his own specific orders to his duplicates. Order's which the Empire was not entirely sure matched up with their ideas of how Imperial troops should behave.

Alpha had thought that his old age would be spent quietly on Kamino, passing on his vast combat expertise to future generations. Instead, he found himself as a military advisor, and occasional field operative for the fledgling Rebel Alliance. It was almost enough to make the aging clone sick to his stomach. He was a Rebel, a member of a rag-tag army, if one could even call it that. The Rebels were in general poorly disciplined and their weapons were anything but top of the line- to a professional soldier it was utterly disgraceful. It was a sad day indeed when Alpha realized that he actually enjoyed the company of Obi-Wan Kenobi, and the man who had given him his name, Anakin Skywalker. He was friends with two Jedi? Jango must be rolling over in his grave, Alpha thought somewhat sadly.

But life was what it was, he realized this to be true. The ARC trooper tradition, like the Mandalorian way that had inspired it, was now all but extinct. To the best of his knowledge, he, A-17, Alpha was now the last of his kind. He was a relic like the AT-XT walkers, an obsolete piece of military hardware.

Nearby movement shook Alpha from his silent reverie. Thire's men were on the move and getting closer, it was time to act. Running a hand through his graying hair, he reached for his red and white clone trooper helmet. Placing the helmet on his head and scooping up his heavy blaster rifle, he moved up the rocky slope behind him. He knew that either Obi-Wan or Anakin, or perhaps both would be foolish enough to try and rescue him. Their complete lack of understanding when it came to the concept of acceptable losses was appalling. He was one soldier, hardly worth risking the lives of two key members of the Alliance over. Still, the Jedi and their Alliance allies seemed completely devoid of common sense. They were undoubtedly in the process of lau

 

Interesting beginning. An entire fic from Alpha's point of view? I guess I'll have to start keeping an eye on this fic.

Force be with you,

Tych_sel

 

Tych_sel: Interesting beginning. An entire fic from Alpha's point of view? I guess I'll have to start keeping an eye on this fic.

Force be with you,

Tych_sel

Thanks. Yep, all Alpha all fic long.

BTW: A new post is now in the works.


JD.