About an hour after that meeting, I found myself standing in front of a large crowd of troopers standing at attention. As Timo said, there were 200 of them. Looking around, I noticed some familiar faces. Aside from my friends and dad, I noticed that a few of the people I had saved from hangar five. The rest of them were random troopers put together by the army admins under General Kroos.
I paced back and forth with my hands locked behind my back. I carefully gazed upon my men, inspecting them thoroughly. For some reason, I felt right in my element. It felt like any other day and I was taking in every detail about these men and women easily.
Fortunately, these guys seemed competent for the most part. Well, there were a few out of place.
I rolled my eyes. "Galen, tighten your straps. That armor is too loose."
It turned out that the others that had issues with their gear had the same problem so I didn't need to call anyone else out. Galen's face was red with embarrassment and I laughed internally.
I stopped pacing and faced the neatly organized group. "Good morning ladies and gentlemen. I am your CO, Captain Soryn Brenko. In a few hours, we will be boarding a cruiser and ship off to Alderaan."
"For most of us here, this is our first tour, including myself. I expect everyone to, even if you don't know what to do, have each other's backs and stick together. Above all else, no man should ever be left behind unless there is quite literally no other choice. If you abandon your comrade, I have no qualms about court marshaling you."
"The men and women standing around you are your brothers and sisters. It isn't a matter of if, but when they will save your lives. Treat them accordingly and as if your life may one day depend on it."
"Now, categorize yourselves into your specialization. I want medics in one group, demolition experts in another, and so on. Regular troopers should compress into a lineup to the side of them."
I watched as all 200 of them started moving in silence. The coordination they had was honestly quite impressive. None of them needed to speak but they all knew where to go. It only took a minute for them to congregate into groups as I asked.
As I gazed upon the group, I took a mental count of the split I was given. While I could get this information in a list, I preferred seeing it with my own eyes. There were 20 medics, one for every 10 in the legion. We had 5 combat engineers, 20 heavies, 5 operators, 5 defenders, and 5 K9 units.
Within those groups, they were also organized by their rank. Within my legion, the highest ranking trooper was a Lieutenant, which was the rank just below mine. All of the players, aside from my dad who was a Corporal, were Privates which was the lowest rank possible other than Cadet.
For the locals, there were also a few Privates but the majority were Corporals. In addition, there were 5 Lieutenants, 3 of which were specialists, and 10 Sergeants, of which 4 of them were specialists.
On top of all that, I liked the spread of locals and players I got. There were 52 players and 148 locals. This would give me a lot of flexibility when it came to risky operations.
I nodded in approval after seeing all of this. "All Lieutenants and Sergeants report to me. In addition, I am appointing Corporal Brenko as the representative for the travelers. You shall report to me as well. For the next ten minutes, everyone should socialize and get to know each other a bit. At ease, Steel Legion."
Everyone's shoulders relaxed as the majority of them rested the butt of their blaster rifle on the ground. The 16 that I requested came over to me so I began the discussion.
I started scrolling through the datapad in my hand and realized that there were just too many names to remember. Fortunately, I was able to use the limited system that players were granted to see the names of people we have met or are allies with. Thus, the organization of my legion had begun.
-GE-
A voice came over the intercom. "All personnel report to staging platform 1. I repeat, all personnel to staging platform 1."
I nodded, looking at my legion. They had basically finished up establishing squads. There were a total of 40 squads with squad leaders appointed based on experience. The spread of experience was as even as possible, with at least one veteran and one FNG in each squad. I felt that they would be ready for almost anything. The officers and specialists were also peppered in there to help even it out.
During my discussion with the officers I summoned, we established a hierarchy and I even took one of the Lieutenants as my advisor. Since I didn't have any hands-on experience yet, his thoughts and recommendations would be quite valuable. The legion was split into regiments and the squads were then broken out from those regiments. On paper, it seemed quite simple but I guess only time will tell how effective it would be.
I waved my free hand in a circle above my head while using the other to clip my datapad to my belt. "That's our cue, let's move out!"
Everyone quickly fell into formation and started walking behind me. Before we departed, I quickly studied the layout of the base as I had a premonition that we'd be summoned quite soon. I had to know where I was going to avoid looking like an idiot.
A few minutes later, staging platform 1 came into view. It was essentially a massive, paved area with an array of landing platforms. All of the platforms had a large cruiser-class starship on each of them. They were landing crafts meant for carrying troops, supplies, and ground vehicles.
We arrived in what was currently the back of the formation of legions. In front of each group of legions was a squad of officers headed up by a Commander. I was glad that I had met Commander Yakamura already. It made it so I could just line up behind the other Commander, presumably Commander Ulysses.
The area that we were at quickly became the middle as more legions poured in behind us. Looking around, I noticed the other players from the officer course including Violet. I couldn't help but laugh internally when I noticed how the armor she was wearing fit her curves perfectly. She looked bad as fuck.
Eventually, legions stopped rolling in and everyone stood there in silence, at attention. The silence was broken by a familiar voice.
Looking up, I saw Timo standing on a raised platform. "Today, we move with extreme prejudice to snuff out this despicable assault by the Empire. Although many of you are fresh out of the academy, I have faith in each and every one of you."
"Alderaan is crucial to the Republic. It may not be the most powerful world, but they are a beacon of hope and idealism when it comes to the people. The Republic is nothing without our citizens."
"As soon as everyone is loaded onto these cruisers, we will be shipping out to Alderaan. This operation will be led by Jedi Knight Satele Shan and Captain Jace Malcom of Havoc Squad. Listen to their orders without question. I have nothing else. Start boarding the cruisers immediately. You are all dismissed."
As soon as he finished, the legions in the front began loading into the cruisers. We were evidently only using two cruisers for this operation as each Commander led their accompanied legions into their respective cruiser.
I noticed that the five Jedi Knights boarded a smaller transport. I presumed that they'd be boarding a cruiser that was fit for combat in space since they'd probably be piloting fighter craft. We had to break through a blockade after all.
After some waiting, it was my legion's turn. "Forward march!"
With my order, all 201 of us advanced towards the cruiser. Our fate lied in wait, concealed by the shadows of war and the dark side. Not a soul could accurately predict what would happen next.
-GE-
*BEHHHH* *BEHHHH* *BEHHHH*
A blaring alarm sounded throughout the cruiser before a voice came over the intercom. "Attention all personnel, hyperspace exit occurring in T minus 5 minutes. Report to battle stations. I repeat, hyperspace exit occurring in T minus 5 minutes. Report to battle stations immediately."
I stood up from my chair in the mess hall. I had been drinking a juice that I was told would relax my nerves. It was recommended by one of the other players in my legion. He said it had an effect very similar to CBD, which surprised me. When I asked how he knew that, he told me he was a researcher specializing in cannabis but he was using his paid time off to "travel".
I reported to the bridge since this was where I had to be during space combat. I was an officer after all. The rest of my legion was preparing our supplies and performing maintenance on their equipment in a cargo bay.
By the time I reached the bridge, there were mere seconds before we'd be exiting from hyperspace. I stood next to Violet. "Are you ready?"
Violet shook her head. "Are any of us truly ready?"
I pondered on that for a moment, adorning a scholarly expression. "The winding path of life has countless twists and turns. While the path of least resistance may be easy, it yields no benefit. Remain true to yourself, accept challenges in stride, and reach for greatness beyond what is in sight. This is the way. No regrets, no stone left unturned. One day, we can all die happy."
Violet stared at me with an astonished expression. "That was… beautiful."
I shrugged. "Eh, I kind of just came up with it. Anyways, we should observe as much as possible. I believe that someday, we might be commanding fleets of our own."
As I said this, the spiraling stream of lights visible through the observation windows slowed down until they came to a stop. A massive green and blue planet blanketed with clouds came into view. It was surprisingly Earth-like aside from the large starships sitting between us and it.
A calm voice filled every corner of the room we were in. He wasn't loud, but his every syllable was powerful and dominating. "Forward shields at maximum. Weapons free."
With this, the space in front of us lit up. It was dark and desolate, silent as it laid in peace. With one order, it flipped on its head. A curtain of red and blue lasers descended upon the two fleets.