Boot

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The Muertos were far from ready to become soldiers. The gang members had the heart and talent for it, but they lacked discipline. Furthermore, their previous lives had resulted in a certain rivalry with non-members of the gang. The alliance would need to be very careful when utilizing them in the future.

Three dozen men and women of varying races were arrayed throughout the courtyard. It was a cold Ruusan morning, the sun just having begun to break over the distant mountains to the east. Cedric's breath coalesced into thick clouds of vapor, courtesy of the depleting temperatures. He'd clad himself in the proper furs for the outing, but the men and women undergoing to crash course training were left in the PTs. The knight couldn't help but find a sense of amusement in the shorts and T-shirts his newfound allies were forced to wear. They must have been freezing.

I did this once. They'll get through it.

Alongside the gang were its leader [member="Jax Vandal"], a handful of volunteers, and [member="Sebastian Thel"]. Thel was not a soldier, but then one still needed to be able to defend themselves in times such as these. The order to participate in the camp had come from a well intentioned place, though Cedric would be lying if he denied his amusement at the sight of the young man.

"Get your boys ready Jax, we're about to begin." Cedric's gaze shifted toward the woman in charge: [member="Ari Vox"]. "Ari, you have the reigns. I'll jump in wherever I feel my guidance is required. Otherwise, this show is all yours."

The knight flashed the gathering one last grin, then turned to take his place at the corner of the courtyard. His arms folded about his chest as he leaned back against the stone walls, watching.

 

[Jax Vandal]

Jax turned to his men. "Listen up you druk-eaters! You will treat this woman like she's a Muerta. In fact that goes for everyone here. Today there's no drinking, smoking, snorting, or complaining. If anyone disobeys this woman. We will have words." He smirked. While not being an expressly scary statement anyone in the gang knew "words" with Jax usually ended in at least one permanent injury.

[member="Cedric Grayson"]
[member="Ari Vox"]
[member="Sebastian Thel"]

 

[Ari Vox]

On the planes of Ruusan that they now found themselves, Ari had taken the time to construct a series of obstacles and set aside space for both hand-to-hand combatives and ranged weapon training. Standing now before her motley construction, the female Mandalorian watched the assembly before her through the T-visor of her helmet and grinned at their donned attire. Various shirts and shorts, some of which ran well above their knees and glowed iridescent in the rising Ruusan sunlight, beckoned her amusement.

Once everyone was prepared Jax spoke to his men and made sure that they were listening, his words visibly impacting them to the point that Ari felt confident in speaking up. Adorned with her omnipresent silver trimmed sapphire armour, she stood out even before stepping forward, the only one of the small group to be openly carrying weapons, though she assumed Cedric carried too. Not that the Jedi really needed a blaster.

"Alright," Her voice was firm and powerful, amplified slightly by a module in her helmet, it carried with it the authority of years of experience both theoretical and practical. "Welcome to Ruusan and the rebellion. I understand you come from various backgrounds," Another step forward. "That you have past experiences that lend to various proclivities and standards of which I am not aware," Yet another step. "But you will understand," Her voice became a thunderous roar as she stood now just feet before the cadre of grunts. "That I do not tolerate those who will not give there all on these training fields. The more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in battle!"

As the men watched she removed her helmet and handed it to her protocol droid who had stepped forward with her. Rawlins took it with care and watched with glowing retinas as Ari turned and stepped to the edge of the group of ragtag volunteers. "On me! We're going for a little jaunt!" And so they ran, ran until Ari was tired which even given her full suit of armour was a substantial amount of time.

@[member=Cedric Grayson]
@[member=Jax Vandal]
@[member=Sebastian Thel]

 

[Jax Vandal]

Many of Jax's men had no problem running most of the way. Running was a way of life for a Coruscant street thug, but [member="Ari Vox"] ran even the most athletic into the ground by the end.

 

[Sebastian Thel]

From the corner of the base, Sebastian crept nonchalantly with his nose buried in a datapad. The soldiers stood, ready and attentive and he beeped away at the screen, failing to hide his disinterest in physical labor. He wore an army jacket loosely over the T-shirt the Rebels had given him and had swapped his shorts for britches and soft boots. When the figure of Cedric loomed above him, Sebastian looked up in surprise.

"Oh!" He exclaimed as a soldier tore the datapad from his hands. "Hey! That has all your financial data!" They were apparently not in the mood for Sebastian evaluating the funds of the Rebellion. Not that he could complain, accounting work bored him at the best of times.

But somebody had to do it.

The mathematician had his uses. Though not useful in the thick of a battle, he was still needed behind the scenes where figures made up the base of the operation. A fierce woman lead the group, accompanied by an outlaw heading an underworld militia. When Jax addressed the group, Sebastian stood still, the line of his mouth unmoved and stared the man down with a resilient glare. This was not looking good. The threat of physical exertion caused Sebastian to cringe as he took his place beside Jax and looked to the Mandalorian.

At the very least, learning how to wield ranged weaponry could prove very useful to Sebastian, even if he would never be able to engage in melee combat. He appreciated the opportunity to use a blaster and swallowed a gulp as Ari stated her final sentence. When she commanded the group to run, his shoulders dropped in dire unease.

Oh my god, please don't make me run.

The thoughts hung on Sebastian's mind. He did not know whether to run with the rest of the group or stay put and risk getting the crap beat out of him. Clenching his teeth, he groaned audibly and took to his feet. Running short distances to get away was fine, just not with a group of soldiers watching him. He found sprinting came to him naturally from all the times he had to run away and darted along with the back of the group.

[member="Cedric Grayson"], [member="Jax Vandal"], [member="Ari Vox"]

 

[Ravenfire]

Rex was standing back watching all of this happening. He didn't have to run he knew how to run. He was ex-chiss special forces. He could run with ease. He grinned watching them go by also bowing to [member="Ari Vox"] yelling out "Good to see you again." The two of them knew each other from the duels on mandalore. He was happy to see her here, no matter what the outcome of their battle had been. She would be a valuable resource. "Call me if you need some head smashed together. That is how we used to doing it in the chiss military anyways."

He would then walk over to [member="Cedric Grayson"] "So these are our forces, did you want me to bring in some of my men to show these gangsters how to act like a proper soldier?" He looked at the end of the group and saw a man there [member="Sebastian Thel"], who clearly wasn't used to this. He made a note to take him aside and give him some extra training. "Or do you want me to show them personally?" He watched them he assumed that they would either pull it together or he would start breaking people. He noticed the gang leader [member="Jax Vandal"] was trying to keep his men in line.

 

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Cedric could not hide his amusement at Sebastian's displeasure. He was not stupid enough to waste the mathematician's valuable mind on field work, but Sebastian needed to toughen up. If things went to osik and he was forced to pick up a weapon, Cedric would rather he know how to use it than not all, no matter how much he disliked doing so. The Jedi Knight rumbled with good natured laughter as they began to run. [member="Jax Vandal"] and his gang seemed to have little issue with simple running, and while Sebastian had felt akin to a thunderstorm of angsty frustration at the task he'd been given within the empyrean, he kept up with them all the same.

"I'd worried about Jax initially, but his boys have heart." The knight mused aloud as he watched [member="Ari Vox"] run the lads around the courtyard. There was no better way to start one's day then busting your ass in the cold, and Ari had a natural talent for ass busting.

She's gonna break them down. Good.

"This is the smallest group," he replied in greeting. An amused grin was cast Rex's way. "We've actual soldiers over on Ession, but we can't commit to full scale assaults until we have the fleet. With that in mind, we're operating with this team first, so," the smile grew. "Yes, whatever you feel would help them along. The exercises will be easy. It's blaster work and discipline that I'm worried about."

He paused a moment as the group rounded the courtyard. "I also need to teach them how to take down force sensitives." His gaze shifted to Rex. "Have you been trained? You don't have the chaotic mind of a novice."

[member="Rex Taff"], [member="Sebastian Thel"]

 

[Ravenfire]

"Nah I have fought [member="Ari Vox"]. I know she is hard enough as is." Rex would muse himself. "Good Idea teaching them to take down force-users. As for me yes I am a trained force user. I was taught by several people. I have multiple abilities that I use to varying degrees of mastery. I gotta say my favourite combat form is Niman. I find my enemies have a hard time to tell what I am doing next. However I do like Ataru as well. So if you want a force user to mess with them I am happy to use a few of my techniques."

[member="Cedric Grayson"], [member="Sebastian Thel"], [member="Jax Vandal"]

 

[Ari Vox]

When the run boiled down and the men were looking spent, Ari switched their path and guided them to the first of the obstacles, a low wall about four feet high. The Mandalorian came to a halt just beside it, softly controlling her breathing as her heart thumped madly in her chest. These obstacles she had made were not for her, and as she watched the men fall in before her she smiled at the heart they'd showed already.

"Alright, up and over, farking simple right?" She pointed one armoured hand at the low wall. From the position of the grunts, they couldn't see what lay on the other side, but Ari left it a surprise. A foot and a half or more of muck, the men would land directly in it should they go right over the wall. Of course, it was designed that way, just a few feet past was a low wire obstacle meant to get them face first with that same muck, and beyond that was an apex ladder. From the sidelines Ari would watch and coach and harass, if the need arose. Safety would dictate that the small course be the other way around, given that the apex ladder was one that recruits were prone to falling on especially with mud-soaked boots, but Ari knew that battles would be much more dangerous, and much less forgiving. Mud was the least of their concerns.

Once the recruits had all gone through the course as a team and come out the other side, that was where Ari had set up a fair sized tent, and beyond that was the range itself. All was made to be done in order and with no breaks given to simulate the frontlines as closely as she thought she could. Given the time they'd be given for training, Ari didn't see much more she could do. Maybe a training exercise or two?

While contemplating the future and watching the recruits work their way over the first obstacle, the Mandalorian was reminded of what lay within the ten on the far side of the obstacles: A particularly nasty looking Trandoshan named Kysh that Ari had been lent from Cedric's employ, and whom she had personally dressed and made-up to make the most frightening obstacle in this course. Trainees would be let in one at a time by Ari's protocol droid Rawlins, left to the cold and the filth they were covered in until their turn to enter and face Kysh. Tasked with showing him what they could do, Kysh would send recruits through when he was satisfied with them and they would then come to find Ari at the blaster range.

Here they would complete a series of firing exercises, shooting from various positions and at different sized targets at slightly varying ranges while the Mandalorian watched on. By the end of the little circuit, Ari felt confident she'd have a solid base to work from, or at least to understand the amount of work that was going to be required.

@[member=Rex Taff]
@[member=Cedric Grayson]
@[member=Sebastian Thel]
@[member=Jax Vandal]

 

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Rex spoke of lightsaber forms. Cedric smiled.

"My father favored Niman before creating his own form of fighting. My family has always taken the forms we identify with, and made them our own," his smile broadened, "I enjoy Soresu and Djem'so myself, though my primary form of fighting revolves around one of the forbidden arts. It's going to have to change very soon, however," he paused to watch the recruits fumble about the course. The knight could not hide his amusement as Ari ran them through the ringer. "I'm sure a time will come when they'll test themselves on you Rex. As for now, there is already a formidable opponent awaiting them at the end of the course."

His mind went to Kysh. The Trandoshan was one of several dozen that had joined the cause after Cedric had defeated their clan leader in an honorable duel. In doing so, the chieftain's jagganath points had been reset, and he had sworn himself to the Jedi service in exchange for a greater sum total of points in the end.

Thus far, the Trandoshans were earning their keep.

"Do you think Jax can take it?" A brow was lofted. "He's tough. Rough around the edges, but I see potential in him," he followed after the group, coming to a halt near the makeshift range. "What's your assessment Rex?"

[member="Ari Vox"], [member="Rex Taff"], [member="Jax Vandal"]

 

[Jax Vandal]

Jax broke through the pack. Leadership in the Muertos could be challenged anytime, by anyone. So it was important to establish a bit of an image, as such Jax knew it would be expected of him to be leading the group even in an exercise. He landed in muck after leaping the wall and he sprinted to crawl under the wire. To him this was the best part of the course. Growing up on Coruscant he hadn't spent much time around grass, trees, mud. He relished slopping through and making himself a mess. He looked like a child at a play ground. After making it through various obstacles he waqs led into a large tent. A mean looking Trandoshan was inside and Jax smiled. The Trandoshan was unforgiving and hit hard, but Jax would have it no other way. After catching the instructor with a strange left hook using his mechanical hand it was clear this was not where Jax needed his skills refined. He moved on leaving the tent, and waited for @Ari Vov's next challenge.

[member="Cedric Grayson"]
[member="Rex Taff"]

 

[Kalyn Tal'verda]

Lyra had a certain way of getting into places she wasn't supposed to. Its odd how if you look like you are supposed to be somwhere that next to nobody will question you about it. She had acquired some military police SWAT gear awhile back, and besides the purple hoodie and jeans she looked like somebody who knew what they were doing.

She knew exactly why she was here, Cedric Grayson. With her work with the TAE coming to an unfortunate close she needed to find somwhere to be, and after breaking their rather poorly secured computer systems, she knew what to do next. These people were goodie two shoes optimists, the likes of which she had never seen before, but she knew the guy who ran it from records and documets. People were scared of this guy, didn't matter if you were good, bad, or ugly, you knew this guys name if you were important enough. Archlord of the Dominion sounds like a rather fancy title, and it sure as hell was back in the day. Now though his empire was shattered and he was struggling to pick up the pieces.

He needed a knight in shining armor of sorts, Lyra was more than happy to not be that. She was interested in money and security, half the galaxy wanted her dead and the other half wanted her in jail, it was hard to find a place where neither of those applied. Essentially, she wanted a job, and she wanted a haven. Cedric was just the guy to provide that.

She walked through the bootcamp holding onto a beach chair, if anybody gave her a funny look she pulled up her forged ID and they moved her on as if nothing was wrong. She knew Cedric was currently assisting some new troops in their training, she would drop by for a visit of course.

Upon entering the courtyard she made her way over to the man she was looking for, he seemed to be talking to a Chiss. She moved over nearby to them, set up the lawnchair, and sat down with her legs crossed. She pulled a lollipop from her pocket,and unwrapped it, throwing the wrapper aside, before moving the lollipop into her mouth. She faced towards the training troops before making her introduction, slowly moving her feet around.

"You Cedric Grayson?" She said not averting her eyes from the training troops, moving the lollipop around in her mouth absentmindedly.

[member="Cedric Grayson"]
[member="Rex Taff"]
[member="Jax Vandal"]
[member="Ari Vox"]
[member="Sebastian Thel"]

 

[Ari Vox]

Repeater and pistol blasters, slugthrowers and more than a dozen strangely spherical rocks were scattered across a makeshift firing line where Ari stood watching as the grunts scrambled from the Trandoshan tent. Some stumbled out markedly worse for wear while others like Jax were relatively fresh still, minus the sopping mud they'd accumulated through the course which now threatened to freeze on their attire and on their skin in the cool Ruusan air.

As each man came to the line Ari pointed to one weapon at a time and had them fire on a number of targets downrange. Mansized for the most part, trainees were instructed to fire at centre mass when possible and to fire at whatever partials targets they could given that some were behind light cover. The spherical rocks were used as thermal detonator simulators and were to be tossed at a basket near the centre of the targets. Jax, being the first out of the men to reach the range was the first to hit the weapons, and as Ari pointed through the various types of weapons and called out targets by their letter designations she kept track of his score on her holodisplay forearm.

Afterall this entire day was to judge the areas these men would need to improve. From a place of zero expectations, Ari found herself pleasantly surprised as the day's events wound down. Most of the Muertos were better than the average civilian, but saying that many had habits they'd formed from a lifetime of guerrilla warfare and criminal activities and Ari felt no inclination to change them. They were not to become frontline soldiers, if anything they'd be specialized urban warfare specialists and given their relative obscurity in the eyes of the Sith Empire Ari only needed to teach them enough to dominate their fellow underworld types.

In the midst of the firing range, as a quiet befell the range as the space between one trainee and another grew wider, the Mandalorian pulled her eyes from the targets and the men she was training as a passive form of awareness and caught sight of something that caused her a double take. Yes, that was a purple hoodied woman in jeans reclining on a stereotypical beach chair. Borderline offended by the sight, Ari made to say something but noticed the figure exchange words with Cedric and decided 'Fark it, not my business right now' and continued on with the day's training.

Once all of the men had gone through they were once more formed into a single file rank and stood in all their soiled glory before Ari who stood almost shinning in the now noonish Ruusan sunlight. Eyeing her holodisplay with the recorded point-totals for the trainees and the small remarks she'd made for each shooter, the Mandalorian's face took on a look of grim disappointment and she cast a firey look at the Muertos assembled.

"Is this really your best?" Silence befell the group and her gloved hands clenched in time with her teeth. "I find it hard to believe you're as dedicated to this cause as you say with scores like these," Her eyes fell upon Jax who looked determined and vicious in light of her remarks. "Vandal! Front and centre!" The Muertos jogged up before her and stood a few feet away. Ari closed the distance enough to whisper in his ear.

"I will hold you personally responsible for this group, as I'm sure you already are. I will give you and you alone your daily briefing about what is happening each day. From my words each morning you will prepare the men and disseminate the information. Any failures in communication will fall directly on you, and I expect you to remedy such issues as they arise with zero excuses. Nod if you understand," A curt nod followed.

"I do not know how much time I have available to train you and your men, therefore I expect that every night you are with me in training you will practice the lessons from the day before. Whether that's hand-to-hand combat or contact drills, I expect that you will give me your all. Any disciplinary actions required will be conducted by you unless it becomes a repeat occurrence. And no matter how prepared I can get you, I expect you to take the lessons I give you and return home with them. Train your new men to the same standard and you will never fail," She rested back on her heels and her eyes drilled into his as he nodded once more. "Do you have any questions for me before I release you for the night?"


[member=Jax Vandal]
[member=Cedric Grayson]
[member=Lyra Sarn]
[member=Rex Taff]

 

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Cedric watched Ari's exchange with obvious amusement. It was an amusement that faded away the moment an unfamiliar presence bubbled up on the edge of his proverbial radar. It was an intelligent mind, one that seemed to have little care for the formalities associated with a military encampment. When he turned to look upon this creature, he found himself greeted by a small, unassuming looking woman. A woman that seemed to have gone out of her way to not fit in with the rest of the group. More importantly, a woman Cedric did not recognize.

His thoughts went to his lightsaber at first, but wisdom gave him pause.

"I am," his brow furrowed, blue eyes appraising the woman. Recent breaches over the comm-net had left Cedric suspicious. One culprit had been dealt with already, but the other was still on the loose, and that other had sounded much as this girl did. The knight's lips pressed into a thin line.

"It'd be wise for you to give me a reason not to throw you in chains for being here," the words were kept low so that the trainees would not hear.

[member="Ari Vox"], [member="Lyra Sarn"], [member="Jax Vandal"]

 

[Kalyn Tal'verda]

Upon hearing the mans response she was rather amused. She had done nothing wrong besides walk right in and maybe forge a bit of identification. She didn't even think she did all that good of a job, or at the very least she knew she could do much better and had done so. To be completely honest his response was rather curt to say the very least. Very uncalled for.

Lyra chuckled a bit, rotating the lollipop in her mouth a bit feigning thought, she already knew what she was going to say but the pause added dramatic effect.

"Two reasons." she said carefully watching the training crew over in the distance.

They seemed to be gang members, highly unorganized, lots of ego, and a bit stupid, they would make great soldiers. The leader though was different, he seemed smart, just uneducated. Much like the leader of the swoop gang she used to roll with, she liked him but sadly her path took her elsewhere, preferably as far away from him as possible.

The person training them was in over her head, it seemed to Lyra that she didn't fully understand what she was getting herself into trying to train gang members. Lyra had tried before, its like repeatedly hitting your head against a wall and then disemboweling yourself on a rusty nail. The only thing those guys respect is strength, if you weren't big and scary it is like speaking to a literal brick. It seemed the woman was a mandalorian though, maybe she could get through to them.

"One, Even if you could manage to get me in chains I doubt you could keep me there long, many have tried, all have failed." She said finally getting a good look at the man she was talking to, he looked battle hardened and not very welcoming to her antics, she liked it that way.

"Two, im merely here to offer my services, and by the looks of things you need them. It was incredibly easy to walk in here, nobody batted an eye. I am an expert on these sort of things, I could help shape up your security." She finished, looking back up towards the cold sky.

[member="Cedric Grayson"]
[member="Ari Vox"]
[member="Jax Vandal"]

 

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"You're confident." The knight appraised the girl with obvious suspicion. He felt outward within the empyrean, searching her spirit for any signs of malignancy. If there was any ill intent within this girl, Cedric would surely sense it. At least, he would if she did not know how to put up a formidable mental defense, but then few non-force users could.

"And it's that confidence that lets me believe you. For now." There was an intense look in Cedric's gaze. It was a look that promise the girl a stay in the dungeon should she be lying. "If you've skill with slicing then we need you. I can't ignore an asset," he gestured out toward the men at training.

"But you need to know this," his eyes never left her own. "Everyone here is ready to die for the cause. We're brothers and sisters of fate in that regard. If it came down to it, can I rely on you to protect them?" His words were filled with purpose. Without thinking, he'd closed the distance between himself and the girl, his neck craning downward to look her in the eye.

"Can you do that slicer?"

[member="Lyra Sarn"], [member="Ari Vox"], [member="Jax Vandal"]

 

[Jax Vandal]

"No ma'am." Jax's tone turned honest and felt very alien to him. "Thank you for training my men. I know they can be a little rough around the edges. I left some of the rowdier guys back home. Most of these guys didn't have much before the Muertos. We had to think about survival before we could even consider right or wrong. They're so hopeful today, because for once they can be."

Jax didn't like speaking honestly like that. This was the first time in his life he might be making something of himself.

[member="Ari Vox"]

 

[Ari Vox]

[member="Jax Vandal"], [member="Cedric Grayson"], [member="Lyra Sarn"]

It came down with time that Ari had a few weeks to train Jax and his men and turn them into a sophisticated fighting unit capable of dealing with the Rebellion's black ops and shadier deniable dealings. Of course, they were already sophisticated. Cybernetics adorned each and every one of them varying from huge to minute, and it gave them an edge throughout Ari's training schedule. With time too the Mandalorian became more comfortable with the group and with her fellow rebels enough for mornings of heavy physical training outside of her armour and sloshing in the muck with the trainees she led.

Covering everything from dress and deportment (specifically how it relates to cold, wet, and inhospitable environments) to advanced martial arts, Ari spent the time she had with the Muertos to fill them with as much knowledge as she could bestow. They became proficient enough with all manner of weapons, though generally, they all had their own preferences in this regard. Their utilization of their cybernetics improved with time as well, for some they had become better than their original flesh and bones, and their tactics were quick to follow.

By the end of the training period Ari had been given the group were venturing on live-fire exercises for days at a time, learning to live in the field as they travelled far into the Ruusan wilderness and Ari showed them tricks to surviving in this particular biodome. There were many others in the galaxy, but the Mandalorian felt such teachings would come as they deployed to those different environments.

Knowing too that the Muertos would be mostly based in heavily populated urban environments, to say the least, she focused intensively on close-quarters-combat using parts of Cedric's castle, various sized ships that were brought in just for this use, and even handcrafted maze-like scenarios. Hard learned habits from the men were dumped by those perceptive enough to see their detriment, and by the time that Cedric deemed the end the group was close to Ari's personal standards for what they should be by this point in training.

Though their skills were far from Mandalorians, these Muertos were definitely capable warriors now and even with the minor hiccups they faced, Ari was proud to have taught them.