Trained by a Clone Trooper

[Caesar Valen]

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away....​

STAR WARS​

SURVIVAL SCHOOL​

Aldrenek Valen has taken his son to spend the summer on his homeworld of Rishi, he hopes there he will learn to overcome his fears, and be able to survive. Caesar Valen has mastered piloting a starship, but he still has much to learn about survival. His father hopes that he will learn to survive should his starship crash in battle.​

Aldrenek has enlisted the help of his old friend, Jackpot, a Clone Commando from the Clone Wars. He hopes his old friend will instill in his son the essential skills to make it as a Pilot, and an Imperial Knight....​

Caesar starred out at the enormous window in the front of his father's Raider-class corvette as they made their final descent towards Rishi. His father, and a skeleton crew of a dozen men were on board the vessel. Clad in his imperial uniform, Lieutenant Colonel Aldrenek Valen stood with his hand behind his back at the helm of the vessel besides his son. Caesar wore a plain black uniform like his father, though with no colored plaques on his chest.

"We are almost here son." the officer said placing a hand on his son's shoulder.

The fifteen year old smiled, he had traveled to Rishi many times with his father on hunting trips with his grandfather. This time was different, there would be no familial pleasantries. His father had told him on Bastion months before that he would be mentored by an old friend of his father. The boy was told he was a military hero, and a cunning warrior. He wondered if it was an Imperial Knight like his mother Cassandra. His father said that his training in the force would come later on; until then he was to hone his skills as a pilot, and a soldier. Although ultimately destined to be trained as a Knight, his father wanted him to be proficient with a blaster, and other non-Force abilities such as tracking, and adapting to a situation.

The corvette slowed down as it penetrated the atmosphere. Thick canopy could be seen for kilometers, tall mountains towered above the valley they were approaching. Rivers were carved into the landscape, giving the planet a patterned look. Finally the ship came to halt, and hovered over a clearing deep within the valley. The ship finally made contact with the ground, and the engine was turned off.

"We have arrived sir," A deck officer said in an Eriaduan accent.

"That will be all Clovis, lower the ramp please, and have the crate I prepared brought down."

"Right away sir," the deck officer replied, and signaled for the crew to fulfill their superior's orders.

The front ramp of the ship descended with a cloud of gas exiting vents on the sides of the hatch. When finally lowered, Aldrenek, his son, and two elite stormtroopers with black pauldrons made their descent. His father's bodyguards were the first to breathe the humid air. Their white boots were the first to tread on Rishi's moist grass. They could feel the humidity enter the small cracks, and crevices within their armor. Already the sounds of animals could be heard surrounding them. The air was heavy with moisture, giving the planet a planet an extremely humid overtone. Waiting for them was a dark skinned man covered in Katarn armor. He held a helmet at his side. The entire uniform was camouflaged to hide in the Bush, as the locals called it. As Caesar came closer, he began to recognize the the figure standing before him. He looked very much like the Clone Commandos he had seen in Holovids during military history classes he took on Bastion.

A clone alive in this era, inconceivable,they had been extinct for centuries he said to himself.

A grin started to grow on Aldrenek's face as they came closer to the mysterious figure.

"Hello Old Friend," the officer said finally standing before his trusted comrade.

 

[Atlas Kane]

It had been a long while that a friend of Jackpot's had reached out to him. Life as a mercenary was fairly solitary and brought few friends and he enjoyed this change of pace. Ever since his fellow Clone Commando and long standing friend Galaar had been slain on board the space station of Druckenwell had he remained withdrawn from the Galaxy's greater narrative. Especially so after the original Confederacy of Independent Systems, a surprisingly reformed and beneficial government that did not resemble its ancient counterpart, had turned into the Abrion Systems Authority under new leadership. He had reunited with his other good friend from the Clone Wars, the one that had also slain Galaar, for a while, however, tensions and bad blood did not allow the brief alliance to last. So he became a mercenary, putting his skills to use making the Galaxy a better place while sustaining himself on the money that flowed from his contractors. It was a modest living, but he had enough money to keep his armour, weaponry, and himself sustained for the past few years.

Nonetheless, he was getting old. Biologically only thirty-three, yet due to his accelerated aging he now seemed to be in his early fifties, though he would have been in his late sixties were it not for a genetic therapy he underwent in the care of the Confederacy of Independent Systems that had slowed down his accelerated aging considerably. While he was old, his all around healthy (though some would call it unhealthy due to his consistent proximity to explosions) lifestyle he was still in good shape and a capable warrior and today he'd pass on his knowledge to a new generation. He was a little excited, he hadn't trained a recruit in almost ten years, especially since unlike his brethren he did not adapt to Mandalorian culture like they had, keeping to his identity as a protector of peace and freedom instead.

He waited at the edge of the clearing, clad in his trusty, though ancient, armour. His attention was directed towards the sky, looking for any sign of the company he was waiting here, and sure enough, a few minutes of waiting later he spotted a ship in the sky. Looking through the magnifier of his rifle's scope revealed it was the Raider-class Corvette he was told to expect. The tension in his system eased a little, it would be nice seeing a friendly face again, though he kept his guard up. Jackpot was always ready for a fight, though especially so out in the wilderness. Trees, plants, bushes, leaves, and various other assorted sounds were perfect opportunities to blend in with in order to lay an ambush or move up onto an unsuspecting victim and Jackpot didn't want any of that happening today. Today was a day of training and reunion, not one of unwelcomed ambushes and distress. He'd see to that personally.

Soon enough the Corvette approached the clearing and landed, its landing hatch opening as steam-like gas escaped on the sides and an old friend, along with his son descended down the ramp. A smile made its way onto Jackpot's face as the two approached him, standing next to a tree, hands on top of the exit of a blaster rifle's barrel, keeping it upright as it served as a little support for him.

"Hello to you too, and to the young one next to you. It's been a while, hasn't it?" He said, taking a step forward to extend his hand to shake that of Aldrenek and then his son's.

[member="Caesar Valen"]

 

[Caesar Valen]

The Imperial Officer smiled as he took the Clone's hand and shook it firmly, a wide grin stretched ear to ear on his face. The two stormtroopers armed with DLT-19 blasters flanked their officer, and his son as the pleasantries began.

"It's been far too long Jackpot," Aldrenek replied.

"This is my son Caesar," The lieutenant colonel said placing a hand on his son's shoulder.

"Hello sir," the boy respectfully replied with a smirk of enthusiasm on his face.

He extended his own hand to shake his father's elderly friend.

 

[Atlas Kane]

The old Clone shook both their hands, giving a nod to the two Stormtroopers flanking his old friend. He'd never encountered the Imperial Stormtroopers of old, only reading about them when he was catching up on galactic history, though they didn't seem like much. Early on when they were comprised of clones they seemed capable and competent, though as history continued they seemed to get more and more incompetent, culminating in the destruction of the tyrannical Galactic Empire that had been defeated by a small Rebel cell. He always found that to be an amusing development, one that he imagined wouldn't be possible had the Empire kept relying on Clones. Though he was glad they hadn't, he fought against the kind of governments the great Galactic Republic had been turned back to all that time ago, though he didn't mind the Stormtroopers themselves.

"Well met, young one." He said to greet the kid, turning towards his father afterwards. "Indeed. That's the Shiny I'll be teaching some survival tricks to? He already seems more capable than your two bucketheads." He said with a large smile on his face. Turning towards the Stormtroopers with a hand raised in front of him in an apologetic gesture respectively., saying "No offence, I'm certain my friend only recruited the capable ones to his army, unlike those di'kuts tickets all the way back during my time."

His explorations of galactic history had also brought him across the Fel Empire. A nice collection of more civilised Imperials. While he did not fully agree with them, he still appreciated the similarities they shared with the Galactic Republic.

His attention went back towards the kid. "You'll be learning from the best of the best, Shiny. I'm not sure how much your father has told you about me, but I'm a Commando, received some of the best training the Galaxy had to offer. You'll be as good as those two in no time, perhaps even better." He said, nodding towards the two Stormtroopers at the end, following it up with a short, but hearty, laugh.

[member="Caesar Valen"]

 

[Caesar Valen]

Aldrenek's bodyguards stood motionless. Their armor defended them against blaster bolts, and the elements, but not against the words of a centuries old Clone's harsh words. Aldrenek let a small chuckle escape, and Caesar smirked at the old man's words.

"Don't forget Jackpot that I made my military debut as a buckethead many years ago. Our military thoroughly investigates both the Old Empire, and the Grand Army of The Republic. We've incorporated the best from both in our stormtrooper training which exceeds the old stormtrooper corp's regimen; but pales in comparison to your conditioning from birth. That is why I want you to train my son to be the best of the best as you, and your comrades were so long ago." Aldrenek replied cheerfully

"You're a Clone from the Clone Wars? How is that possible? Wasn't that war centuries ago during the Old Republic?" Caesar said in genuine shock as his hunch was proven fact.

How could a Clone survive that long? He knew their accelerated growth shortened their life spans. It simply didn't add up.

"Jackpot was captured, and frozen by the Confederacy, the ship he was aboard malfunctioned and he drifted aimlessly through space. His body preserved for centuries until it was found, and unfrozen." His father answered.

"Wow," the boy replied drawn into the narrative.

Jackpot smiled, and nodded, confirming Aldrenek's explanation.

"You're living history Jackpot, I have so many questions to ask you!" Caesar said with the absolute enthusiasm of a fanboy.

"In time son, in time," Aldrenek said placing his hand on Caesar's shoulder."

"For now you will watch, follow, and mimic Jackpot, he will teach you everything about surviving in a hostile environment. He served on countless words during the Clone Wars, and knows better than anyone else how to endure the hardships of nature. When your ship crashes, and you are all alone your skills more than anything else will prove vital to your survival, and more importantly the survival of your men."

Caesar's expression calmed to an attentive one as his father went on.

"You will be using equipment from the Clone Wars, everything from blasters, uniform, even rations." The officer said as two crewmen descended the ramp pushing a floating dual crate branded with the imperial insignia.

Caesar's father opened the front crate to reveal a plain white Phase II Clone Trooper armor set. His mouth swung wide open once more as he gazed at the replica armor. He struggled to conceal his excitement. The edges of his mouth could barely hold off his smile as he tried to present a professional front to his father, and Jackpot. Aldrenek picked up the helmet from the top of the pile of armor pieces, and handed it to his son.

"Try it on, it was tailored to your body."

Caesar took the helmet, and set it on the crate's lid as he retrieved the rest of the armor pieces, and the full bodysuit. As the boy began to strip out of his pilot uniform, Aldrenek signaled for them to walk towards the Bush to give the boy some privacy. The two elite stormtroopers followed, leaving Caesar alone by the corvette's ramp to get into his new armor.

"Thank you for doing this, I owe you a debt of gratitude." Aldrenek said with his hands clasped behind his back as they walked into the sounds of the jungle.