BUCKETHEAD: Newbie |
Imperial Assault Corps 101st Regimental HQ, Isk Company Barracks, Enlisted Lounge Taris, Ojostor Sector, Outer Rim 02 days after completing basic training, 145 ABY |
"This sets us apart from the Sith Empire, who continue to invade planets right and left. Ossus, Byblos, Kabal, Spirana, Taris, Denon. And who could forget the devastation of Firrerre? The Sith Empire bombarded that planet without mercy and without warn-“ Thule unenthusiastically terminated the recording with the mash of a button. It was Galactic news…something Kal had limited exposure to prior to joining the Imperial Armed Forces. To him—leaving Dantooine, enlisting with the Empire, space travel, the Taris cityscape, basic training—it was all a huge dose of culture shock. Nothing, however, was more disenchanting than the HoloNet… Every time Private Thule was exposed to it, be it voluntarily or otherwise, the HoloNet always seemed to be filled with characters like this Senator Graves. Individuals demonstrating how gifted they (or perhaps their staff) were with crafting convincing speeches. None of it resonated with Kal, it was all propaganda. Words meant to manipulate those who would believe them into fashioning up some sort of support for the person or party presenting them. Fortunately, blabbing in the media wasn’t a frequent thing for the Empire—based upon his very limited experience thus far. It would’ve been doubly displeasing if the worthless words were coming from someone sharing his uniform. The young man sighed unnoticeably, exhaling his thoughts about politics and the media, purging them out of his system. Standing up, he briefly policed his uniform to perfection and surveyed his surroundings for something else to capture his attention. Others from Isk Company were enjoying their hard earned downtime. Some were playing games like sabacc and dejarik, while a handful were tucked away in various corners out of earshot making personal calls back home to their friends and families. The Battalion had recently returned from a deployment, Thule wasn’t privy to the details. He wasn’t privy to much at all, as it turned out, he was just the ‘newbie’. He’d been treated and regarded exclusively as such ever since he’d been assigned to the 101st out of basic training. His first day with the Regiment was spent with Admin doing paperwork, Supply getting issued gear, and Comms going over Imperial security protocols specific to the Assault Corps. They made him run through the IAF's Combat Fitness Test even though he'd just graduated basic for IAF and IAC. Thule was dressed out and inspected in every Imperial uniform he'd been issued. And despite having passed everything...he received no feedback from anyone...not a soul bothered to acknowledge him unless it was necessary to issue orders or give task direction. Day two, today, was a complete turnaround. The 3-101st was granted a day of liberty and Kal wholly expected it would apply to everyone but himself. The fact that he was standing in the lounge looking around was proof that he'd been wrong. He wondered, maybe they thought I did alright yesterday after all. The thought disappeared, almost as if he'd deleted it the moment his brain conjured it up. Have to stay sharp, he remembered his training, be ready for anything. Unsure if he was actually being prepared, or perhaps just paranoid...the Private was sure of one thing: he didn't want to get caught with his pants down. He was the newbie. |
Last edited: