Meet the Masses

[Tunnel Rat]

Skyler leaned back in the almost completely horizontal chair. His right hand moved to the back of his head as his left ran his fingers through his dark brown hair. It had been a while since he'd gotten a hair cut; maybe a month or so? He would get one, but the Rebellion wasn't particularly looking for clean shaven, short haired soldiers to fight its battles for it. There was an interesting thought. Skyler was a veteran from the invasion of Coruscant where his unit had sustained major casualties yet inflicted way more. Since joining the Rebellion, he'd only been in small skirmishes that couldn't even really be considered a firefight. Skyler hated war, but the lack of it was simply boring now that he'd had a taste of it. The only thing he could do here on the base was sit in lawn chairs and relax. He sighed, pulling a pack of cigarra from his tan trouser pockets. He slipped one of the sticks between his lips and lit it with the lighter he stored in the pack. Taking a long, first drag, Skyler slipped the pack back into his pocket.

"I'll take on an entire platoon on my own! You'll see!" Skyler heard the voice and looked over at the speaker with an expression of slight content. The kid was young, and brand new from the look of it. Probably had never been in a fist fight before, let alone getting shot at and blown up. Skyler shook his head in disbelief as the kid walked away with his friends laughing and cheering each other on. Another drag of his cigarra and Skyler was headed for a different place. A place deep in the reaches of his mind where he stored all the things he wish he could forget. There were heavy repeaters burping, explosions rocking the foundations, rifles barking, and bodies- oh the bodies, they were everywhere. They fell from the skyscrapers, they fell where they stood, and some were simply blown into pink mist.

Skyler ripped himself from the day dream, blinking in the bright sun light. Why did it have to be so damned hot? He took another drag of the cigarra. He missed the Alliance and it's real soldiers. That's what the Rebellion needed. They needed the real deal. He sighed; there was nothing he could do about it. Not yet at least. Another drag of his cigarra, and Skyler started drifting into a light slumber. His skin began to heat up under the tan t-shirt and trousers he had been issued for the desert environment. He didn't notice, he was half way between the conscious world and the dream world. All he needed was just a little tip in either direction.

 

[Cassanova]

Halo's fur ruffled at the sound of the young, over-eager Rebel recruit looking to find an express one-way ticket to an early grave, and she nudged TP's leg, despite the fact he was already looking in the general direction of the scuffle. It seemed two men had managed to border on fisticuffs on a theoretical argument over who would manage to kill the most Imperials, and who's mother would die first at the hands of the Sith. Naturally, such debates got no where fast. The first punch was thrown by the larger of two gentlemen, who promptly knocked the smaller, younger man to his back. Clearly unspent anger was becoming a problem within the Rebellion, as the bigger man opted to continue the beating.

Walking at a brisk pace, TP firmly put himself behind the larger man, who he quickly pulled off the smaller recruit via pressure point and shoulder lock. With a hefty pull, TP saw the larger man sent back sprawling a few feet. Clearly not realising who was breaking up the fight, he then made an aggressive step towards the General. Halo, who had been circling carefully slipped in behind TP and snarled ferociously at the large man, clearly willing to tear shreds out of anone who thought it was a good idea to hit TP. With the larger Rebel occupied by the canine, TP set about pulling the smaller rebel to his feet and staring him down, "You think its about killing people you little shit?!" TP gave the recruit a gentle shove. "How about justice? You must've been sucking on a tit somewhere if you don't remember what happened to Coruscant. You must have had your head up your ass if you don't remember Corellia. And you must be a bone-idle dumb as bantha shit if you don't remember Manaan. Piss off, and calm down!" He pointed to the larger rebel who was still itching to have a swing at TP, "You too!"

It took a moment for the face to register with the two of them, but it wasn't long before they both had vanished from sight, leaving TP waving off a crowd of rubbernecking bystanders. Halo, satisfied that her master was no longer in danger, sat down next to TP and idly wagged her tail, gently thumping the back of his boot. "Don't worry. They're just eager." he mumbled absent mindedly as he ruffled the fur atop her head.

 

[Tunnel Rat]

The noise. Could they squabble somewhere else, or at least be quiet? Skyler's hazel eyes opened and immediately fixed on the two recruits. He was about to get up and beat them himself but someone else got to them before he even found the motivation to move a muscle. He watched the man make quick work of the two. The man either had a lot of balls or a lot of authority. When the crowd started dispersing, Skyler closed his eyes, sighing. "They don't have a single disciplined bone in their body." He shook his head, reopening his eyes on the man that broken up the fight. They had never met before, and Skyler had no idea who he was aside from the fact that he had a commanding presence.

"I don't think justice has anything to do with it, though." Skyler sat up in the chair, his eyes fixed on the man. Taking another drag from his cigarra, he nodded toward the recruits who were leaving. "They fight for the romantics of it all. There's just something about a man that claims he fights for freedom." Skyler scrunched his nose, smirking as he spoke, emphasizing his sarcasm. Extending his hand out to the man, Skyler let the smirk fade into the apathetic expression he normally wore. "Skyler Veron."

 

[Cassanova]

TP merely chuckled at the comment, "Justice doesn't have anything to do with it. But I can't go telling all of them that I just want payback for what the Sith bastards did to my home, can I?" TP clicked his fingers and pointed towards the barracks, Halo promptly running off in the direction of what was 'home' for her. "Someone needs to teach these kids that romantic notions of glorious deaths and fighting for freedom are what kills good soldiers. Unfortunately, without those notions, we'd probably have no one to help fight the war. What is there to do?"

It was clearly something that the leader had debated about internally for many, many years. To spoil the idea of war for a generation so keen to join it, effectively crippling your force? Or to let them do so, knowing that many of them would get killed? Damned if you do, damned if you don't, TP mused silently to himself. The War, had of course, been the only thing he had known for his entire adult life. Technically having enlisted before he was even allowed to drink, TP had known nothing but the war against the Sith Imperium and its allies. Known nothing but the destruction they left lying in their wake. War was his business, and business had been booming for nearly twenty years.

An extended hand to Skyler completing the offered handshake. His grip was firm, and mirrored the authority that his presence commanded. At the end of the day, TP was a soldier, and was forged into a leader by the circumstances that surrounded him, "Pleasure to meet you - name's Terrsyn Pearot."

 

[Tunnel Rat]

Skyler chuckled at the thought of kids getting scared away from the real fight. What was better? Alot of terrible troops with false notions or a little troops that wanted to be there for all the right reasons; Both doctrines had proven useful and deadly. The man was absolutely correct in his stance, and Skyler hoped that he had chosen what he believed to be the lesser of the two evils. Regardless of his choice, he knew no one in the Rebellion would be able to get a full nights sleep once the war was over. They were from the same side of the coin it seemed, and Skyler was relieved to have found another soldier like himself.

His notions seemed to crash around him when the man shook his hand and introduced himself. "The Terrsyn Pearot?" Skyler said before he could will himself to shut up. He shook his head, clearing what little embarrassment he had felt from his head. His eyes fixed themselves once more on TP, this time wielding a soldier's flame within them. "I've been listening to you over the net for years. I expected you to be out on the front somewhere, though."

 

[Cassanova]

TP smiled and nodded, "Fairly sure i'm the only one around these parts."

Shuddering inwardly at the thought that people were actually listening to his broadcasts still unsettled the veteran soldier. He knew that people would hear them, but the celebrity that came with slamming his name at the end of each one was something that TP thought he would never grow accustomed to. Its one thing to lead a group of men into war, but its another to have people idolise your name, praising you as some kind of hero. Such celebrity was never the point, but he figured that his name would become more and more common to the ears of the people of the galaxy.

The Front, TP felt his stomach churn inwardly, there was no place he'd rather be than standing on the border fiing pot-shots at Imperial troops, but being a leader, there were other, more delicate matters. Logistics, resource tally, even internal diplomacy - and TP hated it all, "Trust me, I'd rather be out there right now. Unfortunately planning, recruitment, and logistics waste most of my day." He frowned. Anyone could spot it now, TP was the reluctant leader. He never chose to become the Rebellion's leading General, in fact it looked like he was the one who just happened to say the idea that everyone was thinking, and they all fell in behind him. The Rebellion needed a leader and everyone just kept looking to TP in the same way a squad looks to their NCO. TP wasn't about to let the people who needed him down.

"I get out when I can. Unfortunately a few of the Commanders are overly concerned with my safety and keep 'accidentally' booking me into meetings and planning sessions when operations are outbound. But with guys like you out there," TP nodded, he noticed the military stance and the at-ready tension that was ever present in a career soldier in Skyler too, "We're making good headway."

 

[Tunnel Rat]

"From grunt to admin," Skyler said, chuckling. "The divine transference." Skyler stood up from the lawn chair, stretching tall. The evidence of his boredom of sitting around all day was apparent. He longed to be on the front, locked in combat with the Imperials and pitting his will against theirs. His eyes fell onto TP's. "It's all good though, I guess. No matter how good you are in the field, someone somewhere is going to want you behind a desk." In the short time Skyler had spent as an Alliance soldier, he had seen plenty of good NCO's and officers get transfered from their units and placed in administration jobs for the simple reason of saving them. A lot of good they did filing the paperwork while Skyler and his fellow grunts were slaughtered by the dozens. He couldn't hate them, though; it hadn't been their choice.

"I wouldn't call it good headway. All I've done is have minor skirmishes with the Imperials." Skyler looked away for a moment, his thoughts turning to Coruscant. "After fighting on Coruscant, small skirmishes aren't enough."

 

[Cassanova]

"Minor skirmishes are all we can win at the moment," he frowned and rubbed his neck. Clearly the lack of men currently aligned within the Rebellion was a matter of huge concern for TP. With a jerk of his head, TP suggested that Skyler accompany him for a walk. The duo made their way silently up a walkway into the area which the Rebellion was using as their 'safe-zone', signs of the Rebellion were more common here. Weapons more prominently at hand, armour laying around, even so far as old Alliance uniforms being worn. Then of course, there was the red starbird painted on one of the main doors which was inconspicuously guarded by six men who seemed idly sitting around, leaning on a bar. All of them, naturally, armed to the teeth.

A gentle kick of the door saw it swing open, TP stepping through, quickly dismissing any former Alliance soldiers who couldn't shrug the habit of saluting the General. Turning to Skyler as he walked, TP offered up a piece of information, "Look, our first step is just manpower. We're eyeing off the southern end of the Corellian Run from here down to Smuggler's run, where we have our outpost. Once we've secured that, we should be able to, in theory, bolloster our ranks and actually point ourselves at something soft and tender. Something that makes the Empire cringe, wince, and cry for their precious Sith Lords..." TP shrugged dismissively, "Then we kill them."

TP, moved over to a communications officer who handed him a datapad. After a moment of perusing it, he looked up to Veron and nodded, "Simple as that, really."

 

[Tunnel Rat]

SKyler had been near the area before. He had never been in the building they were walking toward, but he had passed by. It reminded him of a better time- all the Alliance uniforms, men armed to the teeth, and the armor laying around. He smirked as they walked through the door and the guards saluted TP. That was more like it, Skyler thought to himself. Discipline was what an army needed, and these guys obviously had it. They were mostly former Alliance, from what he could tell. That pleased him. TP mentioned manpower and an overall plan with the Corellian Run and Smuggler's Run. Skyler nodded in acknowledgement of the plan.

"The problem with getting more recruits is that they still don't believe we'll win this war," Skyler said, his expression turning grim and his hazel eyes fixing on TP. "After Manaan, there was a recruiting boom because the Rebellion had won for the first time. So we're walking a tight rope. If we don't recruit more people, we don't have the bodies to sustain operations; if we don't sustain operations we won't get the recruits we need. We could try surgical strikes?"

 

[Cassanova]

TP chuckled. Veron's enthusiasm was admirable, but poorly thought out. "With what? We barely have enough guns for our troops, let alone ammo or armour." Clearly TP had done a good job hiding just how desperate the situation was. With no more than twenty thousand men at his hand, the Rebellion was nothing more than a big 'club'. With less than half the weapons needed to outfit the men, and barely any armour to go around things were quite dire. And that was before looking at the fleet which was more than half damaged, and barely even qualified as a planetary defense force anyway.

"We can't start any operations - not military ones anyway - not until we secure the southern end of the Corellian Run," TP sighed, looking at a holo-map in the corner of the room. "Without the Geonosian shipyards and workers, Rodian weapons, and Twi'lek medicine... Without all that, we're done before we even started." TP frowned, and briefly placed his hand on Skyler's shoulder before removing it again. "We just can't risk it yet."

 

[Tunnel Rat]

No guns, no ammunition, no armor. The lack of bodies was no problem, unless the Rebellion planned on fighting like the Imperials; marching in line and in large groups which allowed for a higher concentration of fire to an area but made them vulnerable to any means of return fire. Only rarely, when facing the Imperial elite forces, did Skyler ever see an Imperial run full out for cover. It always came down to numbers. The Rebels had the heart, but the Imperials had the numbers and the equipment. It doesn't matter how good a war fighter one can be, when faced with entire divisions of troops, they will always fall.

TP listed off what they needed before they could even start operations. Skyler nodded, his eyes darting around the room as he thought up different ways to secure each of them. None of them were easy by any means. With the numbers the Rebellion had, a frontal invasion would be wiped from the galaxy. Even if Rebels made it to the surface of the planet, they didn't have the provisions to last them a full scale operation. They had resorted to covert and guerrilla tactics. It was in these tactics, that they would gain victory in the battles to come.

Skyler's eyes shifted to TP's as TP laid a hand on his shoulder and removed it. "I don't think we need numbers," Skyler said, his expression set in an apathy that allowed people to see into the eyes of the dedicated war fighter. "If you want Geonosian shipyards, Rodian weapons, and Twi'lek medicine, then send out a squad or two to systematically get you those things. They're small enough to infiltrate the planet, large enough to hold their old in an engagement as long as they don't do any frontal assaults, and everyone is already used to guerrilla tactics so the continued use of them won't matter much to the soldiers involved." Skyler rubbed his chin with his forefinger and thumb. "They could even get the populace to join the Rebellion and push the Imperials off of the world for good."