Alistairian Apocrypha IV: A King's Training:
"I hope then,
Ika'vod, that you were well rested?" called an amused Commander Rex, as he watched the struggling, gasping Luke Skywalker complete that
week's 8K Motto Run.
"Y-yessir," Luke gasped, struggling to remain standing in front of the other men, "A full cycle sir."
"Good, good. Wouldn't want the men to see a repeat of a month ago, no?" chuckled Rex, before calling for a cooldown circle.
"Learned my lesson sir, wasn't used to the humidity yet sir," Luke said, following.
That hadn't been pretty to say the least [even for being his first 8K Run], least of all the IT session that had followed as a result; he could still remember the sandbags...
After the end of each work day, the Commander would approach Luke as his mentor and lead him through a number of exercises to enhance his physicality, all the while drilling him on a number of topics and strategies that, as he had stated many a time before, were a staple of both his time as a member of the 501st Legion and as a Rebel; things would often get
worse when Princess Leia would join them, bringing in her own experiences and expertise on the matter at hand that would leave
both of them at a loss...though Rex was
far quicker on recovery, often commending her for her input and challenging the habitual rust that had slowly building up, and then
doubling Luke's training in those matters. The combination of all this often left Luke feeling like he was struggling to keep his head above the sands, given his life seemed to be nothing but training, leaving what few moments he had to himself when he wasn't running training drills in the cockpit or with Rex, felt like
paradise...even if it felt like whatever shenanigans Han dragged him into wasn't worth the risk...that swoop race on Rion was already enough.
After nearly six months of this, the first bit of respite from training came in the form of his promotion to that of a Lieutenant and his first series of missions, all of which...went wrong. First came the mission to help the Alliance collect new X-wings directly from the Incom Corporation's base [made by a loophole by an inside man] that, after a
very terse battle, resulted in destruction of the
Imperial I-class Star Destroyer
Liquidator, then came a reconnaissance mission to Bogano in search of a new base (after the failures that were the Keeper's World, Akuria II, and Drexel) that resulted in the discovery and decimation of an Imperial Base, third was the
brief investigation on Tatooine that resulted in the outbreak of Bledsoe's disease, fourth was what devolved into the Battle of Vactooine when all they were there for was scrap, and lastly was that
spectacular Podrace on Muunilinst that secured funding for the Rebellion...that got the Inquisitors involved.
He still preferred it to training.
It was when they finally secured a position on Hoth nearly two years that
regular training under Commander Rex resumed, albeit with a new addition.
"Ah, Captain Skywalker, I'd like you to meet with my
Ori'vod,
Darman Skirata," he said, gesturing to the older man who could
very well be his twin, "He will be taking over your counter insurgency training, given his experiences and training directly under the
Cuy'val Dar."
"Let's get to it then, jetti," the man stated gruffly. " Your people had a potential, let us hope you do not disappoint. My
ad's training in your matters depends on it."
A/N: [ Ika'vod = little brother | Ori'vod = big brother, older brother, special friend | Cuy'val Dar = Those Who No-Longer Exist | ad = son ]
If anyone asks how and why Luke's a Captain after only two years, as that is unrealistic, Imma say I took artistic liberty of making it a field promotion for meritorious action. In that same vein, with the exception of the Inquisitors making an appearance after the Podrace [which was added for flavor], all
those missions Luke went on actually happened...albeit it's a combination of Legends and Disney, given both timelines give either no timeframe or within a two week timeframe of Yavin IV, so I took the liberty of pushing back the date a few months for a reasonable training timeframe under Commander Rex.
As for why the everloving hell I brought the Skiratas into this, especially Darman, I'm trying to bring this full circle by the time Attack of the Clones and Mandalorian rolls around so we can A) swing Ed Harris into this, and B) have an actual storyline exploring the Clones place with the Mandalorians in greater depth.
