Private Hokey Religion and Ancient Weapons Are No Match For A Good Blaster at Your Side

[Zanvic "Ironhide" Dak]

Zanvic stood at a soldier's attention staring at the rising sun of Kashykk. In his time stationed in this planet, all he did was patrol the surrounding area and watch for anything suspicious. It was pretty much the most boring job in the Galaxy for a soldier. Tedious inspections, endless drills and the only thing dangerous were the occasional Womp Rat or if Zanvic was lucky a bandit. When Zanvic was issued a new order to help rehab a Jedi he was almost happy to do so. It was a great way to break the monotony that he was experiencing. He did send the Jedi a message to come early because they needed to get as much done as possible. As what he heard, the Jedi couldn't walk.

Zanvic continued to look at the sunrise a small smile crept on his face. Finally a job where he can feel useful.

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Location: Silver Rest
Time: Morning
Tag: Zanvic "Ironhide" Dak


Valery had always been an early bird, and this morning wasn't anything different. She was up before sunrise to begin her personal training routine, as well as her meditations. It helped her center herself before a day of hard work and unexpected events. But following this routine, she decided to go for a walk.

It had only been a day or two since she arrived at Kashyyk, and most of that time she spent handling paperwork and other necessary things before she could have more permanent quarters here. So she hasn't explored a lot of the Temple yet, and she only met a few Jedi who were at the Temple.

Today was hopefully going to change some of that.

Whilst humming a soft melody, the woman walked over Silver Landing and looked ahead at the rising sun. It was beautiful and the fresh air alongside it made for quite a lovely morning.

 

[Zanvic "Ironhide" Dak]

Silver Rest was rather peaceful but Zanvic's training warned him to never hesitate and always be on the look out for a hint of danger. The SJC was nearly invaded by creatures called the Bryn nearly invaded Silver Rest. Zanvic wasn't there but he could imagine the horror that the Jedi would've faced maybe instead of investing in sabers and bathrobes perhaps they could've invested in a better training regiment. It was pretty much the reason why Zanvic was sent here in the first place to help train the army of the Silvers. Though the Jedi were peacekeepers of this area the bulk of the armies were the Silver Military. As allies, the Galactic Alliance had sent soldiers to further train the men and women volunteer force. It was slow but army was learning quickly. Hopefully this new enemy on the horizon: The cultist Brotherhood of the Maw wouldn't be much of a threat but he was doubtful.

The Clone Trooper heard a hum and immediately turned around and saw what appeared to be a Jedi approaching him. "Master Jedi!" Zanvic stood at attention. "I am sorry if I interrupted you! I was just observing the coastline!"

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Location: Silver Rest
Time: Morning
Tag: Zanvic "Ironhide" Dak


Valery blinked and came to a stop as the Trooper stood at attention and apologized to her. While she always wanted to work with soldiers in a respectful way, she wasn't quite used to getting treated like this. Back in her days, the Republic Military and Jedi were completely separate entities, so most soldiers wouldn't stand at attention or take orders from Jedi.

"Uh.. at ease, Major." Valery said, having noticed his rank from the pips on his uniform.

"No reason to apologize either, I was just going for a walk to enjoy the view myself." she said with a slight smirk

"I don't believe we've met before though. I'm Master Valery Noble."

 

[Zanvic "Ironhide" Dak]

Zanvic was in his dress blues as he continued to stand attention, ever since he came from the vat he was taught to obey his superiors especially Jedi. He was the first model of the Oda Clones combined with the last strands of the legendary Bounty Hunter: Jango Fett. Zanvic felt that he needed to do his donors proud even if they weren't alive to see him. Master Valery was a slim woman with a form fitting Jedi outfit and long hair. What made her stand out was her fierce eyes but it did bely her compassionate expression. "I'm Major Zanvic ma'am Alliance military," Zanvic said beginning to relax. "I am here on duty to train recruits in the Silver Army.

It was going smoother than expected with the young recruits most of them refugees from attacks of Bryn eager to learn and was willing to listen to everything he said. It was much better than training Alliance soldiers who tend to be on the bratty side. "The view is beautiful Master Noble," Zanvic said. "I am just observing the recruits," he continued as began to watch them shoot at targets. "I assure that they are well trained and will be prepared for anything Master Noble. Shall I show you their progress?"

 

[Valery Noble]

Location: Silver Rest
Time: Morning
Tag: Zanvic "Ironhide" Dak


Valery still had to get adjusted to him standing at attention - she didn't feel like his superior whatsoever, especially since she only arrived at the Silver Rest a few days ago. He had likely been with the military for many years, and earned the rank through his service alongside the soldiers and Jedi that were around right now.

But despite this, she offered a smile and nodded.

"A pleasure to meet you, Major Zanvix."

The Master then turned her orange gaze to the training soldiers. She had often worked with troops, and fought alongside them on the many battlefields she had visited. But their training was never something she had been involved in, and overseeing it was quite new to her as well. But she was curious to learn more about soldiers in this era.

It seemed she now had an opportunity to.

"I'd love to see more of their training and progress, if you don't mind showing me. I'm not quite familiar with the standards these days, and how it all works. But you've piqued my interest."

 

[Zanvic "Ironhide" Dak]

"Likewise Master Noble," Zanvic said trying to relax but in the presence of a Jedi his training told him to stand as a sign of respect. The Jedi despite their rather questionable tactics like rushing into a wade of blaster fire with nothing more than a Lightsaber and robes were natural leaders. He began to approach the elevator and making sure that Master Noble went first.

"Of course Master Noble," Zanvic said pressing a few buttons causing the elevator to go down. "I thought so ma'am," he smiled as he stood at a soldiers attention staring at the horizon. "It's nothing special ma'am," he explained. "We're just practicing shooting drills the same drills as it was a hundred years ago. But I expect my troops to hit their targets all the time. One miss could lead to their deaths, I've seen too many men and women who fell because they couldn't their target. "

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Location: Silver Rest
Time: Morning
Tag: Zanvic "Ironhide" Dak


Valery stepped into the elevator and looked out towards the training fields, where soldiers were apparently practicing on the shooting range. Her attention then shifted back to the Major as the elevator started moving down, and she'd nod.

"Is this their basic training, then?" she asked

"I assume a lot of their training is about team work, tactics and such as well. But basic shooting drills and physical training is typically the beginning of it all. Or are these troops nearly through their training?"

She then looked out to the training soldiers again and waited for the elevator to come back down.

 

[Zanvic "Ironhide" Dak]

As the elevator continued to descend, Zanvic nodded "yes," he answered. "This is their basic training, I've taught everything by the book basic formations, guerilla warfare and of course shooting drills. The most important thing that soldier must have is discipline if they don't have it then all of this training will for nothing. Forget missing your shots, if you panic at heat of the moment you are not thinking which means you'll break rank and if you break rank then you're cannon fodder for the enemy."

The elevator went down as Zanvic looked at Master Noble. "They're almost done," he explained. "New meat the most frustrating kind because they're trigger happy and eager to please. Thing is I don't care how impressive you are as long as you can stay as a unit that will please me."

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Location: Silver Rest
Time: Morning
Tag: Zanvic "Ironhide" Dak


Valery nodded in agreement as she stepped out of the elevator, "I quite agree with that. You need more than the individual skill of your troops to win a battle. They need to fight together, as a unit." she said. Valery looked around at the soldiers finishing up their final drills, and smiled softly to herself.

"It's quite similar for Jedi and ideally, soldiers and Jedi also learn to fight together."

She now turned her gaze away from the recruits and back to the Major.

"Is that part of the training? Or aren't there too many Jedi to train alongside?"

 

[Zanvic "Ironhide" Dak]

Zanvic chuckled when the approached the beach. "No offense," he said. "But not from my experience Master Noble the Jedi can be show offs performing impossible feats for us normal soldiers to keep up. I remember during the Stygan Campaign we were faced against 5 Sith Tanks accompanied with a dozen troopers number 500 or so. I asked the Jedi what's the plan of attack? We were heavily out numbered and outmanned numbering around 150 troops and our best weapons were anti tank missile launchers."

He placed his hands behind his back. "He said: Follow me and he charged directly into the enemy front line exposing our position. We had no choice Master Noble we were caught and we had no choice but to follow his lead. The Jedi's force abilities inflicted massive towards the Sith Troopers but we had a hard time keeping up due to those tanks ripping us to shreds. Thankfully I took helm and conducted a counter attack making sure those Tanks were bombarded by missiles. We managed to win but....."

Zanvic sighed. "We've lost our people because of the Jedi's recklessness. Good people some I've fought with for years, no offense to you personally Master Noble but when It comes to the battle it's hard to trust Jedi to make the right decisions due to their.... unusual tactics."

 

[Valery Noble]

Location: Silver Rest
Time: Morning
Tag: Zanvic "Ironhide" Dak


Valery stopped in her tracks and blinked at his story. She understood it was a sensitive topic, but that's also why she wanted to give her insight. Because whatever happened to him and his troops that day.. it sure wasn't a good Jedi who was leading them.

"I'm very sorry for your loss, but I do believe some clarification might be in order. A good Jedi is not reckless - it goes directly against our philosophy to be reckless, as it's something we must conquer," she said, referring to the Conquers & Honors of the Jed without going too deep into it.

"Jedi by their very nature hold the lives of others above their own; Jedi must be selfless. To rush into the enemy like that isn't showing off, and it's certainly not supposed to be Jedi tactics. It's compromising your own team, the men and woman we as Jedi swear to protect." she said with a frown.

"I do not know what kind of Jedi you've fought alongside, but I guarantee you that they were either inexperienced, or they lacked the training to be leading soldiers in the first place. I suppose that's what happens when the Jedi and military are so intertwined - Padawans without any proper leadership training are suddenly outranking combat veterans."

Valery paused and looked at the Major, "This is why I was surprised at you standing at attention for me. In my time, the Jedi and military were far more separate entities. They worked together, fought together - but neither controlled the other. Tactics were made in cooperation, not just by the singular Jedi at the front."

"I still firmly believe that is how it should be."

 

[Zanvic "Ironhide" Dak]

Reckless was a point of view from what Zanvic observed, the Jedi were far beyond a normal person to the point where what's normal for them was supernatural to a regular soldier. Zanvic had seen Jedi single handedly turn a fight by using the Force to topple legions of Sith soldiers. It wasn't exactly conventional warfare especially ones who can destroy an army with a wave of their hand. "Perhaps," Zanvic said observing the trainees continuing to fire on the targets. His gaze was especially focused on one wild young man who was firing his blaster pistol from the hip. What Master Noble said rung true but Zanvic had yet to see from his Jedi allies, they seemed so distant strange to him but Zanvic was taught to respect them so he did. That did not mean he was not to question their ways.

"Being reckless is a point of view is it not?" Zanvic said to Master Noble. "The Jedi are capable of nigh impossible acrobatics on the battlefield. Many of them are as experienced as we are. What's normal for them is reckless to me but I wish they didn't have to expect us to follow suit to die while they perform such feats."

He nodded smiling to Master Noble. "I do wish to meet those kinds of Jedi," he said. "All I want is to have a Jedi commander who can understand what we soldiers are capable of. We're not disposable tools but a living and breathing men and women with families."

Zanvic sighed. "Well most of them have families." he said knowing that Zanvic is a clone born and bred to serve the Galactic Alliance. He was a "gift" to the Senate because they ordered a unit of well disciplined soldiers to lead armies. That was Zanvic's duty and nothing else something that he embraced but there were times that Zanvic wondered if he himself was just a disposable tool.

 

[Valery Noble]

Location: Silver Rest
Time: Morning
Tag: Zanvic "Ironhide" Dak


Valery smiled softly and nodded, "Being reckless depends on context, correct. Something that isn't reckless for me, can be reckless for you, or even for other Jedi depending on their skills." she said. "But when we're talking about a Battlefield, your actions and decisions impact more than just yourself. If I do something that I can handle, but endangers those around me, I'm still being reckless."

She then decided to bring it back around to his earlier example.

"That Jedi you spoke of charged into combat because he felt safe behind his blade, but he did not consider those around him. For that reason, he was still being reckless, and caused unnecessary loss of life; the very thing he's supposed to stop."

She then listened to him again and offered a soft smile, "I believe all soldiers have at least one family - a chosen family. It's the brothers and sisters they fight alongside, day in and day out. For this very reason and many more, soldiers can't ever be seen as disposable. To me, a Jedi, the very idea of viewing someone as disposable is beyond horrible. A proper Jedi fighting alongside soldiers will always put their lives above their own."

"Thus, they should not be reckless and endanger them with their actions and decisions. I sincerely hope you get to fight alongside a Jedi who shows you how much you're valued."

 

[Zanvic "Ironhide" Dak]

What Master Noble said rung true, the Jedi was being reckless from a soldier and a Jedi's perspective. He thought of nobody else but himself and he got his troops killed in the process. "I try to emphasize that what you do in battle not just reflects yourself but others as well," Zanvic said. "Not many Jedi had said what you advised though, so I just assumed that the Jedi and a Trooper were just two different units doing their own thing. "Maybe Master Noble," he chuckled. "I've been assigned to the wrong Jedi but ever since that harrowing event, it's been hard to trust Jedi on the field you know? And they're the ones who are sometimes assigned as our leaders."

It was just tough to trust a Jedi, not that Zanvic didn't respect them for keeping the Alliance safe but their methods are just radically different. "You're the first Jedi who gave a different perspective." He sighed. "Then again you're the first Jedi whom I talked to out of the battlefield."

The Jedi reached unknowable status among soldiers. They did their own thing and soldiers did theirs, from his experience there was very little mingling then again Zanvic was often deployed where Jedi and Sith clashes were few and far between. Yet the Jedi he was assigned to, he had mixed feelings. "I-" Zanvic didn't want to confess to Master Noble that he was a clone, she probably find it strange the few people whom Zanvic confessed his Clone past expressed mixed views and his higher ups see Zanvic as just a tool. Not that he minded though, it was Zanvic's purpose to be the perfect soldier.

"Thank you Master Noble," Zanvic said. "I have no family but I do my best to make sure the soldiers under me feel like they can express themselves around me.

Turning to the recruit who was still firing his Blaster Pistol from the hip, Zanvic sighed. "There's always that show off," he grumbled. "Let me correct him."

 

[Valery Noble]

Location: Silver Rest
Time: Morning
Tag: Zanvic "Ironhide" Dak

It was just tough to trust a Jedi, not that Zanvic didn't respect them for keeping the Alliance safe but their methods are just radically different. "You're the first Jedi who gave a different perspective." He sighed. "Then again you're the first Jedi whom I talked to out of the battlefield."

Valery chuckled, "I'm likely also quite different from many Jedi out there currently. Back in my old days, things were very.. different." she said. "I still firmly believe all Jedi should consider those around them on a battlefield, and I'm quite confident the good ones do. I hope next time you're out on the front, you'll have a better experience."

The woman then looked over at the soldier firing from the hip, and tilted her head, "I'm quite sure you're effective at that, Major." she said, referring to him wanting to create a positive environment for his soldiers. "You actively think about your soldiers, and they notice that."

As the recruit then continued firing from the hip, she simply shook her head and nodded to Zanvic, who decided to step in. She herself kept her distance, not wanting to get in between him and the recruits he was responsible for. So she simply watched from a distance with some curiosity as to how he'd handle it.

 

[Zanvic "Ironhide" Dak]

Zanvic nodded at Master Noble's response they only knew each other for not even an hour and Zanvic got the sense that she was different from the Jedi he knew. He wondered where exactly did she come from, Master Noble indicated she was older than she looked. In any case, Zanvic turned to the recruit firing from the hip and sighed. "Private Weiss," Zanvic said. "Do that again."

The blue eyed young man gaped towards Zanvic his lip quivering a bit. The Private grew up in the crowded cites of Humbrane. Wiess usually was the boy with his head in the clouds. Always watching Holomovies about gunslingers traveling from planet to planet using improbable aiming techniques like shooting from the hip to save the day and get the girl. The kid develop some bad habits as a result causing Zanvic to spend hours doing one on one coaching just to fix it. Those movies, it tends to give the wrong impression about blaster rifles something the clone soldier quickly realized among training the troops.

"Go on," Zanvic said crossing his arms. "Again Private."

Weiss gulped and shot from the hip once more this time one shot, then two and then finally the blaster pistol began to jam. "Oh chit!" Weiss mumbled trying to dispel the heat from the weapon before Zanvic calmly took it away from him, vented the heat. "You see that in the movies?" Zanvic asked.

Before the private could answer, Zanvic raised his hand. "That was a rhetorical question son," he said holding out his blaster pistol. This is an automatic private, don't bother trying dampen the recoil you do that with semis."

Zanvic began to pace around. "The Silver Defense Force," he began. "Is a force like no other in the galaxy, a volunteer groups of all races coming together to aid not a nation nor an Empire but protectors like the Jedi. By defeating the Bryn, you now have Galaxy's attention you are no small tribe you're professionals, you will learn how a real soldier fights and the first rule is we do not fire from the hip."

His gaze fell on Private Weiss who gulped.

"You will forget everything you saw in the Holovids," he said to the soldiers. "And if I catch you doing something else well....."

Zanvic chuckled. "You will know."

The Clone soldier then handed the weapon to Weiss. "Still," he smiled. "That was good shooting Tex. Pretty good."

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Location: Silver Rest
Time: Morning
Tag: Zanvic "Ironhide" Dak


Valery watched the interaction between Zanvic and the recruit with a slight smirk on her face. While she wasn't proficient with blasters herself, it wasn't that hard to tell what was being done wrong. But the thing she wanted to see was how Zanvic would get the recruit to change his methods, and he did so in an interesting way.

"This is why I believe the troops respect you so much, Major," Valery said as she made her way over to him. She looked at the practicing soldiers, who had taken his advice and were already performing better.

"A good teacher can connect with their students and facilitate their growth. Seems your approach is quite effective with these young men."

The woman then ran a hand up through her hair and looked back the way she came, "Thank you for showing me all this, Major. I appreciate the back-and-forth as well, and still sincerely hope you get to serve alongside some respectable Jedi. Perhaps you and I will meet on the battlefield sometime, or just here."

"For now, I have to return to some duties, but I'm sure we'll meet again soon. Have a lovely day, Major."

With those final words, she'd bow her head in respect and began to make her way out of the training area. Zanvic likely had to continue monitoring their training a bit longer, and she had some business to take care of as well.