Dawn of Time: I'm back! With a new story too :) Anyways, this is my nanowrimo that I just wrote in November, freshly edited and everything. If you see any errors, please tell me. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I, sadly, don't own Star Wars. Please apply this to the rest of the story.

Chapter 1: Beginnings

The pitter-patter of rain could be heard outside the sterile white walls of Kamino's buildings. Kamino, the water planet of endless thunderstorms with three days of summer, is where all clones are born. Each clone's dream is one of glory: going off into battle and winning victories for the Republic. Every clone wants to be sent out to fight the war on foreign systems. Many of the planets are located in the Outer Rim, where the Separatist army constantly rears its ugly head.

Number: CT-23-5072

Designation Planet: Dosuun

Company: 501st Extended Unit

"CT-23-5072, report for duty at the main hanger." The whispery voice of a Kaminoan official filtered into the clone's comlink. He immediately grabbed the pager and his inspection ready gear pack. Today was the day he had dreamed of, CT-23-5072 was starting his own journey on a grand starship. His orders were to meet with General Skywalker and discuss the mission of the 501st Extended Unit.

CT-23-5072 hurried down the circular hallways of the building, setting into a brisk job. As the number of feet to the main hanger grew smaller, his heart rate sped up. Before, he was ecstatic about being assigned to a squad, but now CT-23-5072 realized he was downright nervous. That meant a whole new batch of brothers to bond with. Civilians might argue all clones are the same; hence the term "clones". In most circumstances, that wasn't the case. Each brother knew as well as the next that although all clone physically appeared the same, their minds and personalities were like two opposite sides of a credit chip.

CT-23-5072 straightened his back to attention position and as calmly as he could, pressed the hanger door security pad. The airtight lock opened with a quiet swoosh. CT-23-5072 scanned the landing area for abnormalities with the eye of an expert. After confirming that nothing was out of the ordinary, he strode purposefully toward the imposing figure of General Skywalker.

"General Skywalker, sir. Reporting for duty, sir." CT-23-5072 informed crisply. The correct greeting had been flash trained into his memory.

"At ease, trooper." The clone relaxed into parade rest and waited for General Skywalker to continue. "What's your designation?"

"CT-23-5072, sir." CT-23-5072 suddenly remembered how Jedi often preferred to use names for the clones under their command. "You can call me Shift, sir, if you'd like." He added. General Skywalker smiled, and Shift knew he had not been out of line to offer his nickname to his commanding officer.

"Alright, Shift it is. So, do you know your assignment?" Shift tilted his head. Of course he knew his assignment.

"Yes, sir. The 501st Extended Unit is going to board a small vessel, then exit the hangar of the Resolute and pilot the ship to the planet Dosuun. When we reach Dosuun, we will take over a small droid communications base and send a signal to the Resolute for a backup to take out at Separatist droid factory then call for an extraction, sir." Shift could recite this mission from memory, not only was it his duty but he was very excited for his first assignment.

"Correct, Shift. I'll let you be to get united with your new squad. They are waiting in the transfer ship that will bring you aboard the Resolute." Shift saluted General Skywalker and strode toward the freighter that looked out of place among the sleek white Kaminoan vessels.

The ship itself wasn't bad. It wasn't in mint condition, but it was relatively reliable looking. There were a few dents and dings that indicated the vessel had been through a few scrapes. Shift could tell from a scan with his HUD that all the main functions were operating smoothly. Shift felt a little guilty, thinking about how he doubted his new brothers for not checking the ship properly. They had probably scanned it too; it was part of their basic training.

As Shift walked up the ramp he could hear voices identical to his speaking. That would be his new brothers. He navigated to the main room rather easily; the ship was well planned out. At the single table in the middle of the space sat two brothers. One was in black armor with light green stripes, and the other was in standard white armor that had light blue stripes on it. Shift reflected on his own armor, it was white with red stripes.

The clone in the blue striped armor turned and waved at him first. The second one started to stand up, but Shift waved him down. Shift walked around the circular table and took a seat next to the black armored clone. The other clones had their helmets off. Shift didn't want to take his off; he preferred his secrets to be his own.

"I'm Trill." The blue-striped clone introduced himself. The one in black snickered, as if remembering something funny. Shift glanced toward him curiously. Trill pointed toward to laughing clone. "He's Gidgit. Don't worry, he's just remembering that if he doesn't shut up right now, he's going to get smacked." Now Shift was really confused.

"My name's Shift. I think I'm going to have to ask you to explain that one."

"Yeah, Gidgit, why don't you explain it?" Trill shot an annoyed look toward Gidgit who burst out laughing again.

"Oh come on, you have to admit it was pretty funny." Gidgit slapped Trill on the back lightly. Trill still looked annoyed. "Shift, get this, the word trill is a type of singing, right? Well, Trill can't sing! I even got him to try." Gidgit doubled over chucking again. "It's hilarious!"

Shift glanced at Trill and saw he was smiling too. "I guess it was pretty funny, want an encore?" Trill put his hand to his chest and promptly started belting out a rhyme they had learned as cadets. Gidgit covered his ears and protested.

"No no no no no no no! My ears can't handle anymore of your beautiful voice, I still need to be able to hear when the droids start shooting at me." Shift retreated to the helm, smiling at the quibble between the two fast friends.

At the bridge of the vessel sat another clone. Sergeant Kies was the supervisor for the mission of the 501st Extended Unit to Dosuun. He was designated to guide the newly formed squad through their first task. Shift was grateful that they would have someone to help them out of any tight spots they might get into as shinies.

Shift counted in his head, there were three troopers on board other than him. That meant they were still waiting for another to show up. As if on cue, Shift heard the steps of another trooper echoing up the docking ramp. From the entrance came a clone in white armor with black stripes. On his helmet was a design made up of two arrows facing the opposite direction of each other. The front left facing arrow was red, the right facing arrow was grey and was slightly behind the red one like a switched shadow.

Trying to be the confident brave clone soldier Shift was taught to be, he offered his hand out to the other brother. The clone took it and Shift introduced himself. "Hey, I'm Shift." The other trooper nodded and gripped his hand.

"Rev, that's short for Reverse. Nice to meet you, vod." Rev spoke gruffly. Shift nodded to himself noting that Rev's reversed arrows on his helmet reflected his name. He also noted that Rev knew a bit of Mando'a, for 'vod' meant brother. "Where are the others?"

"Sergeant Kies is at the helm, the other two jokesters are in the main room. Be careful, they have an awful sense of humor." Both troopers looked at each other's helmeted faces and shared a moment of exasperation. Shift felt reassured, he knew he would get along with his new squad no matter how ridiculous they acted. Shift lead Rev into the main room and they both stopped short at the looks Trill and Gidgit were giving them.

Trill studied Rev's armor patterns and made a pointed look to all the different colors on their unit's armor. He made a fake thoughtful expression and turned back to Gidgit. "I have an idea, we should be Color Squad." To his credit, Gidgit was able to keep a straight face for a few seconds before succumbing to laughter.

"No way, I would feel ashamed to show my face in public!" Gidgit exclaimed loudly.

"I have to agree with you on this one, Gidgit." Shift replied. "Guys, this is Rev. Rev this is Trill and Gidgit." When he mentioned the former, Shift pointed to the clone in the blue striped armor. When he said the latter, he pointed to the uniquely black and green armor of Gidgit. Rev nodded a greeting to both.

"Well, now that we're all together, I think our first team activity should be to name our squad. I don't want to be called the 501st Extended Unit forever." Trill remarked.

"And I don't want to be referred to as the Color Squad either." Gidgit bickered. Then the two clones started up a heated argument about possible squad titles. Each was more ridiculous than the last.

"These two are going to be hard ones to manage." Shift jerked his thumb toward the brothers. Rev removed his helmet and stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"How about Flash-Bang Squad? We're like a Flash-Bang; no droid will know what hit them after we roll through." Rev offered. Although Shift agreed with the second part, he didn't want to be named Flash-Bang Squad.

"I'd rather not be named after an EMP grenade. How about just Flash Squad?" Shift compromised. Each of the clones glanced at each other in agreement. Flash Squad sounded much more refined than Flash-Bang Squad or Color Squad.

"Flash Squad it is." Shift announced loudly. The clones all let out a cheer. They were already starting to feel and act like a close knit group of brothers. Here comes Flash Squad, and no one will know what hit them.

DOT: Thanks for reading! Please review, I promise the chapters will get longer after this. I'm thinking of updating every Monday and Thursday, if that's good.