Chapter 20

5 lines of 10 men appeared in front of Jial's trio. Each one of them was holding a blaster in their hand but they had various weapons strapped to their backs. They each had black armor with silver trimming as well as skulls painted on their helmets and upper torsos. 

"54th Psian Jakals! Reporting for duty!" the 5 men at the head of each line shouted at the same time. 

The leaders of each line then announced their squad names and specialties one by one. 

"Savage Claws, we specialize in burning things down to beyond ash. Just let us know when you need some remodeling done, Sir!"

"Strike Pack Alphic, Sir. We believe in being the first to enter battle and the last to leave it. We are there for you when you need to take over an impossible position or hold ground against impossible odds!"

"We are the Eyes of the Jakal, Sir. Our men are the swiftest in the platoon. We are the scouts of the Platoon, Sir."

"Jaws of the Jakal, Sir. We are the better version of the Savage Claws. Any vehicle that needs to be shut down, and we can handle it."

"Scrap Hunters, Sir. We have the best eyes and shots of the platoon. Our members specialize in sniping and taking high-priority targets."

[The 54th Psian Jakals are an elite Tempestus Scions regiment of the Ordo Tempestus that possess a fell and foreboding reputation. They are known throughout the Militarum Tempestus for decorating their Flak Armour with images designed to inspire fear in the enemy and add to their menacing presence on the battlefield.]

"Wow!" Boxe wanted to head out to battle immediately and see just what these men were capable of. Their very presence reminded her of veteran soldiers who had lived through a hundred battles.

"You sure you wanna give them to me?" Boxe asked, not sure if she could resist keeping the men under her command.

"Not giving them to you at all," Jial shut her down immediately. "You are in command of them for the campaign. After that, I am having them stay back at base."

"Boo," Boxe pouted under her helmet. She really wanted to have these guys under her command on a long-term basis. 

"Get over it," Jial teased her

While those two were bickering, Sidon had walked toward the men and took one of their blasters. He took it into his own hands before firing it at the wall. 

What he expected to be a single blaster bolt that might scorch the wall turned into a powerful beam-like bolt that pierced into the wall, surprising all 3 of them. The group walked up to the wall where Jial stuck his combistick inside, barely reaching the end of the hole. 

"That thing just pierced through nearly 2 meters of steel," Sidon commented at the 'blaster' that he was still holding. 

Boxe snatched the blaster from Sidon's hand before running toward the door with it. 

"Mine! I'm not giving it back!" she shouted before running up the stairs. Jial and Sidon were too stunned by her actions to even try to stop her. Once they recovered, the pair looked at each other before sharing a laugh. Neither of them could blame her for taking the blaster as they each wanted one as well. 

"Collect their blasters, side-arms, ad magazines of each of them except for the squad leaders. Put them away into the storage unit and give them each a normal blaster rifle, even if we have to take them away from the others. These weapons are going to be our trump cards," Jial understood that these weapons, while powerful, were also limited. If they were damaged or destroyed, they could not replace them or repair them. 

Jial wanted to take the time to study them so he could try to reproduce them. And until he could do so, he wanted the rest of the Storm Troopers to only use them when they needed to.

With his new instructions, Sidon began to collect the weapons while Jial left the basement to go and find the madwoman who had stolen the powerful blaster.  But when he reached the outside of the building, he couldn't see a hair of Boxe.

'Crazy woman,' Jial thought to himself while shaking his head and walking back into the building. He went to his console to research the map that the others had formed of the area. He wanted to study how he was going to start building his future city.

A few hours later, Boxe walked into his room without even knocking before taking a seat at his desk. And she came without the blaster.

"I'm guessing you are not returning the blaster," Jial stated while floating in the middle of the room with his legs crossed

"Not at all. I already hid it," Boxe told him frankly. She had tested the blaster on several different small groups of pirates. Each shot was able to pierce through groups of individuals and still able to hit the wall behind them. 

"You do know that I can do stuff like read your mind and also have a ship with the most advanced scanner either of us has ever seen," Jial was not worried about finding the blaster or even her stealing it. He knew that it would be useful in her hands as well but he couldn't just let her take it like she did. Even though Mandalorians didn't like hierarchy, basing temporary leadership on experience and skill, he needed to establish some in his group. 

"Bring the blaster back and apologize, PUBLICLY, and you can get it back later. I need to keep order in the group," Jial told her

"Fine," Boxe accepted the orders. She could also see where he was coming from and knew why he wanted her to do it that way. She had questioned his leadership very publicly. 

'And I'd be lying if I said I didn't like the guy. He keeps things interesting but is also respectful.'

Ever since she started working with her brother and father, most people would underestimate her because she was a woman. But Jial was different. He didn't try to flirt with her or look down on her because of her gender. He gave her opportunities and when she met his expectations, he gave her even more freedom.

"Thanks," Jial said sincerely. He appreciated that Boxe would not be mischievous about this and show him the respect that a leader needed in front of their men. (That I have not named a single one of.)

"Thank you," Boxe also expressed her thanks sincerely. "You gave us a place to settle down and constantly place your trust in us. The least I can do is let you boss me around every now and then," Boxe stuck out her tongue playfully before walking out the room with a little pep in her step.