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Thus it was a common case of a coming-of-age. A young fighter ready to take on insurmountable odds, to attack the stars, to save the Empire, to be the Hero and do everything possible to make an adventure of a lifetime. Very well. That was not an exclusive error. It was justifiable. Carla’s next actions however were inexcusable errors:
1. Firstly, she had purchased a ticket aboard a transport ship for the regimental depot on Eredyne, when she could have awaited the recruiters who visited the districts every other month, and obtained a free ride to the depot all the same.
2. Second, but not as severe, Carla had enlisted at the moment of passion when she could have spent a year or two more without having to worry about being actually conscripted. Women under twenty-one years of age had to get the consent of their parents, along with the standard certificate of good conduct. But as passion is a flame that gutters and does not burn indefinitely, this is not the egregious error.
3. The egregious error was that Carla hit ten shots out of ten when put to the test by the sergeant at the depot’s firing range. Upon being questioned, she mentioned her being a veteran of the gas rifle, fighting the moles since the age of eleven. Then she expressed a desire to join the Stormtrooper corps.
She was numbered ‘SS-6971’ and put straight into the 96th Light Infantry after two weeks of basic drilling at the depot, to join a company of sharpshooters. Her arrival was timely - the 96th Light Infantry was being replenished after the slaughter at the Battle of Ilium. The Governess herself reviewed the 96th, and Carla fell in love.
SS-6971 soon realised what exactly was her biggest error. Her clever and quick hands, her sharp aim. She was put into the 96th Light Infantry, in First Company, A-squad, joining you, Henry and Villanelle. Nine out of twelve troopers in the squad had just been killed at Ilium, including the old sergeant. SS-6971’s mistake was becoming a sharpshooter.
Sharpshooters are elite. Sharpshooters are always at the vanguard, always the farthest out from the camp. Always on dangerous missions, always the first in contact with the enemy. They prove this by being attacked and killed first in action.
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==End of Part I: Fall of the Empire.==
(Happy New Years, anons.)
