Republic Commando: Order 66 SPOILER ALERT. You've been warned.

Absolute loyalty. It is what they are bred for.

I suppose you could say we got the better end of the deal – free thinking and all that. Even retirement options. I've always thought the big wigs offered it on purpose. We generally don't live long enough to fully enjoy a life of dependency on Republic pensions.

Oh.

Excuse me. Empire pensions.

In spite of my "limited" years, it doesn't quite surprise me. It came to our attention long ago that the all-powerful beings running the galaxy weren't really all-powerful. The botched attempt on Palpatine's life proved that. And even further, Order 66.

Getting down to it, that my trooper brothers never fully get the chance to embrace individualism bothers me. It's a shame. Kal'buir did his best but even he can't save a million clones. I'm not fond of admitting that but I don't believe in false hope.

Lately, though, the view has gotten rather up-lifting.

Sure.

Etain's dead. Darman and Niner are virtually closed off, trapped within the new Empire. Sev is missing. And Kad has a ragtag bunch of misfits raising him when his parents should be. It burns me more than I thought it would but we were just flat-out duped. Palpatine has nothing on the Jedi.

But the good almost overcomes the bad. Uthan is working on our cure. The Mando'ad have a Mandalore again, though whether Shysa will turn out for the best has yet to be seen. Clones are arriving almost daily to join our little club. A few have even been Jedi. We're building a real family, a clan.

Rank and title are remnants of a time that, in its sheer lack of similarity to the now, seems like eons ago. There's an old pain that lingers, though. I can see it in all of us, those that had been close to Etain. I've seen things, things that would scar any normal being. I've even been the one to pull the trigger but I've slept well each night because it was my job. But seeing Kal'buir descend that ramp with her in his arms…It hit me hard. Harder than I thought possible.

It would be a waste of a life to spend it trying to forget. Instead, I plan on remembering.

It's what makes us who we are.