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Wow it's been a while since my last update. 10 more troops and a couple months. Spoilers: Mabel finished her chemo and is a happy hero pup. She's doing great and living life! I got diagnosed with cancer the same week Mabel was cleared. Stage 1 testicular cancer. I'm dealing with that now. Onto the troops. 12/9/23 - Cottonwood Classical Make a Wish Winter Stroll 90th TK troop, 45th for 2023. CREB 5435 - 28th troop and 13th for the year This one was a troop at a nearby charter school for Make A Wish. They do a silent auction every year to help one of the local MAW kids. It was their first year requesting the 501st and it was also the same night as a big Christmas Parade troop. Having this big a turnout was a huge win. Soos and Mabel got their very first troop together! I need to get Soos a costume. There's just not many for big dogs... The Mando turn out. Soos might need a little rocket pack... hmm. In the back they had RC balloon launches. Very cool and totally run by the high schoolers. Mabel wasn't the biggest fan of them but she didn't mind so much either. 12/10/23 - Holiday Car Show for Big Brothers Big Sisters 91st troop as a TK, 46 for 2023. This one was the next morning and it was COOOLD. Oh em gee. Super cold. Everyone was still all jolly from the previous night's parade troop, so I cuddled up under my jedi blankie and pauldron. The look was honestly good! Dirty armor would have improved it. Too cold for Mabel to troop that morning. She got to stay home where it was toasty. Gotta pose with Santa... Especially when he has a ride like this! Yeah, this vintage red Mustang was the above Santa's car in the show. He graciously let me plop my plastic butt down and get this shot. Worth the effort! And one with the event organizers. Hopefully we get to come back the next year and we get a little larger turnout. Why only three of us? Because another troop was happening concurrently. I removed my torso and drove over. 12/10/23 - 2nd Annual Toy Drive for Haven House (8 of 8) 92nd TK troop, 47th for 2023. The last toy drive troop (8 of 8!) for Haven House. This one is in the shadows in the cold... it was cold. That cloak may seem kinda dumb but it truly helps. And I feel less bad about the lack of screen accuracy thanks to Santa Maul and Santa Vader. Two troops on the same freezing morning. Good times! As we were packing up, literally every police officer arrived at this parking lot. A few mounted but mostly on cars and bikes. Each officer had a kid with them and those kids all got shopping sprees at the nearby Walmart. Brandon and I walked over and welcomed them inside. We posed for several hundred pix. We had a blast. We were just in the right place at the right time.

Mabel deserved her own post at the end of 2023. She was diagnosed with TVT, Transmissible Venereal Tumor, in December. She had a HUGE tumor growing in her nasal cavity. It had completely shut it off and made it so she couldn't smell or breathe out her nose. The tumor ate away a lot of bone in her snoot and it was very very close to the thin wall between the sinuses and her brain. She didn't have more than 2 weeks of life left. Maybe 1 week. TVT is one of three transmissible cancers in mammals. It can't pass to humans. It's found on their genitals in 99.9% of cases and is passed through doggy sex. It's not common in the US due to our spay and neuter programs. Mabel's was in her snoot, so she was almost certainly born with it. The tumors grow like fire (like cancer) but don't spread throughout the body. They're super super responsive to chemo but not to surgery or radiation. Mabel got diagnosed and had her first chemo that same week. Some amazing doctors rushed her into a treatment program. The tumor started to shrink immediately. By the 2nd week, she could breathe out her nose again. And by the 4th week, she was a happy little Cattle-Pom again. She was very much my little wish kid during that first week of treatment. No one expected her to survive. I took her everywhere she enjoyed going. We said goodbye to all her friends at service dog class. She went on one last troop with me (the school one with her brother). I even let her have some chocolate. Not a lot, of course. But when a dog is near the end of their lives, they are often rewarded with a little chocolate. They love it as you might imagine. A small amount isn't enough to make them sick. Mabel was at the chocolate part of her life. And then she lived. She had 8 chemo treatments and was pronounced clear. She'll get a CT scan in about 2 months to see if anything has regrown. Then she's scanned at 6 and then yearly. She's my little miracle.

Much credit goes to you, Tony! I was quite lost until someone pointed me to your build thread.

It's the kind of serious discussion we have on the FISD Discord server. https://discord.gg/CbUuvdWBNc

Hello! My name is Leia, I'm hoping to eventually join by starting with a Rogue One TK 3d Printed Kit from fellow legion member CT-17290, aka Galactic Armory. I have experience with 3d printing, so it's not new to me at all. I'm more nervous about soft parts like boots to be honest! It will be a while until all the parts are assembled and I figure out strapping, so please be patient ORZ. I also eventually hope to get started on a TLJ Executioner, which is my actual favorite subvarient. I'm starting with the ROTK because I don't want to have to figure out things like the rubber gaskets while working on the armor.

2/9/24 - National Pizza Day 2024 98th TK troop, 3rd for the year. National Pizza day? Apparently a thing. We had a troop at a local shop that does board games and pizza. Good times!! I wore my HWT. Chris, our 2024 GCO, is inside that wampa. It was my first wampa troop. I expected it to be outside. Very much the reverse of the Haven House troop. I was like "how could they have room for everyone inside??" and it was huuuuuge in there. So I wore the HWT and the thermal undies and an undershirt and hand warmers taped to my chest. I was boiling. Chris was also boiling. Neither of us lasted extremely long that night. Master Kai with a board game suggestion! Try to take a nice pic and an ACD just jumps right in the back, lol I love these Good times and good pizza. Would troop this one every year. 2/24/24 - UNM Children's Hospital Visit 99th TK troop, 4th for 2024 An emergency, last minute hospital troop requested by the parents and care-givers of a small warrior with an inoperable brain tumor. I have ball cancer. It's not a huge deal. It's been described to me as "the best cancer you can get if you have to have any." It's super treatable even in the latest stages. I'm in the very earliest stage. My outlook is extremely good. The young patient we were there to see had no such prognosis. He's fighting hard and was an incredible person to meet. He was having a great day when we visited and was so full of life. Full of questions. Full of imagination. If I live 2 more days or 20,000 more, he'll be an inspiration to me for the rest of them. He requested Kylo Ren and Rey. We supplied them. Only one Mando signed up and I was able to take the extra troop slot that the Mercs had for the event. I'm grateful for the experience. I'm a little less grateful for THIS shot. But I love all of my friends who demanded I pose for it. I was in the hospital 2 days after this troop having my right nut removed. And as of now there's at least 99% less cancer in my body than in the above cone-of-shame photo. MAYBE 100% less! I'll know in a few weeks.

1/6/24 - Yo! Toys troop for ACC 96th TK troop, 1st for 2024. I believe we had no less than SIXTEEN of these promo troops for Albuquerque Comic Con. I only made one and this is the only pic I have. At least it was warm that day. Just a little snow. I also didn't make the con or any other troops in January. Life been hectic. 2/8/24 - Clone Wars Week @ Pres Hospital 97th TK troop, 2nd for the year This was my first time trooping at Presbyterian hospital and I believe it's their first event request since 2019. This wasn't one to miss. And the above pic got into the Legion and 501st instagram accounts I believe! Gotta love a good elevator selfie. (I'm all the way in the back) Our group. They allowed blasters! I brought my Leia Leveller and made kids smile with pew-pew-pew noises. There were many fun things at this hospital, like this wall of bubble mirrors. We took a TON of pix with kids and the hospital released all of them on social media. I added the sticker here because I don't believe in showing a kid's face in my troop log. The mood was extremely light around the hospital. Everyone was overjoyed to have us, doctors and patients alike. Some hospital troops really tug at your heart. This one filled it up. I was very happy to attend. I'd also just learned I had cancer. It was important to me to attend this one.

12/14/23 - Make-A-Wish Holly Jolly Holiday Party 93rd TK troop, 48 for 2023 CREB 5435 - 29th troop and 14th for the year! I think this was my 3rd troop ever, and my 3rd time doing it. It's a Make a Wish event at a local car dealer and it's always a fantastic time. They absolutely STUFF the office/showroom with toys, have stories with Santa, and give a nice gift to a Make A Wish kid. Me and Brandon escorting Santa and his little Reindeer. My wish was for Mabel to recover from Cancer. I got it. She was very much a wish kid at this point though and rather close to death. More on that later. My daughter and I sat on the floor and listened to the Santa story. Always a highlight. Sorry for all the stickers, but I won't put a kid's face on my stream here. 12/15/23 - Haven House Gift Handout with Santa 94th TK troop, 49th for the year. The actual troop wherein we delivered toys to Haven House! It was the first time they did this event and the 501st (and Rebels) were the only ones invited. It was SO. very. cold. I thought there was no way it would be outside. It was all of 20 degrees that night with high winds. I brought my regular compression suit and not even a jacket... I really thought we'd be indoors... alas. (Bart, it's about -16C with wind in this photo. -6C not counting wind) Before the chilling. Two frozen troopers. But seriously, it was a good event. We gave toys and gifts to the few Haven House residents, posed for some photos, and then scampered inside with hot chocolate. and finally. 12/16/23 - UNM Children's Hospital Visit 95th TK troop, 50th for 2023. Elevator Selfie!!! Three troopers and two Jedi. It was a good time. Megan spreading a little BB8 love in the play area Diane getting her groove on and shaking some dust off And Brandon spreading kindness. It was a great year. 50 troops! I could have done so many more, but life got complex there at the end and kept me from obsessively attending every troop.

With risk of being very childish here, if you could get away with it, which one would you choose? (Featuring TK-10551 of the Swedish Garrison)

Bumping so it's not missed

Here is everything. Thank you for your patience and help in getting me to Centurion

Thank you. After all these years I just glad to still be of assistance. Keep up the great work

I doubt anyone would notice if you trimmed the front of the forearm. Albeit you could just remove the cover strip and reglue, they will come off with a little force Reference

Wow 99 Adam that is crazy good!

I hope everything goes good on the health front for you! Bart P.S. What is your definition of really cold where you are?

You think his build thread is great, you should check out his website!

Miss you, mate. In addition to the wealth of TK knowledge you shared with the community, I also miss the musical numbers you shared on other social platforms.

#2. Event: Atlanta Brick Con Date: Sunday, 11 February, 2024 Host unit: Georgia Garrison Kit: ANH-Stunt (LEGO) Members: Devin TK-47501, Scott SL-22431, others I recently doubled my official troop count at a LEGO convention in Atlanta, and I'm finally recording it here on the last day of the month (thank you leap year for the bonus day). This was an exciting event for me not only because it was a crossover of two hobbies, but it also represented my first official troop with my own garrison. I live a couple hours away from the heart of our trooping action, so I began the morning with a two hour solo drive down to Atlanta. I had convinced my closest squad member (an hour from me) to join me on the troop and we met there. After months of anticipation, and assembly as I'll later explain, I was super excited to finally troop with my garrison and show off the AMAZING blaster that @revlimiter had printed. Needless to say I think it was quite a crowd-pleaser, though twice I got asked "Does that make your aim better?" Based on the comments, kids only recognized the blaster from recent Star Wars LEGO video games, not the original 20-year-old sets, but I'm sure the many adults present felt the nostalgia. It turns out that this troop was more of a photo op for us Legion members there, rather than a traditional con with a table and personal fan interactions. We were situated in a corner of the con floor dedicated to Star Wars MOCs (My Own Creation), and essentially had a line non-stop for the two hours I was there. When I first arrived we had a Vader and Jedi, but then us Devin and I took over with TK duty. Check us out! TK-47501 & TK-73692 | Photo by James Clarke @thereallucasmccoy Also, lefty grip. While at our post we came across two princesses, but unfortunately they were not the one we were looking for. Seems they were from a different star system. TK-73692 & TK-47501 with @thepartypalacealabama | Photo by @bricksnaps / @thebeautifulbrick If you hadn't already noticed, in addition to the LEGO style blaster I carried, I had made some modifications to my actual armor loadout. After all, when in LEGO Rome, you play the part! What started off as originally just constructing a LEGO thermal detonator morphed into a larger belt project. I was extremely happy with the final result, with a nearly 1:1 scale LEGO replica of the normal plastic belt parts! In fact, I daresay did such a good job at the reproduction that NOT A SINGLE PERSON mentioned the LEGO parts I was wearing for the entirety of the troop (other than my garrison mates who knew my plans in advance). They were booty blinded by the blaster I guess, and didn't even notice the RS style creamy white LEGO plastic against my cooler white ATA armor. Haha. In the future I'll post a separate thread to document the full extend of this LEGO belt build, but for now here is a peak. The TD has 20mm "end caps" (yay CRL) and proper dimensions over all, other than the fact that is the smaller 2" North American variant rather than the more screen accurate 68mm version. Don't worry, a larger version is in the works. At the conclusion of the photo session, I made a quick round on the con floor in civilian cloths (actually my HKG Star Destroyer racing shirt!), and snapped a few photos. This Death Star hanger was particularly impressive, and I'm bummed I didn't immediately notice all the intricate scenes shown on the outside due to my rush to get home. Otherwise I would have taken additional close-up images. My favorite is what appears to be a unit of TKs taking instructions with modeling of ANH TKs on the TV. Of course, there were many MANY other MOCs, and I recorded a few Disney ones to show my daughters. Star Wars > other IPs. Overall I think it was a successful troop, and I learned a lessons and have a few kit adjustments to make. I experienced some feedback with my voice system which I hadn't in the past, so I need to better dial in the volume, and perhaps add some insulation in my chest piece above my speaker (that I wear with a GoPro chest harness). I also had a shoulder bell-bicep snap failure, which is one of the only two places I have single snaps on my kit. Seems I'll be implementing at least some version of Adam's shoulder snaps solution. He goes hard with them! All-in-all, a fun troop, and one that I will plan to attend annually despite being posted at a photo booth the entire time. I'll likely modify my belt to have some exposed studs to make the LEGO fun more obvious, and perhaps even add some lettering. L E G O T K the cartridges? Who knows, perhaps I'll continue to add LEGO armor parts to my armor and become a true LEGO TK.

Awesome. Great job!

Just ordered my hard armor! Can’t wait for it to come in and start building! Gotta keep reading and checking out build pages

Location Garrison/Squad Attaché Attaché contact Area served/Armor/Offices held ARGENTINA Garrison Argentina Needed ------ ------ Squad Rosario Needed ------ ------ Rio de la Plata Squad Needed ------ ------ Dark Side Warriors Squad Needed ------ ------ AUSTRALIA Desert Scorpion Garrison Glen (Q) @gmrhodes13 Perth, Western Australia ANH-S/ANH-H/ESB/HWT/TFA, TLJ/TLJ-E/TFU/TKC/DTH, D.S.G GML, GWL, GWM, GEC Expert Armorer ** ** Knightfall Garrison Rudi @tarok Melbourne ANH-S ** ** Redback Garrison Andrew @Sly11 Brisbane ANH-S, Former FISD DL, XO, GCR, Armour/Blaster Builder ** ** ** Longfin Squad Needed ------ ------ Razorbacks Squad Needed ------ ------ Venom Squad Needed ------ ------ Southern Cross Garrison Matthew @Mworm1974 Sydney ANH-H, Armorer ** ** ** Hunter Hornet Squad Needed ------ ------ Black Tower Squad Needed ------ ------ Southern Dewback Garrison Needed ------ ------ Thylacine Outpost Troy @TK20187 Hobart, Tasmania ANH-S ** AUSTRIA Austrian Garrison Needed ------ ------ Upper Austria Squad Needed ------ ------ BELGIUM Belgian Garrison Flanders Dragon Squad Ilan @TK-40996 Arendonk ANH-S ** ** Tornacum Squad Needed ------ ------ FanWars Garrison Needed ------ ------ BRAZIL Brazilian Division Garrison Kuat Drive Yards Squad Needed ------ ------ Death Valley Squad Needed ------ ------ Death Star Garrison Needed ------ ------ Imperial Coastline Garrison Needed ------ ------ Novo Império Garrison Needed ------ ------ Centro-Norte Squad Needed ------ ------ Squad Nordeste Needed ------ ------ CANADA Atlantic Garrison Needed ------ ------ Badlands Garrison Aaron @Pyrates Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, B.C ANH-H/TFA, Blaster Construction & Armour Maintenance / Repair & Liberation of Candy, GML ** Renegade Squad Needed ------ ------ Crimson Aurora Squad Needed ------ ------ Canadian Garrison Brad @68Brick Hamilton or Toronto ANH-S ** ** ** Robert @Twosolitudes ANH-S ** ** Gerald @Doggydoc Kitchener, Southern Ontario ANH-S, DO ** ** Vindicator Squad Needed ------ ------ Capital City Garrison Mark @sylverbard Ottawa ANH-S, Anovos Expert (Alpha75) ** ** ** Forteresse Imperiale Garrison Needed ------ ------ Outer Rim Garrison Chris @R2Chris Vancouver, BC area ANH-S ** Ravinak Squad Needed ------ ------ CHINA Chinese Garrison Needed ------ ------ COLOMBIA Colombia Garrison Mario @IRoS Bogotá TKC, GML** ** Zabrak Squad Needed ------ ------ Pacific Thunder Squad Needed ------ ------ Mudhorn Squad Needed ------ ------ COSTA RICA Costa Rica Garrison Mario @TKSpartan San José/Liberia ANH-S Chief Deployment Officer ** ** ** CZECH REPUBLIC Czech Garrison Needed ------ ------ DENMARK Danish Garrison Needed ------ ------ ECUADOR Ecuador Garrison Needed ------ ------ Guayaquil Imperial Squad Needed ------ ------ 2112 Squad Needed ------ ------ FINLAND Finnish Garrison Tommi @TK-20507 ANH-S ** FRANCE French Garrison Jean Louis @JEAN LOUIS Coubron, Paris area RO ** GERMANY German Garrison Arma Candida Squad Needed ------ ------ Coastal Hammer Squad Christian @Novak Dimon Wilhelmshaven ANH-S, Armor/E-11 expert ** ** ** Luca @Morgi Kiel ANH-S/ESB, DPRO ** ** Custodes Euroi Squad Christoph @Ripper_L Nuremberg ANH-S/ESB. Editor at Large, FISD Diplomat ** ** ** Echo Nova Squad Needed ------ ------ White Shadows Squad Tino @T-Jay Cologne/Dusseldorf ANH-S, E-11 Expert ** ** ** Freddy @Freduster Düsseldorf ANH-S, Armor Expert & E-11 Expert ** ** ** HONG KONG Hong Kong Garrison Arthur @giskard8 Hong Kong ANH-H/ANH-S/ESB/TKC/TKS, XO, GCR, DCoG ** ** ** HUNGARY Hungarian Garrison Chimaera Squad Needed ------ ------ Pannon Squad Needed ------ ------ ICELAND Icelandic Garrison Needed ------ ------ INDONESIA Garuda Garrison Indonesia Wibowo @swibowoj Jakarta ANH-S, former GWL/GCO ** ** ** Adi @Bazz Jakarta City ANH-S/TFA ** ** ** IRELAND Ireland Garrison Needed ----- ------ ITALY Italica Garrison SubZero Squad Needed ------ ------ 77th Alpi Squad Davide @lorddavids Genova ANH-S, Armor Expert ** ** 3T Squad Needed ------ ------ Sqvad Praetoriana Needed ------ ------ Trinacria Squad Needed ------ ------ JAPAN Japanese Garrison Brian @Bulldog44 Tokyo ANH-S/TFA, Former GXO, Blaster Expert ** ** ** Asa @SgtGarand Okinawa ANH-S ** ** Robert @husky68 Tokyo ANH-S ** MALAYSIA Malaysia Garrison Needed ------ ------ MEXICO Bravo Garrison Needed ------ ------ Mayan Garrison Needed ------ ------ Mexican Garrison Imperial City Squad Needed ------ ------ Crimson Squad Needed ------ ------ Baja Squad Needed ------ ------ Wampatrol Squad Needed ------ ------ Rancor Hunters Garrison Needed ------ ------ Inquisitor's Squad Needed ------ ------ Centauros Squad Needed ------ ------ Skull Garrison Bantha Riders Squad Needed ------ ------ Green Bellies Squad Needed ------ ------ NETHERLANDS Dutch Garrison Daphne @AthenaIII Middelburg TKC ** ** NEW ZEALAND Outpost 42 New Zealand Garrison Georgia @Georgia Haywood Auckland ANH-S, GWL ** NORTHERN IRELAND Causeway Garrison Needed ------ ------ NORWAY Norwegian Garrison Even @Bobafett75 Oslo ANH-S ** PERU Garrison Peru Needed ------ ------- PHILIPPINES Philippine Garrison Dennis @NINJAM0VE Manila ANH-S/ANH-H/ESB/TKS, GML Expert Builder, Blaster Builder, Paint/weathering works ** ** ** Cebu Scarif Garrison Needed ------ ------ POLAND Polish Garrison Pomeranian Squad Needed ------ ------ Polonia Minor Squad Needed ------ ------ Greater Poland Squad Needed ------ ------ SINGAPORE Singapore Garrison Needed ------ ------ SPAIN Spanish Garrison Castilla y León Squad Chemi @Chemi Valladolid ANH-S, GML, Deployment Officer ** ** ** Squad Cierzo Needed ------ ------ Escuadrón Sur Needed ------ ------ Balear Squad Carolina @tigresa Mallorca ROTJ, Expert Assemble, Repair, Squad Leader ** ** North Wall Squad Needed ------ ------ SWEDEN Swedish Garrison Trinity Squad Jonatan @Nairy Stockholm ANH-S/ANH-H, Former DPRO, Current Attaché Ambassador ** ** SWITZERLAND Swiss Garrison Needed ------ ------ TAIWAN Taiwan Garrison Needed ------ ------ Takau Squad Needed ------ ------ THAILAND Thailand Garrison Needed ------ ------ UNITED KINGDOM UK Garrison Chris @themaninthesuitcase London (St. Albans) ANH-S, DXO ** ** ** Marc @Troopacoola Manchester ANH-S, Armourer ** ** Imperial Welsh Squad Needed ------ ------ Imperial Scottish Garrison Paul @Sithping Glasgow ANH-S **