Chapter 7

The lights of night-time Coruscant blinked in and out of existence outside the window. Speeders zipped past, their red taillights and white headlights becoming incomprehensive blurs as the hours wore on. People left for work, returned home, or went to bed, flicking on their lights as they went. The girl didn't even notice. She simply sat in her room, at her desk, and continued to work.

Her room was small, but clean. A comfortable bed stood in one of the corners with a small collection of stuffed, colourful tooka's above it. A fluffy beanbag was thrown in the opposite corner. There was a dark green military uniform hanging in the half-open closet, ready for the next day. The only light in the room came from the desk lamp as it illuminated the girl leaning over it. Her dark caramel skin, decorated with tiny, almost invisible indents, was cold, and she had wrapped a thick wool blanket loosely around her shoulders for warmth. Her hair, long, loose and a dark blonde, hung around her shoulders, obscuring her face from view like the flaps on a fathier's bridle. It also obscured the slight point of her angular ears.

Chan Telle Lawell poured over the pages before her, scanning over the information they held. Statistics were her least favourite part of being a lieutenant in the Republic Navy. Just above that were the academy living conditions. Both of those were nothing compared to this. Studying for exams. It was the worst – complete torture. Looking over the hundreds of responsibilities she had as part of her position on the fleet's newest cruiser. That was one of the reasons she was here, taking advantage of her father's Coruscanti home: to study without the academy's students studying her every move. Her door quietly slid open. Without looking, she already knew who it was. Her father, trying to quietly place the steaming mug of tea on her desk and remove the empty one before she noticed.

"Thanks dad.", she smiled up at him. "That last one really hit the spot."

He smiled down at her, "Glad to hear it, honey. Are you feeling okay? We're up to four hours of straight study."

"Of course, Dad.", she turned back to the datapad before her. "I only have six weeks to study, and out of the blue, we are assigned to this relief mission. I need to cram for the test if I want to get that promotion. You and I both know that."

"Of course.", Wullf Yularen smiled at his daughter. "But I also know the importance of keeping your body healthy as well. You need to sleep sometime."

"Dad.", Telle let out a long groan.

He laughed, "Don't you 'DAAAAAD' me, young lady. You may be nineteen, but you still live under my roof. Now go to sleep, or I will leave you right here with Roberta instead of taking you tomorrow."

"Roberta?", Telle shuddered. The Mon Calamari housekeeper was the worst. She was a great cleaner, but her mop had more feelings than she did. The last time she had watched the young Calacran, she had forced her to scrub down the ceiling and clean those places that she 'just couldn't reach' with her old limbs. It had been literal torture. "Fine. I'll go to sleep."

"Good girl.", Yularen left the room, carefully cradling the empty mug with him. "I'll give you ten minutes, then you better be in that bed!"

Springing up, Telle started shifting the papers and datacubes into 'organised' piles. Shoving each pile into a nearby briefcase, she turned and dashed to her bed. Suddenly, the door slid open again.

"That could not have been ten minutes!", she cried as she turned to face the entrance.

"It wasn't.", her dad sighed, holding up her commlink "But I think you'll want to take this."

"Dad!", she snatched the device from him, "You're answering my messages now?"

Yularen turned and walked out of the door, rolling his eyes. He climbed down the stairs, taking them slowly. There was a twinge in his back lately that was seriously annoying him. A peal of laughter followed him down, and he turned around to give a wry smile to his daughter's door. "I swear she acts like a teenage girl every time that guy calls."

"I hear that you're going to Pantora.", Caloc summersaulted over one of the stones and threw the knife into a rough target he had carved into the trees. The point hit the centre and stuck, vibrating slightly from the force used. He had set up a knife range in the Garden of Tranquillity, using a series of small tracks and obstacles to hide it from the other Jedi. Only Ahsoka and Lozzan knew of its secreted existence. He kept five sharp knives of different lengths in a leather wallet hidden in his satchel. Each blade was made from durasteel and honed each night to a razor-sharp point. He had the five strapped to his practice belt now, and pulled another of the blades from its scabbard.

Telle, a faded blued hologram sitting on a nearby rock, nodded appreciatively, "And I see you took up knife throwing recently."

"Needed something to pass the time in my recovery room.", the knife spun across the grove and thudded into the next target. "What have you been doing?"

"Mostly studying.", Telle shrugged. "I have an exam in six weeks."

The remaining three more knifes thudded into the targets in rapid succession. "What for?"

Telle huffed in amusement. "You may remember how you destroyed my ship a few months back."

"Nope.", Caloc moved over to the nearby bench and grabbed a blaster from amongst his clothes. "I remember a certain Harch admiral destroying your ship while I saved your life."

"That is not the way I remember it at all.", Telle let out an exasperated huff. It was a black mark on her career that she had lost the ship, "Anyway, when the Senate got information that someone had brought together a fleet large enough to decimate my father's forces, they voted for the Military Reinforcement Bill. It means that they would bank role the construction of about sixty new Venator's to replace our Acclamator-class cruisers entirely."

"So why are you studying then?", Caloc spun the blaster around his finger and shoved it into a holster on his hip, "Are you expecting to be chosen to captain one of these cruisers?"

Telle seemed to think for a moment, "Not exactly. I don't really know if I should be telling you this, but the Chancellor asked each of the current fleet admirals for their ideas regarding new and improved weapons against this theoretical threat."

"Oh, really?", one of the targets exploded into flames as a blaster bolt hit it. "And who's idea is he supporting?"

"My father's.", Telle's image bounced up and down in excitement. "He has proposed a new type of cruiser. A blockade runner. I want to be the admiral in charge of it. It would be amazing to command it!"

"Sounds exciting.", the blaster was shoved back into the holster.

"It is. The cruiser is so cool. I can't go into too much detail…", she paused as she thought over the conversation, "Wait, how did you know about Pantora?"

"Telle!", a stern voice snapped from across the commlink, "That was more than ten minutes. It's time to go to bed. We are leaving in the morning!"

"Dad!", Telle complained.

Yularen appeared in the hologram beside her, "Sorry, Caloc. Telle needs her rest. I'm sure you understand."

Caloc gave the man a wry grin, "Of course, Mr Yularen. I understand perfectly."

"We'll talk later", Telle grinned, before the hologram shrunk and switched off.

"Enjoying your knife throwing?", a quiet voice asked, "Or are you bored enough to be using a blaster now?"

Caloc turned to see a young girl leaning against the trees behind him. An unbidden smile crept across his face. "Lozzan! I am surprised at how good it is to see you. How did the trade discussions on Mustafar go?"

Lozzan stifled a yawn, "They were going alright until Nute Gunray showed his ugly mug. Now the Republic is only getting twenty percent of the metal fragments found directly. The Black Sun has around forty percent and the Trade Federation is somehow getting the remaining forty percent."

"Is that the third or fifth deal the Trade Federation had interrupted lately? I've lost count.", Caloc clipped his lightsabre to his belt and grabbed his water bottle. Taking a quick gulp, he rapidly punched a nearby hanging cloth bag. "What did the Senate have to say about it?"

"They were surprisingly okay with it.", Lozzan frowned at him, "The Chancellor seemed… unconcerned. They said that they could just buy the products from the Federation too."

"That is a little odd.", he agreed, stopping at the bag and picking up his satchel. Gesturing towards the tiny track that led out of the gardens, they began walking out of the gardens, "From what you told me, he seemed to think that these talks were some of the most important in history."

Together the two Jedi walked out of the garden's entryway and down the corridor towards the dormitories. Caloc grinned at a group of Jedi guards marching past. Lozzan smiled at him, "How was your first official mission back in the field?"

"Kind of boring.", he shrugged, "We were captured and had to escape. I got a ship, though."

"You mean that rust bucket in the hanger?", Lozzan laughed, "Tia called it an accident waiting to happen and ordered it taken to the hanger underneath the Temple."

"He's just as joyful and exuberant as always, huh?", Caloc laughed bitterly.

They turned into the dormitory corridor, and they stopped beside Lozzan's door. The other padawan stopped and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Listen, Caloc, I know that Ahsoka is worried about you."

"She worries about me being in a bacta tank.", Caloc snorted, "But I haven't seen her since our old clan went to the plains of Jedha for a training exercise. I was hoping she would be back before we left. I need to talk to her, ask her something important."

"Left?", Lozzan asked, "Where are you leaving for?"

Guess who's back?

That is right: Chan Telle Lawell.

For those who remember the snarky Calacran's brief appearance in 'Learning Curve', I know that she intrigued many. This book will give you a more in depth look at her and the Republic Army before the Clone Wars. Hope you enjoy.

(P.S: I try not to write romance unless the story calls for it - i am really bad at it - so please do not start shipping anyone together just yet.)