Chapter One: The Crash
Pantoran Jedi Master Amaroth looked out the main view screen at the three separatist destroyers approaching his vessel, The Indisputable. He was annoyed. This was supposed to be a regular relief mission to the people of Naseem, not a battle. He cursed the council for deciding that he should be the one to partake in this mission. He was more renowned as a scholar, not a General and where was that blasted Padawan of his?
"We must be ready when they arrive, status report".
Human Padawan Ileana Stassen rolled her eyes at her comm. She was repairing one of the Astromechs that had gotten stuck in a loop. She had been assigned to Amaroth after her previous master was killed. She was still getting used to his ways. He was strict and incredibly old school in his thinking.
"Yes master!"
She turned away and quickly stepped it to the engine room. She was much more comfortable around machines than on the bridge.
"Commander!"
The engineering clone, by the name of Lieutenant Sprocket, saluted her. He was in the middle of preparing the Venator's massive ion engines for battle. The energy in the engineering section was palpable and the crew was readying for the upcoming battle.
"Status update and make it snappy! The seps are coming out of hyperspace in 15 minutes".
Sprocket gave her a wide grin, like most clones he lived for battle.
"Ready and loaded Commander!", he called back.
She returned the grin and turned back to check on the gun deck, which she noted was in tip top state thanks to Hero, the engineering 2IC. She switched on her comm to Amaroth.
"Master, we are ready!"
Ileana turned to head back to the bridge when a huge explosion impacted the side of the ship. She used the force to steady herself and ran back to the engine room.
"Medic! Get me a medic now!"
The engine room had taken a direct hit and the bodies of the troopers littered the ground. Ileana ran up to one of the injured, a natborn and grabbed some first aid supplies from the little kit on her belt. As she was attempting to attach a bacta patch her comm pinged and she answered to her Master.
"Padawan! I need you on the bridge now". Another clone took over her first aid efforts.
"On my way!". Stassen ran to the nearest access to the bridge.
Amaroth was not happy. Whenever he needed that darn Padawan he had been lumped with she was always somewhere else. She would spend hours peppering with questions she should have learnt as a youngling and seemed more interested in fixing every broken piece of machinery around than meditating or practicing her katas. Why couldn't he have ended up with one of the greats? He envied Master Unduli and her apprentice, a sensible young lady who would become a great asset to the order.
Another explosion hit the ship sending him tumbling to the floor. He attempted to connect to Stassen one more time.
"STASSEN! Where in forces name are you?".
Ileana was trying to find her way to the bridge. Her master had commed and really didn't sound too happy with her. Only the issue was, there was no way through. It was not recommended people used the lifts during active battle. However the corridor that led directly to the bridge was completely covered in debris from the battle. She moved some of it using the force only to be met with more. It seemed like an impossible task.
"Commander!".
She turned to see Clone Lieutenant Sprocket calling her over.
"Commander, the way to the bridge is sealed, you will never get through. I suggest we begin preparing for evacuation and head to the escape pods".
Ileana bit her lip. "Ok, thanks Lieutenant, I will let General Amaroth know". The clone turned and started barking commands to the rest of his troops.
Ileana took a deep breath and pressed her comm.
"What blazes do you want now and where are you?"
Amaroth sounded as angry as she had imagined.
"Master I am stuck on the engine deck, I can't make it through to the bridge. Lieutenant Sprocket has asked if you could please start preparing to evacuate?".
Amaroth bristled at the thought. How dare she leave his side when he needed her most.
"You useless piece of shit! I cannot believe that you think you can be a Jedi. You WILL get up to the bridge now or you will be spending the rest of your days on some farm".
Ileana bowed her head at his message. She knew she was in huge trouble, it wasn't the first time she had been threatened with the farms. Ileana had no idea how she had come to join the order, all she ever knew was the temple. She seemed to thrive on the hands on skills, she was strong with the force, however her academic skills, emotional control, and people skills were sorely lacking. Her previous master had been gentle and kind. Master Aural had been a member of the exploration core and seemed to match up to her personality better.
She still remembers the day she had found out Aural was killed, shot while on a diplomatic mission to Ord Mantell. They had left Ileana at the temple so she could practice her lightsaber katas with one of the weapons masters. The feeling of loss, who could see she would make a good Jedi and who had chosen her had done a number on her self esteem. Three months afterwards, the orphaned Padawan situation at the temple was getting dire. The council couldn't just let these Padawan go to waste when they needed Jedi to command the GAR, especially after losing some of their best masters to the war. Padawanless Masters were encouraged to take them on and finish their training so they could take on the responsibility of an army.
That is how Ileana had ended up in Master Amaroth's tutelage. She pressed her finger tips to her temples trying to find her center. She tried to remain as calm as possible.
"Master, I am trapped with most of the maintenance and engineering crews. I can't leave the lower decks. Lieutenant Sprocket has informed me the engines are lost and recommends we look at evacuation".
Amaroths fist hit the center console with the sound of breaking electronics, sending personnel, a mixture of Clones and Nat-borns, scrambling for cover. He was furious,
"My first mission for this war and you just had to mess it up!".
"General!"
Amaroth turned towards Admiral Koi. The man was a well respected member of the old Galactic security navy. Koi disapproved of the Jedi and their involvement in this war and Amaroth represented the worst example of how stuffy and protocol driven the order had become. They were peacekeepers, not soldiers.
"With all due respect, your Padawan cannot be here. She needs to help those…".
Koi was cut off by Amaroth. The Jedi was starting to panic. He slammed his palm down on the comm.
"Stassen! Get up here now, I am overriding the lift block".
The Jedi turned on Koi. He was furious, the other members of the crew cringed. They all knew not to mess with Amaroth.
"Shut up! And don't tell me how to treat my Padawan".
Koi's face turned a bright shade of red. If he were Amaroth's Padawan, he would've left the Order rather than deal with Amaroth. The young lass was about his daughter's age and he felt so sorry for her. He didn't know how parents could give their children up to an organization that abused them and used them as child soldiers.
Amaroth had constantly disrespected him in front of his crew, he had no idea what he was doing and he had mistreated everyone ever since he was assigned to this ship. Koi was constantly dealing with claims of bullying and harassment from his crew.
Koi had watched brilliant military personnel, including his own protegee, pushed aside for promotion to allow some idiot with a lightsaber to take control of a ship, or to rub salt in the wound have some kid who should be in grade school to order them about. His eldest son had perished on one of the Jedi's ill thought out attacks. The lad had so wanted to follow in his fathers footsteps into the navy and had done well at the academy through his own merit.
Koi hated the use of the clone army. He didn't mind the clones as people and did his best to work with them, but it hurt that the Republic had chosen to use an army of tank bred men instead of people, like Koi, who had served with distinction for thirty years. It made Koi mad that good soldiers were going to waste in a war that made no sense.
Koi drew out his pistol and aimed it at the deranged Jedi. He would deal with the consequences later.
"By order of GAR and the Chancellors authority. I hereby ask you to stand down General Amaroth".
Amaroth swung around to face the fleet admiral. His face turned a revolting purple colour in rage.
"First my Padawan, now you". He took out his saber and ignited it. Koi's arm began to shake. The admiral finger compressed the trigger firing a single shot. Amaroth deflected it with ease before launching himself at Koi.
Koi was stabbed through the heart. His body fell to the floor with a thud. The rest of the bridge concentrated on their tasks and didn't dare look up.
Captain West, the Clone Captain of the 808th watch in disbelief. He silently got up from his station and left the bridge. He was done being one of Amaroth's punching bags. He headed for his squad's LAAT gunship and ordered Steer, the pilot, to take off.
Ileana felt Lieutenant Sprocket try to stop her from getting in the lift.
"Commander! You can't use those! not in the middle of a battle.". He yelled doing his best to drag her in the direction of the escape pods.
Ileana shoved him away. She had no choice. Amaroth was her master and his word was law.
The doors on the lift shut and she started to travel to the bridge. However her progress was stopped by a huge explosion and the sound of cracking metal. The lift began to free fall as she was tossed around like a ragdoll.
She closed her eyes and projected her thoughts to the ship. May the force be with you always.
A/N: This is my first story in over ten years and my first Clone Wars fic. I only got into the fandom a year ago when I started watching the series during a lockdown, long story short I fell in love with the characters, worldbuilding and storylines. Seriously all comments and feedback are appreciated :)