Revised 3/7/2022

a/n: This is an OC/OC, slow burn, enemies-to-lovers fic. Onika Ka'on is pronounced [AH-nih-KAH KAH-Ohn]. I do not own any Star Wars content or its characters, only those of my own creation.

WARNING: This story has strong, dark themes throughout, such as depression, suicide/suicidal thoughts, abuse and torture, flashbacks of sexual assault, among others. I will not go into great detail, but these things will be heavily implied. Warnings will be posted on chapters as needed. Please read at your own discretion.

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Chapter One: Sands of Geonosis

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Brown eyes gazed up into the black void of the commander's visor, begging. The woman rested her hand to the center of his chest plate, just below his pauldron. Oddly, she could feel his heart pounding in his chest, even though in reality it was fading. Gloved fingers covered her own, intertwining them forever. Those same golden brown orbs brimmed with tears as she heard herself shouting at him to stay alive. Sand hit her face, reminding her that this was just a Force vision, and that the real world was far away. A world which was falling apart...

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The Republic gunship flew over the endless red sands of Geonosis, throwing bright orange whisps into the hot, arid wind.

Jedi Knight Onika Ka'on closed her eyes to keep out the grains. Ash brown hair with blonde ends twisted in the wind, catching on the Jedi's face and the folds of her brown robe. Her lightsabers swung back and forth on the clips of her traditional tunic. When the breeze subsided, Onika opened her eyes, revealing two liquid amber orbs. Her fair skin shone from the bright sun over Geonosis.

This will be the first major conflict of her Jedi career, quite the task. Her former mentor, the Grand Master Yoda, entrusted her with an entire company to lead. They were tasked with destroying a Separatist intelligence outpost. Inexperienced in battle, Onika was very reluctant to believe herself ready to head such an operation.

However, Yoda sensed she was. And placed her with the rank of Commander.

In the gunship with her were three clones from the 66th Army Battalion. Ka'on was given a brief description of the men she was going into this mission with: special operatives trained specifically for retrieving or destroying enemy intel and communications. Apparently the nature of their training was far more brutal than that of their normal clone counterparts.

Onika glanced sideways to the clone commander of this battalion, Alpha-3, who also stood inside the gunship. When Onika glanced through the datapad on her company, Alpha-3's file was blacklisted. Considering how the other men were trained, it disturbed the Jedi Knight to imagine why their leader was classified.

The man had not yet said a word to Onika, only looked at her for a brief moment when she stood next to him.

As the gunship settled down onto the sands, the Jedi looked around curiously. They had landed quite a distance away from the main battle zone. It appeared the array of gunships that followed hers were in the valley of a vast mountain range. The orange-red rocks towered high into the open blue sky. Within the valley were several large rock formations and scattered ridges. The men were starting to gather in the circle the gunships created.

From overhearing the clones on the gunship talk to each other, Onika speculated that the Geonosian hideout was located past a series of mountains in an underground catacomb system. During her studies in the Jedi Temple, Ka'on had learned quite a bit about these systems. They were extensive and complex, very easy to get lost in. No wonder the Republic was sending a spec ops company in.

Onika felt a tap on her shoulder. Turning her head, she was met with a clone bearing no markings. He towered over her, as they all did, forcing her to crane her neck up.

"Might want to start making your way over, Commander," he said with his gruff accent. Onika blinked at him as she processed his words before glancing back to the gathering white mass of the company. In the mix she spotted the clone commander with his yellow stripes. He was making hand gestures and signals, not saying a word.

The clone nudged her again, and this time Onika blushed in embarrassment and started moving. She felt very out of place and had no clue what she was doing. These men were born into a military life, while she a peacekeeper one. Thankfully, the clone walked with her, probably sensing she needed guidance.

The red sand crunched underneath the Jedi's boots and the wind had her squinting. Heat from the beating sun wasn't helping either. Onika wondered how these men could be comfortable wearing head-to-toe armor and bodysuits in such conditions. Again, she was reminded that they were born for this lifestyle. None of this seemed to affect them in any capacity.

When Ka'on approached the group, Alpha-3 gave her a glance before looking back to his men. He activated a hologram mapping out the catacombs, most likely from scanning equipment. As he was gesturing to the different parts of the underground hideout without speaking, Onika realized he was communicating through his HUD. She was informed the clones had an internal communication system allowing them to speak with each other while remaining silent.

The Knight stood awkwardly as the briefing continued, completely disconnected from the group and feeling like an outcast. Onika couldn't help but wonder if they were intentionally leaving her uninformed. She dug swirls into the sand with the tip of her boot, trying not to let her nervousness get to her.

Out of nowhere the large group of clones broke off into smaller sections. Onika was not familiar with the structure or rankings of armies, but figured the men who stayed with Alpha-3 must be officers of some sort, as they bore either red, blue, or green stripes. The clone who had guided her tilted his helmet towards the commander before taking off to his section.

Ka'on cautiously approached the group, feeling shivers roll down her spine as the officers looked to her. Alpha-3 continued to look at the hologram while adjusting his equipment.

"Finally joining the party, general?" asked a clone with red markings. "We got a lot to catch you up on." The others chuckled a bit, checking the charges on their weapons or their utility belts. It was clear they didn't take her very seriously. Trained in reading people's outward thoughts and body language, the Jedi could tell the men viewed her as a burden to the mission.

Onika raised a brow at the man before nodded. "I would very much like to know what is going on."

The red-marked clone made a gesture and the ones with blue and green markings departed, splitting off to different groups. He then motioned for the Jedi to come closer to the hologram. Alpha-3 still said nothing to her. Onika stared at him for a moment with hesitation before stepping closer, giving her full attention to the man who spoke to her.

"Somewhere in this underground system is a facility the bugs used to keep quite a bit of information on their factories and production records. Intelligence wants us to storm the facility and either upload the information to the Republic database or destroy it. Whichever takes as little time as possible," he paused and looked at the commander, "The commander wants us to breach both entry-exit points at the same time to prevent any intel from escaping. You'll be going with his team."

The Jedi Knight gazed at the two groups forming in the valley and the men gearing up for the task. Her robe fluttered in the wind and she turned to the commander, who was now staring at her. She could not see his face, but the black visor burned a hole into her. This man radiated intimidation and aggression.

"Any questions, Jedi?"

Ka'on squinted her eyes at the commander, not registering what he had said for a moment. A small amount of resentment flushed through her at the tone of his voice. It reminded her too well of his genetic model, Jango Fett. The age old hatred between Mandalorians and Jedi was evident in him.

After a period of silence, and a few awkward clearing of throats from the officers, the commander took the hologram and deactivated it. "Good," he grunted, "I don't want to brief anyone a second time." With that the commander put a hand on the small blaster clipped to his hip and started walking away. When Onika didn't immediately follow him, he stopped in his tracks and looked over his shoulder. "Are you waiting for me to hold your hand or what?"

The red-marked clone laughed and put his right hand on Onika's shoulder. "Maybe I should take the Jedi on her first mission, eh Green?" he called out. With a shrug of his shoulders, the commander continued walking towards his team.

Onika turned to the man as he released her shoulder, giving him a slight smile.

"Green is pretty rough," he said with a smirk in his voice, "I'm sure he'll come around." Before he could start walking, Ka'on stopped him with a hand. "Thank you, uh…."

"Lucas," the man said, "I'm the captain of Phantom Company." Onika nodded in acknowledgement and walked alongside him towards the group of nearly seventy clone troopers gathered around a series of gunships. "Thank you, Lucas," she said. He muttered a "you're welcome" before they reached the group.

The two made their way through the crowd, the men stepping aside slightly for Lucas but not Onika. She had to shove her way past a couple clones pretending they didn't see her. It was obvious the Jedi would have to earn their respect, as they seem to imitate their leader's disdain for the Order.

Lucas reached the empty pocket inside of the mass and looked around, nodding towards each of the other officers, most likely taking a headcount. The captain turned around and motioned Onika over to his side.

"Alright boys," he spoke out loud instead of in the HUD system, so Onika could understand what was going on. "We are going to breach the west entrance two kliks from the main entrance, which Green is going after. Breach will happen at 2100 after the sun goes down so we can sneak across the valley under the cover of darkness."

"You know the drill, night vision and radio silence until we reach the compound. Lucky for us, the mountains masked our arrival so the bugs won't know we're coming. We still have a few kliks to move in on foot, so be ready to roll out in ten minutes. Check your packs. Lieutenants I need a headcount and gear check before we go out."

A green-marked clone whistled, catching the Captain's attention. "Cap', which squad do you want to take the charges?" Lucas looked around and grunted in thought. "Ahhh, hey Sergeant Grayson?"

Another green-marked clone sitting on the sand inspecting his weapon nodded his head. "Yeah, boss?" Onika made a mental note that the men with green armor must be sergeants, as red are captains. Yellow must be commanders, leaving the blue to be lieutenants.

"Since your guys are infiltrating the fourth quadrant wear the main storage room is I'll have you guys lug the charges. You good with that?" Lucas spoke in his grammatically poor manner.

"Sounds good to me," Grayson shrugged. The men standing behind him clapped each other on the shoulders and seemed excited at the prospect of blowing something up. Onika was slightly unnerved by this, having been drilled in the pacifist ways of the Jedi her whole life.

"Sweet," the captain said and clapped, "Roll out in ten minutes! Let's get going!"

The clones dispersed, leaving Onika and Lucas standing next to each other. Lucas handed Onika a pack of rations and the water canteen from his belt. "You'll need these for the trek," he muttered as she curiously took the items from him. "We'll probably be on foot for a couple hours."

"Thank you, again," Onika smiled at Lucas, receiving a nod. "You still have some for yourself?" She realized that he had given her his supply. With a roll of his shoulders, Lucas chuckled. "Don't worry, ma'am, we always carry extra. Plus the medics keep a water supply for us."

The winds started kicking up again, pelting sand onto the metal panels of the gunships. Onika watched as the pilots talked to each other in the cockpits casually. Even among the men who were prepping seemed so comfortable with all of this. Being an outsider and new to all of this, Onika was getting more nervous by the minute, not entirely knowing what was going on. All she could gather was that they were going to go in and blow something important up. She wasn't too sure what she was supposed to do or why they needed her.

"Hey," Lucas nudged her, "Just follow my lead and you'll do great." Onika blew out an uneasy breath and groaned. "I hope so," she muttered and stared off into the distance. Lucas patted her shoulder before stepping away, "You got eight minutes, commander."

With a huff, the Jedi Knight made her way back to the gunship she arrived in. She slipped off her robe and rested her hands on her lightsabers, drawing strength and comfort from their presence. Running her fingers over the fauna carvings in the metal, the young woman pondered over the position she was in. These men did not look up to her and disrespected her. Although she didn't condone this, Onika knew she needed to prove herself and earn that respect.

Ka'on hung the robe on a handle and stepped off the gunship, making her way towards Lucas's side. He took in her new appearance-Jedi tunic, twin lightsabers, and heeled knee-high brown boots-with approval. "You look ready to go," he poked.

Onika smirked his way and attached the canteen to her belt. "Ready as I'll ever be," she sighed under her breath.