Author's Note: Criticism is totally welcomed as a reminder! If you guys have any opinions on how you want the story let me know. I'm interested to see you guys's thoughts. I'm trying to balance Jana as well as I can, I just want to be sure I'm doing it properly!
Disclaimer: I only own Jana. Not Star Wars.
While the Golden Trio set about their individual missions, Jana relaxed her tensed shoulders and worked to control her breathing. The shuttle over had really roughed her up, and she was sure bruises would dot her sides and shoulders by morning if not already.
"You fairin alright, Commander?" Rex asked, worried for the young girl.
Jana nodded and pulled up the shoulders of her tunic to show where bruises were already surfacing on her tan farmer's skin. Blue and purple settled themselves in nicely where the sides of the shuttle had dinged her up.
Rex made a hissing, fake grimacing sound. "The Shiny pilots will ding ya up real nice and quick, huh?" He chuckled. "As long as you're alright." Jana sensed a type of sadness clinging to the soldier. She looked at him with a raised eyebrow, and he knew precisely what she was asking even without the words. What's wrong?
"The clones in the medical area don't seem to be patchin up too kind, Commander. Nothin terrible, we're disposable soldiers to the Republic. But it's not fair to the Shinies to die their first mission." He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. Jana frowned at his words.
"Not disposable." She punched him lightly in the arm, not that it would have hurt Rex had she punched harder. He looked at her with a puzzled look. "Friends are not disposable." Her words held no room for debate. She was firm in what she said, and she tried a weak smile at Rex.
"Thank you, Commander. I'm glad you see us that way." Rex felt very caught off guard by the Jedi's opinion, but he wasn't disappointed by any means. "I know many don't see us like that." Jana nodded in disgust. If I could change the ways of the Republic I would. The ways of this war. It's not fair. The commander looked back up at Rex.
"Where are the wounded?" She coughed after asking the question, the pain in her throat spiking. Rex looked at her sympathetically.
"On the other side of the cargo piles, inside one of the abandoned buildings. I'm headed there if you'd like for me to take ya." She bowed her head in confirmation and thanks as they began toward the medical camp.
"So, how do you think the General and his new Padawan are getting along while on their mission?" Rex made small talk to partially fill the silence but also being genuinely curious about his trusted friend. Jana chuckled briefly and replicated Rex's noise from earlier, hissing through her teeth. Rex laughed at her response loudly, knowing that was the best possible way to sum it up. "You got that one right! I'm not sure the General is much of one for ankle biters. Not now at least." Jana nodded.
"He will grow." She added. Rex was surprised again- he didn't think she would talk this much, especially to him. A clone.
"Yeah, I reckon you're right. The way the General acts can sometimes be like that of an ankle biter anyways." Jana laughed at the reference. It was good to know Anakin acted like a child away from her as well and more so that she was not the only one to notice. They stepped through a doorway where a glass door used to have been, their boots crunching on the shattered fragments that now covered the pavement. A few cots were spread out with one medical droid and other Clones helping or comforting their wounded. Jana's face remained stoic at the morbid sight.
"There's seven injured, ma'am. Three are in critical condition. I was coming here for their, eh, farewells." Rex didn't know if this would trigger Jana or help her. On Geonosis she hadn't paid much mind to the bodies, but one could never know with those who were hurt.
Jana continued to gaze out on the cots. This is wrong. They shouldn't be raised just to be slaughtered. They're so casual about their deaths, and it's not right. The Padawan felt the pull of the force to the cots; she knew what she must do.
"Ma'am?" Rex became concerned that she had gone into shock. But Jana looked at Rex and tapped his hand with hers. Take me. Rex nodded, leading her to the first dying victim. Burns scorched the clone's steaming and smoking skin, mostly around his neck. Looking at the armor beside his cot Jana noted blaster shots all around the rim of the breast plate. Must have been targeted by a sniper droid. These buildings make perfect leverage points for them. And, by the looks of it, a turret nearly caught him.
"How ya doin, Toothless?" Rex asked. The clone in question, Toothless as they called him, groaned with his eyes still closed.
"Med droid gave me-" He coughed in fits, "Somethin' to knock the pain down." Blood splattered across his black under suit with his hacking. "I'll go peacefully, Captain." No, you will not be going. The Clone's eyes finally opened and locked onto Jana's blue ones. He began to scramble to salute, but Jana shook her head and put her hands on his arms. Rest.
"CT-108-" He began to recite his number despite the seering pain.
"Toothless." She interrupted and corrected. Jana didn't like the clone numbers. She smiled at him reassuringly but weakly from her own weariness. All will be well. The only fatal thing for Toothless was the main blast shot near his throat that put a divet in his poorly protected neck.
"Ma'am, if you try to stitch him up it will get infected. We don't have gloves and the med droid said it was a lengthy-" Jana shushed Rex, seemingly annoyed by his doubt. The Commander settled on her knees so she didn't have to bend over to be eye level with Toothless, who was a bit spooked by this whole thing.
"Commander, I must recommend that-" Jana closed her eyes to block out the moaning of the other Clones as well as Rex's words. Across the way, out of a cargo bin, a sterile needle and roll of stitching thread floated over. Using the force she began to stitch up the deep throat wound, struggling to envision the anatomy of the throat. Meanwhile she also pulled gauze over, dipping it in the last bits of spilled liquid antibiotics (the best from Kamino that repaired the epidermis unlike any other). Scissors also cut at some parts of the skin as some of it was unusable, burned beyond repair. When Toothless began to struggle from the pain, she had to also divert her Force to calming him. Rex watched, stunned at the rapid work she was performing. Before long the patch work had been completed and the burns wrapped and treated. It would have taken an hour for the medical droid to have gotten the throat wound itself stitched.
Jana cut the last thread and tied the knot of the last stitch. Exhaling in relief, she stopped all Force exertion and let the tools drop to the floor. Multitasking like that hurt her energy severely.
"Commander... thank you." Toothless rasped out. Jana's head was buried in her arms at the side of the cot, and she struggled to catch her breath. Rex became concerned and put a hand on her shoulder. Jana looked up with a red face from panting. She stood with wobbly legs.
"You didn't have to, I'm just a-" Rex shook his head and made motions to stop Toothless from finishing his sentence. Jana's scowl was enough to shut him up, though. "Thank you." He managed a smile, and Jana saw why they called him toothless. Right where his front two teeth should have been there were gaps. Must have gotten knocked out in a fight. Jana smiled at him and turned to Rex. She tapped his hand. Lead me to the others.
"Commander, are you sure? You seem taxed after that, and there are two more in critical condition that the medical droid won't tend to since their surviving rate is so low. And we still are in a battle zone." Jana shook her head in defiance and tapped the palm of his hand again. Rex sighed in defeat. Good soldiers followed orders.
While the medic droid tended to the other clones' mild and minor injuries of those that would for sure recover- as programmed- Jana worked on two others under the names of Trench and Nosey. Trench had a blaster wound in his left shoulder that had landed close to his heart. His repair was not easy, but there was only one portion of the soldier she needed to focus on. Nosey had a gash tracing around his whole torso that had cut deeply into his liver from where a crashed shuttle had rolled onto him. Jana had a difficult time helping with the blood loss and recovery on Nosey's part, but she managed. She was so focused she never noticed her Master watching by the doorframe.
"Thank you, Commander. I don't know how you managed it, but thank you. You Jedi are somethin else." Jana smiled weakly at Nosey while Rex stuttered in awe. She had used the Force to keep the flow of blood in his body, and using a filtering pump forced the lost blood on the floor through and back into the soldier. To say it was terrifyingly incredible would be an understatement.
"Very good work, Padawan. Your connection with the Force is nothing short of impressive. I hope you still have energy to continue this battle, though?" Master Plo Koon asked. Jana looked up from her squat on the floor and nodded. "Good- we're nearing the time of a finalized surrender if Obi-Wan has done all he can. Come join me." Rex helped Jana up, and she hurried over to her Master's side. Rex gave them time to themselves and checked on his soldiers.
"Jana, I was hoping you would utilize this time to rest yourself in preparation for what is to come later today." Jana began to scramble for ways to defend herself. "No need to panic, Youngling. You have exceeded my expectations." Her emotions calmed down at once. Oh. "You seem to know as well as I do that these Clones are people. They are human, just like you and Master Skywalker and Kenobi and Windu. They are soldiers, yes, but not nobodies. No solider is a nobody." Jana smiled and nodded her head. "What you did today is an accomplishment in itself. But how did you know of these medical techniques, I must ask?"
"Master, my grandparents." Plo Koon nodded. He knew from Master Jeng that her grandparents had taken care of Jana on a farm on Naboo. "Farm accidents are common. I had to learn advanced medical aid for the sake of our workers, my family, and myself." She slid off her signature golden arm band to reveal heavy scarring on her right arm. It looked like machinery had dug into her skin and shredded it. Once Plo Koon had observed it well enough to get the implied message she replaced the band. It hadn't always been worn on her right.
"I know many personal attacks have been made on your emotions, Jana. I understand it will take time for these wounds to heal." The glass under their boots gave away every step they took as they walked. "And I know I am not your previous master. But if speaking about these pains would help, or conveying them would, please do not refrain from doing so. The more you heal, the more you will be able to accomplish with the Force." Jana nodded attentively. "What you did in the medical camp can only be accomplished by those extremely strong with the Force. However, make sure you do these out of the light and not out of your fear of the past repeating. Or out of hatred for a group's opinions." He's referring to the Republic's opinions on clones.
"But regardless, as your new master I do not expect for you to feel close to me immediately. As long as you know I am here as your Master and friend, not a replacement or imposter, I am pleased." Jana smiled warmly at Plo Koon's words despite her weakened state.
"Thank you, M-"
"The shields! They're down!" A clone's voice shouted over Jana. Immediately the Jedi began sprinting toward their enemy's fallen shields and bulked up turrets. There wasn't a moment to waste.
"Rex, have your men take on cover and the grounded droids until Jana and I have the turrets disabled!" Plo Koon ordered. Jana engaged her saber and held it back handed. Using her momentum of sprinting, she leapt from one building to the other until flipping in an axel to cut off the snout of a turret. The droid Manning it shouted at her, and she quickly sliced him in half.
Plo Koon had already taken down two by throwing his saber horizontally. There were only two more left. The duo nodded at each other and split up.
"Blast it!" Jana yelped as a sniper droid's blast scathed the side of her left arm. Rex heard her yelp over the coms and helped cover her from the grounded attack who had noticed her due to her slowed pace. Blasted piece of bantha fodder sniper droid- I can't afford to slow down! Jana used her blade to deflect the shots until she got close enough to jump to the sniper's roof. In one swipe she killed the piece of junk. Jana gratefully looked to Rex and nodded her head in thanks.
"Anytime, Commander!" He spun his pistol around his finger. So he's got tricks. She smiled. But upon hearing Plo Koon's saber end the second to last turret, Jana reminded herself to be in the moment. Diving off the high roof she cut the turret in half completely, earning cheers from the Clones below. Blowing through the troops of droids, Anakin and Ahsoka came into sight. Sounds of ships came in over head, and Jana prepared to take down air fire. But looking up she saw reinforcement ships with Master Yoda aboard. The laser cannons were already going to work on the battle droids below. They had won this round.
"General Whorm Loathsom has surrendered his troops and this section of Christophsis to the Republic. Well done." Obi-Wan's voice came over the coms. The Clones cheered in victory, Commander Kinell resting her hands on her thighs to catch her breath.
"Well done, Padawan. We have much to work on technically with you saber. But your force work and agility is quite impressive." Master Plo Koon praised over the incoming ships' commotion. Jana smiled at him once again, grateful for an understanding master.
It didn't take the Republic forces long to clean up the camp and prepare to move partially backward to Coruscant. The surrendered droids would be deactivated and their memories investigated while General Loathsom would be put on trial.
Ahsoka and Anakin seemed to be getting along fairly well upon their return. Or at least, Anakin seemed trusting of the togruta after whatever had occurred by the shields.
"Jana! The men speak highly of you. I don't know what you did while we were gone, but good job." Anakin grinned. Ashoka gasped jokingly at his comment.
"So you can be nice." She teased, which made Jana chuckle. Anakin looked appalled that Jana had essentially agreed with Ashoka.
"What?! Of course I can be. I am nice. Just when someone deserves it." The duo began to spin back up into arguing, this time with fondness.
On the other hand, Master Kenobi seemed ultimately tired- almost as if he had been babysitting Younglings all day.
"I take it the distraction went well?" Master Plo Koon chuckled at the sight of his frazzled friend.
"Oh, what gave it away? My eye bags or the temper tantrum the General is throwing?" Obi-Wan huffed, making Jana giggle slightly. Master Yoda walked to where the other Jedi had congregated.
"Greetings, Padawans and Masters. Congratulate you on this victory, I must. But bring ill news, I do." Jana's tired heart fell at his words. A war never stops for the weary.
"Kidnapped, Jabba's son, Rotta has been. To make peace between the Hutt clan and Republic, find him we must." The group nodded in agreement despite their tired bodies. "Master Skywalker, you and your apprentice will track Rotta down. And negotiate with the Hutt clan on Tatooine, you will, Obi-Wan." The Golden trio began to discuss their plans and reason while Yoda turned to Plo Koon and Jana.
"Done well, you two have. Remain as Padawan and Master, will you?" Yoda checked for confirmation.
"Yes, of course." Jana quickly replied, hoping Plo Koon would do the same.
"Jana will be interesting to watch in growth to say the least." Plo Koon confirmed her hopes. For the first time in a month Jana felt happiness creep in her stomach.
"Good. Return to Coruscant for a briefing, you two will. A mission to the Abregado System, you will be taking." Master Yoda ordered. The duo nodded in compliance and turned to board a ship.
"Stay alive and well, boys!" Rex bid farewell to the newcomers of the camp and grabbed a handle beside Jana. Although he had said it with a smile, she felt the anxiety and concern wafting off of him. I hope this camp stays secured this way. She then noticed the medical beds hovering in the ship behind her.
"Aye, it's the Commander!" Trench smiled once he recognized her. Jana smiled at him brightly and found Nosey as well as Toothless with him. Rex's emotions changed to something almost... smug. He did this on purpose. He put me with the men from the medical camp. Jana turned to him, and a Cheshire smile spread across his face.
"Thought ya might wanna let them give ya proper thanks." He mumbled. The Commander bashfully looked down at her boots to hide her smile. It almost felt wrong to be happy.
"If there's anything we can do for you, Commander, let us know. Just cause we're put back together like those clankers right now doesn't mean we can't lend ya a hand when needed!" Nosey said. Jana pretended to think and then looked expectantly at the boys. They raised their eyebrows in curiosity.
"Story of the names." She grinned, and the boys eagerly told her how they got their names, even as they boarded the Command ship. Jana walked beside their beds to the medical bay the whole way.