Bit of a short chapter, whoops!
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Chapter 5: Slick's Squad
Commander Cody, Captain Rex and her own Master stood in front of her, or rather sat behind an overly long desk. The first two knew the entire story behind the treason and the reveal of Choppers break of the rules.
Chopper stood behind her, his nerves choking the air around them. The rest of the squad he had been a part of was waiting outside of their meeting room, just as nervous.
Aliette took a deep breath, pulling the Force inside of herself to calm the beginning of a racing heart. She let the air back out, let the Force flow out of her and brush against the clones. The ones in the hallway accepted it into themselves. Chopper stood straighter in rejection of the offered ease.
"Padawan," her Master addressed her, "We would like to hear your recommendations now."
Aliette bowed slightly, an automatic response she had never really been able to break herself of.
"Of course."
She had spent hours debating what she should do, meditating on the issue and, after a lot of reading on what was normally done and what rules and regulations said, she had finally come up with something.
"Due to the extenuating circumstances surrounding the charges against the accused it is my opinion that Chopper should be given a clean slate," she announced, as formal and confident as she could force herself to sound. The surprise around the room was unanimous. "Because of the lack of reliability of the source, I believe that all demerits and punishments should be removed from his record. This does not mean that he is free of responsibility for his own actions, and as punishments for those mistakes I believe that in addition to removing all negative records so too should go the positive. Rank, medals, and so on. "
There was silence for a few moments, all eyes were still fixed on her. Aliette focused on her calm and the Force before she started to fear what they thought. The fear that she was wrong.
Her Master watcher her carefully with pale blue eyes, making her doubt herself. She could feel the surprise and the conflict in the clone officers, coming off of them palpably. She didn't push deeper for their thoughts, that would be rude and intrusive and that was not in her to do.
The Pantoran began to shift from one foot to the other before she forced herself not to and instead clasped her hands behind her back. She hated the lack of confidence she had in herself and in her own decisions. It was unfit for a Jedi.
Perhaps that was why she had never been chosen to be a Padawan before.
The second guessing and the rising anxiety were dispersed when he master nodded slowly and started stroking his beard.
"It's not a bad idea," he said. "In fact, I think it would work fine."
Commander Cody cleared his throat. "Sir, if I may? Perhaps we should add another condition. Because of the circumstances we should put the entire squad under surveillance with a high ranking officer, to be cautious."
Aliette could feel the offense from Chopper, and the anger, and something quieter and more dangerous than either one of those.
Acceptance.
He didn't open his mouth to object.
"Aliette," her Master said, bringing the girl to stand at Attention, "I trusted you to come up with a decision for this case, and you have. I can tell you put a lot of thought into this. I'll back your decision, and Cody's as well. He had a good point."
The girl lowered her head. "Thank you, Master," she said quietly, smiling softly where it wouldn't be seen. She hadn't done badly.
Her master was watching her thoughtfully, his fingers still working over his beard.
"You don't have much experience with military, do you?" he asked suddenly, startling the new Padawan into a jerking her chin higher. The girl blinked rapidly for a minute before she shook her head, worry returning. He had said that her choice was acceptable, she didn't' want him to decide something else because of her lack of knowledge in the face army command.
"No, Master," all she had was a rudimentary knowledge based off of lessons the temple provided and what she had learned while trying to figure out what to do about Chopper's case.
The smile on his face made her skin crawl with the plan it betrayed.
"We need someone of rank to keep an eye on Chopper and his squad, and you need someone who knows how things work to help you get adjusted," she could see Commander Cody and Captain Red look at each other and felt not only their surprise but Chopper's as well when her Master's plan became obvious.
"What do you think, Padawan?" he asked.
Aliette hesitated a moment. People didn't normally ask her opinion, it was happening a lot lately. It threw her off quite a bit. Slowly she looked to Chopper, trying to read past his general disbelief for what he thought. Without pushing with the Force she couldn't get anything else. She didn't press it.
Gold eyes met blue, her chin lifted slightly. They had knowledge that she did not, she had power that they didn't. They would need to work together to get through the war, the way that already were going to. This just meant that she would be working more closely than she would have otherwise.
"I think it would be… mutually beneficial, to work with Chopper and his brothers until further notice," she decided. Her voice was softer than she would have liked, less assured. The words were already out of her mouth so she couldn't take it back and try again.
Words were like that.
"Excellent," her Master smiled at her. "Later on, you and I have hair care to get to."
A smile grew across her face, warmth filled her chest.
This would be just fine.
She was in the medical unit when they arrived. Chopper was in the front, still looking a bit dazed like he had when he'd left the office earlier.
Aliette looked up at them briefly before she went back to checking on the trooper under her care, unconscious from a blow to the head during an accident unloading supplies earlier that day.
She had his fingers curled into her while she lay her hand across his forehead, checking for any damage done. There were no injuries she could find, just a bit of bruising and some swelling she pushed down before it hurt the trooper. His tense body relaxed once she did and slowly the young Pantoran drew away.
She picked up at data pad and tapped the green square in the corner, jotting down a note in his general health and how long she estimated it would take for him to wake up. It wasn't even a concussion, he was alright.
When she turned to the squad she bowed a few degrees, startling them all.
Aliette straightened up and smiled at them softly.
"Hello," she greeted, "I'm Aliette Ansa. I look forward to working with you."
Two of her men looked at each other, Jester found the wall over her ear more interesting than she and the fourth was staring at her hard from his Attention. Only Chopper was unsurprised by her greeting, though he didn't react much to it beyond shifting his weight to his left foot instead of his right.
"General Kenobi said we were being reassigned to you," one of them said.
The other of the apparent pair was frowning, bitterness in every line of his face.
Aliette chose not to comment on it.
"That was the decided course of action," she confirmed. The Pantoran turned a smile to the two she already knew. "Hello again Jester, Chopper."
Jester stood straighter. "Ma'am."
Chopper glanced at her then away. Neither of them were looking directly at her, though Jester was good at pretending he was. Aliette didn't mind. It was easier for her to not meet their eyes as well.
She looked over the other three, the ones she had never met, and tried to get a read. Most of their Centers were hidden by unease or distrust, a touch of anger held the frowning one.
"I'm sorry," she began carefully, "I'm afraid I can't match faces to names with you three. Gus, Punch, and Sketch, yes?"
The first speaker stepped forwards. "I'm Sketch, Sir. This," he nodded to the unhappy Trooper to his side, "Is Punch."
The last one, the one that had yet to break his anxious Attention, cleared his throat. "I'm Gus."
The former Sergeant's Second. Aliette made sure not to show any negative emotions to him.
"It's good to meet you," she said again. "I hope to learn from and fight along with all of you."
Punch clicked his tongue to his teeth, showing his Irritation. "You can stop that," he grumbled, "We know why we're here."
"Punch," Sketch cut at him. He looked to Aliette with some Apprehension. The Padawan remained unphased, visibly. Jester even looked right at her before away again. He had started to rub his fist once more.
"Good," she said easily, "Then that will make things simpler. You know that you are under suspicion and I know that I really do have limited experience with military matters. I hope for this arrangement to be mutually beneficial."
She was talking a lot lately. She would be very happy when she didn't have to do that anymore.
Sadly, Commanders often had to, well, Command. And that meant speaking. Aliette looked to Jester and pushed another offering of calm to him. He took it and she felt a small sliver of gratitude push through the air.
"You're a Jedi," Punch was frowning at her. "How inexperienced could you be?"
Aliette looked down from him, a downward turn to her lips. Her lack of knowledge would make her less useful. She had been lucky so far, but she knew better than to rely on luck.
"I am a Padawan, old as I look. The first battle I was ever a participant in was the final stand for this planet," she admitted.
Surprise filtered through the air.
"Your first?" Gus repeated. There was a note of disbelief to his voice.
"That's right," she nodded. "I had training, of course, but I am a Healer. I had no need to be on the battlefield until I was assigned to be Master Kenobi's Padawan."
"But even Medics go on the field," Gus objected. Aliette bowed her head and said nothing more. Their medics did. She hadn't left the Temple in fifteen years.
Sketch shifted his posture just enough to bring their attention to him. His chin had lifted. His Center was revealed. Adaptability, Duty, and frail Loyalty.
"If that's the case, Sir, I would be glad to assist you however I can."
Aliette awarded him with a small smile and inclined her head, grateful.
They would be good companions, she could feel it.
The room was emptier without Slick there.
It wasn't the same sort of emptiness that came from a Brother who had died on the field or the emptiness off being the only trooper left in the room while the rest were away. Jester knew both of those feeling more intimately than he would have ever liked.
This was a different sort of absence entirely.
The desk in the corner that had once belonged to the sergeant was swept clean of anything and everything. It was almost like he had never been there at all.
Jester knew though, that that would never be the case. He knew that Punch and Sketch would stick as close as possible for as much time as they could, even if they weren't assigned opposing hours and rigs anymore. He knew that Chopper would always wake up silently and watch to make sure he wasn't the first before sitting.
He knew that the rough scars on the back of his own knuckles would never go away.
He knew that he would never stop cleaning his Blaster thrice over twice no matter how long Slick was gone.
Somethings could never go away. The lingering presence of Slicks eyes, forever boring into him for any signs of weakness or sources of ridicule, Jester didn't think those would ever stop prickling the skin on his arms.
Some part of him was still in disbelief that it was over. That Slick was found out, that he wasn't coming back. That they were free from his oppressive stare and firm hand.
Jester had always had strong hands. More than even his other Hatchmates his hands were steady and still when he needed them to be, good for working. Slick had said that were too stiff to be good for anything. That was why his blaster was always messy. Always.
He shook those thoughts out. Jester had to wonder if his new Commander had steady hands too. She was Healer, that was as good as a Medic wasn't it? And they always had firm grips.
Her hands had looked too small for that, Commander Ansa's. Aliette's.
She was small, smaller than him, smaller than the General who was shorter than any clone already. Jester figured she was just over a meter and a half. Surely she was younger than she said she was. No one could naturally be that little unless they were a Youngling.
To be fair, he was barely over ten, but his aging was accelerated and his mind matched it.
That same mind was keeping him awake later than he should have been, considering that he was going to be serving someone entirely knew when the sun rose on the crystal city.
Jester sighed softly and tried to get his mind to shut up for a bit, just a few hours. That was all he had let and then it was his first day under Commander Ansa.
From in the dark he was surprised to hear Chopper's voice resound, and the breaths of two other Clones catch at his words.
"She's not bad."
Jester smiled to himself.
Chopper didn't like many people. If he said she was alright, she probably was.
The two Jedi sat in Obi Wan's quarters in the Christophsis Base, both cross legged on the floor in the middle of the room. Their knees didn't quite touch, their posture was perfectly mimicked. Backs straight, hands clasped in their respective laps and eyes closed.
No words were spoken as the Force pulled and pushed around them, twisting with life and feeling. It pulsed through the pair, aligned their heart beats and their breath. The Force surrounded them, enveloped and penetrated deep into their bones. With the twisting of the air, with a shift in gravity, three long strands of hair separated themselves from the rest behind her ear, pulling mauve locks into a slowly over lapping twist.
With the weaving of her braid came together their thoughts, a Bond that only Master and Padawan could ever have spinning together with her hair.
Obi Wan was allowed in his Padawan's mind, a space of fluttering with thoughts and the ease of the Force. Hope and fear battled somewhere far off, clips of worry and of stress flickered into his space. Mostly it was calm, and relief.
He let her step into his thoughts as well, allowed Aliette to touch his mind the way Anakin did. He had never been able to sever their Bond, he wasn't sure he would be able to this time either. Already he could feel himself growing fond of his new Learner. She was starting to like him too, or perhaps she liked the idea of a Master.
They would work on that, they would work a lot together.
She must have heard that thought for her own calmed almost immediately after he thought it.
He felt when she thought of the future, understood her fears that there was a reason she had never been chosen before, that he might send her back. He sent a wave of assurance back to her. That wasn't going to happen.
He breathed in.
She breathed out.
A leather cord left his hand to wrap firmly around the thin braid they had formed.
Gold eyes opened to meet blue at the same time pink hair dropped back, thumping softly against her shoulder. Obi Wan smiled at his new apprentice. Her hair hung, the braid separated now from the rest of it. Each strand was perfectly placed, one for the Master, one for the Padawan, and one for the Force, all three coming together in perfectly crafter unity.
It was official now.