Chapter 8: Kaliida

This one's a little shorter than most.

Reviews:

Tatsuki Vermilion: Settling is something of a strong word. She's learning, at least. Ventress' light sabers weren't made by her, they were made by Komari Vosa, Dooku's old Padawan. When he found Ventress he gave her Komari's light sabers. I think I put a flashback in where Aliette is training with Komari, which is sort of how she knows them.

BlueMoonAce: I have!

Regin: Thank you, here you go!

As soon as she discovered the next target for the superweapon Aliette knew she would not be sleeping soon.

A medical facility, filled with the injured and dying. Those that could not fight back. Those that she had made vows to protect to mend. They were not her charges but they might as well have been, for the unexpected fury that washed over her when she heard the news. Deka had actually stepped back from her when it slipped from her grip and into the air, the poor man.

Now she stared at the holographic map of the system around Naboo, her hands clasped firmly before her. Chopper was with her that day, standing at Ease in one corner of the room while her mind spun unhappily. Hyperspace shot by around them, stars and planets blurred with speeds impossible by mortal means. They were on their way to the Kaliida Shoals Medical Center, desperately trying to reach it in time to save the 60,000 wounded troopers on it. The Naboo were already on their way to try and help, being the closest people who could. 'Soka and her Master, as well as Plo Koon, were taking a 'short cut' to try and beat the monstrous ship to their hurt troopers.

Aliette prayed they made it there in time.

"Commander, glaring at the stars won't make us reach them faster," Chopper said from behind. It was his own dry attempts at humor. She managed a smile for the trooper.

"I suppose not. Wishful thinking, perhaps, will make us faster?" One of the deck officers snorted at her joke, lightening her own spirits marginally. At she could get some people to laugh at more than just her mistakes.

"Even when we get there, there's little I will be able to do. My Master will pass out the orders, and I am neither pilot nor gunman. I won't be able to aid any at all with the offense. Defense it mostly for the shields. I suppose my role this time will be waiting until the injured in come." Behind her, Chopper cleared his throat.

"You could always go to them, Commander." Curious, she turned to look at the scarred trooper, only a moment lest he draw in as he had a tendency to do when too much attention was put on him. Draw In or Lash Out. It was difficult sometimes to know which he might be leaning more toward. She was still learning to read him. Chopper must have taken her glance as a sign to continue, for he did.

"You could take a transport to the Med Base and help there. Evac if they get shut down, or fixing those that need it." Aliette jerked up straight in her surprise. She could. It was well within her power to take a ship to assist the satellite, and there was no reason for her to be denied if she put the request to her master. The Pantoran turned to her subordinate and smiled widely.

"Thank you, Chopper. I believe we've found our first mission as a squad." He started when she threw in the word 'we' before his chin lifted and his shoulders tightened into attention. Aliette turned to the communicator on her wrist, now attached to arm guards, and put out the call.

"Master? Where are you?" she asked. The thrill of being a Padawan still hadn't worn off and sent a thrill of accomplishment through her chest.

"I'm in the Conference room, Aliette. Will you be joining me?" he questioned over the Comms. Aliette confirmed that she would be there soon before she and Chopper set off through the ship, he shadowing her two paces behind and to the left. It was a place of honor, she had been told before, to be on the Right.

It meant you had been chosen to be the Right Hand, the most trusted person, to your superior. Aliette had yet to take that place with her own Master, and her personal men she had yet to assign the place to. She did not know then well enough to decide where they would belong with her. They did not put themselves there.

Perhaps this day things would change for the better.

Aliette would have completely overshot the Conference room if Chopper hadn't slowed and politely cleared his throat from behind. Her ears turning light violet the girl nodded in thanks to Chopper and stepped into the room, trying to ignore the smidgen of humiliation that crept up her spine. It was a simple mistake. She didn't need to be as upset about it as she was.

Master Kenobi looked over at her with a kind curve of his mouth when she walking in, Chopper trailing behind. Cody was with him, as was Captain Rex. She bowed to them all, her Padawan braid bouncing against her shoulder. Illegal pride touched her heart at it.

"Master, have I missed much?" She hoped it wasn't an important meeting. If it was, and she had been left out…

Then it would have been her Masters choice. One that would hurt something horrible. A wave of reassurance was pushed towards her through the newly formed Bond. She sent a smile back to the one it came from, and a received a nod in return.

"We were only discussing the new Y-Wings, nothing to worry about," he assured, gesturing to his clone companions. A sliver of envy, unwelcome and annoying, flittering through her heart before she could squash it. He spoke with his men more than his student.

"The fighters?" she clarified, wanting to make sure she hadn't misinterpreted his words. Her Master nodded confirmation and pulled up the schematics on a holo-feed. The diagram floated, turning slowly to be seen from all sides by all present. She felt Chopper's admiration for the designs, though she herself was only a mediocre pilot she could recognize good craftsman ship.

"Yes. As you know Anakin has taken a small strike team of them to attack Grievous before we arrive to back them up. We were just talking about ways we could use them in the future, if this venture is successful," Obi Wan explained. Aliette made a sound of understanding.

"They could be very useful in the future," she agreed carefully, looking for an opening to make her request. Obi Wan must have seen her predicament for he took mercy on her struggles.

"What did you need, Aliette?"

"Oh!" she stood straighter, "I had thought that, when we reach the base, I might take a small number of troops, my squad predominantly, to the Medical base to assist in either treatment or evacuation, as needed. I believe I might be of more use there than here." Obi Wan regarded her with such care she had to struggle not to shift from foot to foot. Her hands didn't shake.

"If you were to do that, how would I teach you to lead in a firefight like the one we're about to go into?" he reasoned. Aliette took it as refusal and back down quickly.

"I'm sorry Master. It was only a small thought. I will remain at your side, of course." As a Padawan should. She had been foolish to believe this was the right course of action. He was to be teaching her and if he would do that she couldn't be running around just because there was someone in pain-

"It was a good idea," he cut in smoothly, snapping her thoughts from the path they had been spiraling into. "The only problem is the timing. Once things have calmed, if you still wish to see to the Medical base, by all means, take your men. It may prove an educational field trip." While she disliked the phrasing the Pantoran lowered herself into a respectful bow.

"Yes Master."

A Field Trip. How Quaint.

Chopper walked behind his small Commander, trying to stay in the right position. Her legs were so much shorter than his she would be all too easy to outpace if he didn't pay attention. With the Generals they were all almost of the same height, but not his Commander. She was a good head shorter than them all, despite her being at least as old as them physically. He didn't know much about Pantorans, and so marked it up to their basic anatomy. Perhaps they were all tiny and she was a giant. He didn't know.

He didn't question it either. He wasn't Gus, who poked and prodded at their Commander for every conceivable fault he could find. Nor was he Jester, who had a strange interest in how the woman reacted to things. He wasn't as outspoken as Punch or as closed off as Sketch. After the ordeal with the Court Martial and Slicks betrayal…

Chopper didn't know who he was. He did know that if he kept not paying attention he was going to trip over the Commander the next time she stopped. He drew up just short of her left shoulder, very near striking it with his chest plate. She didn't seem to notice, her eyes were locked on the window outside the bay they were passing, one of the viewing ports allowed on the upper levels. They had left hyperspace, and through the clear wall he could see a massive ship, partially lit on fire, with the new Y Wings shooting away from it. Chopper let out a soft whistle from beneath his helmet.

"A Behemoth falls to the calls of birds," his Commander murmured. Chopper could have sighed. Jedi had a horrible habit of speaking nonsense. He'd hoped this one had a bit more sense, but it appeared otherwise.

"It's not down yet, Commander. Those Clankers might still get away," he reminded her. Gold eyes slid back to him and for a second he worried he'd spoken out of turn before remembering who he was talking to. The Commander was about as lenient as anyone got.

"I know. But we're here now, so maybe we can stop this monstrosity before it has the chance to run." There was something bright flickering in her eyes. Before his downcast eyes Chopper realized what it was. I couldn't quite figure out what you wanted to say here, so I made a guess.

Hope.

"My Master will want us at the bridge," she assumed, and turned them back as they went. Chopped went after her dutifully, his steps light as could be in the armor he was weighted down with. He had always been quick footed, more so than any of his squad mates. It made him quiet and fast.

Not fast enough to avoid a crashing ship on Geonosis.

His jaw grew tight at the thought and he stood straighter, his muscles growing tighter. A soft wave pushed against his chest, flowing potential calm at him. He accepted it without question, breathing in the gift from his Commander.

She didn't look at him, didn't ask him. He was grateful. He was supposed to be made of tougher stuff, designed to withstand any kind of pressure, any sort of trauma. Like the rest of his brothers.

But something had gone wrong on Geonosis. Something had been knocked loose. Some part his brain that made him resilient. He'd lost the restraints they had forcibly set inside his skull.

More calm was pushed to him and something nudged his hand. His mind. A phantom hand that felt cool as the snow he'd been trained so briefly in. He took a breath and stood straighter. Locked his mind up.

He didn't want the Jedi inside.

There was the smallest twitch of his Commanders fingers and the ghostly pressure eased. No longer touching. Chopper's jaw tightened and he finally banished the thoughts from his mind to focus on the bridge they had come upon. Commander Ansa was at General Kenobi's side already, her eyes forwards. With one ear open for any orders he watched the battle unfold, his palms itching to take up arms and join it.

It wasn't going to happen, of course. They had their orders, and besides that he was trained for planetary combat, not arial. He knew the basics but he was not brought up to fight in the stars. His place was on ground, in hard terrain and tough surfaces. He was lucky, he supposed, that his Commander seemed to have little interest in star fighting. He would be in trouble if he was trying to learn to be a fighter pilot in the middle of a war. It would be suicide.

But if the Commander ordered it…

"Go ahead," the General said as soon as the explosions were fading. Skywalker's squad had done it and just like that he was rushing after his Commander, lock step behind her light, silent footsteps. She moved fast. Jedi quick. Jedi were so fast, it was ridiculous that they were expected to keep up with them, just clones, all alike.

Never so fast. Gus, Sketch, Punch and Jester fell in behind him, none of them moving to the Commanders right. None of them were privileged enough for that. Maybe one day but right then… they stayed as they were supposed to be, in order, where she could make her orders and her gestures clear were they needed.

The pilot they loaded in was Trip, a quick witted, somewhat clumsy brother who advised them to 'strap in' before he took off into space.

As soon as they stepped foot on the medical base her shoulders dropped and the tension drained from her body entirely. She was utterly relaxed as soon as she was snapping her heels on the metal floor. Medicine she knew. The Hurt and the Fear that rolled through the air and the Force were as familiar as the shade of her hair, as known to her heart as the beats it made every second.

Her men were Tense as they walked behind her, marching. Marching. Their steps were, if nothing else, constant. If she weren't already comfortable surrounded by the Injured and the Dying, or she might have taken it as a comfort. If anyone needed comfort here, it was going to be the people on the beds and in the tanks that they hadn't been able to move in time.

The rest were already on their way to Naboo, a planet that Aliette had heard had some of the best medical centers in the system. She only wished she could visit it before they were off again. The time she was allowed to spend here was going to be limited, she knew. Her Master would want to go after the Malevolence, so she was going to had to move quickly if she wanted to be useful.

Aliette moved through the chaos of the docking bay, the Force telling her were to go. To a Kaminoan who was standing in a door way with Ahsoka, Master Skywalker, and Master Plo Koon. The Kaminoan was, without a doubt, the one in charge, so it was her that the girl aimed her attention at. The long necked creature finished speaking with the others before she reached her, and aimed her eyes at the much smaller Pantoran. Aliette dipped a polite bow to the group in whole.

"I've come to help heal the wounded," she reported. Master Skywalker was shaking his head. Her heart started to sink.

"We need to go after Grievous immediately," he told her. Aliette swallowed thickly. No, no. This was the one place in this war where she knew what she was doing. The one place where she was totally confidant in her abilities and her knowledge. They couldn't mean for her to go with them, they couldn't.

"Master, I'm a healer, not a fighter pilot. My skills would be of more use here." It was the first time she had ever question the order she'd been given since being assigned Master Kenobi. She could feel a jolt of shock run through her subordinates. They knew it too. Master Skywalker caught her eyes. She could have sworn there was some sympathy in her eyes, but it was gone right away.

"We need all hands on deck," he told her firmly. "We'll take your transport back to Master Kenobi's cruiser and regroup." Her tongue threatened treason. Her wide eyes betrayed her disbelief. All she had wanted was to know that she could be useful and now… Not uncertainty returned. It had haunted her since she first arrived on Cristophsis.

She bowed, low and resigned. She couldn't object. Couldn't fight. Orders were not something she could affort to question. Not when she was finally a Padawan.

"Yes, Master. I understand."

She just didn't like it