Chapter 3: Battle-zone
Although she had had years of experience as a Padawan, she was in no way prepared to enter an active war zone. She had yet to participate in the war. Since the embers of conflict had been fanned into the frantic flames of war a year ago on Genosis, it'd managed to lick at many lives and even consume some. Now fueled by every life given, the inferno grew only stronger. She had groomed herself extensively and tightly secured her immaculate robes. She realised that she may not get to wash for some days. It would be odd for her as the only times she'd left the temple for an extended period, she had been in apartments suitable for welcomed diplomatic representation of the republic. She had never had to go without before. Yet she found herself going from the peaceful comforts of the temple to the all consuming fire her new Master was caught up in.
She was packed onto a ship with clones that had pristine armour that was vaguely mandalorian in its design. She was Cathar and they were mandalorian, but she was sure none of them were taught the extensive list of people and worlds their ancestors held at their mercy. They also had no real combat experience. In that regard, they were very much like her. She had protected senators but never this. Never flying in on a ship full of troopers with weapons set to kill. She had taken a life once before, although she had been forced to once they couldn't be contained as a prisoner. She was conflicted on whether killing was the Jedi way, but hoped that the enemy was majority droids like she had heard. Even if she killed sentients, it would be with the goal of saving more lives than she took. She pretended that the ends justifying the means wasn't just a path to the Dark Side.
She hadn't had to stand on such a small and tightly packed vessel before. The ship moved in closer to the drop off but started receiving gunfire. Such a small ship had little in the way of defence. "We're coming in hot." Doryn knew that they were nowhere near low enough to crash land without major fatalities. Such were the stakes in war. She hadn't had the most practise with heights like that but she knew what to do. She moved from the corner toward the doors. "This is my stop, boys. Hold on tight." She shouted back to them as she got to the seam between the doors. She bent her knees and drew her lightsaber hilts into her hands without igniting them yet. She got ready to jump and used the Force to open the door slightly. The feline anatomy of her legs and the Force allowed her to jump clear of the ship.
Once in the air, she ignited her lightsabers. Although not a part of the original reason she used them, the mass behind them and the length they added to her arm-span made manoeuvring herself in the air easier. Felines and Jedi were both known for surviving big falls, so a feline Jedi would in theory have no issue. This did not mean she did not appreciate the leverage of her lightsabers. The main reason she had ignited them and made them as obvious as possible was to draw attention away from the ship. From what she knew of the separatists, they would prioritise a Jedi target over a small group of clones. She was right, and she had also been right in her assumption that a smaller target for relatively cheap droids would result in many misses. Their aim was likely not helped by her making quick dives at irregular intervals. As she got closer to the ground, she started to reach out in the Force to slow her fall. If she did a roll as she landed, then most excess kinetic energy would dissipate but she had to make sure that the impact wouldn't shatter her bones on touchdown.
The ship managed to land safely, and the forces joined with the rest of the men. "Where is the Padawan?" The men had expected Master Plo to be somewhat harsh but his voice sounded like it came from a stereo speaker which only helped accentuate the soft nature of his being. One of the shinies pointed out into the battlefield to where two green lightsabers were deflecting occasional shots from droids that had luck in even getting close to the target in the first place. "I didn't know Commander Tano would be joining us." Wolffe told his general. Usually there was a heads-up before collaboration between units. "That's not Ahsoka." Was all Plo told him.
Doryn had started on the defensive. She'd been doing her bastardised version of form III with the two lightsabers. She'd only found a collection of basic droids with poor aim. She slowly focused and tried to centre herself in the Force. She had an idea to use their poor aim to give her an even greater advantage. She decided to act it out, even if she couldn't fully fall into sync with the breath of the galaxy. She made a small running start, got low and jumped. Her legs and the Force brought her somewhat near the middle of the droids. She stopped playing defensively and her interpretation of the sword and shield principle made its debut on the battlefield.
