Just. Breathe.

Breathe. Just. Breathe. She shifted her weight from foot to foot repeatedly, brushing her long, black dreadlocks off of her shoulders. Breathe. Just. Breathe. It had become her mantra for the trip. The long trip from the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, then to Danjar--which was all the way in the Outer Rim. To make matters worse she had had to make sure she made it there. No one was there to help her out, give her advice, or even help calm her nerves.
The good news that was that she was no longer a youngling. As of today she was a padawan.
No longer would she learn things from the inside of a large temple by watching old holovids or listening to lectures from the older Jedi Masters.
Oh no, as of today she would get real world experience. She would fight and learn under the guidance of a Jedi Knight.
Specifically the padawan to Jedi Knight Joous. One of the few Kaleesh that served the Republic.
The gunship created a halo of dust as it landed on Danjar. The doors slid open with a quiet hiss.
She hesitated for a few moments, blue fingers trembling slightly as she reached forward, gripping the side as she moved to step off.
So close...yet so far away.
Breathe. Just. Breathe.
The ground crunched under black boots, sounding loud as everything else seemed completely silent. She was afraid to move. Afraid to break the silence anymore.
She clenched her fists to hide her trembling, then moved forward.
Master Desmond always said to recite the Jedi Code when one was nervous...
She moved forward slowly, glancing around.
There is no emotion, there is peace.
She saw a camp in the distance. That had to be it.
There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.
Her strides grew slightly longer, though she was no where near running speed.
There is no passion, there is serenity.
The blurry shapes turned into small, rag-tag tents.
There is no chaos, there is harmony.
She could see shapes dressed in white now, some milling about, some patrolling the area.
There is no death, there is the Force.
The white shapes turned into armor. The kind of armor clones wore.
She drew closer until she was stopped by a clone.
"Who are you? What is your business here?" He asked, his voice sounding a bit less human because it was going through a comm.
She froze, she had seen clones before--of course, no place controlled by the Republic lacked them--but one had never spoken to her before. They had always stayed silent. Seeming ominous with their armor and the helmets that hid their faces from the world.
"O-oh...uh..." Breathe. "Jaelle. My name is Jaelle. I'm Master Joous's padawan." She stammered at first, her voice quiet and almost unable to be heard.
The clone paused for a moment, probably speaking to another clone through the comm link in his helmet.
After a moment his helmet dipped forward slightly and stepped out of her way. "This way, Commander."
Commander?
He led her through the camp, keeping his gaze straight ahead--at least it looked like it--and managed to make his way through the confusing maze of tents without a moments hesitation. Jaelle, on the other hand, looked around. Her yellow eyes widened as she took in the camp. Clones, guns, and various other supplies were scattered about everywhere. The smell of roasting meat hit her nose and she noticed a large fire, where a group of clones in just their body gloves sat or stood, cooking what looked like a sort of four legged beast over the flickering flames. "Go on in, Commander." The clone told her, pausing in front of the largest tent.
Jaelle nodded, pulling the flap of the tent back and entering slowly. She let go of the flap, allowing it to slid back into place. She stopped there, looking around slowly, yellow eyes scanning every bit of the area in front of her.
"I see you made it here in one piece. Good." A tall Kaleesh stood a few feet away, standing behind a large table, a clone stood across from him, at the other end of the table. His head was turned towards her and she glanced him over once before her eyes turned to her new master.
"Master Joous?"
The Kaleesh male nodded slightly, "And you're my new padawan. Jaelle, is it?"
Jaelle nodded, then bowed forward slightly. "It's an honor to finally meet you, Master."
The Kaleesh moved towards her, placing a hand on her shoulder in a comforting gesture. "I sense a lot of nervous energy coming from you, Padawan. No need to be nervous. These men, and myself, are your new family."
Jaelle smiled slightly, "I hope to be a good addition to this 'family'."
"I'm sure you will be." He paused for a moment, as if thinking. "Now. Back to the current situation." He moved back to the table, then motioned for Jaelle to stand beside him.
She made her way quickly to his side, looking over the large blue holo of the landscape.
"Lets bring you up to speed, shall we?" Master Joous began, one clawed finger pointing to a valley towards the middle of the holomap. "Here, the Separatists have a blockade set up here. What we need to do is take it out so that relief supplies can be transported to the natives. Once the supplies are given to the natives we will set up a small base and have a small group of clones keep an eye over the area for a while. By then, Padawan, you and I will be long gone. Onto the next mission the council finds 'important' enough to have Jedi become involved."
Jaelle nodded slightly, "...what are we going to do? Just overlook or...?"
Master Joous shook his head slightly, "No. We will sneak into the small base of operation they have here," He pointed to a small circular building not far from the blockade. "We'll take out their communications, then send a unit of clones to destroy the barricade."
Jaelle nodded, "This isn't going to be easy, is it?"
"Nothing ever is easy. The easiest thing you'll ever do is have blame put on you." He murmured. "The Jedi always seem to be blamed for mistakes. Especially the padawans."
"Oh. Joy."  Jaelle frowned, pushing a dreadlock off of her shoulder.
"Head up." His voice sounded amused, "I'm sure you'll do amazingly and they won't be able to blame anything on you." He patted her shoulder and looked at the trooper. "We will begin our assault at 02:00. We will comm you at 04:00 on our progress. If we do not, begin your attack on the barricade at 05:30 regardless."
The clone nodded, the T-shaped slit in his helmet reflected some light as it dipped forward, then back. "Yes, General." He saluted, then moved off to inform the other clones.
Jaelle watched the clone leave for a few moments, then glanced up at her master. "...Master, may I ask you a question?"
He nodded, "Of course."
"...why did one of them call me 'Commander'?"
"Every Jedi-no matter Padawan or Master--has a rank. Padawans are Commanders and Masters and Knights are Generals. That way, the clones will take orders from ones such as you, but I will be able to outrank you and change orders if need be."
Jaelle nodded slightly. "That makes sense, but...why give someone so new such a high rank?"
Master Joous shrugged, "To make it easier perhaps? That way they can just give it to you automatically instead of having to test your abilities later on. It's easier on the council...though that doesn't mean it's the best course of action. Of course you didn't hear that from me."
"Of course not, Master. We were merely talking about battle plans." Jaelle smiled slightly, yellow eyes flashing. She was happy that her Master already seemed to trust her enough to say something that she knew the Council wouldn't find very favorable.
He chuckled quietly, "Yes. Battle plans. Of course." He paused as there were loud shouts and screams, loud noises like metal snapping and guns firing filled the air.
The Kaleesh moved towards the door, one hand going immediately to his lightsaber.
He paused right before he reached the door, as if he knew something was coming.
A clone appeared at the entrance, "General we have a problem! The Seps are attacking us, it's an ambush!"