General in Training [ Star Wars ]

iii

Riona had woken up to the sound of her comlink beeping, the woman groaning as she pushed herself to sit up in the bed, grabbing the device and hitting the button. "Cobalt, wake up, buddy."

Good morning, little star. Let's hope your first day of training goes smoothly.
                              -Plo Koon

Smiling at the message displayed in front of her, she shook her head fondly, not having expected the Kel Dor to send her a transmission so early into the assignment. She'd moved to get out of bed, the copper astromech beeping away, seemingly fussing. "Yes, you have to come with me. You have to help me monitor these sessions." He'd continued on, following his partner across the room as she began to get ready for the day. "No, I won't be needing my sabers. You, on the other hand, might get to shock some cadets, depending on how quick they are."

The statement had seemed to pacify the droid, who had gone to wait by the door while the Jedi fixed her hair into a long ponytail, somewhat hoping that the clones would use it to their advantage in training today. Seemingly immediately after she'd gotten her boots on, there was a knock on the door, Riona standing and pressing a button on the wall, smiling as the doors opened. "Good morning, commander."

"How did-?" That had seemed to have taken the man by surprise, every part of the woman's greeting, not having expected her to be kind. "U-Um, good morning, sir. The first group of clones are getting ready for their training. I'm here to escort you to the facility."

"Sounds like a plan." She nodded, motioning for her astromech to follow as she stepped out of her quarters. "I know you're a commander because I assumed Lady Se wouldn't send a cadet to do a guards job, if even they don't know exactly what they're transporting through these halls."

"What- What do you mean, sir?" He'd faltered, Riona able to feel the unease radiate off of him, as well as hear the confusion in his voice. "You'll find out soon enough, commander."

The walk to the training hall was silent, the clone commander radiating nervous energy the entire way, causing the woman to feel bad, not having wanted to frighten him. Once they reached the door she'd dismissed the man, boots clicking against the ground as she entered the hall, the first squad yet to arrive. The room was large, full of different types of exercise equipment and a wall covered in a variety of weapons. Looking down at the droid, she'd smirked somewhat. "Let's do hand to hand combat, yeah? See how good these boys are."

The R2 unit had beeped away happily, dome spinning back and forth as the doors opened once more, a squad of clones marching in and immediately standing at attention. They'd had their helmets tucked under their right arms, left giving the Jedi a salute. "We are ready for training, General."

"At ease, soldiers." She hummed, having shifted to stand straighter herself, shoulders back and hands clasped behind her back. Watching as the clones shared a look with each other, they'd all slowly relaxed and let their shoulders slouch ever so slightly, causing the woman to smile. "Good morning, I hope you're all well rested. We'll be putting in quite the bit of work today. Can anyone tell me the last time you had a training in hand to hand combat?"

"I-It's been a while, sir. We've mainly focused on weapons training, seeing as so far the war has been against a droid army." One of the clones seemed hesitant to admit it, Riona simply sighing. "Even a droid could potentially best you in a fist fight. So, to start off our training, you'll be sparring with Cobalt."

"You want us to fight an astromech? Apologies, General, but that wouldn't be much of a challenge." The clone standing at the back of the small group scoffed, his free hand perched on his hip. Raising an eyebrow, the woman crossed her arms over her chest. "And what makes you seem so sure?"

"Those droids were made to sit in fighters and navigate, that's it. They weren't made to be battle droids, like the ones the army and Jedi are going against on the front lines." As he'd finished speaking, the droid had begun beeping and chirping, rolling back and forth while his dome spun around, Riona letting out a snort, knowing he was upset about the clone's statement. "Go get'em, buddy." Before she could finish her sentence, the astromech was racing towards the clone as fast as he could, releasing his arms and waving them around frantically. The man in question had a shocked look on his face, though quickly gathered himself as he put his helmet on and jumped out of the way. Recovering quickly, the droid spun around and headed for him once more, the cadet placing his hand on the top of the dome, drawing back with a yelp as one of the grabbers on the droid pinched his arm between the armor. Unable to help themselves, the rest of the squadron snickered and chuckled, Riona watching with no expression as the R2 droid brought the clone to his knees, panting.

"Now, if that was just an astromech, imagine an entire battalion of battle droids." She hummed, snapping her fingers and signaling her partner to return to her side, the small robot beeping away triumphantly. "Who's next?"

——»»»»☆««««——

Riona had officially been working with the clones for five rotations, currently with the fourth squadron of the day, the clone she'd met that first night in the mess hall currently sparring with her blue and copper astromech. The cadet was steadily talking as he successfully avoided each of the droid's advances, the Jedi unsure if it was a tactic to distract his opponent or if he genuinely just couldn't shut up. As she watched the man work, she noticed that he wasn't able to stand still, either. No matter what time of day it was, some part of his body was moving, whether it was his foot tapping, fingers drumming against a table top, or his mouth forming seemingly nonstop words. His brothers in his squadron were almost constantly begging him to relax, and she assumed that he was no different when he was asleep, able to imagine him constantly shifting on his cot. The cadet was doing well holding his own, offering kicks and maneuvers in attempts to knock the droid over, though as the arm of the astromech became electrified, she knew this match was over. His eyes had grown wide upon seeing the bolts, though he quickly gathered himself, jumping and using his hands to vault himself over the droid's dome, effectively knocking him over. Letting out a shout of success, he'd dove beside the droid and hit the deactivation switch before the thrusters could be used to get upright. "Woah."

The rest of his squadron began to yell and shout in celebration, congratulating their brother, the Jedi unable to help herself as a smile crept onto her lips. She'd made her way over, offering a hand to help the cadet stand. "CT- 3749, you've been.. a difficult case, to say the least. It's been hard keeping you focused on the tasks at hand, and you have trouble staying quiet long enough to listen to orders. I've been worried these last few training sessions, afraid that you wouldn't be able to pass these tests and move on to become the soldier I know you all so desperately wish to be. Despite all of this, though, you are the first and only cadet to have bested my astromech in battle, and for that I congratulate you. Dare I admit, I'm proud of you."

"Th-Thank you, sir. I owe my success to you, and your training, General." He'd stood at attention, saluting the woman, still shifting his weight on his feet ever so slightly. Letting a small laugh slip out, she'd smiled. "At ease, cadet. Let's just hope I didn't teach you too well, seeing as from now on, your opponent will be me."

"Way to go, hard case, now you get to fight the general." One of the cadets jokes, throwing an arm around his brother's shoulders, the others taking part in the teasing. Watching them for a moment, she'd shaken her head in amusement. "Settle, boys. You are excused for the day."