Mara Caldera squinted as the doors to the ship opened, the sunlight of her home planet peaking through.
She heard the frustrated grumble from Commander Wolffe next to her as he put his helmet on, likely trying to remind her how much he really hated relief missions. He knew he would much rather be with Master Plo Koon who was currently leading a large portion of the 104th in an aerial battle on the foggy planet of Cato Neimoidia. Instead, here he was, on Vaethea with supplies for the civilians as they tried to recover from the recent battle the Republic helped them win.
Vaethea in its current state had never been anything truly special. It was known mostly for its drastic downfall that had been slowly worsening over the course of a century. From Mara, Wolffe had learned it was once a thriving planet that had made a name for itself with the exports of delicious fruits that could only ever grow on the planet and the expensive clothing they could create humanely from the animals on the planet. Mara had told him how it was once a lavish planet that rarely saw poverty due to its small population for such a large sized planet. It's downfall had begun with the neighboring planet of Raethea had begun to succumb to the harsh winters they faced. Vaethea had made the mistake of allowing the surviving population to relocate within their planet should they choose to. Such a decision had left them with a population that had more than doubled and their government having been overthrown by a group of Raethean's, who had taken the grace the Vaethean's had given them and abused it. It caused a divide among the two species on the planet that would border on a civil war and a depression caused by leaders hoarding riches and overpopulation for decades to come.
From the few times he has seen the Senator of the planet, Calypso Dane, he knew the planet tried its best to keep the facade of success up despite how quickly it was crumbling under the corrupt Raethean leaders, the Faye's. The planet had slowly let itself fall from a beautiful, welcoming planet to one that would be added to the list of planets to avoid if you wanted to keep yourself safe. Bounty hunters and all sorts of dangerous characters filled the streets looking for their next job or target.
Calypso Dane had done everything she could aid to planet as she waited for Senate to finally approve of the many pleas for relief she had sent to them. However, it wasn't until the middle of the Clone Wars that rumors had begun to fly that a militia of Vaethean's were forming and accepting aid from Count Dooku and the Separatists that the Senate had finally approved her pleas and allowed the Jedi to intervene as well. Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi and the 212th had travelled alongside Calypso Dane to prevent the formerly neutral planet from falling into the clutches of Count Dooku. Thankfully, the Republic had won Vaethea after finding out rumors had been spread by the Faye's themselves to allow their dealings with Count Dooku to go undetected.
Now, it was the 104th's turn to bring relief supplies and assess how the planet was adjusting to the newly restructured and far more balanced government.
Commander Wolffe may have disliked yet another relief mission but he knew for a fact that Mara had to have hated the idea far more than he had. Though he was certain she didn't hate the loud yelps of the Varactyl's in the distance as much as he did. Though Mara hadn't grown up the planet, having been taken by the Jedi Council before she could truly form any memory of the planet, Mara still enjoyed the reptivian species as much as any other Vaethean did. So much so that while one of her arm gauntlets had the symbol the Wolfpack had painted on all of their armor, the other had an intricate symbol of the Varactyl. It was certainly an adjustment for the species but the Pau'an's had gifted a handful of them to the planet after the Vaethean's provided them much needed aid centuries ago. Since then, the species had evolved to adjust to the different climate and had since thrived on the planet both domestically and in the wild. Most commonly though, they were used for farming and moving things quickly through the city. Though some people used them as domesticated pets if they lived close enough to the open fields and forests outside the city.
"Well, that's a pleasant noise," Commander Wolffe grumbled again, making Mara chuckle at his side as his men had already begun unloading the many crates of food and supplies off the many gunships they had taken to the surface of the planet.
"You get used to it, Commander," Mara said, a small smile on her face as they walked around.
"Right," Wolffe sighed, moving to assist his men with unloading the crates.
Before doing the same, Mara took a moment to look over the view of the planet she had gotten from this vantage point. There was a large golden building in the center of the city with high mountains peaking from behind it. Around the golden building, which was previously used to hold to monarch and their family, were the houses and markets packed together. It was tight and often times claustrophobic for such a population but close quarters was never a concern with the planet, even before all the civil distress had started. Outside the city were high mountains and countless fields of grass and farmland. A few other small villages were across the planet that houses mostly farmers, though roughly 90% of the population lived in the city, which didn't really have an official name.
As stated, Mara hadn't grown up on Vaethea, instead having grown up on Coruscant when the Jedi Council had sent one of their own to the planet shortly after she was born. Though being considered "Force Sensitive", Mara was never considered to be strong with Force and often times was told her connection was damaged in some way and would hinder her performance as a Jedi. Mara was certain that in some eyes within the Jedi Council, she was untrainable. Her weaker connection made even basic tasks with the Force were far more difficult for her than they were for Padawan learners around her. In fact, her rather rare psychometric ability of reading what was described as echoes in the Force often too far too much of her energy to use it.
Yet despite all that, Master Plo Koon had offered himself to teach her, despite not actively searching for a Padawan at the time. He felt that with time and patience, Mara's could still become a strong Jedi Master one day or even strengthen her connection with the proper training. Though, he intended to train her with what she was capable of and not forcing her to learn at a rate that would be impossible. He had to adjust a lot of the teachings the Jedi had to reflect the limited power set she had and both of them recognized she would be a Padawan for longer than most were. Yet, Plo Koon still believed that she could one day be a far better Jedi than mant of those around her.
Despite this, Mara felt like she needed to prove that she wasn't totally helpless. Going off of that feeling, Mara made certain that her combat skills remained unparalleled as she learned as many forms as she could during her training. So much so, she was now skilled with both sabers that currently rested on her hip. It left any free time she had spent in a training room, typically accompanied by Commander Wolffe. Though, the rest of the 104th and Master Plo Koon has found that wherever one of them was, the other was too.
It had seemed that after the 104th had been assigned to Plo Koon, the two Commander's had formed some unspoken bond rather quickly. It was something unexpected from Plo Koon as his Padawan wasn't always the type to make friends, often times preferring to remain on her own and her apathetic personality tended to steer people away from her. In fact, he was certain that himself and Wolffe were really the only people Mara considered friends. However, it seemed Wolffe's personality was rather similar, though he was certainly far less apathetic than Mara was. Mara was sure what it was that made the two of them gravitate towards one another, but she knew the men of the 104th, and Plo Koon himself, had their theories. Theories that ranged from some of the men being convinced the two Commander's were in some way romantically involved though Mara and Wolffe had never shown any romantic feelings towards the other. Mara always just jotted it down to some unspoken respect between them but she knew it was more than that.
Mara didn't think she'd see a day when the bond they had formed would ever break. Though, the Force had rather cruel way of proving Mara wrong.
"Commander?" Mara was pulled out of her thoughts, looking next to her to see Wolffe had come to her side again.
"You don't need to call me Commander, Wolffe," Mara reminded him. Her tone was rather deadpan but Wolffe never took that in offense. It was simply the way she spoke to everyone. In fact, the Wolfpack was certain Mara couldn't sound excited even if she wanted too.
Wolffe rolled his eyes at that, knowing she knew very well that he had to. "I just wanted to see how you were doing," Wolffe said, pulling his helmet off his head to look at her.
"I'm fine, Wolffe. Let's just get this over with so we can join Master Plo sooner rather than later," Mara sighed. She turned on her heels, going towards were the troopers had begun helping the citizens unload the many crates to the groups that had been tasked with taking it to those who needed it most on the planet.
Mara was in the process of handing a crate of fruits to a Vaethean woman when she felt her stomach twist. It was the same feeling she had gotten the few times when she used the echos in the Force. It was like the Force was trying to tell her something was shifting within it. It was like there was a voice in her head whispering that danger was about rise behind her. Mara had learned quickly as a Padawan to listen to that voice and that feeling, her hands moving to grab at the hilts of both sabers that sat on her hip.
She turned her head only slightly, seeing Commander Wolffe behind her, his fingers on the side of his helmet like he was listening to someone through his comm.
It was then Mara felt another twist in her stomach and ignited both blades. Mara stood before her men with one purple blade and one blue blade ignited and their weapons pointed towards her..
*hi, quick message here at the end. a there is a chapter for vaethea in my oc book too! i recommend checking it out. also, yea. that is a gif of asgard. i picture vaethea to look like asgard in my head so. anyways, enjoy the story of mara caldera, which the batch will be showing up in the next chapter. thank you!*