Ashara moaned slightly as she shifted. She faintly heard some voices talking over her. 

"She should be alright. She just spent a lot of energy through the force, as well as trying to survive with limited oxygen."

"That's good to hear", a familiar voice said. Ashara recognized it as Anakin's. She groaned again as she opened her eyes, only to close them again at the bright light. She slowly opened her eyes, allowing them to adjust to the brightness.

When they finally adjusted, she saw Anakin standing next to the clone medic, Kix.

"You're awake!" Anakin exclaimed.  Ashara grumbled as she sat up. 

"Going to take more than that to get rid of me, Anakin." The Jedi chuckled, causing Ashara to chuckle as well before turning her attention to other matters. "How are Master Plo and the clones?"

"They're fine", Anakin said. "You took the brunt of it. Wolffe said you did something just before we found you that made it easier for him to breathe. Kix here says it probaby nearly killed you."

Ashara chuckled nervously. "Yeah... I used the force to to seal off the punctures made by the droids while also slowing my own breathing so that he would live."

Anakin shook his head. "You would risk your own life just to save that of a singular clone?"

"Yes", she said with no hesitation. "Every life is valuable, no matter if it's made by the normal means, or if they're grown in a tube."

Anakin let out a quiet laugh before he helped her stand. "You certainly are one of a kind, aren't you, Ash?"

Ashara smirked at him. "You haven't figured that out yet? Wow, Anakin, I thought you were smarter than that."

Anakin shook his head with a smile as he led her out of the room and onto the familiar hallways of a cruiser. Ashara figured she was most likely on the Resolute. They approached the bridge, where she found Rex, Cody, and Obi-wan. 

Rex and Cody saluted Obi-wan before they turned and walked towards Ashara and Anakin. The togruta sent a smile at the two of them.

"Hey, Rex, Cody", she greeted warmly. They both smiled at her in return.

"General Ki", Rex greeted in return as he paused to briefly talk.

"Where are you guys off to?" she asked. Cody chuckled.

"We're doing inspections on the nearby outposts. Making sure the clones there are keeping up the good work", he said. "Not the most exciting job in the galaxy, but it's gotta be done."

The word inspections  caught Ashara's attention. She was immediately on edge. "Hey, be careful on them. I know they're routine, but I just have a bad feeling about them."

Rex and Cody nodded, before they continued on their way. Ashara joined Anakin and Obi-wan at the holotable, where they were speaking to Mace Windu and Yoda.

"Ashara, it's good to see you're doing well after your mission with the Malevolence", Windu said.

"Malevolence?" she asked, confusion filling her body.

"The mystery weapon that nearly killed you and Master Plo Koon", Anakin explained. "It's been taken care of, which is why we're taking care of menial matters now, such as inspections on the outposts."

Ashara nodded, understanding what they were saying. She was glad it was taking care of, knowing that that weapon could have decimated their armies without anyone knowing anything about it.

The council kept it's attention on Ashara, surprising her. "On Kamino, a mission for you", Yoda told the young knight. She blinked in surprise. "Go there, you must."

"A mission?" she asked, her eyes widening in surprise. "What about?"

"Master Shaak Ti will explain more once you arrive", Windu said. "You must leave immediately."

Ashara nodded. "I'll get going now, I suppose." She stepped away from the holotable, and shared a confused glance with Anakin, but left quickly. She almost instantly spotted her ship, one that she rarely took due to the fact that it was an easier target than a fighter when it came to the many space battles she found herself part of. She ran her hand alongside the bottom as she made her way to the hatch. Even though it was an easy target, the Ghost always managed to impress Ashara.

~~~~~~

When Ashara jumped out of hyperspace, she instantly saw the waterworld. As she entered the atmosphere, rain started to pelt down on her ship, making it difficult to see. She had to rely on the scanners to land safely, and as soon as she exited the Ghost, she found herself in the presence of a red torgruta that looked similar to Ahsoka aside from the white markings. 

Shaak Ti welcomed her with a warm smile. "You've grown a lot, little one."

Ashara returned the smile happily. "And you haven't changed a bit, my old master."

Shaak Ti laughed quietly, before she led Ashara into Tipoca City. They passed several clone cadets, until they reached a small door that announced itself to be off limit to men. Ashara glanced at her old master, who merely gave her a patient smile.

Ashara sighed, but forced herself to be patient as they passed through the door, revealing barracks, but it was a small room, unlike the bigger barracks that they had passed by earlier.

"Valkyrie squad, attention", a shout from above came. Ashara looked up to see a muscular woman hiding in the ceiling. She quickly climbed down as four other women emerged from different parts of the room. The younger togruta was impressed that they were able to find so many places to hide in such a small, barren room.

"At ease", Shaak Ti said gently. "Ashara, this is the Valkyrie Squad, the only squad of female clones."

"Female clones?" Ashara asked, her eyes wide as she stared at the clones. They were holding helmets under their arms much like the clones she had fought beside. They did resemble the clones she knew, aside from the longer hair, and the more feminine parts of their bodies. "But I thought that all the clones were male."

Shaak Ti turned to look at Ashara. "The kaminoans wanted to experiment a little more. I gave them permission to use five clone embryos to experiment on. They successfully shifted the clones DNA to be female instead of male. After that, they didn't know what to do with them, so I had them trained alongside the others. They have already graduated; the council has just been looking for the perfect place to put them. We decided that place was with you."

"With me?" Ashara spluttered. "Why?"

Shaak Ti spoke gently. "We do not possess enough clones in this army for you lead your own battalion. We tried to have you co-lead with another general, but that never worked. We eventually figured you could have your own squad of clones, ones that would work with you as well as any other Jedi general that requires help. You will mostly work with Anakin Skywalker, as he tends to rush off and ignore orders. However, if any other general needs your help, you are to assist them as soon as you possibly can. I'll let you get to know your squad now. You'll leave as soon as they are ready."

Ashara nodded as Shaak Ti left the room. She turned to the female clones that stood in a more relaxed position. She took a deep breath, before she introduced herself.

"I'm General Ashara Ki", she said. "I don't expect you to call me that when we're off duty."

"I'm Tchachke, sir", a clone with short, curly blonde hair said. "This here is Tha." She gestured to a clone with light brown hair pulled back into a ponytail.

"I'm Meeva", a clone with dirty blonde hair said. Her hair was also pulled back into a ponytail. She was the one who had been up near the ceiling.

"I'm Halene, and this is Dice", a clone with chin length dark brown hair said. The clone known as Dice had similar hair color, but it had blonde streaks running through the surface layer, and her hair was longer.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all", Ashara said, a smile on her face.

Dice nodded enthusiastically. "Did the general really mean that we'd be on board General General Skywalker's ship?"

Ashara nodded. "Yes. For the most part, we will be on Anakin's ship."

"You know him on a first name basis?" Dice asked excitedly, her hands spazzing as she fidgeted.

The Jedi Knight laughed. "I should, he's been my closest friend since I was a kid. Before I even came to the Jedi Order."

Dice squealed. "Oh, do you think I'll be able to hear his voice?"

Ashara let out a confused laugh. "I mean... yeah? You will be working with him from time to time, it's very likely you'll hear his voice."

Halene placed a hand over Dice's mouth before she could say anything more. "Sorry about Dice. Ever since she heard about General Skywalker, she's been obsessed. Mainly just about his voice, nothing else. I don't fully understand why, but I don't question it. She's my sister, and I love her."

Ashara laughed. "I think we're all going to get along wonderfully. Now, do you guys have anything you need to grab before we leave for the Resolute."

They shook their heads, having already prepared everything they needed when they heard that Ashara was coming. The Jedi smiled as they all pulled on their unique helmets. She led them out the room and to her ship. Ashara let them explore a little bit, as she made her way out of the planet's atmosphere, and set a course back to the resolute. As she made the jump to hyperspace, she realized something. She finally had a team that she could call her very own.

(Small author's note here: I mentioned I was a writing a star wars fanfiction to my roommates, and Halene (nickname, not her real name. Same goes for everyone else) asked to have a cameo. I was originally going to do that, but then I said to heck with it, and now they're going to be a part of it. I used their nicknames because 1) internet safety, and 2) they sounded more like clone names. I got the idea to have them be clones from Dice, who asked to have her character talk to Anakin. (She's obsessed with Matt Lanter. He's one of her top 4 favorites.) So that's why her character is geeking out about Anakin. Meeva was up by the ceiling because she likes to climb trees, and then you'll see more of Tchachke (pronounced Chah ch key) and Tha in later chapters.

If you want to know the nickname that my roommates came up with for me, it's Brownie. Or Brownie Bite. Or Baby Brownie Bite. I have many of that caliber...

This wasn't really a small author's note. I hope you've enjoyed the book so far though! I'm trying to keep it interesting. I promise you'll see more of Rex soon enough! Now that Ashara has an actual ship to stay on when she's not needed elsewhere, he'll pop up more.

Anyway, continue reading!)