Here without you

[Jaime Tomahawk]

Prologue

Some unnamed planet, The Clone wars

"Incoming squadron from the north, 12 fast"

"Got it, we have them on screen. Kacques?"

"Have them. Missles armed"

She took the marcobionoculars from her eyes, squinting into the bright sunlight. "Fire"

The sun's glare wasnt enough to wash out the flares of the rocket platform, spitting flame as the missiles it contained awoke, echoes of their awakening bouncing off the rocky surface, those without helmets tilting heads away to stop their ears from being overwhelmed by the sounds of fires ripping into the heavens. She stared at a point many kilometers distant, waiting.... then smiling grimly as several dull booms came back, flashes of light witht he tell tale smoke telling the story of what happened even before her scancoms reported 8 destroyed, the other 4 fleeing.

"General, we have reports of the Separtist army falling back with heavy losses. Squads 3 and 4 are meeting little resistance"

"Good. And the objectives?"

The captain consulted the comms group, before turning back to face the stony faced female in General's insignia. "5 out of six positions taken, Tacoma ridge has unexpectedly high resistance, but it appears to be just Droid destroyers trapped and willing fight it out to destruction. We have a missle team lining them up and it will be over shortly"

She nodded, putting the macro's to her eyes again. "What about our Jedi friends?"

The captain didnt miss the note of distain on her voice, somethign he agreed with personally but he certasinly wasnt willing to voice that, not in front of the Jedi anyway. Tomahawk tho.... she said what she thought. And rather bluntly too, which is why a good many troops had taken to their new General. Even if she was female. And this battle was proving that she knew what she was doing. Not that he didnt know that already - the circumstances of her promotion were all that were needed to dispel the sexism that the army usually carried.

Gettign to the rank of Major was something notable for a female - let alone after the last Command was killed in an Separtist ambush, she had coldly taken over, turning a potential rout into a victory that had put her squarely in the spotlight of the planet's rulers. Some said that her next assignment was supposed to get rid of her as to the male high ups, she was an embarrassment, but yet another surprise victory against odds showed the first time was no fluke. And now, he suspected she had been set up for a fall again, her first battle as a General in taking what was supposed to be impossible and forcing the Separtist hold on the mountains to be broken. Another light on the comms board drew his attention back to business.

"Clone squad 447 want orders" heread from the screen. "Reply..?"

She was quiet for a moment, clearly thinking. "Dont let the Separtists settle into a new postion. Now is the time to commit the reserves and run these tin men into the valley, bottle them in there and pound them to scrap with artillery. I want air support and laser cannons setup in half time click, plus I want those Jedi to fall back and go left, cut off the retreat in that direction. Give the machines no way out and I'm not taking a surrender without total shutdown of them for immediate scrapping. Understood?"

He nodded. And that was the other thing a quite a few admired, ruthless.

--

24 hours later, she stepped out of the transport and onto the place that they now called "Nerf Shoot". Trashed machines filled the valley they had found themselves trapped in, the well disguised barrier at the end forcing them to stand and fight... which was impossible with no cover and a rain of fire coming from above. Nothing moved apart from clone troops beginning the slavage operations for any still working equipment. This planet didnt have much and anything would be a blessing in case of further attacks. She put her sun shades on, glanced about without a change in the harsh expression on her face, before stepping over the decapitated form of a super droid and toward where she saw a group of troops and a few cloaked figures. One of them turned, tapped another on the shoulder, the other cloaked figure turned and she could see it's oddly shaped and colourful features - Jedi Knight Flot Kaaan and it's Padawan, a human she could never pronounce the name of, so she called him Dust Kaaan instead.

"General Tomahawk, congratulations are in order. Victory was achieved with minimal losses and the Council has asked me to convey their respect as to such an effective plan" ssaid Kaaan, bowing deeply, his voice much like some sort of bird. Tomahawk nodded, took out a fat cigarette, bit one end off, before lighting it and inhaling, blowing out a cloud of light blue smoke.

"Would have been nice if your Council had thought it was a decent plan four days ago" she snarled, her voice harsh and ugly, much out of place with how she looked when she wasnt in fatiges and dirty from war.

"Ahh... yes" The Jedi replied. "Well, forgive me for saying so but to those who arent here, it did seem to be insane"

"Machines are logical, Master Jedi. Insanity seems to be a good idea to me in the face of cold logic"

"Indeed. But it appears you wouldnt have put forth what you did if it wasnt achieveable"

"I said insane. I didnt say suicice, Master Jedi. I have an aversion to dying as yet"

He nodded, noting how her voice tone communicated exactly what she was thinking. She didnt like Jedi much, that was clear and she didnt have much patience with small talk. In fact, she had kicked up a stink just being asked to come here, when she clearly had other priorities on her mind - like sorting out medical requirements for her troops, even if that could be handled just as well by one of her officers. "That much is obvious. Madam General, the Senate has been told of your victory and wishes to also extend it's congratulations - Chancellor Palpatine is most impressed we have been told"

"yes, yes.." she snapped. "If I wanted to hear that I would have run to the Capitol and been beating my chest like the other imeciles who used to run this army did and thence got bum raped with ttheir own egos when the Separtists attacked. What the hell did you want me here for?"

The two Jedi glanced at each other. "General, The Senate asks for your help. You have defeated the Separtists here on your home planet, but the Republic has a lack of good military leaders. We wish for you to transfer from here to the Republic"

She stared, then her expression narrowed. "Ahd what does the Governor think?"

"The Republic has promised a permanent garrison while the war continues to deter further Separtist attack. The governor agreed to release you to transfer"

"AKA thanks for what you did but your female and an embarrassment to the males who have penis size problems"

"Pretty much" Kaan replied. "I would point out that the republic is much more accepting of females like you"

She looked about at the clone troops, then to the Jedi. "Fine. Always wanted to get out of this poohole anyway"

--

"It's a pity sexism is so ingrained here" said the Captain. "I would much prefer to serve with you, General"

Her face cracked... into a smile. It surprised the Captain, who never thought she was capable of one. "A female showing she's worth something? Just asking for house arrest and a disappearence. I'm glad to be going - I dont like watching out for knives to the back"

"The boys would do the watching for you General, you know that"

"I know. That's why as soon as I can manage, there'll be a Republic recruiter turn up. Feel like seeing the Galaxy, going to exotic locations and killing the scum that inhabit there?"

The Captain paused, eyes going wide. "The Governor's not going to like that!"

"What do I care? I rather have men and women I trust. I expect you in two weeks time Captain, at Alderaan. Good day"

She left, flicking her duffle bag over one shoulder.... and never returned to her birthplanet ever again.

[Jaime Tomahawk]

Another planet, another drop zone.

"Didnt we just leave this party?"

The troops assigned to her ignored her jibe, much as she expected. The clones were some of the best troops she had ever had in her forces, 100% professional, 100% dedicated, trained to perfection and following orders to the letter. But with free thought on the battle field thrown in, so if things turned pear shaped they could come up with ways out. Faces obsured by helmets, all in identical white armour, chillingly efficent. With battalions of normal troops as well as a divison of clones, mechanised armour, a rapidly developing technological arms race that gave her a range of weaponry to use against the Separtists, this was a war that she almost thought was custom made for her. Her blood tingled as she surveyed the battle zone from above, one hand on a strap while she leaned out of the carrier, looking down. Her tropps knew better than to tell her to be careful, she knew exactly the risk she was taking.

"PILOT! I want down, grid 453-112. Everyone else, I want AT-ST cover for landing, everyone out, immediate dust off, find your designated target and get to it as per the plan. I want the ridge taken in two hours. Captain!"

"Yes General?" replied one of the clones, sway as the carrier dipped, beginning it's rapid decent to the ground.

"Squads two and three with me"

"Understood sir"

She looked back upwards, seeing the other carriers screaming out of the sky. On the ground, she could see the trails of smoke that gave away anti aircraft batteries now firing, to be met with laser fire from her air support. Explosions began to lace the sky as her ship danced and rocked with the blasts, it rattled as it went steeper, Tohmahawk leaning into the dive, feet hard on the floor. A minute later, the carrier was levelling out, slowing down as it came into the drop zone - a blaze of fire, dust, debris.

"OUT! OUT!"

The tropps responded with the speed she had come to expect, fanning out, already firing their guns at the Separtist droid army they had caught in the open. She waited until the last tropps were off, before leaping out herself. A tropper handed her a helmet not too dissimilar to the one the cloes wore, her own armour darker in colour. Another handed her guns over, she accepted and the battle frenzy took over, the almost sexual need to fight, to move, to defeat her opponent. Single minded, driven, unafraid.... unstoppable. It was what she lived for, what she trained for, driven like hardly any human could be.

--

Hours later, it was over. A rout, the mechanised army wasnt ready for the fierce assault, caught out and trapped. Not a single machine was left unscrapped, the few beings that were part of the droid army either left rotting dead in the twilight or now taken prisioner. Dust swirled, the smoke of burning wreckage... the scent of victory. She had her helmet off, the sweat streaked and dirt grimed face in one of her highly rare satisfied smiles, surveying the battlefield.

"Not bad, not bad at all. And our losses are minimal?"

"Yes sir" replied the clone commander. "And the Jedi were caught and executed as per the Emperor's order"

She nodded... then it was almost comical to see her rerun what had just been said and her expression change. "Commader.... I rarely need to have somethign explained or repeated you know... but could you just repeat what you just said?"

"The Jedi that we had with us have been executed as per the Emperor's order" She realised her face must have shown her confusion as the Commander explained without being asked. "Halfway through the battle Sir, we had a communication from Coruscant. The Jedi have tried to kill Palpatine and take over the Republic in a coup - he has survived and by order 66, the Jedi have been ordered executed for their treason. The Senate has voted to make Palpatine Emperor"

Her jaw could have hit the ground, if it were possible. As it was, it took what it seemed like an eternity for her brain to catch up with what the clone had just said. "WHAT?!? Get me a comm console, what is this rubbish? The Jedi tried to assasinate Palpatine?"

But as night fell, the awful truth came clear. The Jedi really had tried to kill Palpatine. The Jedi really had tried to topple the Republic. Palpatine really was Emperor. She sat back in the comm console chair, clearly shocked, bewildered and confused - three emotions foriegn to her.

"Where... are the Jedi bodies?" she said eventually, the normal growl hardly more than a croak.

"Left where they were killed Sir. I have the co-ordinates"

She took them, glanced at them. Closed her eyes.

"Commander" she said a few minutes later, "I want squad B52 to be attached to me. Begin to withdraw"

"Yes sir"

--

She found them in the darkness, crumpled and from what they could see by the glowtube light, shot in the back several times.

"But why Genereal? Why would they do this?"

Squad B52 were old hands she trusted from Home, not the clones. The speaker was a man called Wticl, a gruff bear like man. "Do what?"

"Treason, General. The Jedi, werent they supposed to serve the Republic?"

She continued to stare at the bodies, before she came to a decision. "Bury them. Give them the respect as we would our fallen comrades."

--

Dawn.

The armies were gone. The battlefield, still smouldering, still stinking from the war polluted the fresh air coming from some nameless sea. The droids would be left to rust, their weapons gathered, anything of value taken. Her army was in space, marshalling for the next battle, which she suddenly wasnt so sure was coming. Her squad had laboured well, the mounts were dug, the bodies interred, their final resting place marked. She stood there alone in front of them.... somehow deeply moved by the two lone graves in a field of carnage. Trying to work out why, trying to understand why the Jedi of all beings, the ones she knew had powered she didnt understand... the ones she disliked but had to admit served the Republic so well even if ti against their own beliefs to fight and wage war. Jedi Knight Kaan, his Padawan. Dead.

And for some reason she could not explain, she knew their deaths were senseless. Never before had she known it - a soldier's life normally ended in violence but the Jedi she had come to understand were peaceful, had done all they could to prevent this war and yet were at the front when it broke out. Here they were then, shot in the back by the ones whom they had 24 time clicks earlier had been striving to protect.

It seemed impossible to her they could have suffered the same madness and betrayed the Republic. In her hands was a lightsabre they had found on one of the bodies. For some reason one of them had a spare, so she had ordered them buried with their sabres, but she took the spare, now in her hand. She had never seen a sabre this close before.... and she had to admit, it was nicely built and balanced. for some reason, she felt the need to keep it instead of interring it, as if she needed something to remember, to help work out out the question she knew she would have to find the answer to... why? Why did it come to this?

The dawn's fire leaped over the land. Her shadow was on the Jedi's headstones.... and with one last look, she turned around and walked away.

Dusk and her squad found her sitting on the shores of the ocean, staring into the setting sun. A few words that turned into a discussion unheard by anyone, then a hour later a carrier came down to pick them all up and leave the battlefield and the Jedi's grave's finally alone.