The 5th Legion

[Aela Talith]

Aela had never really thought of herself as a leader, not really at least. Sure there were times where she had been at the head of a battle, where she had sent men to do tasks, sometimes to die, but it had never really occurred to her that she was leading them. Perhaps it was because many of them had been older then her, many of them had been more experienced and many of them had been far more present in the last few years of galactic war.

Yet as she had been told, she was a leader.

It was a strange idea to her, but one that she couldn't really deny at this point.

After all she had gained the title of Jedi Marshall, she had been at the forefront of nearly every battle the Alliance had had, and now she was to lead an entire Legion of soldiers. There was still a bit of uncertainty to it all, but Aela couldn't deny that she also felt a certain sense of pride. No longer was she that little girl on Geonosis, hiding scared behind her father. Now she was a leader, a Jedi, her own person.

A smile perked on her lips.

No doubt her father would disapprove, her mother too, but not because they felt it wrong. She knew that Soliael and Kira had always wanted the best for their children, but war, fighting, leading and army was certainly not best.

Then again she also knew that her father would be proud on his own way, that he would see her for what she had become. He had been a warrior long before she had even been alive, long before she had even been a possibility. He would see her for that, even if he wouldn't really want to. That thought purveyed through her mind as she wandered up through the hangar, watching as the Legion that would become her own began to assemble.

 

[Aela Talith]

There was an odd sense in the air, anticipation? Fear? She couldn’t quite place it. No one here had reason to anything, well save for the coming battles, but she could still feel that there was a bit of apprehension in the air. She slowly moved towards one of the group of soldiers. They all wore the same armor, the compilation of plastoid and armorweave that they had been issued.

When they saw her approach they immediately stood up, saluting her with straight backs.

For some odd reasons he recoiled slightly, not used to the reaction being garnered from soldiers, even those within the Alliance. She frowned for a moment, then slowly motioned with her hand for them to sit back down. “At ease.”

She knew the language well enough to get them to sit down at the very least, there was no need for any of them to jump for her.

For a brief moment Aela wondered where any of them had come from, whether they were here for themselves, their families, or simply for the good of it all. She stepped forward and included herself in the small semi-circle that they had formed.

 

[Aela Talith]

“You all know me?” It was a question that she likely didn’t have to ask. There were a few women within the Legion, but none of them dressed the way Aela did and certainly none of them carried lightsabers.

“Of course Master Talith.”

She winced slightly.

Formality was always something she had been big on in the past, but lately she had tried to shy away from it a bit more. Ever since her trist with the Criminal underground, where she, Adder, and Jacen had dealt with the scum of the galaxy, Aela had realized that she at times came off rather...blunt. Though that was good in an ordinary situation, or so she thought, she knew that it wasn’t a way to make friends, and ultimately she wanted these soldiers, these men and women to trust her as a friend.

“You can call me Aela.” She said flatly. “When we’re not in combat at least.”

She added the last bit just in case.

Calling out her name was a surefire way to get her attention, but it was also a quick way to end up getting shot, the structure of command was important.

 

[Aela Talith]

The men gave her a quick nod, acknowledging the command, or rather the request. A few of them returned to cleaning their weapons, others watched her for a moment before they realized that they were staring. Some probably still doubted themselves for jumping into bed with the Alliance, other’s likely felt a bit uneasy about the young woman leading them. She smiled for a minute, then sat herself down on the crate besides one of the soldiers.

“Do you mind my asking where you’re from?” She asked the man quite cordially. Aela had never been great in social situations, in fact some might have called her downright terrible at them, but this was important.

She had to gain their trust if she was going to fight alongside them.

“Anaxes Ma’am.”

The soldier said as he slowly slipped a small rag through the barrel of his rifle. Aela frowned for a moment, trying to think of exactly where Anaxes was and what the planet was all about. She lit up for a second as she remembered, her fingers snapping. “Core world, fortress planets and known for it’s Naval Academy!”

 

[Aela Talith]

One of the other soldiers chuckled.

“That’s correct Ma’a- Aela.”

She smiled slightly at the man’s self correction. “What’s your name?”

“Robert, Ma’am. Robert Draxis.”

Aela very much doubted that she would be able to commit every single one of their names to memory, very much doubted she could even get half of them, but at the very least she could make the effort with some of her soldiers, especially the ones that were nice enough to actually talk to her and hold a bit of conversation. She pressed the name, Robert Draxis into her mind, shifting slightly on the bench to better face him.

“What brings you to the Alliance? I mean, Anaxis is pretty thick into the Core of the One Sith.” She was blunt, always was.

“You did Ma’am. You spared my life on Coruscant a few months ago, when the Alliance struck the planet during the Togoria invasion.”

Surprise colored her face. She hadn’t expected the answer, and she certainly hadn’t thought that she would be meeting anyone she’d personally spared any time soon. Aela frowned for a moment, not quite sure how to respond or even what to say. She shifted on the bench and wondered for a moment just how many others were here because of her.

 

[Aela Talith]

“Quite a few of us are here because of you ma’am, well, I think more the Jedi Order as a whole. You’ve been an example, a...a big difference to what the Sith do.”

That was certainly true.

The Alliance weren’t all angels of course, and at times they did what they had to do, even Aela did, but predominantly the strategy of the Alliance wasn’t to kill, but rather to take prisoners. It was something that at times presented difficulty, but more often then not worked out for the better. As it turned out most Sith troopers were generally forced into combat, with only a few actually being volunteer units.

In comparison, the Alliance military was made up entirely of Volunteers. Even the 5th Legion, the soldiers that surrounded her now were entirely here because they chose to be. It was a mark in just how different the two factions were, not to even speak about how they treated their soldiers differently. The Alliance didn’t punish their soldiers for failure, the Sith did, executions being rife within the command structure.

She turned to face the soldier that had spoken. “What about you?”

 

[Aela Talith]

“Me?”

She nodded at the man.

“Prakith, Ma’am, names Thorn, or that’s what everyone calls me anyway. I defected about three years ago, though not to the Alliance. Originally joined up with the Republic, but when things got dicy there I headed towards Naboo. Met my wife there...well not to tell you my life story, but when the Alliance took Naboo she encouraged me to join up.”

Aela nodded for a moment, listening to the man with a keen amount of interest. She had never really talked to soldiers like this before, in fact she was pretty ignorant about everything they did. It was mostly because of her own focus within the Jedi world, but now that she lead an army, that she lead soldiers, she found herself with a keen interest.

Shifting forward Aela leaned in to listen closer.

“We knew what the New Jedi Order had been doing here, and well...we thought it best to support with what we could. My wife joined as a techie and I went back to what i knew best, soldiering.”

Aela nodded, understanding.

 

[Aela Talith]

The Jedi Master turned to the only woman in the group. She was a gruff one, her hair cut short and a small scar cutting across her upper jaw. There was also a large bite mark on her neck that Aela wondered about, though the Jedi Master thought it best not to ask directly. The woman countered Aela’s stare for a moment, then burst out into laughter.

The Jedi gave her an odd look of confusion until the Soldier finally regained her composure.

“Panatha, Ma’am.”

Now there was a name she was quite familiar with. Panatha wasn’t in the central housing of the Sith, but it was a sort of consecrated ground of evil. The Sith Lord Vornskr had made his home on Panatah for some time now, even building a fortress there.

Not long ago there had been talks of taking the world from the Sith, though as far as she knew that was no longer in motion.

“My world has been held by the SIth for as long as I can remember, my family left before I became an adult, but I still remember what it was like. I never fought for the Sith, not really, but I guess being born on Panatha was enough for them to let me join this unit.”

The woman smiled, something Aela returned.

There wasn’t really a ‘qualification’ to join the 5th Legion, but Aela had requested that those troopers who wanted a chance to strike at the Sith the most, those who had been beaten and abused by them came first.

 

[Aela Talith]

“Well.” Aela began. “I’m glad to have you all with me.”

The thought of one of them betraying her, the idea that one of them was some sort of sleeper agent never even occurred to her.

There was a vetting process in order to join the 5th Legion, a test in place to make sure you actually wanted to go against the One Sith. It wasn’t perfect of course, and likely there was a spy or two among the six thousand soldiers that made up her army, but somehow Aela didn’t seem to care. Just from the brief conversation she had held with these men, from the small talks she had with them, she could tell that most, if not all of them were good.

She supposed that intentions were the grandest of things, and that was why most of them were here. They were here to fight for their people, to fight for their families, their friends, to free those whom they loved and to liberate their homeworld. “We’ll be going for Coruscant next.”

Aela told them, a few of them looking at her in surprise when she did.

 

[Aela Talith]

There was no use keeping secrets from them, there was no use lying to them. The soldiers of the 5th Legion would be tested in perhaps the greatest battle that the Galactic Alliance would ever face, and she wanted them to know. “It’s going to be tough.”

That was an understatement.

“We’ll be at the front.” The Jedi Master said, her tone flat. “At the head of the fight. I intend to take the new Valley of the Dark Lords, the monument they built for themselves on the grounds of the Old Jedi temple. The fighting will be hard, impossible, but I’m glad to have you on my side.”

She smiled at them.

Perhaps that was a bit too much to drop on their first day, perhaps they had not wanted to know, but she wanted to build trust.

What better way was there then the truth?

Aela stood, every single one of the soldiers watching her as she did so. These were only a tiny portion of the soldiers that would be following her, a tiny portion that would be fighting and dying for her, but she felt like she knew them a bit better. That was something.