The Paradox of Moatia Rhaden

Season One Episode One

"A Padawan, you now are."

Those were the words the famed Jedi Master Yoda had said to Moatia Rhaden just hours before. Then she was loaded onto a cruiser ship called the Paradox and flown halfway across the galaxy from Coruscant to Castell. She was then ushered into a smaller gunship filled with ten identical, armor-clad men. At least, she thought they were men. With the bulky white armor and helmet on, it was hard to tell. They had all started the trip standing, but after a while, got tired and sat down on the floor. No one was talking, and it was eerily quiet. The only noises were the occasional scrap of armor against armor and her own breathing. She sat, huddled, in the middle of the group of men, her black hair in stark contrast to the shining white armor of the men. Clones, Yoda called them. From some planet named Kamino no one had ever heard of before. She was to be a commander, and lead them into battle. Ridiculous.

She was supposed to be a Jedi, a peacekeeper. A protector. And she had been taken from her family and trained for such purposes. Now, she was supposed to play Commander for a group of unnervingly similar men who had spent their entire shortened lives dedicated to the horrendous art of war.

Getting a bit bored, and a bit curious, Moatia wanted to see if the clones next to her were as identical as the masters said. Drawing her knees under her and placing her hands in front of her, Moatia touched her fingertips to the metal floor in front of her. Her mind spread out to the ship and felt for the men around her. She saw their impressions in the Force. They were all different, not identical. Interesting.

The clone closest to her was stoic and determined. The one next to him seemed happy and excited. One across the ship seemed mischievous while another seemed to be angrily letting loose a string of cusses.

Deciding that she was fated to be a commander, no matter her opinions on the topic, she should probably get to know her men. Best to start with these here. Moatia opened her eyes and unfolded her knees, stretching them out in front of her. As she did so, she looked around and the small portion of her new army. The 314th, she had been told.

"Uhh, excuse me, sir?" Moatia leaned forward and poked the man closest to her in the shoulder. This was the stoic one.

"Yes, Commander?" The clone turned. She thought he looked at her, but the helmet hid his eyes. For all she knew, he had the helmet on backwards and was staring at the wall of the ship. Ok maybe not that much, but only he knew if he was actually looking at her.

"What is your name? I would quite like to know." Moatia stumbled across her words, feeling a bit uncomfortable. Yanking on the end of one of her braids, Moatia already regretted her decision.

"I am CT-3213," He said, his voice devoid of any emotion or tone. Almost like a droid. Were the clones like droids? Moatia had thought she'd been told they were human beings, independent thinkers.

"That...that is not a name," She stuttered, feeling as though her attempt at socializing was failing miserably.

"It is what I am called, so yes, it is a name," The clone argued, his voice still emotionless. Maybe he was a droid after all? She wasn't sure how clones worked, to be entirely honest.

"O-oh," Moatia felt her cheeks heat up and looked down at her legs. CT-3213 probably thought she was stupid. She began to tug on her padawan braid. Maybe if it came undone, they wouldn't recognize her as a padawan and would send her back to Coruscant. Nah, not likely. She would probably end up spending another hour rebraiding it and carefully replacing the beads.

"Excuse me, Commander," The clone next to CT-3213 leaned forward, calling out to her. When she looked up at him, her purple eyes wide, he continued, "His name is Conlan. I'm Cinnamon, by the way." Then he took his helmet off and smiled at her. She noted that he had dyed his hair a dark red and pulled it back in a loose bun. He also had brown eyes, tanned skin a little darker than her own, and blindingly white teeth. He had a small black triangle tattooed upside down under his left eye.