AN: Sort of a prequel fic for something else I'm working on, but it could easily be a standalone story. Not a oneshot, but could end up being one if I can't figure out where to go after this.

Hell, it could end up being the thing if my other idea falls flat.

"Everyone of a certain age range remembers where they were when they heard the Clone Wars had begun. It was the first time in forty standard humanoid generations that a full-scale war had broken out… After all was said and done, when the Empire rose, we hoped it would be the last."-Commander Crix Madine, Imperial Storm Commandos, interview recorded prior to defection to Rebel Alliance.

13:5:21 GrS.

College of Planetary Security Forces, Anaxes Citadel, Anaxes, Axum System, Azure Sector.

Cadet Kelia Los'ean frowned as she scribbled down some notes on a piece of flimsiplast while idly glancing at a holopict of her then newborn daughter, Litat, in her arms, the pale light of her desklamp illuminating her blond fur and hair, the latter of which was drawn back in a ponytail.

The Bothan's canid muzzle shifted into a smile as she leaned on her desk, pausing her work as she looked at the holo, gold eyes fixing on it.

She'd become a mother a couple months before heading off to the PSF War College on Anaxes after graduating from the Military Academy on her homeworld, and as much as it pained her to leave her child without her mother during such a time in her life, Litat was safer back home on Bothawui with her husband and the rest of the clan.

Bothan Space had already taken a neutral stance in the ongoing Separatist Crisis, even if it tacitly supported the Republic.

Already rumors of war were spreading, and a vote on the Military Creation Act was due in the Galactic Senate any day.

Kelia clenched her fist, the general opinion in the Academy system was that the Judicial Forces were completely unsuited for fighting a full scale war against the military forces the Separatist Alliance could bring to bear if rumors of elements of the major trade guilds pledging portions of their military forces to them were correct.

They weren't wrong either, the Judicials would be overwhelmed in a real war if the Stark Hyperspace War was any indication.

And people like Amidala believed that negotiating from a position of weakness would somehow keep the peace?

The Bothan clicked her tongue, the senator was naïve, she should know damn well that without a real military to back up her laws, the Republic was toothless. The Jedi couldn't fight a war on their own and they too had been defanged since Ruusan, their numbers and strength overall a pale shadow of the might the Order could once bring to bear on the enemies of the Republic after a millennium of 'peace' barring some pitiful brushfire conflicts.

Supposedly only around ten thousand, maybe twenty thousand at most, stood in defense of the Republic.

Hell, the Gungans of the good senator's homeworld had proven that military forces were ultimately necessary to deter invasions and pirate attacks on otherwise vulnerable worlds.

Had Naboo boasted a strong defense force, even if not intended for anything more than defense, the Trade Federation wouldn't have bothered.

And on a more personal level, the loss of several close friends to a pirate attack on Kothlis when she was a child was why Kelia had enlisted in the Bothan Sector Forces and later the Judicials in the first place, it was why she worked so hard to prove herself.

The Judicials had shown up at the end with a pair of Dreadnought-class heavy cruisers and four CR90s and taken down those responsible, but the overworked Bothan Sector Forces had been unable to respond to distress calls due to them being issued on a band they weren't monitoring, while the out of position Judicials had taken too long.

A strong, centralized navy was needed to reduce the risk of such tragedies occurring.

Someone needed to be hold that line in the sand when the Jedi or Judicials could not. Having a child merely increased Kelia's desire to do so.

If the extant defense measures couldn't protect her daughter… She would.

It was unbothanlike as hell, but she'd build a reputation of a defender, a soldier, like her clan had once been back before they'd given up the Resol'nare and reintegrated with the greater portion of Bothan society after the Mandalorian Excision centuries ago.

She'd leave her family and clan proud of her service, a good reputation that any Bothan would truly desire.

Glancing over at the subspace radio sitting on the desk, she switched it on and changed it to the news.

A voice she didn't recognize, high pitched and somewhat annoying, echoed over the speakers. ["-in response to this direct threat to the Republic, meesa propose that the senate give immediately emergency powers to the Supreme Chancellor!"]

Kelia froze, her roommate, a violet skinned Twi'lek female, stirring and sitting up at the noise. "Kelia… Whazz going on…" The twenty-year old Ielec Gibe, known to her own people as Ielecgibe, asked sleepily, lekku draped down over her chest.

The din of the senate chamber bursting into chanting issued from the radio as Kelia turned up the volume as he roommate, wearing a disheveled tank top and some academy issue thinskin bottoms much like Kelia strode over from her bed and leaned in, slowly becoming more aware of what was going on, about the importance of it all. ["Palpatine! Palpatine! Palpatine! Palpatine! Palpatine!"] Some senators chanted in basic.

["Order! We shall have order!"] Mas Amedda's voice boomed, the Chagrian Vice Chair of the Senate quieting the uproar.

The Chancellor's voice came on next. ["It is with… Great reluctance that I have agreed to this calling..."] Sheev Palpatine began. ["I love democracy… I love the Republic..."] He said as applause picked up again. ["The power you give me I will lay down when this crisis has abated."] The Chancellor proclaimed as the applause loudened further. ["And as my first act with this new authority, I will create a Grand Army of the Republic, to counter the increasing threats of the Separatists."]

Both officer cadets looked at eachother in shock.

Tomorrow was going to prove to be an… Interesting day to say the least.

13:5:22 GrS.

College of Planetary Security Forces, Anaxes Citadel, Anaxes, Axum System, Azure Sector.

Kelia sighed as she worked again on her thesis for fleet combat, rewriting the document yet again to include changes to ship classifications in the still in progress Anaxes War College System that was being debated by hundreds of officers, cadets, and scholars even as she worked on it.

Aggravating, but she chose it as her hill to die on so there wasn't much choice.

A tone blared throughout the building as the PA system came to life. ["Attention all staff and personnel at the Anaxes Republic Navy War College. An important announcement from the Superintendent is about to be made."] The tinny voice of a protocol droid announced over the speakers.

The blond furred Bothan blinked as she and dozens of other students looked up from their terminals. That change of designation was new, and Kelia's fur rippled in unease as the implications began to make themselves clear.

The Superintendent coughed lightly as he took the mic. ["To all the staff, cadets, and other personnel here at the Republic Navy War College of Anaxes… At approximately 11:56 Hours Galactic Standard time, the Grand Army of the Republic and the Republic Navy launched a full-scale invasion of the planet Geonosis in response to the military buildup of a massive Droid Army that the Confederacy of Independent Systems was conducting there and the capturing of several Republic agents who'd uncovered imminent plans for war from the Separatists… Initial fighting lasted four hours before the remaining droids on the battlefield were shut down after the Confederate military leadership fled. Casualties numbers are still unknown, but among the deaths it is believed that over a hundred Jedi perished in the fighting… To put it succinctly… We now are at war with the Confederacy, and I will be frank, we are short on officers of every stripe to lead the new Clone Army that was discovered mere days ago on Kamino and turned into both the Grand Army of the Republic and the core of our new centralized Navy. Therefore, the cadets of the 14 GrS Class have been automatically graduated unless they do not meet minimum emergency passing specifications… All cadets from that class are to report to the graduation atrium in full service uniform as soon as possible to receive their postings… May the Force be with you all."]

With that, the PA cut out, leaving everyone stunned speechless.

War… A full-scale Galactic War… Something that hadn't occurred in a thousand years. To most, it seemed surreal, almost inconceivable that it was really happening.

Kelia felt her throat dry up even as her fur settled back down.

War…

She'd personally always known it would come to this… But it never prepared her for the reality of it all.

Kelia shivered as she waited for her posting among a group of hundreds of cadets, wearing the crisp new green-grey uniforms of the Republic Navy.

The Bothan nervously adjusted her officer's cap, it was sweltering in here due to how many bodies were packed in, with air conditioning droids floating over the crowd and working overtime to keep them cool enough to be presentable.

Ielec gave Kelia a thumbs up as she stepped forward in the line next to the Bothan, the Twi'lek being handed a datapad with her new assignment. "Arca Barracks huh? Guess that's a Triple Zero posting." She whispered before saluting the officer who'd handed her the device and heading off when given permission to do so.

Kelia strode forwards and had a datapad almost shoved into her hands unceremoniously. There was no time for pomp or ceremony, the Republic needed military leaders and she needed them now.

She looked down at her datapad and her fur bristled in surprise.

Attached to it in a plastic bag were the two red squares and one blue of a Navy Captain's rank plaque.

Checking her orders, she realized she was to report to the shipyards to receive her command.

A new Venator-class ship, the Kestrel. One of the behemoth klick-long new Kuati warships they'd started building a few months ago in response to rising tensions with the Separatists, and one of the first vessels in her class to enter service.

They apparently wouldn't be available in numbers for a few months, so getting one now was a highly prestigious assignment. Which confused the Bothan as to why she'd been chosen.

Maybe they didn't have many people who fit the bill, or it was completely random. Maybe she'd actually impressed the instructors enough for them to entrust her with such a vessel when most others were getting Consulars, CR70s, CR90s, CD10s, and Dreadnoughts, ships both older and smaller than a Venator or Acclamator.

Kelia nonetheless saluted sharply, the officer who'd handed her the datapad and rank badge saluting her back before she fell at ease and then walked away, heading to shuttle pad seven for transfer to the planetary dockyards where her ship awaited her, pinning her rank plaque to the left breast of her jacket in the process.

Awaiting her was a craft she'd never seen before, a tandem-seat white and red dropship of some kind with drooping wings bearing bubble turrets of some kind near the tips descending diagonally off the craft's upper rear from underneath a pair of massive mass-driver missile launchers, with the engines tucked safely at the center rear of the craft, above the tail-gun and rear door with two chin guns on independent ball-mounts well below the gunner's seat at the frontmost section of the gunship.

A sizable troop bay with two massive doors swung back to allow entire squads egress at once, a bay large enough to carry about thirty or so standard sized humanoids at once when crammed to max capacity by her estimates, made up the vast bulk of the craft's size, at the front of which sat another pair of bubble turrets, one on each side, just ahead of the forward doors.

These ones carried a pair of gunners, whom looked around while sitting in their seats, seeming almost bored with their assignment.

Why they were manned she couldn't fathom, but there might've been issues properly automating those weapons mounts.

A gunship transport then, predatory and deadly looking, with the eight spoked Galactic Roundel on her hull, just behind the rear cockpit bubble.

Striding forwards, a human male wearing green-striped white armor strode forwards and saluted her, left hand holding his carbine by the extendable stock under the barrel. "Sir! Sergeant CT-42/132, reporting sir!"

"At ease?" She asked, presuming this man, the three standing aboard the transport, and the two pilots to all be some of these 'Clone Troopers' that she'd been hurriedly informed about. "I assume that this is the transport is meant to take me to the docks?"

"Yes sir! LAAT-23/44 Besh is ready for your boarding sir!" The man acknowledged as he brought his right hand back to the grip of his DC-15 carbine. "This way sir."

Kelia sighed, it was clear from the hitch in his voice that the Clone was being awkward since he'd likely never seen a female Bothan, or possibly a female humanoid in general before given the presumed isolation the Clone Army had been raised in. "Right, let's get a move on then." She said as she strode towards the waiting gunship, the Clone Sergeant following in her wake.

13:5:21 GrS.

Anaxes Central Drydock Airspace, Anaxes, Axum System, Azure Sector.

The LAAT droned through the air, Kelia standing at the head of the troop bay with the five Clones around her. "Sergeant?" She asked.

"Sir?" The man acknowledged.

"Why is it that you men refer to me with a male pronoun despite me being female?"

"Well…" The Clone trailed off sheepishly, helmet tilting downwards. "It's mostly because that aside from the female Kaminoans, whom have only minor external differences from the males, and a few of those who've seen the mercenary trainers… Most of us have never seen a female human before, let alone one of your species… So we're just so used to using sir as a pronoun since our training leaders were usually other Clones." He explained.

"Hey sarge, ask her what those big mounds on her chest are for." One of the rank and file Troopers piped up.

"Why don't you ask her yourself 56/1102?" CT-42/112 snapped at him.

"My breasts…? Most mammals have them for nursing their young." Keila explained. It wasn't like she was unused to comments about her bust size either, given that most of the barvs commenting about it shut up when she explained, often crassly, that she was a mother and her husband was a Bothan Spynet operative, which usually made them stop harassing her out of fear that a vengeful Bothan spy might end their entire career with a few well-placed leaks to media outlets, not that Korsk would've unless they gave him good reason to.

"They also have… Other uses…" She admitted before realizing exactly what she just said, the helmets of the Clones tilting in confusion.

"What kind of other uses? Crashbags?" One of the Troopers asked innocently, the quiet wonder of a child.

A child… How old were these Clones anyways? She knew that accelerated aging was standard for clones, it had to be for them to be of any use, but the mere thought was still enough to unnerve her slightly about the callousness of it all.

The Bothan looked away, face flushing a bit red. She doubted her husband would be pleased about corrupting a few innocents who clearly had literally no sexual knowledge by explaining some of the more risqué things she'd used her breasts for, especially since most of them also involved him. "Yeah, that's also a use for them…" She said, trailing off in embarrassment.

The Clones just looked at eachother and shrugged.

["We're coming up on the shipyards now."] The pilot announced over the gunship's intercom, the same voice as all his brothers, even if the exact tone was slightly different.

Kelia, glad for the intervention, looked out the slats of the gunship doors to see the immense dome that made up the oldest and most prestigious planetary shipyards loom in the distance as the LAAT/i entered a holding pattern.

Soon, the gunship gently banked right and flew into a cavernous bay, where an immense grey and red vessel loomed large, twin command towers cutting an imposing profile over the indented arrowhead hull of the warship.

The side-doors opened as the gunship landed on the open hangar deck strip and turned sideways, hundreds of Clone Pilots, flight crew personnel, rank and file infantry troopers, gunners, vehicle crews, officers and enlisted naval crew, and even a few medics stood at crisp attention. Only a fraction of the vessel's crew of thousands, but that every department had been represented further cemented in Kelia's mind that she was responsible for the lives of every, single, one of them.

"Captain on deck!" A Clone with orange-yellow striping on his armor, which was otherwise identical to CT-42/122's markings, down to the four dots on the left side of the chestplate, announced from the head of the committe.

As one, the Clones saluted, the Bothan saluting back. "At ease! Permission to come aboard?"

A Clone Naval officer, the OOD, nodded. "Permission granted, sir! Welcome aboard the Kestrel!"

Kelia nodded as she stepped off the LAAT with the five Troopers behind her, the Gunship lifting off slightly and slowly drifting towards one of the hangar bays lining the 'flight deck'. "Do we have time for a full inspection, or do we already have deployment orders?" She asked the orange-yellow Clone, whom she assumed was in command of the ground complement at least.

"Yes sir. We have standing orders to report to Coruscant for taskforce assignment." The Clone Officer replied.

Kelia nodded. "Very well, we can do our full inspection while underway, I want to understand the intricacies of my command at the least before I take her into battle."

"Understood, sir."

She glanced about idly. "Is there anyone who is available to escort me to the bridge for our departure…" She trailed off, trying to figure out the Clone's rank. "My apologies, they didn't fully debrief me on the rank structure of you and your men."

"Regimental Commander CRC-23/909 sir. In charge of the 608th Mobile Regiment. I'll have 42/122's section take you up if you wish."

"That would be acceptable, Commander."

"This way sir." 42/122 informed her as he gestured for the Bothan female to follow him, Kelia nodding and following him and the four troopers from the gunship.

A red-striped Clone Major strode up to 23/909. "What do you make of her sir?" He asked.

The Clone glanced back at his brother. "Hard to tell, apparently she graduated early… But one thing really stood out to me about her 552…"

"What was that?" CC-552/67 asked.

"She called us men, not Clones."

13:5:21 GrS.

RSS Kestrel.

Kelia glanced out over the hull of her vessel from the starboard bridge, meant for ship and fleet command if need be, as the Venator's vast dorsal hangar bay doors slid shut after accepting the last of the three hundred odd new V-19 Torrents that made up much of her fighter complement, completely revealing the two open circle naval emblems, emblems that the Navy had once used in the earliest days of the Old Republic.

"Inform dock control we're ready to depart once they've made all the preparations on their end." She said as she glanced down into one of the two bridge pits, a design choice intended to keep crews focused on their jobs rather than any battles raging outside.

"Aye sir." A Clone comms tech replied from below before speaking into his headset, reporting their readiness to depart.

Kelia glanced out the viewports yet again, watching as lines were detached and boarding ramps unhooked and withdrawn.

"Sir, we're clear for departure!" The comms tech announced.

"Right. Inform engineering that we'll need power diverted to engines and repulsors as needed. Helm, bring us out of the bay." She ordered.

Slowly, the immense 1,137 meter long vessel lurched from her resting place, slowly lifting off the bottom of the drydock and lifting off into the air as she pulled out from the bay, landing struts retracting into the underside of her hull as powerful ion engines emitted blue flares of light.

Escorting her was a squadron of Judicial Z-95AF4 headhunters, six to each side of the ship, and a trio of refit Consular-class vessels with CEC's Charger c70 Retrofit package, vessels under her direct command and whom would serve as the Kestrel's picket escorts on their way to Coruscant.

The fighters quickly broke off as the Venator began to ascend faster and faster, only the escorting Corvettes keeping up.

Kelia turned and saluted the Anaxes Citadel, which stood imposingly off in the distance.

She had no doubt the next class of cadets at the academy, the ones who'd formally graduate, were outside, staring at the Kestrel in awe, wondering if they would be lucky enough to ever command a vessel of such power and presence.

A lucky handful might even see the bridge of one of Kuat's Mandators or Praetors.

The Kestrel ascended ever higher into the atmosphere, nosing upwards until it was at a forty-degree angle to increase the rate of ascent, until Kelia could see nothing but stars and the distant shine of the other worlds in the Axum system.

"Navigation, once we're clear of the gravity wells, plot a course to Coruscant. I'll be performing a quick inspection of the vessel's sections before taking a look at my quarters."

"Aye sir." The Clone in charge of navigation acknowledged Kelia strode out of the bridge.

Sometime later, the Bothan sat down at the desk in her room and began to unpack. All of her personal effects from the academy had been transferred beforehand by droids so she hadn't worried.

So far everything was running smoothly, a good sign.

The ship's engines whined, the high pitched 'baby's cry' of a newly launched ship according to old timers within the Judicials she'd talked to on off days. In time, as the Kestrel saw service and repairs and maintenance mounted, it would be replaced by the duller thrum of a seasoned vessel.

Kelia frowned as the word baby caught in her mind, maybe once they reached Triple Zero she could contact her husband and inform him about her posting if possible. Nothing too revealing to avoid breaching security, but she had no doubt his status as a Bothan Spynet operative meant that he'd find out sooner or later via favors others owed him.

She was the mother of his child after all, so she could see where he'd get a bit… Protective to say the least.

That and she wanted to hear how Litat was growing, maybe see a few holos of her to help ease the pain of being away.

The intercom on her desk chimed softly, Kelia clicking in. "Los'ean."

["Captain, we're about to revert to realspace."] Came the reply of the Clone she assumed was going to be her XO.

"Roger, I'll be there in a few moments." She acknowledged before cutting her end of the transmission and straightening out her uniform, adjusting the brim of her cap over her brow ridge, so that the visor ended mid-way over her canid muzzle, and then striding out of her quarters, the DC-15s Carbine equipped Clone Trooper standing guard saluting her, which she acknowledged with a simple nod.

Kelia strode towards the front of the command bridge, staring out the viewports into the swirling blue black of hyperspace, the transparisteel windows having been depolarized in preparation for the reversion to realspace.

The ship's XO saluted her, Kelia saluting back as the man lowered his arm and headed to the rear of the bridge, where the command information center was, to monitor the surrounding space.

She supposed she'd have to ask about some things later.

Such as figuring out names she could call the Clones because to hell with remembering their designation numbers.

It was not only impersonal, but impossible for her, and most humanoids for that matter, to even accomplish.

"Three, two, one…" The navigator announced before the ship jolted ever so slightly as it decelerated, swirls becoming streaks, and then streaks becoming stars as the orange and grey sphere of Coruscant too unsmeared before them, the three armed white and red Consulars joining the Kestrel as they too jumped out of hyperspace

Already dozens of cruisers, frigates, and corvettes stood in defense of the ecumenopolis, fighters and patrol boats ushering arriving and departing ships into far more regulated streams than they had been previously.

A sizable force, but one still far too small to effectively defend the Capitol of the Republic should Separatist forces in the Core Worlds consolidate and attempt to move for a decapitating blow against them this early in the war.

"Send our codes to traffic control and the local command ship. I'd rather not get fired upon because of a mixup. We're not anything they've ever seen before so they might panic."

"Understood." A Clone acknowledged as they began to carry out the order.

She glanced out over the space in front of her, steering well clear of the traffic lanes to prevent any incidents.

Even with the Kestrel's immensely powerful shields she'd rather not collide with a fully laden fuel tanker and risk destroying her ship because she got cocky.

"Control has sent us our flight plan, we're to take position at the head of Defense Group Seven until further orders come in."

"Understood. Helm, plot a course."

"Sir!"

As the Kestrel came about and headed towards one of the groups of Dreadnaught-class heavy cruisers that held orbit over Coruscant, Kelia wondered something.

How much longer would this lull last? After all, the Battle of Geonosis was over…

But this was just the beginning of the Clone Wars to come.

AN: Just a fiddly little thing, I'm well aware the Venators didn't become available until part-way into the war in legends but that's entirely because of the retconfest that started when they first appeared, it's more fitting to have them being built and slowly rolled out from the very beginning before Kuat and the other yards pick up the pace.

Likewise for the supposedly limited numbers of Torrents, the GAR only brought to Geonosis what they had on hand on Kamino and nearby Rothana, places further back would certainly have greater access to production lines, since Palpatine is logically not nearly stupid enough to not give the Republic decent capital ships and fighters and thus risk weakening it too much early on in the war.

Issue is, AOTC didn't have any fighters or dedicated warships so that's what the people doing the Clone Wars multimedia project used until they were introduced. It was a good idea but a trainwreck from the start since it made the Republic a pushover for about... Six months.

Yeah, uh, no. Accounting for the already utterly moronic lowballed Clone Trooper numbers (3 million Clones for an entire full-sized Army and Navy in a Galactic War?) that's just the icing on the stupid cake.

Not the weakest part of the prequel era, but one of them.

On the topic of Clone numbers, I have an explanation lined up for when... if? I continue.

Also yeah, most Clones would have never seen a female who isn't Kaminoan before, and their education contains next to nothing on sex, so therefore most of them are going to be quite awkward around non-clones, at least initially.