Hello. Is your mom still selling the pattern for those AMAZING Clone Wars sweaters? My sister would love to have the pattern, but I can't find your link.
Hi! My mom’s patterns are available on Ravelry here: ravelry.com/people/NatelaDesign (:
For those who might be interested, she is also still accepting orders for all her hand-made knitwear! Check you her instagram at instagram.com/natela_a :>
Thoughts on modern architecture? (sorry. I've been hung on this recently, and was trying to come up with something unusual to ask you about)
I don’t really know much about architecture or style lol, sorry. But I don’t mind modern looks. If we’re talking about homes I prefer a cozy feel over open rooms though.
Here's a bit of background for my Mandalorian OC. You guys may be seeing a lot of her. :P
Chapter 1:
Something was happening. We could see it in the Kaminoan’s heightened fussiness. We could feel it in the air. The flight logs showed more than twenty ships had docked on Tipoca city in the last twelve hours. Scorch wanted to ask the Kaminoans what was going on, but it wasn’t our place. And even if we did, they wouldn’t answer. They don’t care about us. We’re just clones.
~Personal journal of RC-1140 “Fixer”
Kamino: 10 years before the Battle of Geonosis
Jesse sat in the copilot’s seat and watched the huge, black ocean swells break against the spindly stilts of Tipoca city. The rain pounded the watery world without letup, without mercy and lightning split the sky as if to punctuate the severity of the weather. She shivered and took refuge in the fact that she would only be here a few hours.
They touched down on the rain-swept landing pad and disembarked. Jesse placed her helmet on her head, shouldered her duffle bag and followed Wad’e Tay’haai down the ramp and out into the rain. They sprinted toward the door at the far end of the platform and squeezed through the narrow frame into an empty hallway where they stood shivering.
She took a closer look at the hall in which she found herself. Her first impression was of white. Pure, sterile, unbroken white. She wondered who mopped the floors. Turning to Tay’haai, she asked “So, what now?”
He pointed over her shoulder. “Ask him.”
She turned and studied the figure approaching them. It was tall, over two meters, Jesse thought, and skeletal. Its tiny head, with huge, almond shaped eyes was set atop a snake-like neck. An instant and irrational dislike arose inside her, threatening to choke her. She swore to herself. “What is that thing?”
Tay’haai shrugged. “I guess we’ll find out.”
The thing continued its approach until it stood a bare few meters from them. It seemed to study them for a moment, its tiny head weaving gently to and fro on its skinny neck. It opened its mouth and spoke in a soft, even monotone. “Welcome to Kamino. I am Taun We.”
Tay’haai directed his gaze up at the tall creature. “I’m Wad’e Tay’haai. This is Jesse Libarra. We’re here about a job.”
Taun We inclined her head. “Yes, Master Jango has been expecting you. This way, please.”
The two Mandos exchanged glances, and followed the lanky creature down the hall.
***
“Master Jango, two more warriors are here to see you.” Taun We said.
Jesse peered around Tay’haai to see who the Kaminoan was speaking to. A stocky, broad-shouldered man stood with his back toward them, looking out the window at the crashing waves. He turned at the sound of the Kaminoan’s voice and inside her helmet Jesse’s jaw dropped a good centimeter. It was Jango Fett!
He nodded coolly at Taun We and she gracefully exited the room. As soon as the door hissed closed, a wide smile brightened Jango’s face and he approached Tay’haai.
“Su’cuy, Wad’e.” He said, gripping the purple-clad Mando’s forearm in the traditional warriors greeting. “Thanks for coming.”
Wad’e nodded and spoke curtly “What is this about, Fett?”
Jango spread his hands. “Just like the message said, Wa’de. I have a job for you.”
Tay’haai folded his arms. “Is it fast? I’ve got to drop her off on Coruscant.”
Jango looked over Tay’haai’s shoulder and seemed to notice Jesse for the first time. “Wad’e, who is she?” He demanded.
Slightly indignant at not being addressed directly, Jesse removed her helmet and extended her hand. “Name’s Libarra. Jesse Libarra.”
Jango raised an eyebrow and clasped her forearm, glaring at Tay’haai while he did so. “What is she doing here?”
Wad’e shrugged. “She needed a lift. I was going to drop her off on Coruscant.”
The Mandalore frowned. “I told you Tay’haai, once you get here, there is no leaving.”
Jesse’s eyes widened and she looked from Tay’haai to the Mandalore and back again. Wad’e’s posture matched her shocked expression. “You mean” He said, unable to keep his voice level. “She’s stuck here? Forever?”
Her jaw dropped. “Forever?!”
***
Jesse sat on the shiny, sterile floor, her legs stretched out in front of her, her helmet in her lap. She stared out across the vast expanse of whiteness that was Tipoca city, her new home. She wanted to cry, to swear, to kill something, but she had a feeling that it would be highly frowned upon by those who had far more worldly experience. From somewhere in the chasm below her, she could hear shouting, almost like that of a cadence caller in the military. In the back of her mind, her interested was pricked, but not enough to call her out of the stunned stupor in which she found herself.
She looked around at the sound of limping footsteps approaching. A short, gray-haired man in golden armor strolled around the corner. She leaped to her feet, a grin spreading across her face, chasing away the gloom that had resided there. “Kal’buir!” She jogged down the hallway toward him.
Kal Skirata laughed and shouted “Jes’ika!” He embraced her with a clack of armor plates. “What are you doing here, ad’ika?”
She made a face. “I was hitching a ride with Wad’e Tay’haai. He was going to drop me off on Coruscant, see? And he thought he could swing by here and see what Jango wanted and then be off again. Only now, we’re both stuck here indefinitely.”
Kal smiled sympathetically. “That makes three of us, kid.”
“You’re stuck here too?”
He nodded. “Yep.” His attention seemed to wander briefly, and a shadow of a frown crossed his face. “Say, do you know where to find the kitchen?”
She cocked her head. “I can tell you it’s over there.” She pointed in the general direction. “Anything more specific than that, you’re on your own. Why?”
He focused on her again. “Because, Jes’ika, I’ve got six hungry adi’ke to feed.”
Her eyebrow climbed toward her hairline. “Um…”
“Haven’t they told you what we’re doing here, kid?”
She shook her head mutely.
He swore softly. “Ok, then. I’ll show you.”
***
Jesse sat down slowly, her face white. She watched with unseeing eyes as the young boys ate their fill of the sticky Uj cake that Kal had procured for them. They were small, no more than four, with thick, curly hair, and wide brown eyes. One of them regarded her with a solemn, syrup-covered face. Wordlessly he broke off a square of the hard cake he was eating and offered it to her with a chubby hand. Jesse tried to smile as she took the offering from the boy, but she wasn’t sure she was successful. The boy turned back to his sticky snack with a self-satisfied smirk on his face. Jesse looked helplessly down at the chunk of nuts and syrup in her glove and blinked back tears. She swallowed hard and beckoned Kal outside.
“Cloning?” Her voice was an anguished whisper. “Kal’buir, what was he thinking?”
He shook his head, and answered in a voice rough with emotion. “I don’t know adi’ka. I just don’t know.”
She looked at him, but couldn’t see the tears shining in his eyes through the tears in her own. Screwing her eyes shut, she took a series of deep breaths and returned her attention to Kal. “Are you going to introduce me?”
Later that night, Jesse laid awake, watching the lightning split the sky, remembering the fiery explosions of a faraway battlefield, and the wide brown eyes of the young clone troopers.
***
Over the next year, Jesse settled into her new life in the sterile Tipoca city. She wasn’t yet old enough or trusted enough to be considered a ‘Cuy’val Dar’, but she wasn’t considered completely useless. Thus she was frequently called upon to assist in different demonstrations, and as she seemed to connect very well to the young clones she often served as a liaison between the rough, closed mouthed Mandalorians, and the young, open clone troopers.
It never ceased to amaze and sadden her how quickly the troopers grew. Within two years of her arrival they had aged almost four. Many of them looked to be approaching her own age. Her closeness in age led to a sense of camaraderie between her and the clone troopers. Although she was unaware of it herself, she became something of a favorite among the Commandos and the older Mandalorians alike. The Commandos enjoyed her easy-going nature and her gentle humor, and the Cuy’val Dar appreciated her ability to delight in the company of their charges with the reckless abandon that comes with youth and the absence of responsibility.
***
Jesse had been on Kamino almost four years when she met Delta Squad.
She had just spent the last few hours doing strength training exercises with some of Rav Bralor’s commandos, and she was jogging slowly down the corridor, gently working the kinks out of her muscles. As she ran, she caught up on the informational reading the troopers had been assigned the previous night. Thus, while focusing on the slightly transparent wall of text inside her visor she ran right into a very tangible wall of white plastoid armor. She stumbled back a few steps and fumbled with her HUD in a brief moment of confusion. When her display cleared, she looked down at the commando she had collided with. To her surprise, he sat on the ground, stunned. She pulled off her helmet and knelt down beside him. “Hey. I am so sorry about that!” She said. “Are you ok?”
He shook his head as if to clear it, and nodded. “Yes ma’am. I’m fine.” He tried once to get his feet under him and his knee buckled. She heard him wince. She offered him her hand. He looked at it blankly for a moment, then accepted the help. She hauled him to his feet and looked him up and down, noting the fatigue in his posture.
“Are you sure you’re ok, trooper? You look exhausted.” She studied him for a moment. “Where were you coming from?”
“The simulator, ma’am. We were doing desert training.”
Her eyebrows went up. “How long were you in there?”
He looked sideways at one of his squad mates, and the trooper with green sigils answered. “Nearly fifty hours, ma’am.”
She swore to herself. Fifty hours. “Two days!?” At the commando’s nod, she shook her head. “Who’s your sergeant?”
“Walon Vau, ma’am.”
“That explains it.” She muttered. To the troopers she asked “Where are you headed now?”
The commando with orange splashes on his armor spoke. “We’ve got to go put our gear in the barracks, swing by med-bay to get Fixer’s arm taken care of, and then it’s off to weapons training.”
She shook her head. “Nope. We’re going back to the barracks, I’m going to take care of Fixer’s arm, and then you’re going to get some sleep.”
“But ma’am.” The one in orange, obviously the leader, protested. “We can’t--”
“Yeah.” The commando that spoke had red splashes on his chest plate and helmet. “Sergeant Vau will kill us.”
She shook her head. “I’ll deal with Vau. You have to have sleep.”
She removed the packs from the backs of the sergeant and the trooper in red, slung them across her own shoulders, and headed off toward the barracks with the weary squad tagging behind her.
Jesse stood guard outside Delta squad’s barrack block, waiting for the inevitable appearance of Sergeant Walon Vau. Two hours later, her vigil was rewarded.
Vau came stalking up the hallway like a bantha stampede. In his solid black armor, his fists clenched at his sides, his shoulders rigid, he was quite an intimidating sight. She braced herself for the conflict.
He was coming closer. Twenty steps. Ten. Five. She put her arm out to stop him from walking right past her.
“Before you go in there, Vau” She said. “It’s not their fault.”
He whirled on her and snapped “What?”
She squared her shoulders. “I gave them the day off.”
He just looked at her, whether expecting an explanation or simply unable to speak for rage or shock, she didn’t know.
She shrugged. “They were exhausted.” In her mind’s eye she could see his eyebrows go up under his helmet.
“So you canceled their training? Because they were exhausted?!”
She nodded, fighting to keep a reign on the anger rising in her chest. “They could barely stand up! Lessons wouldn’t have done them any good!”
“That wasn’t your place.” Vau growled.
“No!” She snapped. “It wasn’t. It was yours.”
He stiffened. “You better be glad you’re not under my command. I would have you thrown in the ocean.” With that, he turned to go in the barracks door. She planted herself firmly in his path.
“Move.” He snarled.
She glowered at him. “If you go in there now, you’ll have to countermand one of my direct orders. I was under the impression that that is considered bad protocol. If I tell them one thing, and you tell them another, it will compromise my ability to command. Is that how we do it in this army?”
He scowled at her and she thought for a moment that he would swear. But, as she had often heard him say, gentlemen don’t swear. Therefore, he just leveled a venomous stare at her and stalked away.
