~~'BOOM'~~

Sinker narrowly missed the blast thanks to a blurry white figure of a loth wolf pushing him away. 

"Thanks, Commander!" 

"Anytime Sink!"  Reetha barked and ran off to aid the front lines.

Three days later, she and Plo found themselves sneaking into the shields of two destroyer droids from behind and slicing through them swiftly. The clones that were distracting the droids from the front grinned. 

The following mission took place on Shili. The Togrutan artisan colonist complained about a disturbance, initially thought to be droids, but after relentless investigation, they came to realize that it was a rancor gone berserk. 

How a swamp creature made its way to Shili, no one would know. Reetha made good use of her wolf form and tracked the creature's scent while Master Plo and a few other clones stayed with the colonist in case the beast came back. 

The take back from all this was that Reetha was finally able to come out of her shell completely with the help of the Wolfpack, and for once she was brave enough to take control of her life, credits to her newfound family.

In a blink of an eye, Reetha's 'one-month internship' of sorts came to an end. The Triumphant descended from orbit into the planet Tatooine. The golden sands of the desert shimmered under the twin suns. The LAAT landed and a clone came to greet them. 

"General Plo, it's good to see you. " 

"Likewise. I won't be here for long, I just came to drop off my padawan." The Kel Dor turned to look back at the LAAT. 

Boost, Sinker, Comet, Warthog and Wolffe stood with their helmets off in front of the young padawan. 

"I guess this is goodbye, eh kid" Sinker gave the girl a side hug. 

"Aww, it's not forever Sink. I'll see you guys sooner than you think." Reetha said leaning into his side. Then she proceeded to hug the others. 

When it came to Warthog, he extended his hand to Reetha. In it was a small envelope. 

"What's this?" Reetha giggled curiously. The trooper urged her to open it. Reetha's eyes brightened and a wide smile grew on her face. "It's our group photo!" 

The troopers wore a pleased grin on their faces when the padawan squealed. "We took that pic the day I nearly got blown to pieces." Sinker reminded. 

"Thanks, Warthog. This is going on my wall." 

When it came to Commander Wolffe, Reetha jumped int him and hugged him first. Wolffe held his sister close for the last few minutes he had with her before she went off to the 212th. "We're so proud of you." Wolffe let her go and jutted his chin outside the transport. "Show the 212th what the Wolfpack is made of for me, pup." 

The troopers watched as the youngest member of the Wolfpack gave them a cheeky salute before bidding farewell and jumping off the transport. Plo Koon met her halfway. "It seems your journey with us has come to an end." 

"Only temporarily, master. We'll meet again soon. Thank you for everything, my master." Reetha bowed her head, ever grateful to the Kel Dor. She watched as the LAAT took flight back to the Triumphant. 

"Commander Khan, it's good to have you with us. I'm Commander Cody." Reetha turned to the trooper with orange markings on his armour and excepted his extended hand in a firm handshake. 

"Reetha Khan at your service." 

---

Clone troopers and officers flooded the makeshift temporary outpost. Cody had given Reetha a short tour of the base and introduced her to some of the guys. This introduction went smoother for Reetha than it had with the 104th. 

The rowdy but fun Wolfpack helped her to be more confident of herself when around new people. She even engaged in pleasant small talks with the commander and found out that his batchmates were Wolffe and Rex. Talk about a small galaxy.

"And that would be General Kenobi." At the mention of his name, the Jedi turned around with his signature smile. 

"Cody, I was wondering when you'd arrive. I do hope the tour went well." The Jedi master grinned at Reetha.

"It went well, Master Kenobi. Cody was more than helpful to show me around." 

The happy atmosphere quickly turned sour when Obi-wan's voice turned serious. "Yes, well I'm sorry to cut this warm welcome short but it seems we've run into some trouble. Jex and  Scowl were deployed on a scouting mission and they failed to check-in. We've tried to track them but their commlinks have gone offline." 

Cody removed his helmet and a look of worry was seen on his face. "Could they have gone out of signal sir? There are no known enemy territories around here or any forms of local life." 

Obi-wan gripped his chin in deep thought. "We should send out a search party to look for them." He then turned towards the holo table, Reetha and Cody followed. "The perimeter of our base extends only for a click. Logs say that Jex and Scowl were on first shift. That was three hours ago." 

Reetha listened carefully to Obi-wan and Cody. "Does the log record their last communication to the base?" 

"There was a contact from Scowl an hour into their scouting mission, followed by another from Jex an hour later. The third never came in." 

Reetha thought carefully on Cody's explanation. "The contacts are done hourly. Meaning, they might have run into trouble at about the last hour of their scouting mission." 

"Their comms were in good condition before they left, communications were smooth." Obi-wan zoomed out of the holomap to get a full view of the outpost. "If there were any signs of danger, it would have shown on the maps." 

"We should send a search party, sir," Cody suggested and Obi-Wan agreed. 

"Take three men with you. I will take another three and search the outer sides of the perimeter while you search within. We shall leave Waxer in charge of the base." Cody obeyed and began to prepare the search party. 

"Reetha, it seems like the action has already presented itself to you, just like it did with Anakin. I would like you to join Cody on this mission. Master Plo and his Wolfpack speak highly of your talents. I trust you would put them into good use." Obi-wan gave a knowing grin to the padawan before him. 

Cody waited along with three other of his men, Wooley were among one of them. "So, is she as good they say?" 

"We'll find out soon Wooley. Speak of the devil, our co-commander is here." The men greeted her. 

"Commander Cody. Sorry to keep you waiting. Good to meet you guys. I'm Reetha, Reetha Khan." She introduced herself to the others.

"This is Wooley, Marty and Tupac. All good men sir." 

"I know they are. I look forward to working with you." 

Cody frowned "We best get going soon. There's a sandstorm predicted to happen about two hours from now. Scanners picked it up" 

"Uhm sirs, how are we to track em? Their comm is busted and there is no live tracking feedback." Reetha tapped her chin thoughtfully at Wooley's questions then an idea sprang up, but it would be a risky one. 

"I may be able to help with that but we're going to need to visit their barracks for a while." 

The four clones looked questioningly at the padawan. "I can track them for you, but just don't freak out when you see how." She shyly smirked.

Reetha asked for any of Jex's and Scowl's belongings. The clones were more than confused but brought her Jex's and Scowl's blankets. "How exactly are we going to track them with blankets, commander? We don't have Anooba's to track their scent." Marty asked as he poked the blankets with his fingers gingerly.

Placing her hands on her hips, Reetha grinned. "Yes, but a loth wolf might. I need you guys to step back a little for this." Cody, Wooley, Tupac and Marty exchanged slightly worried glances before moving behind. She turned to the guys "Just, don't freak out." 

"Oh, kriff.." The four clones nearly stumbled over their feet. There where a human Reetha once stood was now sat a big loth wolf with white fur and golden eyes s. Tupac tripped on his feet.

"W-wolf?" Tupac pointed a shaky finger at Reetha. "Y-your a loth wolf." 

Reetha tilted her huge fur covered head to the side, ears perking upwards as if to say yes. 

"So this is what Wolffe was telling me about." Cody approached Reetha and began to marvel at the sheer height of the wold, leaving  "Well, I got to say, I'm impressed." A chuckle from him crackled through the modulator of his helmet. 

Looking back at the blankets, Cody carried them towards Reetha. "So, you can track their scent?" The wolf nodded, yes. "Alright, I guess we will officially get to know this side of you later. Let's get tracking. We move out now." 

However, three troopers were still holding their ground and gawked at the wolf, blank to the commander's orders. Cody cleared his throat angrily. "Should I repeat myself?' That was enough to shake the troops back to reality. 

Outside the barracks, Reetha took a good whiff from the blankets and began to sniff her surroundings. Her sensitive nose soon picked up the scents she was looking for from among hundred other scents. She began walking a path and the clones followed suit. 

---

Half an hour into the search, Reetha transformed back into human form. Wooley, Marty and Tupac had calmed down after seeing Reetha's first transformation.

"What's wrong?" Cody approached her from behind, followed by Wooley, Marty and Tupac. 

Reetha grumbled under her breath. "I tracked their scents until this spot, but then the trail just disappears." Her eyes crinkle in worry while she looked back to the sandy dune.

"Maybe we overlooked some clues?" Marty suggested. "I agree." Tupac stepped up beside his brother. "When there is a perimeter check, we usually have some gear with us. Blasters, commlinks, scopes, water canteens and such. They may have dropped something along the way." 

"It's possible. I recommend we check around this area. Find anything that would give us a clue about how they disappeared in the first place." The troopers agreed to Reetha's suggestion and the search continued.

---

"Commander Khan managed to track the possible last known location of Jex and Scowl sir, however, there is no sign of them. We're currently trying to search for any clues that would help us further investigate this situation." Cody's image flickered through the holo transmitter. 

Obi-Wan grabbed his chin thoughtfully. "I see. Well, let me know if you find anything. We're not having much luck on our side either. I'll inform you if we find something." Cody nodded.

"Also commander, how did Reetha manage to track their last known location? I thought we couldn't track them because their commlinks were damaged." 

Cody simple stated, "Well sir, she smelled them out." 

"Smelled?" 

"Long story sir. I'll make sure to fill in the details when we get back." Obi-wan sighed and nodded "Cody out."

"They found anything, sir?" A trooper asked. "Not as of yet Nix. How are we doing?" 

The trooper's body began to tense. "We were trying to figure out possible reasons for Jex's and Scowl's disappearance. We think they were hunted." 

Obi-wan's facial expression darkened in worry. "As in?" 

"We found a bantha carcass just towards the west of the outpost. We may not have any enemies here but I think we've stepped in a local wildlife territory." 

---

Cody, Reetha, Wooley, Marty and Tupac stood silently over some items. A battered water canteen, a calf piece and a gnawed up hand armour made of plastiod with its comm unit completely crushed. 

"Crikey.." 

"You can say that again. Now we know why we couldn't track Jex's signal." Tupac kneeled down to examine the armour. "There are to be deep punctures in the armour. By the looks, it must have been a wild animal." 

'Wild animal?' Reetha thought. "If there was a wild animal here, I would have picked up its scent. Are you sure it's an animal?" 

"Yes sir. These look like teeth markings. Judging by the position of the punctures, I'd say the creature was more likely a predator. The two marks here must have been inflicted by its canines. I'm guessing a lesser Krayt dragon." 

Cody peeled off his helmet and pitched the bridge of his nose. "Best confirm that suspicion trooper. I'll contact General Kenobi and let him know about our find." 

Tupac began to study the evidence intently. "You seem to know quite a lot about this creature." Reetha smiled and crouched beside him. Tupac glanced at her and chuckled "It's a hobby, sir." 

Marty playfully punched Tupac's shoulder. "More like an obsession. He reads about every flora and fauna of a planet before we land." 

"A wonderful hobby if you ask me." the padawan's compliment made soft smiled grow on the troopers face. 

While Tupac buried his concentration into the armour, Wooley and Marty sat down beside Reetha. "So commander, turning into a wolf. How'd that happen?" curiosity leaked from Wooley and Marty leaned closer to listen in on the conversation. 

Reetha grinned. "It's an ability that I have. Quite rare among the Jedi. The wolf form is a sort of projection in the force. I can morph into it anytime but it does drain the energy out of me. Took me quite long to master it." 

The troopers face scrunched as they tried to understand. "So, just a wolf then?" Marty asked and Reetha nodded. 

"I have to say, you turning into a wolf was the last thing I'd expect to see a Jedi do." 

"How'd you take it?" 

Wooley's surged forward with excitement in his voice. "Are you kidding me? That was the best thing I have ever seen." Reetha chuckled lightly at his enthusiasm. "I was surprised, but just, wow." Wooley made an explosion with his hand. "That's an amazing ability, sir." 

Reetha waved him off playfully. "Please, call me Reetha." 

In all, the troopers took in her transformation quite well and that surprised her. The friendly conversation was cut short when Cody walked back to the group. "I contacted the general. We need to get back to the outpost immediately." 

"Obi-wan's got a lead?" Reetha asked while helping Tupac to stand. Cody nodded "Yeah. That and the wind picking up. If we don't move now, we'd be walking through a sand storm." The winds were picking up and lifted the sand along with them, signalling the starting of the storm.

Without hesitation, Reetha transformed into her wolf form, leaving very awed and excited troopers in her wake. "Hop on. I can outrun the storm and we'll be back before it starts to get nasty."  She spoke to them through the Force.

"You can speak into our heads!?"