Prompt: 28, Enemy
World: AU
Time period: Clone Wars (21 BBY)
Major Character(s): Ahsoka Tano
Original Character(s): Dack Lana
Author's Note: If Ahsoka comes across as slightly, or majorly, out of character I apologize. I might try to fix it later if given helpful feedback. Please read and review.
Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars. All characters, locations, languages, items, etc… found herein are property of George Lucas with the exceptions of the character Dack Lana, the planet Temay, and anything else that can't be found on Wookiepedia.
Sixteen year old Dack Lana stared out the shattered window at what used to be a bustling metropolis. Lying on his stomach he was barely noticeable in the darkness. A few hundred yards away his opposite number was doing the same thing: waiting to see who would move first. Dack didn't really need to activate any of the enhanced viewing modes on the macrobinoculars the army had issued him. The fires from the day's battle still burned in the central plaza, lighting up the area and exposing the craters, scorch marks, and piles of broken bodies that littered the once beautiful plaza.
Dack zoomed in a nearby cluster of white-armored bodies, partially covered by pieces of what used to be a bridge between buildings. He could make out the distinctive T-visor of a clone trooper. Much closer were bodies covered in shades of green and brown, the same shades as Dack's uniform. Wincing at the sight, the young soldier forced himself to keep searching for his target. Despite the vastness of the plaza, there was only one place she could be other than with her surviving troops: the bridge. He was halfway relieved that he hadn't spotted her. The last time he'd seen her, she'd been barely conscious. She was also stubborn and sometimes foolish. Leading a reconnaissance mission after suffering several heavy blows to the head and torso and possibly suffering from blunt force trauma was definitely something she would do, assuming she could even stand up.
Dack's fellow soldiers knew almost nothing about the Jedi they all agreed was far too young to be on a battlefield, never mind a command position, when there were plenty of able-bodied adults capable of serving. To them she was the enemy, no matter how young she was. To Dack, she was his best friend, had been for years. His friend's name was Ahsoka Tano, apprentice of Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and a commander in the Grand Army of the Republic. Dack, however, was a corporal in the Army of Temay, a member of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Chances of a pleasant reunion: nonexistent. Dack knew when the war started that there was a chance he'd find himself shooting at his best friend. Never had he imagined that the encounter would come on his homeworld. Even more ironically, this was the Republic's only offensive action in the region, according to news reports. Everywhere else the CIS was advancing courtesy of the hyperlanes that run through Hutt Space.
Sadly, the blame for this fell squarely on Ahsoka's shoulders, at least according to some senior Jedi. She had failed to protect Jabba's the Hutt's son. Naturally, the Republic's attempts at a treaty with the Hutts fell through. The rest, it could be said, was history.
Ahsoka apparently hadn't made it back to Republic space unscathed. Dack shuddered at the thought of what might have happened to her had Jabba gotten his hands on her. If the rumors he heard were true, Ahsoka was starting to revert back to her old, timid personality, especially on the battlefield. Despite what most people thought, Anakin Skywalker was not her first master. She had originally been made a Padawan at age eleven. It was one of the few times she had freely admitted to anyone that she was in over her head. Dack was pretty sure the only reason she had decided to be open with him in the first place was because he was as impartial as one could possibly be. He was not a Jedi or even Force-sensitive. Best of all, until he had moved from Coruscant to Temay, he had no friends other than Ahsoka and his little sister. There was no one he could accidently reveal anything to.
Giving up his search for his friend, he slowly limped back to ground level while another soldier took his place. Having taken a blaster round to his leg and lost the camouflaged scarf he'd been wearing to a closing door, Dack was lucky he wasn't a prisoner or even dead hours ago. Seeing his squadmates, the corporal was pretty sure that Ahsoka was not going to make it out of this one intact even if she won. Judging by her actions earlier today, this was the first time Ahsoka had truly fought against living opponents, pre-war missions notwithstanding. She'd never had to kill before.
Eight hours earlier
Ahsoka held onto the overhead handles as tightly as she could as the LAAT/i hurtled for the planet's surface. She didn't want to admit it, but she was actually scared. Not scared as in 'I'm-about-to-get-shot-at-by-a-bunch-of-emotionless-killing-machines' that she had experienced time and again. This was different. This time, she would be engaging living, breathing beings that were defending their homeworld. Unlike missions she had been on before the war, disarmament would not suffice. These people were soldiers, as determined to win as the clone troopers riding with her in the gunship. They would either return home as heroes or not at all.
The landing was probably the roughest one to date that wasn't actually a crash. The gunship landed in the outskirts of the city. The troops disembarked hurriedly, having no wish to be anywhere near the gunship, which was already attracting a lot of small arms fire. Ahsoka was more than slightly disturbed to see only a third of the troops she was expecting. This operation was not off to a good start.
Pausing a moment to calm herself, Ahsoka looked around for Captain Rex, currently serving as her advisor and second-in-command. The padawan had technically been given command of a whole regiment from the 501st Legion, but only a battalion had been sent in the first wave. The rest of the regiment, along with the majority of the 3rd Army, was scheduled to land the next day once sufficient landing zones were secured. Ahsoka's master, Anakin Skywalker was currently fighting on Naboo. A Separatist assault on the planet had caused the Supreme Chancellor to personally order both Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi to Naboo to lead and inspire the troops there, accompanied by a battle group originally earmarked for the assault on Temay. The fleet assaulting Temay, commanded by Admiral Yularen, was thought to be more than enough to bring the Separatist stronghold to its knees.
Finding the captain, Ahsoka demanded a quick summary of the situation. The news was less than encouraging. At the moment, neither air support nor reinforcements were available. The pilots Temayan Navy and Air Force were not exactly happy that a fleet of Republic warships had decided to set up shop in orbit above them. Backed up by their own fleet, the Temayan pilots were making life very complicated for anyone trying to reach the surface, blasting any gunships foolish enough to head towards the planet's surface and any fighter escorts that got in their way.
Shoving a wish that her master was there beside her into the back of her mind, Ahsoka ordered her troops to advance. Since she couldn't do anything about the situation in space, she decided to complete her own assignment. Giving the order to advance, Ahsoka headed for the nearby plaza the map back aboard ship had titled Landing Zone Bacta.
Though it took them half an hour to reach their destination, the clones did not see a single enemy soldier. Naturally, this was starting to make the troops nervous. Ahsoka herself was more than a little jumpy. Hearing the sounds of battle in the distance yet not being engaged herself did nothing to calm her down; it actually made her even more nervous. When she and her troops arrived at the plaza, Ahsoka ordered a halt. Captain Rex gave a nod of approval. It was just too quiet. To avoid being caught out in the open, Ahsoka ordered Rex to lead about a third the battalion along the left perimeter of the plaza; another officer would be responsible for another third advancing along the right. Ahsoka herself would lead half of the remaining third up a set of stairs to the walkways that circled the edge of the plaza and provide fire support from above. Those not given any maneuvering orders were to hold their positions and give the battalion a position to rally at and eventually retreat to if necessary.
As the troops spread out, Ahsoka increasing got a feeling of dread. "Keep alert, everyone," she said over her commlink, "We don't want any…" She walked right into the muzzles of several Temayan blaster rifles "surprises."
Up close, the Temayan soldiers were quite different from the Grand Army's clone troopers. They all wore rounded, open-faced helmets, most covered in fabric the same color as their uniforms, as well as combat vests with pockets holding a variety of items. Two wore goggles, one of whom wore a scarf covering the lower half of his face. What concerned Ahsoka, however, were the DH-17 blaster rifles aimed at her head and chest.
For a second or two, the two groups stared at each other, not quite sure what to do. Shoot? Demand surrender? Back away slowly? Ahsoka ended the uncertainty with a Force blast that sent troops flying in every direction. Unfortunately that included her troops. Activating her lightsaber, Ahsoka rushed the Temayan soldiers, expecting the clones to follow her. The closest one, the one with the scarf fired a shot, but not at her. A shout of pain behind her indicated he'd hit his target. Ahsoka swung that the soldier, but hesitated at the last moment. The hesitation cost her.
The next ten seconds were a blur of pain for Ahsoka. The soldier lunged towards her, slamming the butt of her rifle into her stomach. Doubling over, Ahsoka's grip on her lightsaber loosened. The soldier dropped the rifle and slammed both his fists down on the Padawan's now exposed head. Ahsoka felt her lightsaber slip from her fingers.
Disorientated, Ahsoka jumped back, sinking into what the Temayan soldiers recognized as an Emeriandian fighting stance. Her enemy didn't even give her a chance to secure her footing. Ahsoka's weak stance caused her to stumble backwards at the first punch, which she barely blocked. She replied with a strike to her opponent's face, hoping to knock him out quickly. It was easily sidestepped.
Ahsoka realized too late that she was doing what Dack, her friend and unofficial unarmed combat trainer, had told her specifically not to do: react. Not every blow had to be returned; waiting was an action. The Temayan was controlling her movements, provoking her, almost as if he knew how she thought. Dack had done the same thing, but he'd known her for years, taught her his homeland's fighting style. He also knew something about Togrutas most people did not. Most non-Togrutas assume that Togrutas' montrals are solid bone, like horns. In reality, however, they are hollow, giving Togrutas a passive echolocation ability. Though strong enough to handle impacts about as well as the skull, the montrals' gift of echolocation was also a curse. A strong blow to one of the montrals was enough to disorientate a Togruta, turning clear echolocation pictures into static, mimicking the effects of a stun grenade on humans. Side effects of a strong blow were similar to a migraine or a concussion.
The Temayan grabbed Ahsoka's outstretched arm, twisting it. Ahsoka stifled a cry of surprise and pain. She felt her arm be forced behind her back; this was not good. With her between him and the clones, her troops couldn't fire without risking hitting her. Fortunately, the same went for the Temayans, though Ahsoka didn't have long to contemplate this. A moment later, the pressure on her wrist vanished. A half second later her world exploded. She couldn't think, couldn't see. Tears formed in the girl's eyes as she collapsed to her knees, grasping her head. She expected another blow to follow. It never came.
A door whooshed open and shut. Ahsoka was dimly aware of blasterfire, followed by a yelp, and a faint rumbling and shaking of the floor. She felt sick, dizzy. No, 'dizzy' suggested that she at least a vague understanding of which way was up. This was worse. Her world spun. She distantly felt hands grabbing her, catching her. She heard noises, footfalls, blasterfire. Her world shifted, making her feel sicker. Her world shifted again. The last thing she was aware of was someone shouting her name.
When Ahsoka woke up, she became aware of two things: she was in a med center and her head felt like her own personal little war was going on inside it. After about half an hour of medical personnel questioning her, Ahsoka was hoping she would be left alone. No such luck. As soon as she was left alone, she found herself having a viewscreen chat with her master. After a short conversation where they more or less steered around the proverbial bantha in the room, Ahsoka found herself on the receiving end of a lecture about being careful, about how her master couldn't bear to lose her.
Eventually, her master signed off and Ahsoka was left alone with her own thoughts. She was confused. She couldn't figure out how she'd been beaten, especially this badly. She didn't even know who, exactly she had been fighting against. She'd been so jittery by the time her battalion had gotten to the plaza she could barely sense her own clone troopers, never mind beings she did not know the general location of, hence her walking into a near ambush. Most beings didn't know just how debilitating getting hit on her montrals was for her, especially for her. For some reason she was more sensitive to such injuries than was considered normal. She'd learned that the hard way the day she met Dack.
Ahsoka lay back on pillow, thinking about the battle. Her troops had been forced back by fire from above shortly after she was incapacitated, suffering heavy casualties as a result. Despite this, the invasion seemed to be sticking relatively closely to its anticipated schedule. Ahsoka wasn't bothered by that. That was good news. What she was worried about was her fight with the enemy soldier and what that said about her.
After turning over every second of her fight with the Temayan soldier over her mind for over an hour, Ahsoka came to the conclusion that she lost because she hesitated. She didn't kill the soldier when she had the chance. She knew she had no trouble destroying droids. This was different, however. Killing the enemy felt about as wrong as killing Rex or any of the other clones she led into battle. Fighting against mindless, soulless machines of death and destruction was one thing. Fighting against the living was something else entirely.
Ahsoka sighed, frustrated. She had two options before her. She could continue to lead her soldiers and risk hesitating again, which could prove fatal. Mercy on the battlefield is a rare thing. Her other option would be to return to her master's side, where most would agree she belonged. The Padawan suddenly had a horrible thought. What if she found herself fighting her friend? She had little doubt that Dack had joined the Temayan Army as soon as he possibly could. Was he out there fighting right now? Was he even still alive? It wasn't something Ahsoka wanted to think about. If they encountered each other, what would they do? Would they fight each other to protect their comrades? Would they try to avoid each other? Would their hesitation to fight get them both killed? Ahsoka hoped not, but it wasn't like she could reliably predict the future.
Practically growling in frustration, Ahsoka got out of bed and walked over to the viewscreen. She had made her decision. The battlefield had enough vagaries without all the ones she was now carrying in her head. It would be foolish for her and fatal for her troops if she continued to lead if she could not be relied upon to do her part in combat. She was going to go back to her master, back to where everything made sense and all of the living soldiers were on her side. She could not bring herself to directly fight her friend and was not about to force him to do the same. They were friends before the war; they could be friends again after the war. There was no need for them to be enemies.