Chapter 3: Liberating Lemurs
For the next couple of days, the outsiders resided in Pod Central, as Ahsoka liked to call it. Fortunately, the Lurmen, not including Tee Watt Kaa, did not shun them. In fact, they were excited about the newcomers. The clones helped out the Lurmen gather more fruit and stack baskets since help was usually needed around the village.
Jack met Anakin officially after he was summoned to the healing house where Ahsoka and Aayla were.
"So, you're the mysterious kid that they've been telling me about," Anakin stated.
Jack raised his eyebrows slightly. Like Ahsoka, who turned out to be Anakin's Padawan, this guy did not trust him either. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree apparently.
"Yes, I am," the teen responded coolly. "My name is Jack Darby. And you must be Anakin Skywalker. I've heard about you from your friends."
The Jedi Knight rose into a sitting position with the help of Ahsoka and replied, "I wanted to thank you for helping us out."
"No problem," the teen said with a smile. "I was glad to do it."
Well, he's not a spy or a Separatist. Anakin deduced. This kid might be all right. "So, unless you happen to be a native to this planet, where are you from, kid?"
"Earth," Jack answered. "I don't suppose you've heard of it, have you?"
Anakin shook his head. "Sorry, I haven't. Perhaps there's another name for it?"
"No, there isn't. Not that I'm aware of."
"You never did tell us how you got here," Ahsoka observed. "When we found your trail, it looked like you literally appeared out of nowhere. How was that possible?"
"You would not believe me if I told you," Jack stated.
"Try us," Aayla dared. "You might be surprised."
Once again, Jack hesitated to reveal more than he was letting on. The last thing he needed was to be caught in a mass deception by these people, and yet, there was something about these aliens that gave off an aura of trust. He couldn't explain it, (that seemed to be happening a lot to him lately) but he felt like he could sincerely tell these people the truth.
Before he could, though, Commander Bly entered the tent.
"General," he said with a grave tone.
"Yes, Commander," Anakin replied.
"We've got a Separatist ship incoming."
"Friendlies?" Jack hoped.
"Not even close," Ahsoka snarled, baring her teeth.
The teen nearly recoiled at how sharp the teeth were, but he quickly got over it.
"This is neutral space," Wag Too pointed out, concerned.
"It won't be neutral for long," Anakin pointed out, "not if the Separatists have their way. Help me up!"
He tried to get up on his own, but managed to succeed in hurting himself.
"Don't struggle," the healer advised. "I'm sorry, but you're still too injured to move."
Jack looked outside and spotted a brown ship landing in the distant. Already, he was getting nervous about the situation. Tee Watt Kaa didn't help the situation as he marched into the hut.
"What menace have you brought to our village now, Jedi?" he questioned, furious.
"Father, you can't blame them!" Wag Too defended.
"He's right," Ahsoka added. "The Separatists don't even know we're here."
"And they can't know," Aayla said with urgency. "We've got to hide."
Elder Kaa wasn't through. "Your presence here endangers us. You must leave before your enemies find you."
Ahsoka widened her eyes in horror. "But you'll need our help."
"We can help by not getting caught," Jack suggested. "If the Separatists are as bad as you say they are, then any sign of Republic or Jedi presence will give the creeps a reason to exterminate the Lurmen."
"They can't fight them alone!" the Togruta protested.
"We will not fight them at all," Elder Kaa decided. "We would rather die than kill others."
It sounds noble, but it just makes it easier to be walked over. Jack thought, crossing his arms.
"You're going to surrender?" she asked, growing more horrified by the second. "But, how can you-?"
"Ahsoka, stop!" Anakin interrupted, grunting in pain. "If the Lurmen want to remain neutral, we won't force them into war."
"See to it that they leave," Elder Kaa commanded his son. "I must see what our new visitors want." He turned to Jack. "For your safety and ours, you should go with them."
The teen nodded. "For what it's worth, thank you."
As the elder limped away, Wag Too was kind enough to stock Ahsoka's pack with food supplies for the journey back. Captain Rex and Commander Bly helped Anakin to his feet. He wrapped his arms around them so they could hold him up. Wag Too led them to a hiding spot in the village, deciding to watch the scene unravel.
Outside the village, Tee Watt Kaa took notice to the tall, skinny robots that were armed with blasters. They stood at attention awaiting orders as an obese creature with a frog-like face walked down the ramp. Flanking him were two, gray, man-sized robots that were armed with wrist blasters.
All of these people had one thing in common: they were not to be trifled with.
"I am General Lok Durd of the Separatist Alliance," the creature introduced.
"I am Tee Watt Kaa," the leader replied, trying to stay polite, "leader of this colony. What do you-?"
"You are now under the protection of the Separatist Alliance," Lok Durd interrupted. "I... congratulate you on your good fortune."
Being rubbed the wrong way, Elder Kaa tried to send these intruders on their way. "Thank you, but we enjoyed good fortune well before your arrival."
Not paying attention, the Separatist led a squad of the tan robots towards the village with the elder in tow.
"We are a peaceful people, General," the Lurmen stated. "I do not condone your presence here."
"Then stand aside," he ordered. "I would like to inspect my new colony." He turned to the droids. "Ransack this dung heap!"
The droids marched into the village, ignoring the screams of fear from the colonists. They fired warning shots to anyone who got too close as they proceeded to knock over baskets of food and tear down a few of their huts. No Lurmen dared to attack, giving the droids the opportunity to complete their "inspection."
Wag Too was beside himself. "Why are they tearing apart our homes? We've done nothing to them!"
"Because they can!" Jack snarled, remembering a certain arachnid back home who enjoyed collecting heads as her trophies just for the fun of it.
Ahsoka was equally pissed. "Those droids are only programmed to destroy everything in their path." She turned to Aayla. "Can't we do anything?"
Aayla shook her head. "No! If we are discovered, all of the Lurmen will be slaughtered."
"We'll be okay if we can make it to the tall grasses," Anakin assured.
Quickly, but calmly, the outsiders dashed into the grasses, hiding from the view of the Separatist army. They continued to travel inward until they were well enough away from the village. Once the "inspection" was complete, the squad formed back up as Lok Durd approached them.
"There is no evidence of any weapons or Republic contraband, General," the droid reported.
The Separatist grinned. "In the future, we may conduct more periodic searches like this one in order to maintain security."
"Because we are such an obvious threat to you," Elder Kaa retorted, sarcastic, "we will over no resistance."
"Your species is smarter than you appear," Lok Durd replied.
With a wave of his hand, he motioned the droids to leave the village and force the Lurmen to pick up the pieces.
"Father, are you okay?" Wag Too questioned once they were gone.
Elder Kaa nodded, but said nothing.
"At least the Jedi escaped," the healer noted.
"Yes, but they nearly brought harm to our entire village," he shot back.
Wag Too decided to speak his mind. "But now, thank to you, we're 'safe' to grovel before every petty tyrant who enters our system!"
"You would mock our very way of life!?" Tee Watt Kaa exclaimed, facing his son. "I have just ensured we will have peace."
"Yes, but for the moment, and at what price!? Are you not concerned about the Jedi at all?"
The Lurmen stopped working and listened in on this heated argument.
"I have no quarrel with the Jedi," Elder Kaa retorted, "but we cannot help them without being drawn into their war!"
Giving Wag Too no time to argue back, the elder limped towards his hut. The healer sighed in annoyance, knowing that his father was as stubborn as ever. However, there were other ways.
"Tub, track the Jedi," he said. "Follow them and make sure they get off world. And make sure Jack is safe as well."
Nodding, Tub ran into the tall grasses with a carrier butterfly in tow.
Once the group had reached a safe distance, they sat down to rest and compare notes.
"You know, I can't figure those villagers not wanting to fight," Bly wondered.
Rex scoffed. "No pride, I guess."
"I call it no courage," Ahsoka observed.
Enter the lecture. Jack thought. There's been a lot of those lately.
"Sometimes, it takes courage to stick to one's beliefs, young Padawan," Aayla lectured. "As any Jedi well knows."
"I've met pacifists in my day," Jack said, "but Tee Watt Kaa takes the prize."
"Regardless," Anakin interrupted, "we need to find a ship." A grin appeared on his face. "And I think the only one here belongs to the Separatists."
Suddenly, Jack had this strange feeling that they were being watched. Without looking too suspicious, he turned his head in every possible direction slowly in case his instincts were right.
Anakin droned on about his reckless plane. "We know they have a landing craft. They might have a shuttle."
"Sir, you talking about stealing from one of the clankers?" Rex asked. "Count me in!"
"We need to find them first," Aayla said.
Randomly, Jack lunged into the grasses behind Aayla, wrestling something down. Aayla sliced the grasses aside to see Jack pinning a black droid down with all his might.
"I found one!" he exclaimed with mock-happiness.
Aayla recognized the type of droid immediately. "Move! NOW!"
Jack relinquished his grip on the droid as Aayla sliced it in half.
"How did you know it was there?" Anakin asked, suspicious.
"I followed my instincts," he answered. "What was it?"
"A probe droid," Aayla answered, deactivating her saber. "If I didn't destroy it in time, it would have transmitted our location to the Separatists."
"Nice work, kid!" Rex complemented, slapping his shoulder.
"Where do you think it would have headed?" Ahsoka asked.
"Since it was facing us," Jack observed, "maybe, that way?" He pointed south.
"Time for another walk," Bly announced.
The group trudged onward with Anakin lagging behind. They tried to help him, but he was too stubborn to accept their help. Eventually, they came across the trees they encountered a few nights ago.
"Maybe we can see them from up there," Aayla suggested.
Jack was less than thrilled by this idea. "Uh, remember the death trap we avoided last time?"
"Have a little faith, young one," she replied. "We will be fine."
"How well can you climb, kid?" Bly asked.
"Never climbed a tree before," he admitted. Jasper, Nevada was hardly a place to grow trees.
Bly fired a grappling hook into the tallest branches before handing it to Jack. "Push this button here and hold on. When you reach the top, toss it back down. Oh, and try not to scream."
Jack nodded, pushing the button.
At a great speed, he zoomed to the top, desperately trying to hold back his screams. He let go after finding a nice spot to land. He was shaking and panted heavily out of fear before tossing the grappling gun back down. The clones went next with the grappling guns, but the Jedi easily jumped to the top.
"Showoffs," Jack muttered.
Ahsoka borrowed Rex's binoculars and took a look south. Judging by the frown on her face, it wasn't good.
From afar, Jack could see the outlines of a metal garrison that probably housed hundreds of droids.
"I hope you're feeling better, Master," Ahsoka hoped as Anakin reached the top, "because look what we found."
Anakin took the binoculars before replying, arrogantly, "I'm getting stronger all the time, Snips." He smile instantly vanished once he took in the sights. "But, I'm not sure I'm ready for that." He continued to looking until he found what they needed to find. "That shuttle's our ticket off this rock."
"It's not gonna be easy, sir," Bly warned. "There doesn't seem to be any flaws in their security line."
Anakin's frown deepened as spotted something else. "Apparently, the Separatists have a new toy. See if you can get a closer look."
"Yes, sir," Bly replied.
"I'll go with you, Commander," Rex offered.
"So, how do you plan to swipe the shuttle under their noses?" Jack asked extremely concerned.
"I'll think of something," Anakin answered.
Jack was growing concerned. "Tell me you're not planning to ad lib on this, right?"
"Improvisation is one of my master's strong points," Ahsoka pointed out.
Wonderful. Jack thought sarcastically.
Suddenly, a missile fired into the air and landed near where the clones were scouting. The impact caused a wave of fire to come swooping down the terrain, destroying everything in its path. Rex managed to grapple on to a branch, but Bly tripped over a log. Immediately, Aayla sliced a vine and swung down to retrieve the commander. Barely, she managed to save his life as they went back to the top of the tree.
Once again, Jack was flabbergasted. "That…was really cool."
She smiled back. "Someday, you may be able to do this, young one."
"That's some toy," Ahsoka observed, horrified. "It took out every living thing."
Jack put his back against the tree, thinking. Okay, the Separatists have a weapon that's their version of a nuclear bomb. But why waste it on the ground when they can easily…scrap!
"That was just a test run!" Jack exclaimed. "They're going after the Lurmen! Think about it! If anything you told me about the Separatists is true, then why would they waste valuable resources to come all the way here?"
"The Lurmen are an experiment to them," Anakin snarled.
"Those villagers won't stand a chance," Aayla realized.
"First, we'll take out the droid's communications station," he said, "then after we get a shuttle, we'll go back and help the Lurmen."
"Good luck convincing Elder Pacifist of this," Jack snorted.
"He's right," Ahsoka agreed. "Tee Watt Kaa said he didn't need our help."
"There's a difference between pulling innocents into war and leaving them to extinction," Anakin stated, leaving no room for argument.
Wow! Jack thought. On the one hand, he's an arrogant, stubborn mule. On the…other… shoot!
Obviously hearing his thoughts, Anakin gave Jack a menacing glare before climbing down the tree.
"He just read my mind, didn't he?" the teen asked the Togruta.
"When this is over," Ahsoka said, "we need to help you shield your thoughts."
Tub stared open-mouthed at the horrific display from the Separatists. They had a weapon that could destroy every organism and were currently heading to their village. Since he was good at reading lips, he knew that the Jedi were coming back to help them, but first he had to warn his village.
"Tell Wag Too the Separatists are returning," he told the carrier butterfly.
Quickly, the bug flew off, hoping to get to the village before the Separatists did.
As night approached them, the group activated their plan to get into the garrison. Dodging the searchlights, Aayla and Ahsoka hurried to the wall, sticking to the shadows. Four battle droids blocked their route, but Anakin would remedy that. With the Force, he started moving a rock around in front of them.
"Hey, what was that!?" the battle droid exclaimed.
Like a complete idiot, it followed the moving rock straight into the bushes where it was decapitated by Anakin's lightsaber. While the three remaining droids investigating the commotion, the two females wall-jumped the garrison until they reached the top. Once the three droids were away from the searchlights, Anakin, Rex, and Bly destroyed them quickly. On top of the wall, Aayla cut down more battle droids that were on top of the wall while Ahsoka, after slicing two battle droids, opened the door.
"Come on, Jack!" Anakin urged quietly as Rex and Bly climbed in.
Narrowly dodging the searchlights, Jack followed them quickly. All four of them hid behind crates as a patrol passed by.
"Stay here," Anakin commanded as he went with Rex and Bly to take out the droids in the communications center.
If there was one thing in the world Jack hated the most, it was feeling helpless. Still, in retrospect, everyone else was better at the stealth thing than he was, making that reason number 38 as to why he was glad Miko was not here.
"Hey, why is this door open?"
Crap!
Two battle droids marched to the door without noticing Jack crouching behind the crates. He knew that if these droids were smart enough, they would figure out that they have been infiltrated. However, if he tried to attack them, he could end up alerting the base.
Fortunately, an idea came to him.
"Let's do a perimeter scan," the battle droid suggested. "We may not be alone."
"Roger, roger," the other one responded.
By impossible means, their short lifespan was ended by the door crushing them.
Jack grinned at his handiwork. He telekinetically pushed the button that activates the door.
"Impressive!" a voice said behind him.
Jack nearly screamed, but a hand clamped over his mouth.
"Take it easy," Anakin advised. "It's only me. The base has been cleared out."
He relinquished his grip on the boy, who was panting heavily.
"You almost gave me a heart attack," he gasped. "Did you find the shuttle?"
The Jedi nodded. "Let's get out of here."
The two of them dashed down the garrison until they reached a ship that was clearly in the shape of an "L." Jack noticed two hovering boxes getting onto the shuttle, sparking his curiosity.
"Shield generators," Anakin answered before he could ask. "It's our only chance against the Separatist's weapon."
Jack took a seat behind Aayla and Ahsoka, who were both, respectively, pilot and co-pilot on this voyage.
"What kept you?" Ahsoka asked as they took off towards the Lurmen village.
"I took out a couple of droids," he answered in a casual manner.
Her eyes widened. "How? You didn't even have a weapon."
"I activated the door via telekinesis when the morons were directly in range."
"You're getting stronger, I see," Aayla noticed, hiding her surprise.
Back at the village, Wag Too had received Tub's message and was currently trying to get his father to see reason.
"The Separatists are on the march," he warned. "They're returning to our village."
"They did not attack us before," Elder Kaa replied. "There's no reason to think they will this time."
Wag Too implored him to see reason. "Father, they would not be coming back here unless they intended to do us harm. This is war!"
"But not our war!" Elder Kaa corrected. "We've don nothing to provoke them, and we will not. That is their way."
The healer could not believe what he was hearing. "So we will just lay down and be slaughtered!? Father, even if we don't fight the Separatists, we must defend ourselves!"
Once again, Tee Watt Kaa was set in his ways. "Mounting a defense is still engaging in battle. If we sacrifice our beliefs, we're no better than they are. Our philosophy has helped us to survive for generations, and we will change our morals, now or ever!"
"But-!"
"That is enough, Wag Too! We are done with this discussion!"
The healer desperately wanted to protest against this, but he knew it will only make things worse. At least the Jedi were coming back. No need to tell his father that they would be arriving soon.
Jack yawned as the sun started to rise. He hadn't gotten any sleep in the past 18 hours, but neither did the Jedi or the clones. However, it looked like they were accustomed to long nights, so they weren't nearly as exhausted as he was.
Aayla landed the shuttle directly in the middle of the village. It was one way to get the attention of the Lurmen. When they all exited the shuttle, almost all of the Lurmen were pleased that they returned, save for Tee Watt Kaa.
"Everyone, please!" Aayla called out. "Please, listen! The Separatists will be here in moments!"
"What are you doing here!?" the elder exclaimed, clearly outraged. "I thought I told you not to return!"
Anakin decided to be blunt. "The Separatists don't care that you've chosen to remain neutral. We need to get you to safety before they arrive!"
Unfortunately, the stubborn lemur was defiant as ever. "We will not abandon our homes!"
Jack was starting to lose patience with this idiot.
"But they've got a new weapon," Ahsoka protested. "It will burn this place to crisp and kill each and every one of you. Is this what all of you really want!?"
"If it is our destiny to be destroyed in your war-!" He emphasized "your." "-so be it!"
At long last, the respect the teen had left for the elder vanished.
Jack stalked up to the Lurmen before anyone could stop him and jerked him towards his people furiously. He figured he would be exiled out of the village for this, but so be it.
"Look!" he demanded. "Look at these people! Do you think they want to die!? Look at the children! Do they want to die!? I don't give a damn about your traditions and right now, neither do they! If you love these people, as you claim, prove it! We're not the ones that will be responsible for their deaths; YOU will be!"
When the elder didn't say anything, Jack returned to the shuttle, still angry. Aayla followed him inside, surprised at his outburst.
"You shouldn't have attacked him like that!" she chided.
He sighed, knowing she was right. "I know. It's just that…I keep seeing those heartless machines killing everyone while Tee What-A-Doofus watches."
A smirk appeared on her face. "That's why we're going to defend them against his wishes. I saw that many of the Lurmen are frightened that the Separatists are coming to destroy them. One of our mandates is to protect the innocent, and so we shall despite Tee Watt Kaa."
"How can I help?" Jack questioned.
"Right now, we are gathering seedpods together to form a wall. We could use your help with that."
He smirked back. "Saving lives and ticking off an elder, huh? I guess I can fit that in my schedule."
Outside of the village, the droid army was approaching the village while Lok Durd bragged about his soon-to-be accomplishments.
"When Count Dooku sees how successful my weapon is against civilian targets," he said, "I will no doubt be promoted to a more...substantial position."
If the commander droid could have rolled its eyes, it would've as it gazed through the binoculars. "Okay...right. Well, the villagers appear to have put some pods together in a barrier around the village."
"Pods!?" Lok Durd laughed as he gazed through the binoculars. "How quaint." His smile instantly vanished when he spotted certain non-natives assisting with the building using telekinesis. "Jedi? What are they doing out here? Halt!"
The entire army stopped moving.
He could not risk getting close to those Jedi. He was going to led the defoliator do the work for him.
Within moments, Rex and Bly were pulling pods together with a rope while Anakin, Ahsoka, and Aayla used telekinesis to bring the others together. Once Anakin started getting fatigued, Jack decided to take his place. After getting a "size matters not" speech, he attempted to move a pod with great difficulty. He assumed that he needed more training before he can lift a pod alone. The shield generators were placed on each end of the village as a secret defense for the weapon.
Elder Kaa was rapidly losing patience. "Please, stop what you're doing! Stop building that wall! I did not ask you to defend us!"
"This battle is inevitable!" Anakin shot back. "You can stand by your beliefs, but let us stand by ours."
Realizing that he would not win this argument, the Lurmen went back to his hut not at all pleased. He fixed the Jedi a menacing glare before he vanished from sight.
Wag Too, however, had something to say. "Thank you for what you guys are trying to do! I'm sorry, but I cannot help. My father is very…strong-willed and set in tradition. Many others agree with me, but we were raised under a very strict code. We must respect it even if we don't agree."
"They're holding position!" Rex announced.
"They're not going to charge us!" Anakin replied. "Not if they can hit us from long range first, but if we can withstand that weapon, we'll draw them in."
"Wait! If we can withstand it!?" Jack exclaimed in horror.
"We'll be fine, Jack!" Aayla assured.
He chuckled nervously, but didn't say anything else.
At long last, the moment they were waiting for had arrived. A missile was launched into the air, heading towards the village.
"Incoming!" Rex yelled.
"Power the shields!" Anakin commanded.
A giant, blue dome appeared above the village and covered the whole place. Not a moment too soon, for the missile landed just outside the village, the fires from it spreading quickly. Jack and the Lurmen held their breath as it reached the village, but it couldn't make it through the shield. The fires dissipated within a few moments.
Anakin smiled at the shield's handiwork. "Now, they'll have to get their hands dirty and meet us face-to-face."
Rex handed Jack a blaster. "Stay behind us, aim, and fire! Got it?"
"Yes, sir!" he answered, ready for battle.
Jack and the clones climbed over the pod wall, witnessing a squad of battle droids and super battle droids coming at them.
"That's a lot of clankers," Ahsoka noticed, uneasy.
"We've got to stop them before they get through the shield," Anakin said.
The six individuals stepped out of the shield and readied their weapons.
Within a few seconds, chaos ensued.
The droids fired their blasters at the group, but the Jedi deflected them with their lightsabers before charging. Jack and the clones stayed in their position, trying to take down as many of the enemies as possible. Ahsoka leaped into the air and landed directly in the middle of the squad. Throwing them off, she quickly slashed aside quite a few droids. Since Anakin was still injured, all he could do was deflect the shots and destroy whatever droid that was in his way. Aayla, however, superseded all of them. She twirled her lightsaber, so it could cover her from all sides. Even when she took out the droids, her lightsaber was still moving. She kicked a battle droid down before rushing into the fray with the others. The numbers of droids dwindled down from 40, to 20, to 5, to 1. Anakin was about to cut the last one apart, but a blaster shot did the job for him. He looked to see Jack smirking at him. He returned the smirk with another glare.
"That was…intense," Jack admitted, panting heavily.
"Not bad, kid," Bly commended, "though, I don't recommend that you should piss off General Skywalker like that."
"That wasn't so hard," Ahsoka said.
"That was only the first wave," Anakin replied with a sense of foreboding.
Quickly, the battle started up again with the droids, who were twice in number than before, shooting at them. Naturally, the three Jedi cut down the middle, but the droids they didn't get headed towards the village. As the chances of death rose and the number of droids grew, the clones retreated into the shield. Jack took cover in the tall grass outside, barely dodging blaster fire as he ran.
After taking out a couple of droids, he saw Aayla and Ahsoka head back to the village while taking out the droids, but Anakin, to his horror, was charging straight towards the three tanks up ahead.
"That idiot!" he exclaimed, going after him and ignoring the protests of the others.
Whether the droids were inaccurate, or he was going faster than he thought, Jack managed to dodge the blaster shots that were being aimed at him. He returned fire without looking back, but out of the seven shots he fired, only one droid was destroyed.
"Is he crazy!?" Ahsoka yelled as she sliced a droid in half.
"We can't do anything about it," Aayla replied. "Let us hope that he returns unscathed."
The number of the droids overwhelmed them all as they retreated further into the village. Bly ordered the Lurmen to take cover as the droids made their approach. Quickly, the machines destroyed the shield generators, leaving the village defenseless against another aerial assault like the one before.
With a new sense of urgency, the two Jedi began to quickly destroy the droids that were targeting the Lurmen, who were trying to hide at the moment. If the weapon wasn't destroyed anytime soon, everyone would die.
At long last, Wag Too had enough of this. Along with Tub and a few other Lurmen, they gathered some rope and prepared to aid their friends.
"Wag Too, what are you doing?" Tee Watt Kaa demanded.
"We're going to help," he answered.
"I forbid this!" the Elder stated.
"What more would you have them do before we are allowed to defend ourselves!?"
"But-!"
For the first time ever, Wag Too cut his father off. "We have to do this!"
The eight Lurmen charged at the droids, dodging the lasers as they went.
"The techniques we used on the phalones should work here," Wag Too instructed. "Don't stop moving!"
Wag Too began tying some rope around the droids without getting hit, but two other Lurmen were more aggressive. They tackled down the battle droids and began beating them until they couldn't get up again. Once enough droids had they legs tied up, the healer launched the rope into the air and Tub pinned it down to the ground with a sharp object. Unfortunately, a blaster shot caught him in the arm, but Ahsoka took out the droid before it could launch another shot. The remaining Lurmen pulled the rope as hard as possible until the tied up droids collapsed to the ground. Ahsoka ran alongside the fallen droids, beheading them with her lightsaber. She gave a nod of approval to Wag Too, who was getting Tub to safety.
At a horrible time, Anakin collapsed in range of the tanks that were currently, being aimed at him. One of his wounds reopened in his stomach, giving him pain.
"So long, Jedi," the commander droid in the tank stated about to vaporize him.
Miraculously, a blaster shot took the head off the droid.
Lok Durd cowered away from more blaster shots that were being aimed at him, but he did get a good look at the boy who interfered with his plans.
"Destroy him now!" he commanded.
Jack, leaving no time to admire his handiwork, dragged Anakin into the grass away from the fight, explosions roaring nearby.
"I have to get up there," the Jedi groaned.
"You're too easy a target," Jack protested as he ducked from blaster shots of the remaining infantry. "I'll take care of the weapon."
"You can't destroy it with a blaster," he replied.
Jack nodded in agreement. "You're right."
Without even waiting for permission, he snatched Anakin's lightsaber and returned to the battle.
Jack slashed two super battle droids down and barely deflected a blaster shot from a battle droid. He cut down his assailant before charging at the tank. In his other hand, Jack fired the blaster at the obese Separatist so he could think twice before even thinking about firing the tank. Once he reached the weapon, Jack started slashing it ferociously, destroying it in the process. The shell fell out of the tank, but it didn't explode, luckily.
He noticed the Separatist coward making a run for it out of the corner of his eyes, and ran after him.
"Nice day for a jog, isn't it?" Jack asked when he caught up.
Fatso glowered at him, but continued running.
To add to the humiliation, the teenager started circling around him while talking like a coach.
"That's it. Keep your heartbeat up, and the fat stuff down."
Completely out of breath, Lok Durd stopped in his tracks, practically collapsing.
"Look at the bright side, Tubby" Jack said, putting his arm around the failed leader. "You've got 25 years to life to rest."
Despite some injuries inflicted from the droids, no one was killed in the battle. The Lurmen were extremely excited that they had a chance to fight back. However, the fact that Jack, with no prior training, destroyed the weapon and captured the Separatist was the main story being told.
"That was extremely reckless of you," Anakin lectured as he snatched his lightsaber back.
"Says the man who charged towards them with grievous injuries," Jack snorted.
Surprisingly, a grin appeared on Anakin's face. "Good job. You're all right, kid."
"Hey, about that arrogant mule comment earlier," Jack mentioned. "I still think you are one sometimes, but your courage makes up for it, I guess."
Anakin chuckled. "Is that the closest to an apology I'll be getting?"
"Yup, but you're growing on me a little."
Rex and Bly handcuffed the Separatist and the engineer who fired the missiles before loading them into the shuttle. The clones contacted the Republic, giving them their location and a brief report on what occurred beforehand.
"Thank you, Wag Too," Anakin said.
"I should thank you," the Lurmen replied. "Our village would have certainly been destroyed without your protection." He saw his father approaching. "Father, I was just offering the Jedi our thanks."
Reluctantly, Tee Watt Kaa responded with, "Perhaps we do owe you thanks, but I still wonder: at what cost?"
Always glass half-empty, aren't you? "No one died today," Jack reminded him. "That, in itself, is a victory." I'm starting to sound like Optimus.
"Jack," Elder Kaa continued, "if you ever need a place to stay, you are always welcome in our village."
The teen smiled at him. "Thank you, Elder Kaa. I hope we meet under happier circumstances."
"Do come back, though," Wag Too advised. "It would be a nice change of pace for all of us."
Up above, the gigantic starships entered the atmosphere, ready to rescue their people. Jack smiled, knowing he was one step closer to getting home. Then, Jack did a double take, realizing what he was witnessing.
"Are those your ships!?" he exclaimed.
Anakin nodded. "The one in the middle is the Resolute, my ship. Care for a tour when we get up there, kid?"
"Do you even have to ask?" he replied with a grin.
Inside the shuttle, Aayla was making her report to the Jedi Council.
"Commended, you all are," Yoda stated. "Protecting the innocents, your priority was."
"Thank you, Master Yoda," she replied, deciding to speak up about it. "I've encountered a Force-sensitive on this planet."
Mace Windu raised his eyebrows. "How powerful?"
"More powerful than he realizes," Aayla answered. "I do not think that he is as powerful as Skywalker, but I sense that the Force is extremely strong in him."
"Bring him before us, you must," Yoda ordered. "Decide whether he will be a Jedi, we will."
Aayla paused for a moment before making the play. "I believe that it was the will of the Force that we found him. He arrived on the planet under mysterious circumstances."
"Mysterious how?" Plo Koon wondered.
"I...do not know," she admitted. "When we found his blood trail, it seemed that he appeared out of nowhere, but he has not told us how he came to this planet. My guess is that he was transported from another world."
The Council members pondered this. The Force had been known to do mysterious things (Anakin, being the greatest example), but it brought this boy here under strange circumstances. This was worth looking into. This boy could possibly be the reason behind the disturbance.
Aayla wasn't finished. "Should he not be able to find his way home and the Council deems it worthy-!"
"You want to train this boy," Windu finished, crossing his arms. "Let us see him first. Then, we will make a decision."
"Yes, Masters!" she replied.
Yoda, however, noticed something. "Becoming attached to the boy, you are. Carefully you must proceed, Master Secura."
"Yes, Master Yoda."
The transmission ended.
Well, that was fun.
I hope Anakin wasn't OOC in this.
Review, vote, etc.
Next chapter: Jack goes to Coruscant and meets the Council and the writer decides not to screw it up this time around. Oh boy.