*warning, I do not know how all the planets are set up, how the hyperspace jumps would work (because I remember from the show they couldn't always do direct ones) etc so if I make a mistake on where the planets would be in relativity to each other, I beg your forgiveness. Just pretend the planets got upset when Alderaan blew up and they changed positions if it bothers you XD
When Svana woke up she found herself alone in the tent Ahsoka had put her in the night before. Crawling cautiously out, she found Ezra sitting outside the tent tending a fire. "Hey you're up. You want anything to eat?" he asked upon seeing she was awake. Svana shook her head no, and Ezra noticed she was withdrawing within herself. Poking the fire, he said without looking back up at her, "My test was scary. I had been alone for years when my Master found me and I had become very attached to everyone, even Zeb and Chopper. We were being hunted by this guy at the time called the Inquisitor, and in my test he killed everyone. I had to face my fear of being alone again."
Silence stretched out between them as Ezra hoped she would talk about what happened. When more silence had passed, he stopped messing with the fire and turned and looked into her amber colored eyes as he said, "Svana, I know you don't want to talk about what happened in there right now, but when you are ready to do so, I'm willing to lend an ear." With that he turned back to the fire, sensing when she moved off to look for her Master.
XXX
Later that morning, they all got comfortable in the Clone transporter before taking off. Once they reached space, Ahsoka made the jump to hyperspace, but as they did so there was a strange noise. She quickly checked the computers and groaned as she read what the problem was. She quickly pulled them out of hyperspace, causing Luke to com her saying, "What's the problem?" "Let's just say we're lucky we didn't blow up when we went into hyperspace. One of the TIEs yesterday must have gotten lucky. I'm going to have to set us back down again."
She checked the computer, her gaze softening as she saw the name of the planet nearest to them. "Onderon." She said softly, as thoughts of her friend Lux came to mind. She hadn't seen him since he became Senator of Onderon and had told her he was going to join the Republic. He had followed through with that and she had heard bits and pieces about how he was doing through Padmé's friends who came to visit after she went to live with her on Naboo, but it had been sometime since she had heard anything about him. He had resigned from his position soon after the Emperor had taken control, and she was quite certain he had led small groups of rebels on attacks against the Empire, but she had nothing solid to base that on.
As the planet came into view, she was swept back to a time when she had helped him with their rebellion, as her Master had called it, on Onderon. And then even further to her time with Lux when she had been trying to get him not to join Death Watch. She really hoped he was still alive, because she was sure he would have some interesting stories to tell. Not to mention, a part of her had always asked what if they had gotten together.
XXX
As she landed in Iziz, she couldn't believe how much it had changed and yet stayed the same. All marks left by the droids had long since been eradicated and if the Empire had ever been stationed there it was hard to say. The people that she could see as she landed looked very happy and peaceful and the city practically hummed with life. Entering the lower part of the ship she said, "R2, see if you can get the hyperdrive fixed. Luke, Ezra, want to go with me to see if I can find an old friend?" Mace gave her a knowing look and said, "You go do that Tano, I will stay here and give these new students a lesson."
Luke and Ezra agreed to go with Ahsoka and so they headed out as Mace started a basic lesson. "Who is this friend of yours Ahsoka?" Luke asked as the three of them walked side by side deeper into town. "Lux Bonteri. I'm not even sure if he is still alive, but he was a good friend back in The Clone Wars. I haven't heard anything about him in a while, but he used to be the Senator of Onderon. I figured while we are here, it couldn't hurt to look."
Before either Ezra or Luke could say anything, she saw a man with dark brown, fading to grey, overgrown hair standing nearby. She walked over to him, asking as she approached, "Excuse me sir, but do you know a Lux Bonteri?" The man looked up as she approached and she saw it was a Clone. It was odd that he didn't keep his hair trimmed in military style, as some of the other Clones she had seen since the end of the war had, and something close to recognition crossed his eyes before he answered.
"He is our Senator, sir." "Thank you Trooper. What is your name?" she asked, knowing that she knew him, but the hair was throwing her off. She saw him get fidgety and his eyes started looking every which way for a way out. "Trooper, I know that you know me and I know that I know you, but your hair is throwing me off. I'm not going to hurt you, please tell me your name."
The Clone Trooper gave one last look about for an exit and then sighed, seeing that he would have to say. "I'm ARC Trooper Fives, sir." Ahsoka looked stunned as she said, "Fives?! But they told me…" "That I was dead? As you can see I'm not. I will tell you everything sir, but how about we get out of the street?" Ahsoka nodded and asked, "Where should we go?" "This way sir, my home isn't far from here." Ahsoka motioned for Luke and Ezra to follow as she let Fives take the lead. Once they reached their destination, she once again motioned the guys, but this time to stay outside.
Once inside, Fives motioned for her to take a seat as he said, "You remember Tup and what happened with him?" "I wasn't there, but I heard about it from Rex." She acknowledged. "Good then that saves some of my explaining. The Trooper that shot and 'killed' me? His name was Ears, because he could hear things others couldn't. He heard what the Chancellor said to me, and when I escaped moments later, he caught up with me quickly and told me he believed me. Ears and I knew we had to let the Jedi know what had happened, but the good doctor had drugged me and it was starting to affect my mind, making me act crazy. We didn't know if I would be able to tell anyone before I became unbelievable. So he set his gun to the lowest setting and gave me something that would make me appear dead. I was to use it only if it became absolutely necessary."
"While I was trying to meet with Rex and Skywalker, Ears went to the med bay and borrowed one of our fallen brothers. He removed the chip and tattooed a five on his head like mine. He also erased the Troopers information and put mine in it so that if they decided to scan that later they would think that they really did have me. When the drug began taking affect before I could convince Rex and Skywalker I was telling the truth, Ears put me down, shooting me in the same place as our fallen brother. As he shot, I took the stuff he had given me by injection, which Ears quietly removed while the others were listening to what I had to say while I 'died'."
"Once we were away, he dismissed his men and gave me the stuff to awaken me and we replaced my body with our brother's. Ears gave me the chip he had removed from our brother and I went into hiding, trying to decipher what caused it to give the order that Tup had babbled about. I didn't find out in time, unfortunately, and you Jedi and the galaxy paid the price. Ears and several other Clones had secretly removed their chips too, but it wasn't enough to save you Jedi." "Do any of your bothers know you still live Fives?" Ahsoka asked softly. He shook his head as he said, "Other than Ears, I don't think so General."
Ahsoka smiled at the Clone and said, "After I deliver the Jedi to our new home, how about you and I pay Rex a visit?" Fives smiled back and said, "I would like nothing better sir. Now you were asking about Lux Bonteri, right? He isn't far from here and I do know he is home presently, having just returned from the Senate two days ago. Come on, I'll take you to him." Just then a droid came in and said, "Is everything alright Fives?" "Everything is fine AZ3. Ahsoka here is an old friend." Turning to Ahsoka he said, "AZ3 escaped from Kamino aboard the same ship that took me to Coruscant. He had helped me try to save Tup and to get the information about the chip. He found me by following Ears and stayed with me to try to figure out the chip."
Ahsoka smiled at the droid and said, "Thank you for helping my friend, AZ3." "No problem, Master Jedi, though keeping him alive sometimes has been." With that the droid hovered on to where ever he had been going before stopping check on his master. Ahsoka raised an eyebrow and Fives said, "Let's just say the rumors about Senator Lux fighting the Empire were true and I went along for the ride." Ahsoka chuckled and shook her head as she thought, "Of course he did." Once outside of Fives home, Ahsoka introduced him to Ezra and Luke and explained that he would be taking them to see her friend Lux.
Just as they were about to leave, Fives said "Oh hold on." And headed back inside his house. Once he returned, he had cut his hair back to its old style, proudly showing off his five tattoo. "Now I'm ready. This way General." Ezra and Luke gave Ahsoka a look that said they were going to tease her about that, causing her to roll her eyes as she started after Fives. It wouldn't help to explain to those two that all Jedi were referred to with military titles or that even girls were called sir, they would tease her about it anyways.
*So does anyone else besides me think that Sabine is going to turn out to be Duchess Satine's niece? Like Pre Vizsla could be her dad and Bo-Katan could be her mother? Or at least Bo-Katan could be her mom, I just said Pre Vizsla being the dad because of how Bo-Katan was around him. But she kind of looks like Sabine to me and I mean they are both Mandalorian. I could easily see Sabine being related to this monarch because something about her is a bit regal, yet she hides it with her artisticness, if that makes sense. Plus she is almost practically named after Satine, I mean the letter difference is one. Eh who knows, maybe it's my wishful fan mind XD but a part of me wonders if I'm right…
Also, I brought back Fives because along with 99, Echo and Rex, he was one of my favorite Troopers. I actually have an idea for how Echo could be alive as well, but I'm not sure if I will use it in this story, or if I will write another someday and use it. But either way, I hope you enjoy me bringing Fives back from the dead. Who were some of your favorite Troopers (either dead, alive or unknown)?
And to get one more bit of input from you guys, yay or nay for having Lux in the story? And also yay or nay towards him and Ahsoka getting together in this story? I mean I already have a plan for him, but I might be swayed by votes to change it ;)
