Legacy Rising


Chapter 7

No battle plan survives contact with the enemy.

21 BBY, Ryloth


The Acclimator-I Class Republic assault ship was a hive of activity after several days in hyperspace. Nearing the atmosphere of the planet Ryloth, homeworld of the Twi'leks, the deck officers on the Acclimator were frantically prepping and fueling the landing craft for the legion of clone troopers preparing a large-scale ground assault. The Commerce Guild, one of the major arms- and deep pockets- of the Separatists, occupied the surface of the rocky planet and were holding the colonists hostage.

Arryn bounced on the balls of her feet, anxious to get going. She supervised the final preparations of the lead gunship, the Crumb Bomber, while Obi-Wan and Mace Windu went over strategy for the campaign with the rest of the Jedi Council. The Crumb Bomber had been through quite a few missions with the 501st and had the warpaint to illustrate it. Arryn stopped pacing for a moment to gaze at the Kowakian lizard-monkey crudely painted on the nose of the ship with "laugh this off," a warning to the Republic's enemies, stenciled below.

Arryn hated this part- the anticipation of battle was nerve-wracking, giving her the opportunity to stress over every minute detail. She tried to calm her mind with battle meditation, but the attempt was futile. She was relieved to see two figures stride down the durasteel deck from the briefing room, but her expression darkened when she saw the intensity reflected in both Obi-Wan and Mace Windu's faces. She tried to recall ever seeing Master Windu smile, but came up empty. Arryn grimly realized there was not much to smile about anymore.

The Korun Master nodded a greeting to Arryn. Commander Cody stood at attention nearby, and the rest of the 501st quickly settled aboard their respective landing craft. "We will need to secure both hemispheres," Master Windu ordered, swiftly getting the attention of all the troops. "According to our intelligence reports, Wat Tambor is occupying the capitol city himself. The Separatist supply lines are established in the southern desert regions." He paused to have his point resonate. "We must strike on both fronts at once."

"Our first trick will be getting our troops on the ground," Obi Wan replied with determination in his voice. Arryn marveled at how quickly Obi-Wan was able to concentrate on the moment. Focus, she mentally chided herself. If he can do it, so can you.

"If we take the city of Nabat first, we will have our landing spot," Mace Windu stated matter-of-factually. Taking the city would not be an easy task by any means.

"Well, it's time to meet the natives." Obi-Wan followed Cody and Arryn into the waiting Crumb, and the armoured blast panels slid shut behind them with a clang.


Arryn tried to contain the waves of nervous energy she was certain radiated in the Force. She did not want a lecture, especially in front of the troops. She instead concentrated on Commander Cody, who stood directly behind Obi-Wan, and thoughtfully studied him. Despite the dire circumstances they were walking into, Cody maintained a practiced neutral expression. His armour showed signs of wear, with scorch marks on nearly every plate. His helmet was tucked neatly under his left arm while his right hand held one of the overhead grips for stability as the ship cruised over Ryloth's harsh landscape. The epitome of a good soldier.

Obi-Wan broke the silence as they neared their destination and drew all the clones' attention. "We need to remember why we are here," he said, clearly in General mode. "We came to aid the Twi'leks, not destroy their home. Cody?" He turned to the Commander and nodded for him to take over.

Cody cleared his throat. "That means we'll be taking it back the hard way," he told the rest of the troops. "Minimal destruction with blasters and droid poppers only." He made sure to lock eyes with each of his brothers. "No rockets or detonators. Check your aim. And keep an eye out for locals. Am I understood?"

"Sir, yes sir," the clones all chanted in unison.

Arryn tensed as a series of explosions sounded in the distance. The Separatists' heavy cannons were in full action, intending to take down a landing craft or two before they hit the surface. In the rear of the ship, choice words could be heard as the troopers stripped the rockets and detonators from the gear, simultaneously fighting to keep their balance as the ship lurched violently from side to side. The blasts were too close. Arryn mentally thanked the Force for the shields that kept the ship in one piece as she held tightly to the overhead handhold.

Amongst the turbulence, the comm embedded in the floor sprang to life, materializing the highly exasperated image of General Windu. "We can't risk landing the bigger transports until you take out those guns." Even the command ships hadn't been spared in the Separatists' heavy cannon offensive.

"Pull back," Obi-Wan responded with determined assurance. "We'll take care of it!"

The holo disappeared, and the Crumb descended to the jagged outskirts of Nabat with a dire mission to accomplish.

The terrain was desolate- jagged mountains in the distance formed an oddly shaped background. In the foreground, a sparse forest of gnarled trees provided little cover for Ghost Company. The troops were on the ground in seconds, dodging deadly blasterfire from the squads of sentry droids positioned around the perimeter of the city. They left dusty tracks in the clay-tinged rocky soil, covering a great deal of ground quickly. Most disconcertingly, the air was quiet, save for the haunting call of several birds of prey circling above. In the Force, Arryn could feel the adrenaline racing through the clones, but a muted sense of distress seemed to permeate in the distance. The captive Twi'leks.

Forest gave way to a sea of rocks, remnants from where a gorge had been blasted in what was once a canyon wall. The troops found shelter behind trees and scores of large boulders, as sentry droids, positioned on each small plateau framing the gorge, alerted their metallic comrades of the clones' presence, calling out the infernal order to bolts flew through the barren land, a barrage of red and blue energy. Arryn and Obi-Wan adeptly deflected the volley of fire as they ran, moving to get a closer look at what they were up against.

Finding shelter along the edge of the treeline, they did quick some reconnaissance to analyze what, precisely, they were up against.

"That bunker's gonna be a problem, General!" Cody called out from the next tree over.

"Leave the bunker to me. Bring your men in on my signal," Obi-Wan ordered.

Arryn cried out as one of the shots came into contact with her arm. Obi-Wan looked over in alarm as her wrist comm was melted into a smoldering lump of molten plastisteel.

"Arryn!"

"I'll be okay," she said through clenched teeth, trying to breathe through the burning sensation. She looked down with a grimace. "Don't think my comm will, though." If Arryn could make a joke, she would be fine.

They moved their position forward, springing from the treeline into the less-sheltered rock formations. "Let's take them out," said Obi-Wan, pointing to the droids wielding the heavy guns in the canyon turrets.

Arryn handed Cody a droid popper, an electromagnetic pulses that, when activated, sent a shock wave through anything electrical, killing its power instantly. Cody threw one into the left turret, its aim aided with a Force push from Obi-Wan. A second later, it detonated, sending a burst of blue energy through the sentry droids. They convulsed with the shock for a minute before collapsing into a pile of scrap metal. Excellent. One down, one to go. They repeated the same process in the right turret, finally able to clear the blockade.

"Vapin' clankers," muttered Arryn under her breath.

"Ghost Company! Let's move!" Cody shouted, and the clones emerged from where they had taken shelter to take the canyon.


The clones were efficient in clearing the gun turrets and strategic locations in the canyon the Separatists had used for lookout posts. Cody reported back a few minutes later. "The wall is secure, Sir. Are we moving on to the guns?"

"We need to know what those droids have in store for us," Obi-Wan replied, a thoughtful hand on his face.

"What are you thinking, Master?" Arryn asked, coming up behind them after clearing her own pile of clankers.

"I don't know, and that's what concerns me." He turned his attention back to Cody. "Send your best men to scout ahead."

"Will do sir. "Cody decided to go himself. He was one of the best men for a recon assignment. "Waxer. Boil," he ordered. "Come with me."

"I guess we're the best," Boil quipped.

"Arryn, you too." Obi-Wan locked eyes with his Padawan. "No unnecessary risks, am I understood?"

"Yes, Master," she said with a single nod, then turned to Waxer and Boil with a grin. "Let's do this."

The clones and Arryn inched their way through an abandoned neighbourhood. The dwellings were built with the same clay in the soil, making the area a monochromatic mess. The tattered remains of a banner from a village festival stirred in the light breeze. "Buildings are just buildings," said Cody, repeating a mantra he'd overheard from the Jedi. "What really makes a city are the inhabitants that live in it."

"Yeah, so where are they?" Waxer asked ironically.

They passed what was an open-air market, but the stalls were in shambles. Wares had been unceremoniously dumped on the ground, hangings and signage were shredded, and even credits were left behind, strewn about several counters.

"Wherever they are, it looks like they left pretty quickly," Arryn observed.

The street forked by the market. "We'll check out the courtyard," said Cody, eyes analyzing the landscape under his helmet. He pointed at Waxer and Boil. "You two take the southside. Be back at Command by 06:20."

"I'll go with Waxer and Boil," Arryn volunteered. "See you back at base."


Arryn kept her lightsaber at the ready, her fingers tracing the activation switch as they made their way into another deserted neighborhood.

"I'll tell you, Boil, this is creepy," Waxer said with a shudder.

Boil peeked into a vacant house. "You think they…killed all of them?"

"There aren't any bodies," Arryn answered, unconvinced. "They were driven from their homes most likely. I don't think-" she turned abruptly. "What was that?"

Waxer and Boil looked at each other, not hearing anything. They raised their blasters and held their position, just in case. "You don't think…what, Commander?"

She frowned, still focused on the southwest corner where she felt something. "They had a choice," she answered absently.

They crossed the street, and again, Arryn heard something. "There," she pointed to a dark alley. They stayed quiet for a moment, and the noise sounded again, this time alerting Waxer and Boil. They hid behind refuse bins outside the dwellings and waited, blasters and lightsaber at the ready.

"Ready?" Arryn whispered. "On my mark….go!"

They ran down the alley, only to stop short when they saw the source of the noise: a little Twi'lek, probably around three years old, wearing a ratty dress and head covering, cowering behind some supply bins.

"Ah, it's just a little girl," said Boil, trying to laugh off his embarrassment.

"What are we gonna do with her?" asked Waxer, lowering his blaster.

Boil turned to his partner. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, why do we have to do anything with her? We've got a mission to finish."

Arryn rolled her eyes. "Step aside, gentlemen," she said, moving forward as they continued to bicker.

"Lo nallo Arryn," she introduced herself, crouching to the girl's level. The girl was still reticent to come out from behind the crates, so Arryn reached into one of the pouches on her belt and pulled out a protein bar. She broke a piece off and held it out to the girl, who cautiously sniffed it, then deciding it was safe, devoured it in two bites. "Hungry little thing, aren't you?"

Boil called out, "Quick, hide!" Arryn wasn't sure what spooked them, but she grabbed the girl's hand and moved into the darkness of the alley. A separatist probe droid floated down the main road, searching for survivors and Republic troops. It cleared the area without noticing them and Arryn let out a sigh of relief.

Boil stood up from where he'd crouched on the ground. "That was a recon unit, we'd better get moving!"

Waxer leaned on his blaster. "We can't leave her here."

"Fine," said Boil, persuaded. "We'll take her."

"Be careful," Waxer warned, as Boil moved closer to the little Twi'lek.

Boil waved his brother off and offered the girl a hand. "Don't worry, Waxer, I don't think she's-" And with that, the little Twi'lek stuck her neck out and bit his finger. "Ahh!" He pulled his hand back . "The little tail-head bit me!"

Arryn put a hand to her mouth to keep from laughing out loud, but failed miserably. "I just gave her a protein bar. She probably thinks your glove looks edible, too." The little girl moved back behind the crates again. Arryn tapped her finger on her chin, trying to examine the situation from the perspective of a scared youngling. She looked at the clones and mentally smacked herself for not seeing it sooner. "I'll bet she thinks you're droids," she said, gesturing to their armour.

Waxer twisted off his helmet and gently set it aside. "It's alright," he said comfortingly. "See, I'm flesh and blood, just like you."

Boil tilted his head and whispered to Arryn, "She sure does look starved." He pulled out another protein bar and handed it to the youngling. She grabbed it and munched it down while Boil also took off his helmet.

When she finished eating, she came into the light and pointed at Boil, then Waxer. "Nerra! Nerra!" She looked at Arryn. "Cerra!"

Arryn grinned. The little girl was using the Twi'leki terms for brother and sister to describe them.

"No, I'm Waxer," said Waxer, pointing to himself. "He's Boil."

The little girl shook her head, adamant. "Nerra. Nerra."

Boil was anxious to keep moving. "Aw, you made a friend. Mission accomplished. Can we go now?"

"Come on, kid," coaxed Waxer. "Come on!"

Boil put his helmet back on. "Look she didn't even want to go." He started back toward the main street. "The little monster was fine before we got here, so let's move."

Arryn raised an expectant eyebrow at the youngling, who didn't move. She shrugged and followed Waxer out, mentally counting the seconds until the girl followed them. She didn't even get to five before the twi'lek cried out and ran after them.

"Don't look now, but she's behind us," said Arryn in a low tone to her comrades.

Waxer resisted peeking, having grown quite fond of the little girl. "I wonder what happened to her family," he mused aloud.

Boil, ever the pessimist, said, "I bet they're all dead." Arryn gave him a look and he softened his tone. "Hopefully she'll survive this mess."

Waxer turned his head slightly to get a look at their little green shadow, but stopped when he didn't see her. "Where did she go?"

"I'm sure the little biter will turn up," retorted Boil.

A little hand reached up and tugged the sleeve of Arryn's tunic. The youngling had snuck around them. She was good.

Waxer and Boil turned around, just as surprised to see her. "There you are!" Waxer exclaimed, giving her nose a playful pat. She giggled, a wide smile plastered on her face.

"How'd you get in front of us?" Boil asked, bewildered at the child's agility.

She put her hand on Waxer's blaster and pointed further down the street. "Nerra! Nerra! Cerra!"

"I think she wants us to follow her," said Arryn, slipping a hand into the little Twi'lek's.

"That's where the recon droid went!"

The youngling pulled Arryn along, while Waxer and Boil continued to bicker. "Let's check it out," suggested Arryn to shut them both up.

"I'm just trying to keep you alive," muttered Boil under his breath. "Darn if I know why."


They traversed the rough terrain, following the little girl into a new area. Most of the houses in the neighborhood showed signs of struggle. Doors were off their hinges, windows were forced open, curtains torn down. The little Twi'lek stopped at the last house on the block and stared.

"Good, you caught her!" said Boil, panting after running after the girl. "You know, I have binders if you need them." Both Arryn and Waxer shot him a dirty look. "What?" he shrugged, nonchalant. Despite his bitter humor, Boil was a good man- and a great soldier.

The girl tugged on Waxer's arm and pointed straight ahead.

"What are we doing here anyway?" Boil asked, resigned.

"Ten credits says she used to live here," replied Arryn somberly, following Waxer up the stairs and into the house.

The dwelling was a single room, with a bench opposite the front door and an odd carving next to it on the floor. Piles of dirt and rubble filled the corners of the house with a large hole blasted out of the roof. Arryn's heart broke for the little girl and the life she used to have, another casualty of the sith-foresaken war.

Boil took a seat on the bench and took off his helmet once more, surveying the damage to the little house with his own eyes. "Poor thing," he mumbled. Arryn looked at him with great respect. He was tough and fierce, but no matter how hard he tried to hide it, Boil had a heart. Waxer, who wore his heart on his sleeve, sat next to Boil and set his helmet on the ground next to him, keenly watching as the little girl examined her home.

Arryn sat on the stairs next to the bench, noticing a small purple doll behind a pile of rubbish. She nudged Waxer and gestured to the toy. He picked it up and brought it to the little Twi'lek, who, after a moment of surprise, hugged the doll close to her body. She burst into wrenching sobs, her tears soaking the fur of the toy. She looked up at Waxer and threw herself into his arms. Waxer held the girl, an unusual casualty of the war, and let her cry into his armour.

Boil and Arryn came over, kneeling to her level.

"It's ok," Arryn tried to soothe in Twi'leki. The girl threw herself into Arryn's arms, still sobbing.

"Don't cry kid," said Boil, awkwardly trying to help. He ran a hand through his black hair and tried again, but was caught off-guard when the girl ran into his arms next, enveloping him in a hug. "We'll keep you safe. I…I promise."


Back at the Republic Base Camp, Obi-Wan felt something amiss. Not one to panic, he approached his second-in-command. "Are the men set, Cody? And have you seen Arryn?"

Cody looked grave. "Waxer and Boil are not responding. They never returned from scouting," he explaned succinctly.

Obi-Wan ran a hand across his chin, frowning. "That's not like them," he said, wishing Arryn's comm hadn't been disabled during the firefight. He didn't feel her in any apparent danger, but the war had placed limitations on the use of the Force in ways the Jedi weren't wont to admit. "They may have run into trouble."

From the countless battles they'd fought together, Cody knew how to read the General. His assessment of the situation was a clear mixture of concern and the necessity to keep a clear head. Display outward calm, and inner calm will come, was a favourite saying of his, and he lived it well.

Cody nodded in agreement. "Sergeant," he barked at Wooley, who stood atop the stone slope several meters above the command station. "Use the high power transmitter. See if you can reach Waxer or Boil."

"Yes sir."

"Let's get the rest of the men moving," Obi-Wan ordered, fervently hoping the two troopers and his Padawan were not in the middle of some crisis. Little did he know what was really holding them up…


A/N: I promise my 6 month hiatus has not been without merit! Thank you for the suggestions…Arryn's story is 75K words and not even close to done! I have a terrible habit of not writing in sequence, though, so that is my shameful explanation. I do have the next three-ish chapters done, which brings me to my next point…I need a Beta reader BADLY. Not just for the grammar/punctuation things (though that would be great as well), but for more big-picture character development, flow, etc. If that sounds like someone you know and/or love, please either leave a comment or message me! (I looked on the Beta board and it's really overwhelming.)

The whole point of this chapter was Arryn's rapport with the clones, which will be built up more over time. Next up, a quick finish to the cute Numa segment, then a rescue mission featuring one of our favourite Jedi Knights!

Thanks for the lovely review and suggestions NoirDetective! And Valairy Scot, I have to tell you that you are one of my author-idols, so it was AMAZING to hear from you! I love all your stories!