As the Dark Times fade.
Disclaimer: Skymaster23 does not condone violence against children.
TY to t-rex989 for his review.
Note: Secura's outfit will also be altered for the same reason as in the previous chapter. Thrawn will be replaced in the Spectres backstory, and Maul will stay as dead as he was in TPM.
Following the second celebration where Luke learned about Bigg's contributions to the alliance from Nera, Wedge, and another man named Hobbie, he and Carlin are in the hanger with other pilots of species like Verpine, Nimbanel, Xexto and a couple others.
"If i may have your attention; our recent skirmishes, while providing much needed morale, have also proved costly in terms of pilots and materials." Gen. Dodonna tells them. "Therefore, we of alliance starfighter command are combining the remnants of Red and Blue squadrons into one." He says next before one of the pilots brought over from other cells after the death star's destruction raises a hand. "You have a question, cadet Azzameen?"
"Yes sir, what is this unit going to be called; will the Blues start calling themselves Reds, or the other way around?"
"We did think of that, but i decided it would be better if the empire thinks that the last of our craft were lost in the death star's explosion." Gen. Dodonna replied, which they mostly agreed with.
"So then what do we call it?" Evaan asks him, followed by Janson, and a Sneevel pilot.
"What about Yellow?"/(Or we skip could colors and pick something like Danger Squadron.) They say, the latter in his language, until Luke makes a suggestion.
"How about naming it after those people lost at Scarif instead, since none of this would have happened if it weren't for them."
"Rogue Squadron?"/"Sounds good to me."/"Yeah, always wanted to be called what i already am." Wedge, a person named Zev Senesca, and Janson all say.
Gen. Dodonna looks at them and nods. "I will have to discuss it, but i consider it a fitting designation. Dismissed."
After that, Carlin, a person named Pash Craken, and a Lannik are practicing with a mortar when they see a YT-2400 arriving, and head over to see three people, one being a young man with black hair around Luke's age, walk out only to turn around. "What's the hold-up?" He asked.
The rest being a man around Rex's age, and a woman with white hair around the same age as the first.
"Yes, what does seem to be the problem, Capt. Oh-" They hear from a mechanical voice in the ship.
"Oh nothing, do not be concerned with me! I'll just be waiting here...in the ship...where it's safe." A gravely voice says.
"Sir, why are you suddenly using a deeper tone than usual?" The first voice says as it shows itself to be an RA-7 droid.
"M-maybe i came down with something." The person says, and makes coughing noises.
"I may not be a medical droid, but i seriously doubt you have any such problem, so please come out." The droid says as it and a shorter being reach into the ship as if to drag the unseen person. "You are not acting in a dignified manner, now let go of that bulkhead!"
"So what; droid does not need dignity to keep moving; the same cannot be said...of Hondo's liiimbs!" The other voice says before losing his grip, sending both falling down the ramp as two other people make their way through the crowd.
"What; Ohnaka?! You steak-faced double-crosser, i oughta-" Han starts to say as the old man gets inbetween them while Chewie picked up the ugnaught and kept him at arms length.
"I don't know what this is about, but you can settle it after we offload the crate." He tells him.
"Yes, please keep your rather large friend from doing anything to poor, innocent Hondo." The weequay says as random troopers force the crowd to disperse.
"Han, what's all this about?" Luke asks as he walks past a technician named Del Goren, but Han is shoved aside before he can answer by Hondo, who Chewie swings at, but is grabbed by the wrist and pulled down as Luke got his saber out.
Carlin is about to do the same when they see Hondo stare menacingly at the former farmer before grinning after a few seconds. "Haha, Hera speaks the truth!"
"...Truth about what?"
"Why, the truth about you, my boy." He says as he takes a bow. "I am Hondo Ohnaka, this is my second in command, Melch; and those are Mart Mattin, the owner of this fine vessel, commander Wolffe, and alliance spy Winter Teltrac." He adds and catches his breath. "And i have seen that which you now hold."
Luke blinks in surprise before turning it off. "You mean you fought with my father too?"
"Fought? Um, yes! Hondo fought the separatist scourge alongside good old Anakin...and Obi-Wan, too! Oh, you can't imagine Hondo's surprise when he heard Anakin had a child; anyway, we were close as brothers, even. Yes, ever since the first battle of Florrum!" Hondo tells him as he poses around. "But that can wait, we have much to show you. You as well, Mr. pvt. Deler." He says as he places an arm over both their shoulders. "Let me tell you of the time i watched a lightsaber be created."
Once back in the briefing room, the one referred to as Melch opens a crate full of helmets, one of which Hondo picks up. "Gentlemen, Hondo wanted to arrive as soon as he heard that a man with similar abilities to my protege Ezra and his late friend Caleb appeared." He says as an older man with a scar on his right eye holds it. "But then came the tragic loss of Alderaan, and the announcement of a boy bearing the name Skywalker; all of which causing me to...purchase...several of these."
"I must warn you however, that the recordings you are about to see will not be pleasant." The man who Hondo called Wolffe tells them.
"Are they more of the battles you were in?" Luke asks. He, Carlin, and half the base having watched most of the clone wars from Rex's perspective up until the part where he fell out of the airship with the woman with the scratches on her back*.
"No, it's how the war ended...starting with this one belonging to a clone named Sarge." Wolffe says, and shows them both scenes reminding Luke of the story Obi-Wan told him back in his hut back on Tatooine as he and Carlin watch as a man with one exposed shoulder is killed along with several bystanders avenging him while yelling about infiltrator droids before other clones remove their helmets and "explain" as a blond youngling was sobbing in the background.
"They did that with children nearby?" Luke asked next, which Hondo answered grimly.
"They did much worse, Luke; even to me when i found out that Katooni was among the dead. She was braver even than Skywalker, when she led six others, Petro, Ganodi, Zatt, Byph, Gungi, and even Ahsoka Tano, in the second battle of Florrum. But alas, even she did no~did not escape the empire's treachery. I was never a religious man, but may Quay curse the cowards for eternity!" He shouted as Melch made a mournful squeal.
"When did they fall?" Carlin asks.
"After the empire put me out of a job, i did all i could to hire a slicer to uncover that information. I eventually found that she had been aboard a medical ship, but it was shot down while evacuating a space station in the Arkax system. Over twenty civilians thrown away just to kill one jedi...the only fortunate thing is the lack of that recording."
"Why's that, was the one who did it killed later; and what about the other five?"
"No, pilots didn't have recorders in their helmets back then, otherwise I'd show what happened to my general when Jag killed him, but this next one is from one of Bacara's subordinates, who turned on master Ki-Adi-Mundi on Mygeeto." Wolffe tells them, and shows an elderly Cerean on what seems to be a bridge surrounded by towers that Luke thought looked like upside down bowls before hearing a sickening voice. The helmet's wearer stops and shoots, but the view turns sideways a few seconds before the old jedi falls.
"As for the rest of them, Petro died at Scipio. Ganodi died at Kardoa. Zatt and Gungi both joined them when Coruscant was attacked, while Byph fell at Saleucami...making him and Katooni the only two that the clones murdered." Hondo told them.
Other helmets showed the deaths of several other children and a devaronian female at a place with yellowish buildings, a blue twi'lek in black robes surrounded by strange looking plants, a similarly colored ortolan, a person with a wide black headdress who seemed female but they couldn't tell, an Aleena male, a female Kel Dor, and many others. "So that was order 66? I heard of that night when i was growing up, but to think it was that..." Luke tries to say.
"I was on Coruscant that night-" They hear from Mon Mothma who is at the door. "I was speaking with senators Greblieps and Cadaman when Bail contacted us saying the jedi temple was burning and that he had...he had witnessed clones killing a jedi youngling right infront of him."
Luke and Carlin look to each other before requesting that the recording of the Aleena be played back, and discuss what happened when an alarm goes off. "Standby alert. Imperial lightcruiser detected."
"Oh, dear." Carlin says before they decide to put it off for later.
"It's here to find out why Tarkin hasn't reported in. Deactivate all systems. Admiral, send the remaining ships near the debris field." The chancellor ordered, referring to Raddus's replacement.
Once they took the chance that the enemy ship had left according to Han's recommendation, Carlin and Luke are shown two objects by capt. Orrelios onboard the Ghost. "Lets see, Hera put it somewhere-found it...this was Kanan's lightsaber, which we liberated from Zaarin's office in the I.C.C. on Lothal before we blew it up." He tells them as he activates it for a moment, then deactivates it and sets down a bronze cube. "But what you two are here for is this."
"I think Ben told me about those." Luke says as he leaned over at it. "He said the jedi had a whole room of these things called holoc...rons." He explained as he tapped it, causing the corners to rotate and it began floating.
"It's supposed to do that, right?" Carlin asked as an image of Obi-Wan that looked like he did at the second battle of anaxes.
"This is Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. I regret to report that both the Jedi and the Republic have fallen, with the dark shadow of the Empire rising to take their place. This message is a warning and a reminder for any surviving Jedi: Trust in the force. Do not return to the Temple. That time has passed, and our future is uncertain. We will each be challenged. Our trust. Our faith. Our friendship. But we must persevere and in time, a new hope will emerge. May the force be with you. Always."
The two glance at each other again before the captain speaks. "I remember Kanan saying they were a miniature database. Training programs, lost knowledge, you name it. Got busted a bit after Ezra and some red-head named Claria messed with it."
"As in lightsaber training? I did a bit of that with a remote before we ended up on the death star, but he died...or sort of died before i could get the hang of it."
"Sort of died? How does that work?" Zeb asks, only to get a shrug.
"He was fighting with this big black armored person until he saw us heading for Han's ship and stopped. Then that shadowy whatever it was swung at him and, uh...his clothes just collapsed in a pile somehow."
"Riiight; well, if you still have this remote, how about you continue where you left off?" Zeb asked next, having some idea who Luke described.
"I'll have to ask Han to let me back on the Falcon to get it, but sure."
"But we don't know how to find those functions you mentioned." Carlin tells them, only for an image of Anakin to appear.
"Keeping your saber moving is key to deflecting the fire from multiple adversaries. Fluid motion, one into the next, into the next, and so on. I've made some adjustments to the classic Form IV techniques that I think you'll find work well against droids and other ranged attackers. Here, I'll show you..."
The two watch the holo of Luke's father move before he leaves for a moment, and tells Carlin to use the second dial to switch the blade to absorption mode and let him have the first turn. "Alright, but what's with the helmet?"
"My first couple of blocking attempts didn't go very well, so Obi-Wan handed it to me saying i shouldn't trust my eyes and to stretch out with my feelings." Luke replies.
"If you mean the sense of seeing yourself get hit before it actually happens, i think i experienced that once at Scarif." Carlin says, but doesn't put it on and activates his lightsaber. He follows the remotes movement and blocks six shots without getting hit once, causing Luke to stare. "Like i said before, i was in law enforcement; plus I've been doing combat training a month before you arrived." Carlin explained while Zeb started laughing.
"Any more "advice" you got for him, Skywalker?"
"Obi-Wan said that a jedi could feel the force flowing through him."
"So do those rations they give us." Zeb says under his breath before replying. "Controls and obeys at the same time, right? Kanan said his master, another of those council members told him that."
"I'll keep that in mind." Carlin says, then puts the helmet on and eventually blocks ten of them.
"Guess we know which of you is the new Kanan." Zeb said as Luke drooped in annoyance before taking his turn.
After Luke manages eleven blocks, they move on to sparring while other rebels watch them. "Just like the old days, wouldn't you say, Dodonna?"/"Show that rookie what your made of, buddy!"/"Whatever, Urrd, never go against the underhuurton."/"Hey, this ain't a contest, so blast off already...eh, officers excluded, of course." Gen. Hudsol, Guj, and a toydarian scout say before Zeb shouts at them.
Once the two finish, they head over to Ylaer. "You need something from us?" Lt. Meln asks them.
"Yes sir, it's about Miss-i mean, Pvt. Swan; sorry, still getting used to ranks." Luke replies.
"Then i suggest you get used to it." The Lt. tells him.
"So are you here for more of that jedi stuff, or do you want something to go boom?" Ylaer asks next.
"The first one; we were being shown something...something that concerns you in a way." Luke tell her.
"So you want me to see Bultar's death." She says, having told the Lt. and her other crewmate who she really was.
"Not entirely, but it'll be easier to understand if you watch it yourself...if you wish to." Carlin tells her.
(Should i tell them to get lost, Ylaer) Burkavi asks her in his language.
"No, I'll do it. Lets just get this over with." She replies, and the five head inside.
Carlin plugs in a helmet with faded 501st markings on it, and they see whichever clone wore it rush into a large chamber. "- hem if you are simply allowed to walk away." They hear from an off-screen voice before it pauses.
"That first speaker was of Master Tsui Choi, an Aleena who served once alongside Ghiett." He explains.
"Which made him this Bultar person's friend?" Burkavi asks him, but he shrugs.
"Possibly, but there's no way to confirm it."
The scene plays again. "Execute the enemies of the empire." The lead stormtrooper, four spaces infront, says as they blast away, killing one tall blue jedi while the shorter one jumps far higher than expected.
"Watch out, incom..." The wearer starts to shout only to see the Aleena stop in mid-air, but manages to throw his lightsaber at a figure all of the recognize to the lower left of the clones before he was killed along with a third jedi.
"'least he gave that franger one last surprise. Has to count for something." Lt. Meln said while Darth Vader and the clone commander were talking as the wearer looks around.
Carlin pauses again and Luke points out one body in a light-grey breastplate with a melted hole and tan trousers. "There."
"That's what she...that's what i looked like." Ylaer says as she examines the image. The jedi Swan was older and her hair was longer, but everything else matched.
(What about the rest of them?) Burkavi asked after placing a hand on her shoulder.
The two only shrug. "We do know the woman with the cape was Shadday Potkin, while the one with all the armor was named Arana; but we'd need to find one of the copies of viceroy's files for the other four since the one we had was destroyed by whatever it was that took col. Draven's body over." Luke tells them before Ylaer answers.
"I know. The nikto was Ma'kis'shaala, the big one was Jastus Farr, and the other two were Sia-Lan Wezz, and Roblio Darte. The clones would sometimes return and brag to their "little brothers" about the C.O.'s they'd be assigned to, which the kaminoans would overhear on occasion. That's how we found out when we were old enough."
"However, the reason we are showing you this is about what is to happen next." Carlin tells them after nodding.
The event plays some more as the wearer watches Vader look between Bultar's body and the red armored man's. "Shall we dump the traitors in the acid pits, my lord, or let them rot?"
"...Summon the medical staff, commander. Have samples taken of all except Potkin and Arana."
"Samples?"
"Do not question me, Appo; do as i say before you find yourself in the acid!"
"Y-yes, my lord."
And with that the scene is ended. The four of them watch Ylaer as she looks down. "I can imagine how you must feel; i didn't even know what my father looked like until yesterday." Luke tells her.
"I wouldn't e~exactly call her my moth~er, but thank you." She says as she rubs her eyes. "It still might not explain what that kriffing pet of the emperor intended for them, but thank you, both of you." She added just as the alarm goes off again.
(I got a bad feeling about this.) Burkavi says as Carlin takes the helmet on their way to their stations.
Chapter nine.
* No proof that it was Rex who was thrown out with Padme in AOTC.