"Are you sure you can handle this?"
"I got this."
"Okay, I'm just making sure because I don't want you to-"
"Ahsoka, I'll be fine. You worry too much."
"Can you blame me? I love you."
Oh man, I'm still not used to that. Ahsoka has told me that she loves me at least 4 times in the last half hour and every single time she said it, I felt my heart skip several beats. Hearing her beautiful melodic voice saying she loves me is the best feeling in the entire world; nothing could match this in the entire universe. Warmer than the heat of a thousand suns, and more pure than angels humming.
I felt her as Ahsoka slowly slid her hands down my arms and towards my own hands as she showed me how to properly aim my new weapon. The rifle pressed into my shoulder as she lifted it up to my eye level and taught me quickly how to aim with the cross-hairs. It was different than what I'm used to but I'll get used to it real soon.
Everyone was in position. There was a gun turret stationed to the cliff next to us, the militia were on Dalgos down below. Saw and Steela led a small group by air on Rupings, and me and Ahsoka were stationed for cover fire. Well, I was stationed for cover fire. Ahsoka was there to protect me with her sabers.
I heard the screech of a Ruping and looked up to see Steela jumping off the back of the creature and lifting up her sniper rifle.
"The droid army is almost here. Everyone, get ready." I gulped and kneeled down, positioning the gun just as Ahsoka showed me to.
I could see the droids flooding out of the clearing and into our direct path, parade style. They were armed with tanks and walkers and heavily armed war machines. My hands shook against the grip of the rifle but I continued to stand, refusing to move even slightly.
"Saw, begin your attack." Steela said through her comlink. And about 20 seconds later, a huge explosion sounded from down below. Gunfire came at every single angle and direction and I aided in whatever way I can. The tanks were going down easy... Almost too easy.
When the militia flew overhead again, I heard something... Something that I have never heard before. And following the new humming sound, a massive explosion went off next to us. The turret! It's down!
"No!" Steela shouted in fear, and anger. I could see her eyes light up with that same passionate stare that she had when she heard her brother had been taken into custody.
"Where the hell did that come from?" I shouted over the gunfire, looking around in confusion.
"There!" Ahsoka shouted over my shoulder, pointing up at what caused the explosion... It was a gunship! A heavily armed, fortified gunship. Steela shot at the ship but her laser blasts bounced off with a reinforced rayshield. It was heading straight for us...
"Any ideas?" Steela asked Ahsoka who in turn had the best idea yet.
"Yeah! Run!" And oh, how we ran. The gunship blew up the cliff we were standing on and I bolted to my Ruping, holding out my hand for Ahsoka who grabbed it and slid herself on behind me, holding my waist for dear life as I made the creature take off much faster than it's used to and fly back to the base of our nest. Jumping off the Ruping, I stumbled in the process and felt my face hit the boards of the deck, hard.
"Lexie! Are you okay?" Ahsoka said, her voice dripping with concern. I blushed and nodded my head, standing up and putting my hand against my now scrapped cheek.
"Yeah, I'm okay..." The gunships followed us. I squeaked in fear and jumped at Ahsoka. "Get down!" Pushing her down to the ground, I jumped on top of her and protected her from the oncoming debris that rained down on both of us. Dust clouded my vision and I closed my eyes and kept my Jedi safe as best as I could.
Ahsoka made a noise of fear and I looked down at her as her stripes flashed again. I couldn't help but smile nervously. "Are you okay?"
"Y-Y-Yeah! Yeah, I'm fine," Her voice was higher than normal and I smiled in relief as I stood up and helped her to her feet. She dusted off her backside and I did the same, shaking the dust and dirt from my hair.
"Lexie!" I turned to see Steela running to where I was and helping me get back into a fighting position.
"I have to contact the Jedi!" I heard Ahsoka shout as she slid down the side of the hill and into a safe place, which put my mind at ease knowing that she wasn't in harms way.
"Steela, we're losing people, fast! We should fall back!" I tried to reason with her and thank Force I'm talking to Steela and not Saw.
"You're right. Fall back! Everyone, fall back!" Steela shouted over her comlink. My hands tried to hold the rifle as steady as I could and I couldn't help the glance over my shoulder at Ahsoka as I saw a hologram of the Jedi vanish and her jump back up next to us.
"Well? Is the Republic going to help us?" Steela said, re-positioning her sniper rifle on her shoulder.
"No." I guess not all Jedi are as helpful and amazing as Ahsoka is.
"What's it going to take?" Steela snapped in anger. I sighed and looked at Steela, narrowing my eyes.
"King Rash is in control of Onderon, Steela! As long as he's in command, the Republic can't do anything!" Ahsoka stared at me and smiled. Clearly, we were both thinking the same thing; I just said it first.
"Look, they're pulling back. Cover them!" Steela motioned towards our troops and I slowly stepped forward, giving our troops assistance as they all evacuated to the nest. When the area was overrun by droids, I ran with the others, but stayed extremely close to Ahsoka to make sure she was safe the entire time.
When we reached the inside of the caves, Saw and the General of the militia were waiting for us, along with King Dendup and his appointed guards. Me, Steela, and Ahsoka stumbled inside of the caves and I coughed up more dust from the gunship's fire. This is just ridiculous. I thought things were going to go much better than this... Or much worse. We'd either be fine, or dead. Not stuck.
"The highlands may slow down the droids, but they won't stop the gunships." Saw said, crossing his arms in frustration. I looked at Ahsoka and sighed.
"Any word from the Jedi?"
"Not yet."
Sighing in frustration, I ran my gloved hands through my hair and felt it sticking up at all ends of my scalp so I tried my best to flatten it but I knew that wasn't gonna happen any time soon. I looked at Steela, then Saw, then Ahsoka. And then I looked at myself.
My hands were shaky, I was constantly shifting my weight from one foot to another and I felt like I was going to twitch out of my skin. Is this the feeling of impending doom? I wonder if this is how my mom felt before she died... Oh hell, there's something morbid! Great job, Lexie. Making yourself sad again.
"We're not giving up yet! Stagger our defenses to the camp. Secure our approach; stay in small teams. Make use of our training," Steela said, looking at Saw and myself, giving us both the same orders.
"You really are the best leader among us. Couldn't be more proud of you, my sister."
"I learned from the best, big brother." Aww, it was a cute little sibling bonding moment. Saw ordered for the general to follow him out and I couldn't handle the bubbling sense of fear in my stomach as I turned to Ahsoka who just shook her head at me.
"Ahsoka, what are we gonna do? Will you help us?" I said, reaching for her hands and holding them in my own. Her stripes flashed again but she shook her head, looking down at our hands and biting her lip.
"I don't know that I can, Lexie. I can protect you, not fight for you." I already knew the answer, and as depressing as it sounds, I'm happy she isn't fighting for us. The last thing I want is for her to get hurt. I sighed and leaned down, gently kissing her dirt matted cheek.
I felt her hands tense around my own and she closed her eyes, looking away and smiling softly, her stripes speaking more words than she ever could in this situation. I was lost in how adorable she was when someone behind us cleared their throat.
"I hate to interrupt, but we do have pressing matters at hand here," Steela said, crossing her arms but still smirking in the process. I blushed and turned around to try and regain my composure but it was hard when my adorable Jedi was blushing right next to me.
But all was forgotten when we all heard a rumbling noise above us that we didn't recognize. Being around machines my whole life, I know what a Separatist ship and a Republic ship sounded like. And this one was neither. I looked up and saw a freighter passing overhead and I looked at the two before bolting for the stairs as the freighter landed and a ramp of stairs was lowered. Out walked two Weequays, carrying a crate of some sort and followed behind them was... a pirate? He wore a long red trench coat and his eyes were shrouded by goggles. He was covered head to toe in gold and glimmer and had the look of him that said he's used to being swindled. Oh yeah, definitely a pirate.
He approached Steela and looked her up and down, smirking. "Well... You could just be my new favorite spice..." Oh that's just gross.
"Yeah, I don't think so." Steela rolled her eyes in annoyance and I just pointed my rifle at his head.
"Watch it, pirate." He stared at me, like he knew me. It made me uncomfortable.
"Hondo!" Ahsoka shouted at him. So that's his name... She knows him? "What are you doing here?"
He made a clicking noise with his tongue and shook his finger at her. "Oh no, you should thank me, child! I have brought you a gift from Skywalker and Kenobi." The Weeqay on the ground moved the lid of the crate off and revealed shoulder fired rocket launchers. Judging by the diameter of those cylinders, they were extremely powerful.
"The latest from Sienar!" Hondo boasted. And truth be told, he wasn't joking. I've never seen models like this. I reached for the launcher when I felt someone grab my hand, dragging me back to reality. I looked at Steela who shook her head. I pouted.
"Rocket launchers?" Ahsoka seemed confused. Why would the Jedi pay for illegal arms just for us?
"Shoulder fired. Very expensive." Hondo said, staring Ahsoka down. She narrowed her eyes in suspicion.
"Paid for?"
"Very handsomely," He rubbed his fingertips together to show what he meant. Oh how I wanted to shoot him... But I guess someone beat me to it. A laser bolt shot right next to Hondo's head and it created sparks against his ship. "Oh my, look at the time. Well, my work here is done!"
Three patrol droids ran up the side of the hills, taking out our protecting troops as Hondo and his fellow pirates boarded the ship and it took off.
Steela growled in frustration and whistled for her Ruping which came as called and picked up the droids in it's claws, dropping them over the side of the cliff. I snickered at the droid's screams.
"I can't be the only one that thinks that's funny," I muttered, looking at the others who didn't find it all that funny. Rolling my eyes, I just kneeled down at the rocket launchers in the crate and lifted one up onto my shoulder, aiming it at the sky.
Ahsoka smirked and grabbed some of the launchers out of the crate and slung them over her shoulder and handed two to Steela. I picked up the last one and followed the others.
"I hope these work," Steela sighed and quickly headed down to the lines that were held down by the gunships.
Flying down on the Rupings, we all jumped off the backs of the creatures and headed towards Saw and the others.
"We've tried everything! But we're target practice for those gunships!" I handed Saw a rocket launcher and smirked.
"Well, now it's their turn!" Saw stared down at the rocket launcher in his grasp and looked at me with confusion.
"Thank the Jedi." Steela told him as he quickly ran to a clearing with the rocket launcher and lifted it up onto his shoulder and focusing it on a gunship passing overhead. I waited and the rocket went flying from the barrel, hitting the gunship in the side. There was a whirring sound and then an explosion. I watched the gunship go down in a fiery explosion on the ground and I jumped in the air, throwing my fists up in triumph. The odds are now in our favor!
"Distribute the rocket launchers and take out those gunships." Steela narrowed her eyes at me and I looked at the rocket launcher still in my grasp and pouted.
"Aw, but it's so pretty, Steela..." I whined, not wanting to let the launcher go. But she continued to stare and I just sighed, handing it to Saw. "She'll never understand what we had together." I muttered, making Saw and Ahsoka snicker in the process.
"Steela!" Her comlink sounded off and she stopped in her tracks. "They're attacking the nest! They're trying to go after the king!"
"Come on!" Without even thinking, Steela jumped on her Ruping and took off without waiting for anybody. Shit, shit, shit, she's gonna get herself killed!
"She sure leads by example." Ahsoka said, her hands on her hips as she looks at me, waiting for a response.
"Yeah, but what good will that do if she gets herself killed?" I felt fear bubble up in my heart as I ran to the Ruping, jumping on it's back and holding out my hand for Ahsoka to take. She held it and quickly jumped on behind me and I heard her lightsaber activate from behind me. Oh crap, fly gently, don't get your arm sliced off.
I followed Steela's ruping back to the nest as the creature circled the guard towers and rockets went flying at the gunships that took out every single person on the guard towers. They had the militia and the king pinned down inside the caves. This did not look good at all.
Steela leaped off the Ruping as it continued to fly away and shot the gunship down with her rocket launcher. It smoked and began to plummet towards the ground in a fiery blast. I landed my ruping and jumped off, taking down the droids surrounding me and Ahsoka. She leaped off with her incredible gymnastic skills and took down the droids with a single sweep of her lightsaber.
I saw that Dendup began to run off with his guards as the droids chased him down. He was heading straight for the cliff. Steela followed him and did everything in her power to protect him. My focus was on Ahsoka.
I couldn't help myself, she moved with such grace, such skill... It was like watching a dance performance. I stared at her as she cut down the droids and dismembered them one by one, a snarl on her face and a fire in her eyes. I sighed with happiness at the girl who just protected me from death.
"Are you alright?" Ahsoka said, walking up to me. I smiled and put my hand against her cheek.
"What would I do if you weren't around to save me?"
Ahsoka giggled and looked up at me, smiling a big toothy grin, her sharp canines completely exposed. Blushing as I did so, I leaned forward and was oh, so close to her lips once again but that was before I heard a loud explosion. Stopping myself, I turned around and saw something totally horrifying. A gunship was spiraling down towards us!
"Run!" Ahsoka shouted and pulled on my hand as the gunship smashed into the cliff's edge behind us. The blast knocked us completely off of our feet as the gunship's remains lay scattered all over the cliffside. I coughed and sat up slowly, feeling my entire body become sore with how I slammed into the ground of the rock formations. My head was spinning and I felt extremely dizzy...
But to hell with the dizziness, I heard a shout. And I knew it was Steela. I jumped up, feeling my head spinning from the crash, but ignored it as best I could and ran to her aide. Steela was hanging off the cliff, holding on to nothing but a ridge in the cliff!
"Hold on, Steela!" I dropped down onto my stomach and reached for her hand, trying my very best to reach her... Oh no, I can't get to her! "Don't let go!"
With every inch forward, I felt myself slowly sliding down the side of the cliff's edge. I can't help Steela if I'm dead too!
And that was it. I lost myself. The cliff didn't want to hold me any longer. I fell face first down the cliff and gravity began taking me down... Until it wasn't. I froze with fear and looked up to see Ahsoka, her hands hovering right above me as she used the force to lift me up and off the side of the cliff. She put me down gently, next to Steela's sniper rifle and just said to herself, "I'll handle this."
I had complete faith in her... She could do this. I looked down and saw Steela reaching for Ahsoka's hand and I just stared with amazement at how much strength this girl had... Beautiful and strong...
Until everything fell. The gunship was still active! I watched in total horror as the guns fired on Ahsoka. Her shoulder was shot. I saw the smoke escape the gaping wound in her shoulder. I did whatever I could. Jumping into action, I reached for the sniper rifle next to me and shot the gun, making it collapse once again.
Fear rose deep in my stomach as Ahsoka held her shoulder and groaned in complete pain. And then realization flashed across her entire face. Crouching down, her hands outstretched toward the cliff edge and... Oh no...
It was Steela... She fell. Ahsoka let her go... Oh Gods, how could this happen... She's...
I dropped her sniper rifle. I fell to my knees. My entire world was spinning again. I felt sick. Dizzy. In so much pain... Steela's dead.