"Wake the Ashes"

Chapter Thirty-Six: Darkest Hour

A/N: Warning - Some very graphic violence in this chapter. And sadness.

"If you must die, do so with valor."

- from the precepts of Jango Fett's Bounty Hunter code

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Boba Fett climbed up to the lookout tower so he could watch the rebel attack from a safe distance, keeping track of where everyone was all the while. While he was keeping a close eye on Bane's location, Bane seemed to be occupied with business of his own. Boba had to fight the temptation to feed his curiosity on the matter and focus on more pressing matters.

Bane would show up at the hangar in due time, he knew…no chance he wouldn't. The prisoners named Takira was safe and sound. Now all Boba had to do was finish giving out orders to his troops, and continue with the rest of his own plan.

When Boba reached the top of the lookout tower, he did not see what he had expected from the attack. A simple, unkempt, slightly primitive band of insurgents, perhaps, who had the upper hand by taking the Imperials by surprise, but were easily overwhelmed. A ragtag group of common citizens with no experience in battle. Boba had heard of this before…in such cases, the rebels would split apart and panic as soon as their leader was shot down. They would scatter, some trying to get to cover, others trying to take down as many stormtroopers as they could before they went down. And to stormtroopers fresh out of the academy, having never fired their weapons with not so much as a fingerprint on their new armor…these sort of rebels were like a treat. Target practice, mowed down like hunting game. A sport where troopers bet which rebel would be the last to die.

Disgusting, but reality. Underestimate the enemy and you were just game to them.

But these rebels were different.

Boba could see them pouring through the front gate, climbing through the wreckage. Running across the entrance of the base towards the main line of Imperial defense. They ran past the bodies of fallen comrades, bodies that had been torn apart and ripped to shreds. A small glance stolen at an arm or a leg that looked like it belonged to someone they knew. Another glance at a body that had once been a person, now split down the middle, insides spilled out and head cracked open, so that it would take a miracle to even remember who they once were.

Then Boba realized what was different. Why these rebels left him so unsettled, just watching them from a distance. Why every time another rebel was hit, his stomach twisted in another small knot.

They were…young. Bright, fresh faces and soft hands and uncanny fire in their eyes. Armed with weapons too large and cheap and cumbersome for their own. Weapons that looked like throwaways that better belonged in the incinerator. So young that some could barely lift their rifles up to their shoulders to open fire. So young that they could hardly throw a detonator far enough to scratch the Imperials.

They had no scars to speak of. Many were so short that they could barely look high up enough to see the stormtroopers where they hid in defense. Rebels who decorated their armor with paint—blatant anti-Imperial symbols and phrases, and the names. Every armor plate had someone's name painted on it—friends, family, and others the Empire had killed. Rebels so young they barely understood what the enemy was like, what war was like, what it meant to kill another person and what it meant to be captured by the Empire, what it meant to die. Too young….

Some were children, Boba discovered. He could tell that a handful could not even be above thirteen standard years. They ran behind the leaders as support, held up weapons they should not be strong enough to carry. Tears streamed down their faces and blood colored their mouths. Legs shaking, teeth chattering. Children shot at the few stormtroopers who had stood out in the open. Children killed troopers under the young Fett's command.

Oh gods…they're too young…

Boba shut his eyes and looked away.

He had been a child, too. He was a child who was thrown into a world that many adults were not even prepared for. Certainly, he had been trained for it…until he lost the only person he could love and trust and suddenly found himself alone long before he was ready for it. Back then he did not see himself as a child, but as an adult merely a few years behind everyone else. But now he knew. He had been forced to murder, kill without mercy, leave innocents to be dealt with by terrible people who gave him money to do it…and he had only been a child.

The stormtroopers were merciless, as they poured down everything they had without stopping, then hid back in their defense positions. Officers who had regrouped concentrated the fire, pulled the troopers back together. Reinforcements Boba had ordered in quickly replaced the troopers who had fallen. The rebels were surrounded on all sides, out in the open, completely helpless and scattered. And still, they continued pressing on.

The rebels stood no chance. They stood on top of their comrades' dead bodies just to be able to reach up and fire at the nearest stormtroopers, before they too were shot down, and another wave poured in from the entrance to stand on top of their bodies next. When they looked up at the troopers, firing with whatever they had left, Boba saw that the rebels were covered in the blood of their comrades. Multi-colored blood from different species that stained their armor and weapons and faces. Boba only saw fire and hatred in their eyes.

Finally, Boba dared to open his eyes and looked back. Just in time to see a small Human rebel, who had painted his face with what seemed to be war paint. Dark skinned and small and skinny, the rebel was only armed with a single blaster pistol that was too big for him to hold up with two hands. Blood gushed from a severe head wound, trickling down his face and mixing with his war paint. The child's eyes were cloudy, but he stood straight, staring up at the enemy, as he raised his blaster and pulled the trigger. None of the troopers were hit.

And then a thermal detonator struck him, a split second before it exploded, and Boba saw his body shattered across his comrades' corpses, blood spraying the earth.

We're fighting children… Boba did not realize he was shaking. This is wrong…

I can't send my troops in to kill children…I just can't…

His comm went off, startling him. He grabbed it. "Y-yes, what is it?"

He received news on the bounty hunter they had been sent to find. The hunter responsible for training the new rebels. Embo. He had just been arrested and taken back to the barracks.

"Will do…I will be there shortly." He shut off his comm and discovered his hand was shaking slightly. The stormtroopers were beginning to celebrate amongst one another now that the rebel force had finally been taken care of. In front of them lay a vast open area piled with bodies. All so young and full of hope, now waiting to be burned in some distant furnace without so much as a note sent home to their families…

Boba could not think like that. Can't dwell on it. Don't think about the enemy that way. Doesn't matter that he was once just like them and that they had died like animals, like game.

That was the secret trick about working for the Empire. You didn't let it get to you, and in return, you made a little money and earned a good reputation in favor of the Empire's good favors. You didn't stop to think about it. You just couldn't…

Boba found himself stumbling as he walked away from the lookout post, unable to feel or think, only able to move forward one step at a time. He was numb to the core. He was vaguely aware that he had reached up and removed his helmet and was now running his fingers through his hair. Breaths came quicker; he stumbled slightly and stepped aside where none of the reinforcements walking past would notice him. All Boba could see was that tiny body, ripped apart. There was hardly even a body there anymore, just bits and pieces…the body of a child that should not have known what it was to fight and die in a war.

His eyes clouded up. Boba dropped his helmet at his feet. He covered his head with his hands. Unable to keep standing, he sank to his knees with his back against the wall, digging his nails against his scalp and pulling at his hair.

I can't do this…

Why hadn't they been told the rebels had enlisted children? Why hadn't they known who they would be up against?

They should have told him…

It wasn't right. Killing these children was not how they should deal with the uprising, even if they were rebels. Something else had to be done…pack them up, teach them simple rules about staying safe and getting an education, then send them home to their parents. That had to be better than this. It was impossible, but it still had to be better. Didn't matter that many of those kids very well knew they were violating safety and education and might not have parents to go home to, or even a home in the first place. But it had to be better than slaughtering them like animals…

His comm was alerted. At first, Boba ignored it, when it repeated again. He had to resume his earlier pursuit and go back to the hangar, back to the rebel prisoners and finish the deal with Bane. It was time for the next stage of his plan.

But Boba had already lost the heart for it. Even though it was too late to change anything about his plan to get rid of his old rival. Too late to make any of it better. And backing out now would ruin any chance of succeeding.

Too late to be anything better than this. Murdering children.

The hangar hidden behind the Imperial barracks had been abandoned during the attack. Only a handful of guards stood at the entrance, prepared to defend the ships inside from any rebels who managed to make it that far into the base. Detonators had taken out the lights inside the hangar. They were trapped in darkness and freezing cold.

Not knowing what to expect, Bane had no choice but to go inside alone. He couldn't sneak in or delay his arrival long enough to devise a backup plan. The rebels were too close to spare the time for any of that. It just so happened that Fett would plan this meeting in the middle of the battle…it was perfect. Jango's son had become very clever in recent years it seemed.

Boba Fett stood in front of a cargo ship in the middle of the hangar. His hands were clasped behind his back. As Bane walked into the hangar, he slowly reached for his blaster with his left hand. He could tell that the young Fett wanted to speak up to stop him from doing so, but he didn't.

Four figures walked towards the cargo ship. Two stormtroopers on either side of them, putting cuffs on their wrists and leading them to the landing ramp. One of them was a Twi'lek, female, green skinned. She had just slipped inside and Bane could only see the back of her head before the stormtrooper pushed her. But it was more than enough. Bane recognized his little Takira flower anywhere. Something snapped inside him when he saw the Imperial stormtrooper holding Takira at gunpoint. When they pushed her to step inside the ship. The blaster aimed at the side of her head, the stomtrooper's tight grip on her arm. The way Takira's knees knocked against each other and her shoulders tensed, as if bracing for someone to strike her. He could feel it surge through his blood. A poison that made him sick to his stomach. He gnashed his teeth.

Had he been one step closer to losing his mind completely, Bane saw himself running up and attacking the stormtrooper with his bare hands. And he almost did, the instant he saw them with Takira. But, somehow, a little sanity managed to hold him back…running in would get him killed and would do nothing good for Takira. He had to be strong. He had to be in control. For Takira's sake.

Following his second nature, Bane grabbed his blaster and aimed it at Fett, who stood next to the landing ramp.

"Let her go!" Bane shouted. The sound of his own voice scared him. He didn't carry the tone he should have. He sounded terrified, alone. Helpless. Everything he shouldn't feel.

Boba Fett had his hand delicately placed on his holster. The visor of his helmet was locked in Bane's direction. In the shadows, the light from the interior of the cargo ship reflected off Fett's helmet and armor, and he looked like a ghost emerging from a dark chasm. Bane shivered, but it wasn't from how cold the room was. In the distance, farther back towards the barracks, explosions rattled the base…the floor and walls of the hangar hummed ever so slightly.

"I can't do let her go, Bane," Fett said softly. His voice like a gentle flowing stream, trickling through the chaos around them. "She's my prisoner now."

"I said, let her go!" Bane knew his hand shook as he held the blaster. He knew how much his tone of voice gave away his fear. Horrible, ugly, paralyzing fear. His barrier had broken down in a matter of seconds. But he just didn't care anymore. What was the point of pretending if Fett had figured him out already.

For the first time in a very long time, here he was, nothing but a rage that made him lose control, panic that nearly stole his voice, and the raw, bleeding emotion of what he had feared the most…oh dear gods, please, please don't hurt her.

Boba Fett shook his head. "No, Bane. She was fighting on the rebels' side. I caught her in the act. It's an act of treason to aide the enemy and support anti-Imperial violence. You know that."

"I don't believe you." But it was pointless to lie. To try to invent some last-minute story that Takira was working undercover for the Empire, a final feeble attempt to save her from this. Far too stupid for someone like Fett to fall for. But he was all out of ideas. Time was short. No, there was no time at all. The rebels had already started their attack on the barracks from all sides and the fight would end in only a matter of minutes. When it ended, any surviving rebels would be rounded up and carted off. Including Takira.

Fett's timing could not have been more perfect. The odds had stacked up against everyone except Fett himself. It was perfect.

The younger bounty hunter snapped his fingers, and the door to the cargo ship was closed, with Takira inside. Bane flinched at the loud clang the doors made as they shut. He felt sick. He wanted to run to Fett and attack him head on. Plug a few laser bolts through his helmet and chest armor, didn't matter if it knocked him unconscious or managed to kill him. Then storm inside and grab her before it was too late.

Feeling as if the younger bounty hunter had read his mind, Bane froze. He did a quick head count. Four stormtroopers were stationed on either side of the door. Another three on either side of Fett. Behind them, at the entry door to the garage, another group of troopers stood at attention, rifles raised, prepared to shoot any rebel who got through.

Bane didn't stand a chance. He had been set up. He had walked right in here without thinking of the consequences, without thinking of any backup plan. Fett had known that. This was all on purpose to leave Bane rendered completely helpless, as he watched the only person he loved walk to her death.

There was nothing to say. There were no words. Only the realization that he had fallen headfirst into his worst nightmare.

"Takira Bane was caught in the act of aiding traitors to the Empire," Fett said slowly. "She will be taken to my superiors, along with the other rebels we captured."

Bane knew what Fett would say next.

"She will be put on trial and found guilty of treason. If she is not sent to the Kessel Mines to be worked to death, she will be executed."

In public, as a crowd watches, some for entertainment, some out of boredom. Her body will be tossed into a shallow grave or sent to the furnaces. She will be dead in less than twenty-four hours. She's already had her last meal, and she will soon see her last sunrise. She is going to die.

That is what happens to traitors. Traitors to the Empire die.

We're all slaves of the Empire. And when those slaves step out of line, this is what happens. All of them die.

Bane slowly stepped towards Fett, lowering his blaster slightly. His heart was racing, but he never felt the difference. His body had gone numb.

"You can't prove she's a traitor," Bane finally said. "You won't have enough evidence."

"But it will be easy enough. You know that." Fett reached up to adjust his helmet. "She's young, she's scared, she's a non-Human, and I am an eyewitness. She'll stand no chance."

"Then you don't even care if she's guilty or innocent! You just want her to die!"

Even while Fett was wearing his helmet, Bane could tell that the younger bounty hunter was growing frustrated. As if there was a piece to the picture Bane had missed. If so, what?

"It's part of the job, Bane. Not like I have much choice right now. I'm under strict contract…not allowed to kill any rebels unless they have been found guilty. That's why I'm taking these prisoners."

His hand wouldn't stop shaking. It hurt to breathe. Takira, alone in that ship, waiting to be taken to trial…waiting to die…not her, oh gods, if they dare to even think of touching her…

"Do that which you fear most, and you will find the courage you seek."

- from the precepts of Jango Fett's Bounty Hunter code

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What Boba Fett said next had to be chosen very carefully. He had to know exactly the way he was going to speak to Bane, and how.

If he put it into words perfectly, he would have Bane right where he had wanted him all this time. He was that close.

I've been waiting almost thirteen years for this night, he thought.

"I could tell that you had changed over the past several years, Bane. I was just at a loss for how. But ever since we crossed paths on Kessel, I've been keeping a close eye on you, and I've noticed a few things. You're more sensitive than you used to be…you've lost your ability to hide the fact that an insult or a personal inconvenience digs deep. Your emotions are slightly more out in the open. I don't know what happened that made you that way. Maybe it was just old age. But it surprises me because you were always very professional when it came to emotions. You only displayed emotions that were allowed on the job, and reserved anything else that would subtract from good business. I don't see that in you anymore."

Just as Fett had expected, this pissed Bane off. As if proving Fett's whole point unintentionally. Bane raised his blaster at him again, his fangs glistening from the cargo ship's exterior lights as he snarled.

"What's your point? Are you trying to be some sort of shrink!"

"I wasn't even that aware of how much the Twi'lek girl meant to you until just now. Like I said, I had heard rumors about her."

"What rumors?" When Fett did not answer the question at first, Bane's voice immediately escalated into a shout. "What rumors!"

"Obviously, rumors that you had taken in a young girl and were raising her on your own. I didn't believe them. I never thought the rumors fit your personality. If anything, I assumed they were spread by one of your enemies so everyone else would think you were an easier target."

A second time, Bane looked pissed. Clearly, he had never heard these rumors before. Fett was disappointed in him.

"But rumors weren't enough. When I moved in to arrest the rebel medics I found along the outside of the base, one of them told me her name was Takira Bane. That was when I put two and two together. But, again, the name and the rumors alone were not enough that I could be sure. So I told you to meet me here and see the girl in person for yourself." Fett frowned slightly beneath the helmet, studying Bane's reactions carefully. Knowing that if he made the slightest mistake, missed a verbal cue or an action, it could cost him his life. Bane had lost his edge…that did not mean he was no longer extremely dangerous. "Your reaction clearly gave it away. Now I know for sure that the Twi'lek girl means very much to you. You consider her to be a daughter."

Bane stepped back, staring at the younger hunter as if in shock. Did he believe what he had just heard? Or did he not understand what was about to happen, what he had done? Fett noticed that Bane was slowly lowering his left hand to his belt—a concealed weapon, possibly, to attack Fett at the last second. Quickly, Fett spoke up again.

"You could kill me, but you wouldn't get to her and rescue her in time. There are guards surrounding us at all sides. Even if you did manage to shoot me, they would have you taken down long before you got close to the ship. And if there were even a chance of taking down my troops or escaping somehow, you would still be at risk of the rebels killing you, or Imperial reinforcements tracking you down. As the odds are, any attempt at rescuing her will end with either or both of you killed."

"So you're getting back at me, then." Bane lowered the blaster. "You set me up so you could see me like this."

"Not exactly, no." Fett watched him. He had become half the man he used to be during their entire conversation. Bane looked defeated. At the end of his rope. Helpless and desperate for an escape, like he was waiting to wake up from what he could only hope was a bad dream.

I've come too far to turn back now. I can do this… Jango's son reminded himself.

"So here is my question for you, Bane," Fett said.

Bane tensed, stood up straight. He had begun stealing glances back at the ship. Obviously the Twi'lek girl was the only person on his mind. Not Fett, nor the rebels, nor anyone else in the galaxy. She really was the only person he cared about at all.

Then he snarled. "Say it already."

"My question is, what would someone like you do in a situation like this? You are still a very dangerous hunter, but you do not have the edge you once did back during the Clone Wars. You are alone. You have an injury to your right hand that will make any fighting very difficult. If you make any move against me, I will have the right to order my troops to stop you, using whatever means necessary. And the Twi'lek girl you adopted is my prisoner, about to stand trial for her crimes.

So what will you do to reverse this, Bane?" Boba stood his ground, breathing slowly, calmly. He gave Bane his full attention. "What would you do to save her?"

And there was a long pause. The hangar fell dead silent…still trembling slightly from the explosions in the distance. The rebels were drawing closer. Nothing but cold and darkness and the faint light reflected off Fett's visor. He could hear his blood pounding in his ears, feel the cold sweat trickle down the back of his neck.

Bane, meanwhile, glanced back and forth between the cargo ship and the bounty hunter standing in front of him. Fett could see it in his eyes how quickly his mind raced…every possible outcome of this scenario acting themselves out in front of him. In spite of himself, Fett discovered he had been holding his breath as he waited for Bane's answer.

When the Duros bounty hunter spoke again, his tone of voice had changed. He was no longer terrified. In fact, he had grown calm again. Calmer than Fett had seen him in years.

"What if you take me instead?"

Fett bit his lip, grateful the helmet hid the expression on his face.

"Take you instead?" Fett echoed. On the outside, he had to put on the act that this idea was new to him. But inside, he knew he had won.

"This was a set up for me, not her. It's what you want." Bane took a deep breath and reached up to readjust his jacket. "I'll go in her place to trial. Pardon her of her crimes and put them on me instead."

"You would do that?" He tried to sound surprised. "You know that if you do this, you're going to be found guilty."

"I know. Besides, you'll be more content with your own career when I'm gone. And under the contract, you can only kill me if I'm found guilty of anti-Imperial crimes. Otherwise you can't get to me."

Ah…he finally figured out the point to all of this in the first place. About time he did.

"And you want the track record," Bane finished. "It'll look good on your resume if you have me killed. Especially if I'm killed for treason."

"Even though you have never committed treason."

"But I have. Arrest me in her place."

"I can't trust that you won't have another plan up your sleeve."

"I can't trust that with you either. Makes us even, doesn't it?"

"Fair enough. Make your way to the exit of the hangar. I will bring the Twi'lek girl with, and we will make the trade. Is it a deal?"

Bane reached up to his forehead…Fett realized that, by habit, he had been about to tip his wide-brimmed hat. But that old hat was long gone by now…the green who took it had already been sent to do dirty work for the Empire elsewhere. When Bane discovered his mistake, he quickly took several steps back. Then he turned away, still clutching his blaster. The last method of self-preservation and defense he had left.

As soon as he could see Bane making his way towards the exit, Fett let out a long sigh of relief he did not know he had been holding in. It was finally over.

He did not have plans to keep the Twi'lek girl his prisoner after he had arrested Bane. She meant nothing to him, neither in the personal or business sense, and was only a simple medic, after all…not the most impressive sort of rebel to try and execute. Still, always the slight chance he would find further use for her in the next ten minutes.

A/N: isn't this fun :D and the next chapter is going to be even more fun haha :D :D (hang in there)