DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN STAR WARS OR ANY ASSOCIATED CHARACTERS
Apologies for the delay. I really should be pumping these out, what with quarantine and such, but I've been playing an unhealthy amount of Total War: Warhammer. Anyways, enjoy!
Chapter 26
Obi-Wan knew they were outmatched. Without any air support, this battle would go poorly for the Rebels. Their entire fleet had been flanked in orbit by a second force led by Grand Admiral Thrawn, so they could not count on air support any time soon. The best they could do would be to hold out as long as they possibly could.
The Jedi Master had ordered a tactical withdrawal to the Imperial Command Center, taking up the old defensive positions of the previous stormtroopers. The clones even took the bodies of the dead Imperials and piled them higher to give themselves extra cover from enemy fire. Obi-Wan commanded the right flank, assigning Wolffe to the left.
Leia had not strayed far from Obi-Wan's side, figuring that was the safest place for her to be. Her defender pistol rose wherever it could, stormtroopers falling every so often under her accurate aim. Their backs were pressed to the wall of the Imperial Command Center, the gray steel surface rising up towards a large landing pad. Leia could hear the faint sounds of blaster fire and lightsaber clashes, but she was too preoccupied to dwell on it. When she turned her head back around, she blanched, all color leaving her face at the sight of the ship flying towards them. Its laser cannons opened fire, but they hit the Imperial ranks instead.
The ship was patterned blue and silver in a diagonal design. It was shaped like a large tube, pointed at the end, with dual laser cannons protruding on either side of the cockpit. In the rear, a large, rotating dorsal fin preceded the engine, which roared with the speed it was going. When it was directly overhead, the ship banked to its side, and Leia saw the shadow of a figure leap out of it, towards the platform. The ship then turned towards the battlefield, spraying a wall of red lasers towards the Imperial ranks.
Saying a silent prayer to whomever was piloting that thing, Leia turned her attention back to the battle. The clones' morale had been boosted due to the air support, only adding to the strength with which they fought. It was a new breed of clones almost, she noticed. These men fought for a cause they believed in, not one they were engineered for. Every comrade's death was felt throughout the ranks, anger and rage festering in their hearts, only adding to the adrenaline-fueled combat effectiveness.
Above, the ship rose into the air and flew off, circling back around behind the Imperial lines to avoid any fire from the AT-ATs. The Rebels' AT-TEs were firing the best they could, but since they were pinned down, the smaller, lighter walkers were being torn apart by the Imperial ones. If Anakin didn't finish whatever was going on in the Command Center, they would be in trouble, Leia thought.
When the figure in front of Luke turned their head, the young Skywalker got a better view of his features. He was a young man, early thirties at most, with a mane of bright red hair flowing behind him. His cheeks were accented with a thin, wispy beard of the same color. His double-bladed blue lightsaber provided a stark contrast to the dark gray poncho he wore over his dark clothes.
"We'll take them together," he grunted shortly.
Luke nodded, bringing his green blade into the ready position in front of him, stepping forward to stand shoulder to shoulder with the newcomer. Before them, the two inquisitors had clambered to their feet to study the stranger with mild disinterest. Luke could tell they were shaken by the manner of his arrival, but they were not deterred from their mission.
The pink Twi'lek cackled. "Another Jedi to kill, we must be the lucky winners."
"Try the unfortunate losers," the stranger shot back, eliciting a growl from the Devaronian.
The pair brandished their dual red blades and charged in irritation. Luke didn't think the stranger's comeback was all that impressive, but he dashed forward nevertheless, meeting the blade of the slender Twi'lek in its path. The stranger's blue blade met the Devaronian's as well, and a fierce duel ensued between the two pairs of combatants. Having never faced this form of lightsaber combat, Makashi, he was struggling to follow the graceful moves of the Twi-lek, yet she was also having trouble with Luke's more powerful swings.
Luke pressed his advantage, forcing her backwards and watching as her smug confidence turned to fear and anger at the prospect of losing. The duel to Luke's left was much closer, though. The stranger's dual blue blades were like a whirlwind, spinning left and right, overhead swings, blocks in techniques foreign to Luke. The Devaronian, however, was holding his own, red blade seeming to appear at last minute every time.
Turning his attention back to his own fight, Luke swept at the Sister's feet, rolling underneath her when she jumped to avoid the blade. When he stood, Luke extended his saber, it resting just above her right shoulder as he stood behind her.
"Yield," he said calmly.
She growled in frustration, red blade extinguishing as her lightsaber hit the durasteel of the landing pad. Glancing back at the other duel, the stranger had finally found an opening. He'd switched to a single-blade style, favoring jabs and thrusts at the large target of the Brother. The red, horned inquisitor was having trouble keeping up with the stranger's speed, and as such, was pierced once in his right shoulder, instantly collapsing his defenses. The stranger's blade flew to the Devaronian's throat, coming to a rest several millimeters away.
The red-haired, scruffy stranger nodded to Luke, who returned the gesture before glancing back up towards the Command Center, where blaster fire and lightsaber clashes could still be heard, silently hoping that his father would be able to take Vader down.
The second duel between the two of them was much like the first, Anakin found. Everywhere either of their blades, the other's alternate color would meet it. Except this time, Vader was on the heavy offensive, forcing Anakin to give ground through sheer, overwhelming force, something the tall Jedi was not accustomed to.
Nevertheless, as Vader brought his saber down in a one-handed overhead swing, Anakin's came up to halt it in its tracks, forcing a blade lock. Vader attempted to bear down on Anakin, but the Jedi simply smirked and moved his face closer to Vader's mask.
The Dark Lord stared at Anakin for a few seconds, both of them straining to win this contest of strength. His mask lowered, and his eyes locked on to Anakin's belt. His breathing stabilized for a few seconds, and he abruptly stepped back from Anakin, his saber lowering to his right side. Anakin, unsure of Vader's intentions, kept his saber at the ready. Vader simply stared for a few seconds before speaking.
"That weapon, it does not belong to you."
Anakin's eyes never left the empty void that was Vader's mask. "Anakin Skywalker crafted this weapon, and you are no longer him."
Though Vader's smirk was hidden behind a mask, it could be heard in his voice. "I killed Anakin Skywalker, just like so many other Jedi. That weapon killed more Jedi during the Purge than I have since. That is why you fear to use it in battle. You feel the darkness that surrounds it. Shall I tell you of those it has slaughtered? Master Cin Drallig was one of the first. Quite a few padawans, but even more younglings. They fought back, an admirable attempt, were they not simply brainwashed Jedi children."
As soon as those words had left Vader's voicebox, Anakin was on him like a hellstorm. Rage-fueled swings forced the Dark Lord on the defensive, his black boots thudding heavily on the durasteel floor a he gave ground to the ferocious Jedi. Anakin hammered at Vader so hard, that he forced the duel into the hallway, completely away from the firefight.
Even as Anakin swung, he could feel the tendrils of darkness creep up from his belt and latch themselves in his mind, only adding further wood to the fire. In an instant, he felt the presence of everyone the blade had ever killed, remembering some of them that he had also experienced, but those quickly ceased, moving on to Force-sensitives. For an moment, he felt Count Dooku's presence, but that was quickly replaced by the agony of Jedi Masters, Knights, Padawans, and younglings.
Tears streamed down his face as he hammered at the defences of the Dark Lord of the Sith. Vader seemed to be unaffected, though, his Form III Soresu stance shifting to meet Anakin's powerful strikes, reminding him much of Obi-Wan's fighting style. The attacks never ceased, though Anakin did reign himself in after a bit, switching back to his more precise Djem So rather than wild swings.
Thrust, parry, block, backhand, their blades met between them, purple flashes illuminating the hallway with each clash of the sabers. The two separated when Anakin unleashed a massive Force push, sending Vader careening down the hallway, slamming into the wall at the end. The Dark Lord rose ti his feet, glaring at Anakin through an unchanging mask. He sheathed his saber and rached his left hand behind him, towards the dent he'd just put in the wall.
A large chunk of the steel came away, and the damaged square plate was sent Anakin's way. The Jedi sliced it in half with one hand, then sheathed his blade so he could use both hands to crumple the pieces of durasteel into two jagged spheres. He returned them to their sender with a push, but Vader was ready. He'd ripped another panel off of the walls, using it to catch the two spheres, all three pieces clattering to the ground before a massive ten-foot spike darted towards Anakin, thrown by Vader.
Anakin tried to sidestep, but the spike followed his movements. Having no time to draw his weapon, Anakin caught it with his bare hands, but the force carried him backwards, straight into the wall behind him, causing his grip to slip and the spike to dig into the left side of his abdomen, drawing blood. Yelling in pain, Anakin threw the spike to the ground and pressed his left hand to the wound, drawing his saber with his right.
Just as he was about to rush at Vader, two figures appeared in the hallway to Anakin's right. One was Luke, green saber held at the ready, and the other was an unknown redheaded man, a dual-bladed blue saber in his hands. The two flanked Anakin as he stood, facing Vader with renewed confidence, but the Dark Lord was gone. Evidently, he'd sensed the arrival of Anakin's reinforcements, and had made himself scarce.
Deactivating his saber, Anakin took a deep breath. Luke moved to support him, but Anakin shoved him away, instead turning to the stranger. "Who's this?"
The redhead extended his hand. "Cal Kestis."
The battle had quickly shifted in their favor with the arrival of the unknown ship. Add a squadron of bombers to the mix from the victorious space battle, and the Imperials were fleeing with their tails between their legs. Obi-Wan was taking a headcount to measure casualties when the ship finally moved to set down on the landing pad above. Nodding to Boil and Wolffe to continue, Obi-Wan motioned for Leia to follow him up to the Command Center. They found a side staircase and emerged to a welcome sight. The ship had just lowered itself, and a group of wookiees surrounded two cuffed prisoners. Rex and Doom were conversing with Chewie and a disgruntled Han.
Just as Obi-Wan and Leia began their approach, a set of doors to their right hissed open, revealing Luke and Anakin, accompanied by an unfamiliar face. Obi-Wan raised his hand in greeting to the Skywalkers before resting his hands on his hips.
"The battle was a success. All Imperial forces are routed, thanks to our air support," he stated.
Anakin nodded. "Good. Means we have control of the planet. Alpha better not have damaged my ship."
Obi-Wan chuckled lightly, but his eyes shifted to the stranger. "I believe we have yet to be acquainted. I'm-"
"Obi-Wan Kenobi, I know," the man nodded, hia hand rising to point at himself with his thumb. "Cal Kestis."
Obi-Wan's brow furrowed for a moment as he stroked his beard, mind searching for the name. "Jaro Tapal's apprentice?" he remembered, prompting Cal to nod.
Anakin visibly winced as Luke applied a gauze to the wound in his side. "Cal here says he's been a freedom fighter ever since just after the Purge."
Cal nodded. "That's right. Me and my crew have been hunting Inquisitors for years."
"How dangerous is your crew?" Leia asked, wide-eyed.
Cal's gaze dropped. "There used to be more of us. Now, it's just me and Greez."
The other followed his pointing hand to the small, white-haired Latero that was stepping off of the blue and silver ship, both arms on his left side waving to a few of the wookiees. He then waved at Cal and his group from afar, the redhead returning the action.
"What happened to them?" Luke asked.
Cal sighed. "Vader. We used to have possession of a holocron that contained a list of all Force-sensitive children in the galaxy, but we destroyed it to keep it out of the Empire's hands for good. But Vader didn't know that we'd destroyed it, so he hunted us to the corners of the galaxy. When he finally caught up with us, Greez and I were off running errands. When we came back, Merrin and Cere - their names - were dead. All of their fingernails were missing, and they were executed by lightsaber. Vader tortured them for information. I've been hunting him and his Inquisitors ever since. Greez and I are all eachother have."
"I'm sorry," Obi-Wan offered, but Cal shrugged it off. "I've almost taken down their entire order. These two's capture," Cal motioned to the two captive inquisitors, "leave only three, including Vader."
"Vader's mine," Anakin grunted.
Cal stiffened. "Oh yeah? Looks like you can't handle him," he said, pointing to Anakin's bloody wound.
"He got lucky. Look, I don't care what he's done to you, your crew, your master, your friends, I don't care. He's mine," Anakin growled, locking eyes with Cal.
Luckily, for who, he couldn't say, but Obi-Wan stepped in to interrupt the argument. "Calm yourselves. Especially you," he said to Anakin, who rolled his eyes.
Obi-Wan turned to Cal. "We're with the Rebellion. Now, I'm sure Chancellor Mothma wouldn't mind having another Jedi around, we seem to be multiplying exponentially lately. Would you join us?"
After a few seconds consideration, he nodded. "I'd have to talk to Greez first, but I don't see why not. So what are you guys? The remnants of the Order? Last I'd heard, both of you were dead."
"It's a long story, but the short version is we were pulled here from the past by master Yoda before his death, and we seem to have no way of returning to our own time, leaving us with nothing better to do than help put an end to the Empire," Obi-Wan explained.
Cal blinked. "Huh."
Luke chuckled. "He's officially the person to have taken that the best."
"So this Rebel Alliance, who's all in it?" Cal asked.
Leia looked offended. "You mean you haven't heard of us at all?"
"Oh, we've heard whispers, but you can't exactly hide from Inquisitors and a Dark Lord in the nicest of places. We'd spend months at a time going underground because the Inquisitors were too close on our tails."
"Well, Mon Mothma is the Chancellor, from Chandrila. Perhaps our strongest supporter is Mon Calamari, as well as numerous other outcasts and runaways that hate the Empire. Also, the arrival of Anakin made it possible to bring the clones to our banner," Leia explained.
"Did you say clones?" Cal asked, prompting the four others to nod. "It was nice meeting all of you," he said through gritted teeth, lightly brushing past Luke and Obi-Wan.
"Was is something I said?" Leia asked.
Obi-Wan shook his head. "No. I think I have an idea, though. I'll be back," the Jedi Master said, striding after Cal. He followed the young Jedi into the ship that he and Greez had arrived in. On the side, next to the door, two names, one of which Obi-Wan recognized, had been scratched into the hull: Cere Junda and Merrin.
Remembering that Cere was a Jedi Master, Obi-Wan nodded to himself, silently mourning her loss, though he'd never met this version of her. Obi-Wan's own timeline saw Cere still happily alive, as well as her young padawan, Trilla.
Stopping in the doorway, Obi-Wan glanced around the cabin. It was surprisingly spacious for such a narrow ship. To the right, a holotable sat, and the cockpit was beyond. The left led to the cabins, a large living area with several couches and seats was in the center. On the far wall, a glass terrarium had several plants growing in it. Their bright colors suggested they were tended to daily by one of the crew members.
Cal was seated on one of the sofas, leaning forward with his head buried in his hands. Obi-Wan lightly rapped his knuckles on the side of the doorframe, Cal's head rising to the sound. "May I come in?" the Jedi Master asked.
Cal motioned to the couches, and Obi-Wan took a seat a comfortable distance away from Cal. He sat in silence for a few moments, allowing Cal a moment with his thoughts before broaching the subject.
"I believe I understand your reluctance to work with clones. They caused the death of your master, did they not?"
After several moments, Cal nodded. "They did. The same soldiers that joked with me every day, encouraging me through my training, gunned him down right in front of me. He died in my arms, his parting gift to me being this," Cal said, producing his lightsaber hilt.
Obi-Wan nodded. "I had assumed as much. In my timeline, the Purge never happened, so I have no inkling of what you have been through, but I can tell you one thing: these are good men. Yes, they are flawed, as are we all, but they stood up to the tyrannical powers that tried to force them to do their bidding. I have fought with them on two occasions now, and it feels no different than the Clone Wars. One bad deed does not the man make."
Cal chuckled lightly. "You didn't see what they did. I was just a child. Because of them, I had to survive on my own for five years as a scrapper until Cere and Greez found me."
"Yes, but without the death of your master, you would never have been a scrapper, which in turn would mean you would never meet Cere and Greez, meaning you wouldn't be here at this very moment. My Master taught me that everything that happens is the will of the Force, and nothing we do can change anything," Obi-Wan explained.
Cal scoffed. "So it was the will of the Force to wipe out its guardians of light?"
"I cannot presume to understand the will of the Force. It works in mysterious ways. But I'll tell you what I can understand: good men when I see them. Every one of these men, not clones, is a great man. Virtually any member of the Alliance will tell you otherwise, Anakin and Luke included. Now I arrived much later than Anakin, and from what I'm told, the Alliance was wary of the clones at first, just as you are. But now, they are apart of it as much as the next man. They have become an integral part of the fight against the Empire, the very thing that they once helped build. They aren't mindless killing machines, they're men, men who can choose for themselves."
Cal was silent for a few moments, taking in all that Obi-Wan had said. Finally, he dropped his head, releasing a great sigh. "I'll join the Alliance. Anything to oppose the Empire. But It'll take me a while to even be able to talk to any of the clones. I have too many bad memories associated with them."
OBi-Wan nodded. "I understand. Take your time, though I would encourage you to hurry, for we may not survive this war long enough for you to come around."
Cal smirked. "Seems as though that title of yours is well-deserved, Master Kenobi."
Obi-Wan shook his head in amusement. "Indeed. I still hate it all the same."
