Shadow's Odyssey 2: The Chaos Continues

The Falcon ascended away from Iego. Han looked back at the planet. He thought about how the people he'd left behind were probably going to die. He tried to shake off the feeling and launched the ship into hyperspace.

It was their own fault, he told himself. They were the ones who wanted to come here. Why risk getting killed because of them?

He pushed his feelings of guilt away and turned his mind towards his new goal: Find that dirty backstabber Greedo and plug him full of laser bolts. Han still couldn't believe that he would actually leave him for dead like that.

Han paused for a moment as the connection formed in his mind. The feeling of guilt came back like a tidal wave. Han buried his face in his hands.

"Oh no."

The distraction team was huddled under the wreckage of one of the Mandalorian ships while soldiers circled above them like vultures.

"Where the hell is our backup?" Bo-Katan complained.

"I have a feeling we're on our own here." Boba replied.

Chewbacca roared his suggestion.

Rex shot it down. "Forget it, we'd never make it."

"If we keep killing them, their numbers will eventually run out." Omega pointed out.

"I have a feeling our numbers are going to run out before theirs do."

"So should we just surrender then?" Boba asked.

"They'd still kill us." Bo-Katan said complete certainty.

"If surrender, we die. If we fight, we die. If we run, we die." Boba grumbled.

"I guess this is the end." Rex said, resigning himself to his fate. "Omega, we're going with your plan. If we're going down, we might as well go down fighting!"

They charged out of cover and started firing into the air. The sudden aggression startled the Mandalorians and caused them to momentarily falter.

"For the Clone Army!"

"For Mandalore!"

"For Shadow!"

"RRRROOOOAAAARRRR!"

Boba silently rolled his eyes, wishing he could die alongside somebody else.

The Mandalorians regained their composure and returned fire. Rex took a hit to his chest plate. He dropped to one knee, wincing at the pain. Omega stepped in front of him, using his own body as a shield while firing back at their opponents. Omega continued to get hit with shot after shot, not reacting at all to the immense damage he was taking.

Boba and Bo-Katan engaged their opponents in the air, using their enemy's own tactics against them. Chewbacca's powerful bowcaster knocked Mandalorians out of the sky whenever he scored a hit.

Meanwhile, Rouge and Luke were watching the battle unfold from a short distance away. Rouge still had tearstains on her face, but she was clear-eyed as she tried to judge the best way to enter the fray.

"We have to make a distraction so they can escape."

"Escape to where?" Luke exclaimed. "Han left with our only ship."

"We'll steal another one." She looked around at her options, but all of the ships were either destroyed or surrounded by Mandalorians. "We'll... figure that out later. We don't have time to think about that right now." Rouge turned her attention to the fight, trying to determine the best way to strike.

But suddenly, two of the Mandalorians were hit with a laser cannon blast. Luke and Rouge jerked their attention upwards, searching for the source of the blast. A large shadow passed over them, the silhouette of what can only be the Falcon passing overhead. It drifted over the battlefield and used the force of its engines to blow the Mandalorians away. The ship lowered and the boarding ramp extended.

Rouge's com crackled. "Get in! I'm not waiting for you forever!"

"He actually came back for us." Luke said in disbelief.

They all ran for the ship, dodging more blaster fire. One of the attackers fired a rocket, which scored a direct hit on Omega. The heavy mech slammed into the ground with a thud. Large pieces of his body were missing where the rocket had struck.

"Omega!" Rouge screamed and dove for the wreckage. "Get up, Omega! We have to go!"

"Most of my primary systems are offline. I cannot move."

Rouge grabbed hold and tried to drag him. Blaster fire zipped past her head.

"Your attempt to save me will only lead to destruction of us both. Please do not fall for the sunk cost fallacy."

"Shut up! You're not being left behind!"

"You must leave me behind."

Rex appeared at Rouge's side. "Hey, this is a droid, right? The only really important part is his brains. Everything else can be replaced later."

"My body is very important!" Omega buzzed indignantly.

Rouge struggled to open Omega's head while Rex provided cover fire. But he quickly ran out of ammo.

"I'm empty, do you have his chip yet?"

"Almost, just get back to the ship! I'll have it in a second!" A shot to the arm knocked her over.

The Mandalorians had started closing in once they realized Rex was no longer shooting back. Rex jumped out in front of Rouge and let his body absorb more incoming blaster shots.

"What are you doing? I said get back to the ship!"

"You're not gonna survive out here without cover! Just get the droid's brain and go!" He grunted as he took more fire.

"But you'll die!"

"Don't worry about me. This is what I want to do." He turned his attention back to the Mandalorians. "Come on you Nerf herders! Give me all you've got!"

Rouge finally managed to rip Omega's memory chip out of his head. She began to head back to the ship, but paused to looked back at Rex, still taking shot after shot. Rouge stared. A hand landed on her shoulder. Petro was here. Rouge thought she had lost him too, but now he was back.

"It's okay, Rouge." Petro held up a handful of Riska Root. "He didn't die for nothing."

Rouge nodded and they ran back to the ship. The Falcon took off with them safely aboard and escaped Iego.

Rouge went up to the cockpit to find Han. He regarded her warily, wondering if he should plug his ears now.

"So, what changed your mind?"

Han relaxed. It seemed she wasn't going to scream at him after all. "Well, I figured you wouldn't be able to pay me if you all died so I came back. For the money."

"Are you it wasn't because you realized you actually did have a heart?"

Han snorted. "What do you know?"

Rouge smiled coyly "I think you're a better person than you think you are."

"Whatever."

"Now you sound like Shadow."

"That reminds me, what's the deal with him anyway? That still doesn't make any sense."

"Well that's a very long story…" So Rouge spent the trip back relaying the story of Shadow and Sidious.

"Sounds to me like should have definitely not left this guy alone. Because if he's the type of guy to collapse the entire galactic government just to help some people he doesn't even know, then I can't imagine what he's willing to do when all those people end up dead."

But Rouge could imagine it. She had seen it before.

"Han, fly faster."