Little disclaimer for those of you following my art account on insta. There are going to be some spoilers for Windcaster starting with my next post. If you'd rather not see some of those minor things, then this is a heads up. but if you're like me and impatient (which is why I'm drawing said spoilers.) Man I gotta ask the holy spirit for some more help with my lack of patience. Anywho- if you're like me and impatient then you can look at the spoilers. but if you are patient (teach me your ways) this is your warning.
"It's been ten rotations since Master Yoda's last transmission. I just hope we're not too late." Anakin said to Esinon, she nodded finally breaking her gaze from the planet of Kiros below.
"Rex, take us down."
"Yes sir," he replied, giving her a soft smile. Everyone was happy to have the newest GAR General back from her extended leave. The cruisers descended into the atmosphere as they all headed down to the hanger. Esinon climbed onto her speeder, Rex sitting at the guns on her speeder. He leaned up so only she could hear him,
"Where'd you take Dogma?" he asked, she smiled,
"He's Shaeeah and Jekk's favorite new Uncle," she whispered, Rex smirked,
"He would love it there," he said, Esinon nodded, revving the Engines of the speeder as the gunships jolted out of the hanger. They rode through the city of Kiros for a while, everything was quiet. Too quiet.
"Anybody else think it's too quiet? I haven't seen any colonists." Ahsoka said, scanning the village. Esinon looked around finally noting that there were no Togruta around.
"They're probably just hiding," Anakin assured them,
"Let's hope they stay hidden, makes our job a lot easier if we don't have to worry about them in battle," Rex added,
"I don't like it, the droids have never been shy about using civilians as living shields," Esinon said,
"I'm sure they're here somewhere, let's make for the city center," Anakin said, they all pressed forward. After a few more minutes of riding, a pack of commando droids rounded the corner.
"Biker droids! Dead ahead." Ahsoka called,
"Squad! Tighten up! Form on me." Anakin instructed starting to go faster, Rex released fire as the droids started to charge them. Esinon simply focused on not getting hit while Rex obliterated any droid that came remotely close to them. The biker droids skidded to a halt as the Republic forces speeding right past them,
"Careful! They're circling around!" Esinon called, as the engines of the droids revved, racing towards the Republic forces. Ahsoka and Rex flipped around raining fire down upon the droids, one left. Esinon drew her blade and sliced right the commando's middle, and the speeder crashed into the ground sending up a brilliant explosion. "We're clear." They pulled towards the city center to see a squadron of droids, blue laser fire began to intermix with the red. A tank began lowering it's cannon before it could even take a shot at their forces Rex used a rocket to blast the tank into oblivion. "Nice shot!" Esinon cried, Ahsoka pulled out two thermal detonators and leapt up to the second tank. She quickly deposited the detonators into both turrets and flipped off the tank as it exploded gloriously behind her. Ahsoka smirked in satisfaction, they finally pulled into the city center. Esinon turned to Rex,
"Captain, have your men secure the area," she said, the General part of her mind taking over.
A few hours later…
After having set up a base and camp, Esinon looked around satisfied with her and her men's work. Tanks surrounded the area and walkers were everywhere. She spotted Boil and Bean coming back into camp, it still hurt and was strange to see Boil without Waxer.
"Boil, how's it going?" she asked, looking up at him from his perch on a walker.
"We're still mopping up a few clankers here and there, sir. We've established a perimeter around the Governor's tower. No one gets out without a fight."
"Good work," she replied, he gave her a curt nod before he and Bean headed back out. She turned back to Cody, "Cody, any word from the Separatist Commander?"
"He's barricaded inside," he replied, Esinon hummed staring up at the tower, seven plans already whirling in her head. "His name is Darts D'nar, and before you do whatever that face is thinking about, he's sent you a message." She chuckled before turning her attention to the recording. A Zygerrian appeared,
"Master Windcaster," she sighed, now that she was General everyone kept calling her that. They forgot that she was still a padawan and the rank of Master was far, far off, "Come to the tower, we will negotiate the terms of surrender."
"Well, that was easy," Esinon said, folding her arms over her chest. The transmitter was ripped out of Cody's hand with the force into Anakin's hand. The force raged with anger, Esinon's head was pounding. He smashed it in his mechanical fist,
"Zygerrian scum," he snarled, "I'll handle that slaver!" Anakin started to march towards the tower and Esinon jumped in front of him putting her hands on his chest as she tried to stop him.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa," she said, Ahsoka poked her head over a pile of crates at the display. Neither padawan knew what triggered the knight. "Anakin, Anakin," she said firmly, as the knight finally stopped in his tracks. "He asked for me. I need you to locate the colonists. We can't do this unless we work together." Anakin took a deep breath, his face still etched in a scowl, but his force signature had finally started to calm. Most likely from him slamming up his mental shields. Both padawans felt it.
"Fine." he grumbled, "I'll have Admiral Yularen initiate a planetary bio-scan." Anakin marched off and all of the troopers cleared the way. Ahsoka rose from her kneeling position on the ground,
"Any idea why he's so upset?" she asked, Esinon shrugged,
"I really don't know, but I would keep an eye on him," she said, Ahsoka gave a nod.
"Are you sure you don't want any back-up? This could be dangerous,"
"All of our missions are, but I'll be fine," Esinon assured her before making her way inside the tower.
A few minutes later…
The ornate elevator doors slid open and Esinon tried to drown out the screeching of animals in their cages. She didn't step fully into the room just yet, she could D'Nar and the oily voice of Count Dooku conversing.
"...shipments have been received, D'Nar." another Zygerrian voice said, she could recognize the thick accent.
"I understand the Jedi have attacked," Dooku interjected,
"Why are you still there?" the other Zygerrian snapped,
"I'm going to make the Jedi pay for their arrogance," D'Nar growled,
'Which probably means a lot more broken bones for me. No. NO. I have HIM surrounded, not the other way around. He has no room to negotiate.' She took a deep breath,
"I have them right where I want them," D'Nar finished with a satisfied smirk. Esinon took another deep breath and put on the facade of Negotiator and finally stepped out of the shadows.
"Do tell," she said, forcing a smirk on her face. The commandos whipped around, aiming their blasters at her. She put her hands up in a mocking placating gesture.
"Gentlemen, meet Esinon Windcaster, Jedi padawan," Dooku said,
"At least someone has it right," she replied, bouncing on the balls of her feet. The second Zygerrian bared his teeth, snarling at her. She rolled her eyes as Dooku and the Zygerrian turned back to D'Nar.
"D'Nar, bring her to me on her knees," Dooku said, Esinon cocked an eyebrow. She guessed that if Dooku couldn't kill her Master, he wanted to kill her.
"With pleasure," D'Nar smirked, Esinon crossed her arms, walking towards D'Nar slowly.
"We were going to discuss surrender?" she asked,
"Yes," D'Nar replied, placing his feet on the table as he continued to stroke the head of the convor in his lap.
'He seems way too calm for a guy who is about to face trial at the Republic.' she thought to herself.
"You will surrender," he said, Esinon almost stopped in her tracks. She forced herself to keep walking until she was a few feet from D'Nar's desk.
"We must have a misunderstanding," she replied coolly, she lowered her hands behind her back and discreetly pressed her comlink. Outside, Anakin's comlink would be buzzing and he would be aware of everything that was happening in that tower.
"No, you are wrong Jedi," he replied,
"Am I?" she asked, cocking her head. "I'm sure you're aware now that we've obliterated your droid forces, and have surrounded this tower. Do the honorable thing and surrender now D'Nar. I promise you will receive fair treatment." D'Nar stared at her boredly, fingers ruffling the convor's feathers.
"You think you've broken through my defenses?" he scoffed, "You think you've won? Think again. I've planted bombs all over the city." Esinon's stomach dropped, that's why he was so calm. He could kill all of the colonists, there was no way that the bioscan was complete. "No one will survive. Surrender."
"If you aren't lying, then I won't have any choice but to surrender." she said, "but you'll have to take some things into consideration." She stood up extremely straight, trying to make herself look bigger. "First, you release the colonists," she demanded.
"Here's my counteroffer," he growled, motioning to the tactical droid behind him. The droid pulled out a detonator and before Esinon could react, she was almost thrown to her feet by the force of the blast outside. Right where Anakin and Ahsoka were. She sprinted to the window where a structure had gone up in smoke. "There were no colonists in that structure, but there could have been." Esinon tried to shove the scared little girl inside away, "Now bow down to me and surrender to me you Jedi filth," She paused, she needed to stall for Anakin and Ahsoka to disarm the bombs. Her mind began whirring with any reading that she had done on Zygerrians, traditions, she kept mentally flipping starting to walk towards D'Nar's desk. She finally landed on one, Zygerrians used to have weaponless combat to settle debates. She could stall with that. She set her lightsaber down on his desk before backing up.
"Alright, I surrender," she said, holding her hands up in a placating gesture. D'Nar flashed his canines as he rose from his seat.
"Long before this war, you Jedi destroyed the great Zygerrian Slave Empire." D'Nar sadi,
'Slave Empire huh? I wonder why we tore it down in the first place.'
"I would kill you now, but Dooku would prefer you alive."
"Truly a shame," she replied, folding her arms over her chest. "It's truly frustrating that we can't resolve this in the traditional Zygerrian way." D'Nar's head snapped around, coking an eyebrow at the sixteen-year-old General. The convor in his arms flapped until it freed itself and flew over to perch on a cage. He chuckled walking to tower over her.
"Really? You would fight me without weapons? None of your Jedi tricks?"
"For a good reason," she replied, refusing to back down. She had to stall. "Say, if I win, you reveal the location of the colonists, and the bombs," D'Nar smirked, glancing over at a cage.
"And if I win, I'll deliver you to Dooku in a cage like one of these filthy creatures." Esinon didn't move.
"Maybe," D'Nar let out a feral growl, grabbing the front of Esinon's tunic and head butt her before throwing her halfway across the room. She groaned pushing herself up, so they were starting right now. Before she could even get up, D'Nar had already made his way over to her, grabbing her and holding her above his head and whipping her back into the ground. She couldn't even make a move at him before she was roughly thrown into a statue, which cracked….along with a few of her ribs. Creatures screeched and squawked in almost a demented cheer as they rattled in their cages.
"Careful!" D'Nar shouted, stalking towards her. Esinon was starting to realize this was a very, very, bad idea as black spots started to swim in her line of vision. "You're disturbing my pets! They fetch a high price."
'Just buying time for Anakin, just buying time for Anakin.'
It felt like they fought for hours. If you wanted to call it a fight. Esinon had been thrown around the room like a rag-doll. Anytime she tried to get a hit in, D'Nar's size quickly overwhelmed her. She had no idea how many injuries she had sustained at that point. Each breath was a fight as she just tried to stay alive. For Anakin, for Ahsoka, for Xavier, for Cody and Fives. For Korkie.
At the moment she had attempted to hide behind some of the animal crates, D'Nar shoved them over. Esinon finally got a chance and socked him in the jaw. Her face dropped when all he did was smirk at her, she was promptly kneed right in the stomach. She cried in pain, on the floor gasping for air. D'Nar grabbed a fistful of sweaty and greasy hair, wrenching her face upward.
"For thousands of years, Zygerria supplied slave labor to the galaxy." He threw her forward, and this time she managed to land somewhat gracefully. "We prospered!" he socked her in the back of the head, making her vision blur. "Our customers prospered!" he punched her again, "Then the Jedi came," She couldn't even make a move to try and defend herself before she was grabbed and thrown into the desk. Something cracked.
"I wasn't even born yet," She grunted, she tried to push herself up but D'Nar was too quick, and she found both of his massive hands around her neck. She gagged and strangled trying to force air in and out of her lungs, all the while pushing against him with both arms and legs trying to wriggle away from him. Next to her head, a holo-transmitter buzzed,
"What!" D'Nar yelled,
"Uh excuse us, sir," D'Nar slammed her down into the desk again, staring at the droid. "We have a problem."
"What problem!" This distracted D'Nar long enough for Esinon to sock him in the jaw, she wriggled out from his grip and smashed his head down into the holo transmitter, the desk splintered under the force and she felt glee rise up inside her. She jumped back, fists raised, she was not going to be pound to a pulp anymore. It didn't last long, because it appeared she hadn't injured D'Nar, just made him angry. He grabbed her tunic, throwing her into the opposite window. She groaned as she tried to shove herself into a sitting position. Her whole body ached in protest, but she persisted.
"Come on Anakin, hurry up," she grumbled sprinting at full speed towards D'Nar. She leapt into the air, socking him hard in the jaw, throwing him off balance enough for her to continue. She sent a barrage of punches into the Zygerrian, releasing all of her pain and anger into every blow that connected with his body. Soon enough she had him pinned against the desk, electrified fists scorching the Zygerrian's face.
She finally realized what she was doing and backed off. That was a mistake. D'Nar took the opportunity, despite scorched fur and black eyes, he grabbed her and held her above his head. He threw down to the floor as hard as he could, glass shattered beneath her, and all she could get out was a strangled gasp. D'Nar knelt down next to her, grabbing her by the scruff of her neck and socked her again in the jaw.
She attempted to move but D'Nar grabbed her foot and dragged her along the floor. She sighed, this wasn't going well. Should have kept punching instead. D'Nar picked her up by her neck, fingers tightening around her windpipe.
"Now I will take vengeance for my people, Jedi." he snarled, Esinon could only get out a choked noise as she attempted to wriggle free of his grip. She was vaguely aware of a droid appearing on a transmitter,
"Uh sir, the Jedi have disable the bombs." the droid reported,
"What?!" D'Nar roared, he promptly threw Esinon into the ground again. She slid against the glass, "Give me the detonator!" D'Nar frantically pressed the button repeatedly, nothing happened. Esinon gingerly rose to her feet, scrunching her toes and fingers quickly assessing injuries like she was taught. She definitely had some broken bones but she could still move all of her limbs, she'd probably be fine.
"Certainly took him long enough," Esinon murmured, calling her lightsaber to his hand. "So, shall we discuss your surrender? Again?" she smirked, igniting the azure blade. D'Nar ran over to the tactical droid, typing a few things into a panel on its back.
"I still have one bomb left Jedi!" he cried triumphantly, he shoved the tactical droid into her, sending the already weak Esinon to the ground. She shoved the tactical droid off of herself, trying to chase after D'Nar but then remembered that she was in a room with a live bomb. D'Nar disappeared down the elevator shaft, she used the force to shoved the panicking tactical droid out the window where it promptly exploded. She pressed her comlink,
"Anakin, D'Nar is making a break for his ship!" she shouted, already jumping down the elevator shaft, she sliced a hole through the elevator's ceiling and dropped down to find D'Nar sprinting a few hundred meters away. He'd already broken through the clones, "Outta my way!" she screamed, breaking into a full-on sprint, and the clones separated like the Red Sea. Esinon desperately tried to reach D'Nar despite her broken and aching body, except the world was starting to spin. She spotted Anakin and Ahsoka burst through the treeline to get to D'Nar.
Esinon finally stopped running, she had lost him. She pressed a gentle hand on her ribs, grimacing. Wrong move. One wrong move and she could puncture a lung. She had to stay alive, she had to stay alive, had to stay alive, had to stay alive. Her knees buckled, and she was dumped unkindly onto the cobblestone street. She rolled over, groaning and trying to blink black spots out of her vision.
"Medic! Someone get a medic!" someone shouted, she wasn't sure. She was starting to fall out of consciousness. The next face that came into view was Cody,
"M fine," she mumbled, trying to wave him off and sit up, but Cody pressed her back to the ground. He grimaced at her shaking muscles, her whole body quaking with exhaustion and pain. She had cuts and bruises everywhere and angry red marks on her arms and neck.
"Stay still, you're not fine," he said, she could feel warm blood tricking in her eye, which Cody quickly wiped away. She grasped his arm,
"Help me stand- I need to go-"
"You need to hold still," he said, starting to get frustrated with how stubborn she could be sometimes. So determined.
"Just give me a painkiller, I'm fine," she protested, Cody finally grabbed her shoulders, forcefully holding her to the ground. She opened her mouth to speak again but all that came out was a fit of wet coughs, making her moan in pain as she grappled at her chest. The coughing finally subsided, "Coughings probably not a good sign," she murmured, finally going limp under Cody's grip.
"Gah, you look terrible," he murmured, smoothing her messy hair out of her face. "Drummer! Kix! Get over here!" The medics finally arrived and Esinon quit protesting as painkillers were finally administered.
"Can I pass out yet?" she murmured, the very act of breathing hurt. Kix chuckled,
"Well, it'd be preferable if you didn't, but if you really don't think you can stay awake we can always carry you." Esinon scowled at him.
"Nobody's carrying me," she growled, grabbing onto Cody's shoulder and forcing herself into a sitting position. She groaned at the dull pain that ripped through her body, before she could even protest Cody had picked her up, cradling her close to his chest. "You're gonna ruin my reputation," she murmured, finally giving in, her tired body going slack in his arms.
"Let's make sure you stay alive to have one," he replied, subconsciously tightening his grip on her. Esinon sighed, at least she was alive.
'I have to keep living, for all the troopers who have died. I have to keep fighting.'
Esinon had been confined to the med tent for what felt like hours when Anakin and Ahsoka dragged D'Nar back to camp. Kix tugged at the bandages around her ribs making her grunt again.
"Sorry," he said,
"I blame D'Nar," she replied, biting the inside of her cheek. Esinon knew that the colonists were no longer on-world, The Zygerrians no doubt had them, and only the force knew what was happening to them. Esinon let out a harsh breath as Kix finally started packing up his medical stuff.
"Alright, you're free to go. Just take it easy."
"I'll try," she replied, before disappearing from the med-tent, trying not to move too much. She took a breath, using the force to dull the pain of walking as she headed towards the command tent. Before she was able to make it to the tent, she was met with Anakin and Ahsoka and an unconscious D'Nar being dragged behind them. "Great, you guys got him," she said in relief, Ahsoka nodded, yet Esinon could sense her friend's unease.
"Yeah, we got this scum," Anakin growled, so that's why Ahsoka felt so uneasy. Both padawans could sense the anger rolling off the knight. Anakin stared down at D'Nar's scorched flesh and fur, "Looks like you did a number on him to, what'd you even do?" Esinon's stomach flipped, trying to think of an excuse.
"Uh, I smashed his head into a holo-transmitter, it sparked up and his face caught fire." she lied, Anakin gave her a nod.
"Good work Speeds," After D'Nar was placed in a secure holding facility, they headed into the command tent.
"General Skywalker, I ran the bioscan twice, but the results were negative." Admiral Yularen reported,
"Are you saying the colonists are not in the city?" Anakin exclaimed,
"I'm saying they're not even on the planet." he said, "The entire population seems to have simply vanished."
Vanished?" Ahsoka asked, her brow markings screwing together, "That's impossible, these are my people."
"Troubling the return of Zygerria is," Master Yoda said,
"It is likely they mean to use Dooku to rebuild their slave empire." Master Plo suggested, either way. Esinon felt like she was gonna throw up.
"We cannot allow that Master," Anakin replied,
"Agree I do," Master Yoda replied, "but first, find the colonists you must. In great danger they are." The three Jedi nodded before ending the holo-transmission.
"So we're heading to Zygerria?" Esinon asked, folding her arms over her chest.
"It certainly does appear that way," Anakin replied, Esinon sighed,
"Unfortunately this mission is only beginning," she murmured,
Esinon tugged at the sleeve of her Zygerrian armor, starting to have a very bad feeling about this mission. She looked out around the ships around their freighter, too many people all flocking to Zygerria. What horrible, wicked people,
"Looks like Zygerria is a popular place these days," Anakin said, Esinon hummed,
"Whatever is happening is attracting a lot of high-class scum," she replied, with a small smirk on her face. She had to keep up the facade of Negotiator. They pulled down into Zygerria's atmosphere, Esinon anxiously tugged at her gloves for the millionth time. Out of pure habit, she rubbed at her abdomen where bandages lay, Anakin instantly recognized it as an anxious twitch she had, not that he couldn't feel her anxiety shooting through the roof. Why she was so stressed out, he didn't know. Sure Esinon had to deal with heightened anxiety since she was very little, but she'd never had to take any medication for it, which Obi-Wan had always been thankful for.
"Speeds, are you alright?" he asked, Esinon jumped,
"Oh uh- yeah I'm fine," she said quickly, Anakin cocked his head.
"Come on Esinon, I'm not stupid, you might not be my padawan but I've known you for as long as Ahsoka. So why is your anxiety spiraling like a hurricane?" she sighed, running a hand down her face.
"It's just… my last mission as General didn't go so hot, so yeah I'm feeling a little- fine a lot nervous," she replied, Anakin sighed,
"Umbara was one bad mission Speedy, all of your other missions as a General have been a success," Anakin said, Esinon's hand went to her abdomen again where crisscrossed scars lay. One from Sarrish and one from Umbara. "But if you want to pull out from this mission, now's the time to do it."
"No!" she exclaimed suddenly, "No, I want to go through with the mission. I'm just nervous that's all, I can do this Anakin, I promise." she said, Anakin nodded, squeezing her shoulder reassuringly,
"I know you can Esinon, you're doing great," he said, Esinon smiled softly. R2 rolled past them and Anakin tossed him his lightsaber, Esinon followed suit.
"Hang on to that for me will ya buddy?" R2 whirred in response, stashing the sabers for later. Rex joined the two Jedi Generals as they headed down towards the catwalk, "Let's just hope the information our spies gave us about the Queen is accurate. Remember, I'll keep her occupied while you locate the missing people of Kiros." Anakin said, taking the helmet Rex offered him and placed it on his head. Esinon pulled her helmet on her head,
"And how do you plan on keeping the Queen occupied?" Esinon asked, Anakin chuckled,
"Well, with my magnetic charm of course," Esinon rolled her eyes.
"Please tell me you have a plan B." she replied, Anakin huffed to himself as the catwalk slid down revealing the sprawling planet of Zygerria. The whole planet reeked of smog and animals. Esinon's stomach churned. Ahsoka finally joined them, her whole body covered in a large gray cloak.
"Remind me why I'm the one who's playing the part of the slave?" Ahsoka asked, studying the rings on her fingers. Esinon knew it should have been her that was playing the slave. Esinon was younger, but now she was a General, she had to take larger parts of missions.
"I tried it once, I wasn't any good at it." Esinon's head snapped in Anakin's direction, he was a slave?! Anakin was a slave… that's why he was working so young in that shop. He had been that disgusting Toydarian's slave. Esinon's breath caught in her throat. Rex tapped her wrist, drawing her back to the present. He silently tapped her wrist again,
'Ok?' she tapped his wrist in response.
'Yes,' The Captain gave a nod before they followed after Anakin and Ahsoka. She'd missed the back half of their conversation from getting lost in her own thoughts. They finally entered the complex of the city, animals, and people were yelling and fighting. There were people everywhere, it was so loud. There were people on chains. Slaves. It was taking all of her willpower not to throw up. They were taking the empire down today. It would be alright. Esinon's attention was drawn from the streets at Ahsoka's noise of disgust,
"Ugh, how can a civilization so advanced still practice slavery?" she asked,
"It makes them wealthy and powerful at the expense of others," Anakin explained, "before the Hutts bought my mother, she was sold in a market just like this." At that moment Esinon's eyes were drawn to a twi'lek who had a collar around her neck, with a chain. A Zygerrian tried to tilt her chin up so a customer could get a better look at her, but she quickly dipped her head back down. She felt Rex grab her wrist again and give her a gentle tug to keep moving. She quickly shook herself from her stupor,
"Pull it together Windcaster," she growled to herself, Esinon kept her gaze fixed on the ground, trying not to get distracted. It's not that she felt guilty, she felt sick. Esinon knew that at her current moment in time, there was nothing she could do. 'Just focus on finding the colonists.' Esinon was torn from her thoughts at a strangled sob. There was a group of twi'leks ahead of them, all bound in chains, and one had stumbled. The Zygerrian burst through the crowd of twi'leks glaring down at the male who had fallen. Rex tapped her wrist, now was their time to slip away.
"Are you ok?" Rex murmured,
"Fine," she gritted out, she was getting a worse and worse feeling. Even though Slick had said he didn't see her as a contributor to the Jedi's actions, a little voice in the back of her head kept whispering. 'This is exactly what you're doing to the clones. A slaver guarding their cell.' Then there was another voice, 'Look at your body. You have the scars to prove that you would die for them.'
Esinon subconsciously rubbed at her abdomen, again. Thanks to bacta, her ribs were almost healed. After what seemed like hours of walking through that filthy market, Esinon had worked up quite the headache at all the yelling.
She was starting to realize how quiet her leave had actually been. She missed quiet nights with Slick and Dogma or talking with Cut about all the crappy things that had happened to her during the war. Figuring out how she was such a victim. And she never even knew it.
She was torn from her thoughts when a Hutt elbowed her in the shoulder, he yelled something at her in huttese. Of what little huttese Esinon had learned from Anakin, she could tell it was very vulgar. At that point, they had made it to the slave pits. The very name made her feel nauseous.
"Sir," Rex whispered, peering over a pit. "Come take a look at this," She peered over to see the hunched over form of a togruta. The same pastel colors peeking out from bruises and dirt that matched the markings of the people of Kiros. Each colony of Togruta looked a tad bit different, something she'd learned from Ahsoka.
"Cover me," she replied, using the force to jump the twenty feet down into the pit. She gasped at who she found, "Governor Roshti?"
"No!" he exclaimed, only seeing her Zygerrian helmet. "No, no, no!" he cried weakly, hurriedly scrambling away from her. Esinon pulled off her helmet, letting him get a good look at her face.
"It's ok, I'm a friend, a Jedi here to help," she said, when she deemed it safe to do so she placed a hand on his shoulder. "Where are your people?" she asked,
"They're… they're…" he whispered, he never finished, collapsing in her arms. Esinon's stomach flipped, she could feel his ribs against her hands. She used all of her strength to put the governor in a fireman's carry over her shoulders and jump out of the pit. She set him up against the wall, starting her search for injuries on the Governor's body.
"Sir, did you find where the others are?" Rex asked frantically,
"Not yet," she replied, "We've got to get him out of here." She scanned the walls of the city and spotted a… reptile creature, thing? She'd never seen one before, but they could fly. She leapt up onto the turret and before the guard could even blink she threw him over the wall into a pit. Scum probably deserved it too. She snapped the reigns, the creature scrambling down towards Rex and the Governor.
"You there!" A guard shouted as Esinon and Rex loaded Roshti onto the reptile, "What are you doing with that slave!" Rex grabbed onto the reins as Esinon sat the Governor down on smashed in between her and Rex. The slave pits flashed underneath the belly of the creature as they attempted to escape. A blaster shot rang, and Esinon didn't register that she had been shot until she and the Governor were falling.
"No!" Rex cried, as the creature flew away before he could even try to go back for either of them. Pain flared in her shoulder as she hit the ground and rolled over herself, trying to tuck her body in on herself. When she finally crawled to her knees, she found several blasters at her head. Before she could even reach for the Governor, a hilt of a blaster hit the back of her head and the world went black.
Crack. "Why does that hurt?' Esinon thought blearily, finally coming into consciousness. Crack. It smelled like burning flesh- her burning flesh. Everything came rushing back to her, she panicked for a moment but the crack of the whip hurt even more on her tense muscles. She could feel blood trickling down her back. Whip lashes cracked down upon her for what felt like hours as she continued to drift in and out of consciousness. If the Zygerrians were asking her questions, she didn't know. She never heard them if they did. She twisted her wrists against the chains, gritting her teeth as another whiplash fell upon her back, bandages and belts had long fallen to the ground in a scorched bloody mess.
"Well, who is she?" a voice growled, she hadn't even become aware of another person entering the room.
'I need to stay alive, stay alive, stay alive,' she continually thought, the Zygerrian who had been torturing her gave a dark chuckle.
"She hasn't talked yet, but I'll loosen her tongue," he growled, she whimpered as another whiplash cracked down upon her back.
"Why would a slaver try to rescue a slave from the palace?" the second Zygerrian asked, "it's suicide," At the next whip lash, Esinon's back arched, her head falling back. The Zygerrian's eyes widened, Esinon recognized him. The Zygerrian from the hologram. The problem was, he recognized her too. "Wait," Esinon rolled her head back towards the ground, but her gaze was quickly wrenched up towards the Zygerrian roughly by her chin. She desperately tried to pull away, but she couldn't, she was too weak. "I know you from the hologram. I never forget a Jedi." he snarled,
Someone kicked her in the stomach, Esinon blinked her eyes a few times. Everything hurt. She didn't want to wake up, she closed her eyes. She didn't want to wake up ever again. Someone grabbed a handful of her hair wrenching her to her knees.
"Wake up!" the voice snarled, Esinon finally blinked her eyes fully open, but she couldn't see anything. She was blindfolded. Great. A canteen of water was shoved into her hands, she hungrily drank it. She had no idea when she last had water, or when she'd get more so she downed all of it. She heard laughing when some water sloshed onto her tunic. Someone grabbed the scruff of her neck, wrenching her to her feet. "Up!" Someone prodded her forward, she moved at the electricity that surged, heavy shackles on her hands, dragging her down.
She walked a few more steps as she was prodded forward, she took a moment to reach out with the force when they stopped. She could sense Rex right outside. He came back. He was alright. Thank the force. She could feel Anakin and Ahsoka not far off either, but behind her, she could sense thousands of desperate flickering force signatures. Fear and pain, signatures that waved and dipped like her own at the moment, and in front of her, thousands that wanted…. entertainment.
"Your Highness! Zygerrians! And guests from a thousand worlds!" a voice yelled, the blindfold was removed from her eyes to reveal a giant pair of doors.
'Oh no… I'm the entertainment.'
"Our auction begins with slaves of unmatched quality and impossible quantity!" the voice yelled,
'I'm going to be sold,'
"I give you Togruta from the Kiros system!" Esinon bit her cheek, she was failing.
'Rex and Anakin will come. We'll save the Togruta right here, take down the Zygerrians, and I can get some bacta for my back because kriff it hurts.' A new wave of confidence rolled through her, but the cheers outside were deafening. The cuffs were removed from around her wrists.
"This handsome sample represents no less than fifty-thousand units!" the Zygerrian voice yelled. The cheers were deafening, but then they subsided. The voice of the queen rang,
"Before we begin the auction!" the Queen announced, "I would welcome a most special guest, Esinon Windcaster." The doors slid open and the light was blinding, she held her hand up to block some of the sunlight. "Jedi General," The entire stadium erupted in jeers and shouts. It was so loud, her head was pounding. All the faces in the stand were blurring together, it was hot out here, and loud. She struggled to walk forward, moving slowly, but surely with a heavy limp. "My friends! My good friends!" the Queen called, somewhat quieting the audience, "Do not fear the Jedi! They are no different than others we have forced into submission." She finally stepped up onto the platform, blinking holo-cams surrounding her. "For they have forsaken their ideals to serve a corrupt senate. The Jedi are all slaves to the Republic." Esinon didn't have the strength to disagree with her. The Republic kept her life confined, she was being used by them. She finally looked up at the Queen and could spot the forms of Anakin and Ahsoka. She felt a little nudge of reassurance against her mind, she looked up at Anakin and he gave the tiniest of nods. He couldn't break cover now. "The Jedi order is weak, and we will help break it." A guard jabbed her with the butt of a spear and instantly fell to her knees. Fighting back was pointless. It was degrading. She placed her hands on the back of her head, knowing what was coming next.
"Whip the Jedi!"
"Whip the Jedi!"
"Whip the Jedi!" The crowd cheered, but a small spark of hope coursed through her veins as she felt a familiar force presence come up behind her.
"Well Speedy, looks like I have to save you again," Anakin said, she let out a shallow chuckle,
"I knew you'd have a back-up plan," she replied, 'No you didn't,' a little voice said in the back of her mind, she decided to ignore.
"Prove to me you are a slaver, or die beside him." the Queen ordered,
"Well those are some lousy options," Anakin mumbled, Esinon heard the hiss of the whip igniting behind her. "You leave me no choice highness," The whip cracked but it never fell upon her back, instead a guard cried out in pain. Esinon used the opportunity to roll and throw a guard off the platform using the force. The adrenaline pumping through her body was enough to make her momentarily forget how much pain she was in.
"Guards! Subdue them!" the Queen cried, she blindly caught her lightsaber from Anakin already deflecting blaster bolts.
"Ahsoka the Queen!" he yelled, the doors opened and twenty more guards flooded the arena. About twenty more guards flooded the arena, Esinon's grip on her lightsaber tightened as they all ignited whips. Anakin leapt up onto the platform, she panicked for a second as she watched Rex go down, with no weapon to defend himself. She needed to focus, she deflected and dodged every whip that came her way, but she was tired, the adrenaline was fading, her vision was blurring. She felt a whip snap around her wrist and wrench it backward, she felt something crack. The next whip fell around her neck, she groaned at the electricity sizzling through her body. She finally collapsed, too tired to go on.
The last thing she heard was the crowd cheering and Anakin screaming.
man. Esinon cannot catch a break. Yet I'm the one who wrote it...
Welp,
Next up on let's make this canon corner: This has absolutely no relevance to the chapter but it's funny. Gregor and Wolffe are the uncles from secondhand lions when they shoot at anybody who came to their house. Honestly they're the uncles from secondhand lions at all times. Look up the salesman scene on youtube and the shooting fish scene
Thank you for reading and make sure to leave a review!