A few days later…
Esinon sat near the edge of the cliff, her eyes closed in meditation while listening to Saw pace behind her.
"Do you think you could pace any quieter?" Esinon asked, focusing on Ahsoka's force signature that was miles away in the city of Iziz. Saw scoffed and didn't let up on his pacing, "The hologram message worked last time, we will get the backing of the people. Unlike you, I was able to watch the people at the execution. They just need one more little push to assure them that we can win."
"But what if it isn't enough?" Saw asked,
"What? Don't you trust your King?" she asked, Saw gave another huff, "Can't you trust me?" he finally stopped and sat down next to her.
"I don't understand how you're so calm, don't you ever worry your plan isn't going to work?"
"All the time, but I have to have faith in myself," she replied, "Faith in my leaders,"
"But you are the leader,"
"I was only a General for four months, and it was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do in my life," she replied, "but I had people to help me along the way, you're not alone Saw. Don't forget that,"
"Are you just like an ATM of advice?" he joked, Esinon rolled her eyes,
"Lots of this stuff we couldn't cover in the crash course of your training. And I learned all of this from other people and experience," she said, sitting back on her palms.
"Do you have anything you want to do? Like after the war," Saw asked, Esinon paused for a moment… she hadn't really thought about that. She wanted to spend more time with her family, maybe marry Korkie, make sure the clones got rights and were safe, just have movie nights with Ahsoka and Xavier like when they were younger.
"I dunno, I guess- I've kinda forgotten what normal life looks like. Besides, my life is dictated by the council, unless I-"
"Unless you what?" Esinon sighed,
"Left. Unless I left, but that's not gonna happen," she said, getting to her feet and brushing off her robes. Before Saw could ask any more questions, a ruping screeched as it landed on top of a structure. She and Saw sprinted upwards to meet Lux and Ahsoka,
"The people are turning against the droids," Lux announced, "There's rioting in the streets,"
"That's a beautiful thing," Saw said, clapping Lux on the shoulder.
"We need to keep the battle on the outskirts of the city," Steela said, stroking the ruping's head.
"Less structures and people," Lux said, shifting his weight to his other foot.
"But less clankers," Saw replied, "Their main force is in Iziz. We should join the fight down there and take it straight to King Rash."
'And we are straight back to the brash decision making, he really is different alone,' Esinon thought to herself,
"We all want victory but not at the cost of innocent lives." Steela argued, "If we fight door to door, no one is safe,"
"This is war Steela," Saw said with an exasperated sigh, King Dendup stepped forward,
"She's right,"
"I agree," Ahsoka said,
"So do I," Esinon said, "If you draw the droids out to the highlands, the safer the people will be,"
"Droids have never been shy about using civilians as living shields," Ahsoka added, the rebels' eyes went wide. Obviously new information to them.
"My men await your command, my lord," General Tandin said, giving the King a slight bow.
"I believe there is a new contender," The King said, turning to Steela. "You will lead our forces, including the Royal Army," Steela stared at King Dendup in shock, he walked towards her, "Steela is now the commanding General," he announced,
"A great choice," Ahsoka said,
"As you wish my lord," General Tandin said, bowing his head.
"You and your rebels renewed my faith in myself," Dendup said, "Now I'm putting my faith in you," he placed a hand on Steela's shoulder,
"Thank you, your majesty," Steela said with a small bow of her head. "Let's ride," Saw gave a nod as Esinon followed Steela towards a ruping. Lux started towards Steela but for the moment she ignored him, Esinon climbed up onto the ruping and just as she was about to help Steela onto it she backtracked and grabbed Lux, pressed a fierce kiss to his lips. Esinon instantly glanced at Ahsoka who turned her gaze away from the intertwined pair. As soon as Ahsoka looked back up at her when the kiss had finished Esinon signed to her,
'Sorry it didn't work out between you and Lux,'
'It was never going to, Jedi can't have significant others, 'member?'
'Yeah I know, but it's still hard seeing a guy you like kiss someone else,'
'And you have experience in this department?' Ahsoka joked, Esinon rolled her eyes and was about to respond when Steela interrupted.
"Where did you guys learn sign language?" she asked, jumping onto the ruping and grabbing the reins.
"Well, most of the clones know it, at least the ones who know ARC symbols. If you learn ARC symbols, you can learn sign language pretty easily," Esinon replied, Steela shrugged,
"I swear Jedi are just smarter than everybody,"
"We do spend a lot of time studying," Esinon said, smiling as she saw Ahsoka playfully shove Lux's shoulder. So at least they could still be friends. Steela snapped the reins and the ruping took off into the air.
Steela's ruping landed swiftly on the cliff letting Esinon and Steela jump off walking towards Lux and Ahsoka.
"The droid army is almost here," Steela reported, "Everyone get ready," Ahsoka gave her a glance of 'how bad is it really' Esinon shot her back a look of, 'it's hard to tell,' with the Republic army this would be a textbook battle, but the rebels didn't have the numbers or experience that the GAR had. Esinon watched as the rebels below marched towards the droid army, some of them on Tee-Muss as they continued forward. Esinon and Ahsoka had been ordered to sit this out but she doubted that her lightsaber would stay on her belt for the whole battle.
"Saw, being your attack," Steela said through her comlink, Esinon watched as a group of four ruping circled down the canyon and began their bombing run on the droid ranks. The rebels below charged, and destroyed stacks and stacks of droids as the ruping began another bombing run on a troop transport. And for just a brief moment, the rebels were winning! They were winning big time, and then like all good things, it came to end. Four enormous Separatist gunships pulled over the horizon and unleashed a fury of fire decimating rows upon rows of rebels before they could even react. Esinon had never even seen that type of gunship. The gunship swooped down dangerously close to their position and shot out a heavy gunner above them. "No!" Steela shouted,
"Where did that come from?" Lux asked, Esinon rolled her eyes,
"That giant gunship Bonteri!" she shouted, motioning to the aircraft. Steela and Lux began firing at the gunship, and just when they thought things couldn't get any worse the blaster bolts evaporated on the gunship's rey shield.
"Any ideas?" Steela shouted,
"Yeah, run!" Ahsoka said, taking off in the other direction, Esinon leapt into the air as the gunship started to barrage their position. The rock fell out from underneath her feet as it was shredded by the gunship's blasters. She yelped and scrambled trying to regain her footing, Steela swung the tuping around, as Esinon managed to grab onto a rock with only one hand.
"Let go!" she called, "I'm gonna catch you!" In an act of blind trust, she let go and Steela caught her.
"Alright, let's go," Esinon said breathlessly, they flew for a few minutes until they met up with Lux and Ahsoka and found a new position. Esinon darted back with Ahsoka who had already contacted Obi-Wan and Anakin.
"I take it the rebels have Dooku's full attention," Obi-Wan commented as another explosion went off in the background.
"It's a full scale war!" Ahsoka shouted,
"They need our help," Esinon added, listening to a loud scream that sounded below.
"Please talk to the council!"
"Even Master Windu would be wary at this point," Obi-Wan said, "The Council will not engage or involve the Republic in an internal affair," Before Esinon could argue, Ahsoka had butt in.
"The Separatists have a new gunship with a powerful ray shield," Ahsoka said, "Nothings getting past it,"
"I'm sorry Ahsoka," Obi-Wan replied, "They will have to find a way, do not stay there if their failure is certain. Evacuate who you can and return to Coruscant immediately. Do you understand?"
"Yes Master," Ahsoka said obediently, and turned off the transmission before Esinon could argue.
"We can't just abandon them!" Esinon shouted, this hit too close to home for her.
"We're not abandoning them…" Ahsoka tapered off, knowing that was exactly what they would be doing.
"Unbelievable," she said, walking off exasperated,
"Is the Republic going to help us?" Lux asked, Esinon took a knee next to him, pulling out her blaster.
"No," Esinon said,
"What is it going to take?" he shouted over the flak explosions in desperation,
"King Rash rules Onderon," she explained, "Unless that changes the Jedi Council has decided that the Republic can't do anything,"
"They're pulling back!" Steela called as the rebels came rushing towards them as they sprinted away from the droid army. "Cover them," after a few more seconds they sprinted back to their ruping to regroup at the nest.
"The highlands may slow the droids, but it won't stop those gunships," Saw said,
"We have to move," Steela argued,
"Any word from Master Skywalker yet?" Lux asked, Ahsoka shook her head. Anakin had promised that help was on its way, just not what kind of help.
"Not yet," Ahsoka replied, the room went quiet for a moment until Steela sighed and balled her fist.
"We're not giving up yet." she said, she then turned to Saw. "Stagger our defenses to the camp. Secure the approach. Stay in small teams, make use of our training," she ordered, Saw smiled,
"You really are the best leader among us, I couldn't be more proud of you, my sister." he said, Steela smiled softly, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"I learned from the best, big brother," she replied,
"Let's go General," Saw said, giving a nod to General Tandin who followed after him. Lux turned to Ahsoka and Esinon,
"You have to help us," he said,
"We can do all we can to protect you, but we can't fight this war for you." Ahsoka replied, Lux scoffed before storming off,
"We wouldn't have made it this far without you both," Steela said,
"We wish we could do more," Esinon replied, an engine roared outside and she glanced up to see a large transport pulling. She recognized the ship immediately and sprinted outside, and ten blasters were already trained on the pirates exiting with large crates. "Hold your fire!" Steela and Lux skidded to a halt in front of the pirates, wielding blasters. Hondo chuckled looking Steela over,
"Well, you could be my new favorite spice," he said, Steela scoffed,
"Yeah, I don't think so,"
"Careful pirate," Lux snarled, jabbing his blaster in Hondo's face. Esinon shoved his blaster down,
"What do you want, Hondo? What are you doing here?" Esinon glanced behind the pirate and spotted two human bounty hunters unloading crates, she couldn't see their faces since they were both wearing masks. The female one came and stood by Hondo while the other slunk off into the ship as soon as he got a glance at Ahsoka,
"Mini Kenobi!" Hondo exclaimed, clapping her on the shoulder, "I thought you'd be more happy to see me old friend,"
"This guy's your friend?" Lux asked in disgust,
"Keep your trap shut Bonteri, or I'll make you pay," Esinon snapped and Lux backed away remembering her deadly precision with a knife.
"Yes, she is very scary," Hondo said, smirking at Lux. "And Mini Kenobi, you should thank me, because I brought you a gift from your Master and Skywalker." a pirate pulled a lid off of one of the containers revealing-
"Rocket launchers," Ahsoka murmured,
"The latest from Sinear," Hondo explained, "Shoulder fired, very expensive."
"Paid for?" Esinon asked skeptically,
"Very handsome-" a blaster shot fired near Hondo's head, "Oh my! Look at the time!" the four of them whipped around to see commandos flipping towards them. Esinon pulled out her lightsaber and began deflecting bolts, "Well, my work here is done," A few seconds later the ship took off and Esinon noticed that some of Hondo's crew had been left behind.
"Typical Hondo," she muttered as one of the male bounty hunters started to yell into his comlink. A few seconds later, the commando droids had been vanquished.
"Ugh," Lux grumbled, "They must have seen Hondo's ship,"
"It was only a patrol," Ahsoka assured them, Esinon walked over to inspect the launchers,
"And quit complaining Bonteri, these are high grade rocket launchers. Strong enough to get through a rey shield like the one on those gunships," she said, holding one up and inspecting it. Lux knelt down and began slinging the launchers over his shoulders, Steela and Ahsoka did the same.
"We have to get these down to the others," he said,
"Let's load up," Steela replied,
"I hope these work," Ahsoka muttered,
"They will," Esinon said, "As much as I don't trust Hondo, I recognize this model. They're operational."
"Well, I trust you," Ahsoka said, Esinon nodded and slung some of the rocket launchers over her shoulder and followed Lux and Steela to the ruping. A few moments later they had arrived at the front lines where Saw was busy trying to blast as many droids as possible while trying to hold off the gunships.
"We've tried everything, but we're target practice for those gunships!" Saw shouted,
"Now it's their turn," Steela said, passing him a rocket launcher. Esinon started to hand out the launchers to the rebels "Thank the Jedi," Saw grinned at the rocket launcher, he dashed out in front of his cover and placed the launcher on his shoulder and blasted the missile towards the gunship. The missile hit directly on the gunship and it went spiraling to the ground. Saw chuckled,
"I love this!" he exclaimed, the rebels let out cheers and whoops at the sight of smoking remains of the gunship.
"Distribute the rocket launchers and take out those gunships," Steela ordered, her comlink crackled to life,
"Steela, they're attacking the nest. They're after the king!"
"Come on!" Steela said, Esinon jumped onto their ruping, helping Steela climb on. Lux and Ahsoka followed on a seperate ruping since Steela and Esinon had gotten a head start. By the time they had reached the nest it was already smoking, and there was a gunship. Steela placed a rocket launcher on her shoulder and Esion plastered her body to the ruping so that she could get a clear shot. A missile fired and unfortunately the gunship dodged and their ruping passed right through the gunship's line of fire. But they had managed to draw the fire of the gunship away from the King, so there was that.
"Get ready to jump!" Esinon said as she swung low towards a hangover, both of the women jumped off the ruping and bounced off the hangover to the ground as the ruping continued to draw the fire of the gunship. Steela once again fired a missile this time taking her target. More blaster fire went off and both of them whipped around to see two commando droids running after the king. Behind Steela and Esinon, two more commandos flipped out and began firing. Esinon drew her blade and began deflecting bolts. "I'll handle this! Get to the king!"
"Got it!" Steela shouted before taking off, Esinon swung her blade, managing to get the arm off of a commando while using her leg to hold off the other commando. Esinon flipped upward and grabbed the heads of the commandos smashing them together. She managed to crack one of the commando's heads and then stabbed her saber into the other one. She flipped backward at the sight of approaching B1s. She was quickly overwhelmed by the increase and fire and was pushed back but a few seconds later Ahsoka and Lux appeared. In a matter of seconds they had vanquished the B1s and Steela had gotten to the King.
And then it happened. It happened so fast. One second Esinon had felt relief, things were starting to look up for the rebels and it all crumbled in seconds. A crashing gunship was careening towards Steela's position, she pushed the King to the ground as the gunship dug into the ground and flipped over the two of them. Esinon fell into autopilot as the gunship came rushing towards them, she fell into speedster time and the world slowed. She saw Ahsoka and Lux diving away from the gunship, she used her speed to grab the two of them and tackled them off to the side. The world sped back up and Lux had already extricated himself from underneath Esinon's arm,
"Steela!" he cried, Esinon looked upward, to see the rock that Steela had been on moments ago had crumbled and she was hanging onto the cliff with her fingertips. Lux had already scrambled down the edge and was reaching out for her, Ahsoka jumped up and sprinted over to the pair. Esinon finally snapped back to reality as Lux screamed when he lost his grip and started to plummet towards the ground, but Ahsoka grabbed him with the force and carried him to safety.
"I'll handle this," Ahsoka said, nimbly scurrying down to Steela's position. Esinon knew she didn't need to crowd Ahsoka, she needed to focus. With a great amount of exertion, the padawan used the force to drag Steela upward.
The rebel leader was floating higher,
higher,
fingertips outstretched as they floated closer and closer.
Inches apart, both women stretched-
POW!
A blast fired from behind, one of the cannons on the gunship was still operational.
It hit Ahsoka straight in the shoulder, and she lost her grip on Steela. Esinon reacted on instinct as Ahsoka lost her footing and fell over the edge. Esinon reached out with one desperate hand and caught Ahsoka at the last second with the force.
She attempted to catch Steela with the opposite hand.
It was too late.
The rebel leader had hit the ground. Esinon used the rest of her strength to pull Ahsoka back up and instantly tucked the togruta's head under her chin. Ahsoka was shaking in her grip,
"Hey, hey, hey, I've got you," Esinon whispered, running a comforting hand up and down Ahsoka's back. Esinon watched Lux drop to his knees, his breathing ragged and uneven as he gripped his hair as he tried to find some sort of ground to make any of this make sense. "Lux, come here," she said softly, and for some strange reason he obeyed, slowly making his way over to her. "Look at me," The Senator's shaken eyes met her steady ones, "it's gonna be ok,"
"She can't- I don't-," he whispered, digging his fingers into his hair,
"It's called shock, I know, it's so hard, but Lux, I need you to look at me." she commanded gently, as she listened to his breathing drift towards the territory of hyperventilating.
"It wasn't supposed to be her," he said quietly, Esinon heard Ahsoka whimper and bury her face further in the crook of her neck.
"I know," Esinon said, gently taking Lux's hand. Before she could even register what was happening, Lux had wrapped her in a tight hug and had buried his head in her opposite shoulder. She quickly wrapped her free arm around him as she felt the sobs wrench their way out of his throat. "It's alright, I've got you," Esinon took a breath as she gently gripped both Lux and Ahsoka.
A few hours later…
"Ahsoka," Esinon said softly, Ahsoka hadn't moved from Steela's body in hours. A white sheet was covering the body where she lay in the palace, Esinon shifted her eyes from the body to look around the ornate halls for only a moment before turning her attention back to Ahsoka.
Everyone hated losing soldiers, but Esinon knew how this felt. How crushing the guilt was, she'd experienced feeling responsible for someone's death even if there was nothing she could do. She rubbed the foxtrot sigil on her hand, "What would you say to a clone who had just lost their brother?" she asked slowly,
"Were they the one that killed them?" Ahsoka asked quietly, her voice hoarse from screaming orders. Esinon knew the difference between mourning and dwelling. After Foxtrot's death, she'd dwelled, spiraling into fear and depression. It wasn't healthy.
"Come on Ahsoka, let's go," she said, extending a hand to the Togruta. Thankful Ahsoka took it and followed after Esinon. She knew that Ahsoka had quickly fallen into shock, especially when Esinon started searching for a place to tend her wound and Ahsoka took little to no interest in what she was doing. After a few more minutes of scanning, Esinon spotted the old rebel hideout. "Please say something," Esinon whispered in exasperation,
"It's loud," Ahsoka replied, the Scipian glanced at her friend, remembering that Togruta had more sensitive hearing than she did.
"Come on, it'll be quieter in here." Ahsoka followed and let Esinon guide her down onto a couch. She pulled out the medical kit she had snagged from a doctor in the palace, she opened it next to Ahsoka and grabbed a hypo. Ahsoka flinched, "Do you want to hold my hand?" Esinon asked genuinely, but Ahsoka only glared at her and Esinon took the opportunity of distraction to swiftly pressed the hypo into her thigh. Esinon then pulled out a clean rag from the medkit and walked over to the sink and began to soak the rag in water.
The rush from the tap seemed to snap Ahsoka from whatever space out she was just having.
"Have you talked to Saw?" Ahsoka asked suddenly, Esinon nodded as she walked back over and started to clean Ahsoka's wound. Thankfully the blast hadn't hit any bone. Esinon focused on getting the wound as clean as possible, and Ahsoka didn't even wince when she sprayed disinfectant over the wound. Shock had a funny way of masking pain.
"A few hours ago," she replied, Esinon had really been taking an emotional beating the last few hours. Saw had done all kinds of yelling and screaming and Esinon had been there. Lux had needed somebody to talk him out of shock. She had been there. And now Ahsoka needed her, and she was gonna be there. A few minutes later, Esinon had finished cleaning everything and moved in front of Ahsoka and held out two anti-shock pills. "Here, take these," Ahsoka obeyed and knocked them back dry before Esinon could hand her water. "Small sips,"
"I'm fine," Ahsoka snapped,
"Fine isn't how I would put it." Esinon said, rising from the couch and going back over to the sink and washing her hands of Ahsoka's blood.
"Quit telling me how I should feel," she bit back, Esinon rolled her eyes, with her back still facing Ahsoka.
"I know how you feel," she replied,
"No you don't. I killed Steela. I'm the one who has to live with this! No one understands!" Ahsoka shouted, Esinon threw down the rag she had been using to clean Ahsoka's wound, it slapped against the sink.
"I'm the only one who does understand Ahsoka!" she shouted, "I am one of the only people on this kriffing planet who understands how you feel! You think this is hard? Feeling responsible for one person's death? How about four other people? Half a platoon? A battalion? I have lived with this crushing guilt since I was fourteen, but you have to realize that it's because you survived." Esinon let out a harsh breath when she noticed her hands starting to crackle with electricity. She walked back over to Ahsoka and knelt down in front of her. "Look, it took me almost three years to even start coming to terms with Sarrish, and I still can't believe Umbara even happened. And yes I feel guilty about them all the time, but I don't have the feeling that I should die too anymore. It's because that's not what they would have wanted,"
"Then what do they want?" Ahsoka asked quietly,
"For you too keep living for them, fight what they fought, keep their memory alive, because if you're dead too then how are you supposed to tell their story?"
"I'm sorry I yelled," Ahsoka whispered,
"It's alright, I yell sometimes too when people I love die." Ahsoka whimpered,
"I was jealous of her," she whispered,
"I know," Esinon said, "But for what it's worth, I think you are way out of Bonteri league. So was Steela. We're not defined by what boys think of us, and if Lux doesn't see what an incredible person you are, and how much you have to offer than who needs him? You've got me,"
"And you always have me," Ahsoka replied,
"Hug it out?" Esinon asked, opening her arms, Ahsoka chuckled, accepting the embrace. And for once in the loud warring galaxy, both women felt safe.
The next day…
Esinon watched Lux's back as they stood in a single file line in front of Steela's body. Saw paid his respects first, then Lux, and then it was Esinon's turn. She leaned in close,
"I told Qui-Gon to be on the lookout for you, he'll help you find your family," she whispered, and for a moment she felt Steela's force signature flicker in the cosmic force. She let a small smile spread across her face as she walked over to where Lux and Saw were standing. She grabbed Saw's hand giving it a reassuring squeeze. He gave her a nod of thanks, she could tell that he was barely keeping it together. Ahsoka was last and lingered for only a moment before going and standing next to Lux. She saw Master Kenobi glance at her,
'I'm ok,' she said through their bond, he gave a small nod,
'If you want to talk later, we can,' Esinon gave a nod of thanks. Communication between the Master and Padawan duo was better than ever after the Hardeen issue. Well… Esinon wasn't being completely honest about her abilities. Obi-Wan had no idea of what his padawan could do. She felt Saw squeeze her hand and he gave her a look of, 'are you ok?' Esinon nodded, Ahsoka finally looked up at Saw.
"I… I'm sorry for your loss," she said,
"Thanks, but it's over now," Saw replied, "let's just leave it at that," he pulled his hand away from Esinon's and walked off, a bitter expression on his face. After a moment Lux spoke up,
"Steela would be glad," he said, "Her sacrifice brought freedom to Onderon." Ahsoka took a deep breath,
"But at what cost?" she asked, "Like you once said, many lives get caught between the Republic and the Separatists."
"I did say that once," Lux said, "but after watching the heroics and selflessness of the Jedi, I do believe the Republic is the right side to be on."
"What do you mean?" Ahsoka asked,
"Dendup has appointed me the new Senator of Onderon," Lux explained, "I will follow in my mother's footsteps, and I will bring us back to the Republic." And for the first time in a while Ahsoka smiled,
"Remember this day," Dendup announced, "the day Onderon became free again!" The crowd went up in cheers. Onderon was finally free, but it came at a price. The life of Steela Gerrera, and the innocence of Saw. Esinon knew better than anyone, losing people can make you bitter and angry if you weren't careful. She tugged Lux aside for a moment,
"Keep an eye on Saw, ok? You two are all each other have left." she said, Lux nodded,
"Thank you Esinon, for everything," she gave him a small smile before they returned back to Ahsoka.
Ngl I'm super proud of this chapter, but oops I've also been getting behind on this story bc of school and my addiction to drawing. But I'm taking tonight to write before I take a boat load of notes for my English and history and... do my algebra, and bio, and study for three quizzes- anywho being a junior is hard
I'm sorry that posting has slowed down, but just a reminder I do do this for fun, and I want it to stay that way.
Next up on let's make this canon corner: Ahsoka loves nothing more than long speeder rides. Sometimes when she has nightmares, Anakin will take her out for a drive in the middle of the night
Thank you for reading and make sure to leave a review!