Chapter 9 - No, the Separatists are Not Allowed New Toys
The group waited until nightfall to make their move on the Separatist base. Anakin waited with the clones as Aayla and Ahsoka stealthily made their way to lean against the walls of the base. Anakin used the Force to distract the battle droids with a rock, making it roll towards him and the clones. The droid who noticed followed it to the tall grass where Anakin made quick work of it with his lightsaber and he quickly changed position. Aayla and Ahsoka Force-jumped their way to the top of the wall. Immediately after, using the rock as a distraction again, Anakin dealt with the remaining droids, Aayla and Ahsoka's heads sticking out over the wall to see. Sulani, who had been waiting further back from Anakin and the clones, made her way towards them, where they were waiting at the doorway. She leaned against the nearest wall while they waited for the two on the inside to open the door.
Anakin and the clones entered as quickly and stealthily as possible, but with how slow moving she was, Sulani waited until the coast was entirely clear before making her way in as well. She continued to watch from behind a stack of crates as they dealt with the nearby droids. With the droids in their way dealt with, and having met back up with Aayla and Ahsoka, the group quickly make their way towards the shuttle Anakin had eyed earlier. Sulani was trying hard to keep up with the rest of the group. As they got closer, the clones noticed something, "Shield generators, sir."
"Let's take 'em with us," Anakin says with a smirk.
As the four Jedi enter the shuttle, the clones go over to activate the generators' hover systems to get them onto the ship. With Ahsoka and Aayla piloting, they made their way to the Lurmen village. By the time they arrived, the sun was rising again, an indication the day rotations were much faster on this planet. They landed and the Jedi were the only ones to exit the shuttle, Aayla calling out to the Lurmen, "Everyone please, please listen. The Separatists will be here in moments."
The chief was by no means happy to see them, "What are you doing here? I told you not to return."
"I'm afraid the Separatists don't care whether you're in the war or not," Anakin says. "We need to get you to safety before they arrive."
"We will not abandon our homes," the chief says, gesturing around them.
"But they've got a new weapon, it'll burn this place to a crisp," Ahsoka tries to reason before shouting to the collective Lurmen around them, "Is this what all of you really want?"
However, the chief continues to be stubborn, "If it is our destiny to be destroyed in your war, so be it."
The chief left before they could try to convince him further, but the Jedi were not willing to give up. The clones unloaded the shield generators as they watched him walk away. Rex then took a pair of binoculars over to the edge of the village, looking out towards where the Separatists were known to be coming from. Sure enough, he sees them and turns to face Anakin, "Droids inbound, we've got eight minutes, tops."
Anakin turns to face the others, "Come on, guys! Let's get these shield generators in place."
With Bly and Aayla taking one, Ahsoka and Anakin take the other to move them into a location that would have the best coverage of the village. Aayla, Ahsoka and Sulani then proceeded to use the Force to move large pods from the trees to create a wall around the village, in hopes to protect it better from the droids. The chief was continually trying to get them to stop, "Hey stop. Stop what you're doing. Stop building that wall, I did not ask you to defend us."
"This battle is inevitable," Anakin tries to reason. "You can stand by your beliefs, but let us stand by ours."
The chief simply turns away without saying anymore and they can only watch him leave. Ahsoka moves towards where Wag Too was standing as he starts to speak, "Thank you for what you're trying to do. I'm sorry, but I cannot help. My father is very…strong-willed and set in tradition. Many others agree with me, but we were raised under a very strict code. We must respect it, even if we don't agree."
There was not much that they could say in answer to that and so they let it lie. Rex, who was watching the droids, spoke up in that moment, "They're holding position."
"They're not going to charge us," Anakin starts, "not if they can hit us from long range first, but if we can withstand that weapon, we'll draw them in."
It was at that moment that the Separatists were ready, and as Rex shouted 'incoming' they watched as the weapon fired into the air.
"Power the shields," Anakin calls to the others.
The shields are activated just in time as the weapon lands just outside the range of the village. Everyone watched as the fire came towards the shield and then proceeded around as well as partially over it, thankfully not breaching it into the village. As everyone smiles at the success of the shields, Anakin turns to say what happens next, "Now they'll have to get their hands dirty and meet us face-to-face."
Just as predicted, an entire squad of battle droids were now charging directly for the shield. "That's a lot of clankers," Ahsoka says with a mild worry in her voice.
"We've got to stop them before they get through that shield," Anakin says.
That said, the entire group made of two Jedi Knights, two Clone Troopers, one Jedi Padawan and one Jedi Guardian Mother make their way outside the shield, blasters and lightsabers at the ready to defend the Lurmen village. The four Jedi run ahead into the oncoming droids, cutting down any that get in their way, their lightsabers swinging in bright arcs through the air. Despite their previous injuries, Anakin and Sulani were refusing to let themselves be a burden and were taking down droids with their usual ferocity. The two clones were laying down covering fire from their positions by the shield, taking care of straggler droids if necessary. It takes barely two minutes before the entire squadron of droids is annihilated by a mixture of lightsabers, clone blasters and their own blasters turned against them by lightsabers. "That wasn't so tough," Ahsoka says, taking in the destroyed droids around them.
"That was just the first wave," Anakin reminds her.
Sure enough, they watch as two more squadrons of droids charge towards them and they charge right back into it as if they had never stopped. They are not going long before Anakin, who noticed how many droids were slipping passed them, calls out to Ahsoka, "Snips, get back to the village! I'll take care of the new weapon."
Ahsoka listens immediately and heads back towards the village, Sulani deciding to follow along without prompting. As Sulani and her former youngling run back to the village, they watch as the droids ahead of them breach the shield, blasting their way through the pod wall and to the nearest shield generator. This makes them pick up their speed, and Aayla having now joined them as well, they slice their way to the front of the droids. They are not fast enough as just as they reach the edge of the shield, the generators are toast, the shield falling around them. This causes the Lurmen to scream and run for cover. The three female Jedi continue to fight the droids, doing what they can to protect the villagers.
It is not long before they notice a group of the young Lurmen, alongside Wag Too, join in on the action, using the vines to trip the droids, allowing Ahsoka to quickly take their heads off with one drag of her lightsaber. Rex gets a comm call from Anakin about him having taken out the weapon. The cheers erupt around them as it becomes apparent that their side is victorious.
As new supplies are being loaded onto the shuttle, Sulani watches from where she is perched on a rock as Anakin and Ahsoka talk to Wag Too, "Thank you, Wag Too," Anakin says to him.
"Thank you," Wag Too says in turn. "Our village would certainly have been destroyed without your protection." He then notices his father walking towards them, "Father, I was just offering the Jedi our thanks."
"Perhaps we do owe you thanks," the chief admits. "But I still wonder, at what cost?"
They then hear the arrival of the three Star Destroyers now flying above them, ready to pick up the weary group. With a quick farewell to the Lurmen, they are in the shuttle and heading up to the Resolute. Sulani and Anakin most definitely were heading straight to the infirmary if Ahsoka had any say in the matter.
A/N: and here is the second chapter, a little bit shorter because the best place to cut off wasn't smack in the middle of what I had written of the entire episode. Now, the next arc should be the Blue Shadow Virus, yes that means I'm nearing the end of season 1, huzzah. But also, since the last time I updated, we now have the much awaited seventh season of CW to consider, this may change how my original ending will go, or maybe not, who knows, cause I still don't haha. Anyway, with NaNoWriMo fast approaching, by that I mean next week, I'll be writing this fic whenever I get stuck writing my actual NaNo project, but I am hoping to pick back up on this, NaNo or no NaNo, so we'll see. So until next time.
Seza, out.