A few months later…
Things between Esinon and Jayla had still failed to get any better. They argued over anything and everything, and with the number of missions that 818th and the 221st were having together…. Jax was about to go insane. He couldn't stand all of their constant bickerings anymore, and things were only getting worse considering they were all stuck on the Vigilance for the next week. He groaned as heard more yelling and shouting, followed by angry footsteps. He shook his head, it was going to be a long week if those two kept that up. He glanced up from his datapad at footsteps,
"Jax, have you seen General Windcaster?" Uno asked,
"Listen for the sound of angry footsteps and you'll find her," Jax replied bitterly,
"So you're tired of it too?" Uno asked, sitting down next to him.
"Who isn't," he muttered,
"General Archer just has a… difficult personality is all, she's really nice once you get to know her," he assured, Jax sighed,
"Yeah, and I don't know if General hot-head will ever calm down enough to figure it out. I don't know what's gotten into her lately, she's not usually like this," Uno shrugged,
"Pressures of being a General I guess," Uno suggested, "After all she is still just a kid," Jax paused,
"Yeah, I guess so, I forget sometimes,"
"That there is pressure in leadership or that she's just a kid?" Uno asked,
"That's she's a kid, she just… seems so mature." there was another shout, "Most of the time," Uno chuckled,
"Well, I was wondering where she was because there's a cell that's broken and none of our mechanics can seem to fix it. She's pretty mechanically minded ao I thought she might be able to take a look." Jax nodded, rising to his feet,
"I'll go find her," he said,
"Thank you, Jax," Uno said appreciatively as the 221st Captain ducked out of the room, he headed down the hall searching for his General. He eventually found her and didn't spare much time to explain, instead he just grabbed her shoulder and started pushing her in the direction of the broken cell.
"Jac where are we going?" she asked,
"There's a broken cell that Uno wants you to take a look at," he replied, Esinon shrugged,
"Oh, you wanna help?" she asked hopefully,
"Sure,"
A few hours later…
"Ok, so it looks like this is mostly a problem with the ray shield generator," Esinon said peering into the mess of wires inside the panel on the wall outside the cell. "I just need to adjust a few things and it should be good to go."
"Really? You're fixing it that easily?" Jax asked, Esinon chuckled,
"You realize it's been a couple of hours, right? I'm not fixing it 'that easily'," she said, fishing around the inner workings of the cell. She hummed, "looks like I need to go inside the cell to fix this last part, can you come with me to hold some tools?"
"Sure," Jax replied, he grabbed the toolbox off the floor and followed her into the cell. She grabbed a hydro spanner and set to work on the opposite side of the panel,
"That should do it," she said after a few minutes,
"Great, because I'm hungry, let's find something to eat," Jax replied, rising from the metal slab that served as a bed in the cell. Esinon glanced back at the panel,
"Whoops, one more bolt I need to tighten…" she murmured, turning the wrench over the bolt once more. WHOOM, both of them whipped their heads up at the sound of the rey shield activating. "Uh oh,"
"That's not good," Jax murmured,
"Ummm, I can fix it," Esinon replied, hurriedly turning the bolt back the other way, instead of the shield falling like she had hoped the panel started to smoke and fizzle. She backed away, waving the smoke out her face as a fit of cough wrenched their way out her throat.
"So I'm guessing we're stuck in here for a little while?" Jax asked, Esinon nodded,
"Yeah, I'll take another look at the panel, hopefully, I can figure it out or someone will come looking for us." she said, kneeling back down in front of the panel and setting back to work. They lapsed into silence for about ten more minutes, when they heard footsteps approaching, Jax jumped up and pressed his fists against the rey shield,
"Hey! We're stuck in here!" he shouted, the owner of the footsteps finally came into view, General Archer,
"What are you doing in that cell Captian?" she asked, Jax sighed,
"Esinon was trying to fix it for you, per request of Uno, and the panel fritzed out-"
"We don't need your help Jayla," Esinon snapped, "Go away," Jax sighed,
"General Archer," he whispered, "Can you please just press the panel to the blast door, maybe it'll open,"
"Sure," Jayla replied grumpily, Jax winced at the sound of metal hitting metal as Esinon threw her wrench down violently in her toolbox. Jayla pressed the panel and the rey shield fell, Jax sighed in relief, grabbing the toolbox off the ground. Jayla entered the cell, blocking Jax's exit. "What are you even doing here?"
"I'm trying to fix your cell, you're welcome," Esinon grumbled bitterly, rising to her feet, her face and robes covered in grease stains.
"Well I think I can find someone who can do a better job than you, get out," Jayla demanded,
"No," Esinon said firmly,
"Now," Jayla snarled, before either Jedi could move again the rey shield activated again,
"Oh come on!" Jax shouted,
"Now look at what you've done!" Jayla grumbled, throwing a frustrated arm in the direction of the rey shield.
"You think this is my fault?" Esinon asked, "If you would have gotten out of the way instead of being all hostile we wouldn't be in this situation!"
"How mature, claiming I'm the hostile one. Have you looked in the mirror!" Jayla snapped,
"You're the one who needs to do some looking ice princess,"
"Would both of you stop!" Jax finally groaned, "I've been listening to your non-stop arguing for months now and I've had enough! You're arguing over literally nothing! Now like it or not, we are stuck in here until Esinon can fix the door, or someone comes looking for us,"
"Well I think Esinon should leave the door alone, a lot of good her messing with it has done us," Jayla said, sliding down against the wall, Esinon again threw a tool down into her toolbox,
"At least I'm trying to get us out of here,"
"You're doing a marvelous job of it," Jayla grumbled, Esinon slid down against the wall,
"I just hope someone comes and finds us soon so I don't have to keep listening to you- berate me," she mumbled, Jayla rolled her eyes as Jax sat down next to Esinon. They lapsed into silence as both women avoided one another's eyes, after a few minutes Jayla finally spoke up.
"Last time I was trapped in a cell like this it was because my brother and his psycho mentor captured me," Esinon let out a brief chuckle,
"Mine was when I got arrested for aiding in escape," she muttered, Jayla rested her head against the cool metal wall of the cell.
"Sounds like something you'd do," Esinon scoffed,
"I had a good reason," they fell into silence again, and then it occurred to Esinon that Jayla had said brother. She had said 'my brother',
"I didn't know you had a brother," she said, Jayla scoffed,
"There's a lot of things you don't know about me,"
"Well we've got time," Esinon said, sitting up, "let's start with your secret brother."
"And what makes you think I'm suddenly gonna reveal everything about my past?"
"Because I think you're a boring stiff and you like proving me wrong?" she suggested, Jayla rolled her eyes.
"My family… is complicated-" Esinon snorted,
"I think that comes along with being a Jedi stiff. I haven't met a Jedi who's family isn't complicated, I have a huge family, but only met my parents when I was fourteen, and a little sister was born and suddenly I almost have a family again."
"I need to know both of your life stories immediately," Jax said excitedly, Esinon chuckled as Jayla rolled her eyes.
"Fine," she muttered, "But none of this leaves this room," both of them nodded and Jayla took a deep breath.
"Well, as I said, family is complicated… not complicated in the way you think. My dad was a… bounty hunter. Thought he could settle down, get married, have me, but then when I was seven he up and left."
"Did he have a name?" Jax asked,
"He had your face," Jayla snapped suddenly, Esinon and Jax glanced at one another.
"So that means your father is Jango Fett…" Jax said slowly, Jayla nodded,
"My full name is Jayla Archer-Fett, my mom did take dad's name, but after I began a Jedi, I hyphenated and then stuck with just Archer. Fett isn't exactly a favored name around the Jedi," she said,
"That's why you looked so familiar when we first met," Esinon said, "Because you have the face of a clone,"
"I have the face of my father," she replied bitterly,
"So that makes your brother…. Boba," Esinon said slowly, "I don't think he really considers me family, but my father was Mandalorian and he can take whomever he chooses as a child,"
"But your Jango's only biological child," Jax said, Jayla nodded,
"Yeah, my mother was a togruta, hence the markings, I grew up on Shili,"
"And I'm assuming he had you before the clones were commissioned,"
"The timeline matches up," she said, "But I don't know if that's why he left, I don't care anymore. He's dead so I'll never find out and I'm not gonna waste time missing him because he never missed me,"
'Is that why you look at clones funny sometimes when they come up on you too quickly, or you're really sick, or-"
"Yes," Jayla interrupted, "Yes, even after all these years it is still off-putting to see the face of my father everywhere. Especially when it has tattoos or facial hair that I don't remember my father having,"
"I'll admit, yours is a little more complicated than mine," Esinon said, "How many times have you seen Boba?"
"A few," she said, "Once when he and Aurra captured me, then once he got arrested he kept asking to see me. I don't know why. But he's gone now too, I don't know where he is, but he's bitter dad is gone, and I don't exactly blame him."
"Boba seemed like he could be a decent kid," Esinon said, "just a lot of anger and nowhere for it to go,"
"So what about you?" Jayla asked, "What's your crazy life story?" Esinon shrugged,
"My family isn't as wild I guess, but I was raised by Ewoks for my first few years of life," Jayla's eyes went wide for a moment,
"You were raised by the little furry bears that live in the trees on Endor," she said, Esinon nodded,
"Yep,"
"Ok, you win," she said holding her hands up in surrender, Esinon chuckled, maybe Jayla wasn't so bad after all. Just needed a little help to loosen up, who would have known that being locked in a cell together would bring people closer.
"How long have they been doing that?" Bo asked, staring through the glass to a training room where the two Jedi Generals were hard at work.
"Hours," Jax replied, "General Archer decided a while ago that Esinon needed more mentorship or something," Bo nodded,
"She is still pretty young," he said, Jax nodded as he watched Esinon use the force to gather a stream of water and rushing towards Jayla but the younger Jedi was quickly thrown to the ground by the elder with a burst of wind. Esinon growled and leapt to her feet, using the metal brackets that were attached to her forearms and throwing them towards Jayla, slashing them viciously at her.
Jayla deflected each one but failed to notice Esinon sending a stream of water towards her back, the elder Jedi was pummeled to the ground by the water.
Esinon attempted to capture Jayla's legs with a metal bracket, but she was too fast, using the force to deflect the bracket and gracefully flip to her feet. Jayla attempted to make a charge for Esinon, but at the last second, Esinon froze the leftover water on the ground causing Jayla to slip and face plant onto the mats.
Esinon chuckled, flinging two more whips of water over Jayla's back and froze those too, successfully trapping the Jedi to the ground. Jayla wriggled around for a few moments before accepting defeat, and Esinon relinquished her hold. Bo's comlink buzzed,
"Bo," he answered,
"Commander, a new briefing just arrived,"
"For just us, or the 818th too?" he asked,
"818th as well sir,"
"Alright, I'll be to the command center in a few minutes," the com call cut out and BO pushed the door open to the training room. "Generals, a new briefing has just arrived," both women glanced back at him,
"Wonderful," Jayla said, "We'll meet you in the command center shortly Commander,"
"Thanks Bo!" Esinon called after him as he exited the room. Bo sighed, sometimes he could swap places with Uno.
A few minutes later…
Both Jedi arrived simultaneously at the briefing,
"Alright Bo, what do we got?" Esinon asked, Bo took a deep breath forcing himself not to get into an angry thought process. Sure Esinon seemed like a good enough kid, but she was a Jedi that was enough to set him off. He passed her a datapad,
"The Separatists put up a blockade around Dantooine, it has stopped any and all supplies from coming into the planet's atmosphere and there's been reported Separatist activity on the surface," he explained, Esinon hummed, pulling up a map of the planet's surface.
"Jayla, do you think you could handle the battle in the sky?" Esinon asked, Jayla nodded,
"Seems feasible enough, so I'm assuming you'll be taking the battle on the ground?" Esinon nodded,
"Flying's fun and all, but I prefer having my feet on the ground." she said, "I am a speedster after all," Jayla rolled her eyes,
"Yeah and ya know, for having a training room designed for that, you don't use it very much," she said,
"I do," Esinon protested, "I'm just so fast you don't see me," Jayla chuckled,
"Alright speed demon, you take the ground, now let's actually come up with a plan of attack,"
A few hours later…
Esinon crept slowly through the field listening to the steady crunch of the dry grass under her mens' boots as she scanned the expanding plains of Dantooine. She and Bo had split up, he had taken half the men to the south and she'd gone north. There hadn't been a single droid yet, it was quiet, too quiet. It was putting Esinon on edge, enough to keep her lightsaber in hand unlike she normally did. She raised her comlink to her lips,
"Bo, have you spotted anything yet?" she murmured,
"No," he replied a few seconds later, "It's all quiet down here, you?"
"There's nothing," she said, "It's really quiet, are you sure the reports for there being Seppie activity on the surface is correct?"
"Positive, they have to be down here somewhere, just keep looking," that the com call cut out, Esinon sighed,
"Well he is just in a spectacular mood isn't he," she grumbled to herself, they continued in silence it seemed they trudged onward for hours without so much the lone critter scampering through the field. Finally, Esinon spotted a metal dome in the distance, "Everyone look alive, looks like there's a base of some sort." They all headed forward and as they approached the base, she identified it as being Separatist issued but there weren't any droids around. Just like the rest of this planet, it was quiet, too quiet. Where were all the droids? The Separatists wouldn't have just abandoned this post without good reason, she shook her head.
She couldn't assume all the droids were gone, after all this was only the outside of the base, there was a lot of inside. "Step lightly, we don't know what we're walking into," She ignited her lightsaber and used the force to bend the door open, allowing them to enter the base. She peered around corners, ears perked for the nasal voices of B1s that should have been manning their stations, but it was silent.
The only noise was the tapping of boots. "Everyone fan out, see if you find anything," Jax flagged out teams of men throughout the base, and sent some back outside to guard the entryway in case any droids showed up. She and about thirty-six walked to the center of the base, there was still no sign of anything. "This isn't right…" she murmured-
BOOM!
An explosion ripped through the base, Esinon stared in horror as fire came barreling down the halls towards the middle of the room. There was no time to get out, to escape so she called on the force and put her hands, spinning around and bending metal into all the entryways.
A loud creak sounded as the base began to cave in, screams and shouts echoed around her. But she was not about to let more of her men die if she could prevent it, even if it killed her. The ceiling came crashing down but at the last second she caught it with the force, she grunted as the weight came crashing down upon her.
She pushed up, forcing her legs to stop trembling, unfortunately, she was not able to catch the entire ceiling and more shouts filled the room as they all crowded to the middle of the room while others worked to free their brothers from the metal plates.
Esinon shoved up against the metal again with the force, successfully creating a bubble that they could survive for a time. How long, she didn't know, but she was going to try to keep them alive as long as she could. She let out another small grunt, she could feel through the force that if she let go of the metal above them it would all cave in, there was too much pressure on top of the ceiling she was holding. "Is everyone alright!" she called, it felt stupid to ask such a question. Of course, they weren't alright, they were trapped in a tiny bubble with no one looking for them, while almost all of the men were dead, and half of them had just been nearly crushed by the ceiling she had failed to catch. There were murmurs of answers,
"Spitfire, Spitfire!" Glitch said panickedly, Esinon slowly shifted her head around, carefully not to jeopardize her hold on the ceiling above them. She quickly analyzed the situation, Spitfire was unconscious and judging by the faint pulse of his force signature, was badly injured.
"Glitch, come here," she said,
"What?" he asked, she grunted,
"Just do as I say!" she snapped, a small whine escaping from her lips as she felt the weight increase the smallest bit as she lost her concentration. Glitch obeyed crawling over to her. "I need you to take off my tabards, judging by Spitfire's signature he's injured. Now at this second the only thing keeping the blood inside his body is his armor, but that's not gonna help for long, those wounds need pressure. Now take my tabards and get pressure on those wounds," Glitch obeyed, removing her belt and taking off her tabards carefully before making his way back over to Spitfire. At the moment all she could do was coach Glitch through helping Spitfire and pray that someone would find them.
This chapter was longer than I thought it was gonna and it's on time too! Even though fanfic didn't fix their stupid servers till today.
Anyways, what do you think of Jayla's past?
Next up on let's make this canon corner: You know that whenever the 221st is about to have a briefing and Esinon's coming down the hall and Glitch starts playing 'right hand man' from Hamilton through the speakers so Esinon enters the command center will HERE COMES THE GENERAL! pounding through the Duchess
Thank you for reading and make sure to leave a review!
