Venator-class Star Destroyer - Mid Rim
Ahsoka POV...
With Jesse looking to be in fighting shape, I turned my attention to the door, seeing the sparks slowly move along the frame from the clones' cutting. Rex and Jesse both pull on their helmets and take out their blaster pistols. I rub my wrists anxiously, prepping myself for the fight ahead.
"How're we gonna get out of here?" Rex asks.
"I have an idea," I reply.
"Which is?" he asks warily.
"Just set those things to stun. We're not trying to kill anyone," I tell them both.
"Well, tell that to them," Jesse replies bitterly.
Nevertheless, he and Rex both do so, aiming their blasters at the door.
"They're almost through," Jesse warns.
"Wait," I respond firmly, narrowing my eyes at the door, watching as the sparks got closer together. "Wait..."
I tense up, sensing all of our unease and anxiety. Once the sparks connect at the top of the door, I give them the signal.
"Now!" I shout.
I thrust my arms forward to unleash a huge burst of Force energy, blasting the door clean out of its frame. A few of the clones cry out in surprise and pain as they're knocked aside by the door, which collapses several feet down the hallway. The remainder attempt to rush forward, but Rex and Jesse are ready to meet them, dashing outside and stunning four troopers in an instant. I rush out the door when the clones start shooting back, whipping out my lightsabers and deflecting the incoming bolts away from the two. The three of us work in tandem as if we were fighting droids, with me covering them while they shot back in retaliation.
"R7, find us a path out of here!" I exclaim, and he beeps in acknowledgement.
I swing my lightsabers around to deflect blaster fire, the intensity lessened considerably when R7 shuts the blast doors to cut off a large group of clones. Two more charge at us from the right corridor, but are quickly taken out by Rex and Jesse, ending the firefight. The droids come rolling outside afterward, and I deactivate my lightsabers for the time being.
"Alright. Now what?" Rex asks.
"The escape pods have been destroyed," I say with a frown. "Taking a shuttle is out best bet."
"It's not gonna be easy, commander," Jesse replies warily. "I sent Ridge to increase security there."
"We'll just have to cross that bridge when we get there," I reply grimly.
I turn around and begin walking down the corridor, the other two taking a moment when one of the unconscious troopers groans.
"Boys are having a rough time with it," Rex comments.
"No kidding," Jesse scoffs. "Did you hear Maul also escaped, commander?"
"He didn't escape. I let him out," I tell them.
"What?!" Rex asks incredulously. "Why?"
"Diversion," I explain sheepishly, before waving them on. "Come on!"
"That's one word for it," I hear Jesse say behind me.
3rd person POV...
Maul strode purposefully down the long corridor of the cruiser on his way to the hyperdrive room, a scowl on his face. He was beyond frustrated by how Tano arrogantly refused to even consider listening to his words. He warned her what would happen, and yet she carried on in ignorance regardless: it was quite clear now that she would never accept joining him as his partner, then eventual apprentice.
No matter. If she wanted chaos, she would have it, and hopefully she would die when the destruction followed. It was the least she deserved for her stubborn arrogance. With these thoughts in mind, Maul lifted his arm to listen in on the comlink he had taken from the clone in order to know what they they would do next.
"Target number one's escaped the medical bay. We're in pursuit!" one reports.
"What is the status of CT-7567 and CT-5597?" the lieutenant, 'Ridge,' asks in reply.
"Commander Rex and Lieutenant Jesse are still missing in action sir," the first states.
"Did they aid in Tano's escape?" Ridge demands.
"Unknown at present," he responds.
Maul narrows his eyes at hearing this, knowing he needs to move quickly. Thanks to his comlink, he knows that there's only one shuttle left on the cruiser, and if he wants to escape he'll need to reach it before the Togruta does. Then he can take satisfaction in knowing she will perish.
A pair of unmarked clone troopers turn around the corner, aiming their blasters at him. Scoffing in disgust, Maul holds his arms up with a scowl on his face, clenching his hands in a grabbing motion. The clones gasp in pain and futilely try to pull at the invisible force constricting around their throats, their feet dangling helplessly in the air. He takes a few moments to relish in their fear and agony before killing one of them by turning his right hand into a fist, breaking his neck with loud snap. He steps over the first clone's body and then approaches the door to the hyperdrive room, seeing a third trooper on the walkway. Throwing the second clone into the third, sending them both plummeting to their deaths, he then rushes inside.
One clone shoots his blaster, but Maul ducks his head out of the way and then disposes of him the same way he did the other two. The rest of the clones take notice and start firing, attempting to shoot him down.
"Target number two's in the hyperdrive room!" one trooper shouts into his comlink.
Identifying the clone that spoke, Maul growls with anger and then uses the Force to grab his arm, turning him so that his blaster cuts through the two clones on the opposite balcony, before throwing him to his death as well. Reaching the central computer, he punches a clone and then knees him in the head, knocking his helmet off, and then kicks him away to slam into a technician. He catches the helmet, momentarily disgusted by the markings on it, and uses it to block the blasts of another clone, purposefully allowing the bolts to hit the orange markings, then throws the helmet to knock the clone off the walkway.
With all the clones taken out for the moment, Maul takes the opportunity to rip off the computer terminal with the Force before throwing it aside, also throwing the clone technician off with a careless swipe of his hand, giving him enough space to work with.
Glaring at the massive generators in the room all around him, Maul raises an arm and grabs the generator with the Force, quickly doing the same with his other arm. He snarls, gritting his teeth and shutting his eyes as he brings the full power of the dark side to him, commanding it with incredible force of will. The generators begin to shake under the pressure, steam blasting out of the pipes, electrical sparks flashing all across the huge machines.
Up on the bridge, a clone officer stationed at one of the computers turns to look at the commanding officer in alarm.
"Sir, the hyperdrive generators are failing," he reports uneasily.
The commander whips his head up to stare out the window when he notices the blue tunnel of hyperspace start to flash brightly, the ship beginning to shudder. He widens his eyes in alarm and turns back toward the officer in a panic.
"Disengage! Disengage!" he shouts urgently.
"It's too late sir!" the officer says in alarm.
Maul almost sighs with content, reveling in the immense power of the dark side swirling around him, heeding his every command. The entire room was shaking violently, the massive generators breaking apart in a shower of electrical sparks and explosions. When one of the doors opens to allow a squad of clone troopers entry, he opens his eyes with a scowl on his face. Growling in a mixture of hatred and fury, Maul yanks his arms downward, glaring at the clones in front of him.
The two massive hyperdrive generators are ripped from their positions, tearing huge gashes in the wall where they were previously attached, and rupturing the entirety of the room. The clones scream in terror as the generators crash down directly on top of them, crushing many and then sending the remaining troopers who avoid it into the chasm below once the walkway is destroyed. Debris and large sections of machinery follow the generators, devastating everything in explosions, bolts of electricity arcing across the room, sparks flying everywhere.
Maul stands up straight, not completely satisfied yet, but more than content enough at the chaos he caused, eagerly awaiting the moment when he will know for certainty that the Togruta will perish. She wanted chaos, yet she failed to remember that chaos serves no one but him: he is the embodiment of chaos. He owes her nothing.
Caduto System - Mid Rim
With a sudden lack of a hyperdrive, the Venator-class Star Destroyer fell of out hyperspace with a violent jolt, right above the rocky ice planet of Caduto. The formerly proud warship was now a smoking wreck adrift in space. Giant plumes of smoke drift off of the ship, explosions blasting along the hull, the giant engines similarly falling apart.
Suffering extensive internal damage and lacking any power, the broken cruiser is soon caught in the gravity well of Caduto's rocky moon, and begins to drift in its direction.
Ahsoka POV...
I'm caught off guard by the sudden violent shaking and distant sound of explosions echoing through the ship, sparks flaring out of electrical panels, the lights also flickering occasionally. The three of us continue sprinting down the hallways, the droids right behind us, but an uneasy feeling starts to make its way into my gut over the cause of whatever hit the ship, especially since I just felt a massive surge of dark side energy coming from Maul.
"Oh I don't like the sound of that," Rex says uneasily.
"Me neither, sir," Jesse replies.
I keep silent, dreading the answer of what happened, even though we need to know. What did Maul do?!
Reaching the control tower above the main hangar, Rex opens the door and immediately stuns the officer standing in front of him, who barely has a moment to react with surprise. I dash inside and use the Force to slam another into the wall, knocking him out, and Jesse finishes the remaining officers with two quick stun bursts. I rush up to the computer terminal and start working on opening the bay doors.
"Hangar bay doors are sealed. They got everything locked down," Rex observes, scoffing at the irony. "If they weren't trying to kill us I'd be proud."
"Something about that chip... it makes us 'operate' like droids," Jesse says uneasily, sounding disgusted and appalled. "Every action any of us take is seen through to the letter, no distractions. We just... followed orders. We didn't care about the consequences."
"Without question..." Rex mutters bitterly. "Krell would've loved to hear that."
I spare them both a sympathetic glance, Jesse especially, seeing how depressed he was. It made more sense why he was taking this worse than Rex, because he was under the chip's control: Rex never was. I lay my hand on his shoulder briefly, getting his attention, and give him a small smile and reassuring nod. He relaxes slightly, accepting it with some gratitude, and I turn to face the droids.
"R7, start unlocking the doors on bay 12. Cheep, prep the shuttle. G-G, find out what happened to the ship," I instruct them.
The droids readily acknowledge my request and roll up to the various astromech sockets around the room, plugging themselves in. After a short amount of time, G-G looks up and beeps his analysis. I blink my eyes in surprise and confusion.
"What do you mean the hyperdrive is offline?" Rex asks warily, and the three of us all gape in surprise at G-G's response. "Destroyed? It-it's completely gone?!"
I nervously swallow down the lump in my throat, a sickening feeling washing over me over the implication of what Maul has done. It only gets worse when Jesse approaches one of the computers, which was beeping urgently, and reads the warning it was giving.
"We're caught in that moon's gravitational field," he says uneasily.
I furrow my brow in growing fear, turning towards R7.
"R7, open the main hangar doors," I tell him firmly.
He does so, and we all step up to the glass as the large doors slowly slide open. The brightness from the glare of a nearby star obscures my vision at first, but it soon fades away to reveal a terrifying sight. Directly front of us is the surface of a rocky moon, its massive snow-covered peaks hundreds of miles away, but approaching fast. I widen my eyes in horror, vaguely noticing Rex and Jesse glance at me with unease as well.
This ship is going to crash down onto the surface of that moon and kill everyone onboard, all because of the crippling damage that Maul somehow managed to do. And I'm the one who let him escape and run free... what have I done? I should've just left him to the mercy of those Senate clones instead of saving him, but now, every trooper is going to die because of it! How could I have been so stupid?!
It took everything I had to keep my composure in check, because losing control over my emotions right now won't help anyone. I spare the other two a nervous glance and let out a shaky breath, pushing my emotions aside for later. I can't cry right now.
"We need to get out of here," I mutter, sensing their agreement.
"Any luck with those doors?" Rex asks R7, and he beeps in confirmation.
"And the shuttle?" I ask urgently.
He beeps in confirmation once more, and up ahead one of the hangar bay doors opens up to reveal the shuttle sitting just inside, looking perfectly intact. I smile, feeling some relief at seeing our way off this death trap.
"There it is!" I tell them.
"Wait... I thought I told Ridge to—" Jesse starts to say in confusion.
Before he could finish his sentence, the rest of the hangar bay doors slide open, revealing what looks like the entirety of the 332nd Company, who all come rushing out. They make their way into the center of the hangar, arranging themselves in columns, and are lastly headed by Ridge, who paces at the head of the company, turning to look up at us.
"They were waiting for us," Rex remarks dryly.
"Ridge, you kriffing genius," Jesse murmurs in frustration at the irony. "I didn't even tell him to do that."
"Well, he has been in the war longer than you," he replies in an attempt of light humor, to which Jesse scoffs in begrudging agreement.
"So what do we do, Commander?" Jesse asks me. "Fight our way to the shuttle?"
I observe the company of clone troopers with a frown, guilt tearing at my heart. I've already doomed them to death... I can't bear the thought of hurting them anymore than I already have.
"There are too many," I state grimly, looking at the two clones beside me with a sad expression. "Besides, I don't want to hurt them."
Rex falters, unsure of how to respond, but I sense a rush of disbelief and anger surge through Jesse as he clenches his fist in frustration.
"I hate to tell you this Commander, but they don't care!" he exclaims.
"Jesse..." Rex tries to say placatingly.
He places a hand on his shoulder, but Jesse angrily shoves it away.
"No, you don't understand Rex! You don't know what its like having that chip controlling you!" he yells, looking between us frantically. "This ship is going down, and those soldiers, our brothers, are willing to die, and take the three of us along with them!"
I gaze into Jesse's visor sadly for several long seconds, feeling an immense surge of guilt and regret over hearing his statement. Sensing his anger wasn't directed at me, however, I carefully reach out to gently lift his helmet off of his head. A tear was rolling down his cheek, and Jesse turns his head away from me with a defeated look on his face. Rex, after a moments hesitation, also takes off his helmet, his eyes slightly teary.
"Jesse, you're a good soldier. One of the best," I tell him softly. "So is Rex... Ridge... Every one of those men down there, all of them are good soldiers. They may be willing to die, but I am not the one who is going to kill them."
They both stand still for some time, before Rex approaches me.
"So we're just going to surrender?" he asks helplessly. "Admit defeat? Is that it?!"
I slowly shake my head in response, looking down sadly.
"No," I tell him.
Then we don't have any more options," Jesse says in defeat.
I look out the glass window, watching as Ridge continues to pace back and forth in front of his troopers, all of whom are under the influence of their inhibitor chips. I narrow my eyes thoughtfully at the thought of the chips, an idea starting to formulate in mind.
"I have an idea," I tell them, smiling softly. "Don't worry, it's a good one. I think."
I give Jesse's helmet back to him and turn to face the three droids, crouching down in front of them.
"Can I count on the three of you?" I ask them.
The three astromech droids beep eagerly in confirmation, and I nod my head with a smile.
"Good. I'll explain on the way," I say, standing back up.
"Commander, I don't know if this is going to work," Jesse says.
"Relax, Jesse, I'm sure you and Rex will do just fine," I respond confidently.
"That's the thing, I gave the order to kill Rex if necessary! Everyone already knows he's a traitor!" he argues.
"Traitor?" Rex asks, frowning at him.
"You know what I meant," Jesse retorts irritably.
"Yeah, I know brother," he sighs in agreement, looking at me. "He does have a point, though. They'll know something is up."
"Well, we don't have to fully convince them, we just have to distract them long enough for the droids to do their job," I point out.
"How reassuring," Jesse mutters, still skeptical, but willing nonetheless.
We stop just before reaching the door into the main hangar, and I glance back at them both.
"You ready?" I ask them.
"Yeah I'm good," Rex replies.
"Just put your hands over your head already," Jesse scoffs, whipping out his pistols.
Rex does the same, and I place my hands above the back of my head and step forward. The door opens instantly, and I walk through with Rex and Jesse marching behind me, each with a pistol leveled at my head.
"Hold your fire!" Jesse shouts, getting the attention of the clones, shoving me forward also.
"Hang on, we have Tano and the Lieutenant: the Commander is with him too," I hear Ridge say into his comlink. "Send all remaining troops to my position."
He and the rest of the clones all take aim at me with their blasters, and we keep marching forward.
"I said hold your fire, Ridge," Jesse repeats firmly. "I have the situation under control."
"Sir, you said that Commander Rex is to be executed as well!" Ridge calls out angrily. "What are you doing?!"
"I said executed him only if necessary Ridge!" he replies irritably. "The situation with the Commander has been resolved."
"He's right, men. Jesse and I have spoken to High Command, and they confirmed that I am cleared," Rex adds in support. "As you can see, Tano is no longer a threat."
Ridge hesitates, some of the other clones glancing at each other warily. I look around at them all with a slightly worried frown, starting to understand some of Jesse and Rex's complaints about this idea as well.
"If that's true sir, then you have your orders," Ridge states fiercely. "Now execute it, or I will!"
"The order was to execute the Jedi for treason against the Republic," Jesse says, moving forward while Rex keeps his blaster behind me. "The problem is, Ahsoka Tano, is no longer a Jedi: hasn't been for some time!"
Ridge hesitates, and I glance over to the left to see the droids rolling over to the computer station by the side, plugging themselves in.
"Sir, you said yourself we're under special order from His Excellency to eliminate Ahsoka Tano, and any other clone who disobeys Order 66," Ridge states firmly.
"Just keep him talking, a little bit longer," I mutter under my breath, seeing the droids working.
"Ridge, Ridge, listen to me!" Rex calls out anxiously, also taking a step forward. "We've known each other a long time. If we don't get this right, we will be the ones committing treason, not her!"
Ridge once again seems to hesitate, but I let out a sigh of resignation when he stands up straight and at the ready, sensing his fierce determination and anger at us.
"Lieutenant Jesse, you and Commander Rex are in violation of Order 66. I accuse you of treason against the Grand Army of the Republic!" he coldly declares. "You'll be demoted in your ranks and subject to execution, along with the traitor, Ahsoka Tano!"
Rex and Jesse both look downward sadly in bitter frustration, and I notice Cheep waving one of his arms at me.
"Ready?" I ask the two clones.
"Yeah, I didn't like much being a commander anyway," Rex looks back at me with a shrug.
"Go figure," Jesse scoffs.
"Company, ready!" Ridge orders. "Aim!"
An alarm suddenly buzzes, and I drop my arms at the sound.
"Now!" I shout.
The platforms that the majority of the troopers were standing on suddenly drop down to the maintenance level, and the clones let out startled cries of surprise. Ridge looks back in bewilderment and I dash forward. He attempts to shoot me, but I use the Force to throw him down to the maintenance level also. Rex tosses me my lightsabers, and I ignite the glowing green blades with renewed confidence at our increasing odds of escape. The rest of the clones open fire, and I swing my blades around to deflect their shots, covering Rex and Jesse as they shoot back in retaliation, stunning multiple clones.
Out of the corner of my eye I see G-G beeping at me in a panic. I glance over at him in confusion, my confidence immediately replaced with horror when I see Maul charging through the hangar right behind the astromech, his intentions all too clear.
"Rex, Jesse, the ship!" I cry out in a panic.
I smack a few blaster bolts away from me and then leap across the gap over the maintenance elevator, sprinting desperately after Maul. I don't pay attention to Rex or Jesse as they make their way around, my focus completely on the former Sith. The ship shakes again and Maul stops, suddenly turning around to face me with an rabid glare.
"You wanted this chaos!" he growls mockingly.
He starts throwing several crates at me, but I duck underneath them effortlessly, narrowing my eyes in cold rage. He throws a maintenance lift next with a snarl of frustration, but I easily avoid that too by jumping over it. Completely filled with fury and rage at the thought of him, of everything he's done, some of it fueled by my anger at myself for indirectly causing this cruiser to crash, my vision turns red. Baring my teeth at him with a fierce scowl, I lunge forward and swing my lightsaber for his neck, seeking to end his life right then and there. However, Maul scrambles backward and throws his arm out at me with a savage roar.
I gasp in pain as I'm suddenly blasted away from him, a compact ball of Force energy slamming into my stomach. Noticing where I was headed, I twist around and stab my lightsabers into the floor to try and stop myself, but I still slip over the edge of the maintenance elevator. My saving grace comes from a cable shot out by G-G, and I just barely manage to grab onto it, dangling over the pit. I glance down uneasily at the sight of all the clones below me, and begin to pull myself up the cable as quickly as possible.
Of course, the universe isn't very kind, and a hail of blaster fire soon starts hitting the wall around me. Gripping the cable with one hand, I swing my lightsaber around to defend myself, while some of the clones collapse after being hit by Rex or Jesse's stun bolts. G-G continues to wind the cable in, although slowly, but I miss deflecting a shot and it strikes me in the hip, a large mark apparent on my skirt.
"Agh! Son of a—" I hiss in pain, before having to deflect another bolt away from my face.
I'm so glad that Bo-Katan ensured my outfit was made out of beskar.
I manage to get a short moment of peace when the clones halt in their shooting, and I take the chance to start climbing up the cable. They quickly resume fire, more of the shots directed at the astromech droids now. I finally manage to climb up, only to see the shuttle hovering in the main hangar bay, ready to blast off.
"The shuttle!" I cry out in alarm.
Wasting no time I sprint forward, leaping over the second elevator pit as well. Just as the shuttle starts to take off, I hold my arms out and grip it with the Force, calling all of the power I could muster to my aid. I grit my teeth in exertion, beads of sweat rolling down my forward as I attempt to pull it back, my feet sliding across the floor. The engines flare up with extra power, but then Rex is there, gripping my left arm. I hold onto him as tightly as I could, struggling to maintain hold over the shuttle with the Force. My head throbs painfully from the strain, but I fight through the pain with a scowl.
"Incoming!" Jesse warns us.
He rushes forward to give me and Rex cover, firing at a fresh wave of clone troopers that just stormed into the hangar. Another massive push of the shuttle rips my arm out of Rex's grip, and I stumble forward onto my knees. Still, I refuse to let go, struggling back to my feet and holding out both arms in defiance, refusing to let him go. A warning from the Force reaches my senses, and I nearly cry out in panic from a blast bolt headed right for me. To my surprise and horror, however, R7 jumps in the way of the bolt, releasing a final squeal as it cuts through his head.
I let out a gasp, despairing when I see him fall to the floor, a smoking crater blasted straight through his processor. I cut back on my sadness though, growling with a new sense of frustration and anger at the hopelessness of the situation. Maul's taken too much from me already! If I can't get the shuttle to land, then I'm certainly not going to let him leave! He's coming down with us, just the same!
I'm broken from my raging thoughts when I hear Rex's pained cry followed by a similar grunt of pain from Jesse, the both of them having been struck in the shoulder and side by blaster bolts.
"Can't hold them off! There's too many of them!" Rex cries out.
"We're too exposed here!" Jesse adds in agreement.
Worried for their lives, I look back at the shuttle in front of me, torn on what to do. If I let go I could help Rex and Jesse fight off the clones and search another way out, even though our only apparent means of escape is gone, and Maul won't pay for everything he's done: I so badly want him to pay. Meanwhile, if I don't then we'll all be shot down by the clones, Maul will escape, and we'll be dead anyways.
Closing my eyes, I make my decision. I know what I have to do.
With some reluctance still, I nevertheless release my hold on the shuttle, feeling the throbbing pain of the mental strain easing in my mind. The moment I do so, the shuttle blasts out of sight, and I watch it go in grim resignation. A blaster bolt whizzing past my head regains my focus, and I whip around to see the clones closing in on us. Igniting my lightsabers, I jump in front of Rex and Jesse and cover them while they return fire, relieved at the support.
Despite our efforts, the number of clones seems endless, with two more replacing every one Rex and Jesse shot down, and they start rushing around our flank in order to surround us on all sides. Narrowing my eyes, I throw my lightsabers out and stick them into the floor. Twirling around in place, I use the Force to cut the lightsabers through the floor in a wide circle, spinning several times to ensure the dense metal is separated. As I pull my lightsabers back into my hands Rex and Jesse look down in confusion, only to cry out in surprise when the section of floor falls down to the maintenance level below. I land firmly on my feet, sabers held at the ready, while the other two hit the floor in a less than graceful heap, groaning in pain and weariness.
"I'd like to see Jarik try and do that," I tell myself with a small smirk, realizing this is something with lightsabers I probably beat him in.
"How about you don't do that again," Rex grumbles in reply.
My smile disappears when I realize I just dropped us down right in front of the troopers we sent down here at the very start. Ridge aims his blaster at us, the rest of them all doing the same, and Jesse sighs in exasperation.
"You've got to be kidding me," he mutters.
"Blast them!" Ridge orders.
Once again we're bombarded by blaster fire, and I move up to cover Rex and Jesse once more, deflecting shot after shot. I blink in surprise when the elevators suddenly zoom back up into the main hangar, again taking the clones with them—Ridge among them. I shake my head in amusement, knowing Cheep and G-G were responsible, only to gasp in despair and helpless frustration after hearing the faint sound of their death squeals. Knowing there's nothing to be done about it though, I continue to block the shots of the remaining troopers, leaping across the gap to incapacitate them all with a swift Force push.
With the threat temporarily off of us, we begin rushing around the maintenance hangar in search of a ship to use, only to find all of them worthless.
"Nothing... nothing... nothing!" Rex shouts in frustration. "Everything down here's under maintenance!"
Coming to a stop, I narrow my eyes intently as I look around, spotting a lone y-wing bomber just up ahead.
"There!" I call out, before realizing something critical. "Wait a second, that can't hold all three of us! We need to find another ship."
Rex and I start moving to look for another ship—anything at this point—when Jesse's voice brings us to a halt.
"No you don't," he says.
We both stop, glancing each other in confusion.
"What do you mean by that?" Rex asks him.
"You two get into that y-wing and fly out of here. I'll make sure you're clear," he states.
I widen my eyes in disbelief and horror, appalled by his suggestion.
"What?!" I exclaim incredulously.
"Jesse, no!" Rex protests.
"You have to take it! Both of you are more important than I am!" he continues fiercely.
"Don't say that!" I retort, shaking my head. "We can find another ship!"
"What other ship?" he demands, gesturing wildly around the room. "Look around, Commander! There are no more ships to use! They're gone! Just like everyone else on this ship is about to be!"
"Jesse, please!" I protest, becoming teary-eyed as I stand in front of him. "I don't want to lose you too!"
Jesse looks down at the floor, silent for a moment, before reaching up and pulling his helmet off, dropping it on the ground.
"It's alright, Commander," he murmurs, a reassuringly smile on his face. "This is what I was bred for. But it's also my choice."
I look up at him with wet eyes, doing my best to expel the grief in my heart with a shaky sigh, crossing my arms helplessly in defeat. Rex also takes a step forward, reaching a hand out to him, pausing in uncertainty.
"Jesse, I..." he says, hesitating, unsure of what to say.
The ARC Trooper simply smiles back at him: it was a sad smile, but also full of determination.
"Its been an honor to serve under you, sir," he states formally.
Jesse lifts his hand up into a salute, which Rex copies after a brief second of stillness. I open my mouth to say something more, but a renewed surge of blaster fire cuts me off. I whip out my lightsabers again to start deflecting the shots, and Jesse takes his pistols into his hands.
"Go now! While you still have a chance!" he shouts at us.
I give him one final nod of gratitude and farewell, unable to express my grief and sadness. I nevertheless heed his command with Rex, and we rush over to the y-wing. glancing back, I could see Jesse charging right at the clones with a defiant yell, taking out a trooper with every shot and avoiding any bolts aimed for him. Despite this, more clones still surge out from the opposite side to pursue us, blasting away.
"Get me over there!" Rex shouts.
Acknowledging him, I jump across the gap to the platform right in front of the y-wing, standing before it and deflecting blaster fire while Rex takes the longer path around. When I sense him reach the edge I spin on my heels and thrust my arms out, blowing him over to the bomber with a Force push. He screams in surprise at the lack of warning, but thankfully manages to grab hold of the ship. I then cry out in pain when a bolt strikes my left hand, knocking my shoto blade out of my grip and tumbling out to the sky below.
Disregarding the loss of my shoto blade, I whirling around and now use my main lightsaber now to deflect blaster fire, painstakingly swinging with every defensive technique I know. Without a second blade, however, another bolt slips through my guard and strikes my leg. The beskar keeps me protected from serious injury but it still hurt, and the impact knocked me down onto one knee. Things get even worse when an elevator lift lowers down to reveal a squad of clones led by Ridge, who don't waste any second in firing away. I blow the majority of them down with a Force push, but they quickly get back up to continue shooting at me.
Just then the ship begins to tilt over, and the clones finally cease their barrage in an effort to prevent themselves from falling, not even the chip able to override a living being's self-preservation instincts. Unable to stand, I stab my lightsaber into the floor to prevent myself from sliding down the now near-vertical surface. Sensing more danger, I duck my head to the side to avoid a shot from Ridge, and look up to see him sliding down in my direction with his blaster raised. Before he could reach me, Jesse leaps out from nowhere with a fierce roar and tackles him dead on, sending them both tumbling down with the rest of the clones.
"Jesse!" I cry out fearfully.
I can only watch helplessly when the two hit the far wall in a mangled heap, one of the broken y-wings soon sliding down their direction also. I shut my eyes and turn away from the scene, both to prevent the tears from flowing and to not see Jesse being crushed by the bomber.
"Ahsoka! Come on!" Rex's voice cuts through the noise.
I look up to see him waving urgently at me from the cockpit of the y-wing, and I make my move. Pulling my lightsaber out of the floor, I run across the slanted surface as best I could, jumping into the air just as the y-wing separated. I flail my arms out in a desperate attempt to reach it, but the moment we're out from underneath the hangar opening, it's as if I was smacked by a Force push a thousand times stronger than the one Maul hit me with.
I start to panic with wide eyes, the breath ripped from my lungs at the violent change of direction. My vision blurs heavily, weariness clouding my mind, the feeling of weightlessness constant. Managing to keep myself conscious, I use the Force to cloud my mind and give me strength, my eyesight clearing enough to get a sense of where I'm at. I'm caught in the middle of the path of debris from the cruiser, broken pieces of it hurtling all around me. I narrow my eyes to keep them clear of as much smoke as possible, looking around desperately for any sign of the y-wing. I almost cry out with joy at seeing Rex flying right beside me, and painstakingly wave at him to get his attention.
Thankfully he notices and moves towards me, opening the gunner's hatch. Reaching out, I grip onto the rim of the hatch, only to yell in frightful frustration when the wind tears me away. I hold my arms and legs spread-eagled to stabilize myself and notice one of the ship's ion thrusters directly in front of me. Closing my limbs together for more speed, I tumble across the huge thruster before righting myself, and take off sprinting down it, all the while keeping an eye on Rex. Reaching the end, I jump off right when he flies underneath, flying straight to keep ahead of me. After several desperate and painstaking attempts, I finally grip onto the gunner's hatch, keeping a firm hold with both hands.
Seeing that I'm secure, Rex levels the bomber out of the cruiser's path and flies upright, and I pull myself into the hatch with a huge breath of relief, closing it shut once I'm in. The moment I'm settled I collapse against the seat in complete exhaustion. I've never felt so drained of energy before in my entire life.
However, with adrenaline fading and safety assured, everything that just happened comes rushing back to the front of my mind. They're gone...
They're all gone.
SEVERAL HOURS LATER...
Caduto moon - Mid Rim
3rd person POV...
The barren empty landscape of Caduto's moon had remained untouched for a long time: only now was there something new added to its surface. However, the new addition to not change anything one bit, for it still remained an empty wasteland.
A deep gash in the ground led to the shattered and still smoking wreck of a Venator-class Star Destroyer, small sections of the ship still burning from the recent destruction it suffered. Anyone still onboard when it went down could not have survived the impact, and even if they did, they still would've died regardless shortly after from their injuries. The only signs of life came from the two people found in front of the ship, along with their y-wing bomber, which was the only thing not broken.
A defeated Captain Rex approached the y-wing with the last bit of salvageable items from the cruiser, silently giving the destroyed shell of R7 a small glance as he does so. Placing his shovel inside a compartment on the bomber, he notices the cloaked figure of Ahsoka Tano standing some distance away. He pauses for a moment, watching his Jedi Commander with a sad gaze as she stood still, the wind blowing through her gray cloak.
Ahsoka gazed silently at the many graves set up before her, each one marked by a metal rod displaying the helmet of the grave's respective occupant. Dozens of them, all sharing the same physical appearance, bred for nothing except war and violence, and every one of them had a name. Whether she knew them all or not, it didn't matter, as they all shared the same admiration and respect for their Jedi Commander, erased by the chips implanted in their heads. She closes her eyes, reminiscing the ones that she knew: Sterling, ridge... Jesse.
Jesse's grave was front and center, his helmet propped up on the steel pipe to showcase his position in the Company, and what he represented: Jesse was proof that none of the clones, her brothers-in-arms, would've ever willingly betrayed her. They were all used as nothing more than tools, forced to serve a Sith Lord who never had their best interests at heart. Who did not care whether they lived or died, only that they did what he wanted. And there was so many of them.
Without a word, Ahsoka then holds her lightsaber up in her hand to where she could see it more clearly: the silver hilt was obscured in a thin layer of dust from all of the action it just saw. Her shoto blade was long since gone at this point, never to be found again. Ahsoka looks more closely at her lightsaber, the blade that had been by her side through everything. Within the hilt she could feel the dull warmth of her kyber crystal, though the feeling was faint, as if it too could sense her despair. As she focused more on the crystal, her mind inevitably turned to thoughts of the one she loved, whose presence also had a subtle influence within her crystal.
Jarik... her beloved. Her everything.
Ahsoka nearly lost her composure then and there, overwhelmed by the fear and tremendous grief she was feeling. But the presence of Jarik, faint within her kyber crystal, kept her calm. He was still alive, out there in the galaxy somewhere after the storm that had befallen them, most likely searching for her right now. But could they ever find each other now? The galaxy was extensively vast, and if they tried to reach out to each other they would both surely be captured by whatever power base Darth Sidious had now established. Ahsoka grips the saber tightly in her hands, holding onto the blade she could always count on, even through the toughest of times... But not this time.
Maul was right: the Jedi could not defeat Sidious. The only way to survive now, in a Sith-ruled galaxy, was to abandon everything she knew.
With trembling fingers, Ahsoka painstakingly lowers her hand until her lightsaber falls to the ground, hitting the dirt with a clink of metal. She lifts her head up to gaze one last time at all of the graves in front of her, a horrific reminder that everything she knew was now gone.
And then she cried.
MANY MONTHS LATER...
Caduto moon - Mid Rim
Across the northern hemisphere of Caduto moon, a blizzard raged, the sun obscured by gray clouds.
The barren landscape of the rocky moon served as the resting place of an old wreck, which had crashed down on the surface over eight months ago. Since then, a heavy lower of snow had gently fallen over it, obscuring much of the destruction under a blanket of white. Despite being long-since abandoned, the crash site was now being disturbed by a large search party.
Newly commissioned stormtroopers of the Galactic Empire—and their snowtrooper sub-variants—investigated the crash site, searching for any signs of life. Probe droids assisted in the search, though they often came up with nothing of value. A pair of stormtroopers, one of them the captain overseeing the search team, stood in the snow-covered landscape, watching as dozens of other stormtroopers and probe droids scoured the wreckage, some pausing to take samples. At the sound of heavy breathing, they turned around to see the Emperor's enforcer, a frightening individual clad in black armor and a cape, strode past them.
His breathing echoes through the air, cold, foreboding, more sounding machine-like than human. The Shadow comes to a stop before the wreckage of a Venator-class Star Destroyer, it and the landscape covered in snow. He looks around, his breathing a constant sound aside from the whistle of the wind as he takes notice of the few helmets propped up on rusted metal pipes.
Many of them bore orange and white markings... her markings.
The Sun trudged through the snow, the bright and clear skies giving way for the shine of Caduto's bright celestial object, and a bright blue sky.
Snowstorms had paused recently as the moon's season of winter drew to a close, the first signs of spring revealing themselves. The snow glistened a blinding white, and the Sun eventually came to a stop before the wreckage of a Venator-class Star Destroyer, which was still covered in snow. Wrapped up in his cloak to keep out the icy chill, he looked around at the once-more abandoned crash site with a heavy heart, his eyes filled with emotion and sadness. There were a few clone helmets still scattered around the plains, most of them buried in the snow.
Many of them bore orange and white markings... Moon's markings.
Spotting something in the snow at his feet, the Shadow crouches down to get a better look; reaching out with his gloved hand, he grabs the small object and stands to his feet, looking down at it with recognition.
With his other hand he tenderly brushes away some of the snow clinging to the hilt of the lightsaber... her lightsaber. Gripping the saber with both of his hands now, he ignites it, watching as the shimmering green blade shot out of the hilt, humming with energy. He gazes intently at the blade, thinking about the many times he went into battle with its wielder fighting loyally by his side. The long, whistling cry of a bird permeates the air, and he lowers the saber to look up at the sky. In the air he could see a bird soaring away far in the distance, its cry pulling at his soul.
The Shadow watches the bird with blue eyes, almost feeling her presence through the Force, no more than a whisper. He looks back down at the lightsaber with yellow eyes, breathing through his helmet.
Spotting something in the snow at his feet, the Sun crouches down to get a better look; reaching out with his hand, he brushes away some of the snow, recognizing it to be an old clone trooper helmet, sporting a faded Republic sigil.
Taking Moon's recently recovered lightsaber into his hands, he looks down at the silver hilt, its usual shine still tarnished by the effect of the elements beating down on it for the months it was buried here. The long, whistling cry of a bird permeates the air, and he raises his head to look up at the sky. In the air he could see a familiar bird circling nearby, its cry pulling at his soul. He struggles not to shed any tears as he's overcome by emotion, knowing now with absolute certainty that this is the place where his beloved fought for her life against the troopers she called friends.
The Sun watches the bird with teary eyes, able to feel Moon's presence through the Force, longing to be with him. He looks back down at the fallen trooper's helmet, lightly touching the Republic sigil with his free hand.
The Shadow pondered for a moment, still staring at her lightsaber. Was all of this his fault? Could it have been different if he had taken a different path?
No. There is only one path ahead of him. Anakin Skywalker made his choice, and he chose poorly. He would not make the same mistakes that the Jedi Knight did. But perhaps, he could use this lightsaber: the lightsaber that was returned to Skywalker's apprentice before his depature—returned by Jarik Shan. The Shadow deactivates the lightsaber with a new goal in mind, not even acknowledging the helmets lying in the snow all around him as he turns away. The soldiers who wore them had served their purpose, loyal to the end, but they were of no concern now in the New Order.
The shattered visor of one helmet saw the Shadow walking away, leaving behind the memories and attachments of his old life. They mean nothing anymore and, like the identity of Skywalker, his memories would be left behind.
The Sun closed his eyes tightly, grieving over the countless soldiers lost as victims to the cruelty of the Emperor, used as nothing more than tools for him.
Sensing the faint presence of the Moon, he looks back down at her lightsaber, focusing more on the kyber crystal within the silver hilt which gleamed in the light of the sunny day. It hummed with familiar energy, just as anxious to be with her as he was. Aside from the thoughts of her, he also thought about one of the greatest pains of all in the loss of a friend, who forsook all ties with him and the others... even his beloved... in his turn to the dark side. If Moon was to ever learn about what happened to him... it would break her heart as well.
Gripping her lightsaber tightly in his hand, he lowers his head to hide the tears spilling from his eyes as he grieves once more. The chilly wind blew all over, chillingly cold even with his cloak wrapped around him, and he laid his hand fully on the helmet of the clone trooper, who was now resting with all of his brothers, their duty to the Republic finished.
And then he cried.
