Chapter 7 - Defending the Lurmen

DISCLAIMER: We do not own Star Wars or any of the characters in it, though we wish we did. xD

Author's Note: The second arc ends in this chapter! :)

In which Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Ahsoka work together before parting ways...

~ Amina Gila

Ahsoka is still annoyed, but she understands the Jedi's concerns. She doesn't want to get captured by the Republic any more than they do by the Separatists. Worse, she wouldn't be able to fight her way out.

Would they seriously try that new weapon on the villagers? Truthfully, she wouldn't entirely put it past them to do it. The extremes the Separatists go to sometimes in an attempt to win are not always things she likes. Not that that makes the Republic righteous or anything, but still. That's beyond awful. Even Sith don't believe in killing people unless it's absolutely necessary, at least that's always how Dooku taught her. And she's found it's rarely ever necessary.

"There's a lifeform approaching," she hears a battle droid saying right before she steps out from between the towering grass.

"She looks like a Jedi," one of the other battle droids squawks suddenly, eyes apparently falling on the lightsabers at her waist. Seriously, those droids are so stupid sometimes.

"First of all, I'm not a Jedi," Ahsoka snaps, "Secondly, take me to your commander." Hopefully, he isn't another dimwitted droid.

They look at each other in confusion but let her past to their general where he sits atop one of the tanks.

"I am General Lok Durd," the Neimoidian announces haughtily, "Who are you?"

"Personal assassin of Count Dooku," she replies, "I crashed here during the recent battle. What are you doing here?"

"We're testing weapons," he responds, "On a planet like this, there's no chance of the Republic figuring out what's going on before we can ensure it works."

"So, you're planning to leave soon?" she queries, "I saw you testing the weapon early."

Lok Durd shakes his head. "Dooku wants to see how effective the weapon will be against living targets." Ahsoka frowns. The Jedi are right, then. They seriously are planning to target the village. She was hoping they'd consider the grass and trees, and the animals in that area. Apparently not. Is he insane?

"And what living targets would those be?"

"The nearby village of course," he waves his hand casually like what he's planning to do has no more importance than squashing a fly.

"Excuse me?" Ahsoka exclaims, "They have nothing to do with the war. They're neutral. You can't hurt them. Wasn't the destruction out there enough?" She simply does not approve of senseless killing, and that's exactly what this is. It would be one thing if they were people who actually posed a threat, but these are harmless citizens who don't care to join either side of the war.

"This weapon must be tested. If you have any complaints, take them to Dooku himself," Lok Durd replies disinterestedly.

Fine. Then as ridiculous as this is, she's going to have to team up with Anakin and Obi-Wan since she has no intention of letting the entire village be pointlessly slaughtered like that. To think that this mission was going to end with her working together with Jedi.

Whatever happens, she'll have to make sure the news of this doesn't reach back to Dooku. If he really ordered this, he's going to be less than pleased that she interfered, even if she does have a very good argument to back up her actions. He might understand... probably.

Ahsoka takes off running through the grass again, to where the others are waiting for her. Before she's even halfway there, she can hear a quiet humming sound behind her. Throwing a glance over her shoulder, she catches sight of a probe droid moving silently through the grass behind her.

What? Why is that thing following her?! They know she's a fellow Separatist and still they don't trust her? Of course not. She was only ever just an assassin. But still, since she's on the same side, shouldn't they at least have the courtesy of giving her a little respect?

Whipping out one of her lightsabers, she spins around as the red blade activates. Lunging forwards, she neatly slices the probe droid in half. The sparking pieces fall to the dirt at her feet. So, what if that makes them suspicious? They had no right to chase her around. Once she leaves, she will definitely be having a serious talk with Dooku about this person. Why do those Jedi seem to trust her more than the people who are supposed to be on her side?

"What did you find out?" Anakin is the first to greet her, standing up as she approaches. It's still daytime, but the sun will be setting soon. Ahsoka guesses there's only about one more hour before night falls.

"They're planning to use it on the village," Ahsoka answers, climbing up next to them. Artoo beeps, rocking back and forth.

"Just as I expected," Obi-Wan murmurs gravely.

"We have to stop them," Anakin declares.

"Well," Ahsoka says slowly, choosing her words with care, "I'll help you... on the condition you let me go back to Dooku when we're done." She has nowhere else to go, really. Though there's some deranged part of her that almost doesn't want to leave these two.

"Fine," agrees Obi-Wan, exchanging a glance with his former padawan, who nods ns agreement. "It's reasonable enough."

"First we'll take out the droids' communication station. After we get a shuttle, we'll go back and help them," decides Anakin.

"Sounds like a good plan," Ahsoka agrees. "Let's hope the villagers won't be upset that we're still hanging around."

They wait until the darkness of night has settled over the surface of the planet before climbing down the tree and creeping towards the ship's encampment. They crouch down in the grass, careful to stay out of sight of the sweeping spotlight atop the makeshift wall of the base. Ahsoka can hardly believe they're really doing this. She's literally about to attack her own forces, but then again, for once in her life, she knows she's doing the right thing, even if her master will be upset at her. It almost makes her wonder what it would be like to work on her own without being on anyone's side. Not like that's possible, but still...

As two of the spotlights sweep outwards, Ahsoka and Obi-Wan dart between the two, pausing in the middle until they start sweeping back towards the pair. They dash over to the wall, standing up against it. Obi-Wan insisted that he and Ahsoka should be the ones to do this part, because he claimed Anakin knows nothing about stealth. Ahsoka kind of agrees.

The two of them step back against the wall as the lights start sweeping towards them. Right at the outskirts of the encampment, Ahsoka senses Anakin reaching out with the Force. He pulls a rock towards him, drawing the attention of the droids. Stifling a laugh at the droids' complete confusion over the mysteriously moving rock they're chasing, Ahsoka instantly starts scampering up the wall. She jumps from pole to pole, back and forth until she reaches the top and swings herself over, landing softer than a breeze. She senses Obi-Wan landing behind her, before he heads a different direction.

Ahsoka ducks behind some crates taking shelter as some droids walk past. It's probably a good thing she's so used to sneaking through places undetected, or this would be a lot harder. There, the door Anakin needs to come through is up ahead. She ducks out from behind the crates and runs forwards, slicing through the patrolling battle droids before running to the controls by the door, pushing the button for it to open.

Darting away, Ahsoka continues destroying droids near the ship so they can get through undetected. As soon as she and Obi-Wan finish, the two of them sprint for the shuttle, arriving as Anakin cuts down the last one standing at the controls.

"Look, they have shield generators," Obi-Wan informs the others, pointing outwards the two large objects hovering alone on the platform.

Anakin glances over at them. "Good. Let's take them with us."

**w**

The sun is rising again as they land the shuttle near the village. After having landed a distance off, they'd spent the night watching for any signs of movements from the Separatist camp before coming. Anakin is honestly a little surprised Ahsoka agreed so readily to help them, but it really proves what he had been wondering. She is a lot lighter, especially now. He only hopes they've proven that Jedi aren't nearly as horrible as Ahsoka seems to think.

"They will not be pleased that we returned," Obi-Wan remarks as the three of them walk down the ramp.

"At least we have the shield generators," Anakin points out, "Since other than that we'll probably be protecting them alone."

"I don't get their refusal to fight," Ahsoka grumbles.

"Sometimes, it takes courage to stick to one's beliefs," Obi-Wan points out.

"Yes, but there's a difference between a pacifist and being a doormat," the Togruta replies. Yes, exactly. But regardless, they'll defend the villagers whether they have to do it alone and without their permission or not. Anakin's not going to stand by and watch as they're destroyed.

The leader of the village comes out to greet them, followed by several others of the Lurmen. "Everyone," Obi-Wan calls, catching the attention of the bystanders. "The Separatists will be here in moments."

"What are you doing here? We told you not to return!" the leader retorts, his displeasure obvious.

"I'm afraid the Separatists don't care if you're in the war or not. We need to get you to safety before they arrive," Anakin insists, stepping forwards. He highly doubts they're going to agree, but it's worth a try.

"We will not abandon our homes," the Lumen responds stubbornly.

"But they've got a new weapon," Ahsoka protests, "It'll burn this place to a crisp. Is that what all of you really want?!"

"If it is our destiny to be destroyed in your war, so be it," the leader replies with finality, turning and stalking back towards the village.

"Well, time to get to work," Anakin decides. They're not going to stand by and watch. He doesn't understand how the villagers can have such a casual reaction to the thought of being killed, but at least they brought the shield generators. He already suspected they'd refuse to leave.

Not long later, the shield generators are put in place and they're using the Force to position large objects around the village to block any stray blaster bolts from the droids Anakin is certain will be sent here. It's going surprisingly fast, which he's grateful for. It would not be good for the Separatists to be coming here before they're ready.

Ahsoka jumps to the top of the makeshift wall, scanning the horizon with the macro-binoculars Anakin had given her earlier to keep watch. "They're getting into position," she reports.

"Halt!" an angry voice yells from behind them. Anakin turns to see the leader stalking up to them. "Pray stop what you're doing. Stop building that wall," he orders, "I did not ask you to defend us."

"This battle is inevitable. You can stand by your beliefs, but let us stand by ours," Anakin retorts. He's not about to stand by and let everything happen, no matter what the villagers have to say about it.

The leader scowls but doesn't reply as he heads back to the village.

"Thank you for what you're trying to do," one of the younger Lumen says, approaching them, "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."

"Now they're getting ready to fire," Ahsoka informs, hopping off the wall to join them.

"Time to power the shields," Obi-Wan calls, firing the one he's standing by. Anakin runs to the other, hitting a few buttons until the screen lights.

The energy beams shoot upwards, intertwining with each other to spread over the village. A bluish-purple film of energy encloses it. The earth trembles as the bomb hits the ground safely outside. The flames race across the prairie, burning more fiercely at the area stopped by the impenetrable shield.

All the villagers stop what they're doing, watching with expressions ranging from curiosity to worry.

Slowly, the fire begins to die out.

"Now they'll have to get their hands dirty and meet us face-to-face," Anakin smirks. In between the parts of the wall, they can see long lines of battle droids, mixed with a few super battle droids, marching towards them. Just as expected.

"That's a lot of droids," Ahsoka observes, sounding slightly anxious.

"We've got to stop them before they get through that shield," Anakin declares, starting forwards. He reaches out for it to make sure it's penetrable, which it is. He steps through in front, Obi-Wan on his left and Ahsoka on his right. The sounds of four lightsabers igniting in unison split the air, followed almost instantly by the firing of battle droids.

Anakin and Obi-Wan reach the droids first, cutting down the first few as they deflect the bolts back at the oncoming army. Ahsoka leaps through the air, her blades spinning through several of the droids, beheading them as she hits the ground. She deflects a few blaster bolts, then charges at them, easily ducking beneath their shots and cutting them in half. For being a Separatist, she sure does seem rather happy to be destroying her own forces.

Many of the blaster bolts the droids are shooting fly past them, bouncing off the shields protecting the village. Ripples surround the places the blasts hit and expand outwards, but none of them are strong enough to do any real damage.

Anakin continues cutting through the droids, deflecting a few blaster bolts every now and then. The three make quick work of the droids, and minutes later, Anakin cuts through the last one before standing up to look at the others.

"That wasn't so tough," Ahsoka declares, glancing around at the battlefield as the last of the droids collapses in pieces to the ground, "No wonder the Republic wins so many battles." They do?

"I do hope you aren't planning to use this experience as a way to improve the Separatist army," Obi-Wan remarks.

The Togruta waves a hand. "Nah. I already talked to Dooku about it, and he said it would cost too much." Thank the Force. Anakin can hardly believe they're actually having this conversation. Maybe they've all gone crazy over the past few days.

"That group was only the first wave," Anakin points out, turning back towards where he can see the tanks – including the one with the weapon – in the distance. The next group of droids, at least twice as large, starts heading for them. Anakin almost wishes they'd brought some of the clones here. It's probably better they didn't but it would make the fight much easier. There's no way they'll be able to stop all those droids from getting through on time. Doesn't mean it's not worth a try.

The trio run forwards, meeting the droids halfway. The four lightsabers spin in unison, cutting through the middle of the group of droids. There are way too many, even now. The ones on the side of the group passed them already, heading for the Lumen.

"Someone needs to defend the village," Anakin calls, spinning his lightsaber to deflect a few more shots before cutting through an advancing super battle droid. There are too many droids, and the three of them alone can't stop all of them from reaching the village. There's already a few that have gotten past them, heading straight for the wall behind. Good thing they built it. At the very least, it will slow them down a bit.

"I'll take care of it," Ahsoka yells, Force-leaping backwards, chopping through a few more droids before sprinting back to the shield. The first few battle droids are about to get through.

Anakin and Obi-Wan continue to press forwards, cutting through the droids as fast as possible, but more clankers are still making it past. Ahsoka moves forwards, cutting through a couple of the super battle droids at the back of the droid's ranks.

An explosion suddenly shakes the ground behind them. Glancing over his shoulder, he realizes they just shot through part of the barrier and are now advancing into the village.

"This isn't working," he calls to Obi-Wan. "I'll go disable the weapon. Help Ahsoka defend the village." In moments, the shield generators could be destroyed. Ahsoka is in there, but there's only so much she can do alone. As soon as the shields are down, the Separatists will be preparing to fire. No need to push it.

Anakin breaks into a run, heading for the tank. He calls on the Force to increase his speed across the now-burned grasses. There are a few more explosions behind him, and then the shield covering the village slowly dissipates into nothing. Both generators have been destroyed. He's running out of time.

Danger flares through the Force and Anakin leaps out of the way as one of the tanks fires. A few steps closer, and another shot tears through the ground right next to him. He jumps aside again, ignoring the smoke billowing off the now indented ground. Anakin keeps running.

It doesn't take long before the tank comes into view. A few droids are standing in front of the weapon to guard it, two super battle droids in the very front. He cuts one in half and de-arms the other without stopping his pace, finally jumping onto the tank as the end of it starts raising to fire.

He slashes his lightsaber across the top of the tank, then cuts off the end of the cannon. It crashes to the ground, the explosive rolling out harmlessly. He rips the battle droid out with the Force, cutting it in half as the Separatist General jumps out of the tank and tries to take off. Not happening.

Anakin lifts the fleeing Separatist into the air with the Force, deactivating his lightsaber. "The weapon has been disabled," he informs Obi-Wan over his comm.

"Good," Obi-Wan replies, "We've about finished up back here."

"I'm on the way back," Anakin answers, cutting the connection. He still has a hard time believing this. Working with Ahsoka seemed to go smoothly, definitely better than if they'd been opposing each other. For some reason, he gets the feeling this won't be the last time they help one another either.

He heads back to the village with the Separatist leader to see Ahsoka and Obi-Wan cutting through the last of the droids that the Lurmens had knocked over.

"Thank you, Wag Too," Ahsoka says to the leader's son.

"Thank you," he replies, "Our village would certainly have been destroyed without your protection." From behind him, his father approaches. "Father, I was just offering the Jedi our thanks," he adds.

"Perhaps we do owe you thanks, but I still wonder, at what cost?" the leader responds, his eyes turning skywards. Anakin follows his gaze to see Republic cruisers flying overhead.

"Long past time," Obi-Wan quips.

"Well in that case, it's time for me to go," Ahsoka decides, hurrying to the ramp of the stolen Separatist shuttle.

"See you on the battlefield!" Anakin calls, smiling as the ramp closes.