Crystal Caves, Temple Island; Ahch-To
Jarik POV...
"I can't believe we didn't think of this," I groan angrily, smacking myself on the head.
"Yeah, we're idiots," Mara adds with a glum expression.
R5 however is chortling in amusement, shaking a little from how amused he was. I turn on him with a glaring frown, raising an eyebrow at him. "Oh you actually think this is funny?"
He beeps back a taunting reply, and I step towards him intimidatingly.
"Well how about I leave you at the mercy of Zenna for the day?" I threaten him.
He stills, turning his dome to look over at Zenna. At the sound of her name Zenna perked up, and as if understanding the conversation, narrowed her dragonic gaze on R5, growling at him. The two were on respectable terms but still shared a common dislike of each other, R5 mostly finding him annoying while Zenna was wary and suspicious of something so strange. He quickly beeps back at us apologetically, and I grin smugly at him.
"That's what I thought," I state triumphantly.
Elita One was kneeling on the ground beside the entrance into the cave, analyzing it with a critical gaze.
"How small do these tunnels get?" she asks.
"That entrance is the smallest on average, with several stalagmites every so often, or outcroppings of rock," I answer.
"Well that's good. I think I can fit through this if I get small enough," she comments.
Mara and I both glance at each other with puzzled frowns, looking back in her direction.
"How?" Mara asks.
"Like this," Elita replies with a grin.
Right before our very eyes, and stunning us to the core, Elita begins... changing shape! Parts of her armor all over begin shifting and moving around, collapsing and sliding together like the pieces of a large, 3D puzzle. All of us, including R5 and even Zenna, are gaping at the sight as her entire body folds into some sort of sleek vehicle as some sort of car. Whatever type of vehicle she is I have no idea, but... how is that even possible? She revs whatever engine she has and rolls a little closer to the entrance, stopping before it.
"It's a close fit, but I might need some help getting through," she comments casually.
We all stand there in stunned silence, which Elita finally realizes after a few moments of quiet. If she were still in her robot form she'd probably be looking at us in confusion. "What?"
"You... you just transformed into a car..." Mara trails off dumbly.
"Yeah... and?" she asks.
"How... how did you do that?" I ask in bewilderment.
"All Cybertronians can transform, it's a part of who we are," she remarks. "Did you not know that or something?"
"Clearly not!" Mara exclaims incredulously.
"I thought you knew about my species before?" Elita asks, voice filled with confusion.
"Well yeah, but we never realized your species was capable of transforming into kriffing vehicles," I explain dumbly, shaking my head. "Clearly Satele forgot to mention that... you know what, forget it. Let's just get you out of the tunnels."
Zenna growls in a way of showing her bewilderment, confusion and wariness, and R5 beeps slowly in shock, before turning towards me with a questioning beep. I frown back at him in exasperation and annoyance.
"No, I don't know how to give you something to transform yourself!" I sigh irritably. "And even if I didn't I wouldn't give you that."
R5 beeps angrily, entering his own sort of pout. Mara and I ignore him, knowing him well enough to know that he would get over it quickly.
"Is this form small enough to get through the tunnels?" Elita asks us.
"I think so, but there are still other parts that are a bit skinny," I tell her.
"Are we gonna have to cut some of the walls up?" Mara asks, not too eager about the idea.
"If I need to I can compact myself down a little bit more," Elita offers.
"Seriously?" Mara replies.
"I'm able too, but it isn't very comfortable," she admits in reply.
"I guess you'll have to try it, at least during spots like this," I advise her, gesturing towards the cave entrance here.
"Very well. I'll give it a try," she states.
Elita then begins to compress herself, the metal armor of her vehicle mode contracting and shifting so that it was more mashed together, and making her vehicle mode thinner, and not as wide as before. However the effort was visible even to us, and due to how some of her parts were not connected or as sleek as they are in her regular vehicle mode, it's easy to tell that this isn't the normal look. Not only that, we could also sense a little bit of discomfort from her due to it.
Backing herself up a little, Elita slowly drives through the entrance and into the tunnels, just barely scraping along the edge of the walls. Once she's through, she immediately falls back into her proper vehicle form with a heavy clank, and lets out the equivalent of an exhausted sigh.
"That is some serious scrap," she comments.
I walk through the entrance after her to exit the cave with Mara swiftly joining me, and the other two followed as well although they stayed a little bit further back. I look down the glittering tunnel of kyber crystals, and Elita flips on some lights on the front of her vehicle to light up the direction in front of her.
"Oh scrap, I've gotta fix this," she suddenly says.
"Fix what?" I ask her.
"When you revived me, my signal beacon began to transmit," she states, and after a few moments she replies with content. "I shut it off now."
"Should we worry about the beacon?" Mara asks.
"I don't believe so. Cybertron is too far away from here for many to notice the beacon, and I would assume the war is still going on, so that takes up much of their attention," Elita reassures us.
"I don't see how the war on Cybertron would've lasted that long," I remark doubtfully.
"Trust me, it is," she says with a sad sigh. "The war started 400,000 years ago."
"What?!" Mara exclaims in disbelief, voicing my shock. "400,000 years of war?!"
"And I thought three years of the Clone Wars was bad..." I mutter incredulously.
"We have very long life spans, the oldest of our race capable of reaching over several million years," she explains, and if it was possible our eyes would be even wider. "So major issues will occur for a long time."
"And... how old are you?" Mara asks.
Elita was silent for a moment before replying. "705,632 years old."
"Oh kriff it all," I say in exasperation, throwing my hands up into the air. It's mainly just a way of expressing my bewilderment at how crazy all of this is. "And I thought Master Yoda was old!"
"I guess when you're made of metal..." Mara trails off dumbly, at a loss of what to say.
"Well, I guess we'll lead you out then," I remark.
"Sounds good," Elita replies.
For the next half an hour, Mara and I both help to direct her out of the long and winding tunnels. Sometimes when we came across a space that was too small, Elita would be able to compact herself down like before and squeeze through, lightly scraping against the wall. However in some other areas, the stalagmites or rock from the wall stuck out to far for that to be possible.
"I don't think I can fit through this part," Elita admits.
I analyze the rock for a few moments before nodding to myself. Luckily there aren't any Kyber crystals here, so we wouldn't be wasting any or causing damage if I slice through it.
"Ok. Back up a little bit," I tell her.
I can sense her confusion, but she does so anyways. Pulling out my lightsaber I activate the sapphire blade, causing Elita to gasp quietly in surprise. I bring the blade down against the base of the rock spike, and slowly cut through it, letting it collapse against the ground. Turning my lightsaber back off, I pick up the broken rock and move it off to the side, out of the way.
"What is that?" Elita asks.
"A lightsaber, the weapon of a Jedi or Sith," I reply.
"And they are powered by the crystals?" she deduces.
"Yeah. Kyber crystals," Mara says, gesturing at the cave walls.
"So they did get the crystals to work..." she murmurs. "How does a lightsaber connect to the energy source?"
"When building our lightsabers, we have to bring out the Force within the crystal in order for it to work for us," I explain.
"Each Jedi makes their own lightsaber?" she notices.
"Yeah, we have to find the crystal that connects with us, otherwise it won't accept it," I tell her.
"A very interesting concept," she muses.
With Elita One's curiosity about lightsabers satisfied for the moment, we continue onwards to the cave exit, occasionally cutting off bits of the wall so that she could roll through them. Not much later we reach the exit to the crystal caves, and enter the large mirror cave.
As soon as she's out of the small tunnel, Elita transforms back into her robot form, startling us. R5 beeps in surprise, and we back up in insinctively as she stands to her feet, stretching her limbs with a sigh of content.
"Oh that's good," she says happily.
"Does turning into a vehicle... make you feel cramped or sore all the time?" Mara asks.
"Not usually, but if I stay in my alt-mode too long or when I have to force myself to go even smaller, it can cause issues," she replies.
"Doesn't seem very comfortable at all," I remark, crossing my arms.
"Transformation has always been a part of us," she says. "We have an organ known as a t-cog that lets us do it."
"Huh," I comment in response.
"So where's the exit to this place?" Elita asks curiously.
"It's just through here, but it'll be difficult to get out of," I tell her, gesturing towards the dark side cave that holds the entrance hole.
She walks over in the direction I gestured to, her footsteps like thundering stomps for us. Ducking underneath the archway, she comes to a stop before the underground lake and then looks up at the hole, her expression falling.
"Scrap. That's impossible for me to fit through," she says.
I look up at the hole as well, quickly agreeing with her analysis.
"Yeah that isn't gonna fit," I say in agreement.
"Why not cut a bigger hole?" Mara suggests.
"And risk collapsing the cave?" I reply doubtfully. "The weather and ocean have never been polite to the ground up there."
"I think I'd have to agree," Elita adds.
"So then you're trapped down here," Mara says glumly.
"There might be another way out," she replies.
"Where?" I ask with a confused frown.
She takes a heavy step forwards and then kneels before the deep lake, looking down into it with a thoughtful gaze.
"This area has changed, so I'm not too familiar with it, but this lake should have a tunnel underneath it connecting to the ocean outside," she says.
"Learn something new everyday I guess," Mara comments.
"I guess we never bothered with this lake enough to know about it," I tell her with a shrug. "Would you be able to fit through it?"
She raises one of her arms, and a small section of her armor slides back, allowing her to project a hologram of sorts, the hologram shows the cave we're in, and how deep the water goes. Near the bottom of the lake was an opening, which became a tunnel, leading out and towards the ocean just a little ways from the island.
"Yeah I believe so. It'll be a tight fit, but I can get through," she confirms with a nod.
"I'm guessing you don't need air to breathe," Mara says rhetorically.
"Nope, we don't require gases to survive. Cybertron is completely made of metal down to the core, so no gases needed by organic creatures are possible there," she explains.
"Alright, well, we'll see you up top," I tell her.
"Hopefully," she replies.
Getting back to her feet, Elita steps forwards and then hops into the water, quickly sinking beneath the surface and out of sight. We watch her go for a moment before looking back up at the entrance.
"This might be the strangest encounter I've had so far," Mara states.
"It's definitely up there for me," I reply in agreement. "Let's head back up."
With that being said, Mara quickly mounts Zenna, who was still standing with us, and I climb up after her. R5 activates his booster rockets and shoots up through the hole and into the sunlight. Zenna spreads her wings and takes flight, rising up through the hole herself.
Rebel Base; Atollon
Shaak-Ti POV...
"Unfortunately the wound caused by the lightsaber struck through your lower abdomen, and destroyed a part of your spinal cord," the doctor says grimly. "We've tried our best to heal it, but, it's unlikely that you will be able to walk again."
I look down at my legs sadly, letting out a quiet sigh at the knowledge. However I dismiss him with a simple nod, understanding that the medical officers did their best.
"I understand doctor. Thank you," I tell him with a small smile.
He nods in understanding and then turns away to leave. A few moments after leaving, Kanan and Hera both enter the room, the latter gazing at me sympathetically.
"How're you feeling?" she asks.
"I'm doing alright," I reassure her. "It could be worse."
"It shouldn't have happened in the first place," Kanan says with a frown.
"It's unfortunate, but these things happen whether we like it or not. We just have to learn to move on past them," I advise. "I was admittedly getting close to passing my prime anyways."
"Sounds like good advise," Hera remarks.
"Well she isn't a Jedi Master for nothing," Kanan adds.
I quietly chuckle in amusement. "I suppose that is true Kanan."
"Have you come to a decision on what you'll be doing after this?" Hera asks.
"My options are limited due to my physical limitations now," I say grimly. "But I believe I can be of some help to the growing Rebellion wherever I'm needed."
"Any ideas?" she asks.
"Perhaps with overseeing your new recruits if they require training," I suggest.
"That might be tough Master, and I'm not sure how to go about that," Kanan admits.
"I was a supervisor for Clone cadets back on Kamino during the Clone Wars," I inform them. "I do have good knowledge on the skills and strategies that rebel soldiers can include in their operations."
Hera glances at Kanan who, despite the mask covering his eyes, I can tell is looking thoughtful. He then nods in agreement.
"I think that can work out Master. Some of our men definitely need to improve their battle skills," he says.
"I'll let Commander Sato know about the offer," Hera says.
She leaves the hospital wing after that, leaving just me and Kanan.
"Back on Naboo, Jarik mentioned that he helped to start the Rebellion," I recall with interest.
"He sure did Master," he replies with a small chuckle. "He worked with Senator Organa and Ahsoka in setting the Rebellion in place. Then he and Ahsoka took over with running the intelligence networks, creating the Fulcrum Agency. They provided intel to several rebel cells including the one I was with, and for a while we never even knew it was them."
"Ahsoka helps him as well?" I notice him say.
As soon as I ask that he instantly stills, and a sense of sadness comes over him.
"Jarik didn't want to mention Ahsoka when I asked... do you know what happened?" I question with a frown, concerned.
After a few moments of silence he sighs sadly, glancing downwards.
"Almost a year ago, Ezra and I went with them on a mission to find a way to defeat the Sith. We had received some advise from Master Yoda about the mission," he starts to say.
"So Master Yoda is alive," I state hopefully.
"He is, but he didn't actually come to us in person, just through the Force in an old Jedi Temple," he explains, continuing on. "Anyways, for this mission he advised us to travel to... to Malachor."
"Malachor?" I ask in alarm. "But that planet is off limits. No Jedi has been there for thousands of years!"
"It is, but he still advised us to go there. We traveled hoping to find a way to defeat the Sith," he explains, faltering for a moment. "But the Empire's Inquisitors found us, forcing us to fight them off. But it all went downhill when Vader arrived."
I listen intently, realizing what happened with grim horror as he finished the story.
"Ahsoka didn't make it... and stayed behind to buy us time while we left," he finished sadly.
I remain quiet for a while, mulling it over in my head. I sigh sadly in regret as I realize now why Jarik was so stiff on the subject of Ahsoka. She's now passed on into the Force, having been killed by her former Master no less. If only I could have met her beforehand, and tried to right all of the wrongs against her...
"I'm very sorry to hear that," I murmur sadly, shutting my eyes in an attempt to push back the small tears and regain control of my emotions. "Ahsoka was a wonderful Jedi... better than most of us ever realized. We were wrong to expel her... but now it's too late to apologize."
"We never heard a word from Jarik and Mara since," Kanan says. "I can only imagine it was really hard on them."
"Mara?" I ask.
"She's their daughter. Adopted," he quickly adds after seeing my eyes widen. "They've trained her as a Jedi as well."
"A daughter..." I murmur to myself, yet at the same time finding myself not too surprised. "How close were Jarik and Ahsoka?"
He hesitates for a few moments before sighing, almost guiltily. "They... they were married, Master."
I slowly nod my head, unable to find myself frowning at the words. In fact I was quite the opposite, and upon noticing Kanan's feelings I turned to him questioningly.
"Why do you seem uncomfortable?" I ask him. He lets out another sigh.
"I-I'm just not sure about the idea of their marriage," he admits. "I'm happy for them, but I still can't help but feel it wasn't right. Aren't you not fond of the idea?"
"I might've felt that way about attachments once," I agree with a nod. "But now, after everything that's happened... I don't see it as such a bad thing anymore."
"I guess so," he replies thoughtfully.
"If Jarik has an adopted daughter, then I believe that to be for the better," I comment. "His Force-bond with Ahsoka was very strong, and the thought of losing it always terrified him. He'll need comfort in his life to remain strong."
3rd person POV...
Ezra's time off from missions was almost over, and since then he was extremely tempted to open up the Sith holocron. Every time he passes it in his room it would glow red underneath he helmet, enticing him to open it. And despite his hesitancy and fear of what might happen, considering Jarik's rage, he was still tempted to do so.
Picking the holocron up from underneath the helmet, he holds it up and allows the top to swivel open. The familiar voice of the Lord of Betrayal, the Presence of the holocron speaks, but he shivers slight from it.
"You have been avoiding my advice for some time," she immediately says.
"Things were a little hectic," he answers. "But... I don't know if I can really focus on Jarik as a possible enemy."
"You must be cautious of the Shan's! They are unpredictable," she hisses.
"I get that, and I can see how he is unbalanced, but when I confronted him he was so angry... and full of emotional anguish," he replies, shuddering a little at the memory of Jarik's rage.
"That emotional turmoil is precisely why he is dangerous to you and your friends," she states. "You should not have confronted him so soon. You need to acquire more power!"
Ezra was still hesitant on the idea of confronting Jarik, partly out of fear, and partly because the event revealed a lot of his past, and he doesn't fully see Jarik as being dangerous to his friends anymore.
"If you say so,"he replies, although a little hesitant. "How can I get more powerful?"
The Lord of Betrayal eagerly begins to tell him more.
Kaon; Cybertron
3rd person POV...
Onslaught stepped into the throne room at the top of Megatron's citadel, having received a summons from him. As he approaches the throne, he takes notice of how Soundwave is standing there on one side, as well as Starscream, Thundercracker and Skywarp on the other. He frowns distastefully at Starscream, who was giving him an amused smirk in return.
The two have always battled each other for superiority in Megatron's favor, since the Seeker was the Decepticon's second-in-command, while Onslaught was a skilled tactician and battle planner. Most of Onslaught's annoyance isn't necessarily at him not being second-in-command, but is in fact because of how incompetent and untrustworthy Starscream was. He knows that he is a much better strategist than the Seeker, and is certainly not a coward, yet Starscream always takes any chance he gets to prove otherwise. And it infuriates Onslaught.
"You summoned me, Lord Megatron?" Onslaught says respectfully, kneeling before the throne.
"Ah, Onslaught. It has come to my attention that, you do have something to answer for," Megatron states.
Onslaught looks up warily in confusion. "I don't understand, my liege. I have been successful in my battle strategies for some time now."
"Tsk tsk tsk," Starscream chides, shaking his head with a smirk. "Oh, that is not why you have not been summoned. One of your operations in the distant past, has actually in fact turned out to be a failed one."
"You would know, or did you actually succeed in retaking the city of Kalis?" Onslaught retorts, standing back up.
Thundercracker and Skywarp both hide their chuckles of amusement. Starscream widens his optics before growling furiously, clenching his fists.
"You dare-"
"Silence!" Megatron snaps, glaring at Starscream. "You are not in command here Starscream, so do not act like it!"
"M-my apologies, master," he swiftly says, cowering submissively.
Onslaught allows himself a smug grin, but it quickly falls as Megatron turns his attention back to him, getting up from the throne.
"So tell me Onslaught, what exactly transpired when you offlined the Autobot Commander, Elita One?" he questions.
He frowns in confusion at the question. "I tracked her to a backwater world in the Andromeda galaxy six thousand years ago, and found her delivering our energon to organics. Me and my team ambushed her quickly, and by my very own hands she was no more. Why do you ask?"
"Because it would seem that Elita One, is not as far gone as it seems," Megatron states, gesturing towards Soundwave.
Soundwave shows Elita One's signal on his visor: the signal that he managed to catch before it was shut off and hidden, most likely in an attempt to keep her position secret. Onslaught widens his optics incredulously in disbelief.
"What?! That is not possible, I offlined her myself!" he exclaims in denial.
"And how exactly did you offline her then?" Megatron demands dangerously, glaring at him.
Onslaught falters for a moment. "I damaged her badly... and buried her beneath an entire mountain. B-but, she should've been crushed!"
Megatron's optics widen in rage, and he stomps forwards dangerously, causing Onslaught to back up nervously. "You never bothered to make sure that she truly was offline yourself, or that her spark was not FUNCTIONING!?"
Onslaught flinches at Megatron's yelling, while Starscream allows himself to smirk again. "Not as perceptive it would seem as you claim."
"Lord Megatron, I swear upon the Allspark, the Autobot could not have survived her wounds!" he protests in defense.
"Then you owe me a spark!" Megatron growls, pointing a finger at him. "If Optimus Prime so much as hears a word about her survival, then his morale, and that of his troops will increase! And this time, make sure she stays offline. PERMANENTLY!"
Wow, someone's upset! It's never fun for the con that invokes Megatron's wrath! But now Onslaught is coming back to finish the job...
Little bit of a short chapter this time, but things are quickly getting heated soon. Season 3 of Rebels starts next chapter! :D
[P.S.] Elita One's age is just a random number I came up with on the fly, that seemed relatively accurate to my timeline in my opinion. The War for Cybertron began approximately 400,000 BBY so that would place Elita at around 300,000 years old. Optimus and Megatron would be older, and other characters I'll just have at whatever. Although in my continuity Bumblebee was born around approximately 4,500 BBY.
Cybertronian ages are absurd. xD