Chapter: 17 The Battle of Manaan
"Attachment is human."
Invasion! After surviving the undersea dangers of Manaan, Anna and Elsa Dellian unraveled a Separatist conspiracy. Their discoveries led them to missing Padawan Nelani Trell and her master Toman Chaki. Once reunited, the group battled aqua droids and the Force-sensitive Quarren Ruger. In the chaos, his undersea lair was flooded. While our heroes managed to escape, they breached the surface to find Sino City under a full Separatist attack.
Elsa couldn't seem to escape the war. Diplomatic or search and rescue missions just weren't what they seemed anymore. She figured it was safe to assume Separatist involvement was almost certain in her future. As trident assault craft descended upon Sino City and its surrounding waters, the shrouded plan became unveiled. "It was all a ruse," Elsa said. "The supplies theft...the pollution. It was always about the kolto."
"And we all paid the price," Erik grieved. "Damn Separatists." His furrowed brows relaxed as a familiar ship came into view. "I'll be damned," he gasped and frantically reached for the sub's communicator. "Grimsby," he called. "Please tell me that's you driving the K9 and not some droid."
"Master Yelena and I are as dandy as they come!" Grimsby croaked. "My blood pressure is most likely a different story, but I'm so delighted to hear your voice." The K9 spun and lowered its ramp beside the sub. "Hurry and hop aboard before we get more droids on this ship!"
"That's our cue," Erik said.
"Goodbye awesome sub," Anna sighed and rubbed the dashboard. "I'll never forget your missiles."
Elsa helped usher Chaki and Nelani out of the upper hatch. "Watch your step," she warned. "You're next, cap'n." Erik chuckled at her remark and leapt outside. Elsa beckoned Anna to join them, but something kept her in place. "Anna? What are you doing?"
"Just hold on a second," Anna assured and leaned over the dashboard. She proceeded to grab the controls and turn the sub.
"Are you crazy?" Elsa snapped.
"Everyone brace!" Anna screamed and launched a missile. The violet-hued projectile shook the ship upon launch and skimmed across the water's surface. Anna aimed it directly towards a low-hovering trident ship and the missile struck one of its engines. The attack happened just as aqua droids were boarding with kolto from the sunken base. With those aboard destroyed in the blast, the survivors were forced to find another transport. "Okay," Anna said with a firm nod. "Now I'm coming. I figured I'd at least stop them from getting away."
"Did you even think about us?" Elsa asked angrily.
"Hey, I told everyone to brace." Anna assured until they heard Nelani calling for help above.
"Do you honestly think they heard you up there?" Elsa growled as the sisters rushed to ascend.
They exchanged the sub's claustrophobic darkness for a vast sunrise at sea. Lasers blasted overhead as the sisters assessed the situation. Nelani was desperately trying to establish a footing on the sub's slippery surface. While she kept Erik from falling into the sea with one hand, she held Chaki in the other. Before Nelani's back gave out, Anna and Elsa saved the companion's in her hands respectively. Once everyone was on their feet, they made a desperate dash for the ramp as droids closed in.
"By the Force!" Yelena exclaimed from the entryway. "What happened down there?"
"Anna tried to play hero," Elsa scoffed. "Again."
"And stopped the kolto from getting offworld!" her little sister retorted.
"And alerted the droids to our position!" Elsa barked back before a laser struck the ship's hull.
"I can't deal with this bickering right now," Erik groaned and barreled through the group. "Grimsby get us outta here!" he screeched while running to the cockpit.
While Elsa took a moment to sit and catch her breath, Anna stepped up to Yelena. "Check it out," the young Padawan proclaimed and brandished her lightsaber. "I told you I didn't need it," she boasted. "And in turn, it found its way back to me."
"Remarkable," Yelena said as a smile crept across her face.
"Why thank you," Anna replied and beamed with pride. "It came down to my ceaseless determination to-"
Yelena completely bypassed her and approached those she'd saved. "Tamon Chaki, you fantastic Selkath. You haven't aged a day." she admired.
"Yelena," Chaki grinned. "It's good to see you. I'd like you to meet my new Padawan, Nelani Trell."
Anna was utterly dumbfounded and quickly holstered her lightsaber. She simply shook her head and sat back against the wall. She plopped next to Elsa while still looking at Yelena. "Was she even...listening to me?" Anna asked.
"Probably not," Elsa admitted.
"She just cared about her old buddy?"
"Most likely," Elsa huffed. "You get used to it." Anna scowled and glared spitefully at her lightsaber. Elsa noticed how tight she was squeezing it and said, "Hey. You didn't get that weapon back for her approval. Your achievements can be for you sometimes. All you did underwater? Riding sharks, battling droids..." Elsa hated to admit the next part, but she wouldn't withhold the truth. "...Being the hero." She chuckled and tried scrubbing the dried ink from Anna's face. "You're amazing, sis."
"I know I'm amazing," Anna quipped. "Yet after everything you've just mentioned, it's you who has a Trial of Courage. Not me. It isn't fair. If Master Mattias was here, he-"
"You know, sis." Elsa scoffed. "Did you ever think for a second that it's possible to do something without everyone patting you on the back for it?"
Anna prepared to get to defensive. She rose to meet Elsa and puffed out her chest. But when she opened her mouth to shout, a tumultuous screeching took its place. The ear-splitting sound was followed by a collision that shook the ship's foundation. All of the Jedi stumbled and grabbed on to the nearest, bolted down object.
"What in blazes was that?" Grimsby gasped.
Erik's hands were dancing over the control panel as the ship took a nosedive. "We're drastically losing altitude," he warned.
"Did you hit something?" his co-pilot asked.
"No I didn't hit something! I-" Erik froze as a metallic appendage fastened itself across the cockpit's viewport.
"Is that a...tentacle?" Grimsby uttered. Erik didn't waste a moment to try and shake off the trident ship, but the K9 was already trapped in its grip. "Shoot at it!"
"Trust me, I'm trying." Erik grunted. "One of this thing's tentacles must be wrapped on the turret. Or worse...it's smashed it off." A thunderous drilling sounded from inside the hull. "Now what?" Erik groaned.
The Jedi looked up as the trident's drill spike burrowed straight into the ship. Sunlight and the malodorous stench of fuselage seeped into the ship as a horde of aqua droids poured through the drill. Their spray of scarlet lasers was met by four blue lightsabers which spun like pinwheels.
"I'm so tired of these guys!" Anna shouted as she chopped the droids to pieces. Yelena and Nelani fought alongside her while Elsa supported by blocking lasers. Meanwhile, Master Chaki used the Force to try and pry off the trident ship's clinging prongs. Realizing his effort and not wanting to harm any droids, Elsa sped things up by throwing her lightsaber at the prongs. The task proved harder than she anticipated, for she struggled to maintain her balance and direct the blade at the same time. Chaki noticed and reached out to help guide her weapon across the prongs. Once they were severed, the assault ship's pyramidal head tilted with gravity and prevented more droids from entering.
"Valiant effort," Yelena panted. "But the tentacles are keeping it tethered to the ship."
Anna huffed and observed how Erik was struggling to maintain altitude from the cockpit. I'll show you a valiant effort, she thought. "Wait here," Anna said and left the group bewildered.
Yelena's eyes narrowed on the younger Padawan. "Where do you think you're-" Anna leapt through the drilled hole. "...going."
Anna barely heard her sister yelling for her to come back over the roaring winds. Her braid smacked her in the face as she clung to any of the K9's sturdy components. Upon eying the trident's smoking underbelly, Anna took a deep breath and threw herself in. Smoke engulfed her as she landed in the darkened belly of the durasteel beast. The bright, crimson eyes of surviving aqua droids rose amidst the darkness to investigate the crash they'd heard. A pair of witless, B1-battle droids motioned to each other from a control panel.
"Do you think that sound was one of ours?" The first asked.
The second B1 hummed in thought. "The probability of an aqua droid returning is typically-" Anna's blue lightsaber lit up the darkness. "Zero! It's zero!"
The B1s let out nasally wails and flailed their arms as Anna cut down their protectors. With the observation deck being so tightly packed, some of the droids resorted to melee attacks. While Anna easily dealt with those in front of her, an aqua droid snatched her from behind. Fury festered within as the droid tightened its grip. Elbowing and kicking to escape the chokehold was useless unless Anna wanted to add broken bones to her predicament. While fighting off the droid's constricting arm with one of hers, she used the other to switch her saber to reverse grip. Unfortunately her attempts to stab her assailant would still be impossible to the most flexible person. What Anna didn't expect was to strain her arm so badly that her lightsaber fell out of her hands. With her weapon gone and strength dwindling, Anna diverted everything to pushing her attacker's arms back. She wriggled in the aqua droid's grip and realized how much she'd taken its strength for granted. It was easy for any Jedi to feel invincible to droids when they were slashing them down by the scores. But when it came to facing one of the death machines down without such a powerful weapon, only then could one see what Separatist ingenuity was capable of. Anna thought about the torment the droids probably caused to clone troops without Jedi to back them up, or to civilians on Separatist occupied worlds. None of it would matter, for she couldn't help anyone if her end was in a droid's grip.
With gritted teeth and a blast of adrenaline, Anna unleashed an animalistic screech. She pushed up on the aqua droid's arm as her back popped, arms twitched, and core tightened. Sweat-drenched her forehead and veins pulsed across her neck as she fought to reach out with the Force. Her fury blinded her, and any Force abilities materialized as sporadic bursts of energy around the deck. Screens cracked, circuits fried, and Anna even dented one of her attacker's plates. She felt her heart racing out of control and despised how her body wanted to give in.
"Wow," one of the B1's said. "That Jedi sure is a feisty one-" Those were its last words before its slender head crunched in one of Anna's random Force bursts.
No matter how she willed her body to fight on, Anna's muscles were failing her and she hated it. Seeing no other option, she focused on that pain and called upon the dreadful pull. In her desperation to survive, she sought out the dark, sinister side of the Force within. It came to her as a rising rage and her body trembled. The droid struggled to secure its grip on her as she channeled her hatred. Its bolts loosened and wires snapped under pressure. The droid's head swiveled in frenzied panic, unsure what was occurring to its systems. Anna soon felt her attacker release her, but was shocked to see it wasn't her doing.
A blue lightsaber gleamed through the smoke and a pale hand stretched through. "I've got you!" Elsa coughed. "She Force-pushed the aqua droid off of her and slammed it against the nearest wall. Anna dropped to her knees with wild eyes as her sister approached. "Are you alright?" Elsa asked and reached for her shoulder.
Anna quickly swatted her sister's hand away and stood up. She'd summoned the pull to destroy a droid she didn't even get to. As she rose, Anna had a look in her eyes that Elsa hadn't seen before. It was cold, yet full of torment. "I had it under control," Anna intoned.
"I got worried," Elsa said. "Besides, it sure didn't look like you had anything-"
"I had it!" Anna snapped. Her voice was deep and most unfamiliar to her sister. It prompted a sickening sense of darkness to plague Elsa's mind as Anna marched up to the controls. "You," she snarled at the surviving B1 and recovered her lightsaber. "Detach the tentacles from our ship."
"Don't!" Elsa pleaded. "To do so immediately could set both ships on a crash course. We need to level out." She quickly analyzed the designation on the droid's back component. "B1-730, please keep the ship at this altitude."
"You are not in command here!" Anna asserted. "Droid, do as I say or you'll end up like your smashed buddy."
"We could all die if he detaches," Elsa countered. The B1's head spun between both sisters and its control panel.
Still riding her rage without an outlet, Anna surprised Elsa with a Force-push. "Then I'll do it myself!" she exclaimed and swung her saber at the droid. Elsa recovered and Force-pulled the B1 away from her sister's attack. Terrified of the ordeal, B1-730 threw himself out of the hatch and took its chances falling. Elsa rushed her sister, but Anna had already pulled up the emergency release lever.
"No!" was all Elsa could shout before the trident ship succumbed to gravity. It spun leftward and sent the siblings crashing into a wall. For a brief moment, Elsa observed the K9 spiraling out control from one of the viewports as both ships sailed downwards. As much as she loathed the idea of returning to the sea, a water landing would be their best chance for survival. What Elsa didn't expect was the trident losing one of its core engines. It destabilized and caused it to directly collide with the K9. Elsa could only hope the others were safe as both ships were hurled towards not the ocean...but Sino City. She had to believe that Erik was alive and a skilled enough pilot to make an emergency landing.
Okay, Elsa told herself. You can do this. Having never flown anything before, she slowly climbed through ravaged droids as the ship fell from the sky. She reached the flickering control panel and found one of the only working options. Two of the four tentacles were still operational, and Elsa would have to hope they were enough. She set them to extend and magnetize before rolling back to Anna.
"What did you do?" Anna yelled over the explosive crashing.
"Just brace!" Elsa warned, not knowing what to expect next. She kept her head down, shut her eyes, and was suddenly jerked forward. She heard the trident's tentacles clang onto something and the whiplash sent her and Anna tumbling across the deck. Sparks flew and conduits burst as the tentacles collapsed from the collision. The rapid series of explosions ceased, but yielded to the distant sounds of screaming civilians and laserfire.
Elsa's body ached from being tossed across the deck and her head was a throbbing mess. She peered through dizzied eyes and saw her sister laying limp in a heap of droid parts. "Anna!" Elsa gasped and crawled to her aid. As she made her way over, blood from cuts across her temple trickled onto her hands. She rolled her sister over only to be shoved off.
"What?" Anna scoffed. "You wanted me to brace, right? Now you don't want me to? Drop that worried mug and get over yourself. You think you can fix everything, don't you?"
Elsa's nostrils flared as she struggled to contain her own anger. She stood up through her aches and gestured to the wreckage. "You see this, Anna? All of this is because of you. Not the droids, not Ruger, just selfish...ignorant...you!" Elsa furiously kicked a piece of scrap metal close enough to make Anna flinch. The clamor made her younger sister turn with furrowed brows and a deepening scowl. "What are you trying to prove?" Elsa interrogated. "That you're luckier than Ruger? Is this about my stupid trial?"
"I had the situation under control," Anna answered and cautiously sat up. "The Trial of Courage was as good as mine and you just stole that chance from me."
"So it is about my trial," Elsa realized.
"It's not always about you, Elsa."
"But it is about you!" Elsa rebutted. "You didn't hop into this giant metal squid ship to save us. I mean, sure...that's a plus to you. But you wanted to be recognized for it. I know you're jealous whether you admit it or not. But do you think I wanted that trial?" Elsa snapped. "It was given to me as an act of heroism but I was terrified the entire time. Now this road you're taking to try and get even or surpass me...it's-"
"Competitive?"
"Self destructive!" Elsa shouted and instantly regretted her tone. Still, she gave in to her emotions and persisted with a verbal barrage. "What were you thinking? Of all the monumentally foolish endeavors you've pulled, you may have upended everything we've worked to save. By causing both ships to crash, Yelena...my master, and all of our companions could be dead. And that's on you because-" Elsa stopped herself as she noticed something she'd rarely seen her sister do. As Anna looked up, her reddened eyes grew watery. She held her breath as if to hold back tears, but her emotions were relentless. "Anna," Elsa said somberly. "I'm sorry. I-"
"No," Anna whispered and wiped the only pair of tears allowed to flee her eyes. The very dark pull she'd called on left her body in those cleansing tears. "You're right," she sniffled. "Can we please get out of here? Can we please just find the others and make sure they're okay?"
"Of course, sis." Elsa sighed and offered her a helping hand. Though reluctant at first, Anna took it and battled soreness to leave the crash site.
Anna and Elsa emerged from the smoke to find Sino City under siege. They kept their heads down and moved for cover to get a better look at the situation. Several trident ships were hovering over the plaza and dropping aqua droids to suppress the populace. "It doesn't seem like there's enough of them to take the city," Elsa observed.
"Probably just enough to keep the Selkath and us distracted while they extract the kolto," Anna deduced. Her brows raised and she jabbed a finger towards a trail of leveled duracrete. "That looks like another crash site," she said.
The sisters cautiously trekked across the scorched pavement and found the K9 wedged in a destroyed courtyard's center. "By the Force," Elsa gasped and hobbled towards it. "Master!" she called. "Erik? Anyone!"
"Elsa?" The Padawan heard her master's distorted shout. "In here!" Elsa and Anna lifted off clusters of battered metal with the Force to find a scraped up escape pod. Once the debris was removed, a pair of blue lightsabers shot through the stuck hatch. Nelani and Yelena cut themselves out while Chaki and Grimsby poked their heads up from behind. "Am I relieved to see you two are alright," Yelena said. "What happened up there?"
Anna hung her head, but Elsa answered for her. "We ran into some complications, but were able to deal with the attackers."
Anna smiled faintly until a grim reality struck her. "Wait," she gasped. "Where's Erik?"
"He stayed in the cockpit to land the ship safely," Grimsby answered. "It took everything for me to leave that stubborn prince, but he insisted that I'd be safer in the pod and that I had to trust him."
"We need to find him!" Anna blurted and began scouring the wreckage. "Where the heck is the cockpit? Erik!" she hollered.
Anna rushed ahead of the others, but Elsa was quick to follow. Before she could catch up, a volley of lasers struck the pavement and separated them. "Get down!" Elsa warned and threw herself into cover. One of the trident ships hovered over their location and fired its heavy cannons. While Elsa, Yelena, and Nelani readied their lightsabers, several battle cries emerged from the smoke. Selkath police accompanied by angry spacers united to open fire on the Separatists.
"Looks like they got their heads on straight," Nelani quipped.
"You'd be surprised how quickly petty differences subside when a common foe emerges," Yelena added.
Despite the Selkath and spacers' combined efforts, their minuscule blaster pistols and rifles were no match for the trident's armored hull. Its weaponized tentacles launched explosive rounds and sent people running.
Suddenly, a pair of blue lasers sailed through the clouds and struck the trident's apex. The powerful shots blasted the ship's viewports clean off and fried the droid pilots within. "Look!" a spacer exclaimed while pointing to the clouds.
"It's the Republic!" a Selkath cheered as a triangular starfighter rocketed into view. The small, yet speedy craft brandished distinct blue and white stripes as it spun through the air.
Given the iconic shape of the starfighter, Elsa quickly deduced that it was one of many she'd seen maintained in the temple hangar. Yelena seemed extremely familiar with it as she smiled and activated her comlink. "Master Plo," the master said. "Your timing is impecable."
"I'm sure you wouldn't have minded a few moments earlier," the Kel Dor's deep voice answered back. Elsa marveled at his superb flight maneuvers. "Wolf Pack," he ordered. "Secure a perimeter around the city. Warthog, on me."
Giving the appearance of a drooping letter T, a V-19 Torrent fighter soared alongside Master Plo's spacecraft. The clone pilot at its controls leveled out alongside his general and primed his laser cannons for battle. "Let's scrap these, clankers sir!" he exclaimed as the duo blasted away.
"How did they find us?" Nelani asked.
"Well," Yelena sighed. "When you're sitting in a ship without contact from your Padawan, you have time to make some calls."
"So much for this remaining Jedi business," Chaki coughed.
"The moment those Separatist droids attacked, this became a Republic ordeal." Yelena replied as gunships hovered overhead. "Speaking of which..."
Each gunship unloaded a group of silver-streaked clone troopers who easily engaged the aqua droids. Their blue lasers lit up the streets as Elsa felt something she hadn't felt on Hoth: safety. Had Obi-wan's clones arrived this promptly, perhaps she wouldn't have been as traumatized. But seeing so many clones rally to their aid when the situation seemed dire brought a great comfort to Elsa as she leaned on a broken fountain. The gunship nearest them opened as a robust clone led the charge. His valiant kama swayed in the wind as he sprung from the carrier and yelled, "104th...forward!" His men answered the call with unceasing loyalty and charged into the fray. While some were gunned down by aqua droids, the rest rushed to overwhelm their position.
"Ever wanted to fight in the Clone Wars?" Yelena joked to her group and sparked up her saber. "Now's your chance!" Nelani ignited and followed Yelena into battle. They ran beside the clones and sliced up any droids trying to flank them. Once the sneaks were dealt with, Yelena and Nelani blocked laserfire from the front while the clones fired behind. Elsa...just watched.
"Not really your thing, is it?" Chaki asked her. Elsa raised a brow until he smirked and continued. "The war. The whole...'For the Republic!' shtick." He jokingly raised his wounded arm and pretended to lead a charge.
"I love the Republic!" Elsa defended. "And the Jedi are sworn to protect it. I would never betray-"
"No one is saying that, lass." Chaki insisted. "I'm merely saying you're not alone."
Before Elsa could talk to him further, the group returned victorious. "Courtyard secure!" Nelani proclaimed but was still jittery from the heat of battle. "That...was incredible."
"We couldn't have done it without your help, Master Jedi." the leading clone said.
"Always a pleasure to fight alongside our brave soldiers," Yelena said. "You must be Commander Wolffe. Master Plo speaks very highly of you and your entire battalion. The mercy missions of the 104th are most admirable."
Wolffe saluted her before turning his attention to Chaki and Elsa. "Are these your wounded?"
"He is," Yelena said. "She..." The master struggled to find an answer as to why Elsa didn't join the battle. "She's looking after him."
"Two of our own are still missing," Elsa intoned and threw a hand towards a devastated area. "One was last seen in a cockpit and my sister head off this way."
Wolffe cocked his blaster rifle. "You heard the Jedi, boys." he barked. "Search and rescue...let's move!"
Elsa accompanied the clones as they dashed through the fumes. The crash site's embers almost hid a series of incoming lasers. "Contact!" a clone trooper warned before being blasted. He collapsed into a pile of debris as smoke snaked from a hole in his visor.
"Take cover!" Wolffe ordered. "Check your fire. We have civilian fighters in the area." He dodged a laser and cautiously shot back.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Padawan?" Yelena asked and peered up at the smoke. Elsa nodded as both women threw their hands up. Using the Force, they whisked the dark clouds away to help reveal the enemy's location. While the clones graciously engaged the revealed droids, Elsa focused on finding Anna.
Her little sister vaulted over a colossal component of the destroyed K9. Anna's hopefulness diminished when she realized it, like her other futile discoveries, wasn't the cockpit. "Blast it, Erik." she muttered. "Where are you?" Explosive lasers overhead startled her into taking evasive action. She rolled to safety and observed a Jedi starfighter in the sky. The Republic's here? she thought. Well it's about damn time.
She heard a man grunting and immediately sparked up her lightsaber. "Erik?" she inquired and sprung into action. When she leapt across the wreckage, she spotted a Selkath civilian that'd been pinned in the crash. As if being buried alive wasn't horrible enough, scarlet photoreceptors emerged from the smoke. Aqua droids marched in on his position as he squirmed haplessly.
"Help!" he bleated as the droids took aim.
"Hold on, buddy!" Anna assured and leapt down. Before she could join the fight, a group of spacers beat her to it. They did their best to fend off the droids, but Anna made a competition out of it. She spun her saber to unleash wild slashes of Ataru fury.
"Woah!" a Twi'lek gasped and rubbed her eyes. "It's a Jedi!"
Damn right it is, Anna thought as she cut another droid down. And a future hero of the Clone Wars.
"She's incredible," a Sullustan remarked while saving the pinned Selkath.
Keep the compliments coming! In the name of the Galactic Republic, I looove my fans.
"Meh, I've seen better." A woman scoffed.
Wait, what?
Anna was about to counter with "Let's see you do better" but the mysterious woman was already charging into battle beside her.
She sprung over and tackled the droid next to Anna. "Hey! That was mine!" Anna snapped.
The stranger landed atop her target and withdrew a golden trident from her back. She used its tip to pin the droid's neck and collect a powerful electric charge. She then jabbed the trident at another droid and the electric bolt carried over. Anna flinched as the shocking spectacle caused the droid to explode and left her rival unscathed. The woman's turquoise jumpsuit and violet armor plates appeared to insulate the effects of her trident. "What?" she jeered through her helmet and assumed a fighting stance. "Can't let you have all the fun. These people need our help so try and keep up." She rushed ahead as Anna snarled.
The duo cleared through any droids stupid enough to get in their way. Anna's blood boiled as the majority of her kills were stolen by...Captain Trident...The Armored Jerkface...Madam Killjoy...(Anna hadn't decided what to call her yet).
Before the stranger could smash the last droid, Anna Force-pushed it into a fire. The woman's expressionless helmet slowly turned towards Anna, who had a smug grin. "Saved your life," Anna boasted.
"You didn't, but okay." the woman answered.
"Well then I downed more droids than you."
"First of all, I truly have seen better if that's how you're looking at this situation. You're a sad excuse for a Jedi if you're not focused on saving the people in need. Second, you cheated. You have magic hands."
"You have a zappy stick!" Anna jeered and completely ignored the woman's first point.
"A trident," the spacer corrected. "We can't all be Jedi, you know. "You'd be surprised of how handy this thing comes in when I'm transporting power converters. It's made of pure Haysian Smelt, one of the best conductors in the galaxy. Usually works to fix-"
"The cockpit," Anna gasped.
"Well...I mean it could fix a cockpit if a circuit fried the-"
"No!" Anna exclaimed and pointed through the chaos. "The cockpit. A friend of mine may be trapped in there!" She rushed ahead of her new companion and soon regretted it. The floor beneath her quaked and she warned the stranger to stay back. Erik had really done it this time. His severed cockpit had pummeled into one of Sino City's hovering ledges and disrupted the duracrete balance. The entire ledge could've been moments from collapsing into the sea.
Anna took a deep breath and delicately tread on her tiptoes. She traversed the crumbling floors and scattered ship parts to reach the cockpit. On her way to it, she started to hate where her mind was going. You can do this, Anna. She initially willed herself. Save him, and the Trial of Courage is as good as yours. Anna winced at such a selfish thought. She cared deeply about Erik. Perhaps even more than the Jedi Order would permit. But she didn't even understand that concept. She couldn't help but wonder if the uncaring, unfeeling Jedi were supposed to see the people they save as achievements...or if that was the Dark Side talking to her. But what would it matter either way? she asked herself. After all, she'd been known to listen to both. I can't let this mental debate cloud my judgement, she put herself in check. Mental angst is for Elsa and sappy holodramas. Hmmm...Holodramas. I really should catch up on the latest episode of "Celeste." Anna pinched herself and spoke out loud. "F-O-C-U-S."
She gently Force-pushed smoke away from the cockpit's viewport and made out Erik's black hair. His arms were stretch across the dashboard as he lay motionless. "Oh no," Anna whispered and gave the viewport a swift knock. "Erik!" When he didn't answer she cautiously shimmied to the opposite side and saw his face. "Please at least have your eyes closed," she willed. "Gimme that fifty-fifty chance. Don't be dead...don't be dead." Erik's eyes were shut and his mouth was partially open.
"Anything?" the stranger hollered from safety.
"Yeah!" Anna called back and readied her lightsaber. "I'm going in." She gingerly cut through the viewport and slid in beside him. "Erik?" she worried and slid her fingers to his wrist. Her heart sank when she didn't feel anything. "No...wait!" she stopped herself. "If he's unconscious, his pulse will be faint here...and probably stronger in-" Anna placed her fingers on the side of his neck and smiled. "The carotid artery," she sighed in relief. "And Mattias said holodramas have nothing but useless information. Hah!" Anna grunted as she hauled Erik out of the chair. "You certainly aren't as heavy as you look," she said and flopped him out of the viewport.
"Do you need help?" the stranger shouted.
"No, I got him!" Anna yelled as she climbed out. "Plus the less people out here, the less likely this structure is going to collapse." As if on a sinister, fateful cue, the foundation started giving out beneath her. "I should really keep my mouth shut," Anna muttered. Trusting her physical abilities over the Force, she threw Erik on her shoulder and ran. She didn't account for her soreness from the crash and collapsed before making it to safety. The stranger extended a hand and Anna snagged it just in time. However, she couldn't hold both Anna and Erik's weight for very long. The Padawan's hand slipped as she and Erik plummeted alongside the K9's remnants.
As the city fell around her, Anna's only priority was protecting Erik. She reached for his unconcious body and tugged it into an embrace. They were picking up speed as the open ocean drew ever closer. She positioned him and plugged his nose as they landed feet first into the sea. Having no desire to submerge into its depths again anytime soon, she hurriedly bobbed at the surface. Chunks of the city along with Erik's destroyed ship crashed into the sea around them. "I've got you," Anna panted while swimming with one arm. She desperately searched for any floatation devices as Erik weighed her down. She caught a glimpse of his statue sinking beneath the waves along with other cargo. "Well, you didn't like that statue anyway." she joked.
Amidst the wreckage, Anna eyed broken planks rising to the surface. Whichever species still used wood to transport goods had become Anna's savior as she floated towards it. She draped Erik over the plank like dirty, unconcious laundry and caught her breath next to him. She peered up at the burning city miles above her and wondered how she'd possibly get them back up. As she did so, she felt a tightness seize around one of her ankles. By the time she ruled out a potential cramp, the foreign force was already dragging her down. She clung to the plank until she realized Erik was slipping. "Hang tight," she told him as if he could hear her. "I won't be long." She activated her lightsaber, took a deep breath, and let herself get dragged under.
She spun in preparation to strike down whatever creature thought she'd make a good snack. As she brought her weapon down, the suction-cupped hand that once dragged her instead caught her wrist. Anna's eyes widened as the blurry image of a Quarren's face came into view. She struggled to fight back, but Ruger predicted her every move. Seeing no other option, Anna let out a burst with the Force to launch them both out of the water. Having acted on impulse, Anna didn't realize her shockwave would send a wave towards the plank Erik was sprawled out on. His body rolled over and sank beneath the surface.
"No!" Anna retaliated and swam towards him. She was nearly there when Ruger pulled her by the hair. His suction-cupped fingers painfully tugged at her locks as he brought her head to his above the waves.
"I want you topside so you can hear me say this," he snarled. "You cost me my shot at the big leagues. Couldn't just stay out of it, could you?"
"What can I say?" Anna grunted. "I'm a sore loser!" She tried to elbow him, but he easily blocked it.
"Your privileged arrogance is insufferable. You still haven't learned a thing." Ruger mocked as he put his other hand around her throat.
She wondered how deep Erik had disappeared to and was surprised when her armored friend appeared from above. Glad she's just as reckless as me, Anna thought. While the stranger dove underwater Ruger diverted his attention to her and expected a surprise attack. Right ear, Anna told herself. I am so sorry. She threw up a hand and activated her sonic emitter. The blast struck the distracted Ruger directly in his face. He loosed an agonizing screech and released Anna in the process.
As Anna swam to give herself distance, she noticed Ruger wasn't countering anything. Despite the painful ringing in her own ears, she couldn't imagine the atrocious disorientation Ruger was feeling. He flailed across the waves and slapped away at his wrinkly temples. His tentacles twitched along with his eyes as Anna tested a theory. She recovered a smaller piece of floating driftwood and flung it at his head. When it clunked against his speckled forehead, she let out a gasp of realization.
"Wait a second," she said. "You didn't block that. Your mind's fried-" Ruger lunged at her across the water's surface. He swiped wildly while defensive ink spewed from his maw. As he did so, Anna easily punched his dizzied self to counter. "It's over," she said and ignited her lightsaber. She tightened her core to steady her treading and prepared to deliver a mighty strike. However, something about attacking left her with a sickening feeling. It wasn't the amount of ink swirling in the water, nor was it her injuries. Instead, it was hearing Ruger stuck in such a maddened state of mind. Anna's heart raced as she raised her weapon over the waves. One strike is all it would take as she thought on her own, previous words. Do it, she willed herself. Remember Frollo. If Ruger isn't killed, he'll just escape to wreak havok all over again. Think of all he did to you...or the torment he put your fellow Jedi through. End him. Anna grit her teeth as seawater battered her reddened face. But he's unarmed, she also considered.The sonic emitter's scrambled his mind beyond repair. He's helpless and this isn't the Jedi way. The dark pull within manifested over her sympathetic thoughts. Who said his mind was damaged beyond repair? Are you a doctor? He could recover at any moment! End him now!
Anna let out a conflicting growl as loud as Ruger's painful wails. "I don't know!" she yelled. She hated not knowing after feeling so concise for so long. Her arms twitched as the saber lowered only to rise again. Suddenly, Ruger screeched before he was dragged under. A leathery dorsal fin followed his deathly descent and Anna's heart sank with it. A dark substance took the place of the ink cloud, and it was enough to make Anna gulp. In taking too long, nature had decided for her. "Holy kriff," she uttered. Her eyes widened when she noticed more dorsal fins breaking the surface and heading for her. "Holy kriff!"
She fought off her tiredness to swim against the current, but the firaxan sharks were relentless. "Come on, guys." she panted. "I thought we were cool!" She didn't have time to check her sonic emitter's charge and feared she'd be taken under at any given moment. She swam for one of Sino City's colossal columns and snagged a maintenance ladder. She started to climb as one of the sharks rammed against the lower half and dislodged it. "Oh come on!" Anna screeched while hanging on to the slippery bars. She furiously fired her sonic emitter at the water, but it barely warded off the pack. With her ladder destroyed and options limited, Anna ignited her saber and swayed it like a torch. One of the sharks dared to lunge from the water and take a snap. It was met with a saber strike across its underbelly. Anna's exhaustion was a cruel inner foe, but she forced herself to stay strong. Hang in there, she said. It's just...Corellian Cup training...with sharks.
At the destroyed edge of the city, clone troopers had cleared the area of droid forces. "Be careful," Wolffe warned. "What's left of this sector is completely unstable."
While the others listened to the commander, Elsa stepped over a chunk of debris. She peered down at the waters below and shut her eyes. With a deep breath, she called upon the Force and thought about her deepest connection. In the darkness of her mind, she saw the child she'd always aspired to be as popular as. She saw the friend who, while annoying at times...found ways of making her laugh when she needed it. While Elsa felt so calculated in tense situations she could see how this young woman's perspective was most needed. She reached out with the Force to find her best friend and sister, but discovered pain instead. Elsa's brows furrowed as she sensed Anna's panic.
"Master," Elsa winced. "It's Anna."
"You sense her?" Yelena asked.
"I feel her pain. She's in great trouble."
"Where is she?" Wolffe asked.
"Give her a second," Yelena said.
Wolffe scoffed. "But you just asked her a questi-"
Yelena shushed him as Elsa continued. "She's above water...yet...below the city? I don't understand what I'm sensing."
Yelena's brows raised in realization. "I do," she said. "Commander, we need a gunship."
At the city's support column, Anna's belligerent yells echoed across the waves. "Come on fishy fishy!" she snapped. "Coming to eat me too? Can't get me up here!" She fruitlessly swung her lightsaber. While she tired, the sharks eagerly awaited her inevitable fall. Her fingers almost slipped from the bars but she caught herself. "You wish, you fishy freaks." she taunted and spat. Her disheveled locks and loosened braid were draped over the front of her face. Dehydration from the seawater was catching up with her as she yelled to the sharks. "I didn't kill him, but I'll kill all of you!" A roaring engine sounded through her ringing ears. "Flying fishy?" she asked with a turn.
The sharks scattered as a Republic gunship hovered beside the column. Its sliding door opened to reveal her companions among clones. "Drop, Anna!" Elsa assured. "We'll catch you."
"Clone fishy, Jedi fishy...sister fishy." Anna mumbled before letting herself release the ladder. As she did, blood flow returned to her callused hand and she collapsed in Elsa's arms.
"We got her, pilot!" Yelena exclaimed. "Let's go!"
Elsa cradled her sister and brushed the hair from her face. "You're safe now," Elsa assured. "It's over. You did great."
Anna shook her head in denial. "Erik," she whispered through chapped lips. "I lost him."
Elsa hung her head somberly while rubbing her sister's back. "I'm so sorry. I'm sure you did everything you could."
"I think I would've killed him, you know." Anna uttered.
Elsa grimaced. "Um...Erik?"
"Ruger. He was down there and I had the chance to swing or spare. Sharks got him first."
Elsa sighed. "Why don't we just focus on you resting now? The Separatist threat is over, we're all...we're safe."
Wolffe knelt beside the Padawans and passed over some water. He removed his helmet and offered a gentle smile. "You Jedi never cease to amaze," he admitted.
Anna accepted the water as it cleansed her sore throat. She noticed the scar across his face and the cybernetic eye nestled between it. "What...what happened there?" Anna asked.
"Anna," Elsa scolded.
"It's alright," Wolffe chuckled. "Let's just say while you Jedi are a marvel, the Sith are a nightmare." He gave Anna's lightsaber a tap. "I hope neither of you ever cross paths with Count Dooku's assassin, Asajj Ventress. I was lucky to get off with a scar and top tier cybernetic." Anna compared his story to what happened to Hans, and considered how masterful Ventress likely was.
The gunship landed back in Sino City where Republic relief efforts were already underway. Master Plo was seeing to Chaki and Nelani while his clones were helping civilians. Amidst it all, Anna notice a familiar body beside Grimsby. "Erik?" she gasped.
"Come on, stay with me!" the drenched, helmeted stranger said as she performed chest compressions. Grimsby was on the verge of tears while praying for the prince to live.
"Erik!" Anna yelped and sprung from Elsa's arms.
"They are doing everything they can," Yelena assured. "You need to rest."
"I'm fine!" Anna growled only to drop to her knees outside the gunship. "He needs me."
"No he doesn't," Yelena intoned. "Maybe he did, but now he is receiving maximum care from someone else. Let us take care of you."
Her words garnered resentment within Anna as she sneered. The Padawan's injuries and extreme exhaustion forced her to barely crawl towards the scene. Elsa fell to Anna's aid and held her. "Get off of me," Anna snarled.
"With all due respect," Elsa said. "No. I can't let you break yourself."
Anna fell back into her sisters arms as her body gave up on her. Her ever-fighting spirit watched on as the stranger removed her helmet. "He needs air," she said as her long, scarlet hair fell over Erik. She pressed her lips to his several times before resuming compressions until Erik coughed up water.
While Elsa rejoiced at his survival, Anna's happiness was short-lived. It walked a fine line that hinged on what would happen next. Erik slowly stirred as the woman wiped water from his mouth. She caressed his face as their blue gazes met. "No," Erik whispered as Grimsby was equally surprised. "It can't be."
The woman smiled softly and nodded. "I'm not the poet I once was, but perhaps this will jog your memory. Where would we walk? Where would we run? If we could stay all day in the sun."
Erik grinned as memories of a life once lived returned. "Just you and me," he said. "And I could be..."
"Part of your world," they said in unison.
"Ariel," Erik realized. "I thought I'd never see you again."
"Well life has a funny way of bringing people back together in the right moments," she answered.
Grimsby bowed humbly. "I see you've taken up a life of spacing as well, young princess."
"But of course, not without a chaperone." An alien crustacean said while shuffling through the crowd. The Nephran shoved his claws forward to get through. "How many times do I have to tell you, young lady!" he scolded. "I don't care what kind of armor you're wearing, you can't just go running off into every fight you see. Your father would kill me if something happened to you. Somebody has to nail your feet to da floor."
"Please excuse Bastian over here," Ariel scoffed. "If your family's as overprotective as they were at the gala those many years ago, they're just like mine."
"Hence Grimbsy," Erik joked before caressing Ariel's cheek. "I've missed you. I never stopped thinking about the day we met."
"What?" Anna blurted under her breath.
"But after a while," Erik admitted. "I despaired and thought our paths would never cross again."
"Erik," Ariel intoned. "I'm here. I'm real. You don't have to think otherwise anymore. We can finally be together...plus I think you're kinda in need a of a ship."
Their heads leaned in as Anna's jaw dropped. Erik and Ariel's laughter ceased as they shared a tender kiss. Anna could hardly comprehend what she was feeling. Atop all of the physical pain, there was this sense of betrayal that was all the more confusing. She loathed the feeling of tears even considering to leave her eyes.
"Well," Elsa said. "I think that's great that they found each other. And see, Anna? Erik's alive. He-"
"Can we leave?" Anna asked.
As Erik and Ariel's lips parted, he looked to the Padawans and grinned. "Oh right! Ariel, you have to meet my friends. These Jedi have-"
"Can we go?" Anna snapped. "Now! I am lightheaded or ailing or injured or whatever but I want off this watery rock...this instant."
Anna shoved Elsa off and hobbled to get aboard the gunship where the others had assembled. Anna could feel the amount of judgmental gazes weighing down on her as she sat by herself. Elsa stepped towards her, but a firm hand held her back by the shoulder. She peered up at a Kel dor's breathing mask and bowed in respect.
"Leave her be for now," Plo Koon said. "You must not stray into the same void that your sister walks. Attachment is a dangerous serpent with many heads."
"But I care about her," Elsa admitted. "She's my sister."
"But grow too compassionate and you risk succumbing to something else entirely," Plo warned.
"This is all very confusing," Elsa huffed. "Care but don't care. Distance, but not so much?"
"A Jedi is never alone in their struggle, young one. Others in the Order will always stand by you. In time, you will learn the balance. You cannot and will not always be there to save your sister. Just as you rely on yourself, so too must Anna be her own guide. She will be alright so long as she trusts in the Force."
As Elsa thought on Plo's comforting words, she realized that even they were filled with contradictions. So I have friends to help me, but we have to do this ourselves? she thought. By the Force, Jedi are confusing.