Chapter Eleven: Learning Curve


"Well they're horrible," Cody murmured while he watched the rebels of Onderon train. It had been less than twenty-four hours than they had landed on the planet, and he was already tired of this mission.

General Skywalker shrugged, watching Rex and Ahsoka give them pointers. "As long as we have some people willing to train and fight it shouldn't be a problem."

"Right…" He watched Bonteri fall again and frowned. "We should focus on the quick learners. At least then we might have a fighting chance at this."

"You don't think the royals present have a fighting chance?"

Cody snorted, skimming the crowd of rebels. He gave a brief glance back to the tank when he heard deactivators buzz, then shrugged. "I guess it all depends how much fight they have in them."

It was nearing nightime when the last of the teams were practicing on disarming the crawler.

"Come on, move it like a soldier, a real soldier." Rex shouted, agitation entering his voice.

"Come on Dono, pick it up Hutch. You can do better than that!" Saw Grerra yelled from the sidelines some hours later.

Cody wondered if it was possible to slap a bacta patch over the young man's mouth just to shut him up for a bit. Even the 501st wasn't as annoying. He watched Grerra walk over to where Bonteri was being examined, then rolled his eyes. This mission was gonna be incredibly long and filled with hormonal teenagers.

He'd nearly take guarding Senator Amidala over this - actually, he would take guarding her over this. At least the Senator always made an effort to talk to them and find a common interest.

"Everyone form up!" Rex shouted, watching the rebels fall into line. He scanned the line, then narrowed his eyes at Bonteri and the Grerras. "That means you three too. You're soldiers, aren't you?"

"Some of us are," Saw muttered while he began to stalk into formation.

Cody glanced away to refrain from snapping at the men, then noticed that Skywalker was walking away. He frowned, gesturing to his brother and then to the General. A small shrug was his response.

"Alright, listen up," Rex began with a note of pride in his voice. "Most of you did okay today. Not great, and certainly not excellent - but if you were in a firefight, you'd at least be able to survive it. Probably. Maybe take out a clanker or two. Now…"

"I'm going after Skywalker - he'll probably get into trouble otherwise," he muttered to Commander Tano beside him. A sharp-toothed smile was his response and with that he stepped away. He received a few looks while he stepped away, though he ignored them. He realized the General hadn't bothered to step light on the trail that led back to the camp. It was a bit stupid to do such a thing, given how many droids were probably crawling around the planet as a whole.

It really was a beautiful planet, even with all the humidity. He could do without the giant creatures everywhere, but at least it wasn't one of those planets with small natives that were the size of a plush.

Keeping a hand on his blaster while he walked, Cody came around a bend and noted that the General was hurrying towards the entrance.

That's weird...oh.

Oh.

Skywalker was let into the camp quickly, his comlink held tight in his hand. He didn't even notice the guards staring at him, or Cody about twenty paces behind.

A lump was in his throat, though he managed to keep it together while he walked the rest of the way and into camp. He debated on entering one of the tents they had been giving, but decided to follow.

The tent was dark, save for a light near Anakin's cot. He gave a brief nod, putting in an earpiece and turning the comlink on.

Cody moved to his own corner, sitting down and pulling out his datapad. Making a show of checking his messages, he watched the General's facial expressions out of the corner of his eye.

A blue figure flickered. It was a woman, and Cody realized that it was a recording. Of Senator Amidala...in a wheelchair.

The frown on Anakin's face deepened while he listened to the message. He shook his head a few times, replaying the message before sighing. He leaned his head back, massaging his nose before glancing upwards. "How often did Obi-Wan advise discretion when it comes to personal matters?"

Cody met the general's gaze and smiled a bit. "I'm ranked higher than most Jedi...what do you think?"

A rough laugh escaped Anakin, and he punched in his wife's frequency.


"I'm tempted to rip that off of you and stay in here for the rest of the day."

Obi-Wan laughed, adjusting the leather jacket while he glanced over at his fiancé. "You say that while you're wearing a towel and nothing else."

Satine shook her head, dropping the towel on the bed and beginning to dress for the latest tour in the system. "Yeah but - all the years I've known you and this is the first time you are wearing something besides Jedi robes...you look."

She frowned, brushing out her shift before tapping her chin. Scrutinizing him could have been excuse to stare at him - after all, it wasn't often he wore skinny trousers and a leather jacket over a white t-shirt. With a smile she snapped her fingers, jolting them back to the presence in their quarters on the Coronet. "You look content."

"Content?" Obi-Wan came forward, wrapping his arms around her and pressing a kiss to her neck. "I thought you said you wanted to rip my clothes off?"

She titled her head back, meeting his amused gaze. Reaching a hand upwards, she patted his cheek and blushed when he leaned into the touch. "You look happy Obi, even with all that you are trying to ignore...like you can accept the good while knowing the bad is not far away."

Obi-Wan furrowed his brow, pondering on that for a moment. He didn't react to the kiss that was pressed to his lips, letting her out of his arms when she tapped his wrists. Still thinking over her words, he sat on the bed.

"Hey," Satine swatted him with her pantyhose before she sat and began to tug them on. "That wasn't supposed to be a comment meant philosophical pondering."

"No?"

"I'm just commenting on your apparent happiness, despite everything." Satine took her green blouse and pulled it on, adjusting the bell sleeves before standing and putting on a plaid skirt woven with her Clan's colors.

"Mmm…" Pushing the thoughts of Maul and Adi and leaving his men and the Order and everything that was struggling to come to the surface. He leaned back on the bed, folding his hands behind his head. "I like what you're wearing today."

Satine hummed, brushing her hands through her hair and tying it in a bun. She left a few strands of her hair fall on the sides of her face. "The Galaxy will be scandalized by how I'm beginning to dress on a day to day basis."

"Fuck the Galaxy." Obi-Wan raised himself on his elbows at her laugh. "What? I love how you are dressing lately. It's...simple. It's more you than all the finery and elaborate dress you typically wear."

"It's tradition."

"You're marrying a Jedi - I think tradition is a little out the window my dear."

"Mmm." Satine put on her necklace - some gold chain - and then slipped on her engagement ring before bending down to tug on a pair of heels. She glanced at him brightly, eyes sparkling.

Obi-Wan blinked, remembering the soft smile of the Daughter.

Odd.

He hadn't thought of Mortis in a long time.

That had been his only mission for months. To learn about it.

Trying to push the thought aside, he stood and followed her out the chambers. "What planet is this again? Valhalla?"

"Val - hall - la." Satine over-exaggerated the word, earning a snort. The guards outside of the quarters followed them, armor clinking merrily. "You're a polyglot, you should know this."

Obi-Wan opened his mouth to counter we've been rolling in the sheets if we have a free moment, but caught his tongue when they turned a corner and spotted his future nephew waiting for them. "Well...in my defense there are what, seven dialects of Mando'a in this system?"

"Nine, actually." Korkie gave a somewhat smug grin that only a teenager could give when they approached him. He then withered under his aunt's unimpressed look, rubbing his neck. "...there are nine recognized dialects of Mando'a in this system. You speak the version spoken on Mandalore, Kalelava, and also the dialect the clone army uses."

"And that's why I don't know how to properly say Valhalla?" Obi-Wan asked, genuinely impressed with the kid's knowledge.

"Maybe."

Obi-Wan shook his head in amusement, feeling her tuck her hand into the crook of his arm. The three of them walked to towards the entrance in silence, everyone's shoes clicking and the engines cooling.

"So you're interested in languages?" Obi-Wan asked, hoping that this would be the thing he could finally connect with this kid about.

"Well a person can like multiple things Master Kenobi - argh, don't mess my hair Auntie!"

Satine rolled her eyes affectionately at her nephew, standing still while the hatch was released and the ramp began to lower. "He's a history nerd - a rather big one. Mandalorian academies happen to just focus on language because of how people tend to emigrate into our culture - and given our high levels of adoption, it only makes sense we have so many languages."

The ramp slammed onto the platform, revealing Vallhala's governor.

"Governor Ingrid!" Satine exclaimed, stepping down the ramp. "It's a pleasure to see you again!"


The next day was filled with more training. Anakin had to admit, he missed training people, especially younger people. The longer this war waged, the more he found himself missing his classroom, or wanting to be in the Creche.

Maybe it was something to do with being married, or maybe Ahsoka brought out more and more of the mentor in him.

She's getting older too, he thought while he observed the rebels practice throwing droid poppers into the orbit of battle destroyers.

Cody was beside him, observing the rebels that were less adapt. "Throw gently, but do not falter. Your frustrations will hold you back."

Anakin couldn't help but snort, earning himself a look. "You sound like Obi-Wan."

"Mmm."

"It's a - wait, do you hear that?" Anakin turned around, squinting into the foliage. He shook his head after a moment before glancing at his padawan training Saw Grerra. "She's pretty patient."

"When training someone - not much else." Cody had to smirk at the resounding huff, though he knew he was right. He ignored Bonteri trying to flirt, skimming over the rest of the rebels and then moving his eyes back to Grerra when he finally managed to get a droid popper through the shield. A cheer went up from the rebels, though everyone quickly went back to work once Rex barked at them.

Anakin grinded his teeth together once he saw his padawan leave after Steela, feeling a tingly feeling at the base of his neck. He prayed it was something with the Force and not a seizure coming on.

"Alright, everyone has one more hour of this, then we move onto sharpshooting!" Rex yelled, clapping his hands together. "You get a break when you actually become good at this!"


Steela was the last one to shoot, hitting every target with ease. When she finally lowered her sniper, Anakin couldn't help his smirk.

"Impressive. Most impressive."

"Fixed targets are one thing," Ahsoka began, using the Force to move a droid head about. "How about this?"

Steela hit the head without effort everytime it moved, earning a lackluster nod of approval from Ahsoka.

Rex signlaed everyone to look at him. "A headshot is the only decisive way to disable a droid. They don't need arms, legs, or even bodies to pass intel to central command. All right, shoot at will."

With a nod Steela went to refocus her sniper, then froze in fear. She lowered it, her voice cracking. "Wait a minute...what is that?"

"Droids!" Saw yelled, pointing into the foliage.

"Take cover!" Rex shouted when a missile launched at the rebels. Everyone scattered to protect themselves.

Anakin and Ahsoka jumped back, igniting their lightsabers. They fled towards the droids for a moment, trying to give enough time for everyone to gather supplies and weaponry. With a gesture Anakin ducked behind some stone for protection, glancing at Steela who was shooting at the droids.

"I think training is over," Ahsoka muttered.

"Really?"

"Shut up."

Anakin stood to deflect more blasts from the oncoming droids, aware of the rebels shooting from various positions in the camp. "I'll take the left flank if you take the right."

Cody's voice crackled over the wrist-com. "Uh, no offense General, but shouldn't we be protecting the rebels? This is their war."

Ahsoka snorted at his disgruntled sigh, standing briefly to deflect blasts before sitting down again.

"There are too many people here!" Anakin exclaimed before looking at Steela. "We can hold them off long enough for your people to get to safety."

Steela shook her head. "You didn't teach us to run - Saw," she spat into her comlink. "Use your disrupters to take out the droids."

And so the fight began, which was overwhelming to say the least. Not overwhelming because it was a fight, but because there were so many lives that weren't prepared to fight. Anakin felt the weight of more lives settle on his shoulders, feeling his chest tighten before he moved to fight even harder.


Author's note: enjoy this chapter in these hard times. I tried for a long time to come up with a meaningful message, but I just couldn't. I'm so sorry to everyone who has been hurt by any of the injustices that are happening in the world right now, and what has been happening for years and decades. Stay as safe as you can! xoxo