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Spider Problem
Damian spun the turret, opening fire and spraying the TIE fighters who had made the mistake of chasing them. Two of the three exploded instantly, and when the third swerved to avoid it, one of the fleet's Mandalorian fighters destroyed it as it shot past.
"How did they find us this time?" Ahsoka asked from the bottom of the turret's ladder where she was playing telephone.
"No idea," Damian said. "Probably bad luck."
"Shaeeah's making a pass over one of the Light Cruisers," Ahsoka warned.
"Excellent," Damian said.
A moment later, the ship rolled and Damian opened fire at the same time as Shaeeah did with the nose gun, both guns' blasts ripping along the top of the Light Cruiser before Damian focused his fire on the command deck. After a moment, the shields fell and his shots shredded through the ship's hull in seconds before he swung his gun around as they passed, blasting the engines as well. After a moment, the cruiser exploded, massive chunks of debris crashing into the Star Destroyer between the two Light Cruisers.
Damian spun his turret to spray the Star Destroyer for a moment, then returned to the Wraith's primary job of dealing with TIE fighters to keep the rest of their ships from being destroyed. After another moment, the Ghost dropped out of Hyperspace and was almost instantly swarmed.
"Hera's back!" Damian called out. "The ghost is getting swarmed."
"On it!" Shaeeah said, swinging around and speeding toward the Ghost.
The moment the Ghost had passed them, Damian and Shaeeah opened fire, obliterating the TIE fighters chasing the Ghost.
"Ghost you're clear," Damian radioed.
"Shadow Caster to Ghost, I'm on your wing," Sabine's bounty hunter friend, Ketsu, radioed. "Wraith, there are TIE Bombers heading for the command ship."
"We're on it," Shaeeah responded, swinging around and gunning it.
They swung around the command ship and both Shaeeah and Damian opened fire, TIE Bombers exploding rapidly, the remaining ones breaking off their attack and retreating, most of them being blasted by other fighters anyway. After another minute, Hera landed the ghost inside the carrier and began to refuel the carrier. seeing a break in shooting, Damian slid down the ladder, heading for the cockpit with Ahsoka while Jek headed up the ladder in his place.
"We could probably take out the other Light Cruiser while we're at it," Damian pointed out.
"Refueling is finished," Sato reported. "Stand by to jump."
"Roger, standing by," Shaeeah said, hand resting on the Hyperdrive lever.
Except, he didn't call it, and neither did the fleet jump. Shaeeah looked to Damian, one eyebrow raised, and he shrugged. Suddenly, a R3 reported receiving new coordinates and quickly changed their destination.
"All ships, jump to the new coordinates!" Sato said.
"Copy," Shaeeah said, waiting until the rest of the fleet had jumped before following. "What the hell? Why'd they change coordinates?"
"No idea," Damian said. "Maybe they got new intel."
Shaeeah nodded. "Maybe."
"Well, since we're out of danger, I'm going to go meditate," Damian said.
"Same," Ahsoka nodded.
They opened the door and ignored the noises coming from Jek and Enfys's room. Damian walked to the cargo hold and sat down, Ahsoka sitting in front of him, both of them taking each other's hands. They allowed the Force to flow through them both, feeling their minds connect and the cargo around them begin to float around them as they lifted off the floor. Both of them remained silent, focusing on nothing but the Force. Then, images began to enter their joined minds. Blurred places. Smudged faces. Lightsabers of multiple colors. Nothing was clear. At least, not until the final image. The last Sith Stalker, wielding a pair of blood red lightsabers, facing off against Damian, wielding both of his. Except, they weren't alone. There was a blurred silhouette behind Damian, a white one that looked female, both of her hands resting on his shoulders. And behind the Sith Stalker was a dark red silhouette of a cloaked figure, a wicked grin visible under the hood, and his hands plunged wrist-deep into the Sith Stalker's head. Finally the images faded and Damian opened his eyes, seeing Ahsoka do the same. She watched him worriedly, but he shook his head.
"It's alright," Damian said. "The silhouette behind me is probably the Mother."
"The Mother?" Ahsoka asked.
"You met the Mortis Gods, right?" Damian asked, Ahsoka nodding.
"One of them, the Daughter, sacrificed her lifeforce to bring me back to life," Ahsoka said.
Damian nodded. "Well, apparently, the Mother, was her mother. And she left Mortis to avoid seeing her children kill each other, then fell in love with a human, and sired my ancestors. Then her power, her Connection to the Force, was passed down through the Shan family, skipping generations sometimes, until me."
"That's amazing," Ahsoka said. "How do you know all of this?"
"Satele Shan manifested herself using Proxy as a host to explain it to me," Damian said. "It's how he got Satele's form."
"That was forever ago," Ahsoka said. "Why didn't you ever tell me?"
Damian shrugged. "Didn't really seem that important."
"But it explains so much!" Ahsoka said.
Damian shrugged. "Nothing super important. If there was something important that it explained, I'd have brought it up."
Ahsoka sighed. "I guess."
"Hey, Shaeeah says we're almost there," Enfys told them suddenly, stepping into the room just long enough to pass the message before leaving again.
Damian and Ahsoka followed, returning to the cockpit just as they reached their destination. It was a huge brown planet, like a desert, and when Shaeeah scanned, she reported that there were no Imperials in the system, or anyone else. She flew down and landed beside the Command ship as they looked around. He nodded approvingly. It wasn't their home on Naboo, but it would do. He set about beginning to help offload whatever they'd need for short term occupation, the rest of the Wraith crew helping as well.
Damian meditated in silence, images flickering behind his eyelids. His visions were getting more vivid. Clearer. It was getting easier to see what was happening. Or what would happen. And it was getting easier to understand the visions. The images ended just before Ahsoka rested a hand on his shoulder.
"Are you alright?" Ahsoka asked. "You've been meditating a lot lately."
"Something about that vision we had together keeps bugging me," Damian said. "I'm trying to see if I can use the Force to remember it, that way I can study it."
"You mean the vision that only had one actual image?" Ahsoka asked.
"Yeah, that one," Damian chuckled. "But, I haven't been having much luck with that, so I'm going to take a break."
"Good," Ahsoka smiled. "Try this on."
She handed him his Mandalorian Iron helmet, newly painted with the same markings as the Jedi Temple Guard helmet. Except, it wasn't normal paint. He wasn't sure what it was, but it felt different.
"Sabine finally finished it," Ahsoka said. "It took her a little longer than she was expecting, since she had to find a special kind of paint, and reform some of the medal for the ear coverings, as well as adding eye-slits with retractable covers. But it's finished.
Damian pulled it on, finding the cameras inside fully functional, and that he could open the eyes if he wanted to by tapping the right side and could see out of the eye-slits easily. He nodded. "It's perfect. I still kind of want to know why the temple gave me a Temple Guard helmet to begin with."
"Well, maybe it was trying to tell us something," Ahsoka suggested.
"Like what?" Damian asked.
"Before the Empire, the Temple Guards were trained as Jedi, but they were...different," Ahsoka said. "They were the best of the best, and the order required total emotional detachment."
"Well I definitely wouldn't have been one, then," Damian said.
"The temple seemed to think you would," Ahsoka said. "If the Jedi Order is ever recreated, I doubt it'll have the rule about not having relationships. So, if that were the case, you could be a Temple Guard. The guards have to be the strongest out of everyone."
Damian nodded. "Maybe. Of course, I'm not going anywhere without you."
Ahsoka smiled, nodding, just as Damian froze, eyes widening slowly. "What?"
"Something's wrong," Damian said, looking around just as Ezra spun, sprinting to the Ghost.
Damian and Ahsoka both met him on it and they lifted off, Kanan and Zeb leaping onto the ship after them.
"What's going on?" Damian asked.
"Rex and Sabine are under attack," Ezra said.
"How did you know?" Kanan asked.
"I can feel it," Ezra said.
Damian nodded and Hera flew them North until they found Sabine retreating from two huge creatures that looked like spiders with huge bulges standing up from their backs. As they were passing over the two, Ezra leapt out of the phantom, even before Damian had predicted he would, and plummeted to the ground between the spiders, splitting one on the way down, then twisting and sweeping his lightsaber down and around, splitting the other back up before stopping his spin, deactivating his lightsaber as the two creatures collapsed.
"Are you okay?" Ezra asked.
"Uh...yeah, I'm fine," Sabine said, seeming to be partway in shock seeing Ezra kill both with such fluid ease. "But they took Rex, and I think they got Dicer too."
Dicer was one of their pilots, Phoenix Two, and one of the more skilled ones.
"I can sense more of them," Damian said, walking past the two of them, watching several caves nearby, just past a sand dune. "This way."
He lead them into the caves, Ahsoka walking along beside him, both of them with their lightsabers in-hand. As they walked into the caves, Chopper retrieved the Phantom that Sabine and Rex had taken to look for Dicer earlier, and flew it back to the Ghost. Damian kept his mask on as they walked, the tunnels being pitch dark anyway, and turned off the cameras, using the Force to see. Ahsoka likewise used the Force to see, and the others walked by either the light of a flashlight or a lightsaber. Damian made a mental note to teach Kanan and Ezra how to see with the Force later.
"They have tough armor," Sabine warned Zeb and Hera. "Aim for the eyes."
Both nodded and they all fell silent again. Finally, they stopped at a fork, looking around.
"We've got to split up," Kanan said. "Ezra, stay with Hera."
"No," Hera said. "You four head left. We can handle things on our own."
Kanan hesitated, then nodded. Damian and Ahsoka turned, following the left tunnel while Hera, Sabine, and Zeb headed the other way. Once they were out of earshot, Damian turned, walking backward.
"That was very brave, Ezra," Damian smirked.
"Not like it changed anything," Ezra said. "She didn't even thank me."
"Did she have to?" Ahsoka asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well...no," Ezra said. "I suppose not. But still, she could have at least been grateful."
"She was," Damian assured him. "But she was also worried about Rex. You have to remember the order of priorities. First friends in danger, then thanking someone for saving your life."
Ezra sighed and nodded. "I suppose. I'm just getting really tired of this whole ignoring each other thing."
Damian nodded. "Don't worry. It won't last much longer."
"I hope not," Ezra said.
Just then, a spider stepped out in front of them. Kanan moved to attack it, but Ezra caught his shoulder.
"Hold on, let me try to connect with it," Ezra said.
"I don't think so," Kanan said.
"Trust me," Ezra said confidently. "I got this."
He stepped forward, extending his hand and closing his eyes, reaching out with the Force. However, after a moment, the spider shrieked, lunging. Kanan yanked Ezra back, but Ahsoka held an arm out to the side, stopping him as Damian stepped forward, placing a hand tot he spider's head, just above its eyes.
"Peace," Damian said calmly. "We mean you no harm."
The spider shrieked, but didn't attack and Damian turned to Kanan.
"Shut off your lightsaber," Damian said. "It's scaring him."
"Are you insane?" Kanan asked.
"Animals can sense your fear, Kanan," Damian said. "Calm yourself and put the lightsaber away."
Kanan was silent for a moment before shutting it off, darkness enveloping them all instantly. Damian smiled as he sensed the spider calming, and Ahsoka joined him beside it, also resting a hand on its head.
"Good," Damian smiled. "Now, can you please take us to our friends? We just want to take them and leave. After that, we'll stop bothering you."
The spider made an odd series of chirping and hissing sounds, Damian's connection to its mind allowing him to get a general understanding that the sensors were bothering them. He nodded.
"I'll take care of it," Damian said.
"You can talk to that thing?" Kanan asked.
"I can understand what it wants," Damian said. "Sort of."
"Same," Ahsoka said. "The sensors are driving them crazy."
Just then, several more spiders scurried into the tunnel from openings around them, all hissing and chirping, asking Damian and Ahsoka to turn off the sensors. However, Kanan only heard the sound of multiple spiders hissing at them, and his panic spiked, his lightsaber reigniting. The effect was instant. The spiders Damian wasn't keeping calm with the Force shrieked and attacked the thing causing them distress. Damian and Ahsoka shoved them back with the Force, careful not to harm them, then spun, shoving Kanan and Ezra toward an empty tunnel.
"Run, now!" Damian snapped. "Later we're going to discuss your ability to follow instructions!"
Kanan chose to rum, rather than respond, and the four of them fled from the spiders. After a couple of seconds, Sabine reported they had found Rex, though Dicer seemed to be gone.
"Good work," Kanan said. "We're coming to you!"
"Actually, I think it's time to go!" Sabine said, several shots sounding from the commlink before it went silent.
"They need help!" Ezra said.
"This way!" Damian said, turning and running down a path to the right.
After several moments, they found the others through a hole in the floor and Kanan dropped, killing a spider in time to save Hera. the others all dropped through and turned to flee, Damian and Ahsoka remaining behind. They both clipped their lightsabers to their belts and knelt, waiting. After a few moments, Kanan and the others were gone and the spiders returned for Damian and Ahsoka. However, without the others' fear, or their weapons going off and frightening or hurting the spiders, the spiders were easily calmed through the Force. Damian and Ahsoka stood as the spiders parted toward a room filled with eggs. They walked though the path the spiders had formed and soon came to a room where Dicer was lying, a bite wound in the back of one of her shoulders and pale. Damian knelt, beginning to heal her with the Force, sensing venom, though it faded as he worked, then healed the damage the venom had done, and finally the bite wound. As soon as he was done, Dicer sat bolt upright, gasping for breath, only for Damian to rest a hand on her shoulder.
"Calm yourself," Damian said. "Nothing here will hurt you."
"But the spiders-"
"Were frightened by the sensor, and hurt by the frequency it generates," Ahsoka said calmly. "We asked them to allow us to take you back with us in exchange for turning it off, and they agreed."
"They talk?" Dicer asked.
"No, but we can understand them to a certain degree," Damian said. "It's a Jedi thing."
Dicer nodded, standing. "I don't suppose you have a flashlight."
"No," Damian said. "Just hold onto my shoulder. Ahsoka and I will guide you out."
Dicer nodded and they turned, walking back through the tunnels again, the spiders all remaining silent and motionless at Damian and Ahsoka's silent urging, so as to avoid scaring Dicer. After a few minutes, they stepped outside again and Damian walked over to the sensor, turning it off.
"Damian!" Kanan called out, then stopped when he saw Dicer was with them. "You found her?"
"No," Damian said. "The spiders let us take her. Without you all scaring them, they're quite reasonable. We stop hurting them with the sensors, and they let us have our pilot back."
Kanan sighed. "I'm just glad you two made it out safe."
"The only reason we were in danger was all of your fear and you keeping your lightsaber active," Ahsoka said. "Damian specifically told you that it was agitating the spiders, but you didn't listen!"
Damian rested a hand on her shoulder as he pulled his mask off. "It's alright. Let's head back and let everyone know we found Dicer, and about the spiders. We'll have to find a new plan since we can't have the sensors."
Hera nodded and began to try to lift off, only for the ship to shudder and sway, then go nowhere. "Ugh. They must have glued us down. I'm at full power and we're going nowhere."
"Really?" Damian asked. "Strong webbing. I'll handle it."
He extended the ramp and walked outside, quickly cutting the webbing with his lightsaber before shutting it off and walking back onto the ship. Spiders began to crawl out of the caves, the ship seeming to be aggravating as well, but Hera lifted off and flew away before they could try anything. Once they got back and informed Commander Sato about the situation, a decision was made to make a fence out of perimeter sensors to keep the spiders out. Damian and Ahsoka both disagreed with it completely, and Dicer actually agreed, but they were overruled. So, by the next day, there was a complete circle of sensors all the way around the massive, tiered rock formation they had established their base on, each sensor about ten feet apart, blocking the spiders from getting in. Damian sighed. The spiders weren't going to be happy.
"At least they gave us Dicer," Ahsoka said. "And there's no longer a sensor right at the entrance to their hive."
"I suppose," Damian sighed. "Still, I feel like we're kind of betraying them by allowing this."
"It's the best option," Ahsoka said.
Just then, a bird above them cried out and flew down, landing on Ahsoka's shoulder. It looked kind of like a fat owl with white feathers on its stomach and face, mint green feathers on its back, matching green eyes, yellow feathers around its eyes like eye-shadow, a tail, and an intelligent spark in its eyes.
"Who's this?" Damian asked.
"I don't know," Ahsoka said. "I've seen birds like this around, actually, now that I think about it, I think I've seen them pretty much everywhere we go. They're all through the forests of Naboo around our home."
Damian cocked his head to the side and extended a hand, only for the bird to suddenly go frantic, shooting forward and fluttering around and around Damian, screeching and hooting and crying out. With the bird being about the size of Damian's torso, he was a little startled and took a step back, only to stop as he felt the bird's mind connect to his own as it settled to hover in front of him.
"I am Morai," a female voice said inside of his mind. "I have been watching over Ahsoka for many years. Ever since the Daughter gave her lifeforce to her. I am sorry I never recognized you, Mother."
"She says her name's Morai," Damian said as the bird landed on Ahsoka's shoulder again. "She's been the bird you keep seeing. She's been watching over you since the Daughter died."
Morai began to explain her origins as a series of images and concepts, explaining her entire existence in a matter of seconds, and Damian relayed the information.
"She says she's both a manifestation of the Daughter's power and will, but at the same time she's also the Daughter herself," Damian said. "It's kind of hard to explain. She thinks I'm the Mother, though. I'm not, Morai. I'm a descendent of her."
Morai cocked her head to the side. "So...Cousin?"
"Sort of, I suppose," Damian said.
"Well, if you're the Daughter, I owe you my life," Ahsoka said. "I never got to thank you, either."
Morai hooted, rubbing the side of her head against Ahsoka's, then took off again, cawing loudly before flying toward the fence where Ezra was laying down after once again failing to connect with a spider.
"I'll go get him," Ahsoka said. "Are we taking Zera?"
"No," Damian said. "She'll stay and help the rebellion."
Ahsoka nodded and headed toward Ezra while Damian walked back to the base, finding Kanan easily, the Jedi sparring with Zera, currently. Just as he arrived, Kanan managed to get behind Zera, holding his lightsaber to the side of her throat, beating her, though only barely.
"Well done," Damian said. "Zera, you're going to stay and help the fleet with Barriss while we're away. You and Shia help Riyo look after Alina for us, alright?"
"Alright," Zera nodded. "Good luck on Malachor."
"Thank you," Damian said. "Ready Kanan?"
Kanan nodded and they walked to the Phantom, having decided to leave the Wraith for the Rebellion to use if they needed it. A few minutes later, Ahsoka and Ezra joined them and Damian lifted off, flying away from the planet before jumping to Hyperspace, heading for Malachor.
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