I do not own Star Wars or any of the characters.
The Clone Wars
Damian watched the wreckage with an amused smile. Rex was jumpy. It was understandable, since he had been here during the war, but now everything should be shut down. Damian glanced at Ahsoka, who smiled knowingly.
"Don't get your hopes up," Ahsoka said. "We're not acting out the Clone Wars here, we're just here to pick up ammo and weapons from a long-forgotten scrap heap."
"Oh I'm sure everything will go much worse than that," Damian grinned. "Right Kanan?"
"Always," Kanan sighed. "But let's hope for some good luck this time."
"Personally, I think the chance to fight battle droids instead of stormtroopers would be great luck," Damian said.
"Those droids wiped out a lot of men in the war!" Rex said. "Some of them...were my brothers."
"I know," Damian said. "And I'm sorry. But fighting droids would be exponentially easier than fighting stormtroopers."
"I don't know," Rex said. "Stormtroopers couldn't hit the broad side of a barn."
"True," Damian said.
Finally, the Ghost landed and they all walked down the ramp, heading toward the wreckage. Sabine had chosen to stay back with Hera, leaving their group with Zeb, Kanan, Ezra, Damian, Ahsoka, Rex, and Chopper. As they neared the ship, Ezra stopped, picking up a battle droid's head.
"Is this a battle droid?" Ezra asked.
"That's right," Rex nodded. "Part of one, at least. This area used to be crawling with them. We called 'em clankers."
Zeb chuckled. "Clankers. I like it."
"Hold up," Rex said as they reached the wreck's hangar. "Let me recon a bit."
He moved on ahead, the others following at a distance.
"We hit pay dirt," Rex said, waving them over. "Their munitions vault is fully stocked. There's more proton bomb than we can carry."
"That remains to be seen," Damian grinned.
"Careful," Rex said as they all walked toward the ammo, Ezra taking the lead. "They used to protect their munitions vaults with ray shields."
"Ray shields?" Ezra asked. "What are ray shields?"
There was a sudden hum and a flash of light and a white and grey energy shield was suddenly around them. Damian sighed.
"Those are ray shields," Rex said.
"I could probably get us out by dispersing the shields' energy," Damian mused.
"Hey!" Ezra gasped. "Aren't those battle droids?"
"I thought they were all shut down!" Zeb said as eight battle droids moved to surround them.
"Well obviously these ones didn't get the memo," Damian said calmly.
"You have been captured by the Separatist Alliance," one of the droids said.
"Separatists?" Rex gasped.
"Apparently they missed a few memos," Ahsoka said.
"Prepare to blast the republic invaders," the droid said.
"Republic Invaders?" Kanan asked.
"Hey droid, I don't want to tell you how to do your job, but if you want to blast us, you might want to turn off the blaster-proof energy shields first," Damian suggested.
"Oh, right," the droid said. "An excellent point."
"Hold on!" the droid commander, denoted by having yellow paint on its head and in a circle on its chest, said, raising a hand to where its ear would be. "Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Roger roger."
"Wait, who's Roger?" Ezra asked.
"We have new orders!" the droid said, putting its blaster away. "Incapacitate and capture. Activating stunner."
"No!" Rex shouted as the droid raised a control pad. "No!"
Electricity shot down from the ceiling blasting them all, all of them shouting in pain for several seconds before collapsing. Damian groaned, struggling to try to push himself up, his helmet having partially protected him from the electricity by softening the blow, only for a droid to blast him with a stun shot once the shield was down.
Damian groaned, slowly scraping himself off of the floor, hearing a droid speaking, but not hearing anything through the pounding in his head. After a moment, he managed to get upright on his knees and pulled his helmet off, rubbing his eyes, then massaging his temples.
"You okay?" Ahsoka asked.
"Been worse," Damian sighed.
"By my calculations, our probability of being defeated was only twenty three point six percent," the droid was saying.
"Is that a Super Tactical Droid?" Damian asked, staring at the mostly humanoid droid before them, which was holding Rex's helmet in its left hand.
"Yes," Rex said, then turned back to the droid. "After Clone Order Sixty Six, the whole droid army was given a shut-down command. How are you even operating?"
"The Jedi betrayal ended the war for most of the galaxy," the droid said. "But here on Agamar, I assumed it was a Republic trick and prevented the shut down command."
"Well it doesn't matter how it ended the war is over!" Rex said, pulling at his restraints. "Let us go!"
"Negative captain," the droid said. "I calculate that this will be my only opportunity to end the Clone Wars as I planned."
"I'm game," Damian grinned. "But to make it real, you'll have to give me my lightsabers back."
"Affirmative," the droid nodded. "You will fight. We will defeat you."
"Well you can count me out," Zeb said. "I'm not playing some stupid war game."
"That is correct, Lasat," the droid said. "Your species was not in the clone wars, so you will be the hostage that your allies must save. The Jedi rescue was a recurring scenario based on one hundred thirty two battles I have reviewed."
"Yeah, we've done it a few times," Ezra said.
"Jedi, is this your Padawan?" the droid asked, looking to Kanan.
"Most of the time," Kanan said.
"Good, a complete set of Republic opponents will make this authentic," the droid said. "And you two are Master and Student as well?" He looked to Ahsoka and Damian.
"Uh...kind of?" Damian said. "She taught me to use the force and a Lightsaber, but that ended a while ago."
"Then you are both Jedi Knights," the droid said. "Good. I will adjust my strategy accordingly."
"I wouldn't say we're Jedi Knights," Damian said.
"Stop talking Damian," Rex snapped. "It doesn't matter if you have a complete set or not because we're not fighting!"
"If you will not fight, you will be terminated," the droid said.
"Rex, look at the opportunity here," Damian said, everyone staring at him. "Commander, we'll make you a wager."
"What kind of wager?" the droid asked.
"If we win this battle, Zeb goes free, we take all of the Proton Bombs in the hangar, and we get you," Damian said.
"What?" the droid asked.
"We're fighting a different war now, against the Empire that the Republic was turned into," Damian said. "We could use an ally with your strategic capabilities. And technically, you'd still be fighting the same enemy. So, if we beat your war game here, you help us fight the Empire, along with whatever droids we don't destroy."
"I accept your terms," the droid said, dropping Rex's helmet in front of him, then taking a bucket with their weapons from a droid beside him. "I am called Kalani."
They all collected their weapons, the Jedi using their lightsabers to free their hands, then left the wreckage peacefully. As they were getting ready, the droid announced that they had to fight their way back to the control center where the droid commander would be waiting.
"Rex, Ahsoka, you two have more battlefield experience than the rest of us," Kanan said. "You two lead."
"The usual, Rex?" Ahsoka asked, grinning.
"Worked every other time," Rex nodded. "Although, we usually have a few more clones with us."
"While that's true," Damian said, drawing his lightsaber and extending one blade, "This time you have four skilled Jedi to make up the difference."
Rex grinned. "You're right." he pulled his helmet on. "Follow the plan and this'll be easy. Our first goal is to get into the hangar. Kalani is a war machine, programmed to kill, and he's got the numbers and the firepower to do it. Our only chance is to be aggressive, surprise him. Hopefully put him on the defensive."
"How many droids do you think he has?" Ezra asked.
"Plenty," Damian said. "Hopefully no Commando Droids, though. And where the hell's Chopper?"
Everyone looked around and groaned. He was missing. As usual.
"The last battle will begin now," Kalani said, an alarm sounding.
They all turned to the hangar just as three ranks of battle droids began to march out of it, in total about thirty or forty.
Damian sighed. "He's just determined to ruin my fun, isn't he?"
"With four Jedi, this seems a little...disappointing," Ahsoka said.
"Sword and shield maneuver," Rex said.
"Wait, what's that mean?" Ezra asked.
"We block, he fires," Kanan said.
Ezra nodded, extending his first lightsaber, and the four Jedi spread out in front of Rex, who drew his blasters. Then, the droids opened fire. The four of them began to deflect and reflect blaster bolts, droids dropping rapidly. Then, on Kanan's cue, he and Ezra dropped to a knee as Rex hurled a grenade before continuing to block blaster bolts. The grenade exploded, taking out a handful of droids, and after a few more moments, Damian deflected a shot into the last one, dropping it.
"Do you think Kalani expected us to be done that soon?" Damian asked.
"We should assume that's not all of the droids," Rex said.
"Agreed," Kanan nodded.
"I don't know Rex," Ahsoka said as they all walked toward the hangar. "Maybe we got lucky for once."
"I don't know," Rex said.
"The hangar looks clear," Ezra said, starting forward, only for Rex to pull him back.
"That's not how it normally goes," Rex said. "The droids usually keep coming, wave after wave."
"That tactical droid has had a lot of time to think about it," Kanan said. "And remember, he wants to win."
"Yeah, I'm surprised it means so much to him," Ezra said.
"It means a lot to his programming," Rex corrected. "It means a lot to mine as well."
"Your...programming?" Ezra asked.
"We clones were bred for combat," Rex said. "With a few exceptions, there was no other way of life for us."
"We should move," Ahsoka said.
"Right Commander," Rex nodded.
Damian took the lead, keeping his lightsaber active as he looked around carefully. He felt like there should be more droids. Just as they reached the center of the hangar, doors opened at the ends of the catwalks above them and droids shaped into rings, droidekas, or destroyer droids, rolled out onto the platform, standing up on their three pointed legs and forming their energy shields, firing at Damian and the others quickly.
"Oh that's cheating!" Damian complained as they all deflected the blaster shots.
"Get back!" Kanan shouted.
"Not yet!" Damian said, drawing Satele's lightsaber and activating it before hurling his own, beginning to deflect blaster shots with it as he guided his lightsaber with the Force.
It spun through the air, slicing through one end of the two occupied catwalks, then curved around and cut through the other side, dropping the catwalks and the droids on them. Damian caught his lightsaber and put Satele's back in its sleeve, then grinned as two of the droids stood, the other two having two broken legs and laying uselessly on the ground.
"Run!" Ahsoka said, Damian nodding as they turned to flee.
The destroyers that could move both retracted their shield and began to roll after them. Ahsoka nodded to Damian and both skidded to a stop, then launched themselves at the droids, slashing both before they could reactivate their shields.
"Nicely done," Kanan said as Damian finished off the two damaged droids.
"Thank you," Damian said.
Just then, more droids began to arrive, opening fire at them all. Damian swore, spinning just in time for a shot to slam into his helmet, sending him staggering backward. However, no more shots got through before Ahsoka and the others were deflecting them. Damian grumbled, standing and stepping up beside Ahsoka, reflecting the blasts back at the droids. However, after several minutes of deflecting blasts, they had been pushed back into cover, Rex taking a shot to the chest, though it hadn't gotten through his armor.
"I'm really tired of these droids," Damian said. "I think I'm done with the Clone War."
"How do you think we feel?" Ahsoka smirked.
"We need to take the clankers out all at once," Rex said. "I've only got one more grenade."
"Save it," Damian said, raising a hand, then swiping it toward the droids.
There was a deafening crash, followed by a dozen more, and the blasts stopped. They all stepped out and saw the broken pieces of the catwalks scattered among the destroyed droids.
"Good job," Kanan said, just as Chopper reached them.
"Chopper, where have you been?" Ezra asked.
Chopper beeped at them and Damian raised an eyebrow.
"A shuttle?" Ezra asked. "That's a good find, but we're not leaving without Zeb. You get it running and we'll be back soon."
Chopper saluted with one of his manipulators and beeped, then sped away.
Damian nodded to the others and they ran for the door, Rex blasting the ray shield generator before they could get to it.
"No ray shields this time," Rex said.
As they ran down the hallway, Damian glanced at Rex, seeing him speeding past Damian. He was determined to win. Actually, based on the stress Damian could sense from him, obsessed was probably more accurate.
"Rex, slow down!" Damian said. "You can't get too far ahead of us!"
"Aye Commander," Rex said then flincher. "Er, uh, Damian."
Just then, they rounded a corner, Rex blasting two battle droids only for a destroyer to roll around the corner up ahead. Damian shot forward, beginning to deflect its shots as it formed its shield. Then, a second arrive behind them, Ezra beginning to block its shots.
"Damian, Rex, push and shoot!" Kanan said.
Damian pushed the droid with the Force, just enough to get it off balance, and Rex shot it in the head, making it turn to the wall as it short-circuited, blasting the wall several times as it walked into the wall before exploding. Damian spun just as Ezra was knocked backward by a shot. Rex turned to engage the destroyer but it shot him in the head, knocking him to the ground, his helmet falling off. Damian stepped forward to distract the droid just as Rex hurled his helmet, the helmet passing through the shield and breaking the droid's shield generator on its head.
"That worked!" Rex breathed, then shot the droid.
"How the hell did that work?" Damian asked.
"The shield over-heated," Kanan said. "That droid's too old."
"Just like me," Rex grumbled, picking his helmet up and pulling it on.
"You okay?" Kanan asked as he helped Ezra up.
"Yeah," Ezra said. "I'll be fine."
They continued through the hallway at a jog, but after a few minutes, they rounded a corner to the command center, rex blasting a battle droid outside the command center, then shooting a blaster out of Kalani's hand.
"Well, well," Rex smirked. "Looks like we win."
"I disagree captain," Kalani said as the last battle droid placed his blaster to Zeb's back, only for Damian to raise a hand, sending the battle droid exploding into the far wall before he could blast Zeb.
"Game over," Damian said.
"That's right," Rex grinned, sighting in.
"Rex don't!" Ezra said, shoving his arms to the side and making him narrowly miss the droid's head. "We didn't win! These droids are so old they malfunctioned! If they hadn't, we'd be goners."
"The boy is correct," the droid said. "The droid army would have prevailed, so technically, victory is ours."
"No it's not!" Ezra snapped. "I never really thought about it. I know the Jedi were wiped out, the clones were decommissioned, and the droid army was shut down. The clone war ended, but why? If non of you won, who did?"
"Uh, the Empire?" Zeb said.
"Zeb, that's right!" Ezra said. "How did you know?"
"Because they're here," Zeb said. "And they're about to win again."
They all looked out the window, seeing a star destroyer, seven shuttles flying to the ground already.
"I have a really bad feeling about this," Damian said, then focused on the star destroyer, sensing something again, as he, Zera, Kanan, and Ezra had on Ryloth. "Kanan, you feel that?"
"Yeah," Kanan nodded. "It's that same feeling."
"What is it?" Ahsoka asked.
"We're about to be in some seriously deep shit," Damian said.
"I've got a new calculation," Ezra said. "What are the chances that your droid army can defeat the Empire?"
"My resources are depleted," Kalani said. "However, the droid army is not currently at war with the Galactic Empire."
"You wanna bet?" Zeb asked.
"Unit B-one-two-six-eight, analyze the threat," Kalani said over his communicator.
Just as he disconnected, a hologram appeared from the command center's communications equipment. It was unfocused and wavering, but it was also just a symbol. A ring with three spikes off of the four corners, the top right and left and bottom right and left, then a spot inside of it.
"I know that symbol," Damian breathed.
"Damian Shan," a heavily distorted voice said. "I bring you and your allies a gift from your future master."
"Future master?" Damian frowned. "Someone's got a big ego."
"Damian," Ahsoka said urgently, staring out the window.
He walked over and stopped, staring. The shuttles opened and droids began to march out of them. They looked like commando droids, but every single one of them had the Empire's emblem on their chests, and the same sun emblem as from the now deactivated hologram on their heads.
"Droid?" Kalani asked. "I did not realize the Empire utilized droids."
"Not those kinds, they don't," Damian said as he watched the droids easily slaughter the five battle droids that had gone to greet them, the droids that had attacked using swords with plasma streaming along the edge of them, which Damian had a solid guess would make them lightsaber proof.
"We're fucked," Damian breathed.
Just then, another droid began to descend the ramp of the center shuttle. A Grievous Model battle droid, complete with four lightsaber hilts hanging from its waist.
"Now we're fucked," Ahsoka said. "They've got a Grievous battle droid with lightsabers."
"We need to leave right now, Kalani," Damian said.
"I agree," Kalani said. "There is a shuttle in the hangar."
"Go, now!" Damian shouted, everyone sprinting out of the command center, Kalani managing to keep up.
They made good time, however, once they reached the hangar, they found a whole new problem. The shuttle was unarmed, as were the other two present, and the Empire had dropped two AT-ATs as well.
"We're trapped," Damian said. "We can't take out those walkers from here."
"Not yet," Damian said. "Give me a minute to think."
"Uh, Damian," Ezra said, peeking out from behind a crate. "I don't think we have a minute. Those droids are getting close."
Damian carefully looked out and swore. The droids were walking, all several dozen of them, but were a little more than a hundred meters from the hangar and closing.
"Okay," Damian said. "We've only got one chance at this."
"At what?" Kanan said, just as Damian's beskar armor plating floated out of his pack and formed his complete juggernaut suit. "No way. You are not bull-rushing your way through those droids."
"We don't have a lot of choice here," Ahsoka said, also donning her own juggernaut suit, as she hadn't in so long. "We don't have any other options."
"There are always other options," Kanan said.
"Then what do we do?" Damian asked.
Kanan hesitated for a moment. "What about the proton bombs?"
"We have no cannons to fire them," Kalani said. "Otherwise I would have used them on you."
"You're taking them with you," Damian said. "The Rebellion needs them."
"We are not leaving you two behind again!" Ezra said, drawing both of his lightsabers and igniting them. "If you stay to fight, we all do."
Damian sighed, looking to the shuttle again, then nodding. "Load up the ammo. Ahsoka and I will try to work our way to the walkers so Chopper can get the ammo out, then we can evacuate on another shuttle."
The others nodded and quickly loaded up all of the ammo in one shuttle, Chopper and Kalani both getting in. Then, Damian nodded to Ahsoka, who nodded back. As one, they shoved Kanan, Ezra, and Rex into the shuttle with the Force.
"No!" Rex shouted, just as Chopper used a blaster to stun all three of them.
"As soon as we clear you a path, get out of here," Damian said.
Chopper beeped and shut the door and Damian sighed, igniting and separating his lightsabers, walking out of cover with Ahsoka, the droids having stopped twenty meters from the hangar. Ahsoka ignited her own lightsabers and they walked out of the hangar together, the droids all taking combat stances. Damian could see the blasters on their backs and the flamethrowers in their left arms, and when he glanced at Ahsoka, she nodded that she saw them too. Damian took a deep breath, closing his mask's eyes and closed his own extending his senses. Then, they were off. Both shot forward, their lightsabers crashing into the droids' blades with a loud hissing, the same as when two lightsabers met in battle, before both leapt backward from slashes from the droids to either side of those they had attacked. Once they'd landed, Damian shot forward again, slamming one of his blades into a sword again, this time sending out a Force Push through his blade, blasting droids away from himself and breaking the droids' formation. Then, Ahsoka was at his side and it was chaos.
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