The Last Battle
A month later, the Ghost exited Hyperspace over the planet of Agamar and once they reached the atmosphere, they headed towards the wreckage of an old transport ship. They landed outside of the wreckage.
They landed and everyone, including Rex, Ahsoka and Dash walked out of the ramp.
"You're sure you don't need help?" Hera asked.
"I'm sure everything will go horribly wrong." Kanan remarked.
"We'll be fine. We got Clone Wars veterans with us." Ezra casually reminded her. Dash noticed the odd expression on Rex's face.
"Hey, are you alright, Rex?" He asked in concern.
"Yes, General." He replied, putting on his old helmet. He seemed out of it slightly, concerning the family trio. Errol gave a quick kiss to Hera and she whispered 'be careful' before she and Sabine walked back into the ship and lifted off as everyone else made their way towards the wreckage.
"There was a battle here during the Clone War. This old transport's the perfect place to find weapons, ammo, maybe even some proton bombs." Rex said, leading everyone up front. Ezra saw the head of one of the droids he remembered encountering on Geonosis and picked it up.
"Hey, was this a Separatist battle droid?" He then asked for clarification.
"Oh, yeah. Little piece of one anyway. This used to be crawling with 'em. We called 'em clankers." Rex replied.
"Clankers. *chuckles* I like that. How many of these things do you think you blasted?" Zeb asked as Ezra examined the head.
"I don't know. Thousands. Probably tens of thousands. Never kept count like some of the boys." Rex replied, sounding sad.
"And to think that Ahsoka used to call these droids tinnies." Dash brought up, making Ahsoka blush and smack him in the arm, making him chuckle.
"Really? Mom…." Errol groaned.
"Hey, I was 14 then. I thought it was cute." She defended herself.
"They don't look very dangerous." Ezra shrugged off, throwing the head over his shoulder. This hit a nerve for Rex and so he turned around and faced him.
"Listen, those droids wiped out a lot of Republic Troopers. Many of them... were my friends." He told him with seriousness before walking off.
"You should be more respectful, Ezra. He's been through so much, having scars. Some that you can't see." Dash scolded the teen, both him and Ahsoka understanding very well what Rex dealt with. And even Kanan as he was in the Clone Wars.
They all then ran into the hangar of the wreckage.
"Hold up. Let me recon first." Rex told everyone behind some crates before jogging out and looking around until he found proton bombs.
"Well, look at that. We hit pay dirt. The munitions depot is fully loaded. More proton bombs in there than we can carry." Rex said.
"Nice one, Captain. Let's go." Dash said and everyone caught up with the clone. Then they ran towards the proton bombs except for Slick and Chopper as they heard chatter from somewhere else in the hangar.
"Hey, careful, kid. The droids used to protect their armouries with ray shields." Rex cautioned.
"What's a ray shiel-" Ezra was going to ask but then a circular translucent shield formed around them all.
"This is a ray shield." Dash, Ahsoka and Rex said in unison.
"Look! Battle droids." Errol pointed as some surrounded them all.
"I thought they were shut down." Ezra said, shocked.
"Well, these weren't." Zeb muttered, holding his bo-rifle.
"You have been captured by the Separatist Alliance." One of the droids told them all.
"Huh? Separatists?" Rex questioned.
"Prepare to blast the Republic invaders." Another droid instructed the droids.
"Republic invaders?" Kanan questioned.
"They must think the Clone Wars are still going on." Ahsoka said.
"Belay that order. Uh huh. Uh huh. Roger, roger." The droid said, talking into a comlink.
"Wait, who's Roger?" Ezra asked.
"They're not talking to a Roger, dummy." Errol nudged him.
"We have new orders. Incapacitate and capture. Activating stunner." The droid then said with controls they pressed and shocked all of them, knocking them all out.
Everyone started to gain consciousness and found themselves cuffed and on the ground in what was the bridge of the ship.
Rex in particular saw a Super Tactical Droid.
"Oh no. The war, it's not over!" Rex said, feeling like he was back in the past.
"Rex. Rex!" Dash and Ahsoka tried to get his attention, which they did. The couple then looked closely at the Tactical Droid and came to a realisation.
"Ahsoka, that's the same droid we fought against on Onderon." Dash said.
"You're right. General Kalani." She nodded. Said droid walked past them, holding Rex's helmet.
"Is that bad?" Ezra asked the Jedi couple.
"Yes." They replied.
"That droid's extremely intelligent." Rex backed them up.
"Just like the one we encountered on Geonosis." Errol added, reminding Ezra once more of that incident and how it acted.
"Near the end of the war, Separatist droids significantly outnumbered Republic units. By my calculations, our probability of being defeated was only 23.6%." Kalani explained.
"After Clone Order 66, the whole droid army was given a shutdown command. How are you even operating?" Rex asked him, glaring right at him.
"The Jedi betrayal ended the war for most of the galaxy. But here on Agamar, I assumed it was a Republic trick and prevented the shutdown command." Kalani revealed.
"Yeah, well guess what? The war is over so it doesn't matter, now let us go!" Dash shouted at him.
"Negative, General. I calculate that this will be my only opportunity to end the Clone Wars as I planned, with a victory for the Separatist Alliance." Kalani disagreed.
"Are you deaf? The war is over! And do you expect us to surrender?" Ahsoka asked.
"On the contrary, I want you to fight, to prove, once and for all, whose tactical strategy was superior." The Tactical Droid declared, sounding so sure he'll win.
"Well, you can count me out. I'm not playing some stupid war game." Zeb said, not wanting to take part in the slightest.
"That is correct, Lasat. Your species were not in the Clone Wars, so you will be the hostage your allies must save. The 'Jedi Rescue' is a recurring scenario based on 132 battles I reviewed." Kalani explained his plan for them.
"Yeah we've done it a few times." Ezra told him. Kalani then looked at him and Errol, having not met them before.
"Jedi, are these your Padawans?" He asked.
"Most of the time." Kanan answered.
"And I'm a Jedi Knight, thank you very much." Errol corrected, feeling offended. Dash and Ahsoka felt sorry for him.
"Good. A complete set of Republic opponents will make this authentic." Kalani felt satisfied.
"No, it won't, because we're not fighting." Rex spat in defiance.
"If you will not fight, you will be terminated." The droid warned him.
"I'll fight your Clone War." Ezra stepped up.
"What?/Ezra, no!/Are you crazy?!/Don't." The Clone War veterans all warned the young Jedi.
"Guys, we really have no choice. We either do as told or we all die." Errol summed up their situation.
"Besides, look at them. How can we lose?" Ezra then asked, sounding cocky.
"*sighs* Okay, it might be easier to fight them head on than to get out of our current dilemma." Kanan sided with them.
"Errol told us the options, I'd rather live, Rex." Dash joined in.
"Plus, mother would kill us." Ahsoka reminded them. An angry Alaara…. Not something one would want to witness.
"*exhales* Fine. Fine, we'll do it." Rex finally agreed to go along with this.
"Okay, but if we win, Zeb goes free, and we take all the proton bombs in the hangar." Ezra requested.
"I accept your terms." Kalani agreed and then dropped Rex's helmet in front of him.
Now that they had to fight in order to leave and get the proton bombs, everyone, except for Zeb, walked out of the wreckage.
"The objective of this battle is simple. You must fight your way back to my command centre and capture it to free your friend." Kalani told them all through the PA.
"Ahsoka, Dash, Rex, you've got more battlefield experience than the rest of us. You lead." Kanan reasoned.
"Okay, then. The first goal is to get inside the hangar. Knowing Kalani, he's a war machine, programmed to kill with the numbers and firepower to do it. So our only way to win is to be aggressive and surprise him to force him on the defensive." Dash planned out, going back into his General Mode from the Clone Wars.
"How many droids do you think he has?" Ezra questioned.
"The last battle will begin now." Kalani said before a really large amount of droids walked out of the hangar.
"A lot! That's how many!" Errol shouted in worry.
"We've gotta scatter them. Use the sword and shield maneuver." Rex explained as he put on his helmet.
"Wait. What does that mean?" Ezra asked, not knowing what that meant.
"We block while Rex fires!" Ahsoka explained and so everyone except Rex wielded their lightsabers as Rex held his blasters.
"Is everyone ready?" Dash asked.
"Yep/Definitely/Always/Uh huh/Let's go!" Everyone replied all at once.
The droids then started their barrage of blaster fire, which all the Force users deflected.
"Ezra, Errol, get ready to duck!" Kanan warned.
"Got it/Okay!" They both replied.
"Now!" Kanan then shouted and all Force users ducked as Rex threw a thermal detonator, which exploded and took out a good amount of droids as they rest kept going as though nothing happened. The group deflected some blaster bolts and some hit back at some droids.
"Again!" Dash shouted and they ducked back down as Rex threw another thermal detonator which destroyed a significant amount of the droids.
"That scattered 'em! Everyone forward!" Rex ordered and so they charged forward, slicing, dicing and shooting some remaining droids. Ezra then broke out of formation.
"Ezra, form it up!" Rex called to him as the teen took a droid down and Rex avoided getting shot.
"Stay together, Ezra." Ahsoka told him as Rex shot another droid. Then both Errol and Dash took down the last two droids and then everyone gathered up behind some crates. Ezra then took a peek to see nothing.
"The hangar looks clear. Let's go." He said but Rex grabbed him by the shoulder to stop him.
"Wait. That's not how it normally goes." Rex told him, pushing Ezra back behind him to take a peek.
"What's wrong?" The teen asked.
"The droids usually keep coming, wave after wave." Rex pointed out.
"You're right, it's usually non stop fighting with droids." Dash said.
"Kalani did have a long time to think about this. He wants to win after all." Ahsoka reminded everyone.
"Again, just like the one on Geonosis." Errol muttered.
"I'm surprised it means so much to him." Ezra said.
"It's part of their programming, Ezra. Even with clones." Dash said, looking at Rex. Errol couldn't help but feel sorry for his godfather at how he was programmed to just be a soldier.
"Programming?" Ezra questioned, making Rex look at the teen.
"We clones were bred for combat. With few exceptions, there was no other way of life for us." He explained. Ahsoka and Errol patted him on the shoulders, showing how sorry they are for him.
"But at least clones had a soul. Can't say the same for droids." Dash told Rex, making his brother in arms smile underneath the helmet.
"We should move." Kanan said.
"Right, Commander. Uh, Kanan." Rex slipped up as they all continued on into the hangar until they heard rolling above them and they wielded their weapons upon seeing that it was Destroyers. They stopped on the catwalks above the group and fired down at them with their shields activated.
"Ezra, Errol, get back! Those things are a big problem." Ahsoka warned the two younger Jedi as they deflected the blaster bolts from the Destroyers. They then had to fall back behind a large container.
"Can't advance with those Destroyers up there. There's no way to breach their shields." Rex said, not knowing what to do. Ezra then saw something that could help.
"Look! That crane! I bet we could use it to take out the catwalk. I'll make a run for it." Ezra volunteered.
"We'll draw their attention." Kanan assured him.
"You're gonna have to keep moving." Dash cautioned him.
"And there's gonna be a lot of fire." Rex added.
"No matter what, move as fast as you can." Errol stated.
"You can count on me." Ezra assured them as he went to the other end of the container. He then gave them all the thumbs up and they ran to some cover to attract the Destroyers and then they encountered more droids and the family trio and Kanan deflected with their sabers and Rex fired back.
"There's more of them! Get to cover!" Ahsoka said and they ran for a crate and as Rex fired back, it seemed to take forever for Ezra to get going.
"What is keeping Ezra?!" Errol snapped, getting tired of being behind cover.
"We need to move now!" Rex then suddenly said before charging out.
"Wait!" Dash called out, watching him get thrown back by a blaster bolt by a Destroyer. The family and Kanan covered him and then the crane moved, slamming into the catwalk and throwing the Destroyers off, taking them down and then the catwalk fell on top of the droids, taking them out.
"You okay?" Ahsoka asked Rex as she and Kanan got him up on his feet.
"*chuckles* I'm good. Generation One armour always holds up. Everyone then gathered up and ran towards a corridor.
"No ray shields this time." Rex noted.
"Well, that went just as planned, more or less. I make a pretty good soldier, huh?" Ezra said, confident, which caused Rex to stop and get right up in Ezra's face.
"No. A good soldier follows orders. That plan was based on timing and execution. And you took too long!" He snapped at the teen.
"But Chopper wanted to show me-"
"This is not a game! This is life and death! Every move you make affects the rest of us. If we're gonna survive this, we're gonna do it with strategy and discipline." Rex interrupted him and explained further until he went ahead. Both Dash and Ahsoka were silent as they had never seen Rex act like that ever since the Clone Wars ended. Even Errol was shocked at that display of emotion.
"It's not you. He needs to finish this battle his way." Kanan told Ezra before they joined back up with the others, Ezra and even Errol thinking how Kalani needs to finish this his way too. They ran down the corridors, taking down stray droids until a Destroyer rolled up.
"Rex, get between us!" Dash said.
"Behind us!" Errol said as another Destroyer rolled in. Kanan, Dash and Ezra covered the front and both Errol and Ahsoka covered the rear.
"You know, I just realised something. Rex is a clone surrounded by Jedi yet it's reversed in the Clone Wars." Dash joked and that managed to make everyone chuckle as they defended themselves against the Destroyers.
"Push and fire, now!" Kanan said, making Rex get in front as the Destroyer jumped back with its shields off. Rex fired at it and he malfunctioned it, making it walk into a wall and destroy itself with an explosion.
Errol decided to do something crazy and take his helmet off and throw it at the Destroyer and its shield turned off and it was sparking.
"Rex!" He yelled to his godfather, who saw and fired at it, shutting it down. Errol then walked to his helmet and put it back on.
"Good thinking, sweetie." Ahsoka complimented him.
"Shield overheated. That droid's too old." Kanan noted.
"*scoffs* Just like me." Rex added, stretching his shoulder.
"Come on, we're almost there." Dash reminded everyone and they proceeded onward until they reached the command centre and Rex shot a blaster out of Kalani's hand as everyone barged in.
"Well, looks like we win." Rex told the Super Tactical Droid.
"I disagree, Captain." Kalani said as a droid aimed its blaster at Zeb's head. Rex doesn't want to admit defeat. Errol had to push his arms down.
"Don't Rex. We didn't win. And besides, these droids are so old, they malfunction, and no offense, but you're not in your prime. Either way, if they weren't like this now, we'd actually be goners." Errol reasoned with him. This shocked the clone and even his parents with what he was saying.
"The boy is correct. The droid army would have prevailed. So, technically, victory is ours." Kalani bragged.
"No it isn't! It never was! Think about it. The Jedi were wiped out, the clones were decommissioned and the droid army was simply shut down. The Clone War ended with neither side winning. The only winner was the same person who manipulated both sides and created the Empire, Palpatine." Errol stated, silencing everyone, even Kalani. They were all thinking about it and Errol was right. Palpatine played both sides of the war to make sure he'd come out on top.
"And speaking of the Empire, they're here." Zeb said, breaking the silence and everyone and droid looked out to see a Star Destroyer fly towards their location. They had to do something.
"I've got a new calculation for you. What are the chances your droid army can defeat the Empire?" Ezra asked the Tactical Droid.
"My resources are depleted. However the droid army is not currently at war with the Galactic Empire." Kalani replied.
"You wanna bet?" Zeb retorted.
"Unit B1-268, analyze the threat." Kalani ordered a droid through the comlink as two cruisers flew in.
And then both AT-ATs and AT-ST Walkers came in, meaning that the Empire was going ahead.
"Looks like we face a common enemy." Errol noted.
"Whoa, wait a minute!" Rex said but then Ahsoka and Dash placed their hands on his shoulders.
"Just let our son finish, Rex." Dash told him.
"Clones and battle droids just destroy each other. And the Empire took over when you were both weakened." Errol reasoned, but he wasn't finished.
"General, remind us what the Separatists were fighting for." He requested from the Super Tactical Droid.
"According to my programming, freedom from the tyranny of the Republic." Kalani answered.
"Well, Palpatine turned the Republic into an Empire, so really, the Empire is your enemy all along as it is to us." Errol explained.
"Indeed. I accept your logic. We are on the same side." Kalani agreed and the droid holding the blaster to Zeb's head said 'sorry'.
"I guess we are." Rex said in disbelief, taking his helmet off.
"I never thought this day would come." Dash said.
"Same here." Ahsoka said as well.
"However, as I stated, my forces are too depleted for me to plan a successful counterattack." Kalani reminded everyone.
"Fighting insurmountable odds? We can help you with that." Kanan pointed out, being very much familiar with this kind of situation.
Suddenly, both Chopper and Slick came through the comms with Ezra and Errol.
"Slick, we know the Empire's here. And what do you mean there's a shuttle?" Errol asked his astromech.
"The one I tried to tell you all about earlier." Ezra answered that.
"We have three Sheathipede-class shuttles, but they have no weapons." Kalani revealed as he showed a hologram of where they are.
"No, but they can get us outta here." Kanan fired back.
"A successful retreat is improbable. The Walkers will destroy the ships before they escape the hangar," Kalani stated.
"We don't have the firepower to take on Walkers." Rex noted.
"What about those proton bombs we came here for? Can't we use those to take the Walkers down?" Ahsoka asked.
"We have no cannon to fire the shells. Otherwise, I would have used them on you." Kalani pointed out.
"*snorts* Thanks." Dash muttered.
"We're running out of time!" Ezra pestered everyone.
"Ah, we roll 'em! The proton bombs We'll roll 'em across the hangar and into the feet of the Walkers. Then we blast 'em!" Rex came up with a plan.
"My battle droids are not accurate. However, you are, Master Jedi." Kalani said, looking over to Dash.
"What do you mean?" He asked for clarification.
"My droids will line up and fire at you all and your Apprentice. You five will then redirect their blaster bolts toward the shells more accurately, thus setting off more targets than my droids could hit alone." Kalani said his plan with the hologram showing how it would work.
"Well, this takes trust to a whole new level." Rex commented.
"That's one way of putting it." Ahsoka added as Kanan sighed and pulled out his comlink.
"Chopper, Slick, get the munitions ready to roll." He ordered the astromechs.
With this rather bold plan, everyone got into position in the hangar.
"Ready, Zeb?" Rex asked the Lasat, who was with the droids.
"*sighs* One last glorious day in the Grand Army of the Republic." Rex said to himself as he looked over to Kalani, the Force users, the astromechs and more battle droids.
"Slick, make sure you and Chopper have the shuttle ready to go." Errol told his droid and they wheeled off.
"D Squad, get ready!" Kanan prepared the droids.
"I have never attempted such a desperate strategy." Kalani confessed to Rex.
"That's why we always won." Rex retorted.
"Not always." Kalani replied.
"Hey, guys, focus on the present." Ezra told them.
"Once the shells explode, get to your shuttles." Zeb instructed the droids after peeking at the Walkers, the droids replying with 'roger, roger'. He then threw a thermal detonator at one of the AT-STs and it exploded, stopping the Walker for a bit and then Zeb with his droids came out and fired at it, gaining attention.
"Now!" Rex shouted and droids came out to roll the proton bombs towards the AT-AT and they ran back to cover.
"Fire." Kalani told his droids and they fired their blasters and the Force users used their lightsabers to deflect the blaster bolts and towards the proton bombs and it took a short while until a few bolts hit the bombs by the AT-AT and it was taken down.
"This might be our only chance. Get to the ships!" Ezra said and everyone and droid ran to the three shuttles. Ezra, Dash, Errol, Ahsoka, Kanan, Rex, Zeb, Slick and Chopper got in one and they all lifted off and faced one of the Walkers.
"Lead shuttle, bank right! Bank right!" Rex warned as he flew the shuttle. It didn't listen and was shot down. The other one made it through as did themselves.
"We made it! General, do you read us?" Ezra asked as everyone relaxed and Rex took his helmet off. A hologram then formed showing Kalani.
"Affirmative. We have survived the battle. It was not a victory, but a successful strategy nonetheless." The Super Tactical Droid acknowledged.
"No, it was a victory. We all just won the Clone War, and you ended it, Errol. A galaxy of senators couldn't do that." Rex stated. Errol couldn't believe what he was hearing, that he, the son of two Clone War veterans, ended the war.
"He's right, son. An army of Jedi, clones and droids couldn't find the middle ground during the whole war and yet you did, our own son." Dash added, putting a hand on his shoulder with a proud smile.
"Dad, all I did was just point out that both sides weren't meant to win. Even though you guys became great leaders and role models." Errol answered honestly.
"And we all needed to hear it." Ahsoka said.
"Agreed. I am satisfied if you are, Captain, Generals." Kalani said to the Clone War veterans.
"We are." Rex nodded.
"Very good. Now, based on this battle, I calculate that you have less than a one percent chance of staging a successful rebellion against the Empire, so this is where we must part ways." Kalani then told everyone.
"Roger, roger." Errol saluted and then the hologram cut off.
"I can't imagine fighting that many droids all the time." Ezra said, which amused Rex, Ahsoka and Dash.
"*chuckles* Well, if you think that was bad, we'll tell you about the Battle of Geonosis." Rex told him.
"Besides, it got annoying everytime me and your mom got interrupted when we had some alone time." Dash said, wrapping an arm around Ahsoka's shoulder.
"Dad!" Errol groaned, not wanting to hear that as he sat in the pilot seat and flew towards the Ghost.
"This is Ghost to away team. Spectre-6, where are you?" Hera came through the comlink.
"Hey, Hera. You alright?" Errol replied back.
"We're tracking two shuttles leaving the system. Is everything alright? Did you have trouble securing the bombs?" Hera asked. Errol looked back at everyone and they just shrugged, making him roll his eyes.
"Unfortunately, we didn't get the bombs. But… we did find a new shuttle to be the Phantom II, so we don't need a pickup. Sabine can give it a new paint job if she wants." Errol informed her, waving and chuckling at Hera's and Sabine's reactions through the ship's windshield. They then entered Hyperspace back to Chopper Base on Atollon.
I thought it would be fitting for Errol to be the one to bring both sides together and end the Clone Wars since he's the son of two veterans of that war.