Hey, guys. Here is your promised Tuesday chapter. Long time no see, huh?
I almost didn't post tonight because I'm so tired and I have homework, but I did anyway because I love you guys. I edited mostly everything, but you can tell that I didn't have the strength to make any of the 'e's in 'Padme' with accents, so don't be alarmed if her name looks weird. It's just because I don't feel like putting work into her name at the moment.
You might recognize this chapter from Star Wars Rebels... so, enjoy!
Disclaimer: Je ne possede pas le Star Wars (I don't own Star Wars).
(Published 5.7.19)
Chapter Thirty-Three: Welcome to Chopper Base
3 BBY
The lightsabers continued to clash. Kanan and Ezra had been training like this the entire day, practically non-stop. Anakin stood in the cargo bay next to them, giving patient instructions. Of course, Kanan being Ezra's master, he also instructed they boy how to move in a fight, but Anakin was easily more experienced.
"Keep your blade up," Kanan demanded. "It's easier to drop it than it is to raise it." For a moment, Ezra seemed to push his master back, but to no avail. Tapping into the Force, he was able to push Ezra against the wall of the cargo bay.
The boy slumped to the ground, then dodged Kanan's blade in a roll.
Anakin had never seen a lightsaber quite like Ezra Bridger's. He used both the saber and the blaster settings in various situations, especially because he hadn't had much experience with a lightsaber. He turned and shot at Kanan, who deflected it saying, "You know, that's my move."
"I steal from the best," Ezra said teasingly.
"Focus," Anakin laughed. "Although it's a nice strategy to talk to your enemy. It distracts them."
"Oh, we know about that," Kanan grumbled. Suddenly, Ezra lunged forward, going for his knees, but Kanan leaped into the air.
They're both decent fighters, Anakin thought. This'll end up being a tie.
Ezra used the wall to do a backflip, ending up behind Kanan and putting his training-setting lightsaber to his neck. "Gotcha!" he said in triumph.
"And I got you." Kanan's lightsaber was at Ezra's chest, but the boy hadn't realized it.
Ezra grunted. "Tied again?"
"There's no such thing as a tie," said Kanan. "You lose, you die."
He turned back to his master. "Yeah, and you win by killing an Inquisitor."
"No. You win by surviving." Anakin saw a flicker of memory in Kanan's eyes at the statement. Was it from the Jedi Purge, maybe?
He put a hand on Ezra's shoulder. "He's right. It won't help if you die alongside the Inquisitor."
Sabine leaned over the railing. "You two are getting pretty good."
"Getting?" Ezra protested. "Are you saying we weren't good before?"
"I think she just meant you're even better now," said Hera, causing Anakin to chuckle.
Ezra sighed. "I'll take it." Suddenly, Kanan ignited his lightsaber and pushed forward. "Hey!"
"Never turn your back on an enemy." He fell back, as did Ezra, and the boy relaxed.
"Okay," he said. "But since when are you my enemy?"
Kanan sighed. "Let's go again."
Anakin nodded, even though it pained him. They needed to be ready for Malachor… and whatever waited for them there.
"Ready positions," he ordered, and when he looked up, he saw Hera's face. An unhappy frown graced its beautiful features. He and Sabine caught each other's eyes and frowned.
"So, how exactly did your droid find this base again?" Anakin asked skeptically as they descended the ramps of the Ghost. He had to say, the ship was good. It was pretty bulky, but easily just as maneuverable as a starfighter. Hera had introduced him to the controls of her pride and joy, and Anakin could see why she loved it so much. The way it moved was smooth, and although the inside way scrappy, the controls were well-polished and slick. There was even a scrambler to block ship recognition, which made it much easier to evade the Empire.
On the way to Atollon, Padme and Anakin had boarded the Ghost from Commander Sato's small cruiser. Anakin and Hera had talked about ships and flying while the others rolled their eyes.
However, the two of them hadn't been there when Chopper had successfully found them a base… how, Anakin wasn't sure.
"It's… a long story," Zeb mumbled. The Lasat seemed like a 'talk less, hurt more' type of fighter, which Anakin could understand based on what happened to Lasan. "Let's just say, it's all Chopper's fault. In a good way. Oh, and that newbie droid. AP-5, was it?"
"At least the planet's not freezing," said Padme, always the one to brighten the mood. "I'm not very partial to cold planets."
"At least there's not a lot of sand," Anakin grumbled, causing Padme to roll her eyes and Zeb and Ezra to look at him.
"What's wrong with sand?" asked Ezra.
He groaned. "You have no idea. It's coarse, and rough, and irritating, and it gets everywhere."
Behind them, he overheard Kanan and Hera speaking to each other. He could feel the awkward confusion between them, and their unspoken feelings for each other as they spoke.
"I thought you'd be more excited about our new base," the Twi'lek said. "We finally have a place to call home."
"Trust me, Hera, I'm excited," said the Jedi with false enthusiasm. "This is my excited face." He gave her a goofy smile, which she didn't take well.
"Yeah. Very nice." Kanan's face fell. Hera turned to the droid Anakin assumed to be AP-5 and began talking to him.
"So, what now?" Anakin asked Padme as they walked to the shelter of the new base. "I mean, are you… staying?"
She gave him a confused look. "Of course I'm staying. Bail says that I'm his personal advisor to Phoenix Squadron."
"Good," he said with a grin. "I think it's safe to say that we should do missions together, with Obi-Wan. And maybe Luke. Sometimes."
"You're impossible," she chuckled. "He's old enough to take care of himself. He's smart, Ani."
"I know, it's just…" He sighed. "Life has never been this hectic for him, and I'm afraid he can't take it."
"You mean, you're afraid you can't take it?"
He stopped in his tracks, shocked, but Padme kept walking. Up ahead, the Ghost crew was in a circle. "The site doesn't look like much, I'll admit," said Captain Rex. "The good news is our scouts found a fresh water source deep underground."
Sabine offered, "We're placing sensor markers around the perimeter. We'll know if anyone drops by unannounced."
Suddenly, a soft chirp came from a crate. A small, shelled creature was climbing on the crate next to them. "Hey!" yelled Zeb, swatting it. "Get away from that!" The animal jumped in fright, and scurried away when the Lasat put up his arms and made a face. "I hate those little bogens."
Another one of the creatures climbed over Anakin's foot, but it quickly was flung off using the Force. "I can already feel myself getting a headache from these things."
Rex chuckled. "This planet may be dry, hot, and unpleasant. But at least there's nothing trying to kill us."
They spent the next hour unloading crates and getting the command center all set up. Although it would have been much easier for him to use the Force, Anakin stuck with carrying them. It was probably already weird for the rebels to have two Force-users in their squadron - he didn't need to add to their confusion.
Anakin stood next to Rex, who was sitting at one of the control panels. "This one pilot's not checking in. Odd."
"She'll come through. We haven't found anything that could harm us on this planet," he said with a positive tone. "Yet."
Over to the side, he could see Hera and Kanan talking. They both looked a bit angry at one another, but also a little sad. It was obvious that they had feelings for each other, but it was a continuous game of cat and mouse, neither of them knowing when to make the first real move; unlike him and Padme. Anakin had gotten straight to the point… almost too directly.
Speaking of Padme, she was talking to Commander Sato, the tactical leader of Phoenix Squadron. Both of them had once believed in politics, but had ultimately resorted to joining the fight. It was something they both had in common.
A pilot walked up to them. "All sensors on the Eastern face are in place," he said.
"Good," said Sabine with a commanding voice that not many people her age could pull off. "Have all the pilots checked in?"
"Lieutenant Deiser hasn't come back yet," said the pilot.
Kanan and Hera looked back in surprise. This was worrying, to say the least. They had just established this base, they didn't want to lose it to some unknown threat.
Rex pressed on a comm channel and said, "Phoenix-6, report. Deiser, do you copy?"
Only radio static.
"She was on the North face," said Sabine. "We'd better go check on her."
"Take the Phantom," said Hera. Sabine and Rex both nodded and headed off.
Padme walked over. "We've got a missing pilot?"
"Yeah," he replied. "I just really hope that there's nothing on Atollon that can hurt us."
"There's something on every planet that can hurt us," said Padme. "We've just got to beat it first. Then it won't be able to harm us."
Suddenly, Anakin remembered something that he had been meaning to tell her ever since they had been reunited. "Padme, I just wanted to say sorry." When she gave him a confused look, he explained, "I never really told you that I was sorry after what happened with Rush Clovis. So… I'm sorry."
She placed a hand on his cheek and gave him a grateful smile. "Ani… that was a hard time. A busy time, especially. We were caught up in the war, and everything that went along with it. Besides, you told me that you were sorry loads of times after that."
"But I guess I never really meant it."
"Well," she said. "Thank you, then. But it's water under the bridge."
They helped out around the camp for a while in awkward silence. Neither of them wanted to talk about the war, or Luke, or Jedi.
About an hour later, Commander Sato called them back to the control center. "You had better hear this," he said solemnly.
It was Sabine's voice: "This is Spectre 5. We are under attack - " There was a grunt and the call was over.
"Come on!" gasped Hera, immediately running to the Ghost. Anakin shrugged at Padme and ran with them.
The North Face of the camp wasn't too far away. Hera had contacted Ezra and Zeb ("For kriff's sake, stop relaxing! Sabine's in trouble!") and then quickly flown over to the area where Sabine and Rex had been. Sure enough, the Mandalorian was cornered next to a cliff, only being held at bay by the spiders' unwillingness to go near the sensor markers.
"Here," said Kanan to Anakin, holding up a blaster. "You'll need this."
He grinned. "Thanks. Obi-Wan never let me use these."
Along with Zeb and Kanan, he ran into the cargo bay. The Ghost flew up from underneath the cliff and the three of them began shooting, pushing the spiders back to a hill. The insectoid creatures were difficult to kill, with their tough armor, but eventually they retreated into a cave.
Hera brought the ship down, where they descended onto the ground.
Zeb growled. "I hate multi-leggers."
"Where's Rex?" Ezra asked, coming down with Chopper by his side.
"Those creatures took him," said Sabine, causing Anakin to grit his teeth. He couldn't lose Rex, after everything that had happened. "I think they got Deiser, too."
"Chopper, locate Rex's position," commanded Hera.
Anakin sighed. "He's in those caves. I know it. The spiders must live in there."
"That must be why we didn't see them when we first flew in," said Kanan, nodding.
Chopper went in front of them and, extending his satellite, made a noise of approval.
"He says this way," said Sabine, pointing with her blaster.
Anakin couldn't help but notice Zeb staying behind. "I'll, uh… I'll guard the ship." Was that fear that he saw in the fierce Lasat?
"We need you, Zeb," said Hera. Chopper whirred. "Chopper, stay here and keep the Ghost ready for take-off."
"But more than two legs is just… excessive!" Zeb protested, but he ran to meet the rest of the group anyway.
As they approached the cave, Kanan ignited his lightsaber to give them some light. "Stay sharp and stick together," he told them.
"They have tough armor," said Sabine. "Aim for the eyes."
Anakin took the back of the group, and he saw Zeb struggling to turn on his flashlight. Ezra ignited his lightsaber as well, and the Lasat shoved him. Anakin took out his lightsaber, but after contemplating, didn't ignite it with the rest.
They continued walking for a few more minutes, not speaking. At a crossroads, Kanan groaned. "We need to split up. Ezra, go with Hera."
Abruptly, the Twi'lek said, "No! Ezra, stay with Kanan. Sabine, Zeb, Anakin, with me." She fixed Kanan with a steely glare, but the Jedi nodded.
"Let's go," he said. They walked on to the left, while the others continued on a different path.
"Why'd you do that, Hera?" asked Zeb.
She stopped in her tracks. "We've got to get used to not having them around." She took a deep breath and continued on the path.
Both Sabine and Zeb looked at each other, and then at Anakin, not understanding. Anakin was a Jedi. He whispered to them, "I'm not going with Kanan and Ezra on their… trip. Hera wants them to be safe, but she wants you guys to be safe, too."
Zeb hesitantly nodded. Sabine, being younger, still couldn't really understand. Anakin realized that she was still very young, probably only a few years older than Luke and Leia. And although this life hadn't been forced upon her as it had been Ahsoka, there were still things that she couldn't have understood at that age.
Suddenly, Anakin began to talk about Luke. He was worried for Luke. Anakin spoke quietly about his son, not even sure if the others in the cave were listening to him. Maybe he should stop talking. Maybe the others wanted him to focus on the mission instead of himself, and he would definitely agree.
"I just don't know how I can be the father that he needs right now," he sighed as they turned a corner. "The only father figures I ever had were at the Temple, and there was a strict no-attachment rule."
He felt Sabine mustering up her strength. "Gar taldin ni jaonyc; gar sa buir, ori'wadaas'la."
The Jedi stopped and stared at her. "What?" Anakin asked.
"It's Mando'a," said Sabine shyly, never having fully spoken to him, still finding it awkward. Up ahead, Zeb and Hera halted, looking backwards at the conversation. "It's a saying that means 'Nobody cares who your father was, only the father you'll be.'" She looked around at the older people, and mumbled, "Sorry."
"No, Sabine." Anakin smiled warmly. "Thank you. That might have been just the thing I needed."
She smiled back shyly, turquoise-colored hair covering her amber eyes.
They started to descend even further now into the cave. It got darker, and more holes in the walls appeared.
"I don't like the looks of this," said Zeb with a grimace. Anakin saw a few white mounds jutting up from the ground… that looked suspiciously like the shells of those spiders.
"Careful," he warned. Sabine stepped forward curiously and, moving her flashlight downwards, crouched next to a few smaller shells - the shells of those tiny, annoying creatures. She used one of her WESTAR's to bat one aside. It was empty.
"Those big crawlers must eat them," realized Hera.
Zeb grunted. "Even I wouldn't wish that fate on these little bogens."
Sabine stood up and walked forward again. More shells - or something else- littered the ground ominously and Anakin grimaced.
"Ugh," Sabine said in disgust. "Are those… eggs?"
Suddenly, a familiar voice echoed through the cavern. "Could really use a hand over here!"
"Rex?" yelled Anakin. "Where are you?" The others pointed their flashlights around in the dark to look for the clone.
"Up here," he said, and the flashlights stalled on him, trapped in what looked like a makeshift cell made of… possibly the spider's legs? It was on the ceiling, which made it even more unbearable to look at.
"Rex," Hera breathed in relief, and all four of them ran forward.
Rex sighed. "I met the neighbors. I don't care for 'em."
"We'll get you out," Anakin promised, trying to pry open the spider legs along with Zeb and Hera, who had her flashlight in her mouth.
"Kanan. Ezra," Sabine said through the comlink. "We found Rex."
The legs opened, and Rex jumped out, landing on the floor. Anakin lent a hand and chuckled, "Glad that's over."
The clone grumbled. "That was creepy. And disgusting."
"But Hardcase would've found it fascinating," Anakin said. No matter how long ago it was, he still remembered every single one of his clone troopers.
Kanan replied to Sabine, "Good work. We're coming to you." Suddenly, a loud screeching noise reverberated throughout the cavern.
Sabine pointed her flashlight. "Actually, I think it's time to go."
"This way!" Hera yelled, grimacing. She led them back the way they came, and as Anakin looked back, he saw Rex's cage, the spider, emerging from its ceiling nest.
"That is disgusting," he muttered, and ran, putting one hand on his lightsaber - just in case.
The spider started its crawl towards them, no doubt warning its six-legged brothers and sisters that there were intruders. Everyone pulled out their blasters, cautiously walking backwards as the creatures gathered to attack. One spider was shot in the eye, leaving a charred mass and the creature dead on the ground. As they started to run again, Sabine pulled out one of her handy explosives, chucking it at the spiders. It made a ticking noise, then exploded. Smoke filled the air.
"Let's get out of here!" Anakin commanded, being reminded of the Clone Wars. He even had a clone at his side.
But they had been cut off. A new flood of spiders was coming from the entrance of the cave - Anakin finally pulled out his blue lightsaber, somewhat surprising the Ghost crew. Sabine then handed one of her WESTARs to Rex, who handled it with ease.
"Aim for the eyes," she said.
Everyone fired at the spider coming towards them at a steady pace. Anakin bolted forward, easily stabbing the creature in the head. However, that wasn't enough to keep all of them back. Zeb ran, jumped over the dead spider, and jammed his bo-rifle into the head of another spider.
"Get back, ya stinking crawlers!" he shouted. He shot it once in the eyes and it was dead as well.
"They're boxing us in," Sabine said, only a hint of fear edging into her voice.
"This is no good," Anakin complained. "It's hard to fight in such an inclosed space." However, he again lunged forward to lead the group.
"Watch out!" Hera yelled, shooting one that was coming from the ceiling. It fell, and Anakin impaled it with the lightsaber.
Suddenly, a young voice came from behind the spiders. "Aw, come on. I wanted that one."
Ezra and Kanan were coming, sabers ignited. They dropped into battle positions behind Hera. "Huh. Glad you could drop in," the Twi'lek said dryly.
"I wouldn't stand there if I were you," warned Ezra, looking at the cave ceiling. He looked at Anakin and Kanan. "Come on. We'll clear a path."
Sabine and Rex covered the back, while the three Jedi tried to make their way to the entrance.
Finally, they emerged from the perilous tunnels, only to find that it was night. Day is hot, night is extremely dark. I'll make a note of that, Anakin though as spiders crawled from the top of the caves. They ran to the Ghost, which the spiders were quickly surrounding.
"Chopper, open up!" Hera yelled into her comlink. "Chopper!"
The droid said something inaudible to Anakin. The bay door opened and Hera ran inside, ready to pilot her ship. Anakin wanted to try it sometime soon, but for now he would let her do her work. They all ran up behind her.
"This whole place is infested," Zeb said angrily.
"Yeah, not so sure about the base after all," said Anakin. "Blasters can hardly penetrate their armor."
The Ghost lifted off with a hiss, but something stalled it. Both Ezra and Anakin ran into the cockpit.
"Hera, get us out of here," muttered the Lasat.
Hera grunted. "It's no good! I'm at full power. Ah. They must have glued us down."
"Well, we're safe in here, right?" asked Ezra, always the optimistic one.
Hera scoffed. "Sure."
Anakin could feel the spiders on the roof, crawling, struggling to keep their balances. As some of the crew went to man the guns, Anakin instructed Hera from the co-pilot's seat. "First, try to shake them off. Since you're at full power, you can try to - "
She nodded. "Boost them off at the tail. Got it."
Even more spiders approached them, now climbing to attack the guns. "They're all over us!" Kanan yelled through the comlink. A dead spider, probably Kanan's, fell onto the front window, sliding off the ship. Hera had now climbed under the controls, trying to add more power to the ship. "Route auxiliary power to the hull. That should knock 'em off," she told Sabine, then dove back under.
Sabine pressed a few buttons while Anakin pulled up the controls to keep the Ghost moving. A voice came from the speakers: "It's not working! Hit 'em again."
"No," said Hera. "If we drain too much power, we won't be able to lift off."
"I hate to break it to you, but we're not going anywhere," said Sabine.
Ezra climbed up from his nose gun post, discouraged. "We have to go outside and cut the ship free."
"Yeah, fat chance surviving that…" Zeb said, suddenly gasping as a spider climbed onto the Phantom.
"Oh, that's great, Zeb," said Ezra, sarcasm heavy in his voice. "I'm gonna get eaten, one of the last Jedi in the galaxy, chomped up by some crawlers, because you were too afraid to go outside!"
Both Kanan and Zeb walked into the cockpit. The Jedi sighed. "We're missing something. Why didn't these things attack us before?"
"You're right," Hera conceded. "They could've overrun the base, but they didn't come near it."
Sabine approached the window with an inquisitive look on her face. She peered out into the distance, observing the crawlers. "Sensor marker… that's it! I think I know why they didn't attack the base. Look! See that marker?" Sure enough, the spiders were avoiding the sensor markers that they had been surrounding the base with. "When I was looking for Deiser out there, the creatures wouldn't come anywhere close."
"They don't like the markers," Kanan realized. "And the base is surrounded by them!"
Anakin nodded. "Maybe they radiate a frequency that only the spiders can hear, or maybe they just don't like the technology."
"If we can get that marker, we can use it to hold them off while we clear the ship," Hera said.
"Only problem is, how do we get to it?" the Mandalorian asked.
Rex yelled from where he had been patrolling, "We got a breach! They're coming in the airlock!" Anakin immediately ran to join him, but the clone said, "I'll hold 'em here. Get out and cut the ship loose." A spider was trying to jam its way through the door.
He stubbornly nodded and pulled out his lightsaber, running with the crew out onto the ramp. Ezra said, "All right. Zeb, you and Hera, out front laying cover fire. Anakin, clear a path for Sabine to get that sensor. Kanan, you're with me." Everyone nodded and started shooting at the deadly spiders.
Anakin leaped off the ramp, using his lightsaber to skillfully slash through the tough hides of the creatures, leaving them on the ground. "Now, Sabine!" he yelled, motioning for her to grab the sensor. She nodded, jumping off the ramp and sprinting down the line of dead spiders. She ended in a roll and took ahold of the sensor, giving a thumbs-up. Anakin continued to kill the creatures.
Suddenly, a spider began to climb up the cliffside, right next to where the Mandalorian was standing. "Sabine! Behind you!"
She looked over her shoulder, eyes widening in terror. Without a second thought, she thrust the sensor in front of herself. Anakin stopped his frenzy, watching to see what would happen. And the crawler stopped in its tracks, screeching.
Realizing that it would work, Sabine pointed it outward like a blaster and showed it to any spider that dared to come near. She made her way back to the Ghost, threatening the crawlers. Anakin ran to her side for protection, slaughtering spiders as he went.
"Hera, get us ready to fly," Kanan yelled, and the Twi'lek ran inside to the cockpit. Sabine led the way for the three Jedi to cut the spiders' webs off the ship. "Let's get to work." They made their way around the entirety of the ship, slicing off the glue. The sensor repelled any crawlers that tried to attack them, and soon, the ship began to levitate above the ground.
"That's it! We're clear!" said Ezra into the comlink, and all four of them ran back into the ship. "Get us out of here!"
Spiders started to crawl onto the ship, but it was already off the ground, leaving the cave and the spiders behind.
Everyone simultaneously slumped onto the ground. "That was… an adventure," Anakin said chuckling.
The crew glared at him. "Are you kidding me?" Zeb said, rolling his eyes, but there was a good-natured feel to the room - an emotion that only a battle could bring to the air.
And just like that, the adventure was over. The rebels were setting up a barrier of sensor markers, so hopefully, the crawlers wouldn't be bothering them anymore. Padme had given Anakin a good scolding for his running off, but there was still one thing missing.
Luke and Obi-Wan weren't back from Ilum yet.
For a few hours, Anakin paced around the base, trying to distract himself with any work that he could find. He mentally rejoiced when he saw a ship descending from the sky - but it wasn't the ship he was expecting.
"Is that the ship I think it is?" Padme asked fearfully.
"Yeah…"
The Millenium Falcon was descending into Chopper Base.
Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Sabine telling the Mando'a saying to Anakin is one of the earliest parts of this story that still exist, so it's pretty special to me.
Sorry for some bored writing in this chapter. When I wrote this chapter I had mild writer's block (I always seem to have writer's block, don't I?) so sorry if the way I phrased things seemed off. I just kind of needed to get Chopper Base over with and move on with the story.
BooksAreEverything3: Thanks so much for your review! I'm so grateful for your sympathy. :)
As always, thanks for reading. Make sure to review! May the Force be with you and God bless.
-HH