Chapter Three: City of Lights

Hello, it's me again! This one's a longer chapter, and it shouldn't have any spacing issues this time. Oh the joys of finally understanding how to work this site. Enjoy the chapter!

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"The recon group has yet to check in," Jesse said as he and Tup approached Kix and Coric. "We've tried to contact them, but there's been no response. Considering it's been hours since we last heard from them, I'm starting to get worried. What should we do?"

Coric scratched his head and seemed deep in thought for a moment. "What was General Kenobi's ETA?" He asked.

"I believe he will be here in about six standard hours," Kix responded. "Should we wait, or try to find them now?"

"Well, we have no idea where they are," Tup said.

"We have the coordinates for the Klarno's tree, though," Coric began. "We could head there."

"No, because we have no confirmation that they even made it to the tree," Kix started. "Besides, if it was the Separatists- which it very well could have been- we would just be following them into whatever trap they fell for. We should just wait for General Kenobi."

Jesse sighed. "I hate waiting," he grumbled.

"You aren't the only one then," Tup agreed.

. . . . .

Ahsoka yawned, and stretched her arms as she awoke. She tried to sit up, but stopped when she bumped her head on a rough surface. That was when she remembered the events leading up to her little "nap". Ahsoka's eyes snapped open, and it took them a moment to adjust to the darkness that now engulfed her. She no longer saw the tall green grass and the flowering bushes that had been around her when she had fallen asleep. They had been replaced by stalagmites and other rock formations. She was underground? Ahsoka also noticed that there was a dim passageway leading out of her cavern. Should she try to see where it would lead her? Ahsoka turned away from the passageway, deciding that she would wait for now. As Ahsoka was observing her surroundings, she had overlooked one very important detail. She was alone now. She was alone, in a very small, very dark cavern. This was a great situation.

Suddenly, Ahsoka heard many quick and quiet footsteps heading towards her. She panicked slightly and reached for her lightsabers only to discover that they were missing. That made this situation even better!

"Looking for something?" A voice behind Ahsoka questioned. Due to the narrow space, Ahsoka had to swivel around on her hands and knees to see who had spoken. When she finally had turned around, she saw a small person, about the size of her lightsaber hilt. It had purple skin and wore a brown brown dress. It had no hair, but it wore a brown hat.

Ahsoka gazed at the tiny creature for a moment before she asked "Are...are you a Klarno?"

"So you know what I am," the tiny being spoke. "I am Hazel, leader of the last Klarno colony. What is your business here?"

"Well," Ahsoka began, "Me and my friends came to this planet on a mission to protect you and your people. We were trying to find you when we were attacked and tranquilized. And now I'm here."

"That is what the identical ones said…" Hazel said, deep in thought. "You should know that it was us who sedated you. We were afraid that you wished us harm. What makes you think that you could protect us?"

'It was them!? So I guess that they didn't know we were coming.' Ahsoka thought. 'And identical ones? She must mean the clones.'

"We are here on behalf of the Republic and the Jedi Order," Ahsoka explained. "My master and I are Jedi, and the identical ones are clones. We do not wish to harm you or your people in any way. Please let us help you."

"Hmmmm" Hazel began. "Jedi you say? We owe a great debt to the Jedi. Come with me."

Hazel spun around and walked into the dimly lit, narrow passageway. Ahsoka followed on her hands and knees. Both walked-or crawled in Ahsoka's case-in complete silence, the only sound being the soft pitter-patter of footsteps. Eventually, the passage widened, and a huge city of lights came into view.

There were hundreds, maybe even thousands of structures, each teeming with both light and life. Ahsoka gazed in awe at the hundreds of Klarno that scurried around her, all of which gave her a slight glance at most, before hurrying off to perform different daily tasks. Though there wasn't much natural plant life, there were flowers and trees sculpted out of lights and metal, along with houses modeled after other plant life. And on the cavern ceiling there were hundreds of small lights, all surrounding one much larger, much brighter light. It was as if they were trying to create an artificial sky. The entire place was breathtaking.

The large cavern that Ahsoka was now in gave her enough room to stand, and her head was about a foot-and-a-half (a bit over half a meter) beneath the ceiling, so she knew that her friends would be able to fit in here as well.

Her friends! Ahsoka had completely forgotten about them. Her tiny panic attack ended quite abruptly when she saw them all crawling out of similar narrow passageways, though. They all stood, each gaping at the stunning civilization before them.

"I thought that there were only a few of them left," Anakin said to himself, but Ahsoka heard him.

"Well, we might need to change our definition of 'few'," She stated.

"Ahsoka!" Anakin exclaimed. "I was worried about you. Have you seen the clones?"

"Right behind you, General," Rex said as he and the clones approached the two Jedi. "So this is the Klarno colony, eh?"

"It appears so," Ahsoka confirmed. "Isn't it beautiful? Especially the ceiling?"

"I'm glad you appreciate our architecture. We've spent years making this place beautiful," Hazel said. "I do believe that we can trust you, so I am going to call an emergency meeting with our influential city members. In the meantime, I'm going to leave you with my son, Revan."

Another Klarno, this one slightly shorter than the first, appeared by Hazel's side. Revan was almost identical to Hazel, the only difference being height and fashion. He wore what seemed to be a T-shirt with purple lettering and brown pants. Ahsoka had no clue what was written on the shirt, and simply drew the conclusion that it was in the Klarno's native tongue.

"Hey," Revan said, with a slight wave. "Nice to meet you all."

And with that, Hazel turned and walked away, but not before giving her son a stern glance.

"So," Revan started, "Are any of you interested in a tour of the village?"

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And that was chapter 3! I know I said that I would update more a week ago….Yeah I'm sorry 'bout that. I would like to give a huge thank you to lionkingfactsguy3, KarajeJinsta, and Jadeelf254! Any future reviewers will get a shout out, and my offer to name characters is still on the table! Just leave a name suggestion and a color of your choice in the reviews (The color purple is taken). Have a great day!

Olivia :)