Sorry for the delay on this chapter. I have been experimenting with a Rwby/ Star Wars story focusing on the Bad Batch, Captain Rex and the other named troopers from the Clone Wars series like Jesse along with Ahsoka and bit of my own ideas and a Rwby/ Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue style crossover based on another story I have read. So that put me a bit behind schedule.
On the plus side, my birthday is in a few days and the new Predator movie looks awesome. I can't wait to see it.
Anyways, disclaimers are the same as before. Enjoy.
Chapter 4: The Soft War
May 6th 2019, 20BBY
0700 hours
Coruscant
Normal point of view
When he returned from Onderon, Rex heard from Gunner that Cassie wanted to talk to him. Unfortunately, he was still needed by Generals Skywalker and Kenobi in regards to the developments on the separatist occupied planet.
Now he was no longer needed and rushed towards the hospital where the women he loved was being treated. She had suddenly collapsed and began to vomit uncontrollably for the past few days. Anyone would be concerned for the person they love, vomiting means one is either sick or had something in their system that was making them ill, like a virus or bug.
As Rex waited outside Cassie's room for the nurse to give him the news, he began to feel uneasy. If Cassie was on her deathbed from an illness that he gave her he would never forgive himself and would rather die in battle than die alone for the rest of his life.
The doors to Cassie's room opened and the nurse told him he could see her.
"Cassie! Are you alright?" Rex asked his lover. Cassie just smiled. "I'm fine and I have good news. Rexy, I'm pregnant." She said. Rex was so taken aback that he just fainted to the floor.
Back on Onderon, the separatists were facing a difficult time. The reinforcements that were sent did little to help put the rebels down and the rebel attacks had escalated to the point where the droid army would be overwhelmed.
More and more citizens were flocking to the growing rebellion and some even considered that the entire population of Iziz would be part of the rebellion.
In the market place, a disguised Lux placed a holoprojector on a nearby crate before vacating the area. In another part of the city Ahsoka did the same thing while Robert and Steela waited for Saw's report. "Looks like more reinforcements. A small droid convoy leading a multi-troop transport with an AAT bringing up the rear." Saw said over the commlink.
"Copy." Steela replied before looking at Robert who was once again in his stealth outfit. "Sure, you don't want help us out with this?" Steela asked the Lone Wolf.
"No, Obi-Wan gave me clear orders to only observer and assist if necessary. This is your shining moment, I need to keep my eyes open for those so called 'personal soldiers' of Tarkins 'elite unit'." Robert replied. After informing the council about the members of 'Tarkins Fist' being seen on Onderon, Republic command began an investigation as to why these soldiers were on the planet but had found no leads so far. Even so, Robert was instructed to eliminate any of those soldiers he encountered, as a means to humiliate Tarkin by the rest of the Republic command as ordered by his uncle.
His thoughts were ended when Steela, Dono and four other rebels attacked the convoy, using the training they learned from the others. The droids were starting to become overwhelmed after Dono threw a droid popper and the super battle droids in the transport were gunned down before they were even deployed.
The rear tank would have killed them if it weren't for Saw's quick actions and disabled the tank just as the transport was taken down. The civilians who watched this spectacle were frightened at first but Steela assured them that they meant no harm to the people.
After pressing a few buttons on her gauntlet, the holoprojectors Ahsoka and Lux placed came to life and Steela spoke to the people. "People of Onderon, the time has come to take back our freedom. We have all been deceived, King Rash is a traitor who has sold Onderon to the Separatists for the crown, but Onderon is ours, we need your strength to reclaim our planet and restore our sovereignty under our true king, King Dendup." She said, causing the citizens to look at each other with either unsure looks or determined looks.
Later that day a storm was brewing as Rash along with his aid, Kalani and a man with short grey hair and gray mustache in a military uniform stood by the throne. "The terrorists are no longer a nuisance but a threat to Onderon." Rash said picking up a fruit and holding it tight.
"It is only a matter of time they are all killed." Kalani spoke.
"How much longer before they plunge us into chaos?" Rash asked with annoyance. Even with the extra reinforcements, the rebels were still managing to deal blow after blow to the forces 'protecting' his regime. Should they succeed in fully taking him down, they would discover his most horrible act as king.
"It seems they are only targeting the droid army. If you allow the royal Onderon militia to assume control of security the terrorists may stop and discuss terms." The other man said. Kalani however disagreed.
"You will assume nothing, General Tandin. With their coordinated attacks and weapons, it is possible they are finding sympathy within your own ranks." The super tactical droid stated. "The threat is external and your reinforcements have done little to stop them. Then there is the matter regarding those unknown hostiles that were at the power station when it went down." Tandin spat. From what one of the coroners told him, all of the non-droid deceased were part of an elite unit under the command of former Captain Wilhuf Tarkin. To him it made no sense why these individuals were even on Onderon in the first place.
To further add to his confusion, he still had no leads onto who gave the order to massacre the people that one of his scouts found a few days ago along with a possible sighting of the Lone Wolf. His thoughts were interrupted by Rash who asked for anything else they knew about the 'terrorists'.
Tandin signaled an astro droid who then projected a hologram of Steela. "We have identified Steela Gerrera as the women in the hologram. Her brother Saw is also part of the group along with the fugitive criminal Lux Bonteri." Tandin stated.
"Bonteri? Do you mean the son of the late Mina Bonteri? Why was I not informed of this?" Kalani demanded. "You just were." Tandin replied. "We have not been able to identify this person however, but from the information we have gathered, he appears to be a freelance mercenary, no doubt the one who supplied the terrorists with their weapons." Tandin added before Robert was shown.
Immediately, Rash summarized that Dendup was behind this and after he was brought in, Rash demanded that the former King call off these attacks. Again, Dendup denied any involvement of the actions of Steela and her group, stating that it was the will of the people not his.
Rash however had other ideas of getting the rebels to surrender.
As the rain poured down two of the rebels were bringing in a crate of equipment into the safe house when Dono ran up to Ahsoka and Steela informing them that she overheard the merchants in the market that Dendup was to be executed the next day for being the mastermind behind the attacks.
Ahsoka tried to assure that the efforts the separatists were attempting would back fire and make him a martyr. But Saw suggested they should go and rescue him immediately, but Steela put her foot down and stated it would best to wait until tomorrow to save the true king.
With his suggestion once again falling on his sisters' ears, Saw left on his own to go save the king, not knowing his sister send Dono to follow him. Before she left, Dono informed Robert that she overheard a group of citizens had spotted a group of unknown individuals near the Onderon militia barracks. Before she could say anything else, an explosion occurred in the direction of the barracks.
"That's not good. Must be more of Tarkin's elite soldiers. What the hell are they doing here anyway." The earth born cursed before pressing a button on his gauntlet and sound heard the chatter of a few soldiers. They stated that their plan succeeded and now the rebels would lose the support of the people. All they had to do was prepare their final strike and then they would be heading home.
"Got a fix on them. Looks like those bastards sent a transmission to a base thirty klicks from your old base." Robert stated. Immediately, Lux suggested that they take a small team and take out the base, but Robert stopped him. "No, you guys need to focus on saving the king. Ahsoka and I will deal with this. This requires stealth and a couple of force sensitives. No offense to you guys, but those soldiers are killers and thieves, they won't hesitate to put you down." Robert declared before heading into the room he and Ahsoka were sharing.
"Guns will be too loud. Sabers, a suppressor and my knife are the key to this." He said to himself before taking a few throwing knives and placing them into the slots on his lower leg armor near the magazines for his pulse rifle, which he screwed a suppressor onto before Ahsoka entered the room. "Master Skywalker told us to take out these 'new players' and get any intelligence we can find. If Tarkin sent some of his men here without anyone knowing this will cause the military to question his loyalty." She said before grabbing a bag and heading into their room's bathroom.
"I still don't get it. Why would a naval captain, one who hasn't even seen ground combat before, order those under his command to a planet and have them attack the people. It doesn't make sense, what does someone have to gain from all this?" Robert asked attaching a suppressor to his Ithaca.
"Search me, I can never figure him out. I know he thinks the Jedi should be removed from their position as military leaders, but that's only going to make things worse. We Jedi are able to do things normal commanders can't do." Ahsoka said emerging from the bathroom.
Instead of her usual Jedi attire she was now wearing a full white bodysuit with matching red sleeves and stockings protected by metal arm and shin guards. Her normal boots were replaced high-heeled boots with red straps built to hold several throwing knives and two scabbard like objects for her sabers. She also had on a pair of black fingerless gloves. (A/N guess which character from which game I used.) "So how do I look?" she asked Robert.
Roberts face turned red before he replied. "Y-you look like a real kunoichi. There's only one thing missing." Robert said reaching into his bag and pulled out a ninja style face mask outfitted for Togruta's and put it over her lower head. "I don't know if these guys have a direct link to Tarkin, but it's just to be on the safe side that they don't identify the both of us. Its one of the reasons I changed the paint scheme for this getup." Robert added gesturing to his outfit which was painted blue.
"Well, I guess you have a point." Ahsoka admitted removing the lower part of her mask down just a bit. "Have I ever told you that you look incredibly handsome in this?" she asked. Robert took her hands. "I don't think you did." He said looking into her eyes with her looking into his and the two lovers shared a brief kiss before entering the main room.
"We'll go take care of the unknowns. You guys need to focus on saving Dendup, we should be back before nightfall so make sure you fill us in on the plan before we fall asleep." Robert said before he and his girl grabbed their cloaks and left the safe house ready to take on this new threat.
Roberts point of view
1345 hours
The sun was beginning to break through the clouds the moment we arrived at the old base camp of the rebels. With the getup Ahsoka was wearing I felt like we were Bonnie and Clyde but an alternate universe version in which they were bounty hunters who helped law enforcement.
"Looks like this place was abandoned recently. Judging by these prints I say we just missed them." Ahsoka said kneeling down and examining a muddy boot print on one of brick blocks of the old base camp.
"A smart hunter can determine the path of their pray by following the tracks. However, our pray is more dangerous than any animal we have seen before and smarter. To know what your enemy is planning one must be ready to anticipate such hunts and plan ahead." I stated and reached behind one of the pillars and pulled out a holo-recorder. "I had a feeling the droids may come back here and try to find the rebels, so I placed a recorder just in case." I said to my girlfriend before activating the recording.
A small group of Tarkin's forces were here and had briefly setup a small camp before leaving only a few minutes before we arrived, heading west. "The highlands. Based on the topography, there are a lot of hidden caves, some large enough to hid a CR-20 or CR-25 troop transport. My guess, a few platoons are on the planet, maybe less all packing some serious firepower." I surmised.
"That would explain the explosion at the militia barracks. They must have used some custom-made demo-packs ones packed with Detonite, Baradium nitrate and maybe even Nergon-14. Some nasty and dangerous compounds." Ahsoka said before looking in the direction I was looking towards.
We would have had to walk the whole way had we not been spotted by a pair of Rupings that were nearby. These one's with saddles on their backs, meaning they were tamed by the Rebels. "Well these guys can save us a lot of time. Come on let's fly." I said and jumped on the back of one of the creatures and grabbed the reins followed by Ahsoka doing the same on the one she jumped on and with a light tug on the reins, our mounts leapt into the air following our instructions towards our destination.
Prior to us mounting our allies, I handed Ahsoka the Ithaca and its ammo for her backup weapon in case these killers were able to identify her, good thing Aunt Cassie and I gave her a few pointers on the shotgun.
A half hour later we arrived at the highlands and were just about to land when a volley of blaster fire from a nearby cliff killed my mount forcing me to jump off the dead creature and landing on Ahsoka's mount. "Looks like they were waiting for us." Ahsoka said before pulling the reins and forcing her mount to dive down to the forest to avoid the incoming enemy fire.
We were lucky to land before one of those goons fired a rocket towards us and would left nothing of either of us left. Sending the mount away, we leapt into the trees just as a patrol passed under us no doubt returning from the city after the bombing of the barracks.
"Did you see the look on that militiamen's face when I gutted him slowly? Ha-ha, he actually thought I would spare him because of his family. Like I would do that." One of the soldiers said to the others. "Yeah, I saw it but did you really have to do it? Torching their weapons and equipment would have been enough, we didn't need to bomb the barracks." Another one a human female with orange hair said with disgust.
"Our orders were to make it look like the rebels were now targeting the militia. We stir up enough trouble the war will continue as the guy whose paying us planned. Every battle that spreads across the galaxy means the final plan will be more effective. Face it Brecal, you enjoyed it." a Twi'lek said with anger.
"I didn't enjoy it. I never took the lives of innocent people. I may have been a thief but I never killed anyone. The killing was pointless." The woman, Brecal said before I turned to Ahsoka and motioned for her to use the force to lure the girl away from the patrol and get the answers we need.
Jumping to another tree after Ahsoka threw a rock tempting the woman to investigate the disturbance with another member of the patrol a female Togruta. "Take the human girl, I'll take the Togruta. Subdue them, do not kill them." I whispered into the commlink.
Landing quietly behind the two soldiers, Ahsoka grabbed Brecal and brought her into a bush while I grabbed the Togruta and pulled her into the bush on my side, knocking her out. "Tie them up. We need answers and we don't want them giving away our position." I said and threw her a few yards of rope and a cloth.
Fifteen minutes had passed and the two women soon woke up, screaming into their gags and desperately trying to break their bounds. They were unsuccessful by the time Ahsoka and I noticed them. "Good morning, ladies. You're going to answer a few questions for us." I said. Brecal looked a bit scared and looked to my knife with fear. "We overheard the conversation you and your buddies had, we know both of you didn't want to kill anyone. You help us and I promise that you and your girlfriend are not harmed." I added, getting a surprised look from both our prisoners and Ahsoka.
I slowly removed Brecal's gag and she took a deep breath. "My name is Brecal Cratstr and you are correct. Ahorsha Daweer is my lover. We were small time criminals who only robbed those with more money than their citizens. We robbed a senator's office when we found their body with a knife in the back. We were accused of murder and sent to prison. We never killed anyone, droids are a different story." She began as I untied her bounds while Ahsoka did the same to Ahorsha's.
"We were approached by Tarkin over a year ago and were offered the chance to join his elite unit or be executed. We choose his unit, but we never imagined we would be doing something as horrible as terrorism. Some one, I don't know who ordered us to Onderon to disrupt the rebellion against King Rash. We were only supposed to sabotage the rebels, no one said anything about killing anyone." The woman said with tears starting to flow from her eyes.
"So, you two were originally a couple of lesbian cat burglars who enjoyed a good challenge and never took a life and were forced to join Tarkins unit never knowing your true objective. Sounds like someone in the unit is taking orders from someone else." I surmised.
"This Sidious promised us a lot of credits if we did this, he is trying to make it look like the Jedi are supporting terrorism." Ahorsha stated rubbing her wrists where the rope left marks. "I don't think this is going to end well for anyone. Your unit is leaving soon, right?" I asked.
The two women nodded and I gave them back their blasters. "I placed a beacon at the rebels old base, wait there. My companion and I are going to take down your old comrades. Murders don't get to walk away scot-free when I'm around." I said and handed Brecal the tracker and lowered her and her lover to the ground as they bolted from the area.
"How could you tell they were lovers?" Ahsoka asked me. "It was written all over their faces. The way those two looked at each other proved they were in love." I answered.
Later on, we arrived at a cave and hid in a nearby bush, avoiding to be spotted by a pair of Trandoshan heavy gunners guarding the entrance, behind them were two CR-25 troop transports sporting the blood red paint scheme of the armor worn by Tarkins forces.
"Well now we know where they are coming from. We need to keep them from leaving or destroying their transports. We need proof that Sidious is behind this and maybe Tarkin as well." I said to my friend who nodded. "So, we need to be silent but deadly." Ahsoka said which made me laugh a bit.
"What?" she asked. "Silent but deadly means something completely different in earth terms." I chuckled before raising my hand and pulled both Trandoshan gunners towards us, putting two bursts of caseless ammo into their heads.
"Let's move." I said to Ahsoka and we made our way quietly into the enemy camp.
We either snuck past the enemy or eliminated them with our weapons. These guys were supposed to be on our side, but they were here attacking innocent people and to my best guess sending this 'evidence' back to their commander or benefactor who is no doubt sending these findings back to the people who were demanding the Jedi leave the war effort.
Those people don't understand what is going on the frontlines. They live in their own worlds and have no doubt even fired a weapon. Then there are those people who say things like 'thank the force for dead Jedi.' Or 'thank you CIS'. That last group of people make me sick, they remind me a lot of that Westboro Baptist Church group. They spout the same nonsense saying they are grateful for events like 9/11 and say they are thankful for dead soldiers and IED's.
They don't know what war really is. Not like I do.
My thoughts were dashed when a shot flew over my head. The shot hit a nearby grazing Dalgo and in a matter of seconds was disintegrated. A spot light from one of the CR-25's shown on us and the alarm was raised. "So much for stealth. Did you see that shot? These guys are using T-7's. Those things are illegal." Ahsoka said to me.
"Yeah I saw it. While I am glad to be alive, I feel sorry for the thing that took the hit." I shouted as the two of us ducked behind a rock as blaster and slug thrower fire rained down. "Take out the lights, keep the suppressors on. If they can't see us, they can't stop us." I shouted and fired my rifle at the spot lights knocking them out and giving us the chance to move up and got away from the disruptor wielding soldiers.
"We can't keep this up for much longer. They'll find us sooner or later." I said before turning to Ahsoka and handing her a datapad. "Take this datapad and download everything from the last transports terminal. We need to figure out why these bastards are here and who sent them. I'll keep them busy." I instructed my girlfriend. "Roger." She said and sprinted towards the boarding ramp of the last transport, leaving me to deal with the remaining hostiles.
One of Tarkin's soldiers rounded the rock I was hiding behind and was about to fire their weapon at me, but I stopped him with a point-blank throwing knife to the face. I popped out from the rock and fired a short-burst at another Trandoshan, downing the lizard before snapping to a soldier in Mandalorian armor downing that soldier before downing another tango, this one a Zabrak. Each target was taken down with a five round burst of caseless armor-piercing rifle ammo.
A group of four were running towards me with their blasters blazing. With little choice I popped out and fired my weapon from the hip, spraying the bastards with a third of what was left in my magazine. I downed the bogies, but wasted a bunch of rounds from firing. Putting my finger to the trigger of the launcher, I pulled and fired a 30mm grenade at a small squad in a makeshift foxhole and killed them all.
I aimed and fired my rifle again in short bursts downing a few more hostiles before Ahsoka ran up behind me. "I got the data and I rigged the engines on that transport to explode. We better get out of here." She explained.
"Copy that. RUN FOR IT!" I shouted and after loading a new magazine and pulling the receiver back, we sprinted towards the exit with Ahsoka blocking enemy fire and me downing any hostile that got in our way. We made it out just in time.
We both dived down into a nearby ditch and I used my body as a shield protecting Ahsoka as the engines blew and destroyed both transports and killing anyone still in the cave. "Well, that's one way to take down a group of guys that don't belong." I chuckled and was about to get off Ahsoka when I looked into her smart blue eyes. "What?" she asked.
"I am still amazed at how beautiful you are." I responded. Her lekku darken after I pulled her up. "Come on. We better make sure Steela and the others haven't done anything stupid." I said before the two of us found another Dalgo and rode the beast to the city.
Normal point of view
While Robert and Ahsoka were dealing with their own situation Saw wasn't exactly doing so good. He had tried to rescue Dendup on his own but failed to account for the one-way shield keeping anyone from leaving by climbing and was quickly captured. Fortunately, Dono saw everything and raced back to the safehouse to alert the others.
By the time she arrived and alerted the others to the situation, everyone was set on rescuing Saw, but Steela decided it would be best to wait until the morning so they can rescue both Saw and Dendup.
At the same time, Saw was getting a thousand jolts sent through his body. Kalani began to interrogate him so as to find the location of the Rebels. Needless to say, Saw refused to talk and was soon given another jolt, this one deadlier the last and the sight of this disgusted Tandin.
"Enough. We have to keep him alive. He is a direct link to the terrorists." The general said as the interrogation ceased.
"You pity him." Kalani assed.
"I pity your ignorance. You can control the people of Onderon, but you cannot sustain it against their will. What you're doing guarantees that others will take his place." Tandin spat. Sure, Kalani had strong tactics but it was sad that the droid couldn't calculate a different approach to the situation after the droid said that the people will also suffer for the rebel's actions.
Later, as the sun began to rise over the city, Tandin gave Saw a drink and the two had a lengthy discussion about duty. While Tandin originally thought Saw was following Dendups orders, Saw reminded him that while it was the General's duty to protect the people and not let others get away with mass murder. Tandin was at first confused by what Saw was talking about until he was told about the mass grave they found. Tandin's faith in Rash was beginning to be questioned.
By eight o'clock a large crowd had gathered in front of the Unfair palace, amongst those were Lux, Steela, a few rebels, Robert and Ahsoka the latter of which who had changed back into her Jedi attire and wore a cloak over her to keep her being seen.
Exiting the palace, Rash and Kalani along with two Magna guards escorted Saw and Dendup to the execution block. "As your king, I present to you Ramsis Dendup not as a former king but as a criminal sponsoring acts of terrorism against the people of Onderon. But fear not good citizens, as your leader and protector, I will see that you are safe from such villainy, he betrayed you and today will pay for those treasonous deeds with his life." Rash stated.
From above, Tandin listened to the king's speech when one of his Militia came in with Brecal and Ahorsha who told him that the attack on the royal guard barracks and the mass grave that was found was done by Tarkin's elite unit with the help of the separatists under the orders of Rash. Knowing the truth, Tandin made his decision and ordered his militia to be ready.
The moment the execution was about to begin the Rebels sprang their plan into action. After Steela sniped the two Magna guards that were about to sever the head of the true king, Lux ditched his cloak and tossed a few smoke grenades, blinding the droids and rescued Saw and the King. They would have made it had Kalani had not called for reinforcements, which shot Dono square in the chest and resulted in the all the rebels taking part in the rescue to be caught.
The citizens weren't to pleased, but Rash began the execution again. "Good try, sis." Saw said.
Ahsoka was about to make a guest appearance when much to her surprise some shouted "Stop!".
Much to everyones surprise, Tandin and the royal Militia along with Brecal and Ahorsha emerged from the palace, Laser Lances at the ready and keeping the new droids at bay. "The only snake I see here is you, sire." Tandin said to Rash.
"Traitor!" Rash snarled. "I was. Not anymore." Tandin corrected the false king, looking in Saw's direction.
Taking Rash hostage, the rest of the Militia escorted Dendup and the rebels away after Tandin told his men to go with them. Once the others had left, Rash stated that the second Tandin let him go he would be gunned down as more droids appeared.
Much to the surprise of both men, Ahsoka leapt over the crowd with her saber ignited and with a massive effort, knocked all of the droids back before leading the general away. Robert was about to follow them when he sensed a growing hatred building nearby. The moment the citizens began to push back the droids, Rash finally revealed his true colors. "KILL THEM ALL!" he shouted and the droids opened fire and gunned down numerous citizens.
"DAMN YOU!" Robert shouted before ignited Revan's lightsaber and in a matter of seconds raced behind the droids with his saber hitting them all. Deactivating the saber, the droids fell apart leaving a very surprised Rash and Kalani. "A king's duty, false or not is to protect the people. You break that goal when you order the slaughter of 'your own' citizens. This is a war crime and I am the one who will bring you in." Robert said to Rash before leaping away and joining the rebels. The battle was going be a very tough one.
Back on Coruscant, Rex felt like he was the luckiest clone in the universe. He had asked Cassie to marry him after he was knocked for a loop again after he thought he was dreaming when Cassie said she was pregnant but knew it was to be true. "I'm going to need some advice from Cut on how to raise a family." He said to himself before going to Fenrir's apartment to ask for some help with the wedding.
Again, sorry for the long wait. I have losing the urge to write lately, but that's not going to stop me from getting out newer chapters of my first fanfiction project. Again in regards to my Rwby story, I am still undecided of how I want to do it but am leaning more towards the Maiden's Brother, but if you have any thoughts on how I should do it let me know. Be advised that even if I do the one you all want to see, I will do the other one when that story is finished.
Anyways, please read and review and I will see you all next time with the conclusion of the Onderon arc. By the way after looking at some fan art, how many of you want to see Ahsoka in a bunny girl outfit some time down the road?