"So I'm guessing this plan was made by Anakin?" Jack asked as he sat in the main cannon of an AT-TE, with Rex holding onto the seat's side. The AT-TE and several others were stationed on an asteroid within Bothawui's planetary ring, keeping a guard over their fleet as General Grievous' current fleet approached.
"You'd be right."
"Of course it was." Jack shook his head as he prepped the cannon. Personally, he would've preferred to be in the fighter squadron with Anakin, but passing up a giant cannon is something he wouldn't do. Only downside is watching as the cruisers battled, having to wait for the Separatists to move past them.
Even as a cruiser was destroyed, Jack knew to hold his fire until the command was given. He and the others can return the favor once the pieces set themselves.
"Rex, old boy, it's time to join the party." Ahsoka ordered over the comms.
"With pleasure, sir." Rex responded.
"All units, fire at will!"
With them now flanking the Separatists ships, the AT-TEs could easily demolish the fleet. Since they were foolish enough to enter through the asteroid field, all of their shields were set to the forward position. Meaning the laser fire behind them was cutting through their hull like it was warm butter.
The Republic cruisers then started to fire once the enemy was within range, annihilating one cruiser after the other. Jack couldn't help but grin at the ships exploding, enjoying every last shot he fired into them. And when Grievous' ship was the last one, he aimed right at it and hovered his thumbs over the trigger. "This is for Broadside."
As the ship was torn apart by the barrage, Jack saw a bomber fighter fly out of its hangar. Even without possibly being able to tell the details, he knew it would be the droid general. And Anakin did as well, as he broke off from his attack to pursue Grievous.
It seemed as though the Jedi was going to catch up to the droid, but disaster struck as debris from one of the cruisers impaled into his Jedi fighter. It wasn't long after it caused a small explosion to the ship's wing, sending the Jedi further into the asteroid field.
"Captain, permission to change the cannon's firing to grapple." Jack requested, aiming the cannon towards Anakin's fighter.
"You sure you can make that?"
"I wouldn't have asked if I couldn't."
The captain nodded, trusting in the boy to make the shot. "Permission granted."
"Sir, yes sir." Making small adjustments, Jack aimed for the cockpit of the fighter. If the files he read were accurate, he could remove the cockpit from the fighter if enough force is used. Figuring a cable fired from a cannon was more than enough, he made the final adjustment before firing.
Watching it sail, Jack mentally crossed his fingers, hoping that the shot wouldn't miss because of the asteroid's small movements. Luckily, it connected with ease, and Jack began to pull the cable back, removing the cockpit and bringing the Jedi towards them.
"Resolute command, this is Captain Rex." Rex said over the comms as they pulled Anakin towards them. "General Skywalker is in need of immediate medical assistance, we need a pick up."
"They're on their way."
"Hey, he's waking up." Jack said as the medical droid walked away, leaving him, Ahsoka and Rex as Anakin slowly came too.
"What happened?" He asked, his voice sounding weak from what happened.
"You owe Jacky here your skin, Skyguy." Ahsoka answered.
"You are not calling me that." Jack responded before turning to Anakin. "And don't think of it as anything, sir. I was just doing my duty. After all, it was thanks to you that we won the battle."
"Grievous is AWOL, but his fleet of tinnies is nothing but spare parts." Ahsoka responded with a smile.
"Good work, all of you." Anakin spoke as his strength returned. "Where's R2?" The question caused Jack to look down in response, turning away as the Togruta answered.
"I'm sorry, Master. He's gone."
"It's my fault, sir." Jack said, sighing as his shoulders slumped. "I was so focused on getting you I forgot about Artoo completely. If I had just thought for a little longer I could have-"
"It's okay, Jack." Anakin interrupted, sitting up. "I understand. If you could do me a favor, can you get the Twilight stocked up?"
The order confused Jack, but he nodded once as an answer. "Of course, the ship's completely finished from a mechanical standpoint. Updated a fully suited for the stealth and recon missions it's intended for."
"Good, assemble a squad. Once I report this, I plan to head out and look for Artoo."
"Understood, sir." Jack saluted as he ran out of the room, heading down for the hangar. Once there, he had the hangar crew start to assemble the supplies as he called down the clones he was assigned with in his new squad. Of course, like most clones do in the preparations for these missions, complaining started as they loaded supplies.
"Get out of one outpost to become stockers, why am I not surprised." Fives, now with a new paint scheme on his armor muttered as he and Echo were moving a heavier box together, the latter also wearing a new scheme.
"It's not that bad." Echo responded.
"Oh it's that bad." Jack said, carrying one of his own boxes and setting it down behind the added fighter in the Twilight's cargo hold. Anakin felt it was smart to take his fighter along, and Jack was glad to at least fly the ship long enough to get it in. Working around it though is a little annoying.
"See, the kid get's it." Fives said, motioning his head over to Jack as he passed. "Loading supplies honestly feels like a step down from Rishi."
"That's right, you two were stationed there correct?" Jack asked, watching as the two set their crate down in the cargo hold. "Ever see a clone named Deadshot?"
"Yeah, he was the only one of us who saw combat before the attack." Echo answered. "He was rather reclusive though, never really talked that much."
"Yeah, that's Deadshot."
"Was a quick aim though." Fives added on. "Took down quite a few clankers once he got his hands on a sniper rifle."
"In his words, 'the best sniper in the Republic'." Jack chuckled, remembering the trooper's pride in his skills.
"Hey, you're that same kid that he talked about when reading the reports he got, aren't you?" Fives asked. As it was their first time meeting, the clones never had a chance to so much as hear Jack's name used on him. And with him currently out of armor, it wasn't obvious that he was the one volunteer that was within clone ranks.
"Yep, Jack." He introduced, shaking hands with the two.
"Fives."
"Echo."
"Must have been one hell of a change in pace when the commando droids hit huh?" Jack asked.
"You can say that again."
"We would've been done for if it wasn't for Captain Rex and Commanders Cody and Ray."
"Are we all set up?" Anakin asked, interrupting the three's conversation as he walked up alongside Ahsoka and his 'new' astromech.
R3-S6, R2-D2's replacement as Anakin's astromech, was a newer model with supposed all new features and processing power. It had a black and gold design, which lead to Ahsoka giving him the nickname Goldie. Personally Jack couldn't care less for the astromech, as it gave him a weird feeling in his gut. Although that's likely because he's more of a fan of using modern or older tech of cultures rather than newer ones.
"Yes, sir. The last of the supplies have been loaded. We were just waiting on you." Jack answered.
"Let's get a move on then."
Nodding, Jack shut the cargo hold's door and walked up to pilot the ship, sitting down as Anakin took the co-pilot seat. Everyone would spread around the flight deck, with Rex and Matchstick on the scanners. Against the two's desired thoughts though, Goldie was between Jack and Anakin, ready to assist when need be.
Once they were all set, they took off and headed into the scrap field from the recent battle. "Set the scanners to find power sources in the area, we can't track Artoo but we can find the remains of power from Anakin's old ship."
"Understood." Matchstick responded, setting the scanners.
Following the signal, they would start to slow down as they approached the destroyed Jedi fighter. "There's my ship." Anakin said, using the Force to turn it to look at the upper part of it, pausing as he saw the missing astromech. "Artoo's gone. He must have escaped."
"Sir, we're picking up another ship within the area." Echo informed.
"Scavengers most likely." Jack concluded, moving to follow the signal. He then groaned as he saw the ship's design, his shoulder's slumping as he suddenly looked tired. "A Trandoshan scavenger at that."
"What's got you suddenly in a bad mood?" Ahsoka asked.
"If it was a regular Trandoshan I'd be fine. But scavengers are a problem."
"Wouldn't a regular one try and kill you?" Fives asked.
"Kill, yes? Trick, no." Jack responded. "With Trandoshan scavengers, you have no idea what they're planning. They may be selling you salvage, droids or spare parts on one hand, but on the other they're deceiving and trying to space you after you trip over one piece of valuable scarp they left on the floor. I mean seriously, if it's that important why leave it on the floor like a worthless trinket?"
"Uhhhh, speaking from experience?"
"I don't want to talk about it."
"Can you just get us in?" Anakin asked.
"Of course, I got the signal for a buyer on hand." Jack responded, tapping on the upper panel before heading for the ship, sending the signal. Once done, he approached the airlock on the bottom of it and connected in, locking the hatches together. "Alright, we're good. Matchstick, take the wheel while I'm gone."
"Understood."
"You're coming?" Ahsoka asked as she and Anakin put on brown cloaks.
"Jack's going to be combing around with us." Anakin answered. "He's got a special eye for finding something you wouldn't look for."
"If the Trandoshan's lying, I'll find a way to get the truth." Jack added as he put a grey jacket on. "Plus, someone's got to look like the normal person in the group. Most travelers don't where cloaks like that unless they're hiding something."
Traveling up the airlock, Jack rolled his eyes as R3 beeped excitedly. The droid just bothered him, he couldn't tell why. Maybe it's because Ahsoka likes him, which would make the most sense as of now.
Once they were in, Ahsoka and Anakin both reacted to the strong horrid stench that came with it, while Jack remained normal. "Ugh, what's that smell?"
"Trandoshan scavenger musk." Jack answered as Anakin swiftly got used to the stench. "If you thought I smelled bad after working on the ship, you're in for a rude awakening on stenches throughout the galaxy."
Soon after, two eye cameras emerged from the wall, staring at the four. "Om ma, nikh lackin ockra?" The eyes spoke, coming through in Trandoshan.
"Mock shinka nakh ramak norokama nicht shek." Jack responded, understanding the language just fine.
"Orokana moshiraka niko mirok, naka?"
"Naka." Jack nodded, pointing over his shoulder to Ahsoka. "Naminaka comkra nimoko raksha no preka lok."
The Trandoshan then laughed and the cameras retracted. "Okay, he's willing to sell a droid."
"You speak Trandoshan?" Anakin asked.
"I speak twelve languages, mostly because I've encountered bounty hunters who don't speak my natural tongue. Had to if I wanted to avoid a bolt to the head over a loss in translation." Jack explained. "It's honestly weird how much Trandoshans focus on using K in their words. It's easier counting ones without it by almost ten times."
"And why did you point to me?" Ahsoka asked.
"Threw you under the bus, saying you lost the last one." Jack answered, smirking as he did.
"Why you little-!"
Before the Togruta could attack the boy, the door began to open, only for it to stop halfway. Hearing annoyed grumbling, the Trandoshan began to climb through, revealing his smaller and nearly disfigured form to them. Jack expected as much from the scavenger, most Trandoshan's are hulking warriors, bread for hunting. Only the ones that can't keep up and are weaker turn to scavenging.
Gha Nachkt, the Trandoshan scavenger, smiled as he looked to Jack. "So, what kind of droid are you looking to buy?"
"Well you see as I said, sweetie here lost one of her precious droids." Jack spoke as he walked behind Ahsoka, putting his hands on Ahsoka's shoulder, silently whispering to play along. "And she has her heart set on another R2 unit. You know how girls can be with material things." Jack then held in a shout as Ahsoka stepped down hard on his foot discreetly, forcing Jack to smile the pain away. "So, do you have any?"
"Hmmm, I don't believe I've seen any R units for quite some time now." Gha responded, his attention going to R3. "Nice R3 unit. Trade for a C-14?"
"Not on your life, lizardo."
'She just can't make my job easy can she?' Jack thought as the Togruta responded.
"Now let's see how much I have here." Anakin said, attempting to take the attention away from the duo. Pulling out credits from his pocket, the Jedi Knight made sure the Trandoshan could see the several gold and silver credit pieces. A scavenger really enjoys credits, and when a lot are shown, they'll do plenty to try and get it.
The plan got the desired goal, as Gha seemed to have a small change in thoughts. "Tell you what. I may have an R2 unit buried somewhere in the hold."
"Good thinking Anakin." Jack whispered as the group followed Gha through the ship.
"Help yourself." Gha said, opening the door to the hold. "But be careful, there are many… unique items down here." It seemed strange to jack, a Trandoshan allowing buyers to walk freely among their salvage without any supervision. And with one like Gha, he seemed especially greedy, the risks of this was too high to go through.
As they walked among the tons of salvage, Jack was set on placing a transmitter somewhere in the vents. He just had to get up high enough to get one there. "I'll check somewhere on the top shelves." He said, climbing up the individual shelves due to the lack of ladders.
"Don't fall and break your head open."
"We both know you said that just to try and jinx it." Luckily for Jack, Gha was at least pretty tidy when it came to his salvage. Most were in kept in crates, only a few spare parts lying about. He didn't have to worry about grabbing something that wasn't the shelf and go tumbling like the Togruta below wanted.
Once at the top, Jack made it appear as though he was browsing, rubbing his chin as he opened the box to look. The box was actually filled with a multitude of weapons, ranging from Gungan electro-spheres to Republic blasters. Jacks attention went to an old Mandalorian blaster, the once smooth metal rusted and worn from years of neglecting.
Picking it up, Jack made it appear as if he was inspecting the weapon, testing how well he could hold it and the weight behind it. When he held it up to look at the side of it, he flicked his wrist and sent a small transmitter into the vent, smirking as it attached and turned on. With it in the vents, the scavenger ship would give off sounds from all around it, nothing inside the hull would go without a sound. And once he turned on the receiver he placed in his ear, he could listen in once they left.
'Never know if you're being lied to. But always suspect the worse when dealing with Trandoshans.'
The lights to the room then turned on, confusing Jack as he looked down to the group. "Hey, what's going on?"
"Goldie just made a small mistake and turned on the lights instead of opening a hatch." Ahsoka answered.
"An R3 making a mistake that simple?" Jack muttered. "Even I can splice something as simple as that, and I can barely hotwire a coffee machine." The sound of machines whirring then caught his attention, and he looked down to see two IG-88s, assassin droids, power on. "That can't be good."
Letting his instinct take over, he aimed at the droids and fired two shots from the Mandalorian blaster, hitting one in the back while missing the other. The shot didn't take it out, but it stopped the droids from approaching Ahsoka and turn to him. "That stupid droid turned on the IGs!"
Turning, Ahsoka ignited her lightsaber and cut one of the droid's arms off as Anakin approached and Force Pushed the them into a pile of boxes. "Goldie, shut these droids down."
Before the astromech could follow the Padawan's orders, the IG-88s removed their power cords, making sure they couldn't be powered off. "Ah, that's just great." Jack groaned as he aimed and fired again, this time hitting with enough accuracy to shoot one of the two droids in the back of the head, offing it easily.
This however brought him as the focus for the second assassin droid, turning its head and arm around to blast at him from bellow. With the limited space he had, Jack was forced off of the shelves, falling towards the metal floor. Before he landed, Anakin quickly caught him with the Force, lightly putting him down to avoid further injury.
The assassin droid was now on the move, quickly going up and across the shelves while blasting at them with its salvaged E-5 blaster. The two Jedi were set on the defensive, blocking the blaster bolts while trying to deflect a shot back at the droid. Jack on the other hand was firing at the droid, almost managing to hit it with each shot, only missing because of the droid's quick reflexes.
"You're better at shooting one of those then a DC blaster." Anakin commented, blocking a shot that was aimed for his head.
"Oh, well… there's less recoil." Jack shrugged as he stepped to the side to avoid a blast, aiming with one hand and blasting the droid's leg, causing it to fall to the ground.
As the droid tried to get up, Ahsoka quickly leaped at it and cut it in half vertically, ending the battle. "You're right, Master. Experience is way better than the archives."
"Good job, both of you." Anakin praised as he and Ahsoka deactivated their lightsabers. His mood then turned sour as he looked at R3, the droid still connected to a panel. "As for you, Stubby, you'd make a poor excuse for a light switch."
The droid was bothered by this sadly beeping as it continued to work on the panel. "I'm sure he did his best." Ahsoka said, trying to defend the golden droid.
"Oh yeah, he was doing his best sure." Jack started, wiping some of the rust from the old blaster. "Doing his best at trying to kill us all. I mean come on, assassin droids? I've worked with an R1 and it never came close to making a mistake like that."
"R3 can't even get the door open." Anakin added as he walked back to the hatch, preparing to open the door. As he approached it, R3 finally managed to open the door, annoying the Knight even further. "A little late, Stubby."
Once the door opened, it revealed Gha from behind, prompting Anakin to activate his saber once more. "If you didn't have a lightsaber, you'd be a dead man."
"And if you didn't have assassin droids, there wouldn't have been the worry of anything." Jack added, walking up next to Anakin and aiming his blaster at the Trandoshan.
"Where's my droid?"
"Master, what are you doing?" Ahsoka questioned, grabbing Anakin's free arm. "Artoo's not here."
Anakin kept his eyes set on the Trandoshan for a few seconds before deactivating his lightsaber, Jack at the same time lowering his gun. "Let's get out of here." Anakin said, pushing the Trandoshan out of the way as they headed out of the ship.
"I told you there were no R2 droids down here." Gha said as the three walked away." He then looked into the hold and saw the remains of two of his assassin droids. "Look at this mess you made. You owe me, Jedi."
"You tried to kill us, call it even." Jack said back as the airlock door closed and they lowered back down into the Twilight. The trooper sighed as they walked back into the flight deck, Jack deciding to take the radar as he sat down, dropping the blaster to the ground.
"Rough trip?" Fives asked.
"It always is when you're shopping with a girl."
"I heard that." Ahsoka responded.
"I know, that's why I said it out loud." Jack chuckled as the ship disconnected and they started to fly away.
"What's with the blaster?" Denal asked.
"The little shopping trip ended up with something shooting at us as usual, so I had to arm myself." Jack answered. "Luckily that Trandoshan had a blasters from quite a while back."
"This blaster has a Mandalorian design." Echo commented, picking up the blaster to look at it. "This thing must be almost decades old with the amount of rust on it. Or someone dropped it into a corrosive water to get it this badly rusted."
"Just shows how stingy that lizard must be to still have it." Jack said as he went to look at the scanners. "I'm sorry we couldn't find Artoo, sir."
"It isn't your fault Jack."
"But it is. I fired the cable, I was the one who only focused on getting Anakin to safety." Jack responded as he slammed his fist down. "I completely forgot about a droid that's helped us every step of the way. I might as well of left any one in this squad as well."
"Take it easy Jack." Rex commented, putting his hand on the boy's shoulder. "Not everything goes the way you hope it will. Sometimes things just don't work out well."
"I've known that for a long time." Jack muttered, looking at his partial reflection on the scanner's screen. "But knowing that doesn't make it any easier."
The crew had then returned back to the Resolute, everyone remaining on standby until further orders were given. Jack spent the time tinkering with the blaster, attempting to fully remove the rust that was on it. While he did so, he was sitting on top of the Twilight, having the empty void of space in view to give him some comfort.
"You seem bothered." Ahsoka commented as she walked up to the ship, looking up to the boy as he worked on the blaster.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"I can sense your torn feelings about Artoo, Jacky."
"I told you not to call me that."
"Stop calling me Shorty."
"Alas, the galaxy is cruel." Jack then turned his attention to the darkness of space, placing the blaster to his side for a short time. "So what are you doing here?"
"Can't I just visit my assigned trooper whenever?"
"We both know you've been avoiding me whenever we aren't on a mission." Jack called her out, giving her a half lidded stare. "So just ask what you want so you can move on with your day."
"Subtle." Ahsoka whispered before speaking up. "Alright, I wanted to know how you know so much from experience when you're only a year older than me?"
"I already explained." Jack responded, picking up the blaster almost a little too hastily for Ahsoka's liking. "I had a rough upbringing with experimentation thrown into the mix. Not much else to it then that."
"And how you used that rifle so well?" Ahsoka asked, noticing Jack pause for a second.
"I said that as well, less recoil. It might as well be like a DC-17 pistol."
"Your first two shots managed to hit a droid right in the back, you shot too familiarly for someone just picking that kind of weapon up."
"How did you join the Jedi Order?"
"What?" Ahsoka asked, caught off guard by the boy's question.
"How did you join the Jedi Order?" He repeated, looking down to the Togruta. "They don't accept those who have grown much more past the age of seven, and most are brought up as infants. So, how did you get brought into the Order?"
"…" Ahsoka remained silent for almost a minute, debating whether or not to tell the boy about he trip. On one hand, he had no right to know. On the other, it might be a test to let her get the information she wanted to learn herself. "Master Plo found me, he brought me into the Order after saving me."
"So just like Hawke, you feel a connection to Plo?" Jack questioned, jumping down from the ship to focus on Ahsoka. "Which means you have a sort of guardian bond with him, correct?"
"Well, yes but-"
"Which means you went against the Jedi teachings by insisting on going after him a couple weeks ago, huh?"
"That's not the-"
"And if I were to guess, you knew about that the whole time." Jack continued, looking down at the Togruta as he did. "A Jedi Padawan who tries to balance her beliefs but also goes against the teachings she's grown with since she was little. That is what I've gathered from this conversation. And that was from one sentence you gave me."
Jack then started to walk away from the Padawan, taking a step up the Twilight's ramp before stopping. "The knowledge of people is very easily seen through actions, few words are needed to truly understand someone. If you really want to know more about my past, then take my actions into account. I'm headstrong, seeking approval from the soldiers I'm fighting alongside with, determined to fight in a war instead of living a normal life, and I DON'T want to talk about my past in detail. All of that should give you enough hints on why I'm who I am now. So tell me, what can you assume from what I've given you?"
Ahsoka stared at Jack in total silence for several minutes before coming to a conclusion. "That you're… haunted by the things that have happened to you. That all you want now is to try and find semblance of a life you want, even if it means going through even more pain. But you don't want to go through all of it alone, and that you care for everyone you care for."
Jack said nothing in response, he simply continued to walk up the ramp until he entered the Twilight. With the Togruta left alone, she could think further on the encounter.
Much like her master, Jack refuses to go into any detail on what his early years were like. All he would leave is the ominous sense of illusion and a lack of true understanding from anyone. Thinking on that, she started to think on the fact that Jack himself may not understand the true reasons of his past. Perhaps that search of approval comes from the lack of having anyone to look up to, and now that he has it he doesn't know how to react. That much could explain his lack of fully acknowledging authority and rank among the Republic's army.
But that still leaves out the true purpose behind his skills and attitude. If his past was as bad as he claims it was, why become someone who worries over everyone? There are thousands of people with pasts like that, and most become mercenaries or bounty hunters. Why chose to fight for an army when you could simply fight for yourself?
He certainly acts at times like the only person he can fully rely on is himself. He has trust, but he's hesitant to truly put his faith in someone. Ahsoka's his commanding officer and yet he still refuses to give her the trust he gives others like Hawke and her master, the former having not been through as much with him as she had.
It was a mystery, but it was one she was dedicated to figure out. If it got her to find out about the past of the soldier with no respect for her, then she can understand how to figure out people like he does. Jack's skill in figuring people out was the reason behind the conversation, but the result of it may cause a bit more than she planned. Knowing about who they are currently is important, but perhaps learning their past may be just as vital or even more.
"Ugh, it had to be the most annoying soldier of the Republic, didn't it?" Ahsoka asked as she rolled her eyes, walking away from the Twilight.
"One day Ahsoka." Jack said to himself as he looked out from the flight deck's window, his arms crossed as he watched the Togruta leave the hangar. "One day you'll understand why people don't ant to talk about their past. And unfortunately the skill you'll pick up from it might not be as good as you're cracking it up to be."
"But then again, it'll be vital in your growth." Jack said as he looked over to his graduation medal hanging on the wall, the one decoration he set up in the whole ship. "Sometimes you have to lose in order to gain. And that's the easy part. Your recovery will be the hard part. So I'll wish you luck on that much, Shorty."