Defenders of Peace
Tessa and Lucky sat on a ridge that was close by the Lurmen village, eating some fruit they had given her. It had been 4 days since crash landing on the planet, and there was no sign of the Republic of the Republic yet. Fortunately, General Skywalker was almost fully healed, so that crisis was adverted, and the Lurmen's were hospitable and welcomed them as guests. But the leader, Tee Watt Kaa was still kinda weary of them, due to him believing in peace and was not a fan of violence and the possibly repercussion that might bring, but he was nice. She and everyone else, minus Anakin helped the Lurmen with some tasks, it was their way to say thanks.
Tessa was given the task of watching out for any signs of the Republic or anything else. But she had to admit, she did enjoy the little peace and quiet.
She then heard a sound in the sky, she picked up her Macrobinoculars, and looked up. Her eyes widened when she saw a Separatist Drop Ship had entered the planets lower atmosphere, and was descending close to the village.
"What do you see?" Lucky asked.
Lucky had the same color of paint as Commander Bly. With a line of paint going from the back of his helmet, all the way down to the front. Lines painted down from his shoulders, to his arms, his knee guards were fully painted. And his boots were partially painted, while a couple of lines of paint went horizontal in the back of his legs.
Tessa handed him the Binoculars, and when he looked through them, and saw what she saw, he let out a curse.
She activated her communicator and said," Captain, we got company."
"Friendlies?" He responded.
She glared at the approaching object and said," No sir, a droid landing craft. And it's heading our way."
"Got it, get back here as quick as you both can." He said and ended the com.
Tessa put on her helmet and said," C'mon let's go."
Lucky placed his helmet on as well and said, "Hmm, and to think I was getting used to the simple life."
"Yeah, you look like a regular cowboy or Frontiersmen." Tessa joked and Lucky chuckled.
The both of them made it back to the village in time, the Separatist ship had already started to land. They made it to the hut Anakin was in and they were already helping out of it.
"You want us to help, General?" Tessa asked.
"I'm good, Tess. I gotta have some freedom." Anakin joked.
They then hid behind another hut that was close to the grass, and watched what was happening. A minute later the droids then started to destroy parts of the village, and shoot into the sky, while the villagers fled and screamed. Tessa couldn't believe it, she wanted to do something, that would only cause problems, so she was forced to watch through gritted teeth.
"Why are they tearing apart our homes? We've done nothing to them." Wag Too said in disbelief.
"Violence, that's what those droids are programmed for." Ahsoka muttered.
"Can't we do anything?" Ahsoka continued.
"Yeah, I wouldn't mind busting some clankers." Lucky said.
Tessa fixed the droids a glare and said, "Same."
"No, and if we are discovered, all of the Lurmen will be slaughtered." Aayla disagreed.
"We'll be ok, if we make it to the tall grasses." Anakin said.
They all started to walk to the tall grass, and Tessa looked back at the village, and went into the foliage.
The small group had gone a considerable distance away from the village and the Separatists. So they decided to sit and take a rest.
"You know, I can't figure why those villagers not wanting to fight. No pride, I guess." Rex scoffed.
"Hey, if they want to be the Separatist's punching bags, sir, then it's their problem." Lucky said.
"I know height is to their disadvantage, but with our help, we'll send the clankers packing." Tessa said.
"I call it no courage." Ahsoka said.
"Sometimes it take courage to stick to one's beliefs, young Padawan, as any Jedi well knows. And it's their say on the matter on dealing with the Separatists, and it does not make them cowards." She said to Ahsoka and the Clones.
"We need to find a ship, and I think the only one around here belongs to the Separatists. We know they have a landing ship. They might have a shuttle." Anakin said.
Tessa knew what he was getting at, and couldn't help but grin.
"Sir, you talking about stealing from one of the clankers? Count me in." Rex enthusiastically said.
"If there's payback for what they did to us at Quell, I'm all for it too, sir." Lucky said.
"We need to find them first." Aayla said with hint of amusement.
"I think we just did." Ahsoka worriedly said and pointed at some brush.
They all turned to see a Separatist Probe Droid hiding in the grass, and it then got out of it's hiding place."
"Blast it!" Anakin said.
Tessa smirked, and aimed her Rifle, and fired a couple of shots. The droid got hit, and descended a little bit. Ahsoka activated her Lightsaber and sliced it in half.
"Well, if we were lucky, it didn't send its coordinates." Tessa said.
"True, but, if it managed to get away, it had to go somewhere." Ahsoka agreed.
"Maybe we should use a big tree. I see one not to far from here." Bly said and pointed at the direction of it.
Later, after getting to the tree, Anakin was the last one to make it to the top.
"I hope you're feeling, better, Master, 'cause look what we found." Ahsoka said and handed him the Macrobinoculars.
"Heh, I'm getting stronger all the time, Snips." He said and looked at the base. "But I'm not sure I'm ready for that."
"From what we gathered so far, sir. There are one or two Platoons worth of droids have a mix of regulars, Supers, and a couple of Spider's." Tessa said.
"Did you find a shuttle?"
"We did, but it's not gonna be easy trying to get it, sir. There don't seem to be any flaws in their security line." Bly said.
"We have to be lucky to get through it, sir. And we can do that by patting Lucky on the head for luck." Tessa said with a smirk.
Lucky glared at her under his helmet and said sarcastically," I haven't heard that one before."
Anakin chuckled, and looked at the base again, he spotted someone who looked like the leader, then he spotted three tanks, but one had a different gun on it, and a couple of droids were handling it's ordinance.
"Apparently the Separatists have a new toy." He said, and then looked at Bly. "See if you can get a closer look."
"Yes, sir."
"I'll go with you, Commander." Rex said.
Both Officers got out of tree, and started to crouch-walk to get a closer look. While Anakin and the others watched them and the droids from in the tree.
A few minutes later, a round was fired into the sky, and everyone watched in silent curiosity and dread of what was going to happen. Tessa saw the round impact, a large explosion was then heard, and a wall of fire started to blow out. Aayla and Ahsoka got to a lower branch, as Rex and Bly ran as fast as they could.
They both fired their cables, but Bly tripped and missed it. Aayla activated her Lightsaber, cut part of a vine, and swung out to Bly, caught him, and they both swung back on the tree.
The rest of the group got down to the other branch, and looked on in horror at the destruction. The entire landscape was black, and the two droids that were probably used as test subjects were unharmed. It took them a moment to realize that the weapon was meant to harm organic lifeforms, and leave anything robotic unharmed.
"That's some toy. It took out every living thing." Ahsoka said in disbelief.
"Where are they off to now?" Aayla said as the droids started to move away from the base.
"They must be going back to the Lurmen village. There's nothing else in that direction." Anakin said.
"I'm not the only one who thinks they'll use it on the villagers. Right?" Tessa said in slight fear.
"And that fact that if that thing is mass produced. Then the war will turn out more badly." Lucky grimly said.
"Those villagers won't stand a chance." Aayla agreed.
Anakin agreed and said," First we'll take out the droids communication station. Then, after we get a shuttle, we'll go back and help the Lurmen."
"But Tee Watt Kaa said he doesn't need our help." Ahsoka interjected.
"There's a difference between pulling innocents into a war, and leaving them to extinction." Anakin wisely said.
Later on that night, the plan was to use the cover of darkness to get into the base, take out it's defenders, and take the shuttle to the Lurmen village.
Tessa was with Aayla and Ahsoka, which they were going to sneak inside, while Anakin and the others took out the droids outside the base, before going in after them.
All three of them ran, and avoided the spotlights. As soon as they got to the wall, Aayla and Ahsoka leaped and used the walls to get to the top. Aayla then used the Force to pick her up to the platform.
"Get to the doors. Huntress and I will take care of the droids." Aayla said.
Ahsoka nodded and went to find the controls. Tessa whipped out her blade, smirked under her helmet, and said.
"Ready when you, General."
Tessa took one side, while Aayla took the other. She had to be careful, and stab the right parts of the droids. Lucky for her, she knew it was in their neck joints.
Every time she got close, she stabbed her blade into them, until they stopped moving. She had taken out four when she saw the front doors open, and the rest of the team moved in.
'Now this is a story the boys back on the Resolute will love.' Tessa thought.
It took them 15 more minutes to take out all of the droids in the base, and after that, they were ready to head out. When they got close to the shuttle, they spotted Shield Generators, and took them. After that, they got on the shuttle and took off back to the village.
"Get some rest everyone; we'll need it for what's going to happen tomorrow." Anakin said.
Tessa nodded, and went to try and get some rest. But the lingering thought of protecting the Lurmen was in her mind. And only hoped that they could save them in time.
It was early in the morning when they returned to the village. The Jedi went out to talk to the Tee Watt Ka and the villagers, while the clone stayed inside to prep their weapons, the Generators, come up with a strategy, and see if they could call for help.
"So, they were heading south, and that would be the North side of the village. Besides us, the Generals and the shields, that's all that stands in the way of the droids from massacring the Lurmen." Rex summarized.
"Well, I have another defense sir, the pods. They nearly crushed us when we were near one of the trees. It won't hold the droids for long, but it's a good barricade." Lucky said.
"Good idea. Tess, how's communications?" Bly asked.
"Well, the comms work sir, but I don't think we'll be able to talk to anyone, unless you want the Separatists to listen in. But, we can send out a signal or an encrypted message, it'll have to be brief though, something that would let any friendly forces know who we are. After that, they track it." She said.
"Do it, think of something that the boys on the Resolute would recognize." Rex said.
Tessa thought about it for a second, and realized that Echo and Del, mainly Echo would be working communications. So she had to think of something that Echo would recognize.
She then had an idea, and then started to type.
Back on the Resolute, Echo sifted through different lines of code, and listened out for any signals. So far, they had managed to narrow down their search to a couple of systems. Unfortunately, they were on a limited timeframe and it was only a matter of time until GAR High Command would tell them stop looking, and give the assignment to someone else or stop entirely. And the latter was something he hoped wouldn't happen.
So far, the 501st, 212th and the remaining forces of the 327th were out looking.
He got out of his thoughts when he found a new signal and message. He raised a brow, and hoped this meant something.
"Lieutenant, I think I found something!" He called.
CL-4583 or Lieutenant Morse, who was in charge of the Communications Room walked over.
"Found something?"
"Yes sir, some kind of signal and message. I haven't checked it yet, but the encryption matches one of ours."
Morse stroked his goatee in thought and said," Check it."
Echo nodded and decrypted the signal and message. Other clone technicians who had heard what they were talking about, glanced at what Echo was doing. Once he did, he found coordinates to a planet he wasn't familiar with, but it was located in the Outer Rim, and it wasn't in any paths of Republic or Separatist Military action.
Once he got to the message, he frowned at what it said.
'Stop repeating every order!' was what it said.
"What does that mean?" Morse asked.
Echo racked his brain on what that meant. Then his eyes widened when it hit him.
"We need the Admiral here now." Echo said.
Back with the others, it was already mid-day. They had set up some of the pods around the north side of the village. And they were strapped for time, due to the droids impending arrival being 8 minutes.
Tessa grunted as she and Lucky pulled another pod closer to another. She was actually cursing internally, and was pretty mad that the Jedi were using the Force, while they were pulling and pushing with their own strength. It was a good thing they already set the Shield Generator's.
It wasn't helpful when Tee Watt Ka wasn't exactly thanking them for defending them, but at least Wag Too apologized for it.
Rex said that the droids were holding position. The plan was to get the droids to fire at them from long range. After that, if the shields held, then the droids would be forced to fight them head on.
Tessa then heard the familiar boom of the shell whistling in the air. She tightened the grip on her Rifle, praying that the shield would withstand the hit.
"Incoming!" Rex yelled.
"Power the shields!" Anakin said.
Tessa went over to the first one, and activated it, while Aayla and Bly activated the other one.
The shell impacted not too far from the village. The wall of fire expanded, taking out the grass, and the trees that was in its way, until it covered half of the dome. A few minutes later, the fire subsided, and everyone in the dome was unharmed. Tessa thanked whatever Gods were up there that they survived that, and she felt like she was the pits of Hell for a few moments.
"I'm not the only one who probably pissed themselves right?" Lucky whispered to Tessa.
Tessa dimly nodded and said," Yeah, I think I did too."
Anakin didn't seem to hear them and said," Now they have to get their hands dirty, and meet us face-to-fact."
A platoon of droids then started to charge towards the dome. While the others got over the pods, and started to walk out of the dome. Tessa took a breath, and focused on the battle that would happen. She missed when one of the members of her squad saying she was 'in the zone'.
She only hoped the message got through.
Ahsoka voiced her concerns by saying, "That's a lot of clankers."
Tessa scoffed and said," That's nothing sir. We took on the same size back on Rishi. All we need is a couple of barrels of Liquid Tibanna. Right, Captain?"
Rex chuckled and said," If only we had some, soldier."
"Maybe the next time we crash land on a planet, sir." Lucky said.
All 7 of them walked out of the dome. The clones aimed their Rifles or blasters, while the Jedi activated their Lightsabers. The droids then started to fire at them, and the Jedi charged into the fray, and started slice and hack droids, while Tessa and others fired their weapons.
Tessa crouched, and picked off a couple of droids, while avoiding hitting any of the Jedi. she had to duck and move a couple of times when the blaster bolts came too close.
"If only we had some Droid Poppers, Grenades or reinforcements." Lucky said.
"Less talking, and more shooting." Bly said.
The first battle only lasted for 10 minutes, when General Skywalker took out the last droid. Tessa looked around, in case of more droids, then got up and surveyed the scene.
"Something tells me that things will be getting a whole lot harder."
"Doesn't matter, we have to protect the village at all costs." Rex said.
Tessa smirked under her helmet and said," Then let's bust some clankers. Right, sir."
Rex nodded and said," I couldn't agree more."
More droids, the size of the force was larger, around 2 Platoon's worth of droids, charged, and the Jedi met them head on again. While Tessa and the others fired at them. A few minutes into the second wave, it was becoming increasingly clear that there was too many.
They then started to move back into the shield while Rex said," That's it. We have to retreat."
Tessa was already over the pods, activated her communicator and said," Generals, we need backup. Droids are about to pour in."
"Copy Tess. Aayla and I would be there in a minute. Master Skywalker went to take out the weapon." Ahsoka said.
"You better hurry, sir." Tessa said as she got over the last pod, and ran to a new firing line.
"Take cover. They've breached the shield." Rex said to the villagers.
"You people better get back! We'll handle this." Lucky said.
An explosion went off, and the pods exploded. Tessa fired instantly before the smoke cleared. Unfortunately, there was too many droids, and they all started to pour in. She saw a Super firing at the Shield Generator and fired at it, along with Lucky, but it had already taken the Generator out.
"Blast, this isn't good." Lucky cursed.
"Sir! Their taking out the Shield Generators!" Tessa said.
Ahsoka and Aayla made it too them, but it was too late. The last Shield Generator was destroyed, and the dome disappeared.
Tessa had just clonked a droid with the butt of her Rifle, and a fired a shot at its head when it went down. She felt fear in the pit of her stomach. The weapon could fire at any minute, and they would be all incinerated.
General Skywalker better take out the weapon, or else they all be doomed.
She heard the screams of the villagers, and that gave her more incentive to keep fighting. She and Lucky got pushed back, and had to take cover behind a leftover pod and fired when they had the chance.
The one thing Tessa didn't expect was that a group of Lurmen, being led by Wag Too heading into the line of fire. She saw some rope, and pitch forks, and realized what they were doing.
"Ha! Look like those lemurs are finally helping!" Lucky said.
"Yeah, let's give them covering fire!" Tessa said and got a little bit out of cover.
"Copy that, General. The weapon's been destroyed! Let's give' em hell!" Rex said as he got out of cover, and started to fire again.
"Sounds like a plan, sir." Tessa said as she shot a droid.
By that time, the Lurmen finished setting up the rope, and Wag Too threw a pitchfork into the air with a rope attached to it. Another Lurmen did the same, and both forks connected and landed on the ground. Another group of Lurmen pulled the rope, and all the droids fell down.
Which led to Ahsoka to use her Lightsaber to decapitate all of the remaining droids, and then the battle was over.
After that, the Lurmen all cheered. Tessa breathed out a sigh of relief, and felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked at Bly and he said.
"You did well today, Tess. You made the Republic proud."
Tessa smiled under her helmet and said," Thank you sir."
Later on, the Separatist Commander, Lok Durd, and his assistant were led into the shuttle by Rex, Bly, and Lucky. Tessa was preparing the ship for take-off, and was waiting for General Skywalker to take the wheel. He, Ahsoka and Aayla were talking to Tee Watt Kaa and Wag Too.
She was just happy to finally get off planet.
That was when she heard a noise outside.
A small part of her thought it was more Separatists. When she looked out the window, she smiled when she saw three Republic Cruisers had entered orbit, and Gunships were already starting to descend to the surface.
'Looks like my message got through. Thank you Echo.' She thought with smile.
Tell me what you think.
Till next time.
