Finally finished it. Hope you all enjoy. Just one more chapter to wrap it all up.
It didn't take Semreh long to find the refugees. To be honest, though they fought well enough in the battlefield, they were terrible at covering their tracks. Something they'd have to work on later. If there was a later.
Still it took him several hours to finally catch up with the rebel camp, mostly because he had to also dodge the Separatist tracking droids who were scouring the woods in pairs. They searched very thoroughly but, being droids, missed many of the important details Semreh saw on the forest floor. Several times that night, Semreh came remarkably close to being shot by one of those skinny droids, something that would no doubt have earned him hours of criticizing from Elena. Halber would only laugh.
As he began to catch up to the rebels, signs of people passing through the hills and woods began to get more frequent. Foot prints, broken branches, even the occasional clip from a blaster or a rag from someone's clothing. Finally, he glimpsed some movement in the trees in front of him. One of the sentries the guerrillas had posted. He'd concealed himself in the thick brush of a small overpass and was watching the woods below. Semreh used the force to aid him and leapt, landing besides the startled man.
"Stars Jedi!" He said, lowering his raised weapon. "I almost shot you."
"Don't worry." Semreh said lightheartedly, "You would have missed."
"But I wouldn't have." Semreh spun. Behind him, one of the Clone Commandos, a big man named nicknamed Screech, was sitting in a tree above his head, a sniper attachment on his carbine. His heavy katarn armor covered every inch of his body. It was of much higher quality than the average troopers and could withstand everything from the average blaster bolt to high powered explosives. Semreh didn't know who one in a head to head fight between commandos and Jedi, but he certainly didn't want to find out.
"Hey Screech." He said with a tiny salute. "You guys get out all right?" The commando lowered his weapon and jumped down from the tree with a dull thud. He stood back up, shaking mud off his heavy boots.
"We took some casualties." He said through his helmet. "Lots of guerrillas and a few of the civilians. But Barca, Fingers, and Ding all got out all right." Barca, Fingers, and Ding were Screech's squad mates. Ding got his name due to his piloting skills, which were less than stellar and often resulted in whatever ship they happened to commandeer being used for scrap metal. He made up for it by having a unique skill with space walking and combat, something that few, if any, soldiers ever truly mastered.
Finger's name was a little more… gruesome. The clone had a small necklace that he kept hidden under his armor. Strung on that string were the small clamp-like fingers of dozens of droids. Semreh knew that they were only scraps of metal from the battlefield, but something about the practice made him shudder. Maybe when he got back to Coruscant, he'd ask the Council to act on it.
As for Barca, Semreh couldn't fathom where the name came from. He'd even used the search function on his datapad, which had a direct link to the temple. Nothing. Not even his brothers seemed to know. They only knew their mando sergeant had pulled him aside one day, and that after that, the sergeant had called him Barca. The name had stuck.
"What about Master Nostwa? And Elena's master?"
"Master Nostwa is all right." Screech said as they began trotting up the hill. "We haven't been able to find Master Celant, but we can safely assume she has been made a prisoner by Sep forces. After all, they wouldn't kill such a valuable hostage." Semreh thought back to the massacre back at their former hideout. A cold hand seemed to squeeze the air from his lungs.
"They didn't spare Master Rufus." Semreh said quietly. Screech looked startled. Well, as startled as a clone could look in those heavy helmets.
"Really?" He said bowing his head. Like many clones, he was trained not only to obey, but protect the Jedi generals. "Well, we haven't seen or heard from Master Celant, and the Separatists did apparently take prisoners. Couple of the civilians, including those Clawdites."
"You mean Theran!?" Semreh exclaimed, but Screech shook his head.
"No, I thought he was with you."
"We sent him back when it became clear we couldn't hold the droids, to warn you. He never showed."
Screech shook his head. "No, but maybe he took off after his parents. It's possible the little runt wanted to save them, and if he is Force sensitive, he should be able to sense them, right?" Semreh shook his head, worry spreading across his face.
"The Force doesn't work that way for the untrained, and especially not for someone as weak in it as Theran. No, he must have been captured enroute to the base." Screech nodded in agreement.
Ahead, the very dull glow of a smoldering campfire came into view. Around it, small tired lumps covered in whatever rags or blankets they could find huddled close to both block the light and keep warm. Standing several feet away was the rest of Screech's squad and Semreh's master Nostwa.
"You're alive." She said simply. Her face was calm, but Semreh sensed an overwhelming feeling of relief radiate from her.
"Not my fault." He said with a sardonic grin. "Droids just suck at shooting." She smiled back and patted him on the shoulder before signaling him to follower her. Together, they walked into the darkened woods. The trees rose up around them, blocking the sliver of the moon that still shone dimly in the sky.
"We are in a crisis padawan." She stated not looking at him. She looked straight ahead, eyes calm despite the urgency of the situation. "If we do not act soon, the Separatists will use Sluis Van as a base with which to attack the rest of the Republic. And with its powerful shipyards, they'll have ships and droids to spare."
"The obvious answer is for the Republic to destroy the shipyards." Semreh said with a small shrug, "But the reason they sent us here is to soften up the planet for a ground invasion. Why? Why not just take a Republic fleet and decimate the place?"
"Don't know." Nostwa said, resting her hand on her holstered lightsaber. "We don't decide the Republics policy…"
"We just carry it out." Semreh finished with a small grunt, "But is it too much to ask for their orders to make a little sense?" Nostwa laughed heartily, patting her young student on the back.
"Welcome to war Semreh."
Elena and Halber walked through the crowded streets of the massive capital city. Of course, most of the signs were written in the native language and the majority of the people there didn't seem to understand basic. To be honest, Halber didn't even know how to pronounce the name of the city. Something with way to many s's though.
They'd quickly donned disguises as they entered the city. Neither of them wished to be seen as Jedi by the highly Separatist citizen's. Beneath their clothes, they hid their sabers, just in case they were discovered. Elena of course had managed to look not only different in her disguise, but just plain stunning. She had cut her padawan braid and let her hair fall down past her shoulders. She wore a soft blouse covered by a blue jacket embroidered with elegant figures.
Though stunning, Halber noticed how few of the natives seemed to watch her for long, probably because every time somebody did, she would through them a look akin to a Hutt who just had food stolen from its mouth. Halber shook her head.
"Elena," he whispered into her ear, "Could you try and not scare every guy we come across?"
"Fine," She growled, still scanning the crowd with her intense eyes. "I just want to find Master Celant." Halber looked at her, worry growing in his belly. For the past hour or so, that was all she'd talked about, muttering it quietly under her breathe. In fact, most of the people were probably staring at her out of worry for her sanity, rather than her looks.
"Ya ya, but look, we won't find her today. We've got to find a place to hole up for the night. A base where we can hide from the Seps. Otherwise, people will think we're a couple of wankers, and we'll probably get arrested. Come on." Gently, he tried to guide her towards one of the nearby inns and motels that dotted the streets, but she shrugged him off, eyes still scanning. Sighing, Halber followed her, hoping to at the very least, keep her out of trouble.
"Not like I'm not dealing with anything after all."He thought a little bitterly. Every time Halber thought about his wounded master, his chest seemed to contract, hurting worse than any injury he'd ever felt. The thought of Master Rufus, dead and unprotected by his padawan, tore through him, making his soul howl in pain. Halber felt the only thing keeping him walking was the thought of what Elena was going through. As bad as Halber felt, at least he knew his master's fate. Elena's desperation came from her duty to her master, her feeling that Master Celant was her job to protect. Just as Master Rufus had been his.
As they continued searching the city aimlessly, Halber used their time to formulate a plan in his head, knowing that they would have to eventually stop for a while. Still, it took Elena longer than Halber had imagined before she finally stopped, stamped a foot, and stomped over to a nearby bar. Halber followed cautiously, eyes searching for danger.
Elena made straight for the bar, ordering a cup of Juma juice. The barkeep turned to Halber and asked if he wanted some corellian whiskey, but Halber waved him away. He never drank, and he wasn't about to start in their current situation. He turned on his swiveling stool to watch the room, keeping a particular careful watch on the door. The bar was busy, more a club than anything else and as the night started to get later, more people seemed to be congregating.
One man in particular caught Halber's eye, a small figure hunched in the corner. His face was shadowed by the dark shadows, but Halber saw a pair of vibrant blue eyes flashing out from a the dark, reflecting off the flashing lights of the bar's dance floor. Halber looked at Elena, who nodded. She'd noticed him to.
They were about to leave when another figure slipped into the bar, unnoticed by the rest of the patrons. He was cloaked from head to toe in rough clothe and was quickly making his way towards Halber and Elena. As he got closer, Halber recognized the pulse in the Force, and smiled.
"Hey bru. I'm assuming you found our friends." He said as Semreh lowered the hood of his cloak. "Are they all right?" Semreh grabbed a stool, spinning around to signal the barkeep.
"Most of them." He said quietly. His voice sounded tired. "A lot of the guerillas are dead, and Theran and his parents are missing." Halber looked down at the bar counter, resting his head between his hands.
"So now we've got to find him too?" Semreh nodded, taking a deep swig from the glass the barkeep had brought him.
"If we don't, who knows what Intel he could give them." Semreh looked up, gazing intently into both their eyes. Plus, we have another reason for finding him.
"He's our friend." Elena finished stoically. "But what about my master. We can't just leave her out there."
"Master Celant could probably resist any techniques the Seps used to get Intel out of her. Theran on the other hand…"
"Theran's just a kid." Halber said, trying to reason with her. "Our jobs to protect the weak, even at the expense of our own lives. What would your master want you to do?" For a moment, Elena looked like she might kill Halber. She glared at him, her eyes flinty and dark. Finally, she looked away. When she spoke it sounded like she was choking back tears.
"Fine, we find Theran first." She said thickly, face turned away from them. Halber placed a big hand on her shoulder.
"Don't worry, I promise we'll find Master Celant when this is over with. Besides, how hard can it be to find the little clawdite."
"Not hard at all as it turns out." A voice behind them said cheerfully. The padawans whirled, each of them instinctively reaching for the sabers hidden beneath their cloaks. The blond man from the corner was standing in front of them, his eyes wide and his mouth stretched into a wide smile. Unnaturally wide. Creepily wide.
"Theran!" Semreh whispered incredulously. "You're all right!"
"Hey you little lekker." Halber said holding out a hand. "You all right? How are your parents?" Theran sat in one of the bar stools, turning his face so the light from the room shone on it. The wide smile was still there.
A second later, the stools clattered to the ground as Semreh and Elena stood up, each reaching for the sabers under their cloaks. They stopped when the clawdite pressed the blaster he had drawn against Halber's stomach, digging the barrel into his belly.
"I wouldn't move, old friend." Theran snarled quietly.
Semreh kicked himself silently, watching the stand-off tentatively. The patrons in the bar had yet to realize how much danger they were in, and Semreh felt they wouldn't act if they didn't know. He shouldn't have worn his robes here. The little changeling had followed him, letting him lead him to his fellow Jedi. Still, there were still holes in that argument. Like why Theran would betray his few friends on the planet.
"Theran," Semreh said quietly, trying to calm the maniacal grin on his friends face, "What are you doing? Remember, we're your friends." The clawdite snorted angrily, pressing harder with the blaster.
"Friends. Friends don't bring war to your home. Friends don't get people mixed up in stuff they never wanted to be a part of.
"I saved your life!" Semreh said, feeling some anger rising. "I saved your parents."
"And a lot of good that's done." He spat back. "Now, you three are going to come with me to the Sep headquarters. Otherwise, I'll give Halber a reason to regret letting my parents get captured."
"What are you talking about bru?" Halber said, calmly keeping his hands raised. "If the Seps have your parents, we'll just go rescue them, right? Remember, you have Jedi as friends." Theran stopped for a second, eyes flickering as if reconsidering his decision. Then, his eyes hardened, and he pressed again.
"Sorry buddy." He said sarcastically, "But the Jedi are no longer the protectors they thought they were. You can't even protect yourselves."
"And what do you have to gain by turning us in to the Seps." Elena said through gritted teeth.
"My parents." He said blandly. "If I turn you in, the Separatists give us a ship and send us on our way. And all I have to do-"
"Is betray the only friends you have on the planet." Elena growled. Her hand shook slightly, finger hanging above the blades activator.
"Like I said, you can't even protect yourselves." The clawdite smiled that strange smile again. Semreh suddenly realized why it looked so odd. Madness. Semreh and Elena tried to step forward to help Halber, but the clawdite was too fast. He pulled the trigger, sending a pulse of burning plasma into Halber's stomach.
He fell backwards with a grunt of pain, hand clutching the wound. Elena jumped forward, trying to catch the clawdite, but was blocked by the crowds. Semreh rushed forward to catch Halber before he hit the ground as a crowd of people began to gather at the scene. Semreh looked around and saw Elena through herself after Theran, lightsaber ignited. Unfortunately, the crowd saw it too. Whispers shot through the crowd, people murmuring that they were Jedi. Sensing a riot coming, Semreh drew his lightsaber and grabbed Halber with his other arm, hauling him to his feet.
"Where's Elena?" He slurred in pain.
"Chasing Theran." Semreh said as he rushed at the nearby wall, hacking a path into the street as the bar folk roared angrily.
"Stop her." He rasped. "Stop her now." Semreh shook his head, trying to hurry as the alarms began to sound and the locals began searching fervently for the two Jed.
"Your bleeding to badly for me to leave you alone buddy. Don't worry, I'll find her later." Halber looked like he might argue for a second, but then sagged as his eyes closed. Semreh continued down the streets, dodging through alleyways and traffic. Mobs of people were everywhere, loyal separatists searching for the hated Jedi. Finally, he came to the outskirts of the city, where an apparently inconspicuous pair of rocks rose up to greet him.
"I thought you were going for stealth." Screech said, knocking the camouflage he'd padded his armor with off. "We can here the fighting from here."
"Problems arose." Semreh said, putting Halber down onto the ground gently. "Help me fix him up soldier. He'd hurt bad." Barca, the other inconspicuous rock, trotted over to help Halber, carrying a medical kit in his hands. He knelt onto one knee, working quickly to stop the young Jedi's bleeding.
"He'll be all right." Barca said after several moments. "Bacta is flowing and the bleedings beginning to slow. Looks like he moved just in time so that his side, and not his belly, took most of the blast."
"Good." Semreh said, turning back towards the city. "Keep an eye on him until I get back."
"And where are you going…Sir."
"Back into the city. Elena's still in there."
"Standing orders from Master Nostwa are to keep you alive." Screech said gruffly, "So I have to insist that you stay here." The commando cocked his head, eyes probably thoughtful beneath his helmet.
"I'm going." Semreh stated simply. "Come on. I know you want to come with." Screech paused, looked down at Barca, then followed, swinging his carbine around and onto his shoulder strap with a grunt.
Elena knew, unlike her fellow Jedi, that Theran was the key. He was the one with the power to betray them, and he was their key to the Separatists who were holding her master. She didn't know how she knew all these things, but she did. She felt as if she'd never been surer of anything in her life.
She felt that, if only she could get Theran before he made it to the Separatist headquarters, everything would be made right. Master Celant would be found. Halber would never have been shot. She could let go of this terrible rage that was ripping her insides apart. All she had to do was catch that little clawdite and everything would be made right.
The little guy was fast though, jumping and weaving through the crowds with the ease of his ever changing body. The little guy even knew the back alleys better then Elena, taking unseen shortcuts and escape routes. Finally, he lost Elena, leaving her standing in a large four way intersection devoid of any life. Even the wind seemed to have died.
"Well, well." A mad voice yelled from seemingly everywhere at once. "They sent their little killer Jedi after me. My, my. What has happened to you all? Has the war dulled your senses?" Elena turned, eyes searching for the little changling. Something was different about her old friend. He was sinister, more evil than she had thought possible. Through the Force, she felt the dark side radiating from him. It felt as though she was being bombarded from all sides.
"Tell me Theran," Elena said in a cocky tone, trying to mask her unease. "Did you sell out because of money? Or was t really your parents? Did they torture them Theran? Did they torture you? Oh, I bet you sang like a bird, didn't you. Probably would have sold out your own family too to make the pain stop."
"SHUT UP!" He screamed, voice still magnified, but Elena tracked his voice now. "Shut up, shut up, shut up!" The changeling was screaming now, his voice becoming easier to find.
"You don't know what it's like." He continued cravenly, "The pain…" Elena heard a shudder in his voice and a flash of pity shot through her. Whatever the Seps had done to him had broken his mind. She heard it in his voice, in the way the Force around him seemed to flicker between light and dark.
"Come back to us Theran." She said as softly as possible. "I can feel you in the Force. You're teetering on the edge. Please come before you fall." He laughed, any pain or fear gone from his voice, replaced by madness.
"Oh, is that me you think you're feeling, or are you the one trapped between light and dark."
"What are you talking about?" Elena snapped. She could hear his voice, but he kept moving, making it impossible to find his location.
"I've heard Semreh and Halber talking." They're worried about you, and with good reason evidently. You love war, don't you? More than any soldier should anyways." Elena opened her mouth to argue, but closed it tightly. He was trying to distract him.
"That's it isn't it." He cackled from somewhere in the darkness. "Crazy Elena. Reckless Elena. Ruthless Elena. My, sounds like you have a lot of very un-Jedi emotions. Does your failure to protect your master anger you?"
"There is no anger, there is peace." Elena said, "Something you'll never feel again." Theran laughter spat out from the darkness again.
"Don't spout your Jedi wisdom at me. I've seen the truth of you now. Not even Halber or Semreh know how deep you've sunk into the dark side."
"Stop it." She said through gritted teeth. The world was spinning, almost bringing Elena to her knees.
"You didn't help Halber when I shot him. No, you went straight for me. Why?" He paused, letting his words sink in. "Because you wanted to kill me more than anything else. Because the thought of a fight excited you. It thrilled you. The thought that you might be able to fight made you the happiest girl in the world. You were primal, acting on instinct, like some animal."
"Stop!" She yelled desperately, using a Force propelled leap to take her onto one of the surrounding roofs. There he was. Grinning even as his body melted and reformed into a different body.
"Well," he said quickly before his throat changed, taking the form of one more designed for roaring. "Let's see who the bigger animal is."
Theran bent over, completing his transformation. He roared, now a fully transformed akk dog, with knife-like teeth and a hide that could stop a blaster bolt cold. Theran roared and threw himself forward, bounding towards Elena.
The akk dog, a creature native to Haruun Kal was considered one of the most deadly animals alive. Impenetrable armor surrounded it's body and it's intelligent mind let it hunt in packs with the precision on commandos.
Elena let herself fall backwards, using her legs to throw the akk dog over her and into the alley below. Theran fell, landing on his akk feet with a crash. He looked up, roared, and jumped straight up, landing in front of Elena. He spun, whipping his tail at her, trying to catch her off guard, but she jumped, flipping backwards. Her back bent, taking the form of a hyper drawn bow as the tail barely missed crushing her.
She slid backwards on her feet, then advanced, letting her lightsaber cast a weaving pattern of yellow flame around the akk. It was futile. The akks hide was too tough to penetrate with her saber. Leaping up, she tried to get onto the one place the akk couldn't reach with its teeth, its own back. She missed, and Theran whirled around, letting his tail hit her, sweeping her legs out. Elena flipped through the air sideways, spinning like a rag doll. She landed in the alley, body bruised and head ringing. As she lay there, waiting for Theran to finish her off, she realized that he had been right. Among the many fading emotions that she let go of as darkness took her eyes, was the pure joy of battle.
"Oh." Was all she could mutter.
Semreh and Screech were two soldiers of the Republic. Screech was a super soldier with more weapons in his armor than most beings saw in a lifetime. He was trained in dozens of combat techniques and had more combat experience than he had skin cells.
Semreh was a Jedi who had trained from day one to master control of an all powerful energy field that could be used to do everything from communicating telepathically to push punch enemies from yards away. He had trained with the lighsaber, and had studied for years in the temple archives.
Between the two of them, stealing a landspeeder from the outskirts of town was no problem. Unfortunately, Semreh was the one trying to drive it.
"Lookoutlookoutlookout!" Screech yelped from the passenger seat, instinctively ducking as the trash can rolled up the hood of the landspeeder and off.
"Quiet." Semreh ordered from the driver's seat. "I'm trying to-"
"Speeder!" He interrupted. Semreh yanked onto the wheel, barely missing oncoming traffic. They barely missed and the driver whizzed by, giving Semreh a rude gesture on his way.
"That was totally unnecessary." Semreh sniffed as the speeder continued weaving its way through traffic.
Bam! Another trash can.
"Get off the sidewalk you chaker!" Screech yelled at Semreh.
"Please, it's only a trash can."
Bam, bam, bam!
"Okay, a couple trash cans."
"You're gonna kill someone." Screech yelled.
"Quiet, I can't drive with you screaming at me."
"You can't drive at all!"
"Shut up already!" He said. A harsh scrapping sound. Some poor fellow no longer had a mint condition Soru Sub luxury speeder. Now he had about half.
"The owner might not even notice." Semreh assured a horrified Screech.
"Yeah." Screech said, swinging his blaster carbine around. "But the local security did."
Semreh looked in his rear view mirror. Behind them, lights flashing on their speeders and weapons draw, were the local security forces. The followed, one of them yelling on a microphone for them to pull over.
"Screech," Semreh said grinning at him. "Would you mind discouraging them?" Screech nodded and leaned out the window of the landspeeder, letting his blaster carbine blaze away at the men behind them. The security forces swerved and jerked, trying to dodge the torrent of blue fire.
Suddenly, Elena's eyes snapped open. Above her, the akk dog was growling, letting a thin vein of slime roll off his tongue. Elena kept playing dead, letting Theran savor his victory. Then, something unexpected. Theran's body bulged and stretched, and he emerged in his clawdite form. His grey skin stretched into a wicked smile. He stepped forward, and was surprised when Elena's leg shot upward, nailing him between his legs. Theran fell forward, already changing again, but Elena's fist was already rising. It connected with a crack into his nose. Theran jumped backwards, rolling to avoid a slash from her reignited lightsaber.
Elena tried to get up to chase him, but her leg wouldn't move. She looked down and saw it twisted at a weird angle, broken. Theran, already halfway changed, began bounding towards her. A second later, he stopped as a hail of blaster fire from one of the side alleys surprised him. From the alley, Semreh emerged, followed closely by Screech, who had a carbine in his hand and was firing steadily at Theran, who had changed into some type of winged bird and was flying away.
"You all right?" Semreh asked, wrapping one of his arms around her shoulder and hauling her to her feet.
"I think my leg's broken." She said shakily. "I can't walk on it for long."
"You won't have to." Semreh assured as he helped her limp out of the alley. "We've got a speeder."
"Most of a speeder anyways." Screech said darkly. Semreh glowered at him.
"It still drives, doesn't it?"
"Barely." Screech shot back, helping Elena into the back seat. Semreh reached for the door on the driver's side, but Screech pushed his hand away, indicating for him to get in the passenger seat.
"Fine." Semreh grumbled, shutting the door behind him. The sound of security sirens was rising, like they were getting closer. "Just get us out of here."
Back at the guerilla camp on the outskirts of the city, Semreh sat in a circle with his closest friends. A council of war. What remained of their soldiers were outside the camp, watching carefully for any Sep presence.
"We have to deal with this threat now padawan." Master Nostwa said with some urgency. "We need to find Theran and bring him in."
"Bad idea." Ding said looking at Screech. "Clawdites are a class four species. There hard to keep captured. And since this kid is able to change his mass as well as his appearance, he could very well turn into something as small as a mouse and slip out of captivity. If he does that, then we're really screwed."
"So we don't capture him." Barca said coldly. "We find him, plug a bolt through his head, and walk out. Quick and clean."
"Jedi don't kill their friends." Halber snapped, then fell back, groaning. His stomach was healing fine, but it wasn't a small wound. Semreh and Elena were quiet, listening to both sides. Master Nostwa and Halber were in favor of bringing Theran in peacefully. They wanted to help him, bring him back from the dark side. The clone commandos wanted to simplify things. Simple assassination. Their priority was the mission. Nothing else.
"There's another problem." Screech said worriedly. "Staying on planet is no longer safe, for us or for the guerillas. We need to evac as many of them as possible before the Seps close in for the kill. And since most of our communication equipment was captured, that means using Sep channels."
"What we need, is a plan." Elena said. "A plan that accomplishes all our goals at once." Everyone was quiet for a while, each deep in thought, trying to decide what their priorities should be.
"Master Nostwa is right." Semreh said quietly. "We can't let Theran walk away from this. Not with the amount of Intel he has. We take him down, one way or the other." The people around him looked at him, faces a vast mix of emotions. Master Nostwa looked worried, Halber slightly angry, the clones and Elena had expressionless masks.
"You said Theran is doing this to protect his parents?" Semreh asked Elena, looking at her. She paused, then nodded silently.
"Fine, then we put the word out. Try and make sure Theran knows where we'll be in three days."
"And where will we be?" Nostwa asked, crossing her arms. She was looking at her padawan intently, as if she was interested in how he would handle the situation.
"Halber and you should stay her master." He told her respectfully. "Somebody will have to keep the guerillas organized for evacuation."
"What evacuation?" Screech asked.
"The one you and I will call for using the com station at the local Sep headquarters. While we deal with that, Master Nostwa and Halber will move our people to the evacuation point, Barca and the rest of the commandos will create a distraction, and Elena will deal with Theran. We hit them all at once and escape in the chaos." The clones and Jedi all looked at each other. It was a sound plan, but would it work. Halber looked doubtful, as did Screech. But Master Nostwa looked proud. And Elena…Elena looked something close to fearful. For a moment, Semreh considered retracting his statement, but it was too late now.
"It's a good plan." Master Nostwa said, beaming at Semreh. "And it should accomplish all our goals at once. So, let's get too work. We've only got a day or two before the Separatists strike first. Let's move!"
Sorry if it felt rushed, but I'm trying to cram a lot of stuff into three chapters. Anyways, thanks for reading. Please review if you liked or disliked it.