Hey guys... Going to continue this story... I'll do my best to add in some Luxsoka for this chapter.
Lux's POV
Last time I saw those gunships, they were row by row, bludgeoning the face of the cliff in what I could only imagine was to drive us out into the jungle where the droids were marching. The Droid Army have retreated and gone the opposite way we were heading. But now a lone gunship was tearing the small settlement we were stationed in and because of the innocent people here, all we could do was to press another retreat.
The gunship almost knocked Ahsoka and me off the balcony. Now we were in the middle of the square as she drew out her lightsabers and I with my pistols. I fired a shot at the rear of the ship, where the engines would have been if they were only there... No good! The ship seemed to have its ray shield covering the entire exterior!
"It won't take long for the ship to loop around!" Steela cried as she waved her arm to signal the villagers to escape to the plateau's jungle. All the rebels were protecting the people as they too got out into the safety of the forest.
When the last person was at the eves, Kidd pointed a finger at the gunship as it descended onto the deserted town. "I never actually saw those things before, but I heard about their design. They're ray shielded." Kidd seemed to talk to himself more than us. I looked at him, hoping he was about to tell a weakness to the gunship. "We need something to penetrate its shield; to turn it off. Then, it will be easy to destroy it."
Beyond the cliffedge, the gunship was accelerating with gravity as it headed towards us. Kidd was doing nothing to avoid the range of fire!
"T-take cover!" I hyperventilated at the unconcerned Twi'lek, glancing to see how far the gunship was. To my surprise, it was faster than even I predicted. Without much contemplation, I grabbed his metallic arm and ran towards the wall closest to the gunship as it fired at us. I made it just in time for the barrage of laser bolts and missiles rammed the opposite side of the wall, causing chips of the building to flake and fall around us. Dust became one with the atmosphere.
Kidd looked at me in disbelief. I could only give a curt nod before hearing the hum of the gunship pass over us as it ascended to make another attack. Before it got too high, Kidd threw an EMP grenade from a wrist launcher that seemed to make up a large portion of his metallic arm. It traveled to the nose of the enemy droid before sparking a blue pulse. Immediately after detonation, Kidd used another gadget in his pocket to scan the ship as it still rose in the air to recharge. I knew he was a former assassin, nevertheless, I couldn't believe how many trinkets he carried.
"Damn!" Kidd cursed as he shook the buffer scanner in irritation. "Shields didn't even falter a percentage!"
"Did you really think that was going to work?" I grumbled, before heading for a door, entering the heat-congested room before escaping back into the stuffy humidity of the jungle... I ran to the cliff edge in hopes that we could grapple down the cliff and exit the battle scene that way. Immediately as I gazed over the high-up edge, blasterfire ricocheted near my feet from what I guessed was snipers... It hit me that the droids were trying to cut off this way out and I wasn't stupid enough to stay in that spot. Swiftly, I lunged back from the edge as I realized the people in front of me was Kidd, Ahsoka, Steela, and Saw. They wanted a plan of action and they wanted it now!
"No way down there." I gave a horrified groan as I saw the gunship taking a sweeping loop around to descend once more... This time, we were sitting mynocks! "Get back to the cover of the wall!" I ordered, almost begged. There were no arguments as we raced back as the gunship started firing pulse missiles again into the ground. We ducked as the pulses missing just behind where our feet were! Their white puffs of smoke and pebbly debris scorching our backs since the pulses were so very close to us. Kidd got the worst of it as he stumbled, but just enough to keep the sprinting pace we were making.
Reaching the wall exactly when the droid zoomed over us, giving a common passing noise like that of a hundred speeder bikes if they were all resonating at the lowest decibel any sentient is able to hear. Lumbering pass us with a roar of screeching metal, and blowing what smelt of the most sickening exhaust that my olfactory senses caused me to cough like it was a contagious disease.
Kidd shook his head, far too awed to demonstrate fearlessness. "Not even a lylek could sound so ferocious and smell so putrid. Sinun lelu pahan!" He cursed in what I assumed was his native tongue.
Turning my head to the other side, I saw Ahsoka also was glaring at the droid. Then, to somewhat a relief, an eyemark quirked upwards. "I got an idea!"
Unclenching her hands, Ahsoka got them ready to her side. I only had an inkling of what she was planning to do. For a split second, adapting a new strategy, the gunship fired two missiles, not pulse but heat-seeking ones. It happened just below lightning speed as my 'Soka fired a wave of the Force at the missiles, ricocheting back to their source. The gunship's shields held itself together for a moment but a second afterwards exploded into a fireball, spinning haywire past us and into the courtyard of the village.
A deafening implosion caused the ground to shake, almost losing our balance. Pieces of the wall fell around us as dust caked our faces once more, causing a few of us to sputter. We all seemed to be covered in an orange skin of the ground. Realizing I was on my hands and knees, I got to my feet. I was the last one who went into a standing position. I heard the whining of engines behind me and with the wall all but collapsed.
The gunship still wasn't destroyed and was making a last ditch effort to go flying again.
These were just the worst kinds of droids! They just can't be destroyed no matter what method we throw at it!
Then we heard an order buzz out of the droid's comm channel, "You're nearly defeated, droid. Regroup with the Army! We've found the terrorists' location. You'll get your second chance at them soon enough."
"By your command!" The droid warbled and painstakingly lifted from the ground. I didn't think we had any weapons to bring it down, so all we could do was take what was left as cover in case the gunship took us as clueless stragglers. Everyone except the once Twi'lek traitor.
"Oh, no you don't." Kidd took out his shield buffer scanner and I saw that the droid was now twenty-five percent bombardment absorption. He didn't hesitate for he wheeled out a missile out of his wide gauntlet and fired at the gunship. Another explosion occurred that caused it to light up the already bright landscape, but seconds later, I saw that the gunship continued flying before looping to head back for the city of Iziz.
It seemed like the blinding tumult of light and the fleeting feeling of disappointment at the gunship's survival happened before I could comprehend it whatsoever. I stared as the droid flew, its telltale warbling waning in the noon sky.
"Well, this was effort-filled fiasco." Saw muttered.
I stared off, awed with a dumbstruck look as the gunship became a dot in the sky. "There's just no hope in this rebellion if," I groaned with an empty feeling inside, "if we cannot find a way to destroy those advanced droids."
"We have a way. It possible to destroy it with enough firepower." Kidd sighed. "We just don't have the resources to fulfill it."
By the time we found the rest of the rebels under the trees, I was breathing heavily but my the beating in my heart went steady. Never before has the two been so different from each other.
Again, I tried to get Ahsoka's attention. "A-Ahsoka..."
My 'Soka just stared at the ground, gazing wildly at her hands. There was nothing in them but a crease of dried mud. Nothing more. "Sad..." She muttered passively. "All my life I felt so sure of myself. I thought my life would go so perfectly." I looped around so we were facing each other. "I thought that I found some sort of..., relationship with Kidd, something to expand when the Clone Wars were over. I thought that I could help everyone with the amount of willpower I had in the Force, but now I'm held back. Now, I'm instructed to stay in the sidelines, not to help completely so you rebels can learn to fend for yourselves... I shouldn't have done anything, yet I couldn't do nothing!" She exclaimed but barely raised her voice so that no one would stare at us. "I thought that there was always more light than dark... If I ever did see the galaxy go completely black, I swear, Lux, that I would do everything in my power to bring back the light."
Looking into her eyes, I opened my mouth to say something but that disturbing voice broke the brief pause I made. "Spoken more eloquently than when I first met you... You disliked me at the start, if I remember." Kidd walked forward, a little hesitant at first, but then raised his hand in expectancy.
Ahsoka didn't hiss but just decided to question the gesture as she stared at the blue hand. "You were a horrid man to torture me, join the enemy, and kill innocents in a painful death." Ahsoka grimaced. "And what do you expect me to do with your hand?"
Kidd squinted, not as if he had a suspicious thought in his mind, but in a feeling of rejection. "I was ordered all of those things... I was inspired by revenge..., because of him..., but I know I'm not like this. 'This is not me!' I told myself. It wasn't. Separatists invaded my spiritual home of Ryloth, where the rest of my species dwell. I was worried about my little sister... She's a great person... And I thought to myself, 'What would my family think if I did all these terrible things?' They would have pretended I never existed... If their still alive."
Ahsoka had an empty gaze, not a void of emotions, just an onset of 'What am I to think of this?' "I believe in forgiveness." She stated. "But after what you did to me, there can be no setting my guard down." She looked at me and back at Kidd. "Lux very well may be my future."
Those words forced my mouth to open slightly, but quickly close it again remembering who I was standing in front of. "Ahsoka, I love you...," I then turned my attention back to the Twi'lek. "but how do I know you won't terrorize us both to weary that love away."
Kidd took a step back, feeling my anger slowly rise. He waited a moment for Ahsoka to intervene, but she just gave a nod to him. After a longer time than it should have been, Kidd gave a stammering sigh. "You have my word that I won't go for Ahsoka again. I realize it is impossible now after my first step to secretive revenge that I unnecessarily laid..., and failed in. I won't come in between you... I still look for forgiveness, however..." He looked into Ahsoka's eyes, making me rather uncomfortable.
Ahsoka smirked, hearing his words. "Impossible now..." She quickly turned to me than back at Kidd. "You violated me and by hurting me, you hurt everyone close to me... Did you realize this when I found out that you, as an elusive assassin, had your identity revealed?" She cocked her.
Kidd breathed deeply, astonishingly giving a sense of guilt. "N-no." The Twi'lek muttered. "I was foolish... I didn't think of the long-term..., but I've made my choice of fighting in this rebellion to go back to my Twi'lek roots. For my sister... For my honor... For you..." He gave a subtle bow, trying his best to show that he can be forgiven...
I almost fell into believing he was sincere, but then my doubt sprung back in mind. "You tried to kill us. Why should we put our guard down now!? How do we know that you won't just crawl back to the Seps again!?"
Kidd did his best not to glare, or so I thought. He hesitated again. For a moment, his facial expression was hard to discern, but then he gave a small assertive smile before saying, "I lost everything that I ever known, Lux. Now, I gave up everything again, for the sake of my conscience... You must eventually realize this the next time I do all I can to save your rebellion. The next time I give everything I can to protect you both...I fight for the long battle for forgiveness now." Glancing his eyes back at Ahsoka one last time, he turned and walked away...
A minute later, I saw that he was speaking to Steela who was remarkably speaking back to the perpetrator.
"He means well, Lux... I sense no deception." Ahsoka put a hand on my shoulder.
"He may change his mind now, but what if he changes his mind again?" I grimaced thinking of all the fear he was giving me, taking my mind off saving my homeworld.
"He won't." Ahsoka walked in fornt of me to put her other hand on my shoulder. "Sometimes you need to believe in your others to accomplish anything... I don't trust him, but I believe he was telling the truth to us earlier."
"Okay," I said as I looked into her eyes, raising the back of my hand to rub against her cheek. "I..." Continuing to rub her soft, hairless cheek, I realized that I was focusing again on her and not the battle that inevitably lies ahead. "I shouldn't." I turned my head away. "You're Jedi, remember."
She took her right hand to get me to stare back at her. "It's hard for both of us to see what lies ahead when the future is nothing but a shimmering mystery... 'Focus on the moment', my master would say. I believe him." We kissed each other, softer than soft. Her lips were only the most gently compressed to mine. After what seemed like hours, we parted with a slight smile coming up on both of us. "That felt good." Ahsoka exhaled.
I gave a questioning squint. "Not from desire, I reckon?"
"What? No, absolutely not." She shook her head. "It's because I get to practice natural, sentient feelings."
I nodded. "Thank you... Does that mean you'll still push me away later like you did before?"
Ahsoka tilted her head back. "You can count on that for sure."
Third Person POV
Quinlan Vos was a determined Jedi and despite his gruff appearance, he was rather unpredictable in what he does. He's also been known to be good actor since that applies when he goes to Tatooine and follow his trail. He still had questions about Kidd Kareen, feeling that he may be the mastermind behind the brainwashing of Jocasta Nu and Aayla Secura. He knows that all of this can be saved if he can find out more about Kidd Kareen and the shipment of ryll.
Vos's steps usually gave him away immediately, but when he concentrated hard enough, he could make no sound. Feeling through the Force and practicing it in the field of the Underworld, he knew he was one of the best and most immediate hopes from more Jedi falling and committing actions that were not theirs.
He looked to see if anyone was around. Then he felt out in all directions to sense any presence of nearby Jedi, a risky maneuver because once he opened himself up, they could likely sense him back. Not a soul in proximity to him.
Swiftly, his hand reached up with yellow fingernails and moved the grate for the ventilation shaft... Looking in, he noticed the air passage was far too small for him to fit in. "Hmpf, that trick usually works most of the time." He grumbled to himself.
Then he heard footsteps from a hallway perpendicular to the one he was in. Before that person could round the corner, Quinlan quickly shut the grate back in the ceiling tile and looked back to see who it was. He held back a groan when he saw the Jedi doctor, Rig Nema, once again.
"What are you doing, Vos?" She gave the question with a tone of obvious suspicion.
"I thought I sensed someone familiar." Quinlan groaned. He's been in this position many times before. He knew how to lie. "I was going from the Archives to the Council chamber. I have been summoned there."
"Let me come with you. I'm heading there myself to send more Healers down. All the others that were there are resting their minds now within their dormitory chambers."
Without showing much thinking time to affirm Nema's suspicion, Vos answered. "I'm waiting for someone else, actually."
"Who?" She scrunched up her nose.
"An underworld changeling. We're to meet here. The Council wishes to brief us for a second time on spice smuggling and extortion in Nar Shaddaa. Find a way to shut them down."
Nema took a moment to think of Vos's lies. She almost glared at Vos, sensing for any deceit that he was blaring to her. For a long few seconds Nema was thinking, Quinlan had a feeling that she caught his trickery..., before she tilted her head side-to-side. "Good, good. Just hope that source is reliable... And that the Hutts don't catch you; you being all the way in their area of space."
Then she left, swiftly making her way to meet up with the Council on time. "Oh, and Doctor?" Quinlan called to Nema. "Don't tell the Council or anyone else about my upcoming mission. For regular Jedi, it's top secret, as you know. The Council doesn't want to have too much talk spread about underworld characters in the Jedi Temple. And they think that only themselves, me, and my source know about this mission, so don't you mention it to them up there."
She turned and gave a nod as she hurriedly sped out. "Of course, Master Vos... I know how it is when some things need to be kept secret." Then she rounded another corner to head up to the stairs that go to the spire for the High Council chamber.
Her footsteps soon faded away... Vos then let loose a smile now after holding it back for nearly a minute. "Can't believe my luck." He muttered under his breath and he made Nema's hurried pace to head to the Halls of Healing. To Aayla.
Lando's POV
The sun was bright and the humid heat caused me and Cello to sweat as we were swept into the throne room in manacles. There was much pushing and shoving as we were being dragged. I saw some of the things Rash scratched on the walls, scorching some of the paintings.
Thinking of all of the wealth this palace held, it confused me why the false king would desecrate the palace he stole.
But none of that mattered as we were led into the throne room. The doors opened up and we saw our long shadows trail to the throne... I gulped, thinking of keeping my mouth shut from snide comments at the enemy, but I knew Cello wasn't any better as me.
"If you know this is going to be the end of us, give him hell, Lando. Don't lose your sense of humor for anything." Cello whispered.
"Never..." I muttered. "But that doesn't mean I'll try something a little different than just humor... Charm."
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