Ezra couldn't believe his eyes. What had been a relatively peaceful moment was shattered as more and more messengers went running by. The Dark Forces were back and this time, they weren't pulling any punches. He saw Caleb go rushing by a grim look on his face, so Ezra rushed to catch up with him. "Caleb, what's going on?" "Maul has been spotted around Endor, so myself, you, Petna, Mara and Luke are being sent there to deal with him."
"Do you want me to see if Hera is able to take us?" Ezra asked, shocked as Caleb turned abruptly towards him and questioned sternly "Do you really think I want Hera anywhere near him Ezra?" Then he seemed to remember himself and took a calming breath in and said softer, "Sorry, its just… you know how he is Ezra, I don't want to have any more people there to worry about than I already do." "I understand Master." "Besides, we'll be flying out with our troops, so we don't really need the Ghost."
XXX
Ezra was watching out the nearest viewing point as the stars stopped streaking by and the planet Endor and its forested moon came into sight. Mara and Petna were already there and Luke came out of hyperspace a few minutes later. He had needed to refuel before he could head to Endor, otherwise he would have arrived before Ezra and his Master. He docked with the ship Ezra and Caleb were on and the moment he joined them, they set up a meeting with Mara and Petna, their holograms starting up instantly, as Caleb asked "What do you have for us Mara?"
"We have sent a few scouts out and they are reporting that Maul and his forces are not on Endor itself, but its moon." Mara said, before Petna cut in "We still aren't sure why he is here, there are no major planets nearby to stage an attack on nor is there a population that he could bring into his army." Ezra, Caleb and Luke shared a puzzled look before Caleb asked "Were your spies spotted?" "While they got back in one piece, who is to say Maul didn't let them. I would say more than likely he let them bring us this report."
"So it's a trap then." Luke stated, to which Mara replied "More than likely." "We need to proceed with caution then, but also with haste. If we can take Maul here, we could end this war." Caleb said. "What if we had our ships take out their transports?" asked Ezra. "No good. Maul was smart and got ample cover for the grounded ones and by the looks of it, they have a navy on the other side of the moon, probably where they landed, ready to supply air support there." Petna replied.
"We'll just have to hope for the best then." Luke said softly. Ezra didn't like all of the variables, but he had to agree with Luke. They needed to take this chance if it could mean Maul's downfall. Caleb also agreed and gave them all a look meant to give them reassurances and courage with his left eye as he said "Let's get ready for a ground assault then, with air coverage if possible." But as they all hurried off to prepare, all Ezra could think about was the scar that ran over his Master's right eye, the one he could no longer see out of, and about how almost all their fights with Maul had gone both before and since then.
XXX
They all made it safely to the moon, a couple of squadrons of men joining them on the ground. The rest were preparing the ships to provide the backup they would more likely need. They hadn't been walking long, when a familiar, sinister voice said "I'm flattered that the Jedi have sent so many to take me. Too bad you shall never leave here." None of them had set eyes on him yet, so Ezra shouted "Show yourself!" "All in good time young one." Ezra snorted, being twenty-seven he wasn't that young anymore.
Maul continued "No, for now I shall leave you to think about your fate, give you one last out as it were." And with that he was gone, leaving no signs even that he had been there once they searched around. "So what do we do?" Petna asked, "I mean I know we aren't going to retreat but how are we going to find him when we can't find a trace of him anywhere here?" "We already know where their base camp is, if he isn't there when we arrive, he shortly will be, if not to help his men then to end us." Caleb replied, "Let's keep moving."
They all marched through endless woods, until Mara stumbled across a strange sight, some kind of meat hanging from a piece of wood. "What in the Force…?" she muttered to herself, as she drew closer to take a closer look. Too late she sensed the danger, and she was ensnared in a rope net above the ground. Her cry of surprise, brought the other's running. As they reached her short, furry creatures came out of hiding, pointing sharpened sticks and other crude weapons at them. "Ezra?" Caleb questioned, hoping that Ezra could connect with whatever these guys were.
Ezra concentrated on the nearest one and said softly "They were trying to capture food for their village, but they think we are with Maul's men, who have already killed a few of them. They are afraid but want to protect what is theirs. I have tried to let them know we mean know harm, but I can't seem to get through to them this way." The little creatures started speaking in gibberish and Petna sighed and said "Of course they don't speak Basic, if they did Maul probably would have found a space for them in his army."
"AP-5, can you translate for us?" Caleb asked a nearby droid. "I can try, though I don't see what good it will do." The droid and the creatures spent a few minutes in conversation before he said "They understand that we are here to get rid of the Dark Forces and have informed me they wish to help." "They can start by letting me down." Mara said wryly. Everyone chuckled a bit, having forgotten about her predicament at the arrival of the creatures. AP told them what had been said and one hurried to release her, though not very gently as she was too heavy for him.
Still Mara smiled and said "Tell them I said thank you." AP did so and the one who released her responded and AP translated, "That one is called Wicket and from what I can gather they call themselves as a whole Ewoks, though I am not sure if it is their species or tribe name. Anyways, he says you are welcome."
Most of the Ewoks, with the help of AP's translating, led the Jedi to their village while the others led the men closer towards the enemy, helping them establish a base with more droids acting as translators. "At least we have one thing on our side." Caleb said hours later, "Maul won't be expecting us to work with the Ewoks, let alone them having any fighting capabilities." "But they don't really have any, do they Caleb?" asked Ezra.
"We'll make use of their hunting skills and their sheer determination to stay alive and do away with Maul and his men." Caleb replied. "So what you are saying is, the skills they have aren't what we are used to seeing in our men, but hopefully just as effective." Petna summarized. Caleb nodded his agreement before saying "The men have reported that our base has been established so at first light we will attack." "But the Dark Forces have always fought at night, who's to say they won't attack our base then?" asked Luke.
"The Ewoks have set traps all around the base, so no one will be sneaking up and I am hoping that even if they do know we are here, since we ourselves aren't at the camp, that Maul won't notice them there until tomorrow." Caleb replied. "So are we staying here for the night then?" asked Mara. "Yes. Get some sleep everyone, I'll take the first watch." The rest of the watch schedule was set and everyone went off to bed, hoping to get some rest before it was their turn.
Ezra had the last watch of the night and like all the others it passed in peace. This actually bothered Ezra, for Maul was not one to sit back, but rather of hasty action. What did he have planned? Before Ezra could dwell much longer on that question, the others stirred and it was time to prepare for battle. Luke and Mara had been assigned a group of Ewoks each, as well as a droid to translate, and headed out to come at Maul's group from the back, while the other Jedi went and prepared their own men for the attack.
XXX
At the set time, all the groups converged on Maul and his men. The Dark Forces actually seemed surprised by this attack so either Maul hadn't alerted them or he had underestimated the Jedi, their men and their new furry allies. Swinging his lightsaber back and forth to block shots aimed at him and his men, Ezra caught glimpses of everyone fighting. Then he was struck by what he didn't see, no glowing red of Maul's lightsabers.
As if summoned by his thoughts, from the side closest to Petna and her group came the battle cry of the Dark Forces as, led by Maul, a sneak attack was brought against the Jedi from that side. It had been a trap, meant to lure the Jedi into a position where they were surrounded and could easily be picked off. What Maul hadn't counted on was the ferocity of the Ewoks and that is what kept him from being able to completely overwhelm the Jedi.
Petna jumped in front of one of her men, blocking Maul's swinging blade with her own. Maul chuckled and said "I will give you one chance young one to leave, for it is not you I want." "I will never leave my men alone for you to cut them down as you see fit." Petna spat back at him. "Very well." Maul said, almost gleefully.
Ezra lost sight of the fight as the Dark Forces came at him and his men harder than they had moments before, proving that they were just a distraction to keep the Jedi from noticing the lack of Maul. He could hear the sound of Petna's and Maul's blades humming through the air only to clash violently against each other just to turn around and break loose from each other to repeat the process. Repeating, that is, until a scream broke the air.
Ezra lost his concentration and got shot in his right arm, but he hardly noticed it as he turned towards the direction of the cry only to be in time to see Petna collapse at Maul's feet. "No!" Luke shouted, causing Ezra to look up at Maul and see him raising his blade to deliver the final blow. The Jedi tried to reach their fallen friend and Ezra could see Petna struggling, trying to raise her own blade to ward off Maul's, but it was all in vain. At the last second, Ezra looked away as Maul impaled Petna through her heart.
The four remaining Jedi stood frozen, unable to comprehend that Petna was dead. Their men covered for them, trying to buy them time to briefly grieve their fallen comrade as the Dark Forces tried to take advantage of the Jedi's distraction. Ezra was the first one to snap out of his shock and he started trying to make his way through the Dark Forces towards Maul, who was standing over Petna's still body laughing maniacally. Then he suddenly stopped and stared into Ezra's eyes and said "Give into your anger, come and join me and be more powerful then you ever could imagine."
"You just killed my friend and you think I would join you?" Ezra questioned, hardly believing what Maul was trying to do. "In time, you will come to see that I did you a favor." Maul said, still trying to confuse Ezra and get him to question things. Ezra however was having none of it, "You cannot know the future Maul, it is always in motion." He pointed his blade at his adversary before continuing, "I will not let my anger rule me and even if I did, I will never join you."
Maul's gaze turned dangerous as he replied "You will regret that choice." Maul lunged for Ezra, caring not that he was taking out his own men to reach the Jedi. Ezra waited for the enraged Sith, letting him work to get to him, hoping his friends would reach him soon, for he doubted he could hold off Maul in this state for long. True, with his anger Maul could be more prone to mistakes, but he would also be more ferocious in his attacks.
Maul quickly reached Ezra and swung his lightsaber at the Jedi. Ezra managed to block it, but fire erupted in his arm as he finally took notice of the shot he had received upon Penta's scream. Maul seemed to notice the weakness of Ezra's block and started hitting hard and quick upon Ezra's injured arm, keeping him from being able to effectively switch hands. Just as Ezra thought for sure he would be joining Petna in the Force, Caleb and Luke reached his side, causing Maul to retreat a short distance and give Ezra's arm a break.
"Luke, get Ezra out of here." Caleb said without taking his eyes off Maul. Luke wanted to argue, Ezra could sense it, but seemed to think better of it and led Ezra off as Caleb stayed to face Maul alone. "Luke you have to help him, none of us should face Maul alone and I'm fine." Ezra protested before Luke quietly responded, "Mara is helping him and I don't think it was just you he wanted away from Maul." Ezra understood what Luke meant, his arm really wasn't an injury that required him to need assistance.
They hadn't made it much further when they heard Maul shout out, "You may have won this battle, Jedi, but I think I still made out like a winner." And with a sadistic laugh, he turn and ran into the forest, leaving his men to follow him if they were able. Many just gave up, having been pressed into serving him when their worlds were taken over, while a few put up a fight and even fewer tried to follow their leader.
Soon it was over and the Jedi left their men to take care of the captured men, while they went to report to the Council what had happened. Even as he listened to Caleb give a report about the loss of Petna, Ezra could hardly believe that his friend was gone. Memories from their first mission flittered across his mind, as well as the ones they had made since then. Mara and Luke were quiet beside him, each lost in their own way of coping through the loss of a friend. Ezra hardly noticed as the medical droid patched his arm or much of anything really until Caleb said to their group, "Let's go home."
While a few troops would remain on Endor's moon to help the Ewoks in case the Dark Forces returned, the majority made their way aboard the waiting transports. Once they were on the bigger ships, the Jedi all having gone to the same one, they made the jump to lightspeed. While they waited to arrive on Coruscant, the four Jedi excused themselves from their men and went to talk alone in one of the big, conference type rooms usually used for battle strategies.
Luke was the first to break the silence, "It doesn't make sense, why did Maul only kill Petna? With us all getting so easily distracted over her death he could have taken us with no problem." "Does anything with Maul make sense?" Mara asked bitterly. "I disagree, a lot of what Maul did makes sense." Caleb put in his thoughts. "What do you mean master?" Ezra asked.
"Think about it, this is the first real move they have made in years and while killing all of us would make a big statement, killing just Petna served him even better. He wants us to suffer for whatever reason, he wanted to deal us not only an emotional blow, but one that sends a message." "I hate to ask, but what's the message?" asked Luke. "That no matter how many Jedi are present, nothing will stop him from attaining his goal." Caleb replied. Everyone became silent at this, a silence that lasted the rest of the trip back, as they each thought about what that could mean for the future of not only this war, but the galaxy.
Ugh this chapter was so hard to write, its so hard to kill an OC, but I knew it needed to be done. Not because Petna is terrible or whatever (personal, biased opinion I know XD) but because its not a war if everyone makes it home I guess. Anyways hope you enjoyed this.
Also, you guys have to check out ZoomShirakoVert777's video, Warriors, its amazing! If you have any awesome, fan made videos (your own or others) that you would like to share, send me a link and I might share it too :D