Chapter 85 – Ghosts of Geonosis
Author's Note: Behold some of the changes that have been occurring up to now. Hope y'all didn't forget about the Gerrera family? ;)
To Nbj: Thanks. :)
Thank y'all so much for reviewing! :D:D:D 💖💖💖
~ Amina Gila
"So, do we finally get to find out what this mission is about?" Ezra asks, leaning back in his seat. It's been a while since Marr was on a mission with the rest of the Ghost crew, and he can't deny that he's missed them. It often feels empty being here without Vizma, though – even if Anastasia somehow manages to make twice the amount of noise.
It hasn't been long since Maul's betrayal, and things are still in chaos over that. They need to get someone else in control of Crimson Dawn who'll agree to continue helping them, and he can only hope the Amidalans who infiltrated it will be able to figure something out.
Obi-Wan had said something about trying to start training Luke, but Marr doesn't know if that worked out or not. He hopes it did.
"Hera already told you. It's secret," Sabine shoots back, whacking Ezra's shoulder.
"So's everything we do," Anastasia drawls, leaning back lazily, "I don't see why we're bringing so many people there when we don't even know what we're walking into."
"Isn't that all the more reason to bring a lot of people?" Sabine asks.
"It could also be a waste of resources," she says.
"Why would Hera want to waste our 'resources' when we have so few?" Ezra queries.
Marr rolls his eyes. "I think we can put that transmission through now."
Chopper plugs in, pulling up a hologram of Commander Sato and – Bail Organa?!
"Senator Organa?" Hera asks in surprise. Why would he be calling? Marr knew the mission was important, but he didn't realize it was that high-up. It's more important than he realized. The Senator doesn't get involved in things freely, because it would put both himself and Leia at risk.
"I wanted to explain the mission personally," he replies, "There is much at stake here."
"Rebel Command received your report on the apparent disappearance of the Geonosian people. After some debate, we decided to take a risk and investigate," Bail replies. Disappearance? Why would the Geonosians have disappeared?
"So, we're looking for Geonosians?" Ezra wonders.
"No. You are looking for the team we already sent. We lost contact with them two cycles ago."
"I was about to say, those bugs couldn't be that important," Anastasia mutters.
Marr gives her a pointed look – more over the speciesism of the comment than how rude it is to interrupt the important conversation.
"Do you think it was the Empire?" asks Kanan, frowning.
"Unless they all killed themselves." Sabine elbows Anastasia into silence.
"Unknown." Likely, it was. Marr doesn't know much about what was happening immediately after the Empire formed, but he does know that it was the Separatists who posed the greatest resistance. Another war had nearly broken out, which was quite useful in allowing the Jedi survivors to hide. The Geonosians created weapons, and Marr would not be surprised if they had been doing the same to fight the Empire.
"Contact was lost after the team reported an energy source on the planet's surface." Weird.
"Energy source?" Hera objects, "When we went to Geonosis, there was nothing. No signs of life or power."
"Your primary mission is to recover our people and any intel they gathered," Bail replies.
"Who is it we're looking for?"
"Saw Gerrera," Rex interjects.
"Saw?!" Marr exclaims, perking up. He hasn't heard of him in a long time! They worked together for years, and... If he disappeared, that doesn't bode well. Something is definitely not right here. "If he was interested in this, it's definitely something we should look into." That much he knows for sure.
Rex murmurs his agreement.
The ship finally jolts out of hyperspace over the planet, and the memories of the last time he was here flood Marr's mind instantly. It was the Second Battle of Geonosis, not even a year into being Obi-Wan's padawan. Everyone had been together then. Everything was... hard, but they were together. (Anakin was there, and – it's so hard to even think about him right now.)
"The construction modules and debris we saw last time... It's all gone," Hera observes. That's strange. Suddenly he has to wonder... Is someone trying to hide something here? But the question is who and what. Something that they'd consider worthy of killing or relocating everyone on Geonosis?
They can pick up a transmission from the surface, but no communications will go through. It has to be Saw, though, because Geonoians live underground. All they can do is go down and find out.
"This brings back a few things," Marr muses as they fly down through the atmosphere.
"I could say the same, Commander," Rex replies, slightly amused and almost wistful, "I fought my first battle here."
"Really?" Ezra asks, perking up, "What happened?"
"You really want a long, bloody story about it?" Anastasia snips.
Ezra looks as though he's about to roll his eyes. "You know that's not what I'm asking to hear."
"There's generally not much else to say about battles," Sabine points out.
"Well, it started with Obi-Wan and Anakin nearly being fed to... something. I don't remember the species anymore," Marr interjects, smiling faintly as he remembers hearing that story.
"What? How did that happen?!" Ezra asks.
"They were investigating an assassination attempt on Senator Amidala, and it led them to Geonosis. That's where they found the massive droid production. They got the report to the Council but were captured first." He doesn't remember all the details of that part anymore, but it's the rough idea of what happened.
"Wow, and you say they're some of the best," Anastasia drawls.
"Hey, didn't you just get captured on one of your last missions?" Zeb asks.
"That was a trap."
"I'm pretty sure this was a trap too," Marr cuts in, "They were almost executed by being fed to giant beasts. Hundreds of Jedi came to the rescue. I was Master Yoda's padawan then. I wanted to go, but... No young padawans were going on a mission like that."
"And us clones were sent in after that as reinforcements, for the first time," Rex continues.
"Are you sure the Geonosians didn't all kill each other?" she asks, dryly. "Seeing the kind of executions that they believe in."
"I don't really think that's something to joke about," Sabine objects.
"It's hardly a joke."
"Geonosians were always loyal to each other," Marr interjects. It's not as if he's fond of them at all, but he knows that much. The very notion is ridiculous.
Lightning flashes in the sky around them, the ship shuddering as wind whips around them. Sand is blowing everywhere, too much to see anything. "Hang on!" Hera calls, as she tries to keep it steady, "This storm is wreaking havoc on my scopes!"
"How's it feel to be back?" Zeb calls.
"Honestly? I was hoping I'd never have to come back to this dust ball," Rex replies.
"The first time I was here, we crashed!" Marr declares, memories flashing through his mind, "I got this scar then. It was... a hard battle." He didn't much want to come back but being here is bringing up so many memories. It hurts, but – (All he has of his old family are memories. If he shies away from even the happy memories of them, what will he have left? Especially when he never knows when or if he'll have more.)
The ship finally lands, though it's a distance away from where they need to be. Hera decides they split into two groups, with Marr, Kanan, Ezra, and Rex going to check out Saw's last coordinates, while the others wait with the ship in case the Empire shows up.
Sand whips violently around them as they make their way through the storm. His helmet and armor protect him, but he knows how dangerous sandstorms can be. You can't be a Jedi and not know things like that, and it was something Anakin had always emphasized whenever they were on a mission to a sand planet somewhere.
Finally, they reach the towering structure at the coordinates. There's no sign of anyone, but memories of so many years ago swim through Marr's mind as he searches. They fought through and around so many structures like this. He's beginning to think he really doesn't like being here. That battle had been hard.
He almost died here. Cody almost –
Cody.
He hasn't thought about him in so long. What happened to him? Will he ever know? Does he want to know?
"Hey, I think I found something!" Ezra calls suddenly.
Marr hurries over, to see a partly opened passageway, into the tunnels below. (Ahsoka and Barriss had nearly died in one of those.)
The tunnel is dark and narrow, with all side passageways blocked off, and he keeps his senses open for any sign of life or just anything. Something isn't right, the feeling crawling unceasingly under his skin. He hasn't been this on edge in a long time, but maybe it's just the memories of before.
Marr stills at the sight of a helmet on the ground. "Look," he calls, picking it up, looking it over. He worked with the Gerreras for years. He knows these markings. "It's from Saw's team."
"There's more down there!" Ezra exclaims, running after Chopper as the droid shines a light down the tunnel.
They're all over the place down here, and he knows what that means. They're dead.
Marr pauses, reaching out with the Force. There's something... close, and he could almost swear he hears the far too familiar sound of Geonosian. He never wants to hear that again.
"There's something up ahead, but it's moving away," Kanan murmurs, eyes narrowed.
They only make it a few more steps before the sound stops, everything going still.
"It's gone. We should go too," Kanan warns.
"Go?!" exclaims Ezra, "Why?!"
"No, we can't," Marr objects, shaking his head, "There could still be people alive down here. We have to find them."
"There's something working against us," Kanan argues, "We don't know what it is."
"We should be able to get out if anything goes wrong," Marr insists. Or so he can hope. He understands Kanan's point. It's so easy for them to get cornered down here. But the Force is urging him onwards, despite the danger, and if Saw is here, he can't just leave him. They weren't exactly friends, but they weren't really not either.
Kanan concedes reluctantly, and they keep moving.
Something moves right around the corner, and they all spin to face it, just as two battle droids step into view. "Blast 'em!" one of the droids orders, right as a destroyer rolls up.
It's – for a glaring moment, he could almost think he was back in the Clone Wars again. But no, they're just... remnants. More they could collect for later, if they can get out of this without damaging them.
They all start shooting.
So much for that.
Marr, Kanan, and Ezra deflect the bolts back at the droids, as Rex opens fire. Nothing will get through the destroyer's shields, though, unless –
A sudden deafening explosion rings out, blasting through the droids in the back. The destroyer's shield is damaged a little, and Marr doesn't waste a moment, running forwards and slashing it in half.
A familiar figure steps through the smoke, followed by... two other very familiar figures.
"Saw, Steela!" Marr exclaims, relief flooding him.
"Marr?" he asks, surprised. "Captain Rex? You decided to come to Geonosis?"
"To rescue you," Rex offers, stepping forwards.
"Is that what's happening?" Saw asks, chuckling.
"We did need a little rescuing," Jyn Erso cuts in, stepping around her adopted sibling parents.
"It's good to see someone else here," Steela agrees, giving him a smile. "It's been a long time."
"Yes, it has," Marr concurs. It's been years since he last saw them. Now that he thinks about it, being in contact with them now is probably a good idea, given what he's planning. They could be very helpful. "Though I don't think now is a good time for a reunion."
"Is Vizma around?" asks Jyn hopefully.
"You knew her?" Ezra perks up.
"Yeah, for a long time," Jyn answers.
"I don't mean to interrupt, but we do need to hurry," Steela interjects.
"What have you found?" Kanan asks.
Apparently, they found a shield generator, that's been repaired consistently, which means... someone's been here after all. There's at least one Geonosian still alive – who apparently managed to kill everyone else in the Gerreras unit.
"The more I hear, the more I don't like this," Kanan grumbles, "We should go back and report to Hera."
"Back?!" exclaims Saw, "No, wait. You can't! That bug is the key to finding out what's going on here! Don't you understand what's at stake? We know the Empire wiped out the entire population of this planet. We need to find out why. The Empire is hiding something, something important, and that bug knows what it is."
"Yes, we need to," Marr says, determinedly. He doesn't like this either, but they can't just turn back now.
They do need to warn Hera about the droids, though, so Saw leads them to a place in the tunnels that opens up to the surface. "This is where we tracked the bug to," Steela tells them, as they stop at the edge of a gaping hole in the ground, that goes both up and down.
"But it severed the bridge, so we've never been able to get across," Saw adds.
"That won't be a problem for me," Marr muses, "I can fly over there. If it's just one bug..."
"We don't know how many reinforcements he has," warns Kanan.
"If it's anything I can't handle, I'll come back," Marr assures, "My armor gives me more protection than any of you, and if this bug wiped out the rest of your unit..."
"Go ahead," Steela decides, though the others don't look happy, "If you need help, we'll find a way over."
"Chopper, go with him," Kanan orders, as Marr activates his jetpack, flying across the other side, leaving Kanan behind to deal with contacting Hera.
He keeps a hand on his blaster as he starts through the dark passage. He can hear that faint chattering noise again, and –
There.
Chopper's spotlight lands on the far too familiar form of a Geonosian, which promptly takes off down the tunnel. It's not that he has something against the species, but he hates seeing those. They haunted his nightmares for weeks after Geonosis.
And those mind-control worms...
No, he is not fond of Geonosians in the least.
He breaks into a run, weaving his way through the tunnels. He lashes out with the Force the moment he catches sight of it again, throwing it against the tunnel wall, whipping out a blaster and pointing it at the bug before it can take off. Chopper rolls up on its other side, effectively cutting off any escape.
"Marr!" Ezra calls urgently, "Did you get the bug? The droids are attacking Sabine and Zeb! It should have a controller for them!"
He scans the bug – which is now practically cowering in the corner, radiating panic. It's hard to imagine how this is the creature that's been killing everyone down here. But whatever happened to the rest of its people, it probably thinks they're here to kill it. No wonder it's so scared and keeps sending droids after them.
Marr pulls the remote to him with the Force, crushing it, before turning back to the bug. "What was the Empire doing here?" he asks, lowering his blaster. It doesn't have weapons, so he shouldn't need to worry about a surprise attack. That doesn't quite help the memories of bugs swarming all around, shooting at him as he struggles to fend them off, watching as the clones – some of his friends – fall all around him.
The bug doesn't reply, backing further into the corner.
Okay, this isn't working.
He reaches up, pulling off his helmet. Maybe that will look... a little less threatening. "I won't hurt you. I just want answers. Why was the Empire here? What were you building for them?"
Cautiously, it steps out of the corner, reaching down and drawing two circles, one small one in a big one, in the sand. Marr can't make sense of it, though clearly it understands him. That's a start.
"Can you show me something clearer than that?" he asks, hopefully.
The bug makes more clicking sounds. Marr can't understand it. He has no idea what it's trying to tell him, which is very aggravating.
It turns, scurrying off down the tunnels again, and he follows, warily.
Chopper beeps, rolling over to him. Marr understands the droid well enough to know he's saying he picked up an energy-reading. They reach the end of a tunnel, going into a small room that very much resembles a workshop at first glance.
The bug backs away from him, towards one of the corners, clicking nervously. There's obviously something here that it's protecting, but then again, this is its home. Of course, it's not comfortable with him being here.
He doesn't see anything of great interest anyway, except for a transmitter. He moves to the table, turning it on. At least it will help him get a transmission through to the others. "I found the bug," he reports, as soon as he's the comms with everyone, and the Ghost. "I don't know what it's saying but it's just protecting its home. We came here with weapons so, of course, it was... defensive."
"You need to bring it with us! We need to question it!" Saw argues.
"I don't think it wants to leave it's home," Marr replies, "And we can't understand it. I don't know what we'll be getting out of him without a protocol droid, which we don't have here."
"That's why we need to bring it with us!"
He can understand Saw's reasoning, but he doesn't think taking it from its home is the answer, either. Especially not when it's the last of its kind. "Let me see what else I can find out."
"The Empire is here," Hera warns, "You'll have to be fast. We're coming to pick you up."
Of course, they'd show up, the moment they realized someone was investigating what they were doing. This isn't good. Whatever information he can get out of the bug, he'll have to do it fast.
Marr stands, turning to look down at him. "The Empire was building something here, right?" he asks.
The bug makes a noise that he thinks might be an acknowledgement, though he can't be certain.
"A weapon?" he asks, though that much is obvious. "A... unique one?"
It makes the same noise again. Maybe he is on the right track after all.
"Can you tell me what this weapon was like?"
The bug reaches down, redrawing the two circles in the sand. Seriously, what is that supposed to mean?!
"...that's what it looked like?"
It makes the same sound again, one he thinks is an affirmative. Strange. What kind of weapon could look like that? Marr hasn't seen many circular weapons.
Frankly, he can't think of anything, but it's obviously secretive enough that they killed billions of people to protect the secret.
(Could he ask Vader about it? Would he even tell him anything about it if he knew? He shies away from that thought. He can't afford to get lost in thinking about him right now.)
"What was this weapon capable of?" he asks.
He draws another circle near the other two, then makes a line between the center of the smaller circle over to the new one.
Okay, that was very informative. Not. He doesn't know what else to ask to get a clearer answer, but something tells him he needs to pursue this. But the answers may not lie here. He thinks it's something they'll have to find out about... elsewhere.
Maybe... he doesn't know why his first assumption is that Vader probably knows. It's not as though he'd tell them something like that. Nor could Marr find a way to speak to him again.
He can hear the sound of an approaching ship engine, which means it's probably time for him to go. "You need to get to the Ghost," Hera calls.
"Did he tell you anything?" Saw demands.
"A little," Marr calls, "The rest... I don't think we'll find here." He turns to go, then pauses, looking back at the bug. "You'll be fine here?"
It makes a clicking noise which he thinks might be the affirmative, and it feels... a little more relieved than it did before.
Marr steps out of the room, about to head back for the ship, but the bug runs after, reaching for his arm. He pauses, frowning. "What?"
It moves past him, heading deeper into the tunnels.
It wants him to go down, he realizes, far deeper into the core. The Force is nudging him that direction, and Marr follows it without question. If there's one thing he trusts in the galaxy, it's the Force.
The Ghost is hovering right outside, and Marr can see the others climbing onto the ramp on the other side.
The bug makes another noise, indicating that it wants to go down.
They need to get out of here if the Empire is really here, but the Force is urging him to listen. "Why don't we take the ship down?" Marr offers. He thinks it understands, so he picks up the creature – it's lighter than he anticipated – and flies to the Ghost, followed by Chopper.
All heads turn towards him as he steps into the hold. The bug backs away, staying near the door. It feels afraid again.
"Is that a local?" Zeb asks.
"It's the bug," Saw replies, face twisting in a scowl.
"I didn't know they were so –" begins Anastasia.
"You know, he can understand you," Marr snaps.
"Why's he here?" Hera asks.
"He wants to show us something down below," Marr replies.
"Did he tell you anything?" Saw demands, moving closer.
"The Empire is building a weapon. I can't understand more than that, but it must be... something significant, for them to go to such lengths to keep it hidden."
"If the Empire is here, we need to leave," protests Sabine.
"We can't leave until we have the answers we came for," Steela replies. "We'll be careful."
"I agree, but we have to hurry," Hera says, hurries back for the cockpit.
They fly deeper into the planet's surface, while Ezra goes to the bug and asks his name – somehow Marr really doubts he's saying 'Klik Klak', but this is why he never bothered asking in the first place.
They finally reach the bottom, stepping out into the surrounding pitch darkness. Chopper shines a spotlight ahead, onto enormous canisters of –
What is that?
"Imperial weapons division," Sabine breathes. "They're for poison gas."
"That's what happened to his people," Rex realizes. It makes a disturbing amount of sense. It's the only real way to kill billions of a flying species, after all. It's horrifying, but Marr already knows the Empire's tendencies towards committing genocide. They lack morals the same way the Separatists did.
Klik Klak says something else in Geonosian, before disappearing into the darkness. This is where he wanted to be apparently, which means they can probably feel free to leave him down here.
"This is all the evidence we need to prove the Empire wiped out the population," Steela declares.
"Then let's get these canisters on board," Kanan advises.
They get all the canisters on board as fast as they can, and they're halfway up to the surface when the ship's scopes pick up on something incoming. From far above, Marr spots a Star Destroyer moving over them.
They're too late.
"We can't get out," Hera says grimly, "So we'll have to go back down."
"Then they'll probably just bury us. We need to keep going up," Marr argues, "Quickly!"
"We've got rocket troopers incoming! I need you up top now!"
Marr races for the back, the others close behind. They clammer out onto the top, igniting their lightsabers as the first barrage of blasts hit them. Rocket troopers are swarming all around, flying down at them.
Marr, Kanan, and Ezra deflect the blasts away, doing their best to cover for the others as Saw, Rex, Anastasia, and Zeb start shooting.
Anastasia activates her jetpacks, streaking towards the incoming troops, and he loses track of her amidst the chaos. As the Ghost continues to fly up, more and more rocket troopers keep coming in. They'll never be able to keep up with all of them, but they don't have to.
They just need to keep them from damaging the ship too much on its way out. He lashes out with the Force, throwing several of them back, and takes off into the air, shooting at them. He draws on the Force, letting it guide him. Kanan and Ezra should be able to cover Saw, Zeb, and Rex – hopefully.
"The Star Destroyer is going to be in position soon!" warns Ezra. And the moment the guns are over them, they will have no way of protecting themselves.
Danger is whispering through the Force now, but Marr watches, his mind working and – yes, they will make it out on time, but barely. It will be a tight fit.
"We're almost out!" Hera calls back over the comms. "Get back inside!" They don't waste a minute, immediately scrambling through the open ramp back to the safety of the Ghost, but no one takes the time to be relieved yet. "Sabine, fire proton torpedoes," Hera calls.
The red blasts explode from the ship, flying upwards at the Star Destroyer right as they break through at ground level. Hera swerves the ship aside, barely missing knocking off the detached poison gas canisters as they dodge the cruiser, streaking up into the air.
The blasts slam into the cruiser, ripping outwards, and it starts to crash, burning and smoking furiously. The Ghost barely clears all of it in time as it makes a dash straight for the atmosphere. They made it – for now.
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