Chapter 90 – Zero Hour
Author's Note: Cliffhanger ahead. :D
I hope y'all are still enjoying the story! :D
~ Amina Gila
War is in their blood. It's defined Vizma's entire life. Both her parents grew up in a war, and so has she – from the time she was young. She doesn't fear the battle – she knows in her heart they will win. She's not afraid of failure, only of losing the rest of her family. Being on Mandalore reminds her so painfully of Aunt Satine.
It's so hard, but when they're fighting, it helps. This is the end. Her father will take out the Emperor. Then, it will be... Vengeance won't undo what has been done, but it will help. It will lay her mind to rest.
They have their part, and they'll take out the traitors to Mandalore. Hopefully, it will work as her parents think it will. She can't deny having a bad feeling about this, but it won't stop them. Breathing in and out, she lets it go.
These are traitors to Mandalore. Mandalore's only loyalty is to itself.
She can feel something is going to go wrong as they start blasting their way inside. The plan is to destroy the Imperial base here and free Mandalore. Her mother and the rest of the Nite Owls are here.
She's fought alongside her mother since coming home, but this is different now. This is the end. Not the end of war, certainly, for Mandalorians will always be warriors, but it's the end of the Empire. It all ends today.
Her mother blasts the guards outside, and they enter. It reminds Vizma how much she misses BD and Chopper. It's more difficult when they don't have a droid to open doors and break into the network. Her father's lightsaber hums in her hands, a constant reminder of him. It still feels like him. Kyber crystals rarely bond with a new owner.
Their objective is clear: get inside and blow it up. Sabine would be proud.
"Is it just me, or are we encountering abnormally little resistance?" Vizma asks when they round another mostly deserted hall. It doesn't make sense. They're fighting other Mandalorians as much as they are the Empire, or at least they should be. Something isn't adding up.
"I suspect this is a trap," her mother replies, stepping back against the wall. Vizma joins her, and they peer around the corner. Getting into the command center should be easy – maybe. It might have been, if that wasn't the same moment the traitors arrive.
Bo-Katan moves to the front, blasters raised, and Vizma raises her father's lightsaber defensively, holding her blaster in the other hand.
"Traitor," the Imperial dares to accuse.
"The only traitor here is you, Gar Saxon," her mother replies in the same sharp way she speaks to everyone not of her own family. War has shaped and hardened them all, and Vizma knows that, but she thinks, sometimes, a part of her doesn't understand. A small, tiny part of her wants to live in peace, where she won't fear losing her family and where they can be open with one another. But that will never happen, and she can't imagine a life not earned through fire and blood – sometimes literally. "You've chosen the Empire over Mandalore. Over our home and our heritage."
"The Empire will strengthen us. You try to take that away."
"The only person on Mandalore who is getting stronger is you," Vizma growls, hand tightening over her lightsaber. "You betrayed your planet and your people for power."
"And you, young Jedi? You are not Mandalorian. You have no right to bear our name or wear our armor."
"I'm no Jedi," she snaps.
"You will not demean my family in such a way," Bo says in a voice of ice.
"You have chosen this yourself when you married a Jedi. He was our enemy. He's a decent of Revan!"
It makes her blood boil to hear how he's speaking of her family, of her parents. He has no right. Uncaring, she fires her blaster at him. He sees it coming and dodges the shot, unfortunately, and her mother tries taking a flamethrower to his face right after, and all chaos breaks loose. Vizma loses track of the rest amid the shooting, but she doesn't let herself worry. There's a job to do, and she focuses solely on chasing after the traitors.
At least she does until she senses a sudden warning in the Force. Something is very, very wrong.
And then she senses an energy surge, and the Force screams with danger. She barely has time to dart forwards and gather a Force-shield around herself and the others when a blinding light fills her vision. It's like electricity, except it's not. It's white, glowing blue, but something far deadlier. It burns against her hands as she holds it, stubbornly. This machine is not stronger than the Force, whatever it's radiating from.
It's not stronger than her, except the battle fades out around her as she focuses, and the energy burns against her. If she falters, they'll all die. She can feel it, from whatever this is.
But her father said the Duchess was destroyed. What is this, then?
Her mother and Korkie and Tristen are covering for her. The battle is raging around her, and Vizma can only hope they get there on time because the energy is building, and her energy is draining.
Desperately, she reaches deeper within herself. This energy is – it's too much.
No. It can't be. She has to hold it. There is no can't. She doesn't have a choice.
"I can't hold it much longer," she calls out in warning. They'll know to find the source and stop it. They'll figure out how to help, hopefully before it's too late. If not, then –
She can't think about anything else. She needs to focus, even if it's becoming increasingly difficult. She can feel her hold starting to slip against the pressure, no matter how hard she fights back against it.
Then there's an explosion in the background, and the energy surge stops. Vizma drops to the floor, panting, exhausted.
"Are you okay?" her mother asks, and she senses more than feels a hand touching her shoulder.
She tries to talk, but a muffled, faint sound comes out instead. Through her visor, the room looks blurred. "What happened?" Vizma manages to get out.
"It seems like they recreated some version of the Duchess," her mother replies. "We destroyed it before, but apparently, they rebuilt it."
"Turn it back on them," she suggests, slowly dragging herself back to her feet. Bo is steadying her, much the same way her father would have if he were here.
Korkie gets to work on it with Vizma, while Bo and the others guard the door. Resetting the machine only takes a few minutes, and Vizma turns it on again with shaking hands. It'll down all the Imperials here, even if it doesn't kill them, which she suspects it will. Just down them long enough for everyone to escape, at least.
"We need to wipe everything about this machine," Bo orders, "Whatever information is in the base, we need to destroy it completely." Vizma can't help having doubts that it'll work, but she doesn't voice them. It takes longer than she likes for them to find and delete the said information, especially considering how exhausted she's feeling. And then, they have to destroy the weapon. Vizma feels smug satisfaction when she slashes it open with her lightsaber, and they run from the building before it blows up.
The Imperials have a few minutes to evacuate, too, but that knowledge fades to the back of her mind when she looks up, only to see a group of Star Destroyers looming in the sky overhead.
Her stomach plummets. Yes, this was the point, but...
They weren't ready. And she has a very, very bad feeling about this.
**w**
Kanan can't deny that he's nervous. Everything is coming together, and now Marr is gone on the way to Coruscant. He's going to be facing down the Sith, and all Kanan can do is trust that it'll work out. They can each do their part. That's all they can do. If anyone can handle it, he knows Marr can.
Something is wrong, though. He can feel it in the air as they all stand in the command center on Atollon, going over the last details of their plan for an attack on Lothal. He doesn't think it's just the tension either, but he could be wrong.
Right then, the door opens, and Hera hurries into the room. "We've just received a new transmission from Fulcrum," she warns, and he tenses. This does not sound good. "It's important."
She pushes a dial on the table, and a trademark symbol appears. It's obviously one of their other informants, not Ahsoka. Whoever it is, they almost sound panicked, and Kanan can feel their fear. "This is Fulcrum with an urgent message. Thrawn knows about –" The message cuts off there, fading into static.
What?!
Kanan's blood runs cold. "Thrawn knows?" he repeats, heartrate picking up. This wasn't supposed to happen. There's no room for anything to go wrong, no matter how inevitable it is that something will, "About what?"
"About the attack on Lothal?!" Ezra demands.
"Something's happened," Rider Azadi – on a hologram from Lothal – speaks up, "Most of the Imperial fleet left the system What does it mean?"
"Thrawn knows we're here," Hera replies grimly. "All ships, battle stations!"
No, not this, not now. They've been preparing for so long, and – how did Thrawn find them?!
"Commander Sato," calls one of the rebels, as everyone scrambles into motion, "We have Imperial Star Destroyers incoming."
Ryder's transmission promptly flickers out. They're jamming all long-range transmissions.
"We have to scrub the mission," warns General Dodonna.
"We were so close!" Ezra protests.
"We can't," Kanan interjects, "Even if we fail, we need to keep the Empire distracted – unless our own losses will be too substantial."
"First, we're getting out of here," Hera replies firmly, and starts shouting out orders.
Except when the fleet starts trying to make the jump to hyperspace, they can't. Something promptly pulls them right out of hyperspace, and that means there's no way out. Especially not when all the Star Destroyers open fire.
Kanan thought something would go wrong, but this?! They're all trapped here, and unless someone can think of something fast, he doesn't know if any of them are going to get out at all. Forget going to Lothal; he doesn't know how they're going to survive this.
"I want you to know failure, utter defeat," Thrawn brags over the comm, as though they have time to listen to him, "And that it is I who delivers it crashing down upon you."
They don't know about more than just this, do they?! Suddenly, Kanan can't shake a sinking feeling of what if they do. He's probably just overly panicking, but it's not impossible either. What if the Empire was prepared for all of this already?!
Not likely, but –
No, he needs to think. Focus. There has to be something he can do. Actually... maybe there is. "I have an idea," Ezra offers, as they frantically discuss their plans. "The purrgil!"
"What?!" Hera exclaims.
"We accidentally called them one time with the frequency on the Ghost. We could do it again. Thrawn wouldn't see it coming."
"Uh, how would purrgil help us?" Zeb protests.
"I can connect with them. They'll be on our side," Ezra offers.
"It's worth a shot," Kanan interjects, and the others are... still uncertain, but any help is better than none.
"Then I need you two and Sabine to go up there in the Ghost and try to break through. You can call the purrgil, but you must try to send out a signal to the rest of the Rebel fleet, too. If more come, they'll divide their forces and give us a chance to get out of here," Hera decides.
"I can't go yet," Kanan argues, "There's someone else's help in the wilderness I need to get first."
If he can be convinced to help. Kanan's spoken to him several times since coming to Atollon, and so have Ahsoka and Marr. He's guided them in the past. It can't hurt, can it?
"Bendu?" Kanan calls when he gets there. "Bendu, we need your help."
When the figure turns to face him, he does not look happy. "You have brought war to my quiet world, Kanan Jarrus, Jedi Knight, and I will have no part with it."
He sounds angry. Well... this is bad. It's not quite the reaction he came here expecting. "Wait, here me out," he objects.
"No! I am the one in the middle," he retorts, "I take no side."
"So, you're just gonna let us die?! You think the Empire won't kill you, too?!"
"I am beyond your worrying and wars. I am unseen, unknowable, like a rock in the river. Do you think it chance this world was so difficult for you to find?
"No, but maybe we were meant to find it and to find you."
"For what purpose? I was here long before you and will be long after. I am the Bendu, the one –"
This can't be happening. They need every bit of help they can get, and this has to work. But he doesn't know what to say to convince him. He didn't even realize it would be this difficult. "– In the middle. So you keep saying," Kanan cuts him off, "I tried to live that way once. Told myself the galaxy would go on with or without me. Even Marr once did that. But when we saw people being hurt and knew we had the power to stop it, we couldn't just sit and watch everything burn down around us! Some things are worth fighting for!"
Desperation claws at him, more and more by the moment. He can feel how much danger the others are in, can feel death in the air – He's trying not to reach out, but he can feel it even beyond that, all across the galaxy. (Are Marr and Ahsoka okay?) "You can feel it, can't you? My friends are dying," Kanan presses.
"Such is the fate of all living beings."
How can he be so uncaring about this?! "Not like this! Crushed by overwhelming evil! Help us survive, Bendu. Help us fight."
"I will not fight your petty battles," he retorts.
"You'd rather hide, like a coward."
Bendu growls, the anger in the Force coiling around him. "I will not be called a coward by the likes of you, Kanan Jarrus, Jedi Knight." Sand swirls around him as he rises into the air, eyes starting to glow gold. "Perhaps it is the will of the Force that the Jedi and all your kind perish, and I serve the will of the Force."
Wind is howling suddenly, and Kanan shields his eyes from the intensity of the storm as thunder crashes. Well, that was a mistake. So much for coming here to get an ally. He takes a few wary steps away, frantically trying to think of something he can say to change the Force being's mind. It can't be the will of the Force for the Jedi to be gone. That doesn't make any sense. But –
The storm just as suddenly dies down. In its place, he sees... nothing. Bendu is gone.
Fine.
Then all he can do is get back to the others and see if there's any way out.
He hasn't made it anywhere near back to base when Hera calls him frantically – Thrawn is about to bombard the surface. Danger suddenly screams through the Force, as laser shots pommel the ground all around him. Kanan tries to dive out of the way, but he's thrown off his speeder, and another blast blows it to pieces.
So much for that.
He takes off as fast as he can, ducking and dodging the bombardment as he tries to make his way back to the base. No hiding spot is safe right now – all he can do is keep moving.
It finally lets up, but that doesn't give him more than a moment to breathe. The Imperials are already making it down to the surface, their troops swarming for the shielded base. He doesn't let himself think about who will be left after this. All he can do is move.
Kanan charges into the stormtroopers, slashing through the legs of the walkers as they fire constantly, tearing easily through the rebel ranks. Death is everywhere in the air, and it only seems to be intensifying. Something's changing above the planet, something –
Are the purrgil finally here?
It helps in the air, but first, they have to survive this. Walkers are closing in everywhere, and he can't cut them down fast enough. One of them fires a blast, and the shield around them starts to disintegrate. They're way too exposed now. This is – bad.
Lightning crackles violently overhead, right as a group of stormtroopers with Thrawn in the lead strides through the smoke. "I will accept your formal surrender, or you will watch your friends perish."
Thunder crashes in the distance, and Kanan glances up, frowning. Bendu must be close, whatever he's about to do. "Do you fear the storm, Master Jedi?" Thrawn asks lightly.
"Yeah, and you should, too."
A bolt of lightning nearly whites out his vision, as it hits the ground right near them. Everything explodes into chaos then, and Kanan and the others run for the Phantom. They make it on, taking off into the furiously raging storm. Bendu won't hurt anyone trying to leave, and that's what they're doing. Several bolts of lightning nearly hit them anyway, but they make it up through the atmosphere, in time to see purrgil swarming everywhere, tearing through the Imperial fleet.
It's giving the rebels enough time to get into hyperspace, so they go for the Ghost, docking in its port, and as soon as they're certain the others will make it off the surface, they streak away into hyperspace, heading for Lothal.
Although what they're going to do now, Kanan doesn't know. They don't have the resources to take the planet like they did before. They'll have to come up with a new plan, and fast.
**w**
It's hard to imagine that this was once the Jedi Temple. It's nothing like the home Ahsoka remembers, and that hurts. She'll never see the place the way it once looked again – felt it's light, it's life. No time to get lost thinking about it, though.
Droid general Kalani is directing all his droids into position to send out shockwaves through all the Imperial Star Destroyers orbiting the planet, shutting down their power simultaneously. The shuttles shouldn't crash into the planet, so they won't have to worry about civilian casualties. They left Mandalorian warriors out there, too, in case it becomes necessary, but the rest of them can keep their focus on Sidious, if everything stays as planned. She can only hope. The stakes have never been higher, and she knows full well that... All of them are not going to come out of this fight alive, even if things do go as planned.
Predictably, it's that very moment something doesn't.
Stormtroopers spot them, a group who very much does not buy that they're supposed to be here. They knew this was coming, but that doesn't mean she couldn't hope they'd be able to make it to the throne room undetected.
Rex, Marr, and the boys fire at the stormtroopers, taking the first several down, but that only attracts the attention of more right nearby. Ahsoka whips out her lightsabers, slashing through the nearest ones, but it's right then that alarms start blaring through the halls.
"We need to get that turned off," Ahsoka calls, and BD jumps off Marr's back, running to the wall to plug into a port, shutting off the alarm and jamming the communications throughout the palace. It will slow things down, but it's too late now. Everyone is already on high alert.
They take off running, sprinting through the halls as fast as they can, shooting and cutting their way through everyone they can't avoid. They might be more powerful, but they're still hopelessly overwhelmed here. If they get cornered...
It's taking far too long to get to the throne room. What if Sidious runs? He has plenty of warning, and she doubts that he would leave, but it's not impossible. The Mandalorians are waiting down below in a number of places, just to make sure he doesn't try to escape, but... she can only hope they'd be able to hold the line if that happened.
They get higher in the palace, before they run into more stormtroopers and a number of Red Guards. They're coming at them from all directions, shooting non-stop, and she can feel that they just keep on coming. Ahsoka and Obi-Wan move to stand either end of the group, deflecting the blasts away, while the others with them return fire. Yoda runs into the stormtroopers, streaking in an uncatchable blur as he cuts through them.
But they just keep coming. More and more, and they can't fight their way through the whole palace like this. They're hopelessly outnumbered here, but she throws herself into the fight, the same way she always does. She manages to block most of the blasts away, but several keep flying past her. It's not enough. She needs to be faster, but –
The Force flares in warning, and an explosive comes flying through the air towards them. Ahsoka ducks back, throwing up her hands and deflecting the explosive away barely in time.
It goes off, tearing into the wall, filling everything with smoke. It gives them a second of advantage, but that same moment, one of the stormtroopers shoots Gregor.
He staggers back, collapsing to the floor. "Gregor!" Rex calls, eyes widening.
She knows how to move past that instant flare of grief. She's used to her allies dying all the time. But she can feel Rex's pain – this is one of the last brothers he has. And now, he's dying. They knew the chance of it, but that doesn't make it any easier to handle. She'll talk to him about it... later.
Rex and Wolffe both pause next to him, for just a moment. "It was an honor," Gregor gasps out, "To serve with you, Rex. An honor to fight for something we chose to believe in."
"We'll do this, Gregor. We will," Rex promises, voice almost surprisingly steady.
Marr blasts the stormtroopers in front of them back with the Force, all the way to the end of the hall, and fires at the control on the wall, slamming the door in front of them. They turn, taking off in a different direction as they wind through the halls, heading for the throne room. Gregor is dead now, she thinks, and even if he isn't, there's really nothing they can do.
Ahsoka can feel the sheer darkness radiating in the Force, as they reach Sidious' area of the building. His presence is purely sickening. And sheer power of it... It's terrifying, even if she steels herself past it. They can do this. They don't have a choice.
Finally, they make it to the room, and Ahsoka lunges for the Red Guards outside the door. They block her with electrostaffs, and she ducks their slashes, swinging at them furiously. Obi-Wan and Marr immediately join them.
Sidious definitely knows they're right here, and she can feel him close. So, he's not running. He thinks he can handle them. His overconfidence is his weakness, and she can only hope he really is overconfident now. He's had a lot of time to prepare a trap for them, too.
Finally, she cuts through the Red Guard she's fighting, as the other two finish up, and Marr shoves the door open with the Force, letting them step into the room.
She thought Sidious' presence out there was bad. The room is dark, and it feels suffocatingly of the Dark Side, of darkness and death. A shiver runs through her, despite her determination.
At the front of the room, Sidious is sitting on his throne, his yellow eyes practically glowing through the darkness.
On either side at the bottom of the steps that lead up to it, two other familiar figures stand. Inquisitors. The only two who are left: Athea and the Fourth Sister.
Ahsoka knew they would be here, but that doesn't stop the uneasiness twisting in her – there's Red Guards in here too. They have a lot to face down before even getting to Sidious. But the moment has come; it's either they do it or die. Maybe they'll die anyway, but at least they have to take the Sith Master down with them.
"Welcome, I have been expecting you," Sidious hisses. He sounds smug, satisfied, and her blood runs cold at the tone, even as she meets his gaze defiantly. This is the person who took Anakin from her and all of them, who destroyed the Jedi and has senselessly murdered so many people. What if he really has been expecting this from the start?
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