Hey there all,
It is rare that I have to put this on stories, but please be advised of a trigger warning here: war crimes are going to be discussed starting here to the end of the story. I will be only as graphic as I must be for the sake of the plot, but it will be there.
With that said, welcome to another chapter. We haven't quite hit the mid-point yet, there is much left to be told. Please enjoy.
Happy Writing,
Eliana
IOIOIOIOIOI
Rage was an emotion forbidden to the Jedi – more times than he could count, Anakin had sat through the meetings and lectures and guided meditations that preached about the darkness that rage brought with it. Anger, the Jedi had always taught him, may be a natural emotion but allowing it to fester and find safe harbor in your mind allowed it to evolve and mutate into rage…and once it settled into your soul, the urge to act upon it was greater than many would be able to control. Jedi do not act out of anger.
In moments like these, Anakin heavily weighed his part in that Order. Was it worth it to stifle the absolutely righteous fury that wanted to make itself known, stomp down the instinct to seek justice for the darkest of sins that he stared at in this 3D layout…all for some false-mystic sense of self that was hardly pursuable?
The other side of him was wanting to break down in a different sense. He now understood fully why his fellow Jedi Knight had barred both of their padawans and their guests from this meeting, leaving only the two of them and their secondary ranking clones present. This was a matter that had to be delivered carefully to ones so young, and one who was innocent – if only there was a written guide as to how. Alas there was not, so Skywalker found himself standing stoically silent with half of his face hidden behind a gloved hand, body illuminated in the soft blue light of the console in front of him as his jaw clenched tighter.
He was sure that his face would betray him. Tombur, his exact opposite, held a look of calm… that absolutely marveled calm that his friend had always been desperate to try and emulate, but the storm that raged behind the steely eyes was a dead giveaway. A gentle soul was this man, a nurturing guardian to those who needed him… until honor was brought to question. If there was one person that Skywalker had sworn to avoid fighting on the field by choice, it was this man. Tombur would only stand against those who had committed what he viewed to be ultimate dishonors, and when called to action he was all things as one: judge, jury, and executioner. What they were looking at right now, in the Echani's eyes, was among those ultimate dishonors… and that was not forgivable.
To their credit, all three of the clone officers were still standing strong. Anakin had to wonder for how much longer.
"From what my scouts tell me, there are more," Tombur's voice was steady, offering no betrayal to his inner battle, "We have located nineteen sites in the last few days… they have terminated those that they found in the act and have gone about seeing that the victims receive honorable burials. If the count that they give me is accurate…"
He trailed off for a moment, eyes glazed as he stared into the distance. All four of his companions knew that look… the klick-distance stare, Anakin's men had come to call it when they caught it happening to their brothers. Just as Anakin went to suggest that they take a momentary break, Tombur rolled his shoulders and stood straight again with his façade back in place.
"If the count they give me is accurate, and we add in those that my padawan and I came across," he nodded to the image of the bodies on the projector in front of him, "there have been well over seven thousand victims within our 120-mile range. Men. Women… children. Some cleanly executed, some tortured and eliminated then left to the animals. The wounds don't match blasters – they look more like handheld weapon wounds."
Anakin's stomach churned again at the image on the projector. He squashed the feeling down, turning to stare down the other general.
"To each their strengths, Rabbit," he tried to portray confidence, "You deal with these kinds of… creatures more often than myself and my men. What is this?"
"You needn't think far past the point in front of your eyes, Master Skywalker. These dregs do not seek to hide their sin."
The human knew exactly what the Echani was saying, but suddenly found himself unable to simply say the word. It was clear as the sky on Coruscant the way the map in front of him outlined site after site. It was more blatant of a situation than an engine spitting flames the way that the Togruta in these images in front of his eyes were thrown down like trash, only to be honorably put to rest after receiving justice at the hands of Tombur and his padawan. It was painful, blatant, and rudely clear… but when the word left his lips, he almost couldn't believe it.
"Genocide."
"So it would seem," Tombur conceded, reaching forward to press a button that mercifully dropped the image of the slaughtered civilians and instead pulled up a terrain map of the land encircling them. About four hundred square miles was illuminated, "Yet random. Dispassionate. Those that Djibourdi and I handled – and those my men have dispatched – are not Togruta. We have only eliminated a small number which tells me the true culprits hide among the trees and that those terminated were scouts or patrols. More disturbing is the movement we are seeing."
The map highlighted specific points with small chat windows forming above them. Each one played a video, each taken by Tombur's men who had hidden in cover and filmed in secret, illustrating something that Anakin had never bore witness to in person. It was an exodus, a great migration of terrified Togruta who leapt and ran and charged past the hiding place of the clones who filmed them. Tombur's map highlighted a vast series of paths from the points that harbored the videos…and when it all clicked, Anakin felt his stomach fall from his body.
"They're herding them," he heard himself state in horror.
"Yes they are. From areas far beyond our survey points, they're bringing the slaughter here. Togruta are pack people…if one runs, all respond – and that is allowing our enemies to bring them to one location."
All of the highlighted paths looped and wormed their way over the mountains, across the rivers, through the valleys… and right to where Ahsoka had first landed on the planet. That hospital in the embrace of the mountains, safely nestled on the rolling grasses that led to the mountain ridges.
"It's a perfect place to put them if the end goal is…" Tombur didn't finish the statement and had to draw in a breath. His eyes fluttered shut and, to provide his general with a moment to gather himself, Sam stepped forward with a snap.
"If I may, general," he requested of Anakin and when the human nodded his acceptance he continued, "the valley that we project the Togruta to move into is a culvert. Other than mountain roads and a couple narrow passways through the forest there aren't many routes to leave once they are across the valley and against the southern mountain pass."
"How many civilians are there?"
"From our estimates, sir? Tens of thousands."
That alone was enough to make Anakin want to flip the table over, storm out of their guarded meeting post, grab the four Togruta of the camp, and force his way off of the planet with them before turning around to exact justice on the sleemos that were hiding in the trees. That thought suddenly brought a realization of horror, and he called the attention of Tombur.
"Does Djibourdi know?"
"Some of it. He found the latest site if you recall…I don't plan to explain all of this until our fight is over. For now, he only knows what he sees and what he can observe."
"So he knows," Anakin corrected, the hand covering his face balling into a fist. He didn't doubt that Djibourdi would keep this cursed knowledge to himself, but he could only imagine what must be going through the teenager's mind…what would go through Ahsoka's. He was swimming upstream to keep himself in check, "So when are we moving to your legions?"
"We aren't."
"What?" the question came out just as harshly as he intended, and Rex (who stood next to him) gave a slight grimace and gestured to his fellow clones to take a step back before doing so himself. He didn't need to wait long for Skywalker's annoyance to be made clear, "We're talking genocide, Tombur – both of our padawans and our guests are the target. We are rotorless astromechs behind this wall, are you actually stubborn enough that you would put your own apprentice at risk for the sake of some battle-hardened glory image?"
Sam was the one gesturing to his fellow clones this time and the three all backpedaled with as much dignity as they could manage, putting distance between themselves and the oncoming show. Skywalker impressed him… but he could only wish him luck when he saw the slightest twinge ripple the top white lip of his own general.
"That is fantastically rich coming from your lips. You would do well to mind your tongue, Skywalker. You are free to question my decisions as much as you would like, but this will be the last time I impress upon you the rather precarious situation in which you currently find yourself," his words were calm yet coated in ice, "How about you drop this die-hard moxy of yours for half a second and think for once."
He reached down to click a control on the holomap, bringing up the image of Point Purpose.
"Think, Skywalker, think," he implored him, aggressively gesturing to the map, "Our enemies have only encountered two Jedi at a time so far – first it was Djibourdi and Ahsoka. Then myself and my padawan. Then Djibourdi and I again. They think there are only two of us and that the clones we have here are all there is – Kailem is a moot point right now. This is far beyond his abilities, so his presence here is pure happenstance until we know otherwise. If that is to hold true and he isn't giving the enemy information, they can only go off what they have experienced and right now they have experienced two Jedi. If they thought it any differently, we wouldn't be standing in a blasted tent in the middle of the Force-forsaken woods with all of us intact. None of their scouts have returned alive, so they have no viable intel – they have marked us as not being an immediate problem to their cause."
He clicked the map to highlight the firefight above them.
"Most of our enemy's technology, and their droids, are in orbit. The only droids we have encountered this entire time were handled by Ahsoka before she brought herself and Eddy to meet us – the rest have been organics. To translate: their foot soldiers are on the ground because they view the fight in orbit a larger danger than anything they will encounter down here, so they aren't worried over the potential of losing troops. Do you know what that means, Skywalker, or has all sense left you completely in your attempt to make me seem the fool?"
The map switched off and the two generals, arms crossed, stared one another down. When Tombur spoke again, Anakin gave a slightly relenting huff.
"It means that our enemies think that the clones we have here in this camp are all that we have. Period. If we move our camp and join my legions where I left them hidden, exposing them and their positions, those droids and fighters will leave orbit to fight the larger threat – so instead of talking thousands of civilian casualties, we will be gambling with millions," the Echani stated dryly, "They will all be slaughtered. My men are our hidden weapon – if we can't get into contact with the Council and we are right about what our enemies intend, I won't have a choice but to run them. They must be alive to do that."
With a final part-scowl the façade fell back over the porcelain face and his demeanor went calm, only to be betrayed by the seething undercurrent of his tone.
"You said yourself: 'to each their strengths'. Yours is droids and chaos – the fight above us. Mine is living enemies and intel – here on the surface. There will be time for you to gamble with your own life with reckless abandon soon enough and I have no intention to stand in your way – in fact, your 'aggressive negotiations' will be well placed should I have to move my columns. Regardless of all of that, remember that my legions will only move to my command. Warren is dead, and Djibourdi is the only failsafe should anything happen to me. Whatever move we choose to make, Anakin, we must play it carefully… because in the end, regardless of who moves first or how perfectly either side executes, a lot of people are about to die. You understand what will happen if I have to call my columns to reckon."
The human finally conceded with a nod, raising a hand to run through his hair.
"I can get the long-range transmitter active in another rotation or two…I have to pull some circuit boards from the gunships and hope they can route enough energy. Even if they can and I get it active, we'll only have one shot with the energy cells we have," he shared a long, worn sigh with his companion, "So we better make it count."
Neither of them would have the ability to know that their weariness and muscle-aching grief was mirrored by another in their group. Eddy had chosen to keep a decent distance between himself and the younger Togruta that were just outside the camp wall and, though his body ached and twinged in pain from the days of sleeping under stress, his eyes were warm and his heart was full. All three of 'his kids' were together, and although he understood the nuances and underlying rules governing their interactions, he had been content to play in his mind a scenario that calmed his anxiety. They were here, he reminded himself. They were real…and even if he wasn't sure what had happened to his friends, he at least had these young ones. The nightmares were surely lying to him.
So, he drank in the moment as much as he could like a dying man in a desert with his hands on a freshly cracked coconut. Ahsoka had started to busy herself on some obstacle course a little way away from where Djibourdi sat, hands busy sewing something he held while he kept a casual eye on Kachina who bumbled through the flowers. Eddy had almost been concerned at first when he watched Djibourdi hesitate to take hold of her two rotations ago, but that feeling was now erased with a sense of pride when he took in the scene now.
He had started to cross the distance over to them with the container that he held when a sound met his montrals – one that he hadn't heard before that made him freeze… and then grin broadly. He had watched the lavender-skinned youngling pick up a flower with fascination and then go full-tilt toddling back to Djibourdi. It was then that she actually spoke.
"Bubba, iebe!" she had told him as she held it up, and Djibourdi, true to form, set what he was working on down to gesture to it.
A flower, he had told her in Togruti. She had repeated the word while bumbling over the letters, but happily giggled when it finally settled. A small butterfly that decided it liked her flower fluttered near her face suddenly and drew a startled yelp from her, but it quieted when Djibourdi called her to him. She hadn't hesitated to meld herself right to him, watching him hold out a steady right hand and allowed the butterfly to land on his fingertips.
It was surprisingly still when he lowered it down to where she could watch it calmly move its wings, eyes wide in fascination as he spoke in low-toned Togruti to her. After listening to him she held out the hand that held the flower and watched him present the butterfly to it, a joyful soft intake of breath marking her excitement as it drank its fill of nectar. Djibourdi had continued to whisper to her where she remained tucked under his arm and to his side – and the warmest pulse of light Eddy had ever felt in his life invaded his senses when Kachina waved goodbye to the little insect as Djibourdi moved his hand back away from her. It had fluttered off happily behind them to meld into the field of clover and grass.
"Bubba," the toddler had called to her protector who lowered his head to speak to her, only to have the flower tucked into his headdress before his charge was back into the flowers to look for another butterfly.
That all led Eddy to where he was now, smiling at the side of his young friend who was clearly amused…but he left the flower tucked onto his head and retrieved his project, beginning to weave the thick thread through the fur pieces. Eddy had to debate for a moment, and then decided to test the waters as his hands gripped the container he held.
"You know," he earned Djibourdi's amused side glance, "That's the first time I've heard her speak. She was starting to remind me of you."
He ate up that shy glance down and sheepish smile the padawan was willing to give, sitting softly next to him on the boulder and resting the container on his lap. With measured movement, he tapped the project in the younger hands.
"Of all your talents, I never knew you were familiar with sewing."
"…Warren was," is what was offered after a moment, the words soft yet marked with a happy twitch of red lips, "He used to say it was one of the best forms of expression."
He finished the stitches and tied off lines, snapping the thread free and placing the needle down next to him. Moving to turn the creation right-side-out again, Eddy finally recognized it for what it was going to be – and why the younger of them had a small bag of fluffy fur scraps near his leg.
"Ah, a stuffed animal for our Kachi, yes?" the head next to him bobbed in affirmation, his friend's hands already moving to stuff the little animal with fur chunks. It was in the shape of a tiny rabbit, and the irony wasn't missed here. The doctor blinked when he spotted an oddity on the padawan's wrist that he hadn't noticed before, and nodded to it curiously before asking, "What's that, Dji?"
At first Djibourdi was confused and then, realizing what Eddy had referred to, offered a slight explanation as he filled out the toy with fluff.
"An old creation of Warren's. He called it a 'heart stone', it… hums with energy the closer you are to another person who wears one. Tom and I wear it in battle so we can find each other if we get separated."
"But we aren't in a battle right now."
"Things can change quickly."
That was far from comforting the doctor concluded, looking up to cast a weary glance around them. He was relieved when his eyes found nothing but nature and clones. When those eyes looked to Djibourdi again, he gestured to a tiny round capsule looped onto his belt. There were many of them strung across his lightsaber belt, but the one marked with the Echani kanji is what had drawn his attention.
"And that?"
This time the padawan didn't stop his work and chose to line his needle with fine thread before responding:
"Too dangerous to show."
Eddy had thought that would be the end of the conversation and was content to sit with Djibourdi, simply sharing his space, but then the younger spoke again as he sewed up the now-stuffed animal.
"It holds seeds of tratindori. The death plant."
"'Death plant?'" the words echoed the trepidation that Eddy felt at the concept, "Sounds a bit heavy."
"A very rare species from Drongar. When the seed enters the blood it sprouts in your body, absorbing your energy as it grows. The stage between rooting and full growth is only a few minutes…it is very effective and quite beautiful to see it in bloom."
He surprised the adult by giving a humored huff, passing the piercing needle through the hide again and observing its presence with a surprising amount of intrigue as he mused aloud:
"What irony. Such beauty, sprung from such an ugly soil."
The way that he so calmly explained sent a small shock of goosebumps up Eddy's arms – and he decided to pick his words carefully. He chose to try and joke.
"If I have ever done anything to tick you off, my lene, I'm sorry."
That earned him a snort, and he relaxed again – more than happy to watch Djibourdi finish stitching the toy shut. When it was tied off and finished, he admired it with warm eyes before the proverbial lightbulb above his head illuminated with an audible 'click'.
"I brought something for you all," he announced happily, opening the container on his lap that he had somehow forgotten about. He was met with a curious expression and was happy to fan that fascination a bit, "When you and Tombur came back with all that produce and stuff I went digging…and I remembered these were a favorite of yours when we were last together."
He joyfully showed the padawan the container of sweet fruit pastries that he had made…and the genuine shy smile that he received made the effort worth it. Truth be told they were a conglomeration of substituted ingredients and guesses on how to cook them, but the few that had come out below his standard had been devoured by the clones who had been more than willing to help him create them. An outlet, he assumed, but a worthy one.
Djibourdi offered him a trade, reaching down to grab the book he had borrowed and placed it next to his friend before accepting one of the treats that was wrapped in a tulin leaf. Eddy jerked his head in the direction of the other padawan not far from them.
"Is she doing anything critically important?"
"No, she's just trying to make that turn," Djibourdi told him, voice laced with humor.
Eddy would have questioned why it was so funny to him – but Ahsoka gave him a shining example as she took a small jump over a hurdle with her eyes closed. The point was to make that jump, then turn, then jump the back side of the next hurdle…which clearly was not going to happen during this attempt. Instead, she took the jump at full speed, went to turn, and inertia that was tied to lack of awareness sent her sliding along the ground into the side of a bush.
He could hear her obviously irritated string of Huttese curses, and despite himself he chuckled.
"Ahsoka!" he called down to her, waving a hand above his head, "Take a break spitfire, come join us!"
He didn't wait for her to answer before he began calling Kachina. Her head was more involved in playing with the flowers around her he realized after a moment of her ignoring him. He was just about to rise to his feet to retrieve her when Djibourdi called next.
"Kachi, vierde," he spoke normally, and the doctor was flabbergasted when she happily bumbled back toward him with an ecstatic "Bubba!" and another flower clutched in her hand.
"You little traitor," he accused her as he scooped her up, her happy giggles a soothing sound to ease the anxiety that still gnawed at him, "It's almost as though you like him more than me!"
"She probably does," Ahsoka interjected as she strode her way back to them, sitting cross-legged on the grass, "Don't feel bad, she abandoned me, too."
The toddler settled on the doctor's lap and munched gleefully on the fruit tart given to her, eyes wandering around the sunny space around them curiously. Ahsoka accepted one of the treats from Eddy as well before he finally took his own. They weren't perfect he told himself, and it was an oddity for their kind to gravitate to fruit, but the combination of sweet honey and salty crust was heaven-sent to calm his weary soul.
"Is it done?" Ahsoka prompted Djibourdi suddenly, gesturing to the stuffed rabbit. At his nod, she told him, "It looks good. Maybe you can fix some of Skyguy's shredded cloaks…I think Master Kenobi has gotten to the point of giving up trying to make them last more than a week at a time."
Her friend only silently laughed, handing the stuffed toy over to the youngest among them when she had finished her treat. It was accepted eagerly and she started to babble to it, moving its ears around and animating it with her motions.
"I'd say that's a resounding success," the doctor hummed. His content bubble rippled when Ahsoka asked a question he wasn't quite ready for.
"What's going to happen to her? After all of this?"
It was such a surprise inquiry that he struggled to find the right words to say in response. In brutal honesty it was a very simple answer, but understanding that Ahsoka was asking out of concern for the young one's safety made him wade through the bog of uncertainty as delicately as he could manage.
"Well….she's a ward of the state. So under the assumption that this…chaos," he spared a fleeting glance to the sky that reflected tiny bits of debris, "blows over, it'll be up to the powers that be what happens next."
"So, she could be handed over to the Jedi?"
"Potentially. But also potentially not, in which case she would be put into the system on Shili until she's adopted."
"Would you adopt her?"
Oh, spirits how he had to fight to contain those emotions – those same emotions that haunted him from a time where the same exact scenario had played itself out in a young life that he held so close. He still, in some shadow of his wounded heart, held hope that one day that event would come to pass again and he could finally see it come full-circle. But even with that pain, his answer would always be 'yes' to any of them.
"I would like to," he told Ahsoka honestly, feeling humbled by her accepting nod.
"Good. I wouldn't want her to go anywhere else."
There was a quiet pass of understanding between the three of them then, and between Ahsoka's headstrong attitude and Djibourdi's soft smile Eddy felt balanced. It was perfect, he told himself, a perfect day for a perfect moment of peace amidst the chaos, and there was no other place in the galaxy that he would rather be at that moment. It was really an honor to be in the presence of these two, two that were so calm and kind to those they cared for yet unmovable in their defense of them. They were regal in his mind.
They could do so many things that he couldn't understand – and perhaps that's why when the startled rumbling twitter left Djibourdi's throat he didn't spare a thought to it being a false alarm. Instead, when those golden eyes turned sharply upriver and the padawan stood tall on the boulder to gain a better sightline, he understood that the peace was gone. The searching pitches that echoed from the younger montrals rumbled through his ribcage… and when he saw the teenager's eyes dilate with a slight curl of his lip, his own breath left his lungs.
Eddy and Ahsoka weren't the only ones who picked up on that exchange.
"General," Sam called out to Tombur, eyes wide. At his general's inquiring look, he pointed a finger to the device in his ear, "Ears on, sir."
There was a brief blip of concern that passed over the controlled grey irises as one porcelain hand reached up to flick the earpiece he wore on. It had only been shut off for the sake of this meeting – and now he was starting to question if it should have been shut off at all. The sounds that flooded into his ears ricocheted around his skull before he could pin them down. Anakin, filled with the drive for answers, prompted:
"Djibourdi?"
To which he got a curt nod. Tombur's attention turned to both of his Praetorians who were listening to the same series of humming thumps and low warbles that he was.
"Incoming," he stated almost as a question, and Campion slightly shook his head. Anakin swallowed tensely.
"I think that's outgoing, sir…."
They were quiet for a moment until the testing trilling-hums in their ears inverted into a warning hiss, its undertone ribbed with a low growl. That quickly they were all moving to the exit of the tent, the only warning Anakin could hear from his friend being:
"That's not outgoing – Cam, lock down this camp right now."
Rex and Anakin were after them quickly, stepping out into the sudden chaos that was, just moments before, a quiet cluster of clones riding out the day. Now the Chargers were assembling to their stations with haste, the assigned clusters of men shouting amongst each other in a sense of unmitigated chaos.
"Anakin, are those guns active?" Tombur asked as he quickly drew them all to a halt, clearly prompted by whatever he was hearing through the earpiece.
"Ready to turn and burn."
"Get ready to use them."
"Rex, get our men on that wall and get them ready," Skywalker ordered his Captain, and without hesitation the clone shouted out the orders to his troopers.
The human was admittedly relieved when his eyes met the forms of Eddy, carrying a startled Kachina, and Ahsoka running through the gates of the camp and into the cluster of chaos – but there was still the nagging feeling of something dark leeching in behind them.
"Master, we have to go out there with Dji," Ahsoka breathed out to him as she ushered Eddy past and into the waiting protection of the Jackals that had assembled.
"Skywalker," Tombur spoke to him calmly, sharing just a brief glance and moment with him…yet saying a thousand things. His only reminder to their decision was a simple statement: "Two Jedi."
In a rare moment of agreement he acknowledged his friend's statement, watching him set off out of the gate to get to his padawan with Sam and the Reapers nipping at his heels behind him. The argument that pursued with Ahsoka was drowned out of the pale ears when the Echani came to a skidding halt next to where his padawan stood.
"Where are they?" was his question, and Djibourdi nodded up to where the river snuck into the pit of the mountain.
"There is fighting there… over the ridge."
"They've hit our patrol?" the question sounded almost incredulous from their Praetorian, and at the affirmation the energy shifted, "They've grown bold, sir."
"Or foolish," Tombur mused. He turned to the Reapers and the ten spare Chargers that met him in the field, addressing them tensely while noting with satisfaction that the rest of his men had pulled up their shields and stood ready by the camp wall, "We cannot leave anything to chance. We retrieve our men and any civilians – no others enter this valley," then to his padawan, "Run on, Red!"
That was all the permission the Togruta needed, and the group stormed along behind him down the boundary to the river before tightly veering into a dark culvert and out of sight. They didn't need to go far to find what they were looking for.
IOIOIOIOIOIOIOI
Thus begins the wind up, my friends. This chapter was a challenge to write, but the next will be more so. Here's to the future!
Happy Writing,
Eliana