Jedi didn't have nightmares; at least that was what Ahsoka kept telling herself as she tried to focus on her master's words on the other side of the holomap. Jedi didn't deal in absolutes, and they didn't have nightmares – so even if what she had experienced the night before felt like a nightmare, it couldn't have been one. Because she was a Jedi... right?
Her head began to ache at the desperation of her attempt to focus, the events of the (not nightmare) vision she had gone through the night before replaying in her mind. It had started so odd, desperate, and desolate…and the emotions it left behind were more intense than that.
She found herself on her knees in what she thought was snow, the tiny particles moving through the howling air around her like a curtain. She couldn't speak, could hardly breathe – but what she could do was spot Djibourdi, on his knees in meditation not far away. He was quiet and calm, his face a measure of peace.
Her eyes had wandered next to the far side of the space she and her friend occupied and was taken aback when she spotted little Kachina and a woman who she hadn't seen in years, the regal white-skinned woman Aarent, both silent and meditative on a small patch of grass. The snow Ahsoka thought she was kneeling in suddenly turned to light grey ash, and in her surprise at the sudden change she turned back around to call to her friend. She found something else instead.
The first thing she saw were the large paws of the animal, then slowly her gaze trailed upward until she could make out the shape of its face: a canine of some kind, glowing a ghostly white that smudged away its features, one blue eye and one gold that stared down at her with an air of something familiar and regal. Ahsoka's breath failed her and all she could do was look back with wide eyes as the canine slowly brought its head down, moving toward her as those white lips pulled back to reveal sharp teeth.
It had been only inches from her face when it suddenly pulled back and the teeth disappeared, its ears pricked and eyes sharply staring to a tree branch (when had the tree gotten there?) above her head. The thing that had caught its attention was the owl that perched there, glowing white and green and coating Ahsoka in warm light. When it gave a low call, the canine folded its ears and bowed its head to it.
"What you wish cannot be, ma'dra," Djibourdi's soft, accented voice carried over to Ahsoka's montrals, "Ahsoka is meant to be the best of us, not the worst… she has been born again to serve another. She is blessed with life…she does not deserve such condemnation. None of them do. You must choose someone else."
The canine was back looking at her now with a look of unfamiliarity, those sharp teeth back with a vengeance. She wanted to scream or fight or run – she could do nothing as it stared into her soul. She was suddenly being regarded as an invader.
"Choose someone else."
Djibourdi's voice was suddenly low and feral, enough so to not only shock Ahsoka but the canine and owl as well. The canine's head turned to look back to him as Ahsoka and the owl did – she watched him stare down the predator with a light in his eyes that she couldn't understand. His next word betrayed him, emerging strangled and fearful and desperate:
"Please."
The beast only waited for a moment before it turned and began to saunter to him, its form changing as its hackles raised with its jowls. It was lither, its tail and ears more prominent, its eyes morphing into a melted golden color that summoned a fire around it. The pristine white of its fur diluted to a swirling, storming grey when it finally came to a stop with its snout a hairsbreadth from his face. Djibourdi didn't shy from the flames, or the teeth, or the animal, but instead shared a long stare with it. A brief second had him glancing over to Ahsoka, then to the other two Togruta who were still close-eyed and silent…
Then, his expression flipping to one that Ahsoka could only read as grief, he slowly nodded when he looked back to the canine that bared its teeth to him. The animal's hackles and jowls fell, and its ears lightly pinned backward while its eyes softened, its expression moved to mirror his.
"…so it shall be, ma'dra," was his final, pained whisper before they both closed their eyes – and when the furred forehead met the infinite star on his, the flash of imagery that assaulted Ahsoka's mind brought her to writhe and cry out with their intensity.
A parade of lights through the trees.
The sounds and force of roaring white water, its clarity tinged in red.
An incredible, breathtaking dance of flower petals through the night air.
A moving field of charging men, nine spirits with them, running straight toward death.
And then…
A sound that terrified her soul: regal and feral, ancient and young, roaring and calling all at once as it rang from curled lips and echoed through the ears and montrals of all in the presence of the guardian. The sky was marked with the diamond made of moons, the sun in the center burning as red as blood with two golden moons as its eyes, allowing it to gaze over the field of bodies that lay slaughtered. The light of life and the shadow of death clashed, swirling into grey.
She had woken with a gasp after that, thankful that Anakin wasn't currently in the room with her, and with as much dignity as she could manage pulled herself together and made her way to her friend's temporary quarters. Tombur had been confused to see her but was happy to let her in to check on her friend, dismissing himself with the simple statement that she was welcome to take her time but should also get something to eat before joining himself and Anakin in the briefing room they had created.
Djibourdi was still sleeping calmly she had happily noted to herself with a relieved sigh – but that's partly why she was so torn. A vision shared between Jedi wasn't unheard of, but it was rare. If it was truly a vision, why had it shaken her to reality yet not her friend? They had both been out for a solid twelve standard hours or so yet the younger showed no signs of waking, his face locked in the blissful peace that was slumber.
The soft rain that pattered down on the old stone roof was as soothing as his breathing was. She allowed herself a moment to just share the space with him, the relief at seeing him looking so much better than the day before soothing the trepidation that haunted her, before she whispered a simple:
"Get some rest," as she had exited.
Fast forward until now. She stood, hardly paying attention to what was being spoken between the ranking clones and their generals until the holomap hummed back to life. Her master was the one who summarized it all for her.
"So, our timeline looks like this: tonight we will dismiss three-quarters of the Chargers and Campion under the cover of darkness to join the legions. Tomorrow we'll run the day like normal, but at sundown we'll tear down the camp and move – you," he pointed to Tombur, "and Djibourdi and the rest of your men will head to the legions while Ahsoka, Rex, and I move our troops and the civilians to the valley."
The rest of his company gave understanding nods, so he continued.
"That gives us a rotation to get things set. Ahsoka, Rex, and I need to get the non-fighters out of the valley and out of range of the Palisades," the holomap reflected the dotted orange line that marked the valley between the mountains that the Togruta ran to, "You and Djibourdi will ready your men and get them moving, keeping enough distance between you all and our enemies to keep them unaware until it's too late for them."
"And just past sunrise, three and a half rotations from now," Tombur reached forward to press a button on the map, and four massive towers rained from the sky. They lodged themselves into the ground outlined by the dotted line, an orange forcefield engulfing the length of the valley and several peaks of the surrounding mountains in its range, "the Palisades will fall, my men will face the invaders, and we will fight for the valley."
He hummed, then looked to his fellow Jedi as Ahsoka's face changed.
"But master," she questioned, both knights more than willing to let her continue, "If we're all within that barrier, how we will protect the civilians?"
"We won't be in the barrier with them, Ahsoka," her own master answered, and as the realization hit her gaze fixated on the Echani.
"Red and I will lead the run of our legions. You and your master have a far more important task."
He maneuvered the controls on the map and it zoomed out, highlighting a patch of red on the other side of the mountains that would have marked the innocents' road to freedom. His gaze was distant.
"Understanding that the information I got from my men is…less than ideal, we have come to understand one thing: this fight is on multiple fronts. The valley holds the largest number of enemies, but not necessarily the only ones we should be most concerned about."
"They aren't working together?"
The white-haired head shook the negative.
"I will be the first to admit that I don't know as much about these enemies as I prefer but I will say this much with certainty: every time we have contacted them before, it has never been on this scale. They were small detachments, at most a couple hundred, and now we are looking at thousands; to add to that, I can assure you that they do not seek allyship. They work alone."
He leaned back to point at the ceiling above all their heads, his method of drawing attention to the battle in orbit above them.
"Those ships are not these enemies. They do not utilize technology, and the blackboxes Master Skywalker analyzed showed ownership to the Hutts. I believe the enemies in space, and those that we have picked off, to be vultures, groups that come after the slaughter to pick off the remainder for the black market. Bounty hunters, black market tradesmen –"
"Slavers," the word was spat from Anakin's lips with venom, and all his companions gave a nod.
"On the other side of that mountain is a detachment of them that has been gathering, waiting for the main event. When the chaos breaks out, the both of you, and your men, not only need to make sure that the civilians are off the playing field but are protected from the dregs that hunt them on the other side."
They all collectively took a breath, the blue light of the holomap clicking off at Anakin's command and the main room light coming on again. The tension was thick enough to make it seemingly hard to breath, and Ahsoka was silently grateful that her master broke that tension for them.
"We only have one shot with this long-range transmitter," he told them all, slowly reaching forward to gather the humming data box and arrange it on the center of the table, "And realistically we have two real options: we can either use it to contact the fleet in space or use it to summon the Palisades."
"Master Tombur, what exactly are the Palisades?" Ahsoka murmured, her hand raised to her chin in thought. In different times, Anakin would have mused that she looked a lot like Obi-Wan.
"Colossal field generators," the Echani informed her, raising his arm to emphasize the gauntlet there, "This is the only control that we have once they are active. I will enter the coordinates and timing of their landing… when they are activated, they will shred anything that touches them on either side."
"So if civilians get caught in it –"
"They won't," Anakin assured, but Ahsoka pressed.
"By the plan, but what if they do?"
Tombur was calm as he explained.
"There's a reason that I said your task was important. This is a different method of warfare than you are accustomed to, my dear. This isn't fighters and droids and faceless wrecks – this is face-to-face and hand-to-hand. This is every battle and every contingency of a war locked in a box. My men won't have the luxury of trying to protect innocents while eliminating the threat… anyone within the forcefield will be deemed a threat to be terminated. You must do everything you can to keep them from being in the line of fire and then protect them from those that mean them harm."
She understood… but looking at the faces of the men around her, she almost wished that she didn't. Even her own master, usually childishly giddy and eager to taste a fight, was suddenly broody and silent in the mulling atmosphere of the briefing room.
"Part of me wants to just find whoever started this nonsense and see that it ends with them," her master's dark statement only caused her mild surprise. More to her shock was the answer that came from the other knight in the room, the one she had pinned to be more even keeled and level-headed.
"You're right on one count at least, Anakin. If I could find the leader of this sinning lot and put an end to their curses with my blade I would sleep much better at night, I admit."
"Sirs," Sam was the next to speak, "You do understand that the way it is currently set up means that our enemies have laid a trap for us, right?"
"Yeah," Anakin huffed, sharing a look with Tombur, "Pretty sure we all do."
"Given the circumstances Sam, I can't bring myself to be too concerned over that. I say we use their trap against them and to our own advantage – what say all of you?" the Echani looked to all in the room, satisfied that they all met his gaze without hesitation, "All in favor of summoning the Palisades and fighting for Shili, raise your right hand and say 'aye'."
Five hands rose with the unanimous call, prompting the Echani to reach across the holomap desk, grasp the long-range sensor, and type in the commands he wanted. It accepted his orders and, pausing with his fingers above the screen, he met each one of their gazes as he stated:
"So long as we're all in agreement."
His fingers pressed the command key on the screen and the device beeped in recognition, its link to the holomap prompting it to activate and display the commands brightly for them all to view. At its confirmation alarm, the countdown started.
"Synchronization of chronos," Anakin prompted, all his allies raising their arms to their chests, "Set? Mark."
Their individual chronos all blinked in unison then… and just like that, they had all gone about their respective tasks. Ahsoka found herself wandering, lost in thought, through their camp and across the small field just outside of its gate, finding it wondrously empty of the bodies of the sentients that she had watched Djibourdi and his master rain through the grass the day before. All that remained through the lightly drizzling rain were patches of black blood that had begun to sink into the soil, the plants seemingly not minding the sudden addition of nutrient.
It was brutal and crude, yet fascinating at the same time. What was it that she had heard Djibourdi whisper to Eddy?
"What irony. Such beauty, sprung from such an ugly soil."
Maybe she was finally beginning to understand his fascination with it, just as she was finally beginning to understand how it was that he moved like he did. She wanted to do it too, and after pushing herself to learn she almost thought that she could.
The river near the camp, the same beautifully shallow and clear one she had trod through with her friend, had started to swell and run faster. It was now a mix of white and light blue as the water hissed from its place on the tops of the mountains, and she could only imagine as she glanced at the black clouds in the distance that more rain was still to come. It was one less path they could all use if they were attacked again…
When they were attacked again, she corrected herself as she continued her walk. It was inevitable. The hunters were out there, these sentients that were unaffected by the Force and just sought to cause pain and death, and they were searching for people like her.
Like Eddy.
Like Tocarra.
Like Donovan.
Like Kachina.
Like…
She pulled herself to a stop so that she could look back toward the camp. That vision still bothered her, and it brought up memories that she would have rather left behind. The last time she had grappled with visions from the Force she had been successful in interpreting it and had made it through without a terrible loss of life, but this didn't feel entirely like that.
It felt instead like something worse was coming, she started mulling as her feet started moving again, hiking her up the rockface behind the camp. Clearly the enemies were already well-established and had their plans set, but the dread that filled her wasn't that. It was something ancient that had been disturbed, something powerful that chose to stay hidden from her yet was incredibly prominent in the world around her at the same time.
She didn't understand, and it didn't help the feeling of inadequacy.
For about twenty minutes or so she navigated the tree-lined cliff, slowing when she reached a small archway. Feeding herself through it she moved to continue – but the sight in front of her eyes demanded her to stop and appreciate what she saw. It was breathtaking.
The rain bands dressed the mountains with mists and rainbows as the sun fought through the clouds, the light and water bathing the swaths of green with splashes of gold, white, and grey. The old growth forest danced at the blessing of water, their kin stretching over klicks and klicks of distance. They spanned far beyond what her eyes could see, no matter how much she wished she could.
With a spontaneous grin, she melded out an idea.
This would be her last night with her friend until their mission was done… and surely he, of all people, would love the view here. If he was awake, she would bring him here and share this sight with him. Until then…
"Tocarra would be able to tell you more," Eddy had told herself and her friend when he read to them. She didn't think she would have the opportunity to ask then, but by the grace of the Force the doctor was here with them now. Ahsoka decided then that she would request any knowledge that the woman was willing to share and allowed herself a half hour of taking in the beauty in front of her before heading back to the camp.
When the sun had begun to set it woke the young padawan who lay cocooned in the warmth of one of the camp's buildings, awareness hitting him hard and dragging him out from the security of sleep. The scent of chai and white tea was among the first things that registered in his mind.
"'aster?" he slurred out, his eyes finally opening and finding that Tombur wasn't there.
It was the cloak that had been tossed over him that contained that scent. Djibourdi let out a worn half-groan, running his hand over his face as his mind wandered back to him. What did he do?
The odd feeling on his right forearm had him raising it for inspection… and when he saw the bandage taped over where the IV once was, he rolled his eyes. Oh yes, he remembered now, he had decided to throw caution to the wind and drain himself of whatever spare energy he had left, thus turning him into a sack of potatoes that Master Skywalker had to carry back to his room. Absolutely brilliant.
His arm flopped back next to him as he let out a puff of breath. After a few quiet seconds of priming himself, he gave an internal pep-talk.
'Get up Red.'
He didn't want to.
'Get up.'
But it was so nice here.
'Get up!'
Fine, he grumbled inside of his mind, finally tossing the covers off himself and sitting upright as his legs swung over the edge of the bed. A small container on the bedside table caught his attention and he opened it, chuckling at the sight of fruit tarts inside of it. The lid read simply: 'eat', so he complied, grabbing one with an amused false air of irritation. Eddy was such a mother hen.
It wasn't long after that that he had gotten himself redressed and situated, finding himself feeling much improved from the day before, and headed down the stairs of his shared quarters with his master. When he opened the door to exit, he was greeted with the sounds and scents of a camp cookout, the clones that wandered past happily chowing on smoked meats and other goods that he remembered gathering with his master.
If they were using the stores they had, surely that meant they were going to be moving soon. He must have been out for longer than he realized if he missed that critical piece of information, and that observation was reinforced when Sam and Rex spotted him and made their way over.
"Good to see you on your feet, Commander," the blonde-haired clone greeted, earning a loose smile.
"It is good to be so. Have either of you seen my master?"
"General Sulla is in the chow tent, sir. He and Eddy are preparing the food for the men."
"Ah, I s-"
What Rex had just informed him sunk in after a second, and the padawan gave his praetorian a long look.
"My master is the one doing the cooking?"
Sam grinned.
"Yes, sir."
"With Eddy?"
"That is affirmative."
With amusement both men watched him bite back a groan. He managed to control the expression long enough to appear like he wasn't suddenly worried that he was going to be hovered over by two mother hens and put on a brave face.
"Guess I'll go join them then, shall I?" he caught himself before walking away, "Thank you both."
"Of course, sir."
"Would you like a hand there, Commander?" Rex questioned earnestly.
"No thank you, Captain. I shall overcome – enjoy your meal."
They parted ways then and Djibourdi picked his way through the chattering cluster of clones, stopping once or twice to check on the ones that, not long before then, had been in the med tent with his friends. They were appearing much better and had moved themselves to stand as he approached, but as he always did, he waved the gesture off before checking on their health. It did his heart good to see his herbs working as well as they were.
It did his heart even better when his master, sensing his approach, exited the chow tent to greet him.
"Ah, finally awake, I see," Tombur lightly poked at him, enjoying the sheepish smile that crossed the younger face, "Are you feeling well?"
"Well enough, master. Am I to assume we will be moving soon?"
"Yes..."
The porcelain face that looked back at him reflected the heaviness of the decision resting on the knight's shoulders, and the feeling of turmoil leaking through their bond. Djibourdi's heart grew heavy with the sudden addition of the emotion, and all at once he felt so very…inadequate. He had experienced so many failures in recent times, and it seemed that they all conspired to attack him together now.
He had failed to hear Tocarra and Donovan before they had almost been killed.
He had failed to protect Ahsoka from harm because he had been so caught up in the fight in front of him.
He hadn't handled the field as well as he should have and his master had gotten hurt, no matter how miniscule the wound.
Just how many more times could he afford to –
"Don't."
Tombur's voice was sharp and serious as his fingers snapped, drawing his padawan out of his downward spiral and back to his master's face.
"Don't you do that to yourself, Red. None of that is on you. These… people will be stopped if that is the will of the Force, and those that are hurt will be guided to rest. We will talk about the move soon enough. Until then…"
He glanced behind him into the tent flap with a small smile, reaching over to rest one hand on his padawan's shoulder.
"There is someone who really wants to see you. Come, my boy."
He obeyed, following his master's path into the chow tent before wandering over in the direction that Tombur nudged him in. It took him no time to spot Tocarra, Ahsoka, and Anakin at the long table that ran the back wall, filling cups of caff and arranging plates that the troopers came to retrieve. At one of the round tables behind them sat his other friend and the youngest of the group; Donovan had been arranged in a supportive chair and Kachina found herself in an improvised playpen on the ground near him, playing with the stuffed rabbit she had been gifted.
Oh Force this was a wonderful feeling, Djibourdi had to admit as he walked over. They had all lived and were far more active than he had thought they'd be – he would take Tocarra's one-handed efforts and Donovan's ability to sit upright as the ultimate win. The feeling was obviously mutual when Kachina's happy call of "Bubba!" drew Donovan's attention to the teenager that was now almost next to him.
"Hello, dear boy. Let me get a look at you," the nurse murmured to him warmly, cupping his face in warm hands as he crouched next to the chair, "By the spirits, you have grown. And so handsome, too."
The darkening of the younger lekku brought a fond smile to his lips and he briefly pressed their foreheads together before letting the padawan go. Djibourdi grabbed the chair next to him and sat finally.
"It is good to see you, young one."
"Good to see you awake, too," Anakin told him as he approached, passing him a strong mug of caff and earning a soft 'thank you'.
"I was beginning to think you were gonna break Anakin's sleep record," Ahsoka approached next, Tocarra not far behind.
"Nah, I worked hard for that record."
"Sleeping isn't hard."
"But setting records is."
"Not a sleep record, master."
"I beg to differ, my dear padawan – jealousy isn't befitting of a Jedi."
"I'm not jealous of you sleeping like a sunken rock!"
"You're awful passionate for not being jealous."
All of the other Togruta looked to Djibourdi for answers, but he only gave them a smile as he sipped the caff in his hand. Knowing when to become involved in a battle was the first rule of war… and he wanted nothing to do with this round. He was relieved when his master joined them with Eddy not far behind, taking the attention off of him and passing it to them.
The two hours after that point passed gently, marked with amused laughter, witty banter, sneaked pictures that Tocarra managed with a small device she had managed to keep, and a meal that they all, all eight of them, shared together. When the sun had finally set behind the mountains Tombur pulled his padawan for a short time and when they returned, he looked to Ahsoka and tapped two of his fingers to his chrono.
'Best get moving,' he was telling her.
She took the hint, and with the Reapers as their quiet guides, she and Djibourdi traveled on the path up the mountain.