Chapter 9 - Lasan

Author's Note: Enjoy these not-quite-but-almost cameos! :D Some of these characters will be around/important-ish later. ^-^

~ Amina Gila


They were sent to evacuate a Jedi duo – Caleb Dume and Ezra Bridger. Luke has met a large number of Jedi, and none have been more impressive than the last. Anakin told him that these two are a bit more... rogue than most, but that doesn't mean Luke is expecting to have a high opinion of them.

He's not.

Other than his father, he's close with Aunt Ahsoka and Obi-Wan of course, but they rarely work together. Otherwise, all he has is the clones. Not that that's bad. Despite how most people are about them, they're quite unique.

Even from space, though, the cruisers don't look good.

"Whatever information they have must be awfully important," Luke remarks as he, Anakin, and Rex stand in the gunship together along with some other clones, heading towards the ship. "How are we gonna board?"

"I'll cut through the roof," Anakin says as they move closer.

It's been a few months since they started fighting together. Long enough that Luke no longer starts panicking the way he used to right after Geonosis at the mention of his father doing something that would kill anyone else. Anxiety twists inside him, but he lets it go, leaning a bit over the side to watch, anyway.

Just to make sure.

Anakin jumps off the ship, taking a ride down on one of the flying droids that was sent up to attack them. He cuts a hole big enough for them to make it through – that area is already damaged, so Luke doesn't think it's too deep anyway. Mostly, Anakin is just clearing up the debris, because a lightsaber wouldn't normally be able to cut through part of a cruiser so fast.

Luke jumps out, using the Force to cushion his landing, and the clones slide down on cables.

Anakin pauses to comm the General while Luke, Rex, and the others keep pressing through the droids' lines. It's no wonder the ship is in such bad condition from the outside. It's damaged badly even inside here. The droids are everywhere. If Anakin wasn't here, Luke would question if anyone would make it out.

Neither of the Jedi pair are that old. Ezra is about Luke's age, and Caleb is... a bit older than that obviously, maybe around Ahsoka's age. Probably a little younger.

"Oh, you made it," Caleb says.

"Of course, we made it," Anakin replies, moving to the front to cover for the others. "There's a shuttle docking. We have to hurry."

"Hi," the black-haired padawan volunteers, "I'm Ezra."

"I know," Luke answers. "I'm Luke."

"You don't have to have a padawan braid?" he grumbles, "That's not fair."

"Ezra, focus," his master calls, annoyed.

A bit rogue, indeed.

"What about the rest of your fleet?" Anakin asks.

"We told the clones to get to the escape pods already," Caleb says as they move, "Most of them are... either gone, or cut off."

It's horrifying, but normal. It happens so much in war. Most people aren't nearly as careful with them as his father is, and nor are they skilled or smart enough to protect them as much as they should.

They keep moving. It's all they can do right now. From the number of droids they keep seeing, it's easy to know why they were sent in to evacuate the survivors.

Predictably, though, they stumble into another group of surviving clones. "I'll clear the way to the shuttle," Caleb calls, and their group splits in half. Ezra stays with Anakin and Luke while his master takes off down the hall the other way – Luke just hopes the rest of the way isn't too dangerous for him to make it through.

He wouldn't be surprised if it was, but he senses more danger here than there.

The Force is tense, though, in a way Luke does not like. Something is... wrong. Very wrong. Or rather, something is going to go wrong. He can feel it.

The cruiser jolts violently beneath another barrage of laser bolts.

It's burning in many places, and Luke somehow doubts it will be long before the engine itself blows up. But the clones are still out there, and some of them are alive. They can't just leave them.

The whole sequence of events that follows is a bit blurred over. Luke isn't entirely sure how it happened, but Anakin had gone ahead to the group of clones they encountered. The cruiser shudders again, throwing Luke off-balance, and he steadies himself on the wall. Beside him, Ezra lets out a yelp of surprise.

He can see the golden glow of fire around the corner, reflecting off the walls. Droids are mostly unaffected by fire. Luke has seen that before. It's part of what makes them so deadly.

They're hard to damage by environmental factors, period, unless the atmosphere is acidic enough to make them rust faster. Or if it makes them run out of power faster, but those are already dangerous conditions for the clones.

"Go," Anakin calls back to them, "We'll catch up."

"We're not leaving without you," Luke replies over the blaster fire, slashing his orange lightsaber through another droid.

Sure enough, that's when there's another deafening explosion from the end of the hall.

And he already knows Anakin's never going to be out of there fast enough. Everything happens too fast and slow at once – the explosion rips through the hall's walls, hurling Anakin down the hall.

"Father!" Luke cries, instantly running forwards.

Anakin's not moving, which means he must've been injured badly, or he'd already be up, because somehow, he always is. He can see blood pooling from numerous gashes and cuts already, but most of the damage – whatever it is – must be internal. Luke drags him for the waiting shuttle, and Rex hastily joins to help as they pull him on board, and whatever clones he was able to save.

Except he nearly got himself killed in the process, and this could still be serious if they don't get out of here now.

**w**

"I heard what you called him," Ezra says, sitting next to him, uncertainly.

Luke knew that would happen. But still, staring at his father's motionless body, he wishes everyone else would go away and everything would stop mattering. It's happening again. It was bound to happen sometime, for him to see Anakin get hurt again, but he thought – hoped – he might be strong and skilled enough to stop it for once.

But he wasn't.

And he has no idea how to talk his way out of this one. "Forget about it," Luke tells him. He's not sure if he sounded rough. Probably. He can't care about anything except that his father could die at any moment.

"I just wanted to say I understand." Ezra sounds a little more subdued now. "I see my master that way, too. But I'm a Jedi."

Luke glances sideways at him. There's no real point lying about this anymore. He should be more afraid than he is, but he can't focus on anything but Anakin's too-still form in front of him. "I'm not a Jedi. He's... not my master, but he is training me."

Ezra eyes him, curiously. "Wait – is he actually your father?"

For a moment, Luke feels himself freeze. He can't let this get out. "I see him that way," he answers carefully, instead, "He's the only one I've ever had." It's not the full truth, but not a lie, either.

"I can say the same about my master," Ezra says, quietly. Something tells Luke that that's rare for Jedi. "But I don't think he feels the same."

"Because of... attachments," Luke realizes. He doesn't know why he never considered that there's probably other Jedi who would have similar relationships. And be hurt when those they care about refuse to act like they share it. He'd thought that was... mostly just an issue with Anakin. Now, he doesn't know why.

Maybe... some of the Jedi are more human than he's been giving them credit for. "Yeah," Ezra agrees, "I never really got that, you know?"

Luke nods. "I don't, either."

"I don't get how we're supposed to not care, but still be caring," he sighs.

"I think... being rational but still caring would be a better way to explain it, but I'm not a Jedi," he replies. So, he probably shouldn't offend the other boy's beliefs, even if they don't make sense even to him. And he really wishes they could talk about anything other than... this, because he can't focus on anything but Anakin right now. What if – No, he won't let himself think like that. If not for Ezra being here, he might've taken Anakin's human hand and just held it, remembering when he'd lost his other one, when... Luke hadn't been able to help protect him here either. But by now, he knows full well that if Anakin can't handle something, he definitely can't and – It's unsettling to know how much there's nothing he can do about, sometimes.

"Your lightsaber," Ezra blurts at random, "It looks cool. How'd you get it? And why is it orange? To mark that you're not a Jedi?"

"Honestly. I have no idea," Luke replies, "I found the kyber crystal when we went to Tatooine, and I kept it. It called to me."

"Huh," Ezra muses, withdrawing the hilt of his own lightsaber, "I wanted to add a blaster feature to mine, but my master thought that would be... too creative."

"A blaster feature?" Luke asks, incredulously.

"Hey, it would be more useful at long-range."

"Fair enough," he agrees, gaze drifting back to the machines hooked up to Anakin. He can only hope that his father will be fine.

**w**

The Force is humming with danger, and it's only growing with each passing moment. He can feel the fear of everyone else on the ship, too, suddenly, and... what's happening?

The ship suddenly jolts violently, nearly throwing Luke and Ezra from their seats. Anakin is thankfully secured in the bed, so the equipment isn't jolted, but if feels like the ship is spinning, spiraling violently, and –

Did they just come out of hyperspace? Because there's no way they're in hyperspace anymore, and the peacefulness it always radiates in the Force when they are has abruptly disappeared. "What's happening?" Ezra yelps, looking around in confusion.

"I'll go see what's happening," Luke offers, standing and hurrying out into the cockpit.

The clone pilot is struggling to get the ship under control as it spirals through space, coming dangerously close to a planet looming in front of them.

"What happened?" he demands.

"The ship's systems are failing," Caleb explains, shortly, "It was damaged too severely before take-off."

They're crashing. That's... not good. If the ship suffers any more damage, it could cut off Anakin's life-support, and – "I can fly," Luke volunteers. It's not that he doesn't trust the clone to fly, but... he can use the Force. That will count for something.

He scrambles into the co-pilot's seat, taking over the controls as they're pulled into the planet's atmosphere, crashing far too rapidly for the surface. Flames are spreading across the outside of the ship, but he focuses on just bringing them down. It takes a while, and it's terrifying, but finally, he does successfully bring the ship down, even if it probably broke into enough pieces to safely say it's mostly in half now. The landing was, well, more difficult than he anticipated.

The ship is still smoking when Luke and Rex stumble out, carrying Anakin to a safe distance away from the crash site. "He needs to be in a medcenter," Luke says, crouching on the ground next to him.

"The planet is inhabited. We saw that from space," Rex points out. Luke can't say why, but he has the feeling Rex figured out who he really is. He probably doesn't even need any more of a confirmation, unlike Ezra. That... doesn't matter, though, does it? Rex would never say anything about it.

Sometimes, Luke wonders how much the clones see Anakin the same way he does. They're young – younger than he is, even if they look older. They've never had anyone to look up to before, and Anakin takes care of them far better than anyone ever has. Luke knows that much.

"We'll find the nearest town. We need another transport off-planet, regardless," Caleb decides, "Ezra? Come on."

"Yes, you are coming," Ezra huffs, shoving his astromech droid – Chopper – forwards, who's been beeping and spinning his arms in circles for the past minute. Luke was totally ignoring them.

The droid lets out a grumpy groan, rolling after as they and the clones with them head off, leaving Luke and Rex to watch Anakin.

**w**

It's some hours later when Anakin suddenly stirs. "Father?" Luke asks, without thinking – wincing a second later, but really, there's no way Rex doesn't already know – and practically teleports to his side.

A quiet groan escapes him, and he moves to try pushing himself upright.

"Hold still, sir," Rex advises, pushing him back down.

"What's... happening?" He blinks. "Where are we?"

"We crashed," Luke replies, taking Anakin's hand, "I don't know where we are, but help should be here soon."

"The others..." Anakin trails off, sinking back against the floor. Of course, his first thought is the other clones.

"We got out as many as we could, sir," Rex says, and its then that Luke finally hears an approaching engine.

Looking up, a speeder is approaching. There's a large purple being of a species Luke is unfamiliar with in the speeder, along with the others. "We're on Lasan," Caleb tells them, getting out, "This is Garazeb Orrelios, Captain of the Lasan Honor Guard." Oh. A Lasat, then.

"We're neutral in this conflict," the Lasat tells them, "But you are in need of aid, so we shall provide it."

"Thank you," Luke says, sincerely, and they hastily help Anakin into the speeder, before heading off for the capital again.

Ezra is sitting next to Zeb, and though Luke is paying them little attention, he has no idea why they keep shooting glances at each other like they're... frenemies or something. "I can't even breathe in here," Ezra complains, squirming, except he can't move far because he's squished right up against Zeb.

"You don't have that little room," he grumbles.

"It's not that. It's the smell," Ezra huffs.

Zeb glares at him.

"Ezra," hisses Caleb.

Ezra manages to not even seem embarrassed. Okay, maybe some Jedi can be a lot more fun than Luke thought.

"If you want to ride on the back of the speeder, you're welcome to," Zeb growls.

"I think I'll stay," Ezra replies, with far too much cheer.

Chopper beeps loudly behind them, something Luke can't make sense of, and he's glad of that. It sounded very rude.

Ezra studiously ignores Caleb glaring daggers into his back the rest of the trip, as he and Zeb start squabbling about Force knows what else. It's an entertaining distraction, though, but finally, they get to the city.

Zeb picks up Ezra by his... backpack, depositing him on the ground outside of the speeder, before turning to have a very polite conversation with Luke and Rex about where they're going to take Anakin.

Well... okay then.

He has no idea what to think about Ezra and Zeb, so he's going to just avoid questioning their chaotic... whatever it is.

**w**

Everything still aches when Anakin wakes up a little while later, but at least it's not as bad as it was when it first happened. It'll take time to fully heal, though. They're in neutral space, at least. Considering they could've crashed in literally any system, including one uninhabitable or even directly in Separatist space, he's thankful. It could be far worse.

His ribs were fractured – albeit minorly – when he was thrown, so they'll take time to heal, but he can move around. He's trying to rest right now, though, while he has the time... until he suddenly senses something.

Something's coming, and he doesn't know what, but –

"General," Rex calls, sprinting into the room, "We have Separatists ships inbound."

"What?!" Luke hisses.

He should have suspected as much. "They might've tracked us to the system," he realizes, feeling almost resigned. "Which means the Lasats are going to be dragged into the war, whether they like it or not."

"Then we have to help them," Luke says, spinning to face him.

"First, we wait," Anakin replies, "We need to gauge the situation before taking action. There's no need to expose our presence until we've been found. It'll only put them more at risk.

"I'll watch from a distance," Rex tells them, slipping from the room again.

Somehow, Anakin already knows where this is going to go, though. They don't have to wait long before Rex calls back. "The Separatists are attacking," he says, breathlessly – right before Anakin hears the far-off sound of an explosion, "The Lasat are gathering to repel them, and the other Jedi have already left to engage them."

"I'm on my way," Anakin replies, immediately moving to stand, a little unsteadily, ignoring the pain spearing through his ribs.

"Are you really ready to fight, Father?" Luke objects, concerned.

"I will have to be," Anakin answers, "We are the ones who put them in danger." No, he's not going to sit back when he could be defending them. He's had to be up and moving in worse conditions before.

They take off to where the battle is already raging.

Up ahead, Lasat guards and the clones are shooting at the advancing droids, while Caleb and Ezra run forward in the front, cutting through them. Zeb is fighting with a bo-rifle, and he seems to be best friends with Ezra suddenly. Anakin could swear he heard them arguing when he was trying to sleep, all the way to the capital, but he doesn't give it any thought, and just attacks the droids.

He and Luke move in perfect unison with each other as they cut through droid after droid – they've been fighting side by side for months now. Anakin always wanted to spend this kind of time with both his children, but he... didn't exactly want it to be like this. His children's place shouldn't have to be on the battlefield, at least not at this age. It was what Luke wanted, though, and... the Force had indicated it.

If nothing else, he will be grateful for the time he's been given with him. When he goes back to the Temple now, it doesn't feel so... hopeless. He never realized just how empty he had felt every day at the Temple, until now. Of course, he could see Luke and Leia before, but it was different.

They were never actually able to spend time being with each other like he can do with Luke now, even if it often makes him miss Leia even more.

Anakin throws his lightsaber through several battle droids in front of him, calling it back to him to deflect a barrage of blaster bolts away before slashing a few super battle droids in front, throwing their fallen pieces into the droid lines behind them.

Tanks are firing from a distance back, tearing through the clones and Lasat ranks, and –

"Defend the city," Anakin calls to Luke, before he takes off through the droid ranks, letting the occasional scattered trees give him cover as he presses forwards.

With battle droids operating the tanks, taking them out won't be hard. He circles around behind one of them, jumping onto the top and yanking the droid out – and across his lightsaber – before he drops into seat, turning it to shoot at the other tanks nearby.

It would be a lot easier to be sitting right now – his ribs do not appreciate the movement – but he can't think about that right now.

He waits until the last of the droid tanks are turning to fire on his, then leaps out to one of them, landing on the top and waiting for it to blow the other one up before he cuts deeply into the side of the last tank, jumping out of the way as it explodes.

The others have already finished dealing with the rest of the droids, and Anakin takes off across the field, to where they are gathering.

"That wasn't so tough," Ezra says cheerfully, elbowing Zeb.

"It was only the first wave," Anakin reminds.

"Our troops have already engaged them in the air," Zeb replies, "It will be harder for more forces to reach the ground."

"Even if we destroy these droids, they will keep coming," Anakin points out, grimly, "They will see you as allying with the Republic."

"We have always remained neutral. We will make an effort to negotiate," Zeb responds.

"The Seps don't negotiate," Luke says, flatly.

"And what of the Republic?" Zeb asks, "Will they send more... forces?"

Anakin wishes so badly he could confirm that. "I don't know. We should, but that's not always how it works. But I'll see what I can do."

Zeb nods, though he doesn't look happy.

"I'll make the case to the Senate," Anakin promises, and he hates it's the most he can offer right now. It's – wrong. The Lasats may be neutral, but they still matter. "But I... expect they will demand you side with the Republic before sending support."

"We're not getting dragged into your war," Zeb tells him, "We're not changing our minds."

"But..." Luke argues, "Why can't we stay and help?"

"With the minimal forces we have?" Anakin replies, "Luke, we need to return to Coruscant and recollect our forces. I don't want to leave, either, but the Separatists have fallen back temporarily. There's not much more we can do on our own without backup."

He still doesn't look happy. Anakin can't fault him for that – he's not, either. At this age, he would have been furious, too, if Obi Wan told him they must go. He doesn't even want to accept it now. He only does because there's no other choice. Anakin has seen enough to know that the Republic, and the Jedi, won't help everyone. He can't help everyone, though that's something Luke has not been able to understand yet.

"They're warriors," Caleb reminds, approaching them, "They'll survive."

Anakin can only hope he's right. But somehow, for some reason, as he looks across the landscape of Lasan, he can't help thinking this will be the end of their civilization.

**w**

"The Senate voted on the Lasan situation today," Padme says when she returns. The troubled look on her face is enough for Luke to know what the answer is, but he has to ask, anyway.

"What was it?" he inquires, even as dread rapidly pools inside him.

"That because of the war, we can't afford to spend 'unnecessary resources.'" She sounds as bitter and frustrated about it as Luke is, though she hides it better.

"But what about the people?" Luke protests, "They matter more than the war."

"They are what we've been fighting for," Padme agrees, sighing, "But many in the Senate don't seem to remember that."

The Senate is useless. Luke still thinks it's no more than a waste of time, hence why he chose not to get involved in politics like Leia did. Her fiery attitude more than makes up for her short patience, and Luke completely lacks both. If he had to tolerate a day in the Senate, he'd probably accidently burn it down with his mind. But even if they're useless, there's still – someone who can help. "Then what's the point?"

"The Senate was not designed for speed, exactly," his mother replies, "We were made to make decisions to better the galaxy as a whole."

"Which is exactly what nobody does anymore," Luke points out flatly.

"Some of us are," she objects, "I know a handful of Senators, personally, who hold the same views."

"A handful," he repeats, "Of thousands of people? That's nothing, Mother. It wasn't enough to help Lasan."

"It's not right," Padme agrees, "But there are always going to be tragedies, and people who should have been helped that weren't."

"Tragedies?" Luke echoes incredulously. "It was Father and I who brought the war to Lasan." And maybe that's half of it, that he can't stop feeling guilty. If they'd landed elsewhere, or if he'd detected the damage earlier, they could have fixed it and made it back to Coruscant safely. Without taking an unnecessary detour.

"Luke, you can't blame yourself for what happened there," she chides gently.

For the first time, it feels like he can – somewhat – understand why Jedi are so paranoid about attachments. If he hadn't been glued to Anakin's side, it could have been... different. Maybe. It's hard to say, because this is the first time something like this has happened. "If the Senate won't help, maybe the Chancellor can," Luke says finally.

"He can't overrule a decision made by the Senate," Padme replies firmly, "It's out of his hands. That's not a power he has."

"Well, maybe it should be!" He can't help his sudden burst of anger.

"What you're proposing is against the very way of democracy," Padme says. "The Chancellor already holds far more power than he should because of the war. He shouldn't have returned to office."

"He's the only person who's been able to help," Luke insists firmly, "Doesn't that matter more?"

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