The Ghost jumped out of Hyperspace as it began to approach the rocky planet of Agamar before it entered the planet's atmosphere and landed near the wreckage of an old Separatist supply ship from the Clone Wars before the VCX-100 light freighter's ramp lowered with Kanan, Ezra, Zeb, Chopper, Rex, Mira and Ephraim walking down the ramp with Ezra, his parents and Rex having their helmets under their arms as Hera and Sabine both stood at the top of the ramp with the Twi'lek having her left fist over her hip, while Sabine had her arms crossed.
"You're sure you don't need help?" Hera asked Kanan as she and Sabine followed him and everyone else down the ramp a bit.
"I'm sure everything will go horribly wrong," Kanan joked.
"Are you both absolutely sure, you don't need our help?" Sabine asked them as she tapped her lightsaber that was clipped onto her armor's belt with her right hand.
"We'll be fine, Sab'ika. We have a Clone Wars veteran with us," Ezra assured her, "And besides, my parents are here with us, don't you worry, we'll be fine."
"Don't worry, Sabine. We've been through worse in the Clone Wars," Mira reminded her daughter-in-law, "We'll handle whatever comes our way."
"And remember, Sabine, we've always taught Ezra to be resourceful and cautious," Ephraim told Sabine, "We'll make sure to keep everyone safe."
"We'll be back before you know it, Sab'ika," Ezra assured his wife as he gave her a quick and reassuring kiss on her lips.
"Yeah, you better, Ez'ika," Sabine muttered before Ezra, Mira and Ephraim placed their helmets over their heads.
"Ready, Captain?" Kanan asked Rex.
"Yes, sir. Uh, General," Rex began to say as he placed his helmet over his head, "Kanan." The seven of them then walked off of the Ghost as Hera and Sabine walked up the ship's ramp before it raised back up as the Ghost lifted off the ground and flew away as it left Agamar, "There was a battle here during the Clone War. This old transport's the perfect place to find weapons, ammo, maybe even some proton bombs."
"Hey, isn't this a Separatist battle droid?" Ezra asked as he noticed the head of a destroyed B1 battle droid on the ground in front of him with both of his hands.
"Oh, yeah. A little piece of one anyway," Rex answered, confirming Ezra's suspicions, "This place used to be crawling with 'em. We called 'em clankers."
"Clankers," Zeb chuckled as he loved the insult that Rex just told them that he and his clone brothers called the droids of the Separatist Droid Army during the Clone Wars, "I like that." Ezra then knocked on the top of the B1 battle droid's head with his fist, "How many of these things do you think you blasted?"
"I don't know," Rex answered, "Thousands. Probably tens of thousands. Never kept count like some of the boys."
"Those 'clankers' might not look like much now, Ezra, but in the heat of battle, they were a force to be reckoned with," Mira told her son, agreeing with the clone, "And let's not forget that alliances can be just as deceptive. Just like how Death Watch and the Nite Owls, me included, betrayed the Separatists when they least expected it."
"Remember, Ezra, it's not about the strength of your enemy, but how you use your own strengths that matter," Ephriam added.
"They don't look very dangerous," Ezra said as he dropped the B1 battle droid's head, "I think I could take on a squadron of them with no sweat."
"Listen, those droids wiped out a whole lot of Republic troopers. Many of them were my friends," Rex told him as he turned around towards Ezra and sighed, "But you're a Mandalorian, and that means you've got a whole different set of skills and tactics at your disposal than just the ones I received before the Clone War began. Just remember, no enemy should be underestimated, no matter how harmless they seem. Even I couldn't take on an entire squadron of them alone, and you wouldn't either."
"What's with him?" Ezra asked his master as Rex turned back around as the clone continued to walk towards the Separatist supply ship.
"Rex has been through a lot," Kanan explained, "Battles leave scars, some you can't see."
"That's true, Ezra," Ephriam said, agreeing with Kanan as he placed his right hand over the left pauldron of his son's armor, "Remember, we too carry the scars from the Massacre of Clan Bridger. Not all wounds are visible."
"Hold up. Let me recon first," Rex said as they approached a container from behind before he began scouting ahead, while the others stood behind the container as he used his helmet's built-in rangefinder to scan the area and saw what looked like about a dozen proton bombs being stored inside a storage room in the distance, "Well, look at that. We hit pay dirt. The munitions depot is fully loaded." Rex then gave the others a signal with his right hand, "More proton bombs in there than we can carry."
"Way to go, Rex," Kanan told the clone as he placed his left hand over the right pauldron of Rex's armor as he and the others stood behind him.
"You've still got it, Rex," Mira complimented the clone, "Even without that rangefinder from the Siege of Mandalore, you're still as sharp as ever."
"Lost the main component of it during the Clone Rebellion about a year after the Clone War ended," Rex explained, "But you learn to adapt."
"Indeed, your expertise is clear, Rex," Ephriam told the clone, "We're fortunate to have you with us."
"Way to go, Captain," Ezra said, agreeing with his master and parents before they rushed towards the storage area.
"Roger, roger," Chopper suddenly heard the voice of a B1 battle droid say in the distance before he grunted as he realized that there were B1 battle droids here that were still operational before he rolled away.
"Hey, careful, kid," Rex warned Ezra as they along with Kanan, Zeb, Mira and Ephraim entered one of the corridors of the Separatist supply ship, "The droids used to protect their armories with ray shields."
"What type of ray shiel…" Ezra began to ask before he was interrupted as a ray shield activated, trapping him, Kanan, Zeb and his parents within the ray shield.
"A Separatist ray shield," Rex said, answering the Mandalorian's question.
"Look! Aren't those battle droids?" Ezra said as he saw a squad of B1 battle droids with one of them having yellow markings painted on top of its head and chest plating, showing that it wasa battle droid commander as they all wielded E-5 blaster rifles, "I thought they were all shut down."
"Yeah they are," Mira confirmed.
"Well, these weren't," Zeb muttered, stating the obvious.
"You have been captured by the Separatist Alliance," the battle droid commander told them.
"Huh Separatists?" Rex said with confusion in his voice.
"Prepare to blast the Republic invaders," the battle droid commander added.
"Republic invaders?" Kanan said with confusion in his voice as he stared at the B1 battle droids.
"Don't they realize that the Republic fell?" Ephriam muttered with confusion in his voice as well.
"Belay that order," the battle droid commander said as he received new orders from his built-in comlink that was below his head and placed his left hand over it, "Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Roger, roger."
"Wait, isn't that their catchphrase?" Ezra asked Rex, Kanan and his mother.
"It sure is, Ezra," Mira answered as the battle droid commander placed his E-5 blaster rifle over his back.
"We have new orders. Incapacitate and capture," the battle droid commander announced to the other B1 battle droids before he took out a device with his left hand, "Activating stunner."
"No!" Rex protested as the battle droid commander activated the ray shield's stunner with the device in his left hand as he clicked on it with his right hand's fingers, causing him and everyone else within the ray shield to be electrocuted as they were knocked unconscious by the stunner and fell to the floor within the ray shield.
"Take them to the command center," the battle droid commander ordered the other B1 battle droids before the other B1 battle droids began to drag them away with one of them carrying Zeb's bo-rifle as they began to take the rebels to the command center of the Separatist supply ship with the battle droid commander leading them, "We haven't captured anyone in years."
"We haven't captured anyone ever," one of the other B1 battle droids corrected him as unbeknownst to them, Chopper was spying on them from behind a couple of cylinder-shaped canisters with his camera scope pulled out from his dome before he grunted.
"Ugh. Where… Where are we?" Rex asked himself as he groaned as he slowly began to regain consciousness and saw that he had stuncuffs around his wrists as he and the others had been taken prisoner on board the Separatist supply ship's command center.
"How intriguing. Well done, B1-268," the clone heard a masculine, robotic-sounding voice say before looking up and saw a Super tactical droid with green plating that had yellow markings and orange sensors as he was speaking to a B1 battle droid commander, the same one that captured him and the others with a squad of other B1 battle droids as he saw that the Super tactical droid was holding both his and Ezra's helmets in his heads with Mira and Ephraim's next to him as he sat on the command chair of the command center.
"Roger, roger," the B1 battle droid that Rex now knew was called B1-268 responded as he saluted the Super tactical droid before he stood next to him and the command chair.
"Oh, no. The war, it's not over!" Rex muttered as he began to have flashbacks of the Clone Wars from his PTSD.
"Rex," Kanan said, calling out the clone's name as he sat next to him, "Rex!"
"Cody!" Rex called out, thinking that Kanan was one of his clone brothers.
"Talk to me," Kanan said, bringing the clone back to reality.
"Ah, Kanan," Rex muttered as he looked to his side as he realized that it was Kanan who spoke to him instead of his clone brother, Cody from the Clone Wars, "I'm sorry. I thought you were someone else."
"I need you here now, buddy. We're in the usual mess," Kanan told him, "There's a super tactical droid."
"Yeah, that is one all right," Rex muttered as he saw the Super tactical droid standing up as it walked towards them.
"That's bad. Isn't it?" Ezra asked him.
"It's really bad," Rex confirmed, "That droid's extremely intelligent."
"From what I heard, due to their intellect, the Republic lost so many clone lives because of them," Mira added.
"Yeah, I heard that they lost the Republic thousands of troops during the war from the HoloNet," Ephraim stated as he looked at his son.
"Near the end of the war, Separatist droids significantly outnumbered Republic units," the Super tactical droid said as he stared at the rebels, "By my calculations, our probability of being defeated was only 23.6%."
"After Clone Order 66, the whole droid army was given a shutdown command," Rex stated as he looked at him, "How are you even operating?"
"The Jedi betrayal ended the war for most of the galaxy. But here on Agamar, I assumed it was a Republic trick and prevented the shutdown command," the Super tactical droid explained as he walked away from them.
"Well, it doesn't matter how it ended. The war is over," Rex told him, "Let us go."
"Negative, Captain," the Super tactical droid refused, "I calculate that this will be my only opportunity to end the Clone Wars as I planned, with a victory for the Separatist Alliance."
"What do you want us to do? Surrender?" Rex asked him.
"On the contrary, I want you to fight, to prove, once and for all, whose tactical strategy was superior," the Super tactical droid corrected the clone.
"Well, you can count me out. I'm not playing some stupid war game," Zeb told the Super tactical droid.
"That is correct, Lasat. Your species were not in the Clone Wars, so you will be the hostage your allies must save," the Super tactical droid said as he looked at Zeb before he turned towards Ephriam and looked at him as well, "And Mandalorian, you bear the features that suggest that you have a past as a Protector, a group that remained mostly neutral during the Clone Wars aside from a few of them. So, you too will not participate in this battle and will serve as another hostage to be rescued." He then began to walk past them, "The 'Jedi Rescue' is a recurring scenario based on 132 battles I have reviewed."
"Your analysis is correct. But remember, neutrality does not mean weakness," Ephraim told the Super tactical droid, "We Mandalorians are more than capable of defending ourselves and those we care about. You'll find that won't be as easy to hold hostage as you might think."
"Your confidence is noted, Mandalorian. However, this scenario is not about your individual strategic situation," the Super tactical droid stated, "As hostages, your role is not to fight, but to provide motivation for your allies. I was programmed for strategy and tactics, not underestimation."
"Yeah, we've done it a few times," Ezra told the Super tactical droid.
"Jedi, is this Mandalorian your Padawan?" The Super tactical droid asked Kanan as he looked at him.
"Most of the time," Kanan answered as he looked at Ezra, not wanting to tell the Super tactical droid about Sabine and that he was two Padawans instead of the usual one.
"Good," the Super tactical droid said, "A complete set of Republic opponents, including what appears to be a former Nite Owl, will make this authentic."
"No, it won't, because we're not fighting," Rex stated, refusing to go along with the Super tactical droid's war game.
"If you will not fight, you will be terminated," the Super tactical droid told the clone.
"I'll fight your Clone War," Ezra said as he looked at the Super tactical droid.
"What?" Rex muttered with surprise, confusion and disbelief in his voice.
"Ezra, no!" Kanan said, pleading with his Padawan.
"Ezra, listen to Kanan and Rex. This isn't our war to fight," Mira said, agreeing with Kanan and Rex as she looked at her son, "We can't let this droid manipulate us into playing its game. There has to be another way out of this."
"We have to, Mom," Ezra told her as he looked at her, Kanan and Rex, "And besides, the three of you along with Markus all talk about the Clone Wars. What it was like to fight in it, the good and the bad. I wanna help you win this last battle. "Besides, look at them. How can we lose?"
"Uh, hey," one of the B1 battle droids said as the Mandalorian offended him.
"Okay, it might be easier to fight them head-on than to get out of our current dilemma," Kanan sighed as he knew that Ezra was right.
"Alright, Ezra. We've all been touched by the Clone Wars. If this is our chance to end it, then we'll stand by you," Mira told her son, "Let's do this together."
"Fine. Fine, we'll do it," Rex said, exhaling as he finally agreed with the Super tactical droid.
"Okay, but if we win, Zeb and my father go free, and we take all the proton bombs in the hangar," Ezra told the Super tactical droid.
"I accept your terms," the Super tactical droid said before dropping both Rex and Ezra's helmets on the ground as both helmets landed in front of them before Kanan, Ezra and Rex all looked at each other.
"Be careful, Mir'ika," Ephriam told his wife as he pulled her into a quick, passionate kiss, a silent reminder of their love for each other and what they were fighting for as the Super tactical droid grabbed her helmet from next to the command center's command chair with his right hand.
"I will, Eph'ika," Mira replied with a smile on her face as the Super tactical droid dropped her helmet in front of her.
"The commander has initiated Battle Plan Zeta," B1-268 announced to the other B1 battle droids as he walked down one of the Separatist supply ship's corridors after he left the ship's command center, "Take your positions at once."
"Roger, roger," every single one of the B1 battle droids except for B1-268 chanted as they all walked in separate directions.
"Battle Plan Zeta?" One of the B1 battle droids said with surprise in his voice as Chopper watched them from behind one of the Separatist supply ship's canisters, "Finally!"
The astromech droid then rolled away from the canister before stopping as he noticed a Neimoidian shuttle also known as a Sheathipede-class shuttle in the distance with its ramp lowered before he grunted as he rolled towards it and rolled up its ramp.
Chopper then plugged his scomp link into an astromech port next to him on the shuttle and rotated it around, powering up the shuttle's lights, which flickered for a second before he pulled out his left metal arm and slammed it against the wall, causing the lights to flicker back on as the stopped flickering and stayed on.
The astromech droid then placed his left metal arm back inside his dome as he activated his transmitter as it began to rotate around from side to side as he began sending a signal to the Ghost.
Meanwhile in space, the Ghost was retreating from three Imperial Star Destroyers as four TIE fighters were chasing the VCX-100 light freighter as they fired their laser cannons at the Ghost.
"How much fuel did we get before the ambush?" Hera asked Sabine from the Ghost's cockpit as she sat on the ship's pilot seat as she piloted the ship away from the Imperials.
"Enough for the whole fleet," Sabine answered from the Ghost's rear cannon as she had her helmet over her head as she fired the ship's rear cannons at the TIE fighters, "I just hope Ezra, Kanan and Rex aren't expecting us back on Agamar anytime soon."
"If Kanan needs help, he'll call us," Hera assured her.
"Since when?" Sabine asked her with disbelief in her voice as she knew that her master has never done anything like that when he's in trouble.
"Fine. If Chopper's in over his head, he'll hide and call us," Hera said, rephrasing her statement.
"That's more believable!" Sabine stated from the Ghost's intercom.
"Congratulations," Kallus said, congratulating Pryce, who had her right arm behind her back as she stood on the command walkway of the bridge of the Harbinger, Pellaeon's Star Destroyer as he walked across the ship's command walkway, "Your plan to ambush them at the fuel depot worked like a charm."
"Only if we catch them," Pryce told the ISB agent.
As he stared out his Star Destroyer's viewport in front of Kallus and Pryce, Pellaeon watched them with a frown on his face. He had seen Pryce's brutal tactics firstand at Skystrike Academy and had since grown a distaste for her methods. He kept his thoughts to himself for now, but he made a mental note to address it at the right time.
"Excuse me, Governor," they suddenly heard Konstantine call out to Pryce as both she and Kallus turned around and looked down at him as he stood inside one of the bridge's crew pits below them with his arms behind his back as he stood behind one of the Imperial officers working inside the crew pit as they all had an expression of a Chimaera painted over both sides of their tunic's shoulders as he looked up at them, "We've intercepted a rebel transmission from the Agamar system before it was received by the Rebel ship. The message is encrypted, but it repeats like a distress signal."
"Interesting," Pryce muttered before she turned back around towards the bridge's viewport as she placed her right hand near her chin as Kallus looked at her with the corner of his eyes, "The Rebels there must be desperate for help that will never come." She then lowered her right arm, "Locate the nearest Imperial outpost to Agamar and deploy them. Immediately."
"I'll coordinate with the nearest Imperial outpost to Agamar and ensure they're deployed promptly, Governor," Pellaeon told her with a hint of distaste in his voice that only those who knew him well would catch.
"The objective of this battle is simple. You must fight your way back to my command center and capture it to free your friends and in your case, Mandalorians, husband and father," Rex, Ezra, Mira and Kanan heard the voice of the Super tactical droid explain to them from the command center of the Separatist supply ship as they stood outside the supply ship with Rex, Ezra and Mira having their helmets under their arms.
"Rex, you've got more battlefield experience than either of us," Kanan told the clone before crossing his arms, "You lead."
"All right. Our first goal is to get inside the hangar. Kalani is a war machine, programmed to kill, and he's got the numbers and the firepower to do it," Rex said, referring to the Super tactical droid by its name, "Our only chance is to be aggressive, surprise him, hopefully put him on the offensive."
"How many droids do you think he has?" Ezra asked him.
"I think more than just a squadron's worth," Mira answered.
"The last battle will begin now," Kalani suddenly said from the communications system of the Separatist supply ship's command center as a battalion of B1 battle droids, wielding E-5 blaster rifles marched out of the Separatist supply ship's hangar.
"You're right, Mira," Kanan told the female Mandalorian as he saw over a hundred B1 battle droids marching out of the Separatist supply ship's hangar, "He has what looks like a battalion's worth of droids!"
"We've gotta scatter them. Use the sword and shield maneuver," Rex said as he placed his helmet over his head.
"Wait. What does that mean?" Ezra asked his master as he placed his helmet ober his head as well.
"We block, he fires," Kanan explained.
"It's something that both the Jedi and clones did during the Clone Wars," Mira added as she also placed her helmet over her head as she grabbed her WESTAR-35s from their holsters with Rex pulling out one of his DC-17s from its holster before Ezra and Kanan grabbed their lightsabers from their belts as Ezra twisted his lightsaber's hilt into two separate blades.
"Everyone ready?" Kanan asked Ezra, Rex and Mira as he and Ezra ignited their lightsabers' blades.
"Yep," Ezra answered as he entered a Jar'Kai battle stance.
"Ready as I'll ever be," Mira responded with a smile under her helmet.
"Let's go!" Rex said as he held a thermal detonator in his left hand before the B1 battle droids began firing upon them with their E-5 blaster rifle.
"Ezra, get ready to duck!" Kanan ordered Ezra as they deflected the battle droids' blaster bolts with their lightsabers.
"Okay!" Ezra replied.
"Now!" Kanan said before he ducked as Rex threw the thermal detonator at the battle droids with it landing between some of the battle droids, destroying several of the battle droids as Mira fired her WESTAR-35s at them, "Again!" Mira then stopped firing her WESTAR-35s at the battle droids as she, Kanan and Ezra ducked as Rex threw another thermal detonator at the battle droids, destroying several more of the battle droids as it exploded between them.
"That's scattered 'em! Everybody forward!" Rex ordered Kanan, Ezra and Mira as Kanan and Ezra rushed towards the battle droids as they slashed them with their lightsabers as Rex fired his DC-17s at them, while Mira did the same with her WESTAR-35s, "Ezra, form it up! We've gotta stay together."
The four of them soon hid behind containers as Kanan and Ezra deactivated their lightsabers with Ezra reconnecting his split saber before he looked into the hangar from the edge of their hiding spot and saw that it was empty except for a deactivated battle droid sitting in front of a container.
"The hangar looks clear," Ezra told them, "Let's go."
"Wait," Rex said as he placed his right wrist over the left pauldron of Ezra's armor before he stepped in front of him, "That's not how it normally goes."
"What's wrong?" Ezra asked him.
"The droids usually keep coming wave after wave," Rex explained.
"Rex, you're right. This is too easy. it's like they're leading us into a trap," Mira said, agreeing with the clone, "We need to stay alert. Remember, we're dealing with a Super tactical droid."
"That tactical droid has had a long time to think about this," Kanan reminded him, "And remember, he wants to win."
"I'm surprised it means so much to him," Ezra told him, "After all, we Mandalorians respect those who defeat us in combat."
"Yeah, it means a lot to his programming," Rex muttered to himself, "It means a lot to mine as well."
"Your programming?" Ezra said with confusion in his voice.
"As you know, we clones were bred for combat, With few exceptions, there was no other way of life for us," Rex explained, "Kind of like your ancestors from thousands of years ago."
"You're right, Rex. The warrior spirit is deeply ingrained in both our cultures," Mira said, agreeing with the clone, "We Mandalorians have a saying, 'a warrior is more than his armor.' It's not just about the battles we fight, but the reasons we fight them."
"We should move," Kanan told Rex as he placed his right hand over the left pauldron of Rex's armor before he ran forward.
"Right, Commander. Uh, Kanan," Rex said as he followed the Jedi Knight before Ezra and Mira followed him as well.
"Looks like my friends are doing pretty good," Zeb told Kalani with a smile on his face as they along with Ephriam watched the battle from a large circular-shaped view screen from inside the command center as the Super tactical droid had his arms behind his back, "You might as well surrender now."
"I am not programmed to comprehend your humor," Kalani said as he looked at the Lasat with the corner of his sensors.
"I'm not joking," Zeb told him as his expression changed to a serious one.
"Ha, ha, ha," Kalani said as he laughed sarcastically as he saw Kanan, Rex, Ezra and Mira run into the hangar from the large view screen.
"Don't underestimate them, General," Ephriam told the Super tactical droid, "They're more resourceful than you think."
"Your faith in your allies is noted, but irrelevant," Kalani told the former Protector, "This battle will be decided by firepower, not sentiment." He then turned to one of the B1 battle droids that were sitting at one of the command consoles in the room, "Your Republic and Mandalorian friends have taken the bait, send in the Destroyers."
With that said, Droidekas, which were insectoid-looking battle droids that roll around in a ball form with deflector shield generators, two repeating blaster cannons with bronze colored plating and red colored sensors rolled into the hangar on the catwalk above the rebels.
"Incoming!" Rex warned Kanan, Ezra and Mira as Ezra held both of his split saber's hilts in a reverse grip, while Kanan held his in the lightsaber combat stance known as Ataru.
"Destroyers!" Mira said as she and Rex aimed their blaster pistols at the Droidekas before they entered their attack formations and activated their shields as they began to fire their repeating blaster cannons at them.
"Ezra, get back! They're too dangerous," Kanan warned his Padawan as Ezra began deflecting the Droidekas' blaster bolts as he went to hide behind the same container that they were hiding behind earlier before Ezra, Rex and Mira began to follow him with both Force-Wielders deactivating their lightsabers.
"Can't advance with those Destroyers up there," Rex told them, "There's no way to breach their shields."
"You're right, Rex. We can't move forward with those Destroyers in our way. But we can't just sit here either," Mira said, agreeing with the clone, "We need to find a way to disable them or at least distract them long enough for us to make a move."
"Look! That crane!" Ezra told them as he pointed at a crane underneath one of the catwalks with his left hand's index finger, "I bet we can use it to take out the catwalk. I'll make a run for it."
"We'll draw their attention," Kanan said as he looked at Ezra.
"There's gonna be a lot of fire," Rex added, "We'll have to be quick."
"Ezra, move as fast as you can," Kanan told his Padawan.
"Be careful, Ezra," Mira said with a tint of worry in her voice as she looked at him, "We'll cover you. Good luck, son."
"You can count on me," Ezra assured them as he moved to the far side of the container as Kanan, Mira and Rex ran over to another container as Ezra began running towards the crane.
"Ah, the Jedi have split up, as they do 76% of the time," Kalani stated as he watched Ezra split up from Kanan, Rex and his mother from the large view screen in front of him as he had removed his arms from behind his back, "Squad six, advance."
"Move in!" One of the B1 battle droids from squad six ordered his fellow B1 battle droids before they began firing their E-5 blaster rifles at Kanan, Rex and Mira.
"More droids! We've gotta take cover," Rex said as he and Mira fired their DC-17s and WESTAR-35s, while Kanan deflected the battle droids' blaster bolts with his lightsaber as they ran behind another container nearby.
"Hey!" One of the battle droids cried as one of the deflected blaster bolts that Kanan deflected with his lightsaber collided with his head before falling dead on the floor.
Ezra turned around after he watched what his mother, Rex and Kanan were doing as he hid behind a container before he gasped in shock as Chopper snuck up in front of him, which surprised him before he grunted a response.
"Hmm, Chop, where've you been?" Ezra asked him before he grunted a response, "How'd you send a distress signal?"
The astromech droid then grabbed the Mandalorian's right wrist with his right metal arm as he pulled it out of his dome.
"Mmm! I'm kinda in the middle of something," the Mandalorian told him before Chopper grunted insistently as he continued to drag him, "Okay. Okay!"
Chopper then grunted yet again as he pointed upwards with his right metal arm as he let go of Ezra's wrist as they approached a group of small stacked containers on top of each other before he placed it back inside his dome as Ezra looked over the group of small containers and saw the SHeathipede-class shuttle that Chopper powered up earlier.
"A shuttle! It's a good find, Chop," Ezra told him, "But we're not leaving without Dad and Zeb. So, you get it running, and I'll get the others." Chopper then grunted a response as the Mandalorian continued to run towards the crane.
"Where is that Kid?" Rex grunted as he hid back behind a container for cover with Kanan and Mira after firing his DC-17s back at the B1 battle droids as Kanan had his lightsaber reignited, "We're gonna get trapped here. We need to move now."
"Rex, hold on!" Mira warned the clone as he went out of hiding.
"No, Rex. Wait!" Kanan said, agreeing with the female Mandalorian before Rex was hit in the chest by a blaster bolt from one of the battle droids' E-5 blaster rifles, causing him to fall on the floor on hi back as Kanan began deflecting the blaster bolts with his lightsaber as Mira began firing her WESTAR-35s back at the battle droids.
From the other side of the hangar, Ezra stood behind a group of containers as he extended his left arm out towards the crane as he began to move it with the Force, knocking two of the Droidekas off the catwalk and landed on the floor below and next to the B1 battle droids, causing them to power down their their shields deactivating as the catwalk split in half with one section of it landing on top of three of the battle droids and the other half landing in front of the last remaining battle droid of squad six.
"You all right?" Kanan asked Rex as he helped him up with his right hand.
"Yeah, are you okay, Rex?" Mira said, agreeing with the Jedi Knight.
"I'm good," Rex answered as he chuckled before he tapped his chest with his left hand and the DC-17 that he was holding, "Generation one armor always holds up." The three of them then began to run towards the ray shield generator with Rex firing his DC-17s at it, destroying it as they began running into one of the corridors of the Separatist supply ship, "No ray shields this time."
"Well, that went just as planned, more or less," Ezra remarked a he caught back up with his mother, Kanan and Rex as he began to run with them into the corridor of the Separatist supply ship, "I make a pretty good warrior, huh?"
"No. A good soldier or warrior in your case follows orders," Rex said as he stopped and turned around towards him, "That plan was based on timing and execution. And you took too long!"
"But Chopper wanted to show me…" Ezra began to say as he went to explain why he took too long to execute his plan.
"This is not a game! This is life and death! Every move you make affects the rest of us," Rex went on, "If we're gonna survive this, we're gonna do it with strategy and discipline. You of all people should know that."
"It's not you," Kanan assured Ezra as he placed his left hand over the right pauldron of his armor as Rex walked away from them as he went to scout ahead, "He needs to finish this battle his way."
"Just like that droid," Ezra muttered to himself as Kanan began to follow Rex.
"What was it that Chopper showed you, Ezra?" Mira asked her son.
"I'll tell you when this is all over, Mom," Ezra told her as they followed Kanan and Rex as the clone fired one of his DC-17s at a B1 battle droid in the head, killing instantly as it fell to the floor.
Rex then ran around the corner and entered another corner with Kanan, Ezra and Mira as Ezra had his lightsaber in his left hand with one of its blades ignited. Rex and Mira then fired their blasters at two B1 battle droids in the corridor that they ran through, killing both battle droids. A Droideka rolled in front of them as they stopped and entered their attack formation as their shields activated and began firing their two repeating blaster cannons at them.
"Rex, Mira, get between us!" Kanan ordered the clone and female Mandalorian.
"Ezra, incoming!" Rex warned the Mandalorian as he and Mira stood between them as another Droideka came up behind them and began firing upon them with their repeating blaster cannons as Rex and Mira began firing at both of the Droidekas with their blasters as Kanan and Ezra began to deflect their blaster bolts with their sabers.
"Push and fire, now!" Kanan told them with Rex walking up next to him, while Mira did the same as she walked up next to her son as the Jedi Knight extended his right arm out towards the Droideka, causing it to be pushed backwards a bit with its shield generator deactivating.
Rex then fired one of his DC-17s at the Droideka, causing it to spark with electricity as it began to malfunction as its shield generator reactivated before it approached the wall next to it and began firing its two repeating blaster cannons at it before it fell to the floor on its back.
"Rex, a little help over here!" Mira called out to the clone as she continued to fire her WESTAR-35s at the Droideka in front of her and Ezra before it fired its repeating blaster cannons at Ezra with one of its blaster bolts colliding with his right arm as he landed on his back with his lightsaber deactivating as it continued to fire its repeating blaster cannon upon them.
One of the Droideka's blaster bolts collided with Rex's helmet, causing him to fall to the floor as well with his helmet falling off of his head and landed beside him before he grabbed it with his right hand and threw it at the Droideka, causing it to spark with electricity as its shield generator deactivated.
"That worked!" Rex said with relief in his voice as he fired one of his DC-17s at the Droideka's chest plating with Mira doing the same with her WESTAR-35s, causing it to slump downwards as it powered down and deactivated.
"The shield overheated. That droid's too old," Kanan explained as he deactivated his lightsaber and stared at the disabled Droideka as Rex stood back up.
"And it hasn't been worked on for over a decade," Mira stated as she placed her WESTAR-35s back in their holsters before she helped her son back up with her left hand as she grabbed his right arm, "No wonder it overheated."
"Just like me," Rex scoffed as he placed his DC-17s back in their holsters before he walked over to his helmet.
"You okay?" Kanan asked Ezra.
"Yeah, I'll be fine," Ezra assured him as Rex placed his helmet back over his head.
In the command center, Kalani heard blaster fire being fired from outside the command center's entrance on his right side with it being opened as he held an E-5 blaster rifle in his left hand as he saw Rex and Mira firing their blasters at one of the B1 battle droids that were guarding the room's entrance, killing the battle droid instantly before the clone fired one of his DC-17s at Kalani's E-5 blaster rifle, knocking it out of his left hand.
"Well, looks like we win," Rex told Kalani as he aimed his DC-17s at the super tactical droid and had him at blaster point as Ezra, and Kanan stood behind the clone with Mira as both Force-Sensitives had their lightsabers reignited.
"I disagree, Captain," Kalani said as two of the B1 battle droids aimed their E-5 blaster rifles at Zeb and Ephraim's backs.
"Move your blaster away from my husband's back!" Mira ordered the B1 battle droids.
"Rex, no! Don't!" Ezra said, trying to stop Rex from killing the Super tactical droid as the clone fired one of his DC-17s at him, only for Ezra to move Rex's DC-17 blaster pistol away from Kalani's head just before the clone fired it with its blaster bolt colliding with the wall behind the Super tactical droid before he walked in between the clone and Super tactical droid, "We didn't win. These droids are so old, they malfunctioned. If they hadn't we'd be goners."
"The boy is correct," Kalani stated, agreeing with the Mandalorian, "The droid army would have prevailed. So, technically, victory is ours."
"No, it's not!" Ezra said, disagreeing with Kalani, "I never thought about it. I never really asked, even though I was born during the war. I know the Jedi were wiped out, the clones were decommissioned, and the droid army was just shut down. The Clone War ended, but why? If none of you won, who did?"
"Uh, the Empire," Zeb answered after a few seconds of silence.
"Zeb's right," Ephriam said, his voice steady, "The Empire didn't win a victory. They just took control. And we all paid the price."
"Zeb, Dad, that's right!" Ezra stated, agreeing with them as they all turned towards the Lasat and former Protector, "How did you both know?"
"Because they're here and they're about to win again," Zeb answered as they all stared out the command center's viewport and walked towards it a bit as they saw three Gozanti-class cruisers and a Star Destroyer in the sky of Agamar.
"I've got a new calculation for you," Ezra told Kalani as he looked at him, "What are the chances your droid army can defeat the Empire?"
"My resources are depleted," Kalani answered, "However the droid army is not currently at war with the Galactic Empire."
"You wanna bet?" Zeb asked the Super tactical droid.
"Unit B1-268, analyze the threat," Kalani ordered B1-268 with his built-in comlink as he placed one of his left hand's fingers on it.
"Roger, roger," B1-268 replied as he touched his built in comlink with one of his left hand's fingers as he held his E-5 blaster rifle in his right hand before he turned around towards two Sentinel-class Imperial shuttles with a few other B1 battle droids, "Move in!"
The Imperial shuttles soon landed a few meters away from the battle droids as their wings folded back up with one of their ramps lowering with a squad of stormtroopers standing inside the shuttle's troop bay along with a stormtrooper commander with an orange pauldron before two stormtroopers ran down the ramp and stood on both sides of the shuttle as they aimed their E-11 blaster rifles in a ready position as the rest of the stormtroopers walked down the shuttle's ramp before they all cocked their E-11 blaster rifles.
"Is that what I think it is?" One of the stormtroopers asked the stormtrooper commander with disbelief in his voice.
"Greetings, I am unit B1-268," B1-268 said, introducing himself to the stormtroopers as he and the other B1 battle droids approached them, while the other two stormtroopers moved behind the other stormtroopers and aimed their blaster rifles at the battle droids as well, "My commander has sent me to report your intentions."
"Yeah, Clone Wars battle droid," the stormtrooper commander answered, confirming the other stormtrooper's suspicions, "Surprised its battery hasn't run out."
"Um, are we…" B1-268 muttered.
"Don't see many of these anymore," the stormtrooper stated.
"Oh, no," the stormtrooper commander said, agreeing with him, "And when you do, there's usually a bunch of them. All right, you know the drill."
"Greetings," B1-268 said before the stormtrooper aimed their E-11 blaster rifle at B1-268 before firing it at him, killing the battle droid instantly as the other stormtroopers began doing the same to two more battle droids.
"Oh, my go…" the last remaining battle droid began to scream as he ran in a circle and fired his E-5 blaster rifle in the air, only to be cut off in mid-sentence as an AT-AT stomped on him with one of its front legs, killing the battle droid instantly.
Just then, another AT-AT appeared next to the one that killed the last remaining battle droid as it had been deployed by one of the Gozanti-class cruisers. One of the other Gozanti-class cruisers then did the same to a pair of AT-DPs in the distance before the Gozanti-class cruiser began to fly away.
"I think we face a common enemy now," Ezra stated as he walked forward.
"Ah, wait a minute!" Rex said as he began to interject.
"Let him finish, Captain," Kanan told Rex as he placed his left hand over the right pauldron of the clone's armor.
"Yeah, just listen to my son, Rex," Mira said, agreeing with Kanan as she removed her helmet from his head and placed it under her arm.
"Clones? Battle droids?" Ezra went on as he turned back around towards them as he removed his helmet from his head and placed it under his arm, "You destroyed each other. And when you were both weak enough, the Empire took over." Rex and Kalani then looked at each other for a second, "General, what were the Separatists fighting for?"
"According to my programming, freedom from the tyranny of the Republic," Kalani answered.
"Hmm, fighting tyranny," Ezra muttered, "Sounds like the Empire has always been your enemy."
"You are against the Empire. I am against the Republic. Now the Republic has become the Empire," Kalani stated, "I accept your logic. We are on the same side."
"Sorry," the B1 battle droids that were guarding Zeb and Ephriam apologized to them.
"No problem, you were just doing as you were ordered," Ephriam told the battle droids as he looked at them.
"I guess we are," Rex said as he also removed his helmet from his head and placed it under his arm.
"However as I stated, my forces are too depleted for me to plan a successful counterattack," Kalani told them as he walked forward a bit.
"Fighting insurmountable odds? We can help you with that," Kanan assured the Super tactical droid as he looked at him.
"Insurmountable odds? Sounds like a typical day for us Mandalorians," Mira stated with a smile on her face.
Meanwhile outside the Separatist supply ship, Chopper stood behind the group of containers as he saw the Imperials as he began grunting agitatedly and contacted Ezra with his built-in comlink as he pulled out both of his metal arms.
"Yes, Chopper, we know the Empire is here," Ezra told the astromech droid with his armor's wrist communicator as Kanan looked at him with his arms crossed, "How's the shuttle coming?"
"Shuttle? What shuttle?" Kanan asked him with confusion in his voice as he lowered his arms.
"That's what you were trying to tell us earlier," Mira realized as she looked at her son, "Wasn't it, Ezra?"
"Yeah, that's exactly what I was trying to tell you guys earlier," Ezra confirmed.
"We have three Sheathipede-class shuttles, but they have no weapons," Kalani told them as a poloprojection of the hangar appeared from the holoprojector of the holotable in front of them within the command center with three Sheathipede-class shuttles appearing frm it.
"No, but they can get us outta here," Kanan suggested.
"A successful retreat is improbable," Kalani dismissed, "The walkers will destroy the ships before they escape the hangar."
"We don't have the firepower to take on the walkers," Rex added as he had his left arm crossed with his right hand near his chin as he held his right arm's elbow with his left hand as he lowered his arms and clenched his left hand into a fist and placed it over his hip.
"They're right, we'll have to come up with a different strategy," Ephriam said, agreeing with Rex and Kalani as he stroked his beard.
"Yeah, we'll have to come up with a different strategy," Mira stated, agreeing with her husband.
"What about the bombs we came here for?" Kanan asked the Super tactical droid.
"We have no cannon to fire the shells," Kalani told the Jedi Knight, "Otherwise, I would have used them on you."
"Oh, thanks," Kanan muttered as he crossed his arms again.
"We're running out of time!" Ezra told them as he placed his left hand over his hip.
"Ah, we roll 'em!" Rex suggested as he began gesturing his plan with his left hand, "The proton bombs. We roll 'em across the hangar and into the feet of the walkers. Then we blast 'em!"
"My battle droids are not accurate," Kalani stated before he looked at Kanan as Rex crossed his arms with Kanan placing his arms behind his back, "However, you are, Master Jedi."
"I don't understand," Kanan said with confusion in his voice as he looked at him.
"My droids will line up and fire at you and your apprentice. You two will then redirect their blaster bolts towards the shells more accurately, thus setting off more targets than my droids can hit alone," Kalani explained as he projected the plan from the holoprojector of the holotable with the proton bombs on the holoprojector, destroying the AT-ATs as they disappeared from the holoprojector.
"Well, this takes trust to a whole new level," Rex stated.
"It sure does, Rex," Mira said, agreeing with the clone with a smile on her face.
"Chopper, get the munitions ready to roll," Kanan sighed as he took out his comlink with his right hand and contacted Chopper with it.
"Ready, Zeb?" Rex asked Zeb as he stood at a container across from the crane that Ezra pulled down earlier with the Force as Zeb was hiding in front of it with three battle droids before the Lasat gave the clone a thumbs up with his right hand before Rex began walking over to Ezra, Kanan, Mira, Ephriam, Chopper, Kalani and the other battle droids as he and the three Mandalorians had their helmets over their heads again with Kanan and Ezra holding their lightsabers in their right hands, "One last glorious day in the Grand Army of the Republic."
"Chopper, have the shuttle ready to go!" Ezra told Chopper as Rex stood across from him, Kanan, his parents, Kalani and the battle droids as the clone stopped walking towards them with Chopper rolling away from them.
"D-squad, get ready!" Kanan ordered a squad of battle droids as he looked at them before Rex hid behind a container with a proton bomb in the distance on the hangar's floor.
"I have never attempted such a desperate strategy," Kalani told Rex as the clone held one of his DC-17s in his left hand.
"That's why we always won," Rex reminded him.
"Not always," Kalani corrected him.
"Hey, guys, focus on the present," Ezra told them.
"Yeah, you two can reminisce on the Clone Wars later," Mira said, agreeing with her son as she pulled out one of her WESTAR-35s with her right hand as Ephriam did the same with his.
"Agreed. We have a mission to focus on," Ephriam stated, agreeing with his son and wife, "Let's make sure we all get out of this in one piece."
"Once those shells explode, get to your shuttles," Zeb told the battle droids that he was hiding with.
"Roger, roger," two of the B1 battle droids that the Lasat was hiding with replied before the Lasat stood up and threw a thermal detonator that he was holding in his right hand at one of the AT-DPs, which began beeping as he activated it before it landed beside one of the walker's legs before exploding, causing the AT-DP to lose its balance as it began to fall to the ground a bit.
Zeb then looked at the battle droids before he climbed over the container as the AT-DP regained its balance before the battle droids began firing their E-5 blaster rifles at the AT-DP as they got out of hiding with Zeb as the AT-DP began firing its laser cannon back at them with one of its lasers colliding with one of the battle droids, destroying it instantly as the Lasat crouched and began firing his bo-rifle back at the AT-DP as well.
Two of the Droidekas then rolled ahead of them before stopping and entered their battle positions as their shield generators activated and began firing their blaster repeating blaster cannons upon the AT-DP, which the pilots of one of the AT-ATs noticed and turned the AT-AT's cockpit towards the Droidekas and began to fire its heavy laser cannon turrets at them.
"Now!" Rex said as he, Mira, Ephriam aimed their blaster pistols forward as four of the battle droids began to push the proton bombs forward before letting them roll forward on their own.
"Fire!" Kalani ordered five of his battle droids before they began to fire their E-5 blaster rifles at Kanan and Ezra as the Jedi Knight had his lightsaber ignited, while Ezra had one of his lightsaber blades ignited as well before they began redirecting the battle droids' blaster bolts towards the proton bombs, causing them to explode as they reached the feet of one of the AT-ATs as it began to tumble downwards to the ground on its side.
"This might be our only chance," Ezra stated, "Get to the ships!"
"Alright, everyone move!" Mira told everyone, "We've got a small window here, let's not waste it."
"You heard 'em, let's get going!" Ephraim said, agreeing with his wife and son.
Kanan, Ezra, Rex, Mira, Ephraim and Chopper then ran onto one of the Sheathipede-class shuttles as Zeb fired his bo-rifle at the Imperials as he slowly backed onto the shuttle that Kanan, Ezra, Rex, Mira, Ephraim and Chopper ran onto as Kalani and the battle droids ran onto the other two Sheathipede-class shuttles.
"I made it! I made it!" One of the battle droids cheered as he jumped onto one of the shuttles as he approached it as it lifted off of the hangar's floor with its ramp beginning to retract back inside as the shuttle's entrance slid shut before he fell off the ramp and onto the ground below as its ramp finished retracting back inside the shuttle.
"Lead shuttle, bank right," Rex ordered the shuttle in front of the one that he, Kanan, Ezra, Mira, Ephraim, Zeb and Chopper were on as he and the three Mandalorians having their helmets removed with Ezra, Mira and Ephriam having their helmets under their arms as he, Mira and Ephraim had their blasters back inside their holsters, while Ezra and Kanan had their lightsabers deactivated and clipped back onto their belts as he began piloting the shuttle that they were on with Kanan sitting on the shuttle's co-pilot seat, "Bank right!"
The only remaining AT-AT was standing in front of them as it fired its heavy laser cannon turrets upon the leading shuttle, causing it to begin flying downwards as it skidded across the left side of the walker before it crashed outside the hangar as it exploded, while Rex evaded the AT-AT with the other shuttle, which had Kalani on board doing the same as they safely escaped the hangar of the Separatist supply ship and the Empire before the stormtroopers tried shooting them down with their E-11 blaster rifles, but to no avail as the two remaining shuttles began to leave Agamar.
"We made it!" Ezra said with relief in his voice as he stood in the back of the shuttle with his parents, Kanan, Rex, Zeb and Chopper standing beside him as Rex now had his helmet under his arm, "General, do you read us?"
"Affirmative. We have survived the battle," Kalani answered as the shuttle projected a hologram of the Super tactical droid with its holoprojector above them as he appeared before them, "It was not a victory, but a successful strategy nonetheless."
"No, it was a victory," Rex corrected the Super tactical droid, causing everyone to look at him, "We all just won the Clone War, and you ended it, Ezra. A galaxy of senators couldn't do that. An army of Jedi, clones and droids couldn't find the middle ground, but you did."
"Rex, all I did was point out that none of you were meant to win," Ezra explained as Rex placed his right hand over the Mandalorian's left pauldron for a second, "You couldn't."
"And we needed to hear it," Rex told him.
"Agreed," Kalani said, agreeing with the clone, "I am satisfied if you are, Captain."
"I am," Rex answered.
"Very good," Kalani told him, "Now, based upon this battle, I calculate that you have less than a one percent chance of staging a successful rebellion against the Empire, so this is where we must part ways."
"Roger, roger," Ezra replied as he saluted Kalani with his right hand before the shuttle's holoprojector switched off the holoprojection of Kalani, "Despite being a Mandalorian, I can't imagine fighting that many droids all the time."
"Well, if you thought that was bad, let me tell you about the battle of Geonosis," Rex chuckled as he elbowed him a bit with his left elbow.
"This is Ghost away team," they suddenly heard Hera say from Kanan's comlink as the shuttle began to approach the Ghost, which hovered above Agamar as the shuttles were now in space above the planet as Kalani's shuttle split off from the rebels' shuttle, "Spectre-1, are you there?"
"Hera, I was just about to call you," Kanan said, answering Hera as he grabbed his comlink with his right hand, "How was your day?"
"We're tracking two shuttles leaving the system," Hera told him, "Is everything all right? Did you have trouble securing the bombs?"
"Well, the bad news is, we didn't get the bombs," Kanan answered from the Ghost's communications system in the cockpit as Sabine had her helmet removed and was sitting on the ship's co-pilot seat next to Hera, "The good news is, we don't need a pickup because we found a new Phantom." The two of them then looked at the Sheathipede-class shuttle that Kanan, Ezra, Zeb, Rex, Mira, Ephraim and Chopper were on before they smiled as Sabine crossed her arms, "Tell Sabine she's gonna need a paint job."
