Chapter Fourteen
"Here they come again."
Ahsoka heard the thrumming of heavy repulsors before she saw the disc-shaped HMP gunships coming in low over the rooftops towards them. Distantly, she recognized the sound as being very similar to that made by LAAT-series craft. That sound had always been comforting to her, it meant the ubiquitous GAR aircraft were nearby, either to provide air support, bring in reinforcements, or pull them out of a tight spot. Funny how a bit of context changed things.
There was a chorus of shouts to take cover from the streets far below in the brief moment before the gunships' drowned them out. The craft dumped their payload of rockets along the wide thoroughfare that had once been the center of Iziz's major market district and streaked back up into the sky, leaving behind a cacophony of a hundred small explosions. Ghes popped up quickly and let a wrist rocket loose after them, only for the small munition to side wind off and detonate harmlessly. That had happened the last four times he'd tried it, but he'd gotten lucky a few days back and wounded one by detonating an external munitions rack, so he kept trying.
Down below, Ahsoka could feel the results of that run; two dead, six wounded seriously enough for her to feel their pain and fear in the Force. She hazarded a quick peak over the side of the rooftop she and Ghes occupied and saw the host of anti-personnel rockets had chewed up the duracrete and scored a few direct hits on fighting positions, including what had been a well dug-in blaster cannon team.
"They must have a spotter." Ghes commented offhand, taking a moment to scan the nearby building faces and roofs before dropping back behind the cover of the perimeter wall.
"Uh-huh." Ahsoka grunted in agreement, spitting to get the taste of dust thrown up by the airstrike out of her mouth. She rolled over onto her back, rested her head against the wall, and placed the holocom she'd been talking into before the strike on her chest. "I think that makes the point pretty well, masters."
The barely hand sized projections of Obi Wan and Anakin exchanged a look, though it was hard to read whatever it was that passed between them at this scale.
"Yes…" Obi Wan began carefully. The audio quality wasn't great on this handheld unit, but they'd lost the larger holocom almost a week ago, so they had to make do. "Unfortunately, the Council still refuses to budge from their position…"
"Still?" Ahsoka snapped, acutely aware of the indignation in her own voice. If the Council saw this, they'd probably accuse her of getting "too involved", but screw it. "We already started a war here, what else do they think is going to happen?"
Things had gone downhill quickly after the rebels had rescued Saw and Dendup from their would-be executioners. The mass defection of the Royal Army combined with Steela's propaganda holos calling for resistance had triggered an uprising that had devolved, at least in Iziz, into a small civil war. The droid forces, held in reserve since the destruction of the city's power grid, had been back out, joining with what loyalists Rash still had to secure as much of the areas surrounding and connecting the palace and the spaceport as possible before the newly allied rebels and Royal Army could mobilize a coordinated effort to seize control. Still, Rash's supporters, it had become obvious that both sides considered themselves "the Loyalists" to whichever king they recognized, had been on the back foot, surrounded and outnumbered in a city without the power to charge their battle droids. That changed a week ago, when a Separatist transport had arrived, bringing more droids, field recharge stations, and, most importantly, the flight of HMP droids that had turned a sure victory for the united rebel and Army forces into a bitter stalemate.
"All they really need is something to take down those gunships." Ghes added as he attempted to find another rocket in his gear. "Either a couple Plex launchers or some RPSs. That's not asking for much, general."
Obi Wan sighed.
"We're aware of the dire nature of the situation on the ground there. If it were up to us, we'd send as much ordinance as we could get our hands on. But the Council was skeptical enough about the Order directly involving itself, and now that the situation has worsened..."
"They asked us to pull you out." Anakin said bluntly.
For a moment, Ahsoka was speechless. Why? After all they'd done here, when the rebels were so close to success, how could the Council want to pull them out now? It didn't make any sense, at least not to her. She opened her mouth to say as much, but…
"Good luck." Ghes scoffed. He'd given up on finding another rocket and propped himself up on an elbow facing her and the com. "This city's a war zone, you're not going to get a shuttle down anywhere near here."
"As we told Council." Obi Wan nodded. "Which has given us a small amount of breathing room to explore other options."
"There are… other channels we can try." Anakin added. "All you need to do is keep everything together until we work something out."
Ahsoka smiled, mostly to herself. That one might be just a bit easier said than done, but it was a chance.
"Thank you, masters. We'll do what we can here."
"Good luck, Ahsoka." Anakin said just before the transmission ended.
She stowed the com back in her belt and turned on her side to face Ghes, who was reaching back to retrieve his rifle from where it lay behind him.
"Well, at least that's something." Ahsoka sighed. It wasn't a great state of affairs where the promise that support might be coming was the best news they'd had in a while.
"Better than E-and-E-ing out in the jungle." Ghes pulled off his helmet, set it on the ground next to him, and pulled a rag out of a belt pouch. "Because that's about the only way we're getting clear of this."
Ahsoka nodded thoughtfully as Ghes started wiping dust out of his visor. Moral issues of abandoning these people aside, getting off planet definitely wasn't practical, not unless they got themselves lost in the jungle long enough for the Seps to stop looking. Considering past experience, that was something she'd like to avoid.
"I'm sure Anakin and Obi Wan will think of something. We'll just have to do what we can to keep them fighting until then."
Ghes grunted noncommittally and brought his helmet up to inspect his handiwork, scowling when he apparently found it unsatisfactory.
"You alright?" She asked, suppressing a laugh. There was just something about him fussing over his armor that she found amusing.
He shook his head fractionally.
"It's just going to take me hours to get this grit out. Not important right now."
Ahsoka was about to make a snide remark when she sensed someone coming. She craned her neck toward the roof's only access point, a stairwell left open to the elements by some previous blast. Ghes followed her gaze and reached for his rifle again, but she waved him off.
"Three coming up." A woman's voice called out from down in the stairwell.
"Clear." Ahsoka called back. "Just stay low."
Steela Guerrera's head and shoulders appeared above the pile of rubble that had once been the covered roof access. She nodded to them, looked around briefly, then pulled the rest of her body up onto the roof and began duck-walking towards them. Lux followed a moment later, mimicking her movement, and finally General Tandin, the older man pulling himself along on his stomach once he was out of the rubble.
"Any luck?" Steela asked, dropping against the wall next to Ahsoka and resting her rifle, she was never without the weapon, across her knees.
Ahsoka shook her head.
"Maybe. But it's going to take time."
Steela scowled. Her annoyance with the Republic had become increasingly apparent, and it was hard to blame her when Ahsoka was just as sick of the Council's hemming and hawing over how far they were willing to go as she was.
"Forgive me for saying," Tandin spoke up, grunting as he pulled himself up to a kneeling position in front of them. "but your Republic doesn't seem as dedicated to our cause as I had thought."
Ghes snorted failing to suppress a laugh. Tandin gave him an odd look.
"We've been making that point for a long time, general." Ahsoka explained.
"And it's part of why you and your men are so valuable." Lux added from where he'd set himself down next to Steela.
The older man nodded knowingly. Onderon's Royal Army may have been small, but they were trained, professional, and had a decent number of crew served heavy repeaters and blaster cannons. In the time since they'd been deployed, those weapons and their crews had proven extremely valuable.
"Be more helpful if you had air assets to help deal with those gunships." Ghes commented, trying to have the statement come off as sarcasm, but not having much luck hiding the serious edge in his voice.
"Yes…" Tandin began regretfully. "Unfortunately, what starfighters we did have were mothballed once Count Dooku agreed to provide for our orbital security. I did attempt to argue with Rash regarding that decision, but I believe he may have preferred to rely on the CIS, for obvious reasons."
In other words, Rash had been hedging his bets from the beginning. That went a ways toward explaining why there where so many battle droids on a world so far from the front lines.
"Could you bring in more troops?" Ahsoka suggested. "Put more pressure on Rash's perimeter. Those gunships won't be able to do much if we break through to the palace or the starport."
Tandin glanced sidelong at Lux and Steela, like he'd already fielded this question from them.
"Possibly." He admitted. "But the situation outside the capital is very different. Most of Rash's droids and loyalists are here, and there hasn't been much fighting elsewhere, but, if I were to call the other garrisons here, there would be no one protecting our other urban centers from punitive raids by Rash's forces."
"Yeah, Seps'll do that." Ghes agreed. "Saw it once or twice during the Ryloth campaign."
Ahsoka nodded. She'd flown a few desperate sorties over Ryloth intercepting Separatist bombers doing "asset denial" raids on civilian targets. She'd heard the tactic referred to as "scorched earth", from what she'd seen of the results, was the more accurate description. Tandin keeping his other forces where they were as an insurance policy against that possibility made sense strategically. It just didn't help their situation here.
"We'll just have to think of something else, then." Steela sighed. She drummed her fingers along the side of her rifle and half-turned her head to peek out at the city. "Any ideas?"
"Ghes's pretty sure they have a spotter directing fire from those gunships." Ahsoka offered. If they couldn't do anything direct about the gunships right now, they could at least try to limit the damage they were doing.
Steela leaned forward to look at Ghes.
"You see anyone?"
"No." Ghes shook his head. "It's either someone really good at keeping a low profile, or a droid…"
"It's a droid." Ahsoka confirmed. "If any organics were watching us for that long, I'd have felt something."
"It's a droid then." Ghes continued. "Probably a sniper team, because probe droids are a bit big for close observation in an urban area."
"And how do you suggest we locate this team, colonel?" Tandin asked, seeming just a bit skeptical.
Ghes held up his helmet.
"I'd be willing to bet me and Commander Tano are on their priority target list since that mess at the palace." He explained. "Probably know we're up here too, considering how many times we've stuck our heads up. I figure I'll stick this up there for a minute and, since they'll probably reposition soon anyway, they'll take a shot at it."
Ghes picked up his rifle, flipped it so he was holding it by the barrel, and dropped his helmet over the stock. He also unhooked his datapad from his belt, turned it on, and set it in his lap.
"Ready?" He asked, waiting for everyone to nod to him in turn before raising his rifle so his helmet was "looking" over the barrier out onto the city.
For a moment, everything seemed dead silent as they waited in hushed anticipation of whatever was about to happen, most likely…
A blaster shot rang out, and a red, high-energy bolt deflected off the cranium of Ghes's buy'ce with a piercing squeal. The force of the impact sent the decoy falling backwards, and, while Ghes kept hold of the rifle, the helmet clattered onto the rooftop. He looked down at the datapad for a moment, and Ahsoka leaned to look as well. On the screen was a view of the city in the direction the helmet had been facing, with a red crosshair superimposed over a section of one building façades, presumably where the shot had come from.
Ghes looked to Steela.
"Bearing; one-two-six point four, third floor from the top."
The woman popped up with her rifle, steadying herself on the barrier, and fired twice in rapid succession.
"Two down." She said, holding on target but not taking another shot.
Ahsoka pulled out a pair of macrobinoculars and turned to have a look for herself, resting the device on top of the barriers to keep as low as possible. After a few seconds, she found the area Ghes had indicated, and the two slate grey droids slumped behind a big rifle on a bipod and a spotter's scope.
"Commando droids." She commented. "Figures."
Next to her, Ghes had retrieved his helmet and was rubbing the new furrow in the metal with a gloved finger. He nodded absentmindedly.
"At least they shouldn't have too many of those. Ought to solve the problem for a while."
"Yeah." Ahsoka agreed. She pulled her gaze away from the remains of the sniper team and looked at the woman who had destroyed them. "Nice shooting."
"Thanks." Steela said distantly. Now that the immediate threat was clear, she was looking down at the street, and the carnage caused by that last airstrike.
It wasn't hard to tell how much the mounting casualties they'd faced in the past weeks were affecting the rebel leader. She didn't seem as used to losing people under her command as Ahsoka and Ghes were, and she seemed about to fall into the trap of blaming herself for every death happening on her watch.
"How's Saw?" Ahsoka tried to pull the woman's attention away from what was happening on the street. It didn't seem to be working.
"He's doing better." Lux answered once it was clear Steela wasn't going to. Maybe Ghes was right about him being oblivious. "Steela's asked him to remain with the king's security detail until he's recovered fully."
Briefly, Ahsoka sparred a thought for the young rebel. It had been a few days since she'd been able to check on him, at which point he'd still been laid up by the injuries he'd sustained at the hands of Rash's interrogators before they'd rescued him and Dendup. It was ironic that Saw had indirectly started the final confrontation with the Seps he'd wanted, only to be forced to sit out the fighting.
Ahsoka nudged Ghes, still fussing over his scuffed helmet, to get his attention and tilted her head ever so slightly towards Steela. He scowled, but eventually nodded his accent.
"Lux, General, why don't you go down to street level and help out." Ahsoka suggested, though she tried to make it clear with her tone that it wasn't one they could ignore.
"Right." Lux got to his feet and moved back towards the stairs. Even though the sniper team had been taken out, he stayed low, which was a good habit. Ahsoka hadn't told him, and she knew Ghes wouldn't, but this little war had turned Lux into a proper soldier, even if he was sometimes still too much the senator's son for his own good.
Tandin mumbled something under his breath and got back on his stomach to crawl after the younger man. Him, Ahsoka felt sorry for. Competent as he might be, it had clearly been some time since the old officer had done any proper soldiering, and it definitely wasn't comfortable for a man his age.
"What's up?" Steela asked after the other two had gone. She'd shifted some of her her attention away from the street, but she was still keeping an eye down there.
"Are you doing alright, Steela?" Ahsoka put an arm on the woman's shoulder and tried to subtly pull her back down behind the barrier. "You seem… distracted."
Steela scowled.
"I'm fine, I'm focused." She insisted, a little too vehemently. "There's just a lot going on right now."
Ahsoka looked sidelong at Ghes. He stopped fussing over his helmet and gave Steela an appraising look.
"Guerrera," He said after a moment. "I ever tell you about my first combat command?"
"No." Steela said, now looking more confused than irritated. "Why?"
"It was a recon in force to some backwater moon." Ghes began, seeming to ignore the question, but Ahsoka had a pretty good idea where he was going with this. "We went with me, two Jedi, and a company of clones. Should have been a walkover. But it got botched; Seps saw us coming and hit us on insertion. Ended up taking eighty-percent casualties, including both Jedi."
"Oh…" That had gotten Steela's attention.
"Yeah." Ghes continued. He nodded in Ahsoka's direction. "I think Commander Tano has a similar story if you'd care to ask."
Steela looked to her expectantly.
"Worse." Ahsoka nodded grimly. "Just eight left out of a company, and that includes me, Anakin, and Rex."
Of course, that had technically been her second mission with the 501st, but she figured a bit of dramatic license was justified to help the point Ghes was making.
"That…" Steela started to say before hesitating. "I can't imagine… That can't be easy."
"It's not." Ghes assured her. He had that intense look in his eyes he Ahsoka had noticed the few times she'd gotten him to talk about Yavin before. She was actually kind of surprised he'd brought it up at all. "It's not supposed to be, that's the burden of command."
"But neither of those was our fault, Steela." Ahsoka continued. "When you go to war people die. Even when you do everything right, people die, people you know, people you consider friends. One minute they're standing there talking to you and the next they're just gone, and it sucks because you can never seem to do anything about it and it just makes you want to…"
Ahsoka stopped herself and took a breath. She'd started to get a little intense towards the end there, maybe she still had some unresolved feelings in that area herself that she hadn't recognize. Hopefully that helped get the point across.
Ghes reached over and squeezed her shoulder reassuringly.
"Like I said; it's not easy." He tried to force a small smile, but wasn't very successful. "But you have to learn to live with it."
Steela seemed to consider that for a moment, looking back out over the city. It was difficult to tell exactly what she was thinking, even for Ahsoka, as there wasn't much noticeable change to her presence in the Force. At the very least, she seemed less distracted than she had been, if only because they'd focused the conversation in on what had been causing that distraction.
"You've done a good job here, Steela." Ahsoka added. "You brought your people this far, and they trust you to see them through to the end."
"Thank you." Steela said. "That means a lot coming from you. Both of you."
Well, she sounded reassured, momentarily at least, which was still progress. Considering how everything else had been going lately, Ahsoka was willing to take that as a win.
"Come on, let's catch up with Lux and the general."
Besides the damage to the rooftop, the tower they'd set up in had remained largely intact despite the sporadic fighting happening around it. Iziz in general was faring slightly better than most other cities she'd seen endure any protracted conflict, likely because neither side possessed much in the way of heavy artillery or seemed interested in demolishing buildings. As such, it didn't take long for the three of them to make their way down the main stairwell and out onto the street just behind the line they'd been keeping watch over from the roof. On the ground, the improvised nature of the fortifications was more apparent; mobile crowd control barricades reinforced piled debris and any other sufficiently sturdy objects available, occasionally incorporating a crater from a previous attack, all coated in a thin layer of that omnipresent white dust.
Steela stopped one of the men moving close by along the rear of the line; an Onderonian Army man cradling a commandeered droid carbine rather than the usual pike.
"Sergeant," She asked him, gesturing back the way they'd come. "can you send two men up to that roof? Commander Tano and Colonel Marczak are coming with me."
The man spared a brief glance at the two Republic advisors, and Ahsoka felt her face flush just a bit when she recognized him. It was the same man she'd knocked out the night of Saw's disastrous little excursion.
"Of course, ma'am." The sergeant said. He continued on his way, this time at a jog, un-phased by the encounter.
Ghes chuckled softly under his helmet once the man had gone, the three of them continuing as well.
"What's funny?" Steela asked as they went.
Ahsoka shot Ghes an annoyed look before answering. "I broke that guy's nose the other week."
"Huh…" Steela considered for a moment. "I guess he doesn't hold a grudge."
They found Lux and Tandin at the casualty collection point situated about a hundred meters behind the line. Clustered under the canopies of an open-air produce market, a few medics monitored what must have been the casualties from that last air strike; maybe a dozen men and women either sitting or lying down on mats, and a handful laying covered by cloaks or ponchos. Ahsoka recognized Tandin kneeling next to one his men covered in dressings along much of his left side, Lux nearby looking over a datapad with one of the medics. He heard them coming and turned to greet them.
"Steela!" Lux called out, smiling, but he caught Ahsoka's eye and she felt a concern there.
She splayed her hands out and shrugged her shoulders fractionally. Their conversation had really gone about as well as could be expected, but how much that lukewarm sentiment would do to allay Lux's concern for his… whatever he and Steela were to each other, she was unsure.
"How bad is it?" Steela asked, stepping over to Lux's side.
Lux looked to the medic who'd been briefing him, one of their people Ahsoka only barely recognized.
"It could be much worse." The woman said. Her own people hadn't taken to calling Steela "ma'am" the way the soldiers had. "Those rockets chew up duracrete, but they're small and don't produce much shrapnel. So long as our people stay in their positions, it's only direct hits that are causing major injuries."
"That's good, thank you." Steela nodded, polite and respectful, but clearly dissatisfied with the assessment. Once the woman had returned to her work, she sighed. "So either we go out and get torn to pieces or stay pinned here waiting for those gunships to take us apart slowly. Great."
"No, those aren't very good options, are they." Lux added glumly. He looked around searchingly. "What we need is a way to fight back… What about that?"
Ahsoka followed the direction he was pointing a little ways down the street to a dark shape sitting hidden in an alley just barely wide enough to fit it. It was an AAT that had been isolated and captured during the early stages of the fighting before the Seps had fully realized what was happening. It hadn't seen much use since the gunship's had arrived, being a bit big of a target to be out in the open with the constant threat from the air looming over their heads.
"No good." Ghes shook his head. "You'll get a firing solution for the cannons when they're coming in, but it won't be able to keep up once they realize you're there and go evasive. That's probably why they're just doing attack runs and not loitering."
"Ah." Lux said, understanding the gist of what Ghes had said, if maybe not the details. "And I take it there's not much you can do to change any of that?"
"Depends." Ghes shrugged. He looked at Ahsoka. "There some Jedi tricks you can use to make any of that work?"
Ahsoka considered the idle tank for a moment, then looked around at the street. She'd seen enough AATs in action, mostly from the receiving end, to have a pretty good idea what the armored vehicles were capable of. They were quick and had a good amount of firepower for their size, but that made them much better suited to open plains than urban combat. For anti-aircraft…
"No." She shook her head. "I hate to say it, but there really is nothing we can do here."
Steela sighed and glanced back over her shoulder at the wounded men and women laying in the casualty collection point.
"Well then, let's hope your friends can figure out something quick."
Ahsoka found out over the next few days that "quick" was somewhat of a subjective standard.
As far as she was concerned, the three days it took Anakin and Obi Wan to contact them to let then know that the "alternate arrangements" they'd hinted at had been made was very quick, much quicker than she'd expected, in fact. And the two day timeline for delivery… that was practically unheard of.
But she was judging by the standards of the Republic; a gargantuan civilian bureaucracy with a haphazard and underdeveloped military one dropped in the middle. That wasn't an arrangement conducive to efficiency by any means. She'd dealt with supply and logistics issues that took over a month to sort out on multiple occasions. Some things just never showed up and there's was nothing else you could do except send another request.
Apparently, that was not the way anyone outside the GAR was inclined to look at the issue. Steela, Lux, General Tandin, had all made it increasingly clear to her and Ghes that they were deeply dissatisfied with what was, in their view, a painfully slow response by the Republic and the Jedi to their pressing need for additional support. It wasn't that Ahsoka didn't understand where they were coming from; the Council had agreed to support them, a promise the Onderonians expected them to hold to despite the conflict's escalation far beyond what it had been when they'd first approved the mission. Where the rebels went wrong was expecting their changing situation to expedite the supply process, or at least expand what the Council was willing to offer them, which Ahsoka thought it should, but it wasn't really her call.
In all honesty, they should probably have counted themselves lucky that it was Anakin and Obi Wan managing this instead of someone else. Not only would she and Ghes probably not be there, though she suspected her prior relationship to Lux had had a lot to do with that, but there weren't any other Jedi she could think of that would he willing to push the limits if the Council's instructions as much as the two were. And, while had taken a few days, they had apparently worked something out, though they'd been very sparse with the details of that arrangement in their instructions, for reasons she could probably guess. In the end, the only concrete information they'd given was a time and coordinates for the… well, the logical assumption was a delivery, but that had never actually been said.
"I am still uneasy about this arrangement." Tandin said, pacing slowly back and forth along the edge of the large clearing in the still dense jungle of the foothills that lead into the mountains well outside Iziz.
It was dark, well past local midnight, and they hadn't thought it prudent to bring anything other than small lights with them on the roughly thirty kilometer trek from the capitol, not with the gunships still a factor. As usual, it was difficult for Ahsoka to tell exactly how "dark" that dark was for humans, but, given the care they'd been taking as they moved, she suspected "very".
"Now come, general," Dendup said, the old man seated on a rock with Saw standing protectively over him. "the Jedi have given us no reason to mistrust them thus far."
For some reason Ahsoka wasn't quite sure she understood, the king had insisted on accompanying them on this rendezvous. Her best guess was that he, like Saw, felt as if he'd done little to contribute compared to the men and women fighting in his name. A noble sentiment, even if his presence was something of an unnecessary risk. Of course, Steela, Tandin, and Lux were here as well, with only three rebels to provide security, so this whole thing was already riskier than it needed to be.
"That is certainly an opinion, your highness." Tandin stopped and inclined his head respectfully. "Though I'm afraid not one I share."
"Calm down, general, I'm certain they'll be here." Lux said. "Right, Ahsoka?"
"Someone will be." That was probably the only thing she was sure of at this point, though she'd guess that whoever did show up, it wouldn't be Anakin and Obi Wan.
"Oh, I don't doubt that." Tandin continued. "I'm simply not confident they'll be able to provide us with the weapons we need."
"If that weren't the case," Lux said. "why would they have us come out here?"
"He has a point there, general." Saw added, stepping forward to stand beside Dendup rather than behind him. He looked better than he had after his and the king's rescue, but their shortage of bacta showed in the feint scars still visible on his face.
Tandin shrugged. He had no counter to that argument, but it clearly hadn't done much to allay his skepticism.
Ahsoka shook her head and stepped over to where Ghes stood, ambivalent to the conversation as he scanned the sky through his helmet's optics.
"Anything yet?" She asked quietly. She didn't want to mention it, but they were getting close to the end of the window Anakin had given her in the last set of instructions.
"Just a few comm satellites." He shook his head fractionally and sighed. "I don't know. If I was gonna do this, I think I'd probably come in behind that moon."
He nodded to the massive black orb looming in the sky, shielded from the local sun's light within the planetary shadow. Dxun, the largest and closest of Onderon's four moons.
Steela must have noticed the exchange, because she walked away from the others and joined her and Ghes.
"Colonel, did you see something?"
"Not yet." Ghes answered. "I'll let you know when I do."
Ahsoka turned to Steela.
"He thinks they're going to come in from behind Dxun." She gestured vaguely up at the moon.
"Makes sense." Steela nodded thoughtfully and joined them watching the sky.
There wasn't much else to say beyond that, not until something actually happened. Behind them, Lux, Saw, and Tandin where talking quietly, but Ahsoka wasn't paying close enough attention to follow any of it. The waiting in near silence must have gotten to Steela after a few minutes.
"Your people have history on Dxun, right colonel?" She said. "One of your kings died there?"
"What?" Ahsoka turned towards her and cocked an eyebrow. That didn't sound familiar to her, but then she wasn't Mandalorian or Onderonian. Most of what she knew about Dxun were Jedi legends about the ancient Sith.
"Manda'lor the Indomitable." Ghes nodded without looking away from the moon. "A long time ago."
That was a title she had heard; Manda'lor, currently claimed by Vizla. She wasn't sure she really understood what it meant though.
"Yeah, what was it?" Steela asked. "Three thousand years?"
"Closer to four." Ghes corrected. "Dark times. For both our peoples."
Steela nodded and that seemed to be the end of the conversation, though Ahsoka still wasn't sure what they'd even been talking about. She considered asking for more of an explanation, but thought better of it. Something told her that there was probably a lot to unpack there, and she wasn't sure how much longer they were going to he waiting.
It turned out not much.
"Got something." Ghes said, raising his voice just a bit to get everyone's attention.
"A ship?" Lux asked, apparently taking Ghes's minor increase in volume as an excuse to shout.
No, that wasn't fair. Lux wasn't shouting, it just sounded like he was against the quiet murmur of the jungle around them. Either way, there wasn't much danger this far out, they'd been keeping quiet more out of habit than anything.
"Yeah." Ghes confirmed. "Bearing zero-five-seven, inside the moon's disk."
Ahsoka didn't have a compass, so she followed Ghes's eyes best she could through his helmet. Silhouetted against the pitch black of Dxun, she could just barely make out a single, faint point of light.
"Where?" Steela asked. If Ahsoka could only barely see it, it was unlikely she'd be able to see it at all for a few more minutes. "Can you tell what it is?"
Ghes shook his head.
"Equipment's not that sensitive." He tapped a finger on the side of his helmet. "I'm barely picking up a drive trail."
That would change as the ship came closer, though. Within a few minutes, Ahsoka could make out the beginnings of a silhouette created by the light from the drives, and Ghes had narrowed the classification down to some model of small light freighter or star yacht.
"Padme?" The thought just popped into Ahsoka's head. After all, with Anakin involved, it wouldn't be impossible…
"What?" Ghes turned to look at her, momentarily confused. "Oh, yeah. No, drive signature's wrong for a Nubian.
Ahsoka shrugged. It had just been a thought. She didn't expect Padme to let herself get talked into gun-running anyway.
That still left the question of who they were meeting. The ship seemed to be coming in on its final approach now, and she still didn't recognize much beyond it being a Sorosuub model. She stretched out her senses and found several presences aboard, none of whom she recognized, though one did seem vaguely familiar in a way she couldn't quite put her finger on.
The yacht cut it's thrusters came in slow on repulsors, hovering for a moment as it rotated so the bow was pointed away from them, and settling down hard onto its landing gear with a hiss of released pneumatic pressure. After a few moments, the rear loading ramp began to lower.
Beside her, Ghes tensed and tightened his grip on his rifle. Ahsoka put a calming hand on his arm. She felt no sign of aggression from whoever was on board, just bored annoyance and… enthusiasm?
She was aware that the others had moved to stand behind her, Ghes, and Steela. Once the ramp was lowered, a figure appeared at the top, silhouetted against the bright interior lights.
"My friends!"
And Ahsoka remembered where she'd felt that presence before.
The man, a Weequay in a Desevrar helmet and long, red coat, spread his arms welcomingly and trotted down the ramp towards them.
"Ah! You, I know." He pointed to Ahsoka.
Ahsoka sighed.
"Hondo." She, begrudgingly, acknowledged the old pirate. He wasn't the sort of being you really wanted to know.
"You know this guy?" Ghes asked, more out of suspicion of Hondo than her.
"Unfortunately." She said, only half under her breath. "This is Hondo Ohnaka. He's a pirate."
"Ah-ah-a, I am a legitimate businessman." Hondo claimed, before quickly adding. "In addition to being a pirate. And who are you, mister Mandalorian?"
"Colonel Marczak, Grand Army of the Republic."
"Very well then, Colonel-Marczak-Grand-Army-of-the-Republic," The pirate repeated, somewhat mockingly. "You can thank me for delivering a gift to you and your band of freedom fighters!"
He made a sweeping gesture that ended with him pointing back up the ramp. Four more Weequay came out if the ship carrying two crates between them; one standard munitions crate, and another longer and more rectangular. The crew, grumbling all the way, placed the crates down at the end of the ramp. While the others moved forward to get a closer look, Ghes held Ahsoka back.
"You trust this guy?" He whispered close to her montral.
Surprisingly, she had to think about that one for a moment. She'd had two interactions with the pirate herself and, based on the first one, no, she wouldn't trust him at all. But the second…
"If they paid him to do a job, he'll do it." Hondo did have his own weird sense of honor, at least when it came to business. "But beyond that, no."
Ghes shrugged, accepting the situation for what it was, and they stepped forward to join the others around the longer crate.
"Behold," Hondo bent down and lifted the lid of the crate, revealing a neatly packed row of launchers. "the latest from Sienar!"
He pulled one of the weapons from its slot and held it out in both hands.
"RPS-6 shoulder-fired missile system," He explained cheerfully, like he was presenting a new luxury speeder rather than a weapon system. "with the full air defense package! Very good… and very expensive."
"Paid for?" Ahsoka cocked an eyebrow at the pirate.
He smiled back slyly.
"Handsomely."
Hondo handed the launcher to Saw, who heated the weapon briefly before turning to give the others a look.
"Will this be good, colonel?" Steela asked, and they all turned to look at him.
Ghes nodded slowly. There were a few things he knew very well, mostly related to violence, and weapons were one of those things.
"That'll do the job." He turned to Hondo. "How much you got?"
"Ten units and two hundred missiles. Once we unload the other two crates!" He directed that last part to his crew, who immediately ran back up the ramp to complete the task.
"Not bad." Ghes nodded approvingly.
While Steela, Lux, and Saw examined the launchers and cracked open the munitions crate which presumably held the missiles, Dendup broke from them and stepped over to Hondo, Tandin following to replace Saw as the king's shadow.
"Sir," The old man began. "I would like to thank you on behalf of the people of Onderon for your for the aid you're providing us."
"What?" Hondo replied, seeming to take a moment to recognize what was happening in front of him, and the potential opportunity that went with it. He smiled. "Of course, of course, my friend…"
"His majesty, King Dendup." Tandin finished for the pirate, clearly far less grateful for the man's role in this than his sovereign.
"Ah!" Hondo's face lit up even further. "Of course, I am always happy to support such a noble cause. And I'm sure we'll be able to do much more business together, eh?"
Ahsoka rolled her eyes and turned to look back at the jungle. She saw the two sentries just inside the treeline at that end of the clearing, who seemed to paying more attention to what was going on around the yacht than further into the jungle. A bit irritating, because they should know better.
"Yeah, I saw that too." Ghes said, guessing what she was looking at. "Was thinking about having Guerrera go over and give them an earful about it."
"No,…" She waved the issue off. "We're almost done here anyway. Steela can talk to them when we get back."
"Alright." Ghes shrugged.
She started to ask how long he thought training for the launchers would take, but stopped herself when she had an odd feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach.
"What is it?" Ghes asked, suddenly alert.
"I'm not sure…" She didn't sense any negative intentions from the pirates.. Did she hear something? Hando's ship was still idling, but underneath the steady sound of the drives was another, lower tone, almost…. thrumming?
"Get down!"
Ahsoka threw herself to the ground, pulling Ghes along with her. Behind them, the others reacted slightly slower; Saw and Tandin both covered Dendup, Steela and Lux crouched and covered their heads, and Hando just kept standing straight up.
An HMP shot overhead at close to treetop level, close enough that Ahsoka could feel the wash from its repulsors sweep over her. It fired a volley from its cannons, but must have overshot, because the shots didn't seem to impact anywhere close to them.
"Alright!" Hando shouted, turning on his heel and walking up the ramp to his ship. "Time to leave!"
His crew quickly dropped the remaining two crates near the bottom of the ramp and turned to follow. Lux and Saw pulled them the rest if the way off, even as the ramp was starting to raise back into position.
"Why'd it come in so low?" Ahsoka asked, picking herself up off the ground.
"I don't know…" Ghes said. He waved for the two sentries, now much more alert than they had been, to come in.
Behind them, Hando's ship began to lift off, thrusters already roaring before it was even above the jungle canopy. The sentries had barely broken the treeline before, seemingly out of nowhere, one was struck in the back by a blaster bolt. Seeing what happened, the other turned back and raised her rifle, only to catch two rounds to the chest.
"Har'chaak." Ghes swore, bringing up his rifle and advancing on the treeline firing.
Ahsoka caught sight of a group of figures moving in the jungle; at least five, maybe as many as eight. Their movements were distinct, and instantly recognizable.
"Commando droids!" She shouted over her shoulder, drawing her lightsabers and advancing to cover Ghes.
It might seem counterintuitive, but it was their best option. BX droids were deadly accurate compared to their more numerous counterparts, and the two of then were the most likely to survive drawing their fire. The "plan", such as it was, started working immediately. Ahsoka whirled her sabers in front of her, deflecting bolts she could have dodged to protect the people behind her. A shot glanced off Ghes's shoulder with a metallic screech and flew past her head, another came at his other side, and she felt a burst of pain from him as it found flesh. He fired along the same line and nailed the droid, only for it to get back up and keep firing.
She could close the gap in a few seconds, she knew, but that would leave Ghes alone and the others exposed, and she didn't know exactly how many droids were out there. Assuming they'd come in on the HMP, it couldn't be too many, but eight or ten Commando droids was a lot more of a problem than five.
Ghes took a round to the stomach and stopped. His armor took the brunt of it, but he still gruntied loud enough from the pain of impact that she could make it out, if barely, over the sound of blasterfire around them. Ahsoka stopped herself and glanced sidelong at him while keeping up her own defense. Another bolt grazed his left side plate, and a third caught the cheek of his helmet, barely missing the visor. Dazed from the last blow, Ghes gave up moving forward and dropped to a knee.
"Ghes!" Ahsoka shouted.
"I'm good." He grumbled back and kept firing.
Assurances aside, their situation was getting to the point were it would become untenable. It was only a matter of time before a droid got in a lucky shot, or thought to circle around them…
Something flew by her head, fast and hot, followed almost immediately by a dazzling explosion in the treeline, causing her to shield her eyes. A wave of pressure washed over her and Ghes. She stumbled and dropped to a knee, Ghes fell over on his side.
Ahsoka glanced back over her shoulder and saw Saw aiming one of the RPS launchers, looking dumbfounded by the weapons effect. However many Commando droids there had been to begin with, there were now four; spread out, off balance, and exposed now that the dumb-fired missile had torn up the underbrush. Steela dropped one with a with a headshot, Ghes dealt similarly with a second. A third took a shot at Ahsoka, only to eat the bolt itself when she sent it back along the same line. She couldn't tell who took out the last one, Steela and Ghes both fired and their shots connected at the same time
Saw whooped and lifted the launcher over his head.
"I love this thing!" He shouted excitedly, seeming to forget the obvious issue with the little celebration.
"Gunship!" Ghes called out as he struggled to his feet.
The HMP had attempted to follow Hondo's ship back up into the sky, but, unable to keep pace with the pirate vessel, had broken off the pursuit and was circling back around towards them.
Saw spun around and pointed the launcher skyward, but he seemed to quickly realize that he was missing something.
"Uhh, colonel," He called over his shoulder, "how do I do this?"
Ahsoka looked at Ghes, smirking slightly despite herself, he sighed. The two of them stood and ran back to the others. Only Steela, Saw, and Lux remained, Tandin must have spirited Dendup back to their mounts hidden away in the jungle nearby. She assumed the other two sentries had gone with them, seeing as their use was limited against the singular, highly visible threat of the gunship.
"Looks like we're doing a crash course…" Ghes muttered under his breath as he took up a position next to Saw. "Bontieri, missile!"
Lux pulled a cylinder from the munitions crate, opened an end, and slid another of the missiles out of the protective packaging. He moved to the real of the launcher and gingerly inserted the munition into the back of the tube until it clicked into place. Slow, but understandable; unfamiliar hi-ex tended to make one cautious and uncomfortable.
"Alright," Ghes continued. "There's a switch on the side of the optic..."
"This one?"
"Yeah, flip that to the down position." Ghes paused for the audible click that caused. "Now put the reticle on the gunship."
The launcher, now in its seeker mode, began beeping just loud enough to be heard about an arm's length from the weapon by the human ear.
"Wait for the solid tone…" Ghes continued.
The beeps grew progressively closer together, until, finally, they merged together.
"Now?" Saw asked.
"Now!" Ghes barked. "Fire!"
"Wait!" Ahsoka shouted over the two. She reached out and dragged Lux by the collar away from where he was standing directly behind the launcher. "Okay, now!"
Saw, probably oblivious to why she'd stalled him, pulled the trigger. The missile rocketed out the front of the tube, a wave of back blast divoting the ground where Lux had been standing. The HMP broke off its attack run and went evasive, pulling up and launching countermeasures. The missile banked to follow, ignoring the countermeasures and gaining on the gunship until…
Lux and Saw whooped as the attack craft disintegrated, lighting up the sky over their heads.
"They work…" Steela said quietly, almost like she hadn't really believed it before now. "We can kill them…"
"That's what I'm talking about!" Saw shouted. He let the launcher sag back over his shoulder and pumped his fist in the air.
Ahsoka couldn't help but smile. When Ghes stood up, she stepped beside him and wrapped an arm around his waste. This moment had been a long time coming. Now it was only a matter of time.
"Ma'am. Sir."
Ahsoka and Ghes returned the sergeant's salute as the formation marched past them out of the landing area.
The end of the fighting had come about surprisingly quickly.
Within a week of the rebels receiving the RPS launchers, they'd brought down three more HMPs, and the two or three they thought were left undamaged had ceased flying regular sorties against their positions. Without that air cover, Rash's loyalists, already fewer in number, started losing ground. And then the droids had disappeared.
From what they'd managed to piece together after the fact, the Seps had decided to cut their loses, pulling what remained of their forces back to the spaceport and evacuating off world even as their remaining allies crumbled around them. When the rebels had finally reached the palace, they'd found Rash lying dead in the throne room, shot in the back.
"I don't know how you get used to that." Lux said, watching the squad of airborne troopers until they rounded a corner.
"What? Getting saluted?" Ahsoka asked, shrugging her shoulders. "I don't know, you stop thinking about it after a while."
"Never much cared for it myself." Ghes added. "But it's part of the job."
Lux twisted his face into something that was almost a sneer.
"No, having all these soldiers around." He said, the barest hint of disgust present in his voice. "It doesn't make you feel… uneasy?"
Ahsoka mulled over the question in her mind for a moment, and found herself scowling.
"You wanted the Republic, Bontieri." Ghes gestured towards the activity on the landing field. "There it is."
"I wanted the Republic to help drive out our occupiers." Lux responded. "Not replace them."
"Oh, get off your high horse, Lux!" Ahsoka snapped, unable to restrain her irritation. "These men are here to help you defend yourselves."
"I didn't mean to imply otherwise." Lux said defensively. "I'm just making an observation."
Ahsoka narrowed her eyes, unconvinced and a little resentful of the implication of Lux's words.
"It wasn't like this before the war." He continued. "You never used to see soldiers like that. Not in the Republic."
Because there weren't any, Ahsoka wanted to point out the obvious, but stopped herself when she saw Ghes nodding.
"Yeah, I remember when CSF didn't even have assault shuttles." He said, shrugging in a 'what you gonna do' sort of gesture. "Things change. Right, cyar'ika?"
Ahsoka nodded. In truth, she didn't really remember much about what Coruscant beyond the Temple had been like before the war. She'd take Ghes's word for it, though.
"And that doesn't bother you?" Lux asked.
"Why should it?"
Lux sighed. Ahsoka got the feeling he had more to say on the matter, but he didn't seem eager to pursue it further right now. That was all right with her. While Lux's idealism was admirable in principle, in practice it could get very grating once something got him started.
"Finally." Ghes muttered under his breath. He nodded towards the tunnel that led to the spaceport's main terminal. "Here they come."
Ahsoka turned in that direction and saw the party they'd been waiting for; Steela and Dendup, flanked by a pair of Onderonian soldiers, looking all the more official and ceremonial now that they'd returned to carrying laser lances. As the group approached, Lux bowed slightly in deference to the old monarch.
"You're majesty."
"Senator Bontieri." Dendup returned jovially, the use of the restored title causing the younger man to smile awkwardly. The king nodded to Ahsoka and Ghes in turn. "Commander. Colonel."
"Your majesty." They returned together.
"I see the Republic continues to be as good as their word." The king continued. He watched as another LAAT/i came in for a landing around a hundred meters away, guided into line with those already on the ground by a pathfinder sergeant waving a transponder. There was a troop transport in orbit, but Iziz's spaceport wasn't really equipped for something of that tonnage. "Your men certainly put on quite the display."
"Thank you, your highness, but this isn't our command." Ahsoka told him. " These men are taking over our mission here."
"So, you're leaving then?" Steela said, not really surprised as far as Ahsoka could sense, but… well, the question of how much longer they'd be staying now that the Separatists were gone had been left a bit open ended up until now.
"Yeah." Ghes nodded. "Tomorrow."
"A shame." Dendup said. "But know that the people of Onderon owe you both a debt for all that you have done for us."
"Thank you, you're majesty." Ahsoka inclined her head towards the old man. "We're just doing our duty to the Republic."
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Lux look briefly at Ghes, seeming like he was just about to make a comment, but he seemed to think better of it. He had gotten smarter.
"Come on," Ghes said, walking further out onto the landing field and waving for everyone to follow. "We'll introduce you to the man you're going to be working with."
Dendup dismissed the two Onderonian soldiers and the five of them made their way towards the small group of troopers standing in a circle near the center of the line of LAATs. All things considered, clone officers weren't too hard to pick out of a crowd; just look for some combination of kamas, pauldrons, and helmet visors, the last one not being something she was too used to seeing on the paratrooper variant, but right now she could see a couple. As they approached, one of those troopers, she presumed the most senior, looked back at then over his shoulder, then stepped back from the circle and made a series of gestures that seemed to disperse the others to carry out whatever other tasks needed doing. Once that was done, the man turned, pulled off his helmet, and took a few steps forward to meet them.
"Commander. Colonel." The clone snapped to attention and saluted sharply once they were close enough for everyone to hear him over the whine of idling repulsors.
"Commander Gage." Ghes returned the salute, closed the remaining gap, and shook the man's hand. "Been a long time. You're looking good."
"Thank you, sir." Gage smiled thinly for a moment, then turned towards Ahsoka. "Ma'am."
"Commander." Ahsoka nodded. She'd never met the trooper, though Ghes seemed to have.
Ghes stepped to Commander Gage's side and turned towards the three Onderonians.
"Commander, these are your primary points of contact;" He began introducing them. "His majesty, King Dendup, Senator Lux Bontieri, and…"
He paused when he got to Steela. They hadn't really discussed what her official title was now, at least not in any conversation Ahsoka and Ghes had been party to.
"General Steela Guerrera, Royal Onderonian Militia." Dendup offered after a moment. For her part, Steela seemed a little embarrassed. Ahsoka thought she might be blushing, but her skin was on the darker side for a human, so it was hard to tell.
"General Guerrera." Ghes repeated, a hint of amusement in his voice. In general, planetary defense force and militia ranks didn't really carry much weight with the GAR, but Steela had earned their respect. Ghes just probably wasn't going to be saluting her anytime soon.
"Ma'am, gentlemen." Commander Gage nodded stiffly. "Command Gage, CC-3587, 33rd Airborne Regiment, at your service."
Ahsoka noticed the trooper straighten up and puff out his chest a little while he said that. Airborne troopers, like ARFs, where a specialty unit, and extremely proud of it. The 501st had a battalion, and they were never hard to identify, even off duty.
Steela stepped forward and stuck her hand out toward Gage. "Looking forward to working with you and your men, commander."
"Thank you, ma'am." Gage shook the offered hand. "I can introduce you to my staff now if you'd like."
"Sounds good to me." Steela responded. See looked back over her shoulder expectantly. "Lux? Your majesty?"
Lux opened his mouth to respond, but Dendup spoke over him.
"Go ahead, general," The king said. "we'll catch up with you in a moment. I'd like a word with Commander Tano and Colonel Marczak."
Steela nodded and followed Gage as he started off down the line of gunships.
"Remarkable woman." Dendup commented, though it wasn't clear who, if anyone, it was directed at until he clapped Lux on the shoulder. "You're very lucky, my boy."
"Ahh…, thank you, your majesty." Lux said awkwardly, blushing and rubbing the back if his neck.
Ahsoka smirked despite herself and Ghes covered his mouth to hide his own snickering. Dendup looked at them, seemed to realize what he'd done, and smiled sheepishly.
"You'll have to forgive an old man his musings." He apologized. "A consequence of aging, I'm afraid."
"You needed to tell us something, your majesty?" Ghes tried to steer the king back to whatever point he had wanted to make before the tangent.
"Ah, yes," The old man said, motioning for them to follow as he began to walk farther away from the gunships. "Less something I wanted to tell you as much as something I wished your opinion on. You are both familiar with Chancellor Palpatine?"
"Ah… not really." Ghes admitted. "Met him once or twice, briefly. Commander Tano'd probably know him better via General Skywalker…"
"They're close, yes." Ahsoka picked up the thought. "My master considers him a friend, and I've met him more than a few times. Why?"
"I presume you're aware of the criticisms levied against him by Count Dooku and others within the Confederacy's assembly; that he has become either as corrupt or as incompetent as his predecessor." Dendup explained. Ahsoka was only vaguely aware of what he was referencing. She'd never paid much attention to politics, most Jedi didn't, and she had to reach for the name of the Chancellor that had preceded Palpatine; Valorum? "If Onderon is to be part of the Republic once again, I'd like to have a measure of the man."
That was something of an… awkward question, at least for Ahsoka and Ghes. They were representatives of the Republic here, but Jedi and military personnel were supposed to remain apolitical, and this was pretty explicitly a political question.
"If your asking if there's anything to Dooku's usual line about the Republic, I think you can guess that one yourself." Ghes said with a shrug. It was a bit of a deflection, but it wasn't untrue.
"Yes… the Count has not proven himself particularly trustworthy." Dendup admitted. "But I do not believe he would have gathered such a following if there were no truth in his words."
Ahsoka looked at Lux out the corner of her eye. For pretty much as long as she'd known him, he'd had the most passionate and, compared to a demagogue like Dooku, sincere arguments against the Republic she'd heard. That might have changed somewhat, but she didn't think he'd entirely let go of those beliefs.
"I don't know what you want us to say, your majesty." She said. "I'm not going to tell the Republic is perfect…"
"You can say that again." Lux scoffed, drawing an involuntary scowl from her that Dendup must have thought contained more anger than it did.
"I am under no illusions about the Republic's flaws." The king said diplomatically. "My concern is Chancellor Palpatine. You both serve under him, what sort of man is he?"
For a long moment Ahsoka thought the question over. Ghes's more or less polite attempt at deflection hadn't worked, so, much as she might not want to, she would have to give an answer. She thought back to what interactions she'd had with the Chancellor; brief, polite, official, not really enough to get a true sense of the man. But she did know what Anakin would have said.
"The Chancellor is a good man," She said finally, trusting in her master's judgment. "you can trust him."
"And so we will." Dendup inclined his head slightly in thanks before turning towards the gunships. He started walking back in the direction Steela and Gage had gone. "Come, Senator, let us rescue Commander Gage from General Guerrera's questioning."
"Of course, your majesty." Lux said, trying and failing to conceal a grin. Steela was probably engaged than the average planetary militia officer the clone had dealt with. He nodded to Ahsoka and Ghes and followed the king.
Ghes shook his head slowly.
"What?" Ahsoka asked once Lux was put of earshot, which wasn't very far with the gunships still idling.
"Nothing." He said, waving dismissively towards the two men walking away. "Just, you know…, politics, never much cared for it."
"Yeah, me neither." She agreed. Now that she thought about it, she didn't really know anybody who was that attuned to it. Well, anyone who wasn't a politician. "So, this is it then?"
"I guess." Ghes shrugged. "Seems like we've been here a long time."
Ahsoka nodded. In the grand scheme of things, a month wasn't really that long, but their time on Onderon felt more… significant. She wasn't sure why, it wasn't the worst fighting she'd experienced, or the most miserable conditions. Maybe it was the people?
All things considered, she still preferred clones, but, with these rebels, things had been a bit different. Troopers were well trained, she knew they would get along fine whether she was there or not. Honestly, Rex was probably better qualified to do mosy of her job than she was. The Onderonians had needed her and Ghes's help far more.
"I think I'll miss it here a little."
"It was a nice change of pace, I suppose." Ghes said. "Don't think I'd want to get used to it."
Ahsoka smirked.
"I'm sure you'll miss some things." She took a step to the side and pushed her hip into his.
"Yeah." He smiled back, but she felt a touch of sadness in his presence. It didn't take her long to realize why.
"We're probably not going to get any down time after this..." She guessed.
"Probably not." He agreed. "I have to get back to Retaliation, Skywalker probably wants you back with him and Rex…"
"Probably…" She sighed heavily. "Well, at least we still have today."
"We do." Ghes looked discreetly over towards where Steela, Lux, and Dendup stood among a small gathering of troopers. "You know, it looks like Gage has this covered…"
Ahsoka picked up on the line of thought and smiled wickedly. "I don't think they'd mind if we took the rest of the day for ourselves."
"If they even notice." Ghes added.
"Well then, what are we waiting for?" She asked. "What are we waiting for?"
"Nothing." He stepped to the side and gestured towards one of the other ways off the landing field. "After you."