Saleucami
Bendu shuddered for a moment, feeling another Force pulse ripple through time. The sensation was enough to inform him that, somewhere in the Galaxy, the Loth-wolves had done something radical.
His milky eyes suddenly glowed white, and, for a brief instant, he touched the dark Loth-wolf Halfdan's mind. A flurry of confused images flooded Bendu's mind—
Ahsoka Tano, Morai, and others dead. Now destroyed droids. Ahsoka Tano, Morai, and others alive.
"I suppose it would be hypocritical of me to object to that reasoning," muttered Bendu to himself, as he floated high in the sky over a forest of Cake Trees and Towering Bith flowers. While the Loth-wolves were engaged in their own impromptu modification to the timeline, Bendu was enacting a more planned one.
Down below, zipping through the forest, was Stass Allie on speeder bike, followed by a pair of Clones.
The Clones fired burst after burst at the Tholothian Jedi's 74-Z speeder bike, which should have been unable to outpace the BARC speeders operated by the Clones. But as Bendu reached out with the Force, tugging on the speeder bikes, the Clones were getting progressively slower and slower. After a few seconds, both of the BARCs came to a standstill, smoke billowing out from beneath the pilot seats while the Jedi Master left them in the dust.
"This is Stass Allie to all forces, Commander Neyo and Lieutenant Rift have opened fire on me," came the Jedi's voice, speaking into her communicator. "I am five kliks out… They're—BLAST!" gasped the Jedi Master, spiraling out of control as a precise shot from Neyo nailed the rear of her speeder.
Bendu reached out with the Force, cushioning the Jedi Master after she was bucked into the air, rolling through brambles and bits of foliage.
"Ugh," Stass Allie croaked over the comm. "I am…" The Tholothian's voice died in her throat.
"STASS?!" Quinlan Vos's voice came onto the channel, joining in on Stass Allie's monologue.
Bendu frowned, considering whether or not he should jam all transmissions. At this rate, Stass Allie's status updates to the Troopers trying to kill her merely made it harder for her to be saved from Order 66.
"Master Vos, I am alright," Stass Allie said in a slightly slurry voice, standing back up, then ducking as another sniper shot flew in her direction. "Blast it! This is Stass Allie, CC-8826, Neyo, and CT-3423, Rift, have gone rogue. They are traitors to the Galactic Republic. I say again, CC-8826 and CT-3423 are traitors. Their access codes are to be suspended immediately. They are to be apprehended if—" the Tholothian ducked again, then remained in the dirt, cursing. "Damn it! They are to be apprehended if possible, terminated if not!"
"Stass, I don't hear anyone on the channel," Vos muttered in concern. "I'm returning to your position—"
"Negative!" Stass Allie yelled. "You're needed on Kashyyyk. I can handle—BLAST THIS! NEYO IF YOU DON'T HOLD YOUR FIRE AND SURRENDER YOUR WEAPON—"
Bendu snorted in annoyance when yet another shot sailed past her. The shot only barely missed, yet he could sense absolutely no resolve from the Jedi Master to end the attack.
She was paralyzed with uncertainty, blocking shots but taking no further action. The Jedi's denial of reality was becoming more and more foolish by the second. The two Clones, whose speeder bikes were now unusable, were inching closer and closer to Stass Allie's position on foot. It would apparently take more than two rogue Clones to convince her that the entire GAR had turned on her.
Vos's T-6 shuttle descended, barely missing Bendu (who concealed himself in the cloud cover) as it circled around. Before the vessel had even touched the ground, the boarding ramp lowered, and Vos leapt out in front of Neyo and Rift, green blade ignited.
Each of the Clones slung their sniper rifles over their shoulder and drew holdout blasters. Dual-wielding, Neyo and Rift unleashed a torrent of fire in the Kiffar's direction.
Vos skillfully blocked left, right, top, bottom. Seeming to lack some of Stass Allie's compassion towards the Clones, it took the Kiffar all of only five seconds to decide to take lethal action. He ducked low, then swung his blade in an uppercut, skewering Rift first and then Neyo.
Bewildered, Stass staggered forward, slowly approaching Vos's position. Even though she voiced no sorrow, her shock and dismay at what had happened filled the Force.
Ever the investigator, the Kiffar was stooped down. Before the Tholothian had arrived at his side, Vos was already picking up pieces of Neyo's armor and equipment, reaching out through the Force and using his psychometry to feel exactly where each piece had been.
"Do you have any sense of what happened?" Stass finally asked.
"Only this… mechanical dullness… Even Neyo's cold aura was simply gone," Vos muttered, holding up the deceased commander's wrist-comm. "So strange. Do you know what could've caused them to start shooting, something you did to set them off?"
"Of course not," Stass said, barely hiding her disapproval at the very suggestion. "Might this be related to what we both sensed?"
"The Jedi deaths," a wave of alarm washed over Vos. "I hope not."
A not-unexpected roar of engines grew loud enough for Bendu to hear. Knowing exactly what vectors the incoming starfighters were arriving on, he floated about fifteen meters to the left, into a denser patch of clouds. His own danger sense blared when the shriek of laser fire came.
Two V-Wings opened fire, slicing into the hull of the empty but hovering T-6 Jedi transport. Vos and Stass Allie ran as quickly as they could, ducking for cover into nearby brambles.
"This is General Stass Allie, hold your fire!"
Veering about, the starfighters came back for another pass. They fired again at the now-smoldering T-6, which exploded in mid-air.
"HOLD YOUR FIRE! WHAT IS—HEY! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE—"
"They're using this to lock onto our position!" Vos screamed, yanking at Stass Allie's wrist-comm.
The V-Wings came about for a third pass, this time opening fire on the patch of brambles. Stealthily, the Jedi Masters deactivated their lightsabers and began running deeper and deeper into the underbrush for cover. Branches exploded and trees fell down all around them.
Just when the starfighters were directly under him, Bendu made his move. He extended a Force bubble directly under him, snagging the starfighters in an invisible net. At near supersonic speeds, the two vessels exploded instantly, shrapnel sliding down the height of the Force bubble all the way to the planet's surface.
"What the—Did you do that?!"
"No, I didn't even know that was possible!"
The two Jedi emerged from the smoking brambles, getting a better look at the wreckage.
After just a second, Stass Allie suddenly looked straight up, right at Bendu. "I sense… a presence. Maybe someone."
"What are you talking—Whoa!"
Choosing this moment to reveal himself, the massive horned entity descended from the cloud cover. He hovered over the ground, staring intently at the Jedi, both of whom now had their unignited lightsaber hilts in their hands.
"Who are you?" Stass asked.
"I don't think he can speak," Vos said with an odd amount of surety in his voice.
Smirking, Bendu amplified his voice with the Force. "I am Bendu."
Now that they knew he could talk, the two Jedi looked even more alarmed.
"Don't worry," Bendu said, his bulk causing the very ground to shudder as he alighted on the muddy soil. "Sidious has chosen to enact his grand plan to exterminate the Jedi, using the Clones you lead. He believes your only options will be to fight and die or to run. I am here to help you find a third path."
It took Quinlan Vos igniting his blade for Bendu to realize just how contradictory don't worry and the Sith are now exterminating the Jedi sounded.
With a wave of his hand, Bendu deactivated the Kiffar's blade. "If I wanted to kill you, I would have done it already."
"Who are you?!" Stass asked, this time in a shriller voice.
"I already told you, I am Bendu. The Jedi embody the Ashla. The Sith embody the Bogan. I am neither. I am Bendu, the one in the middle."
Immediately, a wave of confusion poured into the Force as the two Jedi Masters stood there, exchanging bewildered glances.
"Dispose of all of your devices which can be tracked," Bendu ordered, gesturing to their belts and communicators with one of his giant hands. "If you are to survive this, we need to take action."
"This doesn't make any sense," Stass protested, looking to Vos for backup. "How can the Clones possibly… Vos?!"
The Kiffar was holding one of the deceased Clones' helmets up, listening intently on the radio chatter.
"Vos? Vos!"
A wave of fear rippled for a moment through the Kiffar, then subsided. "I think he's right. The Clones all seem to be—"
"Hand it over," Stass demanded, stretching out her hand and grasping the helmet the moment Vos passed it over. Her purple eyes narrowed with suspicion at first, then slowly widened in panic as the sheer extent of the GAR's betrayal became more evident.
o.o.o.o.o
ETAIN TUR-MUKAN
Kachirho, Wawaatt Archipelago, Kashyyyk
War is insanity. Like thousands of other Jedi spread across the Galaxy, Etain Tur-Mukan now found the old Caamasi expression far more true than usual.
The young female human Jedi Knight and the commandos of Delta and Omega squads had spent the last two days helping the Wookiees slow the Separatist assault on Kachirho. In testament to their efforts, the Kachirho bridge linking several of the Wartaki Islands smoldered in the distance, making it impossible for the droid armies and their organic Trandoshan and Geonosian allies to advance on foot.
Then Master Luminara Unduli and the green-and-white armored 41st Elite Corps arrived on the beach ahead of schedule, and Etain and her commandos took the opportunity to get some R&R while others prepared the defenses for the inevitable aquatic assault. And now, for reasons Etain could not begin to fathom, from her bunk in the lower canopy of Tree Kachirho, she could see all of the Clones on the ground had turned on the lime-green Mirialan Jedi Master.
Slack jawed, Etain was frozen in shock.
"What the kriff is going on?!" Fixer yelled in outrage, standing next to her in front of the open canopy viewport.
Boss immediately jumped on the inter-squad channel cursing loudly, demanding an explanation, while Sev stepped out of his bunk and began armoring up.
Down below on the beach, the Mirialan was dodging, deflecting blaster shots, and force-leaping out of the way. Finally, she retreated out of sight into one of the ground level beach huts. The Wookiees were roaring, a few pulling blasters out of the Clones' hands. Etain could sense their horror and incredulity as a crowd of them defensively encircled the structure Luminara had retreated to.
"I don't give a Wookiee's hairy backside what the shab'la Chancellor says!" Boss screamed into his helmet comm, clearly in an argument with Delta's Clone Advisor. "No, I am not going to tell you where General Tur-Mukan is!"
The hairs on the back of Etain's neck suddenly prickled with danger sense. Her hand stretched out, reaching with the Force to her lightsaber sitting on the bed—
It never came. Instead, she felt the most intense pain of her entire life blare from her elbow and between her breasts. From the sound, she knew she had been hit by a DC-15x, and it was no accident. Lying on the floor, smoke billowed from her chest. She looked up and saw Sev, standing over her, laying down suppressing fire through the viewport. Scorch joined him, firing off a grenade from his DC-17m's anti-armor attachment.
Enacca, their Wookiee guide from Coruscant, burst into the room roaring at the top of her lungs. "Wuahh magha-magha!" She grabbed Fixer's blaster rifle and shoved him into the wall.
"OH SHAB! GET THIS FURBALL OFF ME!"
Boss and Scorch grabbed at Enacca's arms, struggling to break her grip on their comrade.
Steeling herself in the Force, Etain managed to bury the pain enough to speak. "She's asking what's going on—Enacca, they didn't attack me." Her pained voice was so quiet, it was barely audible.
Enacca dropped the Clone, snarling under her breath. Next thing Etain knew, she was wrapped in the Wookiee's arms, being carried out of the room. The Jedi Knight looked back into her quarters one last time, seeing Boss pack her lightsaber away in his ruck. Something long and thin sat on the floor, and for a wild moment, Etain thought it was a droid arm, then her eyes widened in horror as she looked at the stump where her elbow used to be. The sniper shot had cut her arm clean off before dissipating in her chest.
Looking down at her and rocking Etain like she was a scared infant, Enacca's purrs sounded soothing. ["You are going to be okay."]
Over her agony, Etain suddenly noticed the distant sounds of blasterfire. All around, the Force screamed with pain and death. Wookiees and Clones were dying by the dozens. When they passed over a rope bridge connecting their quarters to the canopy command center, Etain looked down expecting to see the ubiquitous sights of the Clone Wars. Droids, Trandoshans, Geonosians, Koorivars, Weequays, perhaps even Gossams, fighting against the forces of the Galactic Republic.
Instead she saw insanity. The Wookiees and Clones had abandoned the defenses on the beach they had spent so much time erecting and were blasting each other. None of it made any sense, and just when she thought things couldn't get any more upside down, an LAAT swooped by, slicing a group of six Wookiees to pieces with its composite beam lasers.
"Heads up!" Boss yelled. "They have eyes on us!"
"That's impossible," Fixer scoffed. "I don't see anyone!"
Etain still didn't understand who they were.
Had the Wookiees gone over to the Separatist side?
Was Master Unduli in on it?
"Fixer look up, you blind rat!" Scorch snarled, aiming his DC-17m skyward.
Etain's eyes tracked the direction he was aiming, and she saw a badly damaged LAAT, trailing smoke as it hovered in place with both of its side-mounted beam turrets missing. What she noticed in the passenger compartment, however, shocked her to the core. A Clone scout sniper, wearing green and brown camouflage, was lying prone on the floor of the vessel, aiming his DC-15x right at her. Even worse, she sensed this unnerving emptiness about him, as if he was reacting like a battle droid following inputs from a control computer.
Scorch squeezed the trigger, and a grenade sailed from his launcher attachment, exploding in the LAAT's passenger compartment. The explosion hit the Clone sniper so hard that his body bounced into the air and slammed into the gunship's ceiling rack before falling out the side hatch.
"Kriff it!" Boss swore as several blaster bolts slammed into the bark from the direction of the beach. "Enacca, the 41st must have the whole kriffing fleet in on this too! They're going to kill her!"
Enacca was already growling into her wrist-comm, securing transport. ["Transport is at least five minutes out. We need to hide."]
Knowing that Boss could not speak a single word of Shyriiwook, Etain opened her mouth to translate, but found her face bouncing off the Wookiee's chest.
Enacca's pace had quickened to a sprint, and then a jump. She extended her claws, cradling Etain in one arm and yanking on the side of one of Tree Kachirho's massive branch with the other. Soon, she was off the pedestrian platform, bolting through leafy twigs. If Etain had more energy, she would have screamed.
"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU GOING?!" Boss screamed in a genuine panic.
Sev blasted his grappling hook, which clung to a spot immediately beneath Enacca's feet. "Well, I guess we're following her," he grunted.
"Kriff, I hate trees," Fixer said, firing his own hook. "At least the LAATs won't be able to see us now."
Seconds later, the whole squad was clinging to the tree, cutting improvised footholds which they dug their feet into for support.
At this moment, sitting in the snug grip of a Wookiee, Etain realized she was not even wearing boots. She had been sniped, barefoot, by one of the Clones.
"What the hell is happening?" Etain finally asked. She had intended to sound exasperated—even furious. Instead it came out as a pained moan. She could barely focus on what was going on around her, let alone the fact that the Clones she'd come to care for were now trying to murder her.
"The 41st got the order to execute Order 66," Boss sighed. "The Wookiees didn't seem to like it one bit."
Enacca growled in agreement at that, flashing her teeth.
Etain suspected she already knew the answer, but she had to ask. "What is Order 66?"
"To put it as simply as possible? 'Kill all Jedi'," Scorch answered with a grunt.
"I don't know why the rank and file are automatically following an order to murder their commanding officer who has a strong rapport with the 41st," Fixer added, busily wiping bacta salve over Etain's chest wound. "Something's not right there."
Sev's helmet suddenly snapped to the left. "I heard Geonosian wings… We've got bugs in the canopy again."
"Ignore them Oh-Seven," Boss ordered. "We need to get General Tur-Mukan to a better place for us to perform field aid."
"Understood Delta Lead," Sev grumbled as they managed to clamber onto a wide branch where it met the trunk of the Wroshyr, Sev and Boss taking up sniping positions while Scorch grabbed Etain's concussion rifle for anti-vehicle work.
Fixer began applying salve to her cauterized arm, through which the sniper shot had passed before dissipating in the Jedi's chest. "Did you get anything unusual from any of the Regs?"
"All I felt was some… Overriding emptiness, as if it wasn't even him… I couldn't even sense him until I focused after seeing him," she mumbled, wincing as Fixer injected a painkiller into her. "Why haven't you all succumbed to the same state though? This clearly isn't just Kaminoan conditioning at work."
Fixer regarded her words for a few moments and glanced over at Boss. "Three-Eight, how many other troopers are in this tree?"
"A forward observer squad and some riflemen, but they were levels below us before this began. Got any ideas Fixer?"
"Yeah." He turned to Enacca. "Get a message out to your people, capture as many Clones alive as possible."
Enacca yowled in confusion as Etain grasped Fixer's thought processes. "You think there's something wrong with the troopers?"
Boss nodded in understanding, making the connection as well. "I see where he's coming from. There've been rumors spreading around Arca Company since the 'Fives Incident' that are starting to make more sense, but we don't have long to get to those men before—"
Everyone's attention was suddenly drawn to an orange-red fireball blossoming from the military power generators near the refinery. The sound of the explosion itself came a moment later. Etain could barely make out tiny forms flying away to the safety of the trees as fires began to rage amongst the extant chaos.
"That was the power supply for the city's turbolaser guns," Scorch whispered in horror, "But how?!"
"Geonosians!" Sev snarled after looking down his DC-17m's sniper mode scope, immediately taking a few shots at the distant insectoids, downing at least one.
Boss turned to Enacca and Etain. "They must've flown detpacks in after our forces turned on eachother."
Enacca rumbled into her wrist-comm, yowling at someone on the other end for a few moments as she asked for a status update and then informed whoever was on the other end of Fixer's suspicions. Eventually, she turned back to Etain ["I have informed General Tarrful that the Clones may have been brainwashed into betraying us. He says he already suspected as much and is having them taken into custody when he can, but his focus is on withdrawal. The King ordered a retreat from the Wartaki Islands after being informed of the Clones' betrayal. Already, the Separatists have powered on their main generators and their warships have driven off your fleet in orbit."]
Etain's gut twisted as she realized what this meant overall. It may be possible for the Wookiees to maintain some resistance in the dense forests of the mainland, but with the Separatists in control of the skies, the islands and coastal areas would fall.
A few minutes later, a Wookiee Auzituck gunship lowered into view, two fluttercraft escorting it. The door opened and then the Wookiees inside roared in anger and aimed their bowcasters and long guns at Delta Squad.
["CLONES!"]
["HOLD, CAPTAIN!"] Enacca roared back. ["THEY HAVE NOT BEEN AFFLICTED BY THE MADNESS THAT HAS TAKEN THE REST OF THEIR KIND!"]
["HOW CAN YOU BE CERTAIN!?"] He snarled, grasping his disruptor.
Enacca merely gestured towards a still living Etain, to whom Fixer was currently providing medical aid in the form of a bacta patch to her chest. ["BECAUSE THEY HAVE OBVIOUSLY NOT KILLED HER!"]
The Wookiee captain growled, softly enough that Etain couldn't hear him over the drone of engines, repulsors, and fluttering ornithopter wings, but the warriors around him lowered their weapons as Enacca scooped Etain up and she and Delta clambered aboard.
When the gunship drifted away from the tree and began to power on its drives, a series of smaller explosions ripped through the air, this time from the front line defenses, now abandoned in the chaos.
"And of course someone blows up the landmines," Scorch muttered sardonically as Enacca set Etain down on the troop bay floor, Fixer continuing to provide medical attention.
The Auzituck turned away as Etain watched HMP gunships and Vulture Droids roar into the air from the far shore. Behind them came an advancing armored formation of MTTs, Snail Tanks, AATs, with unarmoured Platoon Attack Craft, bulky Multi-Utility Transports and disc shaped H-AML anti-air tanks, following in the wake of the frontline combat vehicles as they crossed the lagoon. Homing Spider Droids emerged from the water, stepping from the depths into the shallows.
LAATs and Wookiee craft dogfighting over the city were swarmed almost immediately by the Separatist craft while the Homing Spider Droids speared more than a few with their beam cannons and sent them careening towards the ground in flames. The tanks and gunships meanwhile incessantly hammered any concentration of forces near the landing zone.
The Wookiees yowled and moaned in dismay as more Dwarf Spider Droids and Crab Droids emerged from the water and the Separatist armor floated up the shores of Kachirho. As they landed, the MTTs and some of the HMPs stopped and dropped off ranks of Battle Droids and Super Battle Droids that activated and began trudging further inland, with more droids jumping from the outriggers of Snail Tanks and the shovel-shaped lower hulls of AATs.
Etain grimaced as more Wookiee aircraft, along with several commandeered Republic gunships and shuttles, began to stream from the city. On the ground, the Clones and Wookiees stopped fighting each other, as whatever madness had overcome the Clones was not quite strong enough to cause them to prioritize Wookiees over droids. Droid tanks took oncoming fire from the Clones as they knocked the barricades aside. The gun emplacements disappeared in a series of explosions.
Their Auzituck banked to the north, passing over some of the smaller Wroshyrs that made up one of the residential districts. Civilian Wookiees were being hastily evacuated onto Wookiee transports.
Enacca's wrist-comm chimed as they began to bank away. It was a general distress message aimed at the entire Wookiee taskforce.
["This is Guildmaster Gumbaeki, sending a priority one distress signal. We are locked in the safe room and require immediate evac. Geonosian Warriors have taken every corridor. We also require help destroying sensitive data, as we do not have the means to destroy it without risking damage to the trees."]
["Pilot! Turn us around and get to Tree Vikkilynn!"] the Wookiee captain roared.
["Yes sir,"] The pilot replied, turning the Auzituck back towards the city. Dozens of other craft had also responded to the Guildmaster's distress call, and the skies were filled with Wookiee transports.
"What's… What data? What guild?" Etain asked tiredly. She tried to sit up, but found she lacked the energy. Her head was swimming from the pain and painkillers alike.
["General, Tree Vykkilynn is the headquarters of the Claatuvac Guild–"]
["HOLD YOUR TONGUE!"] roared the Wookiee Captain.
"General, what's happening?" Boss asked, completely out of the loop.
"I'm not sure she should be talking in her state," Fixer said.
"It's okay," Etain sighed. "Some Wookiee VIPs need help destroying sensitive data and are requesting extraction."
"Wookiees have secrets?!" Scorch asked incredulously.
Enacca roared at that, and Scorch seemed to guess at what she said, not bothering to wait for Etain to translate.
"You don't even wear clothes!"
"Says the man who burns off his own eyebrows," Sev grumbled under his breath.
By the time their Auzituck reached the kilometer tall Tree Vikkylin, Separatist forces from the beach had reached the trunk, and were pouring in to provide aid to the Geonosians. Several prefab anti-air batteries had already been dropped down on the sand.
Intense anti-air fire poured through the Wookiee squadrons. Etain groaned in pain as the floor bucked. One of the fluttercraft to their right took a hit and burst into flames, the two Wookiees manning it letting out short-lived screams as the craft fell from the air.
Flak bursts joined the laser bolts as the HAMLs and AATs turned their attention skyward. Alarm chimes on board rang out, warning of Separatist missile locks. Milliseconds later, the Auzituck to their port side exploded.
But the Auzitucks and fluttercraft continued their approach, and more droid defenses were being set up by the second. Several J-1 Proton Cannons were unloaded from the cargo bays of the Separatist transports, rapidly assembled into batteries. The semi-autonomous guns began turning on the closest Wookiee craft in the vicinity now that most of the Republic craft had been downed.
Tensions onboard increased by the second as Tree Vykkilynn drew nearer. Before long, the adrenaline-pumped Wookiees were roaring at each other, cursing under their breaths as they were knocked from side to side. Something blurred at the edge of Etain's vision, and one of the Wookiees nearest to the hatch suddenly fell out, screaming as he hurtled to the ground.
Where the Wookiee had stood moments before, was now a B1-A air battle droid, wings furling up as vibroblades snapped out under its wrists. Boss sprung into action, grappled with the droid, drew his holdout blaster and fired repeatedly at point-blank range. When the droid staggered back, he stabbed it in the head with his dagger.
Another B1-A zipped past the hatch, ignoring their transport and landing on the cockpit of their wingmate to starboard. The second it fired its arm blasters through the canopy, the pilot and gunner were killed instantly, and the transport pitched straight down, crashing against the beach at full speed.
["Captain, I don't think we are going to make it,"] Enacca yowled. ["We have to turn back."] When the Captain ignored her, she continued protesting. ["If we're shot down, we lose one of the Jedi. There's no hope–"]
["We cannot allow that data to fall into enemy hands."]
"Then destroy it," Etain croaked. "Fire a few proton torpedoes. We're out of options."
["And sacrifice the Guildmaster? Damage the trees?"]
"If the data is as–"
["HOLD ON!"] the pilot howled, before banking hard to port, dodging a barrage of anti-air fire from crab droids standing on the landing platform.
["Where are you going?!"] snarled the Captain, staggering as he gripped a handhold.
["It's too hot!"]
Their last wingmate attempted to land on the platform, but was blasted out of the sky by a proton shell. One Wookiee on board managed to jump through the hatch, but was quickly gunned down after he was knocked prone by the exploding gunship, outnumbered fifty to one by droids.
["Kriff it!"] the Captain snapped, then began growling into his wrist-comm as their Auzituck banked further and further away. ["Guildmaster, forgive us! The enemy presence is overwhelming. We're the last transport left, and we don't have the capacity to evacuate you all even if we could land. There are too many droids."]
"Destroy it," Etain said as forcefully as she could, pouring her will into the Force. But the exertion was too much, and she began coughing.
["General, I don't understand,"] growled the Captain, stooping low to look Etain directly in the eye.
"Destroy the data! We have to make another pass… Fire everything we have."
["And damage the trees?!"]
"If the data is as important as you say," Etain started, then broke down into a coughing fit. It felt like her lungs were on fire. Down below, droids were now pouring into the residential districts, capturing Wookiee civilians who had been left behind. "You have to destroy it."
Etain could sense the Wookiee's collective shock and outrage at her suggestion. A few of them began vocally protesting.
["Apologies,"] Enacca said, standing between Etain and the Wookiees. ["The General does not understand our ways. They can't destroy Tree Vikkylynn. Damaging a healthy tree is against our highest laws. Wroshyr are sacred to us, not unlike how Beskar is to Mandalorians or Kyber to Jedi."]
"What's going on?" Boss demanded.
Etain was torn between incredulity at their refusal to target the tree and understanding, between her duty as a soldier and as a person. She amplified her voice with the Force. "The Wookiees are going to allow their sensitive data to fall into enemy hands. They don't want to damage the trees!"
Sev stepped toward the cockpit, determination rolling off him. "Then let us destroy it."
Enacca roared angrily at that, and two Wookiees stepped into Sev's way, forcefully pushing him back. The Clones drew their blasters, and Etain's danger sense once again sent shivers down her spine.
"No," she croaked warily. "We wouldn't let them destroy… If the Wookiees… Don't fight. Just… Don't fight anymore." Her peripheral vision began to grow darker, and she felt herself slipping into unconsciousness.
["General? General, stay with us!"] Enacca yowled.
"It'll be fine," Etain whispered. "Need to… Healing trance."
Another explosion went off from somewhere to their rear. The last thing Etain saw before she blacked out was the Kachirho shield shimmering, then melting to the ground in every direction as it shut down. Ominous shapes she could no longer make out loomed in the sky.
As she faded, her last thoughts weren't on the nearly four thousand Clones and probably thousands of Wookiees left behind to whatever fate the Separatists had in store. Nor on the fate of Luminara or any of the other Jedi caught in this new turn of events. Nor on the fact the Wookiees had allowed their deepest secrets to fall into enemy hands; All because the Wookiees did not want to damage part of a kilometer-tall tree. Etain could feel these secrets were important enough to potentially change the outcome of the war.
No, all she could think about was whether Darman and Kad were safe, and then everything went dark.
o.o.o.o.o
GALEN ERSO
Fucallpa City, Lokori
Alarm klaxons blared as a mixed-species crowd of scientists in white lab coats and insectoid Lokori workers spilled through the perimeter fence. In the distance, the headquarters of Helical Hypercom, a corporation which had employed Galen Erso as a quality assurance specialist, burned red hot.
For reasons Galen could not understand, the Republic defense of Lokori had collapsed completely. After the shield went down, squadrons of droid suicide bombers had soared down at supersonic speeds, slamming into buildings in the compound. Galen Erso did not even have time to power down his workstation before the first ship had hit.
All he knew was that the Republic picket line had collapsed, Separatists were inbound, and he had to find Jyn and Lyra.
"LYRA!" Galen screamed, jostled about by panicking beings running all around him.
"GALEN!" shouted a familiar voice in the distance.
Galen turned to his left and sighted his wife, who was wearing dark brown robes and hauling baby Jyn in a backpack carrier. He started moving in her direction, but knocked back by the crowds, he decided to brace himself against the fence and wait for Lyra to reach him.
"The battle droids are coming from the east and north of the city center," his wife said quickly the moment she arrived at his side. She handed over one of the rucksacks she was carrying, which Galen took in his hands. "Our best option is to make for the foothills to the south. I've carried Jyn along most of the trails down there, and they are easily walkable. I packed enough food for two standard weeks, hopefully the Republic will retake the planet by then."
Galen looked into her eyes, not even surprised anymore at how calm and methodical she was in times of crisis. "Well, it sounds like you've thought of everything."
From there, they retreated past the colorful Lokori structures into the labyrinth of maglev tunnels that made up Fucallpa's now unusable public transit system. Insectoid Lokori, with their emotive eyes and graceful vestigial wings, crowded every square meter of the tunnel. Like the Ersos, most of them too were taking with them packs filled with belongings.
Galen seemed to be the only one in work clothes. During the months of bombardment, the Lokori economy had ground to standstill, and most of the planet's inhabitants had taken to sheltering in place.
An explosion from overhead shook the tunnels, shaking dust down into the crowds. The ceiling glowrods blinked once, then went out forever.
For a brief moment, Galen thought he might scream, but Lyra and a few of the Lokori refugees turned on their own glowrods, illuminating the tunnel. Jyn began to cry, but then laughed with glee when Lyra passed her a glowrod to play with.
Ten minutes went by, and the Ersos found themselves at the back of a crowd which was no longer moving forward, but up the stairs. They had reached the next maglev station, where a stairwell led back up to the surface level, but had not made it yet to the edge of the city.
"It's okay. We'll make the last few blocks on foot," Galen said, more to reassure himself than because he felt it. "The way ahead must be blocked."
The air raid sirens grew louder again as they climbed the stairs, nearing the surface. When they finally emerged, the evening sky was lit by tracer rounds, flak explosions, and bright beams of energy.
An LAAT swooped twenty or thirty meters overhead, ablaze. It collided with a flower-shaped Lokori building, drawing panicked chitters and insectoid clicks from every direction.
Galen and Lyra began to sprint, keeping up with the quickened pace of the river of sentient beings fleeing for their lives. As the smoke grew denser, Galen wrapped a handkerchief around Jyn's face.
Through the thick smoke, the city wall finally drew into view, but the crowd began once again shifting directions. The sounds of blasterfire could be heard before the droids could be seen.
Crying out, Galen collided with a Lokori and fell down hard onto a pile of rubble. A piece of glass sliced into his palm as he caught himself.
Lyra stooped down to help him, and at that moment a wave of blasterfire shot overhead, narrowly missing Jyn who was still on her back.
"Leave me!" Galen pleaded, to which Lyra shook her head, crouching down beside him. It was just as well.
Dozens of battle droids stepped through a gap in the city wall, firing indiscriminately at the unarmed tide of refugees. Lokori dropped dead by the hundreds, spattering the ground with green blood, their death cries more high-pitched than that of dying Durnis.
The Clones, the Jedi, the fleet, all of the forces who were supposed to protect them had completely failed. More than anything, Galen regretted taking this dead end job and bringing his family out to the Rim. If he had known about Order 66 and the insanity that had overcome the Clones and caused all of this, he would have been angry at them. Angry at Palpatine. Angry at the Jedi for not seeing it. But in his present state, he felt hopeless and angry solely at the droids and himself.
"Is there no escape from this madness?" he finally managed as a trio of battle droids stepped to point blank range.
"Silence!" yelled the nearest droid. With his cold metal claws, he grabbed Galen roughly around the elbow and forced him to his feet. "This is a scientist."
"Roger roger," the droid's companion agreed in a monotone. "His facial profile has a ninety-nine percent match to doctor Galen Erso." He pulled out a thumbprint reader while the squads of droids began filing to the left and right, walking around them.
Galen sighed, allowing his thumb to be pressed into the reader. Lyra did the same exchanging a fearful look with him.
At least they hadn't been shot yet.