Pilot
Galaxy Divided!
Striking swiftly after the Battle of Geonosis, Count Dooku's droid army has seized control of the major hyperspace lanes, separating the Republic from the majority of its clone army.
With few clones available, the Jedi generals cannot gain a foothold in the Outer Rim as more and more planets choose to join Dooku's Separatists.
While the Jedi are occupied fighting a war, no one is left to keep the peace. Chaos and crime spread, and the innocent become victims in a lawless galaxy. Crime Lord Jabba the Hutt's son has been kidnapped by a rival band of pirates.
Desperate to save his son, Jabba puts out a call for help. A call the Jedi are cautious to answer.
In the Supreme Chancellor's office on Coruscant, Chancellor Palpatine, Master Windu, Luminara, and Plo Koon were watching a video message sent out by Jabba the Hutt for help in finding his kidnapped son.
"Jabba requests that anyone who can help us find his kidnapped son send any information they have immediately," The message played before ending.
"This is exactly the chance we've been waiting for. The Jedi must find Jabba's son," Palpatine said.
"Hmmm, I don't like it, dealing with that criminal scum. This is a dark day for the Republic," Windu noted.
"I agree, my friend but what choice do we have? The Hutts control the Outer Rim, and we'll need their space lanes in order to move our troops," The Chancellor pointed out.
"There is more to this kidnapping than it seems," Windu said, having a gut feeling about all of this.
"Then you must send as many Jedi as you can," Palpatine told him.
"Impossible, Chancellor. The droid General Grievous has our forces spread thin. The only Jedi we can spare are Skywalker and Kenobi. They just captured the planet Christophsis." Windu informed him.
"Then contact them immediately," The Chancellor ordered and that's just what they did.
…
At a Republic refueling and supply station, the Jedi Council contacted Admiral Yularen with an important message for General Kenobi and Skywalker. Unable to make communication contact, two messengers were sent by the council and needed to be sent to the planet Christophsis immediately.
Inside a Republic Cruiser, a male figure was sitting down and meditating as well as his back turned towards the clone. He wore black jedi tunic with a brown cloak and the hood on. The Force around him was flowing and it led to the lightsaber hilt floating and turning around as well as rotating in the air.
Soon a clone came inside while he was meditating which made him snap out of his trance. The male jedi opened his eyes as the clone stood a few feet away from him.
"Sorry to interrupt your meditation, General," the clone said, "but we're about to land on the planet, Chirstophis."
The figure's lightsaber hilt slowly descended into his hands as he clipped it onto his belt and stood up to grab his bags. The jedi faced the clone and gave him a friendly smile.
"No, it's fine," the figure said, "thank you for letting me know. Now, let's get to work."
…
The liberation of the planet, Christophis, had not gone as planned with the Separatist working with much effort to retake the planet and destroy the Republic forces. Having sent their ships for supplies, the forces under the command of Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi were slowly being outnumbered but with the help of their heavy cannons were hanging on bit by bit.
The 501st and 212th battalion just survived another attack by the droid army but would soon need reinforcements. A special drop ship flew down by the Republic outpost where Master Skywalker and Kenobi converged to meet it.
"Looks like help has arrived. Our cruiser must be back," Obi-Wan said.
"Which means we'll be able to get our reinforcements," Anakin added.
"Then it looks like our problems are solved. Fresh troops, new supplies, and perhaps they brought my new Padawan with them." Obi-Wan said.
Anakin just gave his old master an odd look. "You really think it's a good idea to bring a Padawan learner into all of this?"
"I spoke to Master Yoda about it. He's sending me one of the finest there has been since you were younger," Obi-Wan told him which intrigued Anakin a little bit. "You should put in a request for one. You'd make a good teacher."
That made Anakin chuckle a little bit, "No thanks."
"Anakin, teaching is a privilege. And it's part of a Jedi's responsibility to help train the next generation," Obi-Wan lectured him just as the ship touched down.
"A Padawan would just slow me down," Anakin scoffed.
The ship's blast door lowered down to reveal a young Togruta female approximately 14 years old walking down the ship.
"A youngling?" Obi-Wan was a bit surprised to see someone so young.
"And who are you supposed to be?" Anakin asked while R2-D2 beeped happily.
"I'm Ahsoka. Master Yoda sent me. We were told to tell both of you that you must get back to the Jedi Temple immediately. There's an emergency." She informed them.
"We? Is there someone else with you?" Obi-Wan asked when he heard a distinct male voice.
"Uh… yes, I'm the other messenger," They heard the said male voice departing the ship with a crate in his arms. The messenger gave the crate to a clone so Obi-Wan and Anakin could get a good look. The messenger turned out to be a boy who wore a black outfit with a standard belt that consisted of a standard Jedi commander chestplate that was black with a cloak that was black as well and two gloves.
He seemed to be around the same age as Ahsoka, maybe a bit older. He had black hair that was combed over to the right and brown eyes with a skin tone and facial features that we would consider Southeast Asian.
"As I said I'm the other messenger, Jedi Knight, Sal Aldiem," the boy said, "I can explain my ranking later as we have bigger concerns to take care of. As Ahsoka said, the Jedi Council needs to talk to you right away."
"Sorry but if you two haven't noticed we're in a bit of an emergency right here," Anakin told them.
"Yes, our communications have been a bit unreliable, but we've been calling for help," Obi-Wan added.
"Master Yoda hadn't heard from you, so he sent us to deliver a message," Ahsoka said.
"Oh great. They don't even know we're in trouble," Anakin exasperated.
"Well good thing I'm here," Sal said, "I can use my handheld hacking device to relay a signal through the cruiser that just dropped us off."
As Sal made his suggestion, both Jedi smiled and were curious to see what he meant.
…
Unfortunately, the airspace around Christophsis was not faring any better with the Republic cruises being outnumbered and under heavy attack. "We're under attack by Separatist warships, but I'll try to make contact with the Jedi Temple for you. Stand by," A clone technician told them, doing his best while the ship was under attack.
…
"Let's see if I can get this right…" Sal said as he took out a wired scomp link port plug his device into the communication terminal and bolster the signal. They waited a few seconds before Master Yoda's hologram appeared, "Master Kenobi, glad Ahsoka and Sal found you, I am."
"Master Yoda, we are trapped here and vastly outnumbered. We are in no position to go anywhere or do anything. Our support ships have all been destroyed," Obi-Wan told him.
"Send reinforcements to you, we will. AR-ogg… sughh…" the signal began to cut out and the hologram got fuzzy.
Sal shook his head, as he knew he lost the signal.
"We've lost the signal to the temple, sir. We need to leave orbit immediately. We'll return with reinforcements soon," The signal cut out soon after that, Sal unplugged the device from the terminal.
"Well, I guess we'll have to hold out a little longer," Anakin said.
"My apologies, young ones. It's time for proper introductions," Obi-Wan told them.
"I'm Jedi Knight, Sal Aldiem and this is Padawan learner, Ahsoka Tano," Sal said. As the two of them bowed, Ahsoka couldn't help, but sneer at the boy and it was probably due to him being a Jedi Knight at such a young age.
"And I'm Obi-Wan, your new Master," Obi-Wan said to Ahsoka.
"I'm at your service, Master Kenobi," Ahsoka said, "but I'm afraid I've been actually assigned to Master Skywalker."
"What? No, no, no! There must be a mistake," Anakin said, "He's the one who wanted the Padawan."
"There's no mistake. Master Yoda was very specific. I'm assigned to Anakin Skywalker and he is to supervise my Jedi training," Ahsoka told them.
Obi-Wan had a smirk on his face while Sal had a face of amusement while Anakin was still in disbelief, "But that doesn't make any sense."
"We'll have to sort this out later. It won't be long before those droids figure out a way around our cannons," Obi-Wan told him.
"I'll check on Rex in the lookout post," Anakin begrudgingly made his way over there.
"You'd better take her with you," Obi-Wan said with a delightful smirk on his face.
"Stay out of trouble there, Ahsoka~" Sal said with amusement with a layer of teasing, but it all was for an exchange of her punching his arm as she walked away with her new master, but that still didn't stop him from having a smug grin on his face.
"You two know each other?" Obi-Wan asked.
Sal nodded, "Yeah, but that's a story for another time, I'm assuming you would like an explanation for me being a Jedi Knight at such an extremely young age."
"Well I was going to be more tactful," Obi-Wan said, "starting with perhaps, where are you from?."
"I was inducted into the Jedi Order extremely young, like standard younglings," Sal said, "the only difference is that I was from Odessen."
"Odessen?" Obi-Wan was surprised at the fact this young man was from a distant part of the galaxy, "That's located within the unknown regions of space! Regions of space that haven't been explored for eons!"
"And a Force Nexus," Sal said, "the planet's connection to the Force is stronger than any other planets. Not even Tython or Korriban are comparable to Odessen. I was born into a high social class in the big city of the Eternal Palace with a strong connection to the Force for this Order's standards. The High Council of the Eternal Command thought it was best for me to be sent to Coruscant to do my Jedi training, since they don't trust the Sith."
"Why just you?" Obi-Wan said, "Surely they have other candidates to send with you. Doesn't your homeworld still have Voss Mystics? They are prime examples of good candidates to be Jedi."
"There are very few of them nowadays. Besides, the Voss species were never one to take sides," Sal said, "as you know over two thousand years ago, shortly after the Treaty of Coruscant, a lot of off-worlders discovered the planet by chance, the Voss becoming known to both the Old Sith Empire and the Old Galactic Republic. The Empire of that time attempted to conquer the planet, but their plans were thwarted by the secret interference of the Star Cabal; in the aftermath, both the Republic and the Empire believed the Voss were responsible for the invasion's defeat, so they established diplomatic embassies on the planet. And when Valkorian, Arcann, and Vailyn reigned their rule as the Eternal Empire, the Voss Mystics took refuge in Odessen. Now they have a civilization on the planet."
Obi-Wan realized that what Sal said was indeed correct and decided not to press further. The Jedi Master was now wondering if Anakin had been born on a planet like Odessen what his fate would be, but he decided to ask another question.
"What is the technology that you use in your homeworld?" Obi-Wan asked.
"Things of Old Zakuulian technology," Sal said, "After the ongoing conflict, the Old Republic versus the Sith Empire, Zakuulian Starships were used as resources to make a new civilization. Where the Force and Technological advances were thriving. No offense, but Coruscant is a bit outdated."
"Says the boy whose planet uses Old Republic technology," Obi-Wan said in a joking manner.
"Oh if you just visited Odessen," Sal said while shaking his head in amusement.
"Well how did you become a Jedi Knight at such a young age?" Obi-Wan now asked.
"Well…" Sal said, "I had to unfortunately cut down my old master, Sora Bulq. He was my primary Master when I was a Padawan and then went missing during the battle of Geonosis. During the time of his apparent absence, I was taken in by Quinlan Vos for a while and on one of our operations, we encountered Master Bulq. We were dueling, but he managed to separate Master Vos and I. I then had to be on a kill or be killed mentality and I had to cut him down or I was going to die. I took no pleasure in killing him. Even to this day, it still haunts me."
"And that's how you were knighted," Obi-Wan said, "you had to defeat a dark side user."
Sal nodded, "That is correct, Master."
"Well despite all those hardships, you're here now. I'm sorry for what you had to go through," Obi-Wan said with a pat on his shoulder, "I've heard from people that you're one of the best trained Padawans we've had since Anakin. The finest duelist and I hear that you trained with Master Yoda personally in the force for a few special sessions as well as Master Cin Drallig in dueling. That is a rare accomplishment. You may be a Jedi Knight, but you're still a young boy and I will take it upon myself to help you if you need any and I'm sure Anakin will help give you guidance as well."
"Thank you," Sal said, "because something is telling me I may need a lot of guidance to fulfill my role as a young Jedi Knight."
The two smiled as they started to walk with Sal following Obi-Wan to a clone commander in yellow detailed armor.
"Cody, what's the situation?" Obi-Wan asked.
"We've finished offloading the supplies from the transport ship. It's not a lot but anything helps. No report yet from the lookouts," Cody replied before looking at the young Jedi. "Who's the kid?"
"Cody, this is Jedi Knight, Sal Aldiem. Sal, this is Clone Marshal Commander Cody. He's the finest commander I know," Obi-Wan introduced the two. Sal held his hand out and shook Cody's hand.
"Pleasure to meet you, Commander," Sal said.
"Likewise, General Aldiem. And please, call me Cody," Cody informed him.
"Only if you call me Sal," Sal said. He looked to the side and saw the AV-7 Antivehicle Cannons and was in shock. "The Trade Federation isn't messing about… they have AV-7 heavy artillery cannons."
"You know what they are?" Cody asked.
"Yeah," Sal said, he took out his handheld device and pressed on the touchscreen to show a hologram of the cannons, "these machines are capable of firing plasma shells at an effective range of over 1000 meters with pinpoint accuracy. These things can take out a droid tank in one shot."
"You're quite smart for someone at such a young age," Obi-Wan commented.
"I've done a lot of research and self-learning at the temple during my spare time," Sal said, "though my specialization was in cybersecurity, coding, and computer sciences."
Before Sal could speak further, he heard a weird sound as if something was activating. He, Obi-Wan, and Cody turned to see a shield closing in from the distance. "That's trouble," Cody said.
"Cody, contact Rex and Anakin. Looks like the Separatists are launching another offensive," Obi-Wan ordered.
The Jedi and Clone Commanders grouped up at a holo-table to work out their defensive plan. The Separatists had an expanding shield that was protecting their army and tanks and was inching closer and closer to the Republic base.
"The shield generator is somewhere in this area. They're slowly increasing the diameter and keeping it just ahead of their troops," Obi-Wan said, looking at the shield field that was getting larger by the second.
"Heavy cannons are gonna be useless against that," Rex commented.
"As they get closer, I suppose we could try to draw them into the buildings. That might level the playing field a bit," Obi-Wan suggested.
"Perhaps we split them up," Sal said, causing them to look at him, "The commander would just send a splinter force after us while keeping the tanks set on the heavy cannons. We need that shield down if we're going to have a chance."
"If that shield's gonna be such a problem, why don't we just take it out?" Ahsoka suggested.
"Easier said than done," Rex told her.
"Well, I for one, agree with her. Someone has to get to that shield generator and destroy it. That's the key," Anakin told them.
"Right then. Maybe you two can tiptoe through the enemy lines and solve this particular problem together," Obi-Wan suggested.
"Can do, Master Kenobi," Ahsoka was more than eager for action when Anakin stopped her.
"I'll decide what we do," Anakin snapped.
"If Rex, Cody, Sal and I can engage them here, you two might have a chance to get through their lines undetected here," Obi-Wan laid out his plan.
"They won't have much time. The droids far outnumber us, so our ability to street fight is limited without the use of heavy cannons. They will march forward under the protection of their shield until they are right on top of our cannons, then they'll blow them away," Rex said.
"We'll figure out a way. Come on, Master. Let's go," Ahsoka eagerly took the lead.
"If we survive this, Snips, you and I are gonna have a talk," Anakin told her.
"They make quite a pair, don't they, sir? You think they have a chance?" Rex asked.
"They better. If they can't turn off that shield generator before it reaches the heavy cannons, there'll be no escape for any of us," Obi-Wan said.
"I wholeheartedly agree," Sal said as he unclipped his saber and levitated it, spinning it around. When Obi-Wan saw it, he couldn't help but notice how long the hilt was and he figured that it was something that would assist him in a battle. He knew that Sal was similar to Anakin as he was simply another special-case in the order. He was curious as to whether or not he had the personalities and/or mannerisms of his former Padawan, but only time would tell.
…
It has been quite a while since Anakin and Ahsoka walked off to disable the shields, Republic Cannons have been firing at them, but to no avail.
"That shield is certainly putting a crimp in my day," Obi-Wan said to Sal. Sal simply nodded as he no longer had his cloak on and stood with the cannons.
"Not just your day…" Sal said, as if to say 'you don't need to tell me twice.'
"It's no use, Generals!" Rex said, "Even at full power the cannon doesn't affect it."
"Well it was worth a try, Captain," Sal said to Rex, "Tell the men to fall back."
Rex instructed some of the clones to fall back while he, Obi-Wan, and Sal stayed behind and hid behind cover as the energy shield passed over them.
"We're inside the shield, just stay away from those tanks," Obi-Wan told Rex as he ignited his blue lightsaber with Sal following suit by igniting his lightsaber which emitted a white color.
The two Jedi used a Force-assisted jump to get off the platform they were on and descended onto the droid army with landing on top of the super-battle droids first. Sal sliced one in half as he landed before he cut the next droid nearby with a strong and powerful slash. It didn't take long for the clones to zipline onto the battlefield to join the two Jedi.
As Obi-Wan was fighting, he was able to catch a few glimpses of Sal's lightsaber skills. Sal was showing a lot of aggression with his fighting style. Based on what Obi-Wan was seeing it was most likely Sal using Form 5: Djem So. Obi-Wan saw that Sal showed aggression, but also tempered in the way he uses his lightsaber.
Sal and Obi-Wan stayed behind to fight the droid legion as the clones were retreating into the building.
Sal noticed a trooper getting choked by a super-battle droid so he did a saber throw and sliced the droid's arm off and used his free hand and used the force to crush it and then threw it to another group of battle droids to make it explode and destroy the other droids. Sal soon managed to retrieve his saber by using the Force and swung it behind his back to deflect a blaster bolt right at the super-battle droid that shot it. Rex and his troopers ran up to him as Obi-Wan landed beside Sal.
"They're behind us, Generals! They wiped out most of my unit. We had to pull out of there," Rex said. A large explosion soon went off as it made everyone flinch before running to nearby cover.
"The shield is about to reach the heavy cannons," Sal said to Rex and Kenobi. Within that moment Sal thought of something, "Captain, move your troops back to the heavy cannons. Do everything you can to protect them. Master Kenobi and I will delay them as much as we can."
Obi-Wan caught on with Sal's brash decision making and went on with it. Obi-Wan nodded to Rex who nodded back. Rex soon started to call the clones and started to retreat to the cannons. The two Jedi jumped over their cover and started to deflect blaster fire and then run at two battle droids. Sal did a behind the back flourish and used the momentum to cut down the droid with quick succession. Obi-Wan took care of another separatist droid and wasn't that far from Sal either.
It was all for naught as more battle droids were closing in on him. Obi-Wan saw this and deactivated his saber, Sal saw this and was confused.
"What are you doing, Master?" Sal asked.
"Just follow my lead, young Knight," Obi-Wan said, as if to advise him.
Sal had a look of conflict, but listened to the Jedi Master. He turned off his lightsaber and the battle droids were closing in on them. They stopped just a few meters from the two Jedi. Soon, a tank rolled in front of the army and the hatch opened to show the battle droid army leader came out of the hatch and showed himself.
"You must be the infamous General Kenobi," the separatist leader said, "and his new lapdog."
Sal did nothing, but was bothered by the snide comment made by the Separatist.
"We surrender," Obi-Wan said as a super-battle droid walked towards the two Jedi and took their lightsabers. Sal was trusting Obi-Wan as he hoped the Master was doing this on purpose.
"Now, Master Kenobi, order your troops to stand down," the droid general commanded as Obi-Wan used the force to lift two small rocks and one larger one, he arranged them as if there were a table and chairs.
"General, have a seat," Obi-Wan said while sitting down. Sal followed suit by sitting next to the Master.
"Have you gone mad?!" the general asked in shock.
"We've conceded the battle. Now we simply have to negotiate the terms of surrender," Obi-Wan said.
"Don't try any of your tricks, Jedi," the droid general stated.
"Surely there's no reason we can't be civilized about this," Obi-Wan said. As the two Jedi sat down, a small droid and the general exited the heavy cannon to sit with Master Kenobi and Jedi Knight Sal.
"It is a rare honor to be able to meet one's opponent face-to-face," Obi-Wan said, complimenting the general, "You're a legend throughout the Inner Core."
"Thank you," the general said, prideful of his accomplishments while sitting down, "The honor is all mine. I'm so glad you decided to surrender."
"Well, at some point, one must accept the reality of the situation," Obi-Wan said. Sal knew that the Master was trying to stall for some time, but he was impatient to how long he was able to stall before the jig was up.
"Might we have some refreshments?" Obi-Wan requested.
The general looked at the small droid as he made a command to bring some drinks.
"Thank you," Obi-Wan said, "this shouldn't take long."
…
The talk between Kenobi and the general was getting annoying. It was shown by the general's annoyed expression.
"…and, of course, once you've taken custody of my troops, arrangements will need to be made for their food and shelter. Tell me, do you have enough supplies—" Obi-Wan was cut off.
"Enough of this! You are stalling!" the general bellowed.
"Nonsense, General," Kenobi said while feigning ignorance, "There are numerous details to be discussed."
The general groaned in anger and flipped the makeshift table and pointed to the two Jedi.
"Seize them!" the general commanded as two super-battle droids picked up Obi-Wan while two more followed suit for Sal. Sal was getting enough of this and did a Force Repulse that pushed the battle droids back. Sal used the Force to retrieve his and Obi-Wan's lightsabers. He gave the master his hilt and the two ignited their respective sabers and cut down the droids. Sal used the Force to throw one of the parts of the sliced droids to hit the other super-battle droids. A blaster bolt was flying towards the back of Sal but he did a behind the back flourish to deflect it back. He soon turned around and saw a battle droid that was approaching Obi-Wan, but used the Force to lift it and closed his hand into a fist, crushing the massive battle droid. He soon threw it to the heavy tank making it explode.
"Just in the context you may run…" Sal said as he slowly walked to the general. Obi-Wan couldn't help but be impressed with Sal's resourcefulness and creativity.
After the droids were defeated the general started to shake in horror.
"That's impossible," the general said.
"Well Skywalker and Ahsoka are taking too long to disable the shield…" Sal said as he pointed his blade at the neck of the general who was starting to shake in fear.
"Nicely done, Aldiem," Obi-Wan said, "now we just have to wait until the shields are disabled."
Shortly after, the energy shield started to go down and Obi-Wan made the comment, "It's about time."
Soon ringing was heard and Obi-Wan's holo-disk was making the noise. The Master took out the holo-disk as it showed the hologram of Admiral Yularen.
"General Kenobi, General Aldiem, I hope you both hear me, we're through the blockade. The Separatist armada is in retreat. Your reinforcements should be landing in a moment," the admiral said as Obi-Wan and Sal looked up to see clone gunships flying overhead.
"Is it a good time to express my opinion?" Sal asked. Obi-Wan didn't say anything and Sal decided to proceed anyway, "I didn't think that would work."
"It seems like although you've developed so much, you still have quite a lot to learn and if you would like, I would like to teach you some things," Obi-Wan said, "Your lightsaber dueling skills as well as the usage of the Force is indeed levels of Masters, but Anakin and I will teach you what it means to be a Jedi Knight."
"I accept your offer, Master," Sal said with a smile. Obi-Wan smiled as he put a hand on the teenage boy's shoulder.
Soon, one of the ships landed near Obi-Wan and the young Aldiem. The two had the general handcuffed and in front of them. The ship opened to reveal Grandmaster Yoda, who walked out with troopers who kept their guns aimed at the General.
"Your timing is perfect, Master Yoda," Obi-Wan said. When Obi-Wan said that, Sal made a face as if to say, 'I EMPHATICALLY disagree.'
…
After the general was transported offworld, the three Jedi were waiting for Anakin and Ahsoka who had now just landed and walked off the gunship they were in and met up with the former three Jedi.
"Masters, Aldiem," Anakin said.
"Trouble you have with your new Padawan, I hear," Yoda said. Ahsoka seemed a bit nervous as it meant she would have to return to the temple and become a Youngling again. Sal saw this and couldn't help but feel bad for her.
"I was explaining the situation to Master Yoda," Obi-Wan explained to Anakin.
"Really?" Anakin asked.
"If not ready for a Padawan, you are, then Obi-Wan, we can—" Yoda was speaking and Anakin cut him off.
"No, wait a minute. I admit Ahsoka is a little rough around the edges. But with a great deal of training and patience, she might amount to something," Anakin said as Ahsoka smiled.
"Then go with you she will, to the Teth system," Yoda said, "Accompany you, Sal will as well."
This made Obi-Wan surprised.
"Teth?" Anakin was confused, "That's Wild Space. The droid army isn't even in that sector."
"Kidnapped, Jabba the Hutt's son has been," Yoda told them.
"You want me to rescue Jabba's son?" Anakin asked incredulously.
"Anakin, we'll need the Hutts' allegiance to give us an advantage over Dooku," Obi-Wan said.
"Negotiate the treaty with Jabba, Obi-Wan will, Find the renegades that hold Jabba's son. Yours and Aldiem's mission will be, Skywalker," Yoda instructed.
"Come on, Master. It doesn't sound that hard. I'll find Rex and organize the troops," Ahsoka ran off, "Let's go Sal."
"Well hold on… give me a minute," Sal said, annoyed as he ran to catch up to Ahsoka to gather the troops.
"Don't worry, Anakin. Just teach her everything I taught you, and she'll turn out fine," Obi-Wan said, "as for Aldiem, give him advice and pointers to help him improve his duties."
"I understand, Master," Anakin started to walk off, but not without looking at his former Master one last time, "You know, something makes me think that this was your idea from the start."
As soon as the troop gathered onto the gunship, Ahsoka and Sal looked at Anakin who was catching up with them.
"You ready, kid," Anakin asked Sal.
"As ready as I'll ever be," Sal said with a smirk, "Let's roll, or in this case, fly." Anakin matched the boy's smirk which made Ahsoka groan, thinking that Sal and Anakin were going to be a duo of disaster as the ship flew off into space.
On the Resolute, Anakin and Sal were walking towards a shuttle that landed on the hangar bay carrying a scout team from the planet.
"Lieutenant, did the kidnappers see you?" Anakin had asked.
"No, sir. We're the best scouts in the regiment," the clone replied.
"What about the bounty hunters? Are they still down there?" The Jedi Knight asked.
"I don't think so. We haven't seen them in a while," The lieutenant replied.
"Well, what are we up against?" The clone held up a holovid communicator and showed the layout of the temple the Hutt was being held.
"Looks like at least two droid battalions protecting the monastery. It's heavily fortified so you won't be able to land there," the scout explained.
"Good work. Get some rest," Anakin said before leaving to go find Ahsoka.
"Two droid battalions? In what world can a rival pirate crew afford two droid battalions?" Sal asked himself.
"Something wrong, kid?" Anakin asked.
"I do not know, Skywalker," Sal said to the senior Jedi Knight, "but I can't help but feel that something's off about this. Let's recall the past events that have occured, we were informed that Jabba the Hutt's son was kidnapped by rival pirates but what kind of pirates have two entire droid battalions with them? Wouldn't the droid army suggest the Separatists are behind this? Something's not adding up."
"You're not wrong in your assumption, Aldiem," Anakin said, "I don't like this situation at all so hopefully things go down without any problems."
Sal scoffed, "In your experience, has anything ever gone down without any problems?" Sal looked at Anakin with an incredulous look while Anakin took a minute to think.
"Fair enough, by the way it's Anakin," Anakin said.
Sal couldn't help but smile, "Sal."
They saw Ahsoka talk to a group of clones about what happened in Christophsis.
"That seems like a lot even for a Jedi?"
"I heard you were surrounded by droids. How did you ever get the shield down?"
"Ok, so there's a wall behind him with a hole in the middle. So, I pulled the wall down on top of the droids, destroying them and saving the general," Ahsoka recounted, which made all the clones laugh.
"Is that true, sir?" Rex asked.
"Well, most of it," Anakin admitted, which made them chuckle and even R2.
"Hey hold on," Sal said, "You know how long we've had the General captured before you guys had disabled the shield generator?"
"Yeah. I've never seen a General take down a series of Droids with quick succession," the clone said.
"All right, men. We've still got a job to do," Anakin told them.
"You heard the general. Move it!" Rex ordered and they all got ready.
"Would this be a good time to teach you both that a Jedi is humble, you two?" Anakin asked.
"So, you never bragged about your battlefield accomplishments?" Sal rhetorically asked with a laugh, knowing Anakin's reputation.
"I'm just trying to keep the boys inspired, that's all," Ahsoka added.
"Right… I'm not sure how much inspiration you'll get from the second best duelist in our class here," Sal said, pointing to Ahsoka as the latter punched his shoulder.
"So he's better than you?" Anakin asked Ahsoka.
"Well… yeah," Ahsoka said, "I've never been able to beat him in a duel no one can."
"Huh, is that so?" Anakin looked at Sal who gave a nonchalant shrug.
"What can I say?" Sal said, "I was the best."
"Think you can beat me?" Anakin said with a smirk.
"Well let's see," Sal said, matching the smirk.
"Oh you're on, Sal," Anakin said as everyone piled into the gunships to head down to the planet and recover the small Hutt. Sal, Anakin, and Ahsoka were in the gunship with Rex and a squad of clone troopers. A little bumpy ride through the skies but they were heading right towards the monastery. Obi-Wan soon called in with an update.
"All right, Anakin, here's the story," Obi-Wan said, "Jabba has given us only one planetary rotation to get his son back home to Tatooine safe and sound."
"It won't take us that long, Master," Anakin assured his former Master.
"Well, take extreme care. We have no idea who's holding Jabba's son. When I've finished negotiations with him, I will join you," Obi-Wan told him before signing off.
"Stay close to me, if you can," Anakin said to Ahsoka.
"It won't be a problem, Master," She replied in confidence.
"This isn't practice, Ahsoka," He cautioned her.
"I know, and I'll try not to get you killed," She replied with a smirk when their gunships rumbled due to droid flak fire.
"Sir, we're taking heavy fire," The pilot reported.
"Close the blast shields, lieutenant! Get us under those guns!" Anakin ordered.
"Yes, sir!" The pilot retracted the blast shields and all ships flew close to the ground.
"Ridge, your comms got static."
"Got it."
"Red Light, stand by."
"Welcome to paradise, Rock jumpers," The pilot Saluted before the blast doors opened and everyone poured out. Blaster fire came from above, but the foliage and surrounding trees were giving them cover so they rushed forward. Ahsoka activated her green lightsaber and deflected a few shots as she and the group moved forward. Three All Terrain Tactical Enforcer (AT-TE) walkers landed on the ground and began firing back at the droids.
Sal ran and flourished his saber to block all the blaster bolts, it was too far so he couldn't deflect them back at the droids that were firing from the monastery.
"Follow me!" Anakin led the assault force to the base of the mountain where the monastery was perched on, giving them some cover. One battle droid was unlucky to fall straight to the ground in a loud crash. "Ouch…" Sal muttered to himself as he kept running forward to catch up. As he did, he met up with Anakin and Ahsoka who were leaning up against the cliff.
"So, this is where the fun begins," Ahsoka said.
"Race you to the top," Anakin said to his Padawan. They looked ahead and saw Sal was running towards them, he soon dropped low to gather as much leverage he could get and did a massive Force-assisted jump. He managed to reach the top, making Anakin and Ahsoka jaw drop in shock.
"I thought you knew him," Anakin said to Ahsoka as she noticed the stunned look on her face.
"Not enough apparently," Ahsoka said as the two started to climb up the cliff.
Sal reached the top of the cliff within two to three massive jumps and ignited his lightsaber to cut down the battle droids. He first cut one and sensed a blaster bolt flying towards his back and deflected by bringing his saber over his head and towards his back to redirect it to another battle droid that his back had faced. Sal soon swung his saber from his back and around to deflect the blaster bolt and used the Force and put the droid in a Force Stasis. He soon walked forward and slashed the frozen droid in half. Sal soon saw another battalion of droids marching towards him and got ready to fight as Anakin arrived by his side.
"What took you both so long?" Sal asked with a smug grin on his face.
"Sorry," Anakin said, "some battle droids were in my way."
"I'll let it slide, this once," Sal said, "shall we?"
"After you," Anakin said as the two started to cut down and fight off the second battle droid battalion. As they finished taking down the battle droids and the super-battle droids, three destroyer droids rolled to them.
"Maybe I should've stayed with you and Ahsoka," Sal said, regretting his hastiness on getting to the top of the cliff.
"Blast it, Ahsoka. I told you to stay close to me," Anakin said only for the droids to blow up in an explosion.
Sal and Anakin looked back to see the two walkers had made it up and Ahsoka was standing next to a cannon of a walker, "I can't get much closer, Skyguy."
"I knew you'd get here, Snips, eventually," Anakin said.
"Always in time to save your life," She replied.
"Yeah or get us blown to pieces," Sal added in a cynical manner.
"We're all clear here, General," Rex reported.
"Good work, Rex. Have some men look after the wounded," Anakin ordered.
"Roger that, sir. Gunships are standing by at a safe distance," Rex replied.
Sal walked over to a downed battle droid, happy the battle was over quickly and with minimal casualties, but something was wrong. He looked up at the temple and could have sworn he saw something.
"There are too many droids for them to be renegades. I sense Count Dooku's hand in this. Looks like your suspicions were right, Sal," Anakin said to Sal when he noticed he was looking at the temple. "You okay?"
"I have a feeling we're being watched. Let's find that Hutt and get out of here before things get worse," Sal said.
"No problem. The hard part's over," Ahsoka commented.
"I wish you wouldn't have said that," Her master replied as she, Anakin, Rex, and a group of clones entered the temple.
Sal walked to the nearest droid who wasn't cut too badly. He soon ripped open the chest cavity and saw the memory core. He pulled out the same port from earlier and the handheld hacking device and typed a code to access the droid's memories.
"General Aldiem, General Skywalker is heading inside the temple," a clone told Sal.
"Thank you," Sal nodded as he unplugged from the droid. He soon accessed the data and told the clone, "I'll go inside in a few, I just need to access this droid's memory files to see who is behind this."
A hologram is being shown and a clone was nearby as he was watching the holo-footage with Sal beside him. The footage showed Count Dooku sending droids to the Monastery.
"This doesn't look good," the clone said.
"No it doesn't," Sal said, "I have a feeling that this place could be a trap. Get a few clones, we need to make sure the walkers are fully loaded and ready to go."
The clone nodded and walked off and Sal saw another clone walking by, "Excuse me sir, do you have any explosives that have strong blasts?"
The nearby clone Sal was referring to nodded, "Yes I do, sir"
"Perfect," Sal said, "Let's get charges set up on that arch over there and outside in the courtyard. If I'm wrong, I'll personally retrieve them later but if I'm right then it could end up helping us."
"Right away, sir," the clone soon ran off and started to plant the explosives and Sal knew he needed more people to help him and the clone.
"C'mon, let's get these explosives set!" Sal called out as he started helping clones with the explosives.
Anakin and Ahsoka soon returned with the young Hutt but he was sick and needed to get some medical attention. They put him in a small backpack to carry him around, but the baby got fussy as babies do. Sal lurched back in slight disgust before contacting Master Kenobi to figure out what was going on.
"Master Kenobi, come in. Do you read me?" Sal activated his commlink and holovid built into his gauntlet and the Jedi Master Appeared.
"Aldiem, I hear you. How's the mission? Have you recovered the Huttling?" Obi-Wan asked so Sal showed him Anakin and Ahsoka tending to the baby.
"We got him and had two droid battalions waiting for us. I had managed to splice into one of them and recovered data about orders from Count Dooku to hold Jabba's son here and have the droid battalions guard this damned Monastery, I'm planning on submitting the recording to the Republic and the Jedi Council," he reported.
"I bet Count Dooku is using us to somehow get Jabba to join the Separatists." Obi-Wan suggested.
Before Sal could say anything, two Separatist droid ships just entered the atmosphere.
"Eh great…" Sal groaned.
"What's going on, Aldiem?" Obi-Wan asked.
"I think we just walked into a trap. We've got incoming droids. We could use some extra help, Master," Sal requested.
"I'll get there as soon as I can. Help Anakin and Ahsoka protect the Hutt, Aldiem!" Obi-Wan shouted just as the commlink ended.
"Defensive Positions!" Rex shouted as the clones moved into position. Sal soon made a big leap over to Anakin and Ahsoka who was carrying the Hutt.
"Master Kenobi is on his way but we're on our own for now!" Sal shouted.
"Here they come! We've got spiders inbound!" One of the clones shouted as the droids started coming in through the same passageway from the courtyard they took. Sal activated his saber and began deflected blaster fire. The clones fired back, and the two walkers managed to take down some Vulture droids, but the transport ships landed in the courtyard and more began pouring out.
"Get inside!" Anakin told Ahsoka so she ran into the Temple with R2. Sal was out in front of some troopers, blocking some blaster fire which managed to hit a few droids but there were a lot coming.
"Blow the mine charges!" Sal shouted as one of the clones pressed the button on a detonator. That detonator was tied to the charges he placed around the courtyard and once that went off it destroyed dozens of droids, but more were coming. The tanks and gunners managed to take out over a hundred before some well-placed shots by the spider drones hit the cockpit.
"Fallback!" Anakin ordered so the clones began moving back into the temple.
"Now blow the arch!" Sal shouted, jumping behind one of the wrecked walkers.
"Eat this, clankers!" a clone hit the second detonator and the arch above the main passageway blew up, raining debris onto the droids and making a huge obstacle in the path. The last of the clones got inside followed by Anakin and Sal so they closed the gate while the droids were outside along with their leader, the cloaked Sith apprentice to Count Dooku, Asajj Ventress.
"Mistress, the Jedi have barricaded themselves inside the main vault," The droid commander informed her.
"They have nowhere to run," she said in evil glee.
With them cut off and a large security door the only thing keeping a battalion of droids from marching in, things weren't looking good for Anakin and his group. The clones steadied themselves and triple checked their weapons before moving into defensive positions.
"Captain, we'll stay here until General Kenobi arrives with reinforcements," Anakin told Rex when he noticed the look Ahsoka was giving him.
"Master, do you honestly think we can hold them off? We've got to find a way out of here," She told him.
"Our mandate is to protect this Hutt and that's what we're going to do, Ahsoka," Her master informed her in a strict tone.
"With all due respect Skywalker, we won't be able to do that once those droids get through that door and it's only a matter of time before they do. The second they come through there, the Hutt is in the middle of a fire fight and any stray blaster or explosion could kill him. I agree with Ahsoka, we need to get him out of here and to Tatooine as quickly as possible or else Jabba goes to work with the Separatists and the whole war effort will be a lot harder," Sal said.
"I suppose you have a plan," Anakin said to Ahsoka. Soon the astromech droid beeped joyfully and the said Padawan was quick to answer, "Yes, R2 willing."
"All right, I'll trust you on this. Rex, hold them here for as long as you can," Anakin told Rex.
"I'll assist you guys," Sal said to Rex, he later looked at Anakin, "you and Ahsoka be careful, okay?"
He nodded and soon followed Ahsoka and R2. Sal and Rex soon started to organize clones and stayed put.
"Is everyone okay?" Sal asked.
The clones spoke all at once, but it was along the lines of yes and Sal nodded.
"Good, we'll need to be at our best if we're going to hold off—" Sal soon stopped as he looked at the barricade and narrowed his eyes.
"What is it General?" Rex asked.
"Ventress…" Sal said, "I'll take care of her."
Sal soon contacted Anakin, "This is Skywalker."
"Skywalker, Ventress is here," Sal said, "I managed to organize the troops to fend you guys off."
"Okay, I'm coming up to assist," Anakin said through the comlink.
"No," Sal said, "You and Ahsoka should stay with the Hutt. I've got this."
After a momentary pause Anakin was heard, "Alright, I trust you on this."
"Thank you," Sal soon heard a lightsaber cut something and soon spoke, "I have to go, good luck."
Sal turned off his comlink and unclipped his saber hilt. He held it tight as he stared at the security door with such intensity. His eyebrows furrowed and his face shown to him frowning, but not with rage, but with sheer determination to not let the enemy reach their goal.
The door soon exploded and the droids started to march in with Ventress walking in. Sal ignited his saber and charged at Ventress while deflecting stray and incoming blaster bolts to droids to assist the clone troopers and mitigate the amount of clones lost.
Sal charged at Ventress who had two curved hilts that could attach together to make it a saberstaff and Sal went at the female Dathomirian Zabrak with one falling avalanche strike that made her stumble back. She was astounded at the fact a teenage boy was able to have such immense strength.
"I underestimated you, boy," Ventress said as she detached the two hilts. She got into a modified Makashi stance.
"A fellow Makashi duelist," Sal said as he got into the Soresu stance, "this ought to be interesting."
She soon went for the offensive and Sal utilized a basic Soresu parry and then transitioned into the traditional Djem So counterattack with its overwhelming offense with the bladework of Makashi with the fast paced aggression of Ataru. Ventress clearly underestimated this young man and was starting to get overwhelmed with Sal's modified Djem So strikes. Ventress attempted to strike back at Sal, but he managed to get her into a saberlock and then pushed her back. He soon flourished his saber and did a one-handed slash that made her stumble to the ground. Sal had his saber pointed at her chin, but he was distracted when Ventress's commlink started to beep.
"Mistress," a droid said through her commlink, "I must inform you that Republic reinforcements have arrived."
She looked at Sal and then behind her and saw three destroyer droids rolling towards Sal who groaned in displeasure as Ventress did a back roll to a spring up, "Great, destroyers."
Sal knew this wasn't the time, but he had to try, with a press of a button the saber blade intensified. As a destroyer shot a blaster bolt, Sal deflected the bolt with the intensified blade which in return caused the blaster bolt to intensify and when it went back at the destroyer droid who shot it. Sal was taken aback when an explosion occurred as it also made the other two destroyers explode.
"Okay…" Sal said as he turned off his saber, "well that was new and impressive."
"That was amazing, sir," Rex said. He soon started to receive a transmission and this caused Sal to be curious to what's going on.
"Thank you," Sal said, "tell me what's going on?"
"General Kenobi has reached the planet's atmosphere," Rex said, "and General Skywalker as well as Commander Tano has managed to grab a starship to take the Huttling back to Tatooine."
"Good," Sal said, "we were able to hold the Separatists back to assist Skywalker and Ahsoka."
"So…" Rex said, "will this be the last time we'll see you again."
"I hope not," Sal said, "I would love to accompany you men on your next operation."
Soon, Sal heard his comm link ring, "Excuse me." He brought up his handheld device and clicked the button and then answered, "This is Aldiem."
"Aldiem, return to the temple, you shall," Yoda's voice said through the comm link.
"Yes, Master," Sal said as he turned his comm link off and soon went onto a land cruiser and rode to Coruscant.
Thanks for reading! I would like to preface that Sal's primary lightsaber form is both Form V variants; Shien and Djem So. With the physical demands of Form V: Djem So, he also utilizes the tight defenses of its parent form, Form III: Soresu, the elegance, bladework, and footwork of Form II: Makashi in a two-handed variation, and the speed, flexibility, aggression, and acrobatics of Form IV: Ataru. As of now, he is staying away from his former Master's Form VII, Vaapad. I would like to preface that Sal is nowhere near Anakin's level, but this character looked up to Anakin and admired the Jedi Knight so he decided to master Form V after he became a Jedi Knight, but utilizes aspects of other lightsaber forms to make up for any weaknesses that comes with being a teenager. The reason for switching to Form V: Djem So variant was when using Vapaad, you have to "flirt" with the Dark Side and Sal was basically close to falling into it. So he utilized Djem So due to its defense-to-onslaught offense philosophy. Sal wears the outfit based on a mod named: Emperor Vader that belongs to Battlefront 2. Here's Sal's lightsaber proficiency based on each form and its ranking as well as physical stats and Mastery of the Force.
Form I: B
Form II: A
Form III: A
Form IV: B
Form V (Both Shien and Djem So): S
Form VI: B
Form VII: S
Physical Strength: A
Mobility: A
Force Mastery: B
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