So I'm on a bit of a bender with this story and my constant want to write it and honestly, not complaining.
It's strange really with College on top of work and at least several personal projects and the level of focus on this story is ironically helping keep my sanity and clarity.
So, really there's not much to say other then let's keep this show going.
Rate Read and Review and As Always Have Nice Day.
Avengers Infinite Wars Chapter 11: Crash landing, Metal clanging.
It was strange that he had not done this sooner.
Then again, looking back on these past few weeks he didn't have the time or place to do such a thing.
But now? He had that moment.
And… it was terrifying, overwhelming and breathtaking all at the same time.
He wondered if this is how Tony felt when he went through that wormhole in New York all those years ago. That image of an alien armada coming to Earth prompting such a drastic change in the billionaire.
Steve had seen it even with Tony's many attempts to deflect such a notion. That was until Ultron. When his AI went array, the event literally forced the Iron Avenger to admit how woefully underprepared and equipped he had felt in facing such an overwhelming force.
Granted, he had felt the same, but Steve felt an unwavering faith in his comrades and friends. They would fight, win and lose together.
Yet now, the Avengers were splintered with practically all its members scattered across the cosmos in the very literal sense.
Clint and Tony were back on Earth, Thor was off doing God knows what, Vision, Hope, Pietro, Wanda and Nat were more than likely somewhere in this galaxy and god knows where Bruce had disappeared to.
Thinking back to Earth, Steve figured how woefully under defended it seemed with eleven of its globally recognized protectors all missing right now.
But… Cap's faith was never institutions, governments or organizations of any kind. Not truly. No, his faith was in people.
And Cap knew without a shadow of a doubt that should if push comes to shove, others will undoubtedly step up and hold the line.
Besides, knowing Tony, the shell head is more than likely already working his ass off to find them while preparing for endless contingencies.
If he recalled correctly, Tony had mentioned something about a recruitment drive. Apparently other enhanced individuals were starting to make their presence known, getting on the radar of the Avengers.
Steve is all for it.
They have to be. They stepped up after Shields collapse and the Earth will need new defenders when the time comes.
But he'll focus on that later.
Right now, his top priority was finding the other lost Avengers and keeping them together in order for the group to be found.
And since Anakin had so graciously offered, here Cap stood in the right wing hangar of Skywalkers flagship Venator of his fleet, The Resolute.
Currently, Anakin's fleet resided in the Quell system in the outer rim of the galaxy were the Republic had been on a defensive campaign to prevent Separatists from gaining easier access to other systems. It was a difficult plan as most Republic fleets within the rim had been stretched thin.
Off to the side rested Scott Lang who had his headphones plugged in and his foot tapping to the beat of his music.
Sam and Rhodey were somewhere behind Cap, learning more about piloting and ship operations from the other clones. He along with Scott were also learning though at a bit of a slower pace but they were making progress nonetheless.
"Enjoying the view?"
Tilting his head back, he saw Ahsoka Tano approached with a cordial smile. Giving her a slight nod in greeting, Steve resumed his gaze back onto the endless expanse before him.
"Kinda overwhelming honestly." Steve said. "Makes me realize how small I am. As generic as that sounds."
"It is strange, really." Tano mused, crossing her arms and joining Cap's stare out into the stars. "I've lost track of how many times I've seen this view already but I never really took the time to…"
"Soak it all in?"
Ahsoka nudged the captain in confirmation, getting a small chuckle out of him.
The two stood side by side in companionable silence, the ambient background noise of the hangar bay behind them.
"I never would've thought I'd be up here in the cosmos." Steve said, breaking the silence. "Then again, in my line of work I should've seen this coming."
"At least you're open minded, Cap." Ahsoka said.
"Sometimes I can't tell if that's a good or bad for my health." Steve wryly retorted.
Ahsoka giggled once again, making Steve smile at her.
Though in the back of his mind, Steve felt conflicted. Here was a young girl no older than 14 or 15 and she was thrust into a war.
He along with the others were vehemently against such a notion but it was not there place to say. The Jedi had accommodated them in their time of need and for the four of them to publicly go out and state their opinion of young Jedi being in war… well, while most would agree, the simple counter would be that it's war.
And Steve along with Sam and Rhodey would know. War causes people to do things unlike themselves.
Stick their hands in the filth so that others would not. Compromise so that people would be free.
Yet… that same familiar nagging feeling Cap had with insight is just written all over this war.
After the three years since the Avengers formed, Rogers could no longer deny the disillusionment that he has with his own government and the governments of the world as a whole.
It was a rather difficult pill to swallow, but he had to. Fury once told him that SHIELD took the world for what it was and not what it would like it to be. That he had to get with that program.
He instead chose to hold on. Hold on to those old fashioned notions that so many before him had been willing to die for.
His old friends, His Commandos, Phil Coulson.
Cap refused to let go in the belief of people.
And right now, he had to focus on keeping that faith in himself and in his friends that they would find their wayward lost allies.
"Captain Rogers. I see my young Padawan is keeping you company."
Both turned to see Anakin Skywalker approaching the two with an easygoing smile.
"Yeah, helps when looking out into space." Steve plainly said.
"How are you holding up?"
Steve only shrugged. "Fine, more or less. As well as I can be considering where I am. Just glad I'm at least on a ship with friendlies."
"Nice to know we can be of service." Skywalker jokingly remarked, moving to exit the hangar bay with Rogers and Tano following after him.
"I do have to ask something important though, Steve." Anakin said through a somewhat serious tone.
Steve tilted head to the side a bit in response to this sudden change in demeanor by Anakin sharing a momentary look with Ahsoka.
"What about?"
"Does this sound familiar to you?"
Anakin proceeded to do a bit of a bizarre action.
*STOMP* *STOMP* *CLAP* *STOMP* *STOMP* *CLAP*.
It took a moment for Steve to process just what Anakin had done.
"Oh, you've heard that song to!" Ahsoka suddenly said aloud happily.
"Wait, What?" Anakin looked to his apprentice. "You know about that? The boys have been doing it in their spare time. What is that?"
Steve couldn't contain the snort of amusement that escaped him as soon as he realized just what these two were referring to.
"I guess Scott's been keeping himself busy then just the temple."
"Scott?" Anakin repeated, taking a moment to process what Steve could be talking about. "Wait… does it have to do that music we heard the other day?"
"Yeah, pretty much." Steve confirmed. "Looks like Scott's making sure to educate the Clones and the Jedi about his favorite bands."
"I can't really blame him." Ahsoka said with some excitement. "I've never heard anything like that before! Queen is amazing! Scott's showed me and some of the boys a bunch of their songs. And he said that that's only the surface level of music back on your world."
"Well, you wouldn't be wrong about that." Steve stated, a fond smile on reminiscing about the songs he had grown up to along with the exposure of all these brand new genres he had been listening to since waking up in the modern world. "Maybe when we find Earth, you guys can visit and really experience Earth. Not to brag about my planet but it's like a galaxy of cultures crammed onto one planet."
"Now I'm definitely interested." Anakin admitted.
Suddenly, their conversation was cut short by an urgent message coming through the comms of the ship.
"General Skywalker, this Admiral Yularen. You are needed on the bridge at once."
Locking eyes with Steve for a brief moment, Anakin gestured his head in the direction to the bridge with Steve nodding.
The trio broke into a run, with Steve relaying a message to the Avengers to be on standby.
They arrived at the bridge soon with Yularen waiting for them.
"General Skywalker." Yularen greeted with a professional tone. "We have received a distress call from Jedi Aayla Secura a system away. She is taking heavy losses and damage by a separatist fleet. It appears to have been a Separatist controlled planet."
Anakin immediately knew what to do. "Prep the fleet for Hyperspace, Admiral. We're heading over there."
"Yes sir." Yularen said, quickly sending out orders.
Anakin went over to the holo table and brought up the distress call only to see that it was Aayla herself speaking.
"Skywalker." Aayla spoke in a relieved tone though the sounds of her ship being bombarded was heard from the other line. "Glad to see someone got my message. Padawan Tano, Captain Rogers. It is good to see the two of you as well."
"What's the status of your fleet?" Rogers asked straight away.
"We're getting hammered on all sides." Aayla replied tersely, momentarily looking ahead and sent out instructions to her troops. "The Separatist fleet is planning to pincer our movements."
"We're already on our way." Anakin stated. "Hang on for as long as you can, Aayla. We'll make it. I promise."
"I'll hold you to it." Aayla said with a light tone before the transmission cut out.
Anakin turned to Steve. "You ready for this?"
"Always am. I'll help get the troops ready."
Steve rushed off, leaving Anakin and Ahsoka the former of which held a contemplative expression.
Ahsoka noticed this. "Master? Is everything alright?"
Anakin mused internally for several moments while the fleet entered Hyperspace.
"I'm not exactly sure Snips." Anakin said, brows furrowing in thought. "The Force… it's acting a bit strange. Do you feel it?"
Ahsoka stared at her master before looking down and closed her eyes. Reaching out to the force, she was greeted to the familiar chaotic sensation that was becoming more frequent within the energy that was the Force. It had been like this since the shockwave when the Avengers arrived and now…
"What do you think it means master?"
"I have guesses." Anakin said truthfully. "But all we can do right now is wait and see what happens."
Steve had returned to the Hangar bay, seeing that Clone troopers and pilots were running about while preparing the ships and themselves for combat.
He instantly spotted Sam, Rhodey and Scott all suited up and ready to go speaking with a few troopers.
Jogging over to them, he saw one of the Troopers have a five tattooed on his temple.
"Cap." Rhodey greeted.
"What's going on, Steve?" Sam asked.
"A Jedi needs reinforcements." Steve quickly explained. "And it's someone I know from the temple."
"Who?" Scott asked.
"Her name is Aayla Secura."
"Oh, from the 327th corps, right?" one of the Clone troopers spoke up though he was nudged to be silent.
Steve stared at the troopers, noting there were four of them in total.
"Oh, that's right, you guys haven't met yet." Rhodey quickly realized. "Cap, this is Domino Squad. The Clone Troopers from the Rishi Moon Base I landed in."
"Yeah, I remember you guys." Steve said, taking a moment to gauge each one's name. "Fives, correct?"
"Yes sir." Fives said, tapping his tattoo. "Kind of a give away though."
"I'm Hevy." The Clone holding a minigun stepped forward. "This is Echo and Cutup. It's a pleasure to meet you sir."
"The pleasure all mine." Steve said, holding out his hand for Hevy to shake which he did. "Good to see soldiers like you helping out my friends."
"We kinda owe Colonel Rhodes a lot." Echo admitted right away.
"Yeah, me especially." Cutup stated sheepishly. "Otherwise I'd be living up to my namesake… or lack thereof."
"Good to see he's making friends." Steve said with a teasing tone. "God knows how his friendship with Tony affected his taste with others."
Rhodey only rolled his eyes, knowing that he couldn't really rebuke that considering the headaches his best friend has given him over the years.
Scene Cut
General Aayla Secura stood on the bridge of her flagship Venator of her fleet, doing her best to direct her forces and keep them alive.
"Commander Bly, what is the status of the other ships?"
"AS-2 is dead in the air, General." Bly grimly said.
"Any escape pods?" Aayla asked in concern.
"None so far."
"Get word out to them if you can. Signal them however possible and tell them to abandon ship. I will not have them die like sitting banthas."
"Right away, General."
Bly quickly ran out while Aayla addressed the rest of her crew. "Status report!"
"We're holding out but only barely." One of her pilots stated with frustration. "Our shields are dropping fast and half our cannons have been destroyed."
"Our fighter squadrons have been depleted by half." Another Clone reported.
Aayla clenched her fists, hating to hear so much of her fighting forces being killed off like that. As much as she tried to deny it, Aayla had grown fond of her corps as they had grown fiercely loyal to her in the short time the war had begun.
Bly was a faithful soldier and friend and she had found herself confiding in him quite often on battle plans and strategies. His astute knowledge and battlefield awareness had aided them on a number of occasions, minimizing casualties a great deal.
But right now, all they could do is hold on and wait for help.
"Hurry Anakin." Aayla murmured. "You're our only hope."
Speaking of said Jedi, he along with Captain Rogers and Admiral Yularen had quickly smacked together a plan of action.
"We'll need a two pronged attack." Yularen said, pointing to points of entry. "Judging by the level of damage General Secura's fleet had sustained, it will be only a matter of time before they deploy boarding parties to sweep up the rest of the Republic forces."
"They seemed to be focused on hitting the front for the moment before they go in for the pincer." Steve noted. "If we hit them in the back hard and fast, it'll throw them off balance."
"Giving us time to send out some Gunships and fighters to back up Aayla's fleet." Anakin said. "We'll need to evacuate their ships. Look down here. Some of their escape pod bays have been damaged. We won't be able to get everyone out of there."
Anakin turned behind him to see Rex awaiting orders.
"Prep the gunships, Rex." Anakin instructed. "We'll need so jet troopers for this one."
"Right away sir." Rex left with Anakin and Steve running after him as the fleet pulled out from Hyperspace headed right in the middle of battle.
"Avengers." Steve quickly contacted his friends. "We're heading right in the thick of it. Sam, Rhodey I want the two of you in the air as soon as possible and get some crowd control. Scott, you're with me."
The trio ran into the Hangar bay to see a row of Gunships with Y-Wing bombers and V-19 torrent fighters all whirring aloud.
Spotting the Gunships with the other Avengers and his Padawan, Anakin, Rex and Steve quickly boarded the Gunships.
Falcon placed on a breathing apparatus that the Clones had provided for him and even held a blaster rifle.
Soon enough, the Venators entered the planet's atmosphere immediately engaging the enemy.
The gunships, bombers and torrent fighters all lifted up off the ground and took to the skies with the smaller fighters moving to attack the Separatist Starfighters.
In an instant, the Gunships were rocked back and forth by the blaster fire and explosions going off around them with the battle raging on.
Off to the side, a squadron of V-19's got into a figure Four Formation and shot down a cluster of Vulture Droids though one of their own got destroyed.
"General Secura, do you read me?" Anakin spoke through his wrist comm. "Reinforcements have arrived."
"Not a moment too soon, Skywalker." Aayla's voice chimed in from the other side. "Our shields are gone and life support systems have been damaged."
"Begin evacuation of your troops." Anakin instructed. "I've got Gunships coming in to assist you."
"Appreciated, Skywalker but you're going to have a problem. My ship is crawling with Super Battle Droids and their boarding my ships."
"That's why I've got backup." Anakin said, looking to Steve who got the silent message.
"Rhodey, Sam, you guys are up."
"Let's go, Sam." Rhodey said to the para-rescue Avenger.
Helmet snapping around him, War Machine dropped out from his Gunship with Falcon doing the same. Both began engaging the flying Supers, with their superior weaponry and tactics slamming through the droids one after another.
"I need to get me one of those suits." Hevy murmured beside his squad with them nodding in agreement.
Falcon weaved through the countless falling droids with ease as both his skill, instincts and HUD on his goggles assisted him in maneuvering through the skies.
Barreling towards two droids, his wing suit being as intuitive as it was, curled forward and grabbed the two in midair. Spinning around in the air to add some momentum, Falcon flung the Supers at other droids with both crashing and causing a small litany of droids getting knocked out of the sky. Choosing not to admire his work, Sam went onto to his next set of droids.
War Machine meanwhile smashed through one after another, using his advanced armor as battering ram. His self-automated Minigun was firing left and right at any Droid he passed by. Grabbing a super by its arms, Rhodey's minigun whirled round and shredded through the droid before he threw one of its chunks at another super.
Clipping its rockets, the droid spiraled out of control and crashed into a vulture Droid which made the fighter look in the direction of Rhodey.
"Oh boy." War Machine muttered to himself, quickly turning around and flying away with the vulture droid now in pursuit.
Steve in the meantime told Scott to shrink down and stay one his shoulder and hang on.
As they neared closer to the Venator, their Gunship was rocking around much more violently as some of the Supers and Vulture droids had taken notice of them. They were firing at them, hoping to prevent them from getting close and rescuing the ships personnel.
Anakin had his lightsaber out, deflecting some shots here and there while Sam flew around them to keep other Rocket droids off their ships.
Looking ahead, Skywalker saw multiple droids entering Secura's Venator threw a large gaping hole.
"Those Droids are boarding Aayla's ship!"
"Any ideas, Master?" Ahsoka asked.
"A few."
Being the impulsive Jedi that he was, Anakin leapt out from his gunship and landed on a Super.
Using his own weight to move it in his direction, he spun it around several time to shoot out several Super Droids out of the sky before letting go and falling straight into the breech on Aayla's Venator.
"Of course he'd do that." Ahsoka murmured to herself.
"It was sloppy." Steve shook his head in disappointment. "This how you really do it."
Without further provocation, Steve dived headfirst out the gunship with his shield arm out. Nearing a super battle droid, Cap reeled his arm back and smashed his shield into the upper body of the droid.
It immediately began to fly about erratically until Cap grabbed onto to its arms and forcefully sent it down in the direction of the hull breach where Anakin had just jumped into.
Scott, who was on Steve's shoulder, clung on to the Captain for dear life.
The Clones and Padawan on the gunship could only watch with wide eyes and jaws dropped.
"Holy Kriff, these guys are insane!" Hevy said aloud with clear admiration.
"And I thought the general had a wild streak." Rex murmured to himself.
"No wonder those two get along." Ahsoka deadpanned, the gunship drawing nearer to their objective.
Back down with Anakin he landed in a corridor teaming with battle droids activating his lightsaber and going right to work.
He sliced through several Supers in quick succession, using a force pull on one and cut it in half.
Hearing a thump behind him, Anakin whirled round to see Captain America cocking his arm back flinging his shield forward against the walls.
The shield bounced against the walls in a diagonal fashion, angling around Anakin entirely and proceeding to cut through many droids until it hit an angled indent and bounced its way back to its owner.
Anakin merely sidestepped the shield which was then caught by Steve.
Giving the Captain a grin of approval, Anakin and Steve stood side by side as the Super Battle Droids that remained turned their attention on them.
Then, several up front jolted about violently receiving dents from seemingly nowhere until Ant-man grew to full size to deliver a dropkick to the droid closest to him before shrinking back down again.
Anakin's grin only widened upon seeing Ant-man in action.
"Did I ever tell you guys how awesome it is that you're on our side."
Steve only smirked in response.
Outside, the Gunships drew closer to the damaged Venator with Ahsoka, Rex and Domino squad jumping down into the hole after their allies. Other gunships deployed jet troopers to take care of the Super Rocket Droids crawling all over the ship.
Meanwhile, Republic Starfighter squadrons along with Falcon and War Machine provided enough of a distraction and fight that most of the enemies attention had been turned onto them. This in turn gave the new Gunships time to swoop into Aayla's hangar bay and get the 327th corps to safety.
Inside the ship, Captain Rogers, Skywalker and Ant-man were cutting a swath right through the Droid troops until blaster fire came from behind, taking down several droids in front of them.
Looking behind them, they saw Rex, Domino Squad and Ahsoka running to catch up to them.
"Bout time you guys got here." Anakin jokingly said. "You're missing out on all the fun."
"Apologies sir." Rex wryly stated. "We didn't pack our jetpacks and super juice with us today."
Anakin only grinned at his second in command.
The assembled group pressed on through the Droid infested Venator until they saw Aayla Secura fighting off droids with Commander Bly and several other clones by her side.
"Nice of you to join us, Skywalker, Ahsoka." Aayla greeted. "Captain Rogers! Mr. Lang. I am grateful to see that Anakin is taking this rescue seriously."
"Pleasure to see you again, Aayla." Steve said in turn, slicing a Droid in half.
"I hope you didn't come in rushing without a plan, Skywalker." Aayla said with a knowing tone sent the Jedi Knights way.
"As a matter of fact, I've got my fighters and gunships evacuating your ship as we speak. There's a corvette coming up for us in the lower hangar." Anakin quickly said, the large group of Jedi, Avengers and Clones all running down the corridor while taking out droids along the way.
Said Corvette was currently floating up to the docking bay, cautiously making sure to align itself properly with the ship as the larger Venator was beginning to fall through the planet's atmosphere.
The clone pilots were soon leveled with the lower hangar bay.
"Activate Docking port." The main pilot instructed.
The republic forces and their Avenger allies made their way to the lower hangar bay.
"It's just up ahead everyone." Aayla said aloud, leading the group.
Several seconds of running later, they saw the doorway out of the ship.
"We made it." Ahsoka declared happily, despite the ship violently shuddering just now.
However, while everyone ran forward to the bay door that Ahsoka opened, Anakin looked back in dread as a raging inferno of explosions were coming right for them.
"NO!" Anakin let out a powerful force push that sent his comrades hurtling into the Corvette waiting for them.
"MASTER!" Ahsoka cried out in fear as the door closed.
"Anakin!" Steve slammed his fist against the metal door. He turned to Rex. "Get this damn door open."
On the other side, Anakin had closed another door in front of him to hold back the fire. The metal groaned and creaked until it gave in.
The pressure build exploded violently, flinging Anakin back making him slam down to the floor hard.
Ahsoka got the door open at last and saw her down and out Master on the ground.
"Master."
"I got him, Ahsoka." Steve was already beside the Jedi, easily lifting him up and carrying him into the Corvette.
"Get us out of here, pilots." Aayla ordered quickly with the soldiers complying with calm professionalism.
Getting out from underneath the lower hangar bay, the Corvette flew upwards towards the Resolute though they immediately encountered resistance.
"Sam, Rhodey, we need some cover here." Steve said through his comm link.
"Easier said than done, Cap." Sam grunted, evading a pair of Vulture droids on his tale. "This place is a god damn cluster-fuck."
"As crude as an assessment Lieutenant Wilson's of the situation may be, you cannot risk docking in the middle of this battle, General Secura." Admiral Yularen chimed in.
"We have no choice, Admiral." Aayla said firmly. "Skywalker received critical injuries during the Evac of my ship."
"Are all Jedi so reckless?" Yularen inquired half-joking, half-frustrated.
"Only the good ones." Aayla quipped with a mischievous smirk.
The Corvette was flown at Anakin's main Venator with it positioning itself beneath the lower hangar. Then, several stray vulture droids flew by while firing at the ship damaging it.
The main controls of the Corvette sparked chaotically in the face of one of the pilots which knocked him out. Falling forward, his helmet smacked against the controls wit h a red, green and yellow panel glowing repeatedly.
"The Hyperdrive's been activated!" Bly said in alarm.
"Shut it down!" Aayla said frantically.
"I can't!"
On board the Venator, the alarms were blaring greatly worrying the Admiral.
"General Secura, what's going on?" He asked.
"Our ship has sustained damage!" Aayla said rapidly. "The damage inadvertently triggered the Hyperdrive. You need to detach, now!"
"Cap." Rhodey called in. "My suits picking an energy spike, what the hell's happening?"
"Looks like me and Scott are going for a ride." Steve grimly informed. "Return to the Resolute immediately you two."
"But Cap…"
"Now, Sam, trust me on this. We'll be fine."
The Venator moved away from the Corvette just in time as it zipped away far into the recesses of Hyperspace.
"Plot every trajectory their ship had." Yularen ordered the Troops. "Once we finish this battle, we need to find them."
Sam and Rhodey had returned back to the hangar bay, both face each other anxiously.
"Oh man." Sam whispered, looking back out onto the raging naval battle in the air.
Separating from his friends and leader in a galaxy far, far away didn't exactly sit well with the aviator. Unfortunately, that was circumstance of this battle and now all he could do is place his faith in Cap and Scott that they'll return in one piece after all this blows over.
"They'll be fine." Rhodey reassured, though he himself didn't like this any more than Sam did.
"It's not them I'm worried about." Sam said. "It's what they're gonna run in to."
Even Rhodey couldn't find a solid argument against it. His time spent here and with how Tony described it to be in his brief time up there showed him that Space didn't play by your rules and was as unpredictable as a raging tide on the seas.
Scene cut
A lone republic Corvette sailed through the black and blue tunnel of hyperspace with one critically wounded Jedi on board and several other individuals in a bit of a bind.
"Great." Scott bemoaned aloud. "First there were four of us and now we're two apart and Sky guy's hurt."
"Take it easy, Scott." Steve calmly stated, helping Ahsoka move Anakin into a more comfortable position in the med-bay. "Sam and Rhodey can handle themselves just fine. We'll be back with them before you know it."
Ahsoka meanwhile looked down upon her master with a sorrowful frown, placing a hand over his chest. His heartbeat was stable but his overall condition was not.
She was shaken from her internal strife by a gentle hand upon her shoulder.
"Ahsoka." Steve said softly. "He's gonna be fine. You've got nothing to be worried about."
"How can you say that so easily, Captain Rogers?" Ahsoka said, hands clenching tightly. "I've never seen Master banged up like this."
"Because it comes with the job, Ahsoka." Steve said succinctly. "Scott, Sam, Rhodey, the Avengers, myself and I bet even Secura has dealt with these types of injuries before and they've pulled through just fine afterwards. Anakin's a tough one. He's not gonna let a little back pain and concussion keep him down. He's too stubborn and reckless to allow it."
Ahsoka let out a shaky laugh, giving Cap an appreciative smile.
"He's really good at that." Scott said with pure admiration. "Really knows how to lift your mood up in an instant."
Ahsoka couldn't help but laugh at the random comment while Steve turned to a bashful Scott who waved his hand off.
Shaking his head in amusement, Steve looked over to the Medbay door that had just opened up to see Aayla Secura stepping in.
"Is everything alright down here?" Aayla asked, glancing at Anakin.
"More or less." Steve shrugged. "How are things with the Clones and the ships course?"
"The troopers are fine." Aayla promised. "Though the ships trajectory is a bit difficult to pinpoint considering it was punched in via explosion. Ahsoka, head up to the cockpit and assist Bly for the time being. I'm pretty sure Anakin has taught some of his flying skills, no?"
"He has, Master Secura but I'd rather stay down here and watch over my master." Ahsoka said firmly. "He needs my help."
"You can help your master by getting us to safety, Ahsoka." Aayla said understandingly. "And you don't need to worry about your master. Captain Rogers and Mr. Lang is here and they can watch over him for the time being."
Biting her lower lip, Ahsoka wanted to argue but she knew that she really couldn't say much against Aayla's reasoning.
However, Tano wouldn't get a chance to say anything by the sudden arrival of Commander Bly.
"General Secura, we've got a serious problem." Bly said grimly.
"What is it, Commander?"
Letting out a sigh, Bly walked over to a terminal showing their current trajectory. "In our haste to escape, the Navi-computers coordinate were inputted incorrectly. Outside our control. And now we're headed right for a star."
Scott's jaw dropped in disbelief. "What?!"
"Scott, stay here." Steve instructed, leaving the Medbay with everyone else and rushing off to the pilots cabin.
On the way they saw Domino Squad, Rex and three other clones all working on repairing the damages done to the ship with Rex joining them on the way.
Entering the cockpit, Bly and Ahsoka seated themselves with Aayla, Rex and Steve looking on.
Both Jedi and Clone frantically pushed buttons, flicked switches and attempted to override the Navi-computers until Bly slammed his fist into the controls.
"It's no use." He said irritably. "The Navigation computers are completely fried."
"Shut down all the power circuits to reset the coordinates." Aayla quickly ordered.
"But Master Anakin's life support will get cut off." Ahsoka said.
"He'll survive for a few seconds." Steve said. "That's all we'll need."
"Captain Rogers' is right, Ahsoka." Aayla said. "We need to this now."
Ahsoka bit her tongue, gripping the steering tightly. "Switching off primary power units."
"Cutting it close, Commander." Rex said, looking at the ships distance from the incoming star.
"Steve." Aayla gestured the Captain over to a control panel. "Press this at the same time with me. Then hold that lever."
Following her instructions, the two did just that and Aayla turned to Tano.
"Ready to shut off Auxiliary power." Aayla said, both hers and Steve's hands gripping their levers at the ready.
"On three." Ahsoka said. "1… 2… 3!"
Ahsoka shut down all power and the recoil of exiting Hyperspace was strong with Rex, Steve and Aayla now dangling in the air whilst holding on for dear life. The blazing star was dead ahead and they were approaching it fast.
"We're out of Hyperspace." Bly yelled out. "Resume all power, now."
Both Steve and Aayla pulled their switches down and Ahsoka instantly fired up the engines.
Narrowly skimming the stars upper atmosphere, everyone could feel the momentary intense heat of the star until Ahsoka flew out of its range.
Then came the warning systems of a damaged thruster.
"Well, we're not crashing into any star but we are gonna hit that planet." Ahsoka miserably announced.
Rex went over to a speaker for the ship and spoke into it. "Brace for impact."
Ahsoka grasped the controls firmly. "Get ready to pull up with me, Commander."
Bly silently nodded, copying the young Padawans movement and held on tightly.
The ship shook heavily as it entered the new planet's atmosphere, the corvette momentarily ablaze which only served to further damage the engines that were now breaking apart.
"NOW!"
Both Ahsoka and Bly pulled up as hard as they could, the ship jolting up a sharp angle.
Eventually after several seconds of falling, the back half of the ship struck the ground first with the rest coming down hard.
Rex, Aayla and Steve flew up into the air and landed on the ground sprawled out.
Grunting, Steve hefted himself back up to his feet, going over to help Rex up a second later.
He turned to see Aayla still down though she was sitting up massaging her temple.
"You alright, General?" Steve asked respectfully.
"Yes, Captain." Aayla nodded. "A bit dazed from the landing is all."
Offering her a hand, she graciously accepted, easily being lifted back up to stand.
"Thank you, Captain."
Steve only nodded, holding up his wrist comm. "Scott, what's your status?"
He heard a soft grunt, followed by metal scrapping. "Alive. But I think I hit my ass on the way down."
"And Anakin?"
"Kept him on the bed." Scott said. "He's breathing and all."
Ahsoka heard all this and let out a relieved sigh, leaning back on her seat and placing a hand over hear rapidly beating heart.
Rex had departed from the Pilot's room to check up on the other Clones.
He saw them all, with Hevy and Fives assisting Cutup while Echo was over with the other three clones from Bly's corps.
"Everyone alright in here?" Rex asked. "Any injuries?"
"Just rattled mostly, sir." Hevy answered. "Just need a moment to catch our breath."
"We'll need to do a quick inventory and status check on the ship." Rex said.
"I'm good to go, Captain." Fives spoke up.
Rex nodded. "Cameron, your with us. The rest of you, gather what you can and get off the ship."
Meanwhile, Aayla, Ahsoka, Scott and Steve carefully took Anakin out from the Medbay onto the crash landed planets' surface.
"We made it." Aayla said, somewhat alleviated from this whole mess. "And Master Skywalker is still alive."
"I'm just glad he wasn't awake for that landing." Ahsoka quipped.
"You would have made him proud." Aayla said sincerely.
"In what? Crashing 101?" Scott couldn't help but remark earning a pout from the Padawan.
After retrieving a few supplies from the ship, the Clones, Jedi and Avengers began to set up a makeshift camp. They had tried to get some of the other ships functions going, primarily the communications but unfortunately it was too damaged from the crash
A small fire was going while Rex and Steve made a tent of sorts to keep Anakin somewhat comfortable.
"We can't stay here for long." Steve said, looking around at the endless savannah like planet surface. "There's not enough supplies to keep Anakin here stable."
"Agreed." Aayla nodded. "Skywalker will not last much longer if we simply sit about. We must find help tonight."
"How do we do that?" Scott asked. "This place reminds of a continent back home… one with a lot of predators."
"We'll split up, cover more ground that way. We've got the numbers for it." Steve said, getting a nod of agreement from Aayla.
"Captain Rogers is right." Aayla said. "Bly, Flash, Lucky, Cameron. The four of you will come with me and Ahsoka to the south."
"What?" Ahsoka clearly was not expecting this. "B-but… I can't leave my master behind like this. If it were me, Master Skywalker wouldn't abandon me either."
"Ahsoka." Aayla placated, placing her hands on the young Togrutans shoulders. "Believe me when I say that I understand your concern for your Master. Master Vos and Tholme always did the same for me. But the only way you can help your master is by finding it. We must keep calm and rational heads right now. For all our sakes."
Rex stepped forward. "Don't worry, kid. I'll stay behind and watch out for the general."
"Scott." Steve said to the ex-con. "Stay here with Rex to. Don't want any surprises for him or Anakin."
"Are you sure, Cap?" Scott asked, not exactly keen on the idea of separating.
"We have to if we wanna help Anakin and get off this planet."
"Hey, everyone!"
All heads turned by the sudden call from Clone Trooper Echo who ran up to them holding a strange wooden plank.
He held it up for all to see. "I don't think we're alone on this planet."
On the plank was a bipedal sapient being wielding a spear in the face of a quadrupedal beast of some kind.
Soon after, the group had gathered their supplies and weapons with Domino squad being assigned to Captain Rogers as he was heading North.
"General Secura." Bly spoke up. "What exactly is the plan here for us?"
"As risky as this sounds, we'll need to find the natives of this planet. Perhaps they can be of assistance." Aayla answered.
"With respect general, how are we going to find them?" Bly inquired.
Ahsoka took a moment to walk over to Echo who was still analyzing the wooden plank.
"Echo, may I?" Ahsoka politely held out her hand with the clone handing the plank over to her.
"They went through great lengths to make that tree really intricate." Echo noted as he handed off the wood.
"They did." Ahsoka agreed, hands grazing over the carvings. "I think that the natives of this planet may live by large trees. Probably around or within them."
"An astute observation, Padawan." Aayla praised. "Come, we need to get moving while we still have light."
Ahsoka went over to Anakin who remained unconscious and kneeled down to him.
"I'll be back with help soon, Master." Ahsoka said assuredly. "Rex and Mr. Lang will keep you safe."
"Don't worry Commander." Rex said resolutely. "No harm will come to the general."
"Yeah, cross our hearts." Scott said earning bewildered looks from the clones and Jedi.
Blinking a moment, Scott let out a small 'oh' of realization. "Right, right, keep forgetting. Sorry guys, Earth expression from back home."
Aayla turned to Rex. "Captain, keep your locator on. We'll be back by daybreak with whatever we find to help."
"Yes, General." Rex said, placing a hand on Ahsoka's shoulder for a brief moment. "Good luck kid."
Giving him a strained smile, the two groups soon split off in their directions leaving Rex and Scott with Anakin.
A moment later, Scott walked over to the tent and plopped himself down in front of it letting out a long sigh.
"Alright." Scott groaned, helmet snapping off. "That was a long day."
Though this was the first time Rex had been left by himself with an Avenger, he didn't disagree with the sentiment.
"You said it, Mr. Lang."
"Ah." Scott waved Rex down. "Just call me Scott, Captain."
Scene cut
Captain Rogers walked ahead of Domino squad, helmet on with his shield held firmly in his hand.
The rest of Domino squad marched behind him, a bit of distance from him though not far.
"So that's the guy who's the leader of the Avengers." Echo murmured in slight awe.
"The guy who leads colonel Rhodes." Fives whispered.
"Wonder how a Colonel follows a Captain." Echo mused.
"I don't get how that shield works." Hevy murmured, eyeing the star spangled metal circle. "Does he throw it or something?"
"From what I hear, he does." Cutup said.
"How does that work?" Echo said thoughtfully.
"Well he must be really good if colonel Rhodes follows him." Fives remarked.
Steve continued walking ahead until he heard something, halting in his tracks and holding his free hand up signaling for the Clones to stop.
He motioned his hands down, getting to his knees with the clones copying his movement.
Glancing to the Clones, Steve motions them to get closer.
"There's something moving out there." Steve said in a low voice. "Something bigger than us."
"What was it?" Fives asked, his voice also low.
Steve looked to the squad. "Echo, correct?"
"Yes sir."
"Those binoculars on your helmet work?"
"Always."
Understanding the unspoken order, Echo lower his Marco-binoculars over his visor and scanned the area.
He looked around for several moments until halting upon several large hulking figures not that far from them.
The creatures were quadrupedal with fur around their front hind legs, three claw toed feet and a head and beak with features similar to that of aviation based species.
There were about a half dozen or so, possibly more and they all moving together as a pack.
"They don't look friendly." Echo said straight away.
"What is it?" Hevy asked.
"Not sure." Echo said, going into his pouch strapped to his left thigh and handing a second pair of binoculars over to Hevy. "But they're definitely predators."
The fives of them each took a moment to look the creatures over.
"What do we do Captain?" Cutup asked.
"Stay back and stay low." Steve ordered. "We'll move around them carefully. We don't wanna spook them. If they're a pack, they're might be more nearby."
Nodding, Cap remained crouched down as he slowly moved forward with the Clones right on his tail though he told them to try to remain as low as possible.
Their white armor with the blue accents was a bit too obvious to see.
However, Steve signaled for them to stop again.
The creatures were making loud sounds, with the head of the pack letting out a screech before they all ran off into the distance.
Seeing that they were in the clear, the group rose up though clearly confused as to why the creatures just ran off.
"What was that about?" Cutup asked aloud.
"Must've been spooked by something." Echo surmised.
"That may be the case." Fives said.
Steve instead chose to walk over to where those creatures once prowled, seeing if there could be anything useful.
What he found was a spear and some rope.
"What'd you find, Captain?" Hevy asked.
"Looks like the locals encountered these creatures earlier." Steve noted, picking up the spear and inspecting it.
"Think they were hunting them?" Echo guessed.
"More like defending their homes and…" Steve's eyes widened upon seeing something off in the distance.
"Get down." Steve said sharply, as he dropped to his stomach with Domino squad doing the same.
"Sir? What's wrong?" Fives asked. "Did you see something?"
Crawling over to them, he held out his hand to Echo with the Clone Trooper handing him a pair of Macro-binoculars. Looking through the scopes, Steve's jaw clenched while holding out the scopes to Hevy.
"11 o'clock." Steve held out his arm in said direction only to get a bit of a stare from Hevy.
Blinking, Steve realized… "Oh, right. That's a military expression on Earth. I'll tell you about it later. Look there."
Complying, Hevy looked through the scopes in the direction that Steve pointed to and his form immediately tensed up.
"Is that…?"
"Droids." Steve confirmed grimly. "Looks like we landed on a separatist occupied world. From the tank and infantry, it's safe to say that it's a patrol."
"What the hell are droids doing on a backwater planet like this one?" Cutup asked, now holding his rifle up in case any blasting needed to be done.
"Keep that blaster down, Cutup." Fives hissed. "You'll only alert them to our presence."
"He's right." Steve said, eyes on the AAT tank off in the distance. "Aayla, Bly, Rex and the others may be unaware of the CIS being here. Are our long range communicators working?"
"Yes sir, but the closest one is only Captain Rex so far." Echo responded.
"Contact him right away and tell him what we found." Steve ordered.
"What about the droids, sir?" Fives asked.
"We're gonna follow them." Steve answered. "If this is a patrol force then there's a chance that they'll lead us to a base. A base we can possibly infiltrate and use to get into contact with the Republic."
"Great thinking, Cap." Hevy praised before back pedaling a bit. "Er, I meant Captain. Captain Steve… I mean, Rogers, sir."
Steve gave the trooper an amused grin. "Cap works fine, Hevy."
Scene cut.
During Cap and Domino's squad trek up north, Aayla, Ahsoka, and their group of clones ran southward with some moments of respite in between.
Currently walking at the head of the unit with Ahsoka by her side, Aayla scanned the seemingly endless horizon for anything other than tall grass with patches of barren land.
She took a moment to look over to the young Padawan, finding the still dejected expression present since the start of this journey.
"I sense you are still conflicted on leaving Anakin behind." Aayla abruptly said, cutting through Ahsoka's thoughts.
She looked up at the older Jedi knight and gave her a sheepish face. "Am I really that easy to read?"
"Only to a professional." Aayla said good naturedly. "Then again, it takes one to know one."
Ahsoka gave her a curious look. "What do you mean?"
Aayla looked ahead with a reminiscent gaze, her lip quirking upward for a moment.
"My masters basically raised me." Aayla said with a fond smile. "Quinlan Vos, Tholme, T'ra Saa. The three of them are the closest thing I've ever had to a genuine family within the order. I can't deny that some of their more rebellious tendencies rubbed off on me and I can see the same attitude in Anakin and yourself."
Ahsoka blushed somewhat embarrassedly at that statement, upon remembering all of the quirks her mast had that she herself had now. Especially with the constant crashing's of a ship.
"And there's nothing to be ashamed of in that." Aayla said kindly, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.
Ahsoka gave her a grateful smile only for it to drop a moment later.
"I still don't like that we left him behind. The Jedi code tells us to be detached, yet compassionate. That we shouldn't care about ourselves but for everyone as a whole." Ahsoka said. "It feels… contradictory really."
"Masters, Tholme, Vos and Saa would like you a great deal Padawan." Aayla remarked. "They to constantly question the Jedi codes tenants. Though not its purpose. Something they made sure I am aware of as well and it appears Anakin and Obi-wan Kenobi, whom you train under follow."
"And what's that?"
"Our duty to the galaxy." Aayla said. "Contradictions and all. But you must also remember a lesson that Master Tholme taught me a long time ago. Don't throw away a thousand lives just to save one."
Ahsoka looked down to the ground. "I know that Master Secura. That doesn't mean I can't try to do it anyway."
Aayla only gave the Padawan a light smile, understanding her plight when Bly spoke up.
"General, up ahead."
Looking up, both Jedi and Clones saw a distinctively large tree not far in the distance.
"Let's move men." Aayla declared, with the group breaking into a sprint.
They soon arrived at the base of the tree to find it relatively deserted.
"Ok, so a big tree." Ahsoka mused aloud. "But no life around it."
"Could be in the tree itself, commander." One of the clones, Lucky, guessed.
"Possibly." Aayla said.
"I found something." Bly's voice echoed from around a large root jutting out from the ground that made its own archway.
Moving around the root, they found Commander Bly along with Flash standing before an oddly shaped ovular rock.
"What's that?"
"Looks like a boulder or something." Cameron said.
Ahsoka approached the strange object and rapped her knuckles against it.
"Hmm, I don't think it's a rock." Ahsoka said. "More like an oversized nut or seed."
"But looks like there's no life here to put this to use." Bly said.
"LOOK OUT." Aayla cried out, using a force pull to reign in Ahsoka, Bly and Flash.
The spot where they once stood was suddenly occupied by another one of those large seeds/nuts from the overgrown tree with several more falling around them.
"No wonder there's nobody living around this place." Ahsoka exclaimed. "You'd be crazy to dodge those on a daily basis."
While the clones and Padawan kept their eyes above at the tree canopy, Aayla instead scanned the area and found several peculiar sights.
The sights being a group of craters near the base of the tree on the other side with a trail going off in one direction down the hill this tree stood upon and over another far in the distance.
"Maybe nobody lives around here." Aayla said aloud, gaining her groups attention. "But someone or something intelligent enough seems to have found some kind of use for these things. The trail leads in that direction over the hill."
Scene cut
Back with Scott and Rex, the former of the two sat within the tent taking the time to make some adjustments on his suit and see if there were anything wrong with it.
Rex sat at the front, helmet lights on as he checked over the tall grass.
"You hear that rustling again?" Scott asked from within the tent.
"Yeah, there is definitely something out there."
"Droids?" Scott asked nervously.
"Nah, less they have stealth models they would've just outright attacked us by now." Rex stated.
They had remained here since the departure of their allies, though they were now more tense then ever after they got the message from Steve and Domino squad about a separatist presence on the planet.
Rex had gone back into the crashed corvette and managed to withdraw some heavier weaponry and bombs along with a portable shield generator in case of any surprises. Scott had been going over his suit in the meantime to keep himself calm while waiting for Cap and the others' eventual return.
His work process was cut off suddenly by a pained grunt from beside him.
Scott looked down to see Anakin had at long last regained consciousness though the pain he held was clear as day.
"Anakin." Scott said softly, gaining Rex's attention who moved over to be beside his general. "Don't move so much, buddy. You got really hurt."
"Scott is right, General. Take it easy, you've had a long day." Rex said.
Anakin only shook his head, throat dry and head sore as he craned his head up.
"There's something out there." Anakin hissed out with a pained breath.
Just as he said that, an inhuman screech echoed around them.
Out from the grass in front of them, a quadrupedal beast with a bird beak for a mouth sprang out from the tall grass and sprinted full speed towards them.
Scott's eyes widened in shock while Rex shot forward, blasting at it.
However it was too close by that point and with its heads, barreled through Rex. The Clone Captain was sent flying back through the tent causing it to collapse upon Scott and Anakin.
Sensing that the latter of the two closest to it was the weakest, the creature jumped forward at Anakin with its mouth wide open.
"NO!"
Only for Scott to shove himself forward against the beast. The beast didn't take to kindly to this, responding by biting into the Scott's arm and sinking the sharp edges and lower teeth of its beak into his left arm.
"AURGH." Scott yelled out in agony as the creature attempted to thrash him around though he resisted as much as he could.
Just as fast as it had its jaws around the ex-con's arm was it let go as Rex had recovered quickly and shot the creature in the head, killing it.
Wrenching his arm away, Scott moaned out and cradled his bleeding arm while testing its movements.
"Just looks like a flesh wound sir." Rex assure, using the cloth of the ruined tent to quickly wrap up Scott's new injury.
Scott winced from the tight bandaging of his arm but gave the Captain a grateful pat on his shoulder with his good hand.
Looking over, he saw Anakin was still conscious but only just.
"Check on him." Scott said, shakily get to his feet with Rex helping him and the two went over to see Anakin was relatively unharmed. Well… no more unharmed then he already was. Which he was… badly.
"Hope they return soon." Rex said grimly. "Otherwise we're a sitting meal ticket for both the Seps and whatever the hell that was just now."
"You said it, Rex." Scott grimaced, nursing his injured arm.
The day went on into the night until daybreak came with Aayla's group at long last arriving at a large village with the pods from the trees made into makeshift homes.
"Pod central."
Ahsoka said in relief, sharing a smile with Aayla.
The group entered the village and found it inhabited by short, thin, furry, Lemuriod type of species that reached up to their wastes.
Many backed away fearfully and nervously, staring at the newcomers to their village with great fright save for one distinguished individual with a beard and yellow robe.
"Lurmen." Aayla recognized the species.
"You know them?" Ahsoka inquired, unfamiliar with the species.
"They are natives to the planet Mygeeto. I was unaware that they had a colony here."
The chief looking Lurmen approached them with a purpose, eyeing the group suspiciously.
"Who might you be?" he asked, somewhat hostile. "More of those aggressive Separatists? Come to claim yet more territory for your glorious revolution?"
"Separatists?!" Ahsoka repeated in alarm.
"We are Jedi from the Galactic Republic." Aayla quickly answered. "We come in peace. Our ship crashed with one of us being gravelly injured. Please, I beg of you, we need your help."
The chief however could only look at them bitterly. "At the outbreak of war, we came and colonized this planet to remain neutral and hold a solace of peace. Instead, those wretched separatists and their incessant Battle Droids found this colony and since then has been harassing this village and my people. None of us have been killed or injured but with your arrival here that unstable peace has now been threatened outright."
"But we're on the side of good." Ahsoka said determinedly. "We're fighting for freedom, not enslavement like this."
"We are not enslaved." The chief shot down. "Nor are you freedom fighters or peace keepers. You Jedi have deluded yourselves into believing that while the entire galaxy rests on the brink. Now, I must ask you to leave at once. I do not wish to incur the wrath of the Droids stationed upon this planet."
"We can't do that." Ahsoka said resolutely. "If there are droids on this planet harassing you then it is our duty as Jedi and Clones to fight them."
"Violence only incurs more violence." The Chief countered. "It is an endless cycle that is perpetuated by your own aggressive words and thoughts, young one. It's bad enough that other off worlder has been harassing the Droid base. I knew I shouldn't have helped her."
Confused as to who they were talking about, Cameron abruptly yelped waving his arms around for a brief moment.
"Cameron?" Bly inquired. "What's wrong?"
Taking off his helmet, the clone looked around intensely with slight bewilderment.
"I thought I saw something fly in front of my helmet." Cameron explained. "It looked like… like a human. Or a fairy. It had little insect wings."
"Ah, there she is." The Chieftain said with a roll of his eyes.
"Father." A young Lurmen with a vest and rusted hat admonished. "Don't be so rude. You know that were it not for her, we would be in a much worse state then we already are."
Though the chief wished to argue against his son, he knew that the boy wasn't wrong.
Grumbling a bit, the Chieftain spotted a small dot zipping about. "Hope, reveal yourself. These are not the separatists. They mean us no harm."
Ahsoka's eyes snapped in the direction of the Chief, before looking around rapidly.
"Wait…" Ahsoka strained her memory to way earlier in the day, before the battle, before the crash landing on this planet.
Back in the Resolutes hangar bay where she and Scott Lang shared a brief conversation.
"Hope?" Ahsoka said aloud, making some stare at her now. "Hope Van Dyne? Also known as the Wasp of the Avengers?"
At this point the Clones and Aayla gaped upon hearing Ahsoka's callout.
No sooner, something or really someone appeared before them in a manner identical to another enhanced individual currently looking out for an injured Jedi Knight.
Her suit while color schemed and patterned differently held clear similarities to Scott's with the helmet being a dead giveaway.
Said helmet retracted revealing a young woman with long hair tied back into a pony tail.
She stared at Ahsoka suspiciously yet the Padawan could only smile brightly at her.
"How do you know who I am?" She asked warily.
Ahsoka only laughed heartily. "Scott is going to be relieved to see you again."
Hope Van Dyne's heart nearly stopped, her breath stalling momentarily.
"Scott…?" Hope whispered, praying this wasn't some joke.
The Chieftain had watched all this and only sighed.
"Wag too." The Chief spoke to his son. "Gather some supplies and go with them. As much as I do not wish for it, I cannot ignore a plea for help."
Hearing this, Ahsoka beamed though the Chief added to his statement.
"On one condition. One of you Jedi must stay while the rest of you leave. If the Separatists return and discover a sizeable presence of you all it would mean the end of my village."
Aayla was all too willing to step forward and volunteer. She told Ahsoka and the Clones to get back to the campsite near the crashed ship with post haste.
Not arguing her orders, Ahsoka was already running out from the village back in the direction of her master while calling on the Wasp to follow her.
Scene Cut
Scott Lang, Captain Rex and Anakin Skywalker had survived a rather long and arduous night.
Since their first attack, the trio has had to deal with an entire pack of these bestial creatures all night long and well into the morning. Rex stood in front of Scott who was supporting Anakin up with his uninjured arm while the Jedi shakily held up his lightsaber. The Clone Captain faced off against the last two that were standing a few yards away from them, pawing at the ground and hissing at them.
"They're determined, that's for sure." Anakin strained dryly.
"Did we crash land on their turf or something?" Scott asked aloud. "Seriously, is there nothing to eat out here other than us?"
"Here they come!" Rex announced allowed, leveling his rifle at the now charging beast.
What they did not expect was a red, silver and blue circular disk to bash into the neck of the head creature that was running towards them while the other one was quickly gunned down by blaster fire.
"Cap." Scott said in utter relief, watching the shield return to its owner who stood before domino squad.
"Sorry we took so long, Captain Rex." Echo said aloud.
"Yeah, we got side tracked by Clankers." Fives said, the squad approaching them. "We followed a patrol back to a base stationed on this planet."
"Have the others returned yet?" Steve asked until he saw Scott's bandaged arm. "Scott? What happened here? Did you guys get attacked?"
"Yeah, by those assholes right there." Scott said in annoyance. "But we're alive."
"Master! Rex! Captain!"
All heads turned to see the return of Ahsoka, Bly, Flash, Cameron and Lucky along with a strange rolling creature that soon jumped up and unfurled itself to reveal an odd bipedal simian.
However, that wasn't who Scott and Steve were focusing on.
Their eyes instead rested on the woman who stood next to Ahsoka before she began approaching the two slowly.
Anakin, sensing Scott's desire to go to the woman, casually threw his arm around Rex who looked at the general with surprise until he gestured his head back to Scott who practically ran forward.
"Hope!" Scott cried out in pure joy with the woman of his affections meeting him half way and jumping into his arms.
Kissing him fiercely and lovingly, Hope held on tightly to her boyfriend letting a few tears of joy upon seeing him once more.
Scott only laughed, hugging her once more with no intentions of letting go.
Hope held him with all her strength, opening her eyes for a moment and spotting a smiling Captain America.
Detaching herself from Scott, she hugged Steve a moment later with Steve doing the same in complete relief.
"It's good to see you again, Hope." Steve said jokingly.
"Good to see you to, Cap." Hope said, smiling up at the super soldier feeling Scott wrap his arm around her.
Off to the side, Ahsoka went up to Anakin who was leaning on Rex for support with a casual smirk on his face despite his current physical state.
"Heya Snips." Anakin said tiredly. "I see you've been busy."
"I could say the same for you." Ahsoka teased, though it was clear for Anakin to see just how worried she was for him.
Anakin chuckled only to grunt in pain, favoring his ribs.
Remembering who she came with, Ahsoka looked back to the Lurmen who was approaching them.
"Master, this is Wag Too." Ahsoka introduced the Lurmen. "He's a healer from his village who will help you get better."
"You'll be feeling as good as new in no time at all." Wag Too promised sincerely. "Get a stretcher prepped for him and come back to the village. The rest of my herbs and medicine is there. I'll also treat your friend there with the arm. Mastiff Phalone's all have a nasty bite to them."
"That's what they're called?" Rex dryly asked. "I'd rather prefer beak head or an honest pain in the ass."
Taking what remaining supplies they could carry with them as well as make the stretcher for Anakin, everyone soon returned to the Lurmen village where Aayla was awaiting their return.
Giving them a pleased smile, she congratulated Ahsoka on a job well done.
Anakin was taken to Wag's personal hut where the Lurmen administered the necessary procedures to help fully heal Anakin.
In the meantime, the rest of the clones either stood by or helped out a few of the natives get their errands done with the villagers offering them something to eat which they graciously accepted.
Scott and Hope were basically inseparable with Hope herself using the oils of the pods to bandage up her boyfriends arms.
Ahsoka and Aayla sat by themselves atop the hill that overlooked the village with small winged creatures casually gliding around them.
"You were right all along master Secura." Ahsoka said, breaking the silence.
"About what, Ahsoka?"
The young Togruta picked up a rock and levitated it slightly off from her palm. "Had I stayed with Anakin at the ship, I never would have found this place with you and get the help needed to heal him."
"You two also found a lost Avenger."
Both women turned to see Captain America walking up to them and seated himself next to Aayla.
"I owe the both of you more than you know for that." Steve said earnestly. "Thank you both for finding Hope."
"Come now Captain Rogers." Aayla said good naturedly. "It was you, Ahsoka and Anakin that came to my rescue when we called out for help. My Corps and I owe you our lives for what you did."
"So should we call it even then?" Steve said.
"I think that is hardly enough." Aayla remarked with a kind smile. "Though I can sense you would be stubbornly insistent."
"Kinda like a Jedi." Ahsoka said brightly.
Aayla chuckled when she turned somber. "We still need to find a way off this planet."
"And there's that separatist base Domino squad and I found." Steve said grimly.
"So the Chief wasn't just saying that for nothing." Ahsoka said glumly. "There really are Seps on this planet."
"We shall deal with them when the time comes, Padawan." Aayla assured. "For now, let us use the time we have a recuperate. Your master, Mr. Lang and our troops need it for tomorrow."
"Yeah, go down and rest with Skywalker Ahsoka." Steve advised. "You've had a long day."
Ahsoka, rather than argue, knew it was best to follow Cap's advice as she quite literally felt a wave of exhaustion creeping up on her.
Bidding the two good night, Aayla and Steve remained seated upon the hill watching the sun set over the village.
"You helped save a great deal of my men today, Captain Rogers." Aayla said suddenly. "Say what you will but your arrival along with Skywalker, Lieutenant Wilson and Colonel Rhodes was more than enough to keep my Corps from fizzling out and dying."
"We did what we had to." Steve plainly said, knowing this to be true. "These Seps…. They use disposable metal but the Clones and the Jedi? Well, both may have been raised from infancy to fight for a greater cause and as much as I dislike that you're all still living beings. It's part of the job."
Aayla gave the Captain a curious expression, humming to herself.
"When Master Saa and Tholme explained to me that you are wiser then you seem it appeared to be true."
Steve hung his head slightly. "If only that were true."
"Come now, Captain Rogers." Aayla comforted. "Today, you save the lives of thousands of soldiers and reunited with one of your lost friends. Allow yourself this moment. You earned it after all."
Normally, Captain America would be one to object to this but right now he was content to just watch the sun of this planet go down.
Cap would always be that one man to tell others to rest while never doing so himself. Yet Aayla Secura, a warrior of principle and discipline like himself was telling him to do so.
And right now, after finding another one of his lost friends he doesn't mind that.
"Thank you again… Aayla."
"And to you as well… Steve."
Well that was break neck, oh man my fingers are burning.
Whew, so yeah that's right everyone Wasp has been found and her story will be told next.
Really falling asleep at the keyboards as I write this message so enjoy the read guys like usual.
Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.