I do not own Star Wars or any of its characters.
Passage
Eila suppressed her small smile as she watched Ace training with the ARC Troopers. He was better than them, both because of his training, and also because of his Force Sensitivity. During hand-to-hand drills, it didn't matter which he went up against, he beat them all. During tactical maneuvers, he had the best time. The only thing he came in second at was being a sniper. And yet, no matter how hard he trained, even when singled out and worked to exhaustion by the others, he continued. He willingly allowed them to drill him to the brink of passing out and then continue, over and over and over again.
"Troopers, our forces have been pinned down for two days trying to take that bridge," Eila stated. "Your mission is to slip past the Separatist forces and secure the bridge. Once you have engaged the enemy forces, the other Clones and I will move to join you."
"We're a diversion," Ivy, their leader who got his unfortunate nickname from the first two letters of his designation, clarified.
"Correct," Eila nodded.
"Should we expect any special surprises among the clankers?" Scout, short for 'boy scout' because of his strict adherence to procedures, asked.
"Intel indicates only the usuals," the intelligence clone standing beside Eila in the hologram stated. "B-Ones, Supers, a few Destroyers, and two Tri-Droids."
"Understood," Ivy nodded. "We'll target the Tri-Droids first. Ace and I will take the shots."
The others all nodded, and they left the gunship. They had landed in a trench about three miles from the bridge, and they quickly made their way through the trench. There were no droids in the trench, which made reaching the bridge easy. Then, once they'd reached it, they all pulled out ascension cables and fired up into the edge of the bridge near the end opposite Eila and the rest of the Clone Troopers, securing them to their belts.
"You ready for this, shiny?" Ivy asked, readying his rocket launcher.
"Whenever you are," Ace nodded, readying his own.
Ivy gave the signal, and they all sped upward. Their cables sent them soaring over the droid army on the bridge, and Ivy and Ace both instantly fired, their rockets exploding into the two Tri-Droids' bulbous heads, blasting them apart. The others all fired their blasters down into the droids where they'd be landing, clearing them a spot, and as they all landed, Ivy and Ace tossed their rockets aside, grabbing their own blasters and opening fire. Droids dropped all around them rapidly, and they fought their way to cover just as Eila ordered her forces to charge. Ace and the other ARC Troopers found a spot where there were low metal walls to cover them from all sides and ducked down, shielding them from the opening volley of shots by the clones, and then once it had passed, each ARC Trooper hurled a thermal detonator out of cover toward the droids. As the explosions rocked the bridge, they all leapt out of cover, charging ahead of Eila and the others, laying waste to the droids.
Soon enough, Eila joined them, stepping up behind Ace in time to deflect several shots heading for him as he was spraying a semicircle of droids. The droids began to press in, but once they were close enough, Ace swapped his blaster for his lightsaber in his left hand, held in reverse grip despite Eila's best attempts to teach him otherwise, and his right hand's vibroblade. As he spun and slashed his way through the droids, using their sheer numbers to help him avoid blaster fire, Eila waded into them on the other side, twirling and slashing with the grace of a dancer. After a few more minutes, Ace swapped his lightsaber to his right hand, retracting the vibroblade, and drew his DC-15s in his left hand, beginning to use the two weapons to slaughter the droids around himself. Finally, he and Eila had cleared a bit of space around themselves and he put his lightsaber away, grabbing his DC-17m instead and began to use his two blasters to rapidly clear the droids on his side, using his blaster pistol to also help Eila when the droids began to swarm her a bit more thickly.
After another moment, the other clones finally caught up, slaughtering the droids around Eila and washing past her to the facility they'd been trying to reach for days. Eila glanced at Ace as he holstered his pistol. He met her gaze and smiled inside his helmet, nodding, and she matched the smile before the two of them chased after the other clones.
Ace moved constantly, spinning and slashing as he struck out at Eila over and over, Eila fending him off flawlessly. Sweat glistened on both of their bodies as they fought. They'd been at it for over an hour, Eila having already won several times, and their training clothes clung to their sweaty bodies uncomfortably. Ace was training in a sleeveless black shirt and dark grey pants while Eila wore a pair of short shorts with her lightsaber belt over them and a sports bra to cover her surprisingly well-developed chest. Ace loved the fact that she had agreed to an extended training session, and had agreed with him that doing it in her normal Jedi robes would be unwise, because for the first time, even in the middle of an endless, violent sparring session, he got to see what her Jedi robes hid effectively. In her Jedi Robes, she could almost be androgynous, if not for her beautiful, clearly feminine face. However, despite the robes' effectiveness at hiding it, he now could see that she had a slim, toned figure with a round ass, a flat stomach, and small yet perky breasts, roughly b-cup, if he had to guess.
Finally, as Eila sent Ace bouncing across the ground with a martial arts throw again, she deactivated her lightsaber. Ace sighed, deactivating his own and sliding it back into the magnetic sleeve along the back of the belt, where he always carried it. Eila walked over, helping him up, then smiled.
"You did very well," Eila smiled. "It's been a long time since I've trained so hard."
Ace smiled. "And yet, no matter how hard I tried or how well I may or may not have done, I couldn't land a single blow."
Eila smiled, shaking her head. "You may be good at fighting, but I've had years more training than you."
Ace shrugged. "So, what's next? Meditating? Practicing levitating things?"
"An obstacle course," Eila smirked, directing him to a specific spot on the floor, then walking to another. "All you have to do is reach me."
"Do I get a reward?" Ace asked.
Eila laughed. "Tell you what, reach me on the first try and we'll see."
Ace raised his eyebrow just as Eila waved a hand, and suddenly the tiles on the floor and the panels on the walls began to rearrange themselves. The tiles that Ace and Eila were on rose, Ace realizing that they were actually two-foot-thick blocks with anti-grav tech in them. Then, they drifted away from each other before the obstacle course began to form. There were sections where he'd have to jump from one block to the next, places where the only place to move was along the side of a wall, and sections of the wall where there was either a ledge or grating to climb on. Ace hummed thoughtfully, looking around.
"So, I'll have to augment my physical abilities with the Force, huh?" Ace asked. "That's a new one."
Eila smiled. "Observant as ever. Let's see it."
Ace nodded, focusing, then began. First up was a stretch of wall he'd have to run along. He'd never tried to wall run before, but with a little help with the Force to keep him in the air longer, he managed to just barely make it to the next block. Next was a series of blocks like stepping stones, which was much easier, except for the last, which was at twice the distance, too far to jump normally. Fortunately, it was easier to extend his jumping distance than it was to keep himself up during a wall run, so he reached the block easily. After that were a series of alternating poles and blocks, and he jumped to the first pole, not even hesitating as he began to swing on the poles to move between the blocks. At the end, he jumped from a pole to a section of wall, running along it before leaping to the next block, sighing as he landed in a crouch, having barely made it. After a moment, he stood, then took a breath and continued. The continuing strain of having to augment his abilities with the Force began to develop a migraine, but he ignored it as he continued to clear the obstacle course. He scaled sections of the dojo's walls, ran along more hovering walls within the room, scaled a tower of blocks, and all the while the course wound around and around the room, shifting every so often in order to reuse sections of the course. Then, finally, he'd reached the last section. He stood twenty feet below the block where Eila waited for him, watching him with a proud and interested smile.
"You've done excellently," Eila commended. "Now, you just have to jump up here. But the block under you will move as soon as you do, so you only have one chance."
Ace nodded, concentrating then jumped. He soared upward ten feet. Twenty feet. Twenty five. His momentum died out early and he reached for the block. However, when the fingers of one hand caught the edge, they failed to support his weight and he slipped off, falling. Eila's hand rose instantly, and he stopped, drifting back up and onto the block with her. As she set him on his feet, the block began to descend.
"You were so close," Eila smiled, wrapping her arms around Ace's neck. "It took me months to be able to make it that far. You really are amazing."
Ace shrugged. "I was bred for combat, so using the Force for anything that relates to combat probably benefits from that."
Eila smiled, nodding, then kissed him. He sighed, kissing her back, wrapping his arms around her. After a few minutes, he pulled back from the kiss, resting his forehead against hers, and she smiled, holding the back of his head with one hand.
"I'm really glad we saved you that day," Eila smiled.
"So am I," Ace smiled.
For a moment, they stood motionless before Eila finally gave him a quick kiss and pulled back.
"We should get cleaned up," Eila said. "We both need a shower."
"That's true," Ace admitted.
Eila smiled, taking his hand and led him out of the dojo and quickly down the corridor to the door to her room. Ace felt his stomach twist nervously as she led him inside, but as soon as the door closed, Eila stepped into him, kissing him desperately, Ace instantly returning it in kind. However, after a few minutes, she pulled back, blushing and breathing hard, but swallowing as she reined herself in.
"Sorry, I should probably explain," Eila said. "I'm not ready for...you know. I just wanted some time alone with you."
Ace smiled, nodding, and kissed her. "We could have showered first and then I could have come over."
"I didn't want to risk anyone seeing," Eila said. "I sensed that it was clear, so I took the opportunity."
Ace smiled, accepting her reasoning and kissing her again. Despite both definitely needing a shower, neither of them made any move to go take one. Instead, Eila pulled him toward the bed, then turned, guiding him into laying down on it before laying on top of him, rejoining him once she had. And they remained there for hours, neither going any further, content to simply hold each other while fused at the lips. Ace felt the urge to go further, and could tell that some part of Eila wanted to as well, but they both resisted.
Ace frowned as he walked into the briefing room and found Eila waiting for him with two surprises. One of them was a jetpack, a slim model that was rounded on the top and sides and plated, then with the rocket powering it in the center. Ace liked it better than the bulky, blocky appearance of the JT-12 or Z-6.
"The jetpack's plated with durasteel," Eila said as he stared at the shiny silver metal.
Ace grinned, turning his gaze to the other surprise. It was a Prowler 1000 Seeker Droid, a droid shaped similar to the head of a mushroom with a diameter about the same as Ace's torso with its white body highlighted with the same blue as Ace's armor. It had an array of four photoreceptors on the front, a pair of thin arms below it that were tipped with tiny hand-like manipulators, and what looked like a miniscule gun on the bottom.
"Who's your friend?" Ace asked.
"This is Jack," Eila smiled. "I've had him modified for you. He has a functioning blaster underneath that has more power than its tiny size would suggest, portable long-distance communicators, a Scomp Link, a power generator so that he can overload control panels or B-One battle droids if needed, and reflector panels to cloak him when he's scouting. Other than that, he can send what he sees to this tablet," she held up a small device that was meant to be strapped onto the bearer's forearm, "so that you can use him to scout around or ahead of you."
"I take it I'm going somewhere unpleasant," Ace sighed. "Where?"
"There's been a report of droids on a nearby, and otherwise unimportant, moon," Eila said. "It has minimal tactical value, no sentient life, and there's no bases there. I'm not expecting there to be anything there at all, and if there is, I'm not expecting it to be worth dealing with, but you have experience working solo, and you're extremely experienced at stealth, so I decided you'd be the best option for this. And of course, you get to keep the jetpack and Jack after."
Ace hummed thoughtfully for a moment, then sighed, walking over. He reached up and turned Jack's photoreceptors away before kissing Eila. "Fine."
She smiled, and he swung the jetpack around to his back, attaching it to the back of his armor. Then, Jack flew over, flipping horizontal to the ground before attaching to the back of the jetpack. Ace frowned, looking back, and grimaced. Altogether, they ended up about two feet wide from his chest to the top of the droid's head, not counting its nine inch antenna.
"Yeah, that's not going to work," Ace said. "Jack, just fly along behind me."
Jack complied, and Ace strapped the datapad to his left forearm. Eila hugged him and he left to take a ship to investigate the moon.
Leave a review.