WPRT Ch. 15 (Updated 2021)

[Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars. If I did, I would be a billionaire.]

Charge of Courage

Aaron:

Well this is an unexpected turn of events.

This execution was a complete flop for Dooku and his "friends". The prisoners they were going to kill broke free from their restraints, and killed one of the creatures. I was glad they did. I recognized two of them as the prisoners I met in the dungeon. I really wanted them to get away. But with everyone at the arena, I figured it would be near impossible. That was until a beam of light formed in front of Jango's neck.

Dooku called the man beside us "Master Windu". But the man was here for a Mission.

"This party's over."

At this, other people with the same weapon as Windu, made themselves known. It caused many Bugs in the audience to shriek in terror.

I hope this isn't the full rescue team. They're not planning to fight an army of Terminators with this number? Are they?

Dooku waited a bit before smirking at Windu.

"Brave, but foolish. You are greatly outnumbered."

"I don't think so."

Wait, maybe they don't know!

If I wasn't worried, I was now.

"We shall see."

As soon as he stopped talking, the sound of metal reached all of our ears. It came down from the same tunnel that Windu came from.

The man retracted his blade from Jango's neck and took a stance with his blade against the oncoming force to kill him. All of us moved to the side to get out of the cross fire. And bolts of light streamed out towards the sword wielding man. I expected them to make direct contact with his chest, but I was surprised to see the man use the sword to reflect them back at the shooters. He was backing up every time a bolt hit his sword.

As this was happening, I noticed Jango putting on his helmet and activating a Flamethrower from a wrist mount. A steady stream of fire sprayed out, towards Windu. It seemed to work. But, the man leapt in the air.

Right over the edge of the balcony…

What?!

Some of us on the pavilion, myself included, rushed to the edge to see what had befallen the man.

He ditched his cloak, as it was the only thing in flames. He fell to the ground at high velocity.

He doesn't think he can land from this height?

To my surprise, he did. Just before his feet hit the ground, Windu seemed to slow a bit. As he hit the ground, we all noticed droids pouring out of the entrances to the arena.

I couldn't tear my eyes away.

I knew they had an army of them. But, on this scale? Do they even stand a chance?

My question went unanswered as we stared at the battlefield. At first, the fighting was here and there. Then moments later, it was one big mess across the colosseum. Blasters started firing all over the place. A lot of the droids started to fall down at first. But one by one, the droids would eventually eliminate them.

Just after the action began to wane, one of the alien sword fighters jumped up to where we were. Most likely trying to end the battle.

However, before the warrior could strike at any of us. A few shots from Jango's gun made quick work with him. As the creature toppled over the side of the balcony, it looked like Jango was going to do something else with his blaster. Though, he seemed to hesitate. Dooku noticed this too, and gave Jango a look.

"Is there a problem?"

"No sir."

"Then go out there."

"Yes sir."

With that, he activated his jetpack, and entered the fray.

I knew that he had no choice. Otherwise, he would be killed for being a suspected traitor. Either way he could die, and he knew that, too.

As soon as Jango left, Jo leaned down to Boba's level, "Find a place for cover. This could escalate any minute."

Begrudgingly, he nodded his head in compliance, and went off to find some cover.

We stared at the battlefield. For now, it was at a stalemate. Droid parts littered the arena floor, but the droids kept coming.

Even the sword wielding fighters will tire out before they come close to defeating them.

I noticed one of the prisoners on some sort of mount the Bugs had. She seemed to be having fun.

I would have stared longer at the battlefield, except the world started to change around me. I noticed my sister was in some sort of trance. Her eyes were wide as if she wasn't with us at the moment. Moments later, she was crying.

"Jo?"

"He is going to die!"

She didn't say it with her mouth.

What!? How am I able to hear her thoughts?! And what does she mean?!

But my thoughts were turned to Dooku for some odd reason. It was like my mind was working faster than I could process. Like my sister, I heard his thoughts. His lips were not moving.

"Soon, our last loose end will be silenced. All according to my master's plan. The Jedi will fall…"

Loose end? What is he talking about?

Wait…he knew. He sent him into the battle expecting him to die! How could he do that to him! After all he had done! He was just going to kill him in the end!

I can't let him get away with something like this! But what can I do?! If I object to this, he will just kill us. But, what's to stop him from forcing us to work for him if he would do something like this. He won't let us leave unless we agree to join him. Either way, we lose. And what's stopping him from killing us, after we served our purpose. Either way we LOSE!

Life is not about "winning".

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When I was around twelve, I did soap box derby. I had just gotten home from a race. I lost the race, but my wheels won.

You see, they had instigated a new rule that wheels on soap box cars had to switch between driver to driver every race. It was to prevent rookies from winning. So I lost, but my wheels won. Let's just say I was not happy. It wasn't that I lost...

"It's not Fair, we had to wait the entire race just to leave."

"Son, life isn't fair. You should be thankful you live in this nation. People in other nations would kill for what we have. People used to remember that. Eventually, our nation will destroy itself from the inside. Now, that won't happen for a while, but it's important that you know life's not about winning. It's about living right."

I huffed.

"It's not that I lost. It was the kid who did win. He rubbed it in my face."

"Well that's life, do you think everything just went everyone's way in the past? Inventors, explorers, and leaders have been mocked. But look at what they achieved. This nation is a testament to that."

I remembered one more thing he said to me. I didn't understand it at the time. But I think I do now. I just needed to experience it.

"Did David back down when people around him told him to not face down that Giant? Did Job turn to sin when he lost everything? Did Jesus back away from his death on the cross? They succeeded because they didn't give up and did what was necessary. When you give up doing right, you give up more than you think."

"And what did you get?"

"...You."

And watching this battle unfold, I understood. I also knew what to do.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

.…..SMACK- the stock of my rifle made as it hit the back of Dooku's neck.

A sharp gasp escaped his mouth.

He fell forward to the ground unconscious. As soon as I knocked him out, the two blue droids had their attention turned to me. Before they could fire at me. I popped off shots at each of them. Each blast tore through the chest, with the force of it causing them to fall down.

As soon as they were offline, I turned to look at the other separatist leaders present at the pavilion.

"Boo."

The duo screamed in terror and ran off.

All who were left on the pavilion were Jo, Bossk, a knocked out old man, and me. I turned to look at Jo and Bossk, and saw looks of shock on their faces.

Bossk threw his hands on the top of his head in reaction to his brain trying to comprehend what I did.

"What?! Why did you-"

"We need to hurry Bossk, Jango is in trouble!"

"What?"

"I need you to trust us on this, Dooku sent him out there with the purpose of tying up loose ends. He was never going to live after he was done with him."

Bossk looked appalled at the thought. "But, why would he work for Dooku if this is how he treats his employees?"

I shook my head, "I don't know, maybe he felt that he gave him an offer he couldn't refuse. But right now, we need a plan."

I walked over to my sister's pack, and took out the double barrel. I grabbed a few extra shells, putting them in my shorts pockets.

"I'm taking this with me Jo."

"What are you doing?!"

"I'm going down there to get Jango."

"Let us come with you!"

"No, at least not yet, I need you and Bossk to give me cover fire. Take out anyone you think I can't take care of. Here, Bossk."

I tossed him the blaster rifle. He caught it with a confused look.

"You will need that. The pistol you have won't be accurate from here. Also, I'm trusting you to help Jo. She still has trouble aiming. When I make it to Jango, get down as fast as you can to where we are. We're gonna shoot our way out of here."

"You can count on me. I have a couple of scopes I can put on these real fast."

"Good." I walked over to Dooku's body.

"What are you doing Aaron?"

I didn't answer Jo, not until got what I was looking for on him.

"I was looking for this."

It was a shiny hilt to one of the laser swords.

She stared at it with concern, "Careful!"

Bossk finished modifying the rifles, "What are you… A Lightsaber! He is a force user?!"

I still don't know what that is. But I will ask later. It's a strange looking shape for one. At least compared to the Windu guy.

Now let's see, this button activates it, right?

I tested it, keeping the hole where the blade extended away from my chest.

As soon as I did, I saw the light shoot right out of it. To my surprise, the blade was also different than the others. It was a deep red color.

"Woah…"

I gave it a few practice swings, it was very light. Everytime I swung it, there was a whirring sound. I was satisfied by the weapon and walked over to the pavilion ledge.

"How are you going to get down?"

I pointed to my belt, specifically the tiny grappling hooks.

"I'm using it to get down to the floor, and I should be able to make it the rest of the way on foot. I should be fine with my guns and my new weapon."

"Do you even know how to use it?

I turned to look at her and smirked, "What's hard to understand about swish swish, stab stab?"

Jo rolled her eyes, "Just be careful."

"I'm always careful."

I looked forward to see what I was about to enter.

Well, into the breach.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I backed up for a running start, and then dashed over the ledge. I turned around to shoot the ledge with the hooks.

They latched on, but I fell a few feet more before I got the results I was looking for. As soon I finally stopped, the belt tightened around me, causing some temporary pain for my waist and unmentionables.

That hurt!

I waited a few moments, before I started moving down to the battlefield below. The area seemed very clear where I was supposed to land. The only thing littering the floor on my side was the poor soul who was killed by Jango.

Halfway down, I noticed a flying bug, and it was flying right at me. It was aiming at me with a blaster. Thinking fast, I aimed the double barrel right at it, and as I pulled the trigger, the pellets landed square in its chest, killing it instantly. The body fell to the ground ungracefully. I was close enough to the ground to hear the splat.

Finally, my feet touched the ground.

I noticed that most of the fighting was moving to the center. I needed to act fast. My hand moved to my harness controls, and I pressed a button. It caused the grapples to unhook and retract back to the belt. I took out the used shell from my gun and put it in my pocket, figuring I would try to find a way to make new shotgun shells later. I put a fresh shell in.

I also took note of the green corpse by my feet. I bent over and took the weapon. It would come in handy having two "lightsabers."

Well… show time…

I charged straight into the battlefield.

I got most of the way there, before some droids turned my direction. They were about to fire, but were destroyed by blasts coming from the pavilion. The blasts left a remaining blue droid. The droid was now in a daze, due to not knowing where the blasts were coming from. His ignorance was his undoing. Taking the opportunity, I used the saber from Dooku. With a diagonal swipe, it cut clean through. The droid fell to the ground, in two sections.

That was only my first step into the battle.

I looked to my right to see one of the sword wielders struggling with a couple of bugs with a big gun. The sword fighter was a woman with black clothing, and what appeared to be a hood over her head. She was dodging left and right, avoiding the cannon fire.

I got to do whatever it takes to even the odds. We might need their help to get out.

I fired the double barrel at the bug on the trigger. It blew him out of his chair to the side, and knocked the other guy to the ground. The swordswoman looked my direction, revealing her face. It was lime green with a few tattoo marks.

"Wait, who are-?"

I cut her off.

"No time to talk, on a mission."

I didn't wait to see her reaction, as I had turned back to the battlefield running.

As I was moving, a few shots fired from the pavilion were hitting bugs on my right side, who were aiming at me. As they fell, I saw two sword masters fighting for their lives as they were getting overwhelmed by droids and Geonosians. The first one was a man with a long head, and the other was a blueish woman with 'tails' on her head. They were both pushed into a small area with the Geonosians wielding spears and droids firing blasts. They were deflecting the blasts back at the droids, but the bugs were coming in closer. They wouldn't last much longer against that.

I think I can spare some time to help them.

As I rushed to their aid, I used the red blade to slice off one of their heads from behind. Half of the bugs turned my way and charged right at me. The closest one, with a spear, jabbed at my chest. I needed to time this right.

Dark Souls, don't fail me now!

I moved slightly to the right, and used the back of my gun arm to parry the spear. It was enough to throw the creature off balance and for me to deliver a blow to the chest with my saber. As it dug in, I followed up with a horizontal swipe up. Cutting his top part up the center. It was brutal enough to cause some of the other bugs charging me to hesitate.

Big mistake.

I used my gun to blow back two of the bugs behind the smaller ones charging at me. All that remained were three spear bugs. One of them went to the side to try to cut me off. While the remainder went to the kill. I tried to use my sword to move the spears out of the way. To my surprise, it cut the weapons in half. The bugs were now spearless. Realizing they had no chance, they shrieked, and flew off. I turned to the remaining bug,

"Do you think you have a chance?"

It seemed to think for a second, before it threw down its spear and flew away.

Smart bug…

I turned to see that the warriors I was helping, now free of enemies. They looked tired from blocking a lot of blasts. Finally, the woman started to speak,

"Thank you-."

"Sorry, gotta help someone!"

I ran off once more, hoping I wasn't too late. I was back on track, trying to make it to the center of the arena.

Then I saw Jango Fett.

"Jo!" I shouted into my earpiece, "You and Bossk get down here NOW!"

The reek, or whatever Boba called it, charged him, and the force of impact knocked him over. Then as it ran, the reek rolled Jango through the dirt.

"Hey!"

I yelled to get the creature's attention, and it worked. It acted like a bull, and charged straight at me. I aimed my gun, but I remembered I forgot to reload. Instead, I holstered the double barrel on my belt and took out my colt. I placed a few good shots on its torso. But it kept coming. So I rolled at the last moment to the right and held the blade out to the left. It reached far enough to slice through as the Reek ran right through it. It fell forward, and let out a final breath.

I can't last much longer doing this. I think I pulled a muscle on that roll.

I worked through the pain, and looked up to see where Jango was. He appeared to be surprised by my being there, and how I took on the beast. But, I couldn't really tell due to his helmet being on.

However, his attention was brought to a man running at him. It was the purple lightsaber wielder. He was a good ways off, but was gaining ground. It appeared Jango was going to use his jet pack to gain the high ground. When he did, sparks spewed out.

He pulled out his other pistol and started to fire…

But that was when I started to feel a pit in my stomach. This was it. This is what Jo was talking about. Somehow, I knew.

If I do nothing right now, Jango is going to die.

I holstered my pistol, and charged for my life. I was still hurting, but I wasn't about to give up. Time seemed to slow down as I got closer. I needed to use everything. Everything I had left within me!

Jango was backing away with every shot he fired. The swordsman was now only a few feet away. He moved his blade in a fluid motion, towards Jango's neck. Right before it hit, the blade stopped where it was. It was blocked by another saber: mine.

Both Jango and Windu turned my direction. They saw me with gritted teeth.

It was hard on my arms blocking this one attack.

I don't think I can stop another one! How can that swing be so strong?!

Neither of us did anything for a few moments. Until Jango decided to take advantage of the situation, "Get out of here kid!"

"Not without you!" I said through gritted teeth. "I didn't run out here just to turn around!"

While this was happening, Windu looked down to my belt. He noticed I had another saber, the one that I got from the alien.

He retracted his blade. He recognized it.

He looked mad.

"I should have figured you for a Sith. You must be Dooku's apprentice, your weapon gives you away. Prepare yourself to die."

He was definitely ready to fight me, but I didn't have the time or the energy.

"Look, I don't want to fight you right now. And I'm not a sith or whatever. I don't even know what that is."

The man scoffed.

"Then how did you obtain Master Trebor's Lightsaber?"

I knew I couldn't tell him that Jango killed the man. I decided with a half truth.

"He was dead when I found him. I figured his weapon would come in handy in saving Jango. It would be a last resort. I wouldn't be here right now if it didn't turn out Dooku wanted Jango dead."

Both were shocked by this revelation.

"What?!"

"That was his plan all along. You were never supposed to be in their plans for long. You were a loose end for him and his master's dark plan."

Windu was shocked, "Master's plan? How do you know that."

"He said it himself."

I definitely have to use half truth for that. I don't think they would accept telepathy as an answer right now. Not in this situation, and I need Windu's trust right now.

"You're not lying, but that doesn't make any sense…"

"Well it's the truth, and Jango… I'm sorry that Dooku betrayed you, but we need to work together with them," I pointed at the swordsman, "or we are not going to make it out alive. Can you do that?"

He took a moment before responding,

"I have no problem with it."

"Nor do I, but that doesn't mean you won't be free of your charges."

I smirked and said, "We'll cross that bridge when we get there. Right now, we have an army surrounding us."

As soon as I said that, nore droids started to pour into the arena, and they forced us all to the center. Leaving us with no escape, an obvious and undesirable situation.

"Jango! On your right!"

He looked that way to see some of the rolling droids trying to get the drop on the three of us.

Of course, as soon as he saw them, he used his dual blasters to blow them away.

As they blew up, it signaled a swarm of the tan droids to come after us. Windu ran straight at them, blocking every strike back at them. I gave some cover fire with my 1911 in a knelt position, each shot hitting them square in the head.

We were taking out a number of them, but there was no end in sight as the droids started to pour into the arena in innumerable numbers.

As we were moving back, something caught my leg. Causing me to fall on my back. I looked up to see a blue droid with its legs gone, it's left hand grabbing onto my left leg. It started to try to crawl on top of me. But, he was sliced in two by a Blue lightsaber. I looked up to see my rescuer, surprised to see the green woman I saved earlier. She moved closer to me, holding out a hand to help me up. I gladly took it and was pulled up from the dust, just in time to see a droid aiming his gun right at us.

I aimed my Colt to the head, but found I was out of bullets. Working fast, she pulled us out of the way as soon as the droid fired at us.

Once again I found myself on the ground. Along with the girl. We looked back up to see the droid and some new pals. They were about to fire; however, they were blown away by repeating fire. We look behind us to see Jango blowing more of them down. He takes a moment before looking down at us.

"Alright love birds, get on your feet. You can have fun later."

I laughed in my head as I started to get up. And for some odd reason, I knew the girl was not amused and embarrassed.

I need to get control on this power.

We both got up and saw many of the warriors they had with them dead around us. There were about 30 of us left, and we were all pushed closer together. This was looking to be our end, as we were back to back and shoulder to shoulder.

At least, until all of the droids stopped. It gave me a strong feeling that this was not going to end well.

Suddenly, our attention was brought up to a voice being amplified from the pavilion.

Dooku was now up and rubbing the back of his neck where I whacked him.

"You have fought gallantly. Worthy of recognition in the history archives of the Jedi Order. And you, 'Guns'..."

Oh boy.

He signaled a droid to come close to us, and the droid snatched the saber in my hand. The droid started to back up into the surrounding army. The people left alive with me were confused.

"I'm sorry for your ignorance in choosing the wrong side. Maybe you and your sister would like a second chance? If you choose to join us, we will pretend this never happened and you will be allowed to live. I will forgive you for knocking me out and taking my light saber."

That last part seemed to slip out unintended, however the effects were instant.

I could feel the shock and eyes boring into the back of my head as he said that last part. But I ignored the feeling and gave my response.

"I don't believe for one second that you would just let that go. If we worked for you, we would just have a target on our backs the rest of our lives. I don't want to live like that, and I know my sister doesn't want to live like that. But I have a question for you. I think I know the answer. Why did you betray Jango after all he has done for you?"

"I don't know how you found out, but he fulfilled his usefulness, he didn't fit in our plans. He knows too much to be left alive."

"And by we, you mean you and your master's plan. Right?"

I could tell he was surprised.

"I don't know how you know that. But it doesn't matter. If you all surrender now, your lives will be spared."

"We will not be hostages to be bartered Dooku!"

"Then I am sorry, old friend…"

The man lifted his arm to signal the droids to resume the fight. We needed to think fast if anyone was to get out of this. But I only had one thought.

I sighed deeply before saying, "Remember the Alamo…"

Jango, Windu, and the girl were the only ones who heard me.

"What?" They all said in union.

"A battle that was a last stand on my home world. This will be our last stand if we can't think of something quick. If nobody has any better idea, I say we all make one last charge to get out of the arena. Staying here is suicide."

They all nodded their heads in approval.

"I have nothing," Jango said.

"Same," Windu grunted.

"Then we agree the best bet for anyone getting out of this is to run for the exit?" the girl asked.

"Run and gun," I confirmed.

Windu spread the plan around the remaining numbers. They were all in agreement. As I was looking, I saw the prisoners from before still alive. I hoped once more for their survival, but I knew luck was running thin. It was time for action.

Then, out of nowhere, blaster bolts shot across the arena. By one of the entrances, I saw the source. It was my Sister and Bossk. They stormed the arena drawing the attention of the surrounding army. As that was happening, a loud sound came from overhead.

We looked up to see a fleet of ships overhead, flying right towards us. The ships rained down large blasts of rockets and lasers. Every shot hit their marks in the surrounding army. Nobody with me could match the shock I had right now.

I THOUGHT THEY DIDN'T HAVE AN ARMY! ANAKIN, YOU LYING PIECE OF-!

My thoughts were cut off by a hand grabbing my shoulder. It was Jango.

"We need to get to Jo and Bossk fast!"

We both ran through the barrage of bolts, and saw Jo and Bossk doing the same. We met halfway with Jango telling us all to head back to the main group. As soon as we got there, ships started landing in a circle around us. One of the ships 'doors' opened up, revealing people inside. Men in white armor, similar to Jango's, stormed off the ships. They made a defensive perimeter around us. Giving a chance for all of us to escape. A Grover-like voice from the ship in front of us ushered us to enter.

"Come with us, you must!"

We looked down to see what could only be described as a green Goblin. He had a look of concern.

You don't have to tell us twice.

We entered the ship as fast as we could and the soldiers re-entered the ships as we held onto whatever we could find. As the last man made it on. The doors closed, and the ships stormed up to the skies.

End Chapter

[Editor's Note: We apologize for the delay. School and additional commitments made this chapter difficult to finish]