Chapter 27 – The War
Author's Note: One chapter left of this arc, and then we'll jump to the third arc which is a direct continuation of arc 2. :)
~ Amina Gila
Anakin looks around in dismay at the burned-out building that once was the headquarters for the Trail's network in Mos Espa. The Force feels of pain and death here, and if he looks closely, he can see the drying blood on the floor in some places. It's obvious to him that this wasn't just a random attack. It's as he suspected: the Pykes mean to invade.
"I don't understand what they could hope to gain," Kix admits, standing at Anakin's side. "Tatooine might be an easy target, but they have no foothold on the planet. Expanding their business here could be costly."
Anakin nods in agreement. "Something about this does not seem right. Someone is pulling their strings, and we must determine who the puppet master is."
"Where do we start?" Kix asks. "We weren't trained for this kind of warfare."
He says we as though there are other clones around. It hurts, momentarily, remembering where they used to be and looking at where they are now, but Anakin lets that feeling go. Now is the time to fight. They can mourn later.
In reply, he taps on his comm. "Kitster, do you have anything for us?"
Static answers him for a moment before Kitster's voice comes through. "I just got a report from Wald. He's at the docks. The last transports that arrived are filled with Pyke soldiers."
Not good, but Anakin had expected no less. He knew they meant war by bombing this building.
"Do we get reinforcements? What's the status at Freetown?" Once he knows who will be there to help, he'll be able to plan a means of attack. Or defense, depending on the situation.
"I got in contact with Vanth," Kitster tells him. "The people are shaken from the attack, but the uninjured intend to come here and help. If we fall, so do they."
"Keep an eye on the status," Anakin orders, "and I'll let you know when – and if – I need you."
"Got it," Kitster replies.
Anakin exchanges a look with Kix as he comms Aayla. For now, it's just the two of them against… Force knows how many Pyke soldiers. They're good, but he doesn't think they're that good. "Where are you?" he asks Aayla.
"Searching the city," she replies. "I'm hearing whispers that the Pyke leadership is already on the planet holed up in Mos Eisley."
That could mean… many things, and Anakin weighs their options, trying to determine the best path forward.
"I can take them," she continues. "Give me the word, and I'll take them out."
His heart clenches. Can he truly ask her to do something like that? Can he ask her to assassinate someone in cold blood? And yet, he knows that she already has – even if she's never talked to him about it. She'll do it again, too, if she has to. This isn't just about them and their morals and what the Jedi Code dictates. They are long past those days, no matter how Anakin might mourn where they used to be and how far they've had to fall.
"Okay," he whispers, and hopes and prays that it won't damage her too badly, "do it."
Kix is wandering the length of the room when Anakin gets off the comm. "We can set up base here," the clones points out, tapping on the walls. "They're strong. Durable. They'll hold up well against blasterfire."
"And there is just the one entrance," Anakin realizes. He glances at the destroyed doorframe. It's still secure, even if it's blackened. The window next to it has been shattered, but it's only the one side they need to worry about – at least for now.
"If we can shoot fast enough, we'll be able to hold them off until reinforcements get here," Kix answers. There's a certain feigned cheer to his voice that Anakin doesn't like.
"You're not dying on my watch, Kix," Anakin says firmly.
The medic doesn't answer. Maybe he doesn't believe him, or maybe he's thinking about how once, he'd have had his brothers at his side – and they're not here. He leans forward, staring out into the streets. "Gen- Starkiller, I think someone is out there."
Anakin doesn't comment on the slip. It's instinct for his men to call him 'General' and Kix has done his best to shake the habit, but sometimes, it comes out anyway, especially if he's distracted. He draws his blasters, keeping them in his hands as he ventures through the entrance, trusting the Force to warn him if there's immediate danger.
He sees a shadowed, but familiar, figure strolling down the street toward him.
"Starkiller!" yells Cad Bane himself.
Great.
Anakin has run into Bane a handful of times. The bounty hunter is slippery and dangerous, even for Jedi. He captured Ahsoka once and nearly killed her. Bane is not someone Anakin wants to face unless he's armed with the Force and a lightsaber. Unfortunately for him, Jacen Starkiller is supposed to have neither.
"Looking for work?" Anakin drawls, ready to lift his blasters on a moment's notice.
Bane ignores the question. "The Pyke Syndicate sent me." His posture is casual, but Anakin can feel the intent focus of his gaze. The moment Anakin moves to lift a weapon, Bane will, too. "They want to negotiate. If you let them run spice through Tatooine, you'll get part of the profit."
Anakin scoffs. "No. I don't deal with criminals. Tell them to leave, and I will allow them to depart with their lives." Maybe what he needs to do most right now is stall for time.
Bane grins. "I hope you're not counting on getting help. None is coming."
The Force rings with a lie. Bane is lying to him, trying to cow him into submission.
"I don't need help," Anakin replies. It's a bold statement, but at least he isn't lying. When he gives the word, Kitster will come with the armor and lightsaber and the Shadow will strike again.
"Oh? Don't think I don't know about your Jedi," Bane sneers. "The Shadow you people call him. He's no match for the Pyke forces."
Anakin almost smiles.
Almost.
"Do we have an agreement?" Anakin asks politely.
Bane turns away. "You had your chance, Starkiller." With those words, he walks away, and Anakin doesn't miss the two figures backing away from the edge of a nearby roof. One's holding a sniper rifle, body clad in black, an orange helmet obscuring her features. He can tell it's a woman, but he cannot see her face. The other figure… is familiar. His beskar armor gleams in the sunlight, and it sinks in just who that is.
Boba Fett.
Anakin hasn't heard from him since he escaped from prison after attempting to assassinate Windu. But here he is. It sends conflicted feelings through Anakin to see him. Boba is… many things, but he's still a kid, and Anakin would like to avoid killing him if possible.
"Will we need the Shadow?" Kix asks softly as Anakin steps back into the building.
Anakin takes a deep breath and reaches out to the Force. He doesn't know what's coming, but this – this is war. He has to do whatever he must in order to win. The people here need him, and he cannot afford to fail. He can feel the struggle ahead of him, not just today, but in the coming weeks. Things are changing, some for the better and some for the worse. This is the path he was meant to take, but it will still be filled with difficulties and challenges.
"Yes," he answers, hesitating, "I think we will."
Kix nods to him, face hidden by his helmet as he looks back at the streets. "Their Force-sensitive ally might return," he points out, "and even if he doesn't, they'll probably be bringing kyber weapons with them."
Anakin appreciates the reminder though he could never have forgotten the risks lying ahead of them. He misses the steady, solid presence of Rex. He misses the way they worked together, the way Rex completed his leadership in a way that no one else ever has. They learned each other's weaknesses and how to make the best possible strategies. If Rex was here, this would be easier.
But he doesn't have Rex.
"I know," he answers, tapping on his comm. "Kitster, I'm going to need you here. Bring the crate – you know which one. We need to switch roles."
"On it," Kitster replies immediately. "I'll come in through the underground entrance."
Right. The one in the back office that he doubts the Pykes could find even if they knew the tunnels existed. It'll be their only means of escape if this goes badly.
"They're coming," Kix warns him, and Anakin steps up to stand next to the clone, looking out into the streets, and the myriads of Pyke soldiers who are approaching.
"I don't see Bane or the other bounty hunters," Anakin notes.
"They'll bring up the rear," Kix replies, flicking the safety off his blaster. "The Pykes will wear us down and Bane will come in for the kill."
Anakin follows his lead, lifting his blasters and preparing to fire. "Last chance," he yells into the street. "Surrender or die."
He feels amusement from some of the Pykes – understandable given that he and Kix are only two individuals against dozens of soldiers. The people from Freetown will come and so will Kitster, but Anakin doesn't know if they'll arrive soon enough.
"Pick your targets," Anakin tells Kix.
The clone huffs. "It was an honor to serve with you, sir." His voice is dry, betraying that a part of him doesn't believe these are really his final words.
Anakin smirks. Bantering before a battle is familiar. Soothing. "Alright, cut the chatter."
He and Kix open fire on the Pykes, picking them off one by one. Briefly, Anakin thinks it might have been a good idea to bring some of the kyber weapons with them, but it's too late for regrets. They can only work with what they have now.
The Pykes return fire, the barrage of blaster bolts slamming into the exterior walls. Some of them enter the broken window and entrance, narrowly missing them. Anakin uses the Force to nudge s few of the shots off-course, so they fly harmlessly past instead of hitting either of them. It's the most he can do to protect them without outing himself, and if he can avoid revealing his abilities, that would be for the best.
He and Kix shoot as fast as they can, but it isn't fast enough. Many Pykes are falling to the ground, but even more are slowly advancing on the building. It won't be long before they're at the entrance. Anakin and Kix might be skilled, but the Pykes have numbers which works to their advantage. For a few, terrifying minutes, Anakin thinks they'll have to flee and hope for the best right when an explosion shakes the ground outside.
"Is that–?" Kix starts, lifting his head and shooting a couple more Pykes as some of them turn toward the person – or people – who fired the explosive.
More blaster fire rings out, taking down the incoming Pykes, and Anakin watches with relief as a speeder that's been converted into a tank of sorts pulls up in front of the building. Vanth is driving with Wald next to him. The people from Freetown are here. Finally.
Their arrival gives Anakin the opportunity to comm Kitster again who answers that he's in the tunnels and will be getting there soon. Though it might be risky to slip away, Anakin still does so because his transformation into the Shadow is probably the only thing that will win this war. If he shows the Pykes that they cannot win, they will withdraw eventually. It is not profitable for them to fight a losing battle.
Unless, of course, someone is controlling them, but one thing at a time, and Anakin cannot worry about possibilities.
"I am going to call in reinforcements," Anakin tells Kix. "If I know the Pykes, they will send their bounty hunters back to pick more of us off. We need all the help we can get."
Kix nods to him, and Anakin slips away into the back office. He finds the tunnel system without too much difficulty and opens the hatch, dropping inside. It's dark, so he turns on a flashlight as he ventures into the tunnel. He meets Kitster a mere ten to fifteen minutes later, pulling the crate behind him. They don't need to talk to know what has to be done, and in the darkness and safety of the underground, Anakin removes his Starkiller armor.
The crate has the supplies they need to disguise Kitster as Starkiller, and they make the change as quickly as possible. When that's done, he withdraws the final object. It looks like a compact cube, but when Anakin presses the hidden button to activate it, it unfolds. The nanobots crawl up his arm, covering his entire body. This suit of armor is sleeker than the one that he used to use as the Shadow, but it's also more durable. Dooku's lightsaber hilt flies to his hand and he clips it to his belt.
"Where is the exit?" Anakin asks.
"Continue down the passageway for a couple of minutes and then take the tunnel to the right," Kitster replies. "You'll come out in the back of a warehouse. There are speeders there."
Anakin nods. "I will meet you shortly."
They part ways, and it's only a handful of minutes later that Anakin emerges in the warehouse. The speeder is there as Kitster said it would be, and Anakin climbs on it, firing it up and flying away. It doesn't take him long to reach the site of the battle. He can hear – and feel – it from afar, and the Force guides him. He leaves the speeder in an ally before rounding the corner and stepping into the sunlight of the streets.
The Pykes don't notice him right away, too focused on closing in on the building. Despite the many of them who have fallen, they do not stop coming, pressing in and trapping the fighters inside. Anakin checks on them through the Force. A couple of them are injured, but no one is dead. Yet. That can – and will – change soon if he doesn't do something.
He draws his – Dooku's – lightsaber, igniting it with a familiar snap-hiss. He misses the feeling of a lightsaber in his palm, the kyber crystal resonating with him in the Force. It's been so long since he's last wielded one of these in battle – and spars with Aayla or Reva don't count. It's not the same.
The sound draws the Pykes attention, and they turn on him. Anakin's lightsaber is a blur as he stalks closer, reaching for the Force and tugging. He rips several of their blasters from their hands, letting them fall harmlessly to the sand and hurling the soldiers backward. They are nothing when he has embraced his true form. The Dark flows through him, filling him with power, and Anakin cuts through the Pykes with ease.
He can feel the shock of the fighters on his side that soon morphs to relief. It's the first time he has appeared as the Shadow during the day in front of so many people. When he stormed Jabba's palace to save Reva, he was seen but it was not like this.
This is a public statement, and he knows that there is a high risk that word will get back to the Empire, but that's a chance he had to take. For his people, he will risk anything.
The Force warns him of danger, and Anakin spins away from the Pykes, knowing that their attention will return to the others with him distracted to see Bane followed by two other bounty hunters. It's the two he saw shadowing Bane earlier. Anakin pauses, assessing them. At least now it will be a more even fight.
The bounty hunters begin shooting at him, trying to box him in as they close the distance between them.
"Starkiller has so much faith in you," Bane drawls as they get closer, "but I've face down many Jedi."
"I'm no Jedi," Anakin replies and lunges. They exchange blows, and he's not surprised that Bane mostly keeps up with him, even though a punch gets through, grazing the Duros' jaw. Too bad it was Anakin's organic hand. The mechanical one would have done a lot more damage.
Bane gives as good as he gets, but Anakin is still better. Defeating him will be easy.
And then Fett and the other bounty hunter close in on him. The three of them attack him together, and he's mildly impressed that the female nearly gets a knife into him. He sensed it in time to block her, metal fingers crushing her wrist and forcing her to drop it.
They're good, but Anakin is better.
He draws on the Dark, letting it flood him as he blasts all three of them back and away. Bane is slammed against a wall, and Anakin turns on the other two, opting to deal with them first. He can handle Bane if he's not being backed up by someone else. Boba charges him, and it's instinct for Anakin to let lightning burst from his fingertips, slamming into him and hurling him backward. It sets off his jetpack, sending him flying a short, uncontrolled distance away, smashing into the corner of a building. His helmet falls off as he hits the sand, and Anakin closes in on him, lightsaber in his hand.
Boba goes still when he feels the heat of the red blade on him, and Anakin stares down at the teenager's terrified but stubborn, familiar brown eyes.
"I'm not going to kill you, Boba," he says. "You're just a kid. You shouldn't be involved in this."
"I'm not–" he snarls, outraged.
"Stay out of this for your own good," Anakin interrupts. He would have said more, but he senses the female sneaking up on him. He spins, his blade stabbing through her gut. She makes a choked sound as she collapses to the ground.
She'll die soon, but she's not his primary concern and nor is Boba.
It's Bane.
He glances around, but he doesn't see the Duros where he last was.
The Force prickles with warning, and Anakin barely throws up a Force shield in time to block the kyber-powered blaster bolt from hitting him in the head. The explosion nearly blinds him, and as he blinks the afterimages away, Bane attacks. It forces Anakin to draw on the Force to keep up with him. His prosthetic hand hits Bane in the chest, and a blast of lightning from his other hand narrowly misses the bounty hunter, but he still keeps coming.
Anakin reaches for his lightsaber again, going for the kill. Bane must sense it, too, because he grows more cautious, his attacks becoming more careful. The next lightning strike hits him, and Anakin electrocutes him until he's unconscious. He might have killed him just to send a message when he hears the snap-hiss of an igniting lightsaber.
He turns, and on the far end of the street stands the masked Force-user who attempted to kill him when he was in the bacta tank, a green lightsaber in his hand.
"Sith," he hisses, "or is that Darth Vader? I've been hunting you."
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