Mission of Unity: Chapter 1 - Christophsis
Plot: When Anakin's new padawan arrives on Christophsis, he thinks he'll have to settle into the chaos of raising a child alone. Except, with the new squad of clones he was assigned – with Clone Force 99 – he realizes it may not be as difficult as he thought.
The shuttle lowers in front of him, ramp slowly dropping to reveal a young girl, barely half Anakin's size. Her hair is blond, falling messily across her forehead, and she wears a small padawan braid with a single blue bead. A first time padawan, then – it reminds him of Anakin's own back in the day. Her beads are white and blue – healing and machinery.
"And... who are you supposed to be?" Anakin inquires in disbelieving incredulity. He and Master Qui-Gon have been fighting on Christophsis for weeks now, and they're supplies are running low. They need reinforcements, especially with Qui-Gon's new padawan, Ahsoka. She's a child, and too young for any of this. So, why are they sending in another youngling?
"Hello!" the girl chirps, smiling brightly and waving. She walks down the stairs with a sprint of any energetic child, but slow and careful enough Anakin knows it's unfamiliar. "I'm Omega. I... was sent by Master Yoda to tell you to there's some sort of emergency, and he's calling you back to the Jedi Temple."
Anakin cocks an eyebrow at her, confused. "We're in a bit of an emergency right here."
"We haven't been able to get a transmission through," Qui-Gon agrees, "But we've been requesting help."
"Oh." Omega looks a little crestfallen. "They sent me, because we haven't heard anything from you."
Anakin sighs, trying to let go of his frustration. He knows it's not the Jedi's fault they haven't gotten the transmission – that's on the Separatists. Which only helps so much. He needs to think through that and focus on the task at hand instead – on trying to get a message through. There are emergencies everywhere. The Separatists were simply too well prepared for attack. Though, it's also Slick's fault, though the clone squad Anakin was assigned to delt with his capture well enough. "We could try relaying a signal through the cruiser that brought Omega here," Anakin suggests.
"That may work," Qui-Gon replies, and they return to the hologram table.
"Come on," Anakin requests of the youngling, motioning her on.
Qui-Gon gets a message through the cruiser, despite the clones warnings about how they're under heavy fire up in space. The Separatists know of their vulnerabilities, and they're taking good advantage of it. "Master Jinn, glad Omega found you, I am," the old Jedi Master says, smiling faintly.
"Master Yoda," Qui-Gon replies, "We are grounded on Christophsis, and are vastly outnumbered."
"Our support ships were destroyed," Anakin cuts in, "We can't leave."
"Send reinforcements to you, we will," Master Yoda replies before the hologram flickers and fades out.
"We've lost the transmission, sir," one of the clones reports back to them. "We have to leave orbit immediately. More enemy ships have just arrived."
"Then, get out," Anakin warns. He wants to tell them to get out, to save themselves, but being a general means he has to accept sacrifices are necessary.
Not that it's in his role to command them – a general he may be, but only if one squad.
He likes his men, but he feels out of place among them. They're brothers. He's a Jedi. He doesn't know them, and they already have a sergeant. The war is hard on all of them.
Anakin and Qui-Gon turn away from the holotable, to where Ahsoka is talking to Omega several feet away. They look happy about seeing another child around. Ahsoka must find it relieving. But Anakin just wishes neither of them had to be here. They'll have to hold out for longer.
"Apologies, young one," Qui-Gon turns away from the table to the child. He doesn't seem surprised to see her. "I wasn't informed the Council was sending you in. Do you remember me?"
"Of course," she replies, smiling brightly, hands clasped in front of her. Her robes are blue, and otherwise the traditional Jedi style. Her eyes are brown – Anakin can see them clearer up close. She's young. Her hair is fairly light for the tan of her skin, and she looks familiar somehow, though Anakin can't put his finger on it right now. He doesn't think he's seen her before. "You're Qui-Gon Jinn, the Jedi who brought me to the Temple."
"Very good," he praises, "And this is Anakin Skywalker."
"And I'm Omega," she replies, smiling brightly, "Master Yoda said I'm assigned to be Anakin Skywalker's padawan."
"What?" Anakin's head whips around towards his grand master. He doesn't look surprised. Did he know about this? "There must be some mistake. I never requested a padawan."
Behind Omega, Ahsoka giggles. Anakin throws her an annoyed glare.
"But," she protests, "Master Yoda was very specific."
"That doesn't make any sense," he objects.
"We can discuss this later," Qui-Gon interjects, "The droids may be approaching our position again as we speak. They'll find a way to penetrate our cannons."
Yes, they need to stay on alert. "I'll check on Hunter at the lookout post," Anakin decides.
"Take Omega with you," Qui-Gon instructs.
Anakin sighs, but he complies. He respects the Jedi master deeply – he freed Anakin from Tatooine. He brought him to the Temple, had him raised as a Jedi. He took care of him, even if it was Obi-Wan who trained him after the injuries his master suffered at Maul's hand.
The trip to the lookout post isn't so long. What's harder is keeping Omega with him. This was obviously one of her first times away from the Temple. She keeps wandering. He has to drag her back from more than one rail, unable to stop envisioning her falling off the edge. She's going to give him a heart attack at this rate.
He'd be willing, if not happy, to take on a padawan if now for the war. Also, if not for... his mother.
Anakin doesn't want to think about that right now. "Stay close," Anakin requests for the hundredth time. "A warzone is dangerous."
"I know," she chirps, "But –"
"We're almost there." Anakin steps into the door, motioning her to the lift instead of trying to attach herself to some sort of computer console. She's adorable.
He's still terrified.
How is he supposed to take care of her? His... men didn't even want him. How does he tell them that he has a padawan, too? That they have to accept her?
The lift takes him to the top floor where he'd stationed his men, plus a few of the 501st. Though, that was Qui-Gon's orders, not his own. First, he spots Tech, leaning against the wall, typing on his datapad. "Hey, Tech," Anakin greets, passing him.
Tech hardly glances up. He gives a brief wave and returns to his research.
The twins – Wrecker and Crosshair – are somewhere on the far side of the room, secluded from everyone else, talking dramatically. Wrecker tries to wave, or at least Anakin thinks he did, and Crosshair smacks him, grumbling something inaudible from here. Anakin just smiles fondly, heading to Hunter's side. "Anything yet?" he inquires.
"Nothing, sir," Hunter reports, pulling back from the window. "Though I still think it'd be easier if we could just go in there and take 'em out."
Maybe. But Anakin doesn't want to endanger them. The clones know what they're doing, but Anakin doesn't want to drag them into a potentially messy situation where someone could easily end up dead. "Maybe. You think we should go up for a scouting mission?"
"Any day. Better than sitting out here." His head tilts, and he looks past Anakin, to where Omega is leaning over something else. "Who's the kid?"
"Hi," she chips again, "I'm Omega, Anakin Skywalker's padawan."
Hunter cocks an eyebrow, turning back to Anakin. In the Force, his presence shifts, coiling with something unhappy. Anakin doesn't blame him. "I thought you said you would never get a padawan."
"I don't know what happened," Anakin protests, just as he had when he was first sent on them, and they were all overwhelming appreciative to get stuck with a nat-born. They respected him, and kept their distance, but it was the distance and respect that grates on him, because he's not their brother. The first hints of their friendship set in a couple of weeks ago, when Hunter decided it was a brilliant idea to get a tattoo. On half of his face. Anakin still thinks it looks ridiculous, but he's proud of it, so he won't dare tell him so. Still put him out of action for a day.
It's still proof that, sergeant or no, Hunter's still a child in his own right. He's nine years old. He shouldn't be at war, either.
Anakin doesn't belong as part of their squad. He knows Palpatine said it was strategic, that his skills are far more adept at speed and stealth, just like theirs – but that doesn't mean he belongs here instead of with his own battalion.
"I never requested a padawan, but the Council sent her to me, anyway." Which means, whether he likes it or not, he has to find a way to care for her in the heat of war – even if he has no idea how to, and the men he's working with are less than fond of Omega's presence. Because the Council gave a direct order, and Anakin cannot defy them.
He's not Qui-Gon Jinn.
"For being a Jedi, they sure don't seem to tell you anything."
"Don't remind me." Anakin sighs, rubbing at his forehead. He's exhausted. He does not want to do this. Fighting is fun. Spending time with his men is... relaxing, if they can relax. He doesn't know what to do. He is not ready to take care of a padawan. Not in war. It's only going to raise tensions between himself and his squad even further.
He doesn't want to do this.
"I'll talk to Qui-Gon about taking you out to scout," Anakin says, "Until then, uh. Can you show Omega around?" He needs to get her accustomed to being in a warzone, and he frankly doesn't even know where to begin. He wishes he could talk to Obi-Wan – his master was lost at first, too.
He failed his mother. He couldn't save her. How could he protect this child? Who has no one else to count on? Where does he even start?
**w**
Omega trails after Hunter, looking around with wide-eyed awe. There's so much to see, so many devices and things she never saw on Kamino. And the rest of the clones. She's missed Nala Se, but she mostly missed her brothers. Not that she's close to any of them – she just missed seeing them.
"So... what's your name?" Omega asks, trailing the other clone. His hair is long, and his armor looks very different than most of them. It's black and red, with a lot of personalization that most of the others didn't have. She thinks she saw a few others who looked similar, but there were so many things to see.
"I'm Hunter," he answers, "CT-9901."
She stumbles, nearly tripping.
CT-9901.
CT-9901.
He looks – the same as the others. But his armor is different.
9901 always looked a lot like the other clones.
Is it him?
Them?
Excitement claws up in her chest, bubbling and uplifting. She's wanted to see them again for so long.
"You okay, kid?"
"Yeah. Yeah!" She runs to catch up to him where he's kept walking without her. She hadn't meant to freeze, but the mention of her brothers, the possibility that they might be right here and working with her just froze her mind. It's been so long. She hasn't seen them since she was four. That was eight years ago
"So, um, what's the war like?" Omega asks, sprinting to catch up with him.
"Well, we have missions. Primary missions, and smaller ones. We mean to win, but I guess for some of us, it's mostly just for fun."
"I don't think Jedi are supposed to have fun," Omega tells him disappointedly. She doesn't understand that much about being a Jedi, but it doesn't sound that different than what she's always done. She was meant to help people on Kamino, too. This isn't too different.
"That sounds... boring. No offense to your beliefs."
Omega giggles. "I agree, actually." She looks around again, awed at the brilliant aqua sky. She can see so much from here. It's beautiful. But she really doesn't know the first thing about her life here. Or what being a padawan really means. The Jedi wanted her to get a master, because she's not normal. She's too out of place to be put into a creche or whatever they're called. "If... I'm a Jedi, doesn't that mean I'm a commander?"
"Yeah, it does," Hunter agrees, crossing his arms over his chest. "But that doesn't do much good if you don't know how to lead a war."
"Oh." She deflates a little. "Can you teach me?"
"I guess I'll be doing some of that, if you're really Anakin's padawan. He's our assigned Jedi, even though we're just a squad." Hunter suddenly freezes, body going rigid. Omega's seen that on people enough to know he's seeing something wrong, though isn't that usually a Jedi thing? She's still getting used to trying to use the Force.
He yanks his helmet back on, pressing his fingers to the comm on its side.
"Yes, I see it, Crosshair," he replies, "Better tell the general." Hunter looks down at her. "The droids got an energy shield. You want to start learning how to be a soldier, you got your chance."
"What do we do?" she asks, biting her lip.
"We gotta get back to the others." Hunter lightly pushes her back, nudging her to move, and they run.
**w**
"The shield generator is somewhere in this area," Rex is saying, motioning on the map. Qui-Gon is standing a short distance behind, arms crossed, watching. Ahsoka's leaning over his shoulder,, and Anakin and Hunter are standing on the other side. Omega's leaning against the holotable, fingers curled over the edge, watching. "They're slowly increasing the diameter, and keeping it just ahead of their troops."
"Heavy cannons will be useless on that," Hunter replies.
"Could draw them into the buildings?" Ahsoka asks, "That could split them up a bit."
"Why can't we just take out their shield generator?" Omega inquires.
"Easier said than done," Rex tells her darkly.
"I hafta say, I'm with the kid," Hunter interjects, "It'd be easiest if some of us could slip through their lines, take out the generator. Without it, they don't stand a chance."
"I agree," Anakin concurs, "Someone has to get to that shield generator and destroy it. That's the key."
"Perhaps you and Omega can take out the generator," Qui-Gon replies.
Omega brightens. "Sure!"
Anakin smiles a little at her enthusiasm, though it worries him, too. "Tech, can you get a read on the generator's core?"
"Well, of course, I can," he promises, nearly offended, typing on his datapad.
"Good. Omega and I will take out the generator. The rest of you, try to find the Separatist's general. If you get him, their lines will fall."
"There's a blind spot in their defenses," Hunter adds, pointing. "We engage them a few blocks down, they won't even notice you."
"Good."
"You won't have much time," Rex adds, "The droids far outnumber us, so our ability to street fight is limited without the use of heavy cannons. They will march forward under the protection of their shield. until they are right on top of our cannons, then they'll blow them away."
"Don't worry, Rex," Ahsoka protests, patting his arm, "They'll figure this out. Right, Skyguy?"
Anakin smirks back. "Sure thing, Snips. Come on, Sunshine. Let's go."
"Sunshine?" Omega asks dreamily, trailing him from the room.
**w**
"So..." Omega asks, leaning against the railing as Anakin surveys the droid. "What's the plan?"
"I thought you were the one with the plan," he quips.
"Uh... not really." She hops up on her tiptoes, trying and failing to see. "But you do know what to do, right?"
"We need to start with bypassing the shield, then their tank lines," Anakin replies.
"Can't we just go around?" Omega ventures.
"No, there's no time. I'd have brought the boys if that would work." They cannons would be gone by then, and he's hoping to minimize casualties.
"Can we sneak through them?"
"Nope. Unless we can turn ourselves into droids." Which they can't, but droids are dumb, and –
Omega deflates a little. "Okay. I guess I have to let you come up with something."
"Well, wait's over," he smirks. "I've got a plan."
**w**
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Omega asks as they crawl beneath a crate that looks more like a trash can than a droid, but droids are stupid, and since they can't see them, they don't know any better.
Do the Separatists really think they can get the upper hand on the clones with things like this?
"Yep!" Anakin promises cheerfully, "We have to get through the deflect shield, remember? If we can't cross their lines, let their lines cross us."
"What does that mean?"
How old is she? "Never mind. It'll make sense in a few battles from now." If she survives it, he thinks, but doesn't dare say, because that's not a fear Omega should live with. Though, she needs too – she has to understand the severity of the situation she's living in. Lives are at stake. Her life, and those of everyone she'll be fighting for.
He wishes Qui-Gon luck with Ahsoka in the same regard. It's hard even for Anakin to understand fully.
"I think we passed them all," Omega volunteers after a few more minutes of crawling, "I think it's gonna work!"
"We're not at the generator yet," he reminds.
"Can we get up yet?" she whines. "I really wanna get up. This is smothering. I can't breathe."
How? But Omega's already picking up the box's edge and standing up, so Anakin complies, getting up even if he keeps it down over his head. "We have to be careful," he warns, "You never know what we're gonna run into –"
The box smacks something, tipping them over, sending it skittering across the ground. When Anakin looks up, a destroyer droid is turning to face them. "She what I mean?!" he yells, scrambling to his feet as it starts firing.
Omega flips backwards with a squeak, yanking out her lightsaber. It's turquoise. A rare color, but a fitting one – not that Anakin has time to think about that when he's being shot at. His saber blurs back and forth in front of him to keep the blaster shots away, and Omega's doing the same beside him, albeit very clumsily.
Its shields won't break.
"Run!" Anakin yells at her.
"I thought we had to get to the shield generator?" she protests.
"Just run!" he yells back, because there's no time to explain his plan.
Omega deflects another shot before whirling and running, as ordered. Anakin follows, batting aside a couple more shots over his shoulder. The droid lowers its shields rolling after them.
"Stop!" Anakin calls to her.
"But I thought we were running!"
He huffs a sigh, skidding to a stop and swinging his lightsaber back, slicing the droid in half. It hits the ground in two pieces a short distance off.
"Oh," Omega says, wide-eyed. "That's what you meant."
"Yeah. There's not always time to explain these things on the battlefield. Following orders is important. Come on, there's still the generator to blow." Anakin reclips his lightsaber to his belt, heading onwards.
There's one last stretch ahead of them, separating them from the generator slowly expanding outwards. They have to be fast, but danger twinges in the Force, and he scans the ground. Antenna. It's basically a minefield.
"Stay close," he requests, "We have to be careful."
Omega trails him as Anakin carefully steps forwards, trying to avoid the antenna scattered across the ground.
It works.
Until Omega trips over an antenna, and the ground shudders beneath her. Anakin instinctively dives aside with a roll, but the droids are already rising from the ground, aqua tiles lifted and torn away.
Anakin draws his lightsaber, slashing through the first of the droids. Omega has her own out, too.
"Forget the droids," he yells to her, "Just set the charges. Finish the mission!"
He's the threat, and if he keeps moving, the droids will focus on him – not that he gives them time to shoot as he runs past, slashing through one droid after another. He gets through a good half dozen before they register him instead of Omega, all few dozen shifting their attention.
He stops thinking, letting go and feeling the Force, letting it carry and flow through him the way he always does. There are so many, but in the currents of the Force, it feels like he could take on a thousand and it would be meaningless. And it's working well, he's cutting through the last few when a destroyed droid from the shield generator rolls down, rumbling across a few more sensors.
Up above, Omega freezes. "Sorry!" she yelps.
Anakin suppresses a scream of frustration. It wasn't her fault. "Just get those charges set!"
They're surrounding him now, and there's too many. Because even the best of the Jedi can be overwhelmed. Because even the best Jedi masters can fall, and so many of them did on Geonosis. And there are too many. He wants to tell Omega to run, because they don't both have to die here, and even if she doesn't do the greatest in following orders, he thinks she'd listen.
(Because there is still no one he can imagine trying to save him the way he so desperately tries to save them.)
Anakin dodges a shot that could've taken off his head, backing up, bracing to jump.
Beyond the droids, he can see Omega. She must've slid down the shield generator's bars, because there she is, determinedly cutting away at the droids with a lightsaber that still looks too big for her hands, even if she's small enough she barely comes to the top of their lower legs.
"Run!" Anakin shouts to her.
"But –" She sounds scared. She is scared. And this once, so is he, because anyone can die, and Anakin doesn't want this to be his end. And for the first time, he doesn't know what to do.
"Just go!" He's certain she will. He doesn't need to look, and focuses only on trying to keep distance from the droids ahead of him – but they're backing him up into a wall.
"Don't move." Omega's voice sounds over the droid's clanking and shooting, and it confuses him, but then there's a screeching sound, and the wall behind him is crashing downwards. Towards him.
Anakin throws his hands up to shield his head, not that the metal of his prosthetic would be nearly enough to break the tile – but then there's a crashing all around and a flare of dust kicks up, darkening the air.
The wall landed around him. Not on him.
Of course, Omega wouldn't actually crush him.
The droids are in pieces, crushed beneath the weight of the wall.
"Skyguy!" Anakin lifts his head, and Omega is running towards him. She looks scared. "Are you okay?" She tries to grab his hand, as though he would need that to stand, but he lets her, because she's small and innocent and adorable, and he's still dazed.
"Yeah," he promises, "Thanks." She just saved his life. "Did you just call me Skyguy?" He could have sworn that she did.
She cringes again. "Uh..."
"Never mind. Are the charges set?"
"Yes."
"Set 'em off."
Omega hits the button on her wrist, and the generator explodes into a ball of fire and smoke. It's hard to see as the smoke clears, slowly settling out, but leaving the air a hazy gray. It'll blow away in a few hours, but hopefully the rest of the battle doesn't take long.
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