The Force Wills - Chapter 131

The walk down the Skyfang’s ramp back into the oppressive jungle atmosphere felt like I was walking into a plasma oven. Infinitely worse was the sea of grim expectant faces of the Onderon rebels that awaited my word.

I met Anakin and Obi-Wan’s eyes, their eyes telling me that they had already sensed the story, then looked at Saw, Lux and Steela standing prominently at the front of the small crowd of rebels.

“Three are stable, the remaining two… I could only ease their passing.”

Two more for the butcher’s bill, making the final tally at thirteen dead from the battle. The wounded I had mostly already dealt with according to triage protocols.

“Thank you, Ahsoka,” said Saw, staring at me hard for a moment, then turned around to his brothers and sisters in arms. “Who will come with me to carry them out?”

Almost everyone wanted to volunteer, but Saw only picked three who walked with him into the Skyfang to fetch the two I had been unable to save.

I took a step but had to stop when the world decided to start spinning.

Anakin was there immediately, grabbing me around the shoulders, keeping me upright. “Thanks for being a battery,” I said wryly. I’d have already passed out after seeing to the healing of so many. Then having to do emergency surgery on three patients simultaneously using my hands and the Force. Yet for all my herculean efforts to fight against death, it still took its due. I struggled to not feel the utter failure that pressed down on my shoulders. 

“Commander…”   

When did I close my eyes?

I forced them open to look at Steela’s teary eyed visage and Lux’s astonished face. 

“Sorry, couldn’t do more,” I mumbled.

“No,” she shook her head. “You’re the sole reason we aren’t carrying a lot more of our fellow rebels on their backs…”

I nodded, “Just doing my duty. Skyguy, I’m about to pass out. Short of the caravan coming under attack…”

“Relax, Snip-”

I was pulled into the sweet unthinking oblivion of rest before he could even finish.

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Anakin grunted with effort as he picked up his unconscious padawan and tried to settle her comfortably in his arms. It wasn’t easy and he could only thank the Force that she wasn’t in her armor at the moment, having taken it off to perform the field surgeries in the tiny sickbay of the Skyfang. She was now wearing a white isolation suit typically used by healers when sterile disinfectant fields were not available. 

“M8!”

Seeing Ahsoka’s armor walking around without her in it was naturally quite startling to a number of rebels. Lux gaped at seeing the beskar’gam walking down the ramp with the helmet carried under its arm.

“Oh no, has the mistress exhausted herself again?” said M8.

“Hours of non-stop healing and surgeries will do that. I need you to guard her as the caravan moves. We’ve lingered too long and the Skyfang needs to get airborne to cloak properly.”

“Of course, General Skywalker. She’ll be safest inside me.”

“While true M8, she needs stability and proper sleep at the moment.”

“We’ll make a space for her on one of the caravan sleds,” Lux said firmly. “You’ll also find no shortage of volunteers for her guard, General.”

It swiftly became almost everyone’s priority to organize and barely a few minutes later, she was ensconced in a comfortable makeshift bed in the center sled of the caravan, with M8 and a dozen rebel volunteers standing guard, quite a few of whom were only on their feet thanks to her.

The thirteen who had died, were wrapped in spare blankets and carefully laid on another sled near the rear of the column.

“What will you do with them?” Anakin asked of Saw, watching as the Skyfang shimmered into cloak and shot back up into the sky.

“By rights they should be taken to Iziz and buried with full honor,” Saw grumbled. “Yet we can’t carry them forever, this heat will bloat the bodies quickly and the smell will attract predators for many kilometers.”

“We will move with speed for at least a few hours, then bury them in the most beautiful place we can find,” Steela declared.

Saw didn’t like it but necessity was clearly the deciding factor here. “Very well, we’ll move thirty clicks north-east to the Calriss Falls. No better place. We’ll record the exact coordinates and they can be reburied according to the families’ wishes in Iziz after the war is over or as part of a state funeral.”

Steel and Lux nodded.

“Everyone! Move out!”

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The Callriss Falls turned out to be a breathtaking waterfall for a major river at least seven hundred meters wide, that plunged over the edge of a three hundred meter drop. The rumble and hiss at the receiving pool where the river continued thundered through the air, clouds of thin mist rolled away from it and reflected an amazing rainbow from the overhead sunlight.

The graves were dug a fair distance away within the tree line. With every rebel pitching in, it was accomplished rather quickly. The fallen were interred without much in the way of ceremony, each rebel paying their respects in their own fashion or giving personal prayers.

Anakin and Obi-Wan found Saw and Lux Bonteri standing over the mound of a smaller grave, its presence marked with an assemblage of rocks as the headstone, with the name ‘Kael Draven’ scrawled on it with ink.

“You have an extraordinary apprentice, General Skywalker, I hope you realize that,” said Saw, dropping a small exotic flower on the grave.

“I do,” Anakin said intently. “She is not an official Jedi Healer, but she did train as one for a time.”

“We can only thank the Force that her path brought her here.”

“We came to tell you that we detect no active pursuit,” Obi-Wan said, wrenching the topic to matters at hand. “The droids sent reinforcements to the ruins, took their scans and began salvage operations. They did send out a wave of probe droids in search, but all were recalled when they reached a 30 kilometer search radius.”

“Strange, you’d almost think that they didn’t want to find us,” Lux scratched his chin thoughtfully.

“No, this is Rash, playing the long game,” Saw kicked his foot against the soil in agitation. “He now knows what we can do. That we’ve grown strong enough to defeat three full droid companies with armor support.”

“What do you wish to do?” Obi-Wan asked.

“I wish to kick Rash off his throne to face Onderonian Royal justice, throw most of his cronies in jail and for those that presided over the work camps to face the death penalty. We can do last night again for as long as we have rebels, but it won’t make a difference in the long run.”

Lux nodded, “We need to go to Iziz, go on a careful recruitment spree. If we can get some of the Onderonian military on our side…”

Saw scoffed, “Those generals you’re hoping to recruit didn’t lift a finger when the Separatist droids came along. They all stood and watched as King Dendup was usurped.”

“Can you blame them? Rash had enough war droids on his side to make any resistance foolhardy at the time. Most of them also didn’t know who they could trust. Rash had sowed enough doubt that they couldn't be certain who in the military would back them.”

Obi-Wan caressed his beard thoughtfully, “Perhaps all this time under Rash’s rule has let them see who is truly loyal and who isn’t.”

“Maybe, but it’s clear that to make the sacrifice of the Thirteen mean something, we must take the fight to the city. We recruit, we organize, we strike and then blend back into the population. We show Rash that we can hit him where he is most powerful and that he can longer sleep securely in the palace,” Lux hit his fist into his hand for emphasis.

“Then there is the small matter of how you get over three hundred rebels into Iziz,” said Obi-Wan wryly.

Saw stared into the rolling mists of the waterfall, “Those who are still lightly wounded will remain nearby in the jungle along with half our number. We shouldn’t infiltrate everyone into the city. If we fail or are captured, then at least the rebellion can live on beyond us,”

“As for infiltration,” Lux smiled. “We can, with a small amount of effort, disguise a number of our repulsor sleds as a farmer’s caravan, bringing some produce into the city. The droid bioscanners at the gate can be fooled if we harvest enough drip larva.”

“While I don’t doubt your resourcefulness, I think that we have a more sure way to fool those scanners.”

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I blinked awake blearily, feeling the sled under me moving, yet ensconced very comfortably in a veritable cocoon of blankets. Above me the late afternoon sun was barely visible as the jungle canopy rolled on by my vision.

“Have a nice nap, Snips?”

Anakin poked his head into my field of view with a teasing smirk on his face. He was completely out of his armor, wearing a yellow and brown tunic and pants that I recognized from our clothing requisitions to match Onderonian civilian styles. It was also somewhat stained and my nose didn’t appreciate the smell coming from him and the general area. A wriggle in the blankets and patting myself down also told me I had been redressed into the conservative top with hip flares and thick long pants, which passed for general female fashion on this planet. A quick pulse with the Force let me locate M8 via the Darksaber. My armor was hidden amongst the supplies of the sled right behind me and covered with boxes and a heavy brown tarp.  

It also let me sense that our scan jackers were active, hiding the many lifesigns of the rebels that had hidden themselves in the column of repulsor sleds.

“Yes, it was refreshing,” I let out a huge yawn, sitting up and emerging from the blankets, stretching out stiff arms and legs. “Two questions, was it you who dressed me? And what is that smell?”

He chuckled, “Yes, it was me and as for the smell, that is freshly harvested dripdrinker larva. A local protein that is in quite high demand for use in many local cuisine. We’re posing as harvesters and hunters coming back, a cover for our infiltration of Iziz.”

A quick look around found only a handful of rebels actually walking along the caravan in escort positions, also dressed in stained and worn civilian gear. Their rifles hooked onto the sides of the sleds, ready to defend from an attack of wildlife. Those closest to my repulsor sled nodded to me with an eager happiness, restraining their impulse to cheer at my recovery.

Beyond that, we were on an actual gravel road carved out of the jungle and even further I could see it transitioning into a modern duracrete surface, where it became a massive wide bridge and a towering wall stretched far out of sight to in both left and right directions.

We were just under a kilometer from Iziz.

“Looks like I woke up just in time.” The massive concentration of life in the Force that shone brilliantly from the city was probably what had done it. “So, we’re trying to ignite the rebellion in the city?”

“They’re trying to ignite the rebellion,” Anakin stressed, giving Obi-Wan a wry look - who was seated on the repulsor sled behind mine. “We’re just advisors, after all.”

“Of course,” I said dryly, patting myself down further and pleased to find my WESTAR in its concealed holster on my back. “Well, thanks for looking after me, Skyguy.”

I stood and took a nimble leap forward to the next repulsor sled, where Lux and Steela were seated together trying their utmost to be as close as possible, yet not give the impression that there was a burgeoning romance there. It was both hilarious and cute. They were truly only deceiving themselves in the end and almost every rebel knew these two were an item, but were pretending not to. It went some way to explain why I sensed a lingering anger and annoyance from Saw towards Lux.

The protectiveness of a brother, protecting a sister from the interloper boyfriend. Yet knowing that the sister didn’t need the protection and wouldn’t appreciate it.

“Ah, Co- Ahsoka,” Lux quickly corrected. “Good to see you recovered.”

I took a seat on the far end of the forward bench from where Lux had the reins of the dalgo pulling the sled.

Both he and Steela were wearing headscarves and breathing filter masks. Ostensibly to hide their identity from casual recognition.

“Will that be enough?” I gestured to their faces.

“I know the procedures the droids at the gate use. There’s too much traffic in and out for detailed ID checks. The most they do is scan for contraband and smuggling, which I’m told your scan jackers will take care of. Let me do the talking to the gate droids.”

The caravan column pulled out of the shade and onto the bridge to Iziz, the punishing sun slamming down on us.

Four AATs were parked in standby mode on either side of the bridge including a number of deployed droidekas who had their shields off to preserve battery life. We joined the queue to enter the city and my montrals began to pick up the din of a bustling Onderonian metropolis beyond the high walls. Many beasts of burden and hovertrucks were coming and going, the long line had the various drivers and merchants talking to each other as they waited their turn through the checkpoint. Wandering informal merchants also carried their wares up and down the line, hoping to score a quick sale.

It took almost fifty minutes of waiting just to cross the long bridge and finally stand in front of a small squad of B1 droids led by a B1 commander painted with a yellow stripe on its chassis. Beyond was a huge red forcefield, snapping on and off to let people and traffic through.

“Halt,” it said in the tinny nasal voice. “What were you doing outside the city?”

“Hunting,” said Lux simply. “We’ve been tracking for days.”

“Did you register before leaving?”

“No, but most of our time is spent in the jungle, collecting our traps.” Another droid began walking along the sled, holding out a hand held scanner. “We’ve come to the city to sell.” Lux held up a transparent pouch, thick with fresh squirming larva, roughly the size of my pinkie finger with a pink-green color. “You can’t find drip larva like this in Iziz. Only the biggest lakes on the other side of the continent have them.”

“Hey listen, we need to deliver this on a tight delivery schedule,” Steela explained plaintively.

“Hmmm, are you scanning anything?” the commander B1 asked its subordinate.

“Only indeterminate organic matter, sir.”

“Let them through then.”

“Roger, roger.”

The massive force field shut off and Lux slapped the reins lightly, the dalgo obediently walked forward, pulling the sled beyond the threshold and into Iziz proper.

We had entered via a south-easterly gate and the city itself sprawled before us, covering a hilly expanse that dominated all sight with tall buildings that ranged from modern durasteel affairs you’d expect in a core world, to tall traditional buildings made out of laser cut stone with prominent arches and columns on their exterior. Everything had a distinct romanesque flavor to the architecture, but with ‘alien’ influences in the layout and spacing between buildings, allowing the huge domesticated fambaa beasts to easily move through the streets with enough space to not let pedestrians get trampled underfoot.

The general usage of speeders was also quite limited, with the locals preferring to use dalgos, the flying rupees and their own legs. It was rather astonishing because the city was easily measured at under 1600 square kilometers.

“The people of Iziz will always try to get a home within a thirty minute walk of their place of work,” Lux explained when I asked about it. “If that isn’t possible, then a flying rupee makes commuting very quick.” He pointed up at a sky that had the domesticated rupees flying in loose air lanes similar to Coruscant. “Those with actual speeders are usually those in the more modern upper class, new wealth. Whilst the older generations swear by the use of rupees.”

Lux casually brough the sled to a stop, letting Obi-Wan on his own dalgo catch up, whilst Anakin brought the next sled up as well.

“That was the easy part,” Anakin said casually, using the Force to spirit his voice across the din of the busy street intersection we found ourselves in. “Now the hard work begins.”

“You must find new recruits and choose your targets as we discussed,” Obi-Wan advised.

Saw arrived on his dalgo. “I’ll get our brothers where they need to go. We’ll regroup after nightfall.”

“Do be careful,” said Steela with feeling.

“I will.” He nudged his dalgo and escorted a sled towards the west.

“Snips, you’re to join Rex and Chewie, you’re going to secure a safehouse and staging area for the supplies.”

“On my way, Skyguy.”

I hopped off the sled and casually walked to the rear where the wookiee and clone captain were rather uncomfortably wedged together in the small rider’s bench of the largest sled with all our supplies and my armor hidden inside.

“Ready Ahsoka?” Chewie growled.

“Always,” I grinned, jumping to a seat behind them.

All of the sleds seemed to be splitting up and while I inwardly groaned at the cliche tactic, it at least made some sense. We had multiple objectives to achieve in the city and we couldn’t risk getting caught as a group together. That would end the mission before it even began.

Rex referenced a small datapad, “Take us through the square, west, Chewie.”

The big wookiee flicked the reins and the ponderous sled set off.

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It took most of the afternoon for us to find a suitable location for the rebel HQ.

We ended up finding it in the western part of the city, an industrial section called the Slagworks, where workers toiled in metal refineries and scrapyards.

The building itself was a six floor housing unit, nestled between a refinery and a warehouse. It was under the control of a local underworld gang called the Rust Knives, led by a sleezy twi’lek named Vren Korr.

It turned out to be a rather fortuitous contact because the Rust Knives specialized in smuggling black market tech, but they also ran extortion and underground beast-fighting rings that pitted the Onderon wildlife against each other.

“My, my, aren’t you just precious,” said Korr, standing up from his couch, whilst flanked by two big thug-like bodyguards who looked like they could easily bench press me. “What brings three off-worlders to my little neck of Iziz?”

“A lucrative business opportunity,” I said easily, meeting his green eyes without flinching. His olive skin colour dulled by spending too long indoors and long lekku wrapped around his shoulders to hang behind his back. He was only visibly armed with a long vibroblade, but I could sense a hidden blaster in the holster under his left arm, covered by the soot stained jacket he wore.

“Oh, I do love those, especially those that result in credits,” his accent was thoroughly local and he thoughtfully brought out a pipe from a pocket, lit it with a small lighter and began puffing the potent smoke into the air. A brief smell told me it was a local tobacco equivalent made from the Blue Hutt’s tongue plant that was only native to Onderon, but which also saw considerable export all over the galaxy. “So you want to ‘rent’ this location?” he gestured above us.

“My associates need a safehouse to operate from,” I explained simply, letting his own mind run with the implications.

“Hmmm,” he puffed the pipe, examining me, Chewie and Rex in turn. “Offworlders, operating out of the Slag. Could it be that you’re here to deal with the droid infestation on my dear planet?”

“You’re free to come to whatever conclusions you want, Korr,” I said genially with a smile, pulling slowly a ten thousand credit chit out and expertly twirling it through my fingers. The gang leader’s eyes widened as I casually played with enough currency to purchase a small starship. “Our associates are onderonian and need a roof over their heads as they go about their daily business. Their needs are generally met, but it’s a rather long term project they’re going to undertake. They will need supplies of all kinds; food and specialist offensive items. Items that you will be in a prime position to provide and deliver.”

“Really?” Korr narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. “A brand new market to supply, for a venture that’s close to my own heart.” He began walking back and forth. “The droid infestation has been quite bad for our business. We’re having to constantly reroute to stay ahead of the ‘clankers’. It slows things down, we’ve already lost a lot of customers and while my gang is still one of the largest ones in the Slag, we’re shrinking. Droids are stupid, but can’t be bribed. We’ve lost nearly a dozen runners in the last month alone to Rash’s prisoner raids. They’re either executed in the square or they’re taken to the work camps out of the city, where I’m reliably informed they’ll be lucky to live more than a few months.”

He puffed hard on the pipe and blew out a lungful of spicy smoke into the air, where it spread out over the dull light fixture and the ceiling.

“What’s your name?”

“Dessa,” I said, using my latest cover identity. A merchant from Shilli who had come into Onderon via the spaceport. Republic Intelligence had already signalled a successful remote slice of the local records to arrange similar covers for Rex, Chewie, Anakin and Obi-Wan.

“Well, Dessa, you hand me that credit chit right now and if you and your associates begin their task within the week. Then you’ll have the full support of the Rust Knives, including this building. We can come to a formal arrangement on future details and support later, but you need to get them all out of sight and off the street. It’ll only take one droid to ruin everything.”

I flicked the chit through the air, which Korr caught easily.

“You have a deal.”

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When evening had fallen almost everyone had gathered inside the new Onderonian Liberation Headquarters.

The rebels were thankfully not the type to make a mistake twice and posted a perimeter of lookouts dressed to blend in around the place. Korr also left us with his personal comlink code and a promise to send intel and warnings should his own eyes and ears in the underworld spot something of interest to the rebels.

“Allying ourselves with criminals, Ahsoka?” Obi-Wan asked dryly as we sat down in a basement room.

It had already been organized into something of a meeting and planning room, with two dusty C shaped couches facing each other and a large board on one wall with an actual paper map of the entire city mounted on it.

“Necessity and if the Rust Knives were the likes of the Black Sun or Pykes then I’d not even have considered the building as a candidate or approach them. Korr and his gang will kill but he’s very profit driven and someone dead can’t pay. He’s scum as you’d call it, but honorable.”

“We know of him,” Steela scowled ruefully. “Never imagined I’d ever have anything to do with the Iziz underworld but if he has the supply lines ready for long term support of the rebellion, then I guess we’d be fools to turn away from it.”

“Just beware that there will be a long term cost,” Obi-Wan warned. “When the rebellion succeeds, Korr will undoubtedly expect reasonable future concessions and favors. Your king will not be in a position to really deny them.”

“That is something we will worry about then, what’s done is done,” Saw folded his arms. “What did your scouting reveal of the enemy?”

Anakin gestured to dim the lights with the Force, palmed a holocom and tapped it. A large map of the city appeared overhead, updated in real time to show the current disposition of droid forces. “This is a passive scan map from the Skyfang.”

Steela gaped at the raw numbers on display, “There has to be thousands of them.”

“13160 to be precise, which is a rather conservative deployment for the Separatists in a city occupation scenario. Most of the droid army on the planet is spread similarly to the other major cities, with the densest concentrations being around the mines. They likely consider the city pacified which is why there’s only a 379 to 1 population to droid ratio. When the rebellion begins to achieve results you can expect that number to only increase.

“70% of their forces are B1s, 15% B2s and droidekas, which are mostly concentrated around strategic points of the city, such as the fusion power plants. 120 AATs, 50 Spider droids and a mix of 200 Vulture and Hyena droids.”

“Well, it certainly puts things into perspective,” Saw said grimly, staring at the map and even he was feeling somewhat overwhelmed at the task ahead.

“We will persevere, whatever it takes,” Lux declared. “I propose we start small. We pick five random patrol routes of the enemy, say no more than a patrol of five to ten droids at most - ambush them and blend back into the city.”

“Make sure you plan both primary and secondary escape routes from each ambush point,” Rex advised.

“I also can’t help but notice,” I grinned, standing up and manipulating the holo to zoom in. “The general layout of buildings in Iziz; narrow alleyways between long rows of buildings, wide streets, the roofs are also mostly flat for the modern buildings and angular for the old.”

“Yes, but what are you getting at?” Saw asked with a frown.

“I think it’s time I introduce you to a way of quick urban movement, known as parkour.”

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Lux gasped as he ran for his life.

His time with Steela and the rebels had hardened him in many ways. He had finally lost what little childhood fat that had remained, his riding skills of rupee and dalgo began from a young age, finalized to the point where he could shoot from the back of one and reasonably expect to hit whatever he aimed at. Countless kilometers of patrols through dense jungle and cutting through it with a vibroblade had hardened his arms.

The way of parkour, as Ahsoka called it, was a whole different level of fitness and coordination.

Every obstacle in your way became just another path.

He jumped, his left foot leading and with two further strides traversed a dumpster that was in his path, before letting gravity take hold, landing and rolling to immediately come up on his feet, to keep up the sprint.

The squad of B1s pursuing him had no such agility.

“Hey come back here, rebel!” one of them shouted.

Their programming kicked in and they turned around running, linking on coms for another patrol to intercept.

He burst into the small market square and dodged around the various shoppers. His specific goal, a stall that was currently closed, loomed closer as he belted towards it.

He halted behind it and ducked from sight.

A squad of seven B1s rushed into the market, coming to a stop in the rough center, facing outward and clearly scanning for him.

His hand pulled off the droid propper from his belt.

He armed and threw in one motion.

He was now thoroughly used to its weight and how it moved through the air.

The popper bounced once off the stone tiling of the market and landed at the patrol’s feet.

A blue flash and visible electric arcs played over the surface of every droid as they twitched and babbled through their vocorders. Their internal circuitry fused, internal gyros failing before each simply collapsed to the ground.

The primary escape route was still clear and he sprinted away, even as he heard the commotion beginning from the surprised citizens at the dead droids.

In the alley, an ascension gun was waiting.

He grabbed it and aimed, sending the piton and cable streaking upward. It hit the edge of the roof four floors high.

The next moment, he was pressing on the trigger again.

He couldn’t help but gasp as he was pulled upward with speed.

No matter how many times they had practiced this, he’d never get used to it. He was not one to be afraid of heights. No rupee rider worth their salt worried about that, but that was with a huge flying animal underneath you. When your life depended on the small piton and its adhesion field that was no bigger than a thumb, then it was another story.

A hand came over the edge of the roof and grabbed him by the arm.

In one smooth unyielding movement of strength, Ahsoka pulled him up using not just her arm, but also the Force as well.

He felt it as an invisible, soft hand that grabbed him by the legs and lower back.

She grabbed the gun from him immediately as soon as he had his balance.    

“Run! We’re not out of the cordon yet,” she snapped.

Lux ran after her, their booted feet thumping the angled tiles of the roof.

The edge approached like their doom, yet she wasn’t slowing down and neither could he.

Beyond was a two meter gap to the next roof.

He pushed off as hard as he could into the jump.

Naturally, she made it easily.

Lux felt his knees take the landing shock and he obeyed the training, flowing into a roll, before coming up, sparing himself the potential injury.

Another run of twenty meters across the roof, before the next jump.

The six meter wide gap yawned into view and Lux felt his heart trying to jump into his throat.

Ahsoka grabbed him by the waist and then they were practically flying forward off the edge in a stupendous jump.

He could barely keep the wits to stick the landing and keep running.

Mercifully, that had been the last one, and she aimed the ascension gun for the rapidly approaching roof edge and fired.

She grabbed him again and they dropped through the gap of two buildings into the alley, letting the unwinding gun modulate and control their fall.

“Take a moment, regain your breath, we have to blend in now.”

He leaned on his knees and just focused on sucking in air and spitting out lactic acid laden saliva.

It felt like an eternity before he could say he wouldn’t pass out from standing up, but eventually he got his wind back.

“Quite good, considering your circumstances,” Ahsoka said, handing him a small water bottle.

He greedily gulped some of it. “Can’t c- c- compare to you…”

“Don’t try,” she said immediately, her gaze distant. “We can take another two minutes, we’ll then be within a gap in the patrols.”

“How’s the others doing?”

She palmed a comlink, activated it and closed her eyes.

“Saw and his team have ambushed a number of B1 patrols checking citizen IDs, they’ve exfiltrated and are heading back to HQ. Steela and her team have destroyed three Spider droids and disabled a laser net gate, they are still engaged as I speak. Chewie and Rex… have just destroyed the AAT repair yard in the north of the city, they’re escaping now and there’s no pursuit evident. Team four has also sabotaged the Vulture droid fuel supply and is in a fighting retreat. They should be able to withdraw at their current rate.”

Lux nodded with relief even as he continued to be amazed that a Jedi could have such an ability; to literally see through the low frequency comlinks that didn’t even need to transmit data.

“Good news then. No injuries or anyone captured.”

“For the moment. Savor these early victories, Lux.” She shut down the link and stared at him somberly. “It will not be easy to replicate them as our enemy learns. A difficult road is ahead and you will have to make equally difficult choices. Come, the coast is clear.”

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“A week!”

King Sanjay Rash flung the crystal glass in anger against the floor, surging out of his throne. Not caring at all that the glass was easily worth enough to feed a modest family for an entire year, nor that the wine within was the rarest fifty year old vintage from an ancient Onderon winemaker family that charged similarly per bottle.

“A week of attacks by these terrorists and not only haven’t they been caught, they have only gotten bolder by the day!”

Rash started pacing in front of the throne, the dark leather frills of his resplendent ceremonial armor, adorned with plated auridium patterns by the finest armorsmiths of Onderon, rattled with every impatient step. His stern, sharp face was twisted into a perpetual sneer and he clenched and unclenched his fists.

“It is indeed vexing, my lord,” said Okalin, Sash’s bivall advisor with perfect neutrality on his features. Something his species was naturally good at due to the crested head that lacked the minor muscular controls in the faces that most races evolved with. Only their stalked forward facing eyes and voice let bivall express their internal feelings and it was much easier to learn control of that. They were naturally more intelligent than the median baseline in the galaxy, almost standing alongside the kaminoans, as such they were favored for scientific positions and political advisors. “I have spoken with the tactical droids and they suggest that you order a thirty percent increase in droid forces within the city.”

Sash scoffed and laughed mockingly, “Oh yes, such vaunted military advice. The best that money can buy and be programmed into a tin can. Something a first year academy student at Carida could tell you!”

“I share your disdain for the relative intelligence of those droids, my lord,” Okalin twitched his eyestalks in the proscribed motion to indicate his feelings on the matter. “However, it will make things more difficult for the rebels to operate-”

“They are not rebels! They are terrorists, Okalin.”

“Apologies my lord. The terrorists would have less room to maneuver among the population.” 

Rash took a deep breath, visibly composing himself back into the charismatic demeanour that he strove to always maintain, except for the rare moments when privacy was assured. Okalin was his closest advisor, a known quantity among the Royal court and the aristocracy. The bivall had proven his loyalty to the Rash family beyond question for decades.

“Ah, but what message would that send, not only to the terrorists, but to the nobles as well?”

“I see, it would show that you are concerned, my lord.”

“Precisely. And from there it is but one step further for them to think I fear these terrorists. That they are worthy of it. No, they will be hunted down like the criminals they are and executed in the public square. If the amazing CIS droid army can’t do it with thirteen divisions, then what makes them think it can be done with fifteen? This requires a more surgical approach than a blunt hammer of force. Bring me Dendup.” 

“At once, my lord.”

Okalin bowed and left the throne room.

Rash approached the throne itself and picked up the datapad containing the detailed analysis reports from each attack site.

He walked out onto the expansive balcony. The vast splendour and magnificence of Iziz stretched out like a beautiful carpet before him, almost all the way to the horizon. The eastern defensive wall was just barely in view. It was so easy to be entranced by it but he focused on the datapad.

Every report said the same thing.

The terrorists were using old weapons, but the tibanna ammunition, the modulation of the plasma - specifically optimized for killing power against droids.

The spent remains of Merr-Sonn EMP grenades at most of the sites, ‘droid poppers’. The primary weapon used by the Grand Army of the Republic and their clone soldiers against their opposing enemy. A weapon meant to equalize the sheer numerical disparity.

Merr-Sonn was undoubtedly making millions of the devices per month and shipping them all over the galaxy. It was inevitable that piracy and smuggling would see the weapons flood the black market as well. That ripple had apparently reached Onderon’s criminal underbelly and now these terrorists were using them. It seemed no matter how hard the control was on what could enter and exit the planet’s atmosphere and what could pass through the defense grid, the criminal scum would find ways to bribe, subvert and corrupt.

Then a single visual scan from where the terrorists had been camping.

It was rather blurry as it was the moment when the probe droid had died from a blaster shot that had partially obscured the visual sensor.

The tac droids had concluded a 40% chance that the figure in the shot was a Mandalorian.

“Ridiculous,” he muttered. The Mandalorians had thrown in their lot with the Republic. Yes, there were still renegades out in the galaxy who plied the mercenary trade in their ancient customs, but they charged a premium for their services. There was no way this degenerate rabble had the resources or the money to hire a Mandalorian commando.   

The doors to the throne room opened and Okalin returned… alone.

“Where is Dendup?” he snapped.

“He is just outside, my lord,” Okalin replied quickly. “I have brought some additional news that should not be for the former king’s ears.”

“Get on with it then,” Rash folded his hands behind his back, internally bracing himself.

“It seems the Royal Carriage was ambushed as it left your formal residence.”

Rash hated that he still felt the most minor ebbs of fear in his heart. “An attempt on my life then?”

“It appears that way.”

He strode with perfect composure back into the throne room and took his rightful seat, using every inch of training and charisma to beat away and bury the fear. His auridium wreath, nestled in his dark brown hair with just enough sprinkled gray to hint at the appearance of wisdom, glinted just so in the overhead lighting. This was only amplified by the gilded decoration on the high backed throne itself.

“Get my predecessor in here,” he commanded.

Okalin bowed and it wasn’t long until four royal guardsmen in dark armor, armed with long force pikes and blasters on their hips preceded the escort force that surrounded Dendup himself. In addition, four commando droids followed, taking up the rear.

Rash could barely stop himself from openly scowling at the old man with contempt, the old fool who had squandered Onderon’s potential for so long.

Dendup was wearing the ornate white, yet simple attire of a palace servant. A blatant rebuke of his former lofty status. Rash remembered so well giving that order, “If he wants to prattle about being a servant of the people so much, then he can be one!”

There was little about the former king’s confinement that was actually showing on him. He had lost a bit of weight, his tanned features sagging slightly as was only natural when being reduced to a conventional diet. The old man’s shoulders of bowed defeat were the only sign of his stay in the Royal dungeons. As much as Rash wished to do more, he had an aristocracy to keep in check and if he showed what he was willing to do to a former king, then they would begin to rebel - thinking in fear that one day they might meet a similar fate.

As a result, Dendup was also kept perfectly groomed, ready to be trotted out at a moment’s notice. His long white beard kept in that perfect triangular shape.

Those light blue defeated eyes stared up at Rash and he smiled slightly, taking a moment to savor the small victory, before grabbing a fruit from a nearby tray and biting into it.

He took his time, eating a mouthful of the succulent fruity flesh and savoring each chew, letting the uncomfortable moment extend as long as possible.

Finally, he put down the pit remains into the tray and met Dendup’s gaze, the old man clearly unimpressed.

“You surprise me. Engaging with extremists is beneath you. Do you really want your crown back that badly?”

Dendup sighed, his voice hoarse from disuse, “I have only ever wanted freedom for my people. Freedom from the corrupt Republic and the other forces that would see it taken from them. Yet it seems you have turned the promise of the CIS on its head, for your own selfish gain of course.”

Rash ignored the prattling. “Your supporters are responsible for terrorist acts against the kingdom and our allies.”

“I didn’t know that. You’ve made it quite impossible to stay informed on anything outside my prison chamber.”

The political theatre needed to continue, however. “Call off the attacks,” he said powerfully, using every iota of charisma he had.

“I cannot call off what I did not dictate,” Dendup almost laughed, clearly getting an idea of what scheme Rash was trying. “What you are up against is simply a reaction to your no doubt, short-sighted brutalist policies in trying to maintain control - the will of the people manifested. It’s up to the king to embrace, bend or break… and I am no longer the king, Rash. You are.”

“Stop the attacks, Dendup or you will atone with your life.”

“It is you who must stop the attacks, by ending the droid occupation.”

Rash stood and glared fiercely down at his predecessor, “There is no ‘occupation’. The CIS are rightfully supporting the security of a member world, which just so happens to be behind enemy lines. At any moment, the Republic could fill our skies with their ships and while they will take losses from the defense grid, they will land and destroy everything, including the vaunted ‘freedom’ you hold so dear.”

Dendup shook his head, “Rash, I’m old and only getting older. I’ll not entertain this pointless war of words with you. Do what you set out to do before you even heard a word from me.”

Rash smirked, narrowing his eyes in triumph.  

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The ‘Rebel Council’ sat down in the meeting room.

Calling it that was slightly overstating things, as it was very informal and it comprised three Jedi, Rex, Chewbacca, Saw, Lux and Steela. The rest of the room was packed with every rebel who could fit around the two couches, whilst a short range comlink patched the meeting to every minor holoterminal that the HQ building had, so everyone could watch.

“A week of operations, all mostly successful, with only a few having to be called off and no casualties or anyone captured,” Anakin announced with a smile. “Such success will not go unnoticed.”

A muted cheer echoed through the room and throughout the building. Whilst it would sound merely like a large party from the outside, every practical operational security that could be sustainably managed had been trained by the rebels, with Anakin and I doing most of that teaching in the evenings.

“Remain mindful of public perception,” Obi-Wan warned. “What was your observation, padawan?”

“Largely what was expected, they fear the disruption to their new order. In only a handful of cases did I sense that the citizens supported the destruction of the droids. I subtly questioned a fair number and if anything most of them support the level of overt crime reduction that came with the presence of armed droids everywhere.”

“Indeed, that’s why I’m afraid they will mistake the rebellion’s intentions.”

“We need to achieve more, a few broken down or destroyed droids mean nothing in themselves.”

“The people need to believe that we can succeed, in the end. Hearts and minds, as you said,” Steela nodded.

“We need to assure them of our intentions,” Lux affirmed.

I met Saw’s eyes at this point knowingly. “Yes, it’s quite critical. One wrong step and instead of being seen as liberators, we’ll be seen as terrorists, assassins and criminals.”

Saw frowned, his eyes quickly twitching away and he kept an acceptable poker face, but one which was useless against me or any Jedi for that matter. 

“We need their trust, the question is just how to practically get it,” Steela mused.

“You’ll have plenty of time to earn their trust in the coming months. All of you are going to be very busy,” Anakin smiled knowingly at the rebels surrounding the couches.

“In the meantime, make the most of your victories, take each day as they come and learn from them,” Obi-Wan advised. 

Lux was thoughtful as he asked, “What if we hit something… big or significant? It’ll be a show of strength and overcome their fear, leading them to join us.”

“What did you have in mind?” I asked, seeing the obvious probability line crystalize.

“We attack the very lifeblood that a droid requires - power.”

“A tried and true strategy that the 501st has done on dozens of worlds,” Rex nodded with approval.

“On war torn worlds, with scattered and fleeing civilian populations,” I pointed out, giving the clone captain a side-eye. “Iziz is currently a peaceful city, barring our activities. We take out a power station or the grid in general, we’ll also be indirectly attacking hospitals with patients who would die from the interruption.”

“All our hospitals have independent power generators, not reliant on the grid,” Lux argued. “It was one of the reforms King Dendup pushed through early in his reign.”

“All right, think this through then. We disable the grid, the droids are unable to get power from their normal sources. They will know, just as you do, that the hospitals have those generators. It is then the next logical place for them to get it. All you’ve done is force them to militarize your hospitals and give the people a very long blackout where their homes will be very uncomfortable places in the heat and the majority of their appliances stop working.”

“Yes, which I’m sure the people of Iziz will thank you greatly for,” Obi-Wan said wryly. “You see, it’s not easy to predict the consequences of your actions, doubly so when you intend to win people over to your side.”

Saw slapped his own thigh in annoyance, “We need to do something to shake them out of this complacency.”

Lux stared at me then shook his head, “The power plant idea was all I had and I don’t see any other way, commander. Do you have any suggestions?”

“Firstly, stop trying to only treat the symptom of the problem. Even if the droid army on the entire planet was to malfunction tomorrow, you’d still have Rash on the throne with his hand on the controls of the orbital grid and the Royal guard forces.”

“So we target Rash himself,” Saw said, staring meaningfully at me.

“The time for that has not yet arrived,” I gave him a light glare. “Rash is a despot, but he’s no fool. He’s spent his time in power well. Many of the people have come to view him as a much more effective and decisive king than Dendup was. There are droids in the streets and executions in the square for criminals. On the surface, Iziz has never been more peaceful or crime free.”

“That’s not a true peace, it’s peace from the barrel of a blaster,” Lux scowled. I dearly wanted to point out that peace was only truly ensured from any person or polity’s readiness to engage in bloody war and it was that sort of pacifist thinking that had been a prime contributor to the current state of the galaxy.   

“Which is the one chink in Rash’s armor,” Obi-Wan explained. “Are you going somewhere with this, padawan?”

“Yes, I suggest a two-fold strategy. First, the rebellion must give Rash something loud and flashy to focus his attention. We continue to attack droid positions and patrols at random, sabotaging their operations. While behind the scenes, we undermine the pillars he stands on - the aristocracy and the generals of the Royal Guard. Flip enough of them to your side and Rash will find himself with no support when the time of reckoning comes. We must also be prepared to intervene in the Royal square at all times. If we drive him into a corner, we will not like how will come out swinging.”

Steela frowned, “But how would…” Her eyes widened as she made the connection. “No! He can’t do that!”

“If we’re too successful, he will,” I said with finality.

Saw made a grunt of frustration, “While I like the general idea, you’ve lost me. What will he do?”

I nodded for Steela to answer.

She was extremely reluctant, as if afraid that merely saying it would let it come true, “If we push too far, he’ll execute King Dendup.”

The sounds of dismay and anger at the notion echoed throughout the building.

“That won’t happen, I won’t allow it,” Saw said, gritting his teeth, his eyes practically shooting blaster bolts in anger.

“Commander Tano has proposed a viable plan in my eyes,” Obi-Wan declared. “It has the greatest chance to affect the change you seek and mostly avoids the possibility for civilians to be caught in the crossfire or be affected negatively. Speaking on behalf of the Jedi Council, such a plan will also stand the greatest chance of keeping the supplies and credits flowing from the Republic. Naturally, the specifics will be up to you.”

Lux and Steela looked at each other and eventually nodded. All eyes turned to Saw, who was still on something of a simmering boil in his anger.

“Fine,” he said eventually, folding his arms and staring at the floor.

“Then it’s agreed,” said Anakin, as we stood from the couch as a group. “Commander Tano will remain with you as advisor and liaison, until she’s relieved by another or King Dendup regains the throne. Understand that even if all that happens, you will still have the fight of a generation on your hands, as the Separatists will not go willingly.”

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“Think they’re ready to give the 501st some competition?” Anakin asked Rex teasingly.

We had gathered in our own little meeting room, which was a currently disused common kitchen that lacked any food supplies - a fact that would have to change soon. Everyone had so far been subsisting on the field rations that Lux had originally brought with him when he had joined up, which was fast nearing depletion at this point.

“Let’s not get carried away, general,” Rex actually made a half-smile at the notion. “Though the tenacity of these rebels have impressed me.”

“I would fight alongside them any day,” Chewie growl-grunted. His entire bearing one of approval for the rebels he had fought beside for the last week.

“We will leave via the Skyfang and report back to the Council. Are there any concerns you wish to raise about your assignment, Ahsoka?” Obi-Wan asked.

“None specifically, though do please remember to send it back. M8 can take over from R2. My beskar’gam is too distinctive to wear it in the open here anyway.”

“And this time, I will stay with you,” Chewie growled insistently.

“No objections from me on this one, my friend,” I patted his big arm. “There’s no one better to watch my back anyway in this place.”

“Which you’ll need, of all the rebels, I don’t like this Saw Gerrera.”

“He will be a problem to keep on target,” I nodded. “His sloppy attack on Rash’s royal speeder has only served to put fear into the usurper’s heart. He did it on his own volition without consulting either Steela or Lux.”

“Yet you did nothing to stop it or call him out on it in the meeting,” Obi-Wan folded his arms into his robe sleeves, giving me a knowing look

“That fear will grow into something useful and like it or not, Saw does represent the most militant members of the rebels. It would not be wise to undermine him in their eyes.”

“Very well, keep on going and monitor them. Report back on their progress every week to the Council and I’m sure your master would appreciate a daily report.”

“He would,” Anakin confirmed and put a hand on my shoulder. “I know you’re more than ready for this, but are you sure?”

“My path is here for now, master,” I nodded. Naturally, I had more plans in the works with the relative freedom this assignment offered.

“All goes well, we will continue to provide supplies and credits with cloaked airdrops, but they must learn to operate on their own. Their long term survival depends on it,” Obi-Wan bowed to me before exiting the room.  

“Yes, master.” 

“Remember your purpose, Snips. Force be with you.”

“And you, Skyguy.”

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A/N: Blame the medium and main target audience, but it's almost painful to see the canon guerilla campaign against the droids in Iziz by Steela, Saw and Ahsoka. Beginning with the obvious flaw of Lux's initial plan, pointed out by her here.

Hope you enjoyed and have a great weekend. Stay awesome folks.