ВходRage Against The Dark Ch 4
Chapter 4
=][=
It was amazing how far vaguely worded orders will get you when you decide that it’s time to Strategically Transfer Equipment to Alternate Locations.
I was to have ‘immediate urgent deployment to Christophsis to aid the war effort and redeploy the necessary forces for a matter of utmost urgency for the war.’
It also had the signatures of both Grand Master Yoda and Master of the Order Mace Windu.
And while Asami had been more than happy to just present herself for transport. I was sweet talking to Clones, mess officers, Supply Sergeants, etc. and convincing them of my far greater need of whatever they had that I wanted.
This included but was not limited to blaster battery packs, several bacta barrels, a crate of thermal detonators and droid poppers, a few heavy weapons, plenty of field rations, etc.
Would this delay other ships from leaving?
Maybe.
But that’s on them for not having direct orders from two of the most important people in the Grand Army of the Republic.
It also bought time for my harem (and Poots) to arrive, where I proceeded to present the prefilled paperwork (thank you, former me and the Paper Trail Perk) for my allotted use of a dedicated Command Squad.
Due to ancient tradition, anyone at Major and above had the capability of bringing up to five beings with him to his deployments, these five beings would be considered the Major’s Command Squad and would have as much authority as the officer chose to delegate to them, even if they weren’t technically part of the chain of command.
Historically, it was used to ferry the officer’s squeeze on the Republic’s dime.
Which worked great, because as a Jedi Commander I held the equivalent rank of a Lieutenant Colonel in the Grand Army of the Republic. I held more authority than a Major. This let me bring my four squeezes and adorable eldritch gas-bag with me on Republic dime.
At the moment it looked like pure nepotism, a young man taking advantage to bring his girlfriends with him on deployment to keep his dick wet. And while there absolutely was some of that, each of my girls was trained, exceedingly talented, or an expert in some extremely useful field.
Sussurro, a battlefield surgeon who could heal with magic.
Aegis, a bodyguard with admittedly lackluster training but immense potential.
Charlotte, a natural born pilot and adept with every weapon she’s lain hands on.
And Iris, a princess with the training to become the leader of her nation. A natural shoo-in for a secretary and adjutant.
That they were each beautiful in their own way was a bonus. One I would take advantage of at first opportunity. For now, they’d have to prove their worth first before they were accepted as more than my sex toys.
I was given larger quarters than had been planned to accommodate my retinue, Poots drawing most of the stares.
I introduced him to the Cruiser’s engineering team, showcased that he could take apart, improve, and put back together anything and everything, and told him to follow their orders within reason.
The Venator thankfully left before anyone realized exactly how much equipment meant for other theaters I had swiped.
I used the time in hyperspace to present each of my girls with their armor, painted in a color of their choosing, and customized their load outs to their liking. Sussurro and Iris got a Hellpistol with a backpack power pack and a monomolecular vibro-knife. Sussurro insisted on carrying her staff and field surgery kit. She didn’t want anything else until I showed her the technical specifications of Biofoam, upon which moment she demanded a tank and a nozzle for her armor.
Iris got one too, along with a tactical pad built into her left vambrace with which to help coordinate and provide logistical support.
Aegis took a Hellpistol and Hellgun, as well as a power arming sword and longsword.
Charlotte went with a Hellgun, Bolt Pistol, Magnetic Acceleration Grenade Launcher, and a power arming sword. And spent every second she could in the flight simulator. No ship in this Galaxy could compare to an Infinite Stratos, but she was determined to fly again.
I joined her in the simulator. She had such a high aptitude for piloting that, even though I was the one with Martial Talent, she kept pace with me and was, frankly, the better pilot.
I signed up for remote courses for officer school so I could have my accreditations for my rank, rather than only have it because I was a Jedi. The Science, Martial and Communication Talents all helping me pick up and retain the information, and poking the buried instincts from my Template and waking them up.
And every evening I left Poots guarding the door and taught my girls how to feel and use the Force.
And when I could, I squeezed in time to talk with and spar against Asami, she was a quiet girl, trying to bury the nerves she felt at meeting the Legendary Obi-Wan Kenobi, the only Jedi to kill a Sith in over a millennium. I considered getting a few more lures, but I very much needed that Company Fiat backed armory. Having automatically restocking munitions would free up manufacturing capabilities for my workshop.
It was such a busy trip that the closest to frisky I was able to get with my harem was kissing each of them goodnight.
And a pinch and a squeeze here and there. I’m only human and the girls were gorgeous.
Asami I treated with more care, the Stamp made it so whatever progress I made crawling into her heart would not be undone, and it could even speed up the pace at which she’d fall for me, but there were plenty of things I could do to shoot myself in the foot where she was concerned.
She’d eventually happily join in an orgy with my girls and I, but I’d have to ease her into it.
The several days it took to arrive at Christophsis seemed to be over in a flash, and before I knew it, I was using the Force to lift the crates of transferred (read: stolen) equipment onto the shuttle we were going to be dropped off in.
If one twentieth of the materiel vanished from each of the crates over the more than three days we spent in hyperspace…well, rounding errors happen.
As we entered the planet’s atmosphere, five Munificent class frigates came barreling over the horizon, making a bee line for the Venator I’d spent the last few days in.
“That’s bound to escalate quickly.” I muttered as we burned in the direction of the last known Republic base. “And it won’t end well for the aircraft carrier.”
=][=
“They’re pulling back,” Anakin said as the legion of battledroids turned on its heel in perfect synchronicity and walked away under a pitiful amount of fire and cheers from the men, despite their levity, the clones were more than a little reluctant to empty what was left of their power packs into the back of the enemy army, knowing full well that if they did, they might well have to face the next wave armed with an expensive paperweight and harsh language.
It was then that his ears picked up the dull roar of an incoming ship, and a GX-1 Hauler passed by perilously close to the building’s rooftops, its slipstream shaking what few intact panels of transparasteel still remained on the city’s skyscrapers, it quickly flew out of sight in the direction of their camp’s landing zone.
The corner of Obi-Wan’s lips quirked slightly up. “Looks like help has arrived.”
R2 beeped his agreement as the three of them made their way back to what little remained of their base camp.
“Which means that our Cruiser must be back.” Obi-Wan continued his previous trail of thought as he stroked his beard.
“Which means we’ll finally get our reinforcements.” Anakin shot back, inspecting the hustle and bustle of clones swarming over the cargo shuttle, emptying it of munitions and supplies.
“Looks like our problems are solved.” Obi-Wan said with a shrug. “Fresh troops, new supplies, and perhaps they brought my new Padawan with them.”
Anakin scoffed. “Do you really think it’s a good idea to bring a Padawan Learner into this?”
Obi-Wan shrugged again. “I spoke to Master Yoda about it, you should put in a request for one, you’d make a fine teacher.”
Anakin forced a laugh. “Nooooo thank you.”
“Anakin,” Obi-Wan said in the tone that still made him shrivel up like a child, even now that he was a fully-fledged Knight. “Teaching is a privilege. And it’s part of a Jedi’s responsibility to help train the next generation!”
“A Padawan would just slow me down.” Anakin said with finality as a human girl spotted them and made her way over. She wore fairly standard Jedi robes, and her hair was the type of black that almost shone blue in the light.
“Ah, my new Padawan.” Obi-Wan remarked.
“And who are you supposed to be?” Anakin demanded almost at the same time.
“I am Asami Fukuhara, Masters. Master Yoda sent me.” She said with a slight bow.
“And I’m Rylanor.” A voice boomed, causing the three of them to turn to the hauler, Anakin felt Obi-Wan’s quickly stifled trepidation and weariness as he felt his own eyebrows rise in surprise.
Striding down the hauler’s ramp was a tall figure clad in a black bodyglove covered in plastoid plates colored various shades of grey in a checkered pattern. His form was made indistinct by a billowing black and grey cloak, the hilt of a gunmetal grey lightsaber glinted at his waist. Over his face he wore a helmet with a visor that hid his features. Were it not for the lightsaber, Anakin would think him a mercenary or a new kind of trooper.
As he walked, he carried a huge crate one would normally require a loader droid to move propped up on his shoulder, clones scattering out of his way as he made his way down. When he reached the bottom of the ramp, he heaved and tossed the crate to the side, Anakin surged forward, but Rylanor had already enveloped the crate in a cushion of the Force and lowered it gently to the ground so the men could unload it.
“We were sent by Masters Yoda and Windu to inform you that you must contact the Jedi Temple immediately, you are being redeployed to deal with an emergency.” He turned his head to look at the bustling men as they rearmed and distributed the sorely needed supplies and spoke before Anakin could…educate him of the situation. “But judging by the state of the men and the legion of droids you drove off as we arrived, that's not an option. This system has been a near total communications black hole for the last week, if you've attempted to send any messages out, nobody has gotten them.”
“What, so they don't even know we need help!?” Anakin huffed and threw his arms up in exasperation. And why would they send a Knight and their Padawan for that matter? They could have just sent these two to deal with whatever that emergency was!
“Well,” the human girl said slowly, “you could try relaying a signal through the cruiser that brought us here?”
Anakin blinked because that was a fairly good idea.
“If you do want to try, you should hurry.” Rylanor broke into Anakin’s thought process. “When we left, there were five Separatist frigates closing with the ship at combat speed.”
“Ah, bantha poodoo.” Anakin grumbled as he and Obi-Wan ran for the holotable, followed by the Youngling and the strangely dressed Jedi.
Anakin stopped himself from pacing while the holotable struggled to connect through the electromagnetic soup of the planet’s atmosphere. After a few more seconds of static, the form of a clone trooper wearing a Republic Navy uniform hovered over the table.
“Trooper!” The Jedi snapped, causing the Trooper to stand to attention. “Relay our signal to the Jedi Temple on the double! I don’t care how many Seps are shooting you and how bad the ECM is, we need that link yesterday!”
“Yes sir!” The clone said, impossibly standing even more at attention. “Standby!”
The image cut out, only the holotable’s occasional beeping letting them know it hadn’t simply stopped working. The Padawan looked from him to Obi-Wan, fidgeting in place and doing a fair job of controlling her anxiety from leaking to them.
The Knight, in comparison, was a rock, his emotions not a serene pool like Obi-Wan’s, but tightly controlled. His physical body unmoving safe for crossing his arms and taking a step back, clearly intending not to be part of the coming conversation with Master Yoda.
With a crackle and an electronic hiss, a life-sized transparent Master Yoda fritzed into existence on top of the holotable, his eyes zeroed in on Obi-Wan like a pair of targeting lasers. “Master Kenobi, glad that those we sent found you, I am.”
“Master Yoda,” Obi-Wan responded with a nod, then reframed from any further niceties in the sake of expedience, “we are trapped here and vastly outnumbered, we are in no position to go anywhere or do anything. Our support ships have all been destroyed.”
The Hologram began to flicker. “Send reinforcements to you, we wi—” and cut out entirely.
“Master Yoda!?” Obi-Wan screamed, Anakin tried fiddling with the holotable, but the issue was not on their end.
The clone navy trooper returned to the table. “We’ve lost the transmission sir, seppie ECM is thick as soup and our damage is stacking up, more enemy ships have arrived and are burning strong to corner us. We must leave orbit immediately; we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.”
The communication channel cut off.
“Guess we’ll have to hold out a little longer.” Anakin said with a scoff.
“Indeed,” Obi-Wan agreed with a nod, “luckily, the supplies our two compatriots brought should help tide us over until they get back. Still, the emergency is past, as such, my apologies for our previous haste. It’s time for a proper introduction, I am Obi-Wan Kenobi Jedi Master, with me is Anakin Skywalker Jedi Knight. Who might the two of you be?”
The human girl stood at attention, pride and fulfillment coming off her in waves. “I am Asami Fukuhara, your new Padawan Learner, Master Kenobi.”
Obi-Wan blinked as Anakin furrowed his brow in confusion. She was Obi-Wan’s Padawan? Why had a Knight been sent to escort her? Not unusual in times of peace, but as stretched thin as the Order was by the war? Why would they waste the manpower on such a trivial mission?
“And I am Rylanor Creed.” Rylanor said with a sigh, before reaching up and removing his helmet and clipping it to his belt. The face that greeted Anakin was not at all what he’d expected, seventeen standard at most, he had high cheekbones, a rounded chin, a delicate nose, and deep brown eyes that seemed a little small on his face. And while Obi-Wan looked surprised, he seemed to recognize the youth. “Assigned Padawan to Jedi Knight, Anakin Skywalker.”
The Force roiled as Anakin and Obi-Wan both worked through that statement. Anakin was the first to recover.
“Wait…what?” By a certain definition of the word at least.
Rylanor gave him a long commiserating look.
“Yup.”
=][=
I followed behind the sullen form of Anakin Skywalker with all the enthusiasm of a man walking to his own execution. The guy was so caught up in his own head I doubted he’d even noticed when Charlotte trotted up next to me and began her report.
“Sussurro and Iris have joined the medics, I left Aegis with them to guard them, P-Poots has been escorted to what remains of their vehicle bay, last I saw he’d torn apart five tanks and was in the process of assembling a new one from their constituent parts.”
I nodded. “Good, stay with Poots and keep him on-task, he has a tendency to get distracted. Our priority for the moment is gunships, what’s coming will be made easier if we can put together some air support.”
She opened her mouth excitedly.
“No, you may not grab one and pilot it. I believe in you, but we need to prove ourselves to these people first.”
Charlotte sighed. “Yes, Ry.” She answered sullenly and trotted off, the clones around us watching her go.
Gotta say, the city our forces were slowly reducing to rubble? Actually very pretty, the architects had worked the naturally occurring turquoise crystal spires into the city’s layout, making for some very picturesque sites.
Anakin saw fit to brood quietly, so I spent my time people watching, or in this case, clone surveying. I drew no little attention, as in my Darth Kasrkin cosplay, I did not look like your standard Jedi.
The clones were setting up defensive lines on the streets, the piles of rubble being used to set up cover would work well to create a defense in depth, each gave plenty of cover and overlapping fields of fire. However, I vaguely recalled…a shield? A big shield they could move, maybe?
Either way I got the feeling this would turn out poorly.
We made our way to an observation post, where a clone with blue accents on his armor overlooked the city with a pair of electrobinoculars. The captain made hand signals to his distant men, before turning around and walking up to Anakin.
He looked just like the rest of the clones; he kept his hair cut to such a short buzz that I could barely discern that its color was a nonstandard blonde. He greeted Anakin with a slight nod.
“What’s the status Rex?” Anakin asked without preamble.
“Quiet for now sir,” Rex answered in a gravely growl, his voice rough and more used to shouting over the roar of gunfire than a conversational volume, “though they’re definitely gearing up for another assault. It’s a good thing those supplies came in.”
His eyes turned to me.
I decided to answer his as yet unasked question and stepped forward, hand out for a shake. “Rylanor Creed. Knight Skywalker’s new Padawan. You may see or hear about my retinue running around.”
“Woah wait, there’s more of you?” Anakin asked, confirming that he’d failed to notice Charlotte when she gave her report.
“I have been hearing about some helpful support personnel that arrived recently.” Rex looked at Anakin with one eyebrow raised. “Sir, I thought you said you’d never have a Padawan?”
“There’s been a mistake, he’s not with me.” Anakin snapped.
“Sir, I was assigned by the Grandmaster of the Jedi order.” I interrupted before Rex could say anything. “Believe me, I am not exactly ecstatic either, but unless you wish to disregard a direct order, we’re stuck with each other.”
Rex snorted and spoke with a smirk. “He’s got you there, sir. On another note, that’s some nice armor.”
“Thank you, captain,” I said with a nod, “designed it myself, durasteel core with layers of ablative plastoid.”
“Surprising, that’s a lot more armor than I’ve seen any Jedi wear.” Rex said with an appreciative nod.
“Yes, speaking of which,” Anakin gestured to the minimal ‘armor’ he wore around his shoulders and gauntlets, and his leather tunic. “I’m surprised Master Yoda let you wear that much armor.”
“Well, about that,” I said with a small tilt of my head, “what Master Yoda does not know, won’t hurt me.”
Rex looked uncomfortable while Anakin scowled at me. “What do you mean?”
I shrugged. “Imagine how many more Jedi would be alive today if they’d run into the plains of Geonosis wearing something like this, or even the cheaper mass-produced armor the clones wear, no offense.”
“None taken.”
“A lightsaber is fine and all when you’re being shot at by one to twenty shooters in a narrow corridor of fire. But from what I’ve seen, we’re routinely dealing with upwards of fifty battle droids, all of which concentrate their fire the moment they see a Jedi.” I rapped my knuckles against my chestplate, emitting a dull ‘thud’. “With this, if a blaster bolt manages to slip through my defense, I’ll have to deal with a gut-punch instead of a Tibanna Gas detonation, and that’s before worrying about concussive force, shrapnel, gas, or sudden decompression.”
“And you don’t worry it'll hamper your movements?” Anakin pressed.
I shook my head. “It's a worthwhile tradeoff, besides, I mainly use forms one, three, five, and six, armor pairs well with those as they don’t call for excessive acrobatics.”
“It won't stop a lightsaber.” Anakin countered.
If only you knew.
I shrugged and lied. “Couldn't get a hold of enough Mandalorian Iron to make even a pair of bracers. But that does not invalidate the rest of my points.”
“Indeed, it doesn’t.” Anakin muttered, then we stood there together in an increasingly awkward silence. Anakin seemed to realize we were all waiting on him because he opened and closed his mouth a few times before saying. “Erm, Padawan Creed, Captain Rex will explain our procedures and fortifications to you I’ll, uhh, be busy with…important things.”
“Uhh…sir?” Rex said to Anakin’s power-walking back, he rallied quickly and turned to me. “Well…alright then, follow me newbie.”
Ah, the age-old tradition of foisting shit you don’t want to do on an underling. I feel at home.
=][=
Rex walked the new Padawan through their fortifications, the Padawan made a point to ask the names of all the officers, and on the rare occasions when a clone hadn't yet chosen a name, charged them with giving him an update once they'd chosen one.
Rex appreciated that, he doubted the Padawan would be able to keep them straight, he hadn’t met anyone who could reliability tell the clones apart who were not Brothers.
Reports came on his comms unit of two human-adjacent girls bringing crippled Brothers back to fighting fit via miracles, saving the lives of several that were deemed too far gone and made comfortable while they died.
Many of the men cheered when they heard the report of an LAAT-I being fixed by a gasbag looking alien.
As grateful as Rex was, he was worried as Creed was a mystery, his helmet’s speaker lent his voice a slight guttural edge any time he spoke, and so far, he had spoken little, observing quietly as Rex explained their fortifications and regs.
Nonetheless, Rex could not help but worry, he'd heard more than a few horror stories from brothers of other battalions about Jedi to know that him and the 501st had gotten exceedingly lucky when they ended up with General Skywalker, who while inexperienced, was a bold battlefield commander and talented tactician.
The 212th was also lucky in that General Kenobi was intelligent enough to know that directly leading the men was not among his talents. Instead opting to give Cody objectives and leaving it to the Clones to figure out how to accomplish them, while giving them his esoteric support.
And the stories about Padawans were the worst. Where the Knights and Masters were usually aloof and walking around with a pole up their ass and a smarter-than-thou attitude, they at least were, for the most part, smart enough to listen to someone better qualified when it mattered.
Padawans had all the attitude and none of the smarts, throwing the lives of Brothers away in idiotic charges as they sought glory. Often as not getting themselves killed along with entire platoons in the bargain.
“Captain.” The Padawan said, halting.
Rex stopped, looking around, he realized that they were not within earshot of any of his brothers. “Sir?”
The visor of Creed’s helmet regarded him soullessly for a few moments before the man spoke. “I want to make something about the chain of command perfectly clear.”
Rex felt his heart fall, but the man outranked him, so he grit his teeth and hoped it wouldn't get many of his Brothers killed. “Yes sir.”
The man nodded. “I am a Jedi Padawan, the moment General Skywalker stops denying it I'll be made his second in command, Commander to you and your men. I outrank you and if I give you an order, you'll have little choice but to do as I say.”
Rex felt a sudden weight on his shoulders as the Jedi’s regard intensified.
“One of us has trained literally their entire life to lead men in a war just like this one, and the other is me. You are the expert, and I'm the amateur who has naught but book learning behind him and an influential uncle that put him on a post far beyond his ability. This means that I am singularly unqualified to lead you and your men. Much as it shames me to say it, I will need you and your men to pick up my slack until I am capable enough to be a Commander you and your men can be proud of. Do I make myself clear?”
Rex swallowed, the feeling of weight lifting from his shoulders and heart. Actions spoke louder than words, but if the man’s bite followed his bark, then the 501st had gotten lucky once again.
“Crystal clear, sir. And I hope you don't mind me saying, but I have a feeling that you’ll be quick to catch up.”
The man reached up, removing the helmet to reveal the face of a youth, not far from being a Youngling. Rylanor gave him a sardonic smile. “Flattery will get you everywhere, Captain.” His face and tone turned serious. “Now, while I am unqualified to be your boss, I need you to understand that I use the Force. This means that I literally have senses you do not, esoteric abilities that, properly leveraged, will serve to keep our men alive. So, when I say something that may sound nonsensical, I ask that you at least consider befo—” he cut off and looked to the distance, before snapping his helmet back over his head, immediately pressurizing with a muted hiss.
The Padawan wasted no time getting on the comms. “The Separatist are about to commence an attack, they also have a trick, some ace up their sleeve that they're deploying. Everyone get ready for a hard fight.”
[Rylanor?] General Kenobi replied. [What are you—?]
He cut off when a pillar of light stabbed into the skies and bloomed out into a red energy dome that was quickly expanding, encroaching into the territory they’d paid in blood to secure.
“Well…” Rex muttered as the deflector shield grew toward them at a steady pace. “Nerfshit.”
=][=
The Clone Commanders, Obi-Wan, Anakin, Asami, Charlotte and I all stood around the holotable. The droid, the myth, the legend; R2-D2 was plugged into it, editing the map in real-time to show the locations Obi-Wan needed to conduct the briefing.
The information relegated from our scanners did not paint a pretty picture.
“The shield generator is no doubt at the center of that field.” Obi-Wan said, as he spoke, a little red box appeared at the center of the picture. “Problem being, it’s extending just in front of their infantry as it advances, their tanks not far behind them.”
“Our heavy cannons will be useless against that shield.” Rex grumbled. “Even the newly repaired tanks will be vulnerable, the droids will be able to march right up to them!”
“We have tanks? I thought we lost them all to sabotage?” Obi-Wan said.
“We did sir, one of Commander Creed’s Command Squad has salvaged three tanks from the wrecks of the company, as well as three.” He paused, tilting his head as he listened to a report. “Make that four LAAT-Is.”
“That’s a great boon, that makes this situation a lot less hopeless…still as they get closer, we could try drawing them into the buildings to level the playing field a bit…” Obi-Wan said as he stroked his beard. “If not for that shield, those repaired gunships would let us make swift work of them.”
“Sir, if I may?” I asked stepping forward. Obi-Wan nodded despite Anakin giving me a hard look. I pointed at several buildings along the streets the droids were advancing on. “The main issue keeping us from wiping out the army in one fell swoop with our artillery and air support is the shield. If we shell the sides of the buildings here, here, and here, we’ll cause a collapse, forcing the droids to advance only along these two arterials and reducing their ability to flank our forces without going far out of their way. That should cause enough of a delay for a small team to infiltrate the shield and destroy the emitter.”
“We are to take the city as intact as possible.” Obi-Wan chastised.
“Yes sir, but the buildings I marked out are office buildings and a few independent businesses, none hold vital infrastructure, nor are the roads we’ll block essential enough that it would significantly slow rebuilding efforts. They'll get just as damaged once we take the shield down and bomb the droids to scrap.”
“Taking out that shield is much easier said than done, Padawan.” Rex cautioned me while giving me a look I couldn’t parse.
“Well, I for one agree with him.” Anakin stated, surprising me by coming to my defense. “Someone has to get to that shield generator and destroy it, that’s the key to winning.”
Obi-Wan nodded. “Very well, the two of you can get on that and tackle it together. And while I disagree with destroying more of the city than the enemy, we're protecting it from, the idea itself holds merit. Cody, set a group of sappers to mining the roads Padawan Creed pointed out, Ion mines only, I do believe I saw a crate or three of them?”
“Yes sir!” Cody said and got on his comm.
“Sir, if we engage the clankers at this intersection,” Rex pointed at an intersection in the holotable, R2 helpfully highlighted it in red, “we should be able to create a large enough distraction for the infiltration team to get through their lines here.”
Obi-Wan nodded. “Hmm yes, though it would have to be a quick skirmish before you pull back, the men would be far too exposed.”
As the planning continued, Anakin grumbled. “What, I don't get a say in where I'm going?”
I pitched my voice so only he could hear me. “It would seem, Master Skywalker, that your compliance is not a factor.”
He turned to glare at me, and I continued before he could get a word in.
“But don’t worry, if you think it's too difficult for you, I'll hold your hand the whole way.”
I could tell the guy was pissed, but he shoved it under the surface surprisingly well. “Just try not to slow me down wise guy.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” I shot back.
=][=
Skywalker set a punishing pace; one I felt in particular as I was carrying an additional pack with our explosives tied to my supply pack under my power pack. My Hellgun, thankfully, was kept from moving around too much by its retracted power cable.
Anakin had not been happy with my joke; I suspect that was the entire reason behind the Force Enhanced pace he set. Well, joke’s on him, if there is one thing I can claim to be proud of, it is my endurance.
He came to a stop on a building overlooking the advancing shield and pulled out a pair of macrobinoculars. I stepped next to Anakin, using the Force to enhance my eyesight. I did not gain a zoom so much as everything became crystal clear in my sight. Whereas before the droids had been blurry and indistinct thanks to the distance, I could now point out their weld lines.
Figuring out how to do that had been such a pain, but former me had spent the not inconsiderable time he’d spent in detention and remedial meditation quite well.
“That’s a lot of droids walking in lockstep.” I muttered.
“So, what’s the plan?” Anakin asked with a thinly veiled sneer in his voice.
“Pardon?”
“You were the one who was all eager to come out here and pop that shield, what’s your master plan to make it happen?”
I leaned against the railing. “Outflanking them would take too long, even at the speeds we can reach. Master Kenobi’s distraction won’t last long enough for that, even with the tanks and gunships my friend repaired. The only expedient way to do this is by going straight down the front.”
“Impossible,” Anakin said.
“I know,” I butted in, “unless we have some way to fool their scanning and visual sensors, so I suggest we make use of the highest most complex stealth technology available to the Galaxy.”
Anakin blinked and turned to look at me with an eyebrow raised. “And what would that be?”
I pointed. “That metal box.”
He followed my finger and brought up his macrobinoculars, he stared at it for several seconds before saying. “That’s crazy. So crazy, it just might work.”
=][=
“Oi, Master Skywalker, I just had a thought.” It was a hell of a tight fit on the upside-down munitions crate we were using to Metal Gear our way to the objective.
Anakin made a grunt of acknowledgement that I took as permission to continue.
“I know I said the crate is thick enough to block all but the strongest directed scanners.” I continued slowly and got to the heart of the issue. “But…why are we in the middle of the street? If we are pretending to be a discarded munitions crate, would it not increase our chances of success to be on the edge of the road? The droids weren’t walking near the edge…”
I turned to look at Anakin as he turned to look at me.
“That…is a good point that I did not think about. Well done, Padawan.” Anakin said with a nod.
I grunted in acknowledgement, the very next moment I felt a second of disorientation, ionized air passing in a wave over me.
“The deflector shield has just enveloped us.” I stated, then shuddered. “Feels like that time I was being stalked in Coruscant.”
Anakin gave me a side eyed look, then smirked. “If you can’t get through their front lines, let their front lines walk past you. Fine work.”
I felt vibrations through my palms, a rhythmic two-beat thump-thump, repeated with the merciless cadence of a metronome. “The droids are coming.” I whispered.
Something kicked the edge of the box, shifting it slightly and causing me to twitch. With every contact, I could not stop the images of the box being upturned and ending up surrounded by a whole battalion of droids.
My hands itched for my lightsabers, my breathing speeding up as I readied myself for the worst.
I inhaled, counted to four, exhaled, counted to four, and rinsed and repeated. The repetitive motion helping me remain calm. My concentration allowing me to wait in something approximating serenity until the rumbling of metal feet faded.
“They’re past, time to move.” I said into the quiet pushing up, raising the box slightly from the ground, and started to crawl forward. Anakin did the same a moment later.
There was no sound other than our breathing until, eventually, Anakin said. “I think we should be good to get rid of this thing.”
We stood up and tossed it to the side, only to see that we were staring at the back of a droideka. It proceeded to turn around, and with mechanical reflex, deployed its shield and warmed up its blaster cannons.
“Run!” Anakin said as I drew my lightsaber, its cerulean blade igniting with a snap-hiss!
I did not, in fact, run, I held my ground and deflected the droideka’s shots into the ground and the sides.
“What are you waiting for!?” Anakin demanded and was forced to deflect some shots for his trouble.
At that moment, the pair of ion grenades that I used telekinesis to slowly insert through the droideka's shields went off.
The EMP blast right past its main defense shorted out the droideka’s shields and scrambled its sensors, leaving it momentarily blind and stunned.
I put away my lightsaber in the same motion I used to draw my Hellgun and dumped a dozen shots into the droid, melting chunks out of its housing, cooked off tibanna gas detonating holes through its systems, and with one final cerulean bolt, burned out its motor processor. The wrecked, smoking hulk of the droideka tipped sideways and fell with a crash, its spindly legs twitching spasmodically.
I put a final round through its cognitive module to make absolutely sure it wouldn't be getting up then clicked the safety of my rifle on and holstered it at my backpack, the retracting power cable keeping it snug.
I turned to look at Anakin, who was staring at me like I’d grown a second head. “Master Skywalker, is there anything wrong?”
“You use a blaster!?” He demanded, his eyes wide at the sacrilege.
I tilted my head slightly. “Do…you not?”
“I. But. That…forget it, why didn’t you run when I told you to!?” He demanded, his brows furrowing.
I shrugged, “I had droid poppers, so I thought it more expedient to deflect its fire to buy time to deploy the grenades with telekinesis. After that it was just a matter of destroying the droid, Master.”
Anakin huffed, then shook his head and stomped past me. “We’ll talk about this later!”
“Yes sir.” I agreed easily and followed. And if I threw my Stamp at the pile of prime, lightly used scrap electronics…nobody cared over much.
We ‘snuck’ to a clearing at the center of which stood the seemingly unguarded shield emitter.
“That's bait if I've ever seen it.” I said judiciously as we studied the machine from fifty meters away.
“What makes you say that?” Anakin asked as he surveyed the ‘empty’ location.
“The droid antennae coming out of the ground.” I answered, pulling the explosives pack off and opening it.
Anakin clicked his tongue, pulled out his electrobinoculars and confirmed what I told him. “Alright, I'll trip the droids and draw them off, while I do that you set the charges.”
“Why?” I asked as I surreptitiously floated the first five charges out and set them onto the emitter and used the Force to press the arming button. I got wobbly around eight objects, but five were my current limit if I wanted to keep complete control over what I was moving. I wouldn't want to press the arming button twice and accidentally set them off. I had the raw power to do more, but I hadn't yet managed the control I wanted.
“How else are we going to get close enough to set the charges?” Anakin asked with exasperation as I dug out the second set of five, still not having turned to look at me.
“Um, well, can't you use the Force to do it from far away, save yourself the trouble?” I asked, feigning confusion.
“The Force isn't some parlor trick! It's not to be used frivolously.” Anakin pontificated as I set the second set of five and dug out a third.
“Wait, but what if you’re sitting really comfortably, but need your datapad that's too far away. Would you get up and get it, or just use the Force to bring it closer?” I asked with the same faux innocence, working hard to suppress my growing amusement and shock that I was getting away with this, my lapsed attention made a few of the charges wobble but I got them back under control and activated while I dug out a fourth set.
“Urk! That, erm, y-you see, um…” Anakin vacillated, clearly having been caught out in a frivolous use of the Force he did on the daily.
I would have liked to let him squirm for a few moments longer, but every second counted. “Okay I'm done. We should retreat to a safe distance.”
Anakin turned to look at me. “Huh?”
“The charges are set.” I answered simply and trotted toward the nearest piece of suitable cover, a burnt-out droid snail-tank. Anakin looked over my handiwork with the macrobinoculars.
He joined me a moment later, and I set off the charges, the fireball created a brief second sunrise as the shockwave rattled our cover, a huge cloud of dust and pulverized concrete enveloping us a moment later as staccato bursts of milder explosions heralded the death of whatever droids were around it.
Being the one without a helmet or effective gasmask, Anakin coughed and waved the dust away from his nose. “Interesting use of telekinesis back there.” He said after getting his breathing back under control. “That required a significant level of control.”
“I practice a lot.” I said in answer to his unasked question. A roiling sound of faraway thunder indicated our artillery had come back into play. “That's a good sound.”
Anakin enjoyed the sight of droids getting blown to scrap with me for several seconds before he started walking. “Well, come along then, we need to get back.”
“So, am I your Padawan, or hopping on a freighter back to Coruscant?” I asked.
Anakin barked a laugh. “I'll admit, you weren't what I was expecting. You're quick, clever, unorthodox, and bold. Plus, you seem to know some interesting stuff, and Rex seemed to like you.” He used his wristcomm to call for a pickup, then turned to me, and grinned savagely. “I'll have to come up for an excuse for your friends to hang around, and I'll probably have to do something about that smart mouth of yours, but I think you'll be a good addition to the team.”
Well, my girls and I not being separated was one big weight off my shoulders and Rex was my favorite clone back when this was all just a show to me. So wins all around.
I took off my helmet and returned his grin with a sardonic one of my own. “Heh, alright. Good to work with ya Skyboss.”
He quirked an eyebrow at me. “Skyboss?”
“Look, I've been exposed to the HoloNet enough that the word ‘Master’ is thoroughly ruined for me.” I said while glancing at the horizon.
Anakin scowled. “What’s being said about the Jedi this time?” He grumbled exasperated.
“Probably nothing positive.” I said with a shrug, and while Palpatine’s smear campaign was definitely exaggerated, the Jedi Order genuinely deserved a lot of the flak they were being bombarded with. “But not what I meant.”
Anakin blinked and kicked a bit of droid, sending it skittering across the pavement. “So, what did you mean?”
“Let's just say that I’ve seen the word ‘Master’ used in a…non-Jedi context a little too often. Honestly what's really weird about it is that I don't even look for it, I think my datapad’s audio receptor picks up the word and the HoloNet algorithms…”
=][=
By the time we’d landed back at base camp, Anakin had had his eyes opened to the thoroughly depraved world of the HoloNet, along with a scrambler so whatever searches he did could not be traced back to him.
I had seldom before seen someone picking up a whole new kink they weren’t aware they were into, seemed like Padme was in for a surprise the next time they got some alone time together.
We’d also gotten word that our reinforcements arrived, admiral Yularen had come back with his wounded pride and an armada and mopped up the fleet blockading the world. Men and war materiel were flooding in to mop up the last of the Separatist resistance.
We hopped off the ship to the sight of happy though exhausted clones, and, statistically speaking, few casualties, through my bonds with my girls, I could feel the two healers among them tired but focused, concentrating on saving more lives, stabilizing the dying and leaving the lightly wounded to the tender mercies of GAR healthcare.
Captain Rex was thankfully not among the wounded, he looked battered, and his armor was a little singed, but he saluted when he saw us.
We made our way to the holotable, where we saw Obi-Wan talking to a hologram of Master Yoda, and a tired looking Asami standing near to him, looking a little worse for wear.
“—nitely a very dutiful young woman,” Obi-Wan said while giving Asami a gentle smile that colored her cheeks red, he then spotted us. “Ah, Anakin, well done taking down that shield, I had worried that it would be cut close, but thanks to the repaired equipment, we kept the droids at bay for quite a while. It's a good thing you sent those supplies Master Yoda, they were able to tide us over just enough.”
The little green rat's ears twitched at that, but he gave no sign of anything being wrong or unexpected as Anakin walked into the holotable’s sensor range, I made sure to stop short of it, not wanting Yoda to see my war panoply. Anakin choked, then cleared his throat before greeting them with only a hint of awkwardness. “Master Obi-Wan, Master Yoda.”
Clearly, I've corrupted the man.
Yoda’s eyes turned to Anakin. “Trouble with your new Padawan you have, I hear. Hmm?”
“Eh?” Anakin asked intelligently.
“I was explaining the situation to Master Yoda.” Obi-wan said.
“If not ready for a Padawan you are, then perhaps another Knight we can…”
“Eeeh, about that.” Anakin interrupted awkwardly while scratching the back of his head. Yoda’s eyes twinkled with amusement, but he paused and made a questioning hum for Anakin’s benefit. “Yes, I would have preferred not to take a Padawan until after the war at the earliest. But Rylanor proved himself to be resourceful, well informed, disciplined, reliable, and clever. He's just the type of Jedi we need to fight this war. With a bit of training to shore up any weaknesses he’ll be a great asset to the Order and the Republic.”
Obi-Wan looked surprised. “Are you certain we’re talking about the same Rylanor?”
Why thank you Obi-Wan, quintessential Jedi my fat ass.
Anakin blinked in surprise. “Is there more than one?”
“Go with you, Rylanor will, to the Teth system.” Yoda butted in before they could start playing off each other.
