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As quickly as she admits it, she refutes it, “But looks aren’t everything.”
“I must agree. Letting ourselves make judgments based solely on looks is dangerous. Those we perceive as good may well be our greatest enemies,” Lux explains.
Ahsoka shakes her head at his high words, “You sound like a senator.”
“I am a senator’s son and you are very blunt.”
“Comes with the training.”
“I thought Jedi considered themselves more high and mighty than that.”
“Some are,” Ahsoka allows. “But the battlefield doesn’t exactly leave room for philosophical grey areas.”
“You’ve been in a battle?” There is something of envy in his question.
“No need to sound so surprised. It’s been most of my training.”
“I didn’t know.”
An idea strikes Ahsoka. Padmé brought her here to learn about politics, more specifically the politics of this war. Why not ask Lux about it? Padmé’s busy talking with Senator Bonteri anyway and maybe she’ll understand it better from the eyes of a peer.
“What are the Separatists fighting for?”
“Our independence. Most of the members of the Confederacy don’t agree with the direction Chancellor Palpatine is leading the Republic. Congress believes the Galactic Senate is corrupt.”
If she had a credit for every time she heard that one. It’s an attack on Padmé.
Ahsoka grows defensive, “Not everyone in the Senate is like that. As long as I’ve known her, Padmé has been speaking out against corruption.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend. I don’t know her very well. My mother’s regard for Senator Amidala speaks in her favor.”
Too late for an apology; Ahsoka’s temper has already flared up, “What about Count Dooku? What about his corruption?”
Lux shies away at the accusation, “Mother doesn’t agree with everything the Count says. She believes in independence for our system. Count Dooku is providing her a means to achieve that end.”
Ahsoka relents, “I’m sorry. I was being hasty too.”
“It’s alright. We were both being protective of people close to us.”
Understanding comes a little easier now. Heroes and villains exist on both sides of the line of battle. Neither side is wholly right nor entirely wrong, and the Jedi are caught in the middle, accused of perpetuating the conflict.
“I’m sorry about your father too. I’m sure, like Senator Bonteri, he was doing what he thought was right.”
There is a conflicting mixture of pride and disappointment in Lux’s face, “He fought for what he believed in, that is something. But until today, I never understood why mother criticized his view that the war was strictly a result of Republic aggression.”
Politics and war are so much more complicated than Ahsoka first thought. Things are no clearer than they were before. In fact, they’re muddier. She has nothing against Lux, but they are on opposing sides. Why are they fighting? What’s she supposed to do if she meets him in the battlefield?
“Your mother is fighting too, just in a different way. It might even be a better way of fighting.”
Ahsoka recalls a conversation with Barriss from ages ago: what is their role as peacekeepers? What will they be when the war is done?
Bitterly, “It’s not always effective.”
“No, but not everybody can rush into battle; they’d get themselves killed.”
That’s something she doesn’t get about Lux. Even from their short acquaintance she can tell he’s no fighter; he inherited Mina Bonteri’s gift for words.
It’s something Ahsoka will never have, born and raised a fighter. It’s what she’ll keep on doing, but now she’ll be more consciousness of what she’s fighting for and what she’s fighting against.
----------
“Be careful, Lux.”
Ahsoka couldn’t make him feel more ashamed if she tried.
What he tried to do, it’s not what mother would have wanted. He’s not even sure father would have approved. What he does know is they would be disappointed if he joined the Republic, after everything they fought for.
He can’t go with Ahsoka.
Lux watches her ship grow smaller and he feels further away from everything; family, friends, his home. He is a speck in the universe, tiny and insignificant, falling through space’s nothingness.
Perhaps he should return home, remember what his parents died for and find some way to keep fighting for what’s right.
Maybe he’ll fight with a blaster or maybe he’ll fight with words.
Either way, he’ll be honoring their memory and sacrifice, not seeking out revenge.
----------
A neatly dressed young man struggles against the palace guards, now all battle droids, throwing him out. The heavy doors close, shutting him out.
He shouts to the balcony, high above, “You are no king of Onderon, Rash! You hear me?! You are just as disposable to Count Dooku as my mother was!” He rails to the deaf eaves and arches of the palace. People in the streets stop and stare, they don’t dare join him.
He doesn’t notice the blasters being trained on him.
Pushing past the crowd, Steela rushes toward him and cups a hand over his mouth. Hissing in his ear, “Shut up and come with me.”
He fights her as she drags him into a shadowy alley, but not as hard as he fought the royal guard.
In the safety of the alley, Steela uncovers his mouth.
“Let me go!” If it’s supposed to sound threatening, she’s not very intimidated.
“How about a ‘thank you?’” She shoves him toward the wall.
“For what?”
“For saving your life. Were you trying to get yourself killed?”
He stares at her.
“I didn’t think so.” Steela crosses her arms over her chest and glares back.
If it weren’t for the lyra-shaped embroidery on his collar and sleeves, she never would have pegged him as Onderondian. His appearance would have attracted attention to him if his outburst hadn’t already. Finery such as his is reserved for public officials and special occasions, and clearly he didn’t receive whatever reception he was expecting.
He looks down at his feet for a long time, bracing himself on the wall. Finally he asks, “What happened here?”
“After Senator Bonteri’s death, things started changing on Onderon. First the droids; sent for our ‘protection.’ That was before Dooku deposed King Dendup, placed this puppet on the throne, and the occupation turned violent. Rash is left to his own devices mostly, but he’s unpredictable and violent.
“You’re lucky we’ve been staking out the palace the past few days, otherwise Rash would have had you lying in a pool of blood.”
Speaking to despairingly himself, “So I came back for nothing.”
“How long as it been since you were last on Onderon?”
“Four years, but it’s only been in the last months I’ve been out of contact.”
Steela cocks her head to the side and drops her hands to her hips, “Well, that explains why you haven’t heard any of this. Most of us don’t know who we’re angrier with: Dooku for lashing us to Rash or the Republic for killing Mina Bont –”
He cuts her off violently, “Don’t – don’t lay the blame on the Republic, they’re not the ones who killed the senator.”
“Then who was?”
“Dooku,” he spits. “Dooku is behind it all. He didn’t like her ties to certain Republic senators, so he had her silenced rather than let peace negotiations precede.”
Like she needed another reason to hate the man. “How do you know that?”
“I’m Lux Bonteri, Mina Bonteri’s son.”
“And you thought Rash was going to treat with you?! Are you completely mad?!”
Through clenched teeth, “I didn’t know King Dendup had been deposed. I was going to try to convince him to leave the Confederacy.”
“So we could join up with the Republic?”
“No,” Lux’s answer is firm. “No, Onderon is done with the Republic. And with the Separatists. We can be our own independent system.” He stops there, though it’s clear he wants to go on, and demands, “Who are you? Why are you staking out the palace?”
Reason tells her she shouldn’t trust him outright, that she shouldn’t reveal too much. But he’s on their side and he’s too earnest too be lying – to betray them.
“My name’s Steela Gerrera. My brother and I have a small group of resistance fighters in the wilderness. We’re going to remove Rash from King Dendup’s throne, one way or another.”
----------
“Jedi?! You said you had an idea that wasn’t going to indebt us to the Republic!”
“It won’t!”
“The Jedi are the Republic’s attack dogs! They don’t just lend them out to anyone who asks!”
“You don’t know them.”
“Oh, like you do –”
Steela cuts him off, “Saw, stop it. Hear him out.”
Saw grumbles and stalks into a corner to listen.
Ever since Bonteri joined them Steela’s been taking his side – defending him. They’re backing off – going on the defensive, when they should be on the attack. They’re losing ground because of Bonteri.
“We can enlist the Jedi to help us overthrow King Rash. We have a mutual enemy. It’s true, the Jedi act as generals in the Grand Army of the Republic, but they act of their own accord. The Republic won’t treat with us because we’re still Separatists to them. The Jedi will at least hear us out.”
“You’ve been against being on the offense from the start, why change your mind?”
Bonteri flinches, “I’m no tactician, but even I could see how thinly spread your resources were. I was trying to help you consolidate, like I’m trying to help you find potential allies. Why can’t you accept I’m on your side?”
“This is our home and our fight. You would have us make it theirs. What we need aren’t Jedi allies. What we need is to take back Iziz for ourselves.”
There is a murmur of agreement throughout the room. They spent four years fighting clones and Jedi before they switched to Rash and his ilk; they’d rather leave Iziz to Rash as let Jedi liberate the city for them.
Meekly, “You may not believe it, but I have Onderon’s best interests at heart.”
Charged and angry, Saw throws the question to his little sister, “Steela, you’ve been quiet this whole time, what do you think?”
Maybe this time she’ll see that Bonteri is leading them in the wrong direction.
But Steela doesn’t answer right away, as she hasn’t in every recent debate, a sign she’s bound to side with Bonteri.
Saw readies to fight with her.
“I don’t like the idea of Jedi marching through the city gates.”
Finally. She’s come back to her senses, he thinks too quickly.
“But Lux has a point. We don’t have the resources to take back Iziz – not on our own. You have to see that, Saw.”
Saw tuts and walks away. He hears Bonteri mutter something to Steela; she responds, “No let me.”
A door slams behind him, “What is your problem?!”
Spitting venom, “My problem is that you’ve been picking him over me, your brother, ever since we took his sorry ass in. What are you in love with him or something?”
“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard! I haven’t been siding with him! I’ve been trying to get you two to compromise since day one!”
Saw opens his mouth to retort, but Steela steps on his words, “I want just as badly to walk through those cities cheered as heroes, but we don’t have the resources! And there isn’t anywhere to pull the resources from! We have to take help from somewhere!”
It’s been months since either of them has slept in a real bed. The resistance became their all the moment Rash executed the first innocent. Even if she’s conceding to the rich kid’s point, she can’t unsee that moment. It changed them.
She sighs heavily, “Lux says he has a contact in the Jedi Order. We don’t have to ask them for military support – just supplies. You and I can take the rest from there.”
Hanging his head, “We’re that desperate, aren’t we?”
“Yeah. We are.”
“How’d we let it get this bad?”
“We didn’t have very much to begin with.”
Saw laughs darkly and finally gives in, “Fine. We need their help. Have Bonteri call his contact and if we’re lucky they’ll give us a whole bunch of those laser swords. Those seem pretty effective.”
Steela punches him hard in the arm for that one.
----------
King Dendup appoints Steela the new commanding general of their forces, “You and your rebels renewed my faith in myself. Now I’m putting my faith in you.”
A growing sense of pride overcomes Lux as Steela accepts the position. General Tandin respectfully steps down and the debate begins.
As always, Saw jumps on the opportunity to take the offensive, insisting they take the fight to Iziz. The droid army amasses in the city and the rioting in the streets is a sign in their favor; the people are ready to rally to them. For the first time, Lux and Saw agree.
Steela is of another mind, “We need to keep the battle to the outskirts of the city.”
Immediately Lux understands her reasoning and changes his mind, “Less structures and people.”
“But less clankers,” Saw insists.
“We all want victory, but not at the cost of innocent lives. If we fight door-to-door, no one is safe.” Steela puts her foot down, stopping Saw before he opens his mouth again, “This may be war, but we should minimize causalities.”
Some rare input is added by Ahsoka, “I agree. The more you draw the droids from the city to the highlands, the safer the people will be.”
“Then that’s it. Let’s ride.”
All, save the king, salute their general and move out to prepare for the coming battle.
Steela’s attentions turn towards her weapon carefully cleaning the barrel. Lux hesitates to leave.
Suddenly, from his head to his toes, Lux feels flush. There is a hand on his chin, pulling his face into hers, and it jerks his head back again all too soon.
“Just in case,” Steela says and follows the rest.
Lux is too dumbfounded to move – not until he hears Ahsoka calling him, telling them they’re leaving.
----------
They hold off the first and second waves of attack; their knowledge of the land and their beast-riding heritage working to their advantage. While the soldiers rejoice at the droid army’s retreat, Steela holds her breath.
One one-thousand… Two one-thousand… No way Rash or that clanker general, Kalani, would give up this easily… Five one-thousand…
Saw flies overhead with another company of ruping-riders, bombing the droids as they run from the battlefield. The cheers that follow are more deafening than the explosions.
Nine one-thousand…
One of the rupings squawks terribly, followed closely by the sound of blaster canons. Heavy missile platforms rise above the trees, chasing down Saw’s battalion.
I knew it. The thought is bitter. She was almost hoping – praying she would be wrong.
“Dono! Hutch! We need more firepower in the air! Buy us enough time to get into the caves!” she commands and slides down the cliff to Ahsoka. “Any luck?”
Down on the ground cheers have turned into screams. The ruping-riders are failing to do any damage to the missile platforms; the droid army turns back into the fray. They’re being overrun.
Ahsoka looks frustrated, “Not yet.”
“We need more support!”
“I know that!” the Jedi snaps. “But it’s difficult, bordering too close to internal affairs. If we can’t hold them off, Obi-Wan wants us to evacuate.”
“What?!”
“Don’t worry. We won’t let it get to that point.”
“You don’t know that!”
“Anakin won’t let it.”
Steela doesn’t understand why General Skywalker would give a damn about their cause, but Ahsoka has faith in him, “He better be quick about pulling off this miracle.” She shouts another order to the troops, “I want sharp-shooters up on those ridges, covering the retreat!”
She takes up a position and fires into the army of machines. Saw now rides with the general on a dalgo, ushering their forces out of the ravine. Lux and Ahsoka fly with the other ruping-riders back towards camp. Steela calls off the sharp-shooters once their men have made it to the hills and they too fall back.
There’s a flapping of wings behind her as Steela makes her way into the cave.
“Anakin’s sending help.”
“How long until it gets here?”
Ahsoka shakes her head, “I don’t know. He couldn’t even tell me who he was sending.”
“Then let’s make sure we last until it arrives.”
They hole up, sending out small attack teams as the droids make their slow approach. Night falls and still nothing from the Jedi general, though Ahsoka keeps trying him on her holo. The missile platforms periodically shoot the landscape at random, keeping everyone awake.
Near dawn the first battalion of droids is a kilometer off from the camp. Their fighters pick them off one-by-one; they predict the next one will arrive by mid-morning.
An unknown ship does another flyover and the commlink on Ahsoka’s wrist goes off.
“Finally,” she breathes.
The voice that comes through tells them where to go to meet them. Whoever it is on the other end, they don’t want to get in the middle of the fighting.
Ahsoka looks up from her comm, “Anyone up for a little trip?”
“I thought you’d never ask,” Steela replies.
She, Ahsoka, and Lux set out for the rendezvous point. Their contact is already there waiting for them.
Ahsoka is taken aback by the weequay relaxing on a pile of cargo crates, “Hondo?!”
The pirate grins, “Is that anyway to greet an old friend? Especially one who brings you a gift from Skywalker and Kenobi.”
Another pirate lifts the lid off of one of the boxes. Steela and Lux gape.
Rocket launchers.
Steela can count the number of well-aimed shots it will take to bring down the enemy ships.
----------
The others return and not a moment too soon.
The droids are plowing them down. They’ve given up at least fifty meters of their perimeter since the first swarm of droids arrived at the camp. They’ll be completely pinned down if the Jedi didn’t deliver on their promise, cornered to the point of no escape.
“We’re target practice for those clankers!”
“Not anymore,” Steela says completely satisfied, handing him a rocket launcher.
The metal is cold under his fingertips, but not for long. He takes the rocket launcher and turns back to the fight, taking aim at the first enemy ship he sees.
Whistling, the missile sores through the air; the sound seems miles away to Saw, his weapon burning hot, heart palpitating as he waits for it to either hit or miss its intended target.
If it’s a hit, they’ll know if the wait for was worth it.
There’s a crack as the rocket makes contact with the ship’s shields. Another explosion as the shield and ship burst into pieces and flame, veering off course and into a rock face.
The rebels shout in triumph.
“Distribute the rest of these and take out those gunners!” Steela commands, but even she has a hint of excitement in her voice. Once the missile platforms are out of the way, it’ll just be the droid army between them and Iziz – between them and taking back Onderon.
Saw rushes back into the fray with the rocket launcher, losing track of Steela and her orders.
The front line is his command. He’ll do what it takes to bring down the gunships.
“I want the rocket launchers on the fringes; nowhere you’ll get easily hit, but somewhere you’ll have a clear shot! Everyone else keep your focus on the infantry! Don’t get distracted and let them through!”
Their fighting spirit reinvigorated by the arrival of the heavy artillery, the rebels blaze through the droids like a wildfire. Saw finds himself getting distracted from scanning the skies to watch them fight for their lives and their homes and their freedom.
“Look out!”
An incoming gunship targets their ground troops, breaking their attack on the droid infantry. Saw heaves the heavy rocket launcher onto his shoulder again and fires. The missile platform goes spiraling down, the last one.
No cheer erupts this time, the battle still wages and a single, clear scream reaches echoes through the ravine.
Steela!
He hasn’t seen her since she delivered the rocket launchers. Anything could be happening to her, the only family he’s got. He whistles for a ruping to fly to the top of the ridge, where the gunship crashed. How could he have saved his fighters, but sacrificed his sister in the process?
Saw does not calm until he has reached the top of the cliff face. Though covered in blood, Steela is unhurt, and the scene is just as horrible as any he imagined.
The gunship smokes, one of its guns completely obliterated, but obliterated just a little too late.
Steela presses her hands to Ahsoka’s shoulder; Ahsoka splayed out on the ground, wincing in pain; and Lux standing by, clutching to Steela’s blaster, presumably the weapon which destroyed the ship’s last remaining gun.
Saw kneels beside their Jedi commander, “Hey, Tano. What happened?”
Steela answers, “She saved our lives. After the gunner came down, Lux and I were nearly knocked off the cliff, but Ahsoka saved us.”
“Anakin’s never going to let me hear the end of this one,” she laughs weakly.
“He should be proud of you,” Steela says.
“You clearly don’t know my master.”
The medic arrives and Ahsoka’s shoulder is bandaged, her arm put in a sling.
After the last of the infantry are defeated, the resistance and Royal Militia march together through Iziz’s city gates to the joyous celebration of Onderon’s true sons and daughters. Saw, Steela, Lux, and Ahsoka alongside King Dendup and General Tandin, are heralded as heroes and liberators.
They find the body of King Rash slumped on the throne. Saw removes the corpse from the grand hall.
Every eyes glimmers in awe as King Dendup is returned to his throne, “Remember this day, the day Onderon is free again!”
A chorus rises from the streets, “Long live the king!”
----------
“I guess you finally got that urge to fight out of you, huh,” Ahsoka teases Lux.
“I guess I did, without us ending up on opposing sides. But I think I’m going to stick to politics from now on. You were right, Ahsoka. I’m not a fighter.”
“You are a fighter – you fight like your mother,” she places a comforting hand on his shoulder.
He smiles, but it’s not a smile that returns anything she’s been feeling (nothing she’s been faintly hoping for).
“Thank you, for everything.”
Lux steps back and allows Saw and Steela to make their goodbyes.
Steela takes his place, “Thank you, Ahsoka.”
“I’m glad I could help.”
“You did more than help.”
Steela hugs her, but is careful not to squeeze too tight. Her shoulder is still bandaged, but no longer in a sling (still hurts like hell when it gets jostled or touched or moved too much).
Ahsoka wonders if Obi-Wan is watching on disapprovingly, or if he has just learned to ignore her tendency to be too familiar with people, the way he did with Anakin. She knows, at least, Anakin doesn’t mind.
“You did good, Commander.”
She scrunches her face at Saw, “You didn’t do too bad yourself for a Separatist and a rebel.”
He barks in laughter, “Onderon’s not either of those things anymore, Tano.”
“Don’t screw it up. I don’t want to have to come back and fix your mess,” she ribs.
Saw sticks out a hand, “Thanks, but once you’re gone, I don’t intend to ever let Onderon need the Jedi help again.”
“Come on, Snips. We’ve got to get going,” Anakin hurries her along.
Ahsoka grasps it in a quick, firm shake.
One last goodbye: she stops before the king and bows her head, “Your majesty.”
King Dendup places a gentle hand on each shoulder, “You will always be welcome here on Onderon, Ahsoka Tano.”
“Thank you, your majesty.”
She bows again and finally returns to her masters’ sides. It’s comfortable beside them – safe, like she’s in the place she belongs, but something’s different – something’s changed.
In the company of the insurgents she was an equal. They trusted her and treated her council with the same weight as anyone else.
“When we get back, the Council will probably put you on bed rest. You should have plenty of fun with that. After that you can probably expect a couple easy recovery missions – hey? You listening?”
“Huh?”
“Is everything okay, Snips?”
Ahsoka blinks. She’s younger (though not much), she’s with Padmé, and she’s coming away from Raxus; knowing more, understanding less.
She blinks again. Anakin’s sitting across from her, wearing a concerned look.
“Yeah. Fine. Glad to be going home.”