The Force Wills - Chapter 134

Saw was only dimly aware that he was screaming.

Most of his attention felt like it was being pulled in a thousand different directions by the constant pain as every muscle in his body was forcibly spasmed by the electric current being induced.

His mind struggled to make sense of the sensations, even the words to associate them were not coming.

There was just PAIN.

It was pushing in on everything.

It was all encompassing, there was no cell or molecule of his being that was being spared.

He couldn’t even see, even as his eyes were wide open, his vision graying out from lack of oxygen because his lungs couldn’t pull in air.

At least it meant he couldn’t scream anymore.

When it stopped abruptly, there was no relief from the pain as the lingering effects of the spasming continued in the aftermath. He could barely muster the strength to breathe in through his nose.

“Where are the other terrorists?”

His interlocutor was like someone had taken a tactical droid, decorated it and given it three eyes.

Saw glared at the thing overseeing his torture within the suspensor energy field, “Onderon is our system, tin can. Not yours.”

The tac droid just tilted its head in a rather surprisingly organic fashion and gestured to the EV-med droid handling the controls.

PAIN.

He screamed the air out of his lungs again.

This time he imagined it was like a thousand blaster bolts hitting him at once, yet not vaping his body instantly or being directly linked into a fusion core outlet.

Yet the pain became a distant thing and it was as if it was happening to someone else?

Had he died?

“Enough!”

Saw’s head titled bonelessly against the slight play the suspensor field afforded for his head, dimly aware that his own heart was thudding rapidly with so much strength, that the force was translating to internal organs.

He managed to dimly look into the forbidding green eyes of General Tandin, who was technically overseeing the interrogation on Rash’s behalf.    

If Saw thought it would achieve anything, he’d have already spat in the general’s face, but the field would’ve caught it anyway.

“We have to keep him alive. He’s a direct link to the terrorists.”

“You pity him,” droned the tac droid.

“I only pity your ignorance. You can control the people of Onderon but you won’t sustain it against their will. What you’re doing guarantees others will take his place.” 

“They too will suffer.”

“Then the war is lost. You may have a galaxy of strategies and tactics, but it’s unfortunate you cannot calculate a different approach. Clean him up and send him to Holding Three.”

The EV-med droid did the dirty business and only then did Saw belatedly realize he had soiled himself at some point. The droid was surprisingly gentle about it as its primary programming kicked in, holding him up to properly stand in the refresher.

By the time he was clean, he had regained enough self-control to stand and move somewhat slowly under his own strength. He could even dress himself and was given a gray jumpsuit to wear.

The EV droid and two commandos escorted him into the room where Tandin was patiently waiting whilst sitting on a desk with a single chair.

Saw was pushed forward by the commando droid and he glared at the tin can before moving into the seat with an easy fluid movement.

The general raised a surprised eyebrow and held up a hand to the commando droid, halting it from cuffing Saw’s arms to the table. “No, leave us and close the door.”

All three droids obeyed promptly.

Saw wanted to glare at the general, he wanted to scream traitor into his face, he wanted to wring his neck, but his arms and hands didn’t have the strength of a child at the moment.

Tandin brought forth a mug that he had been hiding with his own body from immediate view and placed it down.

The smell told him it was Kotho tea. 

“Drink, it will ease the lingering pains and help the recovery process.”

Saw wanted to throw it into Tandin’s face, but the practical voice of reason in his head, that sounded annoyingly like Ahsoka, impressed upon him that he should take every bit of reasonable help he could.

Could be poisoned, he thought irrationally.

Tandin wants to talk and he can’t do that if you’re dying from poison.

He reached forward to the cup and found he needed to use both hands to even lift it and bring it to his mouth. Twitching hands also threatened to spill every precious drop. He drank carefully and his mouth practically rejoiced at the flavored moisture entering it. 

“I’m surprised at your resilience, Mr. Gerrera. Most everyone after interrogation would be on their back for days afterward, yet here you are, sitting up and drinking.”

“Clearly I’m not like others you’ve tortured then,” Saw glared into the general’s eyes, who was utterly unmoved by the implied accusation.

“Indeed,” nodded Tandin, not even bothering to deny or even defend it. “You’ve been in the labor camps and survived it. That’s impressive, perhaps an explanation for that resilience.”

Saw felt rage boiling up in his heart, “If you know what takes place in them, then you can be glad I don’t have strength at the moment.”

“Your appeal to my conscience and threatening me is wasted, Mr. Gerrera. I know what I’ve done or have ordered to be done. There is no excuse I can give or justification for it. We are not talking about the past, only the present at the moment. I will only explain that my control over the situation goes so far and no further. The Separatists have very little compassion or patience for things that stand in their way in my experience.”

“We have a duty to protect what’s ours, general,” Saw scoffed. “That duty was once entrusted to you.”

Saw smirked in triumph as he saw Tandin’s stoic facade crack with that dig.

“I thought you depleted your arrogance with Kalani,” Tandin scowled.

“‘How dare this farmboy from the highlands judge the great General Tandin’,” Saw mocked. “No, general, my arrogance replenishes by the hour.”

Tandin growled and stood up from the table, beginning a leisurely pace on the other side. “King Rash is the crowned head of Onderon. What’s yours is his and he will do with it as he pleases.”  

“Dendup is the true king,” Saw said evenly.

“Are you following his orders?”

Saw couldn’t help but laugh, “So even you’re buying Rash’s lies? No, general. The OLF takes orders from no one.”

Tandin carefully scrutinized Saw for a moment, “Aligning yourself with the past does not bode well for your future, Mr. Gerrera.”

“We share the same future, general. We can sit here as free men or as servants of the Separatists.”

Another statement that seemed to pierce the stoic armor of the general. His fist slammed down on the desk and he retorted with a low anger, “I am free and you have chosen to become a terrorist.”

“I’m not a terrorist, general,” Saw glared into the man’s eyes, “I’m a patriot and resistance is not terrorism. King Dendup was deposed on the order of Dooku at the head of an entire droid army. Face facts general. Onderon is only under Separatist control because we let it happen. We couldn’t even conceive of resisting. That orbital defense grid has made us weak.”

“The grid is the only reason we don’t have Republic warships over our heads.”

“Something I’m thankful for,” Saw nodded. “But we should not deceive ourselves, the CIS would’ve had theirs in orbit as well. They are only interested in us for the rhydonium and our weapon manufacturing capacity. If we hadn’t had that, we wouldn’t have a nice cozy seat in their parliament. They don’t care about us as a people and culture.”

Tandin just stared at Saw for a long moment, before turning to leave. “This meeting can no longer serve a constructive purpose. You will be executed tomorrow after Dendup. Make peace with yourself, Mr. Gerrera.”

“I suggest you do the same, General Tandin.”

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Yolann Square was absolutely packed to the brim.

It was a sea of onderonians who had come to witness the execution of their former king. Even if you weren’t in tune with the Force, you could palpably sense the somber mood and the feelings that the vast majority had towards the event. There were no jeers and no cheering, just a low din as the people muttered to one another in disbelief at what was about to happen.

Dendup had been a beloved king and while his rule had some shortcomings, it was not enough to sour him in the eyes of the people. There was also a faint undercurrent of outrage that slowly built in the crowd, but it was dampened in the sight of the droid formation that was waiting on the expansive palace steps.  

A full B1 company and two Magnaguard droids were plainly visible.

Two B2 squads and four droideka were hidden underneath the execution platform, ready to pop out and give anyone trying to upset proceedings a nasty surprise. Commando droids were also perched on the upper balconies of the palace, armed with sniper rifles. That was a combination that surprised me, not that it was possible, but that any CIS tac droid commander would do it. The Republic had captured and dissected the programming of many tac droids by this point of the war, it was a constant battle of seeing what program updates were being pushed through, what tactics were put in. This was not among the known tactical library and meant something new was afoot. 

I subtly pointed them out to Steela as we wove through the crowd, leading the way and using the Force to encourage anyone stubborn to give way.

“All units, commando snipers on the palace facings. Snipers, change of plans, those are your primary targets at the mark,” Steela hissed into her comlink.

“We copy, ma’am.”

We paused just a few meters from the front edge of the crowd and the no-man’s zone marked out by the droids.

The front doors of the palace were not the massive affairs I’d seen from other monarchical abodes across the galaxy, but were four smaller arched entryways reflecting its modest beginnings as a temple - allowing parishioners entry and exit simultaneously. Now those doors opened and a ghastly hush fell over the crowd.

Rash emerged first, resplendent in his dark royal armor, with the auridium wreathe on his head glinting in the overhead sun. He walked like he was a conquering Caesar marching back into Rome.

Behind him was the former king, Dendup, who walked with slumped shoulders and eyes permanently fixed to the ground. His emotions were a torrent of depression, mixed with shame and defeat.

Following him was Saw, dressed in a yellow jumpsuit and hands cuffed before him. He visibly looked all right but I could sense residual twitches and from the way he stiffly walked, clearly bore the aftereffects of electrical torture. 

Flanking them were two more Magnaguards and taking up the rear was a new kind of tac droid.

I ignored the fact that it was elaborately decorated and painted, as if someone had personalized it. It was lit up like a beacon to my technometric sense like no other droid I had sensed before it. The sophistication and evolution of the relatively clumsy tac droid design was clear, three photoreceptors, and an angular ‘face’ designed to be intimidating. The way it was walking eerily reminded me of M8 when she was impersonating me - it actually had been designed with body language and was ‘emoting’ with it.

The procession stopped before the execution platform with an imperious gesture from Rash.

He stepped onto it and began speaking to the entire square, his voice carried across it by a booming public address system that echoed across the space.

“As your King, I present to you, Ramsis Dendup. Not as a former king, but as a criminal! Sponsoring terrorist acts against the people of Onderon.” He spoke grandly and projected with a clear charisma. “Fear not, good citizens. As your leader and protector, I will see that you are safe from such villainy. He has betrayed you and today, he will pay for those treasonous deeds with his life!”

A gesture from Rash, caused the two Magnaguards escorting Dendup to grab a hold of both his arms and force him up the platform.

A push brought him on his knees before the execution device.

It was a distinctly Coruscan take on the classic guillotine. However, there was no falling blade set between high rails. It was two simple conductive durasteel pillars no more than a meter high, between which a blood red energy field, half a meter wide, was suspended.

Rash began speaking softly to Dendup, but I heard every word.

“Your people will see you into the next world, may you find forgiveness there,” he mocked and chuckled. He dropped the fruit that he had been carrying into the energy field, which held it suspended.

Both Magnaguards on either side burst into movement, their electrostaffs lit up with radiant energy and practically stabbed them onto the conductive pillars.

The energy field flared with an overcharge into bright orange - slicing the fruit perfectly in two, leaving it partially cooked as well.

The whole display was meant to intimidate Dendup, but the old man looked unimpressed and unfazed at the fate that awaited him. He was putting up a remarkable front, though I sensed some clear natural fear beginning to worm its way into his spirit.

“Time to die,” Rash smiled and a rear Magnaguard pushed down on Dendup’s shoulder with irresistible machine strength.

The former king’s head pierced through the energy field until its plane lined up perfectly with his neck.

“Ahsoka?” Steela whispered urgently.

My focus and will surged forward, finding the hidden one way shield emitters that encompassed the execution platform, the palace stairs and a fair bit of the crowd.

“Ready weapons,” ordered Rash.

The Magnaguards raised their electrostaffs again.

I clenched my right fist and utterly wrecked the shield, applying enough current through the Force to melt them outright.

I nodded.

“Now,” said Steela into her comlink.

Chewie easily picked her up, her sniper rifle was already shouldered and aiming.

Her shot was spot on, taking out the left Magnaguard’s head, whilst I reached out with the Force again to destroy the secondary processor in its chest.

Steela shifted her aim and fired again, killing the second Magnaguard.

Simultaneously, multiple bolts echoed across the square as the OLF snipers blasted the enemy commandos on the balconies, all eight of which died in moments.

Lux and Ildra charged forward and threw four grenades into the formation of B1s.

Two of which were droid poppers and two smoke emitters. 

The crowd began screaming and those closest to the front began trying to flee, as the grenades detonated.

Twenty rebels managed to storm forward before they were caught in the surging mass of sentients. 

The surviving B1s started firing, despite being unable to see with their conventional optics; orange bolts mostly flew randomly over the retreating crowd’s heads but some began slamming into the backs of people.

“Go! Go!” Lux screamed even as he took the opportunity to slam an elbow directly into Rash’s face, sending the usurper collapsing to the ground.

Steela kneeled next to Dendup, who had wisely used the entire big distraction to pull his head out of the energy field. “Come with us, majesty!” she screamed even as her rifle blasted another B1.

My WESTAR came up and I scored a direct headshot on the glorified tac droid, preventing it from breaking Saw’s neck, where he had rather foolishly engaged in a wrestling match with the thing.

That seemed to be the queue for the droid reinforcement, as hidden panels opened underneath the execution platform, allowing droidekas to roll out and B2s to claw their way forward, their blaster arms already deployed and shooting rapid streams of blasts outward.

They didn’t get more than one salvo off though, as droid poppers were waiting for them.

Chewie roared in challenge as his bowcaster blasted two droidekas to scrap mid-roll.

We strode into the battle, my hand moving just below supernatural speed, shooting my WESTAR under my left arm to kill a B1, before I fluidly brought it around, triggering it four times around me and I whirled around, killing a B2 and three more droids with precision shots. It brought me close to Dendup and I joined Steela’s defense of the king, whilst Chewie covered the remaining open flank.

All four doors of the palace burst open and more droid reinforcements, a full B1 company and a complement of commandos charged into the fray.

OLF snipers didn’t need orders to begin sending shots into the new arrivals, prioritizing the commandos.

Three died before they began their usual erratic maneuvers to dodge and evade fire, whilst firing blasters from one hand and carrying a vibroblade in the other.

The numbers of enemy droids were quickly ramping up into being untenable and the rebels in the close quarters group had already lost five men.

The droids coming out of the palace simply pushed those who fell to our fire out of the way and continued onwards, with B2s leading the way to absorb fire and act as mobile cover.

Droid poppers sailed forward through the air and created more of a pile in the palace entrance.

“Overwatch to Steela, we’ve got droids incoming from multiple directions to the square!” announced M8. 

“We have to move, now! Chewbacca, carry the king!” Steela ordered.

“Oof! Easy there, big fellow!” cried out Dendup as he was easily picked up by the wookiee’s left arm.

Chewie roared as his bowcaster felled another B2 with a one handed shot from his right, an absolutely ridiculous feat of strength considering how much it generally weighed.

“Do we have an exit route, M8?!” I shouted as I rapidly fired and felled four B1s within two seconds.

“North-west is currently clear!”

The droids pouring out of the palace suddenly paused and whirled around.

Then began firing back into it!

“What are they doing?!” Steela asked as she slapped home a new power pack and began shooting into the backs of the droids. The rebels didn’t let their astonishment at this strangeness last long either and joined in.

I smirked with satisfaction as my Farsight and senses confirmed two hundred Onderonian Royal Guard, in full armor, with Merr-Sonn carbines, rifles and force pikes, attacked the droids - led by General Tandin himself, blasting a B1s head off before stabbing a pike straight through another.

“TO KING DENDUP! FOR ONDERON!

“ONDERON!” shouted the Guard in answer.

“All units, Royal Guard just attacked the droids in the palace! Don’t fire on them when they emerge! Repeat, don’t fire on them!” I shouted into the comlink.

Caught in the vice between death at our hands and death by the Royal Guard, the droids defaulted to the highest threat rating.

Yet, mere twenty seconds of fighting later, General Tandin and his men and women burst through the enemy.

His own force pike still impaled on a flailing B1 torso as he swiped it to smash aside another droid.

The Guard emerged from each door, in close, disciplined formation, swinging force pikes and firing blaster.

“Guess my words made an impact on him!” Saw smirked as he fell into formation with us, already wielding a DC15 carbine he had taken from one of the fallen rebels.

Caught in a vice of blaster and force pike, the surviving droids were promptly overwhelmed. The Royal Guard rushed over the fallen droids and made doubly sure they wouldn’t be getting back up, their only destination the scrapheap.

“My Lord,” Tandin kneeled in front of Dendup, who was now back to standing on his own two feet with Chewbacca acting as a living wall behind him. “There is much to be said but we don’t have time.” He rose again and pointed at the sky above.

A swarm of rupings swooped into view, each ridden by another fully armed Royal guard.

They made a sharp mid-air turn before coming into land in front of the palace steps.

“There is enough space for all of us if we double up. I hope you have somewhere safe for us to retreat to Ms. Gerrera.”

“We do, but you must send the majority of you men into hiding, we don’t have the space.”

“Understood.”

“We also don’t trust your soldiers or you, general,” Saw said with narrowed eyes. “You saved us, sure, but this could all be part of a larger ruse that you and Rash worked out.”

“Which is why only he will come with us to HQ, along with King Dendup,” Steela said, her body language and tone making it clear that was her final word on the matter. “With the King’s agreement, of course.”

Dendup merely nodded, “Agreed, Ms. Gerrera. Consider it an order, General.”

“What do we do with Rash?” Saw jerked a thumb to the unconscious usurper, whose nose and mouth was bleeding from the hit that Lux had given him. His carbine was twitching and on the verge of actually aiming at the unconscious man.

“Leave him,” Dendup ordered firmly. “We go now.”

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In the chaos of the aftermath, the rupings of the Royal Guard fell into the air lanes, trying to blend in as much as possible. How successful we were was up for debate as the civilians also in the sky clearly knew that such a concentration of elaborately armored and well cared for rupings was not normal in the least.

The question of how far the events in Yolann Square had spread already was easy to see - judging by the collective mood of everyone. There was fear aplenty, but drowning it out was an ever increasing outrage and anger that was brewing and swelling - as if I was watching emotional yeast rising and casting the entire city in its dark haze.

My Farsight spread out, taking in snapshots, whilst I let the guardswoman in front of me handle the flying. 

Rash had seen fit to broadcast the execution, thinking he would also be showing off the capture and killing of the terrorists.

At the gathering places; restaurants, bars, parks and places of work, the anger simmered and was only fueled as people began discussing and arguing.

As we neared the Slagworks some quarter of an hour later, the tipping point was reached.

Someone below had a good blaster and more anger than common sense - and used it.

A B1 droid went down. The remaining squad turned immediately and retaliated, killing the man.

It was almost fascinating as it was horrifying, watching the event unfold in front of the eyewitnesses.

Another grabbed a heavy chair and flung it down from a high window to crash down on the head of another B1.

Emboldened, others grabbed anything heavy and began throwing.

The B1s were knocked off balance, their shots hitting the ground and air. Then another blaster fired and it turned into a rush as the emboldened crowd of people became a mob that managed to rush inward.

As a physical threat B1s weren’t much to write home about, they were just too cheap and mass produced. A strong and heavy enough organic could simply tackle them and with enough leverage rip off the head. However, the presence of B2s and AATs made any notion of unarmed rebellion futile.

The same scene was repeated across the city with a dozen variations of success and failure, causing loss of life and droid.

By the time our rupings landed on the roof of OLF HQ we had passed over many active fights and mobs.

Iziz was in open rebellion against the CIS.

I hopped off the ruping, opened my datapad and browsed through the Onderonian media feeds.

“King Dendup,” I walked up to the deposed king who was stretching out the stiffness from his back and bowed. “Jedi Commander Ahsoka Tano at your service.”

I put a hand on his shoulder, easing the spasm in his back muscles quickly and easily.

He blinked in astonishment before slightly bowing his head to me in Jedi fashion. “Well met, commander.”

“It is my duty to inform you that your planet and people have entered into open rebellion against the CIS. Every city is seeing skirmishes, those with Royal Guard detachments are mostly supporting it according to reports.”

“Mostly?” grumbled General Tandin stormily. “I ordered everyone to begin mobilization.”

“It seems that there are some Rash loyalists within the Guard. They have either disobeyed your order and stayed in support of droid forces or in at least one city there’s currently fighting between Rash loyalist Guard and those who recognize your order and King Dendup’s sovereignty.”

Dendup sighed wearily, a surge of guilt falling onto his mind. “Let us speak in more comfortable surroundings of our next steps.”

The logistics and security of our arrival had to be quickly sorted out first though, with General Tandin ordering the Guard riders to scatter in every direction before landing, removing their armor and uniform, retreating into civilian guise.

The king was escorted to the Rebel meeting room and the atmosphere among the OLF was electric with victory. It was tempered, however, with the knowledge that there was going to be much work ahead and that their fellow citizens were currently fighting and dying for the cause.

Steela wearily put down her rifle and collapsed onto her butt with as much dignity as she could onto the couch.

Dendup’s mouth twitched in amusement but he was all eyes for General Tandin who had entered the room.

A hush fell over the assembled rebels.

“Why?” Dendup asked of his general.

“It was time for a new approach, my lord.” He glanced at Saw. “You could say I had my eyes opened. That while I am sworn to the service of the sovereign, it cannot be at the expense of the people that the sovereign represents. Rash may be sitting in that chair, but he does not serve the Onderonian people’s interest.”

“When all this is over, I will clarify and amend the vows of service. Now I ask plainly, do I have your loyalty?”

“Yes, my lord and the majority of the army.”

“You have ours as well, my lord,” Steela nodded.

“Thank you, Ms. Gerrera.” Dendup in turn smiled at Lux knowingly. “Does your mother know what you’ve been up to?”

“No, my lord,” Lux shrugged uncomfortably. “With interstellar communications locked down or monitored, we’ve only exchanged personal messages.”

“Well, I’m sure she’ll eventually be proud of what you’ve managed to achieve here today.”

“I hope so, my lord. Though knowing her she’ll first give me a thorough scolding for using my money to fund an armed rebellion.”

“Let her get it out of her system, she’ll understand eventually. First, we must make the day where your mother can come home happen. We saw outside that the will of the people have spoken. Now we must make it a reality. Improvised weapons and projectiles will not avail against the heavy droids and weapons. Our first goal must be to win the capital and secure it from droid forces. Do you have any thoughts on how?”

Tandin nodded and glanced at Steela. “I do, my lord. Ms. Gerrera, your unconventional tactics in the city was clearly working. Yet your limited numbers mean you lack the scale to achieve larger objectives. My proposition is this; you train my men and women in those tactics and then when the moment is right, we strike as one all over the city.”

“It could work, but do we have the time for that?”

“We can afford four days,” I declared.

“Four days only?” she said in astonishment.   

“Count Dooku will not let the events of today go without a response, he will order Rash to begin harsh reprisals against the citizenry, including the hunting down of any army personnel in Iziz. General, I assume you have delegated the fight to your local commanders in the other cities?”

“Of course, Master Jedi.”

“Please, Commander will suffice,” I corrected him with a smile. “The point is that if we take too long here in Iziz, we’ll begin losing numbers of men at arms. What is the total number in the city under your command?”

“We were never a large force here, only 200. I supplemented our numbers today with reserves and trained citizen soldiers. That being said, I also sent out the general mobilization, which means we’ll have nine thousand trained and armed soldiers ready to fight within a day. That number can stretch to fifty thousand within a week if necessary.”

I inwardly balked at the sheer logistics of just getting droid poppers to that many through the thin supply line that existed currently.

“Your reservists have at least a military grade weapon and ammunition in their homes?”

“Correct, they have been ordered to lay low and not engage the enemy as yet.”

I stood, “Good, I will need to make a call, do what you have to do, general. I am here as an advisor, but I will fight where it is necessary.”

“It will be an honor to fight by your side, commander.”

“Commander Tano, please extend my sincere thanks to the Jedi Council for their help,” Dendup said with a slight bow, gratitude clear in his tone. 

“I will do so, highness.”

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“You seem to have had a busy day, Snips.”

“Quite,” I said wryly to his hologram projected to my right as I leaned on the railing of a walkway overlooking the warehouse floor.

A floor that was playing host to a structured training session for Guardsmen and reservist squad leaders. Tandin decided to strike whilst the durasteel was still hot, clandestinely gathering the men and women from the reserve to come and train in the tactics that would liberate the city. My own job was vetting the true intentions of every Onderonian reservist coming in, making sure none would turn coat.

In this way, we had already weeded out two potential spies, who were looking to sell out to Rash.

“Not only saving the king, but now there’s an entire planet that’s rebelling. We’re getting reports from every major city of fighting in the streets, and in some cases it’s spilling out into the jungle. A number of loyalists have had to flee their cities and they’re going to begin conducting asymmetric campaigns.”

“What of Rash? Why did Dendup let him go?”

“To keep at least someone onderonian on the throne and moderating the Separatist response. If the strategic command of droid forces fell to the local tactical droids, everyone would be in way more trouble, Skyguy. Rash is no military leader, despite his acumen for scheming. Better that the enemy be yoked with his incompetence.”

“And this new form of tactical droid?”

“I’ve questioned General Tandin extensively on it and I’m afraid I have bad news. It definitely has implications for the greater war against the Separatists. It has enough intelligence and free will to actually choose its own name, it’s been built and programmed from the ground up with tactical data harvested from the war. Its name is Kalani, a modified ST-series that can pose a viable physical threat in direct confrontation, presumably built this way as a form of self-defense.”

Anakin closed his eyes as I sent my memory of blasting the head of Kalani during the firefight.

The WESTARs shot had cored a hole clean through and the droid had fallen over but…

“You think it has a distributed intelligence around its body like the Magnaguards.”

“Yes, it only played ‘dead’ for us. I was too busy keeping myself and the king alive to do much more and in the end decided to let this Kalani believe it had succeeded in fooling us. We can expect it to continue to play a role in this conflict.”

“I’ll speak to Republic Intelligence about this new model tactical droid, you can expect them to call as well.”

“I’m breathless with anticipation,” I said sardonically. “General Tandin indicates that whilst the droid is extremely knowledgeable in its strategy and tactics, it still struggles to calculate which tactics to apply and tends to default to the most efficient, which usually translates to the most bloody. There is thankfully no way to program experience and wisdom.”

Even HK-47 would agree with that, though he’d use words like ‘pruning redundant code segments’ and it made me wonder what the ancient assassin droid would say about Kalani.

Anakin nodded, his eyes scanning the bustling activity in the room below. “When will major operations begin?”

“Technically it has already begun, many Royal guards are tagging along with the OLF today, we’re keeping up the pressure with hit-and-run tactics. Thankfully, the general citizenry vented a lot yesterday and common sense prevailed. They’re keeping off the streets and King Dendup declared martial law and curfews over the Holonet before Rash could do the same. Though it seems the Onderon underworld is also joining in on the fun. The Slagworks is a practical no-droid zone thanks to well armed criminals who are very patriotic. The only droid patrols that exist on the streets now are organized combined arm formations.”

“Which makes it both more dangerous and conveniently concentrates the droids, allowing you to engage more decisively.”

I gave Anakin a steely eye, “Am I getting those extra supplies, Skyguy?”

“On the record, the Council is still in deliberation. There is a group of them who believe that our job on Onderon is over. Thankfully they’re in the minority at the moment and Master Yoda disagrees with them. He wishes to generate more consensus before he puts his gimer stick down. Unofficially, you’re going to get them. There are four light freighters that have been successfully overhauled with cloaks, which will begin higher volume supply deliveries. All goes well, you’ll be seeing increased deliveries within three days.”

“It better happen, Skyguy. We’ve already begun rationing droid poppers and retrieving spent ones where possible. Chewie’s figured out a way to refurbish them with local supplies.”

Anakin chuckled, “That wookiee, if I’m not careful he’s going to be outdoing me in the technical department soon.”

For a while we just stood comfortably in each other’s presence, even though we were thousands of light years apart in reality.

“So what have you been up to without me?”

Anakin made a grunt that told me he was not a happy camper. “The Council, in its infinite wisdom, given that you’re so busy on Onderon, has decided that I should be part of the effort to educate newly raised Jedi Knights in the duties expected of them in the GAR. Especially those who are likely to get the rank of general.”

“They actually managed to conduct Knight trials?” I asked in astonishment.

“It surprised me as well. It seems there was a cohort of padawans that should’ve had their trials nine months ago. The war naturally delayed it, but now it's gotten to the point where the GARs expansion needs new Jedi leaders, not to mention replacements for losses that we’ve suffered. So I now have a fresh, newly minted Jedi Knight, following me around and learning from how we do things on the Resolute.”

“And does this knight have a name?”

“Baylan Skoll.”

“Coruscanti?” I asked casually.

“Yes,” said Anakin, frowning at me suddenly. He had picked up on the fact that I had the briefest reactions to the name, before he only felt normalcy from me.

“How good is he?”

“Quite strong, Form V Djem So with the blade, skilled in most major forms of Alter, mindwalking but not at a level where he could specialize in it.”

“Generalist then.”

“Yes, his former master did a good job in teaching him, though his blade work reminds me too much of every bad habit Obi-Wan had to bash out of me, due to our relatively large body size.” ‘Should I be worried, Snips?’ Came the inevitable question into my mind.

‘No, master. Skoll is just someone, who features in a number of future probability lines that intersect with my own. He falls to become a Dark Jedi in the majority of them, we will meet and cross blades as enemies.’

‘And that’s not something to worry about?’

‘Nothing you can do or say specifically, master. I explained only so you can know and not wring yourself into a thousand different knots worrying about it. Treat him no differently than you would anyone else you’re teaching. His future and many others will be influenced by our actions in the next two years.’

“At least you won’t get rusty then without me to keep you on your toes, Skyguy,” I teased.

“I’ll have you know that I’ve so far bested Skoll in every sparring contest we’ve had,” he said archly with a mock pomposity.

“Really? By how much?”

The most minor squirming in his shoulders told me the answer, before he rolled his eyes, “Fine, it’s usually by one or two points.”

I gasped and clutched at my chest, “Oh dear, the great Anakin Skywalker, winning only by the slimmest of margins against a novice knight.”

He folded his arms in irritation, glaring at me. “Funny. Now, is there anything else that needs to be addressed?”

“No, master.”

“Good,” Anakin looked off to the side. “I need to go. Keep up the good work, Ahsoka.”

I bowed, sensing he had company in Briefing One - Baylan Skoll had walked into the room. “Thank you, Master. I’ll check in at the scheduled time, unless an emergency comes up.”

“Force be with you.”

“And you, master.”

His holo vanished and I quickly walked out of the warehouse, into the cool late night evening of Iziz.

A quick run across the street and after a quick check, I was let into OLF HQ by the rebels on guard duty.

My destination was on the upper floors. A small nondescript room that looked utterly unremarkable from the outside and ordinary to any normal sense. To me, however, it was a beacon of pain and suffering I could no longer ignore. I knocked with an insistent cadence, the type that told the occupant that whoever it was, I would not be going away. There wasn’t any answer or indication of movement, so I knocked again after waiting the appropriate number of seconds.

“YES! I’m coming, kriff it!” snapped the occupant.

The door was pulled open with gusto and I was greeted with the hilarious sight of Saw Gerrera deflating like a balloon when he saw that I was the one who was disturbing his attempt to fall asleep. He also cringed when I got an eyeful of his shirtless bare torso - not that I was complaining much from an eye candy perspective. He barely had an ounce of fat on his frame, his wiry muscles in stark relief under his skin, which wasn’t exactly healthy. He was still in the latter stages of the long road of recovery from his near starvation during his time in the rhydonium mine.

“Oh, uh, Ahsoka, sorry,” he hurried back into the room and pulled a shirt on.

“Relax Saw, not here for what you’re thinking.”

“Uh, then… then why are you here?”

“You could say I’m here in a professional capacity as the OLFs only Healer or Doctor. Get yourself on the bed, now.” I pointed to the small cot with a very thin mattress, only a single cover and a pillow that hardly looked up to the job.

He just stared at me for a long time, his brain struggling to process the words. I rolled my eyes and stepped forward, giving him a firm shove and using the Force to guide his fall. It said everything about his situation that he didn’t protest or even have the strength to resist my light Push.

“Oof!” He winced in pain. I pulled up the only chair in the room and sat down near his head. The Force began to stir and was soon a torrent as I guided it, my hands cupped on either side of his head. “What are you doing?”

“You really thought that you could just shrug off and sleep away an extensive session of electro-interrogation?” I asked incredulously. “Most don’t know the long term consequences and if it isn’t treated now, then the damage to your brain will result in anything from personality alteration, depression, chronic anxiety and insomnia. The list of neural disorders is so long that I could spend most of the evening going through them with you.”

My focus pushed ever inward, down into Saw’s brain, the neurons there and the connection to his entire nervous system. It was thankfully a textbook case - the electric overload had disrupted nerve firing and it had mostly returned to normal. However, the base chemical signal expression at the nerve gaps had been badly affected in roughly 23% of his brain, exactly where the ventromedial and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex was.

Inwardly, I was rather astonished.

Was this it? Was this what had laid the foundation for becoming the heartless asshole that many future probabilities had for him? Both those parts of the brain were key parts of the neural network that governed cognitive empathy.

My focus went smaller and smaller, then, molecule by molecule I began rearranging the chemicals that would allow for proper nerve signaling across the gaps.

“Ahsoka, how long is this going to take?”

“It will take as long as it needs to. This will not be a case of me just waving my hand and fixing it. Nothing related to the brain is. We will need a session like this every evening and then maybe in three weeks I can have this to an acceptable level. If I was a specialist Jedi Healer then I could have you stable in a few days, but since I’m not and we can’t get you to the Jedi Temple - this will have to do. Now, hush, I need to concentrate.”

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A/N: The series had a lot of nasty scenes with regard to interrogation by the bad guys. The actual consequences of that, is not just shrugged off, unless you're a Jedi with sufficient Internal Control or have a suitable Healer on hand.

Enjoy your weekend and stay awesome!