The Force Wills - Chapter 156 (Patreon)

It didn’t take me more than a few seconds to determine that Rostek Horn was no fool.

He had not made this stop alone.

In his speeder, conveniently hidden out of sight by the reflective transparisteel and in the rear seats, I sensed what had to be a female selonian. She was a tall brown furry biped, sharp fangs and claws, a powerful tail, all ensconced in a tunic and jacket, leaving her lower half only covered with a loin cloth. She carried the CorSec shield on her belt, armed and her long pointed face was looking down into a datapad with a cam feed looking at Horn directly along with a microphone.

If I tried a mind trick on her partner, the probability line was not pleasant at all. She’d come storming out shooting in defense with stun bolts. My Tutaminis would let me practically absorb anything she could dish out and when I disarmed her with a Pull on her weapon, I’d be left carrying her with telekinesis and the Force Sleep was seemingly ineffective on a selonian. Going hand-to-hand against her was also not a good idea if I wanted to keep my skin intact.

They also had a remote surveillance link that went straight back to CorSec HQ, which would soon drown us in law enforcement if we went down the path of escalation.

I gave a look to Taria, ‘We need to play along.’

‘We are undercover, Ahsoka,’ she reminded me.

Taking the lead I opened the door slowly and nodded to Mata.

The moment she emerged, Horn’s eyes locked onto her with deep scrutiny, “Mrs. Fhernan, are you all right?”

She folded her arms, giving him an annoyed look, “Yes, Officer Horn, I am. All things considered.”

“That being the dead anzati in your home?” he asked leadingly.

“Yes, the dead anzati in my home,” she rolled her eyes. “Did the ruckus get reported by one of the neighbors?”

“It did and as you are on a CorSec watchlist after the stalking incident of last year, the matter was forwarded to my desk as a priority. We immediately deployed airborne security droids to keep a distant watch on you, which revealed you were not alone.” He turned a scrutinizing stare to me and Taria. “Our database identifies you as Helera Geil and Aven Leneeme. Co-owners of the light freighter Zator, currently landed in this shipyard for a hyperdrive overhaul.”

Well, it was good to know that our backdated profiles into Republic databases had passed scrutiny even by CorSec.

“Yes,” Taria confirmed simply.

“And what brought you all the way across the city, into the retirement district?”

“See the sights of the Jewel of Corellia, from east to west.”

“Where you just happen to stumble upon an anzati that was in the middle of feeding off Mrs. Fhernan and you did your civic duty by rescuing her from its clutches and breaking his neck in the fight.”

It was impressively subtle but I felt the disguised com bud in Horn’s right ear, receiving a constant modulated signal. It wouldn’t surprise me if Mata’s house was now swarming with a CorSec forensic team, who was speaking directly to him. His flat expression was clear that he didn’t believe his own hypothesis for a moment. In his mind, no normal spacer could interrupt an anzati assassin in the middle of a kill and in turn kill them. He was giving us a rope of nerfshit, encouraging us to grab it, so he could just play ‘gotcha’ with us. No one went into the Visk District to ‘see the sights’.

Taria shook her head, “Whatever your conclusion is from the public security sensors you referenced in the street, we happened to be in the Visk District when Aven heard the anzati. I was a member of Ghaina’s public security force and as such could take on the assassin with reasonable odds, especially as he was preoccupied by feeding.”

He stared her down for a moment before turning to Mata, “You’re remarkably quick on the recovery, Mrs Fernhan. Everything I referenced about anzati feeding means you should at least be in need of direct medical intervention, even if it was interrupted.”

Mata kept her cool and showed quite impressive self-control, not surprising in an actress, even a retired one.

“Officer Horn, I suggest you focus on how an anzati was able to make planetfall on Corellia. Instead of interrogating me and my rescuers. As far as I’m aware, that entire race is officially on the red list in this system. He should’ve been detected by customs patrol in orbit, not to mention the space port!”

“That is one of my avenues of investiga-”

“Good!” She interrupted, puffing with a haughty ego that she put on herself like an old glove. “Then I trust you CorSec boys are not making a mess of my home and will investigate why an anzati assassin would be targeting me. How I’m still standing on my own two feet is irrelevant. After I was rescued by Aven and Helera, I decided to indulge in a bit of wanderlust, see the stars again with them. I certainly didn’t want to sit around in a home I was just attacked in.”

Horn kept his own cool, but I could see and sense the frustration building in him. “Mrs Fhernan, you can be assured that CorSec will treat your property with the utmost professionalism and discretion, but it is also a crime scene under law now. All of you are subject to this investigation and are obliged to remain on Corellia until it concludes to my own satisfaction and that of the Department.”

Mata and Horn continued their argument, but my senses were focused on the mobile security cam that was currently hovering above a neighboring building in an overwatch position of the entire street.

Frak, Horn had to bring one right here, I thought furiously.

I had hoped to get us back into the Zator quickly, but Mata and Horn were both trying to out-stubborn the other. She clearly had some legal experience herself, whether from sheer osmosis in the past or maybe she had taken some legal studies somewhere, but it was tying Horn’s arguments in knots and keeping him focused on her.

My focus turned to the Force and I began steadily marshalling more and more strength.

Taria raised her left eyebrow and gave me a questioning look out of the corner of her eyes.

“Mrs Fhernan, really, you’re being entirely unreasonable. You-”

There was a time to be a Shadow, but now was not that time.

I looked up at the mobile security cam - it was 90cm long, spherical, with multiple optical lenses, sensors on articulation mounts, it also featured a droid level intelligence to help keep it out of the way and general navigation.

Those same lenses burst open with a shattering sound, followed by sharp pop of some form of released compression.

Sickly yellow gas began hissing outward and began steadily drifting downwards to street level.

I burst forward and pushed Horn out of the way with complete surprise, sending the man tumbling onto his behind. This would have the neat effect of letting him actually see the reason for my sudden ‘attack’ on his person, as he looked up into the sky.

I raised my hands upwards with explosive speed.

The Force Wave visibly rippled through the air at a speed akin to a hyper tram.

The gas hadn’t spread too far yet, so the Wave caught everything, including the security cam, which shot upward sixty meters in a moment.

I took another step forward and now dragged my hands through the air in front of me.

The heavier than air gas worked in my favor, as the indirect Force Push caught the expanding cloud and its release mechanism and was propelled downwind. 

I had saved our lives from a very messy end, but in so doing had just doomed everyone who just happened to be in a south-easterly direction towards the nearby ocean, when gravity reclaimed the gas and that bloody cam droid fulfilled its programming.

My breathing was harsh as I regained my equilibrium, “Helera, take the controls!” I shouted as I jumped into our speeder.

She pushed Mata back inside and did a Force Jump somersault over the vehicle, to get to the other side quickly.

We were already in the air by the time Horn’s selonian partner managed to get out of her own vehicle to render aid to him.

Our speeder was barely twenty odd meters into the sky, when I had to focus and release another Push…  

“What is that?! What’s going on?!” babbled Mata.

“Highly lethal bioweapon that your daughter was forced to make, it’s being distributed by cam droids,” I hissed, pulling on the Force.

The lethal cloud surged forward and the battered cam droid tried to escape.

Taria used the speeder perfectly to cut it off, smacking it hard enough to prevent it from going on its programmed route, but not so hard that it was smashed to pieces.

I immersed myself into the Force, extending my telekinetic control far enough to keep the entire poison cloud as one contiguous mass, which now included the cam droid.

“Get us out over the ocean, Taria, not too fast!” I said through gritted teeth.

The notion that staying in control over a solid mass of matter was one thing, but a dispersing mass of gas being pulled by the wind was another… and it was threatening my focus with a vengeance.

No!

No different!

Size matters not!

Now I would add my own aphorism… state matters not!

“This fast enough, Ahsoka? Or should I slow down?”

“It’s fine, keep it there!”

Speed matters not, but it was sure easier if we kept it to under 60kph.

I pulled in the size of my sphere of control, clawing at the deadly cloud with planes of telekinetic force. My training under Bendu on Mortis came in clutch, though he would’ve solved this problem easily - a single thought and the very molecular bonds of this bioweapon would’ve been undone and rendered harmless.

Finally, we were over the ocean.

I crushed the droid into compacted debris no larger than a tennis ball.

The remaining gas inside, exposed to such pressure, combusted and exploded into a brief fireball that pushed outwards.

The distraction nearly threatened my focus, even as I was kicking myself for not thinking of that.

For this, I was forced into using a mnemonic… lifting my hands up in front of my face, my eyes closed, unable to afford the slightest distraction.

I clapped.

The entire gas cloud filled with the damotite bioweapon surged inward and I crushed it.

There was a bright flash with the combustion event and the expanding shockwave rang on the speeder’s hull.

Taria was already evading, dodging the broiling airspace in front of us as best she could.

“That was… very innovative, Ahsoka,” Taria stared at me with wide eyes, her hands on the controls guiding the speeder into a leisurely curve back to the city.

My equilibrium returned and I quickly plunged into my own presence within the Force.

After a few moments, I felt the good news. I wouldn’t be crashing into unconsciousness. That had been a definite strain to do but… it was something I now found myself equal to managing.

“Yes well, we’re not out of the woods yet, look,” I pointed into the distance towards Coronet City’s distant heart.

An acrid yellow cloud was covering it like a blanket from hell and both of us felt the death of so many, reverberating in the Force.

“We need to get back to Horn,” Taria stepped on the speeder’s throttle as the civil emergency sirens of the city began wailing.

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Rex stood over the small holotank of the command AT-TE, his hands braced against the sides against the thumping of the walker legs reverberating through the hull with every step.

The walker’s main gun fired, reducing a distant enemy Persuader tank to fragmented molten fire as its tibanna plasma ammo stores brewed up.

All across the line of advance, walkers were the centerpieces, with the 501st infantry taking shelter behind each.

Each walker had a forward facing shield powered by a supplementary reactor, which did cut down on some of the walker’s consumable stowage, but Rex considered it a worthwhile sacrifice on this battlefield.

The initial barrage from enemy Hailfire tanks had been blunted, allowing the AT-TEs return barrage to gut and sweep them from the battlefield.

The Persuaders, in the strength of multiple companies, were now roaring forward on their singular central tracks.

“Missile barrage!” announced the intel sergeant.

The forward facing heavy cannon ball turrets on every AT-TE swiveled up and began their anti-missile rapid fire mode.

Streams of heavy blaster fire began sweeping across the sky by the integrated fire control droid intelligences of each walker.

The Persuader’s concussion missiles were not as strong as a fighter-launched variant, but it was still powerful enough to take out a Republic walker with a single hit.

That changed today.

Rex watched with an inner satisfaction as an AT-TE on the right flank was hit and it walked through the resulting impact and proton air ignition with not a single scratch, its shields reduced by a fair percentage.

He looked over the ranges one last time, adjusted the positioning of a few units with manipulations of the holo, then keyed his command channel, “All units, Tau 21, engage.”

Dozens of heavy troopers all along the line lifted their PLX-1 missile launchers and after confirming no one was stupidly behind them, depressed the fire studs.

Every AT-TE simultaneously opened fire with their mass driver cannon, two walkers firing on the same target all along the line.

Rex hit his fist against the holotank in savage victory as sixteen Persuaders died in seconds, whilst twenty more were disabled or completely destroyed as hundreds of PLX missiles rained down on the survivors and the B2 droid formations.

“Skywalker to Rex!”

He tapped the command channel, “Rex here.”

“Rex, I want the entire 501st to engage vac seal, now! Biohazard protocol!”

This was something that had been trained and drilled extensively. Every trooper knew that the enemy had tried this earlier in the war and Commander Tano had put the entire 501st through both classroom and biohazard drills in the middle of battle sims. Rex knew that one of the classified reasons they were even fighting on this rock, was because intel had shown the clankers making another go at developing a bioweapon.

“501st, Biohazard Alpha, go!” he shouted into the command nets.

He watched in the holotank as every trooper and walker unit on the battlefield engaged their BC seals, the multitude of icons going from green to blue and a general timer for six hours appeared and began counting down.

He heard the hiss of life support systems shift in his own command walker as they were isolated completely from the atmosphere of Lanteeb.

Another missile barrage came from the surviving enemy Persuaders, but these did not aim towards the advancing Republic lines, but instead exploded in mid-air.

The holotank began flashing red as a persistent cloud of gas began falling onto the battlefield.

Even some of the B1s intermingled between the columns of B2s began emitting this gas as well.

A quick look into a visual sensor, showed it to be a sickly dull yellow in color. There was no strong wind as a result of the theater shield, so at least that was working in their favor. The combination of the grassland fires and this gas was going to truly foul visual targeting.

The true test was going to come in mere minutes as the 501st’s advancing line of battle would have to wade straight into the bioweapon cloud.

If it had any corrosive properties then it could begin to eat away at their life support seals.

“I want full scans forward, make sure we’re sending all data to the battlegroup in orbit,” Rex ordered grimly.

“At once, Captain.”

“Fire plan Delta 4.”

The ranges were close enough now that some of the heavy troopers could switch to Z6 rotary blaster cannons. They, along with the standard rifle infantry, stepped out from behind the AT-TEs and began streaming rivers of blaster fire across the battlefield.

The enemy, writhed in their bioweapon, fired in return.

He hated this part, the inevitable grinding attrition.

“Captain, the enemy bioweapon isn’t enough to obscure our trooper thermal vision,” reported the intel sergeant.

“Good.”

“Skywalker to Rex, I want every trooper who still has Phase 1 armor to fall back immediately.”

Most of the 501st had by now transitioned to the Phase 2 armor gear, which was more modular, comfortable and flexible. It sacrificed some overall protection, but he didn’t know a single trooper who didn’t find it infinitely more preferable over the Phase 1 armor they had started the war with. However, it was still an ongoing process, the heavy troopers and other specialists were still lagging behind in getting equipped.

The order was relayed, even as he hated having to give it.

When the first troopers waded into the gas cloud, blasters blazing, the first reports came in, he could only thank the Force that they had Jedi on their side.

“Captain, troopers are indicating their seals are holding but there is clear degradation occurring,” reported the sergeant.

“How long?”

“Best guess I can make with the reports in hand and preliminary scans of the bioweapon, we have roughly 70 minutes. Best make it 50 to be safe, Captain.”

“If this is what it does to Phase 2…”

The sergeant nodded, “General Skywalker was right on the money, Captain.”

“What about the AT-TEs?”

“The integrity seals are much thicker, we’d have to spend days wading through this nerfshit before we have to worry, sir.”

“Good. Rex to all company commands. I want Fire Plan Resh. Let’s show these clankers that their fancy new weapon is just a bit of colored fog for all the good it will do them!”

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We landed next to Horn’s speeder to find a scene of barely controlled chaos.

He and his selonian partner were standing in front of the hood, a portable holo projecting a map of the city center and surroundings, whilst both were barking orders into their comlinks. Trying to muster some order out of the tragedy and chaos. More CorSec officers and patrollers had arrived and were busy setting up a proper command post. Even as Horn, who had assumed general command, was talking with barely controlled anger into his link, I felt the crushing grief on his shoulders. In the neighboring shipyard, tractor beam projectors were locking down every YT-1300, the skies were rapidly emptying of speeders and ships as no-fly lockdowns fell on every navicomputer over Coronet.

“Yes! I want everything! I want you to bring down every vac suit and biohazard response suit in the system down here, yesterday! And if you don’t, I’ll be personally slapping you in cuffs as a traitor! Now get me those suits!”

He slapped his comlink and gave a pointed glare at both of us.

“Master Jedi, you have my thanks for saving my life and the thousands around the shipyards, but right now I can’t spare more than a few minutes to talk to you.”

“What’s the situation?” Taria bowed

“Estimated 60 000 dead in the city center and that number is climbing. CorSec HQ was the target. Any agent, officer or patrolman who was on duty there is now nothing more than a degrading biomatter puddle. The weapon was deployed in a 3km diameter area, which spread out to 5km as it settled. Anyone who was at ground level in that zone is dead and we have thousands now trapped on the higher floors of their buildings. I’m coordinating the emergency response and we need to try to evacuate anyone we can get to. Thankfully, the majority of buildings have large landing pads. It's the smaller ones where we need vac suits to get people out of the dead zone. The Green Jedi are also responding in full force to help the evacuation.”

I shook my head, “Officer Horn, this is a damotite-based gaseous bioweapon. One of its features is to quickly erode the flexible plasteel used in the most common vac suits and older armor sets. You’d need GAR Phase 2 armor to wade into it for any length of time and even then you’d have a limited time.”

There was a long silence and he stared hard straight into my eyes. “You know about this weapon?” 

“We knew it existed and even where it’s being produced. The Open Circle Armada is in a battle as we speak at the production site to destroy it.”

I felt his anger soar, but he controlled himself admirably. “I trust you and the rest of the Jedi will be looking long and hard into how this occurred and who is responsible?”

“Oh, we will,” Taria said, her dangerous flat tone not lost on Horn. “Are you currently in command of the response?”

“CorSec chiefs from all over the planet were all in a meeting when the attack hit, no doubt planned as a decapitation strike on the entire organization. Right now, as far as I can tell, the shield stops with me. I’ve put out calls to see if I can’t get our last senior chief out of retirement temporarily, but I’m not holding my breath.”

“You saw what my student did. Even if you evacuated the affected area, you’d still need to deal with this thing and if the weather changes-”

She gestured to the thankfully calm starlit evening sky, the near perpetual cloud cover had retreated for the moment.

“I see your point, but will she be able to handle that much volume?”

“No, which is why I’m asking you to call in every available Green Jedi. She can at least explain the technique she used. Numbers may make the difference.”

Horn grimaced, scratching his stubbly jaw as he considered it, “That was a very energetic explosion, can they make sure it goes off high enough to not endanger survivors?”

“That will be a consideration, Officer Horn, but time is not on anyone's side and a few damaged buildings will be preferable to the alternative of this cloud of death being swept further through the city.”

He tapped his wrist comlink, “Horn, Officer 3431530, CorSec, priority Zerek communication to Master Aarnas.”

“Standby,” said the tinny tone of a protocol droid.

Horn gave both of us a pointed look, “Brace yourselves. Master Aarnas is no fan of the Coruscanti High Council.”

“I am very much aware, Horn,” Taria said wryly.

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Jedi Master Jorr Aarnas, Supreme Commander of the Corellian Sect of the Jedi Order was not someone I wanted to meet in an alleyway.

That was my rather irrational first thought on seeing the man.

He was tall, broad-shouldered, had the pale, yet weathered look of a lifelong spacer but with a set to this face that made me think of a very perceptive and dangerous old akul that stalked through forests of Shili. His silver-gray hair was severely cut with a trimmed beard and had piercing hazel eyes that felt like they could see everything. His deep green Jedi robes were edged with gold and black, whilst beneath I could see very practical tunic, tight pants and calf-length black boots, with the center of a large utility belt visible.

Added to the intimidation factor of this man, he stood at the head of nearly 200 Green Jedi who were standing in a perfect rectangular formation. Behind them were the four blocky, armed transport ships that they had arrived in, landed directly in the side street next to the shipyard.

“Master Damsin, Padawan Tano,” he greeted with a mild bow.

We returned the bow even as I felt mild shock from Horn as my true identity was revealed.

“We thank you again for the leave to operate on Corellia,” Taria said serenely.

“Let’s dispense with the formalities, Damsin. We have no time to waste. Officer Horn, has your people done as I asked?”

“We’ve provisionally enlisted every captain we could find in the shipyard, for those we couldn’t locate, we simply sliced the controls and can worry about compensation later. We now have 67 YT-1300s at our disposal with either a pilot or astromech.”

“Excellent. Padawan Tano, you will share the memory of exactly what you did with me, which in turn I will share with my council, who will share it down the line.”

I bowed, “Yes, Master.”

He stepped forward until he was within arm’s reach, towering over me by a full head. A broad, strong hand came down on my shoulder.

For efficiency’s sake, I surged a Bond forward, which Aarnas expertly channeled and accepted.

I immediately got a broad snapshot of the man - stubborn, independent, sarcastic and unapologetically patriotic. He believed that Force guided individuals first, worlds second and the galaxy a distant third. Despite his zeal for Corellia, he had sent Green Jedi on secondment to the greater Jedi Order to serve in the war. He was deeply honorable, fiercely protective of innocents, (especially Corellians) respected for his tactical brilliance and unyielding integrity.

Just thinking of what this man could’ve accomplished in the war alongside Anakin, Obi-Wan and myself made me feel a hint of regret. The tradition of Green Jedi never leaving the Corellian sector was loosened for the war, but Aarnas was a firm believer in it and as leader, set the example for his order.

I carefully gathered the memory, pruning things down to the very essence. It wasn’t very complicated, but everyone had a different level of talent in telekinesis. I could definitely see Aarnas doing it, his strength in the Force was considerable, slightly below Mace Windu if I had to judge something so esoteric and prone to fluctuation.

With a final check to see I hadn’t left anything unnecessary or compromising, I pushed it down the Bond.

Aarnas frowned for a moment, before nodding and I felt the Force ripple and flow from him - as if a giant finger had just been dipped in a pond. 

The Force began rumbling like sand on a vibrating drum as over 200 combined Jedi in a single point in time and space tapped the energy field and accepted the memory.  

He then made a mere commanding gesture towards the shipyard, with no need for speeches or stroking morale.

All the Green Jedi, with perfect coordination and efficiency, streamed towards nearby shipyard gates and spread out towards the waiting light freighters.

“With your leave, we will also use the Zator and join in the effort, Master,” Taria offered.

He looked down at me and I could feel he was somewhat impressed with me, not to mention I felt the further depths of his thankfulness for the Corellian lives I had already saved. “You think you’re up for it, young lady?”

I steeled myself and said, not with overconfidence, nor arrogance, but simple necessity in the matter, “Yes, Master.”

He smiled and severed our Bond neatly, giving a single pat on my shoulder. “Good. Oh, if only you’d been born on Corellia, you’d have made a fine Green Jedi.”

I smiled in turn, bowing to accept the compliment.

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Soon the beleaguered heart of Coronet City heard the sound of dozens of sub-light YT-1300 engines as the rescue fleet of light freighters brought themselves to a steady forward hover over the central district.

Taria and every Green Jedi behind the controls, in a feat that could only be attributed to controlled guidance through the Force, kept a smooth formation and separation from each other.

In the co-pilot chair, my senses were easily stretched to encompass the entire death zone. I could generally feel every survivor, either alone or hunkered down together in groups on various upper floors. The fear, misery, grief, despair and loss of many thousands streamed towards me. I could even feel the slight echoes of those who had died so horribly, their residual emotions still strongly colored the Force.

“You ready for this, Ahsoka?”

“Yes,” I said, closing my eyes and opening myself to the Force completely.

We were hovering right above one of the main skyscrapers of the central district, I reached down and felt the tentative probings of the other Jedi in the sky doing the same.

I didn’t think of any limits.

My Control bloomed in size, only stopping until I felt my strength dilute to the point where the damotite gas was slipping through.

With a flex of will, a volume of six high by 12 wide by 40 meters in length began to rise upward.

I couldn’t go too fast or risk letting it leak and spread at higher elevations.

Finally, I had the gaseous mass hovering two hundred meters above the Zator… and clapped.

The flash and explosion rocked the ship, but Taria kept it steady.

Rising into the sky, behind my effort, even larger masses of the gas were brought up, with Jedi working in perfectly drilled teams, combining their strength to a point where it was greater than the sum of the individual.

Flashes and thumping explosions began popping all over the sky above the central district of Coronet City, as if a firework celebration was being held.

I waited to regain my equilibrium, before reaching down again. The heavier-than-air nature of the gas made it behave almost like a ghostly liquid, and the remaining mass rushed in to fill the voids we had created.

I managed to grab an even larger amount on my second go, carefully lifting, squeezing it together more and more as I pulled it up.

A deep breath…

Clap.

As the ship rocked from the residual shockwave we heard a brief scream of fright echoing through the Zator’s central corridor.

“That was Mata,” Taria frowned with worry. “I’m switching to autopilot, be right back, Ahsoka. Keep going.”

I could only nod, fending off the curious notion to look with farsight or even prescience, my focus couldn’t afford the distraction.

The rumbling and thumping of the gas being destroyed over the skies of the city blended into my perceptions as I hauled my next load upward. It was as if a ghoulish firework show was happening, but there was no happiness and glee here.

I increased the distance from the ship by another fifty meters and…

The ship only shuddered this time as the shockwave was dissipated more over the extra distance.

My focus became singular… reaching down, gathering more, pulling it up high… I was barely even conscious of my body moving, my hands clapped…

“Wow! Did you actually do that!? That’s so wizard.”

The very out of place voice of a young boy whose voice had just broken was enough to bring my perceptions screaming back.

I turned in my seat to see a scruffy twelve year old, wearing worn down but quite functional clothing in Corellian fashion. His dark brown hair was long and roughly cut around his neck into a crude but functional style. Brown eyes shone with an awed wonder, but it was quickly tempered when Taria squeezed his shoulders in warning.

“Sorry about the disturbance, Ahsoka, but it seems we have a stowaway and thief on board.”

“Should invest in better ship lockouts,” he mumbled under his breath, which we both heard quite clearly.

I couldn’t help but laugh, “Thanks for the advice, kid. We’ll definitely be having words with the shipyard master about that. Did his fingers snag anything?”

“A few valuable souvenirs from both our quarters,” Taria said archly. “Which has been recovered. How are you feeling?”

“I can do with a few minutes of rest. The Green Jedi have things mostly in hand. The central district should be safe enough in another… hour or so. For safety’s sake, we’ll still need to evac people with the ships. The streets will have some persistent unsafe residue from the bioweapon.”

“Hopefully Republic scientists will be able to work on a direct counter-agent.”

The kid’s eyes were now drinking in the cockpit of the Zator with clear interest and my nose picked out his rather pungent unwashed smell, which was at odds with his clean face and clothes. My general sense of his health sealed the conclusion - street kid, but not entirely homeless. He was living the life of a pickpocket for survival, perhaps he even had a handler.

“What’s your name, kid?” I asked kindly.

For a small instant, his eyes widened in panic, before it was replaced with a pretty good Sabacc face, “Drash,” he lied smoothly.

“Well, ‘Drash’, do you know what just happened out there? To the city?”

He shook his head, “No, but that stuff looks really nasty.”

“It is. The Separatists used security droids to deliver this weapon all over the central city district; many people have died. The Green Jedi are trying their best to clean it up. The point I’m trying to make is that this ship is part of a fleet that is going to be evacuating people from the upper floors of buildings. We can’t break formation, just to drop you off. Delivering you to CorSec or the Green Jedi as a thief is also a ridiculous notion at the moment, when they have much bigger nerfs to fry. Both Master Damsin and I, as Jedi, have notional law enforcement powers even on Corellia and in this crisis. So congratulations, you’ve just been conscripted as a temporary crewman aboard the Zator. You will be helping Mata and Master Damsin in whatever capacity as we evacuate people.”

Drash reacted with both excitement and dread. “Oh, uh, well… All right, I’ll help. It’s not like I have a choice at the moment.”

“Good, now I can’t be distracted. Can you stay quiet and still?”

Now he almost looked insulted, “I can!”

“Then take a seat at the engineering station and don’t touch anything.”

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“The enemy managed to retreat,” Obi-Wan’s holo announced.

Anakin grimaced at the news. He had only been following the battle in orbital space loosely, with his attention focused on keeping the skies above the theater shield clear of enemy fighters.

“The moment we had them down to half their original numbers, these new Gozanti’s created a very effective anti-torpedo defense wall. Which screened their retreat out of the planet’s mass shadow. They proceeded to do a micro-jump straight to the Cylimba hyper point near the outer planets, before doing the actual jump. They were well prepared for this.”

Anakin slammed his fist with annoyance against the side of his fighter’s cockpit. Now the enemy had an entire cluster of systems and worlds to scatter into, conducting a hit and run style campaign that would tie up the Open Circle Armada for weeks.

“Well, at least you’ve secured the orbitals, we won’t get turbolaser fire raining down on our heads.”

“I also see the 501st did their usual stellar job. The enemy is routed and all that remains is the bioweapon facility base defenses and the theater shield emitters inside the landed Lucrehulk sphere ship. I’ll begin sending down a troop Acclamator of the 23rd Legion to reinforce them.”

“That would be much appreciated, the lingering gas on the battlefield is eating away at their armor, forcing us to retreat troops, cutting down our effective numbers and endurance significantly. Oh, do make sure the 23rd only sends us troops in Phase 2 armor.”

“I’ll pass the order along. Now-” Obi-Wan’s holo looked to the side. “Incoming transmission from Master Yoda.”

The holo divided, becoming smaller as it adjusted perspective and size to show the upper half of the Grandmaster.

“Master Kenobi, Knight Skywalker, grave news I bring,” Yoda declared and Anakin couldn’t help but feel his stomach sink. For Yoda to actually use the word ‘grave’ as opposed to ‘troubling’. The Master rested both hands on his gimer stick, his small shoulders sinking under a terrible weight. “Failed, we have. Used on multiple worlds, the bioweapon has been. Corellia, Chandrila and Ukio; all struck they were.”

Obi-Wan closed his eyes briefly, accepting it and banishing his own anger, “How bad is it, Master?”

“Still being assessed, the number of deaths is. Hit, the capitals of Corellia and Chandrila were. Destroyed, nearly a quarter Ukio’s grain fields were.”

“Ukio is the primary agriworld for the entire Abrion sector, its produce goes all the way to the Core worlds. A disruption in supply there could ripple out consequences to the entire galaxy. Even if it doesn’t lead to much difference, the perception of these attacks will do all the work for the Separatists."  

“Corellia will be screaming for isolationism again after this,” Anakin put in his own few credits. “If that happens, we’ll have lost one of the major shipyards of the galaxy for the war effort. Not to mention the impact it will have on civilian shipping.”

“Chandrila is also a major agriworld for the Core. Why was only its capital attacked?” Obi-Wan wondered, scratching his beard in thought.

“Logistics, perhaps it was,” Yoda answered. “Targeted most of the damotite weapon at Ukio, they did; for most effect there. Not enough left, there was, for more comprehensive strike against the other two.”

“What is the Council’s decision regarding a response?”

“An emergency meeting, in one hour it will be held, to discuss matters of broader Republic response. Whatever decided is, capture General Lok Durd we must. Brought to justice, he must be.”

Anakin nodded, “I’ll return to the Resolute, get fully armored up and personally see to it, Master. On another note, you wouldn’t happen to know where Ahsoka is?” He knew full well she was on Corellia, but her communication through the Bond had been frustratingly vague, yet he felt her poking her nose occasionally through it to assess the progress of the battle. She was still alive, but he didn’t doubt she was probably in the middle of the entire mess.

“Classified, Padawan Tano’s location is, young Skywalker,” Yoda shook his head, playing along but he understood the subtext of what the grandmaster was truly expressing.

“I see,” he narrowed his eyes unhappily. “I’ll let you two discuss council business then, Skywalker out.”

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I had done as much as I could.

My lot was shared by more than half of the Green Jedi aboard the rescue fleet and Aarnas had ordered those who couldn’t continue to begin landing their ships on skyscrapers to ferry survivors away from the central district dead zone.

Communication had been established with the survivors through personal comlinks and slicing into each building’s PA systems. It allowed for some coordination, but the first time I put the Zator down onto a building’s roof landing pad, it had been a near stampede to reach the embarkation ramp.

Taria did something like a blanket mind trick on the crowd that rather swiftly brought order, preventing anyone from getting injured or even dying.

Mata and Drash did the work of getting everyone settled into a seat on the floor in the cargo holds, on the side of the central corridors and even standing in the small core observation deck.

The real test came when we had to lift off when we were completely full. People were even standing right outside the cockpit door, which I had firmly locked.

“Lift off, Ahsoka,” came Taria’s thought.

I pushed the throttle and lifted the yoke.

The Zator’s engines thankfully had no problems, even as the onboard computer gave warnings about life support capacity being exceeded.

“Coronet control, this is Zator, we are full. Request vector course to evac point.”

“We read Zator, transmitting your course on subchannel. Confirm.”

I checked the navicomputer, “Confirmed. Zator out.”

It would’ve been nice to have a decent holo control layout, forcing me to constantly look down into the multifunction display to reference my position along with the course I had to follow.

Finally at 2 km altitude I turned east and gunned the throttle.

We were barely halfway in the trip to Shipyard B33, when I sensed a fight breaking out in the aft cargohold.

Sharp anger, a press of bodies. Some trying to break apart the two arguing men, only to add to the problem, when one of the belligerent’s buddies objected and pushed. A punch was thrown in retaliation and it only escalated from there. 

‘Taria!’

‘I know, you fly, I’ll handle this.’

If I hadn’t exhausted myself to the bone, I would’ve blanketed everyone on board with Battle Meditation into being nothing but cooperative and calm.

Spikes of pain reverberated through the Force as injuries began mounting.

Taria didn’t seem to bother with her mind trick again, probably because that against so many people in the throws of anger and a fighting mindset that it would be very unlikely to work on everyone.

She adjusted a setting on her lightsaber and rushed towards the aft hold, before igniting it above her head.

The snap-hiss did not just reverberate with sound, but with the Force as well.

It penetrated through the fog of fight and anger hanging on every mind and everyone froze mid-punch or shove.

“In case anyone thinks I won't actually use this restore order,” Taria said forbiddingly, her words hammering down on every mind the cargo bay, she swung the saber straight onto the back of a man that had pinned another to the ground - whose face was near bloody mess. Both seized up and began twitching as the saber delivered a high non-lethal shock. Her eyes promised pain and spat turbolasers.

The feuding survivors broke apart slowly.

“Good, now-”

My attention was drawn away as the cockpit nav computer shrieked an alarm. I quickly adjusted course to avoid a half-squadron of fire prevention ships streaking the other way towards the central district. Something that should not have happened if Coronet aerospace control was doing their jobs properly.

The entire city was shaking with fear, dread and especially worry. I knew anyone who had relatives and family who worked in the central district were desperate for news on them. That was spilling outward and neglect would follow, rippling outwards and creating more tragedy.

‘Ahsoka! Open the cockpit door!’ Taria thought urgently.

I slapped the appropriate button and looked back only to blink in mild horror.

Taria was carefully carrying an unconscious and bloody Drash in her arms.

The Force was practically screaming at me and I nearly had vertigo as I felt major, galaxy-sized probability lines screaming around the boy; twisting and changing.

There was no need for words as I engaged the autopilot immediately and surged out of my seat.

“No space to lay him down, keep him as still as possible.”

My hand carefully rested on his forehead.

Blood from a nasty impact on the head, concussion, broken ribs, two of which were threatening to puncture the right lung, broken leg in a compound fracture that was starting to leak marrow into the bloodstream. All typical crushing injuries from getting caught in a press of bodies or a mass brawl.

My own anger soared, but I cast it away as useless to the matter at hand.

I called on the Force and began, forgetting exhaustion, discarding it as of the weak flesh.

I am not this crude matter, but luminous.

My focus narrowed down and down, neutralizing the leaked marrow before telekinesis pulled the fractured right tibia bone together like a complex jigsaw puzzle in a few careful seconds. I pushed energy forward, doing just enough to accelerate the healing to a point which would hold everything together.

I did the same with the ribs, easing the bruising I found on the lung as well.

The concussion was not something I could do much about, so I encouraged the wound on the back of his head to seal with the leaking blood, coagulating it in seconds into a large scab.

I opened my eyes and looked down into the youthful face of the street kid, then gently felt around his neck, bringing out a rough leather necklace that had a dulled finger claw of a female wookiee as a pendant.

As I beheld it in my palm, I wanted to curse myself for not seeing it sooner. This was me once again getting so worked up and focused on the massive disaster looming over me, that I lost sight of the individual trees that made up the forest.

“Ahsoka? What is that?”

“A wookiee claw, freely given by a female. Signifying that she considers this one as an adopted son, practically and emotionally. You won’t find it being recognized in any court on Corellia as legal. So more than likely our young thief is part of a criminal crew or group and the wookiee is also part of it. You can put him down in the chair now. He needs to recover from the concussion with time.”

The emergency closet in the rear of the cockpit burst open and a folded blanket flew out towards me.

A few moments later I had a very snug and comfy thief sitting at the port engineering station.

“Are you all right, my student?” Taria asked with actual concern I could feel.

I tore my eyes away from the kid and firmly clamped down on my prescience. I was due for a killer migraine soon and I didn’t want to make it worse. 

“I will be. Anyone else of that lot that’s injured will wait for conventional medicine.”

She nodded in agreement, “I doubt it will happen again, but I should be on hand, just in case.”

I settled back into the pilot chair as she left, flicking off the autopilot with some unnecessary force and dismissed my moody anger firmly. The wise words of Gurney Halleck came to mind regarding its use and when it could be indulged in.

Now was not that time.

My eyes couldn’t help but look back at that youthful face again, pondering the flows and ebbs of time, space, and if the Force was using me as both a new cog and a band-aid.

“Recover well and swiftly, Han Solo, ” I murmured softly.

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A/N: Hello Han! His early life as a child and teen was not a nice one.

Enjoy the weekend and stay awesome folks.