Chapter 11: Jedi Crash and Sith Clash (Part Two)

Aayla Secura felt like death.

The Twi'lek had come close to death on many occasions during her years as a Jedi. She had come closest to death in her days as a Padawan when her Uncle, Pol Secura, wiped her away her memories in an effort to sell her as a slave. Her former teacher and friend, Quinlan Vos, slew the wretched man but in her state of amnesia Aayla did not recognize the kindness of the act. She fell to the Dark Side and into the hands of an ancient fallen Anzat Jedi, Volfe Karkko.

Volfe corrupted, fed from her, and used her as a weapon against Vos. Thankfully she was soon freed from the Dark Jedi's control but the she was left with a broken body and a shattered mind. At that point she would have considered death to be mercy. It took months for Aayla to recuperate physically, years to trust herself and ascend to the rank of Knight.

In moments of insecurity she could feel Volfe's fingers along her lekku.

As she stared at the twisted metal remains of her ship Aayla had to fight down a mounting feeling of dread. She had woken outside being ragged from the ship by a heavily wounded Bly and a battered Commander Rex. The other clones had taken to extracting Skywalker from the med-bay.

Ahsoka was missing with half the cockpit, which was rather problematic. They were wounded, on a possibly hostile world, and now one of their number was lost, perhaps even dead. Aayla could sense a powerful presence on the horizon, possibly two. The powerful one was like a vortex of rage and bile it was rather distracting; the other drifted in and out of focus, but one thing was for sure, it was heading in their direction.

There was too much magnetic interference for a bio scan and Aayla could not risk turning her attention away from the obvious threat to search for the missing Padawan.

Soon enough Skywalker was dragged from the wreckage, bleeding more profusely than he had when they had escaped her ship, and the bruises were more profound. He was in no condition to stand, let alone fight. This put them at greater disadvantage than when they had been surrounded by an army of droids on a burning ship. Now a single Jedi would and half a dozen clones would have to both protect the wounded General and seek aid in a possible barren world.

"General Secura," Commander Rex approached her with a small wooden artifact. "We've found a tablet." Aayla took the rectangular object, studying the rough engravings. The art of the tablet looked like the giant trees she had seen on the way down. From what she had seen in a brief glimpse the gargantuan trees grew close together, like patches of green in a sea of tall grass. "We're not the only ones here on this planet. There might be people that can help General Skywalker." "If you don't mind me asking, general," Bly cut into the argument before she could speak up. "Where exactly are we going to find these people who live on this planet? We have no idea where they are." Bly, like most of his batch of clones, was a cynic, which was why they had placed him with Aayla. She as an Empath would on rare occasion fall prey to her compassion; Bly was a grounding force, a violent, strategic, gun toting, grounding force. "Our best chance at finding them is to the south." Aayla stated while pointing in the direction she had seen the trees. "Skywalker cannot be moved. Our forces will have to be divided if we wish to achieve our objective. Bly and Rex, you will take the clones and find the inhabitants while I will stay here and protect the injured." Bly nodded his head slowly and turned to rally the troopers but Rex lingered. His black visor stared her down for a minute. She could sense the hesitation and the inner turmoil that plagued him. Clones were designed to follow the order of their superiors but they were sentient and they had their won thoughts. "What about the kid?" Like she had said, Padawan Tano's disappearance put her in a moral impasse. She had a duty as a Jedi and a former Padawan herself to Search for Ahsoka, but also had a duty to those under her command. If she abandoned one to do the other, she would open herself to a compromise that left her with no easy choice… When face with a similar conundrum her former Master imparted some wise words: 'I need a drink.' But that would be inappropriate in their current situation. So all she could do was make a vow that would satisfy both. "If she is alive…" Aayla stares at the black t-shaped visor with unwavering determination. "Then she will be found." Her words felt hollow… but there was little else she could do. They were what they were. Rex lingered, Aayla could feel his gaze lock onto her amber eyes but eventually he turned and rallied to join his brothers. By the time they set out, their white armor glowed as the sun sank in the distance… there would be no sleep tonight.

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Miles to the east, beyond what the naked eye could see, Ahsoka Tano lay pinned to the floor of a cramped piece of metal. Her Master once said: 'Any landing you can walk away from is a good landing, Ahsoka.' As pain bloomed from her chest the Togutan Padawan had her doubts at what her Anakin Skywalker passed off as 'words of wisdom'. Ahsoka Tano was on her back pinned to the floor by some heavy panel that had dislodged from the exterior of the ship and somehow found itself inside the ships cockpit. Her head was too fuzzy from the impact to use the Force to free herself and the clones and Master Secura were nowhere in sight.

"He-lp…" Ahsoka managed to gasp out between breaths. She waited for what felt like an eternity but the only answer she received was the groaning of collapsing metal. She didn't know how long she waited alone in the darkness… but as time slowly passed, the pain grew her hope for rescue dwindled and the thought of failure became agony.

Had she caused the death of her Master, Knight Secura, and the Clones that followed them? She was scared that they were dead because of her. They had trusted to land the ship and now they were all gone! Aayla had proven herself to the Jedi Order time and time again. Why had they made her pilot the ship?! Fear made her more aware of the pain she was feeling, it amplified her desperation, and made every second feel like it was crawling ever slower.

In time fear bubbled into anger and from there things started to spiral.

For years the Jedi had taught her to distance herself from emotion, it was according to these teaching that they had flourished into the Republic's peacekeepers, but in her solitude only emotion kept her conscious. Her anger was turned inwards, towards her inability to save those she wished to protect and the Jedi who had overestimated Ahsoka's skill.

"Hel-p."

Anger turned into hatred.

Hatred of herself, of the war that had cost her so many friends, of the ungrateful people who knew not of the sacrifice that the Jedi made, and of the situation she found herself in. She never wanted to be a soldier, that wasn't the Jedi way where were the keepers of peace when She needed them. Trillions of people in the Republic had never seen a Jedi, billions hadn't even heard of the Ancient Order that had stood alongside the Republic since its inception. Symbols of hope meant nothing to those that were ignorant of their meaning

This dark, corrupting emotion urged her to struggle despite her the state of her physical being and the imbalance that that was growing within her. She trashed, as much as she could while trapped, pushing and writhing in vain attempts to free herself. The result of her attempt at escape managed to dislodge the ships communication system from the thin wiring that had once kept it suspended. It fell atop of her, knocking the wind out of her a lungs, and deepening her mounting despair

She gasped, trying to draw in as much air as she could.

The pain spread throughout her body as black spots marred her vision. Her body wanted her to scream but the lack of air prevented her from doing so.

Hatred had turned into suffering.

She sobbed like she hadn't since she heard news of Jabiim and the death of what the Republic called the Padawan Pack. She had lost friends and a sister to that campaign. Zule Xiss had looked out for her since Master Plo brought her to the temple. She was the one who taught her about all the amazing things Jedi could do… until she ran into Ventress and lost an arm and her Master.

She became cold and violent after that. She died crushed by an AT-AT in the mud… just like Ahsoka would die crushed by debris. The others had followed her. The five hundred and first told her the horror stories of what they had encountered on that planet haunted her nightmares for her first few deployments but she had never been in a position of hopelessness quite like that,

Until now.

It was strange how in moments of despair the world seemed so much clearer than it had ever been for the Torgutan Jedi. Mantra that had given her so much stability in her life became meaningless as one startling truth showed its ugly head.

She did not want to die.

Not alone…

Not without knowing if her Master was still alive…

And definitely before she could stop this stupid war…

In her agony she did not notice a red armored figure looming over her with a strange bird sitting on his shoulder, ate least not until the bird began to sing. The song was sad but that was what caught her attention but the overwhelming presence of the living Force that was carried by the melancholic song.

"Wigardium Leviosa!" The armored individual intoned with a flick of his wrist and almost instantly the debris trapping Ahsoka rose into the air. With another flick the metal was flung clear across the room. "What do you think, Fawkes? Can she be moved?"

The bird, Fawkes, bobbed its head once. It trilled and tears big, pearly tears fell from its eyes and onto her face. The pain stopped as soon as the liquid touched her skin but the next thing she knew, her world was engulfed in fire that did not burn. A second later she was no longer staring at a metal ceiling but under unfamiliar stars.

Fawkes jubilant song was cut short when something caused it and its Master to turn away. A gust of wind made his robes to billow, and Ahsoka caught sight of the cylindrical lightsabre that all Jedi carried.

"Maras, can you be a dear and look after our new friend here?" A new figure came into line of sight this time a Cathar dressed in modified Clone Trooper armor, drawing her own lightsabre. It activated with a comforting hiss and shined a cerulean blue. Maras' body fell into the basic defensive third form of lightsabre combat, Soresu as the armored Jedi drew his own longer weapon.

He gripped it with his left hand before pushing his feet apart and entering a similar form. She shifted her body to look at the threat that they were responding to and hissed in anger. Asajj Ventress stood a handful of meters away with her own dual scarlet lightsabres drawn.

"A Mandalorian aiding Jedi." Came the mocking greeting of the Dark Jedi that had cut of Zule's arm. "What would your people think of you?"

The Armored Jedi activated his lightsabre and Ahsoka gasped in shock. Carmine blades glowed angrily illuminating the dark savanna in their sinister glow. "Nor my people." He clarified in a tight tone. "Just something I picked up on my travels."

"Interesting, why would a disciple of the Dark protect those that would see you dead?"

"Well… unlike you, they haven't shot at my ship." His response was lighthearted, much like what her master would use to throw his enemies off balance but his body was tense. "Nor have they attacked a planet I was on."

So you would ally with these weaklings just because hey have personally done you no wrong?" She hissed in disbelief." What kind of Sith are you? Your existence is an insult to us All!"

"This again? I'm not a Sith, I'm not a Jedi, I'm just Harry."

"You will die!" Ventress launched herself towards Harry with a twirl. The distance was cut faster than Ahsoka could role away, but before the blades could make contact they were stopped by his carmine lightsabre. The screeching noise that emanated from the crossed blades were unlike anything she had ever heard.

"I know." He said shrugging. "But it won't be today and certainly it won't be by your hand."

Maras growled but remained steadfast. "Get up." She ordered without looking back. "We need to be ready to…" She was interrupted by the violent push that was closely followed by a scream of pain coming from Ventress as Harry intercepted it before it could do any serious damage. Static filled the air as black clouds formed out of clear sky. Rain fell like a wave and lightning soon followed and while al this was happening Harry remained unmoved "Run!"

Ventress moved in a blur of motion her strikes were quick and powerful but none of theme could penetrate Harry's defense. The young Torgutan could feel the Force roll of Harry, much like it did Fawkes, and how the world seemed to respond to it. She had questions that she would need answers for but those could wait till later. Ahsoka stared a the spectacle of skill and rage for a second before she followed Maras' lead and began to spring away before she could be swept up in the conflict.

As the duo sank into the tall grass Ahsoka could see the strange bird watching them from above.

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A/N: Looking for a Beta reader for this story. PM if you're up for the task.

Next update: Once Upon a Time in Gotham.