I inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly as I tried to slow down my racing heart. Anakin was sending me out on my first squadron attack with me leading it. I was extremely nervous, but I couldn't let Anakin see that. He might pull me off this mission. And I had to do this mission. I had to prove to him that I'm a good Padawan and I will be the first Caninis to be a Jedi Knight.
"Hey, Snips." Anakin's voice sounded to my right as I clutched the controls of my starfighter before looking over to see him walking over to me. He placed his left foot on my wing and leaned in towards me, his soft blue eyes gleaming with pride. "This is it, your first command. Don't be nervous."
"I wish everyone would stop saying that." I whined.
"The men you're commanding are depending on you with their lives."
"Thanks. That takes the pressure off. If I wasn't nervous before, I sure am now."
"Hey, I have faith in you. I wouldn't send you out there if I didn't think you could handle it." He pushed off from my fighter and turned to walk away but stopped and turned back to me. "May the Force be with you."
"And with you, Master." He turned and walked away from me. "I won't let you down. . ." I hope. I powered up the fighter and the ship engine whirred as the cockpit lid closed around me. "Okay, you boys ready?"
"This is Two, Axe." Axe checked in. "Ready when you are, Skipper."
"Ready on Three." Slammer said. "This is Slammer, over."
"Ready on Four. Kickback checking in, over." "
"Swoop to Blue Leader, Group two is standing by, over."
"Tucker on Five. Waiting for mother bird, over." I exhaled sharply as Tucker was the last one to check in and I knew that was the start of the mission. I pulled out of the landing bay and exit the Republic ship with the squadron behind me. As I pulled into space, I noted the large Separatist blockade around Ryloth and we were heading straight for it.
"Commander, you're all clear." Admiral Yularen said.
"Thank you, Admiral." I said. "Keep the cruisers back until we've softened them up." My hands shook with nervousness as I gripped the controls. I got this. I got this. "Ok, let's do this. Axe, keep your squadron back and wait for my signal."
"You got it, Boss." Axe agreed.
"Okay, stay in formation guys and follow my lead. Here we go." Droids came at us from all directions as we got closer to the blockade. I fired at the droids clearing a path with my squadron at my back cleaning up the ones that I miss. The closer we got to the enemy, the more I saw my open window. "Axe, time for us to make a run for the battleship."
"Come on, you whiners." Axe laughed. "Let's get dirty." Four more battlecruisers appeared on the blockade just as admiral's voice came on my commlink.
"Commander, we've been caught in a trap." Admiral Yularen said. I growled as I looked from one cruiser to the other, planning out my attack. I got this. I came out here to get rid of this blockade and that is what I'm going to do, trap or no trap.
"You're overreacting, Admiral." I snapped at him. "I have this under control. I can get us through. Blue Squadron stay the course."
"We're all set, Blue leader."
"I'm ordering you to return to the ship." Admiral Yularen demanded. I growled loudly, not wanting to hear the condescending tone. "We're going to need your help."
"No." I snapped. "I told you, I have this under control. Master Skywalker taught me to never back down."
"Aroara, it's too risky." Anakin came over the commlink. "Get your pilots out of there." I pushed forward and concentrated my fire, picking my targets before they even came into sight.
"Axe, are you still there? Come on, boys, stay in formation." An explosion sounded behind me as one of my pilots exploded.
"Aroara, we are in trouble. I order you back here."
"Master, I have this under control. I don't understand why you can't just let me handle this on my own. You said that I was ready. You said that you trusted me."
"I do trust you, Aroara. I'm just trying to keep you alive so get back to the ship, now." I snarled and grinded my teeth.
"All right, all right. Let's go, squad. Pull back to the command ship."
"Why are we retreating?" Axe questioned me.
"We're not retreating. We're following orders. There's a difference." I made a sharp turn to the right to turn around and started to head to the cruiser.
"Fighter Squadron, where are you?" Admiral Yularen demanded.
"Cool your jets, Admiral. We're almost there." An explosion sounded from his side of the commlink. "Admiral, come in. Admiral!" One of the three main cruisers crumbled before us as we dodged in and out of incoming droids.
"All fighters return." Rex said. "We're preparing for lightspeed."
"Uh, right. Axe stand on it. We only have a few seconds to get on board."
"Don't worry about me, Skipper. Ah, my power converters, they're failing."
"Just stay with me, Axe."
"Overload, overload." An explosion came from my right and a fighter was destroyed.
"Axe!" I breathed heavily as I leaned back into my seat and clutched the controls as I flew into the hangar of the cruiser with what was left of my squadron behind me. "Close up the hangar doors. We're home." I parked my fighter and powered it down just as we jumped to lightspeed.
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I sat on the wing of my starfighter and hung my head, clutching my knees with my hands. I inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. I tried to control my emotions, but they were all over the place. My whole squadron was gone, and I've disobeyed direct orders from the admiral and my master. I closed my eyes and dug my nails into my knees as I thought about my actions. The Force stirred around me as I felt a strong presence approach me. I looked up ever so slightly to my left to see Anakin heading towards me.
"Aroara," Anakin's voice was harsh and stern. "I am very disappointed in you. You not only disobeyed the Admiral, you disobeyed me." I fully looked up at him and pouted at him.
"I thought I could knock out those battleships so when Master Kenobi arrived, he could get through."
"I know you meant well, Snips, but there's a bigger picture that you're not aware of. First rule of war: listen and obey your superiors." I stood up from the starfighter and faced him.
"But sometimes you get carried away." Anakin bent down and rested his hand on my shoulder as he stared deep into my eyes.
"All that means is that I understand what you're going through." I hung my head again as sorrow overwhelmed me.
"But I failed."
"It was a trap, Snips." Anakin pushed gently on my shoulder so that my head rolled up to look back into his eyes. "It wasn't your fault."
"I lost so many of my pilots."
"Take heart, little one. That's reality of command." He straightened back up, his hand leaving my shoulder as I hung my head again.
"General, we're approaching our staging area." Rex's voice sounded behind me.
"Very good, Captain."
"Master Windu is requesting a report on our progress."
"Our progress, huh?" From the corner of my eye, I saw Anakin turn around to face Rex. I slowly turned my back to them and let my mind wander. I didn't even notice Anakin stopped talking to Rex until I felt his hand rest on my shoulder again. "Your mind is a mess right now, Aroara. Go back to your quarters and meditate." I nodded slowly and walked back to my room.
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I dug my fingers into my hair as I paced back and forth in my quarters. Meditate? He wanted me to mediate? How could I meditate as this time? I walked to the back wall and slammed my fists into it and leaned against it, staring at the floor. I inhaled deeply, closing my eyes deeply when I heard the door to my quarters open.
"Commander Starrunner?" Rex's voice sounded at the doorway.
"Yes, Captain?" I spoke without raising my head or opening my eyes.
"General Skywalker wishes to see you."
"Thank you, Captain." I sighed heavily and pushed off from the wall before turning around storming out of my room, pushing past Rex.
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I walked through the hangar, head held high, as I made my way to Anakin who was working under his starfighter with R2 at his side.
"You wanted to see me, Master?" I questioned him as I rested my hand on R2's head.
"Aroara, hand me that socket plug." Anakin ordered. I looked down at R2 to see him hand me a socket plug and I took it from him to give it to Anakin. "Thanks, Snips. How are you feeling?" I looked questioningly at him before answering him.
"Oh, I'm fine, Master, just fine."
"That's good to hear. I'm gonna need you levelheaded if we're gonna pull this thing off." He went back under the starfighter.
"Pull this off? Pull what off?"
"I talked to Master Windu. We are to proceed with our attack on the blockade." My eyes grew wide with surprise.
"What? We can't." Anakin rolled out from under the starfighter and stood up to face me as I stuttered to find the words to say.
"Aroara, we have to break that blockade. The Twi'leks on Ryloth are depending on us."
"I understand that, Master, but we've lost so many men. Did we get more support?"
"No, we have to make do with the forces we have, and I need to come up with a plan." I glared at him as my canine teeth sharpened with anger. He wants to break through the blockade when he doesn't even have a plan?
"You don't even have a plan? Master, we cannot afford to lose any more men."
"Don't worry, Aroara." A growl rumbled deep in my chest as I clenched my teeth.
"No. That's what you said last time, and now everyone's gone, my whole squadron." I saw Anakin's eyes grow hard as I snapped at him.
"Aroara."
"We can't just smash through that blockade. It's reckless. We need a well thought out plan." Anakin's commlink beeped and he answered it without taking his eyes off me.
"Skywalker here."
"General, the Defender is contacting us." Rex said. "There seems to be a problem."
"All right, Rex. I'll be right there." He ended the conversation before turning his focus back to me "Go your quarters and cool off. We'll finish this talk later." I growled once again before turning on my heels and storming off. RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
An alarm blared throughout the corridors as I opened my quarter's door to see clones running in all direction in a hast.
"Trooper, what's going on?" I asked the nearest clone and he stopped to answer.
"The starship Defender is being evacuated, sir." The clone said.
"Evacuated? Why?"
"I'm not sure, Commander. We're on our way to help General Skywalker in the hangar." He turned and left, and I sighed heavily before following him.
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I walked into the hangar to see Anakin standing on a crate barking out orders to the clones as I approached him from behind.
"Master?" I called to him, taking up a respective position, standing straight up and arms at my side.
"I ordered the Defender evacuated."
"I can see that. Why?"
"Well, actually, I got the idea from you." I looked at with curiosity.
"Oh. Great."
"Rex, take over, will you?" Anakin jumped off from the crate as Rex jumped on. "You said that we couldn't just smash through the blockade. I decided that's partly true. You also implied that my plans put a lot of people at risk, and I agree with you on that one."
"That's a first."
"I decided the only way we can break the blockade is if I pilot the Defender right into their battleship and take out the Commander."
"What?"
"This way, I'm the only one at risk. Besides, the Defender is damaged already."
"You can't be serious, Master. You'll die."
"No, I won't. That's where you come in. The enemy can't stop that ship from taking them out. Artoo and I will get in an escape pod and jettison right before impact." I stood by a ramp to the cruiser with my arms across my chest as Anakin climbed aboard the cruiser. I scratched my head, not understanding what Anakin's plan was.
"But the enemy fleet is right there."
"I know. And I'll pretty much be defenseless in an escape pod, so I'm depending on you to engage the remaining fleet with the combined forces we have here."
"Master, I-I can't. If something goes wrong, I can't be responsible for-"
"You are responsible, Aroara. These men are depending on you, and this time, so am I."
"But, Master, last time, I-" Anakin didn't even let me finish before her started to call out for everyone's attention.
"Attention! Everyone, attention! All right, men, listen up. I'm taking over the Defender, and I'm leaving Commander Starrunner in charge. She'll lead the second half of the mission when we engage what's remaining of the blockade."
"Try to leave some ships for us, General." Rex laughed.
"Will do, Rex."
"Now, Commander Starrunner will fill you in on the full plan."
"Master, wait." I called to him, but he ignored me.
"Good luck."
"Master. . ." He turned his back on me and walked up the ramp to the cruiser, the ramp closing behind him.
"Awaiting orders, Commander." Rex said. I turned to the clones surrounding me and swallowed the lump in my throat.
"I'll be on the bridge."
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About fifteen minutes later, I walked onto the bridge and as soon as the doors opened everyone straightened their posture and looked over at me.
"Commander on deck." Rex called out.
"At ease." I ordered, and everyone relaxed and went back to what they were doing before I walked in. I walked over to the holographic map and looked at the situation that we were in, trying to figure out my next move.
"General Skywalker is contacting you." A hologram of Anakin popped up on the other side of the map.
"All right, Aroara." Anakin said. "Be ready to get on the way."
"Master, are you sure you won't reconsider this?" I questioned him, hoping that he would change his mind. I wasn't ready for this. I already got enough people killed today so what makes him think that I could lead another team out into battle?
"This is the only way. Trust me." Anakin flickered out and I was left staring blankly at the map again. I let out a sigh of frustration.
"Better fill us in, Commander." Rex said. I shook my head to clear it before nodding to signal Rex that I heard him.
"Right." I agreed.
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"Well, I have to say, this plan is questionable." Rex said reluctantly after a moment or two of thinking over my plan.
"Yeah, but with their General destroyed along with their battleship, the droid commanders will be in chaos." I reasoned with him.
"Only temporarily, and there's still General Skywalker to find in all that mess."
"I know, but-"
"In our first attack, we had three fully armed cruisers, and we failed." The captain stated.
"I wish that General Skywalker had discussed this plan with us." Rex sighed. I blinked in surprise at him, my feelings hurt that they trusted Anakin more than me. Not that I blamed them. Anakin is more experienced than me and he is a Jedi Knight while I'm just a Padawan, but it still hurt me that they didn't trust me enough to relay a message from Anakin to them. "The odds are very much against us."
"They always are." I reminded him.
"Yes, but normally we have General Skywalker to lead us in-" Captain began to speak but he stopped after seeing the hurt expression on my face. "I meant no offense, Commander Starrunner." I hung my head, hiding the self-doubt that was starting to grow inside me.
"None taken." Master, how in the galaxy am I supposed to pull this plan off?
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"Sir, even if Skywalker is successful and destroys the battleship, how will we stand up to the combined firepower of the remaining frigates?" The captain questioned me.
"I thought about that, and well, I have an idea." I said.
"Go ahead, Commander." Rex urged me on.
"If we took the Resolute and angled her hull against the incoming frigates, the bridge and hangar deck would be relatively safe from their attack. We could draw them in and then use the bombers to outflank them. The bombers would be too fast, and they would be trapped."
"Hmm, I'm not sure about this, Commander." The captain said.
"I-I think-"
"If we were certain the shields would hold." Rex interrupted me.
"Perhaps a different strategy." The captain said. "We need to take more time and plan." Anger boiled inside me as these officers were refusing my plan of attack.
"No." I snapped. "We don't have any more time. Master Skywalker needs me now. He needs us now."
"The Commander is right." A voice sounded behind me and I turned to see the admiral walking onto the bridge with a bandage around his head. "I know this strategy is very bold. But these circumstances call for drastic measures."
"Then the strategy will work, sir?" The captain asked, and the admiral turned to me looking for the answer.
"Well, will it?" I thought about it for a second.
"Yes, it will." I said with confidence. "When those two ships collide, there'll be chaos. We need that time to get General Skywalker's pod into the tractor beam."
"Right, Commander." Rex agreed.
"I'll command the fighter squadron. Wait for my signal to begin our attack."
"Yes, Sir." I turned on my heel and left the bridge, trying to hide my heavy breathing as I tried not to think about what laid before me.
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I sat in my starfighter as I prepared it for battle. I flipped on my radio and contacted Anakin.
"Skyguy, we're approaching your position." I said. "Stand by for retrieval."
"Right on time, Aroara." Anakin called back.
"I don't think they're going to attack, Commander." The admiral said through the commlink. "We'll have to retreat."
"No!" I responded a little too hastily as I paused my preparation. "Wait. Remember, they are droids. They're just a little slow. They'll figure it out."
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The droids took their sweet time before they decided to attack the cruiser. The cruiser had rotated so the underside of it was facing the droids, protecting the bridge from attack. I clenched my steering controls in my hands as I led my squadron into battle.
"Droids are attacking, sir." Commander Cody confirmed.
"Commander, on your order, commence flanking maneuver." The admiral instructed. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply, feeling the Force around me and centering myself within it.
"Ok, boys, here we go." I called to my team as I was filled with new found confidence. "Follow my lead." I lead the gold squadron above the battle before dropping back down in the middle of it, firing at anything that got in my way and moving to flank one of the enemy's ships so we could take it out. Diving to the right away from the crumbling ship, I swooped around to survey my damage.
"Commander, the invasion fleet is coming out of hyperspace." Cody said over the comlink.
"Aroara, this is Obi-Wan." A new voice came over the comlink. "May we begin our landing?" I scanned the battle field and saw my squadron finishing off the last of the vulture droids and I made the call.
"Yes, Master." I answered. "You're cleared for ground assault."
"I won't even ask where the rest of Anakin's fleet is or why he's in an escape pod." The corner of my mouth turned up into an amused smile.
"That's probably for the best, Master Kenobi." At the mention of Anakin's name, a thought came back with a reminder. "Rex, that reminds me. Send a shuttle to pick up Master Skywalker." I watched as Rex lead a shuttle over to the escape pod and magnetized it to the bottom of the shuttle. As the shuttle passed my ship, I could feel a sense of pride coming from Anakin.