Jedi Master Fre'Dell looked at the star charts. He was grateful that he managed to evacuate his base and his people before the Imperials had raided it. Now, they'd just show up in an empty cave and this group would continue to fight another day. He was also grateful for the young padawans he had managed to rescue so far. He turned to see three figures: a Wookie named Scoo, a purple skinned Twi'lek who was named Daf'Nee and an Arkanian named Vel, her bright orange outfit covering most of her body. He had just found Vel on the panet they had been on, where she'd been hiding amongst the populace, and he saved her from a Storm Trooper raid on her home. Out of all of the people in their convoy, she had to have been the most distraught.
"You should have just left me, Master Fre'Dell. The Imperials should have been your focus, not me." Vel quietly said, hiding her face behind the orange cloth. She flinched when Daf'Nee's hand touched her shoulder, startling her.
"Don't fret, Vel, there are so few of us left. We need to stick together if we are going to make it out of this. The Empire nearly destroyed us, but we will survive." Daf gave her a warm smile. Scoo approached her and gave her a smile as well.
Fre'Dell grinned, nodding at Daf'Nee's statement. "You are right, Daf'Nee. The Empire may have destroyed our order, but I believe as long as there is even one Jedi in the galaxy, our ways and belief shall live on." The three padawans nodded in agreement, getting a small smile from Vel, who uncovered her face.
"Captain, the coordinates are set and the convoy is prepared to jump to our new base." One of the rebel helmsmen said, looking towards the four Jedi. Fre'Dell turned and inhaled deeply, looking forward to training these three padawans to be full fledged Jedi.
"Confirm, soldier. Let us move on and continue our fight against tyranny." Fre'Dell replied, facing forward and looking out into the sea of stars. The helmsmen turned and tapped away, sending the command. He watched as the stars elongated and created streaks of blue across the windows, indicating that they had jumped. He closed his eyes and took another deep breath, ready to begin anew on a new planet.
Suddenly, he was jolted away, forcing himself to grab onto the holotable. The star charts flickered and through the image, Fre'Dell saw a sight that incinerated his hopes to continue the fight.
Three Imperial Star ships firing on the convoy, their turbo lasers ripping through the convoy's comparatively weak shields. Fre'Dell watched as a number of the small transport vessels filled with people he had sheltered and trained to fight were ripped apart by the green bolts of destruction. He watched as the planet they were near pulled the wrecks to its surface, burning anything that was not made of metal.
"Master, look!" Daf'Nee shouted, causing Fre'Dell to look off into the distance to see a new vessel. This new ship perplexed him, because the shape and markings appeared to be that of a Republic Venator class destroyer, but it was massive compared to the former, and he became even more confused when it began to fire upon the Imperial ships. He was sent to the floor when the ship he was on began to take bombardment from the new vessel.
"Sir, multiple systems failing, and I'm receiving reports that the remaining vessels are loosing functions as well!" A helmsmen shouted, trying frantically to stabilize what ever he could form his console. Fre'Dell panicked, looking back to his padawans who were now huddled together, holding on to the bulkhead. Fre'Dell looked back into space, seeing that most of his convoy was now approaching the planet, willingly or not, trying to make a emergency landing on this desert planet. It appeared to him that the Imperials were also doing the same, however more so as crash landings rather than planned ones. He looked back to the new ship one more time, seeing that Vulture droids and landing crafts emerging from the hangars.
"Make landfall on that planet! Perhaps this new presence is looking to fight the Empire alongside us!" He replied. He knew that it was hopeful thinking, but maybe this new being understood the phrase: 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend.' He looked back to his padawans, seeing them still gripping on for their lives. "Hold on young ones! I'll see to it we make it out of this alive!"
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Fre'Dell struggled to open his eyes, his vision blurry and bloodied. His ears were assaulted by the sounds of alarms blaring constantly. Eventually his vision cleared and he was ably to see that most of the ship he had been captaining was gone, the view point glass shattered and exposing the bridge to the desert sands. He staggered as he stood, grabbing onto what was left of the holo table to stabilize himself. He turned around to see that Daf'Nee and Scoo were trying to wake Vel up, checking her head and shaking her. Fre'Dell stopped them, pulling them off of the Arkanian.
"Stop, Daf'Nee! It won't help!" he said, struggling to stand up straight. Daf'Nee, tears beginning to fill her eyes, faced her master. "You must not let it way you down. We must survive, young one." Daf'Nee sniffed, wiping her face. Scoo whimpered, looking back to Vel's body. He turned his head and focused on the Wookie. "We will return for her once we fend off this new threat." He explained. The Wookie turned and nodded to Fre'Dell as well.
The silence was interrupted by the sounds of blaster fire and marching. Fre'Dell accepted that Storm Troopers would come and attack the wreckage, but the blaster fire was further away, and that marching. He knew who, or rather what made that sound. Battle Droids.
He turned and walked towards the new opening that lead to the surface. Daf'Nee and Scoo followed behind, making sure their sabers hung from their belts. Fre'Dell made it out of the bridge and onto the sand mound to see what lay beyond. He saw a newly created scrapyard; wrecks from both sides scattered across the blackened sands. Fires burned from the remains, and survivors fighting off the new droid threat. He was astonished to see Rebel and Imperial soldiers working together to fight this once feared enemy.
They were not succeeding.
B2 Battle droids marching in file, mowing down anyone in their path: Rebel marine, mechanics, Imperial officers, Storm Troopers, the cold machines did not care. They simply preformed their command: destroy all hostiles. Fre'Dell looked away from the battle and towards where the droids were coming from, and seeing the size of their force, he wouldn't have believed threat they were actually defeated during the Clone Wars. The horde of droids that were approaching the wreckage currently, it's as if the droid factories that had been destroyed were never tampered with and only continued to produce droids.
Daf'Nee and Scoo were also in awe over what they saw, bewildered by the thought of the Separatists surviving the Empire's rise to power. "Master...how is this possible..." Fre'Dell heard Daf'Nee mutter. He turned and knelt in front of her even though the act was excruciatingly painful. He placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a reaffirming look.
"They are simply battle droids, young one. You have destroyed many of these during the war. Do not let fear take over your mind." He said calmly. Hearing her master's voice, her eyes met his and she gave him a nod, not once of confidence, but one of understanding. She would give it her all in the coming battle. He gave her a nod in return and got up, looking out towards the battle.
He saw that the droids were mainly approaching a mostly intact Star Destroyer, defiantly using one of its remaining turbo lasers to bombard the approaching tin cans. Fre'Dell pointed towards the vessel. "We head there and see if we can form an alliance of convenience with who ever is there." Fre'Dell said, grabbing his light saber and activating it, the blue blade emerging and humming with energy. Daf'Nee and Scoo gave a reply that they understood and ignited their sabers as well, Daf'Nee's a bright purple and Scoo's a nature green. The three then began to make their way down the mound and into the scrapyard.
Along the way, they would save a few soldiers, Rebel and Imperial each, although it took some convincing to get the Empire's soldiers to trust a Jedi once more. As the group grew larger and larger, Fre'Dell noticed that these droids were different. Each droid they had encountered had strange red markings. He knew that the Banking clans painted red markings on some droids to indicate that they were security droids, but these markings were different. He stopped next to a disabled B1 battle droid, a blaster hole going straight through the droid's main chassis and through its receiver pack. Kneeling down, Fre'Dell grabbed the 'chin' of the droid and pulled it up. The center face plate was completely red, as was its main body and forearms and legs.
One of the Imperials, a Storm Trooper missing half of her armor, walked up and stood behind Fre'Dell. This garnered a defensive response from some of the rebels who saw this, but Fre'Dell held his hand up, telling them to calm down. He then turned to face the trooper, seeing that her right arm was missing a portion of the black protective mesh, exposing most of her arm. She knelt down and studied the markings. "Jedi, this color... I have an odd suspicion that whoever these droids are serving, they may be working with an Imperial named William Jaeger."
The name got some Imperials to turn their heads, while some of the Rebels looked to one another in confusion. "Jaeger? I believed that he was some sort of myth." One Imperial officer said.
The trooper shook her head, looking to the officer who made the comment. "No, I served on his ship a while ago. He was mainly tasked with hunting down Rebels and Insurgents. I was transferred when I had a disagreement with my superior officer." Fre'Dell gave the imperial a strange glance as if asking her what the agreement was about. Sighing, she replied. "The bastard never wore his uniform." Hearing this got some odd replies from the other officers.
Fre'Dell stood up and turned to gaze upon the Star Destroyer, their safe haven in this desert storm. "That does not matter at the moment. Let us focus on staying alive." His padawans and the soldiers following him agreed, moving forward through he wreckage.
The group began to fall one by one until only the three Jedi, the Storm Trooper and a Rebel marine were left. They hid behind various pieces of debris, only a few yards away from the Star Destroyer which had stopped firing. The droids had not, however, blasting the hull relentlessly. Fre'Dell held his side as the droids continued their assault.
Suddenly and unexpectedly, the assault stopped, and Fre'Dell could hear the clicking of the droid's arms switching to safety mode. He looked around, seeing that the droids were just standing there. He heard members of his group taking their chances and running into the wreckage, taking shelter within the Star Destroyer. He glanced towards the mass of droids once more, confusion filling his thoughts. "Why have they stopped?"
"Master?" Fre'Dell heard Daf'Nee behind him, hugging the cover they were behind.
Raising his hand, he pointed towards the opening where the rest of their group had retreated to. "Go now!" He said in a hushed tone. Following his command, Daf'Nee ran for the opening entering the wreckage. Fre'Dell soon followed.
Entering the 'stronghold', Fre'Dell saw a desperate sight. bodies strewn across the floor everywhere; Rebel Soldiers, Imperials, droids, it was impossible to not step on something. He looked up and saw two groups: one was his own, his two young padawans, the marine and another soldier who appeared to be an officer. The other group were the Imperials: the Storm Trooper standing a good distance away from the other five, the other five being three figured in black outfits and two officers. One of the figures in black appeared to be disturbed, her eyes wide open as she sat down, cowering. Fre'Dell approached the group, standing next to the Storm Trooper. "What is wrong with her?"
The trooper shrugged. "I can't tell. She is supposed to be a scary Inquisitor, but is looks like she just saw her worse nightmare."
One of the Imperial officers heard her comment and turned around to scold the insubordinate, but froze when he saw Fre'Dell next to the trooper. "Jedi!" The officer stammered, grabbing the attention of the other three, who all drew their weapons. Fre'Dell held his hands up, showing that he meant no trouble. He was surprised when the trooper stood in front of him, blocking hif from the other four Imperials.
"Move now, you whelp! He and his kind betrayed the Empire and deserve death!" one of the 'Inquisitors shouted, his red light saber humming violently, seemingly glowing brighter with his words.
"Sir, I thing we have bigger problems to deal with currently." The trooper retorted, recieving looks of disgust from the two officers. Fre'Dell gently pushed her aside, walking towards the group.
"She is correct. For now we must work together to survive these droids." Hearing this, they began to lower their weapons, and taking the advantage, Fre'Dell asked. "What is wrong with her?"
One of the Inquisitors looked to the disturbed companion, seeing that she had not changed positions since they arrived here. "She keeps saying crazy things. Something about the return of-"
"Jedi!" A loud robotic voice filled the air, getting everyone to raise their weapons: the Jedi reignited their sabers, the marine and officer prepared their blasters and the Storm Trooper raised her own blaster. Fre'Dell looked towards the trooper grabbed her attention.
"Protect the incapacitated one." She did not argue and moved to the cowering Inquisitor, who was now muttering "It's Him! It's Him!" repeatedly. The two Imperial officers stayed back while the two Inquisitors moved to openings within the wreckage and looked for whoever was speaking. The marine mounted his blaster on some debris and kept his eye on the main opening while the Rebel officer looked outside as well.
"You are surrounded, your armies are decimated!' The voice continued, sending chills down their spines. "Make peace with what ever you fools believe in now, for this is your final hour!" Fre'Dell could feel one of the Imperial officers focused more on him rather than on who was addressing them now, and he could feel one of the Inquisitors glaring at him.
"But know that I, General Grievous, am not completely without mercy. I shall grant you a warrior's death! Prepare!" Grievous? The Grievous?!?! Fre'Dell hardly believed it, but his suspicions were confirmed when the Inquisitor only began to panic more, hysterical about the fearsome Jedi hunter's return.
"Impossible." He whispered. He began to contemplate on how this could even be real. General Grievous was confirmed to have died just before the war's conclusion. His train of thought was interrupted when he heard the echoing sounds of mechanical footsteps, the sound growing louder with each step. Daf'Nee looked towards Scoo, and the Inquisitors looked to one another. The only other sound that was louder than the approaching terror was the ramblings of the panicking Inquisitor.
Scoo growled, approaching Fre'Dell. "That is correct, young one. He is coming alone."
"If he is truly General Grievous, then we are no match. He will destroy us!" One of the Inquisitors said, his lekku bandaged and bloodied. Fre'Dell knew that if he survived the coming battle, he would die soon after from his unfortunate injury. Despite feeling sorrow for the fallen Jedi, Fre'Dell raised his fist.
"We must try, young one! We will not let this synthetic monster treat us as prey!" He felt Daf'Nee standing close to him, gripping her saber tightly. He saw that she was sweating rather violently as she waited to see the feared general.
Everyone stood still for a few moments, watching for the general once more. the other able Inquisitor ignited both of his sabers and looked around, showing signs of panic. Fre'Dell wanted to stop him, but he feared that the Inquisitor would impale him if he approached. the sounds of the footsteps were excruciatingly loud now, causing all of them to get into a fighting position. The two officers who had stayed back were now steadying their aim at the opening, waiting to see this fearsome general that put one of their Inquisitors in shock.
"It's close, but where is he?" Fre'Dell heard the rebel officer say, her voice filled with terror as the footsteps grew even louder than before.
"It's all around us!" The Twi'lek Inquisitor shouted, holding his saber with the same tightness he had seen Daf'Nee hold hers. He was terrified of what was to come.
"Calm yourself. Be prepared for the coming battle." He said in a soft voice. He sensed that Daf'Nee's grip had loosened a little, but the Twi'lek still gripped his saber tightly. He sensed that it was so tight, he could possibly break the cheap blade. The footsteps grew louder, and Fre'Dell could barely think with the thumping of each step. "Steady." Was all he said as he kept an eye on the opening, expecting to see the familiar white body of the droid general. He felt sweat flow from his hands. Was he as nervous as the rest of them? He couldn't be. He had to remain strong for his padawans and the survivors. "Steady..." He repeated, staring at the opening intensly, sweat piling up on his brow.
Suddenly, the footfalls stopped, and all that remained were the hums of the ignited light sabers. Daf'Nee held her saber at the ready, breathing rhythmically to calm herself down. The other Twi'lek, on the other hand was looking around violently, and how he did not feel the bandages falling off his lekku is beyond Fre'Dell. "Steady....." He said one last time, sweat running down his face and falling to his blade.
A moment passed where nothing happened, then the Twilek yelled a terrified warcry and began running towards the opening. Fre'Dell held his hand out to try to grab him, but missed and began chasing him. They needed him for the fight, and running into the open blind was a mistake. He almost grabbed the Inquisitor, but was stopped when a metal blade flew from the sky and cut the Twi'lek's head clean off. Fre'Dell stopped in his tracks and looked at the blade seeing an ingraving in red. The same red that the trooper told him about. Reading the engraving only gave him more chills. It read:
Jaeger
The blade then seemingly flew back up into the air, and Fre'Dell tried to follow it but failed, only seeing the top of the wreckage. raising his saber, he began to back up. Slowly, the other three force users joined him, forming a diamonds and slowly approaching an clearing where the bodies made a circle. The soldiers kept their heads on a swivel, keeping an eye in any possible direction.
None of them bothered to look to the makeshift ceiling, for if they had, they would have seen the crimson red droid hanging from it as the sabers approached him, illuminating the area. The Droid slowly pulled out two light sabers, waiting for the four to be directly beneath him. His evil yellow eyes focused on the four, seeing beautiful light sabers to add to his collection.
One claw carefully disconnected from the ceiling, and then he began to fall.
Fre'Dell looked up as the sabers ignited, and dove, causing the other four to do the same. The general landed, kicking up a cloud of sand. The other four got back up and approached, ready to fight the Jedi hunter. The four blasters began firing on the droid, trying to distract him from the Jedi. It did nothing, as the blaster bolts seemed to just bounce of the droid's body. The firing stopped once they approached, and they allowed the Jedi to duel this beast.
Two would swing at him and he would easily parry their blades, his arms moving unnaturally and unpredictably. The Inquisitor was the only one who was able to actually be a threat because he was swinging almost as wildly as Grievous was, taking the droid's full attention when he attacked. Grievous began to cackle when he pushed the Inquisitor away and saw that all four were closing in on him. He raised his arms and began twirling his torso. Fre'Dell jumped back as the General began slowly crawling forward, remembering a story Master Ki Adi Mundi had told him; a story of his close encounter with Grievous. He had hoped that this fight would end differently to that one.
Oh, how he hoped.
Grievous continued to twirl and inch forwards towards the officers until Scoo and Daf'Nee blocked his path. He swung at them to break their defense, knocking Scoo back slightly and pushing Daf'Nee to the side. The Inquisitor jumped to take the General off guard, but the droid simply turned to fight him with one arm, dueling Scoo and the Inquisitor simultaneously. Having clear shots, the blasters began firing, but the droid began to maneuver his body, dodging the bolts as they flew by. He tossed his sabers into the air and flipped, grabbing the blades with his claws and moved his legs as effortlessly as he did his arms. All four Jedi surrounded him and tried to incapacitate him, but his sabers deflected theirs. He then jumped into the air again, releasing his sabers and grabbing them with his hands, aiming to slam down on Fre'Dell's position. The Jedi Master jumped away, leaving only sand for Grievous to turn to glass.
Fre'Dell jumped to the remains of a Tie Fighter, looking down on the battle, with Grievous looking up at him. He raised his hand and sent a massive force towards him, causing Grievous to leap away and send the molten glass flying. Grievous landed on a wall and focused on the Imperial officers, letting out a guttural cry as the robot soar through the wreckage, landing on one and crushing his head with his claw. The other officer, panicking, began backing up, firing his blaster wildly and giving orders to the Storm Trooper who was guarding the disturbed Inquisitor.
Coe watched as the officer fired into the air, some of his bolts bouncing off of the General's body. One managed to be a well placed shot and ricochet right into the officer's eye, sending him to the ground. She gasped, and reached for her saber, but the trooper stopped her, placing a hand on her trembling arm. "No, wait." Coe would have normally disciplined this trooper, but right now, she just wanted to survive.
Fre'Dell saw that the non combatant was in danger and looked at Daf'Nee. He called her name, grabbing her attention, and pointed to where the Storm Trooper was. She gave him a look of resistance, wanting to stay and fight, but he shook his head, demanding her to go help them retreat. Sighing, she began to run away, but Grievous had other plans.
Grievous jumped into the air again and began to fall down towards the purple Twi'lek, but his descent was altered by Fre'Dell, who pushed him with a well placed Force push, sending him flying towards Scoo. Grievous did not mind the course alteration, for he landed in front of the Wookie, sending sand into the air and blinding him. The padawan, disoriented, attempted to fight the droid, but preformed horribly, swinging wildly as he wiped sand from his eyes. Once his eyes were clear, Scoo managed to see that he managed to clash blades with the droid, giving him hope.
Which quickly vanished when Grievous released the saber and exposed Scoo to an attack from his undefended side. Scoo howled in pain, and failed to raise his saber in time to block Grievous' fatal blow.
The Rebel officer watched in horror, and wondered what exactly she could do. She looked to the body of the Twi'lek Inquisitor and saw his saber was still intact. She holstered her blaster and sprinted to the blade, hoping to try and use it against the droid. Grievous heard the officer's sprint and turned his head, but had to avoid the Inquisitor's dive, raising his saber to stop the Inquisitor's two from coming down on him. The Inquisitor landed in front of him and laughed, activating the second ignition on each saber. Grievous began laughing, watching how the dual saber took form. "What a silly and pathetic design!" He shouted, pushing the Inquisitor back. The Inquisitor slid against the sand for a few feet until activating the blades, causing them to spin. the tips of the blades glassed the sand as they activated, sending up clouds of hot sand. Grievous carefully kept an eye out, his wrists rolling as he looked for the Inquisitor.
Finding his foe was not difficult, for the fool released a battle cry as he jumped. Grievous held up his right hand, his wrist twirling at unnatural speeds, acting similar to the Inquisitor's cylindrical blade. The Inquisitor's blades collided with Grievous' and halted the blade's movement. As the Inquisitor tried to move his other arm towards Grievous, he failed to notice that his hand was flying away, the helicopter-like saber cutting through the wreckage and out into the open. He then noticed the General's other hand begin to spin up.
The Rebel officer grabbed the Inquisitor's saber and tried activating it when she heard a horrific scream. Looking up and back into the wreckage, she saw the red robot with a mist of red surrounding him. He grabbed the saber that his most recent victim was using and holstered it, looking to the rebel marine. The marine, having recovered from watching a person being turned into red mist, took aim and released a flurry of blaster bolts towards the General. Grievous took the bolts, most bouncing in multiple directions. He raised his sabers and began twirling them once more, directing the blaster fire back to its originator. One bolt hit the marine in the shoulder, knocking him back and stunning him. Grievous finished closing the distance and raised his blade before raising his left claw, grabbing the officer by the face. He slammed her to the ground, crushing her under his weight. He then grabbed the marine with his other claw and flipped, sending them flying deep into the wreckage and causing some of the debris to fall atop them.
General Grievous then turned to face the only target left: Fre'Dell. The disgruntled Jedi master held his saber with fleeting strength; having taken some injuries from the stray blaster bolts. Blood mixing with his sweat, the master glared at the feared General, his blue saber brightening his face in the dark. Grievous' yellow eyes studied the Jedi, raising his own blades, slowly preparing to pounce on this wounded dog.
And all Daf'Nee could do alongside Coe and the trooper was watch.