Ending4,251 words

The Siege of Cato Neimoidia

Author's Note:

And so our story continues... and with some fun references. :3

Thanks again to Scholarly Cimmerian for proof-reading and grammar checking.

Cato Neimoidia

Cato Neimodia was the site of many battles during the Clone Wars, most notable for the vast amount of 'Bridge Cities'. The planet was also the supposed grave of a Jedi Master who had been executed during the Great Jedi Purge, but no body had been found or recovered to prove that fact. The planet was a very wealthy world, belonging to the Neimodians, and the world was also the base of operations for the Trade Federation who served in the Clone Wars. But with the war over, they were disbanded from the Storm Empire once they had been declared destroyed.

But there's one thing that Cato Neimoidia didn't do, one particular order they didn't obey; all droid units were to shut down at once. The planet had played its part for the war, and the people played their role. But they had no idea of the true implications that the Empire had planned for their victory. And so, ignoring their word, they ignored the shutdown command and kept all of their soldier units online on their homeworld for defense purposes.

Several heavy footsteps marched through the capital of the planet. Echoing throughout, the sounds of their feet gave hope to the Neimodians who were residing in the city. As they took shelter in their homes for what was to come; a massive ensemble of commando, B1, and B2 battle droids marched towards the front of the city where the entrance was. Their numbers fortified the gate, standing in defensive positions. The inclusion of the droidekas and octuptarra droids towering over the soldiers gave the citizens a little more hope that they would be safe, knowing how strong these forces were.

Several J1 proton cannons stood in positions with Neimodian soldiers sitting in the seats. Assault tanks stood behind the rows as well, ready to provide heavy support behind the front lines. In addition, forces began to roll across the bridge that led to the city to provide more support, standing in place. Hailfire droids laid across the bridge, with more assortments of tanks, and both classes of Spider droids.

Dwarf spider droids marched across with crab droids, and even Retail Caucus droids to create a fortified front. And when they were all in position, all of them stood about face, aiming their weapons forward and above them, waiting for the enemy to arrive. In the middle of the bridge stood a T-series tactical droid, holding a hologram beside a few magnaguards.

“All soldiers are in position; we are ready for the attack.”

"Excellent commander. Stay in position until you see them coming; we must make our stand today, we've been pushed for far too long," the governor on the other end reported. "I've already been trying to issue evacuation shuttles to the city, but our signals are being scrambled. Keep them distracted until the shuttles arrive; we must contact the Rebellion at once. They are our only hope!"

"Understood."

In the city, the governor named Tantus stood in his office, gazing out the window overlooking the civilians. Battle droids were carefully trying to escort people inside their homes, telling them to seek shelter below their homes where they would safe in the possibility of bombing attacks. He wasn't about to have any of their safeties be at risk.

One of the commando droids in his office walked over to him, blazed in bright blue paint.

"Sir, I recommend we depart at once for your safety," he ushered.

"I will not leave my people," Tantus refuted. "If and when they come, we will face them together. Viceroy Gunray has made our people look like cowards; I am not going to cower."

"Understood sir. But I am not sure how strong our forces are," the droid asked, concerned.

"We'll make our stand. We must hold them off as long as we can, until those shuttles arrive. And if they don't come... then I will happily die alongside my people, fighting for what I believe in," Tantus sighed heavily. "Just make sure my children have taken shelter with everyone else."

"Roger roger," the commando replied.

Back on the front lines, the droids continued to stand and keep their positions ready. There wasn't anything to be seen quite yet, but everyone had been informed about the Empire about to come to their system for an impending invasion; something they weren't going to take standing down.

Across the bridge, several more soldiers and droids took positions behind additional coverage with barriers for support. One of the battle droids pulled out a pair of binocs and put them over his eyes, trying to peak beyond the horizon to see if they had arrived. A massive tremor shook the ground as he started to peak, and what was on the binocs scanners made it clear.

Walkers, roughly the same height as the octuptarra droids, were marching towards the gates. Heavy footsteps shook the ground, and when the B1 unit looked up, he could see a machine that looked far more deadly than the old Republic AT-TEs. Much more bulkier and taller in size.

"Uh-oh. Sir, there are several Imperial walkers approaching us," the B1 reported.

"Fire at the walkers. I want to see how much firepower we may need to take it down," the captain ordered.

“Open fire!” A B1 commander ordered.

The assault tanks and octuptarra droids raised their cannons and fired at the direction of the Imperial walkers, massive laser-blasts echoing across the bridge and the valley the city resided in. With impeccable distance, the laser rounds did hit the walker; one on the head-cabin, and another hitting the hump of the vehicle.

But the walker wasn't affected. Despite the distance from where it was walking, it wasn't affected in the slightest. No damage, no hindering of the path; absolutely nothing stopped it. Then, more of their units started to fire; every single octuptarra droid and assault tank fired all at once, trying to bring as much heavy fire onto the weapon. So much noise echoed in the skies, and even soldiers on the ground were screaming at the top of their lungs, insisting they fire more and more. One of them was shaking with anger and fear, blending together as he kept screaming at his soldiers, and his coms for them to keep going.

"More... MORE. MORE! MORE!!!!"

And upon silent orders; the proton cannons raised their legs, and fired from across the bridge towards the walker, adding an additional set of hailfire to the amount of shots the walker was taking.

What felt like minutes passing soon ended, with a bunch of smoke and dust clouding the Imperial walker from all their blasts. But as everyone waited momentarily, hoping their shots did the deed... a pair of heavy laser rounds fired from the mist down at the bridge. The blast hit one of the groups; destroying two of the assault tanks and taking some battle droids with them in the process.

"Uh-oh..." two B1 units murmured.

Coming out of the mist to join the fight was a set of AT-STs, smaller walkers with two legs instead of four; and much faster. They marched in front of the AT-AT, and were going down the path that led to the bridge. In addition, a few Imperial troop transports raced behind them.

"Fire at will," the tactical droid ordered.

The barrage turned their weapons towards the AT-STs, and fired at will. The assault tanks made the legs of the smaller walkers trip a bit, but it didn't take them down right away. That was, until the octuptarra droids rotated their heads and fired down at the entrance. One of them was obliterated upon impact, but it didn't stop the others from proceeding forward. More blasts went down towards them, taking some more in the process.

The troop transports fired at them, but their shots were relatively smaller than the ones from the AT-AT. Naturally, the Hailfire droids and crab droids shot at the transports to stop them. One of the transports managed to get hit enough that the engine exploded, forcing the vehicle to stop moving and engulfing it in flames, killing the troopers who were riding inside. Another troop transport was racing towards them, but before the hailfire droids could finish them, the transport halted in its tracks.

The doors opened, and a series of Midnight troopers, along with soldiers in pure black sleek armor classed as the Death troopers, started to charge. They fired their blasters at the battle droids and Neimodian soldiers, and so the two forces began to fight back. The masses of B1 units fought, but a good portion of them were easily shot down. That is, until some got a lucky shot in here and there.

The commando units leapt above them, charging towards the Midnight troopers without fear. The troopers managed to hit two of the commandos, but one of the commandos came swinging at them with a sharp cold sword. One of the troopers was slashed, and killed on the spot. But before the commando could hit another, multiple shots to the back took it down. The remaining commando units that charged continued to shoot, but they were quickly taken care of by the group of Death troopers.

Another transport rolled across the bridge, and so troops accompanied the remaining numbers from the second one. More Midnight troopers following after the Death troopers as they ran across the bridge. More B1s and B2s fired, forcing the troopers behind the elite squadron to try and take cover. The Death troopers speed outmatched the slowness of the battle droids, which gave them a bigger advantage as they shot a few of them down.

That is, until the bigger guns emerged; droidekas. They swarmed more of their soldiers, creating a line to try and prevent them from passing. All at once, they shot at the troopers, slowly walking forward to try and box them in. The Death troopers however were prepared for this situation. One of them ran from a piece of cover, tossing a small grenade to slide underneath their bubble shield. When the grenade detonated, another trooper stood up and hit the droideka when the bubble opened up for a brief second. Hit from the shot, the lead droideka finally shut down after being destroyed.

Two more droidekas were left vulnerable, leaving the entire squadron of Death troopers to wipe the two to the ground. Eventually some more forces from behind started to move forward; a dwarf spider droid who massacred a few of the Midnight troopers that were getting closer. And right above, one of the octuptarra droids focused on the Death troopers and fired a powerful blast towards them.

The Death troopers scattered, but the explosion took the lives of three members of the group. And the droid was about to fire some more, until some small blasts to the dome got its attention. Turning its scope around, the droid saw a few jumptroopers flying towards it. The octuptarra ready to shoot at them, firing a blast at them but unfortunately missing.

One of the troopers fired a shot towards the octuptarra's droid eye, that is until it turned around to use one of its other functioning receptors. Another sharp blast came from the droid's turret, reducing a trooper to charred rubble and ash. But as it got ready to shoot another trooper down--

KABLAM!

A rocket from afar struck the lower torso of the droid, forcing it to lose balance and drop to its knees. The weight of its dome head tipped to the side, falling straight off the bridge where it crashed to the ground, far from the city.

"Nice shot, captain," an admiral complimented from a nearby ship.

But the battle was far from over. To make matters worse, several TIE fighters emerged from the skies, accompanied by ships that didn't look Imperial; stylistically and aesthetically. Ships with dagger-like wings that twirled around the cockpit like a drill whenever they made the slightest turn or movement, painted black and bright green with streaks of lightning on each.

"Send in the flyers!" The tactical droid ordered before a Death Trooper shot the droid in the head, destroying him instantly. But with the last order sent out, flyers started to emerge from underneath the bridge; Vulture droids, Tri-fighters, even Gunships were among the ensemble of fighters as they raced towards the charging Empire. The hordes of ships flew together in formation, armed and ready. And just up in front of them were several racing TIE fighters who were also prepared to fight. Taking evasive action, the Storm Army fighters scattered as the TIEs tried to break through them.

Two of the Vulture units spun around, pursuing a trio of TIEs, firing several rockets towards their target. One of the rockets hit the ship on the left, killing the pilot immediately. Another one flew right past the middle TIE, and was blown up by a blast from a TIE Interceptor that soared right past them. The last two rockets flew in front of the remaining two TIEs and collided together; but no dust flew back. Instead, several metallic balls flew right back onto the two ships; each one of them transforming into smaller droids; buzz droids.

Maniacally, the swarms of buzz droids got to work, ripping apart pieces of the fighters. Panels torn open, wiring cut, even one of them cutting into the glass cockpit. The pilots inside the fighters tried to spin around to get them off, but with no avail. And before they knew it, their engines were slowly dying and they began to spiral out of control. One of them died crashing into a mountain, and another just went straight down to the grounds of the planet, going far from the cities.

The Tri-fighters spun past the bridge and raced towards the AT-AT. The walker didn't fire right away since the fighters swooped right over it, but when they made another turn, the walker arched its back legs in a way to make it look to the skies with a better sight. The walker fired several shots at the air, taking out two of the Tri-fighters in the process, but the last one managed to fire missiles towards the legs. Not that it did it any good, since an incoming Interceptor just shot down the other fighter.

The TIEs were taking down more of the flyers one by one, and only a few of them went down. Soon, the last lines of flyers were coming; five gunships. Two of the leading ships released an arsenal of missiles towards the charging TIEs, blowing them up on impact. They were about to spin around and charge at the AT-AT, under orders to fire all their rockets towards the massive target, when suddenly, a harsh green laser shredded the main engine of one of the gunships, sending it spinning out of control and exploding.

Slicing through the clouds were three Kom'rk-class Gauntlet fighters, streamlined in pure black, with green bolts. They charged at the gunships, firing several of their lasers at them. Immediately, the remaining four gunships split off from the attack. One of the Gauntlets turned to pursue two of the gunships, another went after the remaining flyers that were picking off their TIEs, and the last one turned towards the attacks on the bridge.

The two gunships in pursuit were trying to evade the laser-fire, but it was a fruitless effort. Both of them were shot at, and the main engines of both ships burst into flames before crashing into the abyss. The last two turned towards the Gauntlet, releasing all of their missiles in an attempt to take it down. But the Gauntlet's wings just spun around, avoiding being hit by the rockets. And when they were in clear view, the ship opened fire and destroyed the last of the Storm Army gunships, letting them crash.

The second Gauntlet focused on pursuing the last assortments of Vultures and Tri-fighters. While the ship did take a few shots, they were mainly minimal. Just a few scratches on the plating, but nothing critical. The last two Vultures were obliterated from the skies, letting their parts rain down over the bridge. And the last Tri-fighter that came around deployed rockets to try and bring the Gauntlet down, but they weren't strong enough. The Gauntlet raced towards the Tri-fighter and shot it down, sending it hurling towards the J-1 proton cannons. The remaining tanks exploded from the crash, killing any nearby battle droids and soldiers.

The last few lines of defense stood up straight, and continued to fight. The last few tanks, hailfire droids, and the last octuptarra droid opened fire, trying to bring down as many as they could. If this was their last stand, they would bring as many down as they could. But alas, their stand wouldn't last. The third Gauntlet hovered above the AT-AT, lowering an entire line of seats for soldiers to sit in. In those seats were Mandalorians, blazed in black and bright green, matching the colors of the Gauntlets. They flew out of the seats and towards the enemy, ready to fight.

All at once, they fired small rockets and grenades and whatever heavy weapons they had in their arsenal of weapons at the last line of defense. And the last octuptarra droid destroyed, the lines were broken. Mandalorian forces and the Midnight troopers broke through, making it into the village to commence with the siege.

The AT-AT fired across the bridge towards the main capital; hitting the main building. The blasts sent tremors to everyone and everything in the building, destroying walls, furniture, and who knows what else. The ceilings inside caved in from the impact. Luckily, the Governor had gotten outside as fast as he could before he could have been killed from the blast. But outside was much worse than within; as he looked around, all he could hear was the ringing in his ears. Explosions, screaming, laserblasts storming all around him. He was horrified to see what was becoming of his people. All this slaughter and carnage around him just made him feel hopeless. He remembered the days when the Republic launched raids on their homeworld, but it never became this bleak during the Clone Wars.

All the battle droids, the last ensemble of defenses the capital had were completely eviscerated. They laid about in pieces, on fire, smoldering from the attacks. Only a few bodies of those purple soldiers were about, they didn’t stand a chance. Not even the heavy duty droids could hold out against them. With the blaster in his hand, he realized he only had one choice. Either run like the coward their former representative was… or die fighting.

Hiking his boots, he threw off his royal coat to take a weight off his shoulders. With a brave face, he began to pick up his feet and run. His run became faster and faster as he started to shoot at the troopers. He shot one in the head, and took out another in the chest. He ran past some of the troopers, dodging the blasts as best as he could. Looking around, he saw a rotary cannon on the ground. With a spark in his eyes, he picked up the blaster and planted his feet firmly in the ground. He held the rotary cannon and fired off the laser rounds with fury of an untamed beast. He yelled as the lasers shot more Midnight Troopers, sending them falling and flying into the air from the wild strikes.

“For the Confederacy!”

The troopers saw him and began to close in on him, trying to fire back at him but failing. He shot more and more with all the lasers left in the cannon until the cannon finally ran out of ammunition. With the weapon no longer firing and just whirring around. But that didn't stop him. He saw an incoming Mandalorian and threw the weapon at their body, knocking them down from how heavy the gun was. Nearby was a rifle, and so he picked it up and stood by next to some commando units, continuing the fight.

More Mandalorians continued to swarm the air, flying straight for them. Three of the commandos were taken out, but two of the Mandalorians flying towards them were finished. The last one came down to face Tantus personally, forcing him to fight. With a swift kick, he hit the soldier in the stomach and kicked the helmet off the trooper's head, revealing a very angry man who flashed his grit teeth. But with another punch, the man went down.

The governor saw more troopers coming, but he did not stop. He wasn't going to back down--

"DAD!!!"

That voice sent shivers down the governor's spine. And when he turned around, what he saw frightened him more than anything he had seen today; his own two children, forced out by the Midnight troopers, blasters pointed at their heads. He stopped trying to look for a way to fight, he immediately dropped the weapon, knowing he wasn't going to win if it meant keeping his children safe.

Two of the Mandalorians rocketed down, pointing their weapons at the governor. None of them made an effort or chose to try and put him in cuffs, they had him where they wanted. And his face said it all; he surrendered. A third Mandalorian came down, this time with much more stylized paint on their armor. A female by the lenses on the helmet, with golden lightning bolts streaked on both sides of the head, and on the chest plating. To make it worse, there was a blackened mark that only meant one thing...

"Death Watch," Tantus sneered.

“Governor Tantus,” the Mandalorian greeted with an arrogant voice. “I must admit you were smart to fortify your city; and using outdated droids. Cute.”

The governor glared at her, quietly snarling.

“You really don’t seem to grasp the concept of senseless violence. There’s no need for your people to suffer like this,” she said with a faux sense of sincerity.

“You are the ones who make the galaxy suffer,” Tantus sneered. “You talk peace, and yet your actions bring undesired pain.”

Her hand stroked his face, making him growl some more. “It’s all for a worthy cause. After all, the Empire brings order and prosperity to the galaxy. Unlike the Republic… your people took issue with the Republic, did they not?”

“We may not have liked them, but my people never asked to be senselessly attacked for unjust reasons,” he argued.

His eyes soon set on some of his town’s people, seeing the poor citizens being forced out of their homes with hands behind their heads. They were pleading and begging to be left alone, but they just received more beatings and assault by the troopers.

“Bugs. That’s what you are,” the Mandalorian leader glared under her helmet. “Now I want you to answer a question for me; the kingdom you all pledged allegiance to, their forces are slowly dwindling… and now we’ve learned there’s only one more holdout in existence that harbors these outdated battle droids. So if you want your people to live, you’re going to tell me. Where is the last Storm Army holdout?”

Tantus looked at his left, seeing more of his people being hurt. Make matters worse, he saw two adults younger than him; his son and daughter being dragged out and held at gunpoint.

“Daddy, please don’t tell him!” The daughter shouted.

“Get out of there!” The son pleaded.

Tantus looked at his children in horror, and then back at the Mandalorian. He knew in most of these situations that the ones who had the guns never kept their word. His children were going to be shot, and he couldn’t stop them.

“It won’t matter if I speak. Because you will just strike the rest of my village and my family. I won’t tell you anything, but I warn you. If you strike me down, others will stand against you,” Tantus glared.

The Mandalorian was quiet, processing his words.

“Well, let’s test that theory,” she said, rather ominously. She faced some of the troopers. “Captain, these people have little grubs… line them all up.”

“Wait, no!” Tantus begged. His arms were grabbed by two troopers and forced him to stand and watch as the Midnight troopers gathered many eggs lining them up together in the middle of the town. The people were crying and begging them to stop, to not do what they were about to do, but the Imperial forces kept them all back.

Flametroopers lined up in positions and pulled the triggers on their weapons, sending enormous blazes of fire towards the eggs. Everyone screamed and cried in a large overwhelming volume that shattered the ears of the unhelmeted heads around them.

The Mandalorian grabbed his face and grit her teeth under the mask. “The suffering can stop… if you just tell me where the holdout is. Now.”

Tantus still said nothing, trying to fight the urge to scream in rage, knowing he’d be shot the moment he didn’t give her what she wanted. But he still didn’t talk.

“I think we better pull out the big guns,” she said, looking to the two guards. The Mandalorians standing by pulled out a blaster and without hesitation, blasted a shot into the daughter’s heart, making her gasp and shout. And with her let go, the daughter dropped to the ground. The Mandalorian commander’s head slowly turned to Tantus. “You have one more chance.”

He growled at her, but looked at his son with one more face. A single tear could be seen going down his face as he looked at him.

“Kyoto… if you ever survive this; tell your mother I love her.”

His finger clicked a button unseen connected to a wiring setup on his hand. Several beeping noises started to emit around him, and the commander understood immediately what was about to happen. Jumping out of the way just in time, a massive explosion sent tremors to everyone in the entire city. The citizens looked in terror to see the explosion, thinking someone else had come to strike. But when the smoke cleared, nothing was visibly left to the eye.

All that was found when the smoke cleared was a hat on the ground, left behind by the former governor. The Mandalorian walked back over and picked up the hat, growling softly. “You just had to make things difficult…”

Her head looked at the son who was terrified beyond belief; was he next? Were they going to shoot him next?

“Take the son to the brig. He can pay his sentence by helping us with that new project Thrawn had commissioned, along with his mother,” she said.

Following orders, the two guards grabbed the son by his arms and took him away, leaving the scene. With a heavy sigh of annoyance, she pulled out her com device and activated a hologram.

“VZ-86, come in. Are you there?” She asked.

A Midnight trooper captain came into view as she flipped on the hologram.

“I’m here. What’s going on?”

“The governor took his own life. Please tell me you found anything in the governor’s archives,” the commander asked, praying they’d get some actual results.

“Negative. All transmissions and planetary information have been wiped from all the computers,” the captain replied. “If there is another holdout out there, we’re not going to find it here.”

“Ugh… understood. Finish your sweep then go join the rest of the troopers. We’ll finish making an example of the city down here before we join you.”

“Do you really think there’s any more Storm Army holdouts out there? The Empire’s wiped them out, there can’t be anymore,” VZ-86 asked.

“There’s always more remaining, captain. It won’t matter if it’s erased from the archives or not, we will find that last holdout… and when we do, the last of the Storm Army, these dead-named Separatists, and the Confederacy of Independent Systems will finally collapse… for good.”

On Yavin IV, a new day had come. People were up and at 'em for another day of work, another day of trying to undermine the government. Flurry Heart's eye was still patched up, per doctor's orders, and her mood only dwindled. The only thing she was expecting to happen today was another round of her screwing up a simulation, and getting beaten up by another hulked-up boxer who had more muscle than her.

In the mess hall, she sat by herself, still not feeling like talking to anyone after her failures from the day before. She weakly pecked at her food with her fork, not feeling very hungry. Her eye looked up, seeing some familiar faces come over to sit with her; Sandbar and the rest of Team Six.

"Hey, mind if we sit with you?" Sandbar asked.

"Sure," Flurry said, not caring.

"Still upset about getting your butt kicked?" Smolder asked.

"No, I'm upset because Lando had an affair in last week's episode of Catching Up With The Calrissians," Flurry deadpanned.

Everyone blinked awkwardly.

"... Does Lando do radio shows that we don't know about?" Silverstream asked, tilting her head.

"Friend upset. Yona don't want friend upset," the Yakyakiee said, as she sat down. She yanked Flurry and gave her a big hug.

"DAH!"

"Yona hug friend to make it better!"

"Ack! I appreciate the thought!" Flurry hacked. "You're! Choking! Me!" Yona let go of the poor girl to let her breathe, thankfully not causing her any choking problems. She sat down beside her while the others sat in empty seats at the table, giving her company. "I appreciate the hug, but I'm not sure how well that will help me in being a good fighter. I bombed."

"It can't be that bad, can it?" Sandbar asked.

"I can't aim to save my life, I got my butt kicked by a Trandoshan, and I can only half see you guys," Flurry deadpanned.

"Nobody ever beats Gamera," Gallus said, shrugging and shaking his head. "But you're not just gonna quit because of one bad day of practice are you?"

"I wanted to die."

"Flurry, look," Gallus said, with a few hand gestures to say 'look, listen to me'. "It's your first day. The first day of anything is never good. Do you think any of us did great on our first days?"

"N-No?"

"Exactly," Gallus said, folding his arms.

"Some better than others," Smolder said with a sly smirk.

"Smolder not helping," Yona glared.

"Look, Flurry. The point is you're going to screw up. Don't expect to be perfect. I remember when I first started to train for the Rebellion, ooh boy..." Gallus said, with some embarrassment in his tone and face. "I was... understandably called names."

"Names?"

"Oh yeah. Let's just say some people weren't happy that 'Greedy Griffon' here kept failing on some of the courses," Gallus admitted.

"Or the 'gender confused' changeling kept changing her looks whenever attending a seminar," Ocellus meekly added.

"But there were two ways I could take it. I could either throw a giant pity party for myself, and quit because it was too hard; or, I could practice to stop screwing up, and get better at the job I came here to do."

Flurry's one eye blinked. "So basically, don't let everyone push you down, just use that to motivate you and keep on pushing forward."

"Basically," Gallus nodded, albeit unsure.

"Well if it makes you feel any better, I think I have an idea what your next training section is going to be," Ocellus interjected. "We've all taken Spitfire's courses before. If I remember, I think you'll be doing a test."

"Test? Greaaat. And I didn't even know you were supposed to study," Flurry sank her face into the table.

"Not that kind of test. It's sort of... well, I think Spitfire explains it better than I can. But it's much more calm than the other ones!"

"I hope so," Flurry moped.

Awkward silence filled the breakfast table, until Sandbar interrupted clearing his throat. "So, um, Ocellus. What are you up to later today?"

"Oh! I was going to do some more studying and then maybe see if there are any shifts I need to take care of. Mammoth Squadron is supposed to be coming back later today, I think they mentioned their ship needs some repairs," Ocellus chirped. "And uh... well, Flurry if you want, maybe.. we could help train you?"

"Us?" Smolder asked.

"Being a trainer for the new trainee! That could be exciting," Silverstream squeed, tapping her claws together.

"But we're not teachers. We're just fighters," Gallus pointed out.

"Team Six may be fighters, but fighters have experience!' Yona countered, tapping her cloven-like hands together. "Friends been through a lot together, and maybe friends can teach that to Flurry."

Flurry wasn't so sure. But considering how well yesterday had gone, the idea of training with her new friends sounded much more better to her.

"Well, okay. I guess for the sake of argument, if I were to train with you guys... what kind of stuff would you have me do?" Flurry asked, putting her hands under her chin, thinking.

"Well, we--"

"All new recruits, please report to the training room. All new recruits, please report to the training room."

Flurry sighed as she pushed her tray away. She got back up, adjusting her arm braces to make sure she'd still be protected, and walked out of the booth. "I'll see you guys later; I'll let you know how it goes."

And just like, the six of them were left in silence. For about two seconds.

"You know she put us on the spot when she asked about how we would train her, right?" Gallus said.

"Yes," everyone agreed.

Just like the day before, Spitfire did a quick head-count to make sure she had everyone, and brought the trainees to a new area for their next test. This time, the trainees were standing in front of a massive gallery displaying a city-like environment, with a blaster rack on the wall on their left.

“Alright newbies! This next test is going to be a little different. On your various missions, you will need to properly determine who is an Imperial and who is innocent. The Empire has enlisted/forced thousands if not millions of people under their rule, so you will need to determine who is the most suspicious. Using the blasters I have laid down on the table, I want you to open fire on the targets in front of you that you deem suspicious,” the instructor said.

Flurry shivered a little, seeing that icy glare from his face.

“And I want you all to get this through your heads. Being a Rebel doesn’t automatically mean running into the field, shooting up a storm and killing everyone in front of you. You need to play the battlefield smart; with strategic thinking and efficiency. Now show me what you got.”

Spitfire stood behind a booth that protected her, but also so she could watch them and make sure they were all moving. The alarm went off, giving the trainees the okay. Everyone grabbed a blaster, with Flurry being the last one to go. Everyone stepped into positions and watched as multiple cutouts started to slide back and forth all around. With the cutouts came a few blasts from mounted guns who started to fire at them.

Taking positions, everyone ducked for cover from the blasts as the shots kept on coming. Flurry panicked for a second, but eventually threw herself behind a crate while several blasts flew over her head. Waiting for the coast to be clear, she slowly raised herself up and held up her gun, looking at the targets presented in front of her. Everyone else was looking, and rightfully shot at the Midnight trooper cutouts. But occasionally there were a few non-humanoid looking species that appeared in view; all of which were species that had considerable reputations for either being the worst or the scariest.

Everyone shot at different targets, and even a few of them shot at some of the scary cutouts. Flurry however did not shoot. Her eyes were moving all over, trying to find the target, it had to have been here somewhere. Who was she even supposed to aim her blaster at? But when she looked forward, she saw one target in particular that made her face light up with a realization. Not hesitating, she raised her blaster up, she held it with both hands and pulled the trigger, finally letting off a single blast.

Once everyone had run out of ammunition, the lights turned back on. The instructor walked through the doors, and everyone lowered their weapons once they saw his presence.

“Alright, lemme take a look here…” Spitfire said, stepping forward and examining everyone’s progress. “Darren, good eye on the sniper all the way on the balcony ledge... Tazza, nice work taking out the turret ports... and Loxal, nice eye on the sniper on the top of the roof," Spitfire examined. Then her eyes set on another target, knowing who shot it from the surveilance footage. "Gyaos, why did you shoot the Trandoshan?”

The Zabrak girl shrunk a little. “Well… I mean, he, um… it’s a Trandoshan, isn’t it?”

“You attended the seminar run by SR, right?”

“Well, yes—”

“—I thought it was confirmed that not all Trandoshans are as bad as the galaxy makes them out to be?” She said, putting her hands on her hips.

The Zabrak wasn't sure how to respond. “Um, well, uh—”

“—You know, as shocking as this is, not everyone who’s from a certain planet is bad. And I shouldn’t feel the need to say this, but we have a captain who’s a Trandoshan man,” Spitfire warned with a serious face. She leaned into Gyaos’ face, not changing her stone-cold expression “Perhaps any grievances you have with his kind could be taken up with him? I’d think he’d love to hear how you feel about his species.”

Now Gyaos realized she had landed in hot water with the instructor. And all she could imagine was the looks from everyone glaring at her, making her feel even more humilated. “I… I-“

“—I’ve heard enough,” Spitfire said, making her shrink in shame. “The rest of you look pretty good, but I must remind you not to waste your shots. Every blast you make is precious…” the instructor turned her gaze at the nervous Equestrian girl. And then her gaze looked over at her only shot; a target displaying a human woman in uniform with a single blast to the chest. Spitfire quietly observed the target again, thinking with intrigue and curiosity. “Flurry Heart. May I ask why you felt this woman deserved to die?”

Trying to block out all anxiety and fear, Flurry cleared her throat and spoke. “Well, she seemed like the only one who was a threat.”

“How did you come to that conclusion?” The instructor asked, putting her hands on her hips. The other trainees were now curious as well. Out of all of the targets available, it was the woman in the fancy dress who seemed the most suspicious?

“Well, first I was going to shoot the Quarren standing on the balcony on the right,” Flurry pointed. “Until I saw he had a wine bottle in his hand, and I realized he was just drinking. He probably had a long night, could be good, bad, whatever it may be, he felt the need to drink, there’s no crime there.”

The instructor nodded silently as Flurry continued.

“And then I saw the Zygerrian man on the ground snarling, but then I saw he had his pockets opened up. The guy’s probably looking for something important, maybe cash, identification, there’s nothing wrong there. And then I saw the Trandoshan on the left with his tongue sticking out…” She said, pointing to the Trandoshan target on the left of the shooting gallery. “I noticed he had a fork and plate in his hand. He’s not snarling, he’s hungry. He probably is about to enjoy a delectable meal; how would I feel if I was enjoying a family dinner and then someone came in and started blasting at me for enjoying some Nuna legs?”

Everyone just stared at Flurry with confusion. Where was she going with this?

“And then I saw the woman in uniform. I thought maybe you know, angry looking human, perfect uniform that isn’t dirty or ruffled, has an expression like everything around her disgusts her, stick up her butt, holding that metal leash…”

Flurry pointed, leading up to another figure; a Twi’lek in a metal bikini and chains, with a gag wrapped around her mouth looking scared beyond all belief. “…connected to the slave girl in skimpy clothes. Twi’leks are the most common form of slaves and if you’re doing business with some crime lord or mob boss, they would make a perfect payment right up there with spice and credits. That woman in the dress is about to trade an innocent woman’s life for something that’s probably what the Empire wants, and she has no shame in how she’s going to get it. If you ask me, she's up to something suspicious and needs to be taken care of.”

The instructor all the while had a small but genuine smirk on his face. Not bad kid. Not bad at all.

“… Or do I owe her an apology?” She asked with an unamused tone.

Spitfire stopped momentarily and left the room with his holopad in hand. All the while the other trainees looked at Flurry with some confused and questioning faces. Everyone was too flabbergasted by what was going on. They didn’t know whether to be impressed, confused, or outright smug about the fact she could have possibly failed.

“… So, uh… you all had great shots by the way,” Flurry tittered, shrinking. “I um... I guess you all shot with blasters before? I’ve only shot womp rats, and that’s only because they keep eating out of the trashcans.” She put her blaster back on the rack where she had grabbed it before, carefully stepping away in awkwardness.

"..."

"Soooo are we done?" Flurry asked.

"Yes, you're done newbie! You're free to go now!" Spitfire yelled from the hallway, almost making Flurry yelp from how unexpected it was.

"Were you standing there the whole time?" Flurry yelled out.

"Yes I was, newbie!"

“Look, I’ve been training recruits for over five years now, and I gotta give it to you two straight,” Spitfire said, putting her glasses down on the desk and scrunching her face. She looked at the two people in her office and gave them a straight face. “Your kid is gonna die.”

Lyra and Bon Bon threw their heads back in the chairs, Bon Bon groaning the most.

“Okay, how?”

“Well, let’s look at the math,” she said, pulling out her datapad. “You put her in a combat situation, she panics and hides behind cover the whole time and doesn’t calm herself down enough to think before she shoots things. Her aiming is so bad she makes the battle droids of the Storm Army look like excellent marksmen. And while she didn't go down from a single punch, she still didn't stand long enough against the required time against Gamera. I'm afraid she's dead weight.”

“Wha—ju—how? I don’t understand,” Lyra questioned. “I’ve been training her to learn to fight, she—”

“May I see your weapon?” Spitfire asked.

“I’m sorry?”

“I’m asking if I can look at your weapon?” Spitfire asked again.

“Sure, I guess…” Lyra hesitated, giving her lightsaber to the instructor. Spitfire felt the blade in her hand, analyzing it. And finding the switch, she flicked the button, igniting the blade in the office. “Mmm. You’re a Jedi, aren’t you? You trained your kid to use a lightsaber?”

“Yes, I have,” Lyra replied. “Well, have been. She’s still rusty, but I know she’s getting better.”

Spitfire was quiet. Then she turned her attention to Bon Bon. “And you’re a Mandalorian, right? You taught her how to use a blaster?”

“A few times, yes,” Bon Bon answered.

“I see… has your daughter been in any real combat-related situation?”

“’Well, there was a few incidents in the Clone Wars, but that was when she was a baby,” Lyra replied.

“You two have been living on Tatooine for how long?”

“Over fifteen years, at least,” Bon Bon answered.

“I see. Look, you want my advice? Leave her here, and you two can go off on whatever missions General Shimmer has assigned. You two might be fine, but your kid is not ready. If she goes out into a combat situation, she’s going to be dead, or stuck in a complete body cast, sipping food through a straw,” Spitfire said, giving it to them straight.

Bon Bon and Lyra looked at each other, disappointingly and stood up. The two gave silent nods to the instructor, getting ready to walk out of her office—

“—I do want to compliment your kid on this though.”

The two parents looked at her with heavy glares. Just based on that tone, it sounded like she was going to give their daughter a backhanded compliment.

“While I don’t think she’s going to be combat ready, it’s clear you two are good parents.”

“And how is that?” Bon Bon asked, ready to hear more negative answers.

“She may have flunked the obstacle courses, but she’s the only one who passed the judgement test,” she said with a genuine smile.

“I don’t understand,” Lyra puzzled.

“The recruits need to understand the difference between someone who looks like a threat, and someone who actually is a threat. The recruits did okay getting the obvious targets; but she found the threat that I keep hoping they'll notice. I've taught classes on Yavin IV for over seven years, and I've only seen twenty-five students pass it. She passed that test. That to me, says there is still hope for her. If she can figure out the difference between suspicious and innocent, then she can learn how to battle.”

After the end of another long day, Sunset Shimmer walked towards the one area on the base she always went to if she wasn't super tired; a lounge. As part of the installation, Sunset Shimmer made suggestions they install and develop areas on the base for some R&R, to make sure workers, and their soldiers for that matter, could have the breaks they needed to keep them from going insane.

Some areas were still in current development, but the main area that most liked to go to aside from the lakes, the creeks, or their own quarters, was this lounge. Just like the rest of the temples on the base, the interior was outlined with solid rock and metal together. Some small neon lights were up on the ceilings to keep the place well lit, and there was an Ithorian bartender working to serve the drinks and snacks requested by the patrons.

Sunset walked in, receiving a few waves from some of her co-workers. Many of them were sitting in chairs around coffee tables, chatting amongst themselves, enjoying a few much needed laughs. And so the general parked herself at an open space, sitting in a chair with three other spaces open for anyone else to join her.

"Hey Jho!" Sunset hollered. "Can you bring over a blue milk?"

"Coming right up!" The Ithorian hollered, speaking with the translator near his airholes.

As she waited, she looked around at the establishment. Blue neon light was on the shelfing for all the drinks they had to offer; everything from alcohol to non-alcooholic beverages if there were underage visitors within the lounge. A small jukebox over in the corner played some music to give some more ambience to the inside of the bar. Eventually a waitress droid rolled on by with her drink, allowing her to pick it up from the tray.

She took a sip of her drink, enjoying a nice cool refreshing flavor of milk. She contemplated looking for company until--

"General Shimmer."

Sunset's attention was drawn to the woman who called to her in a soft-spoken tone. Approaching her in a white deck officer's outfit was a captain; a Chiss woman with flowing dark blue hair, and ruby red eyes. She was holding a cup of steaming coffee from the look of it.

"Captain Fontaine," Sunset smiled.

"Would you mind if I joined you?"

"I'd love it. I'd appreciate the company," Sunset nodded. "I was hoping two of our new recruits would come find me, but I'm not sure how interested they would be."

The captain sat down in the chair across from her, setting her cup on the coffee table. "Based on the adventures you have shared, I don't think those friends of yours would miss a chance to socialize with you again."

"Yeah, but now I'm wondering if I gave them the right directions," Sunset worried as she looked behind her, thinking the two of them would be coming through the doors. "Well, anyways. Glad to see you made it back, I thought you were out on a mission?"

"My crew and I succeeded in our mission. The food supply run to Batuu was a success; now we have more food to our storage, along with assortments of drinks disguised as droid poppers. After we finished, we came back here, confirmed our reports, and now I am here," the woman nodded, looking outside the window to the sunset in the distance. "This here is my favorite place on this planet. Good food, pleasing view..." she looked at Sunset with a cute smirk. "Particularly now, I might add."

Sunset giggled. "Look, Fontaine, I know we're off-duty and all, but I told you before, I'm not interested in dating. I don't have time for it now."

"Understood. But if you ever change your mind, you know where to find me," Fontaine replied, putting an end to her little flirtatious move. "So, General. I heard tale of some more recruits other than Jedi being a part of our little alliance. Another former Jedi, and a Mandalorian. Am I correct?"

"Yes, that's them," Sunset confirmed. "Them, their daughter, and an entire family of droids."

"I saw their droids a few times when I was on my way over here. I must admit, I am fascinated by their little family. How they managed to get an IG unit, a tactical droid, and many others as a part of their crew is... amazing."

The doors to the lounge opened up, and soon enough, Rainbow Dash and Applejack finally found where Sunset was. The two of them waved to her, and Sunset smiled, waving back to them. But as they were about to sit, the two of them froze when they looked before them. Standing and talking to one of the patrons was someone... in clone commando armor. Rainbow and Applejack simultaneously swore they heard a high pitched ringing in their ears as their hearts were pounding against their chests. They tried to calm down and not freak out, steadily breathing when they looked--

"Hey!"

The two of them snapped out of their frozen states, seeing their friend in front of them.

"It's okay," Sunset reassured. "Shi?"

The commando turned around, diverting their attention. Just like the clone commandos of before, the visor in the helmet was lit up with a bright blue. This commando was blazed with purple and blue streaks going across the upper left side of the commando's torso and helmet. But when they removed the helmet, the sight gave a bit of mild relief to the two former Jedi. The person who wore the helmet wasn't a clone, but instead, a Falleen man's face was revealed, with a metal piece attached above his left eye.

"I don't think I've met these two," the commando replied.

"Shi, this is Applejack and Rainbow Dash. They're two old friends of mine, from the Jedi Order."

"You mean... more Jedi still live?" the commando asked, looking back and forth between the two Jedi and his general. Sunset nodded, and the commando gave a smile and small bow of his head. "It's a honor to meet you two."

"Heh, it's nothin' really," Applejack rubbed the back of his head.

"And this is Shi; he's a member of Mammoth Squadron," Sunset introduced. "They earned the title after they managed to save me and some of my allies using the commando armor that you see in front of you."

"I hope I didn't scare you two; I heard about what happened in the Purge," the Falleen man said with a frown. "I'm so sorry you had to go through it."

"Its okay, its not your fault it happened," Applejack shrugged off. "So uh... see you around?"

The commando nodded and looked to the general, silently asking if he could go back to his business. Sunset gave him a quiet response, allowing the man to continue to speak to his friend. Rainbow and Applejack sat in the other two chairs in the space where Sunset and Fontaine were sitting, finally getting a chance to breathe.

"Sorry about that Sunset. I guess we haven't really moved on," Rainbow said, rubbing her prosthetic arm.

"I get that. And believe me, I was hesitant about them using assets from the Clone Wars, but when you're building from the ground up, you need whatever you can get your hands on. And they made that armor work, so I allowed it," Sunset explained.

"Pardon the interruption, but it is a pleasure to meet you both," Fontaine interrupted.

The two new recruits turned their heads, acknowledging the Chiss captain that sat in the chair across from Sunset.

"Oh, sorry about that," Rainbow apologized. "We didn't see you there."

"How do you miss someone wearing a bright white uniform sitting there?" Sunset asked, raising a brow. "Anyways, Fontaine, this is Rainbow Dash and Applejack. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, this is Captain Fontaine. Leading officer of Corvette crew; Burning Phoenix."

"Pleasure to meet you both. I was beginning to wonder when I would meet more survivors of the Jedi Order," the Chiss captain greeted. "Oh, by the way, General. I heard about our crews from the Coruscant mission; I hope they're okay."

Sunset sighed. "Yeah. I hope so too. Were there any friends of yours on that mission?"

"No. Although I know Officer Mint was among that crew," the captain answered.

"Mint?" Applejack asked, curious.

Rainbow interrupted with a drooping jaw of realization. "No. No way. Is that... is she...?"

"Mystery Mint, yes, it's her," Sunset confirmed, rubbing her face with contemplation and worry. "She survived the Jedi Purge, and she's been helping the Rebel Alliance for seven years. And apparently she had been reportedly captured along with the remaining crew on the Coruscant mission. Who knows where she even is at this point..." her arms collapsed in her chair as she threw her head back in frustration.

"I am positive she is okay. She cannot be easily broken," Fontaine answered, rather matter-of-factly while taking a sip of her drink.

"Is anyone else in the Rebellion a Jedi? Anyone we might know, or would have known?" Applejack asked.

"Not really. Those who were Jedi that found us, they're gone," Sunset said, sadly. "Kanan Jarrus is gone. Ahsoka Tano, MIA. All that's left of us is just Lyra, Mint, you two, and me. I don't know if Pinkie or Rarity or Fluttershy are okay. I still wanna call them but... what if they're... you know."

"You won't know unless you try, General," Fontaine interrupted, standing up. "Send a signal to them. Maybe they still live, and you just don't know it." She took one last sip of her cup and set it on the counter so the bartender could receive it. "I must be heading back to my last shift for the day. Have a good rest of your evening, General." With that said, the Chiss woman left the three Jedi alone to have each other's company.

"Sooo... she seems nice," Applejack answered, rather uncomfortably.

"She is. A bit strange, but she's a good captain," Sunset responded. "Anyways..."

"How often do you come here, anyway?" Rainbow questioned.

"Not often. Only come here whenever I've got a lot on my mind and I just need to think. Not that you girls are interfering with that, it's just something I like to do," Sunset reassured. She took another sip of her drink. "Sometimes I swear this war is killing me. But that's the price I pay for taking a stand."

"Hey, what you're doing is a good thing, Sunset. Without people like you, I'm not sure if there would even be a Rebellion to make a stand," Applejack reassured.

Sunset sighed as she looked out the window. The sun was beginning to set on Yavin IV, signalling for another end of a busy day. "I hope so, Applejack. I really hope so..."

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Star Wars Episode IV, Rise of the Rebellion - FourShadow

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