#grim and windu

[thechaoticfanartist]

I need to make more with Grim & Windu I do not talk about them enough

[anakinskywalkerog]

My Very Soul (Chapter 33)

Anakin Skywalker x Jedi!Reader

Link to Chapter 32

Warnings: grief!! depression!!! tread lightly!! things will get better, our girl will heal, but please engage with this only if you feel good/healthy yourself! also, drama/angst, but that's what you get from me

Summary: Anakin comforts you after the death of your Master; you wrestle with some difficult truths, and agree to train with someone new

Word Count: 2.7k

It was heavy. There was no other way to explain it. Your grief was a heavy pillow, suffocating you as you lay in your bed. You felt like the sheets might swallow whole you under the weight. The feel of Anakin's arms around you faded in the face of the soft, quiet, heavy feeling pressing on you. It was like being underwater. It was like trying to fight wind stronger than a hurricane. It pushed you down, and you felt like you had no strength to fight against it.

You'd awoken after Felucia in the Temple's medical chamber, Anakin at your side. You had no memory of anything that had happened after Yuma had been killed, and you didn't understand why Anakin looked so full of relief, why he had tears in his eyes at the sight of you. Obi-Wan had simply explained that you had lost consciousness, similar to the way you had when encountering Dooku's presence. Something in Anakin's face told you that it wasn't quite that simple.

Still, you couldn't find it in yourself to care, much, about what had happened after your Master had been taken from you. You couldn't find it in yourself to care about anything at all, other than the arms that remained around you, other than having Anakin by your side. You found that there were times when even that desire started to fade; when you felt the heaviness pressing in and lost any feeling at all.

"Y/N," Anakin whispered, shaking your arm a little, reaching over to run his fingers gently through your thick hair, pushing it away from your face. Every so often he would say something like this, something soft and gentle, like he were trying to make sure you could still hear him.

"I'm here," you replied, not looking at him, but reaching out and gripping his sleeve. Anakin brushed away the tears that fell softly and steadily out of your eyes and onto the sheets of the big bed in your Jedi apartment, situated in the Knight's Billet in the Temple. This is where you had remained for days, barely moving, barely sleeping or eating, struggling to fight the weight in order to keep breathing.

After you had left the medical chambers, you had recounted to the Council how Vyra had lured you into that cave, how she had manipulated the severity of the battle on Felucia and used the Sith dwelling to call to you in order to trap you and 'torture' you. You had told them what she had said of her reason for doing so, her grudge that she had held since you had been assigned your mission on Serenno. You had explained what she had recounted about Dooku and his mysterious "Master"; you'd noticed that Yoda and Windu had shared a look at that information. You couldn't bring yourself to care, at the moment, what that meant. You had struggled for breath, standing in the center of that circle of Jedi atop the tall tower, as you had recounted the last moments of Yuma's life: how she had been in the throes of a horrible vision, caused by the poison that made her live through her worst fears. You could barely get the words out when you described Vyra killing your Master, and taking her lightsaber. Obi-Wan had stood up to walk you out, his hand on your back the whole way back to your apartment, his face grim. You hadn't emerged since.

"Y/N," Anakin said again, stroking your face, your arm. "You need to eat something." You shook your head. The thought of moving at all, let alone eating, drinking, sounded too hard. You felt the heaviness pressing in on you.

"I love you," Anakin said again, and the agony in his presence was like a spark, a stabbing pain that brought you out of the heavy feeling, if only for a moment. Your eyes filled, again, with tears.

"I know," you whispered, looking into his eyes.

"I'll be here with you," Anakin said, reaching forward to kiss your eyelids, brushing the tears away with the gentle press of his lips. "I won't let them make me leave."

"You can't stay forever, Ani," you sighed, curling into him, wishing your words weren't true.

"I won't—"

Anakin cut off his words, feeling the same disturbance in the Force that made your senses heighten. Someone was coming.

A soft knock sounded on the door of the apartment. You and Anakin both looked at each other, sensing the presence that stood outside.

"Maybe he'll leave," you breathed into Anakin's ear, not moving. Anakin remained still, listening. You waited, holding your breath.

"Y/N," you heard, Obi-Wan's soft voice calling through the door as he knocked again. If he came into the apartment, it would only take a few steps past the kitchen for him to see through the open bedroom door, where he would find you and Anakin in bed together—

"What do we do?" you whispered, panicked, your eyes widening. Numb with grief you may be; but if you and Anakin were caught, it could risk your position in the Order. Anakin's eyes darted around, and landed on the tiny wardrobe built into the wall. Jedi Knights were granted little storage space, as they were not to keep possessions of their own.

"Anakin, he'll sense you!" you whispered frantically, but Anakin was already up and running in his boxers to the wardrobe. He sucked in his gut and used the force to close the wardrobe's doors as you heard Obi-Wan's voice sound again from outside the door.

"Y/N, I'm coming in," Obi-Wan said, his voice gentle and suppliant. You pulled yourself up in your bed, fighting against the heaviness in your limbs as you used the Force to summon your robe, hastily throwing it on over your nightgown as the door to your apartment opened and Obi-Wan stepped inside.

"I'm sorry to disturb you," Obi-Wan said as he walked forward to stand in the open door of your bedroom. You knew you probably looked like Moraband; you hadn't visited the refresher in days, and your hair was a tangled mess on your head. You felt Obi-Wan's thoughts linger on the dark circles under your eyes.

"That's all right, Master," you replied, your voice hoarse. Obi-Wan walked forward and pulled the chair near the window around so that it was facing you. You gulped as he turned, looking back to you as if to ask, may I ? You nodded, gesturing that he should sit. Obi-Wan had never been inside your apartment before—his presence startled you enough that you felt the heavy numbness backing away from you.

"I came to bring you this," Obi-Wan said, leaning forward in the chair and pulling something from the pocket of his robes. As he reached out to hand it to you, you sighed in amazement.

"How...?" you asked, leaning forward to take your lightsaber from him and gripping it. You felt each familiar divot of the hilt like you had found an old friend lost to time; you felt the ghosts of tears prickle behind your eyes, and you willed them away.

"I recovered it for you, on Felucia," Obi-Wan responded quietly. "When you were found, in that cave." His tone was careful, quiet, and solemn. "I wanted to return it to you before, but...it seemed a difficult enough moment." You thought back to facing the Council, to the whirlwind of emotions you'd faced upon waking up here, in the Temple, without your Master, for the first time in your life.

"Thank you," you managed to get out, looking back up at him and keeping your tears at bay. He simply nodded. You looked around, feeling awkward, working to keep your gaze anywhere but on the wardrobe behind Obi-Wan's back.

"I also..." Obi-Wan started, and you met his gaze, his face lit by the rays of sun streaming in through the partially closed blinds. "I am also here because I wanted to make a proposition to you."

You squinted, gripping your robe around yourself, inclining your head to indicate that he should continue.

"You are, of course, under no obligation to do so..." Obi-Wan started, rubbing his hands over his mustache and through his beard. "But...I know how important it was to Yuma that you work on your ability, to block out the presences of the Sith." At these words, your heart dropped. The weight came back in full force, pushing you down. It was an effort to keep yourself seated, to not lay back into the sheets and give in to the heaviness that pressed into you. You swallowed, nodding. "I would like to continue your training, in that regard," Obi-Wan said, watching you intently, his voice soft. "Not to pick up where Yuma left off, necessarily. But to work to make sure you are fully in control of your abilities...so that, when the time comes that you must protect yourself, you are as prepared as you can be. I would like to do everything in my power to help you."

You struggled to breathe evenly, working the air in and out of your lungs. You knew that Obi-Wan meant well—that he was trying to show care for you, and for Yuma, by offering to help. And you knew you needed the help, knew now that your susceptibility to the dark side of the Force was a liability. So you couldn't help but hear the unspoken truth behind Obi-Wan's words—that it was your fault, what had happened on Felucia. That if you had made more progress in your lessons with Yuma, she would still...

Be here, you finished in your head, your eyes welling up against your will. You didn't need Obi-Wan to tell you. You knew the truth. You knew who was responsible for Yuma's death.

"Y/N," Obi-Wan started, leaning forward like he wanted to do something to comfort you, but you shook your head, letting the tears fall.

"I'll do it," you said, pushing against the heaviness. "I'll train with you." It was all you could manage. Obi-Wan paused, as if debating, then leaned back in his chair, putting his hand down.

"Good," Obi-Wan replied, his voice contemplative. "I'd like to start right away, given that the war has made it so my time at the Temple is limited. Tomorrow?" You nodded, looking away from him, your face flushed at your embarrassment. You'd never cried in front of Obi-Wan, and you didn't like it—you didn't want to feel weak around him, the Jedi who was always so very much in control. Until recently, you'd thought of yourself and Obi-Wan as similar souls, similar warriors who kept their emotions in check. You now realized that you were useless in more ways than one, that people like Obi-Wan would always surpass you. You wanted to go back to sleep.

"The last thing..." Obi-Wan continued, his voice unnervingly gentle. "I wanted to tell you," he said, leaning forward in his chair, waiting until you looked up to meet his gaze, "that you aren't alone. Though I know that no one and nothing could ever replace what Yuma was to you—to all of us—I want you to know that you still have family, here. That you still have a mentor that cares for you deeply." You blinked, the brazen affection in this statement disarming you.

 "And that if you ever need to discuss anything," Obi-Wan continued, "anything, even things that you wouldn't bring to others in the Order, you can come to me. Whenever you need." You could have sworn Obi-Wan glanced infinitesimally toward the wardrobe, but it was so fast, you must have been imagining it.

"Thank you, Obi-Wan," you said, your voice small, your gratitude sincere. You felt so much affection and adoration for the Jedi Master sitting in front of you. You wished only that his faith in you wasn't so displaced. You felt your body shaking, the effort of pushing off the weight beginning to wear on you.

"That's all," Obi-Wan said, smiling at you as he stood, walking toward the door. "I'll expect you in the meditation chambers tomorrow." You nodded, feeling drained. "Don't—don't be unkind to yourself," Obi-Wan added, pausing in the bedroom doorway to turn back to you. "All of this is hard enough as it is." You nodded again, wondering how he could sense what you were thinking so accurately. Obi-Wan turned away, striding for the door to the apartment.

You listened as the front door slid shut, waiting, your heart beating. He didn't return. You sank back into your pillows, pulling the robe around you in a cocoon as you heard the wardrobe door slide open.

Anakin didn't say anything as he lay down next to you, pulling your whole body and cradling it in his arms, burying his face in your hair.

"Training might be a good thing," Anakin whispered, in a tone like he was trying to sound optimistic. You pulled yourself closer to him, your body quivering as if you were cold. You felt the tears at the edge of your eyes again, felt the quivers turn into quiet sobs.

"I'm here," Anakin said, kissing your head and stroking your back. "I'm here." What else could he say? Everything certainly wasn't okay. You tried in vain to calm the sobs, but they continued. Whenever you fought the numbness enough to stave it off, this was what happened. It was, in some ways, worse to feel.

"I should have been there," Anakin said vengefully, his voice shaky, "I shouldn't have left you." You inhaled, quickly, another sob breaking out of you.

"Are you saying—are you saying that you could have prevented it?" You pulled back in Anakin's arms, looking him in the face, your eyes wide. "That it's my fault, that she's...that she's...?" you felt your body continue to shake. Unfamiliar anger pulsed through you, the bitter anger that was only self-directed. You needed somewhere to put it. Nothing made sense, anymore. Your brain turned to fire.

"No, of course—no, Y/N, of course that's not—" Anakin started, alarmed, gripping your arms as you pulled farther away from him.

"You don’t have to say that, because I already know!" you replied, shouting now, as you pulled yourself out of the bed, standing before him. Anakin was on his feet immediately, his arms outstretched for you, but you backed away. "I know what happened is my fault entirely!! If I hadn’t—choked—if I had just listened—"

"Y/N, no, no, that's not it, no, listen to me, that's not..."

"You heard Obi-Wan," you continued, sobbing again. "And you said it yourself. Yuma was right. I was a liability, and because of me, my Master is dead."

"Y/N!" Anakin was shouting now, reaching out for you again, but you pushed him away, backing into the corner of your bedroom and sinking to the floor.

"Just leave," you choked, closing your eyes, feeling the world around you start to sway. "Just go." The world was starting to fade.

"Y/N," Anakin said gently, moving toward you slowly, his arms outstretched like he was approaching a loose rancor. "Y/N, it isn't your fault. None of it was your fault. I didn't think that for one second, and neither does Obi-Wan."

"Just leave," you repeated, softly, your sobs coming freely now. You didn't deserve to be comforted. You wanted to descend into oblivion. You were starting to lose the feeling in your legs, in your arms. You looked around, but saw that your vision was blurring over.

"I can't do that," Anakin murmured softly, and you felt his hands prying at your arms. You hadn't realized you'd been gripping your knees so tightly. You started to breathe quickly. "Look at me, Y/N," Anakin whispered, and you looked around, frantic now, your eyes clouded, unable to see. "Come back to me," Anakin breathed into your ear, and you blinked, his face swimming into view.

"I can't ever leave you," Anakin said, pulling you into his arms right there on the floor. You wanted to reply. You wanted to tell him that you couldn't ever leave him, either. You wanted to promise that the two of you would be together forever. But the world had changed, when Yuma had been taken from you. Or, you had changed. You now knew that everyone, no matter how much you loved them, would someday vanish. You didn't understand it—how one day, someone could be so very real, and the next, they could be gone. And Anakin would vanish, someday, too. You leaned into him, feeling how very real and alive he felt, with his arms around you. You felt the heaviness descend as you wept.

************************************************************************

NEW CHAPTER UP NOW!!!!!

just imagine this Obi-Wan comforting you after reading this angst 😂🤓

divider credit to @racingairplanes

taglist pt 1: @iyoogi @cluelessgurl @layazul @annadastra @graciexmarvel @galaxiasy @organasith @indigoblues1207 @outoftheregular @katsukiswrld @prettyboyrryy @jellydodger @wildflower57 @padmeamidalaslover @em-asian @heavenseraph @iloveinej @leapofblank @sahverah @elsyyie @usuallyunlikelyfox @jadeonce @papadragun @dopejellyfishfury @stxrrielle @lilianashomaresparza @prettylittlecarstairs @deadunicorn159 @atoelicker @arelisskywalker @maythefloorbewithyouanakin @your-local-crzy-lady @dontmindme262 @xenochuguardian @cassiopeiashift @allihavenegativethoughts @hamiltonwc @1-800-nostalgiaaa @heyitsaloy @haydenchristensenluvbot @sunflwrsunnieshine @muthafuckingstargirl @window-to-nothing @shadowhuntyi @jedi-archives @inmourningforanakin @vivsmcdo @betrund @ahqkas @aquaamethyst96 @escapepoet @randomstuff2040 @kenjikishimotosupremecy @nycweb-slinger @anxlaufeyson @magic-magnoliaa @theezlife @unipugrose22-blog @anhsoka @lucyysthings @hopefulpursepeanutdeputy @captainson-of-coul @zelzablues @chrisevansslutttt2

[idontknowwhattoputasmyusernameee]

Intimidation

Word Count: 3K

Pairing: rots!Anakin x fem!reader

Warnings: none just fluff, but let me know if I've missed anything.

A/N: I have had this sitting for so long and I've been itching to post it. It is my very first imagine, so we'll see how this does. Probably have many more to come.

He was intimidating.

There was something about him that was hard to place. 

The way he looked was something out of a fairytale; his eyes were hard and steely, his jawline strong and sharp, his lips pink and pouty. He moved with confidence in the room, his steps controlled yet graceful. His presence seemed to demand respect from those around him.

He was definitely attractive.

Too attractive to be a Jedi. 

You felt a heavy, electric pressure on the side of your face. Every time you tried to sneak a peek at him from the corner of your eye, he would be looking downward or up towards the ceiling, avoiding any kind of eye contact.

You tried to ignore the magnetic pull of Anakin's gaze, but it was impossible. Every time his eyes met yours, you felt a wave of heat wash over you and your heart seemed to skip a beat. You knew deep down that this couldn't be real, that perhaps your infatuation with him was causing you to imagine things that weren't really there.

Mace Windu's deep voice cut through the daydream,“That's all for today," he said firmly. He gave you all a slight nod. “May the force be with you,” he added before turning away.

You stood up stretching your aching limbs. You hated these debriefings, feeling drained after every one. A quick glance showed the faces of the Jedi Knights in the room were heavy too, etched with fatigue. Reports flashed on the hologram in the middle of the room, grim reminders that loss and death had become unavoidable realities in this war and there was no end in sight.

Not something you would want to hear at eight in the morning. You were just glad that you had the day off, so a nap sounded like an amazing idea. 

The crowd around you began to surge forward, and you were soon engulfed in a sea of people, all jostling for the exit. Suddenly, your foot caught on something and you stumbled, throwing out your arms as you tumbled forward, into the broad chest of a large man. He caught you quickly, his grip strong and sure.

As you started to apologize, you looked up into the face of none other than Anakin Skywalker himself. He was standing there holding your arm, smiling kindly.

"Careful there," he teased, you felt his fingers slowly slid from your forearm to your shoulders to steady you.

A flush crept up your cheeks as you tried to look away, the intensity of his cerulean eyes too much to bear. You were suddenly acutely aware of the sound of your own breathing and the warmth radiating from his body.

You avoided eye contact, mumbled an apology, and scurried away from him as you felt your face heat up. You tried to disappear into the background but could feel his piercing gaze burning a hole in your back.

Anakin Skywalker, the Jedi Knight renowned for his exceptional piloting skills and his connection to the Force, had always intrigued you. From afar, you had admired his bravery and determination, but up close, his presence was overwhelming. His mere gaze sent shivers down your spine, and his captivating smile left you momentarily breathless.

It was safe to say that Anakin Skywalker intimidated you.

…

The Jedi library was a grand room, encompassing almost an entire section of the temple. Shelves adorned with ancient manuscripts, scrolls, and books lined the walls; each tome a repository of knowledge from across the galaxy. The scents of parchment paper and aged ink filled the air, while glowstones illuminated the space in a soft, ethereal light. Tables were arranged in circular clusters like small islands in a sea of knowledge, beckoning exploration. It was as if all the secrets of the universe had been contained within these walls, offering solace and tranquility for those who sought it.

And yet...

There had been another encounter earlier in the afternoon.

It embarrassed you to no end how awkward you were with the man. But something about him made you freeze, run away, and hide. 

Earlier before coming to the library you had just left the meditation chambers, relaxed and fully focused for whatever study sesh you were diving into. Stepping into the elevator , you hit the button for the ground level. Not even two seconds later a voice called out to you. 

“Hold it for me please.” The voice, you recognized to be Anakin’s called out for you.

Maybe it was a slip of your finger, or the instinct to run away. Whatever it was, the doors closed right in Anakin’s face.

The moment you realized what you had done you let out a sigh of frustration. What was wrong with you? Why couldn’t you just be normal? 

Now the situation was eating you up inside as you flipped each dusty page of one of the thousands of books in the library. The frown on his face engraved in your mind. He probably thought you were a freak. 

You groaned into your hands, earning a shush from other people around you. 

“What’s got you in such a sour mood?” A female voice suddenly questioned, causing you to jump slightly. 

Ashoka Tano stood above you a brow raised at your stressed out figure. Although she was barely sixteen and you nineteen, the two of you were very good friends.

“Kriff Ashoka, why are you in here? Aren’t you banned from the library?” You questioned.

She rolled her eyes,”Actually it was a one year ban, and not that it matters but it was mostly Anakin’s fault.”

“Right, he knocked half of the shelves down and destroyed a quarter of the ancient language books.” You snickered. 

“He started it !” She exclaimed defensively.

“Shh!” You whispered harshly. “Keep your voice down, unless you want to get banned again.”

“Okay okay,” she whispered back,”what are you working on?”

“Master Yoda asked me to give a quick rundown on a newly charted planet, so far I haven’t really found anything worth mentioning.” You answered, flipping open another book.

“Boo, sounds boring,” she said, with a mischievous gleam in her eye. She grabbed your wrist and tugged you up from the chair. “Let’s go get lunch.”

“Right now?” You asked in shock.

“Yes now, I heard they’re serving pasta.”

Your eyes widened with excitement and you leaned forward, intrigued. "What kind of pasta?" 

A mischievous grin spread across her face and she ticked off on her fingers, "Lasagna, fettuccine Alfredo, spaghetti carbonara..."

“Alright I’m sold,”you grabbed her hand,”let’s go.”

…

“Then he had the audacity to ask me if I’ve been paying attention,” Ashoka shook her head,”The nerve.”

“Mmm,” You hummed in agreement,”Well were you?” you asked, taking a sip of blue milk.

She gave you a coy smile,”Well…I was staring at Enzo's ferociously large biceps.”

You choked on your drink, taken aback by the words that slipped out of her mouth. 

Ashoka gently rested her hand on your back and gave a few light pats as you coughed. She smiled with amusement,"Oh look, how convenient."

She pointed over to Anakin who had just walked into the cafeteria. His eyes swept across the room, then stopped when they met yours. He started walking towards you with a determined stride. You felt all the air in your lungs disappear, and your stomach seemed to somersault inside of you. Every step he took felt like an eternity as his gaze stayed locked on yours.

You felt your heart hammering in your chest and a wave of nausea fill your stomach. As every ounce of common sense told you to bolt away from the table, you were physically unable to move anything except for your hands, which trembled as your fingers tightened on the edge of the table.

What was happening to you?

“Sorry I took so long, I got caught up in conversation with Master Mundi," Anakin sighed heavily, sitting down across from you and Ashoka. "Also the elevator took a while ,” he added, looking directly at you.

You almost went into another coughing fit. 

“Master, what a nice surprise,” Her face then broke into a mischievous grin. “You remember Y/N, right Anakin?”

Your cheeks flushed red as he looked your way.

“Of course,” he said smoothly. “How have you been Y/N?”

You smiled politely, “Good.” 

“Y/N was just about to-"

"Leave, actually," you interrupted her.Your plate was still mostly full, but you couldn't bear the tension and discomfort that had already set in. You didn't dare meet Anakin's gaze again, and instead busied yourself with gathering your things. 

Ashoka shot you a confused look, but didn't try to stop you as you stood up from the table.

Anakin looked taken aback, but recovered quickly. "Oh, alright. See you around, then," he said with a small smile.

"Uh, yeah. See you." You managed to squeeze out the words before practically sprinting out of the cafeteria.

Once outside, you leaned against the closest wall and took deep breaths to steady yourself. You couldn't believe how much power Anakin Skywalker had over you - a mere acquaintance at best. You had never been so thrown off balance by anyone before.

...

With your overthinking mind, you had concluded that they were playing a prank on you. It was probably your sleep deprived mind or your coffee addiction that fueled this thinking. But, Anakin and Ashoka were up to something.

Every time you showed up to see Ashoka, she would beam from ear to ear and let out an excited, “Oh, Anakin’s here!” You could feel your cheeks flush as the Jedi Knight appeared and you scrambled to come up with a plausible excuse to leave.

Even when you weren't with Ashoka, he would somehow be conveniently around you. It was as if he were seeking you out.

No matter where she went, Anakin seemed to materialize out of thin air. In the vast hallways, as soon as he appeared at the corner she'd quickly turn around and hurry in the opposite direction. When walking around the temple grounds, there he was again; standing tall against the rising sun, his features illuminated by a solitary ray of light.

It's been two weeks, and quite frankly you were starting to become exhausted with this charade or whatever thing this was. 

The only places where you could find solitude were your quarters and the library. 

So that's were you found yourself today, in the Temple Library.

Your fingers were tangled in your hair, which fell wildly around your face. Crisp pages of books lay open amongst a scattering of pens and highlighters on the table.

Two hands slammed in front of you, making you look up. You jumped in surprise.

“Alright spill,"Ashoka demanded with impatience.

“Spill what?” You tried to act nonchalant.

Ashoka rolled her eyes, “You know what. Why are you avoiding Anakin?"

“I’m not avoiding him,”You mumbled, crossing your arms over your chest, looking away from the other girl. 

"Not what I heard," she countered, folding her own arms, matching you stance. When the silence continued, she sighed,” Y/N, I know you like him."

You stared blankly at Ashoka with disbelief clear in your stare. She knew. Of course she knew. It was so obvious. 

"Plus he's been whining to me for the past couple of weeks."

"Whining?" You repeated, taken aback.

Ashoka nodded, "Yeah, he's been complaining about how you've been avoiding him like the plague. He thinks you hate him or something." Her voice grew n octave lower, trying to imitate him,"Does she not like me? Am I being too forward? Did I do something wrong?"

You couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of Anakin Skywalker whining to Ashoka about you.

"I don't hate him," you finally admit. "I just...don't know how to act around him."

"You act the same way you always do," Ashoka shrugged. "He's just a person,Y/N. It pains me to say it but... a really attractive person." she made a quiet gagging noise.

You rolled your eyes, but couldn't help but feel a small flutter in your chest at her words.

"Just talk to him," she encouraged. "I promise he's not that scary." 

"Alright," you nodded,"I'll try."

...

This was not what you were expecting. You hoped to corner him in one of the many hallways, but instead you were stuck with him and Ashoka in an elevator.

"How long has it been?" Anakin asked.

"Five minutes,"Ashoka answered.

The air inside was starting getting thick from all of the carbon dioxide being exhaled from your lungs. You shifted uncomfortably, finding yourself caught between Anakin and Ashoka. The small space felt too intimate, and you could feel Anakin’s eyes on you even if you refused to look his way.

"Alright, I've had it," Ashoka quickly stood up, igniting one of her sabers to cut a large enough hole to jump through. "I'm going to get help, be right back."

"Ashoka!" Anakin yelled,"That's not smart."

But she ignored him, jumping above the elevator and vanishing out of sight.

You had just been left alone in an elevator with Anakin Skywalker. Your heart was pounding in your chest, and you couldn't help but wonder if this had all been a setup. Ashoka's sudden exit made it feel like an ambush, as if the two of them had planned to leave you alone together.

The silence between the two of you was agonizingly uncomfortable. You couldn't bring yourself to look at Anakin, so you kept your gaze trained straight ahead.

"So," Anakin finally broke the silence. "You've been avoiding me."

You bit your lip, unsure of how to respond. It wasn't like you could tell him that he made you nervous just by existing.

"I haven't been avoiding you," you lied, feeling guilty for not being truthful.

Anakin let out a small laugh, "Right. Because turning around and walking the other way every time you see me is totally normal."

You felt your cheeks flush with embarrassment. He had noticed after all.

"I'm sorry," you finally admitted. "I don't know what to say around you."

Anakin turned to face you, his expression softening,"That's alright."

"I've been meaning to talk to you actually,"you started, finding a sudden burst of courage. "I um... well Ashoka said that, you..."

He waited patiently, raising an eyebrow in encouragement. You took a deep breath before continuing.

"Ashoka said that you might have feelings for me," you blurted out, feeling your face heat up even more at the admission. 

"Well its about time you noticed,"he chuckled, his eyes twinkling with amusement. "I've been waiting weeks for you to figure it out."

Even though you knew it to be true, you couldn't help the wave of shock that passed over you at his confession. You had never expected Anakin Skywalker to have feelings for someone like you.

"So you do like me?" you stupidly asked.

He laughed, his eyes lighting up in a way that made you feel like you were the only person in the galaxy. "Of course I like you," he said, slowly stepping towards you. "Was it not obvious?"

You felt your heart beating faster as Anakin drew closer, finally standing right in front of you. You could smell the musky scent of his cologne and it sent shivers down your spine.

"I never realized," you admitted sheepishly, feeling ashamed for not noticing something so obvious."I honestly thought it was some cruel joke."

His smile was soft and warm as his hand reached up to slowly smooth a piece of your hair out of the way.

"Do you like me," he softly asked,the intensity in his eyes making it hard to form coherent thoughts.

You nodded your head, unable to find words as you stared up at him. His hand trailed down from your hair and cupped the side of your face gently, bringing it closer to his own. 

"Can I kiss you," he whispered,his breath hot against your skin. Your heart was beating wildly and you could feel the butterflies fluttering in your stomach.

"Please," you breathed out, barely louder than a whisper. 

His lips brushed against yours tentatively, hesitantly testing the waters. You closed your eyes and parted your lips slightly, giving into his advances. A tingling sensation rippled all throughout your body. It was almost electric as you ran your hands through his short curls, his fingers curling around the back of your neck. He pulled you closer to deepen the kiss, and it only fueled your desire.

Every inch of your body was on fire as Anakin's hands started trailing up and down your sides, sending shivers through you. 

You could feel his need for you in the way he kissed you - a sense of urgency and raw hunger that made it clear this was not just any ordinary kiss.

As the intensity grew, so did your own desire rippling through your veins like an inferno. The air around you felt electric with attraction as if nothing else mattered in that moment except for each other.

You broke apart gasping for breath, Anakin's voice husky as he spoke quietly into the space between you. "I've been wanting to do that since I first met you."

A dazed smile broke out on your face,"Me too."

A loud bang from outside drew both of your attentions away.

"Alright lovebirds, I'm busting you out." Ashoka yelled from the other side.

The loud groaning from the metal doors echoed throughout the elevator. Revealing the light from the hallways on the other side.

"Alright come on out,"Ashoka yelled, hidden and out of sight.

Anakin made one last move, kissing your cheek, your nose, and lastly a longing kiss on your forehead before leaving the elevator.

He paused looking back with a smirk,"Until next time." 

Feeling the warmth radiating from his parting words, you smiled and watched him disappear into the hallway.

"Well, well, well,"Ashoka said with a grin as you stepped out of the elevator. "Looks like someone had a good time in there."

You rolled your eyes and shook your head, trying to hide the blush that was creeping up on your cheeks."Shut up."

[arctrooper69]

Falling is Just Uncontrolled Flying

Contains Spoilers from the Season 2 finale under the cut

Warnings: S2 Finale spoilers, angst

--------------------------------------------------

You'd always loved flying. It was the one thing that could be whatever you wanted it to be and then immediately become something else. One could be perfectly at peace, sailing through hyperspace and then suddenly be thrown into the heat of battle the very second you jumped out. It was chaos. But what was flying other than controlled falling?

***

Hardly registering Omega's cries and the raw screams ripping from your own throat, you threw yourself off of the falling rail car after Tech. The wind roared in your ears, heart pounding as you leapt through the debris, using the Force to launch yourself from piece to jagged piece, letting the momentum propell you forward. The harsh wind felt like sandpaper as it cut across your face.

You screamed as a large chunk of durasteel raked against your side, threatening to knock you off course.

"Tech!" You called out on instinct, though you were certain he couldn't hear you from the velocity at which he was falling.

Gritting your teeth, you launched yourself from the hunk of metal, flying through the air. You could feel Tech several meters below you - his fear, his heartbreak.

His acceptance.

"This is the will of the Force" You could hear Master Windu calmly reassure you. The first time you'd heard him say it, you were a scared and lonely youngling who'd just lost her best friend. "This is the will of the Force."

Anger coursed through your veins.

If that was the case, then the Force had taken the Jedi away. The Force had taken your clone battalion from you - stolen the men you considered to be family. The Force had ripped away so much of what you loved, and what you held close. You'd be damned if you let it take away the man you'd fallen in love with.

You let that anger take hold and with a feral scream, you reached out, willing the every particle of your being into slowing his decent.

Now Tech was flying. You were falling.

His eyes widened in shock as you grabbed a hold of his arm. You could feel his confusion, then the sudden horror that flickered through his expression when he met your eyes.

No! I hadn't meant for you to die with me.

You looked back at him in grim determination.

No one's dying today. Not on my watch.

He slowly shook his head, eyes hardening with a sharp finality. Yet you could feel his heart shatter. His arms wrapped around you in a final acceptance.

"Tech, I -" you mouthed.

A sudden scream ripped from your throat as something hard and heavy tore him from your grasp.

No! Not again! Please not again. I can't lose you.

You hit the ground hard. Pain exploded from your shoulder as it was wrenched beneath your body as you tumbled across the hard, rocky surface.

***

You opened your eyes to the sound of a com going off. It didn't sound like a Republic issued com. That could only mean Imperial.

Your breaths came fast and panicked.

Nonononono. Breathe. Can't help Tech if you can't breathe.

You screwed your eyes shut. Waves of nauseating pain spiked with every movement. It made it so hard to breathe. So hard to focus.

Tech. Breathe. Focus on Tech. Breathe. Where was Tech.

He lay several feet in front of you, face down on the ground, unmoving.

No. Please no.

You could feel the panic rising up again.

"Sir, we found the clone and the Jedi!" A modulated voice barked.

A pair of hands roughly flipped you over so that you lay on your back, blinking at the blinding sun.

"Leave him alone!" You growled, attempting to lunge at him, ignoring how your body stiffly protested the movement in flaming agony. There was only so much you could do to will your body into moving. All you could do was lift your head. Even that left your vision spinning. A white armored TK trooper leaned over you with a chuckle, slapping a pair of binders snugly around your wrists.

"Why? Your clone friend's already dead anyway."

No. Tech. He couldn't be dead. He couldn't. Not when you'd come all this way.

You dragged your gaze over to the pilot where he lay motionless, tears filling your eyes. It hit you then, the sudden tidal wave of heavy-laden grief. Nothing seemed to matter anymore - not your fate, not your friends. Nothing. Unbidden tears spilled from the corners of you eyes and you did nothing to stop them. You couldn't even if you wanted to. It was the only thing you were capable of. The world spun around you but it was all consumed under a blanket of unforgivably heavy numbness. Whatever your fate would be it didn't matter anymore.

Tech had been your fate. Now he was gone.

Fly high my friend.

You barely felt the crack of a blaster rifle against your skull, driving into dreamless unconsciousness.

***

The TK Trooper watched the Jedi's eyes rolled back into her head as the fight left her twitching muscles. Blood soaked her jacket and pants, and her shoulder hung loosely from it's socket. He placed her lightsaber on his belt and looked up as the senior science officer strode up the hill.

"Sir!" He stood at attention. "Should we bag them both?"

"No," the doctor said calmly. "That one's as good as dead. He won't be of any use to me."

He cleared his throat, narrowing his eyes as though thinking something through. "On second thought, take the clone to my lab. Make sure he stays alive. I may have use for him yet."

"And the Jedi?" the trooper questioned.

"Detain the Jedi. Lord Vader will find her very useful once they've broken her will."

--------------------------------------------------

Tag List

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If you want to be on my taglist, feel free to send me a message! Also, asks are open! Reblogging is very much encouraged and it makes me do a happy dance every time any of my writing gets reblogged 😂❤️

[jazasterr]

Master Luminara comforts her former Padawan Oros Sami after their anxiety inducing knighting ceremony at the Temple

Really like the atmosphere here and the background doesn't look too bad, considering I hardly ever add backgrounds. Luminara was really enjoyable to draw and write about, she one of my favourite side jedi characters! I'm excited to start exploring Oros's story so I thought a good place to start would be the start of their career as a knight, which began rather unorthodox, for reference, this is 6 years prior to Order 66.

Below the cut, you can read the fic this piece is based on!

Rating: G

Word count: 1.3k

Characters: Oros Sami (jedi oc), Luminara Unduli, High Jedi Council members

The hallway to the High Council’s chamber was excruciatingly long. There were no doors on either side lining the walls, only embellishments and designs of gold leading you towards your destination. Oros tried to look ahead, focusing on how the huge double doors slowly drew closer with each step. Their hands clasped tight together, they breathed deeply, trying to clear their mind.

“I assure you my young Padawan, there is nothing to be fretting over. You have done very well on the trials and should be confident in your abilities,” Master Luminara’s voice cut through the deafening quiet. “If I can sense your fear, the Masters will have no trouble doing so.”

Oros’s eyes flicked down the floor before they breathed and replied, “Yes Master. I regret not having the time to meditate before being called upon.”

“You meditate enough as is. You need to stop letting your anxieties consume you and face them instead. What we are being summoned for today will help you see the advantage you can gain if you let yourself lie in the uncomfortable. It is to be an exciting moment of your Jedi career.” She finally looked over to Oros and gave a smile, pushing her calm through the force. They reached out to their Master’s grounded presence and took one last deep breath, visualizing the anxiety leaving their mind like the tide of an ocean. Gone for now, but welcome to kiss the sand sometime soon.

“I am sorry it has to be done in such an unorthodox way, you deserve to be going to the Hall of Knighthood instead. And you should have been told whether or not you passed already, not find out amongst the Council. For that, I can understand your worries,” Master Luminara placed a gentle hand on Oros’s shoulder. “The times we are living in are looking more and more grim, and the Order has responded by fumbling our traditions, when we Jedi need to be a strong constant in the Galaxy.” Oros studied their shoes but said nothing. No Jedi would admit it, but the recent rise in violence had them tripping on their own robes.

At this, the two reached the doors and waited as the sentinels on either side pushed them open with the force. They stepped out into the centre of the chamber and bowed, waiting for their Masters to proceed. Oros noticed all of them were present, only Master Koon and Master Mundi were tuning in via holo. This did not help their nerves, if they didn’t pass the trials, the entire Jedi High Council would be here during the announcement.

“Master Unduli, appreciate you being here, we do,” Master Yoda started “Important time for your Padawan, it is.” He nodded in acknowledgement and smiled. Master Luminara returned the smile and stepped back, somewhere out of Oros’s view. They awkwardly shifted before standing up a little straighter. The churning in their stomach continued, but now their face was neutral and their breathing calm.

Master Windu waved his hand slowly downwards, lowering the blinds over the windows and cutting off the golden sunlight as well as the surrounding distractions of Coruscant. Oros heard the shifting of shoes and robes, sensing the movements through the force rather than seeing them in the darkness of the chamber. The High Council Masters now stood in front of their seats and after a pause, Master Windu spoke.

“Padawan Oros Sami, with your focus and compassion…” A beat. “you have passed the trials.” Oros immediately let out a breath they didn’t know they were holding, a wave of relief washing over them. A small smile settled on their face, as their Masters’ lightsabers powered on all at once, creating a circle of light around them. Each of them had their saber clasped in two hands, pointed to the ceiling, just in front of their face.

“Padawan Sami, step forward, will you please.” Master Yoda, as the Grand Master of the Council, granted all Jedi Knights their status and place in the order. All the way from Master Windu, to Master Luminara and now Oros all the same. If anyone was worried for the possibility of war, it was him. He’d seen far worse and much more during his time in the order, longer than any of the High Council’s lifetimes combined.

Oros stepped forward, the green light of Master Yoda’s lightsaber bathing their face. His hood also had been drawn over his head, likely during the position change in the dark. The wrinkles around his mouth were calm, carving the familiar warm smile that Oros had seen during their Padawan ceremony. They kneeled and bowed their head just like the other thousands of Jedi had before them.

Master Yoda lowered his lightsaber to Oros’s right shoulder, before swiftly and precisely cutting their Padawan beads from where they had hung for years. He then brought the saber up and over Oros’s head before settling it above the left shoulder, effectively knighting them.

With a rippling sound, the High Council Masters all powered down their lightsabers, filling the chamber in darkness once again. Oros reached and picked up their severed Padawan beads before standing up, bowing and turning to leave the chambers. In silence they waited for the doors to re-open and stepped back out into the hallway, noticing that their now former Master had followed them. They made their way back down the hallway and once they reached a spot where they were alone again, Oros was the first to speak.

“I don’t feel any different, Master.” They stared at the beads in their hands, now just a memory that will have to be disposed of.

“You won’t, not for a while yet. It will take longer than you expect to become used to being called Jedi Knight. And once again as Master,” Master Luminara looked over to Oros, a smile on her face and her hands tucked into the sleeves of her robes. Oros could feel a great deal of unsure sadness radiating from her in the force. The relationship between Padawan and Master was precious, special and connected through the force. They will physically be able to feel the loss of the presence of the other as their duties begin to differ. “Your responsibilities may change, your circumstances, your experience, but I want to know you will always have been my Padawan. Even if there will be no lasting proof of it.”

“I guess this will be the last lesson you will have to teach me Master,” They put the beads into a pocket on their robe to dispose of later in their quarters. “I will miss you greatly, I know my skills are adequate, but I lack in your wisdom. I fear being thrown head first into things doesn’t work well for me. You have seen this first hand.” Oros stopped walking and turned to face Master Luminara now, their eyebrows furrowed and shoulders hunched over in embarrassment at the memories.

Master Luminara made an amused Hmph noise, “Young one, you have always been the sensitive type. But that’s one of your strengths, you will face the same kinds of challenges as you did before, only now you may be alone. I assure you, you will find you might not need to rely on me as much as you thought you did, Jedi Knight, Oros Sami.” She smiled and tentatively reached her arms out to offer a hug. Oros stepped closer and took it, wrapping their arms tightly around her, settling to nuzzle their nose on their Master’s head. With the difference in height, Master Luminara would have essentially been on tip-toes to do the same, so she relaxed and rested her head on Oros’s chest, holding them tightly.

Oros let everything they felt towards their former Master flow through the force. All Padawans are cared for by their Masters, it’s their responsibility, their duty for the future of the Order. Time after time, they will be granted a new Padawan, to fill the space of the last, to teach, to protect and to be a trusted adult of the force-sensitive kids running around the temple. This wasn’t the last time Master Luminara had to say goodbye to a Padawan, but it was the only time Oros had to let go of a Master.

[jedi-enthusiast]

My Random Bullshit MasterPost

Note: Not to be confused with the "My Star Wars Fic MasterPost" or "My Other Fic MasterPost," which are actual links to my fics, or any other MasterPost---this MasterPost is just about all of my random bullshit, hence the title

Shitposting:

Part One - Codywan

Part Two - Cody in a Kama

Part Three - Oh Yeah, I had Cancer

Part Four - Cody's Trust Issues

Part Five - Obi-Wan's Slut™️ Hair

Part Six - Grim About to Rock Palpatine's Shit

Part Seven - My Idiots <3

Part Eight - My Idiots Pt. 2 <3

Part Nine - Me: Screaming, Crying, Throwing Up

Part Ten - My OCs Love Their General

Part Eleven - My Angry Rant About 'The Devil Below'

Part Twelve - The Dilemma of Wanting to Ramble

Part Thirteen - Cody Bitching About Anakin

Part Fourteen - Baby Obi-Wan Being the Anti-Christ

Part Fifteen - Dooku is Old as Shit

Part Sixteen - Dooku Talking Like Yoda

Part Seventeen - Damn I Want to Fuck the Jedi Council

Part Eighteen - Ponds is Suffering

Part Nineteen - My Giant Ass List of OCs

Part Twenty - I Never Shut the Fuck Up

Part Twenty One - Stanakins (derogatory)

Part Twenty Two - MACE WINDU MY BELOVED Pt. 1

Part Twenty Three - MACE WINDU MY BELOVED Pt. 2

Part Twenty Four - @frostbitebakery I STILL LOVE YOU FOR THIS

Part Twenty Five - 'we're burned for better' shitpost

Part Twenty Six - Killing my Darlings

Part Twenty Seven - The Force v. Obi-Wan

Part Twenty Eight - Laughing at my Own Tags

Part Twenty Nine - My Idiots <3 Pt. 3

Part Thirty - GET HIS ASS

Part Thirty One - Clones Are Hot

Part Thirty Two - I love the Jedi <3

Part Thirty Three - CAN YOU NOT FUCKING READ???

Part Thirty Four - Dumbass Anti-Jedi Morons

Part Thirty Five - Second Thoughts (oops)

Part Thirty Six - Girl Help

Part Thirty Seven - Miscommunication Pt. 1

Part Thirty Eight - Mandos (derogatory)

Part Thirty Nine - MY BABY <333

Part Forty - 🔫

Part Forty One - Hyperfixations Baybeeeeee

Part Forty Two - Temple Guard my Beloved <3

Part Forty Three - MACE WINDU MY BELOVED Pt. 3

Part Forty Four - MACE WINDU MY BELOVED Pt. 4

Part Forty Five - Jedi Culture Thoughts

Part Forty Six - Jedi Culture Meme

Part Forty Seven - BCC Meme

Part Forty Eight - My Brain Hates Me

Part Forty Nine - Obi-Wan's Parents Biting the Curb

Part Fifty - Miscommunication Pt. 2

----------

Excerpts of The Great War:

Part One - Scrapped Part of BCC

Part Two - Codywan Feels

Part Three - Last Line Challenge Pt. 1

Part Four - Last Line Challenge Pt. 2

Part Five - A Snippet of Chapter 4 (BCC)

Part Six - A Snippet of Chapter 5 (BCC)

Part Seven - THIS LINE KILLS ME

Part Eight - Last Line Challenge Pt. 3

Part Nine - Depressing Bullshit™️ (MITPTT)

Part Ten - Last Line Challenge Pt. 4

Part Eleven - Last Line Challenge Pt. 5

Part Twelve - Last Line Challenge Pt. 6

Part Thirteen - WIP Chain

Part Fourteen - WIP Wednesday

Part Fifteen - Last Line Challenge Pt. 7

Part Sixteen - Last Line Challenge Pt. 8

Part Seventeen - Last Line Challenge Pt. 9

Part Eighteen - Last Line Challenge Pt. 10

Part Nineteen - Last Line Challenge Pt. 11

Part Twenty - Future Snippet Pt. 1

Part Twenty One - Future Snippet Pt. 2

Part Twenty Two - Last Line Challenge Pt. 12

Part Twenty Three - Last Line Challenge Pt. 13

Part Twenty Four - Future Snippet Pt. 3

Part Twenty Five - Future Snippet Pt. 4

Part Twenty Five - Future Snippet Pt. 5

Part Twenty Six - Future Snippet Pt. 5 (Expanded Info)

Part Twenty Seven - Gooey-Wan Snippet

Part Twenty Eight - Ahsoka Show Spite Fic

----------

Ask Games:

Part One - Fanfic Ask Game Pt. 1

Part Two - Fanfic Ask Game Pt. 2

Part Three - Another Fic Ask Game Pt. 1

Part Four - Another Fic Ask Game Pt. 2

Part Five - Choose Violence Ask Game Pt. 1

Part Six - Choose Violence Ask Game Pt. 2

Part Seven - Choose Violence Ask Game Pt. 3

Part Eleven - Choose Violence Ask Game Pt. 4

Part Twelve - Choose Violence Ask Game Pt. 5

Part Thirteen - Choose Violence Ask Game Pt. 6

Part Fourteen - Yet Another Fic Ask Game Pt. 1

Part Fifteen - A Completely Different Fic Ask Game Pt. 1

Part Sixteen - Another Choose Violence Ask Game Pt. 1

Part Seventeen - Another Choose Violence Ask Game Pt. 2

Part Eighteen - Another Choose Violence Ask Game Pt. 3

Part Nineteen - WIP Ask Game Pt. 1

Part Twenty - WIP Ask Game Pt. 2

----------

My Recommendations:

Part One - Shoulder the Sky

Part Two - My [Completed] Codywan Fic Masterlist

Part Three - My [Ongoing] Codywan Fic Masterlist

[vodika-vibes]

Cody, Wolffe and Fox: Aight let’s go get Skywalker

Wonder if they’re also gonna report Padme for not reporting and covering for Anakin. SMH Padme

Luke and Leia are like, "oh no, we karked up-"

Master Windu has a grim look on his face, as he sits his hand on Luke's shoulder. Obi-Wan is half hugging Leia next to him. Both twins looks very, very distressed. There are several clones standing in the middle of the room, with some of the older clone kids standing behind them. "If what Luke and Leia say is true," Commander Cody says grimly, "Then the Raiders are unlikely to speak with a Jedi." "You think they'd be more likely to speak with a soldier from the Republic?" Master Plo asks, quietly. "More than likely." Commander Wolffe says, "Cody has spoken with Clone Force 99, and they've agreed to look into it. Assuming that they can bring some of the baby ARCs with them." He adds as he motions to Eri, Vali, and three other teenagers. "I don't know-" Master Mundi murmurs. "Respectfully," Commander Fox...er...Chancellor Fox, says quietly, "We're not asking. This is happening. We're asking to you hold Skywalker in the temple until our investigation comes to a conclusion." "I...yes...you're right." Master Mundi murmurs, "That can be done."

[clonemommy]

Introduction Part I

So. This a lil introduction part for Helena.

Summary: Young Helena has a meeting with the Jedi Council and gets assigned to her own Corps.

Characters: Jedi Helena, Yoda, Mace Windu, Plo Koon, the Jedi Council, Commander Shade and 13. Sky Corps mentioned

Words: 962

Author´s note: Future parts are for sure longer, promised. I just needed something to start with.

A holo pad with information about the Corps and her future right hand is in her hands. CC-6666, better known as Marshall-Commander Shade. He looked like any other clone. Short dark brown hair, slightly cropped sides, brown eyes and warm skin. Striking: a scar on his lower lip.

-----

Helena sat in the centre of the Jedi Council, her hands resting on her thighs, her gaze fixed and focused. The room was filled with an atmosphere of heaviness that had been a recurring theme in Council meetings over the past few months. The galactic conflict had changed the Jedi in ways she could barely comprehend. The war was consuming everything - the lines between good and evil were blurring, and even the Jedi, once considered the guardians of peace, had to confront the darkness to avoid being swallowed up by it.

He was the leader of the so-called ‘Hellfire Legion’. A group full of unfeeling, unapproachable clones. If Helena were honest, this Sky Corps would be her last choice.

‘Young Helena,’ Master Mace Windu began, snapping her out of her thoughts, his voice calm but firm. ‘The Council has unanimously decided to assign you to the 13th Sky Corps. As a newly trained Jedi, you now must lead your battles. Your men.’

It was an honour, she knew. In recent months, the Hellfire Legion had been recognised as particularly capable and uncompromising in their battles. And now she was to join one of the Republic's most formidable war machines. Her heart beat faster. She had always aspired to the task; she wanted to bear this responsibility. The Council’s confidence in her was a comforting reassurance.

‘I am ready, Master,’ Helena said in a firm voice. ‘It will be an honour to lead the 13th Sky Corps.’

The words echoed in her ears, and a small part of her couldn’t imagine what to expect. She knew the legends about the commanders of the Corps, about their tactics that knew no mercy and their uncompromising attitude. But she was a Jedi and had found her place in the galaxy. She knew what her duty was.

‘We are certain you are the right choice for this task,’ Windu continued. ‘But there is one particularity you should know. You will work alone with the Corps. No other Jedi will support your Corps.’

‘Alone?’ Her brow furrowed. ‘No other Jedi will be assigned to assist me?’

A look went round among the council members. It was not a sign of uncertainty but of respect and seriousness. Yoda, the wise master always a little out of line, now stepped forward.

‘Only one Jedi needed for the 13th Sky Corps,’ Yoda said in his usual, deliberate manner. ‘Another Jedi not appropriate is. A suitable Jedi for the Corps hard to find is.’

‘The last Jedi assigned to this Corps,’ Windu continued, ’has turned his back. He could not accept the methods and radical thinking of the Corps and withdrew.’ Windu himself did not seem to agree about this Corps. ‘The Marshall-Commander who leads the 13th Sky Corps is... unique. Rough, brutal and ruthless in his actions. He does not tolerate weakness or hesitation. You will have to coordinate with him.’ The uniqueness of the Corps was a heavy burden on Helena's shoulders.

Helena’s heart stopped for a moment. Shade. Her image of him, shaped by rumours and stories, was nothing less than grim. But the challenge tantalised her. She could not back down. She was the Jedi General, and this task was one she had to accept to serve the Republic.

‘I understand,’ Helena finally said, her voice calm, but the pressure in her chest grew. She had doubts but wasn’t the type to let fear or uncertainty get the best of her. Her determination was a beacon of hope in the midst of her inner turmoil.

Yoda nodded slowly; his eyes, which held the wisdom of many centuries, fixed her with a warning and supportive gaze.

‘Trust the Force you must, Helena. To the 13th Sky Corps, it has led you. A reason there is, even if veiled it still is,’ Yoda spoke emphatically.

Helena hesitated. Her doubts gnawed at her, but she knew her decision would influence her future. She had to be strong, and trust in the Force was her compass.

‘And if I fail?’ she asked quietly, the uncertainty that pervaded her barely perceptible. ‘What if I can’t make a difference?’

Master Plo Koon, quietly looking at her, now stepped forward. His calm presence supported her in this moment of uncertainty.

‘You will not fail,’ he said with a warm, encouraging smile. ‘Shade is a commander like no other, but you are a Jedi and will find your way. Your connection to the Force will not fail you. You have already achieved great things, Helena. Your wisdom, your courage - all of that will guide you.’

A feeling of warmth and trust flowed through her as Plo Koon looked at her. She knew he was right. She was not alone. The Force would guide her, and her task was straightforward.

‘Then I accept that task,’ Helena said, her voice firmer and more determined now. ‘I will take my place in the 13th Sky Corps, no matter how challenging it becomes. For the Republic.’

Master Windu nodded in agreement, and Yoda inclined his head.

‘Good, good. The right path you will find, Helena. Let us trust in it.’

At that moment, she felt she was no longer the young Jedi still asking herself questions. She was a general, ready to lead the war - even if the road ahead was as dangerous as it was challenging. She had accepted the responsibility and would fulfil her place in the 13th Sky Corps - with or without Shade’s approval.

[sapphirepastries]

In A Twisted Galaxy Far, Far Away...

so when star wars yuu gets isekai'd into twisted wonderland, it happens after order 66. she'll be 16, the same age as the first years so when the clone wars end, she's about 14? so yeah. this is all just disjointed thoughts i've had about this au xD

yuu arrives in twisted wonderland after order 66

i'm thinking she's like cal in that her connection to the force is broken or she's just so scared to use the force that she hides everything about it. she has to, if she doesn't want to be found by the empire

that way, as the story progresses, she'll regain her power step by step. like in fallen order

and i mentioned it in the first twst x star wars post, but yuu's droid, r3-d8, also gets isekai'd so she's not alone. she has a piece of home

when all the blot stuff happens with riddle, yuu gets flashbacks to the dark side and o66. it almost renders her frozen, but she manages to push through it enough with the help of her friends and gets through the battle

she has a lot of explaining to do when it's all over, but she only explains a little bit of it. it's a lot and very traumatizing, so the boys understand when she says she can't share all of it right now

out of all the boys, lilia is the only one who can understand her experiences since he was a soldier himself and fought in a war

having lived through the war and order 66, it takes a while for yuu to get used to school life. ace, deuce, and grim do their best to make her feel at home. this eventually spreads to the rest of the boys and the teachers

it makes her feel like she's back at the jedi temple again, but with troublemaking, mischievous, "i care only about myself" boys who can also be nice instead of jedi. it's bittersweet, but it feels nice to be in such an environment again

the boys have a twinge of darkness in them, but they are also very light. it reminds yuu of mace windu since he also used power from the dark side

the boys do get very surprised as yuu shows them her powers with the force. she doesn't need a magestone? what the hell?? fairies are probably the closest thing they can compare her to, since i think they have a more innate talent for magic

AND SHE CAN HEAL??? THAT'S LIKE SUPER ADVANCED MAGIC AND HER HEALING IS PROBABLY EVEN MORE ADVANCED THAN THAT???? WHAT THE KRIFFIN' KARK

she and silver get along so well because jedi are good with animals and silver is basically a disney princess. the animals love them

also holy shit she has a laser sword (it's called a lightsaber, you uncivilized fools!). sebek and silver are amazed that there's someone else in nrc who's trained in swordplay. they ask her to train with them, but she's afraid she'll cut through their magical pen batons since lightsabers can cut through almost everything. they are disappointed but also "holy shiz she can cut through basically anything with that?"

i also think about the twst boys getting isekai'd instead! in this scenario, they get isekai'd to the beginning of the clone wars and meet a younger yuu and shockingly enough, crowley's counterpart

[bittybug-sunflower-blog]

Chapter summary: Beka learns Hunter’s truth and starts over with her life.

Warning ⚠️: Mature themes and language, sex, drugs, abuse, blood, death, drinking, suicide attempt, and smoking

Word count: 2809

Rating 21+

Extra: alternate universe story

Chapter 2

Several weeks passed, and Beka's relationship with Hunter blossomed. The joy of their engagement brought a sense of completeness to their lives. However, as the excitement of their impending marriage built, the delicate balance began to fray.

One rainy evening, Beka received a tip about illegal activities taking place at an abandoned warehouse. The information seemed suspicious, but her determination pushed her to investigate despite the storm raging outside. As she neared the warehouse, the unsettling reality of the situation began to weigh heavily on her.

"This unit 99 requesting backup at the Tipoca City warehouse." Beka said through her scanner, she got nothing but static, "This unit 99 requesting backup at Tipoca City warehouse." Beka repeated, again, static Beka groaned in frustration, the rain was interfering, and she had no time to wait for anyone. By the time backup arrives, they may be long gone. Beka pulled out her service revolver and placed six bullets in each cylinder. She clicked the gun before rolling the cylinder in her hand. She got out of her car, the rain beating down on her body. She moved with silent precision. Inside, the air was thick with the stench of rust and decay. The silence was occasionally pierced by the clanging of metal and muffled cries. Beka moved cautiously, her heart pounding as she ventured deeper into the shadows. She started to hear voices.

"Listen clanker you don't give what we want, we have to do this hard way." A rugged voice said. Muffled pleases and screams were the response.

Beka moved fast and she eventually came up on her suspects, she yelled aiming her gun towards them, "Freeze! Coruscant Police!"

What she saw inside was a brutal shock. Hunter and four other men were engaged in a ruthless interrogation. The man in the center of the room was bloodied and bound, his desperate cries for mercy drowned out by the cold indifference of Hunter's group. Hunter's usual warmth was replaced by a chilling detachment.

Beka stood frozen, terror in her eyes as she struggled to comprehend the scene before her. Hunter's gaze met hers, his face shifting from cold determination to shock and regret. "Beka —"

"Hunter, what's going on?" One of his men, gruff and incredulous, demanded. "Who the hell is she and what is she doing here?"

Hunter's eyes were locked on Beka, trying to convey a sense of urgency and calm. "Beka. Please, just—"

Another man, his face a mask of confusion and anger, added, "Is this some kind of setup?"

Beka's mind raced, the horror of the situation overwhelming her. Her body was paralyzed, unable to move as she took in the brutality around her. She turned and fled the warehouse. Her steps quickened as she heard one of the men yell for her not to escape. She got in her car turned the ignition on and sped away. Her breath came in ragged gasps as she sped through the rain-slicked streets.

"Beka wait!" Hunter called as he made his way out of the warehouse, by that time Beka could only see Hunter's figure getting smaller as she drove away.

She reached a secluded lake, its surface reflecting the moonlight in haunting clarity. With trembling hands, Beka removed the ring Hunter had proposed to her. She threw it into the murky depths, watching it disappear, a silent farewell to the man she had known. Beka just sat by the lake contemplating her next moves. The following morning, Beka found herself at the police station, her heart heavy with the weight of her decisions.

She walked to the commission's desk, her face set in grim determination. "I'm resigning, Sergeant Windu," she said, placing her badge and service weapon on the desk. "Effective immediately."

Windu looked up, surprised. "Beka? What's going on what brought this on?"

"Too much has happened Serge." Beka sighed, "I'll have the proper paperwork filled out and sent to your office by the following day."

"Are you sure?" Her sergeant asked.

"Absolutely. Thank you for everything Sergeant Windu" she replied, her voice unwavering despite the turmoil in her eyes. "It's time for me to move on."

As Beka made her way out of the office, Seneca stood there dumbfounded, "Beka?"

"Stay on the straight and narrow my friend, for your sons' sake," Beka said looking at her friend with a broken smile.

Beka got back to her apartment and sighed. There wasn't much time for her to break down. She knew everyone would ask questions and Hunter; Hunter would be looking for her. She packed what she needed.

She met with her landlord, "Here." Beka handed him an envelope of money, "Cutting my lease today, sell whatever is left in the apartment." Before the landlord could even say a word, Beka was gone.

Beka threw her suitcase in the car and finally sat at the wheel, she finally let herself cry. She started cursing at herself angry at how naïve and stupid she was, how dumb for not seeing the signs that Hunter was a crime boss. Without any direction, Beka just drove away.

A few months have passed now, and Beka underwent a dramatic transformation and left behind her old identity. It started with working as a bartender in another state. She watched one band in particular, the Ribbon Singers, their music was smooth and soothing. One night, Beka was late cleaning the bar when she started singing an old jazz song, dancing lost in thought. She took a broom and used it as a prop for her singing and dancing. When she ended her performance, she could hear clapping from behind. She turned in surprise to see a man. He was impeccably dressed in a tailored suit that spoke of professionalism and attention to detail. His sleek, dark hair was neatly styled as his goatee, and he carried himself with a polished demeanor.

"You got a gift young lady." The man smiled, "Finis Zapal, I can make you a big star now." He cut straight to the chase as he pulled out a white small card handing it to Beka.

"Um, I'm good thanks though," Beka said looking at Finis's card and then back at him.

"Really sweetheart, you have talent that I have not heard in many years, come to our rehearsal tomorrow morning and see if you'll change your mind when you see us up close and personal." Finis grabbed his coat and hat from a nearby stool and tipped his head to Beka as he made his exit.

Beka looked at the card and sighed she had nothing else to lose. She arrived early the next morning at the bar, though having very little sleep that night. She saw the band from last night warming vocals and testing instruments.

"Can we help you?" a sharp snappy voice came from a woman.

Before Beka could respond Finis appeared, "Relax Lina, ah you came! Come now, show everyone what you got." He took Beka by her hand and led her up on the small stage, "Go ahead and sing umm..."

"Beka." Beka giving her name, "What do I sing?"

"Sing whatever sweetheart," Finis ordered.

Beka looked at the other band members and they shrugged one started hitting the drums slightly while another started playing the bass. With no sense of direction, Beka started singing. She let the music guide her, her voice sympathy of emotion. When the song came to an end everyone bar staff, the band members, and Finis all clapped.

"Um, thanks." Beka sheepishly said as she rubbed the back of her neck.

"Sweetheart, welcome to the band, start rehearsal and dress fitting tomorrow," Finis said turning to walk away.

"Mr. Zapal, um I don't exactly feel comfortable being in the spotlight considering a past and stuff." Before Beka could explain more Finis interrupted.

"Wear a mask, go by a stage name, and get the crowds invested in a mysterious singer," Finis suggested before going back and talking with the bar staff.

Beka stood still, looking at the band she would be working with. She gave a nervous smile, unsure of what to expect next. "Hi, I'm Beka," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. The band members looked at her with skepticism.

In the weeks that followed, Beka began performing in small, smoky bars. The dimly lit venues, filled with the scent of tobacco and the low hum of conversation, became her new stage. Her talent quickly gained attention, and she adopted the stage name Miss Ribbon Singer. It was Finis who suggested the name, and he also recommended that she have a custom mask made to hide her identity.

The mask, a delicate piece adorned with intricate designs, fit snugly over her face, leaving only her expressive eyes visible. "This will keep you safe," Finis had said as he handed it to her.

As she sang under the dim lights of a jazz club, the mask she wore was not just a disguise but a symbol of her reinvention. It shielded her from her past and represented her new beginning. Each performance, each song, was a step away from the life she had known and a stride toward the one she was creating.

The smoky haze of the club swirled around Beka as she stood on the small stage, gazing out at her bandmates. Each one was a character in their own right, adding color to the tapestry of their music.

The drummer, Gavid Ardel, with his wild curls and perpetual grin, sat behind his drum kit. The gentle clinking of his drumsticks was a familiar sound, a prelude to the rhythm that would soon fill the room. "You've got this, Miss Ribbon," he'd say, offering Beka a reassuring smile before every performance. His framed face and his perpetual grin were infectious, and his bright shiny bald head spoke of someone who just wanted to have fun and let loose.

Gil Renda, the pianist and often singer, took his place at the battered upright piano. His fingers danced over the keys, producing melodies that seemed to come straight from his heart. His affection for Beka was no secret, evident in the way he lingered close to her, his eyes always seeking hers. "Your voice is as beautiful as ever, Beka," he'd often say, his tone filled with admiration and flirtation. His dark hair, always slightly tousled, fell just above his brow, giving him a disheveled, artistic look. His eyes were an inviting brown, full of emotion, and they often sparkled with admiration when he looked at Beka.

Beka, ever polite but uninterested, would simply smile and thank him, focusing on the music rather than his advances. "Thanks, Gil, but I'm not interested in dating," Beka said courteously. Gil nodded he knew Beka's heart still longed for that person from the past.

The former lead singer, Lina Harik, now relegated to the role of backup singer, stood a few steps behind Beka. Her arrival changed everything. Lina's blue eyes would stare down at Beka. They are wide and expressive, framed by long, dark lashes that match her brunette hair. To make matters worse, Lina harbored a crush on Gil and couldn't stand seeing his affections directed elsewhere. "Don't think you're all that," she once hissed at Beka after a particularly well-received performance.

Beka, striving to keep the peace, would ignore the barbs, focusing instead on the music. "Don't worry hon, he's yours." Beka would always remind her.

Corr and Cran Agow, cousins who played bass and guitar respectively, stood on either side of the stage. Corr, the bassist, was stoic and reserved, his deep notes providing a solid foundation for their sound. He rarely spoke, letting his music do the talking. Cran, on the other hand, was more outgoing, often seen with a broad grin as he plucked away at his guitar. "We're like two halves of a whole," Cran liked to say, ruffling Corr's hair in a rare show of affection. Corr, the bassist, was tall and lean with a deep, resonant voice. His skin was a rich, dark brown, and his close-cropped hair and serious expression reflected his reserved nature. Cran, the guitarist, was shorter and more muscular, with a warm, deep brown complexion and a playful, natural fro. Both cousins had broad grins and colorful clothing matched their energetic personality.

As Beka took her place at the microphone, the club's dim lights casting a soft glow over her masked face, she felt a surge of determination. The mask, a delicate piece adorned with intricate designs, was not just a disguise but a symbol of her reinvention. It shielded her from her past and represented her new beginning. Each performance, each song, was a step away from the life she had known and a stride toward the one she was creating.

The band began to play, the music filling the room and wrapping around Beka like a comforting embrace. She closed her eyes and let the notes carry her away, her voice rising and falling in perfect harmony with the instruments. The audience, captivated by her voice and the mystery of her masked persona, grew larger with every performance.

"Thank you," she would say at the end of each set, her heart swelling with a mixture of gratitude and determination.

With each performance they grew larger in popularity, eventually performing for big movie stars, politicians, and audiences out of bars and lounges. They still had the occasional ask to perform in bars which Finis accepted here and there. They were getting record labels, and deals, having their music recorded and broadcasted everywhere. Beka began writing songs for not only her band but for other talented and famous singers. Beka was resolute in her decision to leave the scars of her past behind. The mask gave her the freedom to be whoever she wanted to be.

Every show was always sold out. They toured towns and cities left and right. Beka found herself back in the city of Coruscant. But despite the new life she built for herself, Beka never forgot where she came from or the people who mattered most to her. She was often afraid her past would come back, and she had every right to be. Beka wrote to Gruno and Jetto often, sending letters filled with stories about her new life, though she kept the details vague. She'd tell them about the places she visited, the people she met, and how she was finally doing something she loved. Yet, she always left out the part about being Miss Ribbon Singer, about the late nights in smoky clubs and the adoring crowds that hung on her every note.

Every time she signed her name at the bottom of the page, she felt a pang of guilt, knowing she was hiding something from the people who meant the most to her. But then she'd remind herself that she was protecting them, that the world she now inhabited was far removed from the quiet life they led. She thought about writing to Seneca but knew it was best not to.

As the band was preparing for tonight's show, Beka sat on a crate her mask above her head. She started contemplating what to do. They were in a local lounge because they offered a big payout and Finis couldn't say no to it.

"Hey, are you..." The voice stopped in their tracks, "No way, Rebekath, Beka Hardt?" A voice yelled.

Beka quickly pulled her mask over her face, "No, no you must have gotten me confused with someone else."

"Beka, it's me Valree." They explained. With striking short blue hair, cut just above the ears, a bold choice that contrasted sharply with their profession. As security personnel, they wore men's clothing—a crisp, tailored suit and polished shoes. The blue hair and sharp suit created a distinctive look.

"Valree Brights?" Beka smiled, she embraced her old friend in a tight hug, "What are you..." Before Beka asks.

Valree spoke up first, "When Seneca said you quit, didn't expect a whole career change."

"Val, too much happened, but look at you, you're now a bouncer?" Beka asked taking in her friend's attire.

"Damn straight, listen I know you don't want to talk about it, but you need to talk to Seneca, she's the most hurt," Valree said putting a hand on Beka's shoulder.

"I know, listen can you keep me being..." Before Beka could finish,

"Keep it a secret so you don't get overwhelmed with fans and Seneca comes knocking at you with her fists, I gotcha." Valree laughed.

"That," Beka smirked pointing a figure at Valree.

"Miss Ribbon Singer you're on in two minutes." Called the stage manager.

"Knock them dead kiddo, come talk to me after the show," Valree said.

Beka only nodded at her old friend a smile spreading across her face.

[sunnyvandsephi]

i just...

i think a lot about Neyo being described as "morbid and cold"

but then having a lil droid buddee

a droid buddee, that absolutely learned behaviors from hanging out with him, to the point WAC does the whole Commander schtick, and having a -cutting- wit, and willingness to call out bullshit when they sees it, only giving respect when earned especially to those who immediately deny personhood to them

and i can just imagine Neyo ending up classified as morbid and cold because he realized as a child how grim this entire cursed fucking existence -is- sooner than anybody else did and that's why he didn't "connect", he -made- that decision, but he still yearned for companionship, so he had a lil droid, that he could talk to on long scouting missions about anything and everything, fostering WAC's intelligence and having this understanding that despite one being "living" and the other being "machine", they're both in this shitty impossible situation that there's no getting out of

a small inkling of humanity held onto through keeping WAC around

and how it must have fuckin' sucked to give them up, but he respects Windu, so whatever task WAC was gonna do it was important

anyway miss me with characterizing Neyo as a cold hearted murderer psycho, or some abusive dude, normalize that he's a hard introvert with a cat who's been disassociating since he was four

[thechaoticfanartist]

Grim and Windu that's all that's the post

[jgvfhl]

The Number Lads Commit Homicide

I'm back!!! Thank you all for your patience while I took a small break and got my groove back. Now, the Jedi know Palpatine is evil... but now what?? Sixes knows that most people would leave it to the Force-wielding professionals, but since when has Sixes ever been most people?

Words: ~7400 Warnings: Some blood, not too much tho Link to Master List of Chapters on tumblr Link to the full story on Ao3

Reminder of the Chaos Batch screen names:

Nero = mayhem_man

Bacara = beefcara

Sixes = Grim Reaper

mayhem_man: okay so what’s the word, boys

mayhem_man: i say boys since thire is probably still unconscious

beefcara: Chancellor is evil

Grim Reaper: Yeah, Palpatine is worse than evil actually

mayhem_man: huh

beefcara: I want him to die

mayhem_man: right but you want several people dead so

Grim Reaper: Nero, you run a hit man contracting service

Grim Reaper: ON TOP OF BEING A COMMANDER IN THE ARMY

mayhem_man: okay?? so cara wants people dead but i actually do it and it’s a problem??

beefcara: Unfortunately, murder is frowned upon, even if you get paid for it

mayhem_man: ugh… society…

Grim Reaper: As for the chancellor, the Jedi won’t let us… assist in dealing with him

beefcara: Annoying, but logical. He can mind-control us.

mayhem_man: yeah… got that idea. but the jedi are gonna kill him or smth, right?

Grim Reaper: Or something.

-scene break-

In Sixes’ personal opinion, it took far too long for the Jedi to reach their decision. He and Echo were left to their own devices outside the Jedi Council meeting room for almost forty minutes while the debate raged on. Granted, it probably wasn’t raging—these were Jedi, after all. If it had been clones or Mandalorians, it would have been a faster and more violent matter. He wished it was a faster and more violent matter. Sixes could handle that. These long stretches of uncertainty and inaction had always been somewhat foreign to clones.

Echo had sat down on a bench a little ways down the hallway to rest his leg. Sixes would have ordered him there eventually. There hadn’t been any more word from Sevenset or Fives over their comms, but Bacara had assured him that everything was quiet at the Clubhouse. So, they just had to wait.

Finally—again, after far too long—the Council room doors slid open. All those present filed out, clustering in the corridor with Windu, Yoda, Kenobi, and Ti in the front.

“Commander. Echo.”

Echo picked himself up off the bench to stand beside Sixes when Windu addressed them.

“Thank you for waiting,” Windu said. The Jedi looked harsher than usual. All of them did. “We have no further questions for you, and we would advise you to return to whatever location will keep you safest.”

“No pilots?” Sixes could still hope….

“No pilots,” Yoda said with a small smile and a shake of his head.

“And no Mandalorians,” Windu added before Sixes or Echo could ask. “The Jedi will handle this ourselves.”

Sixes had suspected they would. He wouldn’t dispute them on their own turf, so he bowed his head in acceptance. He respected the decision, even if he didn’t like it. The chancellor, by all accounts, could be ridiculously powerful, and the Jedi were offering to confront him with the little knowledge that he and Echo had provided to them.

He laid his right fist over his heart, bowing ever so slightly. “Oya, jetiise.”

Most of the Jedi appeared to understand. Not entirely surprising when he considered how long they’d been serving with his brothers, and that most of the Alphas were fluent in Mando’a.

“Someone will show you out,” Windu said. “Thank you again. Please, look after each other.”

“We always do,” Sixes answered without hesitating. Echo nodded his agreement.

“I know,” Windu smiled.

The vast majority of the Council followed Windu and Yoda back down into the sprawling sanctuary in the Temple below. They left General Koon with them, presumably to lead them back up to the landing pad to the shyyyo speeder.

The Jedi gestured up the hallway towards the staircase. “I’ll see you off,” he said.

They followed him silently until they reached the landing pad. Sixes appreciated the silence. His thoughts were moving faster than he preferred, and he needed the space to sort through them all. When they reached the speeder, they bid the Jedi farewell and climbed in without another word.

Sixes didn’t start it right away. He sat in the driver’s seat, hands on the steering columns, as his thoughts continued to swirl around his brain.

Echo shifted in his seat, no doubt debating how long was too long sitting silently without moving.

Fortunately, Sixes didn’t let him stew for that long. “How’s your leg?” he asked.

After a second to process the question, the ARC shrugged. “Not terrible. The rest helped. Why?”

“I can’t just check in?”

“You never just check in, sir.”

So the ARC had learned. He gave a vague grunt in reply.

“What are you thinking, sir?” Echo asked, his tone cautious but not without genuine curiosity.

He was thinking a lot of things. “I’m thinking I’d like to see a headline about the chancellor dying from a shotgun blast to the chest.” That was one of the things, anyway.

Echo snorted, slipping his helmet off and setting it in his lap. “Yeah? Is that better than the headline about the Jedi Council cutting him into little pieces?”

“Sounds better to me.” He raised his comm, preparing to call Bacara. “And I still know where to get a lot of slugthrowers. Hey, Bacara?”

“Yes.”

“The Jedi are going to confront the chancellor,” he told him. “They were pretty adamant against including any troopers or Mandalorians, so they’re on their own for now.”

“Understood.”

“They believed us, though,” Sixes said, glancing over at Echo. “They’re on our side. You can share that around with the others.”

“I will. Are you coming back?”

Sixes again looked over at the ARC next to him, hesitating slightly. “Yeah, eventually. Don’t worry about us.”

“I will elect not to share that with the others.”

He smiled. “Sure thing, Cara. I’m out.” He ended the call and started the speeder’s engine.

Echo was quiet, clearly thinking over something as they lifted off the landing pad and zoomed over a couple lanes of traffic before settling into one. Sixes let him think. Eventually, Echo flipped his helmet around so it faced him, staring at his reflection in the visor as the lights of Coruscant whizzed by outside.

“You know… Domino Squad wasn’t exactly known for following orders very well,” he said at last. He looked up, finding Sixes’ gaze for a brief moment before he had to look back at the flight lane. “With Fives out of the fight, I feel like I’d be letting our batchmates down in spirit if I kept my nose exactly where it was supposed to be.”

Under his helmet, Sixes allowed himself a smirk. He’d never admit it, but the Numbers group had always felt a lot like his batch had when they were younger. Echo was demonstrating why that was. “So you’re not going to mind if we happen to fly by the chancellor’s office on the way to the Clubhouse, then,” he said, fully aware the chancellor’s office was nowhere near to being “on the way” to the Clubhouse.

Echo shook his head, looking ahead at the traffic. “No, of course not.”

They got a couple kliks closer to the chancellor’s office before something went… well, it didn’t quite go wrong, but it wasn’t exactly what Sixes had been expecting, either. There were a lot of Coruscant Guards around. More red and white lined the streets and skylanes than Sixes had ever seen. Mainly, they seemed to be redirecting traffic around the block containing the chancellor’s office. He could see the building from where they sat, slowed down to a maddening crawl by confused civilians.

“What the hell is all this?” Echo said, mostly to himself. He leaned forward, moving side to side to get a view ahead of them. “Did the chancellor do this?” he asked, now looking over to Sixes.

Sixes shook his head. “Dunno.” He glanced at Echo, his eye landing on the signature blue handprint on his chestplate. “Cover your handprint,” he told him as they approached the blinking red and white lights of the Guard’s speeder. “No need to have more identifying marks visible than necessary.”

Echo shifted his helmet, holding it to face his chest and up high enough to block the handprint. It didn’t look natural, by any stretch, but it would do.

When they were alongside the Guard, Sixes stopped and lowered his window. “What is this, trooper?” he demanded, putting as much authority into his voice as he could without being overtly rude.

“It’s a temporary detour, sir,” the Guard answered.

“Why? On whose orders?”

“Chancellor Palpatine, sir. He’s ordered a lockdown perimeter around this block.”

Oh, had he now?

The Guard went on, gesturing with a lit red baton. “If you could just go around this way, sir.”

Sixes narrowed his eyes, aware the expression was lost behind his visor. When he turned his head back to the flight lane, he just caught the tail-end of Echo slipping his helmet over his head. Sixes reluctantly turned right, following the Guard’s instructions.

“Wait, Commander–!” Echo hissed, reaching a hand out, but not touching him. “The office, look.” He pointed to their left.

Sixes kept the speeder steady with one hand and careful practice while he trained his HUD to magnify on the chancellor’s office. Against the backdrop of Coruscant’s brightly lit skyline at night, the change was hard to notice. But where once the office had cast a pale yellow light from its large window, other colors were breaking through. Green, blue, and some other colors not as easy to separate at this distance.

“The Jedi,” Sixes said, resetting his HUD and looking back to the flight lane.

No sooner had the words left his mouth than the commotion around the chancellor’s office increased. Even through the speeder’s body, there was an audible rumble in the air they both recognized.

“Uh—” Echo said as three transport shuttles appeared in the sky around the office, their floodlights trained on the room at the top of the building.

Sixes pressed a couple buttons on the speeder’s control panel. Nero had (of course) outfitted the thing with communications interceptors for just about any signal found on Coruscant. Thire mainly used them to listen to weird music broadcasts, but, with the right tuning, Sixes might be able to listen in on the Guards.

“—General Yoda, sir.”

“Negative, trooper. Just keep him away from the office.”

“He’s too fast!”

The chatter increased, starting to overlap. From what Sixes could make out, the transport ships had been deployed to keep more Jedi from getting to the chancellor’s office. It seemed Yoda was giving them more of a challenge than his size might have suggested. But, from the sound of it, the Guards were more interested in deterring the other Jedi than harming them. That was good. That gave them time.

Sixes followed the detour for a short while, listening intently to the overlapping voices the transmitter was picking up. It was hard to know what was important or not, but he would rather have very little warning than no warning at all if something bad was happening.

Just when Sixes was preparing to jump the flight lane entirely and gun it for the chancellor’s office just to be sure they couldn’t do something, the broadcasting communications went eerily quiet. The overlapping voices thinned out into one or two at a time, delivering curt orders, the voices sounding a mite too calm for such a situation.

“What just happened?” Echo asked, looking at the control panel. Luckily, he knew better than to go poking at it.

“He wants them put down. This is an act of treason.”

“Blast them!”

“Nothing good,” Sixes replied, switching off the transmitter. “Hold on.”

Echo immediately latched onto the door handle and the armrest, and Sixes kicked the speeder into higher gear. They lurched up and over the speeders and other vehicles in front of them, then veered sharply to the left across relatively open air. It took long, sluggish seconds for the Guards in the area to react. By the time their red and white lights were blinking in the rearview mirrors, the shyyyo speeder was tearing ahead of them.

“I’m guessing you and your batch built this thing, yeah?” Echo asked, his voice raised slightly in apprehension.

“We built her up from a scrap heap, yeah,” Sixes told him, diving down to avoid a landing platform in their path. “Helped us wind down during leave.”

The ARC nodded, his fingers tightening on the armrest as Sixes took a right turn “aggressively,” as some would say. If it got them there faster, it was worth trying, in his opinion. He had the skills to get them there in one piece.

“Echo, push the Nova Corps-colored button,” Sixes told him as they neared the office building. The Guards were still tailing them, but they weren’t shooting, so that was a win.

Echo found it and pushed it, making it light up fuschia. After a second, Bacara’s voice filtered into the speeder’s cab.

“What.”

“Something’s gone wrong with the confrontation,” Sixes said, doing his best to stick to the facts as much as his anger and frustration wanted to add some emotionally fueled phrases as well. “The Guard’s gone weirdly quiet over comms, and I don’t like the tone I’m hearing from the ones still talking.”

A massive flare of orange and yellow light bloomed ahead of them, engulfing one of the transport ships and part of the building next to the chancellor’s office. Sixes cursed, turning a sharp left to avoid the worst of the smoke drifting through the air.

“Sixes?”

“Something just blew up, it’s fine,” he replied, easily righting the speeder in the air. He so wished he had his Z-95 right now.

“Should we do something?”

“If you can keep the Guard occupied and away from the chancellor’s office building, the Jedi could do their kriffing job a lot easier, yes!” he said, biting back another string of curses as more CG speeders appeared on their left. “Use a different comms channel, though. No telling what the chancellor’s been spewing to the Guards.”

“Understood.”

“Comm Maral, she’s on-world. She can get transport,” Sixes told him starting to circle the chancellor’s office. From this distance, the lightsabers were clearly visible. Green, blue, purple, and red.

“Copy that. Don’t die.”

Sixes scoffed. “Not planning on it. Out.”

Taking the cue, Echo pressed the fuschia button again, ending the transmission. “So what is the plan here, exactly?” he asked, keeping careful track of the CG speeders and transport ships in the area.

Sixes would never admit that he made up plans. He had been a commander for quite a while now. He had the benefit of experience and precedent to guide his thinking processes. So, he could… quickly fabricate a plan where one had not previously existed. “Land the speeder, hide the speeder, get to the chancellor’s office, help him on his way out of existence.”

Echo was quiet for a moment, then shrugged. “Alright. I’ve gone into worse with less.”

“Freak.”

“I prefer hazard to society, sir.”

Sixes swung the speeder out of its wide circle around the chancellor’s office. There were still too many transport ships and speeders surrounding it for them to risk getting too close. He flew back the way they’d come, rounding the top of the building across the flight lanes from the chancellor’s office. The ships were all still focused on the Jedi to notice them passing quietly overhead. Just another reason to fly black ships at night, as far as Sixes was concerned. He set down on a small landing platform on the other side of the building. They got out after he activated Nero’s absolutely overkill anti-theft systems, which was just as well, because a pair of what were probably security guards came running over to them as soon as they stepped out.

“This is private property!” one of them, a pantoran man, called out. They both had what appeared to be blasters, but Sixes recognized them, and knew they could only fire stun rings.

“Remove the speeder, or we will have it removed,” the other, a human woman added.

Sixes stared at them. “If you touch that speeder, you’ll both be dead,” he informed them plainly.

The guards raised their weapons. Right… that had sounded like a direct threat. Remy dropped out of the speeder, making a few disgruntled beeps.

“Remy,” he said. “Make sure these two don’t get in our way. Don’t kill them.”

He tapped Echo’s pauldron to get him to follow him behind the speeder to the trunk. He heard Remy’s jets activate, and several surprised noises from both security guards before he tuned them out. He entered the code on the back of the speeder and a panel popped open, revealing a portion of the weaponry they often stored inside. He grabbed two ascender cable attachments, thrusting one into Echo’s hands and clipping the other to the back of his belt. After that, he shed his right vambrace, letting it fall into the compartment while he slipped on a steel replacement that Nero had found “somewhere.” That usually meant he’d looted it off a corpse or he’d traded someone’s head for it on the black market. It didn’t matter much when it had a small shield generator inside of it.

He clicked it into place, then grabbed a second vambrace of similar origin. “Echo, put this on,” he ordered without looking at the ARC. “Flamethrower.” When he felt the bracer leave his hand, he grabbed a final supply of blaster charge packs for them both.

Echo tossed his standard vambrace into the compartment and took two of the offered ammunition packs. “I stopped hearing complaints about your parking spot a few seconds ago, so I figure your droid has done their job.”

“Good, let’s go.” Sixes closed the speeder’s trunk, making sure it clicked properly back into place.

When they rounded the speeder, sure enough, Remy stood between the two crumpled forms of the unconscious security guards. Sixes beckoned them to follow, then led the way to the other side of the rooftop where they would have a clear view of the chancellor’s office. They stopped at the rim of the rooftop, observing the scene.

At first, it didn’t seem like much had changed. They could still see a fierce lightsaber battle raging inside the chancellor’s office, and the whole building was completely surrounded by the Coruscant Guard in various vehicles.

Sixes called Bacara again.

“We’re on the way,” his brother said immediately.

“Good, you’ve got some work cut out for you,” Sixes told him. “The chancellor’s tower is completely surrounded. More Jedi won’t be able to get through without cutting through the Guards.”

“We’ll keep them busy.”

“Keep the window—” Sixes’ next sentence died on his tongue as he saw two of the transport ships and several smaller speeders suddenly turn around and start flying in their direction. Had they spotted them? How?

His concerns were only partially dissuaded by the sight of one of the Guard’s speeder bikes appearing in the night ahead of the other vehicles and aircraft. But the speeder bike had no Guardsman on it. As it whizzed past their building to their left, Sixes’ HUD caught the distinct image of General Yoda at the controls, his green lightsaber deflecting the smattering of bolts that came close enough to bat away. In a heartbeat, the Jedi and his pursuers were behind them, leaving a gap in the tower’s defenses.

“Sixes?”

He cleared his throat, drawing his attention back to his brother’s voice. “Heads up: General Yoda has the same plan as us, and he’s got two gunships and a few speeders after him.”

There was a brief pause before, “Oh, we just passed them.”

“See you soon,” Sixes told him.

“Affirmative.” The comm disconnected.

About fifteen or twenty seconds later, the rumble of a proper ship of some kind made them turn around to their right. He’d only seen Maral’s gauntlet starfighter back on Kamino, and always grounded. After all, being part of the cuy’val dar had its drawback of being largely confined to the ocean planet. Seeing it in motion was beautiful. Like Maral’s armor, the Moon Saber was carefully painted in bright colors against the gunmetal grey and dark blue paneling making up the body of the ship. The flowing designs of starry butterflies, huge birds, and solar eclipses lit up in the mottled lights coming from the buildings as it flew by. The starfighter easily took the remaining transport ship by surprise, pulling up over it and lowering the boarding ramp about halfway down.

Unsurprisingly, Sixes recognized Bacara hurling himself from the boarding ramp onto the transport ship below. The trooper following him must have been Fours, given the way they seemed to work together. Fours immediately swung into the open side of the ship while Bacara landed squarely on the main cockpit’s windscreen.

While the two Marines dealt with the biggest threat, the Moon Saber drifted over to the office building next to the chancellor’s tower. By now, the Guards on speeder bikes and other smaller transports had zeroed in on the new threat and were quickly moving to surround it. As they did, however, three more troopers emerged from inside the starfighter, all brandishing weapons.

“Gang’s all here, I guess,” Echo said quietly as they watched Do-si-do, Trees, and Loops engage the Guards around them.

“Looks like it,” Sixes added, silently grateful neither Mira or Saleha were visible. He turned his attention back to the chancellor’s office. The colors had changed, worryingly. The green and blue sabers visible earlier were gone, leaving just General Windu’s purple saber against Chancellor Palpatine’s red one. “We still need to get into that office.”

Echo raised his comm, still watching the other Numbers. Do-si-do had just successfully booted a Guard off of his speeder and onto a rooftop below. “Do-si-do, any chance you can fly over our direction? We could use a lift.”

“Hells yeah, Echo!” the pilot replied immediately.

They watched them look around until they saw Echo’s arm in the air, then sped over to them. They stopped just beyond the edge of the roof.

“This is a shit show, sir!” they said, a huge grin audible behind their helmet.

“Yeah, it’s a mess,” Echo agreed.

Sixes took charge before they could wait for him to do so. “Do-si-do, I’m with you. Echo, hitch a ride on Remy.” When Remy added their own opinion on the matter, he turned to them. “I don’t want to hear it, Remy. You only have to get him close enough to use the ascender cable. Now give me Reaper.”

If they could have rolled their eyes, Remy would have. Small mercies. Instead, the storage compartment opened on their dome, and the top of Reaper’s compacted form poked out. He grabbed it, hooked it on his belt, and stepped onto the edge of the roof. He cast a glance around the scene as he climbed onto the speeder behind Do-si-do, noticing that without the influx of Coruscant Guards, a few other lightsabers were visible approaching the chancellor’s office. They were still a ways away, though, and he wasn’t sure how long Windu could hold off the chancellor.

Regardless, Sixes wanted a shot at this piece of shit himself.

Maybe he had too much Mandalorian in him after all.

They took off, Echo and Remy not far behind them. As they did, the noise of more transport ships sounded to their left, bringing more reinforcements. He grabbed the ascension cable from his belt and locked it onto one of his pistols, holding it at the ready as Do-si-do dodged and weaved through the slowly increasing number of Guard speeders and larger hovercraft.

“When I fire the cable, dive down and get out of the area,” he told them, raising his voice above the air rushing by them.

“Yes sir!”

He raised his arm over the pilot’s shoulder, aiming for the outer wall above the chancellor’s window. He took a breath, silently appreciating Do-si-do’s skill at keeping the speeder bike level, and fired.

The cable caught and pulled tight at the same time that Do-si-do started their dive. Sixes leapt off the bike as much as one can leap off of an object traveling downwards. He let the cable ascender do its work, only having to catch himself from smashing into the side of the building once. It was not going to be a graceful entrance, that he could tell. But it would get him where he needed to be. He looked around until he found Echo mirroring him on his left, Remy long gone.

With his free hand, the ARC signed, “Cut audio,” and tapped the side of his helmet.

Right. Make sure the creep couldn’t control them so easily. It was a little tricky doing it one-handed, but eventually, as they were approaching the window, his HUD gave a little alert, telling him outside communications had been disconnected and deafened.

The window above them exploded outwards in a shower of glass shards. They glittered and sparkled in the light pouring from the office as Sixes and Echo rose up through the deluge. They instinctively ducked their heads, even if their helmets would easily protect their faces from the shimmering downfall.

Sixes grabbed the ledge of the window and clicked the disengage button on the base of the ascension cable. As it disconnected, he pulled himself into the room, rolling sideways over his shoulder to end in a crouch on one knee. Echo was in roughly the same position, both pistols raised, as they each took in the scene inside the office.

It was a mess.

All the chairs had been ripped from their bases and tossed around the lower part of the office. There were deep slashes in the control panels surrounding what remained of the chairs. Stone artworks that might have flanked the doorway lay in pieces, one of them clear on the other side of the room. Sixes allowed himself a brief moment of alarm when he took stock of the fallen Jedi around the room. General Ti lay against the far wall from the window, her face hidden by the sprawled hood of her robe. One of the broken artworks had evidently broken on Saesee Tiin, and there was no way to tell how badly injured he was. Finally, Ki-Adi Mundi’s head was visible in the far corner of the room, where the computer control panels blocked his view. Sixes hoped the rest of him was attached, but from where he knelt, he couldn’t tell.

Mace Windu was still up, however. He stood between the the door and the lack of chairs, his focus now torn between the two troopers who had just appeared through the window, and the man he was currently fighting. Palpatine, unfortunately, was about three feet in front of Echo, red saber humming at his side. It was likely what had shattered the window.

Sixes couldn’t hear what Windu said, but it didn’t matter when his back was facing an open window several hundred feet above the nearest flat surface, and there was a probable Force-user mere steps away from him. He moved. He dove to his right, aiming for the far side of the control panels as he tucked and rolled out of his dive.

Muffled shouting that sounded like Palpatine wasn’t enough to stop his motion until he was rounding the other side of the desk. What did make him pause was a huge burst of flame from Echo’s gauntlet, aimed directly at Palpatine’s face as the ARC stood and sprinted to the other side of the room near the door. While not particularly graceful, the distraction was enough for Windu to step up and make himself the center of attention again.

Sixes kept moving deeper into the small office, holding both pistols at the ready. Reaper was too long for these close quarters. His boot nudged something on the floor. Looking down, his breath stuttered for a moment as he took in General Mundi’s arm, and just his arm, not connected to the rest of him. Fortunately, his head was in fact still attached to the rest of him.

Even so, Bacara would not be happy to see his general in more than one piece…

When he looked back to the chancellor and to Windu, the chancellor was saying something, but Sixes’ helmet only caught muffled noise instead of words. Whatever the reaction was supposed to be, the nothing that happened didn’t make Palpatine very happy. He lunged at Windu, the purple and red lightsabers clashing and whirling through the air. Palpatine was good—very good, if Sixes’ experience was the judge of anything.

He switched his pistols over to stun. Better unconscious than dead. The first few stun rings he fired disintegrated upon contact with Palpatine’s red blade. This guy was fast too. Alright. So they had to slow him down.

Sixes threw himself to the ground behind the control panels as a chair came flying towards him. It went a bit wide and smashed into the wall just behind him. Palpatine was powerful too. Fun. Where he crouched, he looked over to Echo, currently in partial cover behind an overturned chair near General Ti.

“Need slow,” Sixes signed, not bothering with sentence structure much. He indicated Palpatine. “Fast fast target.”

Echo nodded. He raised his hand to sign a reply, but they were interrupted by the lightsaber duel suddenly changing tack. The two combatants were coming towards the door that led into the main reception rooms in the chancellor’s chambers. If the deafened helmets weren’t a safety precaution, Sixes would have torn his off just to be able to hear the fight again. It was maddening to just wait to see what was happening.

Echo had a better view. Sixes watched him shuffled around on his knees until he could reach over to a chunk of broken rock near General Tiin. Just as the duel came into Sixes’ view, Echo chucked it at Palpatine. Granted, there was only so much accuracy that came with hurling an irregularly shaped projectile at a moving target with control of the Force. Still, the target was occupied. The chunk of statue struck Palpatine’s shoulder, hard. Echo was an ARC, after all. He had the muscle to back it up.

Sixes raised his pistol to get a few shots off while he was distracted. He cursed when Windu stepped in, too close for him to feel comfortable firing. Suddenly, Palpatine launched himself upwards, flipping up and over Windu to land between the Jedi and the door. While Windu had to change his trajectory to follow him, Palpatine’s unarmed hand shot out towards Echo. In one fast motion, the ARC trooper was swept off the floor and hurled through the doorway and out of sight.

“Echo!” Sixes shouted. Obviously, Echo wouldn’t hear him.

Windu and Palpatine, however, did hear him. Windu charged towards the Sith, his mouth moving like he was shouting something, but Sixes had no way to know at whom. He raised himself to his knees again, drawing his other pistol and switching it to stun. Maybe while Palpatine was occupied by the Jedi, Sixes might land a stun ring on his open back.

As soon as he had lined up his shot, Palpatine jumped again, twirling in the air like some messed up bird. Sixes didn’t see him land, mainly because something solid and solidly heavy slammed into him from behind, sending him sprawling onto the smooth black floor. His pistol flew from his cybernetic hand as all his air was pushed out of him. What the hell?

He pushed himself up quickly, his head snapping up to lock onto the duelists again. A chair. A karking chair. Palpatine had pulled a chair from behind him and smeared him across the floor just to throw it at Windu. The air crackled with each collision of the lightsaber blades, and the wind rushing through the open window—

Oh kark. Sixes spotted his helmet a foot or so from him. The chair must have knocked it off.

Hopefully the creep hadn't realized it yet. It was his only hope as Sixes unhooked Reaper from his belt instead of going for his dropped pistol. Blue stun rings appeared from beyond the doorway. It was a good sign. Echo was conscious and still armed, wherever he had landed. Palpatine was still too fast, blocking or dodging the rings as they came, even with Windu putting up a skilled offensive. With the Jedi’s aggressive advances, the duel quickly left the room, vanishing from sight. Sixes swore and got to his feet, running to crouch beside the doorway. He leaned to peek out from cover, just in time to watch the pair spin as their sabers clashed brightly. Now it was Palpatine forcing Windu backwards down the wide corridor lined with what someone somewhere probably called art.

Not that Sixes was one to judge art.

Echo was at the far end of the corridor, just visible by the flashes of white on his armor as he aimed his pistol around the doorframe of the next room. He seemed unharmed, but Sixes noted he was using his uninjured arm. At least his helmet was still on his head. The fight moved quickly to the next room. Echo disappeared at the same time Sixes was up and running to follow. The next room, he was pleased to find, was much bigger. There was more than enough room to use Reaper here, if he so chose.

When the duel entered the room, Palpatine went off the walls—quite literally. With more room, he was leaping over and around Windu at any opportunity, like a particularly evil toad. Still, Windu was holding his own well enough. Sixes ran to the end of the corridor into the chancellor’s main visitation or reception room. Again, a huge kriffing window at the back of the room. In front of that, a large desk sat on a dais with four chairs around it. The lower part of the room had a couple computer towers of some kind, providing surfaces off of which Palpatine could bounce and spin. More stupid art.

Echo had found partial cover behind a large armchair to the left of the door. Sixes found a match to it on the other side and went for it. The problem was, the creepy piece of shit was spinning around so much, landing a stun ring on him would be next to impossible with the lightsabers flying around as they were.

The combatants paused more now, taking in the new space, reading the other for signs of fatigue or weakness.

During one such brief moment between crackling lightsabers, the chancellor said, “Foolish, Master Jedi, to bring clones.”

Windu couldn’t respond as the chancellor hurled himself forward, red blade humming through the air in a thrust. The Jedi caught the blade, bringing it up and around, locking the two sabers against each other in a momentary battle of strength. Both Sixes and Echo raised their pistols. There would never be a better shot at the chancellor then this.

Too late, Sixes noticed one of the chairs at the big desk start to move. It rose off the ground, slowly at first, tilting in the air. Remembering what had happened in the other room, Sixes had to abandon lining up his perfect stun shot.

“General, behind!” he called as the chair suddenly whipped through the air across the room.

General Windu shoved the chancellor’s blade and ducked, evading the flying furniture. The chancellor sheared the chair in two as it flew too near his head. Before it had even landed on the red carpet (Red? That wasn’t too on-the-nose, Chancellor Sith Lord?), Palpatine leapt up, flipping backwards—back towards Echo.

“Echo—!” Sixes shot up from his partial cover. He let Reaper fall open, the razor-sharp blade unfolding and the shaft clicking into its mid-length size.

For the second time that night, Echo was lifted off the ground by the Force. In a split second, he was dangling in the air between Palpatine and Windu. A human shield. The very idea made Sixes’ gut roil with righteous anger. Seeing it done to someone he knew very nearly shredded the self-restraint Kamino had so nicely trained into him.

“Let him go,” General Windu told him, demonstrating more control than Sixes would have. But, that was Jedi. He approached as close as he dared, but with Echo only a thought away from having his neck snapped by an invisible hand, there was only so close he could get.

“Execute Order Six—”

A bright orange burst of flame erupted from ARC-1409’s wrist-mounted flamethrower.

Lord Sidious yelled in rage, his concentration broken enough to allow the trooper to drop from the air.

Good soldiers follow orders.

CC-6666 unclipped his left vambrace, the one with his communications unit inside of it. He dropped it onto the red carpet and stomped on it. The plastoid shattered into odd chunks. He switched his pistol off stun (why was it off of stun?) and shot the communications unit.

Good soldiers follow orders.

Sixes blinked, watching Palpatine and Windu duel. The Jedi was doing everything he could to move the fight away from Echo, who lay on the ground practically under their feet. Sixes reached for Reaper, and found it on the carpet next to the blackened shards of his left vambrace.

What… the kark?

He looked again at Echo, unreachable through the blaze of purple and red as the duel raged. Palpatine may not have him dangling in the air, but Echo was still being used as collateral. Windu’s strikes were precise, careful never to sweep too low. Palpatine had a small but recognizably punchable smile on his face as the Jedi was forced to contain his attacks. He couldn’t see Echo’s face behind his helmet’s visor. The only way Sixes could tell he was still conscious was the tiny movements he made to avoid the feet stepping close around him.

The fight needed to get away from Echo, that much was clear. Sixes unfolded Reaper to its full length. The black blade reflected the purple and red flashes as the lightsabers whirled and clashed over and over. He had to hope ARC training was worth it.

“Hey, demagolka!” He moved quickly to a point behind and a little to the side of the general.

“Execute—”

Oh, hells no. Not that shit. Sixes couldn’t shut him up from this distance, but he knew he had to stop the noise somehow. Maybe it was the novelty of the threat. Maybe it was the tools he had at his disposal. Maybe it was Maral’s training coming back in an odd way. Regardless, Sixes did the first thing he could think of: he yelled back.

Maral had mentioned this slightly niche method of intimidation found among Mandalorian warriors a few times. Sixes and his batch—especially Bacara—had always enjoyed using it on the other command batches.

“Adenn a’den! Adenn a’den!” he roared, pouring as much burning hatred into the words as he could. To add to the noise, he planted Reaper on the carpet and struck his right vambrace against it. The metal-on-metal clanging set a clear rhythm, a heartbeat, for the words to follow. “Adenn a’den! Adenn a’den!”

Merciless rage.

His captain—his friend—had died from this man’s plans. His brother had been strung up like a puppet in their own mind twice. Sevenset and Fives had nearly died tonight. The Jedi could have been slaughtered at a moment’s notice. Thousands of his brothers died each day in a war this man had been profiting from for his own sick game.

Merciless rage almost seemed too good for him.

The chancellor snarled silently, whatever order he had intended to give never leaving his mouth. The split-second distraction gave Windu an opening. The purple blade flashed in an arc towards the chancellor’s side. He blocked the strike, his hand angling the blade down, its point only inches from Echo’s head.

The room held its breath.

Chancellor Palpatine smiled the coldest smile Sixes had seen since Umbara. “Ah, compassion,” he said. “A truly double-edged sword.”

Windu took his lightsaber away from where it sparked on his opponent’s blade. He lashed out with his left foot, kicking Palpatine’s shoulder. He swung around, moving away from the whole situation by spinning around until he stood shoulder to shoulder with Sixes.

“Your corruption will hurt you more than my compassion ever will,” Windu replied, his features still and calm as ever.

Palpatine didn’t like that. He lunged, the red blade slicing forward. Windu braced, already moving to parry the lunge in a circular fashion. Sixes angled Reaper’s shaft so the butt end of it was ready to jab into the fray while Palpatine was dealing with a counterattack.

But… neither strike landed.

With a strangled yelp, Palpatine fell, face-first, onto his own red carpeting. Sixes followed his form back to his feet, searching for what had tripped him.

Sixes saw and smiled.

Echo’s hand was clenched around the fabric at the hem of Palpatine’s long robe.

Windu’s blade leveled at Palpatine’s head. “Chancellor Palpatine, you are under arrest,” he said.

Kark that. “No he’s not,” Sixes said.

In the same instant that Palpatine attempted to push himself up off the carpet, Sixes switched his grip and whirled Reaper’s blade around in a flash of black beskar. The well-kept blade sliced cleanly into the chancellor’s neck at his throat. Another strong wrench of the weapon’s shaft yielded a wet rip and a dark spurt of blood until his head rolled away, detached.

There was a moment of silence. Sixes grimaced a little, noticing how much blood had gotten onto Windu’s robe. At least the carpet was red…

“That was gross,” Echo said, finally breaking the silence.

Sixes looked over at Windu. “Jedi don’t tend to kill people. Mandalorians do.”

The general sighed, but he didn’t look terribly upset. He deactivated his saber and clipped it back to his belt. “You are correct. He was Sith, however. Had it come down to it, I would have done what needed to be done to protect you both and the Galaxy at large.”

Echo pushed up to sitting. Sixes noted him carefully avoid putting weight on his right knee, and tucked that away to ask about later. “Well. At least we know which order your batchmate was intending to send us back at the Clubhouse.”

Sixes tilted his head, going back over the whirlwind of the past several minutes. He had no idea why he’d destroyed his other vambrace.

Then it hit him. He didn’t remember. Nero had said Order Six was nothing harmful. Thire and Fox had said they’d had no memory of the orders they’d been given by Palpatine. Sixes glanced at his destroyed comm unit. “Right,” he said, still struggling to acknowledge that Palpatine had successfully taken control, and he had no memory of it.

Whatever had happened, it hadn’t worked. Echo was alive. Windu was alive. Palpatine was dead.

He stepped over Palpatine’s body to offer Echo a hand up. The ARC eyed him like he knew exactly what would happen if he didn’t take the offer. When he got to his feet, Sixes’ suspicions were confirmed as he gingerly balanced most of his weight on his left leg.

“Are you injured?” Windu asked, his brow creasing.

Echo shook his head. “No, sir, it’s… it’s an old injury. I just need some rest and some pain meds and I’ll be fine. The other generals need more attention than me.”

Sixes looked at Reaper. It would do in a pinch. He passed it over and planted its base next to Echo’s bad leg. “Here. It’s not a crutch, but it’ll help.”

Echo took it, evening out his weight slightly with its assistance. Then he looked back up at the blade, still smeared with red along the edge. “Remind me never to get you that pissed off, sir,” he said with a small smile. “And did you actually shout at him to shut him up?”

Sixes rolled his eyes. “No. Technically, that was a very impromptu redalur be akaan,” he told him. “My trainer taught it to my batch. Mando thing.”

The ARC raised an eyebrow at him. Windu spoke up. “Dance of war?”

“I bet the Five-Oh-First would love to learn that,” Echo said with a wider smile.

Gods help them. “Not happening, freak.”

insert a .gif of the opening song from Wicked here, please :) He's dead, folks!!! I truly enjoyed writing Sixes and Echo together, what a fun little team-up this has been. Next chapter probably coming at the end of October? Anyhoo @23-bears @theultimatesandwich @rndmpeep @thechaoticfanartist @soclonely @501st-verified as always lemme know if you don't wanna be tagged, or if you DO wanna be tagged!

[bylightofdawn]

This is something I actually just wrote. I feel like my brother and all of his HORRIFIC dad jokes have finally rubbed off on my in the worst way possible.

Jaster was so wrapped up in clearing the rubble that he didn’t see the Death Watch warrior sneak up on him with a vibroblade drawn, no doubt looking to shank him from behind while he was distracted. There was the familiar snap-hiss of a lightsaber igniting, followed by a scream of agony. When he whirled around, he expected to see Plo standing there, but instead, it was a grim-looking Mace Windu, and a now handless Death Watch soldier curled over their severed forearm. “You should watch your back, Mand’alor.” The Jedi pointed out blandly. “Huh, you’re pretty handy to have around.” Mace Windu’s near-legendary poise almost broke in the face of that terrible pun.

[ao3feed-obikin]

The Rogue Legacy

read it on the AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/49111984 by Bramble (The_Buggs_Brain) Obi-Wan Kenobi is a Torch, basically a Grim Reaper. There are thousands of Torches, but Obi-Wan is famous on Earth. Some say he's the God of Death- He's just doing his job. When he recruits an apprentice, Anakin Skywalker, who died young from sickness, they work together to find the Wisp, a mortal soul, that Obi-Wan has been searching for for a year now. While trying to find this rogue Wisp, identified as AH-KO.67, the two have to battle through developing feelings and a lot of sexual tension. Not to mention Anakin's still-alive wife, raising two kids on her own, rarely getting visited by her now-dead Torch husband is wanting in on the action. -------- TL;DR: Grim Reaper ObiAniDala au where Obi-Wan and Anakin search after Ahsoka "Try to Fucking Catch Me" Tano. Set in the perspective of Obi-Wan. Words: 2185, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English Fandoms: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types, Star Wars - All Media Types Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death Categories: F/F, F/M, M/M Characters: Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Padmé Amidala, Leia Organa, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Ahsoka Tano, Bo-Katan Kryze, Satine Kryze, Din Djarin, Mace Windu, Qui-Gon Jinn, Yoda (Star Wars), Grogu | Baby Yoda, Shaak Ti, Jedi Council (Star Wars) Relationships: Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi/Anakin Skywalker, Padmé Amidala/Obi-Wan Kenobi/Anakin Skywalker Additional Tags: Star Wars AU, Grim Reapers, The Book Thief Narrative Style, Inspired by The Book Thief but not quite, Immortal Obi-Wan Kenobi, Immortality, sex probably, there's sex, Timeline Shenanigans, Ahsoka Tano is a Little Shit, Anakin Skywalker is a Little Shit, Assume Everyone is a Little Shit, Sheev Palpatine | Darth Sidious Doesn't Exist, Sheev is just a doting grandfather leave him alone, Talking To Dead People, people die read it on the AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/49111984

[actionjackson2998]

PRODUCT RATING: 4.5 out of 5 (Blank: Not Rated). Click on this link to see more information, images, reviews by real users and alternatives: A grim Jedi Master, Mace Windu was a champion of the Jedi Order, with little tolerance for the Senate, arguments of politicians, or opinions of rebellious Jedi. Featuring premium detail and design across multiple points of articulation inspired by Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, this collectible Star Wars The Vintage Collection 3.75-inch-scale figure makes a great gift for Star Wars fans and collectors. MACE WINDU: A grim Jedi Master, Mace Windu was the champion of the Jedi Order, with little tolerance for the failings of the Senate, the arguments of politicians, or the opinions of rebellious Jedi VINTAGE-INSPIRED PACKAGING: Star Wars The Vintage Collection 3.75-inch scale classic Star Wars figures and vehicles feature original Kenner branding (Each sold separately. Subject to availability.) CLASSIC STAR WARS FIGURE, PHOTOREAL FACE DECO: This Mace Windu action figure is inspired by the character in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones. For this release of the VC35 classic action figure he has PhotoReal face deco MOVIE-BASED CHARACTER-INSPIRED ACCESSORIES: This Star Wars The Vintage Collection action figure comes with 4 entertainment-inspired accessories that make a great addition to any fan’s Star Wars collection PREMIUM DESIGN AND ARTICULATION: Highly articulated with fully poseable head, arms, and legs, the Star Wars Mace Windu figure can be displayed in Star Wars action figure and vehicle collections List Price: $13.99