Saga - PT The Way to Kashyyyk (Revised)

Title: The Way to Kashyyyk
Author: Moon Labutto
Genre: Short Story
Rating: Soft 13
Characters: Darth Vader (pre Mustafar), Gungi, Mas Amedda, Darth Sidious, Master Huyang, Zatt, Katooni, brief appearance by Commander Cody
Theme: Considering how some Padawans, who have already proved resourceful, may have escaped Order 66. I might still make a few changes, but I am relatively happy with it.



The small Wookie stared on in absolute horror as he watched Anakin savagely strike down the younglings, one by one, with his burning blue blade. The light saber ripped through flesh and bone as if they were butter, losing limbs and tearing torsos. The screams of the terrified children were to blood curdling to ignore, no matter how hard he pressed his ape-like hands to ears. His skull felt as if it would crack, either from the screams or the pressure his massive arms created, it did not matter.

He had enough, and the Wookie gripped his light saber, peering out from his hiding place, barely escaping the fallen’s notice. He tried to move his thumb to activate his saber, but fear paralyzed him, and with good reason. This was Anakin after all, The Chosen One. A Padawan would have little chance against so advanced a force user. Anakin moved to leave, but he stopped in the doorway, tears filled his eyes as he realized just how far he had gone. There was no return. As his Clone troopers rallied around him, he felt the light pulling him, but its power was fading fast. He felt himself becoming consumed.

He waved his hand at his Clones.

“Sweep the library. There are more of them here, I can feel it.” He said.

“Roger that.” Commander Cody said calmly, and the lot of the troopers moved out in perfect military fashion. Anakin stared into the halls beyond the Council’s Chamber, frozen in grief, but motivated by anger.

“I cannot let you leave here alive, Padawan.”Anakin finally said, in his whiney voice, breaking the silence. A gust of air conditioning blew in from the halls, tittering his long brown hair. “The Dark Lord of the Sith would know.” And Anakin turned around to face the Wookie Padawan.

Gungi pushed himself past his fear and ignited his lightsaber, knowing that he had no other choice than to try and fight Anakin until he could find a means of escape. But his entire body suddenly leapt forward, knocking over several Council chairs as he flew towards Anakin’s lightsaber at break neck speeds. But Gungi refused to go out that easily. He used his massive strength, lent to him by his race, to parry Anakin’s lightsaber to the side with his own, and Anakin’s powerful force pull was turned against him as Gungi’s rock hard forehead piled into Anakin’s chin.

Anakin fell to the floor, as did the young wookie. Gungi knew that his strike’s success was pure luck, but he couldn’t let Anakin know.

“You’re a tenacious little bastard, I’ll give you that,” Anakin critiqued, “But you will not leave this room alive.” The fallen Jedi slowly got to his feet. Gungi rushed to his own feet and he charged Anakin, letting out a vicious Wookie war cry with his lightsaber trailing behind him as he went in for the kill. But Anakin reached out with the force and grabbed the Padawan, lifting him into the air. Gungi cried out in protest.

Anakin’s insides lurched as he held Gungi against his will, and Gungi was able to feel the light in Anakin, though faded, fighting the darkness that now clouded the former Jedi’s mind.

“I can feel the light still fighting inside of you!” Gungi growled desperately in Shyriiwook, “Let it win, Master Skywalker!” The former Jedi tossed Gungi against the wall, slamming his head hard.

“Do you not see what I have done here!” Anakin screamed in an anger that was laced with regret and motivated by grief. “This is unforgivable! Only a Padawan or a Youngling would be naive enough to think that the order would ever forgive me for my slaughter!” He picked Gungi up again and tossed him violently across the room, slamming him into the wall a second time. The dazed Padawan crawled to his feet, and was barely able to maintain his balance. Anakin just stared at him. His eyes were full of rage and intensity as the light continued to slowly die within him. A ring of gold began to faintly glow around his pupils, Gungi noticed, and he sensed that the window for diplomacy was near gone.

“If you denounce the dark side, if you kill the Sith Lord you serve…the council will have to forgive you,” Gungi barked out with in one last attempt to redeem the Fallen, “Please Anakin! For the sake of the order, for the sake of the galaxy, for my sake! For your sake, even…Fight the darkness! Forge your own path to redemption!” Gungi turned off his light saber, “It’s never too late!” And Gungi knelt down in surrender, hoping against all hope that Anakin would take his advice. There was a long and very intense pause.

“I can’t.” Anakin said simply, and he held up his hand at Gungi. The Order has forsaken me. My Padawan left my side when I needed her most. The Jedi are evil, and I cannot let their light persist." Gungi opened his mouth to reply, but Skywalker would not hear any more from the Padawan and he forced pushed Gungi one more time with all of the intensity he could muster. The energy that Skywalker was able to gather was insane. Gungi was lifted violently off the ground, the intensity of the force push bruising his whole front side down to the bone. He flew through the window behind him with abandon and he began falling.

It felt like forever, but all he could feel was his body racked with pain and his hand death gripping his light saber. As he fell, though, he was able to flip himself over and he force pushed as hard as his injured body would allow him to against the ground.

He still hit the ground hard, he felt one of his ankles and a knee cap fracture and he broke his nose as well. He lay there for what seemed an eternity. But he did not move until he was certain that Anakin was no longer watching him. After minutes that seemed like millennia, Gungi crawled to his feet, and he limped away. He had to make it back to the hanger so that he could get back to Kashyyyk and warn Masters Yoda and Secura. Unknown to Gungi, Anakin watched as the Wookie slowly limped away and his insides still ached with whether or not he had the heart to pursue Gungi further.

“The Chagrian will finish him. Sidious foresaw this.” He said and he walked away. He had orders to Mustafar.

Gungi ducked around corners and hid in shadows to hide from the Clone troops as he slowly made his way to the hangar. It seemed to take forever to the young Jedi, but with painstaking effort he made it to the hallway leading to the hangar the home stretch. He reached out, feeling for lifeforms with the force, and felt very few nearby. He decided to make a run for it. So, with injuries and all, he pushed himself through the pain and into a desperate run and he ignited his saber just in case he needed it quickly. He passed one hallway, then another, and another as he raced down the corridor.

As he came to the last hallway before reaching the hangar he spotted one of his fellow Padawans, a Tholothian girl he knew as Katooni, kneeling over a body and they were surrounded by dead clone troopers. The dead Clones were cut to ribbons by a Jedi Saber. Gungi skidded to a halt as he finally reached her, and he immediately fell to his knees, his mangled body still trying to give in on him. “Are you OK?” He growled at Katooni.

“I…I am fine. But Petro, Byph, … and Ganodi… They are all gone!” She became hysterical. They are all gone! We’re the only Padawans left in the whole Temple! Gungi, we’re all that is left!” Gungi Fought through the pain to stand and he helped Katooni to her feet, again at the personally expense of fiery nerves. His bones and muscles ached, and his broken joints felt as if they were ablaze. But he needed to continue on, if not for his sake, then for Katooni’s. She buried her face in his matted blood soaked fur, mixing his blood with her tears.

Gungi looked down to the Corpse that Katooni had been kneeling over, and he recognized the boy. His name had been Petro, and he had been a good friend of Gungi’s and Katooni’s. The true reality of the situation bore down on the little Wookie like the entire weight of Kashyyyk. It was no longer faceless younglings or Jedi he did not know, but his own friends. No one was safe, and he now doubted that this was only happening on Coruscant. He fought off the feeling of hopelessness that followed his thoughts, however. He had to be strong…or they wouldn’t survive. A light flickered in Gungi’s mind.
“What about Zatt? You didn’t mention Zatt.” Gungi barked.

“I don’t know what became of him, he went ahead to prepare a ship and we lost communication with him. I have not been able to find him, Gungi!” Katooni cried.

“Don’t worry, we’ll find him,” They heard a commotion from down the hall, “We have to go,” He said calmly. He collected Petro’s lightsaber from his corpse and he handed it to Katooni.

“Take this and remember Petro’s bravery and selflessness.” He growled. She nodded and accepted the light saber, wiping the tears form her eyes. The two of them made a Bee Line into the hangar and started looking for Zatt. There they came upon a blockade runner similar to the one they took to Ilum. To their surprise Zatt sat waiting on the boarding ramp.

“Hey, you found Gungi!” the Nautolan boy said enthusiastically as they boarded the ship.

"Gungi's hurt and the clones have overrun the temple. We need to get airborne now!" Katooni said as she walked past Zatt.

"But what about Byph and Petro? What about Ganodi?" Zatt asked his, face now lined with distress.

"As I said, Zatt...the clones are coming. We need to leave now." Katooni replied, a tear streaming down her cheek. Zatt nodded, pushing his emotions aside, and he rushed straight for the helm. Gungi took after him. "Wait!" Katooni yelled, chasing after the injured wookie. Zatt sat in the pilot seat and prepped the craft for take-off, and Gungi sat in the co-pilot’s seat. But it was not long before Katooni gently grabbed Gungi’s battered and bleeding hand.

“You need to patch yourself up and get some rest, Gungi,” She said softly, “Zatt can handle the ship. Let’s go!” She urged, leading Gungi to the med bay. He reluctantly followed her, he just didn’t have the energy left to insist otherwise. A few minutes later found the two of them in the med bay. She helped Gungi into a chair and she gave him a water bottle and several Bota tablets. Gungi took them, and within minutes he could feel his bruises and various internal injuries healing.

Gungi and Katooni both braced themselves for a moment as the ship took off and evaded the planet into space, oddly with no interference. Katooni then sifted through his matted fur to find all of the cuts and shards of glass that he received when going through the window. She removed the glass shards and cleaned and stitched the resulting cuts. Gungi whined and screamed all the while as she did was what necessary to keep the Wookie alive. After she finished Gungi’s stitches and dressings, she rubbed his knee and ankle with a Bota infused Ibuprophen cream that instantly reduced the swelling in his broken joints and she set the whole leg with a splint.

“There, you should live to fight another day, I think,” Katooni said with a hint of pride in her voice. But just as she finished they heard Zatt scream. The two rushed back, Gungi's splint clanking against the metal floors, to the helm as quickly as they could. As they approached the helm they saw a tall figure with blue skin dressed in very heavy red and blue robes and holding a red light saber standing before Zatt laughing. Gungi lit his lightsaber and Katooni ignited both hers and Petros. The tall figure laughed again.

“Three Padawans are hardly a match for a Sith as powerful as I.” he boasted in a deep but aristocratic voice, “I shall make quick work of all three of you.” Gungi was done with people trying to kill him that day, and he jumped head first into the fray, splint and all, and he jabbed with his saber, but the horned Chagrian deflected the saber with his own and force pushed Gungi into the wall of the cramped corridor. Katooni rushed in and went for the jugular with both sabers, and Zatt moved in from the back with his greed blade, aiming to pierce the Sith’s back.

The Sith side stepped Zatt’s attack, causing Zatt's lightsaber to pierce nothing but cloth, and he deflected Katooni’s attack as he wrapped Zatt into the folds of his cloak. He quickly used the force to disarm Zatt by launching his light saber at Katooni. This also provided a distraction as Katooni was forced to dodge the saber, and the Chagrian back handed her hard in the face, stealing her consciousness. Gungi growled angrily and ripped the splint from his leg. He stood up and screamed powerfully enough to move air.

The adolescent Wookie marched dangerously towards the Chagrian and he locked the blue creature in mortal combat. Gungi's blade came down from on high with such rapidity that the Sith was barely able to block it. He looked surprised for a moment as the wookie's strength bared down on his saber. Zatt used this moment to escape the Sith's robes and he immediately ran to attend to Katooni, and using the force to retrieve his lightsaber.

"Good. Good!" The Sith yelled at Gungi as the wookie continued to bare down on him, "Use your feelings! Let your anger flow!" Zatt was frozen in place as he felt it, the darkness rising in Gungi. The wookie screamed angrily and he lashed out with a kick, connecting harshly with the Chagrian's chest plate. Even the Sith felt the cold emanating from the little wookie as he stalked closer to him. Gungi started swinging and stabbing with his saber with reckless abandon, the blue Sith barely dodging the assault at times. The horned figure had finally had enough of Gungi's display of power and he used a massive force push, knocking Gungi off of their feet and sending him flying hard onto his back.

Zatt, reacted and took Gungi's place at the frayed edge of the fight. A flurry of blue and red erupted, but it was short lived as the Sith stabbed Zatt in the shoulder and kicked him down the corridor. He then grabbed the unconcious Katooni by the throat with his bare hand and used the force to throw Gungi into the cockpit and he shut the door. Katooni awoke from the pain in her throat and she reached for her saber, but it was still on the floor. He pressed his sweaty brow against her forehead and screamed, "All Jedi will perish by my blade!" his putrid breath permeating her nostrils. She tried kicking him repeatedly to no avail and the Sith raised his saber to strike.

“I want you to know before you die little one, that you and your friends fought valiantly. You should all be proud that you died on your feet rather than begging for your life. An admirable trait from one’s so young." The Sith moved to stab Katooni with his saber but the hatch of the cockpit flew open and Gungi erupted into a vicious and barbaric attack. At the last second before being struck the Sith looked down the hall and saw the young Nautolan reaching up and manipulating a control box to the doors. Zatt looked at the Sith with a vengeful grin as Gungi’s lightsaber came down severing the arm that held the red blade. The Sith Screamed in pain and he turned and launched Katooni at Gungi.

But Gungi callously dodged the living projectile and landed another headbutt, but this time one he actually intended. The Sith fell, sprawled out onto the floor, and Gungi landed on top of the Sith’s stomach, his heavy weight pulverizing the Sith's internals. As Gungi followed through his saber found its way into the Sith’s remaining shoulder, pinning him to the ground. Gungi then force pulled the Sith’s saber to his own hand. Just as Anakin had done to Dooku, he laid both blades across the Sith’s neck in a cross pattern. The room grew cold again and Katooni and Zatt looked on in horror as Gungi fought the darkness. It looked as if he was about to turn.

Why shouldn’t I? He thought, I’ve been put through so much today. The order is no more, we have nothing now. All is lost, and I want to take something back from those who took so much from me. I want to cause some one pain. Why is this so hard?

“Do it Jedi, or don’t you have the guts! Give into your feelings and turn to the Dark Side.” The Chagarin exclaimed. "The Emporer will make you a powerful Inquisitor, I can assure you. He may even spare your friends." Gungi leaned in as if he would accept the offer, but he eventually stayed his hands and turned the sabers off. The Sith smiled and launched a force push straight into Gungi ‘s face, landing him on the ceiling. He jumped to his feet, still holding Gungi against the ceiling, and he tried to physically pry his own saber from Gungi’s hand with his only arm. But Gungi had that Wookie strength and he refused to give in to the Sith.

“Let go you pest!” The intruder said. Gungi growled angrily in protest. The Sith’s hand began to teem with blue electrical pulses and Gungi braced for the torrent of pain he perceived would follow. But then three blasts rang out and the smile slowly faded from the Sith’s race. His hold on Gungi deteriorated as he lost strength and blood trickled from his mouth. The crimson liquid quickly soaked the robes of the Chagrian, and both Jedi and Sith fell to the ground. Gungi grasped his broken knee and ankle and the Chagrian groaned.

“Mas Amedda,” and electronic voice said to the Sith as the clunking of a droid’s feet neared the two floored figures. It was Master Huyang, holding a smoking carbine in his hands. “You dare attack such young children, how dare you? A politician of your stature should be ashamed of yourself.” His circuits analyzed the scene before him and it didn’t take long for him to figure what exactly was happening.

“My, my a Sith!” Huyang exclaimed with surprise. Gungi moved in for the kill, but Huyang stopped him. “Gungi, This fight is over. Master Amedda has no fight left in him. I will take Zatt to the medical bay and treat his wounds, you and Katooni put Master Ameda in an escape pod and send him back to his master. The punishment for his failure will likely be worse than anything we can do to him here.” Gungi and Katooni nodded and Hyuang turned to help Zatt.

Together, Gungi and Katooni lifted the massive Sith Warrior with the Force and took him to the escape pods. They sat him in one and marked the coordinates for the Jedi Temple in Coruscant. He figured that would garner enough attention for the Emperor to find him. Gungi ignited the unconscious Sith’s light saber and inscribed a message on the Sith’s forehead;

“Beware the Return of the Jedi.”​

​

Then Gungi kept Amedda’s Light saber and shut the hatch. The escape pod roared to life and it sped off for Coruscant. With that Gungi and Katooni headed back to the helm. Katooni noticed that Gungi still wore the Sith’s saber on his belt.

“Why do you wear that Sith’s Lightsaber, Gungi?” The wookie looked to the floor for a moment.

“After today…I do not think I could ever completely return to the light,” he barked, “I went to close to the darkness and I touched it, I felt it. It is forever a part of me, and I will have to forever fight it. I will use both green and red sabers now, the green one to remind me to never fall from the light, and the red to remind me to never fully embrace the dark.” Katooni smiled and took Gungi’s hand as they sat at the controls of the ship. The looked at each other for a long moment, causing Gungi's pain to elude his conscience, though only for a moment. The Wookie plotted a course for Kashyyyk, and the last of the Jedi Padawans headed out to find their last remaining masters, if they still lived.

Little did Gungi know of how his future would effect the status of the Galaxy.

…….

A week later Mas Amedda awoke. He had a mechanical limb replacing the one that he had lost. He felt his head and found that the message that was burned there had been grafted out and was healed. But something felt different, something felt very wrong. There was a glass of water across the room and he was thirsty. He tried to force pull the glass to himself, but nothing happened. Then he heard that bone chilling voice;

“You are a failure, Amedda.” Sidious said moving into the dim light from the shadows, "Through the miracles of science I gave you a precious gift. Anakin's future was clouded to me, and I had not been so sure that I would turn him. So, I gave you a wonderful gift. I made you my back up plan. And this is how you repay me? Pathetic!"

“Master, I did not feel your presence,” Amedda began.

“Of course not. I took back every medichlorian I gave you. The force is no longer with you at all,” Amedda looked at Palpatine in horror, “You are truly pathetic. A handful of Jedi Padawans and and a terribly ancient droid, unaided by Jedi Knights or Jedi Masters, took you down and nearly killed you…and you even let them scrawl that embarrassing note on your forehead…poor, poor Mas Amedda. I have better use for your medichlorians elsewhere. There is a certain Dark Lord who has lost many of his and he will be able to make better use of these than you did."

"So Anakin survived the sacking of the temple?" Mas asked. Palpatine consumed Amedda with a massive dose of force lightning for a reply and Amedda screamed in bloody agony.

"But Master! The younglings did have help!" Palpatine tossed Amedda's old forehead onto the bed. Amedda picked up the piece of blue leather and read the inscription himself for the first time, Beware the Return of the Jedi. Palpatine engulfed Amedda with lightning a second time. He screamed in agony.

“How dare you call a 1000 year old droid 'help'. Mas Amedda, you are hereby demoted to scavenge the known worlds for Sith artifacts. In the realm of politics you are no longer needed nor desired. I suggest you get started on your new assignments immediately.” Palpatine hit him with lightning one last time, smiling maniacally from his screams, before turning to leave the Former Ambassador's room. After Palpatine was gone Amedda slowly and painfully got out of bed and retrieved the glass of water. He then turned and moved to the other side of the room where he pulled a black box off of the shelf.

He sat on the bed and opened it. Inside was a small cryogenic freezer with two vials of glowing blue liquid. He smiled as he closed the freezer and removed it. Then he removed the freezer and below it were a pair of light sabers neatly tucked away.

"Master, you have not yet seen the last of my force abilities." He chuckled to himself as he put the items back in the box and placed it back on the shelf.

 

Interesting. Poor Gungi. Sounds like a lot more adventures ahead for him, as well as for the other Padawans. Nice, Moon!

 

I'm glad you liked it Mistress!