Saga Cosmonaut - (AU, Drama/Sci-fi, Ahsoka/OC)

I'm back!!!!!!!!!!

So I have always wondered what happened if communism was introduced to the Star Wars galaxy. So now, here a fic that will cover how I think what will happen. Here's the link:

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12238529/1/Cosmonaut

On with the show!

Oh, and before I forget, I warn everyone that updates are irregular and there will be times were this story could go months without updates. So read at your own risk.

EDIT: This chapter was updated to fit my new standards for writing.

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“I’m sorry Master, but this is something I have to do alone. Without the Jedi and without you.” Ahsoka said finally as she began to walk away from the Jedi Temple. Anakin stood there distraught before he remembered something.

“Ahsoka wait.” He said following after her. “If you are going out into the wider galaxy, at least take your lightsabers with you.”

Ahsoka turned and gazed upon Anakin’s outstretched hand, which are holding her lightsabers. She looked hesitant to take them.

“Please.” Anakin insisted. “It would give some peace of mind knowing you can defend yourself.”

Ahsoka sighed before taking the lightsabers and clipping them onto her belt.

“Alright Master. See you soon.” She said, turning her back once again and beginning her long journey down the Jedi Temple’s steps. It was the worst day of her life. The betrayal of Barriss and the Jedi Order had hurt more than any injuries she sustained during the war. She might have been cleared of all charges, but her trust in the Jedi and the Republic has been shattered forever. The Clone Wars for her was over and she will no longer take part in it any more. Ahsoka snorted in derision at the thought of the Separatists and the Republic. Both corrupt governments full of greed and selfishness rather than what the Jedi should’ve stood for.

Ahsoka made her way to Dex’s Diner, the only place she felt comfortable going to. She sat down on a secluded table and contemplated her future life choices. Dex spotted the young Togruta from the kitchen and came to greet her.

“Ahsoka!” He said happily as he came to her table. “I heard about the trial and I’m so glad they finally saw the sense to clear your charges.”

“Yeah. But here I am, for the first time in my life, without a direction in life.” Ahsoka said sadly. “The trial had been really rough on me and I just couldn’t take it anymore. I figured the one place I could start off with was a place where I know someone who could be trusted.”

“I’m glad you consider me a trustworthy figure.” Dexter said. “Obi-wan and Anakin had a lot of great things to say about you.”

“Thanks Dexter.” Ahsoka replied with a slight smile. “I feel like the Order turned their back on me and when I was found innocent, they didn’t even apologize, stating it was some ‘Great Trial’ or something.”

Dex nodded in understanding.

“I understand what you are going through. Had a few friends over the years get framed for crimes they didn’t convict. Most of them weren’t as lucky as you, but those that did, they were never the same.” Dex said. “I’ve spent many years out in the galaxy traveling to far away places in search of good food, and it has given me a lot of perspective about the state of the galaxy as a whole. Say, why not leave Coruscant and see the galaxy, see where it takes you. You never know when something might appear.”

Ahsoka smiled weakly.

“Thanks Dex. That might be a good idea.” She replied, before looking sad again. “Though, it would be a problem since I don’t have a ship or money for the matter.”

That’s where Dex began to smile wider.

“You’re in luck, Ahsoka.” He said. “Coupla months back, I won this peculiar YT-1300 freighter in a game of Sabaac named the Millennium Falcon. Heavily modified, had one of the best hyperdrive systems I’ve ever seen. I’d keep it, but the thing’s a real money pit. I can’t afford to maintain it and my other ship at the same time, so I have to get rid of it.”

“Why did you get the Falcon if it had all these problems?”

“Well, in my defense, a Class 0.5 hyperdrive and a healthy cargo capacity are quite attractive features, especially in these trying times.” Dex replied. “I’ll give you the ship if you promise to come back, will ya? I am sure gonna miss having you around these days now that you left the Jedi Order.”

“You’re too kind Dex.” Ahsoka said. Dex laughed as he got up from the booth.

“I know, Ahsoka. The Falcon’s in Docking Bay 77.” Dex said. “Now I gotta get back to the kitchen, dinner rush is about to start. Do you want anything?”

“No thanks, Dex.” Ahsoka replied. “Thank you for all you’re doing. I appreciate it.”

“No problem.”

-o0o-

The wind and rain lashed against a particular group of Yugoslav Partizans in the city of Zagreb, located in the Reichskommissariat of Kroatien. It was evening, and the annual military parade celebrating the Axis victory in the Second Weltkrieg had been concluded for several hours. Curfew began and the German-supported Ustaše began their nightly patrols, looking for curfew violators and dissidents alike. One group of Ustaše militiamen approached the spot where the Yugoslav Partizan group waited to spring their ambush.

“Čekaj moj signal.”1 The leader of the group said quietly. He was a tall, brown haired young man sporting a hard expression on his face. He held his pistol to his side as he kept a shrewd eye on the approaching patrol, eight men armed with Second Weltkrieg-era assault rifles. The other Partizans readied themselves for the coming firefight. A few minutes later, the Ustaše patrol passed the Partizan’s hiding spot, to the leader’s smile.

“Sada!”2 He shouted, jumping out of his hiding spot. The rest of the Partizans also revealed themselves as a firefight began. It did not last long, as thirty seconds later, all eight of the militamen were lying dead on the street, thanks to the scary accuracy of the leader’s gun. A faint group of shouts was heard, prompting the leader to turn back to his men.

“Raspršiti!”3

He and the others made a run for it, ducking into the various alleyways and avenues across that part of Zagreb. The leader ran down the alleyway along with one of his men, ditching their weapons as they made their roundabout way back to their secret base.

“Dobar posao, Janko. Još jedna pobjeda.”4 The man said, following the 21 year old Croat as they constantly changed directions to avoid being followed.

“Hvala.” The leader, now known as Janko, replied. “Nastavi se kretati.”5

The two Partizans split up as they kept going. Janko took a right into the town center and headed south. He was almost there! Making a right onto another street, Janko suddenly stopped in his tracks as he ran into another patrol of Ustaše militiamen. They already had their weapons raised, having been ready to intercept anyone in the area.

“Jebiga.”6 Janko muttered as he surrendered. Just the typical luck of a Slav in this ****** continent.

-o0o-

The Ustaše took Janko to the local jail, where he was searched for everything before being locked up in a short-term cell. It was late at night at this point and thankfully, the storm outside seemed to be letting up. Janko went to sleep, hoping for a rescue, but preparing for the worst. It was a fitful sleep, as he dreamed of fantastical adventures in the stars, leading large flying warships into battle. But that would all be a pipe dream, as he was surely to be executed for his actions against the Axis.

“Wake up!”

Janko was abruptly awoken with a sharp strike to the head. He looked up and saw an SS officer looming over him with a disgusted expression on his face as the Ustaše commander stood next to him with a disappointed and regretful look. Janko sat up, glaring at the two.

“Can you speak German?” The SS officer demanded. Janko huffed.

“Unfortunately.”

“Good.” The SS officer stated. “Janko Šerić. You have been a constant thorn on our side for years. And now, your time is up.”

“You and your bastard country can **** off from our rightful land, Nazi scum.” Janko shot back. “Yugoslavia is for Yugoslavians! Not for interloping Germans like you!”

“Silence!” The SS officer shouted. “You already know that you’re slated for execution. But lucky for you, High Command has something special planned for you.”

Janko said nothing as he continued to glare at the SS officer.

“You should be glad that you have a chance at surviving whatever we have planned for you, however slim it is.” The SS Officer continued. “Though I doubt the Japanese would take too kindly to communist rats like yourself.”

Janko’s anger briefly disappeared in favor of confusion.

“The Japanese?”

“Oh, you’ll see. You’ll see.” The SS officer chuckled as he turned and left the cell. The Ustaše commander remained, maintaining his disappointed look at Janko, who began to glare at him.

“It’s such a shame a good Croat like yourself would choose to fight for the god-less communist rabble instead of us.” He said quietly. “You would’ve made for a great operative.”

“Piss off, traitor!” Janko shouted. “You’re nothing but the German’s bitch! Where’s your national pride? Lying in a ditch shot like the rest of our people these past years?”

“Your misguided beliefs about a united Yugoslavia is stupid and foolish!” The Ustaše commander shouted back. “Croatia is the only country fit to rule the Balkans and you should realize that!”

“The only country I see that rules the Balkans is Germany!” Janko replied. “The only way Croatia will rule the Balkans is if they stopped sucking German dick, but that’ll never happen because they’ll destroy us like how they destroyed everyone else during the war!”

“Germany is our friend and has been for the past 20 years. We have no reason to antagonize them.” The commander said.

“Then you’re no Croat, much less a Yugoslav.”

“I’m sorry you feel that way.”

The Ustaše commander turned to leave Janko’s cell.

“I hope God has mercy on your soul.”

He left, leaving Janko alone once again.

He snorted at his situation. Of course, he just had to go and get captured and now he was stuck here waiting to die or get rescued. Rescue was unlikely, from what he could see outside his cell. There were much more guards around than last time, too numerous for the meager amounts of Partizans to mount a successful rescue. Probably not a good idea to think about how dire his situation was. But something about that Nazi scum’s words had piqued a wonder inside Janko. Why did he say that he might encounter the Japanese if he survived what the Nazis planned to do to him? Was it related to that strange dream involving spaceships and far away planets? Janko wondered if it had anything to do with the German’s recent successes in sending a man into space. They usually splashed down into the Pacific, where the Japanese Navy would pick them up and send them back to Germany.

Was he going into space? Janko hadn’t really thought about that in his entire life, but getting off this cursed world could be a good thing. Well, at least getting off the areas controlled by the Nazis, surely, they can’t be worse than the Japanese, right?

-o0o-

It did not take long for the SS officer to return. This time, he returned with four German soldiers armed with modern standard assault rifles. Janko stood up, looking defiant as ever.

“Let’s go.” The SS officer said. Janko exited the jail cell with the Germans and was marched towards one of the waiting trucks in a convoy outside. The soldiers and Janko entered the back of the truck while the SS officer entered the passenger side of the cabin. The convoy then began to leave the jail, navigating the city streets as the Zagreb residents began their morning commute. The journey didn’t take too long, only twenty minutes, but it was clear to Janko that they were heading to the airport. A jet could be heard making a low pass over the road as it landed nearby.

The convoy entered the airport grounds through a secure checkpoint and stopped next to a large, four engine jet airliner painted in the Luftwaffe’s standard colors. Janko was forced out of the truck and marched into the aircraft. The inside was fairly spartan, with seats lined up two abreast. The plane was half full, mostly soldiers, but there were a few what seemed to be high ranking officers among the passengers. Janko couldn’t help but look around in amazement. He never been inside a passenger plane before and he certainly never even flew before. Shortly after being ordered to take a seat, the plane’s door was shut and the engines started up. The plane taxied across the apron for a few minutes before entering the runway. With a loud roar of the engines at full power, the aircraft thundered down the runway before lifting off to places unknown.

-o0o-

The flight turned out to be a long one as the plane headed nearly due east. There was one single meal delivered to all the passengers on board. To Janko’s expectation, his meal was noticeably worse than the others, but he ate without complaints. No use pushing his luck at he waited to see what the Germans were going to do to him. Around five hours after the plane left Zagreb, the plane touched down in a remote airfield located in a vast arid plain. From what Janko could discern from the mutterings of the various Germans on board, this place is known as Baykonur, located deep within the Asian heartland.

After the plane was parked and shut down, Janko was escorted off the plane and into a waiting truck outside. This time, the truck was alone, as there was no danger of resistance movements causing trouble in this restricted area. Janko was loaded onto the truck along with his escort of German soldiers. The truck drove away from the airport and made the short trip down to the launch pad, where a rocket stood tall in the evening light. The Nazi flag painted on the rocket was wrapped around the middle as final preparations were made for launch into space. The truck stopped at the entrance of the launch pad, where a man dressed in a white lab coat awaited.

“Welcome, Test Subject #5.” The man said. “You have been chosen to partake in our experimental rocket test. You have the privilege of being the first person from your part of the world to be blasted off into space. Of course, as one of the condemned, your safety is not our concern and whether you actually survive or not is up to mere chance. Of course, the only way you would survive this test is if the Japanese decide to rescue you and not kill you if your life pod suffers no malfunction and crashes into the Pacific Ocean as intended.”

“Lucky me.” Janko muttered as he was escorted inside the launch pad. He knew it! The Nazis, after being satisfied with sending native Germans into space for propaganda purposes and to claim the role as the leading country in space exploration, were now sending up undesirables up to preserve the blood of the “Aryans”. The rocket scientist walked next to him as the group entered the lift towards the rocket’s life module. Once the lift stopped at the top level, the scientist exited the lift first, followed by Janko and his escorting guards. The scientist opened the life module’s hatch and pointed inside.

“In you go. Strap yourself in or else you’ll get battered around on liftoff.” The scientist said. The guards shoved Janko towards the rocket. With a sigh, Janko climbed in awkwardly into the cramped life module and maneuvered himself into the upwards facing seat. He strapped in as the Germans closed and sealed the hatch behind him. The inside of the life module was nearly bare, except for a few small windows and a dashboard with nothing but a few gauges. Any sort of outside sound has been nearly deafened, leaving Janko in complete silence.

As he looked outside to the flat, featureless plains of Kazakhstan, Janko felt much relief despite his coming fate. He’ll be off this fascist-controlled hunk of rock, even if he ended up dying. He felt sorry for feeling that he abandoned his comrades, but as he realized deep down, there wasn’t anything he could really do to free Yugoslavia from the German’s grip. Perhaps once this was over provided that he lived, he could live in a place somewhere in the Japanese-held territories and live in peace, with a new identity and such. Germans, he believed, were still highly respected in Japan and he could pass off as one thanks to more than a few stealth missions under his belt.

Janko felt the rumble as the rocket was starting its lift off. He was still wearing his clothes from that night when he got captured, a jacket covering his red shirt and a pair of brown trousers. If his limited knowledge of physics was correct, he would probably pass out soon. The clothes on his back were definitely not a G-suit and wouldn't be any use in keeping him awake. The rocket climbed higher and higher with a loud roar, loud enough that Janko could hear through the noise-insulated life pod. The young Croatian fought determinedly to keep himself awake as the G-forces began to weigh down on him greatly. To his surprise, something within him surged, and the G-forces pressing on Janko seemed to lessen. And then, it stopped. The sky outside had transitioned from a blue sky colored with the bright warm colors of the sunset to a pitch-black void dotted with distant stars. Janko was finally in space!

He stared outside in awe, but before he could undo his seat restraints to experience the weightlessness of space, he spotted a very strange light pattern outside. Something inside him prompted him to stay in his seat, alerting of a danger to himself. The rocket by then had shed some of its parts that assisted in lift off, but now it was beginning to shake violently.

On the ground, chaos ensued as the German scientists below tried to figure out what’s going on. A strange anomaly had appeared and no one knew what it was. They couldn’t get the cameras on the rocket to focus properly, but what they did catch was a bunch of strange, swirly colors. Several of the scientists began to make calculations. They couldn’t believe it! Was that a wormhole swallowing the rocket?

The shaking inside the rocket got worse as now the wormhole began to spin the life pod very quickly, causing Janko to experience a lot of positive G-forces. He tried to keep himself awake, but this time, his efforts were for nothing and the Partizan passed out. The Germans on the ground tried everything to save their rocket, but they failed and the wormhole swallowed everything to do with the rocket before disintegrating in a flash of light. The camera feed cut out, leaving only static. The scientists stopped everything they were doing and just… sat down.

“****.” One of the scientists said. “That ended badly.”

“I wonder what happened to the guy in the rocket?” Another scientist said curiously.

“The Führer would be very interested to hear about this wormhole.” The lead scientist said. “Start drafting up your reports! I want them delivered to the government as soon as possible!”

-o0o-

After acquiring the Millennium Falcon officially, Ahsoka blasted off from Coruscant, on her way to the Outer Rim. She jumped into hyperspace, settling down for the long trip. The trip would take several days, which suited the former Jedi just fine as it allowed her to think. What would she do? There are a lot of things Ahsoka could do. Bounty hunting seems like a viable option, considering how good they probably get paid due to her constant run ins with them during her time as a Jedi. There’s also smuggling; the Falcon could certainly haul a lot of products around. There were lots of things she could do and she had a lot of time to decide her next move.

Several days after leaving Coruscant, Ahsoka was just about to jump out of Corsin along the Hydian Way when she spotted a debris field out in the distance. The debris wasn’t blocking the hyperspace jump points, but Ahsoka could feel that there was a Force presence out there, still alive.

“What is that?” She said to herself. “I better go see.”

Ahsoka flew her ship closer to the debris field to investigate. Upon a closer look, the debris seemed to be from a very large missile. Ahsoka reached out with the Force to find which of the pieces contained the Force presence. Her senses pointed to one of the larger pieces of the missile, a conical-shaped pod that doesn’t look too different from an escape pod if it weren’t for the lack of thrusters. Using the Force to spin the pod around, Ahsoka noticed the windows and maneuvered the pod to look inside. There was a human man! He looked a bit older than she is, but younger than Anakin. What was he doing in there? Ahsoka wasn’t sure, the man was unconscious and sitting inside a cockpit without any sort of controls. How did he and his… ship? Missile? Well how did he get there? Whatever the reason is, the human needs a rescue; he’ll never be able to escape his situation without outside help.

Ahsoka left the cockpit of the Falcon and headed to the front of the ship. She activated the ship’s tractor beam and reeled in that particular piece. The Falcon only had a forward airlock, so Ahsoka pressed the life pod against the outside door to the airlock. She put on a breath mask and took the spare before opening the inside of the forward airlock. Using the Force to hold the missile piece in place, the former Jedi took out her shoto and activated it before opening the outside door. Ahsoka quickly cut a hole into the pod, causing it to release its air supply into the airlock and start seeping into the vacuum outside, as the pod wasn’t entirely sealed against the airlock door. Squeezing her upper body into the life pod, which looked very primitive, Ahsoka cut off the seat restraints keeping the unconscious young man to his seat before pulling him out as quickly as she could. Once the man was fully inside the airlock, Ahsoka shut the outside door and released the pod into the void. Picking up the man with the Force, Ahsoka took him inside and placed him in the bunk next to the airlock.

The man began to stir before waking up. He sat up and looked around, not believing what he is seeing. He then turned his eyes on Ahsoka before blinking many times rapidly in surprise. The newcomer began to speak to Ahsoka in a language she did not understand.

“I don’t understand what you’re saying. Do you speak Basic?” Ahsoka said to the man slowly, unsure if he could understand her. The young man gave her a slight look of revulsion.

“You speak German? Damn it, I had enough of Germans.” He said, switching languages. “Where am I? Am I dead?”

“You’re not dead and we are currently in the outer reaches of the Corsin system.” Ahsoka answered. The man paused to think before looking at Ahsoka with confusion.

“What is a Corsin system?” He asked. “And what are you? Those things on your head...are they some type of mutation?”

Ahsoka narrowed her eyes at the unintended insult.

“The Corsin system is a star system in the Expansion Region, and I’m not a human with a mutation, I am a Togruta.” Ahsoka answered. The man remained silent as he thought about his current situation. He then began to pinch himself a few times before he widened his eyes.

“What the ****?” The man said finally. “This can’t be… There is life outside of Earth. A whole galaxy worth of people exists. Holy ****.”

He turned to Ahsoka with a determined look.

“It appears that I am the first human to make contact with a life form not from my planet. Ha! Kiss my ass, Nazi scum!” The man said. “Allow me to introduce myself. I am Janko Šerić. I was a rebel fighter fighting against the tyranny of fascism on my planet before I was captured and blasted off into space. Never thought I would encounter a whole galaxy filled with life and even civilization. Thought my planet was the only one around with life.”

“I am Ahsoka Tano.” Ahsoka replied. “I used to fight in the Clone Wars, the galactic war that’s going on now, but I was betrayed and now I left everything I knew behind.”

“Oh, and by the way, humans are the most populous sapient species in the galaxy.” Ahsoka added offhandedly. “Just want to let you know.”

“Wait, what?!”

-o0o-

Janko came to on a soft bed inside… somewhere. He wasn’t sure where he was, but he knew he wasn’t in the rocket’s life module. Did the Japanese rescue him? The Croatian looked around his surroundings. This didn’t seem like any sort of dwelling on Earth. The gravity also felt a little...off. His glance fell on a girl a few years younger than himself. This girl looked very strange. Her skin was red with white markings on her face and instead of having hair like normal girls have, she has… some sort of smooth blue and white tentacles draped on her chest. Was he in hell? Janko blinked many times to make sure his eyes weren’t deceiving him. Nope.

“Jesam li mrtav? Gdje sam?”7 He said in his native tongue. The strange girl looked confused and replied to him in German. What? Is he really alive or is hell mocking him? Of freaking course German would be spoken in an unfamiliar setting; it’s practically the default language at this point due to the Nazi directives that discouraged the usage of English. His further questions to the girl only served to confuse him more. This is most likely not hell and this girl was not a demon, but an alien. Janko didn’t know what the Nazis thought about aliens, but he figured that if they could genocide Jews and Slavs for being ‘Untermenschen’, then they probably won’t like aliens. If the Togruta was someone he should consider as an enemy, his instincts would’ve alerted him by now, but instead they urged him to trust her. Janko pinched himself, making sure this wasn’t a dream. To his delight, it wasn’t a dream and he decided to open up a little.

“What the ****?” He spoke. “This can’t be… There is life outside of Earth. A whole galaxy worth of people exist. Holy ****.”

Janko paused briefly, considering his next words before emerging smug. He briefly introduced himself, backhanding his former enemies in the process. The Togruta girl introduced herself as Ahsoka Tano. She was fighting in a war before she got betrayed and left everything she knew behind her. Before Janko could find the words to offer to the girl, she just had to mention the fact that humans exist outside of his planet and were actually the most common sapient species in the galaxy. Now that threw him for a loop.

“Wait what!?” He said.

“Yep. For thousands upon thousands of years, humans have lived in this galaxy and shaped its very history. Without them, everything would look much different.” Ahsoka replied. “This is one of the reasons why Coruscant, the most important and influential planet in the galaxy, is so prominent in the first place. It is widely believed that humans have evolved on Coruscant before they spread to other planets.”

“Huh, how interesting.” Janko said. “As I know absolutely nothing about the galaxy, can you tell me what’s going on these days?”

“Well, right now, the galaxy is experiencing its first major galactic war in a thousand years.” Ahsoka said. “The last few years saw the Republic and the Separatists fighting against each other for reasons I don’t exactly understand. I was only fourteen years old when the war began.”

“I see.” Janko said. “So, what are these factions about?”

“The Republic is the main galactic government of the galaxy. It is a democratic republic who is led by a Chancellor. The Chancellor right now is Palpatine, a politician from Naboo who managed to get his term limits change so he could still be in charge of the Republic when the war began.” Ahsoka answered. “Though nowadays, the Republic, especially the Senate, is full of nothing but greed and selfishness. Well, apart from a few bright spots like Padme Amidala of Naboo and Bail Organa of Alderaan.”

Janko furrowed his eyebrows. Something’s not right. He was well versed with how Germany transformed from a weak democracy to the most powerful fascist dictatorship in the world. The Republic seems to be following a similar path, with the Chancellor possibly being a prime candidate to turning the Republic into some unholy amalgamation of fascism and advanced scientific technology that makes the latest Nazi technology look like children’s toys. Janko felt ill at the idea.

“I see. What about the Separatists?”

“A breakaway government controlled by some of the biggest banks and corporations in the galaxy.”

Janko did not like hearing this at all. This entire war is giving him a bad feeling. The Second Weltkrieg was easy to understand; the Axis Powers wanted to take over the world and destroy the people they see as inferior while the Allied Powers wanted to put a stop to that. This Clone War was much more unclear. What were the Separatists fighting for? What was the Republic fighting for?

“Ahsoka, from what you described to me about the Republic and the Clone Wars… something’s not right.” He said nervously. “I don’t claim to know a lot about democracy, due to my different views on politics and the fact that democracy hadn’t existed on my planet for twenty years, but that Chancellor of yours is up to no good.”

“Tell me about it.” Ahsoka said bitterly. “He was all too quick to condemn me for a crime I didn’t commit. Thankfully, my former Master, Anakin Skywalker, saved me by bringing in the real culprit, someone I once thought as a friend.”

“I know too well about betrayal.” Janko said. “Happened to me and my group a few times and we barely managed to survive. The absolute nerve of some people.”

“Say, you have mentioned quite a bit about your planet having its own sort of problems. Could you enlighten me about it?” Ahsoka asked. Janko looked away as he sighed heavily.

“My planet is currently under the control of some of the worst people I’ve ever had the displeasure of knowing.” Janko said. “A devastating world-scale war had plunged the planet into a horrific dictatorship that conducts mass genocide, slavery, and other brutal things to a certain group of people they find inferior. I am among the few who tried to fight the main authoritarian government and failed. So many of the people close to me were killed by them, including my mother.”

Janko sighed again.

“They intended to kill me too by using me as a test subject for the government’s fledgling space program. Now I’m here, alive, but stuck in a vastly unknown place where everyone speaks the language of my bitter enemies.” Janko continued. “One day, I’m going to find my home and free it from the grip of those murdering bastards. I will make them regret blasting me off into space rather than just killing me like they did to my mother and my dear comrades in arms.”

“What about your own history?” Ahsoka replied.

“My history? Surely it isn’t as interesting as you think?” Janko said. “Apart from some strange events that I can’t properly explain, I joined my local resistance group after my mother died and spent nearly all my life fighting the invaders who occupy our land. Anything unnecessary such as romance and leisure was set aside for the large part in favor of survival.”

Ahsoka became very intrigued at Janko’s first phrase.

“Strange events? What kind of events?” She asked. Janko looked contemplative as he began to think.

“When I was little, I used to make objects fly. My mother was terrified that the Nazis would find out and conduct horrible experiments on me like they do to other people they consider to be inferior.” Janko explained. Ahsoka could help but shudder in revulsion. “Then, when I was fourteen, I was conducting a special mission for Tito, our resistance group’s leader, when I spotted a group of young peasant women getting nabbed by some German soldiers. I got angry and I wished all sorts of death and harm on the soldiers for what they were going to do to those women. Strangely enough, all the soldiers started to choke until they all died, allowing the peasant women to escape. It was weird, as I started to wonder if there was a God watching me and responding to my wishes. There were also times where I would run unnaturally fast or jump unnaturally high, so much so that my comrades began to think I was superhuman.”

Ahsoka looked very surprised at this. This was a sign of Force-sensitivity. Many young children with Force-sensitivity would make objects fly and if his enemies were as bad as he told her, then he could’ve easily been tortured and experimented on for his powers. It was extremely lucky that he didn’t get captured for his powers. The other interesting tidbit was the incident when he was fourteen years old. Not knowing about the Force then, he lost control and allowed his powers to strike out against these “German” soldiers. That could’ve ended badly if those peasant women were anything less than grateful. Thankfully, there weren't any more major incidents with the Force from what Janko told her, but Ahsoka knew it was imperative for the young man to discover his power and learn how to control it.

“Could it be?” She wondered aloud. “Janko, I think you might be Force-sensitive.”

“What is Force-sensitive?” Janko asked, confused.

“You can use the Force.” Ahsoka answered before she described what the Force was. Janko looked thoughtful; it made a lot of sense.

“Let’s test your blood and see if you really are Force-sensitive.” Ahsoka replied. She led Janko to the ship’s infirmary and took out a blood sampler. Janko pricked his finger on the sampler, which allowed the sampler to analyze the drop of blood delivered. A few seconds later, the sampler dinged, indicating its completion of the scan.

“What do you know, you are indeed Force-sensitive.” Ahsoka remarked. “You also need a bunch of vaccinations so you don’t catch an illness so we’ll be making a stop at a clinic to get your vaccinations.”

Janko nodded. He followed Ahsoka to the Millennium Falcon’s cockpit, where she sat at the left side seat. Before Ahsoka could do anything, a chime began to ring, indicating an incoming transmission. Ahsoka answered the call, revealing the Mandalorian Bo-Katan Kryze, who was looking surprisingly fearful.

“Ahsoka Tano, is that you?” She asked quickly, looking around as if someone was after her.

“Bo-Katan? What do you want?” Ahsoka replied cautiously. She still didn’t trust the former member of Death Watch.

“Maul is in a state of uncontrollable rage.” Bo-Katan started. “He’s been terrorizing Mandalore ever since his brother was murdered by a mysterious robed figure a few weeks back. For the sake of Mandalore’s safety, we need him removed.”

“Ok, I’m on my way.” Ahsoka said before ending the transmission. Janko looked slightly concerned, unaware of how dangerous Maul actually was. Ahsoka meanwhile was very concerned about Maul. She never met him in person, but from what Master Kenobi had mentioned about him, he was very dangerous, having almost killed Obi-wan with his brother had Ventress not rescued him. This time, Maul doesn’t have the luxury of having his brother to help him, so perhaps fighting him wouldn’t be an issue. Striking up a partnership with the Mandalorians could prove to be very beneficial for the future, though Ahsoka wasn’t sure if they would welcome her warmly. Janko would, of course, have to stick to her for the time being, as he was very naive in regards to his knowledge of the galaxy. He also needs training with the Force and being slightly older than herself, the Jedi would certainly not take him in. Ahsoka wasn’t even sure if Janko should even go to the Jedi in the first place.

Ahsoka decided that if anyone was going to help Mandalore, it was her, so she set the course to Mandalore and the Falcon jumped into hyperspace.

TBC…

Croatian Translations

1: Wait for my signal.
2: Now!
3: Scatter!
4: Good job, Janko. One more victory.
5: Thanks. Keep moving.
6: ****.
7: Am I dead? Where am I?

 

So, this is what happens when the Battle of Stalingrad fails...and when Tito never existed.

And yeah, twenty two plus million people in this part of the world use the internet and one of them just stumbled upon your fic. One of them who happens to have transferred a lot of Yugoslavia to the GFFA herself.

I'm very intrigued by your story! There are some minor grammatical errors (not in English, though) and a couple of things that I'm curious about from the historical POV.

- The idea of Slavic (bad) luck is interesting. And fitting.

- Your character's last name is "Pooper". You can always make the first letter a Š and solve that, there was a Croatian footballer named Šerić, not sure if he still plays or if he's a coach.

- You were looking for "Jebem ti mater", not "Jebote mated". Mated is not a word, jebote goes on its own and hey, pretty fun that the profanity filter doesn't cover this. Then agan, pička mu materina.

- What's happened to the Ustaše, aka the fans of the Nazi puppet state in Croatia? Did the Nazis eventually dissolve it? Get rid of their own puppets? Something of that kind had to have happened at some point, as Croatia was, officially, Nazi-aligned.

- The idea that the Soviets have been whipped is chilling, too. And it's a known thing that Hitler wanted to do it. But why are we alive?

- NKVD as a ...Resistance Group? Ha! Now, that's interesting. Things like this make bleak, dystopian alternate universes fun.

- Janko thinking that Ahsoka was speaking German was...an interesting detail.

- Janko remembering every single moment of his life as a dead giveaway of a high midichlorian count, but wow....it worked on Earth, too?

- Nazis using Baykonur...you checked a whole lot of it. Love details like these!

And I'm definitely looking forward to more adventures of the Partizan Jedi. Interested to see how he'll assess the GFFA's ideologies. And Ahsoka being an outcast herself, she needed this.

 

Thanks for the tips. I'll fix the changes as soon as possible. For the profanity, I only repeated what I hear, so of course it might be wrong. The Ustaše was dissolved when the Nazis started eliminating Yugoslavs after they finished off the Russians (there are a lot of them) and Poles. 1966 is when Yugoslavs started to get eliminated. We don't know what language Basic is, it could be German for all we know and the TV shows and movies just translated it to English.

EDIT: The italicized and underlined section has been retconned due to plot changes in the early chapter rewrites.

 

Plausible, totally. You truly thought of everything there! And now I saw that you have another WWII/GFFA AU, so I'll have to read at some point, too.

As for my comment about German, I did not mean that as anything in the lines of the story being "wrong". Just similarities between German and English-as-Basic.

P.S. I'm available for any necessary profanity training. We truly have the worst swear words in the world, no language can come close to it.

 

I warn you that the other one isn't as good because it's several years older. I have improved my writing over the years.

 

Chapter updated

 

I'm really on my stride with this story. Here is the next chapter. Enjoy!

EDIT: This chapter was rewritten to fit my new standards of writing.

-----------

Mandalore was only a short trip away from Corsin. Ahsoka had warned Janko of how dangerous Maul was, prompting him to start searching for any sort of weapon he could use just in case. Unfortunately, the only weapons on the ship were attached to Ahsoka’s waist and Janko figured the former Jedi would be unwilling to part with her lightsabers. He sat down at the Falcon’s dejarik table and quietly stewed in a mixture of worry and nervousness. Obi-wan Kenobi, a person Ahsoka considered to be one of her mentors and one of the most powerful Jedi Masters in the Jedi Order, nearly lost his life to Maul. If such a powerful person can nearly get killed from that monster, what chance does he have? Sure, Janko might be confident in his marksmanship and hand-to-hand combat skills, but there is no way in hell he would be able outfight Maul with a saber or the Force if the situation ever gets to it. Janko hoped Ahsoka would be able to take care of Maul without his help; she is his only hope of learning more about his new power in the Force since the Jedi will most certainly not take him in.

Ahsoka walked into the area, having finished monitoring the ship’s various functions and systems. She noticed Janko and went to sit next to him, taking note of his various feelings. “You okay? I can feel your worry and nervousness emanating in waves through the Force.” She asked.

“This is very risky.” Janko said. “You’re going to face a person who nearly killed one of the galaxy’s most powerful men. If Maul could do that, what chance do you have?”

“Maul won’t have his brother with him to help.” Ahsoka pointed out. “Also, Maul’s mental state is poor enough for him to make stupid mistakes and I intend on taking advantage of that.”

“You can’t always rely on that, that’s just asking for trouble.” Janko said. “I know this because I’ve seen this before. I have been fighting the Nazis longer than the Clone Wars has gone on. Technically, when it comes to fighting a war, I am one of the most experienced ‘troopers’ in the galaxy. I worry about you because you’re the one person I can rely on in this hostile galaxy, especially with the direction it’s taking. And the worst part is, I can’t find any weapons on this ship to use, and I highly doubt you would let a complete stranger like myself touch your lightsabers.”

Janko and Ahsoka sat in silence for a few moments as the hum of hyperspace reverberated in the hold.

“Y’know.” Janko began. “I never really properly thanked you for saving my life. I doubt anyone would’ve found me if you weren’t there and I probably would’ve died knowing I would never get to see my planet again, much less see them free from the bondage of fascism.”

The Croatian then turned to look at Ahsoka in the eye.

“Ahsoka Tano, thank you. Thank you so, so much for getting me out of that rocket module. I cannot even begin to think how to repay you.”

________________________________________

Ahsoka was temporarily speechless at Janko’s heartfelt gratitude. This felt different somehow than all the other times she was thanked for saving someone. Maybe it was because Janko was only one person rather than a leader thanking her on behalf of an entire group. Perhaps it was the fact that Ahsoka did not rescue him out of duty, but for the fact she saved him because she wanted to. It felt right to help out someone who couldn’t do so themselves. She then smiled as a new thought came to her head. “You can start by sticking around.” She suggested. “I plan to start training you in the ways of the Force once we get through this.”

“Yes, of course!” Janko said. “Thank you again.”

A loud chime was heard from the cockpit, indicating that the ship was leaving hyperspace. Ahsoka and Janko got up from the booth and headed to the cockpit, where the yellow desert world of Mandalore waited ahead. Ahsoka took the controls and flew the freighter towards one of Sundari’s landing platforms. The Millennium Falcon gently touched down, where Bo-Katan and a small squad of blue-armored Death Watch troopers stood waiting for them.

“Thank you for coming.” Bo-Katan said worriedly as Ahsoka and Janko stepped down the ramp onto the landing pad. “We did not want the Republic or Jedi to get involved, so we were left with you as our only option.”

Janko took a look around the area. There were signs of fighting scarring the area, which intrigued him greatly. Ahsoka noticed this too with much wariness.

“You’re taking a huge risk by contacting me.” Ahsoka said. “Maul is a powerful Dark Side Force user and I cannot guarantee that I will beat him.”

“We know.” Bo-Katan said. “This is a gamble we needed to take, as Prime Minister Almec was murdered by Maul, leaving us without a leader. Until Maul is dead, no one will be able to take power without getting themselves killed.”

“Where is Maul?” Janko asked. “The sooner we can find him, the sooner we can end this madness.”

Bo-Katan glanced at Janko with a raised eyebrow.

“Who are you?” She asked.

“I am Janko, Ahsoka’s companion. She saved me from wasting away in a life pod in space.” Janko said.

“I see.” Bo-Katan replied. “You don’t have any weapons on you...”

“Well, Ahsoka only needs her lightsabers, so there was nothing I could use on the ship.” Janko replied sheepishly. “Say, do you have any spare weapons I could perhaps use?”

“If you want our weapons, you would have to join us.” Bo-Katan said simply. “But you would have to prove you are worthy of being a Mandalorian.”

“I will admit, I know nothing about Mandalore.” Janko said nervously. “I was raised in a very isolated part of the galaxy. I didn’t even know there were people outside my planet until I was rescued a few days ago.”

“Can we discuss this later?” Ahsoka interrupted. “The longer we delay, the longer Maul will terrorize Mandalore.”

Bo-Katan and Janko nodded before the former motioned Janko and Ahsoka to follow.

“Maul is at the police station not far from here.” Bo-Katan stated. “Take one of the speeders. I will show you the way.”

Bo-Katan then handed Janko one of her WESTAR-35 blaster pistols.

“I want that back when this is over.” She said sternly. Janko nodded as he and Ahsoka stepped into one of the speeders. Bo-Katan and her entourage activated their jetpacks and flew away, Ahsoka following behind. It didn’t take long for the group to arrive at the police station. Dead bodies were strewn everywhere and lightsaber scoring scarred the side of the medium-sized building. It was eerily quiet as the Mandalorians kept a healthy distance away from the entrance of the police station. As Ahsoka landed the speeder, Janko felt the cold, angry energy of the Dark Side of the Force projecting itself from the building. It was very unnerving.

Ahsoka slowly walked towards the entrance as Janko followed her, hanging back several steps. Ahsoka had her lightsabers in hand, keeping them off until the time was right. Janko tried to ignore that horrible cold feeling, but something else caught his attention. He could hear a faint call, almost indistinguishable from his nervous breathing. Something was calling to him, but he didn’t know what. It didn’t seem like it was coming from Maul, but Janko knew better than to make assumptions about things he didn’t understand. Ahsoka entered the police station, followed by Janko, who was keeping a very close eye on her. A deafening silence hung in the air like a thick fog as they cautiously ventured deeper into the police station. The chilling feeling got very strong as Ahsoka entered the main control center. Janko could feel the source of the darkness emanating from the room, so he hung back.

“So... The Mandalorians finally brought someone to kill me.” A dark, raspy voice said quietly. “A pathetic seventeen-year-old failed Jedi Padawan. Getting rid of you will be easy.”

Janko raised the blaster pistol as he heard lightsabers being activated. He heard four activations, which one of them sounded different from the others. How curious.

“Master Kenobi was right. You are still as overconfident as always.” Ahsoka replied. Maul snarled in rage as he readied himself to charge.

“I’ll show you overconfident!”

The pair began a vicious duel, Ahsoka locking blades with Maul’s red lightsaber and a peculiar-looking blade of black. Janko began to quickly retreat as the duel moved outside of the control center and into the hallway. Ahsoka was quickly giving ground as she blocked Maul’s attacks at every turn. Janko noticed the duel moving towards him, so he ran out of the building and crouched behind a nearby crate. Maul and Ahsoka exited shortly after, still trading lightsaber blows. To Janko’s horror, Ahsoka began to show signs of faltering, as Maul’s powerful strikes beat down on her defenses. Janko, quickly realizing he needed to do something, raised the blaster in his hand and fired three shots towards Maul’s head. The yellow blaster bolts raced towards the crazed Zabrak, who sensed the danger a fraction too late. Maul shifted his body enough, causing one of the bolts struck his right hand, dropping his red lightsaber as another connected with his side. The angry Zabrak unleashed an earsplitting roar of fury and pain as the lightsaber smoldered on the ground with a neat hole through the middle.

Ahsoka attempted to take advantage of Maul’s distraction and made a move to behead him, but thanks to his heightened senses from the blaster shot wounds, Maul saw an opening and exploited it, severing Ahsoka’s arms at the elbows. She screamed in pain before Maul delivered a powerful kick to her stomach, sending the former Jedi flying. Ahsoka crashed into the speeder at the platform as the Mandalorians who stood to observe the duel quickly retreated away to a safe distance. Janko watched as Maul began to step his way towards Ahsoka, who had fallen unconscious. The Darksaber remained activated in Maul’s uninjured left hand as he loomed over Ahsoka’s crumpled form.

“Well well well, how foolish of you to think you can ever think to defeat me.” Maul growled at Ahsoka as he raised his left arm in preparation to deal the killing blow. The Mandalorians kept themselves airborne as they watched the scene unfolding below. As Maul continued to gloat, threaten, and speak to the Mandalorians, Janko felt a hard, steely determination take hold in his mind.

‘Surrender yourself to the Force.’ A voice told the young Croatian. The voice sounded like an older man, someone who felt like a well-traveled mentor. Janko hesitated. He was standing behind Maul ten meters behind. Ahsoka managed to distract the Dark Sider away from himself, but now was at his mercy.

‘I will help you. Trust me.’ The voice said. Janko took a deep breath and cleared his mind of any distractions, allowing his instincts to take over. It was just like old times, it’s just like getting ready for a firefight. Maul raised the Darksaber to strike down Ahsoka and swung down. Before the Darksaber could make contact, it abruptly stopped a few inches above Ahsoka’s chest. Maul tried to push the saber down so he could finish the job, but the Darksaber refused to move. Janko began to step closer to Maul, his right palm outstretched in front. Janko was using the Force to prevent Maul from striking down his only friend. Maul withdrew the saber away from Ahsoka and faced the young Croatian, all semblance of fury and pain replaced by astonishment and confusion.

“What--?” Maul began, but was interrupted he began to feel the Darksaber being pulled out of his hand. Maul realized that his opponent was trying to pull the Darksaber to him. He jumped high up, aiming to crush Janko under his metal legs. But Janko, now fully in his element, stepped aside as Maul landed hard on the spot he was just standing in. The Darksaber deactivated itself as Maul struggled to hold onto it, all while he was trying to fight this strange new enemy. Janko continued to kite away from the rampaging Dark Side user until he found an opening and kicked Maul’s left hand. The Darksaber was finally released from Zabrak’s grip, flying into Janko’s open hand. He activated the Darksaber and swiftly cut down Maul with a fierce slash, ending the madman’s reign of terror. The Mandalorians, who saw everything that occurred, landed back on the ground.

Janko stood over the body as he came back to his senses. He sighed in relief before he collapsed from exhaustion. Bo-Katan motioned a medic to retrieve Ahsoka while she checked up on Janko. The newcomer was fine, just exhausted and currently resting.

“Get Ahsoka Tano and her friend to the nearest hospital immediately!” Bo-Katan ordered. Her subordinates acknowledged her command and carefully dragged both onto the speeder and departed. Bo-Katan picked up Ahsoka’s fallen lightsabers and flew away, following the speeder to the nearest medical station.

________________________________________

Janko woke up in a soft bed in what seemed to be a medical wing. It had been a day since he and Ahsoka arrived at Mandalore and Janko felt refreshed. Strangely, he did not know how he got here, the last thing he remembered was preparing himself to fight Maul. Judging by his lack of injuries, he must’ve won. But how? Maybe that voice that he heard inside his head took over his body and allowed him to beat Maul. Janko wasn’t sure, the events were a bit hazy. As he looked around, he spotted a few tanks on the other side of the medical wing. One of the tanks was filled with some sort of transparent blue liquid and inside was Ahsoka! She was floating inside the tank with a breath mask over her face, wearing nothing but white briefs and a white sleeveless top covering her chest. Janko rushed to the bacta tank, extremely worried about his only friend and guide to the galaxy.

“Ahsoka!” He exclaimed, laying a hand on the bacta tank. He couldn’t take his eyes off of her arms, which were now only stumps that stopped at the elbow. He yelled in frustration.

“I’m so sorry I couldn’t stop him from taking your arms.” Janko said. “If only I didn’t hesitate, you wouldn’t be in there.”

Janko fell to his knees as he began to calm down.

“I’m so, so glad you’re still alive.” He said. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if you died.”

The Croatian stood up and walked away from the bacta tank, regaining his composure. His eyes continued to roam around the medbay wing, fascinated by the advanced medical technologies that stood before him. Janko’s gaze eventually landed on his bedside table. There sat the Darksaber, lying flat on its side in all its glory. He walked towards the table and picked up the Darksaber, looking at it curiously.

Then, the entrance to medbay hissed open and Bo-Katan stepped in, this time alone.

“You’re finally awake.” She stated. “We have much to discuss.”

Janko turned to face the female Mandalorian with a concerned look.

“Is Ahsoka alright?” He asked.

“She’ll be fine.” Bo-Katan said. “We’re building her a new set of prosthetic arms to replace her lost arms. We also recovered her lightsabers, which she should be pleased to hear that they are undamaged.”

“Thank God.” Janko replied, sighing in relief. “Wait, prosthetic arms? I do not understand.”

“As thanks for stopping Maul, we’re giving Tano a new set of beskar arms to replace her old ones.” Bo-Katan explained. “She’ll be healing up in that bacta tank for a few days. Maul did quite a number on her.”

“How fascinating.” Janko said, curiosity piqued. “My home planet did not have medical technology as advanced as this.”

“There is one more pressing matter we must discuss.” Bo-Katan said seriously, causing Janko to pay his full attention to the Mandalorian.

“Now, since you have mentioned that you know nothing about Mandalore, its people, and its culture, there are a few things I have to mention before we get to the point.” Bo-Katan said. “See the weapon you hold in your hand?”

Janko glanced at the Darksaber, nodding.

“That is the Darksaber. It is a symbol of leadership of Clan Vizsla and subsequently Mandalore and all of its people. In order for someone to take control of Mandalore, they must win the Darksaber in single combat.” Bo-Katan began to explain. “Two months ago, the previous holder of the Darksaber, Pre Vizsla, was defeated by Maul in single combat. As a result, Maul won the Darksaber and took control of all of Mandalore as part of this custom. He ruled Mandalore alongside his brother Savage, until Savage was killed by an unknown assassin a few weeks ago. Ever since, Maul has gone on a rampage and killed many Mandalorians. Now that you have killed Maul, the Darksaber is yours.”

“Wait, I killed Maul?” Janko asked incredulously. “I don’t exactly remember...”

“I wouldn’t expect so.” Bo-Katan replied. “Right after you killed Maul, you collapsed. Apparently, your display with the Force had robbed you of all your energy. You slept for twenty hours straight.”

“I see.” Janko said as he began to think. “Wait, since I won the Darksaber, does that mean…?”

“You are now the new Manda’lor.” Bo-Katan finished. “Of course, first you would need to learn how to speak Mando’a and our culture and such, but this is where I come in.”

Janko stared at Bo-Katan in shock. He was the new ruler of Mandalore?! What did he get himself into?

“I would like to adopt you into my clan. As a member of Clan Kryze, I can induct you into my family through gai bal manda.” Bo-Katan said. “It is important that you become part of a clan so all of Mandalore can recognize your rule.”

“I understand.” Janko said determinedly. “Bad times are ahead of us and it is imperative for Mandalore to recover from Maul as soon as possible, lest a worse fate befall upon you.”

Bo-Katan remained silent, looking concerned.

“But before we get started, can you adopt Ahsoka too?” Janko asked. “She helped defeat Maul and saved my life prior to our arrival here. She deserves a place here thanks to her actions.”

“Yes, of course.” Bo-Katan said as she and Janko walked out of the medbay wing.

________________________________________

Darth Sidious had been in a conversation with Count Dooku when he felt Maul’s death in the Force. He stopped talking and smiled.

“Master?” Dooku said. “Is everything alright?”

“Everything is splendid, my apprentice.” Sidious replied. “A small inconvenience has just been solved by itself.”

“That is good to hear, Master.” Dooku stated eloquently. “The 13th Battlegroup is on its way to strengthen our frontlines in the Outer Rim.”

“Good.” Sidious said. “Proceed as usual.”

“Yes, my Master.”

The hologram flickered out, leaving the Sith Master to reflect on previous events. Things were going according to plan.

________________________________________

A few days later, Ahsoka had been taken out of the bacta tank and put in one of the medbay’s beds. While she slept, a Mandalorian armorer had constructed her new prosthetic arms forged from beskar on Bo-Katan’s request. The arms were then surgically installed. In the meantime, a set of armor was created for Janko, made entirely of beskar. This included a helmet, which was white and included a red visor, breastplate armor, regular gauntlets, and other pieces. Janko gladly put on the armor and was delighted to see that it fit him just right.

Ahsoka finally came to, finding herself in the medbay. Janko was at her bedside, smiling weakly.

“Welcome back, Ahsoka.” He said. “I’m so glad you’re alive.”

Ahsoka stretched out her arms before taking a look at her prosthetics in surprise.

“Imagine my surprise when I found out that lost limbs were easily replaceable, unlike my homeworld.” Janko said with a laugh. “Bo-Katan had the Armorer fashion new arms made from beskar as thanks for helping stop Maul.”

Ahsoka couldn’t help but feel very surprised at this development. Mandalorian iron arms!?!

“How long was I out?” She asked as she began to test out the arm functions.

“A little under a week.” Janko said. “There have been some significant developments that you should know.”

Ahsoka then finally noticed Janko was wearing a set of Mandalorian armor, colored white and red to his specification.

“Does that include the armor?” She asked. Janko nodded.

“After you passed out, I had to fight Maul.” Janko said, to Ahsoka’s shock. She inadvertently gasped while Janko continued his story.

“So, after you passed out, a voice spoke to me, telling me to surrender to the Force and that he will help me.” Janko said. “I surrendered myself and I felt my instincts take over. Now, I barely remember what happened after, but according to Bo-Katan and the other witnesses, I used the Force to stop Maul from killing you with the Darksaber. I pulled and pulled and pulled on that lightsaber, trying to take it out of his hands. I succeeded, but not after Maul tried to get me. After I got the Darksaber, I cut down Maul before he could do anything else. Then, I collapsed out of exhaustion and was taken here.”

Janko’s recount of his battle with Maul left the Togrutan absolutely speechless. Did a spirit of the past possess him and used his power to defeat Maul? Or was it something else? Either way, this lost wanderer managed to beat all odds and killed Maul. What would this mean now?

“Oh, Ahsoka, it gets better.” Janko said, interrupting Ahsoka from her thoughts. “Because I defeated Maul, the holder of the Darksaber, in single combat, I have become the leader of all of Mandalore. Bo-Katan adopted me into her ‘clan’ and I asked if she could invite you too. You deserve it after all for not only saving my life last week, but also helping free Mandalore from Maul’s rampage.”

“And here I thought leaving the Jedi Order would free me from mad events.” Ahsoka said half-jokingly. “I am flattered about this, but is it really okay for me to become a Mandalorian, considering the bad history they have with the Jedi?”

“Ahsoka, you said yourself that you are no longer a Jedi.” Janko stated. “So, what’s stopping you from becoming a Mandalorian? It’s not like Bo-Katan and the rest of her people mind, they did ask for your help and they got it.”

“I’m not sure...” Ahsoka said, still hesitant at the prospect.

“Please, Ahsoka, I still need you.” Janko said. “I may know a few things about leading troops, fighting, and such, but I still need your guidance, especially as I still need a teacher in the Force.”

“Oh alright.” Ahsoka said, sighing but smiling. “Hopefully, you could bring Mandalore out of its deep hole and make it something to be proud of.”

“That’s what I plan to do.” Janko said. “First, learning, then leading. For both of us, as I imagine you would probably need to get used to the new arms.”

Ahsoka nodded as she got up from her bed. Her lightsabers sat on her bedside table, so she picked them up and put them on her belt.

“First things first, we’re going to the Falcon.” Ahsoka said as she and Janko left the medbay.

“Where are we going?” Janko asked.

“Our first stop is Takodana.” Ahsoka answered. “It’s a good planet to start your training, in both the Force and in lightsaber combat. Takodana is far from any fighting and its terrain and climate is ideal for that type of training.”

Janko nodded before he suddenly remembered something.

“Oh, I almost forgot!”

“What is it?”

“Because the standard galactic script is different from my home planet’s script, I am technically illiterate.”

“We’ll work that too.”

TBC...

 

I hope that you saw this thread. Just look for the last post in it.

Bo's joke was brutal. Totally didn't expect that!

And I can see that a) this story runs like a very fast videogame (what's that with male writers and this style? Onderon1 and Kurisan do that sort of a thing, too and their stories are a hoot as well!) and b) that you're making some BOLD decisions. Ahsoka with not one but two prosthetic upper arms and Janko being the one to defeat Maul - by far, the most annoying and the most Gary Stu-like SW villain, impressive to an average six-year-old bully.

The Sidious and Dooku part at the end, though...I would guess that Sidious is plotting to get either Ahsoka or Janko, if he's aware of him now, on his side and that he wanted somebody to get rid of Maul, anyway.

This is going to be a wild, wild ride!

 

Sidious doesn't know about Janko and doesn't care about Ahsoka anymore after her departure from the order. He was happy that Maul had been killed by something, which means Maul won't rival him anymore.

I assume you don't like Maul, since I believe you called him a "Gary-Stu-like SW villian." I guess that makes him less OP by getting himself killed by a guy who a) has no experience with a lightsaber, and b) untrained in the ways of the Force?

Which joke Bo made did you like? I made a a few.

Lastly, did you agree with my decisions concerning Ahsoka and Janko?

PS. Yes I did see that post. Thank you.

EDIT: Bo's original personality for this fic was retconned in the chapter rewrite.

 

Hey guys, it's me again back with another chapter. We are getting to the point of the Republic's fall so things will start taking an interesting turn. So, enjoy!

EDIT: This chapter was rewritten to fit my new writing standards.

------

Mandalore, especially Sundari, had been left in ruins after the events that took place in the last few years, and it was time to rebuild. While the Mandalorians got to work restoring a sense of normalcy, the Millennium Falcon departed from Mandalore on its way to Takodana, with Ahsoka, Bo-Katan, and Janko on board. Ahsoka was not fit to fly yet, so Bo-Katan tagged along to fly the freighter. The Mandalorian’s second-in-command was left in charge in the meantime while the group were away. The journey from Mandalore to Takodana would take around a week, so shortly after the Falcon entered hyperspace, Janko started his first lesson.

“Galactic standard has thirty-four letters, which is a few more than what High Galactic has to offer.” Ahsoka began. “Most things in the galaxy are written in aurabesh, while there are some examples of High Galactic being used. It’s quite peculiar how you can read High Galactic but not Aurabesh, but it might just be a coincidence of fate.”

Janko nodded as he studied the datapad in his possession intently. There was a chart of aurabesh letters and their High Galactic equivalents at the top, which was followed below by some basic grammar rules. As Janko expected, Galactic Basic grammar wasn’t any different from German grammar, so there would be no issues in that regard. Janko spent the day practicing writing and typing in aurabesh, and soon he was able to get a grasp at the new script.

The next day, it was Bo-Katan’s turn to teach Janko. Ahsoka and Bo-Katan decided to take turns teaching the Croatian on the essentials, with Bo-Katan focusing on everything to do with Mandalore. That included learning Mando’a, the Mandalorian language. Bo-Katan started on the basics, with easy vocabulary such as everyday objects and verbs.

Soon, the week had passed and the Falcon arrived at the lush temperate world of Takodana. By then, Ahsoka started getting used to her prosthetics, so she helped Bo-Katan pilot the Corellian freighter down to a clearing near an ancient castle. After landing, the trio headed towards the castle, which turned out to be a cantina. They entered the cantina and sat at an empty table.

“So, what’s the plan here?” Janko asked.

“I’ll start off with meditation lessons every morning. Meditation helps you connect with the Force, and because the planet is peaceful and full of life, feeling the Force should come easier.” Ahsoka started. “We will also begin practicing some common Force techniques like telekinesis and foresight. Then I will start teaching you how to use a lightsaber.”

Janko nodded as Bo-Katan spoke up.

“As a Mandalorian in my Clan, you must also learn how to use a jetpack, as well as the various different weaponry in our arsenal.” She explained. “You already know your way around a blaster, but a blaster isn’t the only weapon Mandalorians use to defeat our enemies.”

“Well said.” A new voice entered. A very short, orange-skinned humanoid old woman had stopped by the table where Ahsoka, Janko, and Bo-Katan sat.

“The Dark Times draw closer, Ahsoka Tano, Bo-Katan Kryze, and Janko Šerić.” She said. “I’ve seen many things in my long life and I know when things are going to get difficult for many of us. I hope you are prepared for the coming storm.”

The trio looked perplexed at the newcomer, until Bo-Katan spoke up.

“How do you know our names?” She asked.

“The name’s Maz Kanata.” The old woman said. “I run this bar here on Takodana. There are a great many things I know, including the Force. I have lived over 950 years and I’ve spent my time fine tuning my perceptive abilities. Figuring out who you are is not an issue.”

“I see.” Janko said, fascinated at Maz’s apparent age. “You know of the Force? Can you help teach me how to use it?”

“I cannot help you myself.” Maz replied. “Business is going to get difficult as the Dark Times draw near and I cannot waste time away from my livelihood. However, I do have something that can help you.”

Maz motioned Janko and his companions to follow and led the trio down to the castle’s cellar, where Maz kept all her trinkets and possessions collected over the years. The old cantina owner entered a room and exited carrying a Jedi holocron.

“This is the holocron of Jedi Master Fae Coven, the predecessor of Jedi Grand Master Yoda.” Maz said, handing the holocron to Janko. “This holocron will help learn more about the Force from someone who spent decades in the Order.”

“How did you get this?” Ahsoka said, surprised at the sight of the holocron. “I thought all Jedi Holocrons were stored inside the Jedi Temple as our property.”

“Me and Fae used to be good friends back in the day.” Maz said wistfully. “She would always try to convince me to join the Jedi Order, but I never did because such a restrictive lifestyle wasn’t for me. Eventually, she died in her sleep and left me this holocron so that her knowledge of the Force wouldn’t be restricted to the Jedi only.”

Janko and Ahsoka started at the holocron in awe while Bo-Katan rolled her eyes.

“What I wouldn’t give to see her again…” Maz said to herself before bringing her focus back to Janko. “I predict great things from you, young man. Don’t disappoint me.”

“I won’t.” Janko said. Maz and the others left the cellar and returned to the table where Janko and his companions had first arrived.

“With all that out of the way, what can I get you today?”

________________________________________

“Bože dragi, this galaxy is ****ed.” Janko muttered to himself as he put the datapad on the Falcon’s dejarik table. A month passed since his arrival to Takodana and the Croatian learned a lot from Ahsoka and Bo-Katan. Once he understood how to read aurabesh, Janko started reading various news articles and other Holonet entries. The state of the galaxy was nothing short of a disaster; war, corruption, poverty, suffering, everything Janko thought he left behind when he was forcibly blasted off into space. One positive thing he could take was that the galaxy-spanning war that was occurring, the Clone War, was nearing its end, with the Republic on the verge of victory. Yet despite that, the Republic disgusted Janko. The government was highly corrupt and the Chancellor was collecting emergency powers at a frightening pace. Janko could see the signs, it has happened before.

The Republic was on the verge of transforming into a fascist dictatorship. The very idea that the galaxy’s main government of power was turning into something the young Croatian spent his entire life fighting against scared him. Mandalore wasn’t safe, especially considering the rare and highly valuable resources Mandalore and her companion planets and systems held. If the Republic turned into a dictatorship, Janko would have no choice but to get Mandalore ready for a war of survival. Something in this day and age is not guaranteed.

Of course, such thoughts aren’t healthy, so whenever Janko wasn’t training with Ahsoka on the Force and lightsaber combat or Bo-Katan on the Mandalorian language, customs, and weaponry use, he would spend time researching the Unknown Regions. An entire region of the galaxy mostly unexplored by anyone for millenia, possibly holding unknown riches and resources like the Jedi planet of Ilum holding kyber crystals. Perhaps if he could explore some of the region, he might hit a jackpot.

Janko picked up the datapad again and opened up the galaxy map, focusing on the Unknown Regions in the galactic west. Janko closed his eyes and pointed to a spot in the Unknown Regions, around 2000 parsecs away from the closest Chiss planet. Opening his eyes, Janko looked at the spot he pointed at and took note of the coordinates. There was something about this spot he felt would be very important in the future. Ahsoka always pointed out that Force-sensitives sometimes have this intuition about some things that could prove significant to the immediate future. This spot felt important to Janko and he felt the need to go there.

His mind made up, the young Croatian left the ship, looking for Ahsoka and Bo-Katan. He found them sitting on a nearby log, eating the day’s lunch.

“I think it's time to move on. Before we return to Mandalore, there is this star system I would like to investigate first.” Janko said.

“But you are still training.” Ahsoka said. “I don’t think it’s wise to depart…”

“No, I think spending a month away from Mandalore is long enough. The war is almost over and we need unity.” Bo-Katan said. “The people have barely seen the new Manda’lor enough as it is.”

“I have the coordinates of this star system in the datapad, it’s a bit far away, but I have a feeling that we need to go to this system.” Janko said. “I feel like my instincts are telling me to go there. I trust my instincts as they have never failed me before.”

“It’s not my place to forbid what the Manda’lor wants.” Bo-Katan said, more to herself than to the others. “We can continue training elsewhere, it’s not like we have to stay here.”

“I see your point.” Ahsoka said reluctantly. “It’s probably time to move on anyway. Let’s get going, we have a long journey ahead of us.”

The trio returned to the ship and began preparations for departure. Bo-Katan primed the Falcon for take-off while Ahsoka and Janko went to Maz’s castle to acquire supplies for the trip ahead. Two hours later, everything was set and the Millennium Falcon took off from Takodana on its long journey to Janko’s destination.

________________________________________

One week later…

Darth Sidious sat in the Chancellor’s Office, ready to put his plan into motion. After dismissing his guards and his Vice Chair Mas Amedda from his office, the Sith Master contacted Dooku and General Grievous on his secret encrypted comms channel.

“What is thy bidding, my Master?” Dooku said, bowing before Sidious. Grievous followed suit.

“Lord Tyranus, General Grievous. The time has come.” Sidious said. “Begin the invasion.”

“Yes, Lord Sidious.” Grievous replied. Thousands of lightyears away, the Separatist invasion fleet, consisting of thousands of ships of various types, jumped into hyperspace, destination Coruscant.

________________________________________

After two weeks in hyperspace, the Millenium Falcon arrived to the coordinates Janko pointed out. It turns out the coordinates led to a small star system; a bright blue star orbited by two gas giants. The first gas giant orbited extremely close to the star and glowed an angry mixture of black and red. There was no sign of any moons at this gas giant, being this close to the star probably prevented such objects. The other gas giant was a soothing shade of blue, orbiting at a more reasonable distance from the star. Unlike the black-red gas giant, the blue planet held 19 moons. A quick scan revealed that six of those moons were habitable, though none held any sign of civilization.

“Wow, this planet and its moons are jewels to behold.” Janko said in awe. “Who knew the Unknown Regions held such beautiful objects.”

Ahsoka and Bo-Katan agreed, but before either of them could say anything, Janko spotted an anomaly past the blue gas giant.

“Wait, what’s that?” He said, pointing to a dark long shape floating above the star system’s star. It was slowly rotating above the star on its vertical axis, like a child’s toy top in slow motion. Ahsoka and Bo-Katan were equally as mystified. They then decided to fly towards the object to take a closer look. As the Falcon approached, Ahsoka gasped in surprise while the other two looked on in further bewilderment.

“That’s impossible.” She muttered in slight horror.

“What’s going on? What is that thing?” Janko asked worriedly.

“It’s the Star Forge.” Ahsoka explained. “It’s an enormous shipyard space station capable of constructing warships and other military equipment in an extremely short amount of time thanks to various technologies that had been lost to time. A relic from a more uncivilized age.”

Both Janko and Bo-Katan gaped at the space station. Ahsoka wasn’t done there yet.

“That impossible thing about this,” Ahsoka continued, “was that it was supposed to be destroyed over three thousand years ago.”

The Falcon approached the Star Forge cautiously. Fortunately, it seems the gigantic shipyard is inactive, as its defense systems lay dormant and the production line completely empty. The Corellian freighter touched down inside the space station’s hangar, where the trio disembarked.

“I wonder if the creators of this thing built two of them.” Janko said.

“I want to know if this thing can create beskar, since it can make ships from nearly nothing.” Bo-Katan commented. It was completely silent inside the Star Forge, save for the low roar of the star below them. They ventured deeper into the ancient shipyard, navigating their way through dusty corridors and unmoving production lines. Eventually, Janko and his companions reached the shipyard’s command center, where they spotted an old datapad sitting on top of the control panel overlooking the center of the station. Ahsoka picked it up and found journal entries in it.

“Someone was here before.” Ahsoka said, brushing the dust off of the datapad and skimming through the text. “The first relevant entry dates back from 350 years ago. A Jedi Master named Ik-Go found this space station by accident when his ship was damaged by pirates. He seems to know a lot about this particular station, as there is a lot of information here.”

“What does it say?” Bo-Katan asked. Ahsoka continued to read through the entries quickly and was surprised at the revelations.

“This is the original Star Forge. The one destroyed during the end of the Jedi Civil War was the unfinished, but operational, second Star Forge. The second shipyard was under construction when the Infinite Empire fell, so it was left without some components.” Ahsoka summarized. “One of the things this station has that the other Star Forge didn’t have is a limited cloning capacity. Soldiers could be bred here to use in combat.”

“I’m not sure I like that kind of production.” Janko said. “I don’t exactly know what cloning is, but it sounds immoral and highly unethical.”

“The Rakatans were cruel and evil bastards, so I wouldn’t put it past them.” Ahsoka replied. Janko winced. Suddenly, the Star Forge began to rumble. A couple of the long unused production lines began to roar to life and began producing dozens of long obsolete battle droids.

“You should not be here.”

A voice had rung out across the command center. Bo-Katan and Janko put their helmets on as Ahsoka looked around for the source of the voice.

“You should’ve never come here.”

The newly-produced battle droids turned on the trio and began firing their blasters. Ahsoka and Janko activated their lightsabers and began cutting down the battle droids while Bo-Katan blasted off into the air and fired down upon the enemy with her blasters. The trio made short work of the droids and the production lines ground to a halt. They turned back to the command center and found a middle-aged human man in Jedi robes standing in front of the control panel. He held a lightsaber in his hand, inactivated, but ready for a fight.

“Mandalorians.” He spat. “Of all the people that had to discover this place it’s you. I cannot let you have this station. Me and my brothers have spent the last 350 years guarding this place from warmongers and villains like you from using this place.”

“Who are you?” Janko demanded, mentally preparing himself for a fight.

“I am the seventh clone of the former Jedi Ik-Go. You three are the first trespassers in a hundred years.” The man said. “You will not leave here alive.”

“The Jedi Order thought of you dead.” Ahsoka said. “Is this what happened to you?”

“The original sacrificed his remaining life in order to keep this place a secret. And I intend to keep it that way.” The main replied, activating his blue blade, but remaining still. But before anyone could make a move, Ahsoka fell to her knees, gasping.

“Something is happening.” She stated. Ik-Go also felt the disturbance and turned stoic. Janko felt a cold creeping in as thousands of bright lights seems to fade away. After a minute, Ik-Go broke the silence.

“The Jedi are dying.”

________________________________________

10 minutes earlier…

“Commander Cody, the time has come. Execute Order 66.”

“Yes, my lord.”

________________________________________

Bo-Katan didn’t quite understand what was going on, but the sickening feeling of dread crept into everyone’s psyche as the disturbance continued to distract them.

“They’re all dying at once.” Janko said. “Each Jedi is being snuffed out at almost the same time. Is there news access here?”

“Let me access my datapad for a moment.” Ik-Go said, taking back his datapad from Ahsoka. Suddenly, Ahsoka broke down.

“Master Plo!” She screamed as she sobbed. “No!”

Janko comforted the grief-stricken Togruta as she cried.

“Her master must have been killed.” Ik-Go said, more to himself than to the others. He opened the Republic’s official news source and skimmed through the major news stories.

“A Jedi rebellion? Clones ordered to execute their Jedi Generals? What is this bantha fodder?” Ik-Go said irritably. “That’s impossible! The Jedi would never do that!”

“Let me take a look at that.” Janko said as Ahsoka began to calm down. Ik-Go handed the datapad to the Croatian, who began to read further.

“The Supreme Chancellor reorganized the Republic into the Galactic Empire and proclaimed himself as Emperor. The Clone War is over.” Janko read aloud in increasing shock and horror. “Oh no…”

He took off his helmet and reread the articles over and over.

“No… Empire? Not again! NO!”

Janko punched a wall before calming down.

“I knew that Palpatine was a slimy bastard.” Janko growled. “Right, we need to get this factory up and running. The Empire cannot be allowed to exist as long as I live.”

“No, not now.” Ik-Go said. “We need to pick up whatever Jedi survivors we can find for now. The factory can wait. The Empire just formed, so there is a chance we can stop it before it’s too late. But first, we need to see if we can find Master Yoda and any other experienced Jedi Masters. The Jedi Temple has certainly been sacked by the Empire and if we can find out how this series of events came to be, we could possibly figure out how to stop the Empire in its tracks.”

“I see your point.” Janko said. “Ahsoka, are there any names that we should be familiar with?”

“Anakin Skywalker was my Jedi Master before I left the Order.” Ahsoka said. “Obi-wan Kenobi was his Jedi Master. They should both be able to survive the killing.”

Ahsoka then suddenly became very worried.

“Rex.” She whispered.

“If you’re done discussing, we should get a move on.” Bo-Katan stated curtly. “You want to stop the Empire? Then there is no time to waste.”

Janko and Ahsoka nodded.

“Alright, let’s go.”

The four departed from the space station’s command center and headed back to the Falcon, where it quickly took off and departed the star system.

________________________________________

Obi-wan Kenobi let out a sigh of relief as he fled Utapau in the former General Grievous’s starfighter. Once he was out of scanning range, he activated his long-range communications beacon for help.

“Anyone? This is Obi-wan Kenobi. I need help.” Obi-wan said. He received a response a few seconds later.

“This is Ahsoka Tano. I hear you loud and clear.”

“Ahsoka, am I glad to hear you.” Obi-wan replied in relief. “My clone troops have turned on me. Can you help?”

“Certainly. We have just picked up Master Yoda. Meet us in the Vandelhelm system for pickup.” Ahsoka replied.

“Copy that.” Obi-wan said before making the jump into hyperspace.

________________________________________

Obi-wan entered the Vandelhelm system to find the Millennium Falcon floating around in space.

“Ahsoka, is that you?” He asked after hailing the freighter.

“Yes. Follow us to the planet, we will pick you up there.”

The Falcon turned around and headed to Vandelhelm, with Obi-wan following behind. Soon, the ships entered the planet’s atmosphere and landed in a field far from any settlements. The freighter’s entrance ramp lowered, revealing Ahsoka to Obi-wan. She motioned him to enter, which he did. After that, the Falcon blasted off to space, leaving behind General Grievous’s ship.

“It’s good to see you again, Master Kenobi.” Ahsoka said as the pair entered the main hold, where Bo-Katan, Janko, and Yoda awaited. Obi-wan smiled weakly as he sat down at the dejarik table’s booth.

“Good to see you alive, I am, Master Kenobi.” Yoda said gravely. “Too many Jedi betrayed, they were.”

“You should’ve seen this coming.” Janko said. “If you hadn’t been so afraid and arrogant about the Dark Side of the Force, you would’ve seen something was off about the entire war. Now Palpatine is about to cause untold suffering upon billions of people who don’t deserve it. At least you have the chance to stop it.”

“I am very worried about Anakin.” Obi-wan said. “He was on Coruscant when the call came and I fear for what has happened to the Jedi Temple.”

“We are already on our way to Coruscant.” Ahsoka said. “If the Jedi fighting on the battlefield have been betrayed, it’s almost certain that the Temple has been attacked.”

“Hopefully, discover who is the Sith Lord, we can, by visiting the Temple.” Yoda said. An uneasy silence fell upon the Falcon’s occupants as the ship made the jump into hyperspace.

________________________________________

The Falcon reached Coruscant in good time, briefly stopping near the foot of the Jedi Temple. The Temple, now severely damaged, was surrounded by the clone troopers of the 501st Legion, which had shocked Ahsoka greatly as she, Obi-wan, Janko, and Yoda jumped out straight into battle. Bo-Katan and Ik-Go remained on the ship, which quickly left the landing zone as the men began clashing with the clones, who already began firing on them.

Why were the 501st at the Temple? Where is Anakin? Ahsoka’s mind raced as she was forced to activate her lightsabers to deflect incoming blaster bolts coming from the men she used to fight with. Unlike Obi-wan, Yoda, and Janko, Ahsoka refused to kill any of the 501st clones, it felt wrong and something seemed off about them. Eventually, the group managed to clear out all resistance in the immediate area and made their way inside the Jedi Temple. Thankfully, there were no more clones inside, but it was apparent that the clones had successfully carried out their mission. The bodies of Jedi of all ranks littered the hallways and atriums as the group ventured deeper inside. Ahsoka was barely able to keep herself together at the horrible sight as the Jedi Masters maintained grim expressions.

Soon, the group reached the Room of a Thousand Fountains, where Obi-wan and Yoda knelt down to inspect the bodies of a few Padawans killed there.

“Killed not by a blaster, these Padawans were, but with a lightsaber.” Yoda said darkly. Ahsoka gasped, unable to shake the new sinking feeling in her stomach.

“But who? Who could have done this?” Obi-wan asked.

“I have a horrible suspicion and I hope I’m wrong.” Ahsoka whispered.

“We’ll have to check the security recordings, if there are any.” Janko said. “They’ll tell us who is responsible for this.”

“Sure, you are, of discovering the truth?” Yoda asked.

“We have to stop the person responsible; it isn’t enough to just modify the Temple’s transmitter to keep surviving Jedi out.” Ahsoka said quietly. “I just hope…”

“Let’s get a move on. The sooner we discover the culprit, the sooner we can stop Palpatine from continuing with the Empire.” Janko said. Yoda and Obi-wan nodded and led the way to the Archives. Once the four reached the Archives, Obi-wan proceeded to modify the Temple’s communications systems before everyone continued to the security center.

“Ready, you are, for what you will see?” Yoda asked Obi-wan and Ahsoka. They nodded. Obi-wan leaned in and scrolled through the footage before getting to Knightfall. The footage clearly shown Anakin Skywalker cutting down Jedi after Jedi before the footage cut to Anakin bowing before Palpatine.

“Anakin Skywalker is the killer.” Janko whispered. Ahsoka cried out in despair and clung to Janko for comfort. Janko hugged her back, feeling a mixture of anger, sadness, and empathy.

“What’s more concerning is that Palpatine is the Sith Lord we’ve been looking for.” Obi-wan said worriedly. “This has made stopping the Empire much more difficult.”

“He executed his plan perfectly.” Janko said. “That fascist scum must have been behind Skywalker’s fall. We need to find out how Skywalker fell and see if we can turn him back.”

“Once you walk the Dark path, forever it will dominate your destiny.” Yoda stated. Janko shook his head.

“There’s something more going on with Skywalker. See his face right at the beginning of the relevant recordings?” Janko replied as he rewound the footage. “See that? That’s the face of a desperate man. I’ve seen this before many times, back on my home planet. A man with that expression will do anything to achieve what he so desperately needs. Tell me, is there anything going on in Skywalker’s personal life?”

“Well, Anakin is very close with Senator Amidala.” Obi-wan said. “I don’t exactly know the extent of their relationship, but Anakin isn’t exactly subtle.”

“We should talk to her, see if we can find out what’s going on.” Janko said. “But there is the matter with Palpatine.”

“Master Kenobi and I, take care of Sidious, we shall.” Master Yoda said. “Turn back Skywalker, if you can believe, do so. Be prepared to fight, however.”

“Alright. Bo-Katan and Ik-Go will be waiting for you.” Janko said. “Ahsoka, you and I will talk to Amidala. You know the way?”

Ahsoka numbly nodded.

“Let’s get going.” Obi-wan said. “We don’t have much time to spare.”

With everything settled for the moment, the four split up, off on their new missions.

TBC….

 

Fascinating.....

 

Hello everyone, the next chapter is in the works, but first, check out my fanon entry on the armed forces for SUPR here:

http://boards.theforce.net/threads/...nge-due-2-6-17.50024318/page-27#post-54080752

It's really quite informative and there also will be a post on star systems next month.

On a final note, I will start tagging people who have replied to this story. Thank you Ewok Poet and Cowgirl Jedi 1701 for your comments and support.

Have a nice day.

 

Change settings so alerted I am when tagged I am, I must.

 

Ewok Poet and Cowgirl Jedi 1701

EDIT: The rewritten Chapter Three combines the old Ch3 and Ch4 into one. As a result, the old Ch4 has been made redundant and is now deleted.

 

Ewok Poet and Cowgirl Jedi 1701

EDIT: This chapter was rewritten and renumbered to my new writing standards.
------------------

Senator Padme Amidala of Naboo stared outside the window of her living quarters, staring at the burning Jedi Temple in the distance. Anakin had told her earlier that the Jedi rebelled against the Republic and attempted to depose Chancellor Palpatine, but now everything was under control and the Jedi were crushed. Padme could hardly believe the Jedi were capable of such treason; they would never attack the Republic they swore to defend. The conversation with Anakin left a worrying impression on the young Senator; the Jedi Knight seemed far more distant and detached than usual. What sort of events had transpired? Was Palpatine behind this? With his proclamation of the Empire replacing the Republic, Padme refused to rule anything out.

“Mistress Padme, you have visitors at the door.” C-3PO called out.

“Let them in, 3PO.” Padme replied back. The golden protocol droid opened the door, revealing Ahsoka and Janko.

“Ahsoka, it’s nice to see you again!” Padme said with a weary smile. “Do you know what’s going on with the Jedi Order? Palpatine declared the formation of the Empire from the ashes of the Republic and destroyed the Jedi for opposing him. I don’t know what’s going on exactly, what’s happening?”

Ahsoka stayed silent as she looked down and to her right, unsure of herself. Janko cleared his throat to reply.

“Good evening, my name is Janko Šerić, the new ruler of Mandalore.” He said. “I wish we had met under better circumstances, but the situation at hand is very sensitive. Palpatine has been discovered by the Jedi to be a Sith Lord and the one behind the Clone War. He controlled both the Republic and Separatist factions in a bid to destroy the Jedi Order and take over the galaxy.”

Padme gasped as Ahsoka looked up to continue.

“Palpatine ordered the clone army to execute any Jedi on sight. Masters Obi-wan and Yoda are the only Jedi we know of that survived the purge.” Ahsoka added.

“And what about the Jedi Temple?” Padme replied fearfully. Ahsoka fought back tears as she recalled the scenes at the Jedi Temple.

“Anakin led the 501st into the Temple and slaughtered everyone inside.” Ahsoka choked out. “Not even the younglings survived.”

Shock and horror filled Padme. She couldn’t believe that Anakin could do such a thing… Wait, yes, he could. He did slaughter a village of Tusken Raiders for killing his mother.

“I have seen many things in my lifetime, but the murders of children always hurt the soul the most.” Janko said. “Skywalker has turned to the Dark Side, as the Jedi say. It is almost certain that Palpatine manipulated him into doing those horrible deeds, but how is what I am unclear about. It may have something to do with you, Senator.”

Padme began to cry and quickly turned away, exposing the outline of her pregnant belly onto her dress. Both Janko and Ahsoka noticed this, giving some clarity.

“You’re pregnant?” Ahsoka said incredulously.

“It makes sense now.” Janko exclaimed in surprise. “Anakin Skywalker must have turned to the Dark Side because of his love for the Senator. He loves her so much that he would do anything to keep his family together, including protecting his wife and child. It’s a legend in progress in which we reached the point of tragedy between the two lovers and everyone else.”

“Ani isn’t a bad guy.” Padme pleaded. “I know there is still good in him. Please, help him! I don’t know how, but please…”

Ahsoka gave the young Senator a pained look while Janko stepped in to comfort her.

“I do think we can save him…” Janko started slowly. “I don’t think it’s guaranteed that he will turn back, but we’ll do our best. Let’s just hope that Palpatine’s manipulations hasn’t sunk him too deep.”

“Do you know where he is?” Ahsoka asked. Padme paced around, silently debating to herself.

“Mustafar, to bring the war to its end.” Padme finally replied. “Right, let’s get to my ship. I want to talk to him.”

Ahsoka and Janko looked at each other and nodded before they followed Padme to her personal yacht.

-o0o-

The bodies of the Separatist Council lay dead in the control room as Anakin finalized the shutdown order for all droid armies in the Outer Rim and elsewhere. The war was finally over and Padme and his unborn children were safe from the horrors of the Clone Wars. There is no doubt that some fighting will continue, but with the shutdown order, most of it will be done. Now the only thing is to get through the birth of his children. Nothing else mattered.

A chime on the facility’s radar alerted Anakin to a nearby ship approaching. His features softened as he recognized the ship as Padme’s yacht. The fallen Jedi began to make his way to the landing pad as the yacht touched down. The lovers embraced at the bottom of the ramp as Janko and Ahsoka remained inside, hiding themselves from Anakin’s attention.

“It’s safe now. It’ll be alright.” Anakin said, attempting to reassure his wife. “What are you doing out here?”

“I’m very worried about you, Ani.” Padme said. “The Republic is falling apart in front of my eyes and I’m scared of what’s to come.”

“Shh… It’s okay. The war is over, the Jedi won’t get in our way anymore, and now we can live our lives the way we want.” Anakin said. “I don’t want to lose you like I lost my mother.”

“Anakin, destroying the Jedi wasn’t the way to go!” Padme pleaded. “They are as loyal to the Republic as I am to you. The Jedi would never harm me, it isn’t their way.”

“What would you know? You wouldn’t have asked me to spy on the Chancellor.” Anakin replied.

“Anakin, I can’t support what Palpatine’s doing with the Republic!” Padme argued. “I did not sign up to live under a dictatorship and the fact you helped him set up said dictatorship does not sit right with me. Anakin! Turn back! You’re going down a path I can’t follow.”

Anakin turned away, looking grim.

“I had to do what was necessary to ensure your safety.”

Janko and Ahsoka, having decided enough was enough, decided to make themselves known. They left the cockpit of the yacht and walked down the landing ramp. Anakin felt their Force presences and began to get angry as he whirled around.

“You brought them here to kill me!” Anakin shouted. Ahsoka gave a pained expression upon seeing Anakin. It hurt her soul to see her former Master like this.

“We’re not here to kill you.” Ahsoka replied. “We’re trying to get you to see reason! Palpatine doesn’t have your best interests at heart!”

“LIAR!” Anakin yelled. “I know you went to the Jedi Temple! You are turning my wife against me!”

“Anakin no…” Padme cried. “Please…”

But the fallen Jedi didn’t listen. Consumed by his hatred, he began to choke Padme through the Force. Ahsoka widened her eyes as Janko glared darkly at Anakin.

“Let her go!” The Croat demanded.

“Skyguy, the children! The children!” Ahsoka shouted. “DON’T BRING YOUR TWINS INTO THIS!”

Ahsoka force pushed Anakin backwards, breaking his concentration. He flew right into the side of the mining compound’s main control center, hitting his head on the solid metal wall. Padme collapsed as she took deep breaths of air before standing back up with Janko’s help. Anakin, stunned, sat on the floor processing what Ahsoka yelled at him. Once he realized what she said, Anakin put the two and two together and teared up.

“What have I done!?” He cried.

“It’s all Palpatine’s fault.” Ahsoka said. “He tricked you into doing his bidding by using Padme and your children against you. He only cares about your power and his power over the galaxy. Even better if you managed to murder Padme and children in a fit of rage, as that would cement your place at his side.”

“That’s not true…” Anakin mumbled, grasping at straws in the face of Ahsoka’s logic.

“Search your feelings, Master. You know what I am saying is true.” Ahsoka continued. “You’ve had a rough past with being a slave during childhood, don’t become a slave to Palpatine’s schemes. You almost lost everything because of him.”

Anakin began to calm down as he stood up. Padme began to walk to Anakin, but Janko stopped her, shaking his head.

“Don’t. You need to take it very easy. You fell down as a heavily pregnant woman, don’t stress yourself further than you already have.” Janko said to her quietly. Padme considered his words before reluctantly nodding. Ahsoka walked up to Anakin and embraced him.

“I promised to come back to you someday. I have, so I promise that I will never leave you again.” She said, comforting the now-former Sith Lord.

“Thank you.” Anakin replied, returning the embrace. Janko, who was helping Padme up the ramp into the ship with C-3PO, suddenly felt very cold. A Dark Force presence was approaching the mining facility where the group was at. Leaving the expecting mother at C-3PO’s hands, Janko rushed down the ramp and began to scan the skies. An unfamiliar ship was entering Mustafar’s atmosphere, heading towards a landing pad on the other side of the mining complex. Whoever it was, Janko did not want to meet him.

“We need to leave immediately.” Janko said calmly. “A dangerous person is arriving.”

Anakin’s face turned stony as Ahsoka released him.

“It’s Palpatine. There is no Force presence in the galaxy as dark as this.” Anakin said. Janko swore as Anakin’s astromech droid, R2-D2, arrived and started to enter the Nubian yacht. Ahsoka shared her companion’s misgivings.

“Master Yoda and Obi-wan must’ve been defeated if he’s here.” Ahsoka said. “C’mon Skyguy, we have to go.”

Before Anakin could contemplate between fighting Palpatine and leaving Mustafar, Padme began to groan.

“My water’s broke!” She exclaimed from up the ship. Anakin widened his eyes as Ahsoka and Janko rushed into the ship to tend to the pregnant woman, who was now lying on one of the beds on board.

“Right, we’re going.” Anakin said, following the rest of the group up the ramp into the yacht. Ahsoka and Janko went to the cockpit as Anakin kneeled beside his wife, holding her hand to comfort her. Artoo joined Ahsoka and Janko in the cockpit and beeped out a statement.

“Polis Massa is the closest medical facility?” Ahsoka asked. “Alright then, Artoo. Plug in the coordinates and let’s get out of here.”

The astromech replied with an affirm and in no time at all, the Nubian yacht lifted off from the mining facility and blasted off to space. Once the ship was clear of Mustafar’s atmosphere, Ahsoka contacted the Falcon.

“Ik-Go, Bo-Katan, Anakin has successfully been brought back to the light.” Ahsoka reported. The Mandalorian looked grim while the older Jedi looked surprised before looking crestfallen.

“Excellent news. However, Master Yoda and Kenobi have failed.” He replied. “When will you be returning?”

“We’re heading to Polis Massa right now.” Ahsoka said. “Padme’s started the process of giving birth, so we are headed to the nearest medical facility.”

“We’re already on our way.” Ik-Go replied. “While Master Kenobi is alive, Master Yoda is dead. I will fill you in on the details once I arrive.”

“Copy that.” Ahsoka replied before ending the transmission. Master Yoda’s death struck a big blow to her. A shining light of the Jedi Order snuffed out like a candle. Time will tell if Yoda’s loss affected the galaxy in any meaningful way.

-o0o-

Darth Sidious's shuttle landed on the platform, ignoring the fleeing Nubian yacht as the Sith Lord disembarked with a squad of clone troopers. Sidious entered the mining facility and found the dead Separatist leaders. He smiled.

"Lord Vader!" The Sith Lord called out. No answer. Sidious repeated himself, but it was clear that his apprentice was not inside.

"Spread out and search for Lord Vader." Sidious ordered his troops.

"Yes, sir." The clone commander said before the squad split up.

After an hour of fruitless searching, Sidious decided to contact Vader through comlink. The call was dropped.

"Sir, it is possible that Lord Vader has perished." The clone commander said.

"No." Sidious said. "Lord Vader is alive. I can sense it."

"He must have left the planet then." The clone suggested. But one of the regulars piped up.

"But his starfighter is still here."

The yacht. Darth Sidious frowned as he recalled a Nubian yacht had fled the system a short time ago. He had a sneaking suspicion that his new apprentice had betrayed him. But without solid proof, Sidious had to wait until Vader showed up, by his side or not.

"Return to the ship. We are leaving."

"Yes, sir."

-o0o-

The short hyperspace jump to Polis Massa was nerve-wracking to say the least as Padme breathed heavily, now in labor. Thankfully, the Nubian yacht made it to the asteroid just in time. Padme was rushed into the medical center and with the help of the midwifery droid, the Skywalker twins were born. Anakin, who spent his time after Mustafar worrying himself to death and beating himself up for his foolishness, was overjoyed at the sight. His nightmares did not come true, as Padme delivered without complications and the twins, a boy and a girl, were as healthy as they can be. Both Ahsoka and Janko let out a collective sigh of relief. Anakin was safe for now.

“Congratulations, Skyguy.” Ahsoka said as the medical droid gave the boy to Anakin while Padme held the girl.

“Luke and Leia.” Padme said. “I’m so glad we get to use both of the names we chosen.”

Ahsoka’s comlink began to ring.

"Tano speaking."

"It's me, Ik-Go. I have arrived at Polis Massa with Master Kenobi. He's been seriously wounded, but thankfully he will live." The clone said.

"I'll get him." Janko said. “What happened?”

“Sidious had bested Master Yoda and Obi-wan. Master Yoda sacrificed himself to allow Obi-wan to escape. I spent the entire trip helping him heal through the Force, but recovery will be long.” Ik-Go replied. Ahsoka and Janko looked solemn while Anakin, who had given Luke back to Padme, looked guilty. Janko left the medical facility and headed to the landing platform where the Falcon landed.

“Skyguy’s children have been born and there a no complications here.” Ahsoka said. “While the Empire might be here to stay, we have a hopeful future to look forward to with the twins.”

“You aren’t wrong about that. We’re off the ship now, see you in a few minutes.”

The call was dropped and Anakin waited anxiously. What will Obi-wan think? The former Jedi could not bear the thought of seeing Obi-wan after what he did to the Jedi Order. Janko returned with Ik-Go, Bo-Katan, and Obi-wan in tow. Obi-wan was on a floating stretcher, looking like he gone through a meat grinder. The Jedi Master had cuts, slashes, and bruises all over his body, and most noticeably, both of his legs were amputated at the knees. Anakin froze at the sight, that being the worst he had ever seen Obi-wan in a very long time. Any words he had for his old Jedi Master died in his throat, for Obi-wan lay unconscious on the stretcher, unaware of his surroundings.

“I am so, so, so sorry, Master.” Anakin finally said, after recomposing himself. “I thought I was doing the right thing to save Padme. I didn't realize until it was too late that Palpatine was manipulating me into a path of darkness. I regret my choices fully and I wish I can take it back. But I can't. I have to thank Ahsoka and Janko for making me realize that my darkness was a danger to myself and my family.”

A tense silence filled the air before Bo-Katan broke it.

“Right, let’s get Kenobi into a bacta tank so we can discuss our next moves.” She said. Everyone else nodded in agreement, and once Obi-wan was admitted into the medical wing, headed to one of the unused conference rooms, with the exception of Padme,
who remained bed-bound.

“Alright, allow me to get us started.” Janko said. “The Empire was formed from the decrepit corpse of the Galactic Republic and despite our best efforts, we were unable to reverse this. Palpatine still lives, and thus, fascism still persists. Thankfully, the Empire are now denied of their most powerful asset being Anakin Skywalker.”

Anakin once again looked ashamed of himself.

“With the situation now clearer, it is becoming increasingly obvious that the only way to remove the Empire from power is through armed conflict.” Janko continued gravely. “Palpatine has proven himself to be a difficult pest to eliminate, so attempting to assassinate him a third time is out of the question. Worse, he has control of the media and the moral high ground. By ending the first galactic war the Galaxy has seen in a thousand years, Palpatine will have the firm support of the common man, making any war against the Empire a bloody slog, no matter if we win or not. To the outsider, the Soviet Union is in no position to challenge anyone at the moment.”

“The Soviet Union?” Anakin asked.

“The Soviet Union of Planetary Republics, this brainchild of mine, is an organization that aims to bring planets together militarily, economically, and culturally to a common goal of equality of the common man, to erase the problems that divide the people of the galaxy, whether it be xenophobia, slavery, and worst of all, the inequality between the economic classes.” Janko explained. “I have seen far too much suffering of people who struggle to survive on a meager amount of money while watching the oligarchs of the various banking clans, trade organizations, and other corporate entities leech away without care.

“To that end, there is inevitably going to be a group of people that are going to be disenfranchised by the Empire. Considering the almost completely Human make-up of the Republic’s main military force, it is highly likely that non-Humans are going to be undesirable to the Empire.”

At this, Janko smiled widely.

“There is no doubt that there will be plenty of talented people amongst the non-Human species. By recruiting these talented non-Humans, we will gain much expertise in various fields, expertise we can deny to the Empire. Their loss is our gain.”

Ik-Go, Anakin, Ahsoka, and Bo-Katan looked at each other with much intrigue.

“How do you suppose we fight the Empire? Mandalore isn’t exactly the powerhouse it used to be.” Bo-Katan asked. Janko gave her a thoughtful look.

“My current plan is to prepare Mandalore for invasion. Regardless of the current events, the Empire will one day come to invade Mandalore for its precious metals.” Janko answered, resuming a grim expression. “Fortunately, with Stakhanov Station under our control, we may just be able to resist the Empire from taking Mandalore, even if they resort to killing us all.”

“Stakhanov Station?” Anakin replied.

“Oh yes, you don’t know about it.” Janko muttered. “Stakhanov Station is one of the ancient shipyards built during the era of the Infinite Empire. It is more commonly referred to as the Star Forge, but in order to conceal its true nature from the rest of the galaxy, it shall now be now known as Stakhanov Station.”

“I thought the Star Forge was destroyed thousands of years ago.” Anakin replied. “Are you saying that there was a second one?”

“Yes.” Janko replied. “And we will use it to defend Mandalore. While there may not be a lot of Mandalorians to defend the planet, the shipyard’s droid factories should more than make up the numbers until we can recruit a proper full-scale military organization based upon a core of non-Human troops.”

“The way I see it,” Ahsoka said. “Is that the Mandalorians will be the Soviet Union’s special forces while the droids and off world recruit go into the main army.”

“Your assessment is pretty close to what I have in mind.” Janko replied. “While we do not know of the Empire’s timetable for military action, we can prepare for what’s to come. At worst, the Empire invades early and we may have to resort to guerilla warfare inside major population centers, but that’s the worst-case scenario. I want to ensure that we have enough men and material to defend Mandalore in both space and dirtside until we can consolidate our power to influence our neighboring worlds and eventually neighboring sections of the galaxy.”

“So, we have our work cut out for us.” Ik-Go said. “Well, you guys have.”

Everyone else at the table looked confused at this.

“I suppose I cannot hide it anymore.” Ik-Go said. “The ravages of time are showing upon my body. I may look like I am only entering my middle age, but repeated cloning of my original DNA and the passage of hundreds of years on the lonely space station while fighting the lure of the Dark Side has left my body in terrible shape. It seems that my time is coming soon.”

“You’re dying?” Janko asked.

“Yes. There is nothing I can do about it. I’ve been getting weaker and weaker the past few years and I had attempted to make preparations for my next incarnation, but now that Stakhanov Station is in your hands, I no longer need to clone myself further.” Ik-Go said. Janko stood up and saluted.

“I may not have known you long, but you were a great help to me and the galaxy.” Janko said. “You shall be remembered; I will ensure it.”

“Thank you for the gesture.” Ik-Go replied with a sad smile. “Now I suppose we should take our leave now. Mandalore awaits.”

“I will stay here until my wife is cleared to go.” Anakin said. “I will arrive to Mandalore once she is cleared.”

“I will stay here with Master Kenobi in the meantime.” Ik-Go added. “Until he is healed, he should not be left alone.”

“Then it’s settled.” Janko replied. “Ahsoka, Bo-Katan, and I will take the Falcon back to Mandalore. Anakin, once Padme is cleared from the medical wing, take the skiff. Ik-Go, contact me once Obi-wan Kenobi has been cleared to leave the medical wing.”

“That will be arranged.” Ik-Go replied. Everyone left the conference room and headed to their specific destination. Once the Millennium Falcon was fueled up and rearmed, the freighter lifted off from the asteroid’s landing platform and flew to the designated jump point before making the jump into hyperspace.

TBC…

 

@Ewok Poet and @Cowgirl Jedi 1701

Someone actually drew fanart of my fic. I was on reddit one day and this artist posted on the Fanfiction subreddit wanting to draw OCs. I asked and the next morning, he delivered this drawing of Janko.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BWSuB0lgTwz/

It's amazing, despite not being in color.

 

Cool.

 

Ewok Poet and Cowgirl Jedi 1701

EDIT: Chapter rewritten and renumber to my new writing standards.
---------------

Janko, Ahsoka, and Bo-Katan returned to Mandalore as fast as the Millenium Falcon could take them. Thankfully, it appeared that the Empire were focusing on other targets for the time being, as Mandalore was not occupied once the ship arrived on Sundari. And thus, the hard work truly began. A few days after arriving back on Mandalore, Janko stood on the podium of the Royal Palace, addressing the citizens below. While the scars of war were still present to see, much of the city was looking much better than before, with debris cleaned away and damaged buildings being repaired. The people below seemed apprehensive; this was Janko’s first public speech since being named the new Manda’lor.

“People of Mandalore.” Janko stated, the holocameras projecting his appearance and voice throughout Mandalore and Concordia. “Mandalore is no longer in a state of open conflict after a few difficult and destructive long months of civil war. The time has come to rebuild what was destroyed and come together as one people. No longer should we continue to squabble between ourselves, arguing about our past. It is time to look to the future, a future which holds great promise if we work hard to improve ourselves. But, advancing to such a future will be a very difficult journey, for despite achieving peace after years of political and cultural turmoil, Mandalore is in grave danger once again.”

The crowd below murmured in worry. Despite the recent civil war lasting less than half a year, it was incredibly brutal, and the thought of another war occurring didn’t particularly sit well with the populace.

“The Galactic Republic, the once shining beacon of democracy, has been replaced with an authoritarian regime now known as the Galactic Empire. The Empire is not going to share the same tolerant view of us as the Republic once did. They are coming, this is not a prediction. They are coming no matter if we are peaceful or not. They will come for our resources, our history, and our people and take it all away.” Janko continued, his tone becoming ever more incendiary. “We are facing a crisis that has not been seen in hundreds of years. This is a matter of survival. The cataclysm that destroyed much of Mandalore’s surface will look like a minor dispute compared to what we may face. Mandalore, I implore you; do you want the Empire to destroy us? Do you want live?”

The crowd rose up in cheers, seemingly throwing their support to their new leader.

“Listen carefully, my comrades.” Janko said calmly after the crowd quieted down. “We won’t be the only group of people to be oppressed by the Empire. There are already signs that the Empire is mistreating non-Human species. If the oppressed come here, help them feel welcome. We have a common enemy in the Empire, we will not stoop to their level in conducting xenophobia and discrimination.”

The crowd murmured once again.

“Comrades, we have much work to do. For the sake of our lives, for the sake of our homes, for the sake of the Soviet Union, we are not yet lost! URAAA!!”

The crowd roared back before Janko turned and reentered the Palace. Ahsoka and Bo-Katan were inside, looking thoughtful.

“You’re quite the orator, Mandalore.” Bo-Katan said.

“Are you using the Force to influence the crowd?” Ahsoka asked. Janko looked bewildered at that.

“You can do that?”

‘Oops.’ Ahsoka thought as she quickly clammed up. Janko brushed aside the topic for the time being.

“The fact of the matter is, everything I have said here is true and is what I genuinely believe.” Janko said. “The Empire is without a doubt going to demand our subservience and I have no intention of giving in. Not after what I’ve seen all my life.”
“I will respect whatever decision you take.” Bo-Katan replied. “That said, what do you have planned right now?”

“First, I am going to establish a proper permanent government to get things back on track. The provisional government has outlived its usefulness and now it’s time for me to put my vision in place.” Janko explained. “After the most critical functions of the government is set up, we are going to focus all of our efforts in building up the armed forces. It is undeniable that the Empire is far more powerful than we are currently, but if we can build up enough forces by the time the Empire arrives, then we stand a chance at maintaining our independence. While we can use Stakhanov Station’s droid factories as a stop gap for our ground forces, we still need to train enough men so that the droids would only be a supplementary part of the army rather than a backbone.”

“How will Skyguy and Master Kenobi factor into this?” Ahsoka asked.

“While I hope to secure Kenobi’s services as a general, Anakin Skywalker’s situation is a little more complicated. Despite the fact that I would love to retain his services as a war hero, I still need to keep in mind that he now has a wife and children to look after. I’ll have to discuss this with Anakin once he returns from Polis Massa.” Janko answered. “Bo, I know this will be hard to hear, but I will have to disband Death Watch. I cannot have the stigma of its past poisoning the populace against us.”

Bo-Katan, looking confused and a little hurt, looked at him questioningly.

“Death Watch will be reorganized into the Blue Guards.” Janko explained. “Their mission will be primarily to defend Mandalore, with a secondary focus on special operations. I have no doubt in the abilities of the commandos, but they require a new, more beneficial focus rather than a return to the ancient barbaric ways.”

“I understand.” Bo-Katan replied, feeling better. “I don’t think many of them will be happy about this.”

“If there are any complaints, I’m sure you can handle them.” Janko said. “I’m appointing you as the new Head of the Blue Guards. You are the only person I can trust to do the job.”

“Thank you, Manda’lor.” Bo-Katan said.

“Go start recruiting. We have a long road ahead of us.”

Bo-Katan saluted and departed. Ahsoka and Janko also left the balcony and headed inside. As they walked to Janko’s private quarters, Ahsoka took notice of Janko’s body language. He looked very tired, a rock-solid form of tension gripping his body like a vice. Once the pair reach the quarters, Janko collapsed on one of the sofas, letting out a long growl of frustration.

“Dank farrik, why do I have to be such a bleeding heart?” Janko complained. “I wasted all my life fighting for the sake of others. And the one time where I get the chance to live for myself, I end up fighting for the sake of others anyway because I can’t stand the injustice the Empire represents.”

“Look at it this way, if you win the war against the Empire, there would be less suffering in the galaxy to affect people. That is what the Jedi were meant to do before the Clone Wars.” Ahsoka replied, sitting next to Janko.

“Such a victory would take years to accomplish.” He sighed. “I hope I don’t end up working myself to death in the end.”

“Don’t worry. While you certainly would work hard to your goals, I’ll make sure you don’t go overboard.” Ahsoka replied.

“That would be nice. Feel like a day off tomorrow? Before the hard work really begins?”

“That would be nice.”

“Indeed.”



-o0o-



A month after arriving to Mandalore, Janko was waiting on Sundari’s landing pad, watching as Padme’s skiff touched down in front of him. After the ramp lowered, Padme walked down, pushing a hover stroller with the twins inside. Behind her was Anakin pushing Obi-wan on his hoverchair. The tension between the both of them was palpable as they stopped next to Padme. Lastly was Ik-Go, who looked much worse for wear compared to the last time Janko saw him.

“I am quite interested to know what happened between the two of you once Kenobi awoke.” Janko commented. Anakin cringed while Obi-wan took a deep sigh.

“Let’s just say we came to an agreement about our future plans.” Obi-wan said. “Please don’t ask for details.”

“Right…” Janko said, nodding slowly. “Welp, let’s get you to the Armorer. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind fashioning you a pair of legs at my request.”

“Thank you.” Obi-wan said as the group left the landing pad and headed into Sundari itself.



-o0o-



The following months saw Janko put his nose to the grind. Almost every day there was something to do, whether it be training with the Jedi on lightsaber combat and the Force, training with Bo-Katan on Mandalorian customs, traditions, and fighting techniques, or running the government. Whatever it was, Janko recognized that every little bit of training and knowledge helps to improve Mandalore’s situation in the galaxy. Meanwhile, Stakhanov Station was pumping out war materials at a frenetic pace, constructing everything from warships, to tanks, starfighters, blasters, and various logistical materials. The Blue Guards, as well as the regular Mandalorian military, steadily increased in numbers, now ranging to around ninety thousand personnel. The top military experts concluded that while this number is too small to sustain a long military campaign, it is however large enough to delay any invasion until outside reinforcements can arrive. With the Empire wrapping up its subjugation of the former Separatist territories, Janko and all of Mandalore waited with bated breath as the date of the Empire’s arrival to Mandalore seemed to draw ever so closer. Without such distractions, the Empire could focus internally. And then, it happened.

It was an ordinary day on Mandalore. Sundari was now largely restored to its pre-war appearance and the city was bustling with activity from all aspects of life. Mandalorian troops patrolled the city constantly and ordinary citizens were going about their lives, preparing for the worst. Janko’s speech from nearly a year ago was repeated regularly and as the news of the Empire’s exploits in the Outer Rim continued, a nervous tension filled the atmosphere. Their leader’s warning still rang true to this day and there is no doubt that the other settlements on the planet are in a similar state. Janko was just entering his office in the Royal Palace when Bo-Katan contacted him through his desk’s comms system. The Croatian sat down and answered the call.

“Manda’lor.” Bo-Katan reported in. “An Imperial vessel has entered the system, identified as a Venator-class Star Destroyer.”

Janko frowned. While the Empire has finally arrived to Mandalore, sending only a single capital ship seemed like a strange move. There was definitely no way a single Venator was capable of taking Mandalore.

“So, they finally noticed us? Keep an eye on that ship and report anything that occurs.” Janko said. “Also, contact Stavka and send them to my office.”

“It will be done.”

The transmission ended and Janko went ahead and contacted Obi-wan.

“General Kenobi, an Imperial ship has entered the system. Find Skywalker and Ahsoka and come to my office immediately.” Janko said.

“Oh dear. I’ll get to it right away.”

Janko slumped back on his chair, sighing. He then got up and fetched his armor from a closet nearby and put it on. Whatever the situation, he will be ready.

A short time later, a large group of people entered Janko’s office, including Obi-wan and the Jedi. The other guests were Stavka, a group of men and women dressed in decorative armor that distinguished their area of responsibility. Janko stood behind his desk and pulled up a live map of the Mandalore system through the desk’s holoprojector.

“Fifteen minutes ago, I was made aware of an Imperial capital ship entering this system. According to General Bo-Katan Kryze, who informed me of this ship, it is Venator-class carrier and is currently alone.” Janko started. “While I am very confident that we can take on this ship by itself, I am concerned as to why there is only one ship right now. Do any of you have ideas as to what’s going on?”

A blond-haired woman of medium height raised her hand. Her armor was light and bore the symbol of the MSI, Mandalorian Soviet Intelligence.

“Director Mudhorn, what do you have?”

“We believe this is an envoy sent with the objective of taking control of the system through non-violent means. By presenting a very small force, the Empire can save resources otherwise used for war and ease the minds of their hosts of any nervousness brought by an invasion fleet.” The intelligence director explained. At that, Janko snorted.

“There will be no negotiations with the Empire.” Janko stated. “This type of government will take advantage of any concessions we might provide to the fullest extent. We cannot give up a centimeter for them to take a kilometer.”

The members of Stavka nodded in agreement, as well as Anakin and Ahsoka. Obi-wan remained apprehensive. The map of the Mandalore system then started showing a single shuttle exiting from the Venator Star Destroyer’s upper hangar.

“There’s our visitor. I will take two guards with me and head to the hangar. Ahsoka, I want to follow me at a safe distance in case things go wrong.” Janko said.

“Alright.”

“Obi-wan, Anakin, make yourselves scarce. The Empire mustn’t know you two are here.” Janko ordered.

“But what if things go so wrong that even Ahsoka can’t help?” Obi-wan asked. Janko thought for a moment.

“Ok, Obi-wan, you’ll be with Ahsoka. Everyone, move out!”

Everyone left the office, preparing for the Empire’s visit ahead.



-o0o-



Janko and the two guards he had selected entered Sundari’s landing pad just as the Imperial shuttle touched down. The shuttle’s ramp lowered to reveal a young Mirialan girl dressed in a light black garb flanked by six clone troopers. Janko eyed the Mirialan with suspicion, sensing that she was Force-sensitive.

“Good day to you, I am the Grand Inquisitor. Are you the leader of Mandalore?” The girl started off.

“Yes.” Janko replied curtly.

“Excellent, that makes things simpler.” The girl said. “With the remnants of the Separatist forces all but defeated, the Emperor has demanded more loyalty from planets within the Empire. In the coming days, a garrison of Imperial troops are expected to arrive and you are to host them. There will be more details to come regarding Mandalore’s future, but this is what is known right now.”

“Mandalore will not be accepting any Imperial influence now or in the future.” Janko replied tersely. “We already tolerated the Republic for hundreds of years; that does not mean we will accept the Empire in any capacity.”

The Grand Inquisitor frowned, a sneer of frustration etching itself on her face.

“That is not up to you. I suggest you rethink your priorities before you regret it.” The girl warned.

“My priorities are to Mandalore’s safety and success.” Janko retorted. “Which are both mutually exclusive to life under the Empire. Now begone, you are no longer welcome.”

The Grand Inquisitor became angry, taking out her lightsaber and activating it. The clone troopers raised their blasters, causing the two guards to raise their own in return.

“If you will not respect the Emperor’s rule, then you shall be replaced.” She sneered. She lunged at the Croatian, intent on killing him where he stood, but Janko smirked and unleashed a powerful Force push, sending the Inquisitor and her escort flying.

“Guards, dispatch the spares. I will deal with the Inquisitor myself.” Janko ordered. The two Mandalorians nodded and quickly shot all of the clones before they could react. The Grand Inquisitor stood up and stared at the man in front of her.

“You’re a Jedi!?” She exclaimed. Janko chuckled as he drew the Darksaber and activated it.

“Not quite, but they have proven to be useful allies.” He said, shifting into stance. He felt a tidal wave of anger wash over him as the Mirialan grabbed the two Mandalorian guards with the Force and promptly crushed their necks, killing both instantly. After throwing the bodies off to the side, the Grand Inquisitor drew her lightsaber again and charged. The spinning double blades force Janko on the backfoot, unsure of how to deal with the unfamiliar weapon.

“I’m going to destroy you!” The Grand Inquisitor shrieked, rushing her opponent faster. “I’m going to make you wish you were never born!”

Janko stuck his blade forward, clashing with the inquisitor’s red blade and stopping it from spinning further. The two began to clash blades furiously, trying to break each other’s defenses. Unfortunately for Janko, the Grand Inquisitor was much better with the blade than he was, as she scored several glancing hits on Janko’s armor. Cursing his inexperience with lightsaber combat compared to his opponent, Janko resorted to the one thing he knew would force his opponent back. Locking lightsabers once again, the Croatian carefully maneuvered his gauntlet-covered arms pointing towards the Mirialan and activated his flamethrower. The Grand Inquisitor jumped out of the way just in time, looking at Janko in shock.

“I did say I was not a Jedi.” Janko said. “Though it appears that I need more experience with the blade. Ahsoka, I believe it’s your time to shine now.”

The Togrutan stepped into the landing pad from inside. A look of surprise, shock, and disgust appeared on her face when she saw who Janko was fighting.

“Barriss.” Ahsoka sneered. “I’d never thought we would see each other again, not after what you did to me all those months ago.”

"My old friend. It's wonderful to see you again." Barriss said sarcastically. “I should’ve known you were behind this. By the way, I like what you did to your arms, it makes you more machine-like.”

“So, you’re the backstabbing bitch I’ve heard all about.” Janko growled. “I can’t believe you threw away all of those years of friendship with Ahsoka for a ****ing political statement! A misguided one at that! And don’t get me started on that senseless bombing of the Jedi Temple! That was completely stupid and counterintuitive to the message you were trying to send to the Jedi Council. You disgust me!”

“SHUT UP!”

Barris Offee screamed in rage as she let out a powerful Force push, sending Ahsoka and Janko flying off the platform. Ahsoka deftly landed on her feet near the edge, but Janko wasn’t so lucky. The man slid off the platform and fell to the ground. Before he could fall very far, he activated his jetpack and flew back to the landing pad, landing next to Ahsoka. Barriss stood at the foot of the Imperial shuttle’s loading ramp, contemplating her next move.

“We will meet again next time.” She said finally as she turned and walked up the ramp. The Imperial shuttle took off and flew back towards the waiting Star Destroyer.

“Well, that’s that, then.” Janko said. “I’m going to need a lot more lightsaber lessons with Skywalker and Kenobi after this close call of a duel.”

Ahsoka remained quiet, as the trauma of her trial resurfaced. Janko noticed this and hugged her.

“It’s okay, Ahsoka, it’s okay.” He whispered to her. “We’ll get her one day. The trial is behind you, you are safe.”

Ahsoka relaxed, after which Janko let go and started heading inside.

“Up for a spar?”

“Yeah.”

Ahsoka followed Janko into the city as the Imperial Venator made its jump into hyperspace.



-o0o-



The next three weeks saw accelerated mobilization on Mandalore and Concordia. With the Empire’s attention now focused on the system, invasion seemed imminent. Normal life on Sundari dried up; replaced by citizens preparing for the worst. Janko was monitoring the map of the Mandalore system when the map showed three ships entering the system. There were two Venators right behind a third, smaller ship of unknown origin.

All across the planet, air raid sirens began to wail as all citizens began to take cover inside their homes and Mandalorian troops took their positions. The Jedi, as well as top military officials, arrived at Janko’s office at his request and gathered around his desk, still portraying the live Mandalore system map.

“Alright, let’s get started.” Janko began. “One hour ago, two Imperial capital ships and one ship of unknown origin entered the system. After observation, I have determined that the two Star Destroyers are in pursuit of the smaller unknown ship. Director Mudhorn, do you have any information on this unknown ship?”

The Intelligence Director shook her head in bemusement.

“We could not trace the origin of this ship nor where it came from. We scanned every possible existing design in the wider Holonet and none of them match what we see here.” The blond woman stated. She pressed a few buttons on the desk’s holoprojector, zooming in on the small unknown ship. The ship was long and sleek with two turrets attached to the top and bottom of the body. The nose was pointed in a way that reminded Janko of the steel naval ships back on Earth. The whole thing resembled something that could’ve been dreamt up by a Japanese science fiction author.

“I see.” Janko replied thoughtfully. “Admiral Mirallas, get the Home Defense Fleet in and save this ship.”

The Admiral saluted and left Janko’s office. After watching the chase between the Venators and the small ship, Obi-wan spoke up.

“The pilot of this ship seems to be pulling off some outstanding maneuvers.” He commented. “This person is strong in the Force.”

“Then it is even more imperative that we save them.” Janko said. “Any Force-user we bring to our side gives us a much-needed advantage against the Empire.”



-o0o-



The captain of the Venator Star Destroyer Recluse smiled as his ship and the Venerable were almost within tractor beam range of the fleeing ship. The strange-looking humanoid had some very interesting technology that the Emperor would no doubt be interested in. But the foolish creature, for whatever reason, was very reluctant to give up her things, so she fled and now headed to the dissident system of Mandalore. Judging by the violence of maneuvers this girl was putting her ship through, the captain reasoned that it must be a Jedi outlaw, a target for execution. While normally he would’ve blasted the ship apart, the technology was too good to pass up. Suddenly, an alarm rang out on the bridge.

“Captain! A fleet of unknown capital-sized ships are jumping out of hyperspace in front of us.” One of the clone deck officers shouted. The captain watched in confusion and fear as dozens of large warships jumped into the star system right in front of his contingent. The red stars emblazoned on the newcomers burned angrily as the Imperial ships held their fire and stopped. Another clone deck officer spoke up.

“Sir, incoming transmission from Mandalore.” He said.

“Patch it through.”

The hologram of a Mandalorian appeared on the holotable in the bridge.

“Imperial ships, you are trespassing in Mandalorian space. Leave now, or else we will fire.” The hologram said.

“But we’re attempting to catch a fugitive.” The captain of the Recluse argued. “We need to bring this criminal to justice.”

“I do not care.” The Mandalorian replied flatly. “I will not repeat myself. Leave or die.”

The Imperial officer visibly deflated as he saw the opposing warship point their cannons at them. The fugitive ship ducked into the formation and flew out of sight, presumably heading towards Mandalore itself.

“We’ll leave immediately.” The captain conceded. He knew there was no way he was getting past that huge fleet without getting blasted to pieces. After ordering both of the ships under his command to turn around, the Empire’s Star Destroyers jumped into hyperspace.



-o0o-



Janko and a pair of guards awaited in the hangar as the small ship from before landed. A hooded figure climbed out of the cockpit and jumped down to the floor.

"Thank you, Mandalorian, for saving me." A feminine voice said. "The Empire was after my home's technology after I accidentally revealed myself in an Imperial world. I could not let it fall to their hands, so I hoped to escape here."

"Before we get to your technology, who are you and why would revealing yourself cause problems?" Janko asked.

"I do not wish to reveal myself after the events my ancestors orchestrated many thousands of years ago. My kind weren't exactly liked when people still knew us." The figure said. "I'm afraid they still don't."

"What events?" Janko asked.

"I can't…" The figure said.

"Look, a mysterious person chased by the Empire is already suspicious enough. I can't tell if you are an Imperial spy or not. So, please, who are you and what's going on?" Janko said firmly.

"I understand." The figure said. "If there's no other choice, so be it. At least this isn't Imperial territory."

The figure removed her cloak, revealing an Asian-looking girl with black hair, cat ears, and a tail.

"My name is Ayano Keita. I am a scientist from Nekohime, the homeworld of the Nekomimi."

 

Ewok Poet and Cowgirl Jedi 1701

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"My name is Ayano Keita. I am a scientist from Nekohime, the home of the Nekomimi."

Janko stood dumbfounded as the scientist fidgeted apprehensively in front of her ship.

'Cat ears? Cat tail?' Janko thought. 'On a girl? I can't help but think that is adorable. Cute! I want to protect her from the galaxy.'

"Welcome to Mandalore, despite the unfortunate circumstances that befell you. My name is Janko and I rule over the system." Janko said, after regaining his composure. "If you want, I can arrange a suite for you at the nearest hotel."

The catgirl smiled.

"That would be nice." She said. "But tell me, do you think you could beat the Empire by yourself?"

Janko paused.

"I'm preparing to be able to beat the Empire by myself." Janko said slowly. "I believe with more time, I can beat the Empire in battle."

"But time is precious, isn't it?" Ayano said. "You don't know when the Empire will attack. It could be tomorrow or it could be next month. Are you prepared to fight the Empire now?"

Janko couldn't answer decisively.

"I don't know…"

The Neko gave a short chuckle before turning away.

"Now that's not good, isn't it? The Empire could commit its full might against you if they choose and you would lose. If, however, the people of Nekohime and its colonies decide to remain isolated." Ayano explained.

"What are you getting at?" Janko asked. Ayano smirked as she swished her tail around.

"I was sent here on behalf of the Neko government to join you on your quest to fight the Empire. They are a reminder of our dark past and we don't want it repeated." Ayano said. "However, I am only the messenger. It would be best if you go to Nekohime for negotiations."

"I will go." Janko said immediately. "First, how in the world did you get attacked by the Empire?"

"They attempted to stop me for a random search. However, I have technology that must stay out of the Empire's hands, so I ran for it." Ayano said sheepishly. "If you want, I can show it to you."

"Please do, I'm curious." Janko said. Remembering the guards, he turned to them.

"You two are dismissed."

The guards nodded and left the hangar. Ayano climbed into her ship and pulled out three things. The first was some sort of glowing blue gem. The second was what looked like to be a flight suit with a metal box and boot. The final item, to Janko's surprise, was regular rifle, something he thought only existed on Earth.

"What is this?" He asked. "This rifle looks like it came from home…"

"This is the equipment of a Neko Skytrooper. An interesting fact about us is that around 90% of us are Force sensitive, a result of generations of genetic modification. The Skytrooper equipment uses the Force to operate, with often devastating effect." Ayano said. "Allow me to demonstrate. I develop these as well as serving in the army for a few years, so watch."

Ayano put on the flight suit, attached the gem to the collar of the flight suit and picked up the rifle.

"You might want to go outside. I will be using live spells as part of the demonstration." She said.

"Spells?" Janko asked.

"The blue gem on my neck is a calculation gem. It channels the Force through it to allow the user to do things the Force doesn't normally do, like battlefield healing and what I will demonstrate."

Janko nodded and walked to the outside, the vast desert greeting him. He turned to the Neko, watching her with great intent.

Ayano smirked and shot up straight into the sky. Janko widened his eyes in surprise.

'She can fly! I guess that's why the Skytroopers are called that.' Janko thought as he watched Ayano do tricks and such. After a few moments, Ayano stopped and hovered in place. Janko watched as Ayano lifted the rifle, point it at a group of rocks, and fired. Janko heard a bang from the rifle and a streak of light sailed out and hit the spot where the Neko was aiming at. To his shock, the area where the shot hit exploded, sending dirt, sand, and rocks flying in the air.

"Wow…" He said, amazed and impressed at the display. Ayano flew back to the landing pad and gently landed on her feet.

"So, what do you think?" Ayano asked.

"What an amazing piece of hardware! I am speechless. This would be so damned useful in the battlefield and even in space." Janko remarked.

"Actually, the flight suit isn't space-proof. Skytroopers have a maximum altitude they could climb to before running into altitude sickness. Space combat in these are out of the question." Ayano said.

"But I'm sure with a little modification, these suits can be used in space and help destroy capital ships and starfighters alike." Janko said. "Nothing is impossible if you put your mind to it."

"It isn't as easy as it looks, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there. We should get to Nekohime." Ayano said.

"All right. But first, you must rest. I'm sure your ordeal had drained you." Janko said, starting to leave the hangar. Ayano smiled and nodded. The guards awaited with a speeder. Once both Janko and Ayano were in the speeder, it took them first to the hotel, where Ayano was dropped off, then to Military Headquarters.

"Skywalker, Kenobi, Ik-Go, Tano, the threat is clear. Report to Headquarters." Janko said through his commlink. All four reported confirmations and hung up. Janko waited for a few minutes until the Jedi arrived. Once they did, Janko went down to business.

"All right. I have news. The pilot we saved from the Empire is a scientist from the planet Nekohime. She looks like a human, but has cat ears and a tail. She came to us because her government want to meet with me on Nekohime." Janko said. "What are your thoughts?"

"We don't know much about the Neko." Obi-wan said. "The Temple Archives reveal nothing but vague references with girls with cat ears. Any history they have is lost to us."

"They did mention a dark history, but didn't go in depth." Janko said. "Anyway, I'm going to Nekohime, the capital of the catgirl's government on a diplomatic trip. Do any of you want to come?"

"I'll stay." Obi-wan said. "I do not want to involve myself in any more diplomatic missions just yet."

"I'll also stay. I want to defend Mandalore just in case." Ik-Go replied.

"What about you two?" Janko asked.

"I'll come." Ahsoka said. "I'm curious about these Nekos."

"Same here." Anakin said. "Padme and kids won't mind if I go on a little trip. I also want to know what the Nekos are like."

"It's decided then. The Jedi Masters will stay here and defend Mandalore while Anakin, Ahsoka, and I will go to Nekohime." Janko said. "If a situation arises, contact me immediately."

"Will do." Ik-Go said.

-o0o-

The next day…

The Millennium Falcon sat in the hangar next to the hangar housing Ayano's ship. The spaceport's ground crew were loading up the Falcon with necessary provisions. Ahsoka and Anakin sat in the cockpit preparing for takeoff as Janko sat behind them.

"Where did you find this piece of junk, Ahsoka?" Anakin asked. "It's beautiful. I never thought to see a Class 0.5 hyperdrive on anything. The defensive weapons are pretty strong as well."

"I picked it up on Coruscant. Thanks for helping me out." Ahsoka said. "The credits were very helpful."

"We're going in this thing? I hope it doesn't fall apart." Ayano said as she entered the cockpit of the Falcon.

"Ayano! Nice of you to join us." Janko said. "Shame what happened to your ship."

"Yeah. It's going to take a while to get a new hyperdrive from Nekohime. Those things aren't cheap." Ayano replied. "Anyway, the Skytrooper equipment has been stored in the hold, we have enough supplies for the entire two-week trip, and the proton torpedo tubes are loaded."

"We got torpedos?" Janko asked.

"Yeah. I replaced the concussion missile launchers with proton torpedo launchers." Ahsoka said. "I don't find concussion missiles to be useful in most of the situations we might end up in."

"Fair enough. Shall we get going?" Janko said.

"Let's go."

Anakin and Ahsoka started up and Falcon and departed from the hangar. Once they were in space, the Falcon jumped into hyperspace.

-o0o-

A few days later, the Falcon jumped out of hyperspace in the Dorin System to change hyperspace lanes. Suddenly, two Arquitens-class light cruisers and two Quasar Fire-class light carriers jumped out of hyperspace near the Millennium Falcon. The cockpit became tense as the Imperial ships flew close by.

"I hope they don't recognize us." Ayano said.

"Pretty sure the Imperials has a registry of civilian ships and considering we are in an armed freighter…" Janko said, trailing off.

The freighter shook as it was hit. It was clear the Empire knew who owned the Falcon and they wanted her dead.

"Ayano, Janko, take the guns! We'll outfly them." Anakin said. Janko and Ayano nodded and left the cockpit. Ayano went down to the bottom gun while Janko went top. V-wings were already attacking the freighter in force while the cruisers and light carriers were firing their turbolasers.

Janko and Ayano fired back, taking down a few V-wings. Anakin and Ahsoka, piloting the Falcon, began maneuvering wildly to avoid the cruisers fire. Anakin began preparations for the jump to hyperspace when another light cruiser appeared right in front of them, blocking the way.

"Ahsoka, ready the proton torpedoes. We're going to blast our way through." Anakin said. Ahsoka nodded and pushed some buttons and pulled a lever.

"Torpedoes ready."

Anakin leveled the ship and zoomed straight for the Arquitens and fired the torpedoes. Two proton torpedoes exited the Falcon's torpedo launchers and sailed right to the light cruiser's bridge. The bridge exploded, causing the rest of the light cruiser to explode as well. Anakin dodged out of the way of the destroyed cruiser and made the jump to hyperspace, to everyone's relief.

-o0o-

The rest of the trip proceeded without further incident. The Falcon jumped out of hyperspace in the Nekromada System. Ahead was the lush world of Nekohime, the group's destination. Parts of Nekohime was covered in dense forest, with lakes and snow topped mountains dotting the surface. It reminded Anakin and Ahsoka of Alderaan.

The Falcon landed in the capital city of Nyandar. A group of armed guards awaited the Falcon's arrival, along with what seemed to be a government official.

"Welcome to Nekohime." The government official said. "My name is Yui Kotegawa, the Foreign Minister of the Neko Republic. The Premier apologizes for unable to meet you in person, but she was caught up in important state matters and will not be available until tomorrow."

"That's fine." Janko said. "We do need a bit of a breather after our long trip. It took us two weeks to get here and we were attacked on the way as well."

"Understandable. Please follow me. We will take you to your hotel. We have rooms prepared for you." Yui said. The group followed the Foreign Minister to an awaiting speeder. Once everyone was in, the speeder started going down the road. Nyandar was not a city built like Taris or Coruscant, resulting in the use of roads instead of designated airways. The government speeder drove through the congested city streets, heading for the hotel. Anakin, Ahsoka, and Janko took the opportunity to observe the city itself. There were people everywhere. Nekos populated the sidewalks, some going to work, some going to lunch, others sightseeing. The most unsettling fact was the almost all the Nekos were female, with the occasional male.

"Ayano, how come there are more girls than men outside?" Ahsoka asked.

"Right, I forgot to mention this. Our species produces more females than males, because of our genetic manipulation. The average ratio of female to male is nine to one. Some areas might get more females, others get less. The highest ratio recorded in one area was seventeen to one, while the lowest was five to one." Ayano said. "With such a high number of females, monogamy was made illegal thousands of years ago and remains to this day."

Anakin could only raise an eyebrow while Ahsoka looked slightly off put. Janko, meanwhile, continued to look out the window, observing the Neko populace. He only half-listened to Ayano's explanation, preferring to look outside in utter awe and adoration.

"We're here." The driver said, pulling the speeder over and stopping on the shoulder. Before them, a tall building with the title "Hotel Nekopara" stood. Anakin, Ahsoka, and Janko got out while Ayano remained inside.

"This is the hotel you will be staying at. Feel free to rest or explore Nyandar." Yui said. "I will return tomorrow morning. Have a nice day."

"I will also see you later." Ayano said. "I have to return the Skytrooper equipment and get back to work."

"Good bye." Janko said. The speeder pulled away and drove off.

"Well, what shall we do first?" Janko asked.

"I'm beat." Anakin said. "I want to rest."

"Same." Ahsoka replied.

"Well, let's go inside. We'll rest, then we'll go explore the city." Janko said. "Alright?"

"Yeah. I can do that." Anakin said. The trio entered the hotel, got a room key, and promptly fell asleep on the soft beds.

TBC….

 

I can't tell yet if this cat girl is for real, or if it's a setup. But even if she is for real, with Anakin along, they'll probably manage to get into trouble anyway.

 

@Ewok Poet and @Cowgirl Jedi 1701

It's been a while, huh? Writer's block is a huge problem for me, but lately, I found enough energy to complete this chapter.

This chapter covers a part of the Neko's history, so enjoy.

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After they rested for an hour, Janko, Anakin, and Ahsoka woke up from their nap, feeling refreshed for the moment. It was late afternoon in Nyandar and rush hour was slowly starting to pick up. The group decided to explore the city and possibly grab something to eat. As they were entering the hotel lobby, a male Neko in an official uniform stopped them.

"Anakin, Janko, and Ahsoka, it's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Mako Fujin and I will be your guide for today." He said.

"Guide?" Janko asked.

"Yes. As you are our important guests, we would like to invite you to a tour of our capital city of Nyandar. This place is rich in history and in culture, and I'm sure you would love to know more." Mako said. The trio looked fascinated, wondering at what sort of history the Nekos held.

"Alright, follow me. We will take a Sky Taxi to our first landmark, the Statue of Rikko-sama the First." Mako continued. "Sky Taxis are the only vehicles in Nyandar allowed to fly over the city, apart from the military. They are the city's public transport. As rush hour is approaching, we should expect more of them in the skies very soon."

The guide led Anakin, Ahsoka, and Janko to a Sky Taxi stop, where a Sky Taxi, which was a regular speeder colored in yellow and red checkers, waited for customers. The group entered the taxi and sat down. Mako informed the driver of the destination and soon, the Sky Taxi was flying through the Nyandar airspace. A few minutes later, the Sky Taxi landed in one of the many parks in the city.

"Rikko-sama's statue is located at the center of the park, so follow me." Mako said. He led the visitors through the duracrete path to the center of the park. A few Neko families (consisting of one male, several females, and many children, most of whom were little girls) were seen playing in the various parts of the park, which included a playground, widespread fields, and a small wooded area. Janko watched these Neko families with fascination, the little Neko children he thought were adorable.

The group stopped at a statue of a very short Neko female with an eye patch covering her left eye. The statue was grinning widely and held a sword pointed forward in her right hand.

"This is Rikko-sama the First, the first Empress of Nekohime and the founder of our Empire before it's dissolution. Around 30,000 to 25,000 years ago, the Infinite Empire conquered and enslaved our people, using our Force-sensitivity to power their technology. They touched on the Dark Side of the Force, using our anger, fear, and suffering to be converted into energy that ran their war machine. It was a Dark Age, but there was one light at the end of the tunnel." Mako started telling the history of the Nekos.

"Rikko-sama was a slave to the Infinite Empire, her sole purpose was as a test subject to a Rakatan microbiologist. This microbiologist specialized with how the Force is able to exist within a body. Experiments included taking away one's Force-sensitivity, add Force-sensitivity to one who had not, and other vile experiments involving the Force.

"These experiments were cruel in nature and Rikko-sama suffered through the pain of repeated removal and addition of her Force powers. One day, her Master was working on a plague intended to control the various Force-sensitive species when Rikko-sama snapped. She had recently been tested on with a powerful supplement that increased her Force-powers ten-fold, which resulted in the destruction of the biologist's lab and her escape. What we found out later, the microbiologist (who barely escaped with his life) had gotten infected with one of his own diabolical creations.

"What a stroke of luck that was for our people. This plague affected only the Rakata, cutting off their Force-abilities before succumbing to the illness. The plague had quickly spread across Nekohime, reducing the number of occupiers to the point that once we rebelled, we were victorious. During the revolt, Rikko-sama led our people in battle against the Rakata, and once Nekohime was freed, we continued to other worlds, freeing the other oppressed species from Rakatan rule. The plague that began on our planet had spread further to other planets, and nearly exterminated the vile Rakata. In a span of a few decades, the Infinite Empire was no more and their people nowhere to be found. The slaves of the Empire were free and it was a time to rebuild. Rikko-sama, at that point, had become old and a successor to our new government had to be chosen. We will get to that shortly."

Mako finished this part of Neko history with a sigh. The three visitors looked thoughtful, respecting the struggles the Nekos went through long time ago.

"It is interesting to hear about the history before the Republic." Ahsoka said. "Back in the Jedi Temple, we were told of the exploits of our precursors, the Je'daii, against the Rakatans and how they repelled them from invading Tython."

"You were the lucky ones." Mako said. "We were just getting ourselves into space when the Infinite Empire invaded. Our next destination will be the Temple of Sorrows, located in the Southern district. After that, we will go somewhere to eat."

"The Temple of Sorrows?" Janko asked.

"The Temple of Sorrows is a memorial of our greatest shame. The repercussions of our actions during the Purification Age is immortalized in this temple and to this day, we still hear the haunts of those who died."

Janko and the Jedi looked at each other in concern. After a brief Sky Taxi trip to the Southern District, the group arrived at the Temple of Sorrows. It was a dark, foreboding building with small windows everywhere and statues of a canine-like predator sitting on the outcrops.

"Before I can discuss the Purification Age, I must preface with how it started." Mako said as everyone walked to the Temple.

"So Rikko-sama was on her deathbed and there was a debate on who was to succeed our first Empress. After a few years, Rikko-sama chose her second-in-command, Dita Katawa, to take her place as our leader. Now Dita was a brilliant military leader, having won several battles during the War for Freedom. Unknown to us at the time, the period in Rakatan slavery had twisted us in bad way. The hatred, suffering, and pain we felt during that period had turned us into a bloodthirsty, xenophobic race of warmongers, hell-bent on destroying every single sentient species in the galaxy. Dita was not immune to this mindset. Inevitably, we would come into conflict with our neighboring star systems."

Mako looked grim as everyone entered the Temple of Sorrows. The atrium featured the statues of several beings that Janko, Ahsoka, and Anakin have never seen before. These beings were placed above doorways that led into several rooms, full of artifacts and holopics.

"After a period of buildup and mobilization, we went to war. Now let's go here into the first area, which was our first conquests."

The group entered the room on the far left. Several mock ups of unrecognized species stood in the middle of the room while the walls were covered in footage of great space battles and trench warfare.

"These people were the sentients of the neighboring planets that now make up the Colonies. They were the first to stand against the Neko armadas in the opening stages. And they fell quickly. We took no prisoners, any enemy before us was not to be left alive. Once their planets fell, we rounded up everyone and exterminated them by the thousands. While all that was going on, colonists from Nekohime migrated to the replace the precursors. We cannot remember the names of these species, as later in the Purification Age, our top officials attempted to erase the existence of the species we killed off. The erasure was partially complete when the Sakura Coup brought an end to the Purifier leadership and replaced it with a more pacifist one. I will go into detail about that as I go.

"The planets we control ourselves presently, aka the Colonies, was a relatively short campaign, as the neighbors were caught completely unprepared. The word of our attack had spread quickly, and other beings outside of our immediate region joined in the fight. By the time our offensive had ended, all of the Colonies had been captured and we began to enter the rest of the Unknown Regions."

The group moved on to the next room. This room contained only one species, an aquatic species that resembled many crustaceans found throughout the Galaxy. Holopics of high seas and underwater warfare dominated the wall while several of the mock-ups of crustacean generals and their technology stood at various spaces.

This species, which we call the Kokakurui as the original name is lost to history, was our first great challenge. The Kokakurui were a warrior race that live on Suisei, their homeworld. Suisei was an ocean world dotted with many small islands. They held an honor system in which they went to the defense of their weaker neighbors against any threat they deem to be too strong, which we fell under. Their stellar fleet was defeated in good order by us, but the Invasion of Suisei was a different story. During the opening stages, we were unfamiliar with waterborne combat, as we were primarily experts in space and on land. This resulted in catastrophic losses in the beginning, so much so that we withdrew from the planet and resolved to blockade it until we perfected the knowledge of water warfare."

As Mako further describe Janko looked horrified as Anakin and Ahsoka maintained a guarded expression.

"Once we figured out how to fight the Kokakurui, we invaded the planet again. This time, we were able to take it, though it took 13 years and millions of losses." Mako continued. Janko decided to speak up.

"How long did this Purification Age last?" He asked. Mako sighed, looking ashamed.

"This lasted 300 years. 300 years of constant fighting and exterminating. No doubt it would've lasted longer had the Sakura Coup failed." Mako replied. He looked at his watch and twitched an ear.

"For the interest of time, we will look at the other defeated species later." Mako said, as he started leading his guests to the exit. "The Sakura Coup occurred 260 years after the final defeat of the Kokakurui. During that time, the Nekos that stayed at home, manufacturing and other duties, began to mellow out, their hatred of foreign species began to dwindle. As the years passed, many started to question why we started fighting in the first place. This continued to why we still fight, as we started to get sick of losing more women to the front lines. The sentiment spread into the armed forces and very quickly we began to retreat. Niimi, the Empress of the Imperial Neko Empire at the time, saw the writing in the wall and knew it wouldn't be long until a civil war would break out. To prevent that, she gathered her most trusted elite guards and arrested all of the Purification supporters and quietly executed them. Our forces, meanwhile, retreated all the way back to the Colonies, and stayed there. Our enemies launched one last offensive before Empress Niimi could send out the message to them that we were done.

"We held the line and inflicted grievous losses on their ships. After they retreated, Empress Niimi sent out the following.

"'To the brave soldiers of the [enemy] armies. The Neko government has been purged of all hostile to you. We want to end the fighting for good. We are willing to negotiate a peace if you are willing.'"

Janko looked nervous at that. That sounded like the end of World War I, which ended up causing the Weltkrieg 20 years later due to the armistice at Versailles.

"What happened next?" He asked.

"Our enemies tried to force several unfair conditions, among them hefty reparations, but we refused. We were willing to sign an armistice, not a surrender. They attacked our fleets again for the next several months, but after several fruitless attempts, they conceded to sign the armistice. Among the requirements was to erase any mention of us in their histories; we had no desire to leave our sector of space and we like to remain in our new-found isolation from the rest of the galaxy, repenting from the sins of our mothers. No one has heard from us since then and our Empire remained at peace for the next ten thousand years." Mako explained. "That peace ended with a civil war, but that a story for another time."

Janko sighed in relief as everyone exited the Temple of Sorrows. Ahsoka and Anakin looked thoughtful.

"So, the armistice that ended your purification war is the reason why there are so little records of your existence in the galaxy?" Ahsoka asked. "That explains a lot."

"What I do want to know is how you managed to keep yourselves hidden from the rest of the galaxy when there was a period of exploration going on." Anakin said.

"Any non-Neko that stumbled upon our space was arrested by the military and had their memories wiped. In the beginning, we would just outright maroon intruders on random uninhabited planets deep in the Unknown Regions. As our memory wiping technology improved, we would wipe their memories and release them back to the Galaxy at Akarui, a desert planet in the southwest region of the Unknown Regions." Mako answered. He waved down a Sky Taxi and the group traveled back to the city center. Rush hour was in full swing, as numerous Sky Taxis crossed the city skyline as the streets below were busy with speeders, both private and commercial cargo. The group's Sky Taxi landed in front of a very fancy restaurant. Numerous Nekos walked in front of the restaurant, chatting with their peers and heading to different places.

"This is the Ayanami Seafood Bar, one of the most famous restaurants in Nyandar. It was established 400 years ago by several veterans of the Rising Sun Rebellion, who served on the NEK Ayanami, the most decorated destroyer in the conflict. They specialize in seafood made from the many species of aquatic flora and fauna found in Nekohime." Mako said. "The Premier has funded our dinner for today, so eat as much as you like."

"Isn't this place expensive?" Janko said. "I'm not too comfortable about this."

"Despite its looks, this place is rather affordable to most. The only problem here is that waiting times for open tables is long, due to the popularity of the restaurant and the limited number of tables available for large groups." Mako replied. "Lucky for us, the Premier has got our table reserved, so we will not have to wait."

"This place still looks a bit much for me." Janko added. Mako seemed sheepish.

"Well, the owners did not always have the best judgement when it came to expenses. Back when the restaurant was getting popular, one of the founder's granddaughters, the new owner spent so much on getting the restaurant to look as fancy as it is that they almost went out of business. Lucky, they were able to pull through." Mako answered. The group got to the front desk, where a waitress waited for them.

"Welcome to Ayanami Seafood Bar, nya." She said. "How many?"

"We're here on behalf of the Premier." Mako said, pulling out his badge and showing the waitress. She took a look at the badge, typed something in the datapad in her hand, and nodded.

"Of course. Right this way, nya."

The waitress led the group to an empty table in the corner, where a reserved sign sat. Datapad menus also sat at each seat. She took the sign and brought up her datapad.

"There you go, nya. To order something, select the options in the datapad menu and I'll be right back with your beverages." The waitress briefly explained before leaving.

The group picked up their datapads and began to order….

TBC…..

 

It has indeed been a while. But your story is engaging as always, though I may need to read it over from the beginning to remind myself of what's going on.

 

@Cowgirl Jedi 1701 and @Ewok Poet

I apologize for my sporadic updates, but now, it's time for the war! I think that my chapters are getting progressively longer and longer, so enjoy this bit.

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


Dinner proceeded nicely. Mako spent its entirety describing the various dishes native to Nekohime, which Janko noted to be most similar to Japanese food, if his limited knowledge of Japan served him right. Soon, it was time to meet the Premier. The sun had set and the city’s nightlife had sprung to life. Mako hailed another Sky Taxi and soon he, Janko, Anakin, and Ahsoka were on their way to the Nyandar Government District. It wasn’t too long before they arrived to the Neko Parliament, where at the front steps waited several armed guards standing beside a very small Neko sitting in a hoverchair.

“Welcome, gaijins, nano.” The small Neko said. “I am the Premier of the Neko Republic, Yoshino Azuma, nano. We have much to discuss, nano.”

“I’m sure we do.” Janko said. “Janko Šerić, leader of Mandalore and soon to be Soviet Union. What can we do for you?”

“It is best if we discuss this inside my office, nano.” Yoshino replied. “This is regarding our future.”

The armed guard marched inside, leading the group to a large office where the seal of Nekohime laid plastered all over the floor. The Neko Republic flags stood at either side of the large desk that sat at the middle. Behind the desk were ornate windows that overlooked the untouched nature reserve outside. The view was quite beautiful.

“Lately (nano), government polls have revealed to us that the average Neko citizen is becoming more and more revanchist in nature (nano), due to the absence of warfare in the greater galaxy for the past years (nano). During what was called the New Sith Wars, our people were content with the footage that we smuggled out of the battlefields (nano). However, going hundreds of years without any new war footage has left our people dissatisfied and the Clone War images have either not yet been processed, or our agents were forced to discard such footage after run ins with the Empire (nano).” The Neko Premier explained. “Now it’s got to the point where the average Neko is no longer content with battlefield footage and now they want to fight (nano), and combat exercises can only do so much (nano).

“To prevent another civil war, we want you to allow us to join you in your fight against the Empire (nano).” Yoshino finished. “We will provide troops, equipment, ships, anything involving fighting a total war.”

“You are a strange bunch, finding such attraction to war.” Janko said. “For me, it was a constant fight for survival, against overwhelming odds. I did it because I had to. To free my country from its occupation. I failed however, and this is how I will redeem myself.

“I will allow it. We need all the help we can get.”

Before the Neko Premier could reply, a Neko military officer burst into the Premier’s office with worry etched to her face.

“Premier, several unauthorized ships have entered our system.” She exclaimed. “We have identified them as capital ships from the Empire.”

“How many of them are there (nano)?” The Premier demanded.

“It’s a fleet of sixteen carrier-class.” The officer replied. “The Navy isn’t prepared for battle and it will take several hours to get them ready.”

“Unbelievable, (nano)! Scramble all units and prepare for invasion.” Yoshino ordered. “I don’t understand how the Empire found us, but we must defend our homeworld.”

“U pičku materinu! They must have tracked us here.” Janko cursed. “I apologize for this, Premier Azuma.”

The Premier laughed.

“No worries, this is exactly what we want.” She said. “We only have a handful of destroyers and an old battlecruiser, so this should be a good challenge.”

Anakin and Ahsoka look at each other in incredulity. They thought the Neko were strange for taking a liking to warfare.

“If you allow,” Anakin started. “I can command the naval forces. I know every tactic used by the former Republic and I have been faced with long odds in several battles.”

“Ah yes. One of the battles we did record and save was the Battle of Bothawui. Your tactics were quite a sight to see.” Yoshino said. “Our current military strength is valued at five Harugumo-class torpedo boat destroyers, seven Yukikaze-class anti-starfighter cruisers, and a single Hime-class battlecruiser, the Asashi.”

“I’ll need to take a closer look at the ships to see how they work.” Anakin said.

“That will be arranged. There is an asteroid field beyond the fourth planet in the system, think you could use it to your advantage?” The Premier said.

“That will remain to be seen.” Anakin replied.

“I will contact the nearest Kosmoflot to help out.” Janko said. “Stakhanov Station isn’t all that far away from the Nekromada system. We might be able to get reinforcements.”

“Excellent.” Yoshino replied. “Now, let’s get moving. We have a battle to fight.”

-o0o-

It was a hectic several hours on Nekohime. The ground troops had grabbed their gear and waited at various points across the planet. The Neko warships were able to get ready for battle in three hours, much faster than anticipated. Janko had contacted the 12th Kosmoflot, stationed in the Stakhanov System, for help. The Kosmoflot were available for the fight, but it would take a few days of hyperspace travel for them to get to Nekromada. Meanwhile, Anakin had boarded the Asashi and arrived at the bridge. Various Nekos sat at their stations, ready for the coming battle. The captain of the Asashi, an older Neko who looked to be approaching forty, stood at the viewport, looking ahead.

“Welcome, General Skywalker.” The captain said. “My name is Captain Rue Gorozawa, we have our orders to follow your commands.”

“Very good.” Anakin said. “I have been briefed on the capabilities of this ship as well as our escorts. Is this the entire Neko Navy?”

“Yes. We haven’t required a large navy since the civil war.” The captain said. “The Admiral has elected to stay on the planet and analyze your actions.”

“Alright then. Take positions just outside the asteroid field and prepare the fighters to scramble.” Anakin said.

“As you wish.”

The Harugumo-class destroyers flanked the battlecruiser on each side. They, as well as the Yukikaze-class cruisers, were long skinny ships outfitted with armaments befitting of their role. The former was armed with several torpedo tubes that launched a long missile the twice the size of a conventional ship torpedo from Earth. They had enormous explosive power and had the ability to test even the strongest of particle shields. Once the shields were down, the torpedoes’ explosive power were capable of destroying enemy ships in only one or two hits. The drawback however is that these were clumsy and were vulnerable to enemy starfighters and point defense systems. The Harugumos were armed with enough torpedoes to reload the torpedo tubes four times before these destroyers were down to their turbolasers. Each ship carried four medium quad turrets, two on top and bottom, for use against smaller targets, like corvettes, light cruisers, etc.

The anti-starfighter cruisers of the Yukikaze-class, however, held no torpedo armament, opting to use a tremendous amount of light fast-firing turbolaser batteries. These turbolasers were very effective against starfighters and light ships, the sheer volume of bolts shredding any sort of shielding away, ensuring any starfighter, freighter, etc ends in a ball of fire. However, to be able to keep up with the chaos that starfighters bring with them, the Yukikazes were lightly armored to keep their speed and maneuverability up.

The Asashi was probably the only ship in the Neko Navy that was considered a capital ship. It dwarfed the escorts, being three times larger than the cruisers. The main battery consisted of three triple turrets in a super firing position. These turrets were a multipurpose armament, being able to fire both armor piercing high explosive mass driver rounds and large ion cannons for disabling shields. The turrets however had a notorious long reload time. To supplement its main battery, the Asashi was covered in various turbolaser and point defense secondary armaments, as well as carrying a few wings of starfighters and bombers. It was a fearsome foe to fight alone, but vulnerable against long odds.

The Neko Fleet reached the inner edge of the Nekromada System’s asteroid field just as the Imperial fleet reached the outer edge.

“Send the Harugumo and Goshigumo into the asteroid field and have them power down to avoid getting scanned.” Anakin said. “They know we’re here and may use the asteroid field to attack us.”

“It will be done.” Captain Gorozawa replied. She contacted the captains of both ships relaying Anakin’s orders. They replied with an affirmative and the two destroyers carefully entered the asteroid belt.

-o0o-

Meanwhile, on the other side, Barriss Offee stood watching the view ahead. She was aboard the Avenger, the ship that had served as Anakin’s second flagship after the loss of the Resolute. This was one of the few remaining Venator-class Star Destroyers that had not yet been repainted from the old Republic livery. The Avenger led the fifteen other Star Destroyers to the Neko Fleet, preparing for battle.

“Admiral, what is the current situation?” She asked Admiral Yularen, who was in command of the Imperial fleet.

“The enemy fleet is vastly inferior in numbers to us.” Yularen said. “The only hindrance is the enemy battlecruiser, but we have enough firepower to destroy it.”

“Very good. We will have a better time if we go through the asteroid field to prevent that battlecruiser from getting any good shots.” Offee said. Admiral Yularen hesitated.

“Are you sure it’s a good idea? We don’t know what the enemy fleet is capable of.” Yularen said.

“I doubt they would know how to use an asteroid field. The war hasn’t touched this part of the galaxy.” Barriss replied arrogantly. “All ships, into the asteroid field. Push all power into the front deflectors.”

The Imperial fleet entered the asteroid field, carefully navigating to the Neko Fleet.

“All fighters, launch and attack the enemy fleet.” Bariss ordered. “Climb above the asteroids and proceed directly to the enemy.”

Her orders were relayed to the fleet and soon, dozens of V-Wings climbed out the hangars, accompanied by some ARC-170s as well. With all fighters out of their carriers, the Imperial Fleet entered the asteroid belt.

-o0o-

“General Skywalker, the enemy has launched their starfighters.” A Neko radar crewmember stated. “There are way too many of them for the Asashi’s fighter complement to deal on their own.”

“Prepare a fighter for me and get all available pilots to their craft.” Anakin said. “And get the Yukikaze cruisers to Sector 1108.”

Orders acknowledged, a general alarm sounded, prompting all Neko crew to their battle stations. Anakin left the bridge and headed to the hangar, located at the middle near the bottom of the ship. The Asashi was only capable of carrying twenty starfighters, which were small in size and were armed with three blaster cannons, all in the nose. One of these starfighters was left alone as the others took off and flew from the bottom of the battlecruiser.

Anakin opened the cockpit and put the helmet on. He took off and soon caught up with the rest of the squadron.

“All fighters group up with the cruisers and wait for my call.” He commanded over the comms. The various pilots confirmed their orders and the starfighters followed the Yukikaze cruisers to positions above the asteroid field, which were also remaining outside the asteroid field. The fast V-Wings reached the Neko forces, prompting the anti-starfighter cruisers to quickly spread out and fire their weapons at the enemy. Several V-Wings exploded in a fireball, as well as a few ARC-170s careening out of control and crashing into the asteroid field.

“Pilots, beware of the ARC-170’s rear gunner. You will get killed if you aren’t careful.” Anakin advised as the Neko starfighters attacked the Imperial starfighters. Anakin skillfully shot down several V-Wings in quick succession, impressing both the starfighter pilots and the various bridge crews in the Neko Navy ships.

-o0o-

“Inquisitor, our fighters have engaged the enemy, however, they’re taking heavy losses.” An Imperial crewmember informed Barriss. “Their cruisers are tearing them to shreds. We underestimated the capabilities of those cruisers. They must be specialized in the anti-starfighter role.”

Barriss fumed before turning to Yularen.

“What is our best course of action? As much as I want to continue through the asteroid field, I do not want sustained losses of our starfighters.” She asked.

“We will engage the cruisers no matter if we continue through the asteroid field or not.” The Admiral replied. “Best stick to our current course and issue a retreat order to our starfighters. It is evident that the enemy’s anti-starfighter capabilities are too much to allow us to destroy them from afar.”

“Very well. Issue an RTB order to all fighter wings.” Offee ordered.

“It will be done.”

-o0o-

“General Skywalker, the Imperial fighters are on the retreat.” A Neko pilot noticed. “They’re disengaging.”

“Very good. All pilots return to base.” Anakin said. “I will stick around in case things go awry.”

The Neko pilots affirmed and returned to the Asashi. Anakin flew high above to observe the battle. Slowly but surely, the Imperial Star Destroyers passed the hidden Harugumo destroyers without noticing them.

“Harugumo, Goshigumo, open fire.” Anakin ordered. Both destroyers activated all their systems and emerged from their cover, directly behind the enemy ships. They opened fire and launched their torpedoes. The ships targeted by the destroyers’ turbolasers began to explode as their unprotected engines were hit. The torpedoes tracked to other Venators and hit them from behind, causing catastrophic damage.

“Inquisitor Offee, we’ve been outflanked!” A clone officer reported. “Two enemy ships have ambushed us from behind.”

“What!?” Barriss exclaimed. “We need to get out of this asteroid field. All ships, climb if able.”

Yularen held his head to fight the incoming migraine. He was afraid this was going to happen, and it seemed that the enemy isn’t as incompetent as they seemed. The remaining Venators slowly climbed up out of the asteroid field, taking damage from behind. Nine Venators were lost to the Harugumo and Goshigumo, with another two escaping with major damage. The rest of the Neko fleet climbed to the Imperial fleet’s altitude, ready to make a stand if necessary.

“Excellent work, you two. We gave them a beating they won’t forget.” Anakin said to the captains of both destroyers. “Return to Nekohime and rearm your armaments, we can take care of them.”

“Yes sir, returning to base.” The destroyer captains replied. The two torpedo boat destroyers navigated their way out of the asteroid field and to the planet.

-o0o-

Back on the Avenger, Barriss had an idea.

“Admiral, order the crews of the Implacable and the Indominable to evacuate all equipment and non-essential crews to the surviving ship and leave a skeleton crew.” She said. “We’ll force our way through the enemy fleet. Get our pilots to their fighters, they have to intercept the enemy missiles.”

Yularen nodded and issued her orders. The two badly damaged Venators began to ferry their ground equipment and troops to the other ships. Once that process was completed, the damaged Venators waited for new orders.

“Implacable, Indominable, take point and orient yourselves with your bottom hull facing towards the enemy. Then get yourselves out of your ships. We’ll use them as ramming shields.” Barriss said. “All fighter units, cover our advance. Do not let enemy missiles hit us.”

An acknowledgment later, the two badly damaged Venators moved ahead of the rest of the fleet and oriented themselves downward, bottom hull first. Two Venators moved behind the damaged ones and carefully aligned their noses to the middle of each ship just behind the main hangar entrance and just forward of the bridge tower. The remaining three Venators formed up behind those two.

“Charge!” Barriss yelled. The vanguard powered their engines up, pushing the damaged ships forward. The rest closely followed, staying in cover.

Anakin realized what was going on.

“They’re charging in. Get some torpedoes on the fleet and crack those improvised shields.” Anakin ordered. “And get the starfighters out immediately, the enemy will try to stop the torpedoes from reaching their target.”

The Neko battlecruiser scrambled its fighters out while the Yukikaze cruisers spread out from the formation to intercept the enemy fighters. Another dogfight occurred, just as the rest of the Harugumo destroyers launched their first set of torpedoes. To Anakin’s dismay, the Imperial fighters spotted the torpedoes immediately and went after them, ignoring the Neko starfighters.

“Get the cruisers to intercept.” Anakin ordered. “There’s too many ships for our fighters to take down without losing the torpedoes.”

“Are you sure?” Captain Gorozawa replied. “If we do that, they’ll be within range of the enemy’s turbolasers and our cruisers can’t take a lot of punishment from those capital ships.”

Anakin cursed in Huttese. Two of the cruisers then attempted to close the distance, however, the Venators behind the vanguard spotted them and moved to the side slightly to have an open shot. They opened fire, pummeling the Yukikazes with all they got. The fragile cruisers quickly retreated, taking heavy damage in the process. The Imperial V-Wings successfully shot down the torpedoes fired by the destroyers. It was clear that any additional torpedo salvo would meet the same fate.

“All ships retreat. They win this round.” Anakin grumbled. They cruisers and destroyers turned heel and retreated back to Nekohime. The Asashi started to do the same, but the Imperial fleet was too fast. Just as the Neko battlecruiser was halfway into its turn, the Implacable’s stern collided with the Asashi’s stern. There was a tremendous explosion, the Neko ship being spun counter-clockwise with its engines effectively disabled. The Implacable broke into two pieces, with the flaming stern wheeling over the pushing Venator’s bridge before exploding behind it. The nose was pushed downwards as the fire there fizzled out, left to be a drifting wreck. Luckily, both of the damaged ships skeleton crew had long since left, resulting in no casualties on the Empire’s side.

The Neko battlecruiser wasn’t so lucky, as not only the collision had disabled the ship’s engines, it also rendered all weapons systems inoperable. The life support system survived, which was the only good thing that happened so far.

“This is Captain Gorozawa to all crew. Prepare for possible boarding action.” The battlecruiser’s captain stated. “All fighters return to Nekohime.”

The Neko crewmembers left their stations and grabbed their weapons from various part of the damaged ship. To the captain’s relief, the Imperial fleet (after abandoning and scuttling the Indominable) pressed on to Nekohime without bothering to board the Asashi.

‘Let’s just hope the ground forces will fare better than we did.’ The Captain thought to herself. The Invasion of Nekohime was inevitable.

TBC….

 

Private Homura Nagano and her squad mates sat in the trenches that surrounded the city of Katzestadt, a city to the south of Nyandar that blocked the entrance into the Bofuri Valley. Nyandar was situated inside the Nekalps, surrounded on all sides with mountains littered with air defenses, pillboxes, and even a tunnel system for easier travel. The tunnels were military access only, so the only viable path toward Nyandar would be through Katzestadt.

Katzestadt was built solely for the defense of Nyandar, blocking the only meaningful mountain pass leading to the capital. There were other, smaller mountain passes to the Bofuri Valley (and subsequently, Nyandar), but they were too small for heavy vehicles and the Neko military had set up a large amount of ambushes for those foolish enough to attempt to go around Katzestadt. Years of warfare that defined Neko history ensured that Nyandar would be a near impossible city to take.

Ever since the Empire's victory in Nekromada space, the entire planet was on high alert, preparing themselves for wherever the Empire would make landfall. Just then, one of Private Homura's squad mates spotted something in the distance.

"We got enemy fighters inbound! Take cover!" She stated. Indeed, a few of the Empire's V-Wings were approaching Katzestadt from the east. Everyone looked left as the starfighters approached, before making the turn into the mountains, no doubt that they were conducting reconnaissance. The sound of distant explosions a few minutes later only served to confirm their failure at their jobs.

That was it for any action on the front. Well, for about five minutes. Suddenly, blue turbolasers rained down from the heavens and bombarded the entire city. The barrage lasted for ten minutes before the source of said barrage descended from the skies. It was the Empire's five remaining Star Destroyers descending from above and making their landing in the forest just outside the city. The surviving defenders readied themselves for the enemy assault. Briefly, all blaster fire ceased as the Venator Star Destroyers landed under the tree line. Faint sounds of mechanical whirring could be heard in the distance, as well at the patter of approaching clone troopers.

Once the Neko troops caught sight of the white armour of the clone troopers, they opened fire, beginning the battle. The first several clone troopers fell without firing a shot, as the Neko's Force-aided accuracy had quickly dispatched them. However, as the battle began to draw out, more and more clones came, firing back. The Neko defenders could barely hold out, despite trying everything from bringing trees down on the invaders to Force pushing them back. The Empire's barrage earlier ended up hurting them more than they thought. None of the heavy artillery survived and thus, nothing but blaster and the Force.

"There's so many of them! I'm getting tired." One Neko soldier griped. The clones were almost on top of the final defensive line, having overrun the first two with vicious effect. Suddenly, a warning in the Force prompted the Neko soldiers to duck into the trenches, and not a moment too soon.

Several bright light beams struck the ground, right on the clones closest to the last defensive line. They exploded, clearing out most of the Empire's troops between the Neko lines and the occupied second defensive line. The clones behind the destruction zone immediately stopped in their tracks and took cover. The Neko Skytroopers have arrived in the nick of time. The lead Trooper landed in the trench where what's left of Private Nagano's company was at. She was fairly tall, with silver hair on both head and tail. Her eyes, curiously enough, were hetero chromatic, her left eye being blue and right eye being gold. For a Neko, she is quite imposing.

"You have done well to hold out for as long as you did." She stated evenly. "Operation Street Rat has now been ordered. Retreat from your positions into the city."

Captain Akashi, who, along with a handful of other Neko troops, were among the only defenders still alive after the Empire's assault.

"Understood, General Kaguya." The captain replied. She motioned at the others and they took their weapons and moved into the city. The Neko Skytrooper, Kaguya as she is called, took off and headed towards the Katzestadt city centre, with her company in tow. All of the city streets were covered in makeshift defenses, with some buildings burning or leveled from the Empire's bombardment. All over the city, unseen Neko militias hide amongst the buildings and ruins, preparing for vicious close quarters fighting. At the centre of the town is the city's government building, slightly damaged from the Empire, but still standing. Kagyua entered.

Standing at the middle of the makeshift command centre were Janko, Ahsoka, and the highest ranking Neko in the Army, Field Marshall Fuuta Kagero, a diminutive blond who had to stand on a stool in order to see the holographic battleground. They had just arrived to the command centre after the location of the Empire's assault was confirmed.

"Good work repelling the Empire's assault, General Kaguya." Fuuta said. "We should be safe for now, however, we have run into difficulties."

Kaguya nodded.

"The Empire has set up anti-air defenses in the forest to protect their heavy armour hidden inside. Our scouts barely escaped with their lives, we cannot risk more Skytroopers to attempt the destruction of the enemy armour." The Field Marshall continued. "Currently, our commandos are undertaking a recon mission behind enemy lines to observe the enemy army composition. They should be reporting back within the next few minutes."

Just then, the hologram table morphed from the battlefield to the figure of a Neko commando holding a comlink.

"Generals, we have returned from the wood. The enemy have retrofitted their armour with heavy blaster cannons behind their main guns to ward off any aerial attack. There is at least 70 units in the wood and more are coming from the enemy warships. There is also a Force-sensitive woman who reeks of the Dark Side coming to the edge of the wood. I reckon the Empire may begin their invasion of the city soon, and with armoured support." The commando reported.

"Excellent work, Captain." Marshall Fuuta replied. "Return to the city and await further orders."

"As you wish."

The hologram of the commando morphed back into the battlefield.

"Marshall Kagero, we will go out and help defend the city. It is almost certain that the Empire has an Inquisitor on the planet and I don't believe you have any weapons that can stop a lightsaber." Ahsoka replied.

"Very well. I will arrange for a squad of commandos to accompany you." The Neko Field Marshall replied.

"One last thing before leave." Janko said. "The Admiral of the Navy has received new intelligence from the Asashi."

Janko inserted the data chip into the hologram table. The battlefield morphed to a view of the Nekromada System. Several red dots repeatedly flashed at the edge of the system, right where the Empire first entered. With a wave of his hand, Janko zoomed in to the red dots. It revealed another Empire fleet, composed of a dozen Acclamator-class assault ships escorted by a handful of Venators. The Field Marshall frowned deeply.

"This fleet entered the system an hour ago. Judging by the composition, that has to be another 100,000 troops adding to the estimated 15,000 we are facing right now." Janko said. "As well has hundreds of vehicles and military craft. This is not right. We should not be facing such numbers in such a short amount of time… Unless..."

Fuuta did not like where this was going.

"Unless they had already planned an invasion of Nekohime."

-o0o-

Barriss Offee waited as the edge of the forest. The flying catgirl troops have retreated, being warded off by the AT-TE's retrofitted anti-air defences. Seems like the intel from the very few prisoners that were captured were accurate after all. Now that the enemy has retreated from their final defensive lines, it was time to advance in full force. It was a mistake to send the clones while the walkers were still being unloaded, hundreds of troops were killed. But now that the majority of the walkers were ready to go, it's time to advance. Just before she gave the order, Barriss's comlink sounded.

"What is it?" She growled.

"The main invasion fleet has arrived in the system. They should be making landfall within the next few hours." Admiral Yularen reported.

"Very good. Prepare the Venators for take-off. We will no longer need them to sit there." Barriss replied. After Yularen's confirmation, Barriss put away her comlink and climbed into an AT-RT.

"Everyone! Move out! Take this city so we can enter the planet's capital." Barriss ordered.

"Sir, yes, sir!"

The clone army began their assault on Katzestadt. Barriss and the AT-RT squadron rushed forward as the AT-TE's marched outside the forest, firing HE rounds at the city buildings, hoping to get anyone inside. The clone infantry climbed out of their trenches and rushed forward. Rapid blaster fire erupted from the city buildings, as machine gun nests started targeting the AT-RTs at the very front. Barriss Offee activated her lightsaber and deflected anything that came her away. Although a few AT-RTs were lost, a majority of them reached the city outskirts and they got off. The clones regrouped behind their Inquisitor leader, awaiting orders.

"Listen up troopers, and listen closely. Our enemy is almost entirely Force-sensitive, meaning that you will not survive a one-on-one encounter with them. Stay in groups and watch your backs. In addition, limit grenade and rocket use, else they are sent back. The Navy will provide air support if we need it." She said. "The enemy has holed themselves up inside the city buildings, we will have to tread carefully in order not to run into any ambushes."

"Sir, yes, sir!"

Barriss and her squad moved in, keeping their guard up at all times as they ventured further into the city.

-o0o-

Ahsoka and Janko left the government building shortly after the Empire's assault on the city began. They split up, as the Empire was attacking from two sides. They were both followed by squads of eight Neko commandos to assist them just in case they encountered the Empire's troops. Janko headed directly south while Ahsoka took the round-a-bout way around, remaining close enough should either party run into trouble.

"Commander, there is a Dark presence three blocks away to the southeast." One of the commandos said after trekking through the city streets for about fifteen minutes.

"Ready your weapons. We are getting closer to the fighting." Janko said, taking out the Darksaber, but not activating it just yet. The sounds of fighting became louder and louder as Janko and Ahsoka's group closed in. They turned the corner to find Barriss Offee about to cut down a wounded Neko soldier during a firefight. Janko immediately became outraged and Force-pushed the Inquisitor away from her intended victim. Barriss flew backwards and landed after preforming a back flip. The Neko soldier breathed a sigh of relief as she stumbled away from the battlefield, exhausted and injured from the constant fighting and thankful that she was still alive.

Janko spotted several bodies of fallen Nekos littered across the street, angering him even further.

"You bitch!" He snarled, activating his lightsaber. The black blade sprung to life, ready to cut down anything that opposes it.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Ahsoka and her idiot friend coming to save the day once again." Barriss gloated. "This time I will not show you any mercy."

Janko said nothing as he and Ahsoka charged at the fallen Jedi. They clashed lightsabers, fighting furiously as the Neko commandos helped the regulars dispatch the remaining clones in the vicinity. The lightsaber fight went on for another ten minutes as Janko and Ahsoka steadily gained the upper hand. Realizing she was about to lose, Barriss attempted to retreat far enough to regain parity. But she wasn't fast enough, resulting in the Darksaber slicing through her Inquisitor lightsaber, which fell to pieces as nothing more than molten scrap.

"It's over." Janko said as he lunged to strike the Inquisitor down. Calling on all her anger, Barriss Force-pushed everyone away from her before making a run for it.

"Stop her!" Janko ordered the commandos before starting his chase on the fallen Inquisitor. He did not make it very far before Ahsoka stopped him.

"That's enough." She said. "We'll get her next time. We just need to surround her with the commandos when she returns."

Janko sighed and complied. He ordered the commandos back, letting Barriss go.

"I will kill her." He stated simply. "I cannot allow her to continue harming these people."

"Don't worry, we will win, Janko. It won't be easy and sacrifices have to be made." Ahsoka said. "These fallen Nekos sacrificed themselves in order to stop the Empire from taking over. Don't let their sacrifices be in vain."

Janko gazed upon the dead Neko soldiers once again, feeling a pang of hurt on his heart.

"I just can't get over this. Such a strong and beautiful people don't deserve this at all." He stated sullenly. "Their lives were perfect had we not came along."

"Janko, the Empire would've invaded this place anyway had we not come. The difference is that we're here and help is on the way." Ahsoka replied, comforting the upset Janko.

"Yeah. I just wish our ships would get here faster so more Neko lives wouldn't be lost." He said.

"We just need to hold out for a few days and the battle will end." Ahsoka said. "Now let's go back and get some rest and a bite to eat. It has been a long day."

"Yeah."

-o0o-

Barriss kept running for her life as she sprinted out of the city, dodging any blaster fire aimed at her. She continued all the way to the temporary command centre at the edge of the forest where she came from.

"Commander, get a ship down here. I must return to the Avenger." She ordered. The clone commander acknowledged the order and went about doing so. Luckily for Barriss, she still had the two lightsabers she stole from Ventress all those months ago, though they were on her ship. Worryingly, that Mandalorian boy had gotten much stronger since the last time they met. She would need to change things up in order for her to come out on top again.

But for now, retreat and regroup.

-o0o-

The effects of Order 66 had initially pleased Admiral Trench, seeing the Jedi being cut down by their own troops. This could mean victory for the Separatist Alliance. And yet the events following completely disregarded Trench's expectations.

Trench's armada was awaiting further orders just after a battle in the Outer Rim Sieges when the shutdown order came from High Command, signalling the end of the Clone Wars. The Republic declared victory, just before reforming itself into the Galactic Empire. Trench was not happy with this turn of events.

The Separatists were much more powerful than the Republic over the long run, with battle droid production outpacing clone trooper production outright. Had the war continued indefinitely, the Republic would have eventually lost all of its military strength. More worryingly though, Trench's intelligence sources did not bring favourable news regarding the new regime, reporting high human-centric vitriol among the most prominent of the Empire's leadership.

Thus, Trench had no choice but to take his armada to the Unknown Regions, not interested in giving himself up to the Empire. While he did have enough supplies to last his armada and troops for a while, eventually he would need to do something in order to keep his ships and troops operating. It won't be easy hiding dozens of capital ships and thousands of battle droids from the Empire, but if his two hundred years of experience have taught him anything, it would be patience and diligence, waiting for any opportunity that will improve his situation.

-o0o-

By the time dusk came upon Katzestadt, the fighting had ceased for the moment and both sides set up camp for the night. The Empire's invasion fleet had landed some distance away behind the forest where the clones came from. The Venator Star Destroyers remain airborne, defending the vulnerable Acclamators as they unloaded their troops and heavy equipment. Elsewhere, Neko military units across the world quietly made their way to Nekohime to help fortify and defend the capital of Nyandar. The sheer number of troops landing on Nekohime made Katzestadt a lost cause, there was no viable way to defend the city even with the street fighting plan. Everything will instead be placed on the new defenses in the mountain passes that led to Nyandar. Anti-air defenses, shields, and state of the art detection devices ensured the Empire cannot conduct any air support or air sweeps in the area without getting shot down.

The Neko Commandos were scouting the enemy troop movements again, keeping their distance while taking note. Nothing too interesting came of note until the commandos felt another Dark presence, one who was more powerful than Barriss.

"Interesting. A new challenger." One commando muttered. They retreated a bit more, keeping an eye on the new challenger and contacted command. A small holographic form of Fuuta Kagero appeared.

"Report."

"New Darksider challenger. Seems more powerful than the last one. Enemy troops setting up camp in Katzestadt. They are preparing for a morning assault." One commando said.

"Very good. Return to base."

The comlink was switched off before a warning in the Force forced the commandos to scatter. The Dark figure had sent a powerful Force push in the direction of the commandos, hitting the trees and knocking them down. One commando took note of the figure's appearance, a Pau'an wearing a dark set of battle armour.

Nothing more came of this, as the commandos retreated rather than stay to fight.

-o0o-

The being who used to be known as the Grand Inquisitor, now known as Darth Petos ever since the Emperor discovered Anakin's betrayal of the Sith, frowned as the group of dark figures that he had briefly spotted made a run for it. It was most likely enemy scouts gathering intelligence, and due to their Force-sensitivity, there was little that could be done to stop them.

These "Neko", as they called themselves, were very dangerous opponents, enough for Lord Sidious to order their extermination. This was highlighted by the heavy losses they sustained on approach to their planet, and further upon landing. Thousands of troops and equipment lost already with relatively little enemy losses as well. And if what Grand Inquisitor Offee said was true, Ahsoka Tano and her Mandalorian friend were on planet helping the beasts defend themselves.

The clone commander approached the Pau'an.

"Lord Petos, we have secured the city. What are your orders?" He said. Petos sighed.

"Bring me a map of the region and inform the Grand Inquisitor to report to the new HQ immediately." The new Sith Lord said quietly. "I must study the area before issuing new orders."

"Yes sir."

This whole ordeal regarding this planet was much too difficult. These Nekos have certainly prepared well for an attack, perhaps too well, having enough defensive shields across most of the planet to render a Base Delta Zero ineffective. They have no other choice but to land on the planet and take it by hand, starting with the enemy capital and expanding outwards. There will be no prisoners to be taken, there is not enough Force-suppressing equipment to go around and the Emperor ordered no survivors. Whoever these strange and dangerous creatures were, they certainly knew how to fight a war.

-o0o-

The Neko commandos returned with the new developments. Janko, Ahsoka, and Fuuta looked at each other in concern.

"The situation is looking bleak." Janko said. "Our defensive positions around Nyandar are sound and we can probably hold out long enough for the Kosmoflot to arrive, but this new character may be an issue."

"Skywalker had been leading our fighters against the Empire, but despite the better quality of our pilots, the Empire remains supreme over the skies except in the mountains, where our AA defensive positions keep them out." The Neko Field Marshall stated. "Without additional support, the Empire will maintain air supremacy."

"Ahsoka, I would much rather have Skywalker on the ground fighting side by side with us. I have heard of his skills with a lightsaber is nearly unmatched. He can take care of this new Dark character, who will no doubt bring Offee along" Janko added.

"I agree. I'll go ahead and contact him." Ahsoka replied.

"Let's get some rest." Marshall Kagero said. "Night has fallen and we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

Ahsoka and Janko nodded as all three separated to their quarters for the night…

TBC...

 

So cat people are legit and the Sheevster is scared of them. I approve of this.