Commander Luthal
Chapter Sixteen: General Lar Nuuk
Word Count: 4223
A/N: General Lar Nuuk isn't a real character in canon, I just needed a random name, so don't worry about this fucker. He doesn't matter.
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The Force is merciful afterall, Arwen thought, stirring from a dreamless sleep, even if that sleep felt like barely an hour-long nap.
Although, when she sat up and stretched, immediately followed by a powerful throbbing across her back and shoulder, she thought it could have been a tiny bit more merciful.
The barest hints of light were slipping through the flaps of the tent, and although it was quite temperate for the time being, she knew it wouldn’t be long before she began sweating through her clothes. She sat on the edge of her cot, doing her best not to disturb the still sleeping clones.
She looked at the hole in her robes, then gently peeled back the bacta patch to take a peek. It had scarred over already, fleshy and pink, but it would take another day or so for that to go away, provided the patch stayed on. She smoothed it back down, then lowered her head into her hands.
Maybe it wouldn’t have been so bad if the blaster bolt struck a few inches over. She would have joined Master Du in the Force, and been spared the suffering.
Her heart lurched, and guilt promptly settled in the pit of her stomach. Master Du would never want her to think that. But how could she stop those intrusive thoughts? How could she settle her mind when she had nothing to do, nothing to distract her?
Master Du would tell her to meditate—the traditional way, for something so important—but Arwen wasn’t sure she could. She was scared to reach too deeply into the Force, only to feel an absence.
Instead, Arwen slid on her boots—still filled with grains of sand, despite trying to empty them the night before—then clipped on her belt and lightsabers, and padded out of the tent. The camp was relatively quiet on their end, but on the opposite side, quite a distance away, she could see a company of soldiers geared up and marching towards their makeshift shipyard.
Arwen headed straight for the medical tents, desperate for something to occupy her mind.
She spent a good few hours flitting between the tent, under the reluctant orders of clone medics who seemed much less desperate for extra hands. They thought she should be resting, but Arwen knew it would be useless to attempt.
She managed to catch Captain Keeli before he was discharged from the medical tent, Mixer as well, and between assigned work like administering stims, bringing water and rations, and taking vitals, Arwen busied herself with talking to the clones and learning the names of those who already had them. They weren’t… traditional names, but she liked them nonetheless, and they suited the clones better than if they had been given names at birth. They were unique to them, and represented something far deeper than, say, her own name did.
Come to think of it, she wasn’t sure what her name meant on Eshan at all, or if it even had meaning. She was an orphan, left to one of the poorest orphanages on the planet, and the chances of her being born to parents who died fighting in one of the many civil wars or simply being given up were equally likely. Her name was likely hastily given, and, as it was with many orphans on Eshan, likely not one that told of any relations to her biological family. Luthal was more likely to be a randomly selected surname, so that she would never be able to make any connections to her biological family without jumping through some considerable hoops.
She didn’t really have a desire to find them anyway—the Jedi, the Order, were her family.
Master Du had been her family.
Captain Rex appeared in the medical tent, helmet tucked under his arm, looking frantic for half a second—when his eyes landed on her, it turned to thinly veiled frustration, “Sir, I’ve been looking for you for ages.”
“Oh, sorry,” she said, a little sheepish. She hadn’t even thought to tell anyone where she was going. They were all sleeping. He still looked disgruntled, but nevertheless straightened up to relay orders.
“We’re shipping out soon. Carriers are in short supply, so we’ll be going over in groups.”
Arwen kept pace with the captain, wondering if she should ask about getting a few pieces of armour to protect herself, but one look at the scant other Jedi that they crossed paths with nixed that idea.
Everyone was still in their usual robes, even though they were fighting a war. Maybe it was simply because there wasn’t enough for the Jedi to wear? Or maybe they needed to be fitted first?
No, she thought. It isn’t the Jedi way to wear armour.
Even during the bombings and skirmishes that occurred during the Separatist Crisis hadn’t driven the Jedi to wear armour. Their training covered deflecting blaster bolts, even if the Jedi in question had never had an interest in fighting, so she supposed she could see why armour wasn’t their main concern, but… wouldn’t it be better, just in case?
Jedi were peacekeepers, they had a duty to protect people, but didn’t they have a duty to themselves as well? Surely wearing armour wouldn’t be taken the wrong way, when it could possibly save their lives?
Could armour have saved Master Du’s life?
She pushed the thought out of her mind as soon as it appeared.
She finally exchanged comm frequencies with Captain Rex—it took longer than it should, as both comms were encrypted and not meant to be shared outside of their own groups.
Rejoining Torrent Company, they went over the terrain of their next battle location, as well as the predicted resistance, and their ultimate goal of capturing one of the few remaining non-droid generals on Geonosis, the Neimoidian Lar Nuuk, believed to have a good deal of information because of his close ties with the Trade Federation. His capture was a high priority, so they would have to check their fire when they closed in on his location. Their drop point was behind a section of tall, craggy sandstones that would offer them plenty of cover while they attempted to back General Nuuk up against the back of a steep cliff.
While the LAAT/i’s refuelled, Arwen and the men exchanged comm frequencies. It was a pain doing it manually, but the technicians hadn’t been given the chance to set up communications more effectively—there were more pressing matters at hand for them. Arwen hoped she wouldn’t need to make use of all the new frequencies for any dire reasons, but it would be incredibly stupid to go into another battle without them.
At the end of the strategy overview, it was decided that Captain Rex would take point in the first trip over—the available ships could only carry about a third of the company’s numbers—and Arwen would travel with the last group, accompanied by Sergeant Appo.
She kept a firm grip on the handhold, even while the ship was still stationary—hers carried the smallest group, only ten of Torrent Company, plus the two pilots, the front gunner, and the two turret operators. Aside from the crew, the other two LAAT/i’s space was mostly taken up by their supplies—extra tibanna gas for their blasters, basic medical supplies, and rations and water in case they got stuck out there for a bit. The first two transport routes had taken not only most of Torrent Company, but also much more heavy weaponry, in case they met extreme resistance.
When the pilots called out they were taking off, Arwen finally allowed herself to feel some kind of relief—they were almost there. She wouldn’t have to wait and twiddle her thumbs for much longer. She would have something to completely occupy her mind soon.
The take off was smooth, and the three ships flew in close formation, relatively low to the ground to avoid being detected. The doors were left open for quick deployment, and in the distance she could see the battles still raging across the sand and in the sky. Everything was too far to make out, too small for her to be able to tell if the clones were winning or losing, but she was hopeful. Most of the droid forces were only digging their heels in enough to destroy information and defend a position long enough for important figureheads—like General Nuuk—to escape.
They would win. It was just a matter of when.
The ship carried them beyond some deep canyons, then across some flats, until they finally reached an endless sea of sand dunes. There were no battles being fought here, where the terrain was incredibly unstable and difficult to traverse, and where both clones and droids would have too much difficulty setting up any point of significance. It was just beyond the dunes where they were headed, and if Arwen squinted and leaned slightly outside the open door of the LAAT/i, she could see where the sloping sands ended.
The stone, a deep burnt orange colour, marked the top of the cliff face General Nuuk would be backed into, and it was a point they needed to give a wide berth, as their troops were far on the other side. The position took a while to get to, but the tactical advantage it gave them was worth it. Approaching from behind, from the dunes and top of the cliff, just meant they gave General Nuuk time to retreat into a much more defensible position. If he made it into the crags, then beyond into another set of canyons, they’d likely never catch him.
Her head snapped up, a warning scream on her lips—
The ship shuddered and groaned, and Arwen lost her footing, managing to stay inside the ship only because of her sure grip on the handhold, even as her legs flew into the air. With her free hand, she caught one of the clones as he nearly went flying out, fingers yanking him by the armour behind her.
Smoke quickly filled the air, thick and black.
“We’re hit!” One of the pilots yelled, “We’ve got six nantex starfighters on our tail!”
The ship began lowering slowly, still maintaining speed as they moved towards their objective, but then it jerked abruptly, and she heard one of the engines stall for a few seconds before starting back up.
“We’ve lost control of the ship—”
“—incoming missiles—”
The ship jerked again, and a thick cloud of smoke erupted again—Arwen’s handhold snapped, and she tumbled forward, straight out the door of the ship.
“Commander—” Sergeant Appo reached for her, but it was too late. Form the corner of her eye, she could see another set of missiles, and without thinking she reached both her hands out and pulled—
Sergeant Appo came tumbling out from the ship, along with two other clones, but they were farther behind. Her back slammed into the sand and she groaned at the impact, but she was able to soften Sergeant Appo’s landing much more, although he would have survived the relatively low fall. The other two clones—her throat tightened. She felt their lives wink out when the ship exploded. They hadn’t been far enough away. She hadn’t pulled them out fast enough.
The six nantext starfighters continued to pursue the two remaining LAAT/i’s, chasing them into the distance as they desperately tried to dodge the incoming fire. They didn’t have much chance of being picked up anytime soon.
Sergeant Appo groaned, but quickly regained his footing, and Arwen followed his example, ignoring the dull ache in her back. She’d be lucky if she made it off this planet with her spine intact at this rate, “Are you alright, Sergeant?”
“Fine, sir. You?”
“I’m alright,” she said, looking over at the two dead clones with a heavy heart. They had landed on their fronts in the sand, and the once white plastoid of their armour was scorched black, burned and warped. The remaining clones on the ship hadn’t made it either, and the scattered pieces of armour and metal from the LAAT/i were half buried in the sand now, smoking.
She looked away, squinting the cliff in the distance.
“The cliff’s a fair way off,” she said, “but by the time we get there, Captain Rex should have already engaged them.”
Sergeant Appo nodded, activating his comm device, “Captain, our ship was shot down. The Commander and I were the only survivors. Medical supplies are destroyed too. The other two are being pursued by six nantex starfighters, coming your way.”
“We’ll call for what air support we can—might be a while before anyone can come and get you two.”
“We’ll approach from the cliff, Captain. We might be able to spot a weakness in their line, or find a way around,” Sergeant Appo’s helmet tilted over to her for approval, and she nodded, “We’ll make our approach now, but it’ll take a while. Don’t hold off the attack on our account.”
“Copy that. Captain Rex out.”
She and Appo took off in a run across the sand, and Arwen wished she had a helmet like his, or a mask at least, to keep the hot sand from getting in her eyes and scratching at her skin. Their run was relatively quiet, save for their pants, and Arwen kept a sharp eye out for any approaching ships, ally or enemy. She and Appo had nothing out here to defend themselves against a ship, and there was no cover, so their best bet would be catching the threat early—even if there was little else they could do.
The distant sound of baster fire suddenly rang out across the sand dunes, and Arwen and Appo spared a glance at each other before picking up the pace. Sweat was pouring down her back, and her face was uncomfortably sticky, but she couldn’t afford to stop. They were only a few klicks out from the cliff—
The blue light of an energy shield popped into view, just the very top of it visible from over the cliff.
“Kark,” Appo said, “guess General Nuuk is better prepared than we thought. How are they going to get rid of that?”
“They’d have to walk right through the shield—easier said than done. Droids probably have it pretty well guarded, even if they can’t shoot through their own shield. We’ll take a closer look once we get to the cliff, see what’s happening.”
“Yes, sir.”
They made it to the edge of the sand dunes in good time, and it felt good to have solid stone beneath her feet. She and Sergeant Appo crouched low as they approached, wary of any lookouts. When they neared the edge, they went prone, and Arwen hissed as the heat of the clifftop moved through her clothes. She pushed on, dragging herself forward, until she and Appo made it to the very edge. The shield was decently large, encompassing a moderate sized droid force. There were more droids than clones, that much she could tell just from a cursory glance, but certainly not enough to turn the battle in their favour, they didn’t have any functional walkers or tanks, and it looked like only one of their heavy artillery cannons was operational. The only thing that was keeping them from being overwhelmed by the clones seemed to be the shield.
Ahead, she could see the awkward position Torrent Company was in; passing through the shield made them too vulnerable to being picked off, as the shield ended where the crags did, the clones only cover. She found the shield generator, relatively unguarded too, and grinned.
She activated her comm, and Captain Rex answered swiftly, “Commander?”
“We’ve made it to the clifftop—we can see your position from here.”
“Any intel for us? A weak point?”
“Their front line looks pretty secure, and their only working artillery cannon is aimed at the crags, so I wouldn’t approach unless that gets taken out.”
“We got the other three, but the four walkers we had are rubble now. General Nuuk is holed up in one of their destroyed dwarf spider droids. Anything else?”
“Shield generator’s pretty unguarded,” she smiled, “so’s their back line. Being up against the cliff and the dunes, I don’t think they’re expecting anyone to turn up here, at least not without tripping some sensors.”
Captain Rex was silent for a moment, “You’re actually considering—”
“Yes,” she cut him off, “It’ll only take a moment. I can jump off the cliff before anyone can spot me, take out the shield generator, then duck back behind some rocks for cover while you guys take out the front line.”
Captain Rex sighed.
“The longer we wait, the better chance he has for escape,” she reminded him, “and air space out here clearly isn’t as secure as we thought.”
“At least take Sergeant Appo with you.”
Arwen looked at Appo and, though his face was covered, she could tell he was nervous. That was okay—she wouldn’t make him do it.
“Commander Luthal out.”
Sergeant Appo looked very stiff, “Sir?” To his credit, his voice was quite steady, and had she not been Echani, she might not have noticed.
“You don’t have to jump with me. You can wait up here, scout for incoming ships. The generator will be easy to take out—it’s just cleaning up the droids and capturing Nuuk that’ll take a moment. The rest of Torrent Company have it handled.”
“No, sir—I…” he huffed, and his helmet looked out over the cliff, “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’m not a Jedi—I can’t just jump off a cliff and survive.”
Arwen blinked, “I’ll catch you.”
He snorted, helmet tipping back towards her. Her eyes narrowed, “Bridal style?”
She snorted too, despite herself, “With the Force, you moron,” she elbowed him. Appo looked down again, and she could hear him swallow thickly, “Are you scared of heights?” She asked, her voice soft. She didn’t want him to feel ashamed—really, the cliff was incredibly tall, and it was asking a lot for anyone to jump down. Even climbing down would be a terrifying task.
“No,” he said quickly, “just don’t really want to die this way. Can’t we climb down?”
“Not enough time, and the droids would spot us easily, even if they aren’t really looking this way. Look at us—your armour’s white, my clothes are—well, they were white,” she grimaced at her clothes, covered in sand and grime. They were more brown and orange than anything else, “We’d get shot down before we even made it a third of the way.”
Sergeant Appo said nothing, looking down at the droids below.
“You don’t have to come down with me,” she repeated, “Keep lookout up here, comm us if you see anything,” she rose to a crouch, patting his shoulder as she did, and braced to leap off.
“Wait—” he said, rising too, “I’m coming too, just… are you sure you can catch me?”
“I caught the hull of that ship yesterday, so unless you weigh more than that, I think I can handle it.”
Appo sighed, muttering something in a language she didn’t understand, and too quiet for her to try to discern, “Fine, fine… just… can you push me?”
“... push you?”
“I don’t think I can make myself jump.”
Arwen nodded, giving him a reassuring pat on the shoulder, “Brace yourself, and don’t scream. We don’t want to prematurely alert the droids,” he nodded nervously, gripping his blaster like a lifeline, “I’ll throw you up into the air a fair bit, to give me time to land and catch you.”
He exhale shakily, and began rocking back on his feet, “Okay, alright—yes, sir.”
She smiled one final time, before reaching out, finding his signature in the Force—determined, nervous, terrified, loyal—and lifted him high into the air and over the cliff. She heard his panicked gasp but, to his credit, he contained any other noises, and Arwen leapt off the edge.
The wind whistled past her rapidly, and she kept her limbs straight and close to her body for maximum aerodynamics. She slowed briefly to pass through the shield without issue, then let herself pick up some speed. As the sand rapidly approached below, she looked up, slowing Appo’s descent so he could pass through as well, before finally slowing her descent completely, landing quietly on her feet behind some jagged outcroppings at the base of the cliff.
She reached upwards for Sergeant Appo next, half tempted to try and catch him bridal style just to annoy him, but she resisted the urge. He had placed his trust in her, so readily for someone he didn’t know the first thing about, and she wouldn’t betray that trust.
She slowed his descent, and the sheer terror he radiated through the Force was enough to make her own heart start racing, but she kept her focus. She lowered him gently next to her, pretending she couldn’t hear his ragged, panicked breaths. She opted for another pat on the shoulder.
“Ready to move forward?” She peeked around the rocks, finding only a scant few droids near the shield generator. They would be easily taken out, the rocks nearby would provide excellent cover for them.
“Yes, Commander Luthal,” his voice was far less level now, but he straightened, blaster at the ready.
The pair moved forward quickly and quietly, and Arwen readied her lightsabers. The second she ignited them, or the second Appo fired his blaster, they would be discovered. Destroying the shield generator came first, everything else second.
As they drew closer, they lowered their crouch, and they watched for any movement the droids made.
“I’ll take out the generator and fall back to you. As soon as it's out, they’re all going to turn back on us. Watch my back, okay? Captain Rex’ll take their attention again soon enough.”
“Yes, sir.”
She pressed forward, feeling pleased with her decision to keep Appo back. He’d be safer there, and have a better chance at taking out droids from his position.
She was only a few feet away from the shield generator when she finally ignited her sabers—she sliced them both directly through the metal horizontally, and watched the blue light immediately flicker out. As predicted, the droids turned back, and the heavy artillery cannon began repositioning. She darted back, slicing a B2 for good measure.
“Fall back, Appo!”
Cannon fire landed just a foot or so behind her, and she was knocked off her feet and to the ground. She quickly got back up, deflected a blaster bolt and ducking behind another rock. Ahead of her, she could see Appo changing cover, turning back to fire when he was safe to, and then changing positions again. Behind her, the battle began once more.
It went quick from there, and Arwen and Appo circled around to rejoin with the rest of Torrent Company. The droids went down easily—the shield generator really had been their trump card—and General Nuuk was dragged out of the carcass of the dwarf spider droid, kicking and screaming.
“With any luck, he’ll give up some useful information before the day’s out.”
Appo snorted, “Before the day’s out? Look at him, he won’t last an hour.”
Arwen chuckled lightly, and the pair joined up with Captain Rex to debrief the Forward Command Centre’s commanders of the success, and request evac. It wouldn’t arrive for another few hours now, as airspace was being heavily contested again, so their orders were to fall back to the canyons and find cover.
The march there took only an hour, and General Nuuk was gagged to stop his loud complaining, and although the heat of the sun was near unbearable, she felt relatively at peace while she walked Captain Rex, Denal and Appo. The captain didn’t say much, but she contented herself with listening to Denal and Appo chatter away about inane things—it was calming, and gave her something to focus on.
It wasn’t until they reached the canyons and hunkered down under the cover of some alcoves with their supplies that Captain Rex spoke to her again.
“That was dangerous, sir.”
She felt oddly sheepish. Though technically his superior, she certainly didn’t feel like it. He had the experience, and maturity, that she lacked, “Sorry, Captain.”
He took off his helmet, giving her a sidelong glance, “But good work today.”
Arwen smiled again, “Thank you, Captain.”
They were quiet again after that, but Arwen didn’t mind. Torrent Company chattered quietly amongst themselves, and there was a gentle hum in the Force—it felt strangely warm, and soothing. The absence was still there, stark and foreign, but the hum was like a balm, soothing the sting and easing the ache.
She leaned back against the cool, shaded stone, and finally exhaled. She had never been especially good at discerning feelings through the Force, not amongst the Jedi and padawans and younglings in the temple. But maybe because these men had no such training against shielding oneself, she could sense them a little better.
Arwen wasn’t sure she had ever felt this, not directed at her anyway, because when she looked at Denal and Appo, and the pair looked back, helmets placed next to them, she was certain that she felt acceptance and loyalty.
Friendship.
She felt like she belonged.
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