Fight For Survival
A Star Wars Fanfic
By poke_master1
Chapter One: Order 66
19 BBY
Cato Nui
The final day of the Clone Wars
Quinto Solus surveyed the charred landscape of the once-great Nuitau Plains. It was hard to believe that just three years previously, these sprawling grasslands had been home to a great many of the majestic Nui Dragons, gentle giants fabled for their amicable attitude towards almost all beings. Now, however, there were no Dragons to be found: they had fled their caves when the war came to Cato Nui. The grasslands were ablaze with the flickering lights of both Confederate and Republic vehicles. The lights seemed to spit in the face of the departing sun - as if reminding the star that it held no sway over when the fighting would stop.
"Sir?" one of his clone commanders spoke up. Clones had no distinctions in their voices, of course, but many picked up various vocal tics and quirks, and it was from these that Quinto could differentiate between his commanders. This one spoke with a lisp, due to having several teeth knocked out in a fistfight with a disarmed battle droid. His designation was Gery.
"Yes, Gery?" Quinto answered his commander.
"What are your orders?"
Quinto considered. "Assemble our forces in an arrowhead formation," he finally said, "And then we'll charge the Confederate forces, overwhelming them."
"Are you... sure that's a wise course of action, sir?" Gery asked meekly. Clones were always hesitant to second-guess their superiors, believing in a strict chain of command, but Quinto did not mind. To him, a willingness to point out flaws in a plan was a sign of a clever and competent officer.
All the same, Quinto said to Gery: "I do. And I'm afraid there's no time for debating the pros and cons of my plan of action, unless you wish for Cato Nui to be lost." He glanced at the battle. "Look down there, Gery. Our offensive forces are taking a pounding, and all our defenses have crumbled down to near-nothingness. Unless we charge now and take the enemy by surprise, the Republic stands no chance of taking this world back."
Gery nodded slowly. "I... understand, sir," he said finally. He relayed Quinto's orders to the troops. When they had fallen into formation, Gery called to Quinto: "whenever you're ready, General Solus."
Quinto took a deep breath. He unclasped his lightsaber from his belt and ignited it. The yellow blade sprung to life, emitting a metallic hum. He turned to his troops and raised his saber high. "Attack!" he shouted. He and his troopers charged and began cutting a swath through the army of battle droids, whom they'd managed to catch unawares.
Quinto hacked and slashed his way towards the other three Jedi assigned to Cato Nui: the Jedi Master Kinto Lavast - a Human like Quinto - who was joined by his Twi'lek Padawan, Jem Crystooine. The other Jedi was a Nui, native to the planet. His name was Potuusa De'mosta, a Jedi Master.
"So good of you to make it," Kinto joked, hauling Quinto onto their command barge.
Quinto cut right to the chase. "How bad is it?" he demanded.
"two hundred clones dead," said Potuusa De'mosta in a gravely voice.
"Where have you been?" Jem asked Quinto angrily. She was 16, just four years Quinto's younger, but she showed the tenacity and spirit of a seasoned Jedi Master.
"My battalion has been busy taking the capital," Quinto explained.
"And?" Kinto indicated.
"You'll be glad to hear that Nuiveratyyso has been liberated," Quinto said.
"Excellent," said Kinto. "That means the Confederates are beginning to weaken. It figures, given the death of Grievous. I'd say that after this battle, the liberation of Cato Nui is as good as..."
Kinto was cut off by the sound of blaster fire and the smell of disintegrated skin. Kinto's eyes widened in shock and he fell to the floor of the barge. His lightsaber clattered out of his hand. Smoke plumed from his robes, wafting from a burn mark in its back.
"Master!" Jem screamed.
"Get down!" Potuusa ordered. Quinto and Jem did so, and as Quinto fell to the floor, he saw out of the corner of his eye his own clone troopers firing upon the barge.
"What's going on?!" Jem exclaimed.
"The clones have gone mad!" Potuusa snarled. "Hold on, I'll steer the barge into one of the Dragon Caves!"
The barge flew rough and jolty, but at that moment comfort was at the back of Quinto's mind.
He glanced up and saw Jem grab Kinto's lightsaber just as it was sliding off the barge, then scream in agony and horror when she was unable to do the same for Kinto's body.
"This is gonna be rough," Potuusa warned Quinto and Jem, his piglike face curling into a grimace. "Jump off the barge on a count of three! Three! Two! One!"
The Jedi leapt off the barge and into the cave just as the barge crashed into the outer top of the cave. The resulting explosion sent rocks falling in front of the cave's entrance, sealing it off.
"We should be safe here for a while," Quinto said, gasping for breath. "We should rest for a while. Meditate to clear our minds of any anger or confusion," he added, glancing at Jem, who was staring at Kinto's saber with a look of utter contempt and malice on her face.
Portuusa shook his head. "That'd be nice," he said, but there isn't any time. I know the tunnels and passageways of the Dragon Caves - all Nui do, instinctually. I know a path that leads to the Nui Shipyards. I've got a friend there who can get us a starship at no charge."
"Are you all right with not stopping to rest, Jem?" Quinto asked, brushing his brown hair from his eyes.
Jem glared at Quinto, and the Knight could have sworn he saw a flash of red on her blue skin. "Of course! she said. "Why would I not be? Don't be ridiculous!" She stood up. "Portuusa's right. We should start moving."
"Then it's settled," said Portuusa gruffly. "Let's get a move on."
QQQQQ
"My friend's giving us a YT-2000 freighter," said Portuusa. "They've had a few left over since that model went out of style, so they're glad for anyone to taker one of them."
"They" being the Nui Shipyard Company, which manufactured starships for nearly every corporation in the market. It was a lucrative business model, not restricting the company to one corporation, and one few starship manufacturers had picked up on.
"The freighter's this way," said Portuusa. The three fugitive Jedi entered a docking platform where a brand-new YT-2000 was sitting, ready for takeoff.
"Anyone know how to fly this thing?" Portuusa asked. "I've never been at the controls of a YT before, so I'm in the dark."
"My old Master flew a 2000," said Quinto. "So I have experience."
"Looks like you're our pilot, then," said Portuusa with a chuckle.
"I'll be co-pilot," offered Jem. "M-Master K-Kinto owned a YT-1400. I've flown it once or twice."
"Well, I'm glad most of us have some sort of experience with these things," said Portuusa. "Looks like the astromech droid that the Shipyards included won't be of as much need as I thought."
"They included an astromech?" Quinto repeated, slightly impressed.
"Designation R3-F6, they told me," Portuusa confirmed.
"Does the ship have a name yet?" Jem inquired.
"That she does," said Portuusa. "The workers call her the Nui Dragon."
"Freeze, traitorous Jedi!" a familiar lisped voice yelled. The Jedi whirled around to see a team of clones headed by Commander Gery, weapons live and aimed towards the clones' former leaders.
Portuusa growled and drew his saber, igniting its blue blade in the blink of an eye. "Get to the Dragon and escape!" he commanded Jem and Quinto. "I'll hold 'em off!"
"I refuse to lose another comrade!" yelled Quinto, drawing his own saber.
"That's an order, young Knight!" Portuusa countered. "I'm a Master; I can handle these toy soldiers!"
Quinto wasn't so sure.
"Surrender now!" Gery ordered. "If you do, Emperor Palpatine might be willing to spare your lives!"
"Emperor Palpatine?!" Jem repeated in shock.
"Go!" shouted Portuusa. "Get off Cato Nui! Try to find whatever's left of the Order! Now!"
Reluctantly, Quinto and Jem obeyed. As the Nui Dragon lifted off the docking platform, Quinto and Jem could only watch as Portuusa gave his best effort to defeat the attacking clones. But it was in vain. He was soon gunned down. Killed. The last thing the two fugitives saw before escaping Cato Nui's atmosphere was Gery waving about Portuusa's lightsaber as if it were some sort of trophy.
QQQQQ
Two Months Later
"Find any Jedi beacons, Arthree?"
The droid chirped a negative.
Quinto sighed. "Two months," he said, "and we still haven't found any surviving Jedi."
"Maybe... maybe we're the only ones left," Jem suggested, then shuddered at the thought.
"Don't say that!" Quinto exclaimed. "They couldn't have gotten Master Yoda. Nor Master Kenobi. Those two, at least, are alive. I can sense it."
"And what about the... 'Chosen One?'"
"Skywalker? He's alive, I'd reckon. He's one of the Order's best. No clone would be able to catch him."
R3-F6 beeped in alarm.
"We've got a transmission!" Quinto cried jovially. "It's from the Elk system. Two Jedi, a Knight and her Padawan."
"What planet?" Jem asked, preparing to set coordinates for a hyperspace jump.
"Safeven," said Quinto. "Somewhere in the city of Bathmos."
"Punching it," said Jem.
The Nui Dragon jumped to lightspeed.
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Next Time: Can Quinto and Jem rescue two Jedi in hiding from a notorious bounty hunter out for the price on their heads? Find out in chapter two: "The False Mandalorian."