3rd person

Victory. What did it really mean?

Accomplishing strategic goals? Acquiring vital resources?

Indisputable dominance? Total annihilation of the enemy?

What did it truly mean? Furthermore...

What did it truly matter?

Ponds

"Boom!"

A thunderous tremor rippled through the hull of the Absolute, the last of many.

This one was the final nail in the coffin. As the lights of the Absolute's bridge faded, so did the constant hum of the ship's collective mechanisms.

A clone officer named 'Nox' informed me of our newest plight.

"A starboard engine's been hit, commander!" he panicked. The rest of the bridge officers were also in disarray, madly typing at their consoles.

"How long for the auxiliary power to kick in?" I demanded, still keeping my cool.

"A while, sir!" he responded, sporting a pained look on his face.

"Our shields are down!" another officer yelled.

"Well... get them back up!" I ordered, my calm demeanor beginning to erode.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

"Aaaahhh!"

"AGH!"

"AUGH!"

"Argh!"

The entirety of my bridge crew were knocked off their feet as Grievous bombarded the Absolute with turbolaser fire. I alone managed to keep my footing.

Peering out the trapezoidal windows of the bridge, the full extent of our plight was revealed.

Grievous mercilessly targeted each and every innate weakness of the Star Destroyer. His bombardment was accompanied by a myriad of vulture droids and other unmanned fighters.

It was a swarm of death.

I pounded the button that activated the holotable, switching to the separatist frequency.

"General Grievous! Grievous! Can you hear me? This is Commander Ponds of the Grand Army of the Republic." I shouted, repeating myself until a response came through.

"Speak, republic dog." Grievous answered, sounding rather pleased.

"I'd like to negotiate terms of surrender!" I revealed, all other options having been exhausted. The General acknowledged my request with a fit of coughing and mad laughter.

"Ah... I think not, unless you'd like to surrender your lives!" he cackled before shutting off our communication completely.

That was my last gambit. I had nothing else to offer.

As the bridge continued to swirl with chaos, I stared out into the cosmos. The incessant panic of the bridge officers disappeared, my thoughts taking their place.

'General Gallia... General Windu... I'm so sorry.'

This had been a colossal failure, maybe even historic. If a ten year old raised on a backwater planet like Tatooine had been given command of a Venator, I'm sure they would have done a stellar job compared to me.

I'd failed my General. I'd failed my brothers.

Most importantly, I'd failed the Republic.

As the rumble deafened, as the Absolute accumulated more and more critical damage, I steeled myself for the end.

"Kkkkkkkk"

The holotable lit up as a new frequency came through, an unknown voice crackling from it.

"I'll take it from here, Ponds." assured the charismatic voice of a young male.

"Shhheeuw!"

A Jedi starfighter blitzed past the bridge, shocking all personnel on board.

"This is General Skywalker speaking... your reinforcements have arrived." The voice asserted with confidence.

Skywalker promptly performed a nosedive, disappearing into the flock of enemy fighters. Though his ship wasn't entirely visible, the destruction left in his wake was.

Enemy fighters were reduced to wreckage mere moments after the Jedi General caught sight of them. The cheap separatist drones kept trying to pick him off, but he effortlessly slipped through their grasp every time.

The spins... the perfect accelerations and decelerations... the incredible reaction time.

The spacecraft wasn't simply a machine that he utilized, he'd made it an extension of himself.

If there was ever a genius star pilot, it was Anakin Skywalker.

The chaotic mob within the bridge had been distilled into an attentive audience; every clone's eyes were glued to Anakin Skywalker's Delta-7B Aethersprite-class light interceptor (quite the mouthful).

That single starfighter was worth a thousand vulture droids.

The deep bellow of a large spacecraft's appearance pulled me out my trance. Beside us, the Venator dubbed Resolute had materialized from hyperspace, along with several additional starfighters already primed for combat.

"The A team's here!" cheered Nox, several roars of excitement following from the rest of the crew.

I cheered as well, joining my men.

'Looks like Grievous got his wish, the slimy bastard.' I thought to myself with a chuckle.

Ahsoka

I flew onto the scene with the rest of our starfighters, my master having left for the the party without us.

'Where's Anakin... where's Anakin?' I thought, slight concern rushing through my mind.

"Rex, can you see him?" I asked through the communicator.

"I think so, commander." Rex responded, unfazed.

"What do you mean you think so? Oh..." I trailed off, seeing the trail of space debris left by my master. It was like a cosmic wasteland.

"A General's supposed to lead Skyguy, not leave his forces behind." I muttered into the communicator with the usual sarcasm.

"Sometimes you have to lead by example, Snips." he shot back casually, sounding occupied.

"R2, you really need to keep him in check." I muttered, exasperated.

"I think you're the last person who should be saying that." Anakin retaliated lightheartedly.

"Whatever. Anyway, Master Luminara and Bariss should be arriving shortly master." I informed him as I swooped into the chaos.

3rd Person

Though the night was long past its zenith, darkness would persist for a while longer. A blanket of silence was draped over the church of the force. The main lodgings were hushed, aside from the faint snores of the inhabitants.

However, one sound stood above the rest: the distant sound of war. It came from the temple.

Beneath the ebbing moonlight, a singular white-robed figure crept out of the cathedral.

The bustling night life of Jedha City had been erased from existence, the inhabitants holed up wherever they could find.

Stealthily making their way through the ghost town, the figure arrived at an abandoned complex.

This particular complex had been the former residency of both the church and the guardians.

The white specter made their way to the terrace. There, they encountered a second figure. This figure was draped in black robes, blending in with the night sky.

Upon seeing the silhouette of the black phantom, the white specter spoke up.

"There you are."

"I assume you called me here for a reason." the black phantom stated, on edge.

"Oh? I thought you'd know why." the white specter responded, surprised.

"We shouldn't be here. We shouldn't be... out like this. It's too much of a risk." the black phantom asserted. The white specter shook their head.

"That doesn't matter anymore..." the white specter proceeded to point at the temple in the distance. "Everything's coming crashing down as is. Sooner or later, we'll go with it."

A faint rumble echoed from the temple, as if on cue.

"What do you propose?" the black phantom questioned. The white specter answered by ruffling through their cloak, unveiling a holoprojector.

They promptly dialed a sequence while the phantom nervously anticipated whatever was to come. Moments turned into eons, yet nothing came from the holoprojector.

"Ugh. I've been trying over and over, but still nothing. It's those blasted crystals." the specter fumed.

"Why don't we..." the phantom began, but they were interrupted by the holoprojector, receiving a transmission this time.

"There she is, at last." the specter remarked, pleased. He picked up the transmission.

The holographic form of Asajj Ventress popped up. Both figures dropped into a bow.

"Why are you contacting me?" the assassin hissed, teetering between fury and shock.

"Ventress... we have but one request: refuge. Take us with you, and in return, countless Jedi secrets will be yours." the white specter beseeched. Ventress responded with unadulterated rage.

"The audacity... you've got guts, old man. If you'd controlled your little minions, if you'd kept the Jedi ignorant, none of this would have happened!"

"Yes... we bear the burden of blame. Still, our knowledge could be of use to you!" the black-robed woman begged. Ventress cooled down, taking a moment to ponder the proposition.

"Fine." she whispered insidiously.

"We are forever in your debt." the white-robed elder voiced, expressing his gratitude.

"We're at..." the black-robed woman started.

"TRAITOR!!!"

The rooftop was turned upside down as Chirrut Imwe revealed himself from the shadows, his voice distorted with hurt and betrayal.

Leaping forward before the two could react, he struck his Grand Sentinel over the head with his staff. She fell unconscious almost immediately.

"Wait, stop!" Priest Donnall blurted out as the guardian lunged at him with vigor. Surprisingly, the priest sidestepped his younger assailant.

Chirrut's momentum got the better of him, as he was unable to change course for a time.

The priest hobbled for the stairs, pushing his frail body to its limit. As his back was turned, he had no idea a silver dagger was headed straight for his shoulder.

"Aghh!" he wailed as the blade sunk into his flesh.

"I didn't want it... to be you." Hela rued as she kicked her fallen priest in the side.

Hela

I didn't want it to be true, but... too many pieces had fallen into place.

When Chirrut and I both saw our respective leaders heading out in the dead of night, we knew something was up.

When they finally came to, it was a rude awakening. Chirrut and I had successfully chained them to the point of complete immobility.

"Hela, you misunderstand. We were only trying to lure the sith underling here." Priest Donnall croaked.

I knew he was only spinning a story.

"There's no talking your way out of this." I growled, pressing the knife to his throat (to his horror).

I looked over to Chirrut for the usual scorn, only to see that his fury surpassed my own. He made no effort to stop me.

"Continue." he demanded, to which I obliged.

"I didn't want it to be you, but it just... made so much sense." I continued.

"I was born into the church. It was all I knew, but I was happy. For that, I was grateful to you..." I continued.

"You raised me in your views, and I took them on with pride. The Jedi serve the will of the force... and we are here to support them. To use that which the force has given us." I continued.

"But our views are so at odds with those of the guardians. You always called for peace, but thinking back on it... you never really tried that hard to stop us." I continued.

"You were so nervous when the Jedi arrived. I thought it was embarrassment at us, but really you were just scrambling to cover your tracks." I continued.

"And when I finally realized how lost I was, how we all were... you got scared. Both of you did. You used the violence as an excuse to isolate us, because us coming to an understanding is the last thing you want. Sound about right?" I finished, out of breath.

Priest Donnall let out a chuckle, at which I pressed down hard on his lacerated shoulder. That shut him up good.

"I didn't raise you to be smart, but look at you. I'm impressed." he remarked, trying to keep up the tough guy facade.

I snuck a glance at Chirrut. While I had expressed myself with a lengthy monologue, he stood in stark contrast. Chirrut merely stared into the eyes of his Grand Sentinel with murderous intent.

He looked like a wounded animal. Hurt, betrayed by the closest thing to a mother he'd ever had.

Zena Killian got the picture.

"There's one thing I still don't understand, and you're going to enlighten me." I snarled.

"I don't have to tell you anything." the priest resisted.

"Why? Why do all this? Why keep us at each other's throats?" I queried, curiosity overtaking my anger.

"If you're expecting a world-shattering reveal, then you'll just be disappointed. Why, you ask? Credits. Money. Riches. There's your answer." he spat to my dismay.

"You used to tell me all about the force... how it lives within us and connects every living being together. That passion... it couldn't have been a lie." I lamented, my eyes welling up.

"Maybe at one point I believed all that. Maybe the Jedi did too." the priest scoffed.

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused.

"You've seen it over the past several days! The Jedi no longer serve the force, they serve the republic. What I'm doing is no different. "

"That's not even close to comparable with what you're doing!" I yelled.

"Eventually, as the years go by, the luster starts to wear off. You start to wake up. And hey, if I can make a fortune out of it, why not?" Priest Donnall rambled, laughing in my face.

Before I could put him in his place, Chirrut and I witnessed a dark shadow approaching our position.

"It must be Ventress. We didn't deactivate the holoprojector soon enough!" Chirrut sputtered, looking skyward. I nodded in agreement. Our time was now limited.

I became fixated with my silver dagger, the blade saturated with blood. My thoughts whirled a parsec a minute...

"What should we do with them?!" I stuttered, now unsure of myself. My anger was real, I wanted to kill them; It was what they deserved. On the contrary, the knowledge they possessed could be useful. But... in the wrong hands...

"Hela... look around you." Chirrut directed, pointing at the various slums that surrounded the deserted complex.

Of course... even though the scenery seemed barren, the reality was that we were in the midst of sleeping families. There was no telling how much collateral damage the CIS might inflict.

Chirrut's hands shook as he held his staff in an iron grip, as did mine. The pure terror was visible through the eyes of our traitorous leaders. The anticipation was killing us all.

The heavy hum of what must have been a shuttle was even closer now. Suddenly, Chirrut began to mutter to himself.

"I am one with the force, and the force is with me..."

"I am one with the force, and the force is with me..."

Without warning, a blinding light showered the ground we stood on. Chirrut reacted swiftly and decisively, grabbing my wrist and pulling me away from the rooftop. Far, far away...

Eventually the shuttle took off, ending any possibility of justice or interrogation.

Yet, I didn't struggle... because I understood. Despite our grudges, despite the dangerous knowledge they possessed...

They weren't worth more than Jedha City's people.

Ahsoka

We had the advantage when it came to spacecraft, as well as pilots. Mortis Gods, we had Anakin.

And still, Grievous refused to yield. He was fighting a battle worthy of the Jedi Archives, albeit a losing one.

Of course, the battle was at the back of my mind, though I knew it shouldn't be.

"Hello again, Ahsoka."

A familiar, meek voice came through my communicator.

"Barriss!" I blurted out, excited to hear the voice of my friend.

The Star Destroyer known as Tranquility had arrived, along with General Luminara Unduli and her padawan learner.

With this, victory was assured. As the second batch of reinforcements entered the fray, Master Luminara spoke to my master and I through the communication channel.

"General Skywalker, Padawan Tano. Now that we've arrived, it would be wise to send a group to the surface and check on Master Gallia. My padawan and I would..."

"Master Luminara, we're on it! Ahsoka and I will take the 501st." Anakin interjected, for my sake presumably.

"Very well." Master Luminara affirmed passively.

It was decided. Anakin, Rex, I, and a flock of miscellaneous ships began our descent.

"Master, you didn't have to do that." I muttered, embarassed.

"Shut it Ahsoka, I know what you're thinking about." he asserted, brushing me off.

The sunrise was just beginning as we landed. Jedha City was lifeless.

"Ugh." Anakin mumbled, kicking the pure white sand with disgust.

We made our way to the temple as quick as possible.

When we arrived, my heart dropped.

It was a wasteland; much of the silvery dust had been reduced to ash, blackened by warfare.

The demolished remains of battle droids were littered around the hallowed structure, along with the corpses of numerous troopers.

The smoking husks of gunships and other land vehicles - separatist and republic - polluted the earth.

As we marched onto the forgone scene, a small band of survivors took notice. There were no cheers, we received no warm welcome at all.

"General Skywalker... a pleasure to meet you sir. I'm Commander Neyo of the 91st." Neyo greeted with a hushed voice.

"Neyo, give me the rundown." Anakin nodded as his gaze scoured the scorched earth for answers.

"Ventress fortified herself beneath the temple, General. At that point, it was a game of chicken. Eventually, she sent her forces to the surface, and we fought back. Many of us didn't make it." Neyo elucidated.

As Neyo continued informing my master of their current predicament, I noticed a massive crowd of black and white approaching us in the distance.

"General Skywalker, we've got company." Rex piped up.

As Anakin noticed the advancing crowd, his hand began twitching toward the hilt of his lightsaber. The 501st followed suite, gripping their blasters.

"Those are the religious groups we had to work with... not sure if they're friendly." Neyo stated coldly.

The throng was lead by a white-robed woman, as well as a black-robed man with a staff.

"Please, no weapons! We're here to help." The black-robed man implored, to which Anakin motioned for his troops to relax.

"Help... how?" Anakin questioned.

"You have many wounded. We can treat them." the white-robed woman offered, pointing out to the various casualties the 91st had suffered. Anakin nodded in response.

"I didn't realize the Jedi were sending more knights... I'm Chirrut Imwe, this is..." Chirrut began, but Anakin cut him off.

"I'm glad you're here Chirrut, but the introductions will have to wait. Do what you came here for; despite how it looks, the battle is not yet over." Anakin ordered, at which the two leaders of the herd nodded in understanding.

As the newcomers spread out to look for survivors, I turned to Neyo to ask the burning question I'd been holding back.

"Where's Zevon, I mean... Commander Boltreaver and General Gallia, where are they?"

"They went down there." Neyo stated, pointing to the temple entrance. "I think General Gallia had a plan, she took her padawan and a trooper along. But..." he stopped, pointing to a fallen clone in the trenches.

"Go on..." Anakin requested.

"That trooper was the one she brought along. He came up a while ago, and Ventress is long gone. A shuttle landed at the back of the temple... by the time we realized it was too late."

The panic was setting in now.

'I knew it... I knew this would happen! Why didn't I do something?' I cursed myself.

"Master, I'm going down there!" I declared, breaking into a sprint.

"Ahsoka, wait...!" Anakin yelled after me.

Chirrut

Hela and I stood in silence, mourning.

There he was.

'Slipstream.' Frozen in time, his eyes glazed over.

I kept wanting to say something, and I suspect Hela did as well, but I couldn't bring myself to.

Though we'd barely even known him, he'd made such a profound impact upon both of us.

And there he was, lifeless in a trench.

The silence persisted between us for a bit longer, our fellow believers shuffling around us as they tended to fallen soldiers.

"Did you see Master Gallia or her padawan?" Hela asked, still fixated on Slipstream's body.

"No." I responded.

'Did they perish as well?' I contemplated grimly.

Suddenly, the constantly shuffling around us ceased. It was so jarring that both Hela and I looked up to see what the fuss was about.

And what a sight we were graced with.

Padawan Boltreaver emerged from the depths of the catacombs, Master Gallia and a clone trooper draped across his shoulders.

He was covered head to toe in soot, blood, and he had a bad limp.

The weight upon his shoulders must have been comparable to three sets of mandalorian armor, yet he pressed forward.

As the rising sun crept above the temple of the kyber, the warm winter sky became a backdrop to his undying march.

As the alpenglow reflected off the surface of the winter wasteland, everyone present watched in awe as he finally stopped.

After what felt like an eternity, he collapsed beneath the weight of his burden. The young togruta quickly rushed to his side, as did the Jedi I assumed to be her master.

I turned to make eye contact with Hela; she bore the same shocked expression as I did.

Despite our shock, we were relieved.

Zevon

Everything was fuzzy. Had I made it... had I made it to the surface yet?

"Zevon... Zevon..." I heard a distant voice call.

It sounded like Ahsoka.

No... it couldn't be.

That was all I remembered before blacking out.

Ventress

The journey to Grievous was a nightmare, yet I still managed. I always did.

As soon as I landed in the hangar, he made the jump to hyperspace.

"How did it go? Failure, as usual?" Grievous taunted as I and my two companions entered the bridge.

"Ironic, coming from the brilliant mind that just lost more than half of his fighters." I struck back, fanning the flames of our rivalry.

Grievous laughed in response, refusing to elaborate further.

"The Count wishes for you to contact him." he informed me, pleased by the concern that spread across my face. The cyborg general then left, refusing to elaborate further.

My hands shook with fear as I prepared to contact my master yet again.

The crystal was not in our possession. That... that Jedi had foiled the entire operation.

The Count would be displeased... but it had to be done.

However...

As the translucent blue apparition took shape, I was appalled to see that it was not my master.

The murky image was shorter than Dooku, and far more sinister.

"Lord... Lord Sidious!" I gasped, kneeling into a deep bow.

The Dark Lord's face was concealed by his sith robes, black as the obsidian of Mustafar.

What was discernable of his face was a gaunt white.

"I presume the extraction has gone as planned?" he inquired, his words exuding a tone of superiority.

Sidious always made it clear who was in control.

Upon hearing his inquiry, my heart dropped. Shuddering, I prepared for the worst.

"My Lord, things didn't go as planned. A Jedi... prevented me from retrieving a kyber crystal of the size you desired." I stuttered.

"That is... unfortunate." he trailed off, his tone unwavering. Grasping at straws, I strained myself... trying to think of something valuable I'd procured.

"But... but Lord Sidious, it's not all bad news. I did some preliminary analysis of the crystalline structure. The data is still intact." I revealed.

I experienced a lengthy silence as the Sith Lord mulled over this revelation.

"That will do... for now." he assured with an ominous smirk.

"One more thing, My Lord." I mentioned, looking over to the sect leaders I'd brought with me. "These two are the spies I used, they've worked closely with the Jedi council in the past."

Sidious didn't hesitate to give me his order.

"They have become a liability, and are no longer of use. Kill them immediately."

"Yes, Master Sidious." I nodded, flashing an evil grin. I'd hoped he would say that.

"No! Please, I beg you... we..." the sect leaders cried out in terror.

I beheaded them in a red blur, before they could finish.

...

A few days later

Burst

By the time I'd recovered enough to stand, General Gallia and Commander Boltreaver were long gone.

As for me, I was still here.

I decided to take a midnight stroll on a whim, soon finding myself in front of the sacred temple.

The regal statue of an ancient Jedi Knight towered over me, as did the whole of the holy structure.

I walked among the the forgotten, the departed.

So many brothers I never got to know properly. So many brothers I never even met.

Of course, none of them were really here still. They'd already cleaned up the dead.

Still, a small part of me thought that even now their spirits lingered, watching me.

I never got to see Slip after... after it happened. They'd already taken him away.

We won though, didn't we? We completed the mission. Victory had been achieved.

"Crunch!"

As I was lost in thought, I carelessly tread upon a pouch. It lay next to the charred fragments of a B2 super battle droid.

A faint glow shimmered from the brown cloth. I opened it, revealing dozens of pale crystals.

"We won, Slip... we won." I stated out loud, fixated upon the stash of kyber.

A mixture of emotions began to bubble up within my chest, clashing together violently.

A moment passed, perhaps two.

I pitched the kyber as far as I could throw it, the radiance arcing through the night sky like a shooting star.