Life Of War

Chapter 69

R2-D2 entered the base with a tank, distracting the guard droids while we snuck around.

"Jedi." Hondo nodded to us as we took down the guard droids and found his cell. "And here I thought you made your escape, no?"

"No. There were complications. Now, we have to put our differences aside and be friends, or else we're all gonna die here." I took authority.

"Ah, very diplomatic. Ha! I knew you did not come back to rescue Hondo, how do you say it? Out of the goodness of your hearts. No, no, no, no. You need something from me."

"A ship, to be specific." Katooni stepped up to him as he was still help in the force field.

"Ah, yes. A ship, a ship. Ah, but where would we find one of those? My new friend General Grievous has destroyed my ships." Hondo faked thought.

"We know you have one, a whole pirate fleet." Petro talked up this time.

"And one of my old friends, apparently, has been talking too much. Ah, what does it matter? We'll never reach the vault anyway. Grievous' army is way too big."

"Don't give up. We can fight." Petro claimed proudly and confidently.

"If I may, sir. I have instructed younglings for over 1,000 generations, and these are among the best I have ever seen." Our droid spoke up to give his opinion.

"Well, then, show me. Show me your swords, tiny Jedi. Show Hondo you are ready to fight." Each youngling lit up their saber except for Katooni. "Ah. And you, child. Where is your saber?"

"It's not finished. I never finished it. I've done everything right, but it won't work." She sighed, pulling out the parts with shame.

"You must trust that the components that form your lightsaber are meant to be together. There is no other way. It is the Force that binds them." The droid tells her.

"Yes, I was just going to say that. Finish it now. Finish, finish! This is worth the price of a ship. To see the construction of a Jedi lightsaber, this... this is priceless. Finish it, and together, we can defeat Grievous." Hondo cheered as she sat down and placed the parts in front of her. She used the force to piece it together like they had learned and stood up, lighting it up to reveal the blue blade. "Oh. Amazing. That is truly amazing." Hondo gasped in excitement. "Well, cut me down, little Jedi. It's time to leave." She sliced the binds on him, her friends cheering proudly at her accomplishment.

"So why the big show? You didn't really have a choice. You know we have to work together." I walked over to Hondo on the side, away from the happy children.

"Because, Jedi, you know what we are about to attempt is very dangerous. And I may be a pirate, but I do not like taking children into battle." Hondo said.

"That didn't seem to bother you when you attacked us." Ahsoka sneered back at him.

"Well, today is a new day, and lucky for you, today, I like children. Now, let's free the rest of my men." He led the way out of his cell.

Releasing all of the other pirates, we had all stormed out of the collapsing building and into battle against the droid army. Working together the Jedi had sliced down droids while the pirates blasted them violently.

"I got your back." Katooni told Hondo as she jumped on a speeder with him.

"Great. I feel so safe." He said nervously.

"This way, let's go!" I called down, helping the others onto the tank we had stollen. Speeding off through a tunnel system, droids shot at us until we broke off from the others. Grievous had shown up, jumping into our tank prompting Ahsoka and I to fight him while the kids hid below deck where they were safe for now.