The Countess ━ OBI-WAN KENOBI

Chapter Seventeen

The bitterness of the first damage quickly ended as they soon descended to the surface, all aboard on the gunships. With Obi-Wan pulling Leilani out from the vastness of space, within mere moments, it all seemed to settle down. The plan worked, and the battleships very slowly left in pieces — yet most of the pilots remained up, destroying the remaining fleet of the Separatists, while their commanders smoothly landed on the desert planet, trying to seek the perfect assembly spot for the ground offensive — and while at first glance it seemed all too easy, they were all aware of how tricky Jedha can be. Old stories and maps told them about secret corridors down below the miles of sand; the caverns carved into the dunes, yet for the naked eye, it all seemed impossible, finding anything civilised in a sea of nothing but dust and bones. They place down the tanks and speeders atop, while the two generals send a few scouts ahead, hoping that they will find one of the temples still intact and barely annexed.

Rex, Cody and Blaze help settle down their troops, adjusting to the surroundings and commanding the soldiers perhaps sometimes even too loudly for certainty that they hear the orders coming from the top; and while Rex and Cody seem to enjoy the serenity before the storm, Blaze appears furious and impatient with this form of administration. Another siege, he thinks, another long-going war where he might lose his brothers, where at the end, everything becomes flat, one way or another; and not even the blood witches from Dathomir would be able to save them. Grief and sorrow; a new perspective and a change in mentality since he has had to shoot his closest friend — a fact he previously didn't let himself dwell on, yet now it made everything blurry and imperfect.

Nia looked over the top of her shoulders, observing the clone captain for a brief moment, before turning back to her Master. "Do you think Blaze will be alright? I feel that he is...conflicted."

"I feel it too," nodded Leilani slowly. "We need to give him time to mourn and recover because no matter how strong he might appear, he still blames himself. Such is the life of Commanders, Nia...yet just like us, he will have to accept it as well."

A single action haunting people even beyond grave, no matter how bold or happy they appear, they are always moments, when memories are keen to hit you, crush your heart, and leave you in crumbles; while there are days when they disappear.

"The last of the tanks are on the ground," says Obi-Wan, walking closer to the duo. "When Xeno and Recon will arrive, we will be free to march ahead."

"And so then, we will be ready," Leilani assures half-heartedly, gesturing for the lilac droid unit to project the holomap encrypted. "Based on the reports and our intelligence, there are three points of interests; the Temple of the Whills in the Holy City, from there, they are taking the resources here, to one of the old sanctuaries in the Narkis Highlands, while their main base is here, in the Dome of Deliverance," she explains, as the marking points show up on the map. "What we are hoping for is to set up a base relatively close to all of them, which we can use as a meeting point, and where we can set up the barracks and the medical centre." Her hand is circling around the ideal spot, demonstrating the reality of the idea. "From there, Nia and the 501st will take the Highlands, while I and General Kenobi will march towards the Holy City to take the Temple — and only after, with combined forces can we take the Dome and end this for the better."

"A well thought-out plan, General Serenno," acknowledges the 501st's Captain with a brief nod, as all others tend to agree.

"Indeed."

It isn't long before the two scouts return, signalling the urgency of the situation; and while they are leaving enough men behind to have the base set up, Leilani gives Nia the last of the orders, reassuring her over and over again what she would need to get done. Only after do they depart, on separate ways, and it requires her entire consciousness not to run after her Padawan.