Lux Bonteri, Jedi Knight

Chapter One: The Two Apprentices

Fourteen months later...

Lux deflected laser blasts off the humming blade of his lightsaber, running to his right in a tight arc to cut down the B1 Separatist battle droids that were getting a little too close to the entrance to the canyon for his liking.

His troops returned fire, but the limited visibility and the small number of Republic soldiers still standing was making for less droids hit than was needed to keep them away. And according to the scanners, another patrol was heading back up the canyon towards them. If they didn't move soon, they would be pinned down, and the data crystal they were carrying that would get them into a nearby Separatist facility would be lost.

"Master?" he called into his wrist comm. "Master Kenobi! Do you copy?"

All he received in ways of a reply was the crackle and fizz of static.

"Comms are down, sir," called Lieutenant Jattson, the officer in the 212th, his Master's legion, he worked alongside most often. "But I might be able to get something through to General Skywalker's team – they're not as far off."

"Do it!" he called back, wincing as a laser blast snuck through his defenses and whizzed past his face. He had never been as good as the other Jedi at fighting, but he had other strengths that were useful to the Republic in the war effort.

A nearby Separatist heavy cannon blast landed a short distance away, sending up a cloud of sand and bits of sandstone. Lux blinked rapidly to get the dust out of his eyes, but the effort was probably pointless: he was sure he was covered in a fine layer of the aggravating stuff by now.

His wrist comm pinged a moment later as Jattson boosted the signal, and he hit the button. "Master Skywalker, do you–"

"On my way, Bonteri."

It wasn't Anakin Skywalker who answered, but instead a familiar female voice in a lighthearted tone that had a bad habit of making his heart pound and face heat up at all the wrong times.

He chuckled. "Thanks, Sohree. It's so convenient that you can always tell what I'm going to say before I say it."

The sudden sounds of mechanical cries of alarm and slashes of a lightsaber brought his attention back to a point behind him. He turned around, unable to hide a smile as he caught sight of the silhouette standing on top of an outcrop in the cliffs that made up the ancient riverbed.

"Just comes from knowing you as well as I do," said Ahsoka Tano with a wry little grin. He couldn't help but grin back.

Then, she let herself fall from her perch towards him. But he didn't bother getting out of the way; he knew he didn't need to. She summersaulted in midair at the last second, landing gracefully on her feet. Then she extinguished the blade on her green-yellow shoto and used her green one to help him deflect shots away from his troops.

"So, how've you been?" he asked over the blaster fire echoing around them. "Has your Master gone against the plan again?"

Ahsoka rolled her eyes. "What d'you think? There's a reason he's out in the area covered by the long-range Sep communications block. Especially because he was given explicitly instructions not to be."

"Well, at least we have the four teams planetside. If Master Skywalker goes off the map for a bit to smash some droids–" He paused here for a moment to slice a B1 down the middle to prove his point, "–then we can afford it. And I've got no reason to complain if there are some last-minute changes: I have you here with me."

A slight smile came to her plump, oh-so-kissable lips, and then she turned away. But despite having received something like the desired reaction, Lux wanted to slap himself. He didn't try to flirt with her. Compliments and comments redirected to highlight the things he liked about her just sort of... spilled out of him.