Holding On (#Wattys2017)

21| The Downfall

Anakin's POV

Laza shot an explosive arrow at imperial reinforcements. "There's to many ships coming in!" She yelled, "I'm out of explosives!"

"I'll handle their reinforcements! You help Rex and Obi Wan," I told her.

"Got it!" She agreed igniting her lightsaber and running into the battle field of stormtroopers and clones.

"How am I going to do this?" I whispered to myself.

I reached my non-mechanical hand out and made two of the ships collide and crash to the ground burning. Then looked up at another one and clenched my fist causing the chamber that carried the stormtroopers to crush them. Then I looked at the last two. I crashed ones engines causing it to explode into the other ship.

I reactivated my lightsaber and began reflecting lasers. I sliced through a few stormtroopers and reflected most of their shots back at them.

After a few minutes we finished off the army of stormtroopers. "Let's get back to Coruscant," Obi Wan said.

"Yeah," I said pushing my hair out of my face.

"LAZA!" I heard Laza's comlink go off.

"Ugh," Laza exhaled. "Talon?"

"Laza, I need your help! Please hurry back to Coruscant," she begged.

"I'm on my way," Laza told her.

Laza's POV

As we neared Coruscant I saw smoke coming from the area we were headed, the Jedi Temple.

We landed and I ran off the ship on my way to the temple. "LAZA!" Obi Wan yelled.

"With our luck the temple's under attack!" I yelled back to him.

I slid to a stop my eyes widened when I saw the temple burning down. I looked at the few Jedi who made it out, some fled for ships and some watched the sacred temple burn.

I saw a red lightsaber beam, Talon. I ran through the crowd of Jedi and into the burning temple. There I saw Maul and Talon dueling.

"Laza!" She said.

"What's going on?" I growled.

"He helped the Empire bomb the temple!" She said.

"Maul!" I yelled.

"She's lying!" He said.

Anakin ran up behind me along with Obi Wan. "Look," Obi Wan told me showing me a recording of Maul planting thermal detonators.

"MAUL!" Anakin shouted igniting his lightsaber.

The yellow glowed in Maul's eyes and he stopped dueling with Talon and stepped towards Anakin. Talon collapsed, Obi Wan and I ran to her whole Anakin battled with Maul as the room filled with smoke.

I heard a ship and shots, "I'll be going," Maul cackled and ran from Anakin. I helped Obi Wan lift Talon. The four of us escaped the burning room before we were locked in.

Obi Wan and I fell when we got out of the burning temple. Gunships landed from other missions.

Master Yoda stepped out, he was mesmerized by the sight. "Done this, who has?" He asked.

"Maul," Talon said waking up.

Some of the other Jedi ignited their lightsabers, "TRAITOR!" They yelled at her.

I pushed her behind me, "she didn't do anything to help him! She tried to stop him!"

"How do we know?" Master Plo said.

"You'll have to kill me before you kill an innocent," I growled.

"Watch," Obi Wan said starting to play the security holo. Maul started to set charges along with... my father. Talon tried to stop them, that's when her and Maul began to battle and my father left. Probably getting the ship Maul escaped on.

"See?" I snapped.

"Laza, calm down," Mace ordered.

"You see that," I started pointing at the temple, "oh, like I'm gonna calm down. I can see in all your eyes your trust for me is fading because of my stupid father!"

"Stop arguing. We all will take our ships and meet on Lothal," Obi Wan ordered.

"Lothal?" Anakin said confused.

"There's a hidden temple there, you, Laza and Talon will come with me, you three are the only ones who don't know where it is," Obi Wan told Anakin.

"Fine, I'll meet you in my ship," I said.

"What about the cruiser?" Mace asked.

"Don't use 'em, innocents will think we're with the empire," I said walking away, Talon followed me. "Wait," I stopped in my tracks.

"What?" Anakin asked.

"Where's Cody and Rex?" I asked.

"They were Ord Mantell with us," Obi Wan told me.

I grabbed my comlink, "Cody, come in Cody. It's Laza, come in," I said.

"Gener-" the transmission was jammed, "left Coruscant."

"Cody!" I said. "Dammit! I guess they left Coruscant." I ran for the ship and waited for Talon, Anakin, and Obi Wan.

"Where'd you get this?" Anakin asked sitting in pilots seat.

"During the war, I bought it off of Hondo," I told him.

"When?" He asked confused.

"When you were still a padawan, when you and Obi Wan suddenly forgot I was on Florrum with you," I replied. He smiled at me.

"I figured you'd want them on the ship with us," Obi Wan said. I turned around and saw May and my mother. They ran to me and we hugged quickly.

Beep beep! Artoo said.

"I love you too, little buddy," I laughed. I heard shots, TIE fighters.

"Let's get out of here," Anakin said and we took off.

"Artoo, how's the hyperdrive?" Anakin asked.

Beep beep beep. Artoo told him.

"Good, once we leave the atmosphere I'm making the jump," Anakin said.

I watched as we left the clouds of smoke and into light speed. "Artoo, set course for Lothal," Anakin ordered.

"I didn't even know there was a planet Lothal," I shook my head.

"Says the General of the Galactic Army," Obi Wan said.

"One, the Galactic Army doesn't exist anymore. Two, my master had me memorize every Sith instead of every planet," I explained.

What're we going to do without the temple? Especially now that the Jedi are charged with treason and are being hunted...