The End Of The War

Chapter 8

By the time they had left the atmosphere, Ochako had gone completely silent. Izuku had as well. R4-D11 couldn't gauge why both were that way. His understanding of organics was that they were either sad, upset, or angry about something. R4-D11 himself had seen the inexplicable turning of the clones on the Jedi and the Mandalorians fighting to protect them. He had tried to ask them about it as they were leaving the atmosphere, but she was crying, and he had stayed silent, though he could hear sniffles. They finally broke the exosphere, and the remaining Venator in orbit opened its main hangar doors to send a contingent of fighters after them. He decided to warn them about the incoming craft. Once he'd said that, Ochako looked to the capital ship and swung her turret around.

"Okay, you womp rats. Let me send you to hell," she whispered to herself.

Izuku remained silent and continued piloting the Y-wing ahead. R4-D11 heard the hum of the deflector shields activating.

"There has to be somewhere safe. There has to be," Izuku said, checking the navicomputer.

When Izuku wasn't pitching, pulling up, or diving the ship, R4-D11 took over piloting and had the ship dive before the starfighters could attack them. Ochako fired the turret into the incoming swarm, managing to down three ships. R4-D11 decided to tell Izuku that he should be the one to look up where a safe system would be while Izuku piloted. Izuku pulled the Y-wing up, and he and Ochako fired at some of the incoming fighters, completely downing the squadron.

"Die. Die. Die! DIE!!!" Ochako screamed as they flew through the wreckage, still firing on some of the slightly more intact fuselages.

"Ochako, they're dead. Overkill won't bring them ba--" Izuku began.

"SHUT UP!!! THIS IS CATHARSIS!!! DROID, HAVE YOU FOUND US A PLANET TO JUMP TO!?"

R4-D11 went on a short tirade about how she wasn't this rude to him only a couple days ago and that he actually wanted to have the nickname Iida, as it was 11D4 backwards.

"Fine. Iida, do you have a planet we can jump to?" She forced herself to ask calmly.

Iida said that he hadn't.

"WHY THE KRIFF NOT?!"

"Even I can answer that," Izuku said, "because we're in a Y-wing that rules out the neutral systems who will turn away a military vessel. And because we're Republic, the Separatists will kill us if we try to lay low in one of their systems. And this ship has probably already been reported as stolen by a Jedi and a sympathizer with them. We'll be killed on sight as soon as we jump to a Republic system."

Iida beeped out that the turning of the clones was disturbing and wanted to know why they did it. After he asked that, an alarm began blaring, indicating more fighters headed for them. Izuku dove the ship.

"I don't know. It had to do with something called Order 66."

Green blaster bolts glanced off of the Y-wing's shields. Iida ran through military protocols while still searching for a safe system. Only a couple seconds later, he beeped out that Order 66 wasn't part of the standard Republic Military procedure. Before they could respond, Izuku and Iida received a coded message. From the Jedi Temple.

"I... I can't believe it..." Izuku said, completely out of the fact that right now, Republic fighters were closing on them again.

"Could you maybe deliver the news alongside some evasive maneuvers?!" Ochako asked.

"Gah! Karabast! Sorry!"

He spun the Y-wing.

"It's a coded retreat! Requesting all Jedi to return to the Temple! This has to mean that the Council is preparing for a counterstrike! Quick, set the navicomputer for Coruscant!"