I walked out of the bridge and down to the hangar. I saw Cal talking with the R-7 in his ship as I smiled.
"This is it, your first command" I said. "Don't be nervous."
"I wish everyone would stop saying that" he said.
"The men you're commanding are depending on you with their lives" I said.
"Thanks. That takes the pressure off" he said. "If I wasn't nervous before, I sure am now."
"I wouldn't send you out there if I didn't think you could handle it" I said.
I smiled before walking away.
"And Cal" I said. "May the force be with you."
I walked back up to the bridge, approaching Admiral Yularen.
"Tell Cal the fleet is ready" I said.
"Commander, you're all clear" he said.
I crossed my arms watching as Cal led the attack.
"Admiral, four more enemy cruisers have joined the blockade" was said from behind us.
"We've got to warn those fighters" Yularen said. "Commander, we've been caught in a trap."
"You're overreacting, Admiral. I can get us through" Cal said. "Blue squadron stay on course."
"I'm ordering you to return to the ship. We're going to need your help" he said.
"Cal, it's too risky" I said. "Get your pilots out of there."
"He's not turning around" the captain said.
Admiral Yularen turned to me as we made brief eye contact.
"Did you train him to not follow orders?" He asked.
"He normally follows orders quite well" I said. "But he's been with Anakin a lot so that adds up."
Enemy ships began circling the cruiser.
"Cal, we are in trouble. I order you back here!" I said.
"Alright, alright" he said.
I looked around watching Cal's ship turn around.
"Squadron where are you!" Yularen asked.
"Cool your jets, Admiral" Cal said.
"It's too late" he said.
"Run" I said.
Admiral Yularen fell to the ground, barely moving as I kneeled down.
"Hang on" I said.
"Get us out of here" he said.
"Get those fighters on board and prepare for light speed" I said.
"Close up the hangar door" Cal said. "We're home."
"Jump to light speed" I said.
I watched as they brought Yularen to the medical center of the cruiser. I walked down to the hangar, grabbing a clone.
"Get your squad together. I need a head count" I said. "We need to know how many we lost today."
I turned around to Cal who was leaning on his ship. I sighed walking towards him as he didn't bother to look up.
"Cal, I am very disappointed in you" I said. "You not only disobeyed the Admiral, you disobeyed me."
"I thought I could known out those battleships so when Master Obi-Wan arrived he could get through" he said.
"I know you meant well" I said. "You know the first rule of war is to listen and obey your superiors."
"But you sometimes gets carried away" he said standing up. "And Master Skywalker!"
"Anakin and I are not padawans. Maybe you should be spending less time with him and more time with Master Windu" I said. "It was a trap, nothing you could've done to change it."
"But I lost so many of my pilots" he said.
"Take heart, young one" I said. "That's the reality of command."
"General, we're approaching our staging area" Gree said.
"Very good" I said.
"Master Windu is requesting a report on our progress" he said.
"Great" I sighed. "We haven't even made any progress."
"I'll tell him, sir" he said.
"No, Gree. I'll tell him myself. Thank you" I said. "As soon as we tend to our wounded, get me a damage report."
Gree nodded walking away as I turned back to Cal.
"Now Cal, I'm gonna need you to-" I said.
I noticed he was gone as I walked out of the hangar. I entered the command center as I nodded to Gree who turned on the hologram.
"They caught us by surprise, Master" I said. "We were far outnumbered."
"How many men did you lose?" Obi-Wan asked.
"We lost a cruiser, the Redeemer plus an entire squadron of fighters" I said.
"And your padawan?" He asked.
"No. Cal is fine. He's just recovering from the battle. Losing his squadron was hard to take" I said.
"Give him time but Luna, you will need his help if you're going to get through this" he said.
"Your forces have been cut in half, Luna" Mace said. "If you can't break that blockade before the next planatary rotation, we will have to postpone the invasion."
"The Twi'leks on that planet can't wait forever" I said. "The longer the Techno Union keeps control of Ryloth, the more difficult it will be to free them."
"I agree. We don't have much time" he said.
The hologram disappeared as I turned to Gree.
"Gree, see if you can find Cal" I said.
I walked down the hall as Cal slowly walked down the other side.
"You wanted to see me, Master?" Cal asked walking up.
"How are you feeling?" I asked.
"Oh, I'm fine, Master" he said.
"That's good to hear" I said. "I'm going to need you level headed if we're going to pull this thing off."
"Pull this off? Pull what off?" He asked.
"I talked to Master Windu. We are to proceed with our attack on the blockade" I said.
"What?" He said. "We can't."
"Cal, we have to break that blockade. The Twi'leks on Ryloth are depending on us" I said.
"I understand that, Master but we've lost so many men" he said. "Did we get more support?"
"No, we have to make do with the forces we have, and I need to come up with a plan" I said.
"You don't even have a plan?" He asked.
"Don't worry, Cal" I said.
"No" he said. "That's what you said last time and now everyone's gone, my whole squadron."
"Cal!" I said.
"We can't just smash through that blockade" he said.
My comm began beeping as I clicked on it.
"Organa here" I said.
"General, the Defender is contacting us" Gree said. "There seems to be a problem."
"All right" I said. "I'll be right there."
I looked at Cal who seemed to be biting his tongue.
"Go back to your quarters and cool off" I said. "We'll finish this talk later."
He rolled his eyes before walking away. I walked to the hanger meeting Gree. Ships began landing as soldiers moved boxes.
"Let's go! Let's go! No time to waste" I said.
"Master?" Cal said.
I turned around as he ignored eye contact.
"I'm almost afraid to ask" he said.
"I ordered the Defender evacuated" I said.
"I can see that. Why?" He asked.
"Well actually, I got the idea from you" I said.
"Oh, great" he said.
"Gree, take over" I said.
I hopped down from the box I was standing on. He nodded as Cal as walked beside me.
"You said we couldn't just smash right through the blockade. I decided that's partly true" I said. "I decided the only way we can break the blockade is if I pilot the Defender right into their battleship and take out the commander."
"What?" He said.
"This way if anything happens, I'm the only one at risk" I said. "Besides the Defender is damaged already."
"You can't be serious?" He said. "You'll die."
"No I won't" I said. "That's where you come in. The enemy can't stop that ship from taking them out. R-7 and I will get in an escape pod and jettison right before impact."
"But the enemy fleet is right there!" He said.
"I know" I said. "And I'll pretty much be defenseless in an escape pod so I'm depending on you to engage the remaining fleet with the combined forces we have here."
"Master, I- uh I can't. If something goes wrong I can't be responsible for-" he said.
"You are responsible, Cal" I said. "These men are depending on you and this time, so am I."
"But Master, last time-" he said.
"Attention! Everyone, attention!" I yelled. "Listen up! I'm taking over the Defender, and I'm leaving Commander Kestis in charge. He'll lead the second half of the mission when we engage whats remaining of the blockade."
"Try to leave some ships for us, General" Gree said.
"Will do, Gree" I smiled. "Now Commander Kestis will fill you in on the full plan."
"Master wait" Cal said.
"Good luck" I said.
I walked away getting into my ship and flying to the Defender. Once landing I went to the bridge to contact Cal.
"All right, Cal. We're ready to go underway" I said.
"Master, are you sure you won't reconsider this?" He asked.
"This is the only way. Trust me" I said.
I clicked the button turning around to look out into space. I went into hyper space being face with the Separatist ship. I put a transmission in to their ship.
"Greetings Captain. I'm Luna Organa, General of the Grand Army of-" I started.
"I know who you are, Organa" he said.
"Well, my reputation proceeds me then" I said. "I've been ordered to surrender myself, the entire crew of this vessel and my ship in exchange for the safe passage of food and medical supplies to the people of Ryloth."
"A noble gesture, Jedi" he said. "And your capture would make me the envy of the Separatist fleet."
I smiled as ordered the droids to do a scan of the cruiser.
"Organa, what treachery is this? You have nothing to bargain with" he said.
"In that case, I'll be going" I said. "Oh, you can still have my ship."
I looked at the radar seeing ships come out of hyper space.
"He made it" I said. "Boost the engines, and let's get out of here."
R-7 began beeping as the ship went straight towards the Separatists. I watched as they began shooting. I ran out of the bridge and into an escape pod. I watched as the cruiser crashed into their ship turning to R-7.
"Knew it would work" I said.
"Lulu, we're approaching your position" Cal said.
I smiled at the nickname he hadn't called me in months.
"Stand by for retrieval" he said.
"Right on time, Cal" I said.
I watched Cal's ship lead the strike against the ship as the droid ships blew up.
"That's my Cal" I said.
A shuttle approached as Gree talked over the comm.
"General, you still there?" He asked.
"Yep. Just sitting here watching the show" I said.
Gree connected to the escape pod as we flew towards the cruiser.