A/N: "I been waiting for this one!! Turn it up!" ⬇️⬇️
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"Waxer, tell me, who gave you the orders to attack us?"
"It was General Krell, he sent us to these coordinates to stop the enemy... But it was you"
The life in the soldiers eyes flickered out with his final breath. A single tear slipped from his brown eye, demonstrating the great sadness that had plagued the hearts of everyone on the battlefield. Rex's jaw locked at Waxer's last words. He glared at the forested distance, pondering angrily on his next course of action. Jedi General Pong Krell had deliberately betrayed them, and had set up this false mission to kill them all.
Rex stood up, stepping away from his brothers dead body. To his surprise, General Ky was no longer at his side. She had been there a moment ago. His brown eyes spotted her lightsaber which laid alone in the grass where she once stood. He bent down to pick it up. The medical clone glanced up to the Captain from where he was working on the ground "Waxer.. wasn't killed by a blaster" Kix informed sadly.
Rex processed what he said, then glanced back down to the saber in his hand. Her necklace was wrapped securely around the handle as it always was. His heart nearly shattered like glass at the news. It broke for the death of his brother, and also because he knew all too well how his General was feeling at that very moment "I'll.. be back, gather everyone" he ordered Kix.
"Yes sir"
Rex walked away from Waxer and pushed his way through the foggy brush, not knowing exactly where she could have gone to. The saber was gripped tightly in his hand with the necklace weaved between his fingers. After a short while of searching, he found her standing alone in a small clearing, far away from everyone else. Her body was hunched over with her hands resting on her knees. Dark hair fell over her eyes, hiding her emotion from the rest of the universe "Ge- Dakota" he called worriedly, quickening his pace.
At the sound of his voice, she straightened out her spine and wiped underneath her eyes. He paused in front of her and she spun around to face him "That-that was me" she admitted immediately, sticking out her hand in the direction as from which Rex came "I did that, I-" she then ran her fingers through her ruffled hair, sounding just as devastated as he felt "I killed him"
"I swear, every time I'm with you, someone dies"
her sisters voice echoed in the back of her mind.
"She's right" Dakota whispered while rubbing her head in dismay, turning away from Rex.
"This wasn't you, none of this is your fault" he moved to stand behind her, wanting to be able to see her face "General Krell set this up, he wants to see us kill each other. This was him" he pointed his finger at the ground.
"I should've sensed the shift within him" she spit-fired, her eyes darting around, signaling that her mind was in a slight craze "I should've known that he had turned-"
"This wasn't you" he repeated, taking her by the shoulders. Her lips parted at his sudden contact, as a small part of her instinctively wanted to pull away. Having someone hold her for once was quite the foreign concept in her life "We all know who you are" Rex said sternly "I know. I know your compassion, I know your heart for us clones. The blood that was spilled here tonight is not on your hands"
"But I killed him" her eyes squinted, pain escaping from the depths of her heart.
"No, you didn't..." he tightened his fingers around her arms. She listened to him. In that moment, the fact that they were Jedi and Clone was forgotten "but we will avenge him, and we will avenge all of the soldiers who were lost under his command"
"That's-..." she looked away, sighing quietly "That's not the Jedi way" she said rather unconvincingly.
"It's my way" he nodded "Many of my brothers fell tonight because of General Krell's betrayal. I refuse to let him get away with this. With your permission, I'd like to put an end to him, and to all of the hell that he has brought upon our battalion"
She looked between his brown eyes while taking in his request. Without a doubt, he was right. It wasn't even a question at this point. There's no possible way to avoid the impending retaliation against General Krell. For all the ones who lost their lives, they deserve to have that monster dealt with.
Dakota closed her eyes and took a step forward, wrapping her arms around him in an embrace. He froze, not knowing how to react for a brief second before hesitantly hugging her back "You won't be alone" she promised into his ear "We'll do this together"
~
Rex stared at the ground for a long time before speaking with his regiment. All of the events were happening faster than he could interpret them. Krell set them up for a disastrous failure, and Dakota was in shambles because of something that wasn't her fault. He was furious because his brothers were killed but he was also angry because of the hurt that Krell had inflicted on the green eyed Jedi. Seeing her in that state was almost too much to bare.
"We all know who's responsible for what happened out there" Rex started, walking towards the clones who lined up before him "What we don't know... is why. Something has to be done, and what I am proposing is highly treasonous" he warned them "If any man chooses to opt out, do it now" none of the squad back away, instead, they took a determined march forward. They were prepared to do what they must "From this point forward-" Rex continued
"-we are entering into uncharted territory, my orders are we arrest General Krell for treason against the Republic"
He glanced over to Dakota who was listening to him off to the side. She parted her lips to speak "We'll take a small team up the tower to make the arrest, but knowing Krell, he'll fight back" she crossed her arms "Men need to be stationed at the bottom of the tower and at the perimeters. If it ends up being fight... then that's what it will be" she looked at all of them "I can outmaneuver Krell, but his size and brute strength will prove to be a challenge. In other words, I can't take him by myself. That's why I'm counting on all of you"
"What do we do after we capture him?" Fives asked "Lock him up in one of the cells? He could escape!"
"Yeah, he's a Jedi!" Jesse added, but caught himself "uh- I mean, he's a bad Jedi, not like you... General" he finished awkwardly.
"That he is" Dakota agreed slowly "Whatever he is, he's not on our side. He could jeopardize everything that we have here, and we cannot let that happen
"And what if he gets away?" Fives questioned again.
Dakota turned away "He won't"
~
The elevator carried the team up towards the fiery fate that awaited them. Dakota wasn't able to contact any of the other Jedi because of the communications that had been sabotaged by none other than Krell himself. She knew that something wasn't right the moment that she arrived, but it took her too long to figure out what is was. Her eyes were hard as she stared at the elevator door in front of her. Clones stood locked and loaded behind her.
She looked over her shoulder to Fives and gave him a nod, and then to Jesse and Kix. They had been the ones to take the most heat from the rogue Jedi, with two of them nearly being executed. It made her angry just thinking about it.
No one spoke to one another, but it was the loudest silence that they had ever heard. Dakota then turned her head to see Rex who was readying his blasters. Once he noticed, he met her gaze as well. Although his helmet was on, she could still feel his eyes.
The doors slid open just as the elevator reached the top. Krell stood alone by the window. Clones poured into the room, ready to bring him to justice.
"General Krell, you're being relieved of duty" Rex called, entering along with everyone else. Dakota was the last to emerge from the elevator.
"It's treason then" the General turned, his yellow eyes shining in the dark. She noted his eyes, the eyes of a sith. The squad of clones broke off and surrounded him at all angles. Dakota stepped around Rex, silently removing the saber from her belt.
"Surrender General" Rex ordered sternly.
"You are committing mutiny, Captain, along with another Jedi" he sneered to Dakota who remained quiet.
"Explain your actions" Rex raised his blasters up higher, demanding answers for his heinous crimes.
"My actions?"
"For ordering your Troopers against one another!"
"Oh.." Krell pondered evilly "that..."
"Right, that" Dakota stepped forward, stalking him from one side.
"You've really lowered yourself to the clones level, haven't you?" He directed his attention to her "All of this time wasted by trying to preserve the lives of science experiments"
"You'd never understand" she shook her head pitifully "loyalty, spirit, heart" she moved the saber behind her back and ignited the double blades, her teeth gritted together "That's what I strive to preserve"
"Ha, foolish!" he chuckled, taking out his two blue and green double lightsabers without hesitation, then igniting them in an offensive position "I will kill everyone here, starting with you-" he pointed his blue saber at her. She twirled her saber in retaliation as she waited for him to make the first move.
Krell lunged forward, bringing his sabers down on her with immense ferocity. She blocked his blades, pushing back against him to remain upright. Her body twirled, moving out from under him. He swung his arm back to strike her but she evaded once again and clashed her weapon against his. They cracked together several more times. Dakota moved with grace and agility while Krell swung at random. She found herself on the other side of the room by the window.
Out of rage, he outstretched his hands and summoned an enormous amount of force that cascaded from his arms and out into the open. Dakota's eyes widened as the power of his ability sent her flying back. Her body collided with the glass window of the tower and it shattered. She flew back through the shards of broken glass and out into the cool outside air. Her arms extended out in front of her as if she was trying to grab hold of something, anything.
Gravity sent her plummeting down to the ground, but she was able to gather her bearings enough to use the force to slow down her fall. Her late reaction saved her life, but resulted in her landing heavily on the pavement and tumbling to a rough stop. Her face slid against the hard ground, leaving searing skin stinging just above and below her right eye.
Krell jumped from the tower and landed just ahead of her. Rex ran to the shattered hole in the glass and looked down, his heart pounding with fear "we need to get down there, now!" the Clone Captain yelled, sprinting back to the elevator.
Dakota pushed herself up and shook her head, hardly able to focus her eyes on anything at first. It was known that his strength was brutal, but it still managed to surprise her. She let out a low groan as she climbed up to her feet and ignited her saber.
"You should have stayed on Coruscant, General Ky" Krell stepped towards her "that way you may have lived"
"Come at me with all you've got" she gritted, ignoring what he had said "defeating you at your best will make a wonderful story"
"You are no match for me" he laughed at loud, readying his stance "you are alone!"
"There was a time where I was" she whispered "but I'm not alone"
Krell ran forward, swinging his sabers in a precise manner. She evaded the blade. The two fought their way to the perimeter of the base. Blood would drip into her eyes but she'd brush it away.
He swiped at her stomach and elbowed her in the chest. With that distraction, he used the force to grab hold of her throat.
Using his force chokehold on her neck, he brought her forward through the air towards him against her will. The green blade in his hand aimed for her gut. Her hands gripped her throat as he squeezed tighter. Each second, the blade drew closer to stabbing her. She waited until she was close enough to react.
Once the saber was a foot away from impaling her, she swung her legs back so that they were parallel to the ground and she used her hands to push off from the handle of his saber. Surprised by her acrobatic flip, Krells force grip loosened from her neck. Her body flipped over his head and she landed lightly on her feet behind him. She turned and force pushed him away from her. She then extended her arm out to retrieve her lightsaber.
"Your actions killed my soldiers" she ran and jumped, bringing her saber down on his "my friends"
"You're just as hateful as me, I can see it in your eyes" he narrowed his gaze, forcing back against her.
She stared at him through the green of her blade, thinking about what he had said "I am nothing like you" she hissed. Her body slipped skillfully between his two blades and she landed back on the ground, managing to cut her blade against his calf.
He wrapped his large hand around her neck and lifted her up. She reached her hands out and scratched at his eyes, not hesitating to savagely gauge her fingers into his sockets. Her knee then rammed against his jugular, allowing for her to free herself from his death grip. He stumbled back, shaking his head to clear his blurred vision. That seemed to piss him off even more. His fist collided into her cheek which sent her roughly to the side. Once again, she landed on the pavement which knocked the wind from her chest. This time, it took her longer to compose herself.
A hard foot kicked her exposed stomach. She grunted, skidding across the ground. Her lightsaber has fallen somewhere out of sight "I'm going to make this hurt" he said darkly, picking her up only to slam her back onto the floor. With one final sharp kick, she rolled several feet towards the shadows.
Her body shook with pain and exhaustion, but there was no way that she could give up. After a second of lying motionless in front of him, she stood back up.
"I'm. Still. Standing" she exclaimed tiredly and wobbled up on her feet, holding her left arm that throbbed horribly. Her body was bloodied and bruised, but she refused to let go "as long as I am standing, you will not win"
Hundreds of clones appeared out of nowhere from the shadows to stand with her. Rex was one of them. He approached his General, prepared to fight the rogue Jedi that stood across from them "get him!" he ordered to the troopers. A sea of white and blue flooded the battleground and ran towards Krell who backed away from the massive force. Clones charged passed Dakota. She closed her eyes and lowered her arms, unable to remain on her feet anymore.
She dropped to her knees and then to her stomach, falling unconscious once she had done all that she could "Kix, go help the General!" Rex ordered, unable to come to her aid.
"Yes sir!" Kix ran over to her and gently took her by the arms "General!"
"Kix" she weakly recognized his voice "Krell... he has- has to be... captured. We have to win, no matter what"
"The Captain will see to it, I know it. In the mean time, here-" he injected pain medication through a needle into her neck "-this'll help with the pain" she grimaced at the burn, but let him to his work. His stomach twisted at the bloodied scraps along her face and arms that would undoubtedly leave behind some serious bruising. The fall from the tower resulted in quite a few broken ribs as well, but nothing that wouldn't heal with time.
"He was too powerful for me. It really is up to them" she inhaled and exhaled shakily, wheezing because of the bruising around her throat "Thank you, Kix" she looked up to him tiredly, already feeling the pain medication kick in.
"Just doing my job, sir"