Once they boasted the engines, we headed towards the pod. We successfully made it into the pod. We watched as the ship crashed into the blockade, demolishing it completely.

"See, I told you it would work." Anakin commented. 

I snorted. "Of course it would. I came up with half the plan."

Anakin chuckled. "I'm surprised we aren't related, given how much we're alike."

"Related or not, I think of you as my brother." I commented with a smile.

"Good, 'cause I view you as my sister." Anakin replied, returning my smile.

Ahsoka's voice then reached us through the comms. "We're approaching your position, Masters."

"Standby for retrieval." Areria informed us.

"Right on time, Ahsoka and Areria." Anakin mentioned.

We watched as Ahsoka and Areria took off in fighters, leading the others. A smile appeared on our faces.

"That-a girl, Ahsoka." Anakin praised.

"They're learning pretty quick, aren't they?" I asked.

Anakin nodded. "Yes they are. You've got a good padawan, Storm."

"Thanks, so do you, Anakin." I replied, proud of Areria and Ahsoka.

It wasn't long until a shuttle arrived for us. Rex contacted us through our comms. "Generals, are you still there?"

"Yep. We're just sitting here watching the show." Anakin informed Rex.

I grinned. "It's quite the show."

•••

Anakin, Areria, Ahsoka, R2, R3, and the others remained on the Republic warship, while I took a group of troops in a shuttle to meet Master Windu, Gida, Tarom, and Obi-Wan on Ryloth. Both Jace and Yularen were up and about, healed of wounds.

I worried for Gida, this mission would mean more to her than any of us as she has family on Ryloth. I was afraid that none of them were left, which deeply concerned me. As we made our way onto the planet, I spoke to my troops. "Now we need to remember the reason we're here. We came to aid the Twi'leks, not destroy their home. You take it from here, Mocax."

"What General Ca'ana is saying is that we'll be taking it back the hard way. Minimal destruction with blasters and droid poppers only." Mocax ordered. "No rockets or detonators. Check your aim. Keep an eye out for the locals. Am I understood?"

"Sir, yes, sir!" The clone troopers exclaimed.

It wasn't long until Obi-Wan contacted me. "We won't have reinforcements until those guns the Separatists have are out of commission."

I nodded. "Understood, Master Kenobi."

We then landed in one of the forests. There we met up with Obi-Wan, Cody, Tarom, Gida, and the rest of their troops. As we made our way into the forest, the Separatists began firing in our direction.

"Gida, Tarom, Obi-Wan, it's good to see you again." I greeted.

Gida wore her usual warm smile. "You too, Storm."

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow, slightly amused. "May I ask why you and Anakin were in a pod?"

I let out a nervous chuckle. "Oh...well. It's a long story, better save it for when we return to Coruscant."

"Oh no, please do share with us." Obi-Wan teased. "And don't leave out a single detail."

"This should be good." Tarom added with a grin.

However before I could say anything, Mocax approached us. "That bunker is gonna be a problem, General."

"Leave the bunker to me. Bring in your troopers on my signal! You two wanted action, follow me." Obi-Wan urged.

Obi-Wan, Waxer, and Boil took care of the wall, allowing us to advance. Once the droids were all taken care of, Mocax approached Obi-Wan, Gida, Tarom, and me. "The wall is secure, sir. Are we moving on to the guns?"

"We need to know what the droids have in store for us." Obi-Wan commented. "Cody?"

Cody approached us in a heartbeat. Obi-Wan turned towards him. "Send your best men to scout ahead." 

Cody nodded. "Will do, sir. Boil, Waxer, come with me."

"I guess we're the best." Boil commented.

"I'll go with them." I offered.

"Very well. Keep your comms on, we'll remain in touch." Obi-Wan advised.

I snorted. "Of course I'll keep them on. When have I ever turned them off?"

Obi-Wan crossed his arms as an amused look appeared on his face. "Oh really? Well I can name a few times."

"Oh...gee I think we should get going. We don't want to waste any more time, not knowing the dangers that the Twi'leks are going through."

With that, Mocax, Boil, Cody, Waxer, Wooley, and I made our way to scout up ahead. Once we headed into a city nearby, we found it completely deserted. There were no locals in sight...which was strange.

"Buildings are just buildings. What really makes a city are the inhabitants that live in it." Cody commented.

"So where are they?" Mocax asked.

"We'll check out the courtyard." Cody suggested.

"Very well, Waxer, Boil, and I will take the south sector." I offered.

Cody nodded. "We'll meet back at command by 0620."

With that we split up, heading in different directions. The further south we headed, the stranger I felt. I couldn't sense anyone near us.

"I tell you, this is creepy." Waxer commented.  

"You think they've killed all of them?" Boil asked.

"I would say yes, because there's no saying what the Separatists would do. However there are no bodies." I pointed out.

"They must've driven from their homes." Waver suggested.

"I don't think they had a..." Boil trailed off.

"Had a what?" Waxer inquired.

I noticed Boil hesitate as he thought he saw something. He then sighed. "Choice."

We heard noise from an abandoned alley, we hid behind boxes, looking at one another. I ignited my lightsaber before giving a nod, urging to charge in. However once we charged in, we saw it was a little Twi'lek girl with teal skin and brown eyes. My face fell. "It's just a little girl."

I felt awful for her as she was all alone. She trembled as she remained behind a crate. Boil turned towards us. "What are we going to do with her?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, why do we have to do anything? We've got a mission to finish." Waxer reminded him.

"We should do something. I say we take her with us." Boil suggested.

"You can't be serious. She'll only slow us down." Waxer argued.

I then noticed as she looked behind us before hiding back behind the crate. Boil slowly took a few steps towards her. "Look, she's afraid of us." 

I then glanced over behind us to where the girl was looking to see a Separatist security droid. "She's definitely not afraid of us. Quick, hide!"

We quickly hid in the alley from the droid. Once it left, we emerged from our hiding places. I let out a sigh, relieved we weren't spotted. 

"That was a recon unit. We'd better get moving." Waxer urged.

"We can't leave her here." Boil protested. 

Boil and Waxer looked over at me for a final say. As a Jedi and as a citizen of the Republic, I couldn't just leave her here. My mind then wandered to my brother. If someone found my brother then I'd want them to return them to us...his family.

"There's no way I'm leaving her here. She comes with us." I ordered.

Waxer let out a sigh. "Fine, we'll take her. Be careful."

"Don't worry, Waxer. I don't think she's armed." Boil assured him.

However when he moved his hand towards her, she bit him. Boil winced. "Ow! The little tail-head bit me."

I placed a hand on Boil's shoulder. "She meant no harm by it, but I believed you scared her."

Waxer nodded. "General's right. She probably thinks we're droids."

Waxer then kneeled before her as he took of his helmet. "It's alright. See, I'm flesh and blood, just like you."

She finally emerged from behind the crate, revealing herself. My face fell upon seeing her current state.  

"The poor girl...She looks half starved." I commented. I then took out my only snack and extended my hand out to her. "Here, it's for you."

She sniffed my hand before taking it and eating it. My face softened as I looked at her. She then turned back towards me with a smile as she pointed at me. "Wedgan'tilles!"

My eyes widened upon hearing that phrase. How did she know about me? The Twi'lek girl then looked over at Boil and Waxer. "Nerra. Nerra."

I chuckled, quite amused by this. Waxer corrected her at once. "No, I'm Waxer. He's Boil. And she's General Storm Ca'ana."

"Nerra, Nerra, Wedgan'tilles." The girl repeated.

"Aww, you made a friend. Mission accomplished. Can we go now?" Boil questioned.

Waxer then extended his hand out. "Come on, kid. Come on."

The girl merely looked at his hand, making Boil impatient. "Look, she doesn't even want to go. Little monster was fine before we came along, so let's move."

"You guys go on. I'll convince her." I offered.

Waxer nodded. "Understood, General. Hopefully she'll listen to you."

Once they left, I turned towards the girl. I knelt beside her before pointing to myself. "Afa Storm Ca'ana."

I then pointed to her. "Tun?"

Her eyes lit up as soon as I spoke Twi'leki also known as Ryl. I knew some words while I was a pilot, but as soon as I met Gida at the Jedi Temple, she taught me much more.

"Numa." She replied.

"What a beautiful name, eyan uza." I complimented her before slowly extending my hand out to her. "Chini, wachamio."

She then excitedly followed me, trailing behind me as I caught up to Boil and Waxer. We glanced back at her every now and then, making sure she was alright.

"I wonder what happened to her family." Waxer commented. 

"They're probably dead." Boil replied.

"Or perhaps they've been captured?" I suggested, trying to remain positive.

"Hopefully, she'll survive this mess. So what happens to her? I mean, after we leave." Boil clarified.

Boil shrugged. "I don't know."

We then glanced back at Numa. I felt terrible for her. Boil seemed to notice as he quickly spoke up. "Don't get any ideas. We're not taking her with us."

"She's gone." Waxer then said.

I turned back around to see she was definitely gone. My face fell as I turned towards Boil and Waxer. Boil waved it off. "I'm sure the little biter will turn up."

However we turned back around to see Numa in front of us. I cracked a smile. "There you are."

I gave her nose a gentle bop. Numa giggled. Boil was taken back. "How'd she get in front of us?"

She then ran off in front of us, shouting out our nicknames she gave us. My face fell, remembering that's where the droid went off to. "No, don't go that way!"

"That's where the recon droid went." Waxer said as he rushed after her.

"Waxer, let her go." Boil insisted.

"I'm not just going to let the droids get her." Waxer retorted.

Boil sighed. "I'm just trying to keep you alive! I'll be darned if I know why."

We then hastily followed her, trying to keep up with her. However once we reached her, we saw a look of devastation on her face. I followed her gaze to see a destroyed home in an abandoned part of town.

"Good, you caught her. You know, I have binders if we need 'em." Boil offered.

Waxer and I shot Boil a stern look. Boil raised his hands. "What?"

Numa then grabbed my hand before grabbing Waxer's hand with her right hand. She urged us into her home. Boil followed behind us, scanning the area. "What are we doing here, anyway?"

As soon as we entered, we saw the debris, and Numa immediately looked up at the huge hole on the ceiling. I looked around rather horrified...I knew now where we were.

"I guess this was her home." I mentioned.

"Poor little thing. She lost it all." Waxer said before finding a tooka doll that Numa had.

Waxer then picked up the tooka doll. As we both made our way towards Numa as she began to cry. I placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her. " Hey, it's okay now."

"We're here to help." Waxer added.

"We'll keep you safe. I promise." I assured her.

Numa then rushed over towards me, giving me a hug. She then embraced Waxer. Boil then approached us. "Don't cry kid. We won't leave you behind."

Numa then ran over towards him, giving him a hug. Boil awkwardly kneeled beside her until he finally returned her hug. At that moment, I heard a beep coming from Boil's, Waver's, and my comms.

"It's the commander." Boil said.

"Master Kenobi's contacting me as well." I commented as I glanced down at my comms.

"We're way overdue, Waxer. We're going to end up polishing R2 units." Boil fretted.

"Not if I can do anything about it." I intervened.

"Wait. How are we going to explain all this, her?" Waxer asked.

Boil scoffed. "You're asking me?"

"Maybe if we hurry back, we can tell them we ran into a little trouble." Waxer suggested.

"Oh, that's for sure." Boil retorted.

"And our transmissions were jammed by the droids." Waxer commented. "It's worth a try." 

"But mark my words, this will end badly." Boil warned.

"Don't worry boys, I'm no stranger to trouble. I'll figure a way of of this mess." I assured them.

Boil snickered. "Oh believe me I've heard."

With that we left the home. However as soon as we left her home, I sensed something heading this way. Numa began yelling out. "Gutkurr! Gutkurr! Gutkurr!"

At that moment, three creatures approached us. The Gutkurr were large standing on two legs with a hooked claws as hands, a hard-shelled and spiny carapace, and a sharp-mandible head.

"I think I know why the kid never came back here." Waxer mentioned.

"You see what happens when we don't follow orders?" Boil retorted.

I scoffed. "Oh this is nothing. I've been through worse."

"Now may not me the time to reminiscence, General." Boil advised.

"Let's get out of here!" Waxer exclaimed. 

"Quickly, into the home." I suggested.

We hastily scrambled inside, closing the door behind us. However, they didn't give up, trying to break the door down with their body. Boil, Waxer, and I struggled to keep the doors shut. 

"These suckers won't give up!" Boil groaned.

We then saw Numa pulling back a blanket, revealing a hidden door on the ground. My eyes lit up. I glanced back to Boil and Waxer, who were still trying to keep the doors tried. "You guys follow her. I'm hold them off."

"But General-" Waxer began.

I cut him off at once, wearing a stern look. "That's an order, Waxer."

With that, the second Gutkurr barged in through the hole of the house's roof. Without waiting for another command, Waxer and Boil did as I said, taking Numa into the hidden passage. I glanced back at the second Gutkurr, who lunged towards me. Before it could hurt me, I used the Force, reaching out to the second Gutkurr, making him attack the other two. As soon as they began fighting, Boil's voice reached my ears. "General!"

I whipped around to see them all inside the hidden passage. Without hesitation, I jumped in, closing the lid of the passage. 

~Translations~

Numa---sister

Nerra---brother

Wedgan'tilles--- slayer of stars

Afa---I

Tun---You

Eyan uza---young one

Chini, wachamio!----Come, let's go