Chapter Text
"We'll meet up with Fulcrum's fleet as well as Flame's fighter. Spectres Crew will rendevous with us here. From there, we'll take them to the Phoenix Base on Mon Calamari." Relic stood tall at the center of the room, watching as his crew confirmed their understanding of his instructions. "Alright. Miki, Reye, Comoto, Chi'To, Capla, Jaymes, you six will be manning the turbo laser towers and laser cannons. Tina, you'll be on medbay stand by with Kix. Rex, you know what you do. No matter what, get to that rendezvous unless on my strict order. Is that understood?"
A chorus of "Sir, yes, Sir!" echoed around the bridge. Relic smiled at the alliance he had managed to build. He was proud of every member of his crew, for they were loyal to him and their cause, which was the restore order in the galaxy. The General was thankful that he never gave in to Darth Sidious' manipulations and was able to make something good of himself, but he sure missed his friends. Relic knew that they both probably thought he went down a different path, one that was much darker.
Although he regretted not contacting his old Master and Padawan beforehand, it was for their own safety. There was a reason behind why Relic's true identity was only known to few. If one of the few were ever captured, if the Empire knew that they knew Relic, everyone would be in extreme danger. He couldn't do that to just anyone.
"General!" General Sato came rushing into the bridge, the Astromech named R2-D2 trailing closely behind. "We just received a distress call from the Spectres. Captain Syndulla says two of their crew members are caught in a duel with another Inquisitor, but one she's never seen before. She believes they'll need help. Shall we provide backup?" The Vitality, Relic's prized ship, was on the surface of Lothal at their small base, waiting to rendevous. The Asian commander stood at attention, waiting for his orders.
"I'll take my ship. R2, c'mon. I need you to hold the ship steady." The blue droid chirped, riding alongside the General. "Yes, R2... I'm going to have to let them in on the secret. Now c'mon. Ezra and Kanan need us." Relic hopped into the ship, taking off as soon as R2 was secured.
The night sky was closing in on the sunset, turning the horizon a deep shade of purples and blues. Flying starfighters always gave him such a high, seeing his surroundings pass by, knowing that he was above where he could walk. In the distance, Capital City could be seen, glowing with lights from the surrounding buildings. Once he flew overhead, Relic saw the clashing of lightsabers from below.
"There, R2. Hold the ship steady!" The cockpit popped open and he leaped out, landing on the ground behind the battle, igniting his lightsabers as he fell on one knee.
The Jedi's hood fell back, revealing a face that caused Vader's rage and hate to swell up. The duel stopped as the three men turned to face the newcomer. Kanan tried to remember where he'd seen the man's face before. Even the scar slashed on his right eye was so familiar. The smirk on his face, his stance, everything. But who was he? He certainly wore the attire of a Jedi Master from the Old Republic, but the designs embroidered were of symbols he had never seen before. He shed his white robe, revealing a white obi with black over and under tunics. The robe had gold edging embroidered along the bottom and sleeves, which was interesting.
"You." The mechanical voice stirred with rage as Vader force-pushed the Master/Padawan pair against opposite walls, rendering them motionless for a few seconds. Vader initiated the fight, swinging with all the rage and hate he could muster in his body. Relic’s white blades swung up with incredible speed, catching every hit Lord Vader through at him. His movement was faster than any Jedi he had ever seen. The white and red blades clashed together, exploding with color as it became a blur from the speed they were swinging.
"Miss me?" The Sith Lord growled with anger, lunging toward the Jedi. Vader swung his red lightsaber upon Relic, only to have him counteract with his white one, quickly gaining the upper hand. Ezra and Kanan watched in awe as the mystery Jedi gracefully parried Vader's thrust, dodging the attack before flipping over him onto a crate, gaining the upper hand. Snapping out of his trance, Kanan jumped up, joining back in the fight, Ezra quickly following.
The battle was wearing all four of the Force-Wielders out, but they kept going. Relic knew he had to get the other Jedi out of here before one of them got severely injured. He pressed his attack, managing to get Vader to take a step back, not expecting the flurry of light coming his way.
Together, the three Jedi began to overpower the Sith Lord, until Vader slashed at the Padawan, slicing open a cut on his arm. Ezra recoiling, letting out a small cry of pain. The man glanced back at the injured Padawan, watching as he dropped to one knee, clutching his wounded arm. He turned back in time to dodge Vader's swinging blow to his side, feeling the tips of his hair singe. "Get back, Ezra. Tell Hera to be ready for take-off." His voice was calm, steady, although he was pushing all of his energy into this battle.
"Get to your ship!" Relic force-pushed Kanan and Ezra back towards the Ghost, which was hovering above. Relic saw Kanan was reluctant to leave the mysterious Jedi to his fate. “Go! I’ll be right behind you!” The man got in one last swing before using all his power to throw the Sith against the wall, running to the ship that began to take off.
Extinguishing his lightsabers, the General used the Force to launch himself up into the air like a rocket, somersaulting onto the metallic roof of the Spectres’ ship. All at once, all of Relic’s energy drained out of him, allowing him to collapse on the roof. He barely registered the hands grabbing his arms, pulling him aboard the ship. Voices meshed together as he was lifted into the air, someone carrying him somewhere, and it all went black.
-1-
“General? Can you hear me? General?” Relic let out a small groan, shielding his eyes from the bright light above him. He recognized his surroundings as that of the command ship's medical bay, an area he had become all too familiar with. Being as reckless as he always has been, the General had always had a tendency to get himself injured during his missions, or when he was helping someone out in general. It was just who he was.
“If I say yes, will you stop yelling Kix?“ The ex-clone trooper, let out a laugh, dimming the lights in the Vitality’s medbay. Placing his hand on his General’s back, Kix helped Relic sit up.
”Yelling? But Sir, this is my inside voice.“ At that, Relic laughed, eyes shutting from the exhaustion of the battle.
“What happened, Kix? I remember Vader, but that’s it.”
“You saved Kanan and Ezra, Relic. Without you... they may not have survived dueling Darth Vader.” Relic opened his eyes at the new voice, gazing around the room until he made eye contact with Hera Syndulla, the Rebel who requested their help, and another one of his contacts.
”Is the Padawan okay? Vader managed to knick him...” Seeing Hera nod calmly, the General settled back into the sheets, letting out a relieved breath.
"Ezra's fine. A bacta strip quickly fixed him up."
”You exerted a lot of energy, Sir, which caused you to pass out. Now usually this wouldn’t have happened but since you insist on going days with barely any food or rest, it’s not like I didn’t expect this.” The powerful Jedi looked shameful at the look the healer was giving him.
”Sorry, Kix. You know how I get during stressful times. It’s like we’re back in the Clone Wars all over again. How long was I out?” Pain filled the General’s voice as he spoke, which Hera easily picked up on. She studied the man closely, looking at his squared shoulder, stress-lined face, and electric blue eyes.
"Only about an hour this time. But promise me you'll start taking care of yourself again, Sir. Or I'll sic Rex on you." The General let out a hearty laugh at the threat, although he knew Kix would have no problem with going through with it.
“Am I free to go at least?” Hera watched as the Kix rolled his eyes, lazily gesturing towards the door. “Oh thank god! Thanks, Kix! You’re the best!” The man tore out of the room like a tornado after putting on his clothes at super speed. Hera curiously followed him towards the bridge where the rest of her Rebel Family was waiting. She was confused when the Jedi froze before the door to the bridge, his entire demeanor tensing up. "Oh God..."
"Is everything alright?" She placed a hand on the General's shoulder, feeling the tension radiating off of him, although she wasn't force-sensitive.
"When we go inside, be prepared."
"For what?"
"For anything."