Chapter Text
Blaster bolts were flying. Longshot and Wullf had managed to get close enough to the others that they were not on their own anymore. Obi-wan’s lightsaber was flashing, and Luke had pulled his out too. He had grown impressively good at blocking blaster fire for how short of a time he had been training. Even though he was not at the same level of Obi-wan, which was understandable, he was holding his own, and he was still able to swing his lightsaber at the stormtroopers. He didn’t kill many, which Wullf was secretly happy about. Many of them were just trying to feed their families and didn’t actually believe in what the Empire did. The Empire ruined many people’s livelihoods. Also, Luke had never killed anything other than a womprat before now, so he didn’t like to dwell on what it would do to him. He was, however, able to destroy some of their blasters, forcing them to retreat temporarily at least.
Wullf, Longshot, Han, Chewie, and Obi-wan had no qualms about killing, and he wondered what that said about them. Most of them had already lived through one war. What was another? He had already killed many. At least, now he was killing for a good reason. Although, he supposed the stormtroopers also thought they had a good reason. Being a rebel didn’t pay, and the chances of success were slim. Threepio had predicted their chances of success as 4,234,761 to 1, which Wullf did not appreciate at all. He was amused by Han’s ‘don’t tell me the odds’ catchphrase, even if it wasn’t all that comforting, either.
He glanced around, when there was a very brief respite in the fire, he couldn’t see Longshot in his immediate area, which concerned him. This was heavy fire they were under. Even the most seasoned soldiers, like Longshot, would struggle against so much. He knew as well that at least a few of these men were clones, based on their movements. The same jerky, almost droid-like maneuvers were very recognizable to him, and his heart ached for Longshot, knowing that it was killing him to fight his brothers again… just like in Umbara.
Another quick look around confirmed that Chewie, Han, and Leia were well, and they were giving as good as they were getting. A bolt came a bit too close for his comfort, and he returned his focus to the fight in front of him. He shot out, hitting two stormtroopers, and they went down, only to be replaced by four more. He cursed. This was not going to go well. Leia and Han disappeared into a vent, and Chewie roared as he came to back him up.
“Thanks,” he said, just barely managed to shout over the cacophony of blasters. Chewie roared at him, and the two fought side by side for a while. Luke and Obi-wan worked their way over to them. The only one unaccounted for was Longshot, and Wullf could only pray to the Force that he was safe. It wasn’t unusual for Longshot to not be seen during battles. As well as being a good scout, he was a good sniper. He probably found somewhere high and was picking off the stormtroopers one by one. He couldn’t confirm, as the blaster fire was so heavy here that it didn’t feel like they were doing much damage to them, even though he could see the bodies piling up in front of him. He just had to trust, like Obi-wan would say on occasion. Faith would go a long way, so he took a deep breath and pushed his concerns to the side, focusing solely on this battle.
“Force, I miss the Clone Wars,” said Wullf.
Obi-wan laughed. “Why?”
“Well, for one,” Wullf answered, taking a moment to catch his breath. “I would be up there.” He nodded to the sky, where explosions still looked like lightning against the clouds. Obi-wan nodded.
“True, and we wouldn’t be nearly as outnumbered,” Obi-wan stated, calmly deflecting the blaster bolts back at their senders.
“And the ones we would be fighting were droids,” Wullf said, firing several shots in a row, making several troopers dodge for cover, so the shots hit the unsuspecting ones behind them. “Not other living beings.”
Obi-wan looked more serious, before he cracked a smile. “I did feel bad about destroying the B-1s. They were kinda cute.”
Wullf rolled his eyes, unamused. “They would have killed you,” he said, wondering if the twin suns of Tatoonine had fried Obi-wan’s brain a bit too much. He was speaking nonsense. Although, he had never actually seen a B-1 in action, considering the majority of the time he was commanding Star Destroyers. His battles were more like chess games than this kind of battle. He did not like this kind of battle. Being in the midst of things was never his forte. The stress could easily overwhelm him, and he did not have the right skill set for this. But he had to try his best. For Luke. For Obi-wan. For Longshot.
Especially for Longshot.
“They would try,” Obi-wan admitted. “I wonder if we could find some old droids and program them to fight for us…”
“No time for those kinds of plans right now,” Luke said, and he had to drop down, so he could catch his breath. Wullf and Chewie fired much quicker but with less accuracy as to make up for the lack of lightsabers on their side of the battle. Luke was back out too soon, and Wullf hated that they were making children soldiers again. Although, Luke was nineteen, an adult by human standards. Maybe it was just Wullf getting old that made him sentimental. He grumbled, denying his age. His hip ached, maybe belying his arguments. He ignored it for the moment, as the blasters being fired at him was maybe, possibly more important.
“Next time they tell me I’m on the ground, I’m refusing,” Wullf grumbled, as he ducked under the barrier they were using, so his head remained on his shoulders. Chewie roared, and he glanced at him suspiciously. “If I didn’t know any better, I would say you were laughing at me.” Chewie was deliberately silent after that, and Wullf grumbled about wookiees and their senses of humor.
“How much longer, Ben?” Luke asked, and he was slowing down. He was doing more dodging, and the deflected shots were becoming wild in their directions. The kid was slowing, and that was not good. They needed a diversion soon. Losing Han and Leia to go after the supplies had just about crippled them, and Wullf wasn’t even sure if Longshot was still fighting. He could be down or dead somewhere behind them or behind enemy lines. He started firing more, not aiming as much, to give Luke a very slight break, as stormtroopers dodged under their barricades, behind walls, to not be hit. It almost amused him how easily they startled, but it was overtaken by the realization that the clones were not dodging, were allowing themselves to be hit… and killed. Grief tightened around his heart, and he closed his eyes for a brief moment. He wasn’t able to for long, as Luke needed the break more than him, and they didn’t really have the ability for any of them to slow.
“Not much,” Obi-wan said, “Leia and Han are almost done. And don’t worry, Wullf, Longshot is just fine. He’s up there somewhere firing. Just about the only reason we haven’t been overrun yet.”
Wullf was briefly confused about how Obi-wan knew Leia and Han were getting close to gathering all the supplies, that he was concerned about Longshot’s health and safety, and that Longshot was okay. Then he remembered he was a karking Jedi. “Stupid Force powers,” he grumbled, and he started picking up some of Luke’s slack, not that he blamed him for slowing down. This was a lot more than he normally did, even during the chaos of the Clone Wars. Even if he had ended up in a firefight, there were usually at least a dozen clones with him, who were much better soldiers in that regard. He was trained to be a soldier at the very least. Luke was not. The boy had been a moisture farmer for his entire life. He may have had some run ins with the Tusken Raiders, but that had nothing on what they were facing right now.
He was once again reminded, as he felt his hip twinge, that war was for the young. He grimaced. Wasn’t that ironic? The old started them, and they left the children to fight for them. He shook his head, bringing himself back into the skirmish at hand. He could not be distracted by maudlin thoughts if he wanted to make it out alive.
He heard the roar of an engine flying nearby, and he closed his eyes, praying that it was the Millennium Falcon, and not one of two other options. A, that it was Imperial reinforcements, or B, that a tie fighter and x-wing would be fighting overhead and one or both would probably crash into them. Whichever it was, it, in fact, did not crash into them or, less fortunately, the storm troopers. The sound disappeared, which burst the little bubble of hope he had that their mission was almost done. He wasn’t sure how much longer the group could hold out before they were overrun, even with the help of Longshot overhead. At some point, the stormtroopers would realize that they would lose fewer and end this faster if they charged. Eventually, their fear of the two lightsaber users would fade as frustration set in.
“We’re done! The supplies are on the Falcon! Heading for you now,” Han’s voice rang out through Luke’s comm, and relief flooded through everyone, invigorating them to fight even harder. Luke returned to deflecting the blaster shots with the same energy he had started with. Chewie roared in triumph, which made several of the stormtroopers pause and step back. When the Millennium Falcon started to set down nearby, the stormtroopers decided to cut their losses and run. There were several dead, and many more so injured they were on the verge of it. Some of the wounded were able to get up and run too, but others started to crawl away. It tore at Wullf’s heartstrings, and he turned his back to them, trying to show that he was no longer a threat to them if they weren’t a threat to him.
Han and Leia rushed off the Millennium Falcon, and he could almost feel. without the help of the Force, the palpable relief from the stormtroopers nearby that it was not more reinforcements. He didn’t like killing them, as their families relied on them for income. The families weren’t entitled to money if their sons or daughters or fathers or mothers died in service of the Empire. They were simply sent a short note that read something along the lines of “we’re sorry for your loss, but blank died and will no longer be paid for.” Wullf had included some of his own credits to help tide the families over, and he did his best to find them information about resources or organizations that could help them find jobs or pay bills until they were better able to support themselves.
Luke hugged them both around the neck, reaching quite high to get his arm around Han’s. He must have gotten Padme’s shortness, and now that he thought about it, Luke had her nose and eye shape, as well as her face contour. He could see more and more of Padme and Anakin in the boy every day he was with him. He was calmer than Anakin and not quite as proactive as Padme, but he was just as strong and protective as them both. Han chuckled as he returned the hug. Leia was beaming at him and Obi-wan.
“We did it!” she said.
“We lived!” Luke shouted, and then he whooped. “We should throw a party when we get back somewhere safe.”
“Has the other group found us somewhere to reconvene?” Longshot asked, dropping down next to Wullf. He startled, having grown unused to that in the last twenty years. Longshot had done it often during their time together during the Clone Wars, and Wullf had become so adept at predicting when he would drop that he stopped jumping. Longshot had taken that as a challenge to do it more often and less predictably. The grin on his face told Wullf all he needed to know about how often this was going to occur. He jokingly rolled his eyes, making Longshot narrow his in the same teasing manner as Wullf’s eye roll.
“Yes,” Leia answered. “Admiral Ackbar sent me the coordinates a few minutes ago.”
“Good,” Obi-wan said, “We should be heading out. No reason to linger here longer than necessary.”
The group turned to go up the ramp, where Artoo was waiting, losing his mind and rocking back and forth. However, a rustle from behind them made all of them turn to prepare for battle again. Obi-wan was at the front of the group now, having been in the back, just in case of this scenario. They would have to back up into the ship, it seemed. Han sighed, annoyed, just wanting to get out of here. Wullf couldn’t help but agree. A lone figure was climbing to his feet. The armor scored with blaster fire, and the man’s helmet missing. No, not man. Clone.
“No way,” Longshot whispered under his breath. His heart was pounding, and his eyes pricked. He felt Wullf shift beside him, but he didn’t pay attention to him. Not in this moment. He couldn’t. Blood drained from his face, as he grew dizzy. Hope bloomed in his chest, and it would only ache more when reality crashed down on him.
Obi-wan’s lightsaber deactivated as it hit the ground with a muffled thud. His hand fell to the side, and his mouth opened and closed, not making a single noise, in shock. Longshot took a step forward to stand beside him, and Wullf looked over his shoulder to see what was drawing their attention so thoroughly. Luke, Leia, and Han glanced at each other confused, and Chewie whined out in question. No one spoke. It felt like the world was holding its breath in the moment. Like everything paused. Longshot couldn’t hear anything over the pounding of his heart. Obi-wan took a single step forward, one hand clenched in a fist, the other reaching out desperately. His voice was so quiet and broken when he finally spoke.
“Cody?”