The first thing Aevo did upon being chained in the Geonosian Arena was laugh. He had no idea why; perhaps it was the irony—the irony in knowing that this was where it all started for him, this arena was where his first battle had taken place and this was where it would end. Or perhaps it was his hatred of the heat and knowing that at least the Empire would kill him with something that he hated.

Perhaps... Perhaps it was because he was losing his mind. He no longer knew, nor did he care. Months of suffering torture beneath the Empire's hands, being separated from his daughter after losing his wife, running away from the Clones—his brothers—and being hunted down and seen as a traitor... perhaps it was finally all getting to him.

Perhaps not.

The sun gleamed down on the twenty people in the arena around him. Like him, they were each chained to thirty-feet high clay pillars circling the arena. Geonosians cheered and gawked at them, spewing curses from what little he could understand. Sand rolled across the ground, parting just enough to reveal a structure in the center.

He gasped. It can't be!

Crashed in the center of the arena was a Republic Gunship. How many times had he boarded one? How many times had he fought from one, retreated to one fighting by his brothers' sides? How many times had he flown one, looked upon one?

Too many to count.

It was in terrible shape. The paint was nearly gone, stripped from it so that it was an old dusty white, stained from the sand. One of its wings was gone and the other was half-buried in a dune. The doors were open and out of it spilled weapons of all sorts. He couldn't see any specifics at the distance he was at; not to mention the wind blew sand, blocking his vision.

Blinking his watery eyes, he noticed shapes above the gunship. Twenty or so people were chained to it. His eyes landed on one person that was dead even with him—the Twi'lek woman who had been imprisoned with him. Her arms were chained above her head to the top of the ship, leaving her hanging off the side of it. Her feet dangled just inches above the ground. Even from far away, Aevo could tell it was a struggle for her to breathe. Several times he noticed that she stopped reaching up to take a breath at all.

She was giving up.

He reminded her so much of his dead wife that his chest ached. Doors behind each of the pillars began to open ever-so-slowly. After what felt like a long time, the one directly across from him opened up, revealing a Terentatek. The Mirilian chained to the pillar easily lost his chains, but Aevo couldn't tell how.

That's when he realized: the man hadn't moved.

The Force! Immediately, Aevo's heart sank. All the Jedi were dead, which meant the man was a Sith. Anger gripped him harder than it should have and he glanced up to focus on getting out of his own chains.

Suddenly, there was a bellowing roar behind him and the pillar cracked and collapsed. He had just enough time to roll to the right to avoid being crushed. Dust rained down, blocking his vision completely. Stumbling to his feet, Aevo coughed, desperately trying to see what had attacked him. As the dust cleared, he was finally able to see what it was.

Red skin just barely stood above him, but it wasn't the height that startled him. It was the width. Thick muscles with four arms and at least sixteen claws as the creature pounded the earth furiously and bellowed.

A Gundark.

I hate these things, Aevo thought, briefly recalling several instances he and his squadron along with their Jedi Commander stumbled onto Gundarks. Fortunately, the pillar had broken his chains from the top when it had collapsed fully intact. The bad news was that the cuffs were still grasping his wrists and the chains were still their full length. Grabbing them in his hands, he flicked them toward the Gundark like whips. He managed to wrap them around the Gundark's neck.

This... might not be the best idea. Knowing he had no other choice, Aevo allowed the momentum of the thrashing Gundark to throw him behind it. He landed on the ground hard enough to knock his breath out. Wondering where he'd gone, the Gundark started running. Oh no you don't. You ain't dragging me! With a grunt, Aevo pulled on the chains, not feeling how much it burned and pulled himself onto the Gundark's back. Smiling, he pulled the chains taut around its throat.

Now he had it under his control. However temporary. He dug the heels of his boots into its sides and squeezed the chains, urging it forward. It galloped faster than he expected and reached the ship within a few strides. Mustering all his strength, he pulled the chains enough to choke it and didn't let go until the creature stilled.

A Zabrak was pressed up against Aevo's Twi'lek friend, groaning deep in his throat. Seeing only red, Aevo jumped on the Zabrak's back and wrapped his hands around the man's throat without hesitation. The man, one of his own, wasn't expecting it and instantly tried to throw Aevo off his back. Aevo's thick muscles were larger than the other Zabrak's, allowing him to easily subdue the man, especially when Aevo jammed a knee in the man's back.

With a loud war cry, Aevo shifted all his strength and energy into his wrists and snapped the Zabrak's neck. There was a pang in his chest and his stomach twisted. I just killed one of my own kind. Being a Zabrak for seven years, Aevo had accepted the new race as his own. Many Zabraks back on Iridonia had become his family.

Shaking off all emotion, Aevo darted inside the ship, grabbing a vibro sword. It wasn't a Zhaboka, but it would do. Inside, a person with Mandalorian armor on stood over the body of a Togruta female. Whoever it was whirled around, aiming a blaster rifle at Aevo.

Stepping to the side as the blaster rifle fired, Aevo didn't stop even though a couple shots landed in his chest. After the pain the Empire put him through, a few blaster shots were nothing. Without hesitation, he sliced the vibro blade across the person's neck. Aevo grabbed a pack of supplies and dashed out the doors.

All around him was pure chaos. People were fighting monsters as well as other people. The Mirilian man from before leaped onto the Terentatek and threw a lightsaber to unchain one of the prisoners.

Aevo turned his attention back to his friend, slicing the vibro blade across the cuffs on her wrists. Carefully maneuvering the blade, he was able to slice through his own chains. "Grab a weapon. You ain't going to last long without one, Star." Ever since he'd met her four months ago when he had first been imprisoned, she had never spoken. Being a Twi'lek with an amputated left lekku, combined with everything she must have gone through as a slave had obviously scarred her. Aevo couldn't blame her for not speaking. The amputated lekku alone was enough to kill any species.

They had spent every moment in that prison cell together, except when they were out being tortured. Even without saying anything, Aevo was able to learn a lot about her by just being with her. She used to use a piece of stone to draw pictures, most of which had been about the night sky. Aevo suspected before she was a slave she'd been some sort of pilot, but he never asked. After that, he had started calling her Star and she never seemed to mind.

Quietly, as usual, Star simply picked up a blaster rifle and held it in front of her, ready for whatever was to come.

The Mirilian male used the Force to lift his prisoner, a Togruta woman, down to the ground safely. Doing so had left him exposed to a Zygerrian male with a whip that he wrapped around the Force user's neck.

As Aevo got a closer look at the writhing man, his breathing stopped.

Kanan.

His old Jedi Commander.

Crying out in fury, Aevo charged toward the Zygerrian man, slicing toward him with his blade. The man was surprised enough that it sliced through his shoulder. He jumped back, not expecting the Togruta woman to slam the butt of a rifle against the back of his head. Without waiting, she knelt by Kanan's side.

"How is he?" Aevo murmured.

She nodded, sighing in what was probably relief. "He should be fine."

Almost as soon as she finished saying that, Kanan's eyes blinked and he groaned, grabbing his neck.

"Come on. I have a few weapons and knocked that Zygerrian bastard out. Let's go." The Togruta urged him to stand and when he didn't, she yelled at him. "Come on!" She grabbed his arm and tried forcing him to his feet but his eyes closed again.

Aevo grabbed his arm and slung Kanan onto his back, carrying him back to the gunship.

"What are you doing?" The Togruta female aimed a blaster rifle at him.

"Helping him. The Gunship might be a target for the other monsters, but it's safer than lying out in the open. Stay with him and we'll help guard it." Aevo placed Kanan inside. Most of the other people had already come and gone. The ones who didn't were either dead or fighting the monsters about to be.

Now that he had more time, he searched through the remaining weapons until he found a Zhaboka. He sheathed the vibro blade and grabbed the remaining thermal detonators and clenched the Zhaboka in his right hand.

Exiting the gunship, he peered around the arena at the remaining monsters and people. There was still a rancor being held off by a few people wielding lightsabers, two Ewoks helping a Wookie against a horde of strange creatures Aevo had never seen before and heading straight for the gunship was a group of frynocks.

"Haven't seen these buggers in a long time." Aevo mentally cursed, twirling his blade around in his hands to prepare his first strike.

The first wildly leaped toward him but he sliced through its chest. The second and third were just as easy. After that, more and more jumped on him at once, getting harder and harder for he and Star to hold them off.

Suddenly, they all shot away from him at once.

His eyes shifted to the open door of the gunship. Kanan leaned against the entrance, using the Force to hold them all back. "These guys won't attack if there's two things—sunlight and the Force."

Aevo inclined his head but said nothing else. What could he say? Even if Kanan did believe him about changing his appearance, the Clones had all betrayed him. Aevo himself had been forced to watch as Vader relentlessly attacked Kanan to the point of death.

How are you alive? Aevo wanted to ask his old friend, but no words would form. Even as he mentally asked the question, his eyes told him the answer. A mechanical eye and mechanical limbs all except his right arm spoke of the injuries Kanan had sustained.

"Be ready," he said instead. "More creatures are coming." He clenched his Zhaboka tightly, ready for whatever was coming next.