Perched silently near a window, shrouded in a dark cloak to hide her infamous appearance, Asajj Ventress looked out into the night sky, storm clouds brewing beyond the horizon. Aurra Sing sat inside intently scouring the holonet, trying to get herself up to date on current events.
“I must say, although I'm disappointed in the Confederacy, this Grievous sounds like my kind of killer. He really cut a swath through the Jedi, I still can’t believe he was cut down by a weakling like Kenobi.”
Asajj spat. “Grievous was little more than a droid himself, albeit supremely fortunate. If his creation hadn’t cost so much money he would have been discarded quicker than I was. As for Kenobi…” She huffed. “Let’s just say that I owe him a thorough beating.”
“You won’t get the chance,” Sing quipped, her eyes still glued to the holonet. "The report was just declassified today, you might find it interesting to know that Skywalker killed Kenobi.”
“What?!” Asajj replied in absolute shock.
“Yeah, the Empire announced today that Anakin Skywalker traveled to the CIS stronghold on Mustafar and killed the entire Separatist Council. According to this, Kenobi was there to protect them.”
Asajj was thoroughly stumped. It didn’t make any sense at all. Skywalker turning against the Jedi she could believe, but turning against Obi Wan Kenobi? Even more mysterious was the nonsense that Kenobi was there to protect the Separatist council, Kenobi loathed the Separatists and many high-ranking members of the CIS, including herself, had personal grudges against Kenobi. Something stank of a cover up.
“I swear I will get to the bottom of this Lord Sidious, after I kill Skywalker and whoever this Darth Vader is…”
Still, perhaps it was for the best, she thought, her anger at being denied revenge fueled her hatred and made her more powerful. No amount of added power though could have prepared her for what she felt next. It was as if a great wave of dark side energy was rushing towards her, an ominous shadow covering her perception. Aurra Sing had finally stopped typing away at the computer terminal indicating that she felt it as well.
“This must be Vader…” Ventress said under her breath.
Anakin’s speeder came to a full stop outside of the inn. He looked over to confirm the address was the same as the one Sidious had given him. It was a match. Pulling his cloak over his head he walked into the lobby and past the front desk before taking the turbolift upwards. In only a few moments he would be face to face with his quarry, and he knew there would be no orderly solution.
His mouth curled at the corners into a feral smile, and his eyes flashed a sinister yellow. This would be his first actual duel against skilled opponents since Mustafar, and he was looking forward to it. What little training he had accumulated under Sidious had brought him great power, and he knew that this was only the beginning.
After only a few brief seconds he emerged from the turbolift, and made his way down the hallway, ready to bring justice to those who deserved it. Confident in his mastery of the Dark Side, he knocked on the door, poised to kill.
Little did he realize though that another battle raged on, one that was being fought inside of his heart. As he embraced the angry and vengeful spirit of Darth Vader, the man that was once Anakin Skywalker struggled to maintain his control, Vader fed off of the dark emotions that had taken root it Anakin’s mind. He had been pushed to the edge of oblivion and he struggled to hold on. Even as he edged closer towards falling to the Dark Side completely, there was still a light that kept the light inside of him from fading.
As long as he had Padme, he could never cease to be Anakin Skywalker. No matter how hard he tried.
Quinlan had been gone for nearly an hour and Shryne had begun to worry, although the possibility existed that Quinlan was just being extra cautious. Still, he kept his trust in his companion. Quinlan had nearly ruined his reputation during the War, but in their brief time together he had been nothing less than an exemplary Jedi.
Finally, he received a coded message through his communicator that indicated the “all clear” signal. It was now safe for the Jedi to head towards Shadday’s transport. They had stepped no more than ten meters outside of the compound though when a new signal came through, the signal that it was unsafe.
“What do you think happened?” Bultar Swan asked as the group began speculating.
They got their answer soon enough, as they looked into the sky through some of the swampy overgrowth a huge explosion shot up over the New Coronet skyline. It had the unmistakable sound and shape of a thermal detonator blast.
“I think he’s over there.” Shryne said, his deadpan humor lost in the tension of the moment.
It didn’t take any discussion or convincing before the group of Jedi took off at full speed, leaping and sprinting with the aid of the Force.
“Kark! I can’t believe I let a bunch of mercs get the drop on me!”
Quinlan had just set foot in the spaceport area when he had given the all clear, after meticulously scouting the entire route between the swamp and the spaceport he had prematurely told everyone it was all right. But his nonchalant approach to the Inferno’s docking bay had given him away. Apparently word had spread that Vilmarh Grahk was friendly to a few Jedi and he must have been tracked to New Coronet.
Before he could reach the Inferno, a trio of Rodians had jumped out from their hiding places and began firing what appeared to be flechette rounds coupled with fragmentation grenades. Only a last second warning from the Force gave Quinlan enough time to leap high into the air and use the Force to partially deflect shards of debris and razorblades away from him.
He ran out of the spaceport, hoping to find a dark corner to hide in somewhere until he could sneak back into the spaceport. But the Rodians weren’t the only ones chasing him. Every street corner he turned into there was another hunter, or group of hunters, waiting for him with weapons blazing. One of the more dimwitted bounty hunters, a particularly mean looking Shistavanen, had thrown a thermal detonator after narrowly missing with poison tipped dart fired from his gauntlet.
That tantrum resulted in the incineration of about four city blocks and about a dozen of Quinlan’s pursuers. But it also had the effect of drawing more hunters into the pursuit. It was everything Quinlan could do to stay out of the line of fire. Fortunately for him the Shistavanen wasn’t the only one who was inadvertently helping him. As more hunters converged they also began to take each other out as a way to eliminate the competition.
He took a moment on top of a Cantina roof to catch his breath, for a few seconds he had evaded any pursuit, but within seconds another bounty hunter had spotted him. He had heard Quinlan leap onto the cantina roof and went in through the stairs. One of them was holding what looked like an arc caster, and judging by the way the gritty human’s hair was standing on top of his head Quinlan knew that the weapon was fully charged.
He dove off of the roof back down onto the street, landing on a small strip of intact road in between a pair of craters. That drew the attention of about six or seven more hunters who all immediately converged on his position. Quinlan leaped back up into the air just as the rooftop pursuer fired the arc caster down towards the street, electrocuting the street level hunters that had been surrounding Quinlan, who was still airborne. While using the Force to slow his descent he tossed his lightsaber, it made a brilliant jade streak through the air as it impaled the rooftop hunter.
Quinlan landed safely back onto the street and was summoning the Force to retrieve his lightsaber when he heard a blaster fire and felt a terrible pain in his leg. A blaster bolt had caught him on his right thigh and he feel the ground in great pain.
“Don’t move Vos,”
Quinlan’s heart sunk as he recognized the all too familiar voice of the man who had shot him. He had never met him before but he had been introduced to others like him. When he turned his head he counted at least fifteen clone troopers, all pointing blaster rifles in his direction from close range.
“You’re under arrest for crimes against the Empire.” The lead clone said.
Quinlan held up his arms in the air as best he could. “Don’t worry, I’ll come peacefully.”
The troopers all raised their weapons and their leader spoke. “Of course you’ll come peacefully, you’ll be dead.”
Quinlan did his best to summon the Force to him, but he couldn’t muster enough energy as the clone troopers pulled the triggers on their blaster rifles.
“Enter.” Asajj said as she and Aurra Sing took places in the spacious living room of the suite, a part of their predetermined strategy for meeting this unknown Sith Apprentice. The room was luxurious but it did not offer ample room for any prolonged duel, especially when facing multiple opponents. If Darth Vader were planning on betraying them, he would have to do it outside of the close confines of the suite and force them into the open area. Even then he would still be at a disadvantage when considering the speed and swordsmanship of the combined tandem of Ventress and Sing.
The cloaked Vader strode into the room, his form was still obscured by the darkness of the small entryway and the bright light of the moon did not reach into the room far enough to illuminate any of his features. She tried her best to discern his identity with the Force but it was difficult to concentrate when the sheer rage of Vader’s aura was dimming her own perceptions. A quick glance over at her partner showed that Aurra Sing was feeling the same way.
Asajj did however notice the lightsaber hanging from his belt, small amounts of light gleaming off of a black polished finish. Its construction was familiar to a lightsaber she had seen before. Then the realization hit her. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped, she reflexively ignited her lightsabers and the glow lit up the dark room, revealing Vader’s almost demonic face, a face that was made even more menacing by the blood red glow of Asajj’s own lightsabers.
“You’re…!”
Anakin took the moment to strike. He clenched his hands into fists as Ventress took a step forward to charge him with Sing following her lead. He waited until they were almost a meter away before he shot his arms forward and released his fists. A powerful surge of the Force blasted through the room like a gale force wind in front of him. Ventress and Sing had no time to defend themselves against such an attack and both were hurled backwards with such force that they shattered the reinforced window behind them and hurtled over the balcony’s edge.
He drew his own lightsaber from his belt and moved outside; he looked over the rail as his opponents accelerated towards the ground along with a hail of glass.
The fall was long enough that Ventress and Sing were each able to partially cushion their fall with the Force, but they could do little to prevent shards of the broken window from tearing at their skin as they fell. Skywalker’s attack had caught them completely off guard.
But now things were starting to make sense to Asajj Ventress. Darth Sidious had lured Skywalker to the Dark Side.
“Skywalker must be pretending to be Palpatine’s lapdog for Sidious even as the Sith Lord manipulates Palpatine into helping him exterminate the Jedi, a brilliant plan. Now he must be trying to cut all of his ties to Dooku though to keep his involvement from being discovered. Sing and I each served under the Count.”
Although she didn’t understand all of the conspiracies fully quite yet, she was beginning to see that she was in great danger. She re activated her lightsabers and turned towards the sound of another being in the moonlight, it was Sing.
“This is why I avoid working with Sith.” Aurra Sing said as she picked herself up off of the ground a few meters from where Ventress had landed. “In the end they will always betray you.”
Ventress rose to her feet, “I'm beginning to understand your advice. You will still help me kill Skywalker though right?”
Sing activated her own lightsaber and snarled. “Of course.”
The instant she had finished making her promise, Vader landed behind them, and his lightsaber ignited with a snap-hiss .
Thunder crashed in the distance as the once distant storm filled everyone’s ears, and the Sith Lord raised his hand and beckoned his would-be assassins with a taunt.
“Then by all means…kill me…if you can.” Vader said as he raised his lightsaber to strike.
The clone troopers raised their blaster rifles to fire, but as they squeezed the trigger they felt their rifles suddenly pull away from them. Their shorts blazed over Quinlan’s head, missing him by centimeters, and several of the troopers were slammed to the ground by an unseen power.
Roan Shryne was leading the charge as the Jedi entered the small plaza where Quinlan had been cornered. With their lightsabers drawn they deflected nearly every shot fired at them, many of those shots redirected back at the clones that had fired them. Jastus Farr hoisted Quinlan up onto his back and began carrying him.
“Do you arms work?” He asked.
“Yeah,” Quinlan said through the pain. “It’s just my leg.”
“Then you’d better grab on tight. It’s harder to use one of these things if I have to use one of my own arms to carry you.” Farr said as he switched on his double bladed lightsaber. He charged towards the remaining clones alongside of Tsui Choi, who was leaping and maneuvering at almost impossible angles. The two Jedi masters reached melee distance with the clones and by the time they were finished not one of the clones was left alive and all of them were missing either heads or limbs.
The other Jedi that had held back were now coming under fire by clone reinforcements that had begun landing throughout the city, as well as a few remaining mercenaries who thought they might be able to collect an easy paycheck.
“My ship isn’t far!” Shadday cried out “The docking bay is only a few blocks North of here but we’ll have to hurry. Where there are clones there’s gunships…”
“…And where there’s gunships the Star Destroyers aren’t far behind.” Shryne grimaced, repeating the old adage that the clone troopers had adopted early on in the war after the first Venator -class ships had come off the line. “All right let’s go. Nobody’s getting left behind.”
“A noble statement,” Master Darte spoke as he maneuvered closer to Shryne, deflecting blaster bolts with his lightsaber. “But from one General to another you know as well as I do that there’s no way out of this unless one of us provides a distraction.”
Shryne cursed under his breath, realizing that Darte was probably right. He shouted as loud as he could to be heard over the sounds of blaster fire and lightsabers cutting through air. “All right then, I’ll start heading south and engaging as many as I can, you get to…” Before he could finish Darte cut him off.
“Forgive me Master Shryne, but I wasn’t referring to you. You’re needed with Master Shadday; Master Vos may not survive to reach the ship, that leaves you as the only one who can get the others to Tholme’s sanctuary.”
Roan shrine fought to argue, but he was cut off when a blast from a sonic weapon, ironically based on a captured Geonosian design, nearly hit its target. Shryne and Darte leaped out of the way. Shryne moved to follow Darte but Master Shaalas stopped him.
“Let him go,” Shaalas cautioned. “He’s already beside himself for letting Master Aranna die for him on Kessel. Honor his decision so that he might join with the Force in peace.”
Shryne conceded the argument. Darte’s strategy was having the desired effect, as he broke away from the spaceport clones and bounty hunters alike converged on him hoping to take down the isolated Jedi. The group was now freer to move towards the spaceport, which they did in great haste.
Shadday was in the lead with Jastus Farr close behind her carrying Quinlan Vos, who was struggling to maintain his grip on Jastus’ back.
“Don’t die on me Vos,” Farr warned. “I was hoping I could punch you in the back of the head again someday.”
Quinlan laughed as he fought back the pain in his leg. “If we survive this I’ll be sure to let you.”
“Just a little further!” Shadday yelled as they rounded the corner, she skidded to a stop right in front of the door to docking bay 49, frantically punching in the numeric code that would give them access. It opened on the first try. The rest of the Jedi soon caught up, save for one.
“Where’s Sia-Lann?” Tsui Choi asked as he holstered his lightsaber. “She was behind me just a minute ago.”
Shryne looked back out through the door, after a few seconds a bloodied and battered Sia-Lann Wezz rounded the corner of the outdoor passage towards their berth. She had been delayed after coming into close contact with a nest of troopers and Shryne could see that her arm was hanging limp at her side, badly broken.
“Go!” She yelled, “If I can’t make it leave without me!”
Shryne was about to run to her and help her escape when the sound of a LAAT Gunship cut through the air, running parallel to Sia-Lann on her left. As it rocketed through the air Shryne noticed that the ship’s starboard beam turret was taking aim, all he could do was turn his head as the bright green beam tore through Sia-Lann Wezz at her midsection, reducing the entire lower half of her body into a smoldering pile of burnt flesh. She crawled for about a half meter before she died.
“Shryne! We’re ready to go! Get in!” Bultar Swan yelled as she ascended the ramp into the unnamed Corellian YT-1300. Setting his grief aside he ran into the ship, making his way to the cockpit and taking a seat behind Tsui Choi, an accomplished Jedi fighter ace and the group’s default pilot. The ship took off only to be fired upon by the gunship that had killed Sia-Lann Wezz. Their gunners were no Master Choi’s expertise though, and the ship made it into orbit easily.
As soon as they had exited the atmosphere though, the blaring of an alarm klaxon nearly deafened Shryne, who happened to be sitting next to one of the klaxon’s audio-casters.
“ What happened? Did we get hit?” He yelled while covering his ears.
Tsui Choi looked to his left and tightened his grip on the controls. “We’re fine, for now. We took no damage but we’ve got about thirty fighters on our tail. Arc-170’s and V-Wings, and there’s a Star Destroyer coming into range.”
“I don’t get it,” Shadday said. “Why don’t they just use the long range flak guns and try to get in a good shot before the fighters get here?”
“That’s easy,” Shryne said. “They’re not trying to kill us.” Shadday turned to him to ask what he meant, but before she could Shryne finished his statement.
“They want prisoners.”
“During one of your assignments you may come across a Jedi of superior skill.” Dooku said in his aristocratic teaching voice, the voice he used when he demanded strict attention to his words. “Your first instinct is going to be to try and test your own meager abilities against him in one on one combat. That would be foolish.”
Ventress remembered the lesson well. A former Jedi instructor himself, Dooku occasionally held sessions like these to impart some of his knowledge upon his acolytes. Most of them were pointless ramblings that were barely even basic Dark Side teachings, but they were enough to entice beings such as Tol Skorr, Kadrian Sey, or even Sora Bulq, fallen Jedi whose understanding of the Dark Side was still hampered by their old ways. She hated working with them, and rarely even saw her counterparts amongst Dooku’s elite. She hated how Dooku doted on them, how he would use their connection as former Jedi to his own advantages.
But some of Dooku’s lessons had possessed meaning, and those were the ones she called upon when dealing with a powerful opponent such as Anakin Skywalker, now Darth Vader.
“Many of you, if not all of you, will never surpass the elite Jedi in strength and mastery of the Force. But they are far from invincible. You must use cunning, and tactics if you are going to overcome them. All of you will have to learn to cooperate with one another,” he had looked directly at Asajj at that point, “especially during battle. Combine your strengths and energies, and you stand a much greater chance of surviving, especially against Masters such as Yoda, or Mace Windu.”
At the time Ventress had scoffed, it didn’t matter in a duel what tactics were used if one side was simply more powerful than the other. Dooku had proved as much when he had soundly beaten Kenobi and Skywalker on Geonosis and again when he dispatched Master Tholme and then-Jedi Sora Bulq on Bakura.
After a series of partnerships with the Bounty Hunter Durge though, she began to realize her own effectiveness was enhanced when coupled with his tactics, and she slowly understood that she could do the same with another force user should the partnership prove opportunistic.
In this case the partnership with Aurra Sing was. The two women had much in common, and their styles complimented each other well. Aurra was a brute Force killer while Ventress was an incredibly agile assassin. The combination of strength and speed would have been more than a match for almost any opponent in the galaxy.
Except Darth Vader, after only two maneuvers into the battle he had beaten back each and every on of their attacks with but one hand. He was matching all of Aurra’s strength and countering all of Ventress’ speed. She could barely keep track of his blade, the only thing keeping either of them alive were their unrelenting tandem attacks forcing Vader to counter each time. Their goal against Skywalker was to try and overwhelm him and take advantage of any mistakes while wearing him down. But Vader wasn’t tiring and his technique was absolutely flawless.
The frustration began to take its toll on the two and Aurra Sing gave into her anger, attempting to carve her lightsaber through Vader’s shoulder with a high two handed chop brought down like a hammer. She had left herself open though, and Vader lifted his leg and kicked her in the solar plexus as she moved in to attack, knocking her aside as he defended against Ventress’ twin blades. Sing landed face first, her chin hitting against the hard duracrete of the road and her teeth cutting into the skin inside of her mouth. Ventress spared a glance over at her, and she was flat on her stomach, unconscious. With her partner downed Ventress was in the precarious position of fighting Vader alone.
She was now up against the man who had killed her master, the man who had taken the title she had desired above all other things and stolen her claim to the Sith teachings. Everything she had learned up until this point was being pitted against a fallen Jedi with a freakishly strong connection to the Force. The one thing that she feared more than anything was that he no longer had the same limitations he possessed before embracing the Dark Side. She kept it off of her face, but she was deathly afraid.
Ventress took a few steps back to try and put more distance between her and Vader, but the effort was futile as Vader surged forward to take the offensive. His blade roared through the night sky as the rain started to fall, drops of water sizzling off of his blade as he slashed at Ventress. She raised one of her blades to parry but the force of Vader’s cut was so great that it knocked the blade from her grip, sending it to the ground where it smashed into several pieces.
Forced into dueling with one blade Ventress gripped her remaining weapon with both hands to compensate for her rain-slicked palms. Vader was feeling no such effects however, it was as if he dominated the inclement weather and used it to his advantage. He strode forward and with a powerful flurry of cuts he pushed Ventress back.
With every swing Ventress was forced to give ground and her fear grew. As strong with the Dark Side as she was, she was growing desperate, and Vader was feeding off of that desperation. He was growing stronger with every step while Asajj was growing weaker. In a desperate attempt to surprise him she jumped into the air hoping to land behind him and strike. Vader anticipated the move perfectly and Asajj landed with her back to Vader, who took advantage of his position by cutting off her left arm at the shoulder, her limb fell to the ground with a wet “thud.”
From the corner of his perception Vader noticed that Aurra Sing had regained consciousness and was now crawling slowly towards her fallen lightsaber. Vader looked back down at Ventress and leaped high into the air. Ventress watched in horror as Sing finally reclaimed her weapon despite terrible pain, only to have Vader land on top of her, his boots shattering her spine and instantly paralyzing her. In the same motion he swooped with his lightsaber towards the ground and amputated both of Sing’s outstretched arms at the elbow. After sensing her presence in the Force faintly hanging on, he swooped his lightsaber again. This time, Aurra Sing’s head was forcibly removed from her neck, and it rolled across the ground before coming to a stop.
Aurra Sing’s torment brought a rush of energy to the Dark Side of the Force; although Ventress could sense it it was Vader who fed upon it. This was the true power of the Sith, and it was a fearsome sight to behold. With Sing permanently incapacitated Vader turned his attention left to his remaining prey.
“You didn’t think you could beat me with her as your ally did you Ventress? You really are as gullible and stupid as my Master says you are. You fell for every one of his lies as easily as you did Dooku’s.”
If Asajj had the power she would have reached out into the Force and crushed Anakin Skywalker right then and there. But even if she were fully healthy she now realized that she could have never beaten Anakin Skywalker. She knew her death was imminent. That didn’t stop her nemesis from taunting her further.
“This is what happens when pretenders try and learn the true nature of the Force. Only those with the power of will can look into the inferno that is the Dark Side of the Force and not be consumed by it’s fire. Anakin raised his hand into the air and the rain and gesture right at Ventress.
“This is for threatening my wife.” He said calmly.
The part of Vader that remained Anakin was pushed aside with little resistance as Vader’s need for revenge summoned Force lightning. Asajj wailed as her body sizzled and burned before Vader’s rage, with every angry thought the lightning grew more intense, until finally Asajj dropped her lightsaber and collapsed, unable to resist.
She coughed and blood began to trickle from her mouth. As she reached up and clutched her cauterized left stump, she offered one last thing to say.
“What, no revenge for Obi Wan? I should have saved you the trouble and killed him months ago.”
Anakin did not know why the comment infuriated him, but he didn’t take the time to speculate. Ventress had though she would at least get one last word in before she died before her body shut down, but she soon regretted it. Vader focused on her with the Force and sought out her mind. At full strength she would have been able to put up a defense, but now her mind was as unprotected as an open vault. Vader flooded her brain with his hatred and seized control of her mind forcibly.
Asajj suddenly found herself quite conscious, her senses kept extremely heightened by Vader’s dark power. Vader was surprised at how easy it was, as a Jedi he had learned how to manipulate the minds of others but he was now free of the limits imposed by his training. Her shattered body moved despite great pain and she could not stop herself. Her arm reached down to her lightsaber, as she picked it up she found that she was pressing the emitter to her belly. She struggled against Vader’s control of her mind and found that she only had control of her thumb, which was right on the switch of her lightsaber. That was when she realized she was going to suffer a painful death.
She had two options: she could activate her saber and allow the blade to puncture her abdomen. She would die slowly and painfully. Or she could simply wait until Vader did it himself. It wasn’t an easy decision, but she thought she could at least die on her own terms. She activated the switch and as she did she felt the heat of the blade impale her. Vader released his control on her and she slumped to the ground, unmoving. With her last look, she saw Vader standing over her, brimming with hate.
It took several painful minutes before she died.
His assignment finished, Vader deactivated his lightsaber and exchanged it on his belt for a communicator. Someone was bound to have noticed the commotion, even in this sleepy Alderaanian suburb, and it would not be long before the authorities arrived.
His master had arranged for the aftermath to be taken care of in advance, over a secure channel Anakin notified agents of the ISB, who on his orders would come and handle the messy details. He then notified Commander Appo, who would help in securing the area and creating enough of an Imperial presence so that their activities would go unquestioned.
His true mission completed, Anakin allowed himself to think personal thoughts, and it wasn’t long before he began thinking of returning to his family.
“We’ve got to do something! Shryne bellowed. Those fighters will chew us to bits before we can make it to hyperspace!”
“If you have any suggestions I'm all ears!” Master Choi said as he spun the YT-1300 into a barrel roll. “I can only outmaneuver them for so long!”
“Remind me to put a few quad laser turrets in this thing one day.” Shadday said sarcastically as she looked over the threat display on the screen in front of her. “Wait, there’s another ship coming in on our vector. I’ve never seen one like it before.”
“No, but I have…” Shryne said excitedly. “That’s the Inferno! ”
The slender profile of the Inferno flew over the fleeing Jedi and opened up with it’s powerful cannons, scoring direct hits on the lead V-Wing, destroying the vessel and showering it’s wingman with debris. Inferno continued firing on as many ships as it could but it was immediately targeted by the pursuing ARC-170’s, which pummeled the ship with heavy fire.
”Just like Master Darte, why is it that every time something bad happens anymore someone has to die because of it?” Shryne’s attention changed when the communications system started going off.
“Somebody is trying to call us, I’ll bet its Villie.” Shryne said to Shadday, who answered the signal.
“This is Inferno to Jedi ship. Where is Vos?” Villie demanded.
“This is Jedi Master Shadday, Master Vos has been badly injured and isn’t available right now.”
“Oh things is getting better and better ya? Then get me that other one he was with, Road Sign or whatever.”
Shryne leaned over Shadday’s shoulder and responded. “Shryne here, Villie you’re going to get chewed up out there. We’ll be fine, just get out while you can!”
Villie made what sounded like a sigh over the channel, “No can do friend Jedi, Villie has debt to pay to Vos, although if I happen to survive I will bring you the bill for repairs to my ship. Now, you make jump to hyperspace, but promise me you’ll take care of Chak, hokay?”
Before Shryne could respond the transmission ended. The fighters were jamming their ship-to-ship transmissions. “You heard the man Master Choi, lets not let his efforts go to waste.” He then looked over at Shaalas, who nodded his head.
After a few terrifying moments they freed themselves from the melee and began to break away, just as Villie’s shields fell and the Star Destroyer loomed over him. The Jedi looked forward through the cockpit into space and watched as the stars stretched out before them.
Author's note: Hooray! People get killed! I've been wanting to write this chapter for months, even weeks, but it took everything up until this point I think to get it right. It's longer than most of my chapters also, I generally make sure they're about seven full pages in MS Word before I edit them and post them, this one went nine. Hopefully this will draw some of the readers back and hook new ones. I'm not stopping here though, there's more intruigue to cover in this fic.
Who is Darth Cynyst? How will Obi Wan handle the responsibility Qui Gon has placed upon him? Will Anakin and Padme's marriage survive? Can the united Jedi rebuild the order on Telos? It's worth waiting and watching. I promise you.
One other thing, I think I'll dedicate this chapter to the upcoming Halloween, since I at least tried to make it evil.
~DF
