Have no fear, Grubkiller is here.
Hey folks.
Here's the first chapter of the main story.
This is basically a retelling of Revenge of the Sith, but with Clone Wars season 7 mixed in.
Anyway, with that out of the way, please, feel free to leave your thoughts down in the review section when you're done.
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War! The Republic is crumbling under attacks by the ruthless Sith Lord, Count Dooku. There are heroes on both sides. Evil is everywhere.
In a stunning move, the fiendish droid leader, General Grievous, has swept into the Republic capital and kidnapped Chancellor Palpatine, leader of the Galactic Senate.
As the Separatist Droid Army attempts to flee the besieged capital with their valuable hostage, two Jedi Knights lead a desperate mission to rescue the captive Chancellor...
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Coruscant orbit.
High above the planet-wide metropolis of Coruscant, a Venator-class Republic Star-Destroyer was flying high above the planet, who's many urban lights illuminated the dark side of the planet. Way off it's port-side, the sun was just cresting Coruscant's horizon, casting it's orange rays on the ship's port-side, and darkening it's starboard-side. A low, but noticeable, hum emitted from it's powerful engines, put was suppressed by the vacuum of space.
The Ship continued to fly above the planet.
All was seemingly quiet and peaceful.
That's when suddenly, a pair of Eta-2 Actis-class light interceptor, a maroon one and a yellow one, flew towards the ship while screeching down from somewhere above. When they were close to the ship's command tower, the two ships pulled up to fly between the ship's massive turbo-laser turrets, and then along the length of the ship. They pulled to the left along the Star-Destroyer's port-side before they did a small barrel role and dove down over the side of the cruiser.
Suddenly, nothing was peaceful, or quiet.
The two Jedi interceptors were flying high above a massive space battle. Literally thousands of warships were crowding the space above Coruscant. They were all hammering away at each other with their heavy firepower. Hundreds of gray and red Republic Star-Destroyers, just like the one the two Jedi flew near, were fighting the black and gray insect-like warships of the Confederate Navy. Blue lasers crisscrossed with red lasers. Red and blue explosions dotted the planet's atmosphere and the warships above it. Star-fighters from both sides zipped back and forth around both side's ships.
The two Jedi interceptors lit up their engines so they could speed up and dive down faster into the massive space storm that was the battle of Coruscant. They did twists and turns as they flew through the black puffs of flak that filled in the space between the warships.
They flew above a Separatist Munificent-class Star Frigate as it fired it's cannons at a much bigger target, ignoring the two small interceptors.
Both interceptors then flew underneath a Separatist Recusant-class light destroyer as it fired it's main spinal cannon at a target behind the two Jedi. When they zipped passed the large engines, they could feel the humming of the three large engines vibrating through their controls.
As they flew deeper into the mess of warships, the chaos became more and more intense. One Republic Star-Destroyer fired it's powerful main cannons at a separatist frigate that was above it. The blue lasers slammed into the ship's lightly armored underside, causing a powerful explosion that ripped the ship apart. Both Jedi interceptors flew right through the explosion, but went right through unharmed.
Just when they passed through the explosion, another Republic cruiser fired a blue laser beam out of it's lower hanger and it connected with a Separatist Star-Frigate. The beam connected the two ships for a moment, before the aft section of the frigate disappeared in a brilliant explosion. Flaming debris flew everywhere while the intact bow section began to lose altitude.
But despite the chaos, the two fighters continued on ahead.
The astromech droid on the yellow fighter began to whistle and beep.
"Lock on to him, R2," Anakin ordered Artoo. The droid locked onto a Providence-class Dreadnought that was directly ahead, which had just assisted in downing a Republic cruiser, which trailed smoke and lost altitude. "Master, General Grievous's ship is directly ahead- the one crawling with vulture droids."
"I see it. Oh, this is going to be easy," Obi-Wan said sarcastically as several dozen Vulture droids jumped off of the hull of the distant warship, and flew towards the two Jedi. He activated his comm and spoke into it. "Oddball, do you copy?"
"Copy, Red Leader," said a clone pilot that was leading a squadron nearby.
"Mark my position. Form your squad up behind me," Obi-Wan ordered.
"We're on your tail, General Kenobi," Oddball said before he spoke to his fellow pilots. "Set S-foils to attack position."
Oddball's squadron of ARC-170 Star-fighters flew in from a Republic cruiser, the RSV Ro-Ti-Mundi, and opened up their wings. Ready for action, the fighters flew down and formed up on Obi-Wan and Anakin. When they did, Anakin and Obi-Wan opened up the wings on their ships.
As the droid fighters began to rapidly close in on the Republic squadron, Anakin smiled.
A few droid fighters didn't scare a human that has been a pod-racer since he was six. The only human to ever finish or win one for that matter. Without knowing it, he could reach out with the force, and feel the whole battle above Coruscant flow through him, as though it was just a thought in his head. His star-fighter became his body. The pulses of the engines were the beat of his heart. When he was in his fighter, he could forget about his slavery, the death of his mother, the betrayal of his former apprentice, the battles in this brutal war where he lost friends, and all of the times that he was separated from his secret, beloved wife.
"This is where the fun begins," he said with excitement flaring up inside of him.
"Let them pass between us," Obi-Wan ordered.
As the swarm of droid fighters flew in front of them, the clone pilots flew to avoid the enemy fighters. But some of them opened fire to blast the droids that they couldn't avoid. When they passed through the droid swarm, they continued onwards towards Grievous' command ship.
But that's when some of the droid fighters circled back to pursue the Republic squadron. Several Tri-droid fighters fired on the Republic fighters. Two of them were destroyed. The rest broke off to engage the pursuing Separatists. One clone pilot was being chased by three fighters.
"They're all over me," he shouted over the comm. "Get them off my-fffffzzzzzzz".
"I'm gonna go help them out," Anakin said, not wanting to leave his men behind.
"No! No. They are doing their job so we can do ours," Obi-Wan reasoned.
Anakin reluctantly listened and continued to fly with his master. That's when he saw four objects flying towards the two Jedi fighters. They looked like spears of some kind, and they were trailing blue exhaust.
"Missiles," Anakin exclaimed. "Pull up".
Anakin and Obi-Wan tilted their fighters just as the missiles flew between them.
"They overshot us," Obi-Wan said.
That's when the missiles began to circle back and pursue the Jedi.
"They're coming around," Anakin said.
Anakin and Obi-Wan split up. The missiles did the same. Two missiles were chasing each ship. They flew around different warships to try and lose the incoming missiles, but to no avail.
Obi-Wan's droid, R4-P17, tried to take control of the ship so that she could try to avoid the missiles.
"All right, R4," Obi-Wan said as the droid banked the ship hard to the right, causing Obi-Wan to shift around in his seat. "No, no. Nothing too fancy".
Meanwhile, Anakin wasn't having much better luck with his pair of missiles.
"Surge all power units, R2. Stand by reverse thrusters," Anakin ordered as he began flipping switches. An alarm was going off in his cockpit, as the missiles began to close in on his tail.
Suddenly, Anakin began to spin his fighter like a corkscrew. Artoo beeped rapidly as the ship continued to spin wildly. But the missiles were spinning too. When they were about to hit Anakin's ship, they met in the middle of the corkscrew before they collided and exploded.
R2 whistled as Anakin chuckled.
"We got 'em, R2," Anakin said before he went to go regroup with his master.
Obi-Wan continued to bank hard to the sides in an attempt to lose the homing missiles. He flew over the over the burning hulk of a Separatist destroyer and flew over it just in time to see several warships colliding with one another.
He continued to turn and spin.
"Flying is for droids," he said to himself, referring to his hatred of flying.
Eventually, the missiles flew right over him harmlessly. That's when they suddenly detonated up ahead. They each released several spherical objects that Obi-Wan flew right through. Some of the attached to his hull.
"I'm hit. Anakin?"
"I see them," Anakin said as he began to trail Obi-Wan's fighter. "Buzz droids".
The spheres all unfolded and began to crawl all over his ship. They began to use their small buzz saws and their tiny limbs to surgically rip the ship apart. R4 began to beep nervously as buzz droids began to surround her. Obi-Wan looked up through his cockpit to see a buzz droid walking across it before it climbed onto R4's head.
"R4, be careful. You have a-," Obi-Wan tried to warn. But it was too late. R4 chirped in alarm as the buzz droid dug it's surgical limbs and saws underneath her head and began to rip it off. R4 began to spark as her head was ripped off before it flew far behind Obi-Wan's ship. "Oh, dear".
The buzz droids continued to dig deep into Obi-Wan's fighter, cutting through critical systems with their knives and buzz saws.
"They're shutting down all the controls," Obi-Wan said as he tried to see if any of his ship's functions would work.
"Move to the right so I can get a clear shot at them," Anakin said as he began to line up his cannons with the droids atop his master's ship.
"The mission. Get to the command ship. Get the chancellor. I'm running out of tricks here," Obi-Wan said before his ship suddenly began to explode. "In the name of-," Obi-Wan exclaimed as Anakin continued to fire on his ship. Some of the buzz droids were blasted away, but so was Obi-Wan's port-side wing section. "- Hold your fire! You're not helping."
"- I agree. Bad idea," Anakin said, realizing that he was doing more harm than the buzz droids were.
The remaining buzz droids continued to cut Obi-Wan's ship apart. One of them began to rip open some sort of fuel system. It caused sort kind of exhaust to spray onto the cockpit, where it then froze to the windows, obscuring Obi-Wan's vision.
"I can't see a thing. My cockpit's fogging," Obi-Wan called out, prompting Anakin to accelerate his fighter towards Obi-Wan's.
That's when Anakin flew alongside Obi-Wan's interceptor as they flew over a CIS star frigate just as fire from a nearby Republic warship caused the ship's bridge superstructure to go up in a brilliant explosion, which the Jedi were forced to fly through.
"They're all over me. Anakin!" Obi-Wan exclaimed frantically.
Anakin then intentionally collided with Obi-Wan's ship, trying to scrape the droids off with his wing.
"Move to the right," Anakin said as he prepared to do what he did again.
"Hold on Anakin. You're gonna get us both killed,' Obi-Wan said. "Get out of here. There's nothing more you can do".
"I'm not leaving without you, Master," Anakin said as he collided with Obi-Wan's ship again. But this time, he managed to scrape his wing against Obi-Wan's and crush several buzz droids.
However, one of them, the last one, managed to climb aboard Anakin's fighter just as he pulled away. It crawled over Anakin's cockpit and walked in front of R2's face. It began to spin up it's buzz saw in order to start tearing the ship apart. But unlike R4, R2 was putting up more of a fight. R2 extended a mechanical limb from his head. "Get him R2," Anakin said, prompting R2 to shock the droid several times. The droid was disorientated for a moment before R2 shocked it again. "Watch out," Anakin said as the buzz droid began to step side to side to avoid R2's electricity.
"R2, hit the buzz droid's centre eye," Obi-Wan called out.
R2 beeped a reply and did as Obi-Wan suggested before he fired at the droid's central eye. The droid twitched and writhed before it's eye exploded. It's lifeless body fell over and slid off of the hull.
"Yeah, you got him!" Anakin exclaimed triumphantly.
"Great, R2." Obi-Wan said.
Both Jedi continued to fly towards Grievous' flagship. A storm of red laser bolts from the ship's heavy cannons flew towards the Jedi fighters.
"The General's command ship is dead ahead," Anakin said as the flak became thicker and thicker.
"DDWWEEEEEEOOOOOO!" R2 screamed as laser bolts flew passed his head.
"Well, have you noticed the shields are still up?" Obi-Wan asked.
"Sorry, Master," Anakin said as he did a barrel roll over Obi-Wan's crippled fighter in order to line up his cannons with the shield generator. Anakin fired his laser bolts, which began to hit the generator. After a few good hits, a brilliant explosion caused the hanger shields to flicker out, seemingly clearing the way. But then a blast door began to rapidly close over the exposed hanger bay in order to seal the ship from the vacuum of space.
"Oh, I have a bad feeling about this," Obi-Wan said as he and Anakin accelerated to try and beat the door.
They flew into the hanger just as the door slammed shut. Both fighters landed and scraped against the hull, plowing through many security droids, who were just recovering from almost being sucked out into space. As Obi-wan's fighter came to a screeching halt, he opened the cockpit, somersaulted through the air, and activated his lightsaber before jumping in the middle of a squad of droids. When he jumped down he began to cut through several of the droids.
Meanwhile, Anakin's ship finally came to a halt after plowing through several more droids. He unbuckled himself from his seat and got out. R2 ejected himself from the astro-mech slot as Anakin extended his blade and climbed off of the fighter.
"There they are. Get 'em," a security droid said before he and his companions pointed their blades at the two Jedi and opened fire.
The droids rushed the two Jedi in an attempt to subdue them, but they were cut apart. The screams and groans of dying battle droids filled the hanger. The Two Jedi expertly deflected any laser bolt that came their way and cut their way through the droids in order to meet in the middle. They stood back to back and began to deflect the droid's firepower back at them.
R2 beeped a question as the Jedi stood back to back.
"R2, locate the chancellor," Obi-Wan ordered as they continued to fight off the enemy droids.
R2 beeped a reply and went to plug into the computer interface nearby.
A few seconds later, the Jedi twirled their sabers around before they put them away, just as the last few droids collapsed to the ground with a loud clang.
R2 whistled as he projected an image of the Invisible Hand. A red light blinked at the top of a spire on the aft section of the ship, just above the hanger they were in.
Obi-Wan pointed to the red light at the top of the spire. "The chancellor's signal is coming from right there. the observation platform at the top of that spire".
Anakin looked around as he felt a disturbance in the force. "I sense Count Dooku," he said.
"I sense a trap," Obi-Wan said.
Anakin turned to face Obi-Wan. "Next move?" He asked.
Obi-Wan turned to face Anakin and smiled. "Spring the trap".
R2 backed away from the computer and whistled as he began to follow them.
"R2, go back. I need you to stay with the ship," Anakin said.
"Here, take this..." Obi-Wan said as he pulled a com-link from his belt and tossed it to R2, who caught it. "...and wait for orders".
R2 beeped a disapproving reply as the two Jedi walked out of the hanger.
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Invisible Hand, Command Deck, Coruscant Orbit.
On the bridge of the Invisible Hand, a door opened to reveal a cyborg, with a skull-like mask, a mewl body, and clawed feet, and two of his magna-guards.
It was General Grievous.
Supreme Commander of the Separatist Droid Armies. An abomination of nature. A blend of flesh and machine. Architect of the Separatist victories... and author of their atrocities.
While most separatist leaders, like Count Dooku, had integrity, or others in the Separatist Council were greedy, but pragmatic, they were all unkind General Grievous... who was a monster, through and through.
Grievous growled, and his golden eyes narrowed, before he began to cough as he stepped onto the bridge, which was filled with battle droids and neimoidien crew members. The cyborg supreme commander stepped onto the bridge, his metal talons clanging on the metal deck.
He continued to cough, due to his constricted chest, which had always been bad, but was now worse thanks to an encounter with Mace Windu down on the surface. he continued to step into the bridge until he stood in front of a Neimoidian who was sitting in a chair in the middle of the bridge.
"What's the situation, Captain?" General Grievous asked.
"Two Jedi have landed in the main hangar bay. We're tracking them," Captain Lushros Dofine said as he showed images of Anakin and Obi-Wan running through the ship's corridors.
"Just as Count Dooku predicted," he said before he coughed. But then he chuckled as he stepped away to observe the space battle around his ship.
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Invisible Hand, Aft section.
The two Jedi Knights rushed through the halls of the Separatist flagship. They were heading for the elevators. But as they rounded a corner, a door opens in the hallway and the two Jedi are met by a platoon of OOM security battle droids, forcing them to stop dead in their tracks.
The droids just stared at them, and the Jedi froze. Then the sounds of tapping metal footsteps forced them t look over the shoulders. More battle droids came down the hallway they just came from. And more came down from the opposite hallway.
Clearly, the Jedi had taken a bad step.
More clanking footsteps and whining servos got the Jedi's attention, and they looked back at the first wall of battle droids. It suddenly started to part ways to allow something big to come through. It was what looked to be a massive Super Battle Droid, but it didn't have any blasters. Instead, its arms looked like massive blades, which both crackled with electricity.
"Don't worry master," Anakin said confidently.
"I'm not worried," Obi-Wan replied.
Then Anakin turned to face his old master. "This won't be a problem."
Obi-Wan, believing his words had fallen on deaf ears, turned to Anakin with an irritated look on his face. "Did I say I was worried?"
Anakin smiled and turned back to the droid, lunging at him, and slashing his blade to the side. But a that instant, the droid locked its arms together and blocked the saber blow, energy buzzing and crackling more viciously, before swatting the Jedi back several feet.
A dumbfounded Anakin looked back at Obi-Wan, was less than amused. "This might be a problem."
As more grapple droids were let through to surround the Jedi, they stand back-to-back.
"Anakin. . ."
"Ready."
They both use the force to push their advancing adversaries back, before plunging their sabers into the deck and cutting a large circle in the floor.
The hole falls out from underneath them just as a hailstorm of blaster fire is unleashed onto the stop they just previously occupied. A few bolts sturck the floor around them, but immediately stops on the orders of a droid commander from above them.
When they reach the bottom, they find themselves in a large tunnel, which has grated floors for maintenance droids, and had a river of fuel passing underneath it. Above them, electricity crackled from several dischargers.
Huge explosions outside the ship have caused several large pipes overhead to break, and fluid is spewing everywhere. The Jedi get up and turn off their light sabers. Anakin dips his hand into the fluid and sniffs it.
". . . fuel." Obi-Wan deduced, "The slightest charge from our sabers will send this ship into oblivion. That's why they've stopped shooting."
"Well then," Anakin said, "We're safe for the time being."
"Your idea of safe is not the same as mine."
"Get down there and follow them!" A droid commander ordered from up above, getting the attention of the two Jedi.
"Okay, now I'm worried," Obi-Wan said, "Run!"
As more explosions rattle the area, the Jedi run, and pipes continue to burst around them, spilling more fuel into the hallway. At the hole they entered through, six of the grapple droids from earlier drop into the fuel.
That's when a droid on the PA system made an announcement.
"Warning: Fuel breech in chamber 7. Activate containment doors. Lock-down protocol initiated."
The sounds of shield doors closing and locking down echo throughout the hallway. The Jedi pass several large power generators, which are topped with sparking excess power dischargers.
"They're sealing this section off." Anakin warned. "We've gone from one bad situation to another."
"You say that like you're surprised," Obi-Wan replied.
The last of the doors can be heard locking down. The grapple droids from earlier begin to catch up.
"Those grapple droids are right behind us!" Obi-Wan said.
"Keep moving. There must be vents . . . This way." Anakin instructed.
They move along a wall. Anakin climbs up the side to a small vent. The fuel continues to pour into the chamber, rising up towards the power dischargers.
"We'll never get through that. It's too small!" Obi-Wan exclaimed.
They move toward a second vent. The Jedi are soon swimming in the fuel as it reaches to within a couple yards of the ceiling, and get closer to making contact with the crackling electrical discharges.
Anakin feels along the ceiling and finds another smaller vent. He closes his eyes and tries to sense an opening, then he moves on. Obi-Wan, meanwhile, uses the force to slow the pursuing droids down.
The fuel is up to the Jedi's chins. But eventually, Anakin finds a very, very small metal grate, then pounds on it until the tiny grate breaks loose.
"I found our escape vent."
"Anakin, this is no time for jokes. We're in serious trouble here."
"Only in your mind. My Master. Look, no structure. . . ." Anakin said, before grabbing the side of the tiny hole and giving it a big yank, ripping a large panel loose, and revealing a "man-sized" work shaft. They scramble through it as the droids swim closer.
The TWO JEDI pull themselves through the narrow vent shaft until they reach a small hatch in the side of the tube.
"Here's a way out." Anakin said.
As the grapple droids reach the opening in the ceiling and the fuel gets to within a few feet of the power generator sparks, the Jedi work the keyboard on the pressure lock, opening the latch.
The two Jedi climb into a small passageway and slam the hatch shut. They make their way through the ever-shrinking shaft until they reach the end.
A hatch opens in one of the main hallways of the Providence-class warship, and the Jedi squeeze out, slamming the hatch. Behind them, Anakin seals the hatch with his laser sword.
"That won't hold when the fuel hits those power dischargers." Obi-Wan said cynically.
"The blast will break the hull. This side's pressurized."
Obi-Wan shook his head, doubting his friend's logic. "You still have much to learn, Anakin."
The grapple droids climb up the vent shaft as the fuel continues to rise toward the power discharger.
"I have a bad feeling about this." One of them said, just before the fuel hits the sparking power discharger, causing a huge explosion, which cracks open the outer hull of the warship, allowing a flaming gas cloud to spray outward, along with the smoldering body parts of several grapple droids.
A large bulge appears in the wall around the sealed hatch as the explosion hits. Obi-Wan jumps back, then stands with his eyes bulging out of his head, amazed that they weren't vaporized... not even a little bit.
"All right, you win. I have much to learn." Obi-Wan conceded to a grinning Anakin, "Let's go!" Obi-Wan says before they run down the hallway again.
Even though Obi-Wan was the teacher, his own apprentice has taught him so much.
He saw so much of Qui-Gon Jinn in Anakin that it sometimes made his heart ache. In several ways, Anakin mirrored Qui-Gon, with their flare for the dramatic, and their disregard for the rules. Training Anakin - and fighting besides him over the years - has unlocked something inside of Obi-Wan. Anakin was starting to rub off on him. It also loosened the clenched-Jawed insistence on absolute correctness that Obi-Wan was once told by Qui-Gon to be his greatest flaw.
He has learned to relax.
He smiles, he jokes, and he has become known for the wisdom that his gentle humor brings.
Over time he became a member of the Council, much to his surprise, and is deeply humbled by the trust they have in him. He is an icon that many of the younglings in the Temple look up to, respected for his insight and warrior skill.
On top of that, he was the teacher of the chosen one... the ultimate Jedi.
And Obi-Wan couldn't be any more proud to be his friend.
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Invisible Hand, Observation Deck.
As the flagship flew through the mess of plasma and metal that was the battle over Coruscant, Chancellor Palpatine watched the battle unfolding outside of the viewport with deep interest.
At a table behind him, under the watchful eyes of several droid guards, Count Dooku was standing in front of a small hologram.
The hologram before him was General Grievous.
"My lord," Grievous said with a bow, "Kenobi and Skywalker have boarded the Invisible Hand. My security droids inform me that they are heading towards the observation deck."
"Continue to drive the Jedi towards my location. I will deal with them myself." Count Dooku said.
Grievous' eyes flared up and he stood straighter. He was clearly taken aback. "My lord, I must express my objection to your plan. If you would allow me to assist, I-"
"Your objections have been noted, General." Dooku cut him off in a cold tone. "But you are to leave the Jedi solely to me."
But Grievous didn't relent, ever eager to assist his master. "The plan doesn't make any sense, Count Dooku. At least allow me to remove the Chancellor from the system, and return him to Separatist space, and ensure that he cannot fall back into Republic hands."
But Dooku wasn't having any of it. "The plan that you are objecting to has been formulated by Darth Sidious himself," Dooku said, silencing Grievous, "If you wish to press your objections, then you are more than welcome to take it up with him."
Grievous froze. But then he finally spoke up. "That won't be necessary, my lord."
Dooku, despite Grievous's newfound acceptance of the plan, wanted to ensure that he could not interfere.
"You are to ensure two things, General. First, you will not allow any additional Republic reinforcements to board the ship. I don't want any clones to assist the Jedi and interfere with my Master's plan. And secondly, you will devote your attention to protecting the ship against the Republic Navy. If you fail, and both of us are captured or killed, then the Separatist war effort will be negatively effected. You have your instructions, General, and I expect you to follow them to the letter."
Grievous's hologram just stood there, not even blinking. Despite his overwhelming desire to assist Dooku in his upcoming duel against the Jedi, and his objections to the plan, he had to follow Dooku's - and by extension, Sidious's - instructions.
He closed his eyes and gave a respectful bow. "As you wish, my master." And with that, Grievous's hologram disappeared, and he went to focus his attention on the battle above Coruscant.
After taking one last glance at Palpatine, who was still looking out over the battle, Dooku left to make the final preparations before the coming duel.
This was the moment, he hoped, that would catapult him into a place within his Master's Empire.
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Elevator, aft section of the Invisible Hand.
The two Jedi wait for an elevator to arrive. That's when they heard clanging and rolling from behind them. They turn around and see what's approaching.
"Destroyers," Anakin said as he and Obi-Wan turned to face them.
The three droids unfolded, activated their shields, and started blasting away at the Jedi. Both of them deflect the incoming bolts, which also hit the wall behind them, causing sparks to fly everywhere. The bolts also fly right back into the destroyers, but were absorbed by their shields. Obi-Wan frantically pushes the elevator button several more times before he goes back to deflecting. Finally the door eventually opens, and they rush inside under a hail of laser bolts.
The elevator door slides shut.
All seemed quiet.
That's when both Jedi heard several blasters activate behind them.
"Drop your weapons," someone orders.
The Jedi look over their shoulders to see a squad of battle droids right behind them.
"I said drop 'em." The droid ordered again.
"Roger. - Roger, roger," the droids began to chatter as they prepared to subdue the Jedi.
The Jedi swiftly turn around and start hacking away at the droids with their lightsabers. It wasn't even a fair fight. The droids couldn't even get a shot off. When the last droid is cut in half, the Jedi deactivate their sabers, and then, without a word, they casually began their ascent.
Meanwhile, back in the hanger, R2-D2 notices two super battle droids entering the hangar. He moves and hides behind Obi-Wan's Starfighter.
"Those are Jedi fghters all right," one droid stated as he and his companion moved to begin inspecting the two fighters.
The elevator begins to move up to the top of the spire before it screeches to a sudden stop.
The Jedi are perplexed.
Obi-Wan and Anakin look at each other.
"Did you press the stop button?" Obi-Wan asked.
"No. Did you?" Anakin asked.
"No".
Anakin looked up at the ceiling and grabbed his lightsaber. "Well there's more than one way out of here," he said as he activated his blade and began to cut a hole in the ceiling.
"We don't want to get out. We want to get moving," Obi-Wan said as he grabbed his communicator to contact R2. "R2, activate elevator 31174".
Back in the hanger, R2 was still hiding behind an interceptor to avoid the two droids that were inspecting Anakin's fighter. That's when his communicator began to blare out Obi-Wan's voice, which echoed across the hanger.
"R2, activate elevator 31174. Come in, R2." Obi-Wan's voice said.
The SBDs looked around when they heard the voice. "What that?" One asked.
"R2, do you copy?" Obi-Wan asked before R2 placed the com-link inside of his cylindrical body. "Activate the elevator number 31174," Obi-Wan's said in a muffled voice.
"Get back to work," the other SBD ordered his companion. "That nothin'."
"Activate the elevator 31174," said a muffled voice from inside R2's body.
"R2-," Obi-Wan asked again before he looked up just in time to see a metal slab fall from the ceiling, which he barely avoided.
Anakin jumped up through the hole in the elevator ceiling.
Obi-Wan sighed. "Always on the move."
Obi-Wan continues to talk on the com-link to R2.
"R2, switch on the comlink. R2, can you hear me? R2?" Obi-Wan asked from R2's com-link.
R2 tries to muffle the comlink as the two SBDs try to figure out where the voices are coming from. R2 extends an arm and plugs into a computer interface.
Suddenly, the elevator plummets down the shaft.
Obi-Wan grunts and is thrown to the ground. "R2!" Obi-Wan exclaimed, his voice echoing throughout the shaft.
Anakin quickly jumps and grabs onto the hallway entry door. He watches as the elevator recedes down the shaft and disappears as he heard his master's voice echo 'R2' throughout the shaft. Anakin struggles to keep his grip on the closed door.
The elevator starts to descend rapidly.
"Stop, stop! Artoo, we need to be going up," Obi-Wan said.
Anakin struggles to hang on to the narrow edge of the elevator shaft. The door to the elevator shaft is pried open, and two battle droids appear in the doorway and look down at Anakin. They point their guns at him.
"Hands up, Jedi!"
The two SBDs overhear Obi-Wan's comlink messages to R2.
"Artoo, do you copy? Artoo, do you hear me? Artoo, we need to be going up, not down."
R2 begins to turn the interface around as he searches for a way to get the elevator moving in the way it needs to go.
The elevator stops with a jolt. The sudden stop forces Obi-Wan to fall to the floor.
R2 looks back to see the SBDs marching towards him.
"Hey you!" One of them shouts.
But R2 ignores them and plugs into the interface again.
The elevator shoots back up the shaft. Obi-Wan stands up after having fallen in the elevator.
"Now, that's better," Obi-Wan said into the comm.
R2 turns just in time to be held up by one of the SBDs, who chuckle as the little Astromech droid curses and swings at them with his little robotic limbs.
"You stupid little astro droid!" One droid exclaimed.
Anakin looks down and sees the elevator heading toward him at a high rate of speed.
"Uh-oh!" Said the two droids leaning over him with their guns pointed at him.
He calculates for a moment, then gives himself a push and flips himself up into the elevator shaft.
Before Anakin can arc into a descent down the shaft, the elevator races up through the shaft, cutting the droids in two. Anakin lands on the elevator and quickly drops back through the hole in the ceiling.
Obi-Wan is startled and ignites his lightsaber before turning.
"Oh, it's you," he said as he put his sword away.
R2 activates his oil hose and sprays the SBDs. The two droids slip on the oil.
"My eyes! My eyes!" One droid exclaimed.
"What was that all about?"
"Well, Artoo has been ..."
"Eh eh, No loose wire jokes," Anakin said.
"Did I say anything?" Obi-Wan asked.
"He's trying!" Anakin said in defense of R2.
"I didn't say anything!" Obi-Wan said defensively.
R2 ignites his arm rockets and shoots out of the droid's grip, spraying them both with oil and setting them on fire. The droids slip and slide until they fall, smoldering in the burning oil, while R2 rolls away very casually.
As Anakin and Obi-Wan's elevator accelerated towards the top of the spire, they heard several clanking noises above them. Then they felt the elevator screech to a halt.
"Oh, what now?" Obi-Wan asked in a frustrated tone.
"Let's go see," Anakin said before he jumped up through the hole. No sooner had his former student disappeared through the hole than the sounds of battle suddenly erupted.
Obi-Wan swiftly grabbed his lightsaber and jumped up through the hole to see what the commotion was all about. He landed next to Anakin, who was deflecting blaster bolts and slicing his way through a squad of Battle droids.
"I see you're getting reacquainted with some old friends," Obi-Wan joked as he started deflecting several blaster bolts.
"They've engaged the emergency brake!" Anakin exclaimed. That's when the remaining droids suddenly had wings extend from their backs, and rocket boosters attached to their backs ignited. Then they continued to fire their arm-mounted blasters. "Oh, and our friends can fly now. Excellent."
"Cover me while I cut the brake!" Obi-Wan said, as he went to the lift mechanism.
As Anakin continued to deflect blaster bolts back at the flying droids, Obi-Wan slashed at the device keeping the elevator in place. Then the lift took off like a rocket towards the top of the spire, making the Jedi stagger viciously.
The Aerial battle droids used their rocket backs to avoid the elevator. One wasn't fortunate enough to dodge, and flew into a dozen pieces. As their prey continued to speed away, the droids increased their thrust and flew up to catch up with the Jedi.
"These droids just don't know when to quite," Anakin said as he looked over the side of the elevator to see the droids approaching fast.
"You wouldn't be disappointed if they did?" Obi-Wan asked jokingly.
Anakin ignored the barb and assumed a fighting stance. Obi-Wan did the same, and the droids finally caught up. Anakin sliced through one, and began to duel with one who extended an energy blade on one arm, and a small circular shield on the other.
Obi-Wan deflected the blaster fire of the other remaining droid back at it, only for it to deflect back into the droid's shield. But the flying droid wasn't paying attention, and crashed right into a metal beam that was in it's path.
Satisfied, Obi-Wan turned around to see Anakin dueling the last droid. The droid used its thrusters to constantly through Anakin off, but failed to puncture the Chosen One's superior defenses, or counter his aggressive fighting style. Anakin sliced his blade through the droid's torso, cutting it in half. He then plunged his blade straight down through the droid's head, finishing it off for good.
When the fight was over, the two Jedi deactivated their sabers. Then they remembered that they were still on the elevator, which was moving fast.
They looked up to see the ceiling approaching rapidly.
"We're about to become a lot thinner," Obi-Wan said as he looked at Anakin. Then he looked down at the hole in the elevator that Anakin made earlier. "Quick, back into the car!"
"You first, Master," Anakin said, gesturing towards the hole.
"There's no time to argue. Go!"
Anakin acknowledged, and moved into the hole. Obi-Wan followed, and made it just as the car came to a crashing halt. Dust and sparks flew everywhere. Both Jedi coughed, and started dusting themselves off.
"Next time we're taking the stairs." Obi-Wan said as Anakin pressed the button the open the elevator door, and get on with their mission.
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Observation Deck, Aft Spire, Invisible Hand, Coruscant orbit.
The elevator door opens and the two Jedi carefully make their way into the main room of the General's Quarters. At the far end sits Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, who was looking out of the viewport at the battle that raged all around. Anakin and Obi-Wan move toward the chancellor. As they get closer to Palpatine, they see a somewhat distressed look on the Chancellor's face.
"Chancellor," Obi-Wan said with a bow.
"Are you all right?"
The chancellor looked passed them at the door they just came through. "Count Dooku," he said quietly as he made a small gesture with his hand.
Obi-Wan and Anakin turn around. The elevator doors open and close as Count Dooku strides into the room. He is above the Jedi, standing on a balcony, with two super battle droids escorting him. The Jedi turn to see him. He looks down on the Jedi.
"This time we will do it together," Obi-Wan sad under his breath.
"I was about to say that," Anakin said under his breath as well.
Count Dooku jumps over the balcony down to the main level.
"Get help! You're no match for him. He's a Sith Lord," Palpatine said with a somewhat defeatist additude.
Obi-Wan turned to face the chancellor. "Chancellor Palpatine, Sith Lords are our specialty," he reassured him calmly.
Obi-Wan and Anakin throw off their cloaks and reach for their lightsabers.
"Your swords, please," Dooku said as he walked towards them. "We don't want to make a mess of things in front of the Chancellor".
Obi-Wan and Anakin move toward Dooku.
"You won't get away this time, Dooku," Obi-Wan said as he and Anakin activated their sabers and assumed a fighting stance.
Dooku ignited his own. "Just because there are two of you, do not assume that you have the advantage," Dooku sneered.
Obi-Wan and Anakin charge Dooku. A great sword fight ensues. Both Jedi attack at the same time to keep Dooku on the defensive. As Anakin pushed Dooku back, Obi-Wan moved around to try and flank, forcing Dooku to block and parry from two different directions. But Dooku moved back so that he wasn't between them.
All three combatants faced each other.
Dooku smiled. "I've been looking forward to this".
"My powers have doubled since the last time we met, Count," Anakin said, sizing Dooku up.
"Good. Twice the pride, double the fall".
The Jedi lunge at Dooku and he falls back. But then he managed to catch them in a saber lock. Dooku summons a force push that forces Obi-Wan to slide across the deck. Anakin swiped his blade at Dooku, but the Count ducked and withdrew up the stairs to the elevator, parrying Anakin's strikes.
As they fought, Obi-Wan decided to go up the other flight of stairs to flank Dooku and assist Anakin. But he was blocked by two SBDs, who marched down the stairs, firing their rapid fire wrist blasters. He managed to deflect a shot back into one droid, which fell off of the stairs. But the other one kept marching and firing. But Obi-Wan kept blocking until he sliced the droid into several pieces.
When he was done, he tried to attack Dooku from behind. But Dooku kicked Anakin, sending him flying away until he hit the bulkhead, and then used the force to levitate and choke Obi-Wan. He threw him across the room. Obi-Wan hit the wall and fell unconscious. Anakin struggled to get up, and was forced to watch as Dooku used the force to bring a catwalk down on Obi-Wan's unconscious body.
Anakin leaps from his position and kicks Count Dooku, sending him over the balcony. Anakin jumps down, following him down to the main floor. Count Dooku and Anakin continue the fight.
The two combatants are caught in a saber lock.
"I sense great fear in you, Skywalker. You have hate, you have anger, but you don't use them," Dooku lectures.
Anakin regains his composure and attacks Dooku, pushing the Dark Lord back. Their fighting becomes even more intense as Anakin attacked the Count with a renewed ferocity.
Anakin and Dooku continue their fight. It is intense! Finally, while caught in a saber lock in front of Palpatine, Anakin pushes Dooku's blade down and moves his own blade up to slice through the Count's hands. Dooku gasps in shock as he loses his hands.
Anakin looks up and catches Dooku's blade from the severed Sith Lord's hand. Dooku collapses to the floor on his knees as Anakin puts the two lightsabers to his neck. Palpatine is grinning as he watches Count Dooku's defeat.
Good, Anakin, good," Palpatine said. "Kill him," he said causing Dooku to glance over at him with terror in his eyes. "Kill him now!"
Anakin looked at Dooku. "I shouldn't".
"Do it!" Palpatine ordered.
Anakin looked into Dooku's terrified eyes and slashed his blades through Dooku's neck. His head rolled to the ground, stopping next to his fallen, headless, and handless corpse. A huge explosion somewhere deep in the ship rattles everything, symbolic for what had just happened.
The young Jedi felt like he was in a trance.
"You did well, Anakin. He was too dangerous to be kept alive," Palpatine said.
Anakin drops Dooku's lightsaber, moving to Palpatine.
"Yes, but he was an unarmed prisoner," he said as he raised his hands toward Palpatine, who is strapped into the chair. The Chancellor's restraints pop loose. "I shouldn't have done that, Chancellor. It's not the Jedi way."
Palpatine stands up, rubbing his wrists.
"It is only natural. He cut off your arm, and you wanted revenge. It wasn't the first time, Anakin. Remember what you told me about your mother and the Sand People," Palpatine said, causing Anakin to hear the war cry of a Tusken raider, and think of his mother dying in her arms. "Now, we must leave before more security droids arrive."
Anakin rushes over to Obi-Wan, lifts the catwalk section from on top of him, and pulls him free. He kneels down and checks out his unconscious friend. Palpatine heads for the elevators.
"Anakin, there is no time. We must get off the ship before it's too late".
"He seems to be all right," Anakin said, checking his friend's pulse and looking for broken bones.
"Leave him, or we'll never make it," Palpatine said somewhat impatiently.
Anakin looked up at him. "His fate will be the same as ours."
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Well folks, that was the first part of my version of 'revenge of the sith', which will also include a Mandalore side-plot.
BTW, It recently occured to me that Anakin's last line concerning Obi-Wan, 'His fate will be the same as ours', is actually foreshadowing. Obi-Wan dies on the Death Star, and so does Palpatine and Anakin. Once again, George Lucas subtly lets us know that he's a genius.
Anyway, hope you all enjoyed.
Join me next time for part 3.
Until next time, this is Grubkiller, over and out.