Disclaimer – all original Star Wars characters in this fanfic (excluding my OC's) are the property of Lucasfilm and Disney.
Chapter 2 "Unparalleled Help – part 2"
Perave System, Arkania, Adascopolis Spaceport.
Adascopolis was the ancient capital, the heart, the major corporate and financial center for Arkania. Located amongst the world's freezing tundra and snow-covered mountains it mainly consisted of towers and tall buildings poking out of the snow-covered ground, along with mining camps that doubled as Arkanian Offshoot settlements on the city's outskirts.
In any other situation, Darth Sidious gladly would have gone on a sightseeing. For him, Arkania had its own charm, despite the harsh, cold climate. It was a planet not for those who loved vacations in warm, sunny places. The both beautiful, and sometimes deadly planet, was known for its mines rich in diamonds and other precious minerals. Plus, there were many interesting places like the ruins of a massive library called Veeshas Tuwan, an ancient place where Sith Lords practiced their dark arts in hidden chambers far from the control of the Republic. Unfortunately, it was destroyed by the Jedi Order many, many years ago.
Right now, however, Sidious had an important mission: kill the Togrutan Jedi Master, and retrieve the boy. The thought itself was making him tremble with excitement. He already fought once with the Togruta, not so long ago. Back then, she was defeated by him and his Master Darth Plagueis, or so they thought apparently, she survived.
Darth Sidious knew that the task was both easy and hard. Easy because the only way to get in or out of the spaceport was by the shuttlebuses, unless, one had the ability to fly. Fortunately, on this planet, the spaceport security was really solid. All thanks to the Arkanian Offshoots, a sub-species of the Arkanian race, and their constant attempts to sneak into the capital.
Although the spaceport was really crowded, Arkanians and Yakas were the majority species here. That meant any member of a different race was easy to spot.
The hard part was that she could escape from this planet by using any ship at the spaceport. As a rogue Jedi, she wouldn't hesitate to steal a ship, especially in this situation.
However, Darth Sidious had a cunning plan. Since the security guards here were so thorough, his intention was to use them against the Jedi.
Snow crunched under his boots as he approached two patrolling guards, one of them was an Arkanian pureblood, the second was a Yaka, a member of Near-Human cyborg race.
"Excuse me, gentlemen, my I ask for a minute of your time?" he asked with a polite tone.
The two guards stopped and looked at the hooded stranger. "Of course," replied the tall, brutish-looking Yaka. "I'm the security chief Gar Veru, how can we assist you?"
"Nice to meet you. My name is Master Egeth Ondine," said Sidious. "Me and my padawan, are looking for a rogue Jedi named Zai'shira Kessen. She's an orange-skinned Togrutan female. We know she has landed on this planet in order to kidnap a Force-sensitive boy."
The Arkanian looked gravely at the false Jedi Master. "What species again?" he asked pulling out a datapad from his pocket.
"A Togruta," repeated Sidious.
"We saw only one Togruta today, early in the morning," said the Arkanian. "Her ship landed seven hours ago in... dock 32," he looked at his boss. "We should send our people there and alert authorities."
The Yaka shook his head, clearly not agreeing with the Arkanian."If she notices that we prepared a trap for her, she may panic and hurt the boy in the process," he stated.
Darth Sidious noticed that even if the voice of the Yaka was full of worry, his face was expressionless. Because of that, he resembled a textbook Jedi. The Sith Lord had the urge to cut him down right where he stood.
"I'll guess you're right," Arkanian conceded, raking his fingers through his hair.
"I may have a solution for this situation," said Sidious, gaining the attention of both men. "My friend informed me that the Togruta is heading for this spaceport, we may be perfectly trained for this, but that doesn't mean we couldn't use some help. The best way that security can help us is by informing us of her location. Then we can catch her quickly without unnecessary harm befalling the boy."
The Yaka nodded vigorously and quickly turned to face the Arkanian. "Notify all of our men to keep an eye out for an orange-skinned Togrutan female, but tell them not to engage her at any cost."
Not wasting any time, the Arkanian ran off. "You have our full support Master Jedi," said the security chief. "Oh, one more thing, describe your Padawan... so I can tell my men not to disturb him."
"Red-skinned male Zabrak," said Sidious. "Not many of his kind around here. Your men won't have trouble recognizing him."
"Understood," said Gar.
"Thank you for your cooperation," said Sidious, turning away from the Yaka with a mischievous smile. Now all spaceports security will be his eyes and ears. "This is going far better than I anticipated," he thought to himself.
The Sith Lord reached into his pocket, pulling out his comlink and raising it to his lips. "Maul," he called.
"Yes, Master?"
"Listen carefully, the spaceports security works for us now. Those fools think we are Jedi. They will search for the Togruta as well and will notify us if they found her. Her ship is located in dock 32."
"I understand Master."
Ending the call the Sith Lord chuckled evilly. Still, there was something that troubled Darth Sidious. The Arkanian said that the Jedi landed on this planet seven hours ago. They, on the other hand, landed here two hours ago.
"She didn't follow us here," the Dark Lord said to himself. "She was waiting for us."
Deep in thought, the Dark Lord didn't notice that he was being watched from far away. A man in Mandalorian armor was not only observing him but thanks to his comlink-interceptor in his helmet, he heard every word the Sith Lord had said.
Arkania, Outside of the Facility.
Zai'shira managed to quickly get out of the facility the way she came. The freezing blizzard was merciless, making the Togruta fought the urge to go back inside. She thanked the Force, that she didn't have to walk back to the capital on foot.
"Are you waiting for a hypothermia woman?!" she heard a loud, familiar voice. "Get in before I get frostbite on my... everything!"
Looking in the direction of screaming, the Togruta recognized a Duros bounty hunter whom she hired for this trip. Although he was clothed thickly and half of his face was covered, the Jedi master recognized him thanks to his large, red goggle-like eyes. He was waiting for her in a hovering landspeeder he appropriated from one of the Arkanians. Zai'shira knew he was scum, but, this situation demanded to overlook some misdemeanors.
The Togruta ran up to the landspeeder and jumping in the passenger's seat. In order to make a quick getaway the bounty hunter hadn't turned off the landspeeder's turbine engines.
"Did you get the project?" he asked curtly.
"The child!" she scolded him. "And yes I've got him, but Plagueis sensed me. He's probably already informed his apprentice of my presence. Hurry!"
Wasting no time the bounty hunter slammed his foot on the accelerator, making the Togruta sink back into her seat. The landspeeder surely belonged to some rich, spoiled Arkanian teenager.
Zai'shira was sure that they would reach the capital in no time. She pulled out a holoprojector from her pocket and while still holding the boy, she activated it. A small, shimmering, blue hologram of a Mandalorian bounty hunter appeared before her.
"I've got the boy, are you guys ready?" she asked.
"Yes, but there's a bigger problem," replied the bounty hunter. His hologram jittering and warping, the signal struggling to punch through the blizzard.
"Already having trouble Fett?" snorted the red-eyed Duros.
"Dream on Bane, at least I did not end up as a cab driver," retorted Fett. "The Sith Lord convinced the local security that they're a Jedi. Now the entire spaceport is on the lookout for you. Plus there's two of them here, not that I'm complaining."
"Two?" asked Bane, looking at the Togruta. "With the one inside the facility that makes three! You said there would only be two of them."
"Only two Sith can exist at any given time: Master and an apprentice. The third one is probably an acolyte or an assassin," Zai'shira said. "The plan doesn't change. If we hurry, Darth Plagueis won't be able to join them at the spaceport in time."
"Not counting a few dozen security officers," said Bane with a sigh.
"Small fry," commented the Mandalorian.
"Do not kill them if you don't have to, after all, they being manipulated," said Zai'shira.
"By the way, where is that male Kyuzo?" asked Bane.
"Embo? Right now he's watching the assassin," said Fett immediately looking at the Togruta. "We are waiting for your signal Zai'shira."
"Good luck," she added ending the holo-transmission.
Turning her head the Togruta noticed a few spare clothes in the back seat, probably belonging to the landspeeders owner. Reaching for the thick, soft, wide scarf with one hand, she came up with an idea. She tightly wrapped the clothes around the boy.
"This will keep you warm little one," she said smiling at the baby.
After a few minutes, Bane and Zai'shira were in the Adascopolis. From there they had to get on the shuttlebus, board the ship and leave this freezing planet. Well... easier said than done. Zai'shira took a deep breath. "Okay, now we will see how good you guys really are," she said.
Duros gave her a narrow-eyed stare. "Trust me Jedi, my name will soon be known throughout the galaxy. So I'm not planning on dying here today."
The Togruta laughed jumping out of the landspeeder. "Well, at least there is one thing we have in common."
Arkania, Adascopolis Spaceport.
While waiting for the signal, Jango Fett was examining the soon to be a battlefield. The Adascopolis spaceport was a huge round platform placed on a giant pillar that included a control tower with landing beacon, storage and maintenance areas for only the most primitive repairs and of course a shuttlebus stop. Supplies and goods had to be purchased from the capital.
The spaceport had lots of space for using jetpacks, but nowhere to hide. There was a possibility to take cover behind one of the many pillars, which were nothing more than a decoration, but that would be more effective only against blaster wielding enemies. The only thing worthy of notice was a massive hologram of Arkoh Adasca. In his opinion, the spaceport was really poor looking in comparison to the capital.
The Mandalorian didn't fail to notice the dark clouds gathering above the spaceport, foreshadowing a storm. The vision of fighting the deadly Sith Lord and his assassin during a massive storm was a thrilling sensation.
Jango Fett and Embo were ready to begin. The two men had their eyes fixed on the Zabrak assassin, who was pacing around Zai'shira's ship. Darth Sidious on the other hand, was on the opposite side on the platform, near the shuttlebus stop, waiting for the Togruta.
Suddenly, both bounty hunters comlinks crackled rhythmically, that was the signal they needed. Embo reached for his bowcaster on his back, and Jango pulled out his dual WESTAR-34 blasters.
Before they started shooting the Mandalorian reached for a detonator attached to his belt. When he triggered it, a massive explosion quaked the spaceport. Zai'shira's ship exploded and the impact sent the Zabrak flying on his back. The tourists and locals immediately started screaming and panicking, the calm crowd transformed into a stampede.
The assassin rose to his feet surprisingly quickly. Just in time to deflect incoming shoot from the bowcaster with his double-bladed lightsaber. Spotting the Kyuzo bounty hunter standing on another ship, Maul lunged in his direction. Hitting and pushing anyone in his way, the red-skinned Zabrak was shortening the distance between them. He was about to jump on the ship and attack, when he noticed a Mandalorian emerging from the screaming crowd, aiming at him with dual blasters. Without a word, he started shooting.
Darth Sidious heard the explosion and saw the smoke. Just when he wanted to check it out, a young member of security staff ran up to him.
"Master Jedi, the Togruta is on the shuttlebus. She will be here any moment," he said.
"Does she have a baby with her?" asked the Dark Lord.
The man nodded quickly, causing Darth Sidious to chuckle. Grabbing his lightsabers, he walked over to the shuttlebus stop. He could actually felt her presence throughout the force, focusing his dark energy he ignored the screaming people around him and thundering sound above.
When the shuttlebus finally arrived only a few people came out from it and the orange-skinned Togruta, was one of them. Their gazes fixed on each other in deadly silence. Darth Sidious activated his crimson lightsabers, and Zai'shira activated her yellow one. All the commotion suddenly disappeared. People started to watch two individuals for a brief period of time, then they began slowly entering the shuttlebus not wanting to provoke them.
"That's pretty straightforward and bold Master Jedi," said the Nabooian. "To be honest, I was expecting, a complicated and cunning plan, not just a simple distraction."
"I'm a little surprised myself," said the Togruta. "I didn't expect you to have the guts to fight me without your Master. Are you sure you don't want to wait for him?"
"I don't need his help to finish you off," replied Sidious, pointing his lightsaber at the baby wrapped in a scarf. "Give me the boy, and I will grant you a quick death."
Zai'shira sneered at the proposition. "Forget it," she said. "You want him? Then you'll have to kill me."
Hearing this Darth Sidious laughed evilly. "With pleasure," he said lunging at the Jedi Master.
With one quick motion, Zai'shira threw her lightsaber in a boomerang fashion at the Sith Lord. Darth Sidious deflected the yellow lightsaber, who was immediately pulled back to the Jedi's hand. With his offense slowed down, the Togruta began an attack of her own. With the enhanced speed, she leaped over the Sith Lord, who rapidly turned on his heel, building momentum he aimed at the Jedi's neck with his two lightsabers. What she did next, really shocked and confused him. Just when he was about to decapitate her, she shielded herself with the boy. It took all of his inhuman reflexes to stop his cut.
Noticing the moment of hesitation, the Togruta took a quick swing, aiming at his right hand with a precision of a Makashi jab. Although Sidious managed to save his hand, Zai'shira's lightsaber grazed the end of Sith Lords lightsaber hilt, damaging it in the process.
"That's not the Jedi way!" growled Sidious. He didn't know if he was more angry or shocked. If the Jedi... no, if the Togruta, was able to use the child as a shield, then that would make her even more dangerous than he thought.
"Awww... you gonna cry now?" Zai'shira asked mockingly.
The Togruta didn't need to see the Sith Lord's face in order to know that he was angry. Sidious was just oozing with pure hatred. With a furious scream, he dashed forward, holding his lightsaber with two hands.
In the meantime, the assassin and the bounty hunters were having a battle of their own. With both Jango and Embo having more experience than Maul, the Zabrak was forced to go on the defensive and hold himself at a distance. He couldn't simultaneously deflect the precise shots and dash at them with full speed. When he was closing the distance, Jango started using his jetpack and Embo thanks to his Kyuzo biology was able to leap away long distances.
Maul was getting angrier by the minute. Reaching into the Force, he extended his hand, gripping Mandalorian's neck while he was in the air, and slamming him into the snow covered ground. With rage in his eyes he leaped towards the lying and coughing Jango, his double-lightsaber ignited. In his frustration and anger, he didn't notice the flying metal disk. Maul couldn't dodge in mid-air, therefore, he was struck in the side by Embo's hat, breaking one of his ribs.
Zabrak fell down, near the Mandalorian, from the corner of his eye, he saw the Kyuzo aiming at him with his bowcaster. Using the pain to fuel his rage, once again he extended his hand. Embo felt an invisible hand gripping his neck, lifting him off the ground. Maul was ready to impale him onto his lightsaber, but he heard a clicking sound. Turning his head he saw the Mandalorian aiming at him with his arm, in mere seconds, his whole vision was covered by flames.
With a painful scream, Maul lunged to the side, rolling on the snow and damping the fire. All three of the men were breathing heavily now. Jango noticed two figures fighting, covered in yellow and crimson blurs. With the two over there, him, Embo and the Zabrak, there was a total of five people fighting right now. Innocent bystanders left the spaceport, and the security staff were too scared to intervene. He also noticed that the whole sky was dark, despite the fact, it was middle of the day.
Suddenly, with a blinding flash, a lightning bolt struck one of the pillars, knocking it aside. The whole platform began to shake. Jango was sure this wasn't a normal storm.
Zai'shira and Sidious also felt something strange and it was not the shaking. The whole place started to emanate the Force. Lunging backward, to gain some distance the Togruta started to look around. To her surprise, the pillar that was lying on the ground started to hover in the air. After a few seconds, the pillar started to spin, knocking down other pillars in the process. No one knew what was happening. It was a matter of time before this whole place collapsed.
Luckily for Zai'shira, she heard a sound that meant the success of her mission. From under the edge of the platform emerged a shuttle, with an open boarding ramp.
Embo grabbed his hat and started dashing towards the ship along with Jango.
Grinning, with a quick motion Zaishira threw the boy high and immediately turned on her heel. She started running towards the shuttle. Pulling out a detonator from her pocket, she triggered it.
Surprised, the Sith Lord jumped and caught the boy. Not understanding her actions, he reached for the scarf and started unwrapping the boy, wanting to look at him but before he did, Sidious heard a beeping sound, coming from the child. His eyes widened in shock. He wasn't holding a baby... he was holding, a small demolition charge. Instinctively, he threw it away and lunged backward. The explosion would have killed him, but the Sith Lord used the Force creating a static barrier to protect him from the blast. Still, his ears were ringing from the explosion. He would have been able to sense the danger earlier if it wasn't for this strange storm dulling his senses.
Zai'shira and the bounty hunters were already on the ramp at the time. They ran inside the shuttle to find Cad Bane sitting on the pilot seat. "What took you guys so long? " Bane asked.
"Question later, this hole spaceport will be destroyed, go... now!" Zai'shira said forcefully.
The giant pillar, supporting the whole spaceport started to crack. The platform began to tilt, and ships slowly slid down into the chasm below.
Darth Sidious and Maul leap down from the crumbling platform. It would be a death sentence for anyone else, but using the Force, they slowed down their fall, landing on the soft snow. Looking up, the Dark Lord saw the shuttle flying away.
Taking a deep breath Sidious released an angry roar. Not only did the Togruta make a fool out of him, but she escaped with the boy unharmed.
In mere seconds, the dark clouds scattered, revealing the blue sky.
"This doesn't make any sense," Sidious muttered. Felting the incoming presence, he turned around recognized his Master. He bowed his head and Maul kneeled down.
"What happened here?" asked the Muun gazing at the large, burning pile of rubble which some time ago was the spaceport.
Sidious told Plagueis what happened at the spaceport. The Muun wasn't happy about the outcome, but he was intrigued. He never thought that the Force itself could intervene in one's fate. All the more in such a destructive and blatant way. It was clear to him that the Force wanted the boy to be with the Togruta, that's why it helped her.
"Check the rubble and kill anyone who survived," he ordered. "After that, we find a ship and get off this planet."
"Yes Master," said Sidious.
The Muun gazed at the sky with a smirk on his face. "The Force had decided to make this whole conflict much more interesting," he stated with a slightly amused tone.
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