"Ow!" said Bruck as the medical droid dressed a wound on his side. The rest of them were being attended by a combination of medical droids and clone medics while Master Sinube and the younglings stood by. It only took around two hours for their wounds to be dressed since they were mostly shrapnel wounds rather than blaster wounds. Taran stood up from the cot, a few bacta patches around his chest, arms and legs. The others were the same as well with Bruck's head bandaged being the only one that stood out.
"Master Sinube. There's something that's been picking at my mind," said Taran.
"Speak young one," said Sinube.
"Where did the clones you found come from?" said Taran. "Last I checked, none were in the area."
"They also seem...different," said Ahsoka. Master Sinube rubbed his chin as he pondered.
"I haven't really thought about it till now. Any of these differences you notice?" said Sinube.
"For one, their accuracy is off," said Taran.
"Two, they don't fight as well as other troopers we've seen," said Ahsoka.
"And they're too...ridged," said Taran. He turned to a clone trooper standing guard about ten feet away.
"Trooper, can you come here for a moment?" said Taran.
"Sir yes sir," said the trooper. He calmly walked over to him, standing in front of them all.
"What's your creed?" said Taran.
"To protect the Chancellor and the Republic," said the clone.
"The Chancellor?" thought Taran. "And what's your creed with your brothers?"
"Fight as one and watch each others' backs," said the trooper. All of their eyes widened at his statement.
"You can go back to your duties soldier," said Ahsoka.
"Sir yes sir," said the clone, walking back towards his station.
"He didn't know about Vode An," said Taran.
"This is too weird," said Ahsoka. "You think we should look into it."
"Perhaps another time, but for now we must continue to push back the Separatists still in the city. I won't ask you all to come with us," said Sinube. Bruck stood up, flexing his muscles.
"I think I can go on, but more for support than force," said Bruck.
"I feel the same way," said Tia as she flexed her legs.
"I think you have our answer," said Ahsoka.
"Should I send you all back?" said Sinube, pointing to the younglings
"With all due respect Master," said Taran, standing up, "I wouldn't mind having these six with us all the way through." The younglings smiled at him, which he returned.
"And what should I say about their disappearance?" said Sinube.
"Say it was a chaotic event. Sometimes we lost sight of things in the heat of warfare," said Taran. Sinube smiled.
"Master Kenobi has taught you too well," said Sinube.
"I wouldn't be here now if it wasn't for him," said Taran. "I just wonder what he's doing right now."
"Flying is for droids," said Obi-Wan. His starfighter was currently dodging the missiles of the Vulture droid. He veered and weaved through the the engaged capital ships. The missiles still kept following him. However, he was more shocked when they flew past him. They exploded some distance in front of him. He saw green-grey spherical objects appeared out of them and latch onto his ship.
"I'm hit. Anakin?" said Obi-Wan.
"I see them," Anakin replied. "Buzz droids."
The buzz droids unlatched from their shields and went to work doing what they do best: mess up the starfighter. Already one was delving into the ship's hull to get to the control wires. Obi-Wan could only watch as the buzz droids began their dirty work. One scuttled over his cockpit window towards his astromech droid, R4.
"R4 be careful, there's a-" he said. The buzz droid got to the astromech and was already tearing into his dome. With little effort it cut through enough to tear the astromech's head off and send it flying into space, the head whining as it flew behind him.
"Oh dear," said Obi-Wan. He knew he was heading into a world of trouble. A buzz droid managed to carve its way into the control gauntlet, hampering any efforts Obi-Wan could make to steer the ship.
"They're shutting down all of the controls," said Obi-Wan. Anakin's fighter came up directly behind his.
"Move to the right so I can get a clear shot at them," said Anakin.
"The mission...get to the command ship. Get to the Chancellor. We're running out of tricks here," said Obi-Wan. His fighter at the moment was done for. It wouldn't make sense for Anakin to try and help him when he could continue on the mission to save the Chancellor. Any normal person would have left Obi-Wan to his fate and carried on.
Anakin wasn't a normal person.
He fired his lasers as carefully as possible, hitting a few buzz droids on Obi-Wan's ship. The strategy was working until the ones he was aiming for on the ship's left wing moved enough to where the cannon blasts hit the wing instead. Good news, the buzz droids were detached from the left wing and shot into space. The bad news, Obi-Wan had only one wing left.
"In the name of!" Obi-Wan yelled. The two ships moved through an area heavily contested between a Star Destroyer and a Separatist ship, explosions all around them.
"Hold your fire, you're not helping here!" said Obi-Wan.
"I agree bad idea," said Anakin, hitting himself in his mind to how undeniably reckless that approach was. A buzz droid near the nose of the starfighter damaged a coolant cable, causing it to spray onto Obi-Wan's cockpit window.
"I can't see a thing. My cockpit is fogging," said Obi-Wan, straining to see out the window. Anakin moved to get his ship into position, another idea in his mind. Hopefully, he thought, it just my work.
"They're all over me. Anakin-" said Obi-Wan. Suddenly, he felt something hit his left as if to batter his already crippled starfighter. It hit him again, confirming his suspicions that it was Anakin. From what he could strain out of the glass, he could see Anakin trying to crush the buzz droids with his wing.
"Move to the right," said Anakin.
"Hold on Anakin. You're gonna get us both killed," said Obi-Wan. "Get out of here, there's nothing more you can do."
"I'm not leaving without you Master," said Anakin, ending all debating between the two. Anakin expertly moved his starfighter until he and Obi-Wan's ships were lined wingtip to wingtip. He moved in in order to ram into the ship one more time. This time the buzz droids were crushed, save for one. The lone survivor climbed onto Anakin's ship as he pulled away, immediately targeting R2. The little blue droid fished out his charge arm to ward the buzz droid off.
"Hit him R2," said Anakin. The buzz droid made the first advance. R2 countered by hitting him with the arm, sending it scurrying back.
"Watch out," said Anakin. The buzz droid tried again, only to be sent back again.
"R2, hit the buzz droid's center eye," said Obi-Wan. R2 beeped, aiming the arm at the droid's center eye. He charged it up and fired it as the buzz droid got close. The buzz droid had moved in close, wanting to try and finish him off for good. It wasn't prepared to counter the electric hit. The arc of electricity hit it dead on, frying the eye and the circuitry inside. It slumped to the floor, deactivated. The outside pressure sent it sliding off the ship.
"Yeah you got him!" Anakin cheered.
"Great R2," said Obi-Wan. Continuing their flight the turbolaser, anti-aircraft flak, and other guns intensified.
"The general's command ship is dead ahead," said Anakin. The Invisible Hand stood as a bastion of firepower as it shot not only at them, but other ships in the area. R2 screamed as their ship narrowly avoided their fire. It seemed like every gun on the ship was firing.
"Well have you noticed the shields are still up!" said Obi-Wan.
"Sorry Master," said Anakin. He spun his Interceptor around Obi-Wan's, firing his laser cannons at the shield generators flanking the Invisible Hand's hangar. The generators were destroyed after the sustained blasts, dissipating the hangar's shield. A metal safeguard door began sliding into place to keep the pressure inside the shield. The Interceptors raced towards the rapidly closing hangar door.
"Oh I have a bad feeling about this," said Obi-Wan, bracing himself for what was to follow. They gunned their engines to the max. It proved fruitful. They managed to get past the hangar door in the nick of time, the doors closing shut as soon as Anakin's fighter made it in. Their fighters hit the steel floor hard, crashing past barrels, weaponry and droids. Obi-Wan shot out of his cockpit, his lightsaber coming to life as he spun in the air before touching the ground and slicing straight through the droids around him.
Anakin's ship halted to a stop. He hurriedly took off his safety belts and opened the cockpit, also jettisoning R2 out of the ship.
"There they are. Fire!" said a battle droid squad leader. The other droids under his command fired at the Jedi Knight. Anakin's lightsaber was already on as he spun it around in a swirling display that had their shots ricochet back to the droids. He and Obi-Wan steadily made their way towards each other, deflecting the blaster shots back at the droids as the droids in the hangar advanced onto their position. Obi-Wan and Anakin soon switched to go on the offensive, moving forward to slice through the battle droids heading for them. R2 rolled till he was behind them as if asking for orders.
"R2. Locate the Chancellor," said Obi-Wan, slicing through another battle droid. R2 beeped and headed to the closest computer terminal as the two Jedi finished off the last of the droids. The last droid fell to the ground, braying it's 'death' yell as it clattered to the ground. R2 connected to the terminal with his scomp link and broadcast an image of the entire ship. A white light displayed the location of the Chancellor's beacon.
"The Chancellor's signal is coming from right there," said Obi-Wan pointing to the hologram. "The observation platform at the top of that spire."
Anakin's senses became uneasy as he felt a familiar presence on board the ship. "I sense Count Dooku."
"I sense a trap," said Obi-Wan.
"Next move?"
"Spring it."
An AT-TE provided artillery support for a squad of clones battling droids in the street. The clones had set up a firing line from behind the rubble of the adjacent buildings as the droids advanced.
"There's too many. We're going to be overrun," said a clone trooper.
"Less talking; more firing!" said another clone next to him. It seemed like an endless stream of SBDs advancing on them, their wrist blasters firing nonstop. A clone near the commanding officer was shot in the head, falling sprawled on the ground with a hole in his head. The lieutenant fired his blaster above him, not daring to look out in order to get a clearer shot on his targets due to the suppressing fire.
"Sir, we have Jedi!" said another clone trooper nearby, pointing behind them. Quick as a flash, the six younglings sprinted from down the street, taking their positions in front of the firing line of clone troopers. Their lightsabers deflected the blaster shots back at the droids. SBDs hit repeatedly were downed while more took their place. Five more came up behind them of various species: a Togruta, Zabrak, Human, Twi'lek, and a Cosian. Their lightsabers were activated as well as they stood next to the younglings, their lightsabers whirling in a a colorful display of blue and green in various shades that caught the clones' breath from the beauty yet deadliness of the display.
"Don't stop, keep firing," said the clone lieutenant. The clones stood to get a better shot to fire over the heads of their eleven Jedi helpers. More droids started to go down, but there were plenty more to take their place.
"I thought you'd be in more for support?" said Petro.
"So did I. We'll manage," said Bruck. All eleven of them soon began to realize that they couldn't stay on the offensive forever. They would have to attack the droids head-on.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" said Taran.
"Seems like it," said Ahsoka. Taran looked around to all of them. They all met his eye and nodded. As one, they charged at the droids. The clones held their fire for a moment as they saw the Jedi get in their iron sights.
"Come on men!" yelled the lieutenant, leaping over the rubble he was taking cover in to charge as well. The other men let out a yell as well as all 50 of them charged at the droids. Eleven Jedi, 50 clones, one AT-TE walker against presumably hundreds of droids. The walker kept up the firing way into the droid ranks to avoid hitting its allies and to hamper the amount of droids coming in. The Jedi worked in pairs of two, one Padawan to one youngling save for Master Sinube who fought with Byph and Ganodi by his side. Their lightsabers cut through the metal frame of the droids ceaselessly. The clones came in to bolster their ranks.
Elsewhere, the battle on the ground had heightened as the 'new' clone troopers came in to bolster the defenses and provide new bodies for the meat grinder. Though they had less accuracy and other skills which their other 'brothers' had, their numbers helped sway the the tide of the battle. The Separatists on the ground new they were about to lose their last leg, so one more concerted push to break the back of the Republic forces was given as every unit had orders to press the attack in every direction. It was do-or-die for them now, even when they still outnumbered the Republic forces.
The corner of the Senate District they were currently fighting in was a crucial point. If the droids broke through here, they would hit the flank of the bulk of the clones still fighting in the very center of the district.
A clone fired point-blank into a SBD before one directly behind it pointed its wrist blaster at it him and fired three consecutive times into his body. The trooper fell, falling directly on top of Ganodi. She tried to move out of the way but wasn't able to dodge in time. She was pinned down under his body, her lower body trapped beneath the trooper. The same super aimed its blaster at her as she stared at the barrel. Sinube's lightsaber cut right through it before cutting the droid in half. Byph came over and helped Ganodi move the dead soldier off her body. She thanked him, which he replied his welcome back before they assumed their positions back by Sinube's side.
Taran and Petro moved through the droids, sometimes swinging nearby the clones in case a super had a shot at their flank. Taran mostly defended Petro since the youngling could move better than he could in his condition. Petro proved to be a capable fighter despite his age, slicing the arms and legs off of the supers before finishing them off or Taran and him attacking at the same time.
Ahsoka and Katoonie were near the perfect team as they moved with elegant grace, but raw battle energy. Ahsoka assumed the role of protector as well, but that didn't mean that she wasn't to cut down any droids in their path.
"You've gotten stronger," said Ahsoka, cutting a super in half as it loomed over Katoonie.
"Thanks. Taran taught us from time to time," said Katoonie, blocking a few shots as she and Ahsoka switched back to the defensive while Bruck and Zatt along with Tia and Gungi pressed ahead on their flanks to bring the fight directly to the droids.
"He did?" said Ahsoka.
"Yes. His teachings helped us excel past the other clans," said Katoonie. Ahsoka took the time to observe the movements of the other younglings. They were all able to use lightsabers by the time of their trip with her, but now she could see they were fully capable of techniques and moves a little beyond their years. Droids firing at them were handled with proficient care and skill the likes of which made her grateful that they excelled at their training and that Taran had taken the time to help them train as well.
"Incoming!" yelled Zatt. They glanced up to see an HMP droid gunship flying towards them. Master Sinube raised his hand towards the gunship. The bodies of ten downed super battle droids levitated from the ground before they shot towards the gunship as if they were their own crashed into the gunship, but bounced harmlessly off of its shields.
"Walker! Bring it down!" yelled the lieutenant. The AT-TE's main cannon targeted the incoming gunship and fired. The gunship swerved to the side dodge the round. The cannon fired again, this time clipping the right end of the gunship. It careened sharply and hit a building to the side before falling to the ground. It buried an entire squad of supers beneath it as it crashed, rendering them unusable.
The gunship managed to keep firing its forward guns at them, making the Jedi fall back from the frequency and strength of the shots. Taran quickly erected a waist-high wall for them all to take cover behind. The clones continued firing from behind the safety of the wall.
"This oughta finish it off!" yelled a clone as he shouldered a rocket launcher. He took careful aim at the gunship and fired. The blast hit the gunship square on and destroyed it into a burst of flames.
"We're going to need more men here soon," said Bruck.
"Don't worry. We only gotta hold for a bit longer. I've gotten word that they're on the way," said the lieutenant.
"Wait, transmissions are coming in?" said Taran.
"Yes sir. Apparently more ships from the Open Circle Fleet are in and are helping our boys fight up there and sending men down here," said the lieutenant.
"Obi-Wan and Anakin!" said Taran and Ahsoka. "Any word about them?"
"They're currently fighting to get the Chancellor back if the reports are correct," said the lieutenant.
"No worries then," said Ahsoka. "If anyone can do it, the two of them combined can do just about anything."
"You have that much faith in them?" said the lieutenant.
"Absolute faith," said Taran.
Obi-Wan was thrown hard into the railing of the upper stairway, falling to the ground. Dooku raised his hand, using the Force to cause the section to fall on top of him, knocking the Jedi Master unconscious. Anakin could only watch in stunned silence. Fear washed over him briefly as he realized he was on his own. Everything now rested firmly on his shoulder. Sadness because his former master, his best friend, a man he could call his brother, was now currently unconscious on the floor. However, another emotion was beginning to fill him.
Anger.
He looked with rage-filled eyes he got to his feet and charged Dooku, kicking him off the stairway. He leaped down as well and the two men continued their fight. Their lightsabers clashed endlessly in a display or red and blue, white sparking in every time their blades crashed together. The Count's Makashi against Anakin's Shien. Their lightsabers met again, pressing into the other.
"I sense great fear in you Skywalker. You have hate; you have anger, but you don't use them," said Dooku. Anakin hit the lightsaber away from him.
"If he wants hate and anger, I'll give it to him," Anakin thought. For three years the Count had egged him, threatened him and his loved ones, and caused discord, chaos and death wherever he went. Anakin could still feel the tingle on the edge of his arm where his real arm met his robotic limb. From cutting off his arm to when the Count had captured them on Korriban to now, and the Count had the sense to have a smug look? This time, he was going to make him pay. Anakin attacked first, using the emotions, the Jedi had forbidden others to use in combat.
He pressed the attack, for once causing the Count to lose ground as their fight took them around the Chancellor's chair. Dooku began to slowly realize that he his provocations were backfiring on hm now as he fought to just keep up with Anakin's attacks. Anakin now plainly saw that he was gaining the upper hand in their duel.
Their lightsabers clashed endlessly in intricate patterns and techniques prescribed to their forms. Their lightsabers locked again and Anakin twisted their lightsabers down. Using an advanced Shien maneuver to move his hands around his hilt to twist it inside Dooku's grip. There was no defense to this. His lightsaber sliced of Dooku's hands. The severed hands flew into the air to the force of the blow, Anakin catching the Count's lightsaber in his activation and activating the red beam.
The Count dropped to his knees as Anakin crossed the two lightsabers in an X around his throat. He was now completely at Anakin's mercy. The Chancellor's face broke into one of happiness.
"Good Anakin, good," said the Chancellor, congratulating Anakin on his feat. "Kill him." Both Anakin and Dooku's eyes widened. The Count looked to the Chancellor as if pleading for his life.
"Kill him now," said the Chancellor. The Count looked back up to Anakin. As Anakin looked at him, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of sorrow for his enemy. The old man looked broken and utterly helpless. Despite everything Dooku had done to him and countless others, how could he kill this defenseless old man?
"I shouldn't," said Anakin.
"Do it," said the Chancellor. Anakin looked down at Dooku's face on more time. Suddenly, every negative emotion came back to him. The long three years of pain and anguish the Count made him feel. His eyes darkened at the thoughts. He flicked his wrists out, and the Count's head came tumbling down off his shoulders. His body slumped to the floor, never to rise again. Count Dooku, leader of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, was dead.
"I couldn't stop myself," said Anakin, walking over to the chair.
"You did well, Anakin. He was too dangerous to be kept alive," said Palpatine.
"Yes," said Anakin, turning the binders off on the chair, "but he was an unarmed prisoner. I shouldn't have done that. It's not the Jedi way."
"It is only natural," said Palpatine, standing up and moving around now that he was free from his confinement. "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?"
"How could I not? I can never forget," Anakin thought.
"Now, we must leave before more security droids arrive," said Palpatine. Palpatine made for the stairs while Anakin went to check on Obi-Wan's state. To his relief, his friend was still alive.
"Anakin, there's no time. We must leave him," said Palpatine.
"He seems to be alright," said Anakin.
"Leave him or we'll never make it," said Palpatine.
"His fate will be the same ours," Anakin said grimly.
"They're here," said the lieutenant. Sure enough, ten LAAT gunships flew down to help the beleaguered force on the street. The gunships opened fire, shooting their missiles and frontal laser cannons at the droids. Droids were blown to pieces or thrown around all over the street from the assault as the gunships made to land quickly before droid starfighters were alerted to their presence. They were able to slip in as new fighters came in tie up the still numerous Vultures and tri-fighters in the skies. The bay doors opened to allows squads of clone troopers out and into the fray, their blue markings allowing them all to be identified right away.
501st Legion.
"Rex!" said Taran and Ahsoka as the men of the 501st came by to find along side them.
"Kid! Ahsoka!" said Rex, taking the time to stop firing and focus on them. As the men rushed by to take care of the droids, Rex embraced Ahsoka as she switched her lightsaber off to hug him fiercely.
"I was overcome with joy when I heard you were safe," said Rex. "Thanks to none other than you kid."
"Rex," said Taran, he too hugging the clone captain. Rex was taken aback at first, but returned it anyway. Any other man would be surprised if his commanding officer suddenly hugged him out of the blue.
"What's the situation?" said Rex.
"Droids," said Taran.
"Fair enough," said Rex. "We'll talk when this is all over."
The safety shutters to the bridge windows finally shut, allowing Anakin, Obi-Wan and the Chancellor to get their feet back on the floor without a risk of getting sucked out into the airless vacuum of space. Grievous has escaped, again, aboard his damaged flagship.
"Can you fly a cruiser like this?" said Obi-Wan.
"You mean do I know how to fly what's left of this?" said Anakin. "Strap yourselves in." They all moved to the 'recently' unoccupied chairs of the bridge crew. Anakin scanned over the controls of the ship. The engine flaps shut as he tried to slow the ship into the atmosphere to land down. Suddenly, an explosion rocked the ship dead center. The explosion spread out until the ship's rear tore off in a screech of metal away from the rest of the ship. The ship was now without its primary means of control.
"I think we lost something," said Anakin.
"Not to worry. We're still flying half of a ship," said Obi-Wan. The Invisible Hand now plunged towards the planet's surface, the outer hull glowing red from the heat of traveling through the different layers of the atmosphere.
The droid in front of Ahsoka and Tia was cut in half from the waist up by the two of them as the skirmish on the street had now gotten to the point of a clean up maneuver. Now that the highly-trained men of the 501st were in the fray, the odds were now stacked firmly in their favor. Rex's twin blasters kept firing near nonstop as he fought alongside Taran who deflected incoming fire for him and the other men.
"Just like old times," said Rex.
"Always like old times," said Taran, grinning to himself. The droids were now down to just a few squads as the men and Jedi cut them to ribbons. Elsewhere the battle was stretching to a close for the Republic forces as well as units such as the 501st, 7th Sky Corps, 41st Elite Corps and other units arrived from off planet to assist. The battles in space and the sky were in the Republic's favor as well as new ships continuously entered from hyperspace to help cripple the Separatist Navy, which was beginning to retreat. This in turn stranded their ground forces on the planet's surface.
Zatt and Petro both jumped onto a super, bringing it down with their momentum before plunging their blades into it. Byph used the Force to push several down onto their back as Ganodi and Gungi cut them to pieces. Petro aided Master Sinube by jumping off his shoulder and stabbing a droid straight through its center, killing it. Katoonie aided by cutting a super in half that was coming up behind him.
Taran moved forward to begin cutting down droids of his own, slashing one in half and deflecting the shots from another droid shooting at his rear with his lightsaber without looking back as he maneuvered towards it to cut the droids legs off and plunge it down into its chest. Bruck and Tia helped finish off the last ones with slash-and-defend tactics they knew all too well. When the last droid fell, they all let out a cheer. The flank had been saved at last.
Taran breathed a sigh of relief at last, sitting on a toppled super to rest. Though his body was definitely screaming at him to rest, he couldn't help but feel elation at what they'd just accomplished.
"We won," he said to himself. A smile played across his lips.
"Taran!" said Ahsoka. She hurried over to him as she stood up, the two embracing into a tight hug. Going into this battle, they thought there was a chance that it all might be over. Now they knew that all such previous thoughts were behind them.
"I'm so glad we're both safe," said Taran.
"Me too," said Ahsoka.
"Come on here you two," said Rex, clapping his hands on both their shoulders as they broke apart. "There's some of that love to go around." The two of them laughed before they heard something. Everyone stopped what they were doing to listen.
"It's coming from the sky," said Katoonie. They all looked up to see what looked like a falling Separatist cruiser streaking down from the clouds towards a location close to the Senate District. The ship passed by overhead billowing smoke and flames from behind it. As it went by, Taran and Ahsoka's eyes widened as they felt the presence aboard the plummeting ship.
"Oh no," said Ahsoka.
"No way," said Taran.
"What? What is it?" said Rex.
"It appears that Master Kenobi and Skywalker are commandeering that vessel," said Sinube.
"Wait! You mean they're flying that?!" said Rex.
The ship hit the ground of the airfield hard, skidding along the metal surface. The slide completely tore apart the runway, and even a nearby tower. It kept on skidding until finally its momentum ceased and it was brought to a halt. Inside, Anakin, Obi-Wan, Papatine and R2 let out a sigh or beep of relief. Obi-Wan ran his hand through his hair as he fought to keep from having a personal a heart attack.
"Another happy landing," he said. The comment caused Anakin to crack a smile, while the Palpatine looked at the two of them with mysticism and wonder as if asking how these two operated all this time.
