If you haven't heard already, the Citadel series has been discontinued since it doesn't serve any purpose for my future plans anymore. Just so you know, my plans have taken a wide turn, so I'm recovering as of now to put everything together.
Here we go! Let the drama begin!
Chapter 8: A Friend in Need
Xur could care less about diplomacy, which is why he waited in a republic transport, rather than go with Ahsoka and Padme to witness two sides bicker about nothing. The separatists would never wish to end the war, not with Count Dooku in charge that is. Mina Bonteri was a perfect example of this. These talks wouldn't succeed, and they weren't meant to; a distraction to keep hope of peace alive, and the fight ongoing without end.
He was no politician. He was a fighter, and this war kept him in business, as horrible as it was. Xur turned to R2-D2 who was sitting in the cockpit with him.
"Can we get some music? I really hate sitting here in silence," he suggested. R2 made a bunch of beeps and whistles that Xur understood. It was one of the couple of languages that he knew, but overall he didn't care to study many languages, unlike Ahsoka, who knew Wookie of all languages. It was all just a bunch of grumbling to him, and he swore some words sounded exactly the same. Xur laughed. "I don't know, let's go with something…bad, but relaxing I guess?"
R2 searched through its database and found the perfect one. He attached himself to the droid port and started playing a song you would hear in a Tatooine Cantina, and Xur kicked back in his chair. He had a lot of time to kill. Like usual, he pulled out his dual-bladed lightsaber hilt and spun it atop one finger out of boredom.
He was about to doze off when his communicator flared to life. Ahsoka's voice rang through it. "Xur, do you read me?" Xur sighed and rose from his chair, feeling lightheaded after getting up so quickly.
"I'm here," he said groggily, wiping his face with his free, gloved hand. What could she possibly be in trouble with now? It couldn't have been that bad, right?
"I need you to fire up the engines. We're going to need a quick escape," she replied. The red-skinned zabrak ordered R2 to get on it and he rushed to the exit ramp, prepared for any incoming attack. The blue guard troopers stood around, watching the ship, and waiting for nothing it seemed. Some of them seemed to be having conversations with the others in fact.
Suddenly, he saw Ahsoka come flying out of the entrance into the city, and he could hear droids behind her. He then saw Lux Bonteri of all people follow her out, the beams barely missing him.
"Are you always trying to get into fights?" Xur growled as she came to his side. The troopers attacked the droids that were after them and Xur drew his lightsaber, deflecting any incoming beams. As soon as Lux was past him, he returned his lightsaber and followed them up the ramp and into the ship. They were outside the planet in a few seconds.
Ahsoka was already at the cockpit, manning the ship. Lux followed suite, and took a quick seat feeling out of place. Anakin was quickly on hologram, speaking to her. Xur wanted to unload all of his questions, but he paced back in forth across the cockpit, waiting for Ahsoka to finish her chat with her master. He paid little attention until she told him he "would be safe with the Republic", and Lux had the face of uncertainty, not a good face for that matter. Ahsoka shut off the transmission after that. She got up from her seat, and that was when Xur began to unleash the questions.
"Ok, so what-," he stopped when Lux had a gun pointed to her.
"I can't go with you Ahsoka!" he said, pointing the gun at her. Xur's instincts told him to rip the gun out of his hands with the force, but then it hit him, the boy had lost his mother to Dooku. He must've just been confused right now.
Ahsoka scoffed. "What?"
Lux shook his head, "I told you, I have a plan!"
Ahsoka took one look at his gun and easily snatched it from him, causing Xur to cover his mouth and smile. "Shooting me is not going to be a part of it!"
"You got that right," Xur added, giving Lux a hard look, then smirking. "Miss me?" he asked. Lux shook his head.
"Not in the slightest, especially that ugly head of yours," Lux snapped back. Xur uncrossed his arms and marched towards him, grabbing him by the top of his shirt.
"Hey! I thought about being nice, but you can forget all about that now!" Xur yelled. Lux smacked his arm from his shirt.
"I don't need respect from a Jedi!" he shouted. The two stared each other down, fists clenched, growling at each other. Xur's compassion for Lux's dead mother kept him from slugging him in the face, hard at that. Ahsoka stood in between them and gave a good shove.
"Stop! You both sound childish! We need to get back to Coruscant in once piece!" she shouted. She kept her hands placed on each boy's chest, but they both still stared each other down with intensity. Xur shook his head and slapped her arm from his chest.
"Whatever, bring your boyfriend, I don't care," he said before he stormed out of the cockpit.
"Xur!" Ahsoka called back, but he shut the door behind him to the rest of the ship. Lux sighed and shook his head. He realized that he may have made a mistake being so hostile to the people who were getting him away from the separatists. "Great, now you made him angry, and I'll have to deal with that the rest of the way back!"
Lux sighed. "I'm sorry, I was just so fed up with the Separatists that it must have spilled out on him I guess," he apologized to her.
Ahsoka scoffed. "Picked a hell of a guy to spill it out on," she said sarcastically, sitting back in her seat. "It doesn't matter. Anyway, this plan of yours, what is it?"
Lux looked around, and then out into the depths of space. A face of anger occupied him. "To kill Dooku,"
Ahsoka's eyes widened greatly. Was he insane? "The only person you're going to kill is yourself!" she pleaded. Ahsoka had had it. He was just flat out crazy to think he could defeat Count Dooku. "I'm sorry, but I'm taking you to Coruscant!" His idea kept circling inside of her head, and she didn't see any kind of success in it. "Your plan isn't really all that thought out Lux. Besides, without me, how did you expect to get past those battle droids?"
Lux pulled a device from his belt. "Like this!" he said as he zapped Ahsoka, knocking her out cold. She fell into his arms, unconscious. "I'm sorry Ahsoka," he whispered before placing her on the chair behind him. At that moment, the door opened, and it wasn't R2 at the door.
Xur looked at Lux, expecting some kind of answer. Lux chuckled. "She is quite tired, perhaps she should sleep it off," he said before manning the controls.
"Oldest play in the book kid." Lux felt a chill up his spine. He should've known that Xur would find out. He wasn't a droid after all.
He panicked. "Listen, I can explain,"
Xur kept the menacing stare on him. "You better, or your ass is going to be floating with space debris."
Lux calmed himself. At least the zabrak was reasonable. "I have a plan to kill Dooku. I need to get to Carlac to join up with some forces allied to me," he tried to make it the most Jedi-friendly explanation he could.
Xur growled, but the kid at least knew what he was doing. He had a common enemy in Dooku, and maybe he knocked out Ahsoka for good reason. Besides, killing Dooku would be a nice bonus for today. "Ok kid, but here's the deal. I'll help you, but I won't protect you against whatever wrath comes out of her when she wakes up."
Lux took that. Any cooperation from Xur was amazing to say the least. "Alright, sounds good," he said before he initiated the hyperspace jump. Xur took the seat next to him, propping his legs up on the dashboard. He looked back to the unconscious Ahsoka. She was out cold, but she didn't look injured, so at least Lux did it quickly.
Xur looked over to Lux. "I hope you realize that I'd kill anyone who'd hurt her. You're lucky kid," Lux looked down, seemingly unsure about his past actions. He could sense confliction in him, a lot of it. That wasn't an easy thing to do for him.
Lux sighed and then looked up. "I know, and I appreciate your understanding. I never thought I'd have to do that to her."
Xur shook his head. He looked back to her. Something ate at him to hold her in his arms and keep her from lying there, free to sway with the ship. She looked so helpless, yet graceful in a way, calm and composed. Lux noticed him looking at her the way he did and smiled.
"You worry for her," he said. Xur flashed his eyes to Lux, but back to Ahsoka. Lux nodded as he didn't answer back. "You know some would say that's love," he claimed. Xur looked back to Lux with a confused look on his face.
"I thought you two-," he said, but Lux shook his head. Xur leaned his head back. He knew Ahsoka had feelings for Lux. She made it so obvious the first time they met. Playing hard to get, presenting herself to him, and most of all the way she looked at him when they left. She wasn't going to take this easy.
"I have another love, unfortunately. One on my home planet, Onderon," he replied somberly. Xur shook his head and looked back to Ahsoka. She was bound to have her heart broken.
"I see," Xur replied. He kept his eyes on Ahsoka. She couldn't know this for the sake of her feelings and well-being. Someone so innocent, only trying to do the right thing at all times, which could not be said about himself. Maybe Lux was right; his attachment to her, the unending rage when the Son turned her against him…and his dead spirit when she "died". He was more close to her than he realized. He didn't "enjoy her company" like he referred to it before, it was much more than that. She was beautiful…yes that was the word he had been searching for. The word he was trying so hard to cover up. He could feel his heart beating faster. "You know Lux, you might be on to something,"
Xur got up from his chair and headed for the back of the ship before he stopped. "I never thought I'd say this…but thank you," he said before heading to the back of the ship, closing the door behind him.
Ahsoka awoke, sitting in one of the cockpit seats. She opened her eyes, but sunlight flooded them, causing her to shield her eyes. Where was she? The first thing she noticed was that her lightsabers weren't on her. She knew that ship had landed at least, knowing that the ship was inactive. She finally took a good look around.
"Lux?" she called. When no answer came, she looked around more vigorously. "Xur? Anyone?" she called out further. Still no answer came. She became frustrated and got up from her seat and looked out the window. The planet they had landed on was a snowy one, and she couldn't quite make it out from where she was. It was when she spotted Lux outside that she snapped.
"Lux!" she cried as R2 rolled in. She noticed him and rushed to the cockpit door. "R2, find out where Lux hid them! I'm going to have a little chat with Mr. Bonteri," she said as she made her way to the boarding ramp, grabbing her snow gear as she stomped out.
Xur rolled around in his bed in the back, shuffling in his sleep. He finally lay still and opened his eyes. He knew where he was, Carlac, Lux had told him. After their little talk, he had elected to take a nap, since that was sounded like the best option to him.
He sat at the side of the bed and rubbed his eyes, regaining his bearings. He decided to check on Ahsoka, since she could've awoken by now, or not. He walked towards the main hall and into the cockpit, but saw no one there. "Ahsoka?" he called, but got no answer. Suddenly, he caught something out of the corner of his eye from the cockpit window. He saw Lux and Ahsoka…surrounded by people in madalorian armor. Xur gasped.
"Death Watch!" he shrieked, grabbing his helmet. He dropped three of his lightsabers off with the ship, but kept a single-bladed one. He held it in his hand. "I knew I'd need this one day," he said before pressing the bottom of it. The lightsaber popped open and shifted its parts around and eventually formed a blaster, which he placed on his utility belt. He then walked out into the snow, R2 following him. He got close enough to the surrounding Death Watch for them to notice him.
"Who are you?" the female in the front asked. Xur kept walking into the surrounding area. For some reason, they didn't stop him.
"I…I am a bounty hunter assigned to protect these two numbskulls. No trouble…now that we've reached our destination that is," Xur made up, hoping they would believe it.
The female Death Watch pointed to Lux and Ahsoka who were unusually close to each other. "You mean the boy and his…betrothed?"
Xur froze, clenching his fists and he looked back at Lux for a second as he spoke. He flashed his eyes back and forth, while Ahsoka nodded to him to play along. "Yes…yes of course,"
The female shook her head. "Whatever, we leave now! The snow is coming," she then ushered the troops her way. Ahsoka pulled Lux's arm.
"What have you got us into?!" she whispered. Lux growled.
"I have it under control!" he responded.
"You never told me you called Death Watch!" Xur clenched his fist, whispering. Speeders were beginning to file into their position.
"Are you coming kid?" one of them asked. Lux ignored them both and nodded. He climbed aboard the speeder. Xur raised his hand.
"I will be too; I'd like to see your base. I've got nothing else to do," Xur said. The madalorian nodded and he climbed aboard as well. Ahsoka smiled, looking around at the soldiers.
"I should stay with the ship," she suggested, and began to walk back, but they picked up R2 before she could make it out.
"No, you're coming too," the mandalorian shook his head. Ahsoka growled, but followed, with no other choice.
They were taken to the group's snowy camp, filled with other mandalorians. Xur admired their compound. For a bad bunch of criminals, it was impressive, but he couldn't give them too much credit since they took pride in killing Jedi. That was definitely repulsive to him.
Eventually, Xur, Lux and Ahsoka were sent into a tent, and were told that their leader would be meeting with them soon, and they were left alone. Lux shook his head. "Don't ruin my plan," he pleaded.
Ahsoka narrowed her eyes. "Plan? What plan?" Xur took a seat on one of the boxes inside the tent, wanting to hear what Lux had to say. Lux pointed to a device on his wrist.
"This device can pinpoint any location of an incoming holocommunication. I knew that if I accused Dooku, I would be brought to face him. Guess what? It worked! I now know his exact location, and it Death Watch moves quick enough, we can destroy him!" he then grabbed Ahsoka by the shoulders and smiled. "Is that enough of a plan for you?"
Ahsoka removed his arms from her shoulders. "This is not some political idealist group! They will take the information and kill you!"
Lux shook his head and sighed. "I knew you wouldn't understand," he said. Ahsoka didn't give up.
"The Death Watch are murderers; sworn to kill Jedi! What's to stop them-," Lux suddenly pressed his lips against hers, keeping her quiet as mandalorians walked in. She struggled to free herself, wondering what the hell he was thinking. Xur had his jaw dropped behind the cover of his helmet. He couldn't believe it. He had literally opened up to Lux, telling him that he had feelings for her. He even said that he wasn't into Ahsoka, stating that he had another on Onderon. Almost every fiber in his body wanted to grab him by the neck and give him a piece of his mind, but as soon as mandalorians filed in, he realized that Lux was smarter than he looked, and Xur calmed himself down.
"Am I…interrupting something?" the madalorian that looked like their leader asked, cocking his head. Ahsoka pushed Lux away from her.
"Uhh…no," Lux said with his hand behind his head. Ahsoka was glaring at him, seemingly trying to burn a hole through him with her mind. He gave Xur a look, who had his arms crossed, his expression hidden by his helmet. Lux gave him a "sorry" look, which caused Xur to let off whatever steam he had left, but he still wasn't happy about what had just happened. The mandalorian leader nodded.
"Good…let's talk business," he said, pulling his helmet off and revealing his face. He was bald, and a human at that. He had a scar under his left eye that traced down his cheek. "Tell your woman to leave us, along with your bounty hunter friend," he ordered. Lux flashed his eyes to Ahsoka, and she was still glaring at him, but one mandalorian pulled her out. Xur got up from his seat and pointed to Lux.
"OK, but I want to get paid kid!" he shouted before he made his way out, smacking away anyone trying to pull him out.
Xur never expected that he'd ever be having dinner with Death Watch, let alone their leader, which he had been told his name, Pre Vizsla. He still despised the man, but he at least had hospitality to others.
"I like your spirit, the one of a warrior. You would fit well with Death Watch I believe," Vizsla commended him for his spirit back in the tent.
Xur scoffed. "Money speaks, after all," he said. "I have many other jobs after this one, so I must decline for now, unfortunately,"
Pre laughed. "Well, we'll be waiting I suppose," Xur nodded. He then noticed Ahsoka walking towards him, holding a platter of soup. She looked at him with the "you better have a plan" look, and Xur nodded slightly, and she turned back to her job.
"Vizsla!" someone called from the tent's entrance. A short man walked in filled with jewelry and tribal markings on his face. He looked angered.
"Chieftain Pieter, I don't remember summoning you," he greeted, rising to his feet. Xur could tell that it wasn't going to end well.
The Chieftain pointed towards him. "You have taken our women, stolen our food, and threatened us for too long. You are no longer welcome here!" he shouted.
Vizsla raised his arms. "Well, if our presence is no longer welcomed, we'll make ready to leave," he said. Xur noticed that many of the madalorians were smirking and shaking their heads, and he knew that he wasn't telling the truth.
"Alright, we'll be waiting!" he said before he walked out of the tent and leaving Death Watch behind. Xur knew that they were in grave danger.
Xur expected to be told to be left behind, but what he didn't expect was to see Ahsoka being dragged back by cables from Death Watch. They picked her up, struggling and pulled her into a nearby tent. Xur looked around for R2, and found him with the other droids, speaking to them. Xur knelt down.
"R2, give me her lightsabers!" he said. R2 beeped a few times and then pulled them out of his compartments and into Xur's hand. He patted the astromech on the head. He noticed many other droids mobilizing and he smiled. R2 was definitely impressive. He then bolted for the tent, and stopped just outside of it. He noticed the mandalorian in front of him, and he waited for the perfect time. Ahsoka was tied up and kneeling down on the floor, while Pre had his black sword raised, shouting about.
"It's justice!" he shouted. It was then that Xur transformed his blaster back to his lightsaber and impaled the soldier in front of him, distracting Vizsla just long enough for Xur to grab his sword from his hand with the force. Pre growled.
Xur observed the weapon. "Sorry fellas, but the jig is up!" Xur flung his lightsaber forward, cutting all of the cables holding Ahsoka down. "Ahsoka, now!" he yelled, throwing both of her lightsabers in the air. She leapt in the air and caught them. She ignited them and decapitated all four of her captives at the same time. One of the soldiers shot Xur in the hand, causing him to drop Vizsla's blade and it conveniently flew back to Vizsla's hand. Lux had freed himself and stood at Xur's side, while Ahsoka stood ready.
Death Watch closed in, but Vizsla stopped them. "No! The Jedi is mine!" he said, igniting his blade. Ahsoka looked back to Lux and Xur.
"Xur! Get them to the ship!" she said. Xur hesitated, but she was right. There could be an entire army of Death Watch outside, and Lux needed protection. He nodded and trusted Ahsoka to be able to take care of him on her own.
Xur pushed Lux outside, and to his luck he saw R2 and the small battalion of droids with it, seemingly ready to fight. Xur smiled. He liked a good bit of reinforcements. He then heard Ahsoka grunt and land hard behind him. He drew his lightsaber and helped her up.
"Go Lux! Get to the speeder!" he yelled. Lux wasted no time making a break for it with R2, and Xur noticed no threats impeding him. The Death Watch came out of the tent and was shocked by the droids that awaited them.
"I'll take care of the minions, you get Vizsla," Xur whispered to Ahsoka. She nodded and parried Vizsla's next strike, while Xur attacked one of the soldiers. He impaled the first before he could hover with his jetpack, but the others were able to float away. He wasted no time using the tent's support to vault himself up. He was able to take out two of the four soldiers' jetpacks, causing them to careen into the ground. He then noticed an explosion behind him and saw Vizsla down, along with Ahsoka. It was time. Xur force gripped the remaining two and brought them to the ground roughly and ran for the speeder. He picked her up from her underarms as he ran, and she took it from there, jumping into the speeder along with him. Lux hit the controls and the speeder sped off to safety, away from Death Watch.
They all ran into the ship, not wanting to engage with any more soldiers. Ahsoka and Xur immediately ran to the cockpit and manned the controls, taking off quickly. As soon as they broke the atmosphere, Xur laughed.
"Well, that was fun," he joked as he took off his helmet. Ahsoka took the pilot seat and patted R2 on the head.
"Good thinking buddy. We couldn't have done it without those droids," she complimented with a smile. R2 didn't seem happy and let out an unhappy beep. Ahsoka was confused. "What do you mean the escape pod has been activated?" she asked, but then she looked around. Lux was nowhere to be seen. "Lux!" she cried before making her way towards the escape pod.
Xur shook his head and patted the small astromech on the head as he took the pilot seat. "There she goes, chasing after a boy who doesn't love her," he said, and R2 let out a somber woo. "I know R2, it is sad."
It wasn't long before there was less weight on the ship, and Ahsoka wandered into the cockpit, obviously upset. She sat behind him on one of the passenger seats, seemingly lost in thought. Xur gestured for R2 to take control, and he did. Xur got up and took the seat next to her. He sighed.
"Alright, I'm not going to pretend like I don't know what's going on," Xur said across from her. She sighed, looking around the cockpit, but stayed silent. Xur shook his head. "I'm sorry I let you get captured. I should've followed them and helped you. We could've beat them together right then and there." He confessed, placing his hand over his eyes.
Ahsoka looked over to him. "No Xur, you did good," she smiled, causing him to look up. He nodded, but he wasn't sure of himself. She could've died if he wasn't there. Ahsoka got up to man the pilot seat. Xur was conflicted. He didn't know if he should admit his feelings for her now, or wait. He then realized that if she still had the belief that Lux loved her, she wouldn't believe him. This was something she had to figure out on her own.
She then engaged the hyperdrive and they blasted off towards Coruscant.
Alright, I've decided to make the Citadel episode an "extra", and keep it around. My plan is to do the "Ahsoka Framed" arc next and complete the story, but after that I will add little "bonus" chapters when I want to take a break from my next story. If you enjoyed, please follow/fav and leave a review! Thanks for reading!
