CHAPTER NINE

Obi-Wan's fear and worry were replaced by the rage and resentment that had been dormant inside his heart for so long. The man that stood cynically in front of him, he had almost killed his padawan, he had almost killed the only real part of his life.

With each hasty step he took towards the Sith Lord, his thirst for revenge grew stronger. Once he was close enough to the dark being, the memories of their last encounter drenched all of his senses and logic, he was aggravated and he felt so ready to strike the vice man down.

Obi's reaction had been so out of place that Anakin and Ahsoka didn't know how to react, they did noticed him adventuring towards the Sith alone, but they couldn't move, they weren't able to react to such an bizarre reality. Obi-Wan never acted upon his fury, he had always been a signature for patience and cautious planning.

They stood stunned while the Jedi violently stroke the first blow against the Sith's lightsaber. "You won't escape this time, Dooku." The Jedi held tight to his weapon, spun, and hit once again with mayor strength. The Sith blocked the attack again but he wasn't ready for the amount of power coming his way, certainly not from serene Master Kenobi. He almost lost grip on the saber and was forced to fall backwards into the ground. Obi-Wan force-lipped into the air, lightsaber ready to pummel into his opponent's heart. It was then that he was then interrupted by a force-push and tumbled to his side, landing flat on the dusty ground.

Asajj Ventress walked out from one of the vehicles, right hand raised and the other wrapped around one of her curved lightsabers. "Obi-Wan, I had never seen you so angry, I must admit I like it." She waited for her Master to stand and recover conscience. "And you two," she turned to the bewildered Jedi at the other side of the platform, and with a mocking grin said "nice teamwork." Once her Master was up on his feet, she took out her second lightsaber and turned to Obi-Wan, "You are mine."

Obi-Wan recovered his saber and tried to calm himself down. So close, I was so close! "You seem to always be there, ready to ruin the crowd." He turned his lightsaber back on and got into a defensive position.

Asajj shrieked and raised both of her weapons, she scowled at Obi-Wan and sprinted towards him, quaking her scarlet swords in front of her. There was a harsh cry of power when her and Obi-Wan's weapons made contact. They charged against each other for a while, both filled with rage, sending sparks of light around their violently moving bodies.

"That leaves me with..." A laughing Count Dooku turned away from the fight to look at the two younger Jedi, only to find Anakin standing alone, saber already out. "What happened to your mascot?"

Anakin didn't answer with words, instead he walked cautiously towards the man. The Sith waited until the blue lightsaber was at a close distance, looking into the young man's irritated eyes, he exclaimed. "Enjoying your arm?" And the duel began.

...

Ahsoka didn't feel alright leaving the other two Jedi to fight alone with the Sith, but they apparently had no other choice.

When Obi-Wan inexplicably ran towards Dooku everyone was flabbergasted, even the Count, and Anakin the most, since he knew Obi-Wan better than anybody else present. They saw him angrily fighting with the Sith, they were so befuddled by the heat of the moment that neither her nor her Master did anything to aid the bursting Jedi. But when they watched Dooku hit the ground, that's when they reacted. They couldn't let Obi-Wan kill out of spite, it was one of the most important rules of the Jedi Code. Right before they could go to stop the vile attack, Obi-Wan jumped... that's when they knew it was too late.

Ahsoka thought she would never feel that way, but when Ventress came out of the battleship and stopped Obi-Wan's dreadful deed, she felt grateful towards the bald woman. She couldn't handle the thought of Obi-Wan regretting the moment later on, after all, acting upon hate was the first step towards the dark side.

While Ventress walked out of the ship and sauntered to her master's side, Anakin's communicator began to bip. He carefully, without bringing attention to himself, clicked a button and Plo-Koon's voice resonated softly. He sounded tired but determined. "Anakin, Anakin, is everything alright? Have you seen Ahsoka? The troopers have arrived to the city and are advancing fast, I have ordered R2 to send help... Anakin do you copy? Have you encountered the Separatists? Anakin..." Anakin didn't respond, he was afraid the Sith would listen and do something to stop them, instead he looked at his padawan and winked.

Without hesitation Ahsoka trotted silently towards some boxes of shipment, there she hid until the Jedi and the Sith began fighting. Once they were all distracted, she moved cautiously and entered the ship Asajj had just come out of.

Inside the ship she found the Separatists. Nute Gunray and Poggle the Lesser, who were astonished at the sight of the young Jedi. "How did you get in here? Get out, get out!" Nute Gunray's attempts were evidently useless. Ahsoka forced both of them to move away from the ship's bridge controllers. Once they were standing up, she quickly grabbed Nute and shoved him into one of the ships compartments, he struggled trying to get away or call for help, but he wasn't an even close match for the Jedi's agile movements. She then persisted with the Archduke, who wasn't as hesitant.

She continued by starting up the ship and familiarizing with the controllers, constantly having to scream threats at Gunray to shut up.

...

Count Dooku was possibly the toughest opponent Anakin had ever dueled against, this time he wasn't going to underestimate his powers.

Anakin had grown stronger himself since their last battle, he was more experienced and alert, possibly a bit less arrogant with the sword and much more quick on his feet and arms. Their duel wasn't exactly calm but Anakin did his best to keep the Sith occupied and concentrated on himself. He fought defensively, not making any efforts to attack the elder Dark Lord. Every often he would break off contact and look at his partners' efforts.

Obi-Wan seemed to be handling the situation with great comfort, he had obviously calmed himself down, realizing that he had acted with resentment. He and Ventress did their usual ritual. She made fast and abrupt moves, screaming infuriatingly while Obi-Wan quickly blocked the attacks and ignored her insults. He looks so handsome.

Anakin then sought for his padawan, trying to not look obvious. When he found no trace of Ahsoka, he knew she was up to something.

He continued fighting with Dooku, blocking the Sith's blows and strikes, trying not to look at his profound brown eyes. Once or twice, flashbacks flamed into his heart about Geonosis, the moment when he saw his Master being pummeled with the dark force and the moment when, out of wrath and fret, he stepped up to defend him. But the one memory that loitered and lasted longest was the feeling of his arm being sliced off, he could conjure the million needles tearing entirely through his flesh, muscles, and bones.

At the thought, Anakin lost a bit of his self-control and force-pushed at Dooku, who had foreseen the attack and blocked it. Coming back to his senses, Anakin paused, bothered by a humming sound. After a short while, so did Dooku, as well as Ventress and Obi-Wan. One of the Separatist ships was moving.

Anakin, confident of his padawan's abilities, knew that she had control over the situation.

Dooku immediately panicked, he had noticed that the padawan was absent, and since he had ordered the two politicians to wait, knowing that they would obey, he perceived something going on. He didn't care about the two Separatists on the ship, but Darth Sidious had a plan, and Dooku had to follow his commands.

Obi-Wan, lacking the information of Anakin's and Ahsoka's strategy, also alleged trouble. He forgot about Ventress and ventured hastily towards the moving ship. Count Dooku and Ventress followed right behind him. Anakin, being the only one aware of the real situation, knew that the only thing he could do was to keep both of the dark Jedi away from the escaping vessel.

He ran to intercept Dooku, but the Sith was prepared and evaded Anakin's lightsaber effortlessly, then continued with long force-conjured steps, passing right by Kenobi, taking the lead. Ventress, however, wasn't as skilled as her master, so it was easy for Anakin to cut off her way. "So now you want to fight me, boy?" She got busy with Anakin while the two men sneaked onboard the elevated ship. I hope he can manage without me.

Ventress was her old self: angry, teasing and monstrous. With every desperate move she made towards Anakin, a high-pitched sound escaped her widely open mouth. She was direct with her sabers and precise, lacking any particular technique. The young Jedi fought unhurriedly, blocking her sabers patiently, like Master Luminara had taught him. "The Sith are beings that act upon their fury, so their movements are usually messy and careless." And she apparently was right.

Waiting for the right instant to attack, Anakin concentrated on the repetitive motions of Ventress' lightsabers. Once he saw a slight pause between her ruthless blows, he used his saber as a distraction, moving it around an imaginative circumference, it worked. The dark woman had her eyes on Anakin's azure lightsaber, she hadn't noticed just what Anakin had in mind.

Absorbed on the Force surrounding him, he made an effort to force-push Ventress away, in an attempt to buy him time. He threw her off balance many feet over, without taking time to recover from the endeavor, he immediately ran towards the parked Separatist ship. He got inside as quickly as he could, closing the ship's door. Just when Ventress began trying to cut open through the ship's entrance, Anakin took off, leaving Asajj far behind.

It didn't take Anakin long to spot the escaping Separatist ship, as soon as he located its position, still inside the planet's atmosphere, he followed its path.

...

Ahsoka took off from the platform as soon as the ship's dormant engines gave her the opportunity. Once she had detached it from the ground she stood up and walked to the radio station of the ship, she struggled to find the connection, but she was skilled at the art, "Commander Cody, I'm aboard a Separatist ship with the politicians aboard, contact Master Plo, Anakin and Obi-Wan might need assistance, tell him..."

The ship gave a minor shake, cutting off Ahsoka's speech. What's happening? She walked to the main navigation controllers, everything seemed alright. She turned around to check on the prisoners when a tall figure punched her in the forehead, blinding her sight for a second. She was then carried with the Force into the air and thrown towards a metallic wall, leaving her unconscious flat on the cold ground.

Count Dooku heard steps right behind him and cautiously turned. Obi-Wan stood with his feet firm on the ground, lightsaber out and open, ready to use it without hesitation. "Well, you are certainly not giving up today, Jedi." Dooku took out his saber ready to continue the clash, this time though, he was prepared for the amount of will-power inside Obi-Wan. "Let's finish this already."

The fight began.

The ship was tightly built for a small amount of passengers, the space was petite and there were many objects in the room, so there weren't many moves available for the combatants. They made acute precise movements with their sabers, trying to not interfere with the controls of the ship, if anything happened they would all go down together. It wasn't impossible for the men to fight, but it involved careful planning every time they made a move against the other. Dooku, perceiving Obi-Wan's resentment in the Force, fed himself with the thought of the man in front of him slowly filling himself with hatred, the dark Jedi could sense the midi-chlorians' inside Obi-Wan speeding up.

With each accurate movement that Obi-Wan made with his sword he could undergo the memories coming back to life once again. The reminiscence of the battle in Geonosis, the battle he and his padawan had lost at a high cost. Obi-Wan tried calming himself down, but every time he saw into the Sith's eyes, his heart shattered, knowing what the cruel being had done to his beloved friend.

Obi-Wan, tired of their slow clashing, grew with frustration, erupting suddenly with hard shocks of his lightsaber. The weapon destroyed everything that go in its path, the metal sliced open at its mere touch.

The Sith cheerfully grinned at the sight of the Jedi's destruction, his abrupt lack of self-control, deciding to take advantage of the moment, "Didn't your Master ever tell you to not act upon your anger?" And with that he slid his lightsaber into his belt and, using the dark side of the Force, yanked away at Obi-Wan's hands.

Master Kenobi wasn't ready for the unexpected assault, but he held on tight to his lightsaber, knowing that if he let go, if he was left empty handed, his skills wouldn't be a match against the Dark Lord's powerful usage of the Force. He had seen him in action before, when he fought against Master Yoda. Obi-Wan was confident but realistic, he wouldn't last long at the mercy-less hands of Darth Tyranus.

The Sith pulled with all of his strength, letting out all of the fury that had built on his filthy soul. Making a quick firm last effort, he tugged Obi-Wan's lightsaber as the Jedi finally let go, and tossed the weapon across the ship. The Jedi Master was now defenseless and exhausted, an easy prey for Dooku's dark energy.

...

Anakin sensed a tense jerk in the Force while flying over the city of Iziz. His heart sped up and he began to blink uncontrollably, the last time he had felt that eerie commotion was when Obi-Wan had been trapped unconscious inside a falling hundred-story building in one of their last mission. He knew for sure something had gone wrong.

The ship wasn't prepared for the speed that Anakin was about to demand from it, but its engines lasted long enough for Anakin to intercept the escaping ship. While he got closer and closer, the commotion of the risk grew stronger. The other ship seemed to float gradually meters above the domes of the immense jungle trees.

Anakin got the ship in position and leveled it with the escaping vessel, being one of the most talented pilots of the Republic, he calculated its speed, fixed it into the computer, and warily maneuvered his own transport in front of the Separatist ship. Now he had full view of the turmoil inside.

He had known something was wrong, the Force had assured him so, but he wasn't expecting to see such a dreadful scene. Count Dooku had his pale hands raised above his head, one of them slowly closing; on the other side of the room Anakin could see his Master floating mid-air, his hands shaking involuntarily, chocking.

Taking immediate action, Anakin, disorientated, took the controllers on his quivering hands and instinctively ran the ship directly into the shuttle that carried both his hurting Master and the Dark Lord. Both transports shook carelessly around the air for moments while they began to uncontrollably descend towards the jungle.


***(I hope you guys DO get mad at me for what will happen in the next chapter, unless of course, you enjoy pain)

***(But before you start to speculate, let me remind you that this is barely Part One... there's so much more shit coming)

***(Also, if you liked the story or you think it's bullcrap, review or message me so I at least know the opinions of what I'm doing)