A.N.
Just in time for my birthday. The bumpy ride cometh!
Chapter 14- Daring Rescue
Day 11; The Commenor System, Aboard 'The Denunciator'
"You were right, Sir!" One of the droid bridge officers turned its head towards Count Dooku, "An unmarked ship has just dropped out of hyperspace."
Of course he was right. He had gambled on this, and he must admit, it didn't take them as long as he had anticipated they would. The Jedi were becoming more reckless everytime.
He couldn't help but allow a subtle smile as he sat with one leg over the other in his command seat. The droid continued, "Should we open fire?"
He grumbled solicitously, "Forward batteries only. I don't want to scare them off."
The droid humbly whirled its head back over its panel and began activating the gun controls. Soon enough, the explosive echoes of turret fire began to shake the bridge while blazes of red and orange bolts streamed beyond the viewport.
The Sithlord's eye caught the glimpse of a tiny grey speck rocket across space and he quickly recognized the familiar scent of the Jedi through The Force. He couldn't help but feel the slightest pity for the fools, but it came with a bitter taste for the animosity he held against their pathetic ideals.
It didn't matter now though. It will all be over soon for them. This tireless struggle will end with a swift stroke-which he only delayed to ensure he would finally hear the end of Obi Wan Kenobi and his supposed student, Anakin Skywalker.
The ship vanished and the turret fire soon went silent as well. The droid again faced him, "Err…Count Dooku, we've lost them Sir!"
"Sir!" Another droid turned around with its hands raised in panic, "An unidentified ship has just landed in one of our hangar bays! We're under attack!"
"Good." He calmly smirked and raised his chin to the first droid, "Order the rest of our fleet to begin the attack on Coruscant, and send the signal for General Grievous to join the assault."
"Roger, roger."
He then turned his attention to the other droid, "On my order, I want all power to the defense mainframe, engines, and life support systems deactivated."
The droid froze, "Bur Sir-"
"I am aware of the risks." He argued, "It will only be until I dispose of the Jedi. And hopefully these conditions should accelerate their anxieties in our favor."
"Yes sir." The droid submitted.
Of course, the Jedi are not stupid. He of all people knew not to underestimate them. But he knew how much they feared the dark, and he had to take the gamble of 'turning out the lights' on them, so to speak, in order to spring his trap.
The ship will be able to sustain life for a short period of time once its life support systems are deactivated- which ought to raise the stakes for them and give him the edge in this fight.
Infiltrating the hangar bay was easy enough, in fact Anakin thought it was too easy. It was clear Count Dooku was luring them into a trap, and he wasn't even trying to hide it.
Anakin couldn't help but feel offended by that, surely he thought they were better than this.
"Something on your mind, Anakin?" Obi Wan chimed as he crawled behind him through the ventilation shaft. It was Anakin's idea, but admittedly he already hated it. Unfortunately, that was their only option without allowing the security droids to spot them when they began searching the ship.
Commander Cody and Artoo agreed to sit this one out in the hidden smuggler's compartments. Someone had to guard the ship, right?
"The sooner… we get out of this mess," Anakin grumbled as he uncomfortably squeezed between the tight walls of the shaft, "the better!"
"Might I remind you," Obi Wan grunted as Anakin's boot accidently knocked his head, "we wouldn't be in this mess if you…hadn't neglected your padawan, again!"
"First of all," Anakin groaned as he swore he felt his shoulder dislocate, "she's no longer my padawan." He struggled to shift his weight, hoping it might improve things, but he only felt a sharp pain gnaw at him, which caused him to grimace, "And second of all. It was her fault for wanting to separate from us in the first place."
Obi Wan let out a disgruntled moan and a gasp for air, "Can you just get moving? I'm getting tired of having your boots nudging against my head!"
"I'm trying! I'm-" Anakin's attempts at freeing himself was beginning to fluster him, he couldn't be stuck could he? Surely the shaft wasn't getting smaller.
"How long have we been crawling through here anyway?" Obi Wan complained again, sometimes Anakin could swear it was all he was good at, "Surely, we should be there by now."
"Obi Wan, I'm a little-" Anakin groaned and shifted more violently, "I'm…I think I'm stu…-"
"Anakin, calm down. You're going to-" Obi Wan was interrupted by another boot to the face, "Anakin!"
Suddenly both Jedi Knights felt the entire shaft jolt and shift sideways before they discovered they were freefalling. Their screams were then interrupted by a grueling crash. A moment passed with nothing more than their moans and whines before both of them heard a familiar voice.
"Masters?" It was Ahsoka's.
Anakin attempted to look up but found he was still looking down the end of a shaft, but at least there was light at the end this time. He imagined Obi Wan could still see nothing more than his butt, "What happened?"
Obi Wan's voice was muffled, "You brought down the entire roof on us, that's what just happened!"
"No," Anakin argued, "I think we brought down the roof on them."
"Yes, you did." Ahsoka's voice came again, "But, what are you doing here?"
"We're rescuing you, haven't you guessed?" Anakin countered.
"Uh-huh." Her voice was a little more sarcastic this time, "too bad you two look like you're the ones who need rescuing now."
"Ahsoka..." Anakin fumed.
"Will you two please shut up and help me out of this shaft?" Obi Wan hissed agitatedly, "I need to breathe some air."
Ahsoka and Ferry were both stood in front of the energy barrier keeping them in their cell as they watched Anakin and Obi Wan struggle with their situation on the other side. Ahsoka was unable to contain herself and hid her flushed laughter behind her palms.
Even Ferry couldn't help but a slight chuckle, particularly with the way Obi Wan's legs were sticking out from the end of the tube the more he wrestled to escape.
Eventually, the situation was resolved, and both of them now exhausted and looking terrible, could at last breathe the free air.
"You look terrible." Ferry noted about them, which prompted a slight chuckle from Ahsoka.
Anakin glared at them, then turned to spot a droid at the end of the corridor. It yelled, "Hey you!"
"Here we go." Obi Wan sighed then stood up, quickly drawing his lightsaber. Blaster bolts flew past him and Anakin shifted his weight on to his knee and deflected them with his own blade.
They fought their way into the control room at the end of the corridor. The battle was quickly resolved in favor of the Jedi Knights, but before they could deactivate the energy barriers everything suddenly went black.
Anakin took a moment to register this strange phenomenon before he interrupted the deafening silence, "What just happened?"
"I was about to ask you the same question." Obi Wan replied, although from where Anakin didn't know, "Are you sure you didn't do anything?"
"Master-…" Anakin was about to argue his sarcasm when he felt a gentle but persistent tap on his shoulder follow by a "Hey."
Anakin whirled in panic mouthing a "HWOA!" but upon activating his lightsaber he saw the unmistakable frowning features of his wife, Ahsoka, centered on him.
"Will you calm down?" She lectured, "It's just me."
Anakin heaved a sigh of relief, "How did you get here?"
"I walked?" She shrugged with a cocked brow then marched past him, "Obviously the power went out."
"Hmmm." Obi Wan muttered from somewhere across the unlit room, "I wonder if this is part of Dooku's plan."
"It has to be." Anakin waved his blue blade across the room, following Ahsoka's footsteps, "He probably deactivated the life support systems as well."
"Why would he do tha-?" Ahsoka felt the hard bump of Anakin's chest against her back, "Hey! Watch it."
"Sorry!" He snickered then felt the harsh punishment of Ahsoka's playful shove knock him back a step. If she was smiling back, he couldn't see it. But he hoped that this was a sign of the beginnings of amnesty between them.
"Regardless of that," Obi Wan activated his lightsaber and revealed his place next to the exit door, "We need to move quickly if we're going to escape."
Ahsoka felt good to be reunited with her lightsaber again. The last time she recalled getting captured on Serenno her hilt was damaged beyond repair and she had to construct a new one. That certainly was not an easy task- also; she would hate to be parted with the new crystal focusing her current blade.
The group moved cautiously together down the dark corridors of the ship with nothing guiding their way other than the three saber hues reflecting off the walls. It was a quiet journey, but nonetheless an anxious one. A trap could be sprung at any moment.
"Any idea which way we're going?" Ahsoka whispered.
Anakin was the first to respond, keeping his voice down as well, "The hangar is levels below us. Just keep quiet and hopefully we can get through this."
If only it were that simple. Why did Anakin always make things sound so easy? This ship is crawling with droids, who quite frankly, don't need eyes to see where they're going!
"You know, Master." Ahsoka jabbed, "Droid photoreceptors don't need lights to see in the dark, and if we have levels to go down- there's a good chance we're gonna bump into one."
She saw Anakin throw her a wiley smirk, "How many times have I told you to stop calling me that?"
Her eyes locked with his and they shared a brief smile. It seems the time away from each other has helped put aside the petty arguments they had earlier, and perhaps the slight added fear that they may never have seen each other again also encouraged them to reconcile- which of course, reminded her of something she wanted to mention earlier.
"I found something while you were away." She stepped in closer to him still wearing the wide smile.
"Oh yeah?" He briefly scanned their surroundings and glanced back her way, "It wasn't our crystal by any chance, was it?"
"Ugh." She turned away from him defiantly with flailed arms, "You ruined the surprise!"
Anakin's wide eyes fell on her, "You mean you really found it?"
She looked at him dismally, "Yes."
But before Anakin could follow it up with another question the slide doors ahead of them opened and the group froze to the sound of droid clanking against the metal floor- a lot of clanking.
Anakin raised the hilt of his lightsaber to his chest nervously, "Obi Wan?"
"I don't think they've seen us yet." Kenobi lowered his voice to a whisper, "We'll make for the other access hatch along the ship's broadside section."
"But that's the longest way there!" Ferry protested, the anxiety in her voice becoming clearer as the droid march was getting closer.
"We don't have a choice." He insisted and furrowed his brows at Anakin, "Now, Go!"
They broke into a desperate run towards the nearest corridor, with Ahsoka leading the way for them due to her natural speed and agility. Wherever they went it was always dark, with nothing but their glowing swords illuminating their path. And despite their best efforts the droids still sounded as though they were right behind them. Soon the familiar echo of rolling metal against metal brought chills down their spine.
"Destroyers!" Anakin called from the back of the group, his head whirling around to catch a glimpse of the lethal machines deploying on the ground and unleashing a fury of laser bolts. Explosions erupted around them as Ferry screamed to cover her face.
"Go, go, go, go!" Anaking yelled as he wrapped her with one arm and deflected the bolts with the other, pushing her along forward as he did so. They finally slipped through a door to the side and sprinted through a wide room where they found themselves facing a deep chasm with a narrow bridge to lead them across to another door. On either side of the bridge were two large electrical tubes going down the chasm.
"The Power Core Generators," Obi Wan turned to face Ahsoka, "You go first."
With a quick nod she followed his instruction using practiced pace and balance, which soon saw her to the other side. She turned in time to spot Ferry and then Obi Wan slowly making their way. Ferry was nervous, and almost lost her balance twice had it not been for Obi Wan's help seeing her through.
Ahsoka extended her arm which Ferry gripped and was pulled safely over to her side. Obi Wan joined them and confirmed the other end of the door was clear. Then came Anakin's turn.
"Anakin!" Ahsoka called, waving her hand in a gesture for him to join them, but as soon as he took his first steps on the bridge it was ripped apart in a tremendous explosion. Everything was engulfed in smoke and fire and debris quickly fell and obstructed his path. Ahsoka screamed, "ANAKIN!"
But Obi Wan grabbed her before she could run back in to pull him out, "Let go of me! Let me go!" she tried to shake him off but his hold on her would not waver.
"We have to go, Ahsoka!" Obi Wan insisted, "There's no time!"
"I can't leave him!" She wailed and struggled against Obi Wan's grip.
"Go," Anakin coughed repeatedly behind the obstruction. She could've sworn he sounded hurt, "I'll hold them off from here."
"NO! NOOO!" Ahsoka sobbed uncontrollably as she tried to peer between the gaps and holes hoping to catch a glimpse of him, "I WON'T LEAVE YOU!"
He yelled hoarsely, "GO!"
She elbowed Obi Wan in the stomach and ran freely over to the debris where she caught glimpse of what was happening on the other side. Count Dooku slowly stepepd through the door with a determined frown and a tight clasp on his glowing red lightsaber. Anakin meanwhile was on the floor and struggling to stand up. He could only just lift his lightsaber and meet his opponent's gaze, but that was the last Ahsoka saw before she was lifted away kicking and screaming.
Trivia:
1. The Life Support Systems on board a ship are what sustain life on board. Tie Fighters do not have them because they're too small, which is why the pilots have to wear special suits with their own in-built life support systems. X-Wings however do have their own life support systems- coz they're just that cool.
2. The Power Core Generator provides power for a starship, a settlement or a base. Think of them as big batteries. The bigger they are, the more power you get. Seriously, I don't need to look up half this stuff!
3. Yeah, I know what you're thinking. The crossing the bridge scene was somewhat inspired from The Lord of The Rings during The Bridge of Khazad-Dum sequence.
4. Sneaking through ventilation shafts is a classic Star Wars trick. You just look up most Star Wars action games- it's in there somewhere.
A.N.
You do not want to miss the next chapter. Take my word for it.
Surprisingly I had a lot more readers than usual, but less reviewers than usual for my last chapter. A penny for your thoughts?
A special and whole hearted thank you to JediPadawan123(I'm updating as super fast as I can!); The Once and Future Thing(You get a special bonus thanks for the 'Force-sniff' reference! :D ); and general-joseph-dickson(Oh, don't you know it!)