Chapter 21
I just want to say, Vader will be in the Separatist until Order 66, but Dooku will know him as a 'Mysterious Assassin'. Anakin and Ahsoka will see Vader at points in the Clone Wars before Order 66. Vader is a major character in this chapter. I know I mentioned that he will be a cameo, but I remembered that Dooku was a hologram in the Clone Wars episode, and I like Vader, so those are the reasons, but Ahsoka and Vader wont duel now. I'll stop talking
There was a peace conference going on between a few Senators from the Republic and Separatist alliances. It was being held on the neutral ground on Mandalore, the planet one Duchess Satine rules. The politicians were talking when Senator Lux Bonteri, love interest of Ahsoka Tano, who was in fact, there and Separatist Senator, barged in through the door. Everyone was confused.
"Yes, I know all of you are confused, but I come in peace" Lux explained, looking lovingly at Ahsoka "But I have come to prove that it was Dooku who murdered my mother!"
"Remove this traitor at once!" A Separatist senator ordered
"Let him speak!" The Duchess exclaimed, but to no avail, two Separatist battle droids were going to remove him from the palace
"Do not trust Dooku my fellow delegates!" Bonteri exclaimed as he was dragged away by the two Separatist Battle droids
Ahsoka, wanting to save the Senator, asked Padmè Skwalker, her marriage now known to all if she could save Bonteri, Padmè said yes, but to be discreet, as Padmè didn't want Bonteri executed for telling the truth, Ahsoka went to save Lux Bonteri.
In the Separatist ship, Bonteri was bought in, as an holographic Dooku told Bonteri
"Ah! Junior Senator Lux Bonteri" Dooku greeted
"Dooku" Lux greeted back, in a dark voice
"I want to tell you that I did not have any involvement in Mina Bonteri's murder" Dooku lied as he continued "You are a traitor, so Darth Sidious, my partner, sent a mysterious assassin to kill you" Dooku's hologram deactivated as Vader stepped in
"So you are the mysterious assassin?" Bonteri asked the hooded figure
"Yes, I want to get this quick" The hooded assassin answered as he activated his lightsaber
So, Vader raised up his lightsaber, quickly tried to swing it at Bonteri as his hit was blocked, by a white lightsaber.
"Hmm… Darksaber style, interesting" Ahsoka exclaimed as she deactivated her lightsaber to go with Lux
Vader knew the descriptions of the main Separatist Targets, which included Ahsoka, so he naturally recognised her as 'My donor's Padawan'. Vader ran after her and ordered some battle droids to blast her, which they obeyed. Ahsoka and Lux escaped into the Republic zone. Vader sighed as he contacted his master
"Lord Vader? Why did you contact me?" Sidious asked in his normal dark tone
"To report. The traitor Senator Lux Bonteri has escaped through the help of Anakin's apprentice, Ahsoka Tano." Vader answered
"Where are they headed?" Palpatine asked
"I don't know, but they are escaping my droids" Vader told Palpatine
"Follow them" Palpatine ordered as he disconnected
Vader took his starfighter, which would be called a TIE fighter when the Empire rules the galaxy, and secretly followed Ahsoka Tano and Lux Bonteri, who were in the middle of a holographic conversation with Qui-Gon
"Master Qui-Gon, should I bring him to the Republic" Ahsoka asked
"I don't know, it's your choice" Qui-Gon answered as he disconnected
Ahsoka then went to think about it, but she wanted to do something like Boba Fett, who recently turned in traitorous Senators to the Republic, it was actually a pact between the Bounty Hunters and the Republic, the Bounty Hunters would be with the Separatists if it hadn't been for the friendship Anakin and Boba possessed, that helped keep the Bounty Hunters neutral, for a while. She also loved Senator Bonteri, who she sensed didn't want to get sent to the Republic. She was confused.
"Don't send me to the Republic!" Lux warned her
"I actually don't know what to do, since I want to send you to the Senate like my friends have been, but I…" Ahsoka stopped the sentence there
"You… what?" Lux asked
"Nothing, I am sending you to the senate!" Ahsoka exclaimed, remembering that she couldn't have a crush on a Separatist Senator
"NO!" Lux screamed as he pulled out a blaster
"Where did you get a blaster?" Ahsoka asked "You could've used that against the assassin!"
"I didn't want to show it, but'd help me in case of trouble like this" Lux said as he shot Ahsoka
Well, he didn't shoot Ahsoka, he hit he with the 'stun' option on, so she was alive, but unconscious, but that moment, R2-D2 decided to come along. He beeped at the unconscious Ahsoka, at which Lux responded as Ahsoka being 'tired'. R2 went, not believing him, because of the shouts. Lux jumped to hyperspace at Carlac. Unknowingly, Vader put a tracker on the ship from his TIE, so he could follow the two teenagers. Lux saw the snow covered world of Carlac. He went out just in time for Ahsoka to wake up. Vader landed just a few hundred meters away from them, and he walked to spy on Ahsoka mostly, and to capture Senator Bonteri, he growled in frustration, he would've caught them, if it wasn't for Dooku and the Clone Wars, despite his denials, he despised the Clone Wars, and if he was the master, he would end it and kill Dooku. He saw Ahsoka come over with her lightsabers in her hands, which she sensed were in the closet drawers, thanks to the modified force trackers installed in them
"You need to tell me a word mister!" Ahsoka exclaimed
"Ahsoka! How did you find your lightsabers?" Lux asked, surprised
"Force Trackers, come with m…" Ahsoka was about to say 'me' when the Death Watch, a rebel Mandalorian splinter group, who wanted to put Mandalore back into it's warrior ways, which the New Mandalorians diminished with Satine's rule, came in flying with their jetpacks.
"Bonteri! About time you came, who's she?" A Mandalorian woman asked, in her armour
"I am umm… his betrothed!" Ahsoka introduced herself with a lie
"Betrothed, a little skinny isn't she, well she serves her purpose, let's go" she ordered as she backslapped Ahsoka
"I'll go guard the ship" Ahsoka said as a Mandalorian picked her up, her lightsabers were still well-hidden in her pockets, but she will take it out when the force tells her to.
They all drove in a few big land rovers, meanwhile, Vader was going to see the Ming Po government.
"Hello, err… what's your name?" Chieftain Pieter asked
"Vader, Darth Vader! I want a place to camp that is near the Death Watch base, they have two people that my master wants" Vader answered
"Ok, you have permission… wait a minute! Aren't the Sith supposed to be allied with the Warrior Mandalorians?" Pieter asked
"Yes, and no, the last one was Sith Lord Exar Kun, who waged war on the Jedi more than 5,000 years ago, they lost and the casualty number was so high, that the Mandalorians quit supporting the Sith after that" Vader answered and left with a grin in his face
Ahsoka and Lux walked through the Mandalorian landscape, R2-D2 was with them. There were Mandalorians shooting droids for fun, messy stables, snowy land and all of those stuff, Ahsoka and Lux headed for a tent, where Lux spoke with Pre Visla, the leader of Death Watch and current owner of the Darksaber.
"Hello, kid, sit down" Visla greeted as Lux and Ahsoka sat down
"Where is Dooku?" Visla asked
Lux began to tell the Death Watch where Dooku was, Ahsoka knew her Master was trying to redeem Dooku and he would not like the killing of him since Dooku could be important. Vader sent a mini-probe to the tent beforehand and Visla, or the other Death Watch troops didn't notice, he thought that Dooku's death would be worth a lot for him and he should not interfere until Dooku was dead, but he still needed Ahsoka and Lux. Ahsoka and Lux were sent to a tent until dinner. A few Death Watch troops made R2-D2 reassemble the worn out droids
"See, they're not so bad people as you say" Lux tried to reassure Ahsoka
"You think? The Death Watch aren't political idealists, they're downright murderers!" Ahsoka exclaimed as they both heard footsteps, so they both started to pretend to kiss each other
"Hope i'm not interrupting anything but I think the girl should come with us" The same woman from before said and Ahsoka shrugged and came along, and they shoved her into a prison tent, Ahsoka went into a fighting stance
"Don't provoke them, this is what happened to us!" A Ming-Po, natives of Carlac, warned "My name's Tryla"
"I'm Ahsoka Tano" Ahsoka introduced herself and they both became acquaintances
"The Death Watch kidnapped us, we are peaceful and easily trusting people, but we were betrayed us" Tryla told Ahsoka
Ahsoka was being set for the job of the waitress for the Death Watch's dinner, Ahsoka looked at Senator Bonteri as she went to serve more trays. Chieftain Pieter busted in and interrupted the fun atmosphere, and Darth Vader, who made a new alliance with the Ming Po stood beside the Chieftain on the right
"Pre Visla, you have stole our land, kidnapped our women and enslaved us, I demand that you release us and our land! If you do not listen to our demands, I will be forced to use brute force!" Pieter demanded, nodding at Vader
"That's the same assassin that tried to kill us earlier" Ahsoka whispered to Lux
"Ok, I will! Sunrise tomorrow!" Visla exclaimed as the Ming Po and Darth Vader left
"See, they're not the barbarians you think they are" Lux told Ahsoka
"Yeah right!" Ahsoka replied
Ahsoka's point was proven at sunrise of the next day, Pre Visla returned Tryla, who was in fact the Chieftain's granddaughter, stabbed right in front of the Chieftain, VIsla ordered the Death Watch to kill them all and burn the village
"But you said you had mercy!" Lux exclaimed, obviously the scene was too much for him
"First rule: Never respect the demands of the weak! Welcome to Death Watch!" Pre Visla welcomed as he gave Lux a hard slap in the back
Tryla's last words was a request for Ahsoka to save her people, Ahsoka couldn't take it anymore, she activated her lightsabers and swung it on all the Death Watch flamethrowers, all the troops tried to open fire on her, since Darth Vader was near, he distorted all the instincts of Ahsoka using a strong Dark Side move, allowing her to be captured by the Death Watch. Darth Vader now had to get the Jedi and the Senator.
"Guess we caught a Jedi!" Visla shouted to all the other troops as Vader secretly followed them to their base and tents. R2-D2 noticed Ahsoka being dragged to execution as the now-reassembled droids were saying thanks
"How can we repay you?" A giant droid asked
R2 made a series of beeps which translated to 'Help my friends' which the droids accepted, they waited for the right moment, they were delayed because of Vader, who went to the tent
"You guys claimed that you possessed honour, now I can see that you are nothing but mindless murderers!" Lux exclaimed, mildly expressing his own love interest for Ahsoka
"Jedi are no better than Sith, they claim to be good, but they are not!" Visla exclaimed as he was interrupted by Vader
"Stop!" Vader shouted that everyone was silenced
"Who are you and what do you want?" Visla demanded
Ahsoka and Lux were nervous about the assassin
"Sith. I come here for the Jedi and the Senator" Vader answered
"On whose orders?" Visla asked
"My master's" Vader replied to Visla
"Well, you've got to battle me first!" Visla exclaimed as he put on his helmet and activated his darksaber, the black metallic blade with a white glow showed
Vader did the same with his lightsaber, the red metallic blade with pink glow activated and they both put on their first strikes. Vader used a form similar to his master's, a fast duel insured. Ahsoka released herself and got her white lightsabers, and started attacking the Death Watch and the droids preferred this time to attack, it was a three-way war, between Vader, Ahsoka and Visla and all of their troops, but Vader fought alone, Ahsoka, Lux and R2 escaped on a speeder as the Death Watch followed and Vader escaped, since he knew this was a failed attempt. He did not want to get get injured, he earned some of Anakin's personality, so he hated medication chambers. Lux was driving the speeder as Ahsoka deflected some shots at them. They all escaped into the ship and escaped, Visla groaned in anger, but at least they didn't have to move
"Now, I am taking you to Coruscant, right now!" Ahsoka angrily exclaimed
"No! I will be leaving, sorry Ahsoka, but I will leave, but two questions?" Lux replied
Ahsoka agreed
"I thought you lightsabers were green" Lux said
"I left the Jedi Order with my Master and his Master, and we all modified our lightsabers to show neutrality" Ahsoka said
"So, you are no longer a Jedi, do you, like me?" Lux asked nervously, blushing
"Yes! I had a crush on you since we met!" Ahsoka happily answered, it felt good to get that out of her system
"I would date you, but I can't join the Republic" Lux told Ahsoka and left in an escape pod
Ahsoka took Padmè back to Dragitor
"Ani! Hi!" Padmè greeted Anakin
"Hey angel!" Anakin greeted back as he looked at Ahsoka "You are feeling conflicted aren't you?"
"Yes, can you help me? I want to forget someone" Ahsoka answered
"Forget someone, who and why?" Anakin asked
"Senator Lux Bonteri, I am madly in love with him, but I know we can't get together since he is the former Separatist-Senator" Ahsoka answered
Anakin thought of this
So, that's the end of this chapter, and I told you so, I like Vader, but I also like Anakin too, this is the end of the very long chapter! Phew! So many writing! At least I don't have to write anymore! NEXT CHAPTER: C-3PO KIDNAPPED