Chapter 20

Airspeeders honked and drivers cursed as Luke Skywalker zipped past them. Upon hearing Mek Dain's officer mention that the Jedi Temple was under attack by lightsaber-wielding droids, he had run out of the chancellor's office and boarded his speeder. Now, he was flying straight towards the temple at high speed, swerving left and right in the traffic lanes to avoid hitting other speeders going slower than he was.

Once or twice, he was nearly in an accident because he was distracted thinking about his meeting with Don Dain. Luke was still trying to wrap his head around the story that the former Separatist had told. He had to admit, he now felt a little sympathy towards his long-time opponent. It almost made Luke regret blackmailing him. He put those thoughts to rest by reminding himself that Dain had been lying and manipulating everyone for decades. It was entirely possible that the story was a lie as well, at least in part. Besides, Luke had managed to dissuade Dain from attacking the Jedi, and now they could devote all their attention to fighting the Sith.

By the time the Jedi Temple came into view, the sun had set, and the sky was darkening. By all outward appearances, nothing was out of the ordinary. But looks were often deceiving, and Luke could sense the panic and pain of his fellow Jedi within their sanctuary. Alliance dropships were parked all across the roof, surrounded by stormtroopers rushing through each of the temple's entrances. Hopefully, this meant that Mek had followed his father's orders and committed his forces to defending the temple against the droids.

Luke set his speeder down amidst the other ships, dismounted, and ran up to the ranking officer. "What's the status, Lieutenant?"

The officer replied, "Master Skywalker, the droids have spread throughout the temple. We've coordinated with Master Tano to divide our forces in defense of key areas."

Luke relaxed somewhat, glad that the Jedi and the Alliance military were once again working together. "What do we know about the invaders?"

"So far, only droids. They are humanoid, average height, moderately armored, and armed with red lightsabers. I can't give you any more specifics, other than the fact that they are black. This makes it easy for them to hide in dark spaces and pounce from the shadows."

The information, though sparse, confirmed that the droids were designed to fight Jedi. Luke was certain that the Sith were behind this attack, although there was no proof. He asked, "Do we know how many landed on the temple?"

"The command center's sensors picked up almost a hundred of them. They also picked up one unidentified biological, but we haven't seen it yet."

Luke frowned in confusion. Only one biological? Possibly a Sith warrior? Why would the Sith send only one warrior against the entire Jedi Order? It made no sense. Maybe it was one of the Sith assassins. Sinestro, perhaps? He relayed his concerns to the officer. "I think that biological might be one of the assassins from Chancellor Dain's inauguration. Order your men not to engage until after they have reported his or her location."

The officer saluted. "Understood, sir." He walked away and began to bark orders into his comlink. Luke, meanwhile ran to the nearest entrance, lightsaber in hand, and into the besieged temple. It was eerily quiet, compelling Luke to walk slowly so he could hear any approaching enemies. Unfortunately, droids and other non-living things had no discernable Force presence, so Luke would be unable to sense them coming. However, he could use the Force to heighten his other senses, which would allow him to hear the low hum of servomotors or feel the vibrations from mechanical footfalls.

It was for that reason that Luke jumped out of the way in time to avoid being halved by a red energy blade. He ignited his green lightsaber as he whirled around to face his assailant. It was definitely a droid, but it was unlike any Luke had ever seen. It was just as the officer had described – black, humanoid, average height, moderately armored – although far more intimidating in actuality. Its armored chest showed burn marks from blasterfire that failed to penetrate it, and its limbs were thicker and stronger than those of humans. In place of a head, the droid had a dark, 360-degree panoramic photoreceptor that allowed it to see in all directions at once, making it nearly impossible for anyone to sneak up on it. But the most frightening feature of all; two double-bladed lightsabers with 75-centimeter-long blades, held in hands that could rotate continuously at deadly speed.

The droid lunged at Luke, its spinning lightsabers forming a red shield. Luke knew that attempting to attack would only result in his weapon being knocked out of his hand. He needed to figure out a plan of attack. Until then, all he could do was try to evade the droid. It thrust one spinning lightsaber at Luke, forcing him to jump backwards, and then it swung at him with its other lightsaber, causing him to duck. Luke then rolled to the side as the droid stomped its foot hard enough to crack the floor. The Jedi took the opportunity to stab at the droid's ankle, but its spinning lightsaber knocked Luke's weapon away. Fortunately, it had only hit the tip of Luke's saber, so he still had his weapon in hand.

Noticing where its adversary was, the droid turned to face him, held one lightsaber in front of it, and began to walk forward. Luke scuttled backwards to avoid having his feet sliced off by the spinning blades. He then reoriented himself into a log roll until he had gained enough distance to get back on his feet. Then he thrust his lightsaber into the center of the red arc, destroying both the droid's lightsaber and its hand. But there was no time for Luke to relish his victory, for the droid, undeterred by the loss of its hand, continued to attack with its other saber.

The droid swung and stabbed repeatedly, and Luke dodged each blow while he came up with another idea. The trick he had used on the first lightsaber would not work again unless the droid stopped moving long enough for Luke to aim at the "bull's eye" formed by the spinning hilt. Somehow, he doubted that the droid would make the same mistake twice. He decided to use the only other weapon he had; the Force. Jumping as far away from the droid as he could, Luke built up and unleashed a Force blast that knocked his enemy against the wall. Stunned momentarily, the droid stopped spinning his lightsaber long enough for Luke to lunge in and stab the droid in the chest. It let out a low groan as its power was completely drained.

Having defeated his foe, Luke deactivated his lightsaber and continued through the temple, keeping his senses open for any more droids… or the Sith assassin.

The atrium of the Jedi Temple had become a battlefield. Jedi and stormtroopers were scattered about the large, open area, fighting the Sith droids. Some troopers were stationed on the balconies, firing down at the droids, while others took cover behind the massive pillars supporting the ceiling. But very few of their shots hit their targets. The droids' lightsabers spun fast enough to deflect most of the blaster bolts, and their armor was tough enough to absorb what few bolts were lucky enough to get through the improvised shields.

The Jedi's luck was not much better. The droids' speed, agility, and spinning lightsabers made it nearly impossible to score a debilitating hit. Often, it took two, three, or even four Jedi working together to take down just one droid. This strategy usually involved attacking the droid from all sides with two Jedi keeping the droid's lightsabers occupied while the others thrust their weapons into openings created by their comrades. Unfortunately, the droids were smart enough to quickly figure out and counter the tactic.

Ahsoka Tano had somehow found herself locked in battle with two droids at once, both coming at her from either side. She jumped, ducked, and twisted to avoid the four spinning lightsabers swinging in from all directions, and even struck back with her own lightsabers every now and then, even though her green and yellow blades bounced harmlessly off of the red ones. She was beginning to get tired, and knew that she needed to end the duel quickly.

After thinking for a second, she backflipped over one of the droids, landing behind it. Before the droid had a chance to react, Ahsoka used the Force to throw it against the other droid. The first droid was carved into thin slices as it collided with the second droid's spinning lightsaber. She allowed herself to relax, unaware that the second droid was still intact and preparing for another attack. It threw the first droid's mangled corpse at Ahsoka, knocking her down, and then charged forward with both lightsabers spinning. Too tired to fight back, the Jedi Master simply reached out with the Force, probed the inner workings of her opponent's weapons, and willed them to fly apart. The lightsabers exploded, leaving the droid defenseless. Unsure of how to respond to this unexpected tactic, it just stood there while Ahsoka cut it in two with a vertical slice down the center of its body.

With both droids destroyed, Ahsoka deactivated her lightsabers and leaned back against the wall. She was getting too old for this. She took a minute to rest and catch her breath before forcing herself to rejoin the action. From her position on one of the upper level walkways, she could observe the entire atrium. It was clear that the battle was not going well. The bodies of at least fifty stormtroopers were scattered throughout the atrium, often cut into several pieces. Several Jedi had fallen as well, much to Ahsoka's dismay. And, from what she could tell, only a dozen droids had been destroyed. No, the battle was not going well at all.

Ahsoka knew that unless she found a way to turn the tide of the battle, the Jedi would surely lose. She thought back to the many battles she had participated in during the Clone Wars and the Yuuzhan Vong War, searching for similar circumstances and remembering various counter tactics. At the same time, she surveyed the atrium as she would any other battlefield for terrain or objects that could benefit the Alliance forces. A minute later, she had a plan.

After setting her comlink's frequency to match that of the stormtroopers, Ahsoka relayed her orders into it. "This is Master Tano with new orders. All troops on the ground floor, fall back to the tops of the main staircases. Troops on the balcony, lay down cover fire for them. Prepare to receive further orders soon." Reaching out with the Force, she sent mental images to the other Jedi, explaining her plan. Pretty soon, all of the Jedi and stormtroopers were following her orders, each one retreating to the nearest staircase. The troopers on the upper levels continued to fire at the droids, keeping them occupied long enough for their companions to reach the tops of the stairs.

Ahsoka then gave her next orders to the stormtroopers. "Form a line at the top of each staircase. On my command, concentrate all fire on the nearest droids." The troopers moved into position and pointed their blasters towards the bottom of the stairs. The Jedi stood a few steps below them, holding their lightsabers in various defensive positions. Ahsoka went to the nearest staircase and stood alongside her fellow Jedi. As she had expected, the Sith droids had spread out and were moving up the stairs, holding their spinning lightsabers out in front of and behind them. With everyone in position, Ahsoka yelled, "Open fire!"

Throughout the atrium, stormtroopers fired repeatedly at the droids coming up the stairs while the Jedi defended them from shots that were deflected by the droids' lightsabers. Naturally, the droids that were further up the stairs than the others took the brunt of the coordinated attack. With dozens of blaster bolts raining down on them, the droids were unable to block them all. One by one, the closest droids were peppered by blasterfire and destroyed, their bodies falling down the stairs. As each droid fell, the fire concentration shifted to the droid immediately behind it.

As the barrage of blasterfire continued, the droids' ascent gradually slowed, stopped, and then reversed. Ahsoka looked around the atrium and saw that, on every staircase, the droids were moving away from the stormtroopers. Even their computer processor brains knew that it was harder to aim accurately at a distant target. By moving away, the troopers were less likely to hit the droids. But Ahsoka knew just how to fix that. "Push forward!" On her command, the Jedi and stormtroopers marched down the steps, continuing to fire at the droids.

As more droids succumbed to blasterfire, the Alliance forces pushed the remaining droids into the center of the atrium, forming a ring around them. Overwhelmed by this tactic, the droids were forced to halt their attack while they tried to compute a response. That indecision proved to be their undoing, as they were all destroyed within a minute.

The Jedi and stormtroopers let out triumphant cries, celebrating their hard-earned victory. But Ahsoka said, "The battle isn't over yet. There are still other droids spread throughout the temple. Split up and clear them out!" With renewed confidence, the Alliance forces left to carry out their orders. Ahsoka, meanwhile, used the respite to meditate. She wanted to be relaxed for the next fight, and also to see if she could feel Luke's familiar presence in the temple.

Suddenly, she gasped as if she had been hit with a wave of cold water. She could sense Luke, fighting for his life against the Sith droids, but another Force presence had quickly overpowered his own. This presence reeked of malice and death, such that Ahsoka had not felt in decades. A chill ran down her spine as she remembered to whom that presence had belonged. She sped off in Luke's direction, hoping that she would not arrive too late.

Every droid was harder to beat than the last. At least, that was how Luke felt as he struggled against his third droid. When he first saw it, rather than launch into a duel, he had decided to follow it, hoping that it would wander into an area where Luke could gain a tactical advantage, or where other Jedi could help him fight it. That had proven to be harder than anticipated. The droid's 360-degree vision made it nearly impossible for Luke to hide from it. The droid had eventually spotted him when they entered the corridor leading to the communications center.

As their sabers clashed, Luke tried every trick he could think of, but to no avail. Either the droid had learned from its companions' mistakes – unlikely, but not impossible – or Luke was beginning to tire. As the duel wore on, the Jedi Grand Master found himself relying less and less on physical strength, and more on his connection to the Force. He was able to foresee his opponent's moves almost before it made them, which allowed him to defend himself better.

The droid, with its lightsabers both spinning clockwise, held one weapon in front of it while preparing to swing the other in at Luke. Almost without thinking, Luke thrust his lightsaber in between the spinning blades as they overlapped, one in front of the other. One red blade pushed up while the other pushed down, holding the green blade in the center. With a grunt of effort, Luke pushed his lightsaber into the droid's chest, destroying the CPU housed within. Without its brain, the droid shut down.

Unfortunately, the grinding of the three energy blades pushing against each other had resulted in a loud screech, drawing the attention of the droids in neighboring corridors. Luke soon found himself helplessly surrounded from all sides by Sith droids, each advancing on him with its deadly spinning lightsabers held to its sides and angled inward like a wedge. Holding his own lightsaber defensively, Luke took in his surroundings, desperately searching for a way out. Summoning as much Force energy as he could, he made a sweeping motion with his arms to push all of the droids away from him. To his surprise, however, they stuck their lightsabers into the floor, creating enough friction to keep them from flying. That tactic was not likely to work again. Luke knew there was little chance he would be able to fight all of the droids on his own, and the ceiling was too low for him to jump over them. He was trapped.

Suddenly, one of the droids exploded. Surprised by this, the other droids halted their advance to see what had caused their companion's destruction. After a second, the smoke cleared to reveal a man wearing silver armor and a skull-like helmet, holding a smoking concussion rifle. Luke did not hesitate to question the mysterious person's identity. Instead, he threw his lightsaber like a boomerang at the nearest droid, using the Force to spin it in the same direction as the droid's lightsaber. This allowed his saber to pass through the droid's improvised shield and slice through its arms and torso. Luke then summoned his weapon back into his hand and continued to fight alongside his new "ally."

While Luke dueled the droid that had been standing behind the one he had just destroyed, the silver-armored man was firing at the other droids with his concussion rifle. Unlike blaster bolts, rather than being deflected by lightsabers, concussive blasts exploded upon impact. The blocked blasts were not strong enough to destroy the droids, but they were effective at knocking them off-balance. However, the rifle needed a second to cool down before it could be fired again, allowing the droids to advance on the mercenary.

Luke had a clear path to the man, and briefly considered abandoning his duel to help him. But before Luke could make a decision, the mercenary allowed himself to fall over backwards and activated rocket boosters in his boots, propelling himself away from the other droids. As he did so, he tossed a metallic sphere into the throng and pressed a button on his wrist gauntlet. Instantly, the sphere hummed to life and the droids were magnetically yanked towards it, their lightsabers slicing through them in the process.

Now Luke was fighting the only droid left. To his surprise, the mercenary pulled a vibroblade out of his backpack. Outwardly, it looked like a thin, metal sword, but Luke had had enough experience with vibroblades to know that they were dangerous. The hilt contained an ultrasonic vibration generator, causing the blade to vibrate at such an incredible speed that even the slightest glancing blow became a gaping wound. Some blades were known to have been infused with cortosis, a rare lightsaber-resistant metal. The mercenary's blade appeared to be one of those.

Luke and the mercenary fought side-by side, bringing their blades to bear against the droid's. Together, they were more than a match for the droid. At one point, it thrust one spinning lightsaber at the warrior, who responded by thrusting his vibroblade directly into the saber's arc. The angular velocity would have disarmed any normal person, but the man was stronger than he appeared, and he was able to slow the lightsaber enough for him to reorient his blade to slice through the droid's hand.

Now down to only one weapon, the droid was even more hard-pressed to fight the Jedi and the mercenary. After almost no time at all, the droid's left hand was similarly severed and its torso sliced open by the vibroblade. The weapon had cut several wires in the droid's brain, permanently disabling it. The battle was over.

Luke deactivated his lightsaber and turned to the masked man. "Thank you. You saved my life."

In a synthesized voice, the man replied, "Don't forget that, because I won't." He turned off his vibroblade and slid it back into his backpack.

As the man began to walk away, Luke asked, "Who are you?"

The man stopped, turned to face Luke, and answered, "AO-327, bounty hunter."

Luke remembered that name from Don Dain's story. "I take it Chancellor Dain hired you to attack the temple."

AO-327 shrugged. "It was just a job for an old acquaintance. He changed his mind, so that makes us allies now, Master Skywalker."

Luke nodded simply, not entirely thrilled at the prospect of working with this bounty hunter.

He turned around and started down the corridor, but froze when he heard a nearby explosion. He turned back to see that AO-327 had fired his concussion rifle at something down another corridor. Luke ran up to him to see what it was. At the end of the hall was a door with an arc burned through it. Sprawled on the floor were the smoking remains of a Sith droid. Luke surmised that the droid had been trying to cut its way through the door when AO-327 had spotted it.

The bounty hunter must have been thinking the same thing. "What's through that door?"

"The communications center," answered Luke.

AO-327 tilted his head in confusion. "That's not normally a place droids try to break into. It must have been malfunctioning." Without another word, the bounty hunter walked away, searching for another droid to fight.

But Luke stayed behind. His feelings told him that the droid had not malfunctioned. Something was not right. That particular room was only used for sending or receiving messages. There were plenty of more valuable targets within the temple. Also, given that combat droids were given little to no creative thinking, they would only try to break into a room if they had been specifically programmed to do so. Luke surmised that the Sith must have wanted something in that room, and he would rather not wait for them to get their hands on it to find out. He walked down the hallway and used the Force to open the doors.

Curiously, the lights were off, so the room was illuminated only by the brightly lit Coruscant buildings outside the window. Before Luke even thought about turning on the lights, one of the communications consoles began to glow blue, indicating that a message had just been received. Luke knew that this was hardly the time to be checking messages, but he was curious. He walked over to the console and reached for the "answer" button.

Luke froze as a dark Force presence made itself known. A familiar cackle sent a chill down his spine, and a raspy, guttural voice behind him growled, "We meet again, 'Young Skywalker.' Hooo heh heh heh heh heh heh heh."

Action-oriented chapters are normally hard to write because action usually requires visual media. But I'm very pleased with how this chapter turned out. And that ending... I don't think I have been that excited to write something since the ending of my first story! If you have any comments or questions, please leave them in your reviews or private messages.