Chapter 25

Dallen landed on the soft sand dune and quickly made his back where he was sure his cousin was. She'd landed a few feet back from where he'd jumped from the gunship. As he stood, he felt a sharp pain in his ankle. I must have twisted it when I landed, he thought.

He limped his way back to where his cousin was still on the sand, but now she was sitting up and was being pulled to her feet by a trooper. The trooped beckoned Dallen over.

"Are you two all right?" he asked.

The two cousins nodded.

"We better get you two to the forward command center," the trooper continued, but Padmé held up her hand to stop him.

"No, no," she said. "Gather what troops you can; we've got to get to that hangar. Get a transport, hurry!"

"Right away." The trooper hurried away, and Dallen turned on Padmé.

"What are you thinking?" he demanded. "You were almost killed."

"Dallen, I'm fine," she insisted. "We've got to get to the hangar and place Xanatos Omega under arrest. It will end this war quickly." She paused, seeing that he was limping. "Maybe you should go to the command center and see if you can have that ankle looked at."

"I don't think so," he shot back. "Someone has to keep you out of trouble."

She shook her head and they settled back to wait for their transport.

Obi-Wan, Rhiannon, and Anakin ran into the hangar where they found Xanatos ready to board his ship.

"You're so not going anywhere," she said in a dangerously calm voice.

Xanatos eyed her. "Master Kenobi, does this child speak for you now?"

Obi-Wan ignored him, but Anakin glared at the renegade. "You're going to pay for the Jedi you killed today, Omega!"

The older master frowned. "We'll take him together," he said sternly. "Anakin, you and Rhee go in on the left."

The two Padawans nodded and began to move toward the renegade Jedi in the direction Obi-Wan had told them to go. Xanatos was quicker and sent them flying with a good dose of Force lightning. Rhiannon cried out in pain as she hit the wall and fell to the ground. Anakin screamed and fell to the ground.

"As you can see my Jedi powers are far beyond yours," Xanatos said with a sneer. "Now, back down, if you please."

Obi-Wan sighed as he felt his bondmate's pain, but pushed it down as Xanatos sent Force lightning toward him. He blocked it effortlessly with his lightsaber. "I don't think so."

He took a deep breath. It was now him and Xanatos, and he would defeat the dark Jedi.

"For the record, I think you're insane," Dallen declared.

He and Padmé were on the transport heading for the hangar with several clone troopers. Padmé was hoping to arrest Xanatos Omega and help Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Rhiannon. His arrest would bring about the end to war before it began, she hoped.

"No one told you to sneak aboard a Jedi transport and come here," she shot back. "Anakin and I came here to help Obi-Wan and Rhiannon."

"And you did a bang up job too," Dallen countered. "When Olana and I jumped into the arena, you were about to be shot by droidekas and the Jedi weren't doing much better."

The clones watched with masked amusement, not wanting to get in the middle of an argument between the two cousins.

"We're almost there," the pilot said as they approached the hangar. Padmé nodded and began to plan how she would apprehend Lord duCrion, aka Xanatos Omega for crimes against the Republic.

Rhiannon lost track of how long she lay on the floor. As she came back to her senses, she could see her mate fighting the dark Jedi. She could see they were evenly matched. Their sabers clashed and she watched in horrified fascination as Xanatos delivered two saber wounds: one to Obi-Wan's arm, and the other to his upper thigh.

Get up, Rhiannon! she screamed at her body. Get up! She forced herself to her feet and ran at Xanatos just as he was about to deliver the fatal blow to her mate's body. Using her lightsaber, she kept him from delivering that fatal blow.

"Brave of you, bitch," he snarled. "I would've thought you'd learned your lesson."

She glared at him. "I am a slow learner."

"Rhee!" Anakin called weakly and tossed her his lightsaber. She caught it easily and was ready to do battle with Xanatos.

"You just got personal," she snarled, keeping her outrage and anger in check. She needed to be focused if she was going to even have a fighting chance against the dark warrior. She parried against him and just barely spun out of his reach when he tried to take her arm.

Meanwhile, Anakin had hauled himself to his feet and was trying to help get his master to safety. "Master," he said. "We have to get you to a medic."

"We can't leave Rhiannon," Obi-Wan gasped as he writhed in pain. "He'll kill her. Here, take my lightsaber. Help her."

Anakin nodded, taking his master's weapon and waiting for the right moment to jump in. When she spun out of range of Xanatos taking her arm, he jumped in, blocking the red blade.

The battle was on.

Yoda watched the progress of the battle from the command center, yet he sensed he was needed elsewhere.

Yes, young Skywalker and his friend Rhiannon Kai were getting the upper hand on Xanatos, but he sensed it wouldn't be for long. He knew they needed to stop Xanatos, by any means necessary.

A clone trooper startled him back into the present. "The droid army is in full retreat," he announced.

The diminutive Jedi master smiled. "Good, very good. Bring me a ship."

The trooper nodded and hurried away.

Rhiannon cursed inwardly. Xanatos had just broken her lightsaber when he parried back at her. However, she could see he was tiring. It was a bit too much for him to be fighting both her and Anakin.

Stay in the moment, she told herself. No need to get arrogant.

At that moment, Anakin took advantage of his exhaustion and severed Xanatos' hand, effectively disarming him.

"You are under arrest, my lord," he said coldly. "Rhee, grab your stun cuffs."

She nodded, taking the cuffs from her utility pack. Suddenly, Xanatos fired Force lightning at her in a rage, sending her flying across the room. She landed near Obi-Wan, semi-conscious.

Anakin reacted instinctively, running Xanatos through with his own lightsaber. The dark Jedi fell to the floor, dead. The blade had pierced his heart, killing him instantly.

It was over.