Shadow's Odyssey: A Star Wars Story

The three Jedi regrouped.

Yoda was grave. "Lost Dooku, I have."

Anakin jabbed a finger at him. "I told you we couldn't trust him!"

They then felt a dark, cold presence. They looked towards it and saw a shuttle landing.

Obi-wan stated the obvious. "He's here."

Anakin spoke with grim determination. "Good, now we can cut off the head of the snake."

"Wait, Anakin." Obi-wan cautioned. "He knows we're here. He wouldn't face us if he didn't think he could win."

"Well, what's your plan then?"

"I think we should evacuate. We'll keep him occupied while the clones escape. And someone find Shadow. We're gonna need him for this."

The ship opened up and a dark, cloaked figure walked down the exit ramp. The three Jedi ignited their lightsabers.

Obi-wan spoke into his commlink, "Cody, you need to evacuate everyone, now!"

"Evacuate where? The new fleet has the planet surrounded!"

"We're gonna have to fight our way out!"

The clones boarded the cruisers and took off for space.

Sidious reached the Jedi.

"Ah, Anakin, my old friend."

"You!" Anakin snarled. "You lied to me! You lied to everyone! You started this entire war! Was anything that you ever said real?"

"I had big plans for you, Anakin. We could've done great things together. But I can see now that that is no longer possible. And now you must die."

Sidious ignited his lightsaber.

Shadow woke up in a small ship. He tried to get up only to find that his legs were chained up, as well as his arms. He crawled over to the door.

It was locked.

There was another door on the opposite side of the room.

It was locked too.

Shadow could use Chaos Blast to destroy the chains and the door but damaging the ship might not be a good idea. There were no windows so he couldn't tell if they were in space or not.

He carefully searched the small space he was in, but he couldn't find anything useful. Including the Chaos Emeralds or the Darksaber.

Panic was threatening, but Shadow made himself focus to see if he could feel the Emeralds nearby. There! They were close, on the other side of one of the doors.

He went over to the door and began slamming his fists against it. When he stopped, there was a decent sized dent in the door. His hands were throbbing, but he had nothing else to do and it had helped him feel a little better, so he attacked the door again.

Suddenly, he heard the door behind him slide open, a warm breeze brushed up against his back. He quickly turned around to see Petro standing in the doorway, a concerned look on his face. Behind him, Shadow caught a glimpse of a barren landscape before Petro came in and closed the door behind him.

"Are you okay?"

"What's going on? Where are we? And why am I chained up?"

"About that… Dooku says I can't tell you." Petro said apologetically.

"What? Why?"

"Because anything you know, Sidious will know."

"Can you at least tell me why you were unconscious when Dooku carried you away?"

"Oh, that. I got shot a couple times."

Shadow looked at him sharply. "Shouldn't you be getting medical attention or something if you got shot?"

"Shouldn't you have gotten medical attention when you got stabbed?" Petro shot back.

"I did!"

"No, you blew up the bacta tank and said everything was fine."

"Whatever. Do you at least feel okay?" Shadow studied Petro intently.

"I'm okay. Dooku patched me up."

"I see. Well, can you take these chains off me and give me the Chaos Emeralds back at least?"

"Dooku said that if those Emeralds make you more powerful, then it's better to keep them away from you so that if you have another freak-out you won't cause as much damage."

"I'm pretty sure I'm still capable of rendering this ship unflyable."

The exit door opened again and Dooku entered the ship.

"What are you doing? I told you to meditate!"

"I was, but then I heard a lot of banging going on inside the ship." Petro explained.

Dooku looked severely at Shadow. "Did you see anything outside?"

"Just dirt and rocks."

"Well, that shouldn't be enough for Sidious to go off of. What did Petro tell you?"

"Not much of anything. Just that you want me ignorant and helpless." Shadow's tone was slightly accusatory.

"Precisely. Sidious has access to all the memories in your head. Anything you know, he knows. Even if you do not recognize a planet, Sidious still might."

"Speaking of memories, why is my last memory one of you shooting me with lightning?"

"Rendering you unconscious was the easiest way to keep you from learning anything. I would keep you sedated if I could."

Shadow then noticed that Dooku was carrying the Darksaber.

"And your purpose for taking that away from me is?"

"I was in need of a new lightsaber. And I can guarantee I can put it to better use than you."

Shadow growled at Dooku's smug attitude.

"Now then, Petro and I need to resume training. You stay here and do absolutely nothing."

Dooku turned to leave, but Shadow spoke up again.

"I still have one more question. What happened to everyone else on Kamino?"

"I'm afraid there was no saving them. There was no way for them to escape."

"We escaped."

"That is because my ship has a cloaking device."

"So, what you're saying is you left everyone to die!" Shadow yelled.

"There was no way everyone could have made it out. If we had stayed, we all would have died."

"You coward!"

Shadow fired a Chaos Spear at Dooku, only for him to absorb it in the palm of his hand.

"May I remind you that you need me alive to free you from Sidious? The three of us together, once powerful enough, can defeat him. Now all I need you to do is sit in here, do nothing, learn nothing, and just wait while I train Petro. Do you think you can manage that?"

Shadow was furious, but he understood that he had very few options.

"Fine, but at least take these chains off."

"Very well, as long as you promise not to abuse the door anymore."

Dooku undid the chains and he and Petro exited the ship to continue training, leaving Shadow alone.

"I really hate that we have to keep him in the dark like this." Petro said, looking back at the ship.

"The sooner you master the ways of the Dark Side the sooner you can change that."

Sidious stared at the three Jedi, waiting for them to make their move. He knew that if he was going to win this fight, he needed to split them up. Anakin would be the easiest to get rid of first. Sidious could feel how off balance he was.

"The legends say that you are the chosen one, that you will destroy the Sith and bring balance to the Force. But in light of recent events, I don't think anyone will believe that anymore. I'm sure your Padawan wouldn't."

Hate and rage rushed through Anakin's veins. He screamed and charged at Sidious.

Obi-wan tried to warn him. "No, Anakin, that's what he wants!"

Sidious stood still, watching Anakin approach. Once Anakin was close enough, he swung. But, a split second before the blade could make contact with Sidious's smug face, a shiny metal object zipped out in front of him.

Anakin's blade hit the metal object and deactivated.

Anakin was stunned. He furiously hit the button, trying to reactivate his lightsaber, all while Sidious laughed at him. Anakin looked at the metal object that shorted out his blade.

It was a droid, one that appeared to be inspired by the look of Shadow's species. It was dark gray, had piercing red eyes, and appeared to have some sort of laser emitter built into its chest. It hovered in the air so that its small body was positioned protectively before Sidious's face.

"Are you familiar with the rare metal cortosis? It's one of the few things in this universe that can stop a lightsaber blade and even short it out. The Separatists used to have a droid like this. Those droids were so effective, I had to sabotage their production to stop them from winning the war. But of course, that's no longer an issue. When I ordered these units to be manufactured again, I received this little master piece. Never have I seen a swifter droid. My scientist calls it 'Cortosis Sonic'."

Anakin started to back up, but the droid grabbed him and launched into the air. It carried Anakin over the water and dropped him. He plunged into the surging waves.

With the droid gone, Yoda rushed towards Sidious with his own, more well thought out attack. His plan was make it look like he was about to attack from the front but when Yoda got close, he was going to jump over Sidious and slash him in the back.

However, when he jumped, he was immediately swatted to the side by the high-speed droid. Yoda was shocked by how fast this droid could move. It was able to grab Anakin, drop him in the ocean, and return in a matter of seconds.

Cortosis Sonic snatched Yoda's lightsaber and crushed it. He shoved the droid away from him with a Force Push only to be struck with Force Lightning by Sidious. Obi-wan attempted to defend Yoda, but Sidious shocked him instead, throwing him back.

The Sith tried to shock Yoda again, only for the old master to raise his hands and block the attack. Sidious cackled as Yoda tried to withstand his power.

Obi-wan got back up to try and help Yoda, only to be faced with Cortosis Sonic. He put his lightsaber away, knowing that it would be useless. He threw a punch and Cortosis Sonic avoided it almost contemptuously. The droid launched a vicious kick into Obi-wan's stomach, then grabbed him and turned towards the ocean. It lifted up Obi-wan and prepared to drop him in like it had done to Anakin.

The droid let go, but Obi-wan managed to grab on to the droid's foot. Annoyed, the droid tried to shake him off. Meanwhile, the younglings watched through a window.

"They're getting destroyed out there!" Zatt cried in dismay. "Anakin's in the ocean, Obi-wan's dangling for his life, and Yoda's barely hanging on!"

"Well what are we supposed to do?" Ganodi questioned. "It's not like our lightsabers will be any more helpful."

"Well there's got to be some way to disable that droid."

"Maybe there's something in the armory that could help us?" Katooni suggested.

The five kids ran to the armory. Racks of weapons and armor covered every wall. They disregarded the armor to focus on the weapons.

Gungi pointed excitedly at a rocket launcher.

"I don't think that's a good idea." Ganodi denied. "Masters Obi-wan and Yoda will be right there."

The wookie groaned in disappointment.

"Wait, I got it!" Zatt pulled out the lid off a crate. "Droid poppers!"

"I don't know, did you see how fast that thing moves?" Katooni countered. "It'll get out of the way before the popper goes off."

"True, but we're going to be using a whole lot more than just one."

Cortosis Sonic was still violently shaking its leg around, trying to shake Kenobi off. However, Obi-wan used this to his advantage, and let go on the upswing of the droid's leg to launch himself back onto the platform.

Cortosis Sonic quickly rushed at him again and grabbed hold of his neck. Obi-wan struggled to breath as the droid's grip tightened.

Meanwhile, Yoda and Sidious continued their power struggle.

"Your friend is dying, Master Yoda. What are you going to do about it?"

Yoda knew that abandoning his fight with Sidious would only result in him getting shot in the back, but he had to do something to help Obi-wan. He broke off the power struggle to Force Push the droid. It was knocked over, but it did not let go of Obi-wan, dragging him down with it.

As Yoda expected, this drop in his defense was taken advantage of by Sidious who shocked him with more Force Lightning. Pain coursed through Yoda's body.

Obi-wan fought to get free of the droid's grip, to no avail. It appeared that this was how he was going to die. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the younglings rush over carrying a crate!

Obi-wan had no idea what they were planning to do, but they were the only ones who could save him. They set down the crate and began pulling stuff out of it. He couldn't see what the items were through the haze that obscured his vision.

Obi-wan heard multiple tiny clangs and thought he saw a quick flash of light. At first thought that it was him dying, but then the grip on his throat loosened. Obi-wan took a deep breath and his vision cleared enough to let him see Cortosis Sonic lying on top of him, unmoving. Its eyes were no longer glowing. He pushed the droid off of him, still gasping for air.

He heard cheers coming from the younglings. "We got him! We got him!"

Obi-wan then saw what they had thrown at the droid. Droid poppers. Lots of them.

But then he remembered Master Yoda. He was still doing his best to defend against Sidious's lighting. He lifted the disabled droid with the Force and threw it at the Sith Lord.

Sidious stopped the droid in mid-air with his own Force power. He let it drop and approached Obi-wan.

"That was most unwise. You should have run when you had the opportunity."

"I'm not leaving without Master Yoda."

Sidious laughed at him. "Your compassion is your greatest weakness!"

The Sith lifted his lightsaber to attack, when he was hit with a powerful Force Push. Sidious was sent sprawling across the platform. The attacker was Anakin, who had climbed back out of the ocean. His eyes were once again filled with rage. He charged at Sidious.

The Sith saw Anakin coming as he was getting up. He tried to swing at him with his lightsaber. Anakin grabbed Sidious's wrist, stopping the blow. Sidious shot lighting from his free hand. Anakin fought through the pain and began punching him. Sidious finally managed to push him away with the Force and backed away to recollect himself.

He was shocked by Anakin's display of power. Sidious felt the pure hatred flowing through his body. Perhaps his plans for him were not lost after all, but he needed to find a new way to gain his loyalty.

Or at least his obedience.

"As entertaining as this fight has been, it grows rather tiresome, and there are far easier ways to deal with you."

Sidious fled back to his ship. Anakin tried to run after him, but Obi-wan grabbed his shoulder.

"Not now, Anakin. We need to get Yoda some medical attention."

Anakin watched as Sidious's ship retreated back into space.

Sidious watched the Republic ships attempting to flee the system, but they were easily held back by the new fleet Eggman had made. His ships were vaguely fish shaped, and were painted bright red, blue, and purple. The symbol of the Separatists was printed on the sides of the ships.

Shadow and Dooku had been conspicuously absent during that fight, and Sidious hadn't sensed them either. They must have escaped using Dooku's cloaked ship. But this mattered very little. Anywhere Shadow went, Sidious could follow.