Hello everybody. I'd say sorry about the delay, but since I'm so full of them it's become pretty much a given. But I'm still updating far more frequently than a few I can think of, who take literally months, but oh well.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars earlier today was epic. Best of all, it featured everyone's favourite Twi'lek, Aayla Secura. She only had two lines, neither of which were very long, but she and Master Yoda were up to general awesomeness, bouncing all over the place on top of the enormous Zillo Beast, which, despite the fact my story will be getting more and more canon, will still feature.
Hope everyone likes the space battle and Gargomon's general silliness.
Secret of the 327th
Chapter 28:- Into the Lion's Den
The turrets were extremely easy to overwhelm. Apparently the Separatists had put altogether too much faith in their deflector shield. There were only five laser guns situated around the gaping crater-slash-cannon-mouth. With over twice as many AT-TE walkers shooting back at them with much more powerful lasers, each one was smashed to smithereens in a mere few seconds.
The clones charged forward, yelling loud warcries and squaring their shoulders. Due to the precariousness of the zone they were charging into, a lot of them had been fitted with jetpacks. Sprinting past the busted turrets, the four clone leaders, Bly, Rex, Cody and Ponds, barrelled towards the edge of the hole and leapt out into space, along with several others.
"Geronimo!" shouted Gargomon after them as he himself pulled to a stop at the edge, along with the Jedi and his sister, and number of jetpackless clones. The clones leaned over the edge and aimed their blasters at any droid they saw. Gargomon joined them, sending a flurry of green down amongst the blue, punching droids in left, right and centre.
The jetpack clones descended sharply and quickly, zipping past the droids and blasting them as they descended the levels before they even knew what was going on. Bly pointed his dual pistols at a group of them running past him as he jetted down and opened fire. They were torn to shreds under his barrage. One of them had the sense to return fire, but Bly was already a level lower by this time. The droid leaned over to seek out his target and was quickly shot in the head by Ponds as he followed Bly down.
Most of the droids pointed their blasters up and aimed for those on the lip of the circular hole, firing between the slowly spinning wheels that the jetpack clones also carefully avoided. But the clones had better cover and were able to pull out of sight if something came their way. One or two were hit and went toppling down into the hole with screams of despair, but mostly they avoided being hit.
Three lightsabers danced a vicious blur of three separate colours as they swung in all directions, catching the lasers that came their way with complete accuracy and sending them hurtling back down the hole. Mace, Aayla and Ahsoka were waiting for the all clear signal before they descended into the hole themselves, but for now they stood in full view of the droids. This was deliberate, to draw the droid's fire their way, as they could block the blasts while the clones couldn't.
Turuiemon crouched beside Gargomon, doing nothing for the time, but ready to spring into action when needed.
Bly and Rex were the first to land on the level halfway down. Cody and Ponds quickly followed, as did fifteen other clones. "Alright, lads!" cried Ponds. "You know what to do. Let's secure the area."
"Copy that!" shouted another clone, and they spread out, rushing through doors and levelling their blaster at thin air or, occasionally, droids, at which point they'd pull the triggers and say hello in their own unique way.
Cody kicked down a door and immediately pulled back when he saw a column of droids marching down the corridor on the other side. "We got Supers inbound!" he shouted, wheeling around the door to set off a volley at the stomping battle droids. Immediately the other clones rushed to his aid and sent bolts flying thick down the corridor. The Supers at the front crackled and collapsed, leaving the ones behind vulnerable as they tried to step over the fallen without tripping.
The battle was brutal but quick, resulting in the death of three clones and all the Supers. Ponds hefted his blaster and pressed the comlink on his wrist. Up above, Mace answered, continuing to deflect bolts with the other hand, along with the Jedi women on either side of him.
"General Windu," said Ponds. "We've successfully secured a foothold in the base."
"Good work, Commander Ponds," replied Windu. "Proceed to the next sector. We're on our way in."
"Sir, yes, sir."
"Well, Padawan," Mace turned to Ahsoka, who turned to him and deflected two bolts without looking. "Do you feel up to the challenge?"
"Does a Hutt smell bad?" grinned Ahsoka. Mace glowered at her, then at Aayla because she'd chuckled.
"Fortunately I've never been close enough to one to find out," said Aayla. "But I've heard rumours."
Ahsoka had been about to apologise for her casual demeanour, but Aayla's apparent nonchalance surprised her. Aayla smirked at her and winked. Ahsoka grinned back. Mace sighed. "What is the Jedi Order coming to?" he muttered.
"I could think of several hilarious answers to that question," said Gargomon. "But are we going into that hole or not?"
"Yes we are," said Mace. "Follow me!"
He leapt into the air and dropped downwards, still deflecting random blasts as he fell. Aayla turned to look at the Digimon, to find that both suddenly had the increasingly familiar dragon wings growing from their backs.
"Got any interesting words for us as we jump?" she asked Gargomon.
"Ho yes," he grinned.
"Let's go!" shouted Turuiemon, and all four of them sprang at the same time, diving headfirst into the abyss. As they descended, Gargomon shouted "COWABUNGAAAAAAAA!"
The two Jedi, with the third a little way ahead, leapt and bounced down from one gently spinning wheel to another gently spinning wheel, while the two Digimon effortlessly pitched around them.
Three STAPs rose up to meet them, the droid riders pointing their constantly firing laser cannons up at them. Aayla and Ahsoka ducked behind a giant spoke, which was bombarded from below.
"Alright," said Ahsoka. "Time to get to get serious."
"Indeed," said Aayla. Then she leapt off the spoke, bringing her legs to her chest and rolling through the air like a cannonball. At the last second she uncurled and rebounded off another wheel and coming to land on the STAP, facing the droid.
"Hey, you're not authorised to be on this thing!" it complained.
"Terribly sorry I didn't know," replied Aayla. "I'll be going then."
Aayla bounced off the STAP, cutting the droid piloting it in the neck before flipping neatly onto a nearby platform. Turning, the Twi'lek saw the other two STAPs get blown to pieces by a grinning Gargomon. Turuiemon then overtook her brother, switchblades primed and hurled two curved blades of light at two Droidekas which rolled onto a platform on the opposite side of the hole. They didn't even get a chance to raise their shields and were sliced to pieces.
Mace landed beside Aayla and Ahsoka bounced down to join them, as Gargomon and Turuiemon swooped in. "Alright," said Mace, turning to Gargomon. "Where are Kenobi and Skywalker? We need to meet up with them as soon as possible."
"Kindly follow the kick-ass bunny!" said Gargomon, landing and running off as his wings disappeared.
"You are so full of yourself," Turuiemon said as she did the same and ran after him.
"Sometimes," he replied. "Momentai."
As they ran, Mace turned to Aayla and said, "I trust you sense it too."
Aayla nodded, all trace of her formerly jocular attitude gone as she said, "Count Dooku?"
"Count Dooku," nodded Mace.
The Blade of Dorin, was a small Delta-7B Aethersprite-class light interceptor, better known as Jedi starfighter. It had the same triangular shape as the others, but it was painted blue, along with streaks of white running from the cockpit to the edges. It belonged to General Plo Koon, and, at the moment, it shot out into space, spinning as it veered the corner and zipped past the cruiser and into the thick of the laser storm.
Flanking it were several V-19 Torrent starfighters. These were piloted by clones and had two folded airfoils coupled with enhanced repulsorlift engines and two blaster cannons on each tip. They moved in a tight V-formation, with Plo at the tip.
"Stay on course," Plo instructed, flicking a lever in the cockpit. "Be prepared for a bit of a fight men. We're heading right for the epicentre. Stay focused. I don't want to lose a single ship if I can help it."
"Don't worry about us, sir," said the clone directly on Plo's right, whose name was, for no obvious reason, Warthog. "We like to be in the thick of things, don't we boys?"
"That we do," said another.
"Contact!" yelled Plo, as a swarm of Vulture Droids surged towards them. "Keep it tight!"
The Vultures opened fire, lighting the vacuum with their red lasers. As usual, the returning fire of the clones and the Jedi was blue and return fire they did. Plo sent his fighter into a spin, avoiding several blasts sent his way and sending back a few of his own. Two Vulture droids exploded into fragments when struck by the missiles.
The clone pilots of the 127th Gunship Wing steered their ships with skill and precision. Soon, the whole area became alive with blasting lasers, as the clones avoided the red ones with carrying tilts and rolls to their ships.
"Two new targets closing!" shouted one of them as two Vulture Droids came zipping in from the side, where the clones were less protected.
"Leave them to me," Plo executed a swift barrel-roll and banked so tightly it didn't seem possible, coming around in the blink of an eye. He unleashed a volley at the Vultures, which met them side-on and vanished in explosions of metallic parts.
As with most space battles, the whole thing dissolved into chaos very quickly. The Vultures that had avoided being blasted down turned around to shoot at the clones from behind. The V-formations split and the clones veered off to escape amongst the melee and cause a little havoc of there own.
One of them, named Shard, sent off two concussion grenades that cannoned through space and blew up three approaching vultures. "Yeah!" he cried. "That's the way to do it!"
"Watch your flank, Shard!" cried another clone called Kay. Shard turned his head to see a Vulture spiralling towards him. He didn't have time to cry out before his fighter was annihilated by the Vulture's firepower, and him with it. With a cry of rage, Kay brutally avenged his fellow clone by blowing the Vulture into a similar number of pieces.
"Nice work, Kay!" said Warthog grimly as he shot of in pursuit of two more.
"Help!" shouted one called Throttle. "I've four on my tail! AAARGH! I'm hit! I'm hit!"
Plo turned to see Throttle's V-19 smoking and lurching dangerously as the four Vultures eagerly tried to finish them off. "Relax, Throttle. I'll take them out!" He swung about and let fly. The unsuspecting Vulture on the left suddenly lost on of its engines and went spiralling out of control, cannoning into all three of the others as Plo whipped past.
"Thank you, sir!" breathed Throttle. "I've got it under control!"
"Good!" said Plo. "I think we've broken them quite well. But, if I'm not mistaken, here come some reinforcements."
"For us or them?" asked Warthog.
"Both," said Plo. And he was quite right. The clones looked back at the cruisers and saw a large number of V-17 Torrent starfighters streaming towards them. At there head was another Delta-7B. This one had a yellow centre, ringed with white and with red edges.
"I thought it would be prudent to give you a helping Master Plo," said Kit from inside it. "I do hope your not offended."
"On the contrary," said Plo. "I find it most welcome. What is the status back on the cruisers?"
"Master Luminara is heading the assault via cruiser. I have faith in her abilities. And we've got some unfriendly company heading our way."
"Let's show 'em what clones are made of," shouted Warthog and they formed up into ranks again, behind and slightly above the row in front to shoot over them.
"Let's make a run for frigates," said Plo. "Keep the fighting away from our cruisers."
Kit and Plo rushed forward at pace and met the oncoming Vultures head on. The clones were right behind the two Jedi, sweeping into the charging Vulture. The two Jedi starfighters barrelled ahead, swaying and dodging blasts flung their way, wheeling around to shoot in all directions. Kit dived down steeply, then came upwards even more steeply to strike the droids almost vertically from below.
Beating back the droids and suffering only a few casualties themselves, the Jedi zoomed in amongst the six frigates. The laser turrets swung around to face them, but they were ineffective against such small prey, which could easily whip past before they'd even sent a laser at them. Plo and Kit wheeled around the bridge of the nearest frigate. Their lasers were successfully stopped by the deflector shields of each individual ship, and so they concentrated on eradicating the fighters first.
"Master Luminara," Kit called into his comlink. "The area between the ships is clear of fighters. Send in the bombers to assist us."
"At once, Master Fisto," Luminara replied. From the bridge of her cruiser, she spoke to a nearby pilot. "Are the Y-wing bombers ready?"
"Prepped and awaiting your order General," said the clone.
"Then I'm giving I to them," she said. "Tell them to get underway. The sooner we can win this battle the better."
"Right away, sir," said the clone, turning to repeat the order.
"Is it wrong for me to be enjoying this?" asked Turuiemon as she stabbed down into the top of the large crab droid that had climbed over the edge of to greet them. It was already minus both its front legs courtesy of Mace and Ahsoka and now Turuiemon delivered the finishing blow. The photoreceptors went dead and the droid fell to the floor.
"Not in the slightest," Gargomon replied, as punched a Dwarf Spider off the edge and watched it fall into the crater. Beside him, Aayla cut another one in half and levitated the other with the Force, following Gargomon's example and chucking it over the side.
"It would be frowned upon by many Jedi," said Aayla.
"And are you one of them?"
"No. I don't violence per se, but even I can understand why many thick it fun to scrap a droid."
"We'll make you one of us yet," chuckled Turuiemon, stepping off the dead Crab.
"You mean I'm not one of you already?"
"Oh no, you can't be one of us until you go through the initiation ceremony," grinned Gargomon evilly.
"And what's that?" asked Aayla, genuinely curious.
"You have to daub yourself with mud and twigs wearing absolutely nothing then run around the block twice, then stick your head in a bucket and shout the chorus to a Nickeback song called Next Go Round."
Aayla looked surprised, confused and incredulous all at the same time. She glanced at Turuiemon, hoping for an explanation. She got one when Turuiemon said, "Okay, A, you are a dirty minded individual. B, stop making things up just to see what Aayla's reaction will be. There's no initiation ceremony, Aayla. He's being silly."
"Hello?" said Gargomon. "This is me we're talking about. Of course it was going to be silly."
"Touché," said Turuiemon.
"Yes, Gargomon," Aayla scowled playfully and said with a voice that was a mix of menace and amusement. "Do that again and I'll get someone to synthesis pineapple and force-feed it to you."
"Ack. That's not fair," Gargomon protested.
"Not really," said a voice, and everyone turned to see Kyubimon step out of a nearby doorway. "In fact I'd help her out."
"You're so evil," Gargomon stuck out his tongue.
"And telling someone they have to run around naked and sing a song that's ridiculously inappropriate for kids isn't?" his mate replied.
"It was just a bit of fun."
"Yes, and your fun often gets you into trouble. Remember the incident with Yamaki and the custard."
"Oh don't remind me."
"You're going to have to tell me that story sometime," said Aayla, smiling as Anakin and Obi-Wan stepped through the doorway behind Kyubimon – they'd been screened from view by her tails.
"Snips," said Anakin, crossing over to Ahsoka. "Glad to see you made it in one piece."
"In one piece?" asked Ahsoka. "You make it sound like I could have got hurt. Too bad you missed all the real fighting."
"Excuse me, but we had to face five MagnaGuards just now," said Anakin.
"Five on three. Big deal. It was three on one when I had to fight them on Tatooine."
"You mean three on two."
"Stinky doesn't count."
"Lovely little place the Separatists have here," remarked Obi-Wan sarcastically.
"Yes, it's dark purpose is most evident," said Mace.
"You do know that you just jumped into the mouth of a giant cannon don't you?" said Kyubimon.
"Yes, we had figured that much out on our own," said Aayla. "And I might add, that the purpose isn't the only dark thing I can sense somewhere within this place."
"I was hoping I was imagining it," sighed Obi-Wan. "But it looks like we were right Anakin. Count Dooku is somewhere around here."
Ahsoka appeared to be the only Jedi who looked surprised by this, but she'd never met the Count and was less in tune with the Force than the others, as they'd had more practice. She immediately tensed and glanced over her shoulder. "Count Dooku? Here?" she asked.
"Delightful," said Turuiemon. "I've to meet the main antagonist for some time."
"He's not someone to be taken lightly," said Aayla. "He's very skilled with a lightsaber, and has access to a large number of powers the light side of the Force doesn't let you use. I've been fortunate enough to have never faced him in combat and to put it bluntly I'd prefer it if it stayed like that."
"He's that bad?" asked Gargomon, amusement gone.
"Worse," said Anakin. "He cut off my arm."
"Ouch, that doesn't… wait, what?" Gargomon looked perplexed. "Last time I checked, you had two."
Anakin held up his right arm and flexed the fingers. "Mechanical replacement," he said. "You can't see it under the glove and it works just like a real arm, but still…"
"There are far more of us on this mission than there would usually be," said Mace. "Which means we can split up. Any opportunity to capture Count Dooku is too good an opportunity to pass up. But we still have a weapon to destroy."
"We gonna cream Dooku's ass?" Gargomon's fighting spirit rose again.
"Kindly keep a lid on your language," said Mace.
"And on the cream," added Ahsoka, giggling. Anakin and Aayla sniggered.
"And no, you're not," said Obi-Wan. "Dooku is definitely a slippery character. He's escaped our clutches more times than I can remember, even when we had him prisoner, he escaped once." Obi-Wan failed to mention that he and Anakin had been fellow prisoners at the same time by the same people. "If he escapes again we'd like the Secret of the 327th to remain a secret."
"Fair enough," said Kyubimon. "What is the plan then?"
"Obi-Wan and I will handle Dooku," said Mace decisively. "Skywalker and Tano, you go find Kul Teska. Secura, you and the Digimon see what you can do about the weapon."
"What about the Senator?" asked Anakin.
"I'm sure Senator Amidala would prefer you to stop this madness rather than rescue her," said Obi-Wan.
"She sounds like my kind of Senator if that's the case," remarked Turuiemon. "And I don't often say that."
With that, they parted ways again. Mace and Obi-Wan went off together, following the trail the Count Dooku was creating in their minds. The others all went together, as the weapon and Teska were likely to be in very similar places.
Kyubimon couldn't help but notice the way Anakin was grimacing. Looking at him from the corner of her eye as she trotted along beside Aayla, she noted the look of concern and irritation on his features. Apparently he would rather drop everything and rush to the aid of the Senator instead of dealing with the weapon. Or at least that was what she guessed at.
She knew that attachments were forbidden amongst the Jedi, although compassion was allowed. But all the other Jedi were stoically putting duty first and doing what was right, trying to disable the weapon despite the danger to the Senator. But surely Anakin didn't feel that compassionate towards Padme Amidala.
Unless…
Kyubimon shook her head and told herself not to be daft. Anakin knew as well as anyone he could get thrown out of the Jedi order for that.
But Anakin doesn't always play by the rules, does he? Said Gargomon in her head, as he had heard everything.
No, he doesn't. Kyubimon frowned. I think he might need watching.
You're talking to the master of being incognito.
That'll be the day. You're useless at surprises.
Well, with you, surprises are pointless, aren't they?
Kyubimon laughed quietly. Aayla glanced at her questioningly. Kyubimon nodded to Gargomon, who waved cheerfully. Aayla smiled and shook her head. The whole unflawed connection concept still puzzled her even now.
They stopped when they came to a turbolift. It was an ideal way to get them down to where they wanted to go and be on the lookout for any potential threats at the same time. The droids didn't count, but there were probably plenty of other possibilities lurking about the area in a place like this.
"Where's Bly?" Asked Kyubimon. "And Rex and the others?"
"There's setting up an evac zone so that Artoo can steer the Twilight in," Ahsoka replied. "If things go to plan, this whole place is going to go kablooey and it would be best if we weren't around at the time."
"I agree wholeheartedly," said Aayka, stepping onto the turbolift. The others followed suit and Anakin flipped a switch on the console beside him. The lift juddered slightly and then began to descend slowly.
"Not far now," said Anakin as the six of them watched the base go past around them. There weren't very many droids around here. Most of them had gone up to near the surface in an attempt to stop the invasion force from getting in. They could still hear blaster fire as the fierce battle went on above them.
However, there were still a couple of droids down at this level, patrolling about in an attempt to guard things. But whenever a guard paused to check on who was in the cargo lift, it was either peppered with green lasers, engulfed in blue fire or sliced in half by a flying blade of white light.
"This is almost deceptively too easy," said Gargomon, whirling his cannons.
"Well, you can bet the weapon will probably have a heavy guard somewhere. Possible even Teska himself," said Anakin. "It'll be nice to see the Skakoan again."
"But only so you can beat him this time, right?" asked Ahsoka.
"Too right."
"I'm with ya on that one, Skyguy."
"Leave a piece of the action for me, Zebra-head. Ow!" Gargomon cried out as Turuiemon hit him on the head.
"Is that necessary?" asked Aayla.
"Yes!" said Turuiemon and Kyubimon at the same time. "Everyone who knows him does it, except for Henry," continued Kyubimon.
"But Aayla won't because she's a nice person, right?" Gargomon looked to the Twi'lek.
"Of course I'm a nice person," laughed Aayla, amused by the look on Gargomon's face.
"Or possibly she won't hit me because she goes musth for my cute face as Terriermon. Ow!"
"Indeed," Aayla flexed her fingers. "You've got a head like a rock in this form."
"Serves you right," muttered Gargomon.
"Momentai," said Aayla.
"Don't push it," Gargomon growled.
Everyone else laughed, but then they stopped when the speakers nearby suddenly blared into life. A voice that two of them had heard before and that had a mechanical, buzzing edge to it, said:-
"This is Kul Teska. I hope your listening Jedi, because I know you're coming. I congratulate you on getting past the shield, but hear what I have to say. Surrender yourselves to me immediately. Your precious Senator's life depends on it."
There was a momentary pause, then a woman's voice came through the speakers. "This is Senator Amidala. You must destroy this base at all costs! Do not--!"
But she was cut off and Teska's voice came again. "I grow impatient, Jedi."
There was a long pause, and then Ahsoka said. "Well, at least we know where the Senator is now."
Anakin nodded, grimacing. "I know that look," said Ahsoka. "You're coming up with some wild Skywalker plan, aren't you?"
"It's not that wild," said Anakin. "But I do have an idea. If it works, then we should be able to accomplish three things at once. Or possibly four things."
"Go on," said Turuiemon. "Let's hear this radical plan."
"I say we give Teska exactly what he wants."
"We're going to surrender?" asked Ahsoka, incredulously.
"Not happening," said Gargomon straight away.
"That's not like you, Anakin," said Aayla.
"Whoa, I haven't finished yet," said Anakin.
And he told them his plan. It involved all of them and it was the fastest way to accomplish all of their objectives. It was actually pretty simple as far as his plans went and Ahsoka was surprised that it didn't involve falling some distance of ramming something with a machine. But it didn't, and it might just work.
All five others nodded. They were in.
Y-wing bombers were a relatively new development for the Clone Wars. They were unique amongst starfighters and had three different weaponry settings. As well as the laser cannons that appeared on all starfighters, they also had two miniature ion cannons capable of immobilizing a craft instead of destroying it and large proton torpedo launchers for larger craft. They were tough and well-shielded, making up for their lower manoeuvrability than other starfighters.
Ten of them were being deployed out of the Republic cruiser that Luminara Unduli stood at, veering about and heading for the battleground. They crossed the gap quickly enough, unhindered by the presence of enemy Vulture Droids, as all of those that remained were dancing in a destructive, whirling brawl around the Separatist frigates.
"Let's get the job done as quickly as possible," said Luminara. "The Y-wings will deal with some of the frigates and we most take out the others as they do so."
"How shall we proceed, General?" asked a clone.
"Tell all command ships to concentrate all their firepower on the frigate to the left of the foremost one. We need to tear them apart one by one."
"Acknowledged, sir," said a clone, repeating the order into the comlinks. Outside, the turrets and laser cannons situated along the length of the Venator-class cruiser swung around and all began to open fire on the same ship. The shields were battered and buckled under the heavy assault and the droids inside lost their footing as the ship shook.
After about half a minute of the constant barrage, the frigate's deflector shields gave way and the lasers began to pummel the hull, slamming into the metal work and causing an explosion with each strike. The frigate did exactly what Luminara had predicted and was torn apart completely, splitting into large fragments and floating purposefully in different directions.
Plo and Kit whirled around the bridge on the rightmost frigate, tantalizing the droids inside who were desperately trying to aim the turrets at them and shoot them down. But two Jedi could rely on their senses in space combat and were capable of rolling out of the way of a shot they didn't even know was coming.
Luminara saw what they were doing. In their urge to destroy the two fighters, the frigate was beginning to peel away from the rest of the group, it's side was suddenly now exposed to anything they decided to throw at it. There was less shielding, deflector or otherwise, on the side as they were designed to be facing the threat face-on.
"This time, concentrate all fire on that ship there," Luminara pointed steadfastly at the frigate. The clones nodded and the turrets swung around again, locking onto the new target and opening fire. The attack caught the ship unawares and it split apart, almost before the droids realised what was happening.
The Y-wing bombers had reached the frigates. In a phalanx they moved forward, flying towards the bridge of the nearest cruiser. "Steady lads," said the lead clone. "Hold the line."
As the turrets turned to face the new threat, the clone gave the order, "Torpedoes away!" he cried, and he pushed the button. Every other clone in the group did the same, while the clones acting as gunners kept the Vulture Droids that were left off their backs. The proton torpedoes made purple streaks as they arced towards the bridge. Deflector shielding made little difference. The bridge exploded and the ship tipped, completely having lost stability.
"General!" cried Warthog. "They're trying to send some bombers of their own to attack our own cruisers." He had spotted some Hyena-class droids detaching from the three remaining frigates and leading a desperate assault on the eight cruisers. While this was unlikely to win the day, it could still cause extensive damage.
"All units target those bombers," shouted Plo. He whirled his starfighter around, dodging some flying debris from a wrecked frigate as he and Kit let loose some lasers. The clones also obeyed the command and turned to pursue. There were very few ships that could have navigated the storm of concentrated lasers sent at the bombers. The bombers were not amongst that group and were blown to pieces.
As the Hyena bombers were wrecked, the Y-wings had moved onto the next target. Similarly, the cruisers had targeted one more frigate and were sending bolts galore down upon it. Another round of torpedoes from the Y-wings wrecked the next frigate as swiftly and efficiently as the first. The ten Y-wings moved on, swooping under the doomed frigate the cruisers were firing at and targeted the other frigate.
Both fell the same way as the others.
"Well," said Kit, steering past the wreckage of a Vulture he'd just blown up. "I think it worked. It seems to me that we've won."
"Let's hope our efforts today and the clones that we lost won't be in vain," said Plo. He activated the comlink and spoke to Luminara. "Excellent job, Master Luminara. Tell me, has there been any word from the planet's surface regarding the progress to the mission?"
"None, as of yet," said Luminara. "Perhaps they're a little bit busy at the moment. I daren't try to contact them for fear of disturbing something that could go wrong."
"Then we're just going to have to wait it out," said Kit. "Not the option I would have chosen, but this is certainly a delicate operation."
"Return to the ships, everyone," said Plo. "Our work here is complete. But be ready to jump to your ships again should they decide to launch another assault."
"You reckon they will, sir?" asked Throttle.
"I am not sure," said Plo. "But it is very possible."
The ships soared thorough space and gently steered through the sliding hangar doors at the front of each ship. Slipping in through the gaps, they clones and Jedi stepped out of their fighters and headed back to the various positions they held. Plo, Kit and Luminara were all having similar thoughts. Unease gnawed at them at the thought of what could be happening down there.
The Twilight had landed on the platform a few minutes ago. The large doors at the back of the old, upgraded spice freighter, were open and the clones were standing dutifully outside them. Bly, Rex, Cody and Ponds had found securing the evac zone to be no problem at all. All three of them wished that they could be more helpful to the Jedi in this mission, but they also knew that you had a better of succeeding and coming out alive if you were able to use the Force.
So they'd done their job, just like they were supposed to. Cody had sent a scramble-code to he Twilight that had successfully punched through the interference and allowed R2-D2 to lock on to their location and steer the ship in. The clones had chosen the location as it was outside and down in a large crater, a natural one this time and not laser-drilled like the one in there. Artoo had found getting the Twilight there no trouble.
The crater was so deep that they couldn't see the bottom. They could see steam rising from various vents down there when they peered over the edge.
And that was why, when they turned around, they started. Someone was standing on the opposite side of the platform. They hadn't heard him approach.
He was reasonably tall and quite elderly. He had white hair and a white, pointed beard. He was wearing a brown cloak held together over his shoulders by a chain. And in his hand was a curved hilt of what was definitely a lightsaber.
Count Dooku.
A man the clones knew the appearance of well.
None of them had had to face him before and didn't particularly like the idea of it, but all four immediately raised their blasters and opened fire. With a whoosh the red blade of the lightsaber extended and easily parried the shots. Rex was forced to step aside as his own bolt came flying back at him.
The Count pushed out his hand, palm-first, and the clones were suddenly hurled off their feet and thrown backwards into the Twilight. Forcefully lowering his palm, Dooku used another Force-burst to slam to door down in front of them, cutting them off from him.
But he wouldn't be Count Dooku if he let them live. Dooku smirked and looked up, where he saw a half-completed walkway that, when fully built, would have spanned the chasm. But there was no need for it now. Wordlessly, Dooku raised a hand. The end of the walkway attacked to the cliff buckled and ripped, until the walkway was hovering above the Twilight.
Then the Count let go. The walkway plummeted down, catching the Twilight and tipping it off the platform. Inside, Artoo squealed and the clone yelled as the ship plummeted down, down, down, disappearing into the steam.
Dooku strolled casually to the edge of the platform and looked down. He smiled to himself. There was no sign of the Twilight, and he'd successfully cut off the escape route of the Jedi, which meant that the Jedi would be unable to escape, even if they succeeded.
He looked up and said, without turning round, "General Kenobi and Master Windu." He turned to face the two Jedi Masters who were standing side by side several metres behind him.
"What an unexpected honour," crowed the Count. "I'm pleased to see tour duties on the Jedi Council have not prevented you from visiting this facility. It is impressive, isn't it?"
Obi-Wan was extremely tempted to say that he'd something far more impressive than this, or rather, three somethings far more impressive than this, but telling Dooku about the Digimon would be stupid and serve no purpose at all. So, instead, he said, "Only in it's scale of malice, Dooku."
Obi-Wan tensed himself slightly, as he prepared himself for the inevitable lightsaber duel. The last time he'd faced the Count in open combat, he'd lost and had both an arm and a leg damaged by Dooku's red blade. He wasn't going to let that happen a second time.
Dooku frowned at him. "Ever the righteous one, Obi-Wan," he said. "Much like your former Master."
Obi-Wan resisted the temptation to scowl back. This man was a blot on his memory of Qui-Gon Jinn. He had been the one to train Qui-Gon, just as Qui-Gon had trained him, he'd trained Anakin and Anakin was training Ahsoka. Yoda himself had been Master to Dooku, and the little Jedi had considered it to be one of his greatest failings. Yoda was willing to allow Dooku back into the Jedi Order if he so chose. Most other Jedi didn't hold this view.
"I'd expect nothing less of a Jedi," Dooku was saying.
"Our forces have complete control over this base, Count Dooku," said Mace, taking a step forward. "It's over. Lay down your weapon and surrender."
Dooku's frown deepened. "You overstate your position, Master Windu," he said. "I assure you, not only is this facility fully operational, but you are far from in control."
"You had your chance, Dooku," said Mace. Purple and blue flared as two lightsabers flared into life. Dooku raised his own before his face in a warriors salute, before lowering it into the Makashi stance.
He attacked.
So did Obi-Wan.
Their lightsabers clashed briefly and drew back again. Obi-Wan swung at Dooku's stomach, but the Count took a step backwards and avoided the blow. Dooku struck out and Obi-Wan side-stepped, parrying at the same time. Then the two swung forward red ground against blue, both straining to gain the upperhand. But neither particularly wanted to draw it out and Dooku withdrew. Dooku feinted for Obi-Wan's head, then swung low for the feet, but Obi-Wan spotted it and sent his blade down to meet it.
Mace leapt into the fray next and took a swing for the Count's head. The tip of Mace's lightsaber narrowly missed Dooku's hooked nose and the Count quickly sent two quick slashes at Mace in retaliation. Mace hurriedly blocked them both and crashed his blade back down towards Dooku. Dooku had to use both hands on the hilt to block the powerful blow – up until that point he'd only been using one hand. Obi-Wan swung low while Mace kept him occupied, trying to incapacitate him, but the Count jumped, flipping over Mace. Both turned to strike at the other and their blades clashed again.
Dooku stepped back quickly as the two of them double-teamed him. Blocking Mace and deflecting Obi-Wan, the Count was driven backwards across the platform. His blade flashed and caught Obi-Wan's blade, but he was forced to dodge Mace's own swing as he did so. Two against one was never particularly good odds when you had only one weapon. He spun around and blocked three quick strikes from Obi-Wan and two from Mace all in succession, ducked under a blow to the head and stepped back from a stab from Mace.
"Why don't you just stop this now, Dooku?" asked Mace. "It'll be easier on all of us. We'll give you a fair trial."
"Oh no, Master Windu," said Dooku. "You won't give me a trial at all."
Seizing an opportunity, Dooku dodged swiftly to one side and his blade flashed towards Mace. As Mace caught the blow, Dooku's foot lashed out and caught Obi-Wan in the chest, causing him to stumble backwards. Dooku broken off the blade-lock against Mace and ran backwards, putting distance between them and Obi-Wan before making his move. And he and Mace traded blows, and Obi-Wan dashed towards them, Dooku sent a heavy crate hurtling towards Obi-Wan.
Obi-Wan cleaved through it with no problem, but he was almost struck by what came next. Dooku, switching back to one-handed style, had pointed his arm at Obi-Wan and sent a sudden burst of lightning streaking from his fingertips. Obi-Wan rolled to avoid it, just. The lightning followed him and Obi-Wan brought up his lightsaber to catch the effort. The blade absorbed the lightning and Obi-Wan stood up, dashed forward and leapt into the air, blade raised.
Dooku batted Mace away and rose to meet the strike, leaning backwards as Obi-Wan put most of his weight into the blow. Dooku shoved him off and parried another that could slice through his chest. Mace came back for a swing at his midsection and Dooku stooped to block it, before making a lunge of his own. Mace casually jumped to one side, and span to return a strike that Dooku avoided. Obi-Wan took a swing at Dooku while his balance was slightly off and Dooku backflipped over it.
"Enjoy your little victories, Jedi," said Dooku, still smiling confidently. "But do not expect to enjoy them for long."
Then Dooku leapt for Mace. Mace ducked under one blow, side-stepped a second and blocked the third, then thrust out his hand and used the Force to push Dooku back slightly. Dooku responded with another burst of Force Lightning, that Mace parried easily. Then, he and Obi-Wan moved their blades in synchrony and strike down simultaneously. Dooku tipped his own blade across himself horizontally to parry both at once. He leaned over as Obi-Wan's blade came back for his head, retaliating quickly.
Obi-Wan leapt backwards and Mace went in from a low strike. Dooku leapt, using the Force to aid him and it carried him over to the other side of the platform. Obi-Wan was the first to reach him again and Dooku hurriedly parried a shot Obi-Wan brought in from the side. Mace dashed forwards and Dooku sent a blast of Force Lightning at him to keep him occupied while he focused on Obi-Wan. Using his mind, as he swung for Obi-Wan and was blocked again, he sent two large sheets of metal flying at Obi-Wan's unprotected back.
"Behind you, Kenobi!" shouted Mace. Obi-Wan took the hint and cartwheeled to one side, forcing Dooku to jump high again to avoid his own projectile.
Landing some distance off, Dooku turned and said, "Shall we end this?"
"You cannot hope to defeat both of us, Dooku," said Obi-Wan.
"We shall see," Dooku raised his blade. Obi-Wan and Mace raised theirs.
Abruptly, the duel came to end when the entire platform suddenly lurched. The area that joined it to the cliff wall buckled and snapped and the entire thing began to tip over and slide downwards into the crater. Dooku, Mace and Obi-Wan stepped apart, bewildered as to this sudden course of events. Then the answer presented itself when the Twilight rose into their line of view. Rex and Bly were standing by the open back door.
Mace and Obi-Wan took their cue and, gathering the Force, they leapt, landing on the ramp on the back of the Twilight. They turned to look back and saw both Dooku and the platform drop downwards and vanish amongst the steam.
"Hope you don't mind our little intervention," said Bly cheerfully. "But we felt that we owed him one, after he knocked us off the cliff."
"Payback time," agreed Rex.
"Well, he's been defeated," said Mace. "But I can still sense him. He's not dead."
"Trust a Sith Lord to refuse to die," muttered Bly. Cody and Ponds walked out onto the ramp from where they'd been manning the guns.
"Is General Skywalker with you?" asked Rex.
"No," said Obi-Wan. "I was hoping we was already on board."
Rex shook his head. "No sir."
"Trust Anakin to be late," said Obi-Wan. "Well, let's find another landing spot so that we can wait for him, Aayla, Ahsoka and the Digimon to finish their tasks."
"And we'd better hope they do it quickly," said Mace. "Time's running out."
As the Twilight winged away, another shuttle rose from the steam below, a Steathipede-class transport shuttle. Standing on the prow was Dooku, glaring furiously up at the empty sky. At the controls was Asajj Ventress, having successfully escaped the ice cave she'd been trapped in and come to the aid of her Master. She'd been on Behpour for some time waiting until she was needed. Now, the two of them, defeated, had to wait until the Republic presence left before they could attempt to get past the space blockade.
Henry, Suzie and Rika had been watching what had been going on the entire time through their D-Arcs. They heard every word, seen every droids and watched every battle that had taken place since their partners had gone down there. Watching through the eyes of their partners was an unusual perspective, but it would have to do. They could see that if they'd been in there it would have seriously impeded everything. They just didn't have time to watch kids.
There were also a number of clones watching what was going on over their shoulders. They'd retreated to a safe distance too, so that when the place blew, if it blew, they wouldn't be in danger. The clones had laughed uproariously at Gargomon's comments, particularly the one about the initiation ceremony. Suzie had looked a little shocked at that point, and Henry decided to have a word with his partner about what he said on the battlefield when concerned partners could be watching.
They watched as the turbolift came to a stop at the bottom of the facility.
"Okay, you remember the plan, guys," said Anakin. "You three," he pointed to the Digimon. "Know that we should really do our best not to let the Senator see you. Despite the fact I believe we could trust her and I don't like this secret-keeping," he sighed, "We shouldn't take any chances."
"You sound like your talking for experience," said Kyubimon.
"Nope," said Anakin. "Just doing what's best for the war to swing our way. You know what to do?"
"My specialty," said Gargomon. "As I already proved earlier today. We make a lot of noise to draw out the droids guarding this area because there are bound to be some, allowing you three to sneak past them and get to the weapon and Teska."
"None of our attacks are particularly loud," said Turuiemon. "Suzie. I know your watching. And you other Tamers too. You reckon you could give us a few boosts."
"Of course," said Rika, eagerly flicking through her pack for the loudest attack. "Just give me the signal."
"Let us get out of sight first," said Aayla.
"Good luck, A-Team," said Gargomon.
"A-Team?" asked Ahsoka.
"What? All your first names start with A, so you're the A-Team."
"Is this one of those moments where we hit him?" asked Ahsoka.
"Not you too," said Gargomon.
"No," said Turuiemon. "I actually quite like that. I agree. Good luck, A-Team. It has a ring to it."
"Well, whenever you're ready," said Anakin. The A-Team, so dubbed by Gargomon, powered through the air much higher than any normal humanoid should be able to do. Then came to land on a ledge above the large doorway where they assumed the droids would emerge from.
"Let's get loud," said Kyubimon.
The three Tamers up above took that as their cue, which was a good thing because it was, and swept their cards one at a time through the slots in their D-Arcs.
"Digi-modify!" shouted Henry. "Magnamon's Magna Blast Activate!"
"Digi-modify!" yelled Rika. "Tortomon's Strong Carapace Activate!"
"Digi-modify!" echoed Suzie. "Mekanorimon's Wind Beam Activate!"
"Wake up, ye lazy robots!" shouted Gargomon, as his cannons glowed yellow. "Here's a nice wake-up call for you. MAGNA BLAST!"
The golden burst of energy that surged from hands smashed the wall beside the door, causing a large part of it to cave in. There were, indeed, Super Battle Droids waiting on the other side. Several of them were caught in the blast and fell as wreckage, but the others marched forward through the gap Gargomon had created and opened fire on the three of them.
What appeared to be some kind of large, red photoreceptor appeared on Turuiemon's chest. "WIND BEAM!" she bellowed, unleashing a massive blast at the rows of advancing Supers. Her attack sliced through the first few rows and smashed into the wall beside them, revealing yet more Supers that joined the effort.
Kyubimon stood strong, tilting forward so her back was presented like a target to the Supers. This wasn't a problem, because her usual yellow fur on her back had been replaced with rock, or rather what appeared to be lots of tall, jagged boulders.
"Eat dirt," she said, then cried, "STRONG CARAPACE!" The rocks fountained towards the droids in a barrage, replenishing and being fired again. The droids were mown down under the thunderous bombardment, creating a cacophony that rang throughout the station. Then, all three Digimon leapt forward and began to fight with their normal attacks.
The idea was quite simple. The Digimon should be more than capable of taking of the droids, so, when they'd finished, they could come help the others once they'd got the Senator out of danger. And, as the battle raged and bits of droid began to fly all over the place, along with chunks of debris, the three Jedi dropped silently from their hiding places behind the droids and to the floor. Slipping through the hole in the wall, they hurried down the corridor.
Kul Teska was somewhere out there. So was Padme Amidala. They were two beings that Anakin desperately wanted to find, but for entirely different reasons.
And not far away, in one of the nearby vents, a dark, shadowy figure listened to the cacophony of the Digimon destroying the droids. "Someone's angry," he muttered to himself, unable to see who was make the noise but not unduly bothered by it either way. He turned and kept crawling.
Hope you liked it. Next chapter draws this story arc to a close. Then I'll be able to start doing my completely original stuff, which I've been looking forward to for a while now. Please review, and thank you for your patience,
Next time...
The rest of Anakin's Master Plan. Showdown with Kul Teska. Identity of Mystery Figure revealed. And best of all... well, don't want to give too much away.
Coming up:- Chapter 29 : Cyborg Warrior
