Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts (although that would be pretty cool!).
The road was blocked by an Imperial checkpoint. Stormtroopers were stopping and checking vehicles that were passing through. It was quite clear that the rebels would not be able to sneak through, putting them in a compromising situation.
"Looks like the Imperials moved quickly," Axel began.
"Okay, pull over Ezra. We'll need to split up and proceed on foot. I'll go with Ezra and Chopper. Axel, you go with Sabine. We'll meet at the Old Senate Building," Xigbar commanded.
It wasn't an auspicious start to this phase of the plan, but it was manageable. Ezra pulled off the road and everyone disembarked, Chopper grumbling as he got out. Xigbar, Ezra, and Chopper took off with The Freeshooter leading the way.
Sabine (now with her helmet on) and Axel stuck to the dark alleyways as they made their way closer. "You're a pro at this," she told him as they moved from alley to alley.
"Well, let's just say that my job requires a lot of sneaking around," he answered truthfully.
She motioned for him to stop. "Two troopers ahead. I'll take the one on the left."
"I guess that leaves the one on the right for me."
"Let's keep it quiet. Don't want to alert anybody."
The pair snuck up on the unsuspecting stormtroopers. Simultaneously, Sabine grabbed the left one and threw his head right as Axel did the same to the other in the opposite direction. Thus, the two stormtroopers crashed into each other, sending them sprawling to the ground unconscious.
"We make a pretty good team," Sabine offered. "It'll be a shame to see you go." This was her first real time alone with Axel, so she was freer to say what she wanted.
"Yeah?" Axel cocked his eyebrow inquisitively.
Sabine stopped and removed her helmet. "Yes. Here, I made something for you." She took out a charm. "Something to remember me by." She handed it to him.
He looked it over. "What's the design?"
"Something I've been working on. It's a starbird."
"Starbird?"
"A type of phoenix," she explained.
"I bet you didn't know that I love fire," he offered.
"I didn't. I hope it can catch on and be a symbol of the resistance."
"That's all you need. Just a spark. A spark can light a fire to burn down oppression."
She sighed. "I wish you'd come with us."
"I have to see something though," Axel replied. "And it's nearing the end. After that, who knows…"
Sabine pulled a surprised Axel into a quick kiss. She broke it and smirked. "Maybe you'll reconsider."
Axel felt a slight pang in his heart, one that he had felt a few times with Larxene. He had never thought anything of it then and was too stunned by Sabine to think about it now.
She put her helmet back on. "Let's go, slowpoke," she called out to Axel as she took off running.
"What a woman."
Xigbar, Ezra, and Chopper had arrived to the Capitol City Building first, encountering very little resistance on their way. They held their position until they saw Axel and Sabine across from them.
"So we just have to get to the top?" Ezra confirmed.
"Well, your pilot's gotta be able to get through the Imperial blockade," Xigbar reminded him.
"Hera's one of the best pilots in the galaxy. I have confidence in her."
"That's great, kid." Xigbar waved over Axel and Sabine and soon the five were reunited.
"What was this building?" Axel asked.
"It used to be the Lothal Senate in the Republic days," explained Ezra. "But it's been abandoned for quite some time."
"Let's hope that's the case," Xigbar replied grimly.
Chopper womped in agreement.
They approached the door and found it unlocked. "Just our luck," Sabine commented. The first floor was unoccupied, so the team ascended stairs to the next floor.
However, they were stunned to find the second floor littered with stormtroopers. The troopers and their commander were placing explosives throughout the floor, evidently prepping the abandoned building for demolition.
"What are you…" the commander began before he realized who they were. He immediately pressed his comlink. "The rebels are here at the old Senate Building," he yelled as he dove out of the way to avoid gunshots from Xigbar. "Repeat: rebels at the old Senate Building."
"Shit," Xigbar called out. "We gotta take these troopers out. But don't hit the explosives!"
The four ran towards the troopers hoping to catch them off guard (which they did), with Chopper staying back. Axel decided to summon his chakrams and tossed them ahead, striking two different troopers.
"I've been wondering. Where do you keep those?" Sabine called out as she fired her pistols at troopers.
"You know me, I'm always packing," Axel quipped.
But the biggest surprise was Ezra's activation of his hidden-to-date lightsaber to deflect blaster bolts. "A Jedi? That makes more sense," Xigbar thought aloud.
"A laser stick? That's a new one," Axel added.
The battle only lasted a minute or two as the surprised soldiers were unable to be an effective fighting force.
"Let's just hope that was all of them," Sabine said.
"I saw a Jedi in action once. Nice to have one on my side," Xigbar told Ezra.
"Still in training, but the situation called for it," responded Ezra.
"How many more levels?" Axel asked.
"Three more," Ezra affirmed.
"Womp womp," Chopper grumbled.
"I agree," Xigbar said.
"We'd better get going, we could have some company very soon," warned Sabine.
The team scurried up the three flights and soon made it to the top level, a landing pad for spaceships. Much to the dismay of the rebels, an Imperial shuttle was just landing.
"This should make things interesting," Ezra noted.
"Might be helpful actually," Xigbar pointed out. "If we can eliminate these troopers, you kids could maybe use this shuttle to get out of the system."
However, any thoughts of that plan vanished when the shuttle opened. Three figures strode off the shuttle, all entirely clad in black.
"Not good," was all Sabine could say.
Two death troopers and Darth Vader strode towards the three, slowly but surely.
The rebels decided to walk towards Vader as well, setting up a confrontation. Chopper stayed back and would work his way over to the Imperial Shuttle during the action.
Xigbar had never encountered Darth Vader before. He had heard some stories on his final days in Mandalore about an Imperial enforcer of great strength named Vader. Until the rebels mentioned him, Xigbar half-believed that Vader was a myth.
"Surrender," one of the death troopers commanded.
"Not likely," answered Sabine.
"Your path ends here," Vader spoke. He ignited his red lightsaber.
Ezra ignited his blue lightsaber, while Xigbar and Sabine readied their guns.
But before any battle could begin, Vader extended his hand, sending the four tumbling via a Force push.
Recovering, Xigbar got up and charged at a death trooper, while Sabine ran, the other death trooper giving chase.
Ezra, on the other hand, got up and charged at Vader. Vader parried two of Ezra's strikes easily. Ezra then executed a lunge attack, but Vader was ready for it. He reached out and grabbed Ezra's hand, which deactivated the lightsaber. A split second later he tossed Ezra several feet away, sending the poor boy tumbling.
Axel had gotten up and backed slightly away from Vader. Summoning his chakrams, he tossed them at the Sith Lord. Vader stopped them midair with the Force. "Well shit," was all Axel was able to get out as Vader forced the back at Axel. They connected, sending The Flurry of Dancing Flames tumbling.
The death trooper chased Sabine, firing his gun repeatedly. She summersaulted to avoid, and then triggered her jetpack to get her away faster. Firing her pistols at the trooper, he dodged and rolled out of the way. "Okay, much better than a regular trooper," she mumbled to herself.
Xigbar had taken the death trooper by surprise and tackled him to the ground. A few well placed bashes to the head and the trooper was out cold (or maybe dead). By the time he had finished with the death trooper, he turned just in time to see Axel go flying. He fired his Arrowguns at Vader, who deflected the shots away. Sensing how difficult it would be to take Vader using conventional means, Xigbar started to teleport, appearing in a location, firing two shots rapidly, and then teleporting to a new one to repeat the process.
If Vader was surprised by this unnatural display, he didn't show it. Vader, guided by the Force, was able to anticipate each of these locations and was able to block every single shot. Xigbar teleported to another location, but this time Vader was ready. He reached out and caught Xigbar in a Force choke. Xigbar was lifted off the ground, dropping his weapons in surprise. Vader pulled Xigbar towards him while ominously closing the distance himself. "You have been deceived into believing that your special abilities give you power. You don't know the power of the Dark Side of the Force."
Fortunately for Xigbar, Axel had recovered from his blows and was ready to kick it up a notch. "Alright, let's see how you like the flames!" Extending his hands, Axel summoned flames on his chakrams and threw them at the distracted Vader. Vader sensed it coming, so he had to drop his Force choke. Turning towards Axel, he had just enough time to slam his lightsaber down in a forceful manner into the chakrams. They stalled at the contact with the lightsaber, and then flew back to Axel, who caught them. "Yep, I'm out of options."
Sabine then flew past Axel, still being pursued by the death trooper. Axel then decided to throw the chakrams at the death trooper. This time, they connected on target, eliminating the death trooper from the fight. "Glad to know they still work on someone," Axel grumbled.
Sabine landed near Xigbar, to see if he was okay. "I'm fine," he said with a cough. "Go check on Ezra," Xigbar called out to Axel. Summoning his Arrowguns again, he started firing at Vader, with Sabine doing the same.
But Vader was relentless. He walked towards them, blocking their blaster bolts with his lightsaber. As he moved closer, his other hand used the Force to grab and throw all four guns out of the rebels' hands, flying past him and clattering to the ground.
"Not good," was all Sabine could muster.
Then Ezra came in, seemingly out of nowhere, to face Vader. He swung a few times, although Vader was able to block each one without much effort. Taking advantage of this, Axel tossed his chakrams at Vader. Having to stay more focused, Vader was only able to stick his hand out and use the Force to send them off course, missing him.
Meanwhile, Sabine and Xigbar scrambled past the lightsaber combatants to grab their weapons. While picking them up, Sabine spotted a ship coming in. "It's the Ghost for our pickup!"
"Alright, we gotta get you and Ezra over to the ship. We'll hold off Vader," Xigbar replied.
"We can't leave you!"
"If you don't, you're not getting off this planet alive. Don't worry about us."
The Ghost came in for a quick landing near the Imperial shuttle, stretching the landing plank out at the edge of the building. Chopper made his way onto the Ghost with his rocket jets.
"Now go!" Xigbar said.
Sabine took off towards the Ghost. Xigbar turned and ran back towards Vader. "Axel, now's our moment!" he called out.
Vader unleashed several heavy strikes that Ezra was only barely able to parry. Finally, he knocked Ezra lightsaber out of his hands. Vader swung downward to finish off Ezra, but Axel arrived just in time, putting up his chakrams as a shield, blocking Vader's strike, although he was quickly struggling under the weight.
"Go Ezra!" Xigbar called out. Ezra got up and saw the Ghost, understanding the meaning. He grabbed his lightsaber and took off running.
Xigbar started firing at Vader to save Axel. The Sith expertly blocked the bolts, but Axel was able to back up and recover. Vader once again Force pulled Xigbar's guns out of his hands, leaving The Freeshooter defenseless. So, Xigbar teleported, putting him near Axel.
"You cannot stop me," Vader commanded. Turning away from the two Organization members, Vader threw his lightsaber towards the retreating Ezra, whose back was turned.
"No!" Xigbar cried out. He grabbed the chakrams out of Axel's hands and teleported to the line of fire. Inexperienced with Axel's weapons, he was just able to block the lightsaber (and it returned to Vader) but went tumbling backward as a result.
Sabine had just arrived to the Ghost and had seen Xigbar's act of heroism. Ezra arrived to the ship shortly after. "Go!" Sabine called to the interior of the ship and it took off, leaving Xigbar and Axel to face the mechanical monster themselves.
"Hope they make it," Sabine said, her tone somber.
"I think they'll make it," Ezra assured her. "They're great fighters."
Fighting, however, was the last thing on the Organization members' minds. With Sabine and Ezra gone, they were solely devoted to escaping. Axel took off running away from Vader, while Xigbar teleported back to Axel.
"I'll open the Portal," Axel called out.
Vader pursued, but he obviously moved slower than the other two. He had no idea what the two were planning, but he assumed they were trapped. The Sith was quite surprised to see a funky looking dark portal appear out of nowhere. Thus, he tossed his lightsaber again to stop the two rebels.
Xigbar had just stepped in and saw the lightsaber coming at them. "Close it!" he screamed, and Axel closed the Portal just as the lightsaber approached.
Vader saw the portal close and his lightsaber pass through where it just was. Vader simply stared at the sight. His lightsaber returned to him. And with that, the Sith Lord walked back to his shuttle, undoubtedly confused at what had just occurred.
Hey everybody! Here's the promised part two of the Lothal adventure. Thanks to all of you who read/review/favorite/follow! Reviews are always welcome and I love hearing your thoughts on things! Next time, we'll see how Sora's arrival on the Deep Jungle threatens Zexion and Larxene.
See ya real soon,
The Mustachioed Academic
