Have a nice day, everyone! Any feedback will be greatly appreciated. :)Edit: Hopefully my posting an edited chapter won't send everyone alerts. I had a few mistakes in here - sorry!
The door to Obi-Wan's cell sprang open, and two Twi'lek entered, dragging a 501st trooper between them. They tossed him on the floor and stood aside as two more clones were shoved in.
Obi-Wan waited calmly until the guards left, shutting the door behind them; then he moved over to join the new prisoners. Echo glanced up from where he crouched beside the unconscious trooper. His eyes widened in surprise, and he jumped up, snapping a salute. "General!"
"At ease," Obi-Wan said, with a faint smile. He knelt and rolled the unconscious clone onto his back, recognizing him as Namer, one of Anakin's best troopers.
The third trooper pushed himself stiffly away from the wall. "How is he, sir? I think they hit him with a stun round."
"He doesn't seem to be injured," agreed Obi-Wan, sitting back on his heels. He looked up. "Flash, what happened? Did Ventress escape?"
"I don't know for sure, General. We were under attack – Weequay and humans, mostly. Captain Rex was trying to get the ship off the ground when I got hit."
Obi-Wan took a few moments to process this. "I take it Anakin wasn't there?"
"No, sir," Flash said, confused.
Obi-Wan sighed. "Dooku must have known they wouldn't get there in time."
"They, sir?" asked Echo.
"Anakin and Cody. I was hoping they'd be able to prevent Ventress' escape."
"At least they're free," said Echo optimistically. "I'm sure General Skywalker will be able to do something."
Flash looked skeptical, but said nothing. Obi-Wan knew what he was thinking, however. Anakin was known for his skill in battle, but even he couldn't take on Dooku and Ventress at the same time – assuming he could get his lightsaber back in the first place.
Just then, Namer groaned, then propped himself up on one elbow. "What . . ."
Flash regarded him for a moment, then reached down and pulled him to his feet, none too gently. "Next time you do that, I'll shoot you myself."
Namer raised an eyebrow at him and did not deign to reply, instead leaning back against the wall and rubbing his forehead.
Obi-Wan waited.
Sure enough, Namer's nonchalance seemed to annoy Flash, who was known for his hot temper. He muttered a few choice words.
"Come on, Flash," said Echo, ever the peacemaker. "It was only a stun round."
"Yeah, but he didn't know that!" The irate clone glared. "I was fine. There were only three of 'em!"
Of course, that moment was when he took a step forward and stumbled.
"I think your nose is broken," said Echo helpfully.
Flash growled under his breath, gritted his teeth, and reset his nose with a jerk.
"I suggest you sit down," said Obi-Wan. "And let's think of some way to get out of –"
He stared into space for a moment. The three clones watched him warily.
"Uh – General?" said Echo.
Obi-Wan shook his head, a tinge of exasperation coloring his voice. "Anakin didn't get away at all. He's here."
Anakin woke to an odd prickling sensation on his cheek. When he finally managed to force his eyes open, it was to find himself face to face with a tiny, lizard-like creature with long blue antenna that poked at his face. He jerked back, brushing his cheek. "Hey, get off!"
The creature chirped indignantly, then scurried across the stone floor and out through a set of iron bars.
Anakin groaned at the realization that he was, once again, in a cell; then he tried to sit up and groaned again. Everything hurt – well, everything hurt more than it had the last time he woke up.
"Cody?" he grunted, using the wall for support as he got shakily to his feet.
Cody was half-kneeling a few feet away, one hand braced against the wall and the other against the floor. "General Skywalker," he answered, glancing up without moving his head.
Anakin staggered in place and gave a sympathetic smirk. "You look like Obi-Wan did the last time I flew him to the Temple."
Cody grimaced, his face pale. "Yeah. . . I could use an antiemetic about now."
Standing did not seem to be a good idea, so Anakin slumped back to the ground and ran a hand through his hair. Since there was nothing else to do at the moment, Anakin decided to talk. At least he could keep Cody's mind off his sickness. And his own mind off the fact that his head was about to split open. Stupid stun batons.
"We must have been captured by that Twi'lek again," he said aloud. "One of those thugs mentioned Saresh. . ." Then the realization hit him. "If Dooku had us recaptured – Obi-Wan might have let himself be caught for nothing!
Forgetting his weakness, he got up and stumbled to the door. The cell they currently occupied was larger than the last had been, but apart from that he discovered nothing new. There were no guards, and the hallway was completely empty.
Anakin returned to his place and slumped down. "When we get out of here . . ." he muttered, clenching a fist. "He probably knew it was a trap and walked in anyway!"
"Why would he do that, sir?" Cody leaned against the wall, grimaced, and pressed a hand to his mouth.
"I don't know, but I'm gonna find out."
". . . Maybe Dooku had nothing to do with it."
"Yeah, right." Anakin paused. "Why do you say that?"
"General Kenobi wouldn't have risked the rest of the men for no reason, sir. He must have thought we'd get back to the Twilight."
Anakin may have been feeling uncharitable toward his old master at the moment, but he had to admit that Cody was probably right. "So why does Saresh want us? What good would a Jedi be to him?"
Gesturing at the rank bars on his uniform, Cody said, "Maybe he wants to sell us to the Separatists. A general and a commander –"
"Yeah." Anakin let out his breath quietly. "Upcoming attacks, battle formations, transmission codes. . . They probably think they can get all kinds of information out of us."
Cody replied with casual surety. "They won't, sir."
Anakin huffed and examined the bandage around his left forearm. One thing about the clones – they were always extremely confident in their knowledge of their own abilities and limitations. And they were usually justified in this confidence. But Anakin had seen the results of Separatist interrogations before, and he had no desire to have his or Cody's limits tested.
Not like either of us have a choice in the matter, he thought irritatedly.
Outside, a door hissed open. Footsteps sounded on the stones, drawing nearer.
"Maybe it's Obi-Wan," Anakin suggested.
Cody looked respectfully dubious.
The footsteps stopped, and an accented voice said, "Jedi Skywalker? Ah, good, you're both awake."
"Saresh. No thanks to you."
"I would have killed you," Tar Saresh said apologetically. "But that would have destroyed your usefulness."
Anakin exchanged a grim look with Cody and moved towards the door. "Who paid you to catch us, Saresh?"
"No one, yet." The orange Twi'lek smiled. "I'm sure I'll be able to find a buyer for whoever survives tonight's contests, though."
"Contests? What are you talking about?"
"This is the Cauldron, Jedi Skywalker. What did you expect?"
Cody had gotten to his feet by now, and he stepped up beside Anakin. "What, exactly, is the Cauldron?"
"Ah, you do speak!" Tar Saresh looked mildly interested. The commlink on his belt beeped twice, and he drew his gun. "Here come the others. Get back against the wall."
Anakin paced to the opposite wall and leaned against it, followed by Cody.
Tar Saresh opened the door as a small group of people came up behind him. His weapon and his eyes focused steadily on Anakin, who chafed at the forced inaction. The Twi'lek stepped to one side, still watching his prisoners, and two guards forced a clone into the cell. His struggles against the guards stopped when Tar Saresh fired a shot into the floor near Anakin's feet.
Anakin caught sight of a blue mark across one side of the trooper's helmet face plate. "Trap?"
". . . Yes, sir." Trap sounded profoundly displeased.
One of Obi-Wan's troopers was pushed in, and the door shut behind him. Tar Saresh activated a ray shield as he followed the guards down the hall. "I'll return soon."
Anakin glared at his back. "I'm looking forward to it," he muttered.
Cody stepped forward. "Ghost, what happened?"
Ghost – who, like most of the Two-Twelfth troopers, had a regulation haircut and no tattoos – turned to his commanding officer. "We were attacked, sir. Approximately fifty men stormed the walls. Echo and I were on sniper duty. We'd just been ordered to return to the ship when . . ." He glanced questioningly at Trap.
"Eh, the wall exploded," Trap said. "And I got hit right after, so I don't know what happened to the ship. Sorry, sir."
Ghost studied the ray shield for a moment before glancing at Anakin. "General, do you have any idea what's going on?"
"Unfortunately, yes," Anakin said, folding his arms. "There was a large pit in that room Dooku was in. I think this might be an arena."
Cody narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. "Saresh mentioned contests –"
"Exactly. There were pits just like that on Tatooine. They'd put creatures in them, or combatants. The fights were always a big attraction."
"Hmm," said Cody. "Sounds. . . interesting."
"That's one way to put it." Anakin paced the room. "And if I'm right, we're going to be the big attraction tonight."
Trap removed his helmet and rubbed his forehead. "Yeah, but against what?"
The Jedi shrugged. "It could be anything, or anyone."
"We won't be the only ones in there, though," said Ghost. "I saw some of the others before we were brought down here."
Anakin perked up. "Others?"
"Fives, Det, Waxer, and Boil. They got brought to a different hall, though."
Anakin felt the momentary flash of hope fade. Obi-Wan obviously wasn't with the other prisoners, and while the clones were capable warriors, they wouldn't have a chance against Force-users.
If Ventress was one of the opposing combatants, tonight's contest would turn out to be more of a mass execution. He frowned. If only he had his lightsaber! Perhaps, though . . .
He knelt, bowing his head as he opened his mind to the Force. It still seemed vague and distant, but somewhere at the edge of his mind, he could feel Obi-Wan's presence.
He felt the clones watching him and glanced up. "Do you men have anything useful with you?"
"Just our armor," Trap replied, and Ghost nodded in confirmation.
"Which means that these contests aren't going to be simple hand-to-hand," Cody surmised. "Anything we can do to prepare, General?"
"No," said Anakin grimly. He paused midstride as a thought struck him. "We could try to grab Saresh when he comes to get us. . . But until then, we're stuck here."