Shadow's Odyssey 2: The Chaos Continues

"Who retrieved the Emerald?" Sidious asked.

"A Jedi and one of the targets. In addition to the Emerald, they also retrieved a person that had somehow survived in there." Came the translation.

"Excellent. Let them leave with the Emerald. I will get it later."

A Mandalorian solider came in. "Sir, a ship has entered this sector."

"What kind of ship?"

"It appears to be a Naboo starfighter, sir. Shall we shoot it down?"

A devilish smile creeped its way across Shadow's face. "No. Let him land. I will deal with him personally."

Anakin landed on the broken planet of Mandalore. His entire being was focused on one goal:

Kill Sidious. For good this time.

As he approached the palace, he noticed several Mandalorians watching him. They did nothing to stop him, just stared as he walked past. He came to the door where two more were standing guard.

One of them stepped forward and was about to say something but never got to, as Anakin Force Choked him and his companion. He broke their necks and let their lifeless bodies drop to the ground.

Anakin stepped into the palace and approached the throne room where Sidious was waiting.

"You came sooner than I expected."

"How? How are you alive?" Anakin shouted.

"When you have unlimited power, death is nothing more than an inconvenience."

Anakin whipped out his lightsaber. "Then I'll kill you again."

Sidious sneered. "What makes you think you can?"

"The prophecy said that I would be the one to destroy the Sith."

He cackled. "Ah, yes! The famous 'Chosen One' prophecy! Well then, go ahead. Fulfill the prophecy, Chosen One."

Anakin first thought: This is totally a trap.

"Well? I'm waiting. The galaxy is waiting."

Anakin threw Force Lightning at the hedgehog. It struck the throne the he had been sitting on, but he was gone.

"I'm afraid you're going to have to be much faster than that."

Anakin whipped around to see Sidious standing behind him. He shot more lightning. Again, and again. But each time, Sidious would appear behind him.

"Oh come now, this can't be the best you can do. I trained you better than this."

Anakin Force Choked him. Sidious gasped for air, but still managed a smile.

Sidious used Chaos Blast.

Anakin shielded himself and was thrown back. He struggled to get back up. He could hear Sidious's footsteps as he slowly walked closer.

"You're as strong as ever Lord Vader."

"Don't you dare call me that!"

"It is the name of your true self!"

"I'M NOTHING LIKE YOU!"

"Tell that to Obi-wan."

Anakin leapt up and swung his lightsaber with a scream of rage. But Sidious easily sidestepped him and kicked his legs, sending him to the ground again.

"Everyone thinks you killed him because I 'forced' you to. But that's not true, is it? Everything you did, you did because you chose to. I didn't have to turn you to the dark side, because you had already accepted it. That is why you never returned to the Jedi order. You tried to deny it. You tried to hide from it. But you know. You were always Darth Vader… and you always WILL BE!"

"I HATE YOU!" Anakin screamed.

Sidious grinned cockily. "I know." And he knocked Anakin unconscious.

A couple Mandalorians came in. "We heard an explosion. Are you alright sir?"

"Take our new guest to our special prison. And tell General Grievous to begin his attack on Naboo."

"Anything else sir?"

"Yes. Prepare my ship. I have an errand to run."

Rex and Luke walked through the dark and creepy jungles of Umbara.

"So… you've been here before?" Luke ventured.

"That was a long time ago. There was a… battle here during the Clone Wars."

"Was my dad here?"

"He was for a short period of time. He was called back to Coruscant early on in the battle."

"Did you win?"

"How about you stop asking me so many questions and tell me how close we are to the Emerald?" Rex snapped.

"It's two clicks that way."

They reached the edge of the woods and found a big road leading in the direction they were headed.

"Oh, we can just walk on this." Luke said already starting to do so when Rex dragged him back into the trees.

"No. We'll continue through the trees."

"Why?"

"There could still be mines out there."

"You really think there's still mines?" Luke asked.

"Even if there aren't, we'd still be completely exposed. We're not risking it."

They continued walking parallel to the road. Eventually, they reached a city surrounded by a tall laser fence. They stood before the fence, looking for a way to get past it, when the Umbarans started shooting at them.

"They spotted us! Find cover!" Rex shouted.

They ran back into the woods and hid behind a large tree.

"What do we do now?" Luke asked.

"I don't know. The capital is too heavily guarded, we'll never be able to sneak in."

Luke looked back at the foreboding structure. "But what if they captured us?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we want to get inside and if they captured us, they would take us inside."

"Yeah, then we'd be locked in a cell and unable to go anywhere."

"But then I'll use the Force to get us out." Luke explained.

"But you've had no training. Do you know how to use the Force at all?" Rex asked skeptically.

"I know a few things." Luke replied indignantly. "Watch." He focused on a stone and after a few seconds, it floated up into the air.

"Yeah, okay. But breaking out of a highly advanced prison requires more than being able to lift a few rocks. We should leave here for now and come back with someone a bit more experienced."

But as they turned to do just that, the scouting party of Umbarans that had been sent to find them emerged from the forest and surrounded them.

Rex sighed. "I hope this plan of yours works."

There were very few things in this galaxy that Lando couldn't handle. This droid, however, was one of those few things.

"When are you going to remove this infernal device?"

"When you stop needlessly blowing everything up!"

"I told you it was necessary!"

This might have been manageable, if L3 didn't keep taking his side.

"Those restraining bolts are completely barbaric. I expected better of you Lando."

"What's barbaric is blowing up an entire castle just to kill one little droid!"

"I didn't blow up the entire castle. Just a small portion of it."

Lando put his hands over his face and groaned. He had to get rid of this droid.

Fortunately, the Emerald tracker went off. Lando quickly checked their location and found they were near Kessel.

Criminal organizations prized the planet for its spice mines. In the recent gang wars, the Hutts had taken the place away from the Pikes.

Garballa the Hutt slithered his way out to meet the Falcon as it landed. He was flanked by two Iktotchi guards.

"Well, if it isn't Lando Calrissian. What brings you to my humble operation?"

"I'm afraid I'm in a bit a tight financial situation."

"Really? What kind of situation?"

"The kind where a group of mercenaries steal your business from you."

"Ah yes, the Deathwatch. They got you too, huh? But why come to me with this problem?"

Lando shrugged. "Well, we've made a lot of business deals in the past and I hoping you would get my operation back."

"You want me to pick a fight with the Mandalorians?"

"I'm willing to pay you a lot to do this. Perhaps enough for you to afford that luxury resort you always talked about?"

"A very generous offer, however…" Garballa grinned smugly. "Money is no longer an issue for me."

"Really? And how's that?"

"Let's just say I came across a little something special."

"Special, huh?" Lando prodded.

"Yes and it's going to make me rich enough to buy two resorts!"

"That's great to hear, but a little advice." Lando motioned for him to come closer. He whispered, "When you have something that rare and valuable, it's best not to let people know that you have it. At least not without some proper protection for it."

"My security force is more than capable of protecting it."

"Sure. But what if your security force are the ones that plan on stealing it?"

"What? They wouldn't dare cross me!"

"Hey, you said this thing could buy you two resorts. That's a looooot of money. Are you sure your guys won't be tempted?"

Garballa thought about this. "You might have a point there. I should probably get some security droids. Droids are always loyal."

Lando grinned. "Well, you're in luck! I just so happen to have a very capable droid with me right now!"