Chapter 38: …for you.
With Anakin…
Skywalker was vigilant. He felt that two patrons were keeping their eyes on him, having barely touched their drinks since they arrived.
Hopefully, Artoo managed to crack open their security and find something before he himself had to crack some heads.
Vibrant and full of energy, as always, Ahsoka barged in, rushing towards his table and tearing the bottle away.
"The food is ready and I won't have you wasting around again, sir! Who's going to pilot the ship, hm? Me?!" she chastised him as both of them left the abode to go to the restaurant.
In Republic Hand Sign Language, she told him that Artoo got what they needed. Next step was inconspicuously leaving this starport and making their way towards the capital city.
They ate, paid their dues and then left for the ship, where they found Artoo downloading the information on their board computer.
"What have you got there, buddy?" Anakin asked, jumping into the pilot's chair.
*A few bleeps later*
"Security breach? Terrorist attack on the capital city? Separatist guards? Now this changes everything!" he exclaimed, starting their ascent.
Ahsoka was not so enthusiastic.
"How do you plan on sneaking through a city occupied by the enemy when they already know we are nearby?"
"We'll find a way! Come on, we'll think of something." He reassured her.
With Inanna…
They lost him, again! She was beyond furious. Nelo did something to the cameras and blinded many areas across the facility and even as those three droids zoned in on him, he disposed of them and their feed was cut.
She made her way there, checking the area for any life forms, or unusual electrical discharges, but she didn't find anything, so she left.
It was only later, when one of her teams spotted two dead guards near another maintenance room that she felt it. Foreboding doom, imminent disaster. That the Dark Side would tell her something like this…
She entered the room, looking for clues, her team behind close behind. It took them about ten minutes to notice that one of the pipes was cut, by a lightsaber no less. Using the Force, she pried the piece open and peered inside, seeing only water.
"AD#21, what is this, where does it lead to?" she asked aloud.
"That, mistress, is the heavy water used in cooling the reactor that powers this facility. This pipe leads to the collector basin, where the uranium bars are being cooled."
"Is it deadly? Will the water or the radiation kill him?" she asked, fear and glee battling each other in her heart.
"The water is mostly harmless and the radiation might kill him if he lingers in the proximity of the bars too long. Also, the high temperatures might boil him alive if he gets too close or stays too long in the water." The droid recited from his data banks.
Fear or glee, sadness or satisfaction, regardless of what she felt, she had to be there.
"Send a team to check the pipes and block an escape he might find. The rest, with me to the reactor!"
With Nelo…
This was way harder than he'd imagined. Even with a lower drainage speed, the pipe did turn and turn and he had to prop his legs into the margins to slow down. What's more, he needed to keep an eye on his backpack, since the payload could go off at strong impacts.
According to his calculations, he should be reaching the reactor in a few seconds.
And reach it he did!
Nelo was thrown into the water, the pressure sinking him five meters beneath the surface. The temperature was very hot, and the closer he got to the access ladder, the hotter. He could see the uranium bars in the distance and knew there was a high risk of radiation, so he had to make it quick. The pressure and the currents were pulling him in different directions and he felt his body heat up.
He used the Force to speed up his swimming, reaching the ladder. He left the mask on for protection and made to climb those intimidating ten stories to the controls. Shockingly, he could feel Inanna approaching; she wasn't far away, so he had to set everything up real quick.
Finally reaching the top, he kept himself hidden and looked around for any real threats. A team of scientists, their assistant droids and two droidekas. Doable!
He removed his lightsaber from his suit, took Saato's saber in his other hand and did a Force jump, landing between the hostiles. Before the droidekas could power their shields, he beheaded them in two swift movements. Turning towards the scientists, he menacingly twirled his weapons around, scraping the ground like general Grievous.
"You are going to shut down this reactor right now or you'll lose your heads, literally!" he told them and, as proof that he meant business, instantly beheaded one droid.
"B…but mister, if we stop the reactor, all of us could die! This whole city could fall from the cliffs. We… won't do it!" the chief scientist said.
"Too bad for you I guess, slimy neimoidians! I'll do the Republic and the Galaxy a favor by murdering you!" he said and stabbed the weakling in the heart, proceeding to kill the rest of them. "What a waste!" he sighed.
Moving on, Nelo simply slashed at the controllers, randomly pressing buttons and crashing the software and hardware. Alarms and claxons were triggered, warning of a possible meltdown. He decided to make that meltdown permanent and set the explosives he'd been working on.
Just as he was about to connect the bomb with the detonator, a lightsaber flew at him, almost maiming him. In all this daze, he'd forgotten about her.
"Stop this, you madman! Have you gotten genocidal?" she shouted at him as she ran across the platform, her troops in tow.
Nelo was surprised that she got here so fast, but he wouldn't give up. Instead, he got into a battle position, Jar-Kai style. Keeping her away from the controls until the bomb was nice and ready to go.
Her droids started shooting at him, covering her advance. He was forced into deflecting the array of shots. Next thing he knew, his former love kicked him in the chest, sending him flying into the command table.
"Stay down, or I'll hurt you worse than you can imagine!" she threatened, lightsaber pointed at his neck.
Nelo let out a hoarse laugh, before looking at her.
"I'm afraid you can't." he simply told her, giving her a lost gaze.
It hurt, hearing these words from him, but she couldn't allow him to distract her just now.
"Stay down while I defuse your contraption and then we can talk!" she ordered him matter-of-factly, urging her droids to approach and keep an eye on him.
Nelo didn't do anything; he just lay there, looking at her and the droids trying to stop the meltdown. Most of the controls were busted, so they called for more heavy water to be pumped into the area until the repair team got here.
Her droids were programmed for demolition, true, but not for preventing demolitions. Cursing inwardly, she turned back to Nelo.
"Give us the detonator or the sequence, now!"
He swallowed and coughed, before turning his body to face them.
"I didn't get to rig the detonator; it's right there, near that pile." He informed her, his head pointing to the side.
She grabbed it and took a good look at it; indeed, it wasn't rigged. It was useless, but she kept it for evidence. Crouching in front of him, she asked on a no-bullshit tone:
"Fine. Sequence, then!"
"There is no sequence. The bomb was made not to be defused and once activated, any tempering will set it off! Hehehehehehe!" he laughed bitterly.
Inanna didn't take no for an answer and she grabbed him by the collar of his clothes, shaking him hard.
"I am not in the mood, Nelo dear! Stop this nonsense and defuse it!"
Then he did something that totally surprised her. Nonchalantly, he looked at her hands, then back at her and threw back at her:
"Get your hands off of me, sith! This cesspool of a city will crash along with all of us, whether you like it or not. Will do the Universe a lot of good, too."
So unjedi of him. In fact, now that she thought about it, this wasn't like Nelo at all. Even with him turning to the Dark Side, there should have been enough of his personality left, but she felt that wasn't the case. How is it possible for him to be so cruel, so efficient and shrewd, not to mention all the powers he couldn't possibly have known?
Looking at him, at his golden eyes and the blue veins starting to show on his body, an idea struck her like a lightning bolt.
It was then that Nelo Hivaarr smiled from ear to ear, akin to a shark. His voice changed too. It turned into a commanding, yet feminine one. With a start, she realized that this was a telepathic conversation.
"Good, sithling, good! You figured it out." The voice was amused.
"You must be Darth Zannah. What have you done with him?"
"ME? I have helped him all those years, saved his life countless times without him knowing it, and opened up abilities most wouldn't be able to wield at his age. I warned him of many dangers, including you. And what did he do? He thought better; he was naïve, far too optimistic and caring. Look where it had brought him. What have I done? No, my dear girl that was you. His master's death was the last straw, but your betrayal killed his soul. He locked me down and tried to use my powers, yet in that moment I overpowered his will and now I am reborn."
"Then why don't you help us defeat the jedi? Why attack us instead of joining us?" Inanna asked, trying to mask the pain that took seed in her heart.
"Because I don't like to share, because of the Rule of Two, because I can…" Nelo's head also shook, tilted a bit to the side, and then she added: "… and other reasons you don't deserve to know. What you do deserve, is death!"
It was a split second decision, more instinct than anything else, that prompted her to do a back flip out of there, a couple of seconds before the explosion went off, destroying the command platform and most of her robots. The bridge also started collapsing, so she fell back towards the door, glancing behind her to see Nelo's body surrounded by the protective, red colored aura of Dark Rage.
He jumped at her, but Inanna used a powerful Force push that deviated him above her. Nelo propped his feet into the wall, then Force jumped to the next level. Once there, he began to cut the security door.
Inanna left the collapsing sector and closed the door, then went to the emergency panel and pulled the lever. Nothing happened. Cursing inwardly, she sent out the alert via comm-link.
"The enemy wants to detonate the reactors. Move all personnel to the second reactor and defend it at all costs! Make sure it keeps going, or we'll all die!" she informed all of her forces.
She caught a glimpse of Nelo clearing his way through a squad of droids, before entering another room. A couple of explosions rocked the facilities and some panels fell from the roof, their wires ripped by the blast.
"Master, did you get that?" she spoke into her comm-link, but it wasn't working. After repeated tries, she knew she was on her own.
Deciding it was better to confront the danger head on, she went after the possessed padawan.
With Anakin and Ahsoka…
Anakin was shaken by the pressure. He felt a growing danger, a sense of doom, a warning that the Force was sending him. His heart ached, knowing that Nelo, his little brother, was suffering. Artoo even had to take over as a pilot, so they wouldn't crash, since his body grew still.
Ahsoka was also experiencing similar syndromes. Screams and whimpers were sounding through her head and her montrals were changing color to show the myriad of feelings she experienced. Luckily for her, not being as strong gin the Force meant the effects didn't linger too long.
She soon took over the piloting, deftly avoiding the escort ships that were about to capture them. In their mental haze, both jedi didn't register the repeated warnings to turn back.
"Artoo, do not shoot at them. Help me avoid their lasers until Anakin wakes up; he'll know what to do." She spoke through gritted teeth, flipping the ship to avoid the collision with a civilian vehicle.
Using the many towers, rooftops and antennas as cover, the togruta did a series of impressive maneuvers which would have made her master proud.
She saw an explosion in the distance. Its reverberations were felt across the whole city, as the massive contraption shook in its hinges.
"Snips, how-who-whou, what's going on?" Analin woke up, his breath whizzing.
"Something exploded and shook the city like an earthquake. Do you still think it's safe to land?" she left him the controls and fell back to her copilot role.
Anakin took over and steered the ship clear of any buildings and pursuers, then took a nose dive into the mist surrounding the high cliffs.
"Artoo, do everything you can to keep this ship invisible. If push comes to shove, leave, lose any tracers and come pick us up, alright buddy?"
A few affirmative beeps later, her master took them below the reactor. The Twilight attached itself to one of the smaller docking ports, using its magnetic hooks to keep it still, despite the recurring shaking of the city.
"We have no choice, Snips. Come on, let's see where this goes!" he said in fake bravado.
Shaking her head in disbelief, she patted Artoo's head a few times, bidding the droid farewell, before following her master.
After climbing an almost endless number of stairs, they reached the surface, Force pushing the canal cap blocking their way. What they found on the city streets was disheartening.
Civilians and droids were flooding each and every street, looking to abandon their now unstable dwellings. To their left, an ambulance was trying to recover victims from underneath a huge block of concrete. Suddenly, another shake displaced a huge balcony, which was about to crush the workmen. In the last second, however, Anakin raised both of his hands, stopping the debris in midair.
Amazed and muttering thanks and words like jedi, magic, heroes, the team moved away, allowing Anakin to let the debris fall harmlessly on the street. Following his example, Ahsoka lifted the block to reveal a mother who had died protecting her three children, who were still alive. The task force thanked the Togruta, took them and the body, loaded them into the ambulance and drove off.
"We may have blown our cover, but we couldn't have let this happen. Let's find Nelo and get out of here, before things get worse!" he urged her. They followed the Force trail leading towards the anti-gravity facility.
With Darth Zannah…
It was hard getting used to a new body and keeping up the ruse that it was Nelo in control. Because her presence was still weak after a millennium of lying dormant, and was lacking a body, her powers had fused with his. However, it meant his weaknesses and limitations became hers as well. Plus she had to contend with his relatively strong personality making occasional comebacks. She felt more like a spider controlling a web, like a puppeteer of sorts.
"Pathetic!" Nelo said, as he decapitated the last of the guards barring his access to the lift. Inanna was definitely going to get in his way, but it will be her final battle.
The lift descended five levels, but then was stopped. A transmission from the sith acolyte told everyone to go and defend the reactor. It definitely looked like a last stand. Sneaking around wouldn't work this time, so he had to use all powers at his disposal to ensure the destruction of the reactor.
Nelo opened the doors with the Force, plunged his lightsaber into the wall between the two levels and worked to cut his way through. He knew the lift could start at any moment.
It took him a couple of minutes, but he squeezed through and ended up into the ventilation pipe. Taking a glimpse through the grate, he saw five neimoidian guards taking aim at the doors. Smirking, he quietly removed the grate, lowered himself behind them and used Force Drain.
All five sentients screamed as the vampiric powers hooked onto their beings, draining their life force to feed and rejuvenate the body of their killer. It took less than two minutes for them to die, leaving wrinkled husks behind, just like a spider's prey.
Refreshed by the heinous act, Nelo went on to make his way towards the main door, his lightsabers not sparing anyone or anything foolish enough to stand in his way.
[play: Star Wars: Duel of the Heroes Suite]
With Inanna…
"We fortified the doors and the corridors, mistress. He is making his way towards us as we speak." Said the officer, a slight fear palpable in his voice.
The sith acolyte ordered the scientists to place the shield generators around the structure. Hopefully that would hold back most of the damage. They were then tasked with keeping everything going, no matter what.
Six droidekas were guarding the one platform between the door and the control panel. Additional panels were brought and set, in order for her and the droids to better position themselves. About 30 droids had their weapons trained on the blast doors, while an additional team of assassin droids were lying in wait in different spots, hidden from sight by invisibility belts. Most of the neimoidians were huddled behind her or in the corridors outside, with morale at its lowest. They have seen what the monster lurking somewhere out there was capable of and feared for their lives.
The anti-gravity facility was running on fumes. This reactor was all that stood between the city and millions of people falling to their doom, 6000 meters below.
Before, it was Nelo defending Naboo from her, with his life on the line. Now it was her defending Cato Neimoidia from him, with her life on the line. How their roles got reversed in such a short time!
She will kill him, and probably kill her heart along with him. Now she finally understood why Count Dooku sent her to deal with him, instead of him battling the padawan.
"He wants to kill the love I feel for Nelo. He wants to use my death to turn me into a full-fledged weapon. But love IS passion, and passion is part of being a sith. Then why?" she asked herself. She wanted to spare Nelo, to spirit him away, talk some sense into him and convince him to let go and join her, no matter how long it would take her. Now, since he wanted to destroy everything, he had to be stopped. Fate, as always, was out of her hands, even as a sith. Her master had lied, all those years ago. Fate, or the Force, now pushed her into killing him.
Her internal battle was cut short by the battle taking place outside. Panicked cries for help could be heard over the comm-link, alongside familiar lightsaber sounds. An explosion cut must chatter. A grenade must have gone off.
The doors were sealed shut and ray shielded. They should block his access, but the acolyte didn't get her hopes up, as her former lover proved to be very creative (if not him, then that bitch possessing him).
She could hear the lightsaber trying to pierce the shield, but it wasn't working. Minutes later, an explosive went off, but it didn't have any effect.
A grave-like silence descended upon the reactor room, as his efforts to breach the doors were ceased.
Recognizing the calm before the storm, Inanna lit her weapon, the red contrasting with the white light cast by the many lamps on the walls.
Another huge explosion rocked the facility, and claxons went off.
"Attention! Attention! The electrical room has been damaged. All unnecessary devices and facilities will be shut down. Danger! Danger! Attention…"
The lights in the huge room dimmed to the familiar red, now blending harmoniously with her lightsaber's. After a quick check by the science team, the reactor was still working and keeping them afloat. Good.
Two lightsabers were plunged into the blast doors, slowly cutting the thick metal doors. Painstakingly slow, the padawan was making his way into their room.
"Curses! The emergency removed all the shields. I thought I told you idiots to make sure this room was secure!" she shouted at her team.
" We did, mistress, but this is an automatic response. The circuitry won't be able to take it, otherwise. Even our emergency generators will fail at this rate. And when they will, so will the reactor…"
"In other words, we are trapped." She spoke, more to herself.
A couple of minutes later the incision into the door was done.
"Be ready to fire!" she ordered.
Seconds later, the door was hit with a strong wave of the Force, shoving the droidekas off the platform and into the waters below, where they would short-circuit. Her troops opened a barrage of lasers on the door.
Cautious, Nelo took pot shots with his blaster, knocking out a few battle droids, but nothing more. He waited patiently until their weapons paused for reload, before throwing a couple of fragmentation grenades.
Inanna managed to throw only one of them away, the remaining one destroying two more droids and shredding the flesh of the neimoidian troops.
Nelo then made his grand entrance, both his and Saato's swords in his hands. Smirking evilly, he entered the Dark Rage again, using it to protect himself from their many shots.
What followed was a chaotic storm worthy of a grand, space opera.
Inanna knew that, for all of Nelo's raw power and his sith mistress's knowledge, the longer he used the Rage and the more damaged it absorbed, the more he would be weakened.
The acolyte waited until her assassin droids used their sniper rifles to fire at him from behind. Five shots made it through his defense, blocked by his aura. Enraged, the former padawan finished off three more battle droids, before turning around, raising his hands and Force pulling in the general direction where the shots came from.
Two of her teams were caught and thrown in the waters below. The last one stayed hidden.
Inanna had the rest of the soldiers pull back as she went to the front. Nelo looked at her with hunger. His golden eyes spoke volumes of his despise for her and other Separatists.
He attacked, using both swords to catch her off balance. She switched to an unfamiliar Soresu to keep his sabers away.
The pair continued to trade blows for another couple of minutes, the soldiers around them occasionally taking a shot at Nelo. He continued to use Dark Rage, but the power was beginning to take its toll on him. Blue veins and even some cracks on parts of his skin made him realize he could not go on like this.
Nelo attacked Inanna's torso, only to get both his lightsabers locked by hers. Keeping up the pressure, he carefully dropped to the ground, and swiped at her legs, forcing the acolyte to do a back flip out of there.
The former padawan then threw Saato's lightsaber at the mass of soldiers and droids on the platform to the left, cutting many of them down. At the same time, he too jumped there, calling the weapon back to his hand and finishing the job.
The last assassin team opened fire, doing a couple of flesh wounds on his back.
Hissing in pain, Hivaarr turned around, sending a powerful wave of the Force, crushing the droids against the walls, their remains falling into the boiling heavy water. The pause opened him up for further attacks from behind. He met them head on, deflecting most, before he tried to jump over and behead them. Inanna wouldn't have that, so she used a very powerful Force Push into his face.
The padawan crushed into the lower level of the reactor with a bang.
In the seconds that it took for him to get his bearings, Inanna jumped down to his level and continued the battle.
"Are you really this spiteful…" she asked, one hand holding her body onto the metal structure, the other swiping at him. "…to want to kill millions of beings along with me?"
"Look who's talking. You murdered hundreds, maybe thousands of sentients, not to mention your master causing this war…" Nelo said, almost losing his balance as he deflected another swipe. "…you'd both be better as space dust!" he shouted, taking a stab at her chest, but her seasoned Makashi style prevented that. Thinking quickly, he tried to Force push her off the narrow walkway, but she matched his effort, the two of them countering each other to nil.
She pushed, and he started retreating, his Jar-Kai barely having enough space to work. Obviously, it wasn't his preferred style.
Nelo was carefully measuring his steps, pulling her into a trap, when, suddenly, an electrical staff made contact with his back. In the ensuing moments of pain, he dropped Saato's lightsaber, which Inanna destroyed with a split second swipe, leaving him with only one weapon; a weapon he used to dismember the brave, but foolish scientist that wielded the staff.
Turning back to Inanna, he intercepted a hit in the last second, exchanging more strikes as he tried to adjust his style to just one lightsaber.
Nelo didn't forget about the others behind him. He kept an eye out in case somebody else got brave. Finally deciding to break the deadlock, he did a backflip, landing on a wider platform, in between neimoidians. Some tried to overpower him, others to escape and he proceeded to cut them down, but again, Inanna stopped him with a Force Stasis, using all her concentration.
The frightened survivors left the battle, running for the upper level of the reactor tower and the safety of the few remaining troops.
Inanna dropped the stasis and attacked, Nelo meeting her head on in a saber lock.
"How touching! Looks like I am the sith and you are the jedi, Inanna, my love. I could just kiss you now." The teen mocked her, to which she barred her teeth and cursed back, her grip tightening to the point that she made a mistake, and Nelo disarmed her, her weapon deactivated on the ground.
The former padawan went to stab her, but she arched her back and avoided it. Her foot made contact with his intimate area, causing him to fall back and scrunch his face. After doing a back flip, she called her lightsaber to her hand and lit it. Smirking, she whispered mockingly:
"You might have been a woman, an ugly one I might add, but that body is still a boy's." she blew an air kiss at her enemy, to which Nelo, or, better said, Darth Zannah, reacted with a snarl.
Their duel went on for minutes, the two Darksiders barely wounding each other. As they traded blows, they realized it was a game of endurance and wits, more than raw power or anything else. To Nelo's horror, however, time was running out and he had to blow this reactor before they managed to repair the electrical systems or the other reactor.
He surprised Inanna by deactivating his lightsaber and grabbing her own with both hands, draining the power of the plasma into his body and shutting it down for a short time. Shocked, the acolyte then received a strong kick in the chest, depriving her of air.
Nelo didn't finish her then, because he jumped to the upper level, where he proceeded to kill what was left of her escorts and science team.
She heard the screams and was reminded of the horrible years of her youth. Scenes of murders and massacres flashed before her eyes, some of her doing, others she witnessed. Inanna dropped to her hands and knees from the shock, trying to suppress them. Just as she thought she had everything under control, she was reminded of her failures as a sith and as a person, her two biggest failures unraveling around her just now.
With Anakin and Ahsoka…
Anakin and Ahsoka were running by now, the neimoidian guards mostly ignoring them and the droids shooting at them when they recognized the jedi knight from their memory banks. The two quickly dispatched most opposition with a few strikes and Force pushing clusters of them into the walls. Both of them heard the warning and were headed for the reactor room. It wasn't hard to find, given the bloody trail of bodies and destruction that led to it. At one point, however, Anakin stopped dead in his tracks and examined a few bodies.
"Master, why have we stopped?" Ahsoka asked, secretly thankful for the break.
"Those are lightsaber marks, made by an experienced Force user. It reminds me too much of Vice-Admiral Steffanno's ship for my liking."
"Who do you think did it?"
"Somebody who's maniac enough to want to destroy a whole megacity! A rogue sith? Whatever this is, you have to be on your guard." He said on a severe tone.
Anakin was bugged by another thought, one that seemed unthinkable. He recognized the style or, better said, the combination of styles. He saw such a wielder in action a few times in the past and was afraid to meet him now. He prayed to the Force to be wrong.
20 minutes later, they reached the corridor leading to the reactor. Many doors were blocked by the blackout, others were blown open, and many barricades were laid as if to hold back an army. The final corridor was filled with a gruesome scene worthy of a horror: the red lighting couldn't hide the blood on the floors and walls, legs, arms, heads and torsos strewn all around, droid husks all around. Traces of explosions and laser blasts completed the picture.
Ahsoka had to fight to keep her lunch in and Anakin closed his eyes for a few seconds to calm down. Ahead of them, they could hear the sounds of a battle and see glimpses through the hole in the door.
Skywalker walked before his padawan, ready to guard her against whatever lay on the other side of that door.
To say they were shocked was an understatement. They were heartbroken.
A few remaining droids and neimoidians, both soldiers and civilians, were just finished off in a few smooth moves by a man clad in black and wielding a red lightsaber. He spared no one.
Anakin knew who it was even before he turned to face them.
Nelo ended the last lowlife with a stab in the neck, whirling around to meet the new arrivals. Even he was surprised to see his brother-by-oath and his padawan girl.
It was ironic- Darth Zannah mused, as she temporarily lost control over her descendent- that all these evil deeds wouldn't elicit any serious protest or shame on his part, yet getting caught in the act by this Skywalker did.
"Ah, Anakin, brother, I was just cleaning this city of filth." The boy said as if he was wiping the floor and not wiping lives out.
The jedi knight's heart ached when he heard that hoarse voice. He felt no regret coming from Erladin's padawan. He couldn't allow this to go on; he had to get him to back down.
"It's ok, Nelo! We came to rescue you and get you out of here." He spoke as calmly as he could, while Ahsoka couldn't hide her horror.
"Ah, just in time, bro! I only need to rig this gig here to explode and we're good to go. Are 20 minutes enough for us to escape?" Nelo asked innocently, shutting his lightsaber and removing an explosive device from his back pocket. "I'll be quick!"
"No need; you've done enough damage and paid them back for Naboo. It's time for us to leave Neimoidia." Anakin tried once more, hand extended in a gesture of camaraderie.
Ahsoka couldn't believe her master's self-control. It took all her willpower not to shiver or fidget with her lightsaber, because she was positively terrified by the golden eyes, blue veins and bloody suit of the padawan. He looked more like a hellish creature, like one of those ancient siths that the older padawans scared her with when she was a youngling.
Nelo Hivaarr was fighting with himself. Here was his way out, his ticket back to the normal world, out of the enemy's clutches. But Anakin or Ahsoka will tell the Council and the G.R.A. everything that they saw here today; he would be court-martialed, of that there was no doubt. Death sentence? Life imprisonment? Might as well make this last shot count and deal those slimy Separatists a terrible blow to remember.
"Alright; 'be with you two in a bit." He said as he turned around to plant the bomb, only for it to be wrested out of his clutches by Anakin.
"I can't let you do that, brother! Too many innocents would die. Have you seen what's going on outside, the men, women and children crushed by debris, falling cars and buildings?" he said as he carefully held the bomb in his left hand.
That did give the turned padawan pause for thought, but Darth Zannah kept prodding him to achieve his goal, amplifying his worries, fear and hate, feeding more Dark Side energy to him.
"Anakin, I need to do this!" he said as he approached the jedi pair, his weapon unlit for now. "Wait outside if you want."
"We can't do this, Hivaarr; we are jedi! You are also a jedi, don't do this; don't be a genocidal criminal!" Ahsoka quelled her fear, putting all her empathy and courage into it.
Nelo was… amused? What kind of sicko takes pleasure in such things, she asked herself.
"Alright, have it your way." The padawan said, closing his eyes.
It happened so fast that he thought it simply wasn't real. His brother had pushed him into the wall, the bomb somehow still in his hands. Ahsoka, however, sustained a flesh wound in her neck from the blood red lightsaber. Too terrified to act, she would have died, but the dark jedi wasn't able to finish his stab. His sweaty brow was proof of the effort he put in trying to end the little Togruta, much to her master's horror.
"Just in time!" Inanna said, both of her hands raised, her fingers strained in a pulling motion. A Force Stasis, Anakin realised.
"Look at yourself, animal! Not even your friends can get you to back down. But don't worry, I am not afraid to die." She added her Dark Rage activating to supplement her strained body. In a decisive motion, she pulled him towards her, dashing to the side to avoid his incoming swipe.
"Show yourself, witch! I am not afraid of facing you!"Inanna challenged.
To Anakin and Ahsoka's shock, the padawan's demeanor changed, his voice getting higher pitched, like that of a woman's- one that radiated hate and evil.
"Oh, aren't you now? You hide behind a mask because you fear people seeing you for what you are, you cheap Mary Sue!" Darth Zannah threw back at her, rising and throwing her lightsaber not at her, but at the master control, cutting it off from the generator.
Inanna knew that she stood no chance against the sith, if she somehow managed to access her powers. What's more, time was against her, with the core meltdown having started. The only way to win this and save both him and herself was to reach him.
She then did the unthinkable, unveiling herself in public, before her enemies, no less.
"I will save you from yourself, Nelo, whether you like it or not!" she spoke with a tender tone, lighting her own lightsaber.
The two of them clashed in a duel nothing short of memorable. Darth Zannah was using a whole new repertoire of moves, variants of Form VII not seen since the Ruusan Reformation. Powered by Dark Rage, Inanna matched the attacks with an unusual combination of Form IV and Form III, using her superior agility to avoid the brutal blows. Nelo's body was showing a lot of strain, but the sith ghost was prompting him harder and harder, she could see that. It was like pumping a tired brawler with more and more steroids; it would destroy him in the end.
Meanwhile, Anakin managed to defuse the bomb and separate the components, throwing the less dangerous one in the waters below. He then rushed to check on Ahsoka. The left side of her neck and left shoulder area were bleeding, so he put both his hands on the wound.
"Bear with me, Ahsoka! Concentrate on the wound and feel the Force flow through you. Its cool touch, let it calm you…" he whispered with a fatherly tone, his hands absorbing the Force currents around them to close the wound.
The flesh knit itself slowly, but without scarring.
"That's it, my padawan, you can do it!"
Ahsoka moaned in pain, squeezing her eyes shut as she tried to stay awake. It hurt; it hurt even more because it was him.
"See what you've done? They were your friends, and you were ready to kill them. This isn't you, Nelo!" Inanna pointed at the scene, seconds before having to do a back flip on one of the platforms.
"You're right and you aren't. They're obstacles in our path, but this is very much Nelo. He secretly hated Anakin, that little padawan and the others but kept it hidden. He's a good actor, as you well know" Darth Zannah said with glee, surprising Inanna by catching her in a Stasis, then proceeding to use Force Drain on her.
The sith acolyte screamed in pain, as the combined effects of the Rage and the Drain took their toll on her body. Her skin was tearing apart, blood seeping from some of the wounds. Her breathing became laboured and she had trouble keeping her eyes open. A full-fledged sith lord, a legend, was battling her. How many chances did she even have? Count Dooku didn't even deem her worthy of the title of sith warrior.
Anakin didn't understand what was going on between the two. They clearly had history and he recognized her as the sith lady that took Padme, him and Nelo hostage on Geonosis. He could tell she was young, but years of training and conflict made her seem older. He even dared to think her beautiful, but her face was marred by pain. It was the first time when he saw a burnout that severe. The lack of Force energy was eating at her body. How was Nelo even capable of doing all this? Who was that feminine entity talking in his stead?
No matter, he had to intervene, but Ahsoka needed his complete efforts to recover. What to do…
Hivaarr saw his former love finally suffer for what she's done all this time. Every fiber of that beautiful, yet evil body was screaming for release, but he only tightened the grip, siphoning her life away. Her voice was a few pitches higher than usual, but he enjoyed hearing it.
Nelo was knocked to the side, his concentration faltering. To the left, Anakin recalled his azure lightsaber to his hand, a look of disappointment and fury on his face.
"Stop this, stop all of it!" his brother-by-oath reprimanded him.
For a couple of seconds he was speechless, the sith in his head a distant influence. The lightsaber flickered, its plasma briefly turning golden again, before reverting to red.
[play: Bastila Shan's Theme from Kotor]
Tired beyond anything, Inanna wanted it all to end. Huddled in a fetal position, she still felt the aftereffects of the drain. Had it went on for another minute or two, her body would have imploded, consumed by the Dark Side. She breathed, welcoming the air and with it, more pain. She deserved it; she deserved the full brink of it for making him suffer, for thinking of him as her plaything. She had to rise, to watch him in the eyes and apologize.
Every fiber of her body felt like cracking. Her lips were dry and stains of blood covered her arms, legs and neck. Little more than rags and pieces were left of her armor.
She saw his lightsaber flicker briefly to yellow, its original color. What did that mean? Was he so drained of the Dark Side that Darth Zannah was weakened?
Curse this jelly body! I have to get up; I have to get to him before he's taken away again. She pushed herself up, first the knees, then one leg, then the other, slowly, steadily. With both hands on the railing, she moved closer to him.
Nelo whirled around, narrowing his eyes at the sight. She was still alive, much to his surprise. This wasn't Inanna; this was some pathetic girl that thought herself high and mighty. Putting her out of her misery would be a favor.
The boy, pushed by his sith ancestor, approached his weakened nemesis, her bloody wounds glistening in the red light of his weapon. Such a good pair, he thought.
Reaching her, Nelo looked her in the eyes. They were emerald again, their shine gone. He was reminded of their meet on Geonosis, of him giving her the long-lost necklace. Grabbing her by the collar of her clothes, he brought her one breath away. Underneath all that sweat and blood, he could still sense her favorite perfume. She looked at him intently.
"Any last words?" he said, emotionless.
Not letting that last bit get in her way, she licked her lips and said:
"I am sorry, I am sorry for everything! I love you and will always love you!" she said, tears forming in her eyes.
Nelo wanted to end her right there and then. Or did he? He sensed no lies and could see it before him. She was content to die, if only he would forgive her.
"You deserve to die, you traitor, you weakling!" Darth Zannah spat, rising her arm to end this, only to stop in midair.
For a split second, Inanna Shapish had closed her eyes, an unusual serenity descending upon her. A fitting end, but at least she opened her heart up for him. Imagine her surprise when the blow never came, when the pulsating wounds remained.
Daring to open her eyes, she saw Nelo's hand in midair, his lightsaber flicking between red and yellow and his eyes between purple and yellow. Guttural words came out of his mouth and she knew right there and then that he was fighting, fighting for her, for them, against that witch. Darth Zannah didn't want to let go, that much was clear. She needed to cut the fuel to her fire.
With renewed will, Inanna grabbed Nelo's head and kissed him deeply, putting all her love and worry for him into it.
He had grown stiff for a few seconds, the weapon settling for an orange hue, while his eyes dimmed. He dropped his arms around his body, his lightsaber falling on the floor. Inanna's arms let go of his head and she fully embraced him, afraid she might lose him if she let go. They both fell to their knees.
Without fully realizing it, she had begun draining the Dark Side out of him, allowing his body and soul to return to normal and healing herself. Somehow, it didn't hurt him or her, even as her body knitted itself back together.
"I missed those lips, I missed you all those days and nights!" she whispered to him.
"You tricked me, her." Nelo chuckled weakly. "You took my powers away, you black widow." He added, feeling a wave of weakness come over him.
"If I was a black widow, you'd be dead. And I didn't even do it on purpose, mind you." She answered, just as surprised as he was. Had she done it subconsciously?
"Huh, you saved me, but we're all going to die, anyway!" he warned her, his eyes changing color, the right one being purple, the left one orange. Both pointed towards the master control. "I'm just glad I got to tell you that I forgive you, that I love you too!" he whispered, his body convulsing into violent spasms.
She held on to him, not minding the occasional elbowing. He was there, he was back to normal.
"What's happening to him?" asked Anakin, as he lay a wounded Ahsoka a meter away from the pair, leaving her for a bit to check on his little brother.
The sith lady turned and smiled weakly at him.
"Burnout. He can't survive on his own. The Force is killing him, since he used so much of it and claimed so many!" she said with much sadness.
"But I don't feel any darkness on him anymore…"
"That's because I drained what was left to save him from her. With nothing left to sustain him, the Force will claim him. There is a reason why we sith train ourselves before using all these forbidden powers…"
For Anakin it was awfully strange to talk casually about all these things with the enemy. She still was the enemy, Dooku's apprentice, right? And many questions remained, chief among them being that entity and the source of those powers. Also, there was something peculiar about her voice. That accent… it reminded him of that of his mom. Was she also from Tatooine?
"Failure imminent! Restore electricity urgently!" the A.I. blared.
"I have to do something!" Inanna said with panic in her voice, more to herself than to the two jedi.
She kissed Nelo one more time, whispering something in his ear and carefully letting go of him on the floor.
"Hey, hey, where do you think you're going?" Anakin asked, suspicion written all over his face.
Inanna didn't say anything. Instead, she approached the master control. The electricity supply was cut by Nelo some time ago. It was crazy that she even thought about this, but she had to try, else millions would die.
"Skywalker, take my Nelo and your padawan to safety!" She asked of him, reaching into her chest armor and removing a case. Opening it, she took a card, throwing it to him.
"What's this?" he asked, curious about the gesture and not missing her possessive tone.
"Access codes to get off planet, one of my spares. That should clear your way out. Now, please, save him!" she spared them one more glance.
Extending her hands and calling upon the storm of emotions bubbling beneath her skin, Inanna released a pure white lightning at the machine's power conduit, instinctively adjusting it to match. The alarms stopped and the uranium bars were lowered back into the heavy water, hissing on contact. The dimmed, red lights started reverting to their normal white ones.
"Go, and send an emergency team on your way out. I'll manage!" she added between gritting teeth. "Change your clothes into something from the barracks. That'll help you sneak out easier!"
Anakin helped Ahsoka to her feet, making sure she could stand properly, before leaning and reaching for Nelo, putting him over his right shoulder.
"Why don't you come with us, ditch the Separatists and the Sith?"
"Do you have a death wish, Skywalker? This reactor will fail the second I stop the flow." She answered snidely.
"I meant afterwards. Nelo would like it too!" he tried to convince her, but the opposite happened.
"You really are stupid, aren't you? Tell me, do you have any love interests, honorable knight?" she jabbed him.
When he rebuked her with the usual jedi platitudes, albeit with a slight pause beforehand, it was as clear as the Alderaanian sky.
"You also assume that I despise the Separatists or that I love the Republic. You are wrong on both ends. Just wait and see what they'll do to him. Both of you will know see what you really stand for. Now go!"
Troubled, but wanting to depart the planet, Anakin urged Ahsoka to follow him. They made their escape, heeding the sity lady's warning to use the barracks to change their outfits to better blend in. He opted for a simple grey armor, with black reinforcements and a half-mask, whereas Ahsoka painted some new tattoos on her face, gathered her montrals into a headpiece and donned a new armor, a little larger for wear, completed with a robe.
"We have to change him too. He attracts too much attention." Ahsoka proposed.
It was true. The battered armor, along with the ripped clothes showed his broken and bloody skin. Plus that lightsaber, which didn't make things any easier.
Peeling off the armor made him hold his nose. The stench of burned flesh, of a sweaty and bloody body was hard to ignore, but he did his best. With clean towels, they gently cleaned him, binding some of the wounds. Anakin tried using the Force to help him heal, but his body simply absorbed the energy without showing any signs of recovery. There was not time to ponder, so they dressed him in some new clothes, putting a helmet on his head, hopefully enough to hide his face from furtive glances.
They kept their promise and, as they exited the facility, they talked to one of the police officers, urging her to call for help from the other nuclear power plants. The officer thanked them and, after Anakin flashed the sith's card, allowed them to leave the premises while she and her team entered the facility.
The trio made it to the maintenance port without too much trouble. Artoo arrived five minutes later, after ditching two more police ships. Not wasting any seconds, Anakin left Nelo to Ahsoka and got into the pilot seat. He used the sith's codes to gain free access from the garrison, then maneuvered out of the planet's atmosphere, before jumping to hyperspace.
Author's note
- big, double-sized chapter to keep you satisfied for the next period, until I manage to plan the next chapters.
- thank you for all your reviews. I took them into account.
- if you liked the fanfic, follow it and help me improve it by reviewing. I am currently in search of a beta reader. Anyone can apply ;)
Disclaimer: Star Wars, its characters (barring the OCs) and its music belong to their respective owners. No profit is made.