Chapter 10 - Battle (Teagan)

DISCLAIMER: We do not own Star Wars or any of the characters in it, though we wish we did. We only own the characters we have invented from Earth. =)

Author's Note: Sorry, not sorry about the awful cliffhanger at the end! ^-^ xD

~ Amina Gila

Inching slightly closer to the edge of the cliff, we both peer down into the gulley below. I draw in a sharp breath as I take in the scene. Obi-Wan and Ariana are in stun cuffs on, chained to a pole around ten feet away. A dark-haired man is standing near them. I'm fairly sure he's Sylvario. Just what is happening? We clearly missed something.

Anakin lands in front of them, his lightsaber ignited. "I think you are in for a shock," he says, before his gaze turns Obi-Wan's direction. "I guess it's time to rescue you again, Master." I can only hear his words by enhancing my hearing with the Force. For some reason, the sound isn't carrying much here. Maybe the rocks tend to absorb rather than reflect sound waves. I don't know. It's doesn't really matter anyways.

"I don't think so," Sylvario interjects casually, igniting his lightsaber, a red blade hissing to life. I should have guessed. He's a Sith. I probably shouldn't be surprised, considering everything else happening right now, but I am. I have so many questions and no answers. When did he Fall? How much has he been trained in the Dark Side? Who trained him? Uneasiness floods me. Moments later, two destroyer droids roll up behind Ariana and Obi-Wan and unfold before aiming at them. Great. But fortunately for us, Sylvario is not aware of our presences yet. I think.

"One wrong move, Skywalker, and they die," Sylvario threatens smugly. Don't be so sure of that. He's too sure of himself. That overconfidence will be his weakness.

"We need to do something!" hisses Ramona, as I quickly try to come up with a solution. How about – that's perfect.

"Anytime now!" Anakin shouts mentally.

"You take the one on the right. I'll take the one on the left," I whisper back. She gets my meaning without a further explanation. We both send powerful Force-shoves at the respective droids, sending them rolling backwards into the cliff wall before coming to a smashing halt, quite out of working order, to say the least.

Unclipping out lightsabers, we simultaneously leap down, igniting them on the way. I'm caught off guard for a moment as Sylvario deactivates his lightsaber and clips it to his belt. He raises his hands, and a blast of electric energy leaps straight at the two of us.

I move without even thinking, raising my lightsaber defensively. This isn't something I've ever trained for, but I did observe how it was done in the movies and Clone Wars episodes. As the first tendrils hit the blade, I realize it'll be much harder than it looked. To keep the lightsaber steady, I'll have to focus all my effort on keeping my arms inflexible. Blocking Force lightning never looked this hard in the movies, but then again, I didn't realize how much force was involved in both.

As Ramona and I struggle to block the attack, Anakin jumps over Sylvario's head, landing behind him. He immediately cuts the bonds on Ariana and then Obi-Wan. They Force-yank their lightsabers away from Sylvario – they were on his belt – and scramble to their feet. Ariana gives Obi-Wan a quick hug before they both activate their lightsabers.

The barrage of electricity suddenly stops, and Sylvario presses a button on his wrist. I keep my lightsaber poised in front of me just in case. I do not want to know what it feels like to be electrocuted. Ariana's description was bad enough. I don't need to experience it first-hand. The clattering of droids reaches my ears as two more destroyer droids come rolling up from a different direction than previously.

The droids open fire on Ariana and Obi-Wan who are quick to begin deflecting the bolts back at them. Anakin lunges at Sylvario, who quickly reactivates his red blade and parries the blow. Their lightsabers begin clashing furiously. Just then, I hear the sound of more approaching droids, and from the same direction that the destroyers came from, a dozen battle droids march forwards. It's war then.

I exchange a look with Ramona, the same idea in both of our minds. We Force-shove the destroyer droids backwards again, and they roll towards the entrance they had come from, straight into the group of oncoming battle droids.

"Uh oh!" cries the one in front in alarm.

A chorus of "Roger roger"s followed by screams of alarm ensue as they all get knocked to the ground; some of them are actually crushed by the destroyers, and the rest won't be getting up anytime soon, so we don't need to worry about them.

The sapphire and ruby blades are still clashing at an alarmingly fast frequency, neither gaining ground as the duel progresses. Obi-Wan doesn't waste a second, leaping over to back up Anakin. I whirl when I hear more marching in time to face twelve super battle droids marching towards us. I grimace, readying myself for the battle which will come. We'll be in the fight of our lives here, but at least we aren't facing an entire droid army. Yet.

Ramona and I fall into position next to Ariana as the droids open fire. I try to keep up with all the blaster bolts flying my way, realizing that this is much harder than I'd expected. Regular battle droids aren't nearly as dangerous opponents, partially because super battle droids are far more imperviable to blaster bolts. If I had more time to think, I could focus long enough to Force push them away, but seeing as we can barely protect ourselves, that's not an option right now. Never mind the fact that the low level of oxygen in the atmosphere is making this worse. It's hard to fight when you can't breathe properly.

A couple of the super battle droids go down under the deflected blaster bolts, but the rest continue firing and advancing. Anakin is so much better at determining the best angle of deflection than we are. Since he's had far more practice – and is much stronger with the Force – that isn't too surprising. The best option would be to charge them so we can cut them down. That would be far easier.

Apparently getting the same idea as me, Ariana sprints forwards, rolling under the line of fire and coming back up right in front of them. A couple of them turn to fire at her, while the rest remain focused on us. Wonderful.

As Ramona and I struggle to keep up with the blasts, Ariana stabs her lightsaber through one of the droids cutting it in half before quickly taking down a second. This diverts the attention of three of the droids away from us. They turn towards her, which gives Ramona and I an opportunity. We skillfully deflect the bolts back, destroying two more from their own return fire. Now there's only five left.

I don't wait, racing towards them, deflecting the bolts which get too close before cutting one of them down. Ramona slices the other in half next to me. We move towards Ariana, skillfully destroying the remaining super battle droids. All twelve of them are gone, left as scrap heaps on the ground.

I let out a sigh of relief, gaze skirting to the duel which is still in progress with no clear victor. Anakin and Obi-Wan are still moving as a team, hammering at Sylvario's defenses, though the latter is clearly an expert duelist. He seems to have created his own fighting style which incorporates moves from both Ataru and Makashi. The duel has moved further away from us, which only gives me a small measure of comfort. I don't really want to fight another Sith. I'm sure Anakin and Obi-Wan can handle him on their own.

Unlike most Sith, Sylvario isn't taunting or throwing carefully aimed barbs, not that I'm complaining. Maybe he's chosen to focus on the fight because he doesn't have the upper hand at the moment. Frankly, I think he's insane if he really thinks he can defeat both Anakin and Obi-Wan. That's not going to happen.

My thoughts vaporize as four destroyer droids roll up, unfold, and open fire. I back away a few steps, so I don't trip on the stray pieces of droids and methodically begin blocking the blaster bolts. Is there no end to these droids? Probably not, I realize with chagrin. We're at a factory, after all. It only takes ten seconds before I confirm that fighting off these is much worse. At least there's only four of them, but that's bad enough. The worst part is that, because of their shields, it'll be far harder to destroy them.

If the ground wasn't so rugged, I'd try running – that's what Anakin taught Ahsoka on Christophsis. It tricks the destroyers into folding and rolling after. If one stops suddenly, it's easy to cut them down. That probably won't work, because if we ran, the droids would probably turn to shoot at Anakin and Obi-Wan. We can't take that risk. There isn't any "plot armor" to keep them alive, so we're their best shield against the destroyers.

I'm momentarily distracted from blocking the blaster bolts when Ramona suddenly stumbles back a step from her position between Ariana and I. Glancing over, I quickly realize that she was grazed by one of the blaster shots. It must not be too serious an injury more because she's still fighting like before, except now, she's blocking with one hand. Her other arm must have been injured. That realization fuels a surge of anger. Stupid droids.

In my momentary distraction, I falter in deflecting, so one of them comes too close to one of my arms for comfort. Pain rips through me, as the bolt grazes my arm, burning the skin, though it doesn't go very deep. Clenching my teeth, I try to ignore the agony and continue fighting as well as before. It shouldn't hurt this badly, not for such a minor burn.

I draw on the Force to help bolster my concentration, letting my anger against the droids and Sylvario go to fuel my movements. Already, my muscles are screaming in protest of the extended exertion, but I don't have time to worry about it. I need to focus on the danger singing in the Force all around me. The pain from the burn diminishes as I draw in some much-needed energy from the Force. Pushing all conscious thoughts aside, I lose myself in the flow of battle once more after checking that Ramona is alright. Focus on the here and now, Teagan.

"Bring the ships," I hear Anakin commanding from behind me. Throwing a glance over my shoulder, I see that he has pulled out of the fight for a moment. Artoo beeps in response from the other end of the comm just as Sylvario sends a Force-shove at Obi-Wan, throwing him to the ground around twenty feet away. Lightning arcs from his hands towards Anakin, but by the time it reaches him, his lightsaber is already blocking it.

Obi-Wan springs back to his feet, charging back into the fight and forcing Sylvario to stop his attack on Anakin. He parries Obi-Wan's strike, and the duel resumes once more. Great. At least we'll be leaving in the near future. I slowly begin backing away, successfully turning the destroyers away from where the others are, not that it matters, because they can easily turn back.

Any moment, we'll be airlifted out. Above the sound of blaster bolts and lightsabers, my ears pick up the sound of the approaching shuttles. Artoo and … Arfour to the rescue at last! Moments later, the ships swoop in low over the cliff, diving towards the ground not far from us as the ramps lower, beckoning invitingly.

"Jump!" Obi-Wan calls to the three of us. Scrambling back further from the destroyer droids, Ramona and I Force leap through the air, landing on the ramp of our ship. Anakin lands next to us seconds later. I glance back to see Ariana and Obi-Wan boarding their shuttle already.

As we race onto the ship, closing the ramp behind us, I hear Sylvario's voice faintly, probably speaking into a comm. He's giving orders for us to be pursued. Anakin is in the pilot's seat by the time Ramona and I get there. I slide into the co-pilot's chai, while Ramona gets out a kit to tend to her injured arm. I'll take care of my own injuries once we're safely away from here.

Anakin angles the shuttle away the planet that I'm literally being pressed against the back of my chair by the planet's gravity. We're nearing outer space, safely away from the gravity of Mentin, when the Force warns us of approaching danger. In the same moment, the ship's scanners pick up the approach of pursuers. A glance out the viewport reveals a dozen vulture droids in hot pursuit. I feel a prickle of fear run down my spine. We're not in a starfighter. This is nothing more than shuttle which was equipped for minimal space fighting. We might be Jedi, but we aren't all-powerful.

"There's a group of vulture droids pursuing us," Anakin calls, pushing several of the control buttons on the ship to increase power to the shields.

"I always wanted to see one of them," I mutter, feigning cheerfulness. Well, it is true that I always wanted to see one of them, but not exactly when they're trying to kill us.

"Uh oh," worries Ramona from behind us. She's still bandaging her arm. Come to think of it, I probably should have gone to help her, because Anakin is good pilot; he doesn't really need my help, at least not right now.

"Get to the guns," commands Anakin. I jump up and scramble to the seat next to the controls for the guns. This is not going to be an easy escape to say the least.