I got a message saying it didn't update for some reason. Not sure why, but I reuploaded it. :)
Author's Note: Sorry for the wait, writer's block sucks lol. (Also, Starkiller doesn't exist for me since I find the idea of his character to be absurd and kind of dumb. Sorry Starkiller fans :P)
Aside from this, the awakening of Elita, and some tension between the rebels I don't have too much planned before reaching season 3 of rebels. However I have thought about possibly incorporating a little bit of interaction between Hiccup's gang and Empire stuff, nothing definite yet though.
Also if it seems like I'm making up this story on the fly, I kind of do, but major plot points have always been planned, so it's not too drastic on the story outcome, just incase you guys might be worried I'm compromising story success. :P
Theed Royal Palace; Naboo
Windu POV...
I waited at the end of the hall for this dark lord to find me, glaring at the empty space. That... Padawan, Jarik Shan just doesn't understand. Doesn't understand that the Jedi Order was built the way it was to secure peace for the galaxy and the Republic. He doesn't understand why this Darth Vader's emotional attachments led him to become a slave to evil, with cold self-serving fury. If Master Yoda survived he would've joined the fight against the Empire long ago, as he certainly would not let such evil take place.
"Come to me," I mutter quietly, sending out my presence like a beacon to the Sith.
This Empire has tainted the galaxy with its darkness for too long, and the Jedi have waited in hiding long enough. If we are to succeed, I need to defeat the Sith and bring the Jedi Order back, so that the lies and misconceptions will be revealed, and everyone will understand our purpose. We seek to bring peace, not war. The Jedi must prevail so that we can lead the citizens of the galaxy along the righteous path.
Jarik POV...
I led Shaak-Ti and the other two down the corridors of the catacombs, searching intently for Windu's presence in the Force. I could also feel Vader nearby, not feeling particularly happy. He was determined, fueled by rage, and I can make a pretty good guess about why.
"Mace is projecting himself outwards through the Force!" Shaak-Ti points out.
"I wonder why," I remark sarcastically.
Turning around a corner, I come to a halt upon seeing another squad of about ten stormtroopers, although these ones were colored with blue paint, moving around in searching formations. They were definitely more experienced than the regular bucket heads that's for sure. Because these are stormtroopers from the First Legion. Previously known as the 501st Attack Battalion.
The rest of the Jedi stop directly behind me in alarm, and I narrow my eyes as one of the stormtroopers catches sight of us, shining a bright spotlight a pointing a finger.
"There they are!" he cries out.
I whip out my lightsaber and dash forwards as the stormtroopers open fire, sending many red laser bolts my way. Shaak-Ti and the others also pull out their lightsabers, but by that point I was already on the stormtroopers. I twirled my lightsaber to deflect blaster fire while running, hitting two of them before leaping into the fray, slashing my lightsaber. They let out cries of pain as I cut through them, and I raised an arm to send two more slamming against the wall. The last trooper tried shooting at my back, but Shaak had come up behind him and slashed her lightsaber across his back.
"This way!" I tell them, continuing forwards.
"Jarik wait!" she replies. "What if we run into Vader!?"
"We won't until we reach Windu!" I tell her.
I could sense some of their frustration as they follow me again but I pay it no mind, continuing to run through the catacombs, following Windu's presence.
Vader POV...
I marched down the dark corridor, following the beacon of the Jedi that he was no doubt projecting on purpose, attempting to draw me closer. He's still as arrogant as he's always been, and I'll make sure he feels the full force of my wrath and fury for all of the pain he's caused me in the past. My red lightsaber kept the tunnel around me lit, my footsteps echoing off the stone walls. It was when I was moving through a four-way intersection that I came to a swift stop in the middle.
I slowly turned to the right to see Windu standing at the end of the corridor. The fool had trapped himself at the end of this corridor.
"So, we meet again Jedi," I remark.
In response he pulls out his lightsaber and activates the familiar purple blade, glaring at me. "It's time you face justice for the crimes you've caused against the Jedi," he declares.
"My crimes?" I question coldly, stepping forwards. "Is it criminal to face the truth when it comes upon me?"
"The Jedi Order stood for truth and peace! You have no right to talk about truth!" he replies.
"I have no right?" I retort angrily. "I fought for you in the Clone Wars, strived to uphold the Jedi Code! Yet you offered me nothing but distrust and lies! I have every right!"
"You never upheld the Jedi Code, giving into the dark side and your attachments for Amidala!" he spits, and my blood boils in anger. "She should've known better than to accept you like that, but she was just as foolish!"
"Don't you ever, mention her again, Windu," I growl dangerously, pointing my blade at him.
"You do not make the rules. Even now you are still nothing but a boy misguided by his emotions," he says condescendingly. "You and Amidala both... Anakin."
With an enraged yell I charge forwards, raising my lightsaber overhead and swinging down with all of my might. He raises his saber to block mine, grunting in pain at the strength behind my attack for a moment, and I press the advantage. I swing my lightsaber in wide and powerful arcs, forcing him back closer to the wall as he desperately tries to block my attacks. Reaching the wall, I slam my lightsaber into his and shove him against the stone, pressing the blades closer to his face. I take notice of his mechanical hand with a small amount of glee, knowing that I did that to him.
However, Windu then yells back at me and shoves me away, swinging fiercely for my head. I lean out of the way of his attack and deflect his next barrage of strikes, backpedaling a little bit with seething fury. He marches forwards with his blade held forwards while glaring at me, and then twirls around to deliver another powerful blow. I block his attack, and we parry back and forth with each other, moving back into the intersection. He tries to slash upwards at my helmet, but I raise my blade to catch his before shoving upwards, and kicking him in the leg.
He grunts in pain, stumbling back briefly before having to raise his lightsaber again to block me. I press forwards, causing him to back down a new corridor as I continue to show him the full force of my raving fury.
Jarik POV...
I could hear the clashing of lightsaber blades through the Force, which brought me to an immediate stop with wide eyes.
"What is it now?" Shaak demands, catching up to me.
"They've made contact," I tell her grimly.
"Are you sure?" Kcaj questions, and I no my head. "Well then we must find Master Windu and help him to defeat the Sith!"
"It's not that simple," I retort.
"Vader is a Sith Lord, it is very simple," Rancisis replies.
"Vader, has no more hate for Windu that isn't returned," I snap at them. "There's got to be another way to solve this."
"Master Windu does not hate, this is only for what's right," Kcaj states firmly. "We are going to join him, and that's that!"
"We may have to wait a little longer," Shaak suddenly interrupts, pointing down the hallway. We follow the direction of where she was pointing to see large numbers of stormtroopers marching towards us determinedly.
"Time to go," I remark, moving towards another tunnel only to see the same thing.
Whipping around in all directions, we could see that every single one of the tunnels leading out of the area we were in was blocked by stormtrooper's marching for us, and worse yet was that several Deathtroopers were leading them. We got into a circle, lightsabers in hands while I scowled angrily.
"Did I forget to mention that Windu is a moron for coming to Naboo?" I say sarcastically.
"Maybe a little," Shaak mutters in reply.
The stormtroopers then all opened fire on us, and a high barrage of red laser bolts streamed at us from all directions. Every single one of us quickly moved to deflect oncoming blaster bolts and redirect them back at the troopers. The Deathtroopers were skilled enough to actually dodge a few of our redirected blasts, but others were hit and taken out. One Deathtrooper charged up to me and attempted to physically attack me with his rifle, but I leaned out of the way and spun my lightsaber to slash him across the chest. Glancing behind me, I could see that the others weren't faring too well, Rancisis especially, so I decided to make a move.
Flipping Ahsoka's lightsaber up into my hand, I activated the green blade and then spun around, throwing it with all of my might down the tunnel in front of me. I used the Force to direct it through a bunch of stormtroopers, and they all collapsed to the ground with cries of pain, having been sliced apart. There were still a few left, but compared to the other tunnels it was a lot less. I called Ahsoka's lightsaber back to me and then gestured down that tunnel.
"Come on!" I exclaim, rushing forwards.
The others quickly follow after me without any hesitation, deflecting blaster fire behind them while I cut a path through the remaining stormtroopers in front of us. Exiting from that tunnel and into a more open area, I came to a stop and whipped around, bringing up my right arm and concentrating on the archway. Once everyone was through I clenched my hand with a grunt of exertion, and cracks formed in the stone before I yanked my arm down. A few pieces of stone broke off from the tunnel and covered it up; not completely, be enough that they'd have to dig through it to get after us.
"That should buy us a little time," I comment, breathing heavily.
"Enough for us to find Master Windu and help him take down the Sith Lord," Kcaj states.
Before I could protest, Rancisis had looked over towards another tunnel entrance with a frown, and then waved an arm.
"I sense a conflict nearby! This way!" he declares.
"Wait-" I try calling out, but they all rush in that direction.
I stand there for a moment and scowl irritably to myself before following after them, placing Ahsoka's lightsaber back on my belt. Shaak did glance back at me with a sympathetic look for a moment before continuing onwards. It didn't take us long before we arrived at a ledge that overlooked a deep chasm, but only a few feet across to the other side of the chamber, where there was a flat circular space, was Windu and Vader, the latter furiously marching forwards.
We watched as Vader and Windu exchanged fierce slashes and strikes with each other, both seemingly equally matched, before Windu locked lightsabers with Vader and then shoved him back in a move that had me shocked. It seemed almost as if some explosive light had blown Vader back in a way that was similar to when he had shoved Dooku back just before disarming him, all those years ago. Vader stumbled into the middle of the room, crouching for a moment and looking back up at Windu, who has a fierce glare on his face.
"Your reign is over Sith," he declares.
Rancisis and Kcaj then decide to make themselves known by jumping off of the ledge and landing on the ground below, the three Jedi surrounding him. Vader glanced back at the two before looking towards Windu, slowly rising to his feet.
"I will not be brought down!" he growls.
Shaak moves to jump down as well, but when I glanced over to the sides of the chamber and saw stormtroopers priming thermal detonators to throw at us, I widened my eyes in alarm.
"Shaak, look out!" I exclaim, grabbing her shoulder and then pulling her back. The detonators then explode several feet away from us, blowing us down the tunnel and collapsing the entrance. I hit the wall with a cry of pain, as does Shaak. Groaning, I slowly push myself up to my feet to see the tunnel towards the open area completely blocked too much for us to try and move, even with the Force.
"No!" Shaak cries out in frustration. "We have to find another way around!"
I hesitate for a few moments, sighing in frustration before nodding. "Come on then."
Vader POV...
I stood in the the middle of the circular chamber, glaring at Windu as the other two Jedi stood off to either side in a flanking maneuver, lightsabers raised. Assessing them, I knew they would offer no challenge to me, with their pitiful strength. Oppo Rancisis and Coleman Kcaj, two council members who believe they can handle my might. The only one I have to worry about is Windu. Speaking of which, several of my stormtroopers were stationed around the chamber, blasters aimed at the Jedi.
"Surrender now Jedi, and I shall give you a swift death," I tell them.
"We will never surrender to you Sith!" Rancisis declares.
"You may be powerful, but you cannot hope to stand against the three of us, even with your troopers," Kcaj adds confidently. The arrogant fools.
With a simple gesture from me, the stormtroopers all open fire, many of them shooting at Mace and causing him to quickly deflect the laser blasts, while I whip around to attack the other two Jedi. It would be best to eliminate them now before they become a problem. There are still two more Jedi besides these three, although they were cut off. No matter, I would find them soon.
I slam my lightsaber down heavily onto Kcaj's blade, and shove him away. Rancisis attempts to strike against my side, but I parry his blow, almost easily so. I swipe my lightsaber between the two Jedi, slashing heavily and attacking hard with my rage against these council members. The Jedi Council were the worst of them all, the leaders of the pathetic and hypocritical Jedi. A stormtrooper then goes flying off the side of the cliff next to me, and I whip around just in time to block an attack from Windu. I scowl angrily and then shove him away, advancing for him.
To my great annoyance the other two Jedi try and move against me, swinging their own lightsabers. I turn around to face them, alternating between Rancisis, Kcaj, and Windu. None of the stormtroopers were left, which means that Windu must have killed them. No matter.
I enter a blade lock with Kcaj and then shove his lightsaber around, unbalancing him, and then smack him away with a swing of my other arm. Windu comes in with a leaping strike, yelling, but I raise an arm and blow him away with another Force push, taking him by surprise. I begin to march for the two of them, but Rancisis once again tries to strike at my unprotected back, which was the last straw for me. Whipping around, I bat his lightsaber away with a downwards slash, and then an upwards slash sends it flying out of his grip and into the chasm below.
Raising an arm, I clench my fist, catching the Jedi in a Force choke and begin crushing the life out of him. He gags and chokes, being lifted into the air and desperately clutches at his throat in a futile attempt to relieve himself of the pain, his tail thrashing around.
"No!" Windu yells in fury.
I spin around to block his and Kcaj's lightsabers with one arm, holding my blade horizontally. They attempted to push against me, but I still kept choking the life out of the Jedi, taking great satisfaction from the desperation, fear, and anger I could sense from them.
"Release him! Now!" he demands.
"As you wish," I reply coldly, mocking him.
With a final clench of my fist, I snap Oppo Rancisis's neck and let his corpse drop to the ground lifelessly, releasing him just as promised. Windu roars in fury and shoves my lightsaber upwards, kicking me in the chest and sending me stumbling to the ground, causing me to grunt in surprise. He and Kcaj then start to hammer away at me while I was on the ground, desperately keeping them at bay. A slash against one of my prosthetic forearms had me yelling in a rage, and thrusting my arm out I blew the two away from me, slamming them against the rocky wall.
Getting to my feet, I reach and arm out again I grab Kcaj with the Force, yanking him in my direction. He is unable to prevent himself from being impaled by my lightsaber, gasping in pain before dying, and I drop him carelessly on the ground. Windu is crouched on the ground, staring with wide, wild eyes at the two corpses of his fellow Jedi on the ground. He was one of the ones responsible for taking everything from me, and now I shall take everything from him.
"And then there were two," I remark in cold satisfaction.
3rd person POV...
An Imperial shuttle boomed out of hyperspace above Naboo, and headed for the planets surface. Flying across the night sky it came to a landing at one of the private landing platforms, Vader's TIE Fighter sitting right beside it. A platoon of stormtroopers all stood at attention along the sides of the long pathway, not moving an inch as the shuttle opened up. Four Imperial Royal guards marched out of the shuttle in an orderly fashion to stand on either side of the exit ramp, waiting for the person they're assigned to protect.
Walking down the ramp calmly was the Emperor, and dark lord of the Sith himself, Darth Sidious. He carried a cane in his hand as he calmly walked down the ramp, although he did not need it one bit. Once he left the shuttle ramp and continued walking towards the Royal Palace, his Royal guards followed to walk on either side of him for his protection, although he did not need that either.
Approaching the Royal Palace of Theed, a pleased smirk was on his face as he contemplated all that he knew, and all that he could feel from this conflict. Already two of the Jedi were dead, which meant Lord Vader had already begun the hunt. However to defeat Mace Windu would prove to be a challenge for him, which is why he had decided to come as well. That, and to also have the personal pleasure of ending the life of that Jedi once and for all. However he could also sense another figure here: Jarik Shan.
The true prize is Mace Windu, but if he encounters Shan, then he will make sure to end him, for good.
Jarik POV...
I jabbed my lightsaber into the stone wall, and began cutting out a large circle. The blue blade melted through the thick stone like butter, causing the stone to heat up to liquid hot levels where the blade touched. Finally I cut all the way around and turned off my lightsaber, shoving open the hole with my shoulder. We stepped through and continued on our way towards where we could sense the battle happening.
"So what have you been doing for all these years?" Shaak asks me. "You've been plastered all over the holonet."
I let out a mirthless chuckle. "Yeah, the Emperor hates me the most. I certainly haven't made it easy for him."
"That is impressive," she replies. "And you've been doing this all on your own?"
"Not really... I've helped to jumpstart the rebellion too, so there is that," I admit hesitantly.
"And, what of Ahsoka?"
I falter in my steps at her question, my hand drifting to her Padawan braid, which I always carry with me.
"I don't feel like talking about it right now," I respond quietly. "What about you?"
She gives me a worried look before responding. "I've been spending my exile on Felucia. Nothing too much of interest. When I came across Master Windu's message I decided to get myself involved once again."
"Huh," I remark dully.
We were silent for a long while, not really sure what to talk about. However I could sense Shaak's uncertainty and sense of guilt hovering around her, most of it focused on the thought of me and Ahsoka from what I could tell. Finally she lets out a sigh, and stops walking.
"Jarik... I would like to apologize," she says.
I stop walking and turn around with a confused expression. "For what?"
"For what happened to you and Ahsoka at the end of the Clone War," she explains. I falter in my gaze, glancing away uneasily as she continues. "Looking back, I can see that we didn't really give either of you a fair course of action."
"There were a lot of things like that," I respond quietly.
"I thought I was doing what was for the good of the Order, but hearing what you've been saying has me wondering about our decisions in the past," she admits.
"Well it happened a long time ago," I remind her. "Why bring it up now?"
"Is it wrong to offer an apology when you know you did something wrong? Even when that something was years ago?" she counters.
"I guess not," I sigh in reluctant agreement.
"I'd also like to give you something," she adds.
She pulls something out from under her cloak, and I widen my eyes in surprise upon recognizing what she was holding: Ahsoka's Akul-tooth headdress.
"How'd you get that?" I exclaim in bewilderment.
Shaak falters for a moment before responding. "I... had always hoped that Ahsoka would replace me on the council as a Jedi Master, being a fellow Togruta. Obviously that is impossible now, but perhaps it is better that she have it."
I stare at the headdress with a lump in my throat, moving to reach an arm out before pulling it back sadly.
"I can't..." I reply softly. "You should keep it. I don't think Ahsoka would accept it."
'Even if she could,' I add quietly to myself. I still couldn't bring myself to say that Ahsoka's gone, as that would only make things worse for me. My broken Force bond already aches enough as it does.
"It would remind her of the Jedi... and she hasn't considered herself one, since being expelled," I manage to explain.
Shaak looks at me sadly, surprise and a little let down by my rejection, but puts away the headdress anyways. With that out of the way, I raise my blue lightsaber to light up the area and continue down the dark corridor, headed for where we could sense the conflict occurring.
However I couldn't help but glance up with a frown, sensing something dark...
"How powerful is Vader, do you know? I'm unsure of how the fight between him and the others is going," Shaak questions.
Before I could answer, someone else did. We both whipped our heads around, horrified to see someone standing at the end of the dimly lit hall in front of us.
"My apprentice is quite powerful, I assure you. And so am I, for that matter."
We widen our eyes in alarm, sensing the dark side of the Force surging in power, all because of Darth Sidious standing right at the end of the hallway, in the flesh!
"Sidious?!" I whisper in shock.
"The Emperor..." Shaak gasps.
He cackles at us, raising his hands and glaring with gleaming yellow eyes.
"You should have considered the dangers of coming here, Jedi!" he exclaims.
With a gleeful yell, blue lightning erupts from his fingertips and streams forth down the tunnel towards us, crackling and exploding dangerously against the walls. We both pull our lightsabers out in front of us to block the lightning, grunting in exertion as we were slowly forced back along the ground. He lets up fairly quickly, but the power behind his attack was still immense, leaving us staggering for a moment.
We glance up to see Sidious calmly walking towards us, his hands curled before him while cackling lightly.
"Run!" I yell.
"I'm not complaining!" she replies anxiously.
We both run back down the corridor we came from, not about to take our chances with the Emperor himself. Strangely enough however he doesn't really give chase, but he does shoot a few more blasts of lightning in our direction periodically, which explode against he walls on either side of us. It was almost as if he believed he had all the time in the universe, and that chasing us was beneath him...
Turning around a corner, Shaak notices a stone pillar and swiftly sliced her lightsaber all the way through it. The stone pillar crumbles and collapses to the ground, halfway blocking the tunnel we just came from. We didn't stick around for a moment to see if that would work, and continued running as the sound of Sidious's laughter echoed around us.
3rd person POV...
Windu was a master of Vaapad and as such, Vader's emotions were only fueling the darkness that Windu incorporated into the lightsaber form, making him even stronger. And he was fiercely determined to defeat the traitorous Sith Lord, and he would not take any other scenario. He defeated Darth Sidious in battle for Cleve's sake, and he was not about to be beaten by his upstart boy!
With an enraged yell Windu gets into a saber lock with Vader, glaring at him, before shoving their lightsabers to the side. His purple blade slashes up and cuts Vader's mask, causing him to yell in pain. While Vader stumbles back, Windu then raises his foot and kicks him in the chest with all of his might.
The Sith Lord cries out in surprise and rage as he was forced back over the chasm to fall down into the darkness below, the gleaming red of his lightsaber disappearing quite quickly. He made to jump down and follow, before the sound of footsteps from behind had him whipping around in alarm, twirling his lightsaber readily.
"Hey hey, calm down Windu!" Jarik exclaims.
"Shan!" he growls, storming forwards with an accusatory finger. "This is all your doing!"
Jarik and Shaak both blink in surprise before the former crosses his arms, narrowing his eyes at him in response.
"My doing? What is?" he asks.
Windu gestures to the two dead Jedi corpses, and Shaak gasps in horror and sadness. Jarik glances at them in surprise and regret, but then swiftly turns to glare at him.
"You're blaming me for this?!" he demands angrily.
"Your arrival led Vader here before we could prepare!" he accuses. "Your relationship with him got his attention!"
"Drawing Vader here was precisely the reason you came to Naboo in the first place you moron!" Jarik shouts in disbelief.
"When, we, were, ready!" Windu growls.
"Enough you two!" Shaak exclaims heatedly, fed up with the bickering. "We don't have time for this! Vader's not the only one we have to worry about now! The Emperor is here in these tunnels and is coming for us right now!"
"What?" Windu asks in alarm.
"Where is Vader?" Jarik questions.
"I took care of him, just as I planned," he replies triumphantly. "He's dead, having fallen down the abyss."
Jarik fumes, clenching his hands together irritably to control his anger before calming himself down.
"So let me get this straight: you kicked him down a deep hole—a guy who survived burning beside a lava river—and you think he's dead?!" he exclaims incredulously.
"Mace, how can you be sure?" Shaak asks.
"I've been down that hole before. He couldn't have survived a drop like that, especially with his physical limitations," he explains.
Jarik is about to retort at him before Shaak places a placating hand on his shoulder.
"Alright fine, we can discuss this later. But we have to leave before the Emperor find us again," she says.
"If he's here for us, then that gives us an opportunity," Windu announces.
"No," he shoots down immediately, knowing what he was implying. "Besting Vader is one thing: the Emperor is another matter entirely!"
"I've defeated him in combat before," he argues.
"When you were thrown out the window?" Jarik retorts.
"If it wasn't for the intervention of Skywalker, none of this would have ever happened!" Windu states.
"Well, unless you know how to defend against Sith sorcery, you're out of your league here. I don't think he brought a lightsaber this time," he replies firmly.
"Mace, we must at least come up with a strategy first, before we rush into things," Shaak reasons.
Windu stands silently, considering what they were saying with a displeased frown before nodding in reluctance agreement, deactivating his lightsaber.
"Very well," he states.
Jarik POV...
After the tense argument between us back in the more open chamber, we started heading quietly down a few more corridors, keeping a look out for Sidious and stormtroopers; or in my case, Vader.
Although the Emperor's behavior right now had me confused and unsettled. Upon seeing me and Shaak-Ti, I would've thought he would immediately give chase in order to destroy us, making sure we would be unable to escape. But instead he just shot a few blasts of lightning, cackled at us, and hen basically let us go free. It doesn't make any sense to me at all.
"Does Palpatine have any guards with him?" Windu asks stiffly.
"No, but you shouldn't be concerned with that," I reply, hoping he'll take my advise. "He's capable of using Sith sorcery to shoot blue fire at insane levels."
"How do you know this?" he questions.
"It's complicated to explain," I admit, and he narrows his eyes at me. "But he can do it. I've seen it firsthand, personally."
"How such a powerful figure could have remained hidden under our very gaze for so long... it's still very hard to believe," Shaak says, unsettled.
"He was using the Sith shrine to hide himself," I state.
"The Sith shrine?" Windu asks, looking at me intensely.
I nod my head with a stern look. "Yeah. The Jedi Temple was actually built over it when it was first constructed. Sidious used that shrine to cloud our gaze, keeping us from sensing him."
"One Sith Lord and a single shrine could not hope to combat against the entire Jedi Order gathered in one spot," he says in disagreement.
"For thousands of years its energy had been leaking up into the Temple, so subtle that no one could ever notice it," I reply firmly. "Believe what you want, but those are the facts."
I turn my head forwards and keep walking, Windu walking stiffly in front of me. Shaak slowly came a stop however, looking uneasy, something we both take notice of.
"What is it?" Windu asks.
"We meet again Mace Windu... at last!" Sidious's voice suddenly growls gleefully.
We turn back forwards to see Sidious standing ablittle ways down the hallway, calmly approaching with slow steps and grinning fiercely. Windu whips out his lightsaber, Shaak and I following suit.
"Palpatine," he scowls.
"I am most impressed, to see you have survived your injuries," he remarks in a mixture of amusement and taunting.
"Jedi can withstand anything you Sith have to offer!" Windu declares, pointing his lightsaber forwards.
Sidious just chuckles in amusement, while I can't help but roll my eyes in annoyance at the answer. And he still thinks he isn't arrogant?
"Are you so sure Master Windu?" Sidious asks with a sickening gleam.
Sensing something, I suddenly widen my eyes in absolute horror and whip around just as Vader appears from behind Shaak, stabbing his lightsaber up through her gut. She gasps in pain, crumbling to the ground when Vader removes his lightsaber. Windu also whips around, widening his eyes in horror.
"Shaak-Ti!" he cries out.
Vader doesn't give us a moment to grieve however, as he was immediately on us. His breathing cane out in quick pants, and combining that with his two glowing yellow eyes contorted in rage meant he was severely pissed off.
He starts swinging his lightsaber at us, and I raise my blade to deflect his strikes while Windu tries to retaliate. The attack was so sudden however that Windu couldn't properly form his Vaapad form against Vader's fury yet, and we were slowly being driven back, all while Sidious just watched, calmly approaching.
Vader then reaches out and grabs me with the Force, causing me to grunt in alarm, before he slams me against the wall harshly. I groan in pain, slowly raising my head to see Vader and Windu continue to fight against each other in the standoff, and then look back over to Shaak-Ti. Glancing between them, I quickly make my choice and rush over to her, quickly checking her injuries.
"Shaak!" I say quietly, panicking as I observed the smoking hole in her gut.
"Jarik... please give it to... her..." she asks weakly, struggling to hold up the Akul headdress.
"You're not dying today!" I exclaim fiercely.
I close her hand back around the headdress and he start ripping out two bacta patches, applying them to her front and back where the wound was. She groans in pain, and then her eyes close much to my alarm. I check her pulse quickly, but so far it's still there, although weak. If she doesn't get proper aid soon then she is going to die for sure. Grunting, I carefully lifted up and onto my shoulders, turning around to face Windu.
"Mace!" I call out.
He blocks a lightsaber strike from Vader and then looks over at me. He glances back at Sidious, who continues to calmly approach, before facing forwards again. Scowling, he shoves past Vader and then rolls across the ground, dodging a swipe from Vader running for me. Sidious raises his arms and unleashes a powerful blast of Force lightning, which comes screaming at us.
We turn around the corner just in time to avoid it, and start running that way and heading for the exit as fast as we could go. Shaak groans again in pain as I stumble on a loose rock, and I carefully lower her to the ground again.
"Come on, stay awake!" I say furiously.
"How is she?" Windu demands stiffly.
"She needs a healing tank soon or else she's going to die. These bacta patches aren't enough," I tell him.
There were a few moments of silence as Windu glances between me, Shaak, and the tunnel back where Sidious and Vader were no doubt about to come from. I narrow my eyes at him in confusion as a flicker of emotions shoot across his face quickly, before an determined expression of acceptance crosses him.
"Go then. I'll hold them off," he orders.
"What?" I ask him in surprise.
"You heard me, get her out of here! Leave!" he exclaims.
"Well what about you?" I retort, finding myself surprised at the concern I felt.
"That doesn't matter," he states firmly, giving me a serious look. "Shan... you have to bring the Jedi Order back."
I blink at him in surprise. Where was this coming from?!
"The Jedi Order is all I care about... and I'm willing to do anything to see it survive," he declares.
We lock gazes with each other, and I find myself wanting to protest, but eventually I give him a reluctant nod of acceptance. Nodding back in satisfaction, he gives me one last look before turning around and running back towards the Sith.
I watch him go, stunned at his self-sacrificial act before shrugging it off, pulling Shaak back onto my shoulders. She was unconscious now, so I had to get her out of here quickly. With one last look down the tunnel, I began running away for the exit, pressing a button on my comlink to signal R5 to start ready for takeoff.
3rd person POV...
Sidious was waiting calmly, while Vader stood anxiously, confused and annoyed.
"Shouldn't we be giving chase Master?" he demands.
"Patience my friend. He will come back to us," Sidious replies calmly.
Sure enough, Mace Windu slowly revealed himself from around the corner of the tunnel, facing them sternly. A grin forms across Sidious's face.
"Welcome back Master Windu. How do the rest of your Jedi friends seem to be?" he questions.
"The Jedi Order will survive," he replies firmly, pulling out his purple lightsaber and pointing it at them. "But the Sith will not."
Sidious chuckles in amusement. "Even now you continue to deny reality. Your Order is dead."
"No. It will return," Mace replies confidently, smirking at them. "And Jarik Shan will help lead it back to its former glory."
Hearing this, Sidious frowns at Windu's obvious change of nature, not pleased at all.
"So you believe," he growls angrily in reply.
With a yell, Sidious thrusts out his fingers and sends lightning streaming forth int he direction of Windu. The Jedi Master swiftly raises his lightsaber to deflect it, grimacing from the effort, but begins moving forwards. Vader then lunges forwards to attack, but Mace backpedal to avoid bog him and the lightning, and then comes onto the attack.
He jumps in between Vader and Sidious and begins swinging his lightsaber. Vader blocks or deflects his strikes, attempt to retaliate with his own swings while Sidious avoids them with a frustrated growl, sending lightening streaming from his hands. Mace manages to bat away his lightning blasts while simultaneously blocking Vader, twirling between them. However Vader catches him in a blade lock, and Sidious waves an arm to send Mace flying back with a Force push.
Sidious shoots a heavy stream of lightning once again, but Mace raises his lightsaber to block it, striding forwards. Once Vader attempts to attack him, he then redirects the lightning from his blade and onto Vader with a twirl, causing the Sith Lord to yell in pain, his breath becoming labored. Another slash of the lightsaber has Vader's left forearm cut off, and the combined attack from Windu and Sidious, the latter unintentionally, has him sprawling to the ground.
With an enraged yell, Sidious shoots adds his second arm to the fray and blows Windu's lightsaber away from him. Windu quickly raises his arms and calls upon all of his power to block the lightning, using only the Force.
The two powerful warriors slowly edge closer to each other, with a frighteningly powerful stream of Force lightning crackling between their hands, before meeting face to face, inches from each other. Sidious was cackling, while Mace glared at him as intensely as possible, calling every ounce of energy he had left in the Force.
With one final yell, Mace let it explode outwards in a ball of white light and blue lightning, sensing all three present sprawling on their backs.
Vader wheezed, his breathing labored as he pushed himself back to his feet, approaching his master's side. There, he and Sidious both looked down at the smoking corpse of Mace Windu, who gave his last sacrificial effort for one final attempt to defeat the Sith.
Sidious was smoking as well from the explosion, a deep frown on his face.
"It is finished then my apprentice," he states.
Vader glances at him before looking back down at the still form of Mace Windu, irritated and full of hate.
"But now one last person fully stands in our way," Sidious declares. "Jarik Shan."
This chapter was intense! But Mace Windu got to pass on with an honorable death in his last moments. It was intense, but a little sad.
I feel like I might of nerfed Windu's power level but, I think I did alright.
Now the last survivors of the Jedi Council are Obi-Wan, Yoda, and if she survives her wounds, Shaak-Ti.
Thank you all for you continued support, it's awesome! :D