The chaos on and above Geonosis suddenly stopped. The action brought to a stand still, leaving only a chilling affect on the participants on the side of the Republic as they were the losers. Surprisingly, the C.I.S took prisoners, possibly to sell them off into slavery as the Separatists have ties to various slave trades in the Outer Rim.
It's a glorious day for the Confederacy. One where they regain their prestige in the face of doubt. However, the glory wasn't for Ventress. She arrived on a small Separatists transport, intending to finish the job on Geonosis. She wasn't far from the planet, she could see the Malevolence in the distance.
She initially thought Grievous was the one inside the Malevolence, only to be told by Dooku that his other assassin was given a specific task unrelated to this mission. Startled, Ventress asked for the identity of Dooku's new pawn. The Sith Lord wasn't inclined to say.
"You don't seem to understand why I am here. I believe you deserve an explanation before I do what needs to be done."
If Ventress had an eyebrow one of them certainly would be raised to illustrate her confusion. "Oh?"
"You've failed me one too many times, Ventress. Both you and Grievous have left me little choice but to add a third apprentice to the fold. Except, I cannot keep track of three wild beasts." He rambles. "So I've decided to cut the weakest link from the chain. That's you." Before Ventress could respond a red blade impales her chest, sucking all the oxygen from her. Ventress crumbles to the floor moaning, nursing her horrific chest wound. "Finish the job, Proxy." Dooku orders. He remained present during the altercation, watching coldly as his assassin met her end.
"Proxy-" Ventress chuckles as blood trickles down her grey lips. "What kind of name is that?" She tries to put on a brave face in a situation she knows is bleak for her. In a vain attempt to fight she reaches for her lightsaber, only for Proxy to place his coal black hard toed boot on her hand crushing the bones agonizingly slow just to see if he could get her to scream. Ventress didn't want to give Proxy the satisfaction. He hums to himself, impressed she kept the obvious pain she's feeling to herself. Picking up her lightsabers he cuts them in half right before her eyes.
She rolls over from her belly to her back to get a look at Dooku's new apprentice. A black hood hides his face. "Aren't you a mystery." She sarcastically lauds him. Unimpressed with her quip, Proxy tosses Ventress through the window of her modestly sized cruiser. Before the vacuum of space could consume him also, the doors soon replace the windows. He could not see Ventress, but knows she is no longer amongst the living. In the cold depths of space floats a lifeless body.
"Grievous will handle the prisoners, you head back to the Malevolence and guard the weapon. Standby for the next mission." The Sith tells Proxy.
"Yes, my Master."
(Scene break)
Ahsoka and the remaining Irregulars retreated to higher ground to get some breathing space from the advancing Separatists force. From 20,000 their already small army dwindled to 150. Jania and Pedro remained, though she suffered a gash on her right ankle making it nearly impossible for her to walk. Pedro played the role of medic, disinfecting her wounds to the best of his capabilities given his limited knowledge.
Ahsoka wished she hadn't dozed off during Master Yoda's classes on healing. The art is difficult to learn; quite possibly the most of all the unique powers of the Force. She's never met someone who knows how to use this power making it truly a rare skill.
"What do we do now, Commander?" Pedro asks Ahsoka. She recently talked to Tera, glad to hear help is on the way. The Separatists likely wasted little time transporting the prisoners of war on to their ships, faraway from Geonosis. All that mattered now was getting off this rock with their lives.
Tera eventually found Ahsoka and her sorry crew under a rock. The majority of those hiding believed Tera was the Separatists who found them. Thankfully, that wasn't the case. Nonetheless, Ahsoka felt dejected and her disappointment in herself could not remain hidden from Tera.
"It isn't your fault, Padawan." Tera assures her. "We left you with little resources. It's foolish to believe you could have held down the territory in your situation."
Ahsoka didn't buy it. "Master, I could have sworn the battle was going my way. I had the Seppies right where I wanted them. Then in an instant everything changed. I lost all control." Watching Ahsoka's expression turn into a thousand yard stare unsettled Tera. This wasn't Ahsoka. She's taken licks before, but this one stood out. The Galactic Republic needed to even the playing field versus the Confederates by any means necessary. Only to fail.
"We succeeded in dismantling the foundries. It will be years before the Geonosians rebuild them."
Ahsoka then remembered the brave Geonosian villagers who switched sides, only to meet their end. Her heart sank. "Some Geonosians don't want this alliance." She murmurs.
"Of course. The C.I.S are hardly the friendly type." Tera scoffs.
"I wish we could have won and protected them."
"Patience. There will come a time where we will right this wrong. When the Force provides us an opening we'll take it."
(Scene break)
Kyle knew his days on archive duty were dwindling. At least, he believes this to be so. By his calculations he should have been placed back on active duty a few days ago. Yet, here he was. Playing teachers assistance for a class filled with Younglings.
It's hard enough to stay awake during the classes. How Sinube kept this eagerness to him during this mundane dogma he'll never know. Through heavy eyes he could see a young boy reach for the head tail of a nearby Togruta sitting by herself next to him. Before he could touch her Kyle rushes over to calmly interfere.
"Hey, there." He says gently, not wanting to admonish the boy for something he's guilty of doing while at his age. "You okay?" The boy nods before trying again to reach for the girl's head tail. "Uhh... why are you doing that?"
The boy shrugs. "I don't know. Just curious is all."
"You want to see how she'd react?" At this point the girl knew they were talking about her and moved away to get space. "Well, how about you grab on to my hair and pull it." He offers. The boy was all too eager to oblige, pulling hard at his short strands on his scale making Kyle yelp. "Ow! Ow! Ow!" He kindly removes the boy's hand from his head. "You see now?" The boy nods. "That's exactly what you'd be doing to her, only worse. A Torguta's montrals are ultra sensitive."
"Why?" The boy asks. Kyle had no real answer him, only replying with a the definitive "because" before he child ran along, no doubt distracted by something else.
Tera watches from the side, pleased to see Kyle handle the situation so delicately. "Zach always was the troublemaker." Sinube shakes his head.
"Aren't we all."
"But he's a good boy." Tera adds. Kyle looks at the little old man wondering what he's getting at. "You're itching to get back out in the field." He didn't ask, more stated as a matter of fact.
"How did you know?"
Tera smiles warmly. "A Jedi never seeks adventure. Youngsters like yourself often don't understand that. You wear the yearning for excitement all over your face." He uses his cane to figuratively point towards Kyle's head. "I know Master Grant is a tough cookie, but she means well."
"I know, Master." Kyle wasn't really interested in another lecture about how he should listen to his teacher.
"You're a bit of a troublemaker." He says.
"I snuck out once." Kyle replies.
"Why?"
"I was bored."
"What's boring to you?" He continues to prod.
"I was studying lightsaber technics and needed to create some distance from it all." He confesses.
"Oh? Did you ever find which style suits you?" Kyle nods. "Which one?" Kyle answers Ataru. Tera says many of his students pick up this form in their beginning stages of training. "It's a good form. Not uncommon. I think you'll like it." Sinube sells the form like an item on a restaurant menu. "Ever test it out?" Kyle shakes his head, then remembers that in fact he did.
"I sparred with Sid."
"Who's Sid?"
"My holodroid... long, very uninteresting story." Kyle adds 'long' to the description so he wouldn't have to tell it.
"How about an actual person? How about me?" Kyle sizes up the old geezer who barely reached his hip. "You?" He inadvertently says, only aware later of how disrespectful his comment was.
"Yes, me." He laughs a little. This isn't the first time someone has doubted him because of his appearance. "There's more to being a great warrior than muscles and a youthful body. After all, Master Yoda at nearly 900 years is spryer than ever."
Tera lead Kyle back to the dojo and told him to pick a weapon. The variation of lightsaber hilts daunted him. Kyle always wanted to have some flair to his weapon, but opted for the basic style worried a different handle would cause him issues.
"When did you build your lightsaber?" Tera asks. He needed some time to stretch his limbs. Kyle swears he heard the man's bones cracking.
"When I was 13." Kyle answers.
"Oh?" Again Tera spotted a lie. "You're not a good fibber. Perhaps that's something you and Master Grant can work on." Sighing, Kyle admits his weapon came from the black market when he was 11. Sinube recalls his recent experience with Ahsoka trying to find her lightsaber that fell into the the black market. "Do you know who sold you your weapon?"
"It was all on the up and up." Kyle assures Tera. "I paid for it with money I worked for in a legal manner." But that wasn't enough for the elder Jedi.
"Who?" He asks again.
"Some guy... Cletus was his name. I think he was a Cosian, like you. Are you going to arrest him now?"
"Oh, no. That isn't my issue. We're just getting to know each other. Would you like to ask me a question while I finish stretching?" Sinube was so casual it upset Kyle a little.
"Okay..." He thinks to himself. "You ever see any action?"
"Depends what you mean by 'action'?" Sinube retorts.
"Action. You know? Battles, fights, interesting sights and sounds." He explains.
"Ah" Tera nods knowingly, smiling lightly. "I've found in my many travels and encounters I've learned a lot about the universe and it's inhabitants when I did my patrol of Coruscant without my lightsaber."
"Why without your lightsaber?"
"A lightsaber is a brilliant Jedi weapon. More dignified than a blaster. But it is a crutch for many aspiring Jedi. Initiates are far too reliant on it. Master Skywalker is a brilliant Jedi. A hero. But he needs to work on his Force augmentation and tighten up his focus. A Jedi must know how to cope without his weapon. There will come times it'll be just him and the Force." Tera's spiel struck a cord with Kyle. He's never used the Force in battle. Usually relying on his hand-to-hand skills to carry him.
"There are two things you need to do before you reach Knighthood. Construct your own lightsaber and stop being afraid to fail when using it to fight."
"Are you ready?" Coincidentally, Sinube's weapon mirrored his actual lightsaber both in its standard hilt and light blue color. Kyle happened to pick himself out a tangerine colored blade. Kyle readies himself into a fighting stance, gripping his weapon tightly. Sinube allowed Kyle to break the ice. Seeing as he was at a tremendous size advantage, Kyle did not know what to do.
"Age before beauty." His snarky remark compensating for his lack of knowledge. Sinube comments how the Jedi Order did teach Younglings to respect their elders, and leapt off his feet into a hypnotic spin intended for Kyle's face. Stepping back, aghast at the old man's sudden speed, he found himself already off-balanced and tipped over.
Tera was kind in victory, offering a hand to help Kyle back to his feet. "You underestimate me because of my stature." He analyzes. "Not every foe you meet will be so domineering."
"I know now, Master."
"Shall we go again?" Kyle believes he's in no position to refuse and resumes a fighting stance. Their second altercation ends as their first did. With Kyle on the floor after his vertical base has been compromised. "You fight like how you see others, you'll have to learn how to fight in your own way." Tera knew he was stealing a page from Master Yoda's book when saying this.
"Fight like myself..." The prospect appealed to Kyle, a usually rigid fighter who many complained his performance in sparring sessions resembled a statue.
They go again, this time Kyle wasn't afraid to move his feet, utilizing the core structures of Ataru the pace of the session grew to a frantic pace. Sinube pulling back from his arsenal of moves he hasn't used since he retired from active duty. Kyle remained with the elder beat by beat. Tera got the upper hand, sidestepping Kyle's charge attempt. He attempted to bring his blade down for the "killing" blow, only for the younger fighter to think fast and perform a sidestep of his own and disarm Sinube. The elder smiles.
"When you listen you can lean very quick." Sinube's compliment was a bit backhanded. But Kyle was riding a high and was too busy to notice. Sinube felt weary and needed to rest. "That's enough for today. I'm going to turn in. Why don't you explore the Jedi Temple and I'll see you back in class in the morning."
"Yes, Master." Kyle bows, remembering it is a must for Younglings to do this as a show of respect for their elders. Tera is happy to see Kyle's mind sharpen and break out of its listless state.
