A/N: These last few chapters borrow heavily from Episode II, AoTC. It's
pretty much the same coliseum/battle of Geonosis, but I've redone a lot of
the fights, and switched up a lot of the dialogue. I've pretty much taken
the coliseum battle and spiced it up according to my personal preferences
and tastes. Thanks to Nima for reading my stuff.
Chapter VIII- The Coliseum
* Twelve Hours Later *
The Geonosian coliseum echoed with roars and cheers as Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Padmé struggled to fight off the three beasts that would be their executioners. Lusting for bloodshed and roaring with malice, the insect- like Geonosian spectators clamored angrily when Anakin, riding atop the Reek, slew the Nexu.
Count Dooku watched from his balcony near the top level of the coliseum. Among him was the bounty hunter Jango Fett and his son, Boba, Poggle the Lesser, Archduke of Geonosis, and Nute Gunray of the Trade Federation. The count watched as Anakin, Padmé, and Obi-Wan bested the three beasts. He silently ordered for several droidekas to finish the three off.
Deep within the corridor behind the entourage, two mysterious figures lurked. Master Windu emerged from the corridor, the usual intense expression etched upon his face. Mace calculated the situation, finding its shatterpoints and weaknesses. He extended the purple blade of his lightsaber to Jango's throat.
Mace was tall and intimidating, just a few decimeters short of two meters. But his height was naught compared the towering presence of Jedi Master Tor. Tall even by Wookie standards, Tor towered at two and a half meters in height. He had a great natural strength and massive build that was enhanced both by his physical conditioning and the power of the Force. Tor's lightsaber was also built proportionate to his size- the average lightsaber hilt is thirty centimeters long. Tor's reached fifty. With his long, broad, gold blade shimmering before him, the Wookie spoke.
"Count Dooku." Tor's deep voice thundered. He spoke basic, a feat most Wookies are incapable of. "This party of yours is over."
"Brave, but foolish, my Jedi friends." Dooku replied coolly. "You should not have come here."
"Stand down, Dooku." Windu ordered coldly.
"You see, there is no way you can win here, Master Windu. You are impossibly outnumbered."
"I don't think so," was Windu's reply. There was not even a shadow of a doubt in his eyes.
"You know, as I do," Tor said to Dooku, "that battle droids are no match for Jedi."
"Alas," Dooku replied archaically, "if only you knew just how many battle droids we have. You might rethink your statement."
About a dozen super battle droids appeared in the same corridor from which Master Windu and Master Tor had emerged. The two Jedi Masters exchanged looks and began to deflect shots from the super battle droids. Focusing his own immense physical strength and enhancing it with the power of the Force, Tor slammed into one of the pillars that supported the mouth of the corridor. He followed that slam up with a quick lightsaber strike, and the mouth of the corridor collapsed, sealing the balcony away from the super battle droids.
Tor's master sense suddenly tingled. Something was stewing behind his back, and he could feel it. Jango! Mace had released Jango! Tor sprung at the bounty hunter, punching the bounty hunter with his off hand. The force of Tor's Wookie strength had been enough to smash Jango's face, but not enough to stop him from the deploying his flame thrower. The bounty hunter and the Jedi Master both flew off the side of the balcony railing.
The Wookie Jedi Master was bathed by flames from Jango's flamethrower, but Tor used the power of the Force to shield himself from the brunt of the heat. He landed on his feet on the floor of the coliseum. The Jedi Master quickly rolled around in the dirt, smothering the flames that had been licking away at his fur before charging off the join the survivors at the center of the floor.
"Count Dooku." Mace Windu said calmly, holding his purple blade out in front. "By my authority as a Senior Member of the Jedi Council, I place you under arrest for charges of high treason, conspiracy, attempted murder, sabotage, and espionage. You are to accompany me to Coruscant, where you will be admitted to the courts for trial."
Dooku grinned. "All the same humdrum, right Mace?"
Mace's solemn expression did not blink a bit. "Stand down and submit to arrest, Dooku."
Dooku sighed. "My Jedi friend, if only you knew the truth, about just how flawed and corrupt the Republic really is. You'd be fighting along side me." Dooku drew his own curved lightsaber. His entourage watched in awe a single red blade sprouted from the hilt. "The Jedi only hamper and destroy themselves by serving an institution so corrupt."
The two warriors exchanged blows. They seemed to be evenly matched for a while as Windu's purple blade clashed against the red of Dooku. Both were grand masters of all six forms of lightsaber combat. Mace had the advantage however- he was a grandmaster of Form VII, Vaapad.
There was a halt in the fighting as the two Force adepts stood separated by five feet of distance. Among Dooku's entourage, Boba watched with awe and interest, such was expected of a young boy. The Neimoidian Nute Gunray cowered in the corner, afraid he would be hit by a stray lightsaber swing. Poggle the Lesser simply watched in silent reverence, neither afraid nor awed, he simply leaned on his cane and observed.
After a minute of intensity passed, Master Windu attacked again. Unleashing flurry after flurry upon the rogue Jedi Dooku, Mace's aggression pushed the count back. Thinking he saw a hole in Mace's defense, Dooku decided to strike with a swing across the midsection. Mace saw it coming and countered with a defensive spin. After batting away a few attacks from the count, Mace's defensive spin suddenly became an offensive tornado as he unleashed the dark whirlwind of Vaapad upon the count.
Dooku struggled to deflect each blow from Mace. Master Windu moved as though he had a hundred hands and a hundred lightsabers- he rained blows and slices in such great multiples that the count was nearly overwhelmed. Dooku fell into a retreat, falling back against the wall.
"I see that the dark side has not done much to enhance your lightsaber skills." Mace spat. Dooku eyed him darkly as sweat beads dripped down his face. The count attacked again, and the two firmly continued to exchange blows. A few seconds into this latest exchange, Mace felt a tremor in the force. His master sense beckoned.
Jango!
Mace batted away Count Dooku's lightsaber and sprung into the air. Flames from the bounty hunter's flame thrower licked Mace's robes as he flew over the railing of the balcony. As he fell down to the coliseum arena floor, Mace saw the bounty hunter, floating in the air with his jetpack, his face, which had been smashed earlier by Master Tor, covered by the sleek Mandalorian helmet.
Mace adjusted his position in the air, and landed on his feet. Once on the sandy floor of the Geonosian coliseum, he cast away his outer robe and raced to the center of the arena where some sixty Jedi had gathered around the three survivors. No sooner had he sprung into action, the arena began to flood with battle droids.
Among the numerous Jedi fighting in the arena, Alan and Lana stood side by side, deflecting away blaster bolts and hacking at enemy droids. Anakin, Padmé, and Obi-Wan leapt of the back of the Reek they had been riding. Alan tossed Anakin a spare lightsaber, and Lana gave Obi-Wan a spare as well. The two cut each other loose of their cuffs and joined their Jedi brethren in the fighting. Padmé recovered a blaster rifle from a fallen battle droid and began firing.
"Together again, huh?" Anakin asked as he stood back to back with Alan.
"Just like the smugglers moon all those years ago." Alan grinned. The two Jedi eyed each other with an odd sort of lets-do-this expression.
They sprung into the thick of the combat. Anakin aggressively cut his own route through the thick of the battle droids before him. Alan masterfully used the defensive Vaapad spin and his double-ended lightsaber to create a sphere of defense. Everything that came within five feet of him would be diced by his twin blades. Lana watched the two boys as they pounced and fought, and silently decided to stay close to the senator, where her rather... limited saber skills would be more useful.
Something new had arrived to coliseum now, however. Battle droids and even super battle droids were merely fodder for the Jedi. The Geonosians had set up their turret mounted sonic blasters. A Jedi could have a field day deflecting blaster fire from the droids, but the globes of concussive energy deployed by these sonic blasters were something completely different.
Alan leapt into the air, as to pounce upon a group of battle droids. Midway through his leap, he was suddenly struck by sonic blaster fire. The concussive globe hit him with such force that it sent him spiraling into the air, and slamming into one of the columns at the center of the arena. Alan hit the ground hard, red flowing from his mouth. He gagged and coughed, and the expelled the blood coming from his battered lungs. Despite this, neither the pain of his battle wounds nor the fatigue of his muscles could hamper him from rising again. He picked up his lightsaber and tossed the weapon. It diced right through the turret mounted sonic blaster before boomeranging back to its master.
Master Tor, Master Windu, and Master Kenobi formed their own circle of defense in one of the quadrants of the arena. Each master displayed their own unique style and power. The ultimate master (and creator) of Vaapad, Mace's defensive and offensive spins and hundred-handed dexterity kept him atop the battle droids. Obi-Wan passively deflected as many shots as he could, but used his pouncing jumps and powerful assortments of kicks and punches to battle the droids. Master Tor was also a master of Vaapad, yet he did not rely upon it as much as Mace had. He exploited his strength, his size, and the length of his massive lightsaber.
Jango Fett watched the battle from the balcony. He eyed the three Jedi Masters and suddenly remembered his smashed face. He could no longer feel the stinging pain due to the battle stimulants he had taken, but a certain lust for retribution filled his mind. The bounty hunter crouched down and unleashed the explosive rocket which was secretly stashed in his jetpack. The three Jedi Masters scattered as the ground where they once stood was showered with flames from the resulting explosion. Jango jumped into combat, the jets of his backpack flaring to life.
Jango scoured the arena until he found the Wookie Jedi Master who had smashed his face. The bounty hunter set down eight meters away from the Wookie, both Mandalorian Heavy Pistols drawn, and unleashed a volley of fire upon him. Master Tor simply waved off the blaster bolts with whirling swings from his gold lightsaber. Realizing the ineffectiveness of his pistols, the bounty hunter holstered them, favoring the snare hidden within his gauntlets.
The wire sprung from Jango's gauntlet noosed around Tor's arms. The Wookie dropped his lightsaber and looked up at the bounty hunter with a cold grin. What a fool! Jango activated his jetpack and tried to fly off while dragging the Jedi Master, but the Wookie's strength was just too great.
Tor grabbed the wire which had bound his hands together and to Jango and pulled on it. With a single great heave, the bounty hunter came splattering back towards the ground, and flying into the Jedi Master. Tor greeted him with a massive punch to the chest. The bounty hunter flew back several meters and fell on the flat of his back. Jango's jet pack clicked with static. It was broken.
Tor pulled at the wire with his great strength, and it snapped, freeing his hands. Jango sprung to his feet, realizing he was about four meters away from the Wookie. Jango searched his equipment for a solution. His flamethrower, which had helped him so much earlier, was out of ammunition. He had no choice.
The bounty hunter was a quick draw; he probably had the fastest shooting reflexes in the galaxy. Still, there is a massive gap between fastest shooting reflexes in the galaxy and JEDI reflexes. In that half second it took Jango to make a conscious decision to draw his twin blaster pistols, Tor had already summoned his lightsaber back to his hand.
Jango watched in horror as the towering Jedi Master charged at him, not missing a single stride to deflect his blaster volleys. When he was within a meter of Jango, Tor seemed to lower his lightsaber, as if intentionally leaving himself vulnerable to Jango's blaster fire. Jango squeezed off another bolt, and watched in horror as the Jedi Master extended his hand, allowing his palm practically absorb the blaster bolt.
The last thing Jango saw was the swinging arc of the golden blade of Tor's lightsaber. The last thing he heard was that menacing Wookie growl. Jango's headless body crumpled as his head flew off his shoulders and the Mandalorian helmet flew off his head. Count Dooku grimaced, and young Boba, who had been sitting next to him, crumpled into tears.
Tor looked down upon Jango's headless body. He was a great warrior. Jedi customs may not pay much homage to great warriors, but Wookie customs did. Tor's expression seemed to fold into a mixture of respect and sympathy as he roared something in the Wookie language. A second passed, and Tor suddenly averted his attention from the enemy he had defeated.
"Senator, get down!" Lana roared. She pounced upon Padmé, forcing the both of them to the ground as several globes of concussive energy flew overhead. The globes struck the three Jedi who had been standing behind them. The Jedi were hit with such force that they went flying into the air, and slammed into the walls of the arena. Lana watched, horrified, as the three Jedi crumpled to the ground, blood dripping out of their mouths. Much of their skeletal structure had been shattered by the force of the impact, and now they were in shock. Lana could sense all of this.
More of the turret mounted sonic blasters had been loaded into the coliseum, and the concussive globes of energy they launched wrought havoc on the Jedi. More and more battle droids were pouring into the coliseum. Lana stayed close to the senator and watched as Jedi began to drop like flies. The Force could only aid them so much- the Jedi were still organic beings that were hampered by pain and fatigue. The seemingly endless amount of battle droids knew neither pain nor fatigue.
"Good to see you again, Master." Amidst the fighting, Alan had somehow found his way to the side of Master Tor. "I never thought we'd be fighting again so soon.
The Jedi Master growled a bit before switching back to basic, "My old Padawan, I miss those days. Finding a new Padawan is much harder then you would ever think." Alan smiled as he continued to deflect blaster bolts. Tor let out a Wookie scowl. Something was coming. Something... dangerous. Tor turned to the nearest arena door.
"Droidekas!" Tor roared as he pointed the four or five destroyer droids that came rolling out of the arena door. He charged at them, deflecting their heavy blaster fire and reaching out with the force to short-circuit their deflector shields. Alan followed his old mentor into battle against the droidekas.
As the Master-Apprentice team disassembled the destroyers, more seemed to come rolling out the arena door. Tor could count nine. Alan struggled to battle them, keeping his double-ended lightsaber spinning and deflecting, but fatigue was beginning to grip at his muscles. Tor could sense it.
"Alan! Alan, go!" Tor ordered as his whirl deflected blaster shots.
"Master, I'm not leaving you!" Alan growled back.
"Your fatigue is beginning to hold you back." Tor replied as he batted away more blaster shots. "If you can't hold up against the droidekas, don't risk your life!"
"No, Master. I'm staying with you!" Alan's devotion to his old mentor was as true as his devotion to the Jedi order, and as strong as his love for Lana. This Wookie was the closest thing he had to a father.
"GO!" Tor roared as he charged even deeper into battle. Curbing to his master's will, Alan gradually fell back and watched as Tor battled the nine droidekas. Three more destroyers rolled out of the arena doors, but Tor's power was too immense. Alan watched in awe as his old master exerted the full force of Mace Windu's Vaapad.
Tor's immense Wookie strength, augmented by the power of the Force, had made him into an incredible hulk of a Jedi. His defensive spins deflected the dozens of blaster bolts that raged against him. Tor panted; fatigue was beginning to get a grip of his muscles as well. A single droideka got too close to Master Tor. The Jedi Master shook away the fatigue, grabbed the droid with his off hand, and tossed away it as though it were a child's toy.
When he sensed that he had done enough, Tor jetted into the air and away from the droidekas. Midway through his jump, he reached for the single extra piece of equipment he had brought with him: an ion grenade. Alan watched as his mentor's ion grenade did its work and the dozen droidekas collapsed to the ground lifeless.
"No." Tor growled to himself as he still skidded in midair. It was too late to change his direction now. He had sensed it too late. Tor looked to this left, and three globes of concussive energy slammed into his side. The Wookie went careening through the air, towards the other side of the arena.
"Master!" Alan roared. He sprinted through the arena, occasionally breaking stride to deflect a stray blaster bolt or so. On the other side of the Arena, the Wookie slowly rose to his feet, weakened severely by the fire from that Sonic Blaster. He was greeted by automatic fire from seven super battle droids.
Tor deflected much of the fire, but one bolt got through and struck him on the left shoulder. This was followed by another, which struck his stomach, and a third which hit the center of his chest. Master Windu saw that his old friend was in trouble and sprinted to aid him. Weakened by the fire, the Wookie dropped to a knee. Summoning up the last ounce of his strength and augmenting it with the force, he threw his lightsaber at his assailants. Mace did the same. The purple lightsaber and the gold lightsaber mowed down twelve droids before returning to their master's hands. Tor collapsed, and suddenly the battle droids came to screeching halt.
Alan dropped to his master's side and helped pull him back to the circle of survivors at the center of the arena. Mace's iron cold expression weakened as he looked upon his old Jedi friend. The Wookie who had fought so intensely and gallantly was now battered and beaten. Many ribs were cracked by sonic blaster fire, and blood was gushing from the wounds the blaster fire had inflicted upon him.
"Master," Alan said to his battered mentor.
The Wookie smiled. "You learned well, my old Padawan. You learned well..."
"Master, you can't-"
"My old apprentice, you fought well. I have nothing more to teach you."
"No, master I need you!"
"No, you need your own Padawan. Pass on what you have learned from me." The Wookie growled a few words in his own native language, neglecting basic for a few seconds. He solemnly looked into the eyes of his old apprentice, which were beginning to flood with tears. "I'm proud of you, Alan. I'm proud."
Mace watched as the great Jedi Master faded away and his body became one with the force. His normally calloused and intense expression faded for a little, allowing the grief to be actively displayed. He had lost a great friend and powerful ally. Alan picked up his master's lightsaber and clipped it to his belt. Lightsaber inheritance- such was the way of the Jedi.
Alan bobbed his head as he painfully reviewed what had happened. The hurt and pain could not extinguish within his heart of hearts. He knew this feeling. He had felt it that day Lana was shot- that splitting black migraine, the rush of anger, the call for Vaapad. He rose to his feet and surveyed the battlefield. Only a few Jedi had survived- Anakin and Obi-Wan were among them. Lana was still protecting the senator.
Alan's jaw clenched and that same poison scowl manifested upon his face. Lana met his gaze, and within that one fleeting second, she knew. She sensed it. She shook her head, but he paid her no mind. He looked up to Count Dooku, who seemed to lord over the arena from his balcony. Alan focused the toxic mixture of anger and hatred that was stewing within upon Count Dooku. He would pay. For Jedi Master Tor, he would pay.
"Master Windu!" Dooku called out the Senior Council member. "You have fought gallantly, worthy of recognition in the archives of the Jedi order!"
Mace looked up to Dooku with a powerful expression of contempt. This crafty coward who had somehow weaseled his way out of personal lightsaber combat now spoke to him about fighting gallantly?
"But now, it is finished. Surrender and your lives will be spared."
"We will not become hostages to be bartered, Dooku!" Mace shouted defiantly. The rest of the Jedi made no audible noise, but the tremors they made in the Force seemed to echo Mace's defiance.
"Then I'm sorry, old Jedi friend." Dooku made his order, and the droids got back into position to begin fighting again. Anakin raised his lightsaber. Alan lit both ends of his lightsaber and aggressively twirled it, showing his eagerness to get back to fighting. Padmé sighed as she raised her blaster rifle. She couldn't explain why, but she suddenly got the urge to look skyward.
"Look!"
A/N: So, uh, how'd ya like those action sequences? Ha. Tell me what you think.
Chapter VIII- The Coliseum
* Twelve Hours Later *
The Geonosian coliseum echoed with roars and cheers as Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Padmé struggled to fight off the three beasts that would be their executioners. Lusting for bloodshed and roaring with malice, the insect- like Geonosian spectators clamored angrily when Anakin, riding atop the Reek, slew the Nexu.
Count Dooku watched from his balcony near the top level of the coliseum. Among him was the bounty hunter Jango Fett and his son, Boba, Poggle the Lesser, Archduke of Geonosis, and Nute Gunray of the Trade Federation. The count watched as Anakin, Padmé, and Obi-Wan bested the three beasts. He silently ordered for several droidekas to finish the three off.
Deep within the corridor behind the entourage, two mysterious figures lurked. Master Windu emerged from the corridor, the usual intense expression etched upon his face. Mace calculated the situation, finding its shatterpoints and weaknesses. He extended the purple blade of his lightsaber to Jango's throat.
Mace was tall and intimidating, just a few decimeters short of two meters. But his height was naught compared the towering presence of Jedi Master Tor. Tall even by Wookie standards, Tor towered at two and a half meters in height. He had a great natural strength and massive build that was enhanced both by his physical conditioning and the power of the Force. Tor's lightsaber was also built proportionate to his size- the average lightsaber hilt is thirty centimeters long. Tor's reached fifty. With his long, broad, gold blade shimmering before him, the Wookie spoke.
"Count Dooku." Tor's deep voice thundered. He spoke basic, a feat most Wookies are incapable of. "This party of yours is over."
"Brave, but foolish, my Jedi friends." Dooku replied coolly. "You should not have come here."
"Stand down, Dooku." Windu ordered coldly.
"You see, there is no way you can win here, Master Windu. You are impossibly outnumbered."
"I don't think so," was Windu's reply. There was not even a shadow of a doubt in his eyes.
"You know, as I do," Tor said to Dooku, "that battle droids are no match for Jedi."
"Alas," Dooku replied archaically, "if only you knew just how many battle droids we have. You might rethink your statement."
About a dozen super battle droids appeared in the same corridor from which Master Windu and Master Tor had emerged. The two Jedi Masters exchanged looks and began to deflect shots from the super battle droids. Focusing his own immense physical strength and enhancing it with the power of the Force, Tor slammed into one of the pillars that supported the mouth of the corridor. He followed that slam up with a quick lightsaber strike, and the mouth of the corridor collapsed, sealing the balcony away from the super battle droids.
Tor's master sense suddenly tingled. Something was stewing behind his back, and he could feel it. Jango! Mace had released Jango! Tor sprung at the bounty hunter, punching the bounty hunter with his off hand. The force of Tor's Wookie strength had been enough to smash Jango's face, but not enough to stop him from the deploying his flame thrower. The bounty hunter and the Jedi Master both flew off the side of the balcony railing.
The Wookie Jedi Master was bathed by flames from Jango's flamethrower, but Tor used the power of the Force to shield himself from the brunt of the heat. He landed on his feet on the floor of the coliseum. The Jedi Master quickly rolled around in the dirt, smothering the flames that had been licking away at his fur before charging off the join the survivors at the center of the floor.
"Count Dooku." Mace Windu said calmly, holding his purple blade out in front. "By my authority as a Senior Member of the Jedi Council, I place you under arrest for charges of high treason, conspiracy, attempted murder, sabotage, and espionage. You are to accompany me to Coruscant, where you will be admitted to the courts for trial."
Dooku grinned. "All the same humdrum, right Mace?"
Mace's solemn expression did not blink a bit. "Stand down and submit to arrest, Dooku."
Dooku sighed. "My Jedi friend, if only you knew the truth, about just how flawed and corrupt the Republic really is. You'd be fighting along side me." Dooku drew his own curved lightsaber. His entourage watched in awe a single red blade sprouted from the hilt. "The Jedi only hamper and destroy themselves by serving an institution so corrupt."
The two warriors exchanged blows. They seemed to be evenly matched for a while as Windu's purple blade clashed against the red of Dooku. Both were grand masters of all six forms of lightsaber combat. Mace had the advantage however- he was a grandmaster of Form VII, Vaapad.
There was a halt in the fighting as the two Force adepts stood separated by five feet of distance. Among Dooku's entourage, Boba watched with awe and interest, such was expected of a young boy. The Neimoidian Nute Gunray cowered in the corner, afraid he would be hit by a stray lightsaber swing. Poggle the Lesser simply watched in silent reverence, neither afraid nor awed, he simply leaned on his cane and observed.
After a minute of intensity passed, Master Windu attacked again. Unleashing flurry after flurry upon the rogue Jedi Dooku, Mace's aggression pushed the count back. Thinking he saw a hole in Mace's defense, Dooku decided to strike with a swing across the midsection. Mace saw it coming and countered with a defensive spin. After batting away a few attacks from the count, Mace's defensive spin suddenly became an offensive tornado as he unleashed the dark whirlwind of Vaapad upon the count.
Dooku struggled to deflect each blow from Mace. Master Windu moved as though he had a hundred hands and a hundred lightsabers- he rained blows and slices in such great multiples that the count was nearly overwhelmed. Dooku fell into a retreat, falling back against the wall.
"I see that the dark side has not done much to enhance your lightsaber skills." Mace spat. Dooku eyed him darkly as sweat beads dripped down his face. The count attacked again, and the two firmly continued to exchange blows. A few seconds into this latest exchange, Mace felt a tremor in the force. His master sense beckoned.
Jango!
Mace batted away Count Dooku's lightsaber and sprung into the air. Flames from the bounty hunter's flame thrower licked Mace's robes as he flew over the railing of the balcony. As he fell down to the coliseum arena floor, Mace saw the bounty hunter, floating in the air with his jetpack, his face, which had been smashed earlier by Master Tor, covered by the sleek Mandalorian helmet.
Mace adjusted his position in the air, and landed on his feet. Once on the sandy floor of the Geonosian coliseum, he cast away his outer robe and raced to the center of the arena where some sixty Jedi had gathered around the three survivors. No sooner had he sprung into action, the arena began to flood with battle droids.
Among the numerous Jedi fighting in the arena, Alan and Lana stood side by side, deflecting away blaster bolts and hacking at enemy droids. Anakin, Padmé, and Obi-Wan leapt of the back of the Reek they had been riding. Alan tossed Anakin a spare lightsaber, and Lana gave Obi-Wan a spare as well. The two cut each other loose of their cuffs and joined their Jedi brethren in the fighting. Padmé recovered a blaster rifle from a fallen battle droid and began firing.
"Together again, huh?" Anakin asked as he stood back to back with Alan.
"Just like the smugglers moon all those years ago." Alan grinned. The two Jedi eyed each other with an odd sort of lets-do-this expression.
They sprung into the thick of the combat. Anakin aggressively cut his own route through the thick of the battle droids before him. Alan masterfully used the defensive Vaapad spin and his double-ended lightsaber to create a sphere of defense. Everything that came within five feet of him would be diced by his twin blades. Lana watched the two boys as they pounced and fought, and silently decided to stay close to the senator, where her rather... limited saber skills would be more useful.
Something new had arrived to coliseum now, however. Battle droids and even super battle droids were merely fodder for the Jedi. The Geonosians had set up their turret mounted sonic blasters. A Jedi could have a field day deflecting blaster fire from the droids, but the globes of concussive energy deployed by these sonic blasters were something completely different.
Alan leapt into the air, as to pounce upon a group of battle droids. Midway through his leap, he was suddenly struck by sonic blaster fire. The concussive globe hit him with such force that it sent him spiraling into the air, and slamming into one of the columns at the center of the arena. Alan hit the ground hard, red flowing from his mouth. He gagged and coughed, and the expelled the blood coming from his battered lungs. Despite this, neither the pain of his battle wounds nor the fatigue of his muscles could hamper him from rising again. He picked up his lightsaber and tossed the weapon. It diced right through the turret mounted sonic blaster before boomeranging back to its master.
Master Tor, Master Windu, and Master Kenobi formed their own circle of defense in one of the quadrants of the arena. Each master displayed their own unique style and power. The ultimate master (and creator) of Vaapad, Mace's defensive and offensive spins and hundred-handed dexterity kept him atop the battle droids. Obi-Wan passively deflected as many shots as he could, but used his pouncing jumps and powerful assortments of kicks and punches to battle the droids. Master Tor was also a master of Vaapad, yet he did not rely upon it as much as Mace had. He exploited his strength, his size, and the length of his massive lightsaber.
Jango Fett watched the battle from the balcony. He eyed the three Jedi Masters and suddenly remembered his smashed face. He could no longer feel the stinging pain due to the battle stimulants he had taken, but a certain lust for retribution filled his mind. The bounty hunter crouched down and unleashed the explosive rocket which was secretly stashed in his jetpack. The three Jedi Masters scattered as the ground where they once stood was showered with flames from the resulting explosion. Jango jumped into combat, the jets of his backpack flaring to life.
Jango scoured the arena until he found the Wookie Jedi Master who had smashed his face. The bounty hunter set down eight meters away from the Wookie, both Mandalorian Heavy Pistols drawn, and unleashed a volley of fire upon him. Master Tor simply waved off the blaster bolts with whirling swings from his gold lightsaber. Realizing the ineffectiveness of his pistols, the bounty hunter holstered them, favoring the snare hidden within his gauntlets.
The wire sprung from Jango's gauntlet noosed around Tor's arms. The Wookie dropped his lightsaber and looked up at the bounty hunter with a cold grin. What a fool! Jango activated his jetpack and tried to fly off while dragging the Jedi Master, but the Wookie's strength was just too great.
Tor grabbed the wire which had bound his hands together and to Jango and pulled on it. With a single great heave, the bounty hunter came splattering back towards the ground, and flying into the Jedi Master. Tor greeted him with a massive punch to the chest. The bounty hunter flew back several meters and fell on the flat of his back. Jango's jet pack clicked with static. It was broken.
Tor pulled at the wire with his great strength, and it snapped, freeing his hands. Jango sprung to his feet, realizing he was about four meters away from the Wookie. Jango searched his equipment for a solution. His flamethrower, which had helped him so much earlier, was out of ammunition. He had no choice.
The bounty hunter was a quick draw; he probably had the fastest shooting reflexes in the galaxy. Still, there is a massive gap between fastest shooting reflexes in the galaxy and JEDI reflexes. In that half second it took Jango to make a conscious decision to draw his twin blaster pistols, Tor had already summoned his lightsaber back to his hand.
Jango watched in horror as the towering Jedi Master charged at him, not missing a single stride to deflect his blaster volleys. When he was within a meter of Jango, Tor seemed to lower his lightsaber, as if intentionally leaving himself vulnerable to Jango's blaster fire. Jango squeezed off another bolt, and watched in horror as the Jedi Master extended his hand, allowing his palm practically absorb the blaster bolt.
The last thing Jango saw was the swinging arc of the golden blade of Tor's lightsaber. The last thing he heard was that menacing Wookie growl. Jango's headless body crumpled as his head flew off his shoulders and the Mandalorian helmet flew off his head. Count Dooku grimaced, and young Boba, who had been sitting next to him, crumpled into tears.
Tor looked down upon Jango's headless body. He was a great warrior. Jedi customs may not pay much homage to great warriors, but Wookie customs did. Tor's expression seemed to fold into a mixture of respect and sympathy as he roared something in the Wookie language. A second passed, and Tor suddenly averted his attention from the enemy he had defeated.
"Senator, get down!" Lana roared. She pounced upon Padmé, forcing the both of them to the ground as several globes of concussive energy flew overhead. The globes struck the three Jedi who had been standing behind them. The Jedi were hit with such force that they went flying into the air, and slammed into the walls of the arena. Lana watched, horrified, as the three Jedi crumpled to the ground, blood dripping out of their mouths. Much of their skeletal structure had been shattered by the force of the impact, and now they were in shock. Lana could sense all of this.
More of the turret mounted sonic blasters had been loaded into the coliseum, and the concussive globes of energy they launched wrought havoc on the Jedi. More and more battle droids were pouring into the coliseum. Lana stayed close to the senator and watched as Jedi began to drop like flies. The Force could only aid them so much- the Jedi were still organic beings that were hampered by pain and fatigue. The seemingly endless amount of battle droids knew neither pain nor fatigue.
"Good to see you again, Master." Amidst the fighting, Alan had somehow found his way to the side of Master Tor. "I never thought we'd be fighting again so soon.
The Jedi Master growled a bit before switching back to basic, "My old Padawan, I miss those days. Finding a new Padawan is much harder then you would ever think." Alan smiled as he continued to deflect blaster bolts. Tor let out a Wookie scowl. Something was coming. Something... dangerous. Tor turned to the nearest arena door.
"Droidekas!" Tor roared as he pointed the four or five destroyer droids that came rolling out of the arena door. He charged at them, deflecting their heavy blaster fire and reaching out with the force to short-circuit their deflector shields. Alan followed his old mentor into battle against the droidekas.
As the Master-Apprentice team disassembled the destroyers, more seemed to come rolling out the arena door. Tor could count nine. Alan struggled to battle them, keeping his double-ended lightsaber spinning and deflecting, but fatigue was beginning to grip at his muscles. Tor could sense it.
"Alan! Alan, go!" Tor ordered as his whirl deflected blaster shots.
"Master, I'm not leaving you!" Alan growled back.
"Your fatigue is beginning to hold you back." Tor replied as he batted away more blaster shots. "If you can't hold up against the droidekas, don't risk your life!"
"No, Master. I'm staying with you!" Alan's devotion to his old mentor was as true as his devotion to the Jedi order, and as strong as his love for Lana. This Wookie was the closest thing he had to a father.
"GO!" Tor roared as he charged even deeper into battle. Curbing to his master's will, Alan gradually fell back and watched as Tor battled the nine droidekas. Three more destroyers rolled out of the arena doors, but Tor's power was too immense. Alan watched in awe as his old master exerted the full force of Mace Windu's Vaapad.
Tor's immense Wookie strength, augmented by the power of the Force, had made him into an incredible hulk of a Jedi. His defensive spins deflected the dozens of blaster bolts that raged against him. Tor panted; fatigue was beginning to get a grip of his muscles as well. A single droideka got too close to Master Tor. The Jedi Master shook away the fatigue, grabbed the droid with his off hand, and tossed away it as though it were a child's toy.
When he sensed that he had done enough, Tor jetted into the air and away from the droidekas. Midway through his jump, he reached for the single extra piece of equipment he had brought with him: an ion grenade. Alan watched as his mentor's ion grenade did its work and the dozen droidekas collapsed to the ground lifeless.
"No." Tor growled to himself as he still skidded in midair. It was too late to change his direction now. He had sensed it too late. Tor looked to this left, and three globes of concussive energy slammed into his side. The Wookie went careening through the air, towards the other side of the arena.
"Master!" Alan roared. He sprinted through the arena, occasionally breaking stride to deflect a stray blaster bolt or so. On the other side of the Arena, the Wookie slowly rose to his feet, weakened severely by the fire from that Sonic Blaster. He was greeted by automatic fire from seven super battle droids.
Tor deflected much of the fire, but one bolt got through and struck him on the left shoulder. This was followed by another, which struck his stomach, and a third which hit the center of his chest. Master Windu saw that his old friend was in trouble and sprinted to aid him. Weakened by the fire, the Wookie dropped to a knee. Summoning up the last ounce of his strength and augmenting it with the force, he threw his lightsaber at his assailants. Mace did the same. The purple lightsaber and the gold lightsaber mowed down twelve droids before returning to their master's hands. Tor collapsed, and suddenly the battle droids came to screeching halt.
Alan dropped to his master's side and helped pull him back to the circle of survivors at the center of the arena. Mace's iron cold expression weakened as he looked upon his old Jedi friend. The Wookie who had fought so intensely and gallantly was now battered and beaten. Many ribs were cracked by sonic blaster fire, and blood was gushing from the wounds the blaster fire had inflicted upon him.
"Master," Alan said to his battered mentor.
The Wookie smiled. "You learned well, my old Padawan. You learned well..."
"Master, you can't-"
"My old apprentice, you fought well. I have nothing more to teach you."
"No, master I need you!"
"No, you need your own Padawan. Pass on what you have learned from me." The Wookie growled a few words in his own native language, neglecting basic for a few seconds. He solemnly looked into the eyes of his old apprentice, which were beginning to flood with tears. "I'm proud of you, Alan. I'm proud."
Mace watched as the great Jedi Master faded away and his body became one with the force. His normally calloused and intense expression faded for a little, allowing the grief to be actively displayed. He had lost a great friend and powerful ally. Alan picked up his master's lightsaber and clipped it to his belt. Lightsaber inheritance- such was the way of the Jedi.
Alan bobbed his head as he painfully reviewed what had happened. The hurt and pain could not extinguish within his heart of hearts. He knew this feeling. He had felt it that day Lana was shot- that splitting black migraine, the rush of anger, the call for Vaapad. He rose to his feet and surveyed the battlefield. Only a few Jedi had survived- Anakin and Obi-Wan were among them. Lana was still protecting the senator.
Alan's jaw clenched and that same poison scowl manifested upon his face. Lana met his gaze, and within that one fleeting second, she knew. She sensed it. She shook her head, but he paid her no mind. He looked up to Count Dooku, who seemed to lord over the arena from his balcony. Alan focused the toxic mixture of anger and hatred that was stewing within upon Count Dooku. He would pay. For Jedi Master Tor, he would pay.
"Master Windu!" Dooku called out the Senior Council member. "You have fought gallantly, worthy of recognition in the archives of the Jedi order!"
Mace looked up to Dooku with a powerful expression of contempt. This crafty coward who had somehow weaseled his way out of personal lightsaber combat now spoke to him about fighting gallantly?
"But now, it is finished. Surrender and your lives will be spared."
"We will not become hostages to be bartered, Dooku!" Mace shouted defiantly. The rest of the Jedi made no audible noise, but the tremors they made in the Force seemed to echo Mace's defiance.
"Then I'm sorry, old Jedi friend." Dooku made his order, and the droids got back into position to begin fighting again. Anakin raised his lightsaber. Alan lit both ends of his lightsaber and aggressively twirled it, showing his eagerness to get back to fighting. Padmé sighed as she raised her blaster rifle. She couldn't explain why, but she suddenly got the urge to look skyward.
"Look!"
A/N: So, uh, how'd ya like those action sequences? Ha. Tell me what you think.
