A difficult choice to make
The bridge of the command ship was filled with tension as the battle above the planet grew larger and more ships entered into the fray, especially on the side of the Republic. The scared Neimodian navigators gave quick orders to the droid pilots controlling the ship. Most of the Neimodians would've preferred to stay at home rather than be in the middle of such a battle. They were cowards by nature and if they could they would've made droids that could steer the ships all by themselves. Unfortunately for the Neimodians such droids were too expensive to produce in mass quantities required to control such massive starships. Thus they had to provide the lesser droid pilots with navigators to help them. And the command ship was also the flagship of the military leader of the entire separatist army. General Grievous. The mastermind behind this cunning attack on the heart of the Republic and regarded as the most cruel living being in the universe. He has ordered the complete annihilation of entire planets and deaths of billions of innocents. Many assassins and agents of the Republic have tried to kill him, but all of them have failed. Even the Jedi.
And now this … thing has entered the bridge of the command ship. It was difficult to tell what was he more like. His body was more of a robotic exoskeleton than living tissue. His durasteel armor protected the organs he had left: his brain, heart and some more. It was unknown how had he become such a hybrid. One of the crucial organs missing was his lung, which had to be replaced by mechanic ones. Although still not as perfect as the real lungs they did keep him alive. But they made a very unpleasant sound when inhaling and exhaling. Also they cause Grievous to cough quite a lot. Of course no one has ever complained about this, as his robotic insect-like body was powerful enough to tear apart anyone with ease. And now this walking horror moved to the captain of the ship, followed by two MagnaGuard droids equipped with electrostaffs. He used these advanced droids as his personal bodyguards. The Neimodian immediately fixated his eyes on the general.
"What's the situation captain?" he asked him with a metallic voice.
"Two Jedi have landed in the main hangar bay! We're tracking them!" the captain hastily replied.
"Just as Terra predicted!" Grievous said to himself in an amused voice and laughed maliciously.
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Meanwhile Raven and Robin got to the lifts. As they waited for the elevator to arrive they heard an all too familiar noise. They turned around and saw metal balls rolling towards them.
"Destroyers." Raven said and they activated their lightsabers. The balls came to a sudden stop and opened like a flower revealing their deadly arsenal of blasters. In a second they switched on their shields and started firing at the Jedi. Using the Force to guide their movements Raven and Robin successfully deflected all of the shots. Soon the elevator arrived and they retreated into it, still blocking the laser shots. After they entered the door closed they switched off the lightsabers. They were finally safe.
"Drop your weapons!" a robotic voice said behind them. Raven and Robin turned around to see a small squadron of battle droids standing behind them, aiming right at them.
"I said drop them!" the droid repeated.
"Roger, roger." the other droids started to confirm the order. Raven and Robin just looked at each other. Suddenly the sky-blue blades of the lightsabers cut the air and with some precise swings the Jedi destroyed all of the droids in the small elevator, leaving just a small pile of scraps after the guards.
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Cybrog was still sitting on the cold floor of the hangar.
"This ain't fair! I'm always left out of the real action!" he complained to himself. Suddenly the door to the hangar opened and he saw two large figures enter. He quickly hid behind some crates and peeked out to see two super battle droids enter the hangar.
"Those are Jedi fighters alright!" one of the droids said and pointed at the starfighters in the hangar. A large grin appeared on Cyborg's face as he immediately thought of a thousand ways to dispose of these droids.
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The elevator moved with incredible speed, taking the Jedi toward their destination, up into the captain's quarters where the chancellor's signal was coming from. Suddenly the elevator stopped. Raven and Robin looked at each other, puzzled.
"Did you press the stop button?" Robin asked, suspecting Raven for using the Force to push the button.
"No. Did you?" Raven asked.
"No." Robin shook his head. Raven looked around.
"Well there's more than one way out of here." she said and pulled out her lightsaber. She activated the blade and pointed it at the ceiling of the elevator. She started cutting a hole, the steel ceiling of the elevator easily melted at the touch of the high energy of the blade. Robin just frowned.
"We don't want to get out! We want to get moving." he told her and pulled out his communicator. He switched to the frequency of the communicator he gave to Cyborg.
"Cyborg! Activate elevator 31174!" he told into the communicator.
Cyborg was getting ready to attack the droids, but in the last moment the communicator repeated Robin's message. Cyborg's eyes widened with surprise and fear as the voice loudly echoed through the halls of the empty hangar.
"Come in Cyborg!" another command shouted from the communicator. Cyborg started to quickly look for a place to hide the communicator so the droids wouldn't hear it.
"What's that?" one of the droids searching the crashed Jedi fighters turned in his direction.
"Cyborg do you copy? Activate elevator 31174!" another command. Having no better idea Cyborg put the communicator into a corner and sat on it, thus covering Robin's voice just enough.
"Get back to work! That nothing." the other droid said after a few moments of silence. Cyborg sighed with relief.
"Cybrog!" Robin tried to contact the mechanic. Hopelessly. In the meantime Raven finished cutting the hole. She turned off the lightsaber and a steel plate fell on the floor. Raven immediately jumped out of the elevator through the new exit. Robin sighed. He still wasn't used to her impatience.
"Always on the move." he said to himself.
Back in the hangar Cyborg went sneaked to a nearby computer and hacked into the systems. He pushed several buttons and…
And the brakes on elevator 31174 were suddenly shut down, what resulted in a sudden and rapid descent into a several hundred meters deep elevator shaft. Raven managed to jump in the moment she felt the elevator move and she grabbed a ledge. As she looked down she saw the elevator getting smaller as it fell uncontrollably. She could've even sworn she had heard something like a loud scream of terror from within the elevator where her former master Robin stood. In the next moment the door just above her opened and two battle droids looked at her, pointing their blasters at her.
"Hands up, Jedi!"
Robin finally got up from the ground, still a bit shaken by the unexpected descent. He noticed that the lights signaling the movement of the elevator were flashing frantically.
"Stop, stop! Cyborg, we need to go up, not down!" he yelled into his communicator. Cyborg pressed some buttons and the elevator came to a sudden stop.
"Hey you!" Cyborg heard as the droids noticed him and they were coming closer. He quickly pushed some more buttons and the elevator began to speed back up in the correct direction.
"Now, that's better!" Robin said into the communicator.
Raven was still hanging over the dark pit. She heard a screeching sound coming from beneath her and as she looked once again down she saw that the elevator was coming back fast.
"Oh-oh!" the droids also noticed the incoming danger. Raven did a backflip, hit the wall behind her with her feet and jumped up once again softening the contact with the elevator. Unfortunately for the droids, their reflexes were light-years from those of an average Jedi (and Raven was far better than an ordinary Jedi), so after they'd looked at the acrobatic stunt performed by the girl wearing black robes they looked down at the elevator just to be smashed by it in the next moment. Raven crawled over to the gaping hole at the top of the cabin and jumped back into the elevator. As she landed Robin turned around and activated his lightsaber, but lowered his guard as he recognized his friend.
"Oh, it's you!" he said as if they'd met in a shop.
"What was that all about?" Raven asked with a small hint of being insulted.
"Well, Cyborg has been…" Robin tried to explain.
"Hey, hey don't blame him!" Raven cut him off, before he could actually finish.
"Did I say anything?"
"He's trying."
"I didn't say anything!"
This childish conversation went on for the rest of the way, but as they reached the top floor they immediately stopped. They stepped out of the elevator and walked into a large room. It was gloomy and they could see a large chair at the end of the room, just next to the large window. The battle outside still continued and fighters flew by almost every second. Raven and Robin went down the stairs and approached the chair. Chancellor Palpatine was sitting there, his hands secured by forcefields. The Jedi came to him and Robin bowed before him. Raven on the other hand observed her old friend's features. During the months spent in the Outer Rim she haven't seen Palpatine. He was the only one besides her husband that she could truly rely on. Of course Robin was there always for her as well, but their relationship was still more of a master-padawan relationship. Palpatine however seemed so … tired. As if he had aged hundreds of years since the last time they met. Secretly in the deepest recesses of her soul Raven feared that Grievous might've even tortured this poor, helpless old man. Anger rose in her as she decided to repay back the 'comforts' that Grievous gave the chancellor. Slowly, painfully.
"Chancellor." Robin greeted Palpatine.
"Are you alright?" Raven asked.
"Terra." Palpatine answered and stared in the direction of the elevator. Raven and Robin turned around the dreaded figure come to the platform, a super battle droid guarding her. Terra. The Sith girl jumped off the platform and quickly pulled out her lightsaber.
"This time we will do it together." Robin whispered to Raven as she moved to his right side.
"I was about to say that." Raven agreed. The last time they'd encountered Terra on Geonosis almost turned into a catastrophe as the dark apprentice easily defeated them and cut off Raven's right arm. Even now Terra felt waves of anger and resentment engulf Raven's soul. But this was the plan she and her master had prepared. They planned to turn Raven to the dark side. For this they had to fight and it was Terra's duty to kill Robin, this way ensuring Raven's fall.
"Get help, you're no match for her! She's a Sith!" chancellor Palpatine sounded worried. Robin turned around and smiled at him kindly, almost with childish pleasure.
"Chancellor Palpatine, Sith are our specialty!" he grinned widely.
"Your swords please! We don't want to make a mess of things in front of the chancellor." Terra came close and mocked the Jedi, who in the meantime removed their cloaks. Robin was wearing the typical light-brown coloured clothes of the Jedi, while Raven was dressed completely in black, wearing a dark glove, covering her robotic arm.
"You won't get away this time Terra!" Robin said and the Jedi turned on their lightsabers, the blue blades humming their rhythmic tone. Terra also activated her lightsaber and a fiery blade contrasted the blue ones.
Raven and Robin started their attack at the same time, attacking Terra from different angles, yet in a complete harmony. Terra however managed to block all of their attacks elegantly and after a few steps they stopped, facing each other. Terra was smiling at them evilly.
"I've been looking forward to this." she said.
"My powers have doubled since the last time we've met Terra!" Raven threatened her.
"Good. Twice the pride, double the fall!" Terra mocked again.
Raven and Robin once again attacked, but Terra proved to be far better then they'd expected. She managed to block their strikes and parried their last attack. She used the Force to push away Robin from her, leaving only Raven to worry about. Raven using the freedom of not having to watch out for Robin swung strongly her lightsaber and Terra had to duck to avoid being killed in a single moment. Terra started retreating up the stairs, still facing Raven who continued to attack her tirelessly. In the meantime Robin stood up and now was approaching them from the other staircase. The battle droids started firing at him, but he deflected their shots and cut them down easily. As he got up to the platform where Raven and Terra were already fighting he jumped forward, hoping to strike at Terra unprepared. However Terra was more then ready for this attack, thanks to the dark side of the Force. She once again parried the azure lightsabers and in the next moment she broke the lock. Both Raven and Robin were lost their balance. Terra used the chance and kicked Raven away, while lifting Robin up in the air using the Force. Raven hit the wall and saw as Terra threw Robin away with a quick movement of her hand. Robin hit the wall and fell down hard. With another movement of her hand Terra tore out a huge piece of metal from the wall and dropped it on Robin's body. This was more than Raven could take and she launched another furious attack at the Sith. She kicked her opponent in the face and Terra fell off the platform. As she landed on her feet she looked up and saw Raven jumping down to her. Raven started spinning her lightsaber in fast circles and Terra now had difficulties blocking the incoming attacks. She felt as the dark side started to flow forth from Raven. But Raven noticed this as well and instantly concentrated to keep her emotions in check. Thanks to this Terra was once again able to take the advantage and locked the lightsabers again, pushing both the blades close to Raven's face.
"I sense great fear in you Raven! You have hate, …you have anger, …but you don't use them." Terra whispered, her face lit by the red blade. Raven was still struggling to keep the blades away from her. The massive energy of the blades created small electric outbursts and she was almost choking from the ozone created around the blades. But as soon as she realized her emotions could help her win… something changed within Raven. Her strength reached the top and she pushed Terra away. Now Raven took the initiative and approached Terra. Terra suddenly had a very bad feeling about this. Raven's face was almost unrecognizable, deformed by the hatred that was set loose within her. Raven started attacking Terra ferociously and the Sith apprentice had difficulties to even dodge the powerful strikes. Terra finally realized the situation: she was going to lose. And just as the thought crossed her mind Raven grabbed her right hand and with a single slash easily cut off both of her arms at her wrists. Terra opened her mouth as she saw the horrifying scene, her hands falling on the steel floor. She wanted to scream in pain, the remains of her arms burnt to the bone. But the shock overtook her entire body and she fell on her knees in front of the Jedi. Raven.
Raven grabbed Terra's lightsaber, activated it and crossed the blue and red blades in front of Terra's throat. She looked down at her defeated opponent with anger. But something felt wrong about the situation, though she couldn't really tell what.
"Good Raven! Good!" Palpatine congratulated her in a fatherly voice.
"Kill her. Kill her now." he continued in the same tone, yet with a cold edge to it. Raven looked in Terra's eyes. She saw small tears appear in them and compassion started to arise within her. The conflict in her soul between hatred and conscience reached its peak.
"I shouldn't." Raven tried to protest, but it was too uncertain even for her to tell what did she really want.
"Do it!" Palpatine now commanded. Raven finally decided. She cut off Terra's head.