I do not own the characters made by George Lucas, nor the general plot, but the twists and new characters are mine.

War! The Republic is crumbling

under the attacks by the ruthless

Sith Lord, Count Dooku.

There are heroes on both sides.

Evil is everywhere.

In a stunning move, the

fiendish droid leader, General

Grievous, has swept into the

Republic capital and kidnapped

Chancellor Palpatine, leader of

the Galactic Senate.

As the Separatist Droid Army

attempts to flee the besieged

capital with their valuable

hostage, three Jedi Knights lead

a desperate mission to rescue the

captive Chancellor…

Vataloni's View

It had been almost three and a half years since Vataloni came to Obi-Wan and the Jedi race, desperate for guidance.

Now, however, she knew she could handle anything thrown at her. She was not arrogant, like Anakin. She kept her pride locked down inside, like all Jedi should.

She once thought Anakin behaved more like the Sith then she ever had.

Her skills were becoming higher then par, and she knew that soon her Master would have to let her go.

But Vataloni almost didn't want to leave her Obi-Wan. He seemed to be the glue that held her together, and it was killing her inside that she could never tell him how she actually felt.

"Left," Anakin's voice cracked through the speaker, bringing Vataloni's thoughts back where they belonged; rescuing Chancellor Palpatine from captivity.

"Left where?" she replied, "There's many places we could go bloody left Anakin."

She heard him groan loudly and Vataloni giggled.

"Now children," Obi-Wan's tired voice droned over the communication, "Let's try and not make cracks at each other so close to the Separatist ship… Please?"

"Sorry Master," Anakin and Vataloni chimed in unison.

The three identical Jedi speeders flew up alongside the large ship and Vataloni sniped, "So are we just gonna look into the windows and see if we notice him, or are we going to board?"

"Patience Vataloni," Obi-Wan scolded, "We have enough problems out here. BLAST! ANAKIN DON'T SWERVE IN FRONT OF ME!"

"Sorry Master."

Vataloni rolled her eyes and the three ships did a complete barrel roll, then flew down into the very thick of the battle.

"Watch your right," Vataloni said quickly, taking note of the blaster fire coming in heavily from the right.

"Down and under we go then," Anakin said happily, dodging the fire.

Vataloni could just see Obi-Wan roll his eyes as the pair followed Anakin. The young man was a much better pilot then the other two could ever be, so they figured it smart to follow his lead.

Vataloni let out a small scream as the fighters whizzed through something that had obviously just blown up.

"Ugh don't yeeeeeell!" Anakin shouted in return, making Vataloni pull her earpiece away sharply, "I'm already going deaf in here!"

They flew through a narrow passage way between the Republic ships and the Separatist ship, only just missing some heavy fire from both sides.

"Lock onto them R2," Anakin instructed, "General Grievous's ship is directly ahead… You know, the one crawling with vultur droids."

"Oh I see," Obi-Wan replied as he and Vataloni stopped alongside Anakin's ship, "This is going to be easy."

"Don't be so negative Master," Vataloni giggled, flipping her computer telescope down and spotting the vultur droids.

They were horrible little droids, and did a lot of damage to anything electrical.

"And here they come," Vataloni sighed, watching them fold into little mini ships and launch themselves towards the Jedi.

She looked back and noted that the rest of the pilots had situated themselves behind the Jedi, ready for action.

"And this is where the fun starts," Anakin chuckled, propelling himself forward.

"Let them pass between us," Obi-Wan ordered.

Vataloni and Anakin moved apart from their Master and allowed the droids to pass by.

Vataloni and Anakin fired at a few of them, but they knew they should leave the droids up to the rest of the pilots.

"I -static- they're all –static- over me…"

"Should we go help them?" Vataloni asked, ducking her head as bits of a destroyed ship whizzed over top of her.

"No," Obi-Wan instructed, "They are doing their job, we must do ours."

"I'm gonna go help them," Anakin stated, obviously oblivious to Obi-Wan's command.

"No," Obi-Wan said firmly, "Leave it."

Vataloni watched sadly as the droids finished off the last of the pilots that had come to their aide.

Suddenly she saw something coming towards them, rockets with blue jets of light…

"Missiles!"

"Pull up!" Anakin ordered.

The three Jedi veered sideways, up and down, and just narrowly missed the missiles.

"They're coming back!" Vataloni exclaimed, looking backwards to see the missiles do a complete circle towards them.

The three suddenly split up, and Vataloni's communications temporarily cut off.

"Ugh," Vataloni grunted, pulling upwards as a pair of rockets mimicked her movements behind. She watched Anakin spin repeatedly until the missiles were so confused they wound up hitting each other.

"We got 'em R2."

"My communications cut out," Vataloni exclaimed, "Help Anakin…"

She watched Anakin's ship dive backwards and spiral towards her.

"I said HELP not HIT!" she yelled.

"Pull out when I tell you to!" he ordered calmly. He had just picked up another missile, but he didn't seem panicked.

"Anakin…" Vataloni said nervously as he flew directly towards her, "Anakin…"

"NOW!"

Anakin dove down and Vataloni pulled up quickly, and the missiles spiraled into each other and instantly exploded.

"I hate you!" Vataloni said fiercely, "When I ask for help don't scare the Hell out of my while doing it!"

"You're welcome," Anakin said coyly, zooming off towards Obi-Wan.

"I'm hit!" Obi-Wan's voice said frantically over the communication, "I'm full of buzz droids!"

Vataloni looked down, and saw the small droids latch onto her Masters ship, and began taking the wires apart.

"Ugh I hate buzz droids," Vataloni muttered, diving her ship down towards Obi-Wan's.

"R4," Vataloni said, happy to be able to have such excellent communications with everyone again, "See if you can get them off somehow…"

"Oh dear…" Obi-Wan sighed as the small protocol droids head was 'buzzed' off by the droids.

"Move to the right so we can get a clear shot," Anakin commanded.

"Forget it!" Obi-Wan replied, "They're shutting down the controls… Just get to the Command Ship and rescue the Chancellor… I'm running out of tricks here."

Anakin fired a few shots and successfully nicked a few droids off, but also blowing a bit of Obi-Wan's wing off.

"Oh.. IN THE NAME OF… Ugh!"

"Relax Master," Vataloni stated, rolling her eyes, "We aren't going to let you die. Anakin stop firing or we're going to blow him up."

"I agree!" Obi-Wan said frantically.

"Ok, bad idea," Anakin agreed.

Vataloni watched Obi-Wan's ship swerve in and out of heavy fire and she cringed each time he did.

"Have any other ideas Anakin?" she asked, flying in close to his fighter.

"Yeah," he replied, "I can think of a few that may work…"

"Oh God…" Obi-Wan cried pitifully.

Anakin flew alongside his Master and Vataloni watched in horror as he bashed into the Jedi Master's side.

"Suicide is not the answer Anakin!" she bellowed as she dodged something else exploding in her face.

It was getting annoying how many things were exploding just as she flew through them.

"Move to the right Master," Anakin said, following his Master and hitting him on the side, but this time, he managed to scrap off most of the buzz droids.

One crawled onto Anakin's ship, but his trusty little R2 managed to shock it off.

"Well done R2," Vataloni praised, wishing her droid could have been more helpful.

"Command ship is ahead," Anakin said proudly.

"The bloody blast shields are still up Anakin!" Vataloni sighed, looking at the blue shields that covered the entrance of the ship.

"Yes Anakin," Obi-Wan droned, "Had you forgotten about those!"

"Sorry," Anakin laughed, and fired repeated shots at the side of the shield, making it suddenly disable and disappear.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Obi-Wan moaned as large, steel blast doors started closing.

The three Jedi only just managed to get their ships into the hanger before the blast doors closed.

Vataloni shut her ship off and let it skid across the metal floor, then opened the top hatch and jumped out, igniting her double-sided blue lightsaber as she did.

Just in time too.

The minute Vataloni's feet touched the ground she was bombarded with laser shots from some droids.

"Oh for the love of…" she groaned, slicing forwards and using the Force to knock out the rest that were attacking.

"R2!" she yelled over the sound of blasts and the whizzing of her companions' lightsabers, "Locate the Chancellor immediately."

The little droid beeped contently and rolled over to an outlet, then plugged itself in firmly.

Vataloni, meanwhile, attacked the rest of the droids from behind as Obi-Wan and Anakin fought back to back against a group of them.

"Well," Obi-Wan sighed as the last droid fell to the ground, "Subtly is our best weapon."

Vataloni looked around the hanger and snorted at the three, almost, destroyed ships and droid parts scattered all over the place.

A small hologram of the Command Ship came out of R2 and Obi-Wan pointed to a glowing dot in the observation deck, "There."

"Let's go then," Anakin sighed.

"Stay here R2," Vataloni ordered, looking back to the small droid and worrying he may do more harm then good if he came along, "And hold onto this!"

She chucked a comlink to the droid and followed her Master and Anakin into the elevator.

She felt very odd in the ship. Vataloni could sense a Dark presence, one she had not felt in years.

"Sith…" she muttered.

"Count Dooku," Anakin said, nodding his head, "I sense him."

"I sense a trap," Obi-Wan agreed, "And I think we should spring it."

The three ran swiftly down a long corridor, towards the elevator.

Rolling could be heard behind them, "Destroyers!"

Vataloni whipped out her lightsaber and blocked the on coming shots until the elevator opened, allowing the three to enter.

"Drop your weapons."

Obi-Wan looked at Anakin, who looked at Vataloni, and she smirked. The three quickly turned around, slicing the droids in the elevator.

"That was pathetic," Vataloni mused, sliding both ends of her lightsaber back in and attaching it to her belt.

She almost regretted making a double-sided lightsaber, for it was almost useless in small situations, like the one they were in.

The elevator moved along smoothly, until about half way up it suddenly stopped.

"Did either of you press the stop button?" Vataloni asked curiously, looking around the small compartment.

"No… did you?" Anakin asked.

"No."

"Well," Anakin said, drawing his lightsaber and igniting it, "There's more then one way out."

He cut a circular hole in the roof of the elevator and leapt out.

"No," Obi-Wan groaned, snatching the comlink from Vataloni, "We want to go up… Not out. R2, get elevator 31174 moving."

There was no reply, and Vataloni started to worry something bad had happened to their faithful little droid.

"R2, do you copy?" Obi-Wan repeated, "R2? Activate elevator 31174."

Vataloni shrugged and moved to examine the controls, when suddenly the elevator went sharply downwards, making Obi-Wan topple onto her and Anakin fly completely out of site.

"No R2!" Obi-Wan shouted into the comlink as the elevator went flying down, "We want to go up! Not down!"

Vataloni gulped and watched as Obi-Wan repeated his command into the comlink, still resting on top of her.

He finally got off and pulled her to her feet. Vataloni tried desperately to hide a blush from her Master, but he was focusing on getting them going up again to notice.

Suddenly the elevator shot upwards, knocking them both down into a heap again.

"Now," Obi-Wan said into the comlink, pulling Vataloni to her feet, "That's better."

Anakin dropped down abruptly, making Obi-Wan ignite his lightsaber.

"Oh… it's just you."

"What was that all about?" Anakin asked, fixing his cloak so it hung straight.

"Well R2…" Obi-Wan started, but Anakin cut him off.

"Uh huh, no loose wire jokes."

"Did I say anything?"

"He's trying."

"I didn't say anything!"

"Oh my God!" Vataloni exclaimed, shooting them both very annoyed glares. They liked to argue, almost like brothers in Vataloni's opinion.

The door to the elevator slid open and the three Jedi walked out into the observation deck.

Vataloni watched as a chair swiveled around to reveal Chancellor Palpatine, looking no worse for the wear.

Vataloni still didn't really take much of a liking to him. He was very cold whenever he had talked to her in the past, but maybe he had changed.

While saying nothing, the three Jedi strolled down towards Palpatine and bowed low.

"Chancellor," Obi-Wan greeted formally. Anakin, on the other hand, launched into, "Are you alright?"

Vataloni bowed, but said nothing. She did take note at the bonds that were glowing around his wrists, and wondered if that was painful in any way.

"Count Dooku…" Palpatine said softly, nodding back behind the Jedi.

Vataloni raised an eyebrow and looked back, eager to see this famously evil Sith Lord.

He stood on the small balcony, aided by two large destroyer droids. Dooku reminded Vataloni of Palpatine for some reason. Both looked slightly aged on the outer surface, but she knew neither were aged at all on the inside.

"This time we'll do it together," Obi-Wan said firmly to Anakin, who walked around him and rolled his eyes.

"I was just about to say that."

"Am I missing something?" Vataloni asked curiously, looking back and forth between the Jedi.

"Yes," Obi-Wan said, and Anakin replied at the same time with, "No."

"I don't want to know," she laughed.

Dooku flipped forwards off the balcony and landed gracefully on the floor, drawing his lightsaber.

"Get help," Palpatine insisted, "You're no match, he's a Sith Lord."

And who would come help us? Vataloni pondered, looking back to Palpatine with an amused smirk.

"Chancellor Palpatine," Obi-Wan laughed, looking back at him, "Sith Lords are our specialty. "

The three Jedi removed their cloaks and held eye contact with Dooku as he walked forwards slowly, stating, "Your lightsabers please. We don't want to make a mess in front of the Chancellor."

"You won't get away this time Dooku," Obi-Wan snapped, looking at Anakin and nodding. The three ignited their blue lightsabers as Dooku's red one sprung to life.

Vataloni suddenly missed her old, handy lightsaber, but she couldn't focus on that now. She had a tendency to let her mind wonder.

Obi-Wan and Anakin dove at Dooku, parrying, stabbing and thrusting their lightsabers against his. Vataloni was about to attack, but she decided to stay and watch from the side. There would have been too many swords attacking one single one, so she waited patiently.

Dooku held them both up and kicked Anakin backwards, then used the Force to strangle Obi-Wan, and send him flying off.

She felt his eyes suddenly wonder onto her, and she raised an eyebrow, "How pitiful, Count. Must you resort to using the Force in a lightsaber duel? I would expect better from a Sith. It does suggest your skills with a blade are far below average."

"Your skills with your wit will prove useless Jedi," he snarled, launching himself at her. Vataloni leaped nimbly to the side and brought her lightsaber down hard on his, making him stumble back slightly.

He fought back with several harsh blows, forcing Vataloni to leap over him and strike from the other side.

"Wait… two apprentices…" Dooku said softly, looking Vataloni directly in the eye, "You're that Sith gone Jedi, aren't you?"

Vataloni glared at him and body checked him to the side, then swiped at his arm, only just missing it.

"You're anger is controlled," he laughed, "But useless."

He held his hand up and Vataloni was thrown back towards Palpatine.

"Get up," Palpatine hissed, "Get him!"

Vataloni jumped quickly to her feet, only to feel her throat suddenly closing. She dropped her lightsaber and clutched her throat, trying to force some air into it.

She shot a strangled look to Dooku, who just smiled at her and tightened his grip on her throat.

"No Sith should turn Jedi…" he said calmly, "You are a traitor."

Vataloni heard something crack in her throat, and she knew Dooku would kill her if she didn't do something.

She held up her hand, then called for something that her old Master taught her to use when in trouble. Obi-Wan had strictly forbidden it in the past, but it was a life or death situation.

Bolts of electricity shot out of Vataloni's pointer finger and pinky. Dooku was clearly not expecting it, and he was shot back up the stairs towards Anakin.

The grip on Vataloni's throat was instantly released and she dropped to her knees, gasping for air.

"Vataloni!" Obi-Wan yelled, his voice sounding both angry and worried, "How many times have I told you NOT to do that!"

Vataloni looked at the floor, feeling shame for her actions.

"Ignore him," Palpatine whispered as Obi-Wan ran up the stairs, killing the droids, "You did what you had to do to avoid death."

She smiled weakly and massaged her sore throat.

"Now get back in there and finish him off…" Palpatine ordered, poking her with his foot, "We can't have another Sith Lord loose."

She grinned, called for her lightsaber, then leaped back into battle.