A/N: Hey everyone, really quick I just wanted to apologize for it taking so long to post this chapter. I'll have a full explanation of why it took so long to post at the end of the chapter. Until then, thank you to everyone who's shown support for the story, ( 20 followers and 8 reviews! That's crazy, you guys are the best) and I hope I made it worth the wait. Enjoy!
Republic fleet, space over Taanab.
It had been an hour since the Resolute regrouped with her home fleet. Now they were mending their damaged ships, and trying to figure out what to do.
Obi Wan stood at the main viewport, observing what was left of their fleet. The Separatists had planned their attack well.
Out of the nine ships that made up the portion of their original fleet here at Taanab: four Acclamator-class support cruisers and five Venator-class star destroyers, only two Venators and three Acclamators remained. Two of the Venators had been destroyed, while one was heavily damaged. As for the Acclamators, only one had been severely damaged. They had only brought the Resolute and two other venators with them.
He turned and walked to the holographic tactical console, Ahsoka and admiral Yularen were there as well. He studied the map thoughtfully for a moment, before speaking. "What's the status of the fleet admiral".
"Repairs are nearly complete on the Reliever" he replied, referring to the Acclamator. " As for the Katarn, they'll be lucky enough to move at all".
"And what of the others?".
"On standby and awaiting orders sir".
"What are we going to do master Kenobi" Ahsoka asked. "This attack is vital to the war, we have to destroy that factory".
"I don't know Ahsoka" Obi Wan replied, deep in thought. "I don't know".
"Luckily for us, we have a plan" said the voice of Anakin. Everyone turned to see both he and Jake enter the room, and join them at the console.
"And what might this plan be?" Obi Wan asked, eyeing his former padawan curiously.
"You want to tell them your part of the plan?" Anakin asked, turning to Jake. Jake nodded, and pressed several buttons on the console. The console soon showed two groups of ships, one theirs and the other the separatists.
"After taking in the situation of your fleet, I believe I have found a weakness in their fleet" Jake started, and pressed a button on the console. The hologram zoomed in to just the enemy ships. "Given their tight formation, this will be their weakness".
He pressed a button on the console and it zoomed out. As soon as it did, one of the Republic ships appeared, and then the rest of them appeared. "The Resolute will drop out here. As soon as it gathers the coordinates, the other ships will drop out in between the enemy ships".
"Are you suggesting that our ships actually drop out of hyperspace in the middle of their fleet" Yularen asked apprehensively, raising an eyebrow. "Isn't that a little too risky sir".
"As dangerous as it is, yes admiral" Jake replied. "Because of your limited amount of ships, we have to do this tactically, yet we also have to take risks due to the urgency of the mission. When the Resolute drops out by itself, they'll think we're trying to attack with one ship-".
"And when the other ships drop out between theirs, the confusion will catch them off guard" Ahsoka chimed in.
"And leave them open to attack, and leave us a window to get forces on the planet" Anakin finished, as he pressed a button on the console and two small ships emerged from the Resolute and headed for the planet.
"And what is your part of the plan, my old padawan" Obi Wan asked, turning back to Anakin.
Anakin pressed a button on the console, and the hologram switched from the space battle to a holographic section of the planet's surface. In the center of the map showed a small city, with a spaceport on its western border. To the south, a large forest with a river running through it. And to the north, in the middle of another large forest laid a large factory.
" Once the fleet causes a distraction, two squads will accompany us to the planet, and we'll land and infiltrate the factory. You and I will take one squad, and infiltrate the eastern wing. Ahsoka and Jake will take the other squad, and infiltrate the western wing. Once we're at the locations, we'll each plant charges at both power cores in each section. With any luck, we'll be out in time to watch that factory get blown to Corellia".
"And your confident in this plan?" Obi Wan asked.
"It's the best one we've got" Anakin replied.
Obi Wan stood there for a moment, deep in thought. "Alright, when do we get underway?".
"We should be ready within the hour master" Anakin replied.
"Very well, let's get to it then" Obi Wan replied, as everyone dispersed and began with the preparations for the mission.
"Anakin, can I have a word with you in private?" Obi Wan asked quietly.
"Sure" he replied, as they walked off the bridge.
"Do you think it is wise to send your padawan alone with this stranger, let alone rely on his strategy for this mission?" Obi Wan asked apprehensively, as they entered his private quarters. "Do not forget, we don't know who this person is, or anything about him".
"I'll admit, it does make sense to be warily of him, and I do have my own suspicions of him as well" Anakin admitted. "But you should've seen him master, when we were going over the intelligence reports, he examined and planned everything so quickly and precisely. Honestly, he could probably give one of those tactical commander droids a run".
"However, we must still be cautious" Obi Wan warned. "He is still hiding things from us, what's odd is that he actually told us that he was".
"That is true, but so far I haven't sensed anything to tell me not to trust him" Anakin replied.
"Yes, neither have I" Obi Wan said. " The other strange thing is the odd tremor around him, how would you describe it?".
Anakin thought for a moment, as he reached out with the force. "It's odd, calm, soothing, reassuring".
"Reach out Anakin, what can you feel from Jake? What can you make of him?".
Anakin folded his arms and leaned back against the doorway to Obi Wan's quarters. He closed his eyes, and reached out deeply into the force.
"It's hard, he has a strong wall around himself. But I can sense, calmness, collection, and a slight bit of confusion".
"Confusion towards what?".
"Everything, everything around him. It's almost as if he's never seen any of this before. And yet, he has" Anakin said, as he opened his eyes.
"What do you mean Anakin".
"I also sense familiarity among him. He feels familiar with all of this. In the military, planning, strategizing. He's commanded military forces before".
"And yet, he's never seen the clones or any of our equipment" Obi Wan said, as he started stroking his beard in thought. "This is definitely odd".
"Well I do know one thing about him master".
"What's that Anakin".
"He definitely isn't telling us everything, he's hiding something, something big".
Obi Wan nodded in agreement, and thought for a moment.
"What should we do master" Anakin asked.
"Perhaps we should wait and see what he does" Obi Wan responded. "If he truly intends on helping us, then he will. We'll keep a close eye on him, until we take him to the council. They'll definitely want to hear about this".
"Understood master" Anakin nodded in agreement.
"Well then" Obi Wan sighed. "I suppose we should get to preparations for the mission".
Anakin nodded, and they left Obi Wan's quarters.
"And if it helps, I'll be sending Rex and a squad with them" Anakin said, as they walked down one of the ships corridors.
"Let's just hope that will be enough" Obi Wan replied.
This was so strange to him, and yet it wasn't. Through his time serving under Revan, commanding armies and fleets, it always gave him purpose, a sense of meaning.
They were in hyperspace now, on their way to battle these separatists.
As Jake walked through the hangar bay of the Resolute, he observed in a small, hidden sense of awe at all around him. Their ships and equipment were so different compared to what he knew. But that didn't surprise him in the slightest, as he had suspected the military to change in the large amount of time he'd spent away.
But it wasn't the ships or the equipment that fascinated him the most, no, it was the troops. Anakin had told him that their entire army consisted of clones of one man. Hundreds of thousands of clones serving on fronts across the galaxy, which had apparently grown exponentially since his time.
The one thing that did set him off about them, was the fact that they'd been cloned from a mandalorian, and a mandalorian bounty hunter nonetheless. He had had more than enough experience with both, so while he was intrigued by the clones, he was still skeptical.
As Jake continued on in the hangar bay, he noticed one of the clone troopers as one of the ones that he had first encountered. He recognized him from the distinct blue marks on his helmet, which he was holding in the crook of his left arm, and the small bandage on his forehead.
The trooper regarded him, with a slightly wary expression. "Sir" he said.
"Trooper" Jake nodded. "I was just checking on the ground force preparations. I hope you don't mind?".
"No sir, that's actually what I was doing now".
"I see, may I accompany you?".
"Of course sir" he responded, as he began to walk through the hangar bay, with Jake next to him.
"So, what's your name soldier?" Jake asked.
"Rex sir, Captain Rex"
"I thought you looked familiar. You're the one from the medbay, the one that I threw into the medical capsule" Jake replied inquisitively.
"Uh, yes sir" replied, still slightly internally embarrassed at the fact he'd let that had happen.
"I do apologize for that by the way" Jake replied apologetically, slightly gesturing towards Rex's bandage on his head. " I hope I didn't cause any severe damage".
"No sir, it's nothing more than a scratch" Rex replied tightly, Jake nodded as they continued on through the hangar bay.
"So Captain, General Skywalker speaks very highly of you. He says you're the best commander in your legion" Jake said, turning serious. "A good leader, courageous, and always thinking on your feet. Is that true?".
"I follow my orders to the best of my abilities" Rex replied. "General Skywalker is a great leader, cares for his men, and he calls it as he sees it".
"Hmm, if that's the case, I look forward to serving with you on this mission Captain".
"Likewise sir". Rex was still suspicious of this man, General Skywalker had told him to keep an eye on him both on their mission and whenever he was around their military equipment. But there was something about this man that he liked, and he couldn't figure it out. For now, he would just hang back and observe this mysterious person.
They were ten minutes out from their destination, and Anakin and Obi Wan had gathered everyone together on the bridge for one final overview of the plan.
"Alright, let's go over the plan one more time just so everyone knows what to do" Obi Wan said. "Go ahead Jake".
Jake nodded and pressed several buttons on the holographic console. "When the Resolute drops out of hyperspace, it will gather the safe coordinates for the rest of the fleet to drop out in between the enemy fleet. Once the confusion ensures, our two teams will leave the Resolute and head for the planets surface. Once on the surface, each team will land at separate points near the sections of the factory they are to take. Anakin, Obi Wan and Commander Cody will take the east point. Ahsoka, Captain Rex and myself will take the west point. Once each team's charges are placed, we'll meet up towards the south and await extraction".
"We'll have to be quick once we're there" Rex spoke up. "The droids will already be on alert due to the space battle. If we're not out of the factory in time, they'll call on their backup garrison" he said, as he pointed to the red glowing square structure to the factory's north. "If that happens, we'll have no escape options and be overrun".
"I like this one" Jake noted.
"We were able to get in contact with Master Plo's fleet and their on their way" Admiral Yularen stated. "But there's a chance we may not be able to hold off until then".
"All the more reason for us to hurry up then" Anakin replied.
Everybody turned their attention from the console, as the ships alarm went off. "We're five minutes away from our destination" Yularen said. "I suggest we get to our positions".
"Alright, any questions on the mission?" Jake asked, he was met with still heads. " Then may the Force be with us all".
"Sir, I think we have a problem" said the electronic voice of the tall tan battle droid sitting at his station on their ships bridge.
"What is it Corporal?".
"It appears a ship is coming out of hyperspace".
"Is it Republic?". At that moment, the ship dropped out at a safe distance from the rest of their fleet.
" I think it's Republic" the droid said coyly.
The droid commander laughed, "We outnumber them eleven to one, prepare all cannons to fire".
At that moment, seven other Republic ships dropped out dangerously close to their own ships and began firing.
"Uh sir, I think we're in trouble" the droid from the station said nervously. The commander was silent, as he looked at the battle that was quickly unfolding before them.
"General Skywalker, the diversion worked. Your clear to head for the surface, good luck sir" Admiral Yularen's voice echoed through the gunship from Anakin's wrist comlink.
"Thanks Admiral, good luck to you too" Anakin replied as he switched the channels. "Ahsoka we're all set, are you guys ready?".
"All set here master, we'll be following you down till we hit the split off point" Ahsoka replied.
"All right, you know the plan. Good luck Snips".
"You too Skyguy" Ahsoka replied as the comlink went silent.
"You ready master?" Anakin asked, turning to Obi Wan.
"As ready as I can be" Obi Wan replied calmly.
Anakin nodded and turned his comlink on. "Pilot we're ready, let's go" he said as he turned his comlink off.
The gunship lifted out of the hangar bay with the other gunship following closely behind. They were able to stay to the outskirts of the battle and get by relatively unseen. Once they were safely away from the battle, they made their way to the blue and brown world.
Contruum was a tropical world, known for its shipyards and being an agriculture and industrial world. It's people were peaceful, and had a history of invasions. The Separatists had decided to extort this planet for its natural resources to help fuel their tank factory. Unlike their droid factories, which were all across the galaxy, the separatists had only a small few of tank factories hidden across the galaxy. And these were no ordinary tanks, no, these were the separatist Hailfire droid tanks. Very fast and very deadly, so when the Republic were able to find one, it was an opportunity that they couldn't pass up. And that's why they sent their best Jedi to destroy it.
It was early to mid evening as the sky was turning a light orange. The sound of gunship engines echoed through the forest, as the two ships soared just above the tree line in single file formation to avoid detection. They continued on in the formation for a few minutes, until the lead ship broke off to their right to head for their landing zone. The other ship soon followed suit and broke off to the left to head for their landing.
"I hate to say it, but it seems Rex was right" Anakin said looking through a pair of macrobinoculars, scanning the factory. "The space battle definitely has them on high alert. The perimeter is heavily patrolled, and we don't have the firepower to make it through the front".
Anakin lowered the binoculars and turned to Obi Wan, who was also looking at the base deep in thought. They both had found a small cliff that overlooked the factory near the jungles edge, and decided to try to scout it out before moving in. "There has to be some way in, keep scanning the factory" Obi Wan said.
Anakin turned and put the binocs back to his eyes. After a few minutes of scanning, something caught his attention. "I think I found your entrance master" Anakin said slyly, as he handed the binocs to Obi Wan and pointed to what he saw. "Look just to the outside of the southeast perimeter, where all those plants and shrubbery are".
Obi Wan took the binocs from Anakin and raised them to his eyes. He looked where Anakin pointed to, and it took him only a moment to notice the thin cloud emerging from a large vented pipe near the factory's outer perimeter.
"An exhaust pipe?" Obi Wan asked, as he lowered the binocs for a moment to turn to Anakin.
"Close, it's actually a moisture exhaust" Anakin replied, as Obi Wan went back to examining the vent. "To build the base of the Hailfire's wheels, they have to heat them up enough to bend them. Once their bent, they have to cool them with a lotta water, and they have to extract the moisture, otherwise the amount of constant moisture buildup would mess with the droids circuits. That also means that those pipes connect to the ventilation system that runs throughout the entire factory".
"So those pipes are big enough, and safe enough, for us to sneak through them?" Obi Wan asked apprehensively.
"They should be, I don't know of any reason they wouldn't be" Anakin shrugged.
"Every time you say 'should be' it scares me Anakin" Obi Wan replied with a small smile.
"Glad to know you have trust in me master" Anakin replied, returning a small smile as well, Obi Wan just shook his head and patted his greatest friend soundly on the back. They both stood up, and walked back to the tree line where their men were waiting.
"Cody" he called, as his white clad armored commander turned to regard him. "Contact the other team, tell them to use the moisture exhausts to get in, and then we're moving into the factory".
"Yes sir" he saluted, as he walked back over to his men.
Obi Wan and Anakin started walking towards the direction of the vent. "I hope this works" Obi Wan said. "Intelligence reports suggest that this may be one of the last factory's making these tanks. They've grown fewer and fewer since geonosis".
Anakin looked behind them for a moment, and noticed R2 was already following them. "Well good thing this plan will work master. Once we're in, we'll find a place where Artoo can plug in and find out exactly where the power generators are, tell the others where theirs are, blow them all up, and be back out hunting the next one in no time".
"Yes, and then there's that" Obi Wan said. "We still have to deal with our mysterious supposed Jedi friend".
"Well this mission will show if he truly is here to help us" Anakin replied.
"Let's just hope it doesn't cost us too much to find out" Obi Wan sighed, as their Troop's caught up with them and they continued on toward their secret entrance into the factory.
Thanks to the information provided to them by her master, Ahsoka and her team wasted little to no time putting that information to use. They had been able to sneak through the pipes and into the ventilation system with relative ease. They had been fortunate enough that the ventilation shafts were big enough to fit a person through them pretty well.
As Ahsoka carefully lifted the floor vent grate up, she glanced around to make sure nothing was near them. "All clear" she whispered as she quietly set the grate down. Quietly and slowly, they all filed out of the vents.
"Where to now?" Jake asked.
"Now we head this way" Ahsoka replied pointing down the corridor to their left. "The power room should be in this direction".
"Then let's not waste time" Jake said, as Ahsoka nodded and led their group down the corridor towards the power room, unaware they were being watched.
The tall gray cloaked figure stared at one of the security consoles, watching the group of Jedi and clones head toward the western power room.
"Sir, we have more intruders in the eastern wing" one of the droids said.
The figure shifted his gaze from one screen to another, and immediately noticed the lead figure. "General Kenobi" the figure said lowly in a deep, threatening, partly robotic voice.
"I recommend that if we call our reserve forces, we should be able to crush the Jedi with ease" the electronic voice of the tactical droid said.
"No" the voice responded, as he walked over to the droid, the sound of his heavy metal feet echoing in the room. "Prepare to abandon the factory, have the charges ready. I will deal with the Jedi myself".
"But General, we have been ordered to protect this factory, at all costs" the droid replied.
The General walked slowly and intimidatingly over to the droid. He stared at him for a moment, with his cold, angry reptilian looking eyes. Droids weren't supposed to know fear, but that may not have been said for the tactical commander droid that spoke against the General.
"I have been ordered by Count Dooku to see that this outdated factory be destroyed" the General began, as he started slowly backing up the droid in front of him. "The Hailfire droids are outdated now, and this factory is to be kept from falling into enemy hands at all costs. Count Dooku also ordered me to use this factory, as a trap for those particular Jedi".
By now, the droid was pressed against the wall of their command center. "And I've also been ordered to see that all of you worthless droids make it out in one piece" the General continued, as he moved his face just inches from the droid. "Personally if it was up to me, I would leave every single one of you pathetic droids here to be blown to bits".
The General backed up and started to leave. "Now prepare the charges, and prepare to leave. Send some droids to deal with the Jedi in the eastern wing and jam their comms, I'll deal with the Jedi in the west first " he ordered as he left.
"Yes sir, General Grievous" the droid replied lowly.
Obi Wan peeked slowly around the hallway corner, and checked to see if anything was near them. As so as he saw it was clear, he motioned with his hand for the rest of the group to move up. Anakin and R2 were the first to go, with the troopers behind them as they made it across the hallway to the computer terminal.
"Alright Artoo, plug in and find the locations of the power cores" Anakin said, as R2 beeped in affirmation and plugged into the droid terminal. After a few moments, R2 started beeping and whirling wildly.
"What's wrong with him?" Obi Wan asked turning to Anakin.
"He says that the droids are arming charges all throughout the base!" Anakin exclaimed.
"This must've been a trap" Obi Wan said. "Cody, alert the other group. Tell them to meet us back at the rendezvous point".
Cody nodded, and tried to use his comlink, but was only met with static. "General, I can't reach them, our comms are being jammed".
"We have to warn them" Anakin said urgently.
"Right, come on" Obi Wan said. "Let's find them and get out of-" he was interrupted, as he heard the loud clanking of battle droids coming towards them.
"I think we have company" Anakin said, igniting his lightsaber.
"So it seems" Obi wan responded as he ignited his saber as well. "We don't have a lot of time, let's be quick with them and find the others".
Anakin nodded as they all prepared for themselves for the fight. Artoo took cover behind the group, as the droids rounded the hall corner and the skirmish began.
Ahsoka peeked around the corridor. Once she saw it was clear she motioned for her team to follow her. They continued down the hallway for a few minutes until they reached a split.
"Where to now commander?" Rex asked. Ahsoka thought for a moment, trying to figure out their best option.
"We should probably split up, the power generator has to down one of these hallways" she replied, as she pointed to her right. "Rex you take the squad and head this way, me and Jake will go the other way".
"Sir with all due respect, I don't think it would be wise to split up right now" Rex advised. "We haven't heard from the others, and we don't know exactly where we're going".
"We don't have much choice Rex, we have to improvise and we don't have a lot of time" Ahsoka replied. "Now let's go find the generator and get out of here".
Rex nodded, and quickly led his team down the hallway to their right. Ahsoka watched them for a moment, before turning to Jake. "Are you with me?".
"Of course" he nodded in reply.
"Good, then let's get going" she said, as they started down their hallway.
The droid cried out in distress as it was cut down by the blue bladed lightsaber. Anakin stepped back from the droid he'd just cut down, disengaging his lightsaber, and turned to his former master who'd cut down the last of their ambushers. "Think that's the last of them?".
"Probably not" Obi Wan replied, turning to Anakin. "Let's find their command center so we can find the others".
"Artoo" Anakin said turning to his faithful droid companion, "See if you can find the command center for this place and take us there".
Artoo beeped in affirmation, as he rolled back over to the station he'd previously been at and began operating it.
"So you think this was all a trap?" Anakin asked, turning back to Obi Wan.
"It certainly seems that way" Obi Wan replied, rubbing his beard thoughtfully.
"You don't think it has something to do with Jake, do you?".
"I don't know, it just seems oddly coincidental. First we find his ship which keeps us from regrouping with the fleet, which gets attacked while we're investigating it. And you said he planned our attack, that he knew the weaknesses of their fleet so well".
"Yeah, almost as if he knew how they would maneuver their ships".
"And that adds to it, how did he know how they would formate their fleet?. Now he's gotten our groups separated in an enemy facility that's rigged to blow and we have no way of alerting them to the danger. I'm starting to believe that he may very well be a-".
Obi Wan was interrupted by the loud whistling from R2. Both he and Anakin turned to the little droid who exited from the droid station he was at and started quickly down the opposite end of the hallway. As they watched the little droid roll down to about midway down the hallway before stopping and turned back towards them, they heard him whistle and beep excitedly several times.
"He's found the command center, it's not far" Anakin said turning back to Obi Wan. "Let's get there and find the others and get out of here. We'll deal with Jake later".
Obi Wan slowly nodded and gestured for Cody and his squad to follow them, as they made their way down the hallway behind R2. They could only hope that their fears had not been true.
The doors opened with a hiss, as the two Jedi rushed into the room sabers in hand and at the ready. They quickly glanced around the large room, they had found the one they were looking for.
"This is the place" Ahsoka said as she knelt down and removed the backpack she'd been carrying, and started grabbing the small thermal charges. "Let's place these and get out of here".
"Padawan" Jake said in a low voice, still slowly looking around the large room.
"What is it?" Ahsoka asked, looking up from the pack to the Jedi near her.
"We're not alone" he responded lowly, still trying to find that hint of danger he'd felt through the force. Ahsoka slowly stood up and reached out into the force herself.
"Look out!" Jake yelled. Ahsoka almost didn't even see it, as a large crate was launched at them. But before she could attempt to dodge it, she felt herself get pushed to the side.
Jake reached over and pushed Ahsoka far enough out of the crate's path. But he only had enough time to turn and use the force to lessen the impact, as the crate made contact with him and sent into a nearby wall. The combination of his use of the force and his armor saved him from what would've more than likely severely injured or even killed a normal person, but it still knocked the wind out of him a good bit.
Ahsoka barely had time to recover herself, as she saw the tall grey cloaked figure that dropped down from the ceiling near her.
"Grievous" Ahsoka growled, as she slowly stood up.
"Your the cowardly padawan from the listening station" Grievous said coldly, giving her an evil stare.
"Your definitely one to talk about being a coward Grievous" Ahsoka spat back.
Grievous chuckled evilly at the young padawan. "Foolish child" Grievous said, as he ignited a green bladed lightsaber in his right hand and a blue bladed saber in his left. Ahsoka ignited her own green bladed lightsaber and the battle began.
Grievous started his offensive with a leaping attack. Ahsoka was able to roll away, as the heavy metal monster landed hard where she just was. She immediately went for a killing blow, aiming for Grievous's neck, but the cyborg general was ready for the strike and parried it with great strength. Ahsoka was physically moved back by Grievous's superior strength, and she was forced to drop back into a defensive form to block several of his heavy blows.
Ahsoka had fought Grievous before, not too long ago when they had destroyed the listening outpost near Ruusan. But she had barely been able to hold Grievous off then, and while she did have a little more fighting experience now than she did then, it still was incredibly difficult for her to fight someone as experienced as Grievous was.
Blow after blow, she was able to defend until it finally came to a head, when the two opponents found themselves in a blade lock. Ahsoka had to call upon the force, and use all of her strength to keep from being crushed under Grievous's superior strength.
But Grievous was known for taking any advantages he could. Using his cybernetic strength, he was able to use one arm to keep enough pressure on the young padawan. With his other arm, he reached back and brought the lightsaber hilt in his hand into Ahsoka's head. The hit didn't kill her, but it very so knocked her out and left a sizeable gash in her forehead.
As her limp unconscious body fell to the floor in front of him, Grievous twirled his blades several times in his hands, before raising them up. As he prepared to bring his blades down on the unconscious padawan, he was caught off guard, as he was hit dead on by a powerful force push, that sent him back into the duracrete wall not far behind him.
The push had sent him into the wall so hard, that there were several good cracks in the duracrete. As Grievous shook off the effects of the push, he stared evilly at the figure that knelt down beside the unconscious padawan not far from him.
Jake put his hand on Ahsoka's head to check on her. He called upon the force to subside some of her pain, and then stood back up to face their enemy. He studied the enemy in front of him, before speaking.
"You have got to be the ugliest droid I've ever seen" Jake quipped. "You must be the famed Jedi hunter I've heard about, General Grievous".
"I am no droid, Jedi scum" Grievous growled.
"Really. I suppose you haven't looked in a mirror before, you'd be surprised at what you'd see, and maybe even a little terrified" Jake quipped again.
"I will take great pleasure in cutting you to pieces" Grievous growled angrily, as he ignited his lightsabers.
"You can try, but you will probably fail" Jake said with a smirk, as he shed the brown leather and cloth cloak from his shoulders. He reached his right arm out, and used the force to call his lightsaber to his hand. The silver cylinder flew to his hand, and he pressed the activator towards the top of it, and it's emerald green blade blazed to life. With his lightsaber humming at his side, Jake brought his blade up and down to his side, as Grievous began to charge him.
The automatic doors opened, and the droids never stood a chance, as the shots from the troopers blasters were quick and precise. As the three forward troops secured the command center, the rest of the group quickly followed them in. R2 wasted no time in getting to a droid station so he could find the rest of their group.
"It looks like there evacuating" Anakin said, noticing the smaller amount of droids than usual. "Your idea that this might've been a trap is starting to seem right".
"Yes, so it seems" Obi Wan said thoughtfully.
"Uh generals" Cody said as he gestured to the security monitor. "You may want to see this".
Obi Wan and Anakin both walked over to the monitor, and looked at what was on the screen. Their eyes were met with the site of two familiar figures fighting each other, the blades of their sabers flashing and clashing furiously. "Ahsoka!" Anakin exclaimed, as he saw the unconscious body of his padawan on the floor in the corner of the monitor screen. "Artoo, find that room". R2 beeped in affirmation, and went back to working as quickly as he could.
"Perhaps he is a Jedi after all" Anakin noted, as he watched their mysterious friend continue to fight off Grievous .
"Do not be fooled Anakin" Obi Wan warned. "Just because he wields a lightsaber does not mean he's a Jedi. We learned that from Maul".
"Well whether he's a Jedi or not, he's been very well trained" Anakin replied, noticing how Jake was actually holding his own pretty well against Grievous.
"Yes, indeed" Obi replied inquisitively, slightly cocking an eyebrow. "Artoo record this footage, it may be useful later". Artoo beeped in affirmation.
After a few moments, R2 turned his domed head and said several things through beeps and whistles. Anakin and Obi Wan turned their attention to their little droid, "He's found them, their in the western generator room" Anakin said.
"Then lets get there quickly" Obi Wan replied as they sprinted out of the command center, with the rest of their company in tow.
Grievous felt himself get pushed back by a force push, and he had to bring his sabers up to block the following slash from the Jedi he was facing. With his strength, he pushed the blades back and followed it with a strong kick, sending his opponent back.
This Jedi was different than the others he had faced before. When he had been brought into the Separatist Alliance, Count Dooku saw potential in him and decided to train him in lightsaber combat. Now Dooku is a master in the lightsaber form II Makashi, a form based on balance and elegance in blade to blade combat rather than brute force. And while he had trained Grievous in the basics of lightsaber combat, and some parts of Makashi, Grievous had developed his own form of lightsaber combat. Using his brute force, cybernetic enhancements, and his own creativity in battle made him a lethal opponent. And one of his cybernetic enhancements allowed him to process what forms his Jedi opponents used, so he could know how to defeat them.
But this Jedi was different.
Of all the Jedi he'd fought before, this one fought more aggressively than the others. He was very well skilled in blade to blade fighting, and when he went on the offensive it was more aggressive. He attacked differently than others, usually from all directions and integrated his force abilities into his attacks, something Grievous could not do. Grievous knew he'd have to do something, or else he might meet his end.
"You are beaten, surrender now and you'll probably be given a fair trial by the Republic" Jake said, raising his emerald lightsaber to align along his wrist and pointed it straight at the cyborg general not far from him.
"If you think that I would surrender to a Jedi, than you are far stupider than you think. I would rather die" Grievous spat back evilly.
"So be it" Jake replied calmly, as he pointed his saber outwards to his side, and assumed an offensive stance.
Grievous responded by enabling his two extra arms, and reaching into his cloak to grab his other two lightsabers. He shrugged off his cloak and ignited his two other sabers.
"Never seen that before" Jake noted in astonishment.
"You Jedi think you are so powerful and undefeatable. Until I show the galaxy, just how weak and pathetic you really are" Grievous said, as he watched Jake outstretch his left arm and use the force to call Ahsoka's lightsaber to his hand.
Jake ignited the green lightsaber, and brought the two sabers in front of him in a crossarm formation. "Then I will show the galaxy how wrong you are" Jake said as he spun the sabers in his hands to his sides, blades facing backwards as he braced himself for the cyborg that charged him.
Grievous spun his two top blades and brought them down hard on Jake, only to have them upheld by the Jedi; Grievous followed up with an attempt to stab him with his lower blades, but missed as Jake dodged to the side out of their path.
Jake brought both his sabers to his right side and swung hard at Grievous, and then did the same move from his left side, but both times were blocked. He brought both his blades up and took several quick slashes at the general. While most of them were blocked, it was not completely useless as he had managed to cut off one of Grievous's lower hands, relieving him of one his lightsabers.
Grievous moved back, and quickly examined the metal stub that was once his extra hand. He turned his attention back to his opponent, and took several angry slashes of his own at Jake, only for them to be blocked.
Both opponents continued exchanging blows, trying to gain an advantage over the other. But it was all most a stalemate, as both were well skilled in combat.
Finally it came to the point, when Jake swung one blade to parry one of Grievous's strikes, and followed it by bringing his other blade down on Grievous's other lower hand. He was successful in cutting off Grievous's hands, but had to bring his blades up to catch Grievous's last to blades, as the two opponents found themselves in a blade lock. It wasn't as easy for Grievous to overcome Jake as he did Ahsoka, mainly due to Jake being a lot more physically stronger than she was.
"If this continues, it will be me who'll cut you into pieces" Jake said through gritted teeth, as he pushed against Grievous's strength with his own. "This is your last chance to surrender".
"Foolish Jedi" Grievous chuckled in reply, as he raised his foot up and kicked Jake as hard as he could in the chest. Jake's metal armor chest piece had protected him from any severe damage, but the force of the kick sent him stumbling back and out of the blade lock. This was all Grievous needed, as he deactivated the lightsaber in his left hand and reached over and pressed a button on his right wrist.
As he did that, simultaneous sounds of multiple explosions could be heard and felt all around, as they shook the factory violently.
Jake looked around briefly as the explosions rocked the room they were in, before turning his attention back to Grievous. He watched, as the cyborg general raised his left arm up and fired an ascension cable up to a large vent in the ceiling. As he watched Grievous raise up off the ground rapidly, he flipped his lightsaber in his right hand around and threw it, with the guidance of the force, towards the generals cable.
He cursed internally, however, as he watched Grievous bat his saber away with the one in his right hand, and laugh evilly as he did so. Jake used the force, and called his saber back to his hand, and prepared to throw both sabers at Grievous this time.
He stopped himself, however, as he noticed the rapidly cracking duracrete ceiling above Ahsoka's unconscious form, as several large pieces broke off. Quickly, he deactivated both lightsabers and hung them on his belt as he rushed as quick as he could over to Ahsoka.
He had made it to her just in time, and raised his arms up and called upon the force to stop them. While it didn't fully stop them, it did slow them down considerably. Jake used every bit of strength he could muster, but the combination of the weight of the very heavy duracrete pieces, and that his fight with Grievous had taken a good amount of energy out of him as well. Not to mention the fact that it felt as though Grievous's kick had possibly bruised a rib or two, and he was still slightly winded from getting hit by that crate. But he did as best as he could to push all of that aside, and focus all of his strength to keep both him and Ahsoka from being crushed.
"Ahsoka, if you can hear me, now would be a really good time to wake up" Jake said through gritted teeth, as he felt himself slowly giving out, as the explosions continued to cause more pieces to fall all around them.
Jake could feel as the pieces of duracrete touched the top of his head,and begin to push down on him. He continued with all of his might trying to stop it, but the weight was too much for him alone, and eventually he was brought down to a knee as the duracrete came closer and closer to crushing both of them.
But just as he was about to give out under the tremendous weight, he felt the pieces suddenly stop. He opened his once clenched eyes, and looked to see the two familiar Jedi with their arms stretched out towards them.
"We've got it, get out of there" Obi Wan yelled out.
Jake nodded, and grabbed Ahsoka and threw her over his shoulder, grabbed his cloak in his left hand, and made it to them as quickly as possible.
As soon as they were clear, Obi Wan and Anakin lowered their arms as the duracrete pieces fell hard and loudly to the ground.
"Is she okay" Anakin asked, as he quickly walked over and checked her head, as he noticed the sizeable gash.
"She took a pretty bad hit from Grievous, but she'll be okay" Jake responded.
"Let's get out of here, and we'll treat her outside" Obi Wan said.
"Alright, let's go" Anakin said, as he led the group of Jedi and clones out of the factory.
They had made it out just in time, as the factory exploded into a great ball of fire. Now they were back on the cliff awaiting extraction.
Her head was swimming when she finally came too. "Wha...Where are we" Ahsoka asked wearly, as she blinked several times in the bright evening sunlight rays. When they had made it back to the cliff, they set her up against a nearby tree so their medic Kix could treat her.
"Your alright snips" Anakin said reassuringly. " Just relax, everythings fine".
"What happened?" Ahsoka asked somewhat dazed. "One minute I was fighting Grievous, the next minute everything went black".
"Well, let's just say you had a good companion" Anakin replied, gesturing over towards Jake who was having his ribs bandaged up by Kix.
"You just rest now Ahsoka, our ride will be here soon" Anakin said, as he stood up and walked over to Jake and Kix. "How's he looking Kix?".
"Just a little bruising on his ribs sir, he'll be fine in time" Kix responded, as he finished up with Jake and walked away.
"Is your padawan okay?" Jake asked, as he took a sip of water from a canteen.
"She's still a little dazed, but she'll be alright" Anakin replied, as he sat down next to Jake. "Thank you for that by the way".
"No thanks necessary. I was just doing what was right".
Anakin nodded, and after a moment stood up and walked over to join Obi Wan at the cliffs overlook.
"Master Plo is on his way" Obi Wan said. "He should be here any minute".
"I think we may have been wrong to think Jake wasn't telling the truth when he said he wanted to help us" Anakin said after a moment.
"Yes perhaps, I'm starting to wonder that as well" Obi Wan said thoughtfully.
"If he was with the separatists, he more than likely wouldn't have saved Ahsoka" Anakin noted.
"That is true. Nor would he have taken the beating from Grievous like he did" Obi Wan said. "But while that may be, I for one will be most interested in the councils investigation into him".
Anakin nodded, and both Jedi turned their attention to the two Republic gunships coming towards them. They walked back to their group, as the gunships landed not far from them. As they approached the lead gunship, its doors opened up to reveal master Plo Koon and several of his troops.
"Good to see standing and walking little 'Soka, albeit with some help" Plo said, noticing how Ahsoka was up but leaning on Rex for support as she walked.
"Thank you master" Ahsoka replied wearlily.
"And you two look no worse for wear" Plo said, turning his attention to Obi Wan and Anakin.
"Thank you master Plo" Anakin responded.
"And I take it this is the Jedi you spoke about" Plo asked, noticing the unfamiliar Jedi behind them.
"Yes master, and it is imperative that we take him to the council immediately" Obi Wan replied.
"I see, well master Yoda and master Windu on waiting on the comms on the Resolute" Plo said.
"Well then, lets not keep them waiting any longer" Obi Wan said, as they all boarded the gunships and headed back to the Resolute.
"Was your mission a success master Kenobi" the blueish holographic version of master Windu asked.
"Sort of master" Obi Wan replied. "The factory was destroyed, but it turned out to be a trap laid out by general Grievous".
"Deeply disturbing, this is" Yoda mused.
"Were you able to capture Grievous" Mace asked.
"Unfortunately no, he was able to get away once again" Obi Wan sighed.
"While that is troubling, the main thing is the factory is destroyed. Well done master Kenobi" Mace said.
"That's not all master, something else far more important has surfaced" Obi Wan said.
Mace and Yoda exchanged glances before turning back to Obi Wan. "Continue, master Kenobi" Yoda replied.
As Obi Wan filled the two venerable Jedi masters on all that had occurred, they listened with rapt attention as he filled them in on every detail.
"Most interesting, the situation we now find ourselves in" Yoda said thoughtfully. "Certain you are, that he is a Jedi?".
"Almost positive master" Obi Wan replied. " We've seen him use the force, and we have footage of him fighting Grievous".
"This man fought general Grievous?" Mace asked, cocking an eyebrow.
"Not only that master, but he almost won" Obi Wan said. "Had Grievous not used the factory's charges, he would have lost to Jake".
Mace put a hand to his chin, as he thought. "Interesting. Most interesting" Yoda said thoughtfully.
"There's something else you should know masters" Obi Wan said, as both masters listened to him. "When we found Jake, he said that he was on an important mission for the Republic, and he would tell us all we needed to know when we brought him before the council".
Mace and Yoda exchanged a glance, before Yoda spoke. "Bring him before the council. Find out his true intentions, we will".
"Yes master, we'll leave immediately" Obi Wan said.
"See that you do" Mace said. " In the meantime, we'll have madame Nu search through the archive records for this Jedi and see what we have on him. May the force be with you master Kenobi".
"And with you masters" Obi Wan replied, as he bowed to the masters as the transmission ended, and the holograms disappeared.
Obi Wan stood at the holo table for a moment, before turning to admiral Yularen. "Admiral, get us to Coruscant as soon as possible".
"At once sir" Yularen nodded, as he turned and walked to one of the nearby terminals.
Obi Wan turned and walked to the main viewport of the bridge. He put his hand on his beard, and began to stroke it in thought, as he began to wonder what they had gotten themselves into. But whatever they had gotten into, it was certainly going to be interesting, to say the least.
A:N/ I am SO sorry that it took so long to post this chapter, but you would not believe the amount of things that happened during the writing of this chapter:
1: At first I had some computer problems, so that took a little bit to fix.
2: Lack of inspiration to write was a problem for a small amount of time as well.
AND 3: I had FREAKING WRITERS BLOCK in MULTIPLE PARTS of this chapter!.
It also didn't help that this chapter was so long, but I couldn't decide to either split it up or keep it together.
BUT! That time is over, now it is complete. The next chapter won't be near as long, and I've planned it out a lot more than I did this one. I solely promise to try as hard as I can to make sure I never take this long to post ever again.
With that said, thank you so so much to everyone who's shown support to this story, it really warms my heart to read the reviews left. Next chapter will see Jake's return to Coruscant and the Jedi temple after so long. It will be up in a few weeks, I PROMISE, but it won't be as long because their won't be any battles or action like in this one.
Thanks again, and I can't wait to see what everyone thinks of this chapter. Make sure to leave a review and let me know what you think of the chapter, or story overall. And if your new to the story, make sure to follow the story if it interests you. With that, I will talk to you all in the next chapter. Until then, May the Force be with You Always.