Author's Note 1: Sorry for the long wait you guys had to put up with. I've started a new story and also a new forum for this story simply named after the title.

Author's Note 2: Just as a early warning, Mace will be OOC in this chapter. Warning: this chapter contains a slang using Master Mace Windu keepin' it real. Reader's discretion is advised. (Also, I warned you of the randomness.)

Chapter 6

For the last week, Barriss has been training me in the ways of the Force. It was filled with lots of meditation (which I slept through half of the time), and practice in moving objects. The good news is that I was able to move small stuff that didn't weigh as much. The bad news is that when I try lifting heavier stuff (like a big block), I stop like I have brainfreeze (It's not cool). Overall, I'd say I'm doing quite well. "You still have a lot of work to do," Barriss told me after one training session outside. At the moment, we were standing in front of a broken speeder near the temple.

"Aaaawwwww," I replied. "Master, it's crazy. How the hell am I supposed to pick up that speeder with my mind." Like I said, heavy lifting with my mind's a 'no'.

Barriss sighed and held out her hand. The speeder was slowly lifting up a few feet. "Just imagine the object as lighter than it really is. Concentrate on your goal. Trust in the Force and let it guide you."

"Yeah… Why don't I just shrink myself, go to a swamp, and lift a heavy ass ship."

"Just try again."

"Yes, Master." I turned to the speeder and sighed. Without further to do, I raised my arm and concentrated on the vehicle. "Concentrate," I thought to myself. "Trust the Force…" It was working. The speeder was being raised off the ground inch by inch. "Let it guide me…" I focused some more on the speeder and the vehicle was rising off the ground higher and higher. "All right! I think I'm getting the hang-" Before I knew it, I had that tingly sensation in my brain again. I grabbed my head and knelt down. "Aaahhh! Brainfreeze! Brainfreeze!" When I knelt to one knee, the speeder I tried to lift crashed to the ground.

"Shado!" Barriss said as she crouched to the ground and looked in my face.

"I'm cool, Master." I looked up at her and smiled. "So, how did I do?"

Barriss gave a relieved smile. "You did better than before." She then rose up and said, "Three feet with a heavy object."

"That's pretty good."

"Of course it is." The two of us chuckled as Barriss helped me back to my feet. We went back to the temple and walked around a bit.

"You know what would be cool?"

"What?"

"If I started a rap group."

"A rap group? You mean like the people on that device of yours that do nothing but talk nonsense?"

"That ain't nonsense! It's the real word from da streets!"

Barriss stared at me before saying "It's still nonsense, Shado."

"Is not!"

"Excuse me," a voice from behind said. We turned around and saw a Jedi coming toward us. "Jedi Knight Barriss Offee and Jedi Padawan Shado?"

"That would be us," Barriss said.

"Sup!" I replied. "What's the word?"

"The Jedi Council has summoned you," the Jedi said. "You have a mission at hand."

"We'll be there right away," Barriss replied. The Jedi bowed to us and left the scene.

"Alright, another trip!" I said. "I wonder what's up this time?"

"Let's go ahead and find out." The two of us went to the center tower and took the elevator up to the top. We arrived at the center of the high council, where only Shaak Ti, Yoda, Mace Windu, Ki-Adi-Mundi, and Plo Koon. The rest must be on missions.

"Thank you for coming," Shaak Ti said.

"The pleasure is ours," Barriss said.

"So what's the dizzle, master homies?" I asked.

"Count Dooku has been spotted in Cloud City on the Outer Rim planet known as Bespin," Ki-Adi-Mundi said.

"Cloud City?" I asked. "Cool!"

"Indeed," Shaak Ti said. "It is the largest processor of Tibanna gas, a rare concoction found in the atmosphere of many planets. However, that was before it became overrun with battle droids and droid ships."

"And with Bespin under the Separatist's control, our resources for fueling Republic gunships and artillery has been severely cut," Mace Windu said.

"So what you want us to do is get through the droids, go to the main building, face Dooku, and bada-bing bada-boom, welcome back to the Galactic Republic," I said.

"That's what we're hoping," Plo Koon said.

"A hard situation this will be," Yoda said. "Accompany you, Mace Windu will."

"Alright!" I said.

"I will do my best, Master Yoda," Mace said.

"This should be good," Barriss said to me. "With Mace Windu's skill in the seventh lightsaber form Vapaad, our chances of succeeding are great."

"And he's one of the greatest Jedi Masters, yo!" I replied. "He knows how to keep it real."

"You must go immediately," said Ki-Adi-Mundi. "We do not have much time to spare."

"May the Force be with you," Yoda said.

"Aight, fo' shizzle!" I said. "Now let's show Count Doo-Doo who's boss." The three of us left the room and rode the elevator. "Yes! Big Mace is in the hizzouse! This is gonna be tight!"

We left the spire and continued our way to the hangar. We walked over to where Mace's Jedi Starfighter was docked. It was larger than I thought, with his signature purple stripes. On the wing was an R2 unit also in purple. Now I don't know about you, but there was one thing that I had to ask. "Is purple you favorite color or something?"

"Shado!" Barriss hissed.

"I don't mean it as an insult, dog. I mean, it's cool."

Mace nodded at me and said, "Anyways, I'll meet you two at the starship."

"Yes, Master Windu," Barriss said.

"There is a clone commander over there who is willing to take you to the vessel."

"Cool. Well, see you on the topside, Windizzle," I replied. Mace jumped into his ship and began to activate the controls. In less than a few minutes, his ship hovered over the ground and flew out of the garage. "Man, I really want to drive one of those."

"May the Force guide you," Barriss told me as we walked to the clone.

"Guide me to what?"

"To not go backwards when you take the controls."

"Oh real funny."

"Ah, General Offee and General Shado," Commander Bly said. "Good to see you again."

"It's good to see you, too," Barriss said.

"Are you all set?"

"Yeah!" I said. "Let's get this show on the road!"

"Roger that," replied Bly. We went to the LAAT Gunship and flew up to one of the four Star Destroyers. By the time we had entered, Mace stood until we came. After we docked, the three of us went with Mace to the conference room of the ship. I started listening to "Above the Clouds" by Gang Starr and Inspectah Deck "At the moment, Bespin is heavily invaded by the droid army. With such a number of droids, it was impossible to fend off the planet from their forces."

"However, that was before. We need to focus on what we should do now," Barriss said.

"Why not have the smaller ships take on the droids while our starships pump their stations full of led... er, laser?" I asked.

"We don't have that large a number of troops."

"Good point."

"But maybe that could be added to the plan," Mace said.

"Say what?" I asked.

Mace turned on the hologram of the planet. There was Bespin in the middle of the table and a few of the larger space stations belonging to the droids. "We will need a diversion to get to the surface. We'll use that strategy as a decoy while a few of us get to Cloud City. From there, we will have to fight our way through enemy lines and into the Administrative Offices where the Baron and Count Dooku reside."

I turned to Barriss and smiled. "I guess it was a pretty good idea after all," I gloated.

"Your first idea of the day," she said sarcastically. "I'm surprised."

"Why do you always have to be like that?" I asked her with a stern look.

"Clone, how much time until we get to Cloud City?" Mace asked.

"Two hours and forty-one minutes, sir," he said.

"This meeting is dismissed. May the Force be with us all."

"Aight, fo' real," I said. We left the conference room and I went to the cargo hold to train. I was listening to "Da Mystery of Chessboxin'" by the Wu-Tang Clan. (Just to clear things up, it's the only place big enough for me to use as a personal gym). Anyway, as I was perfectin' my lightsaber and martial arts styles, Mace Windu came in. "Yo, homie G? How's it hangin'?"

"Um… I believe it's hanging well…" he said in confusion. "I see you're practicing."

"That's right. Can't let them punks get the drop on me. Need to be extra prepared."

"Of course. You do know that this is very dangerous."

"That's the more reason why I want to go. It's straight up hardcore and off the heezy, know what I'm sayin'?"

"No, I don't. In fact, I don't know half of the things you're saying."

"Is that so?" I stopped shadow boxing and turned to Mace. "I'll tell you what, I'll teach you."

"Teach me? You mean in this 'gangsta' you talk about?"

"True that, G. Im'a show you the ropes, yo. How to keep it gangsta. In return, you show me a few of yo' Jedi tricks."

"You have a bargain," he said. So I've been showin' Windu how to keep it real while Mace taught me how to use da Force.

After about an hour of teaching, Barriss stepped into the room. "Hey you guys, we've just arrived at Bespin," she said.

"Aight, fo 'shizzle," I replied. "You ready, Windizzle?"

"Let us thirty-six these punks, homies!" he replied as he left the room.

"Eight-six, but you're getting there."

Barriss stood speechlessly while I stood right beside her with a smile on my face. "What. Have. You. Done?" she said slowly.

"I've given him… extra blackness," I said.

"Now I'm really having a bad feeling about this." We left the room and went down the hall just behind Master Windu. We arrived at the Hangar Bay with a large number of clones ready for battle. The door opened and we saw the droid's space stations in the distance. There were also a few groups of droids coming toward us. "It seems that the enemies have spotted our presence."

"Aight, everyone, listen up!" Mace said. "It's time to start getting ready, yo! These fools are gonna give us everything they have!"

"We gonna need all ya to glock them droids," I added. "While you're bustin' it up here, we's gonna take it to the city and represent the Republic."

"It's time for them to recognize."

"Word on wheels, Windizzle." Most of the people… alright screw it, all of the people in the hangar were confused. They had no idea what we just said. But that didn't stop anyone. Barriss and I were taken to a gunship, along with a few clone troopers. Mace went in his Starfighter and we went to the planet with a few other ships right in front of us. The fight in space had started as our fleet faced against the CIS robot forces. Already, the area was filled with explosions.

Back on Bespin, our ships were already getting attack by the anti-aircraft guns in the city. A few of the LAAT's were shot down. Luckily, we were able to get near the building. The area near us was cleared of droids with the bombs and laser fire. We landed on the ground and got out of the ships. Mace Windu landed right next to our ship. "It looks like we need to fight our way through this army, G dog," the dark skinned Jedi said.

"I'm down with that," I said. I turned on "Catechism" by DJ Spooky and Killah Priest. We slashed away at the droids that got in the way and blocked against the laser fire. We also had some help from the clones as they used their large guns to blow up the enemies. With a few slashes and a couple of explosions, we were able to get inside the building. The place was dimmed thanks to the few lights that were on. "So this is the place."

"The Baron and the Count should be right above us," Barriss said.

"Then let's move out," Mace said. "We might get the fall on those chimps."

"It's 'get the drop on those chumps', yo," I said.

"Oh, yeah…" We went inside the elevator and pushed the button to the 101st level. As we went up, there was some slow jazz-like music playing in the background.

"Well… this is fun…"

"Yes, sir," a clone said.

"So… What are you going to do next, Master?"

The Mirialan Jedi looked at me with a flat face. "I think you have a pretty good idea."

"It's always cool talking to you, too," I said with sarcasm in my voice. As soon as we heard the 'ding' sound (that's right, these things aren't any different than the ones on Earth), we ran out the door. As soon as we stepped foot in the snow white halls, an entire gang of droids began firing on us. They were mostly Supers and a few Droidekas here and there. The clones shot the enemies while us Jedi sliced them to pieces. After destroying them as we went through the halls, we stopped in front of a door. Barriss and I laid against the wall on one side while Mace rested on the other.

"I can sense him," Mace said. "Dooku is in here."

"On three," Barriss said. "One… Two… Three…"

We charged into the room filled with B-1s. Immediately, the droids turned as soon as we got in. The "Freeze, fools!" I shouted. "Put yo' damn hands up!" A few of the robots opened fire, but we deflected their lasers and bounced them right back. "Now drop yo' guns, aight! Drop 'em!" I said as I pointed the blades of my lightsabers at two droids. They lowered their weapons and held their hands up. "That's right. Hey what's that?" They foes turned around at the mirror. It was a trick on my part and I sliced them in a before they knew what I did. "Oops, my bad."

"Bravo," a suave, middle-aged voice said as he clapped. We turned our attention to the dark robed figure on the far side of the room overlooking the city through a wide window. "I must say, I am rather impressed that you made it this far."

"Dooku…" Mace replied sternly. The Sith Lord turned to face us. The look on his face was empty. He looked just like he did in the movies: strong for an old guy with a white beard and matching hair that looked like it was combed recently. "In the name of the Galactic Senate of the Republic, you are under arrest."

"Yeah, and put yo' hands up, too, Shit Lord Doo-Doo!" I yelled. (You know, I always wanted to say that…) "Drop all that shit down! 'Specially yo' creds, homeboy! I need the scratch!" I said as I rubbed my thumb against my pointer and middle fingers. Everyone in the room stared at me. While Mace and the Count just gave me cock-eyed glances, Barriss stood with her hand on her head, slowly shaking it. "What did I do?"

"What in the Force did you just say?" the Mirialan asked.

"Let's see…" I began counting with my fingers everything I said. "I told the dude to put his hands out… Then I told him to put down everything… And last, I told him to give me his money."

"That was it?" Mace asked.

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Word…"

"Yeah, well, you know."

"I take it that this is your new Padawan, Ms. Offee," Dooku said.

"And what if he is?" Barriss said while in a defensive stance.

"I almost feel sorry for you. How an accomplished Jedi such as yourself has to train such a naïve and unruly juvenile. It's almost like déjà vu, isn't it?"

"Watch it!" she warned the Sith Lord while pointing the blue blade of the lightsaber.

"That's right, ya nark!" I said.

Dooku only laughed. "Such demeanor and tenacity for such a young Padawan," he said. "It's a shame that you aren't as strong as you think."

"I'm from da streets, foo'," I said. "Keep it up and I'm'a mess you up."

"It's over, Dooku," Mace said. "You can't escape. Justice will finally be served and this planet will once again be free."

"I disagree, Master Windu," Dooku said. "In fact, I believe that it is you who won't escape."

"Say what?" I replied. Count Dooku pointed to the door behind us. We turned around and saw a group of armed droids entering the room. "Oh shit…"

"I'm afraid I must bid you all farewell." The Sith Lord was leaving the room through a passage on his left side.

I tried to catch up to him, but there were a few Destroyers that cut me off. I back up as the squad of droids surrounded us. Barriss, Mace, and I went into defensive positions as soon as we gathered in the center. "You know… This isn't how I imagine my day to turn out like."

"Any ideas, Master?" Barriss asked Mace.

"On my word, we're going to break through these droids' defense," the dark-skinned Jedi said.

"Let's do it," I replied.

"Ready… NOW!" On his word, we each used our Force Push on different sides of the pit.

The robots were thrown down to the ground and we saw our chance to get to the hall. I was half way there before I was grabbed by a B-1. I tried to shake the thing off, but it wouldn't let go. Then I chopped its head with my blue lightsaber and stabbed its body. "Sorry buddy, Jedi only." When we got to the garage outside we saw Dooku already getting in a cloud car. Before we could get to him, the vehicle got started and he zoomed off the platform. "Good news, we got out of the worst case scenario. Bad news, old guy got away from us."

"Look, there's another one!" Barriss said.

"It's time to fly!" Mace said. We got into cloud car with Mace Windu taking the wheel. Barriss and I sat in the back.

"Awwwww. I want to drive…" I whined. "Can I, home G?"

"No way, hommie," Windu said. "Barriss told me about your last joyride."

"You had your fun behind the wheel," said Barriss.

"That ain't right…" With the engine at full power, we got off the ground and flew off after Dooku. My MP3 Player was on "Central City" from Shadow the Hedgehog at the time. I knew the fool saw us coming, cause that mo' fo' was pressin' on the gas, man. We chased the Sith at high speeds. It was so fast, that I had to hold the top of my hood just so my bandanna didn't fly off. We did this for over a half hour, while zooming past traffic of other cloud cars, tankers, and gunships. After the high speed chase through the citty, Dooku went on foot after landing in another garage and inside a building. We landed right after him. The place we were at was old and broke down. There were a few buildings that were worn and half way destroyed. "What is this place?"

"This is Port Town," Barriss explained. "This is where all the illegal activities are."

"Dooku's here somewhere," Mace said. "Everyone stay on guard." With that warning, we pulled out our lightsabers and carefully searched. There was enough light for us to see, but the Count wasn't in sight. Suddenly, a beam fell to the ground. Mace and I got out of the way while Barriss used the Force. It worked like a charm. Unfortunately, she got tired when she got the thing out of the way and was forced to rest. Then out of no where came a red light coming down on me. I rolled out of the way and saw the attacker turning out to be Count Dooku.

"Oh, so you want to play, huh?" I shouted. "Aight, but I'm gonna win."

"If you're really serious, then fight me with one blade. A real swordsman only needs one."

"Should I do this?" I thought. "This guy may be an old coot, but he is skilled." Then an idea came into my head. "Okay, Count…" I said with a smile. "I accept your challenge." I put away my blue lightsaber then went into a defensive stance. I placed my right foot forward and my left back while holding the lightsaber pointing straight at the enemy. "And to make this fun, I want to see what's better. Your Makashi against my… Wu-Tang Sword style!" Yes I said it! Up from the 36 Chambers! The ancient secret by the Shaolin. My Master back on Earth taught it to me a few years back.

"Be careful, Shado," Mace said. "Count Dooku is a master of Form II. You need to be focused."

"Fo' shizzle, my nizzle." I turned my MP3 Player on to "Protect Ya Neck" by the Wu-Tang Clan (cause there's nothin' better than using the Wu-Tang Sword while listening to the Wu-Tang Clan). The battle started when Mace and I charged at the evil Jedi. I attacked him with quick jabs and powerful cross slashes. Dooku blocked the strikes and countered with slashes of his own. I had to hand to admit, this fool was good as he was moving me backward.

"Is this the best you can do?" Count Dooku taunted. After a few blocks, I slid to the right of the Sith Lord and began striking. But the Count saw this and still blocked my attacks. I tried for a low strike, but Dooku jumped back a few feet. As soon as he landed, I was ready to strike again. Unfortunately, instead of delivering the swiftness, I was hit hard by a burst of Force Lightning. Before I could react, the blast slammed me against the wall.

I was now a sitting duck thanks to that shocking attack by the Sith Lord. I heard his footsteps coming closer and closer and the hum of his lightsaber getting louder and louder. Lucky for me, Mace stood between him and my body. "You're going down, Dooku," Mace said as he went up against the Sith Lord. The dark skinned Jedi used powerful strokes at Dooku. The Sith dodged and blocked many attacks of the attacks, including an over head slash. Mace then brought his purple blade down on the foe, but the red blade stopped the attack. Now they were locked against one another, testing their strength (which I thought Mace would serious shove that guy away 'cause he's younger. Then again, both of them were using the Force, so I guess it was a bit harder).

"Yeah, home boy!" I said. "It's time for you to open up a can of whoop ass!" Suddenly, large debris from the broken roof was starting to fall down on the fighters. The two broke their hold and jumped on the large pieces of the falling mess. Every time they crossed paths, their lightsabers would always clash. They were also testing their Force attacks. As the Sith Lord used his Force Lightning on the Jedi Master, the Jedi Master would bounce it back. "Alright Mace!" I shouted. "Show that nark who's boss, Master Windizzle!" Now this is where I was thinking was "Holy shit! Them moves are off the heezy! I gotta take notes on this!" When they got to the last large piece of debris, the two fighters started parrying against one another, attacking with quick and strong moves. Just before the roof piece they stood on fell and crumbled, the two leapt off and landed on the ground. Dooku then fired his Force Lightning at Mace. The dark skinned Jedi blocked with his lightsaber and continued to absorb some of its power. At this point, I was getting to me feet and tightly holding my lightsaber. I could still feel the effects of the Force Lightning, but it didn't stop me.

Just then, as Mace walked toward Count Dooku while still blocking his attack, the Sith stopped and turned his attention on the bars over Barriss. "I enjoyed our little game, Master Windu," he said. "But I'm afraid I must leave. I have more pressing matters to attend." With the power of the Force, the crap started to fall down on my Master. The Mirialan just came to when she saw the stuff ready to fall. Mace turned his attention to Barriss, giving him the opportunity to slip away. I rushed toward Barriss and used my Force powers to stop the incoming objects. Mace was also stopping large beams in midair. Together, we saved Barriss from becoming squashed under a pile of junk.

"Well, that was a close call," I replied. Then I began looking around the room for the Sith. "Where go Doo-Doo?" The answer came to me when a Solar Sailer flew over the building and escaped from the planet's sky.

Suddenly, a loud clicking sound was heard from Mace Windu's communicator. The dark skinned Jedi turned it on and a small hologram of a clone appeared on his wrist. "General Windu," he said. "We have disabled the droid factories orbiting the planet. We have also received news that the ground units on Cloud City have also ceased their functions."

"Good work," Mace said. "Have a squad pick us up at our location. Our work here is done."

"Yes, sir." The communication closed and Mace crossed his arms.

"It appears that we have freed this planet from the Confederacy," Barriss said.

"Oh yeah!" I replied. "We seriously kicked some total ass, yo! We won!"

"Not yet, Shado," Mace said. "This planet may be freed now, but with the Clone Wars still going on and the Confederacy still at large, the war is far from over. And with the Dark Side still spreading through the galaxy, we can't afford to get to comfortable. You dig?"

"I get what you're saying." We began walking out of the building. While we did, I had my hands resting behind my head while thinking "Well, at least things aren't gonna get any worse…" Of course, that's what I thought…

Author's Note 3: In the next chapter, Shado and Barriss head to the lunar city of Nar Shaddaa to stop a weapon's deal with the help of Shaak Ti. Will they fulfill their mission and get out with their lives? Stick around.

Author's Note 4: As a note, this chapter is dedicated to the Wu-Tang Clan.