Chapter 18

I.

Kim deflected the first shot fired at her from the Mandalorian's blaster pistol. It was too easy. The bolt of plasma ricocheted into the rocky ceiling. As Kim advanced, her attention remained focused solely on the Mandalorian.

The Separatist general signed off on the arrest of Ron. Kim might have forgiven the general if he'd only arrested Dementor. But Wade hinted that Ron got caught up.

More shots rang out and smacked against her saber. It didn't take Kim but a few seconds to close the distance before she was on top of the Mandalorian.

In a moment, she would disarm him and take him into custody. Certain that nothing could get in the way now, Kim smirked.

In the hours ahead, after the clones mopped up droid resistance, Yori and herself could question the Mandalorian and find out Ron's whereabouts. A sudden warmth crawled over her skin from the depths of her soul.

Kim interpreted the Force was telling her she was on the right path.

What the young Jedi failed to notice what her Master had was that the commando droids, who she assumed Obi-wan would have dealt with, hadn't budged from their positions. They hadn't even raised their blasters to Kim when she charged at the general.

In her rush to get answers, she failed to hear her Master shout stop. Kim failed to recognize the unfavorable shift. She spun around, anticipating that her saber would slice through the Mandalorian's chrome pistol, but a wall greeted her.

Her sword crackled against a stonewall crimson lightsaber. Confidence and clarity collapsed inward on herself. She heard of the red sword. The likes of Count Dooku, the Sith Lord, used them. The leader of the treacherous Separatists. Much to her chagrin, her skill still didn't suffice to face one.

Yet, here she stared into the stoic battle helmet, a Mandalorian who wielded a Sith weapon. Even with all her weight behind her swing, the crimson blade never budged.

He twirled the pistol and holstered it. Her blood ran cold and, before she could react, an invisible tendril wrapped around her waist and pulled her back. When she opened her eyes, she was back in her place by her Master's side.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk… hasn't your Jedi Master taught you anything? I know his reputation, but his disciples have reckless character. Never underestimate your opponent."

"Who are you really?" Obi-wan narrowed his eyes. Something was off. From the moment he stepped foot inside the cavern, the Jedi Master sensed an absence.

"I am General Beta or by my denizens, the Hospitable General and by my enemies, Wolf of the North."

"Wolf of the North? Fits better than the former. You definitely like to take what isn't yours." Obi-wan replied.

"More because I whisper, but carry a big stick as an American would say."

"American?" Obi-wan asked.

Kim understood the reference. Theodore Roosevelt's famous phrase. How a Separatist knew this, however, she did not know. And the way he said 'as an American would say' gave her the uneasy feeling he didn't like Americans.

"How do you know what America is?" Kim growled.

"America. The United States of America. One of the two superpowers on the planet Earth."

"Two superpowers?"

"I'm taking that you are from the planet Earth?" Beta asked Kim.

"And I'm taking it you're an enemy," Kim scowled back.

"I do not know what you're talking about. I'm merely familiar with the system that you obviously hail from. Not everyone is what they seem," he replied. She didn't like it. He wasn't giving her a straight answer.

"Do you know her friend?" Obi-wan asked.

"What friend?" Beta replied.

"A nobody to you I'm sure, unless you're hiding something…" Obi-wan took a small step forward. Beta's politeness might have fooled Kim, but not Obi-wan.

"Who I detain for the Confederacy has nothing to do with the both of you. As far as you're concerned," Beta replied.

"It is my business. He's my best friend!" Kim grimaced.

Beta paid neither of them any mind. He instead walked back around the stone mesa and watched the battle outside play out on the red hologram.

"OM-1, what is the time?"

"Bandomeer, 1458 hours' rotation time in this zone," OM-1 answered. "Two minutes until operation Blackout initiates."

Obi-wan paid no mind to the droid's conversation with the general. He was more intrigued by the fact this Mandalorian had sufficient knowledge in the Force.

"You're in no position to deny us information or make demands. You've been surrounded, and your armies are in full retreat. Isn't it clear on your battlefield there? You've lost!"

"Who said I've lost? You? You're in no such position to decide. The battle is just about to get interesting. Watch closely."

II.

Toomer. Sergeant Toomer now. He had been promoted shortly after the Battle of Malastare and once again found himself on the front lines of the war. He and some of the 501st Legion had entered the now barren valley. They pressed and pressed and finally, the droid lines broke. They were in full retreat.

"Forward! Charge men!" Toomer yelled.

The droid's red blaster fire dwindled into sporadic bursts. Clones ran past him, blasters blazed. The battle was theirs. All Obi-wan had to do was capture General Grievous.

"Sergeant!"

He looked left, where troopers gathered around a large metal container the droids left behind. Toomer walked over to see why this one was so special.

"What it is trooper?"

"The droids left behind this storage container. The symbols on it designate it as a weapons crate," the trooper replied.

"We'll look through it once the battle is won. Right now, we have a battle to finish," Toomer replied, ready to walk away. He remembered when he was a rookie. But before he could give any more answers, there was a bright flash. Then nothing.

III.

Anakin continued to fend off the droid army after Kim chased after Obi-wan into the cave system. After an intense fight, the 501st cut off the droids as they pushed them into a barren wasteland.

Now he and Commander Cody prepared to enter the cave themselves. Anakin glanced out over the valley, past the easy-rolling slopes at the bottom of the range.

He turned to Cody. "It looks like this battle is about wrapped up, huh, Cody?"

"Just another day's work, sir. The rest of the soldiers are ready. Your move, sir," Cody answered, pointing down into the darkness of the cave.

"Good. Now let's go capture Grievous. If he doesn't want to come quietly —" a bright light flashed over him. For a split second, a bright white light blinded him. He had experienced nothing like it. The light's heat melted through his clothes.

He turned around and witnessed a bright yellow fireball spreading out on the far side of the valley… where the bulk of the 501st had been. Everything in the fireball's path, clone troopers and walkers, disintegrated into nothing as it swallowed them.

When the fireball stopped, it rose with the extinguished legion's ashes high in the air. Below, a ring of fire had spread out from the epicenter. Kilometers in each direction, everything set ablaze. A massive wind followed, fanning what the flames burnt.

As it spread beyond, clones and walkers that escaped the onslaught flew around like toys, tumbling and mangling with each other. The wind raced up the slopes, unimpeded by hills. Before the cloud of dirt and debris could reach them, a large metal door slammed down from above. A foot closer and Anakin would know what a pancake felt like.

On the other side, Anakin could hear debris knock and bang against the door. Two minutes earlier the droids were on the retreat, the 501st had taken the valley and victory seemed certain.

"Cody! What just happened?" Anakin shouted, turning back to the trooper. "All of our troops are gone! Get hold of General Kenobi or Admiral Yularen! I want answers!"

IV.

"Admiral! Operation Black Out has been carried out! We have confirmed detonation in sector three-alpha!" a member of the all-female crew shouted from the lower deck.

"Six kilometers from the enemy command ship!" another shouted out.

"Our shields are at sixty-two percent, ma'am. Enemy at fifty-eight!" Admiral Norith stood firm in the same spot since beginning the attack on the enemy. Now that General Beta had launched Operation Blackout, she had to launch the second attack.

"How many Republic forces are left in sector three alpha and charlie?" Admiral Norith shouted out to her crew. The Republic ship grew ever closer, with seconds to decide and break off the attack.

"Just over twenty percent, ma'am."

"Captain Ginn! Break off and regroup with the rest of the blockade. Launch the jackal bomber with a fighter escort. Begin dispatching the second wave of our troops! And get General Beta his transport down to the designated extraction point," Norith yelled out, turning her back on the battle outside.

"It's time to tighten the noose."

V.

Kim watched the hologram of the battlefield in horror, her mouth agape. She had been here for a couple of months and she knew many of the troopers. Now, all of them vaporized or burned. All of them dead.

Obi-wan grabbed the clothing over his chest, burning inside, all the clones' sudden pain and cries echoing through the Force.

"I know you thought you had the upper hand in battle, but that was your folly to assume so. Don't worry though, I assure you their death was painless. At least for the majority," Beta replied vainly.

Kim glared up at Beta with disgust. Of all the super-villains and low-lives she encountered, never once had someone stooped this far. She moved to speak, but Obi-wan beat her to it.

"What have you done, general?" he spoke, anguish filling his throat.

"I've gained the tactical upper hand in battle. I lured your forces into a trap and I set off a nuclear device that wiped them out. Don't worry, technically you still have a chance as the rear of your forces were left unharmed… wait…" They all watched the hologram battlefield as a droid bomber flew down from the sky, releasing a device into the Republic staging area.

Time rewound. Another nuclear device mushroomed, destroying the rest of the clone forces. The second cloud rose above the valley, carrying the dust of their fallen comrades in the shadow of the first.

"What... what are you? You monster!" Kim said, enraged at the audacity he had to kill in such a manner.

"Look at it this way. I saved you trouble in the future, both near and far. Now you won't have to worry about having to evacuate them," Beta answered.

"Sir, the other Jedi made it into the cave system. I've dispatched two squads to prolong their arrival," OM-1 informed. "We need to leave, sir."

Obi-wan thrust his lightsaber in Beta's direction. "You're not going anywhere. I'm placing you in custody. In the name of the Galactic Republic. You're under arrest for war crimes, General Beta. Surrender!" Kim held her lightsaber up in a defensive stance, preparing herself for a fight. He wouldn't fool her a second time.

Beta watched as his reinforcements arrived from Norith's blockade. The landing craft descended from the skies and landed amid the nuclear destruction. The battle droids wouldn't be ill-effected by the fires and would wipe out any survivors. He looked up at Obi-wan.

"Under what do you base your charges, General Kenobi? War crimes? I used nuclear devices to gain numerical superiority. Did you not use a similar device on the droid army on Malastare? There were no civilians. My armies chased them out long before you arrived, better than the Republic's defense force could evacuate. The only casualties of the bombs were military combatants, so I don't see any charges you could hold against me?"

"He said, surrender!" Kim growled.

"Now that seems unjust. Arresting me to further appease your own grudge. Not very noble or heroic… not the Jedi way," Beta replied. "The fact remains, I have no reason to surrender. I didn't commit war crimes, and I was never a part of the Galactic Republic, so you can't try me on treason as you did to General Loathsome. If anyone should be inclined to surrender, it should be you."

Beta disgusted Kim more than Shego did atop Bueno Nachos Headquarters. She shifted her stance, ready for Obi-wan to give the signal. Beta wouldn't surrender without a fight.

"OM-3. Set the charges on the wall and prepare to detonate. We're leaving before the infamous Skywalker arrives."

"Kim, we take him together. Be mindful and remember what I taught you. Focus on disarming him."

Kim nodded as Beta turned to face them. "So will you surrender peacefully like civil beings… or will you try to force your will upon me."

"Now!" Kim and Obi-wan sprinted forward, lightsabers in hand, ready for the fight.

The red energy blade ignited extended out in front of Beta. Obi-wan and Kim's lightsaber crashed down. Beta never flinched, holding them back with the strength of only one arm, the other behind his back as if to mock their effort.

"So this is how it has to be."

Struggle and insane. Those were the words Kim would use to describe the tussle between her sword, her Master's, and Beta's. Kim's sword crossed with Obi-wan's, blocking Beta's own, trying to push him back to no avail. Now Kim understood why the commando droids stood in their relaxed position.

Kim couldn't tell what Beta exactly was. Was he a Mandalorian? Kim and Obi-wan's minds raced to answer these questions as the deadlock turned into a flash of slights and strikes.

No dark presence or malice presided within her enemy. The Mandalorian remained calm and focused, his strikes never too hard, but never hesitant.

She noted that the lead commando droid had enough when she forced Beta to back peddle. Her sword sliced through the holotable and left nothing in between her and Beta. It raised its blaster rifle and fired quick, successive shots at herself. Obi-wan deflected the attacks and enabled Kim to keep her focus.

"Focus on blowing the mountainside and fending off any troops that make it here! This is my fight."

Kim and Obi-wan stepped back, their opponent twirled his saber in hand. Obi-wan and Kim prepared for General Grievous, not Beta. And now they faced an opponent they knew nothing about because no one knew existed. Kim could feel the uncertainty in her Master.

Beta stood in a perfect Makashi form, putting his saber in front of him with his left hand behind his back. Kim swallowed the dry lump lodged in her throat. If General Beta knew Makashi, then there could only be one teacher, an infamous one.

"Don't tell me that the famous General Kenobi has met his match with Grievous's subordinate? You have your apprentice for help," Beta taunted.

Kim narrowed her eyes, frustrated with Beta's games. She charged, his midsection the target of her blade. Beta parried it and left her own abdomen wide open. His gloved fist connected with her solar plexus, her breath forced out in a ghastly shriek, her knees thudded against the floor.

"Haven't I already told you? Never underestimate your opponent. Recklessness gets you nowhere," Beta said.

Obi-wan stepped in front of Kim, his saber raised in front of him.

"Your move, General Kenobi." Beta dug in his own defensive stance.

Kim's lungs struggled against the intake of hot, sticky air. She stood up, not letting the pain stop her.

She leaned in and struck high. Beta dipped his body to avoid her sword. She worked with her master, who tried to force Beta back. It worked, but the Separatist made every inch hard-fought.

"Come now. If you can barely handle me, how would you expect to handle Grievous?" Beta didn't receive an answer he liked. Silence. "This is pathetic. Blow the charges!" Beta ducked and rolled underneath Kim's strike.

The explosion blasted out the back wall of the cavern and threw Kenobi and Kim back into the opposite wall. It threw chunks of hot rock and debris all around. Cold air rushed in from outside.

Kim bit her tongue to hold back her cry from the deafening ring in her ears. She didn't want to alert Beta or the commando droids. The room rocked back and forth. A shadowy figure stared down at her with his emotionless helmet. He turned to leave. A Separatist shuttle waited at the blown hole.

"No." she breathed out. She couldn't let him escape. Her last hope to find Ron climbed into the shuttle. If he left, the chances she would ever find Ron would fall to zero. She winced, standing up, keeping one knee and hand on the ground for support while she ignited her lightsaber.

She grimaced but mustered her strength and leapt over the debris and sprinted toward an unaware Beta. She used a loose rock to catapult herself at the fleeing shuttle. Her right foot extended out, aimed squarely at her opponent's head.

VI.

"Watch out!" OM-2 shouted.

Beta turned, only to catch the bottom of Kim's boot to his chin. Before he could realize what happened, Beta felt air rushing past, followed by the unpleasant thud of his back into the mountainside.

He tumbled down the steep, rocky slope. With every twist, Kim gained ground. OM-1 and the other commandos' blasters were nothing more than a nuisance.

He stopped before the end of a clef and twisted over, saber crossed as a shield against Kim's fury. She pressed down with the entire weight of her body, Beta's muscles stressed to their limit.

"You have grit! Consider myself impressed." Beta grunted through his teeth at Kim's newfound ferocity.

"You shouldn't be general! You haven't seen anything yet." Kim scoffed and leveraged her legs to push down harder on Beta's saber.

"Oh, really!" Beta Force-pushed her back up the hillside. He sprang to his feet and twirled his saber in his hands, ready for the fiery redhead to attack.

VII.

Kim grimaced at the impact. She couldn't give up now. The fight neared its climax. This moment could determine Ron's fate. She didn't want to kill him or more of she couldn't. The impetus now rested on her shoulders and aimed her first strike at his arm, but again, with amazing finesse, he feinted it.

Blow after blow, Beta's guard wouldn't give just like Obi-wan, but Beta didn't seem to tire. She tried more aggressive tactics. An elbow to Beta's head moved him back to the edge of the clef again. She shoved her saber against his own. Energy blades sparked and hissed.

"Don't let your raw talent blindside you. Remember" — Beta slid his saber down and circled her saber away, her defense breached. But instead of a final blow, Kim watched Beta change his grip with ungodly speed, the hilt itself used to deliver a gut-wrenching strike to her stomach. — "never underestimate your opponent."

Kim crumbled to the ground, her weapon rolled from her limp hand. Sharp pain sacked her, waiting for Beta to do his worst.

"Do not fret Kim. I have a very strong inclination that you won't be in pain much longer."

VIII.

"Kim!"

Beta found a recovered Obi-wan, skidding down the steep slopes of the mountain, to his padawan's rescue. Little did he know he had nothing to worry about. Beta didn't want to kill either of them. He didn't need to tell them that. He didn't want to prolong the duel. Not that he feared Obi-wan, but he had a timetable to keep.

The Confederate gunship that Admiral Norith sent reappeared behind. OM-1 waved him in. Beta reached down and scooped the young fiery padawan over his shoulder, then stepped onto the shuttle.

As the shuttle lifted, Beta turned to watch Obi-wan, followed by Anakin Skywalker and clones, skid to a halt. The clones fired helplessly as his shuttle fled the scene.

"Admiral Norith reports that we're landing the second wave of troops. She has ordered the armada to reorganize and eliminate all enemy space combatants," OM-2 informed.

"Good, put her in energy bindings. I have a hard time believing the Jedi are going to throw in the towel. Even if it is hopeless for them."

Beta walked to the front and stood behind two pilot droids. Space and the battle between the Republic and his own navy replaced the skies of Bandomeer. As expected, Admiral Norith's fleet reorganized around a beleaguered Republic.

"The Republic is playing right into my hands." He glanced at the pilot. "How long until we arrive at our ship?"

"We should arrive in less than seven minutes, sir."

Beta watched as hundreds of Republic fighters continued the dogfight with vulture and tri-fighter droids. If any turned their attention on them, they were sitting ducks.

"Can you get a fighter escort?" Beta asked.

"No sir," the droid replied.

"Excellent." Sarcasm resounded in his voice. "OM-1! Have your crewman the gunner positions. We're gonna be in for a rough ride! Just avoid any Republic AA guns." Beta

"Will do, sir."

"Just get us through in one piece. And keep trying to hail a fighter escort. I have a feeling this is going to be a long seven minutes."

IX.

"Come on Yori…" Ahsoka ground her teeth, having her fighter pull sharply upward. Her target, a nimble tri-fighter droid. "Work with me. We got to take this guy out before he takes on Yellow!"

"Of course, Ahsoka-san!"

Ahsoka watched her fighter swing far out and loop around in the opposite direction.

"What are you doing?"

"Commander! It's on me!" Yellow crackled over the headset.

"Sorry!" Ahsoka squeezed her trigger. Cannon fire ripped out just behind the bright yellow thrusters of the tri-fighter. "Darn this clanker! I can't hit it! Where are you, Yori?"

The droid tri-fighter zigged and zagged in and around a separatist cruiser following Yellow's ARC fighter. "Yellow! You're not helping!"

"I'm sorry, ma'am. Trying not to get shot here!"

"Where are you, Yori?" Ahsoka whispered.

They entered an open patch of space between the ensuing chaos around them. Yellow dove and the tri-fighter followed. Ahsoka pushed down on her yolk, following them both into a dive toward another separatist cruiser.

"That cruiser's shield is down! I'm gonna take it out if it's the last thing I do Commander!" Ahsoka wanted to cheer him on, but if he was going to take a straight path, he would meet his end. The tri-fighter would knock him out for sure if Ahsoka's guns didn't come to bear.

Just when she thought she had a lock on the enemy droid, a separatist anti-fighter tower locked onto her instead and not just one but four from a nearby Banking Clan frigate, forcing her to swerve her sights off the enemy. Ahsoka watched helplessly as Yellow's ARC fighter spiraled as it dove, trying to avoid the tri-fighter's rapid stream of deadly lasers grazing past his wings.

X.

Yori's fighter zipped around the looming Banking Clan frigate that Ahsoka and Yellow had taken a tri-fighter through. Yori let the Force guide her, trusting that Yellow could outsmart the droid fighter long enough for her to get into position.

She kept her distance and waited for an opportune moment to jump in. Just as she suspected, the frigate's point-defense towers locked onto Ahsoka, forcing her to choose between evasion or becoming a casualty of the battle.

Yori traced past the frigate's main spine and out and under its main thrusters. Yellow dove toward the enemy cruiser, giving the tri-fighter an easy target. An easy enough target for it to tunnel in, become lazy, and give Yori her chance.

She peddled her fighter's starboard thrust and turned into the dog chase that zeroed in on its zenith. Yori kicked in her fighters afterburners and rocketed on a direct intercept path. Before her targeting computer could even register a lock, Yori squeezed the trigger and the tri-fighter flashed into vapor.

"Yori!" Ahsoka's elated voice sounded through her headset. Yori twisted her yoke and pulled back alongside Ahsoka, her cannons blazing the enemy frigates defense guns. Plumes of flame and hot metal spewed from the back of the ship in tiny eruptions.

"You can communicate to me what your plan is!" Ahsoka shouted.

"Ah! But it took much concentration and effort. You must remember I have less experience than you, Tano-san."

"I couldn't tell. You're already flying like Skywalker."

"Commander Tano! Commander Ito!" Admiral Yularen's voice cracked over the tactical comm. "I have urgent orders from General Kenobi. You are to either take out or capture a Separatist shuttle in sector three, heading for the Separatist command ship."

"Is Grievous running away?" Yori could hear Ahsoka's glee.

"I'm afraid not, Commander Tano. The separatist commander you are after is named General Beta. General Kenobi mentioned taking extreme caution. He's captured Commander Possible," Admiral Yularen said.

"What about Master Kenobi and the others?" Yori asked.

"We're in the steps of launching a rescue operation. Although with the current situation" — His eyes lowered — "there aren't many to rescue. Capturing the separatist commander is the surest way of ending this battle."

Yori's senses perked, spotting the shuttle's tiny form in the distance. Kim's life-force echoed through the cosmic Force, calling to Yori. "Tano-san! I have spotted the enemy at our two. If we hit our afterburners, we can catch it." Yori didn't wait for Ahsoka's response. She didn't need to. Ahsoka's answer rang through the force, her fighter hanging on her tail.

Yori learned long ago how to perceive the world and the life force that surrounded it. The Jedi called it by a different name, but it was all the same.

Her starfighter's afterburners flared, rocketing her in a B-Line for the enemy. Kim's very life, safe for now aboard the shuttle, hung in the balance.

XI.

The gunship shuddered and shook as laser bolts made impact.

"Sir, we're losing our deflector shields!" the pilot droid yelled.

"Our deflector shields are at thirty-eight percent and dropping." The co-pilot added mundanely. Beta knew that after taking Kim Possible, an apprentice to the revered Obi-Wan Kenobi, he would have the entire Republic armada after him.

"They're Jedi starfighters, sir! Taking evasive maneuvers!" The gunship creaked and moaned as the droid pushed the gunship into a sharp dive around a frigate.

"No need for anything too exotic. The Jedi know their friend is aboard. They won't kill us. Just make sure that nothing else gets in our way," Beta ordered the droid pilots.

Beta turned around, entering back into the crimson-lit cabin where his commando droids surrounded the still unconscious Kim Possible. Dementor's stories about the young red-headed heroine sounded through him. He came to two ultimate conclusions. Both of which compelled him to keep her away from Ron.

His first idea involved Kim being undercover. An undercover agent used by the old Sith Order to ensure that Ron wouldn't develop his skills. But that represented a problem. Why would the Sith, the old order or new order, go to such lengths keeping Ron pacified? Why not solve the problem by eliminating him and his family outright? Were politics back home that fragile? Or perhaps they knew that killing him might have uncertain, unfavorable outcomes. Either way, it seemed highly unlikely.

This led Beta to his next theory. Someone purposefully put Kim in Ron's life in order to stunt his growth in every way. By living in her shadow, Ron didn't have room to be nurtured, thus he never became what he would be. He could affect nothing, no matter how small the scale.

The idea teased Beta as he tried to make sense of it all. The latter idea was a dastardly way for the Sith to ensure their success. By essentially castrating the prophecy, the Sith would be free to pursue their machinations. Then, though, why leave the threat there. Why not stifle it? Perhaps they wanted Ron for themselves.

Whatever the reason, Beta couldn't make any good out of it. He remained certain that Kim was a negative influence on Ron. At the bare minimum, a hindrance. A parasite that leeched on Ron and prevented his growth. He could sense even earlier, when he spoke to his newest student, that Kim weighed heavily on the young blond's mind.

Kim puzzled Beta further. Usually through the Force, Beta could read a person. The Force gave him insight, like any skilled Force user. What made their inner clockwork tick. He could tell when someone was being deceptive or truthful. It was only when he met someone as doused in the Force as he or similar, did it become difficult to perceive them. Then it became a duel of the senses and instinct.

Here, Kim baffled him. Such a strong connection bonded them as if it interlocked his tissue to hers. Yet, he couldn't read any of her thoughts. All of her mind was a blur. A thick, hazy fog that wouldn't shed any light. Not to mention he only knew of Kim through Dementor and Ron before this encounter.

Usually, when someone connected through the Force like this, they bonded like siblings. Yet, drafting any knowledge from their bond proved impossible. All he could read was Kim naïvity. Still just a sapling in the greater cosmic force. Where Beta was a full-blown blue super-giant star burning with the intensity of a thousand Tatooine suns, Kim was still an infant star, still trying to form her own light in the Force.

"Sir…" OM-1 brought Beta out of his meditation. He raised his head to his loyal guard. "We're docking. The pilot has informed me that two Jedi starfighters have followed us in. Our combat droids are engaging as we speak, but I fear they won't last long."

"Get the girl out of the hangar immediately. Once in the halls, take her to forward command and leave her in Norith's custody. Then hurry back, I'll have two more Jedi we'll need to take to the bridge."

"But sir? Three Jedi on the bridge?"

"She—" Beta motioned to Kim — "is merely a padawan. And after leaving Kenobi and Skywalker planet-side, I have a feeling the two Jedi following us in are more than likely students as well. There is nothing to fear."

"I didn't mean you, sir. I don't think Norith will feel comfortable with them all clustered there," OM-1 replied with its deep voice.

"Don't worry. I'll handle the admiral. The Jedi are mine when we leave the ship." Beta paused. "Also, have Captain Ginn close the blast walls to the hangar. You have a point. Three Jedi are more than enough guests than I care to have."

"Yes, sir," OM-1 answered before moving to the others to relay his orders.

Beta sighed, stepping away from Kim Possible. He could feel the two Jedi coming through the Force, taking in a deep breath, concentrating on all his will through the cosmic infinity. They were young and full of vigor. They sought to free their friend from his clutches.

He could feel their sabers, extensions of themselves being wielded to cut down the horde of combat droids outside, fighting their way to the ship. It was time. Time for Beta to once more put himself center stage. To go from an unknown character to that of a minor role. An encore for an ungrateful audience.

XII.

"Do you know who we're after?" Ahsoka asked as she weaved her sword through a trio of droids. The combat droids in the hangar swarmed them, with more patrols spilling from the halls, charging at the duo, blasters blazing.

"I do not remember, Tano-san. Something about a Mandalorian," Yori deflected shots back at combat droid, popping its thin head off.

"I remember. He said to use caution with this general. I wonder if he's one of Grievous's lackeys." Ahsoka smirked, twirling her green saber through more droids like nerf butter.

Yori's cut de-limbed a persistent droid before piercing the one behind it. "Perhaps then, he is the last piece to ending this battle. But how did he capture Possible-san?"

"I don't know. Something weird is going on. I can feel it."

Just then, right after Ahsoka uttered those words, the combat droids that still stood stopped their attack and slowly withdrew until they formed a large circle around them, before relaxing their stance entirely.

On both sides of the cavernous hangar that cut directly through the center-aft of the Separatist ship, thick bulkhead durasteel doors unfolded from their confines, slamming shut and sealing the Jedi inside.

"Something tells me we'll be meeting our foe soon, Tano-san." Silence overcame the hangar after the toll of metal slabs locking them in.

"Yea, I was going to say something more like why'd I have to open my big mouth."

The two young Jedi focused their attention on the sleek, tri-wing shuttle as a ramp lowered from the rear belly, an ominous glow emanating from inside. Commando droids with obsidian-like armor and an unusual aura of confidence, something rare in combat droids.

They carried their friend Kim, a limb held by each of the droids like livestock being carried to the flame. With their weapons attached to their back, Ahsoka and Yori briefly thought they stood a chance as the captain of the droids walked out behind them. Only it cradled its weapon, as its white markings and photo-receptors glowed against the contrast of its armor.

But, the Mandalorian general followed, with a brown armorweave cape trailing over where there would traditionally be a jet-pack, caused them to hesitate. While the commando droids continued their march towards one of the dock doors that lead into the cruiser's interior, the Mandalorian turned to face them.

"I don't remember inviting any guests? How strange. I usually remember all the invites I send." The general's deeper voice carried over the silence.

Ahsoka answered, "And I don't remember anyone giving you permission to take our friend."

"If she had let me get to my ship in peace, I wouldn't have had to take her. But she seemed insistent on coming with me."

"I guess since you closed the doors, you will not let us leave then?" Yori asked.

"You're free to leave. Say the word and I'll have the captain open them immediately."

"With our friend?"

The general shrugged with a sigh. "I'm afraid she was resolute in her decision. Maybe come back another time?"

Yori frowned. "I am afraid that we will only visit this time, and so far, we appreciate the services provided. So we'll take our friend and our leave."

"You must be General Beta, the Mandalorian mentioned to us." Ahsoka took a fighting stance, bringing a second green-yellowish shoto saber to her other hand in a reverse grip. "Do us a favor. It'll be much easier to comply than being forced to."

"Whether I decide myself or you choose for me, you're truly offering me no alternative. Either way, I am being forced with a decision whether I incur your violence."

"You still have a decision," Ahsoka replied.

"Then let me counter with a third option," — General Beta used the Force to snap his lightsaber from his belt, the crimson blade whirring to life — "I insist you stay aboard with your friend and enjoy your stay. Now we're even and I have offered violence as a solution."

"I think we will stay with our first options, thank-you," Yori replied.

The Jedi looked at each other and nodded, charging headlong. Yori started with the beginning of Juyo while Ahsoka went with her Jar'Kai and leapt into the air. Yori went lower, giving the Mandalorian general different targets, making focusing on either more of a challenge.

When the general stumbled back, both Jedi believed they had the edge. Their strategy worked. His stance faltered, his head bobbed as if he were already hit. Neither Jedi had hit him with a Force attack. The general was that disoriented.

Just as he stumbled back, he tumbled forward off-balance as if he were drunk. Ahsoka's blades slammed into the steelcrete, missing Beta as he stumbled. His red shoto blade slammed into Yori's strike before she could complete it.

Yori pushed back, throwing Beta backward almost unnaturally. Her blades clashed with a recovered Ahsoka who meant to strike the general from behind, not get tangled with Yori's own sword.

Between them, the general had fallen on his back unbalanced, looking like a harmless turtle with his blade across his chest as if waiting for the swords to fall upon him. Even he couldn't defend against three blades like this.

Before the two Jedi could act, even on instinct, the clumsy general performed a whirlwind kick with his back still to the ground, yet knocking the two girls off balance, themselves falling to the floor.

The sudden attack shocked the padawans for a split second. But a second was all the clumsy general needed as by the time they fully hit the ground, Beta was already on his feet. And with the shock, Yori and Ahsoka, though being trained from a young age, relaxed their grip on their sabers.

Their lightsabers deactivated and snapped from their fingers and into Beta's hands. Not understanding what had just happened, both girls propped themselves up quickly as the Mandalorian stood over them, more menacing now.

But they never stood fully up as the last thing they saw was Beta and the captain of the commando droids, draw blaster pistols and the darkness quickly overtook them.

TBC...