Summary

Jinn goes to get Maul.

Slick and Ventress go to get the Jedi younglings.

Obi-Wan teams up with Jinn.

The Kenobi men take on Grievous.

Ezra looks for Ahsoka and Rex.

The team splits up and makes their escape.

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39.

"How did Grievous find us?" asked Jinn.

Slick pulled his shoulder out from Jinn's grip and raised his hand to brush him away. He glared at the Jedi, but said, "It was that damn Martez girl. I saw her coming out of the communications room. She double crossed us. She probably wanted to collect the reward on the Commander's head. I knew civilians couldn't be trusted. Now, Grievous is bombing us. He'll probably send his droids in after us next."

Jinn said, "We need to evacuate." He grabbed his communicator from his belt and called Fives and said, "Fives, what's your status?"

"I'm with the medic team. We're in the cargo room."

"Good. Send two men to the Lab and purge the data from the computers. I don't want General Grievous to get his hands on our technology. Send the rest to the emergency rendezvous point. I want you to meet me at Master Mau's chamber."

"Understood."

The moment Fives was off the comm, Jinn turned to Slick and said, "Slick you're with Asajj. Go get the younglings. After they are secure, start sealing the tunnels with the explosives and head to the rendezvous point.

Ventress said, "What about you?"

Jinn turned to her and said, "I need to get Master Maul. It'll be faster if I remove him from the tank. I'll hand him over to Fives once he's out. I'll find you when I'm done."

The amber Jedi gave her a reassuring smile before running down the corridor. She was annoyed that he was going alone but knew there wasn't time to argue. She didn't wait for Slick and started running towards the entrance of the cave. The sounds of the blaster fire grew louder. Ventress drew her duel red lightsaber and ignited them.

She saw that the Jedi younglings had already made it inside the cave. Master Quinlan Vos was leading them. He and the Jedi were deflecting blaster fire from droids that were trying to break in. It was cute seeing all the young Jedi with their lightsabers. However, they were no match for the overwhelming number of droids. Ventress knew it was only a matter of time before they were overrun.

She deflected a barrage of blaster fire and protected Slick as he joined his men. They were taking cover against the rocks that lined the cave walls.

Chopper turned to Slick and said, "Glad to see you could join the party!"

"Shut up!" roared Slick. "We're evacuating."

Ventress said, "You brats are with me."

Barriss said, "Tell me you have a plan?"

Ventress glared at the Padawan and said, "It's like he said. We're evacuating. Now, get your little friends and follow me. Slick, get ready."

He automatically replied, "Yes, ma'am."

Barriss was hesitate. She didn't trust the ex-assassin, but she saw no other choice. She called to the others to follow her as she ran deeper into the caves. The other younglings followed her lead. Ventress and Quinlan deflected the blaster fire of the droids as Slick and his men shot cover fire so the younglings could make their escape. It wasn't long before Ventress and Quinlan fell back as well.

Once they were clear, Slick ordered his men to withdraw. Their white armor gleamed in the dark cave as the droids drew near. Slick saw that General Grievous was waiting for the droids to break in. They drew closer until, Slick triggered a detonator that collapsed the roof the cave entrance.

General Grievous roared, "No! I won't let you escape!"

Slick was horrified to see that General Grievous and ten commando droids had made it through on their side of the cave.

Sketch said, "This doesn't look good, sir."

XXX

Meanwhile, Jinn ran to Maul's chamber and quickly started to power down the tank. Maul's lower half wasn't fully restored yet. His legs were fully formed, but they needed time to full regenerate. They were off color. They weren't red like the rest of Maul's body. Instead they were a translucent pink. The veins and muscles were visible underneath the pale skin.

Obi-Wan was in the waterfall chamber and saw Jinn rush into the lab and followed him. He saw Jinn powering down the machine.

"Jinn, what are you doing?"

Jinn continued to feverishly work the controls. He didn't even spare Obi-Wan a look as he operated the controls. Jinn then stood back and raised his hand towards the tank and dropped his Force-shields. Obi-Wan felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end as he felt the full force of Jinn's presence fill the room. His Force presence was strong and fiery. He didn't feel like any Jedi he had ever sensed before.

Jinn didn't strain as he opened the tank with the Force. He flicked his wrist and opened the lock at the top of the tank. The lock was a wheel that he turned. He then opened the double doors of the lid and let then fall on either side off their hinges. He then slowly raised his hand to gently carry Maul out of the top of the tank and removed all the wires and tubes connected to his body.

Jinn held Maul suspended in front of him. Obi-Wan was curious at the sight of Maul's half healed form. He was still unconscious.

"Are you sure you want to take him out? He doesn't look done yet."

"I have a plan."

Obi-Wan watched as Jinn used the Force to place Maul inside a modified space suit. Once he was securely inside the suit, Jinn used the Force to syphon the strange green tinted liquid within the tank into Mau's suit. Obi-Wan had never seen anyone manipulate liquid with the Force in such a precise way before.

Jinn kept his focus on Maul and lowered him onto his feet. He then closed the distance between them and held the unconscious Sith upright. He then extended his hand to summon Maul's lightsaber into his hand and clipped it onto Maul's belt.

He then met Obi-Wan's gaze and said, "Unfortunately, we don't have much of a choice. General Grievous is here. We're leaving."

Obi-Wan saw Jinn move a large rock that covered the entrance to another corridor and said, "What about the others?"

Fives ran into the chamber and said, "Don't worry, General Kenobi. Jinn and I rigged this place so we could close off the tunnels. Grievous is going to have a hell of a time breaking in while we sneak out."

Jinn turned to Fives and said, "Fives, take Maul and go. Obi-Wan and I will make sure everyone gets out safely."

The ARC trooper grabbed Maul and carried him over his shoulder. He was heavy with the extra liquid inside his suit. Fives had to take a deep breath before lifting him up.

Fives said, "Right, see you on the other side, Master Jinn."

Jinn replied, "May the Force be with you, Fives. Come, Obi-Wan. You're with me."

XXX

Obi-Wan followed Jinn down the tunnels inside the caves. It was almost like a maze. There were countless twists and turns and some areas were dark. He wondered how Jinn was able to find his way so easily.

The amber Jedi still had his Force-shields down since he extracted Maul from the tank. Obi-Wan could read Jinn's feelings with surprising ease. He sensed he was worried about Ventress. He was concerned about their unborn child. Jinn missed his family. Being apart from them left an ach in his heart. He hoped that his new family would soothe his longing. He desperately didn't want to lose them. He wasn't sure what he'd do if he did.

Jinn abruptly stopped and turned to Obi-Wan and said, "Stop reading my thoughts!"

Obi-Wan sheepishly looked away and said, "Sorry, it's just that you never lowered your guard so completely before. Even after Dooku, you were never this open."

Jinn said, "I just got over the ordeal with Dooku. I don't want to push it. It's easier for me to use the Force without maintaining my Force-shields. Besides, I'm done hiding."

Obi-Wan could understand Jinn's feelings. He could only imagine what sort of torture Dooku had put him through. Obi-Wan regretted not asking Jinn about his ordeal sooner. Yet, he also knew it wasn't easy to do two things at the same time. He could only imagine the strain on Jinn's focus.

Though, as they rushed deeper into the dark tunnel, he began to hear blaster fire. Jinn suddenly took a sharp right turn and ignited his lightsaber to block a commando droid at the last minute. Obi-Wan ignited his own blue lightsaber and cut the droid in half. The broken droid fell backwards into the chamber behind him. He saw that the tunnel led to a larger passageway. He narrowed his brow when he saw that there were more commando droids being led by General Grievous.

The Sith hoarsely laughed and said, "Ah, Kenobi. This is a pleasant surprise."

The Jedi Master said, "Well, at least one of us is pleased."

Obi-Wan saw that Quinlan Vos, Ventress and a handful of troopers were left to fight Grievous. The men looked worn out and covered in dirt. All together they could make short work of Grievous, but the commando droids were a problem.

Jinn stepped out with his sword and saber in hand and said sternly said, "Asajj, leave. Obi-Wan, I need you to watch my back."

Annoyed, Ventress said, "I don't take orders from you, Jedi."

Jinn kept his gaze on Grievous and said, "Yes, but he's not your top priority, darling. And like I told Obi-Wan before, I'm done playing war."

The amber Jedi then raised his left hand with his sword and shot a bolt of Force-lightening directly at General Grievous' chest. The Sith cried out in pain and fell to his knees. Jinn rushed forward and deflected the blaster fire from the droids with his lightsaber and swung high to take Grievous' head. Grievous blocked with two lightsabers.

The lightsabers buzzed as they clashed. Jinn then cut off one of Grievous' arms with his sword. Grievous glared at the amber Jedi and was about to impale him, but Obi-Wan Force-shoved the Sith away.

Jinn smiled at Obi-Wan and said, "Well, now that I've even the odds, lets take him on together."

Obi-Wan couldn't believe how reckless Jinn was behaving. He grabbed Jinn's shoulder and said, "No, we need a plan."

"Don't worry. I know all your moves. We'll fight him as a team."

Jinn then reached out with hand with the Force and twisted one of Grievous' arms into a mangled mess. The lightsaber in his hand dropped onto the floor. It was a vicious move. It was a skill of a Sith. Yet, when Jinn battled Grievous again, Obi-Wan stepped in. He was surprised to see that Jinn matched his style of swordsmanship seamlessly. It wasn't long before they overwhelmed the Sith.

Grievous hoarsely said, "I can see why Dooku has so much trouble dealing with you, Master Jinn. Why don't you join me? Together we can reap the spoils from this war."

Jinn replied, "You're like a spider. Let's see how well you do after I remove another one of your limbs."

The amber Jedi then let go his sword and grabbed it with the Force. He then used it to pierce Grievous in the chest and pinned him to the rocks behind him. Grievous grabbed the sword with a roar and tired to pull it out while at the same time, he swung his lightsaber to take down Jinn. Obi-Wan blocked his attack and used the Force to disarm him.

Grievous desperately tried to pull free. He twisted and turned his mechanical body as he yanked the hilt of the sword, but the sword would not budge. He then used his last lightsaber to try and cut the sword in half but was outraged to find that the sword would not break.

"What is this!"

Jinn used his lightsaber to cut Grievous' last remaining arm, but the Sith blocked it. Obi-Wan stepped in and cut off his mechanical arm instead.

Obi-Wan said, "It's your defeat, Grievous. Now, surrender."

Grievous coughed and hoarsely said, "So, you think you can defeat me, but you're wrong. Even though you have captured me, you are still outnumbered. You won't be able to leave this place alive. I suggest we make a deal."

Obi-Wan frowned. He hated to admit it, but Grievous was right. They were outnumbered. They would have a hell of a time escaping this mess. "What sort of deal?"

However, before Grievous could reply, Jinn drove his blue lightsaber into the Sith's chest. Grievous cried out in agony as electrical sparks flew from his searing gash. After a few minutes, he grew still and lowered his head.

Obi-Wan was dumbfounded and softly said, "Jinn-you killed him."

The amber Jedi grabbed his sword and drew it out from Grievous' lifeless body. The body fell to the ground with a clunk. Obi-Wan was startled and took a step back.

Jinn turned to him and said, "I don't negotiate with savages."

Obi-Wan didn't like killing, but he agreed with Jinn that whatever Grievous was scheming, it would no doubt result in his betrayal. Though, he was troubled by just how cold Jinn had murdered the Sith. He looked around and saw that Quinlan, Ventress, Slick and his men had already taken care of the commando droids. Their broken remains were scattered around the cave floor.

Jinn deactivated his lightsaber and approached Ventress and said, "I thought I told you to leave."

Ventress frowned and placed her hand on her hip and said, "And I told you that I don't take orders from you, Jedi."

Jinn said, "I thought we agreed that you shouldn't take any unnecessary risk considering your health."

She glared at him and said, "I'll decide what's unnecessary."

Jinn sheathed his sword and took her hand and said, "Darling, I know you're worried about me, but you are much more important than I am."

Ventress pulled her hand away from his grasp and grabbed the front of his robes and said, "If you get into trouble again, I swore I'll make you wish you were dead."

She then let him go and started marching down the passageway and deeper into the caves. Quinlan smiled and patted Jinn on the back and said, "You've got quite the woman, Master Jinn."

Jinn replied, "I'm rather fond of her as well. Now, let's get going. The rendezvous point is just up ahead."

XXX

Meanwhile, Ezra had managed to sneak away from Grievous' droids and made his way to Ahsoka's ship. He carefully made his way up the ship's ramp and saw that no one was there. He was sure that Ashoka and Rex were loading up the ship for their next trip into space. There were still some cargo boxes that weren't secure yet.

He then heard sounds coming from the crew quarters. He raised his brow and followed the sound to a closed cabin door. He tried opening it but discovered that it was locked. Ezra tried knocking on the door and pounded on the door with his fist.

"Hey! Ahsoka! Rex! Are you in there? Open up. We've got a problem."

There was no response. Ezra pressed his ear against the door and heard a groan and then Rex shout, "Oh gods! Yes! Yes!"

Ezra pulled away from the door in shock. He could only imagine what was happening on the other side, but then again, he really didn't want to know. He raised his hands in surrender and backed away from the door before sighing and dropping his face into his hands in defeat.

He muttered under his breath, "Okay, so they're doing that. There's nothing to be embarrassed about. I mean, we're all adults here, right? I mean, Rex and Ahsoka have always been a thing. I mean, I guess? Ah! Why are you doing this now!"

Suddenly, the door opened and Ahsoka stared at Ezra in confusion and said, "I can hear you out here, Ezra. What do you want?"

Ezra stared at her and said, "Oh, good. You're dressed."

The Togruta teen raised her white marked brow and said, "Why wouldn't I be?"

Ezra blushed and stuttered, "Uh-well-"

She shook her head and said, "Never mind, what is it?"

He replied, "We're under attack. General Grievous is here."

Ahsoka's eyes widened in shock. "General Grievous! Why didn't you say so in the first place? Rex-"

"I heard, cyare. Give me a minute to put on my kit."

Ezra looked over her shoulder and saw that Rex was putting on his white armor. It only took him a few seconds to get it all on. He then picked up his helmet and grabbed Ahsoka's lightsabers off the table and handed them to her. She picked them up and turned to Ezra.

"Okay, let's go."

Ezra said, "I think we should head to the emergency rendezvous point. There is just too many of them. I heard explosions. Someone inside the base probably closed off the tunnels."

Ahsoka said, "Then, let's take the ship and meet the others."

Ezra nodded his head and rushed to the cockpit. Ahsoka moved to follow, but then she paused. Rex noticed and said, "Soka, is something wrong?"

She turned around and lifted his helmet up enough to reveal his mouth. She stood on her tippy toes and reached up to give him a kiss. Rex held her shoulders to keep her in place and savored her kiss. Yet, all too soon, she pulled away and pulled his helmet back down over his face.

She stared at his visor and said, "I just wish we had more time."

Rex's voice was breathless and sultry when he replied, "Trust me, cyare. Once we find a quiet spot, I'm going to take my sweet time learning ever inch of your body."

She smiled and said, "I'll hold you to that promise, Captain. Now, let's get going."

XXX

Obi-Wan saw that at the end of the cave was other opening were several ships were docked. Most of the ships were already gone. There was only two left. Barriss was on board one of the ships that was packed full of the Jedi younglings from the peace movement.

She shouted, "Come on! Hurry!"

Jinn said, "That's ship is already full. Quinlan, you go with the younglings. Obi-Wan and Ventress are with me."

"Wait!" said Barriss. "What about Ahsoka? Ezra said he was going to go look for her."

Jinn said, "Don't worry about Miss Tano. She can take care of herself."

She said, "Yes, but-"

He cut her off and said, "We've no time. Let's go."

Barriss paused for a moment before rushing off the ship and followed Jinn into the second ship instead. She shut the doors with a press of a button and marched up to him defiantly.

"That's not good enough, Master Jinn. Now, until I can find my friend, I won't let you out of my sight."

Barriss was surprised to see that Jinn wasn't upset with her resistance. To her shock, he smiled. He raised his hand to lift up her chin and stared into her blue eyes and said, "Very well, Miss Offee. You show great promise."

He then turned away from her and headed towards the cockpit to join Ventress at the controls. Barriss felt flustered. She took a deep breath and placed her hand over her chest. She saw that Obi-Wan was in the room with her.

"Is he always like that?"

"Like what?"

"I don't know-so striking?"

Obi-Wan raised his brow and said, "You find him striking?"

Barriss blushed and said, "Well, he's unlike any person I've ever met."

Obi-Wan resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He suspected that Jinn had unwittingly earned himself an admirer in Miss Offee. Though, he couldn't understand why she would develop a crush on him. When it came to looks, he and Jinn were nearly identical. Obi-Wan concluded that there were some things he would never understand about women.

"Come on, lets go see if they need a hand."

XXX

Barriss saw that they had already launched into space. However, the droid battleship had fighters in orbit and were firing on them. She saw that Ventress was piloting while Jinn was working on their defenses.

Ventress turned to Obi-Wan and said, "Make yourself useful and get to the guns."

Obi-Wan replied, "Right. Barriss, you take the left gun. I'll take the right."

The green beauty replied, "Understood."

She ran to the far-left side of the ship to the gun and sat at the controls. She switched on the controls and took the stick. She started firing at the enemy ships. She took them out one by one as they were climbing the atmosphere and entered space. It wouldn't be long before they could jump into hyperdrive and make their escape.

However, an enemy fighter hit their ship. Barriss had to jump out of the gun seat to escape the blast. It broke the hull and she had to press the emergency lock to escape the suction of space. In an instant, they made the jump into hyperspace.

Obi-Wan rushed to her side and said, "Barriss, are you alright?"

"Yes, that was close."

Suddenly, the ship began to rumble, and they were thrown into the nearby wall as they made a hard stop. Obi-Wan grabbed onto Barriss and helped her onto her feet.

She turned to him and asked, "What was that?"

"I don't know. Let's find out."

The two rushed to the cockpit and saw that Jinn was leaning over Ventress' seat at the controls. They both had serious expressions on their faces.

Obi-Wan approached them and asked, "What's wrong?"

Jinn replied, "We took damage to our hyperdrive when we made our escape. We couldn't complete the jump. We'll have to find somewhere to land and repair it."

Barriss asked, "What's the closest planet we can land to make the repairs?"

Ventress said, "Tatooine."

XXX

TBC

XXX

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