The ray shields went down and the metal bars slid apart when Rex was thrown back into the cell with two new inmates: Rats and Donovan.
"Captain!" Fives' voice echoed through the empty cell.
The metal bars slid back up as the ray shields activated. Fives, Jesse, and Nox ran to their Captain.
"I'm gonna knock their heads in!" Donovan yelled walking up to the bars. "YOU HEAR THAT YOU PIECES OF CRAP!"
"Calm down son!" Jesse told Donovan, then he glanced at Rex. "Sir are you okay?"
"I'm fine, they got the commander though," Rex stated.
"What no!" Fives shouted.
"Where are the Generals?" Nox asked.
"I don't know entirely," Rex stated he looked at Rats and Donovan. "You said that you got separated from Skywalker and Kenobi after facing General Grievous?"
"What!" Fives shouted. "The clankers are here!"
Rats and Donovan glanced at each other.
"We were going to rescue you guys but then the 'separatist' attack us and we all got separated." Rats stated.
"You came to save us?" Fives asked. "Good job."
"Fives!" Rex shouted.
Fives sighed, "Sorry we are just a little tired, that man…. The one named Phoenix…."
"He's a mad man." Jesse finished Five's sentence.
"Yeah, he is." Rats stated sadly.
"How, how can he do what he does," Rex asked.
Rats and Donovan gave him a look.
"He murdered our friend without even touching him!" Jesse stated.
Rats and Donovan gave glances at each other back and forth saying you want to tell them? No you tell them!
Rats then paused. "Well, you know how your republic has Jedi and Sith?"
Rex nodded.
"Well….." Rats began but were cut off by a voice.
"Get off of me!" Came a familiar voice.
The ray shields deactivated and the metal bars lowered to reveal two Calvary members throwing Piper into the cell.
"Piper!" Rats shouted excitedly.
Piper stood up and turned around to bounce on the two guards but was greeted with the metal bars closing and the ray shields activating. "I am going to kill your leader! You make sure he knows that!"
"Piper!" Donovan said to get her attention. Piper turned around to see Rats and Donovan along with the troopers. "Yep, I knew it he didn't let you go." She stated.
"Huh?" Rex asked.
Piper turned to him. "Phoenix said he would let you all go if Anakin went with him."
"The Generals with him!" Rex shouted. "NO!" "No no he can't be! Phoenix is going to kill him!"
"What!" Fives asked.
Rex sighed. "When Phoenix was torturing me he said that he needed 'the chosen one's force power,' he wants to use it to destroy the 'guardian of the republic' whatever that means!"
Piper sighed and sat down. "This is not good." She looked around. "Where's Ahsoka?"
"Phoenix took her." Rats stated.
"Well, our situation just keeps getting worse and worse!" Piper shouted.
"Wait!" Rex paused. "Where is General Kenobi?"
As just on cue, the ray shields deactivated and the metal bars slid open as Obi-wan was thrown into the cell. "Right here!" Obi-wan sarcastically stated on the ground.
"General!" Jesse stated.
"Well, you did a fine job at getting caught," Donovan stated, giving Obi-wan a hand off the ground.
"I can say the same for you," Obi-wan said, taking his hand. "It is good to see all of you again, even with our unfortunate circumstances." He then looked around and his smile faded away. "Where's Anakin and Ahsoka?"
"Phoenix has them," Rex stated.
"Who?"
"The leader of the Calvary." Rats answered.
"Oh the corrupted force wielder," Obi-wan stated.
"How did you know?" Donovan asked.
"I'll explain momentarily, but I have a question for you Piper," Obi-wan stated.
Piper raised her eyebrows.
"How can the man named Phoenix do what he does?" Obi-wan asked.
Piper looked up and sadness grew on her face.
"Before the war there used to be this order of force wielders here on Sagittaria, like the Jedi order." Piper began.
"Wait, I thought there was only two force wielding orders: the Jedi and the Sith," Rex asked.
"Haha." Rats began laughing. "Dude do you know how big space is!"
"It's really, really, really, really big!" Obi-wan added.
Piper looked at Obi-wan as their gazes met. A light smile grew on her face. "Anyway, there used to be an order here. The order of the Grey Warriors. Or as people in the Republic would call them, the order of the Grey Jedi."
"I have heard stories of the Grey Jedi." Obi-wan began. "I never realized they could be real."
"Well, they were," Piper stated. "The order was started by ex-Jedi and ex-sith members who felt that their orders were corrupt." "The Grey Jedi were protectors of the innocent. And we stood for almost 500 years." "I was one."
"We were training to become one." Rats began.
"The Sarge and Kat were also grey Jedi," Donovan added.
"And Phoenix was also one," Piper stated sadly. "However the order grew so large that they created a council and Phoenix became one of many who felt that the council was arrogant and blind in their ways."
Obi-wan looked down, this felt all too familiar.
"The Grey Jedi, like your Jedi order, was trained in the ways of the force. We were very powerful to some extent but Phoenix had a much stronger connection to it then most."
"Oh no," Obi-wan muttered. He had a strange feeling he knew where this was going and he didn't like it.
"Many of the council members thought that he was the reincarnation of Lesi, one of the first force wielders ever."
Obi-wan pauses that name sounded familiar. Then it occurred to him, the legend of Lesi.
"You mean the man who came back from the dead?" Obi-wan asked.
Rex shuddered, he remembered the first night they were their and Phoenix described that story to them.
"Yes," Piper answered.
"But I thought that was a myth,?" Obi-wan questioned.
"No, he lived on this planet a very long time ago, it may be a myth in your system but here it has created many religions and many problems." Piper continued. "The council like many others believed that Lesi would come back and restore order to chaotic worlds in the form of the second coming and they thought that Phoenix was him."
Obi-wan shuddered.
"When the virus broke out and the war began Phoenix grew colder and colder as he watched so many people die in front of him, including his family. One day he got really scared because he thought he was going to lose someone close to him. Feeling fed up with the council he turned to a man by the name of Azza. Azza claimed to be a Jedi but was just a man of pure darkness in disguised." "However, the man tricked Phoenix and tried to absorb his force power, realizing that he was tricked Phoenix turned around and absorbed Azza's force signature. After that Phoenix realized that he could gain power by observing others' force signatures. He also realized that his passion for his loved ones blinded him, so he did not see Azza's trickery. So he lifted everything he cared about behind and went after all of the grey Jedi. One by one he took them down and took their force signature. Phoenix believes that there should only be one being with force powers and that all passion needs to be rigid to bring peace. He got so powerful that no one could stop it. However, someone pressed the button and the war turned nuclear and the radiation cut everyone who had the force's signature off including his. A few months later the Calvary began and it was led by him."
"And now he wants Anakin's force power," Obi-wan stated. "So he can become powerful again."
"What are we going to do!" Rats stated.
"We have to stop Phoenix before he gets inside Anakin's head," Piper stated.
"How are we going to do that?" Rex asked.
"We can't defeat him." Piper said, "but I can distract him,"
"While you distract him I will get Ahsoka and Anakin out of there. Rex takes your men and you will go with Rats and Donovan to contact Sarge and Kat so we can make a hasty escape."
"Who?" Nox asked.
"Our backup with an extremely fast ship." Rats stated.
The troopers nodded.
"Well, we have one problem!" Donovan began. "How the hell are we going to get out of here!"
Obi-wan smiled. "Oh don't worry I have a plan for that."
Just then a Calvary member was thrown down the hall as more screams were heard. The Plague Doctor then stuck his head out and then moved his arm so he unlocked their prison.
"What!" Rats yelled.
"What is that!" Jesse asked.
"Am I too late?" The top-hatted Plague Doctor asked in his dark voice.
"No, Your timing is perfect!" Obi-wan smirked.
The group began running out of the prison.
"Well, I guess it pays to attract a Plague Doctor." Piper smiled.