Chapter 10: A Togruta's Revenge

NOTE: I updated the sloppy ending of this chapter, now it is longer and better. Enjoy!

For a while after bringing 'the prisoner' before Maul, the tension grew thicker and thicker, polluting the atmosphere. A heated debate took place between Obi wan and Maul. Until, Maul decided he would hurry whatever point he was trying to push.

"And now.." he growled "I will make you share my PAIN." , practically spitting the final words, his left arm still raised whilst choking the dutchess, he ignites the darksaber for effect, but Ahsoka figured out what was about to happen. Her job would be for nothing if that thug finished what he intended.

Obi Wan's eyes raised, his face twisted in sadness, he was helpless to the situation before him, similar to that of his Master's defeat on Naboo. If he lost her, he would be shattered, he had already lost too many in his life, after this, Anakin will be all he had left.

Now may have to be the time to admit to her his feelings, as much as he tried to ignore his feelings, her loved her. Undeniably. Every time he left, with every reunion, it was like his love for the woman had grown tenfold, and now he was going to witness her blood on his hands. And there was nothing he could do about it. He could feel his eyes letting a tear slip, he opened his mouth to say something, to say "I love you" in her final moments, hoping they would bring her the peace she so much deserved, but barely an incoherent sob escaped his throat. Time seemed to slow down for him, and he thought that this was the force's way of giving him false hope, to force him to relive her death just like the nightmare of his Master's death that had plagued his dreams from when he was a padawan/ knight.

Reacting from pure instinct, anger swelled in Ahsoka, momentarily allowing the dark side to feed on her emotions. Hate at that monster for causing so much pain, anger at him effortlessly breaking everything she worked to hard to build. Ahsoka reached out with the force, and Maul started spluttering, clutching his throat. Her fingers squeezed the air, but everyone was too busy staring in shock at Maul. His brother was scanning the room with his eyes frantically, searching for the source. As reckless as this was, it was probably the best way for her to buy time. She quickly sent a powerful force push, that sent Savage flying into the wall, leaving a large dent in the wall.

Unclipping Kenobi's lightsaber from her belt, she ignited it and plunged it into the guard beside her's chest, causing him to gasp and fall limp on the floor, releasing any restraining grip on Kenobi's arms. By now, Maul was dropped from the floor, clutching his throat, his knees on the floor and his right arm supporting himself from collapsing. "Filth" he groaned. "You..." he started, taking more and more oxygen back into his lungs "will pay dearly for your betrayal." His still had both his knees on the floor, his blood red eyes pierced Ahsoka whilst she was desperately trying to wake the jedi master from his little trance of shock.

Knowing her time was running short, she slapped obi wan across the face, hoping to attract his attention back to the situation, which, thank the force, it did. Blaster fire erupted around the room, all aimed at her, she expertedly deflected the bullets, with the lightsaber, before forcing it into the now aware jedi master's palm, she was out of practice anyways, activating her comlink, she screamed to whoever was listening on the other end "Could you be any faster?!". Her patience was wearing thin, which was both like and unlike her, because in a way, these emotions were being projected from the dark side that currently had a steady grip on her, feeding her its power.

By now, savage and maul where both back on their feet, their lightsabers ignited with a sharp snap hiss, the jedi and bounty hunter stood back to back, ahsoka firing from her blasters at the troopers, rolling to the side to dodge incoming bullets. Whilst kenobi flawlessly deflected the bullets back at the troops, thanks to his mastery of form III, Soresu.

The remaining troopers and the two sith circled around them. A blaster bolt hit Ahsoka in stomach, causing her to groan, another bolt her her in the knee, ironically causing her to collpase in a kneeling position in front of Maul, Who spat "Surrender now and I promise your death will be swift and painless" adding a quick taunt "you stand no match against me jedi".

The taunt had further enraged Ahsoka, the words "I am no jedi!" rolled off her tongue, in a cold manner. Maul could feel waves of raw emotions radiating off the armoured Togruta. An opportunity like this is one he will not let pass, this person appeared already broken, now all he needed to do was mould her, and she would make a fine sith apprentice, one capable of being a worthy successor to his failure of a brother Savage. He turned to look the togruta in the visor of her helmet, he waved his hand to halt the blaster fire, and his men obeyed.

"Such anger" he taunted, before beginning to voice his thoughts, "maybe I could find uses for you... I will ask only once."

He paused for effect, "Join me and together, you can be so much more" ignoring the hurt and betrayed look of his brother, he reached out a hand towards her, gesturing for her to accept it.

In truth, she was conflicted, she had vowed to herself never to become a pawn in a game created by those more powerful than herself, just to ultimately be cast aside, just like how Maul was willingly doing to his brother right now, but then again, a small, darker side of her wanted to take Vengance against all those who cast her out.

Kenobi wasn't paying much attention as of recently, for he was rather preoccupied with most of the blaster fire, which had only just recently stopped. His foot slipped on the blaster that the Togruta had dropped. Silently, he cursed himself for not begin more aware of his surroundings. He took a quick glance at his newfound ally and noticed her clutching her stomach with her right arm, the other supporting her body weight. She appeared to be... kneeling? to the sith lord...

Wait... for a second he stopped himself, when he noticed the blaster burn marks present on her left foot, meaning she must have lost balanced and toppled over, kneeling being the best way to try and regain balance.

In the momentary ceasefire, she sighed, her decision made, she centred herself in the force, releasing the negative emotions that had spilled out uncontrollably from every fibre of her being just seconds beforehand. Never would she become yet another slave to the darkness.

She cleared her throat, to answer after many moments of silence. "Sorry to disappoint you" she snarled, "but im a bounty hunter, I do not give trust easily." Using the force to call her blaster back to her. Damn i miss my lightsabers ,she thought to herself.

Maul's amusement at her show of anger had quickly faded into a death glare, when he noticed the emotions disappear from the Togruta. "Such a disappointment, I hate to see such potential wasted." he growled, "but i suppose you can pay off your debt, by dying a slow and painful death at my hands, where you will only wish you embraced the dark side and your destiny." In truth, he was making the destiny part up, he just didn't want to waste the contribution her potential could bring him.

Unfortunately to him, she was broken in a way where she had no trust left in anything, meaning she would have to be removed, for she would serve no purposes if she didn't trust him.

Satine, who had watched the last 10 minutes unfold, attempted to silently scour the floor for a weapon for self defense, still holding true to her extreme pacifist ideals.

Maul sensed her movement, and turned to stare at her, the looks he gave was enough to paralyse almost anyone in fear. Obi wan saw this and remembered how close he was to losing her, before being helped by the bounty hunter. When they make it out alive, he would see to it that she got a suitable reward; because this was far too much commitment for a simple job, meaning that her passion towards getting her job done may have caused her to break the bounty hunter code. Also, he may try to probe for more information about who this person was, and how they seemed to know how to handle a lightsaber effectively.

He didn't know much about their code, other than the fact that they weren't supposed to die for it, which exactly counters fighting a sith lord, considering a sith would strike someone such as herself without barely any hesitation.

"Now.. where was I.." the zabrack spat, grabbing Satine with the force closer towards him, but he felt Kenobi resisting the invisible hand, causing her so move slower towards him so he ordered the soliders to focus him, whilst his brother would deal with the traitor.

As if one cue, several rebels broke through the windows, causing glass to shatter everywhere around them. A few deathwatch troopers flew in on jetpacks, whilst more casual looking rebels climbing into the room. Most had their blasters trained on Maul, who had the dutchess dangerously close to him.

Bo Katan flew in and ordered "Let go of the dutchess or we will shoot." Maul just snarled "You think fear tactics will work on me? Sith fear nothing, my power is above you all".

Ahsoka's fists clenched at her sides, her insides starting to boil again, Kenobi sensed anger coming from the bounty hunter, who he still couldn't feel a force signature from, meaning they are still cloaking themselves. He looked towards the bounty hunter, attempting to send calming waves through the force, although his own unease cancelled his own calm attire out once again.

Maul continued to mock them, with all his soliders' blasters trained on him, meaning if they killed Maul, Kenobi would go with him before they could do anything.

It was then that he noticed the togruta in the corner of his eye, clicking the setting of the blaster onto stun and squeezing the trigger, causing the bolt to fire directly at Maul, who was heavily distracted in his own ego. The bolt hit him on the back, the elctrical signal interrupting his metal prosthetic limbs, causing them to deactivate, leaving the sith on the ground.

Savage ran to his brothers side, kneeling beside him. Maul, who was miraculously still very conscious, gritted his teeth in frustration at being caught off guard, as he had allowed his confidence to grow arrogant.

His mechanical legs regained control, and now his eyes were a pure blood red, enough to chill anyone to the core. He activated his lightsaber and the darksaber, and darted towards Obi wan, his brother followed suit, focusing on the bounty hunter beside Kenobi.

Ahsoka backed up, and the deathwatch and shadow collective soliders traded fire, one by one casualties from either side increased.

Savage ignited his double bladed saber, the crimson red blade hissing on activation. The zabrack's lack of training in the weapon made it slightly easier for Ahsoka to dodge, as he mindlessly slashed at thin air. She flipped and kartwheeled away from the blade, 'dancing with danger', but at a great cost to her stamina. So she mentally noted to expand her stamina levels in self training for the future.

She fired a few shots, all of which either missed or were deflected away. She knew she couldn't win against a lightsaber - or at least - she wasn't willing to chance it.

Meanwhile, Obi wan was clashing blades with Maul, who showed little sign of exhaustion. Im getting too old for this he thought to himself, as the blades locked once again. The two exchanged slashes, no hits dealing too much damage to the opponent, so currently no one was winning the duel.

In the midst of blaster fire, Satine backed up against the throne. She hated violence, but was yet forced to watch as her throne room become a battleground. She felt a hand landing on her shoulder, looking up, she saw the outline of her sister, offering her a hand up. "Let's get you out of here!" she yelled, trying to be heard over the rapid blaster fire and lightsabers clashing.

Savage was still mindlessly lunging towards the Togruta, but her acrobatics were beginning to annoy him. As if reading his thoughts, she stopped, she held her hand in front of her face, slowly pushing it forward, buying the zabrack enough time to leave a nasty bleeding gash on her already injured left leg. Ah! Tis but a scratch! Nothing that won't heal.. she mumbled under her breath, reassuring it wasnt enough for her to worry about.

Suddenly, he was picked up and thrown with the force, and crashed straight into the wall, a crack could be heard over the fire. His lightsaber flew out of his hand, landing deactivated near her feet. A few ribs didn't feel solid anymore.

He tried getting up, but found his energy draining from him. So he just lay in defeat for the moment, his eyes staring at his feet in failure. Ahsoka grabbed her right leg, as she allowed a gasp of pain to leave her leg. Using the force, she called the zabracks lightsaber to her, using it to divert the tidal wave of bullets being sent towards her.

Obi Wan was beginning to tire, Maul kept up his aggresive assault, the zabrack had the upper hand. For a second, he faltered, which Maul used to his advantage. The zabrack slashed him across the chest, burning the surrounding armour. He stumbled back, his lightsaber deactivated and rolled away. He started to back up towards the wall behind him, for the first time, he feared for his life. He had lost.

His wound began to soak his chest in blood. If Maul didn't finish him here, he would probably bleed out anyways. He closed his eyes, waiting for the final blow that would end him, but it never came.

Jedi temple

Anakin sat in his quarters, trying to modify his jedi starfighter, unscrewing bolts from his fighter, he felt searing pain shoot through one of his bonds. He dropped his wrench, falling to both knees with a loud THUD! and clutching his stomach in pain. He was unsure of the source until it hit him.. Obi wan. He could be losing his master and there was nothing he could do to save him in time. He felt anger take him, pain streaming its way into every fibre of his being "NOT HIM TOO!" he screamed into the air.

He heard footsteps running to his quarters, somebody had heard him, the door opened, revealing a tiny figure none other than grandmaster Yoda, whom quickly hobbled over to his side. He attempted directing calming waves in the force to ease Anakin's suffering. "Young Skywalker, wrong what is?" he asked with genuine sincerity, Skywalker appeared to be in great pain, for he was clutching his stomach in invisible pain.

Anakin felt calmness briefly washing over him, "Its.. Its Obi wan, I can feel his pain... emotions even.. He's dying master"

Mandalore

Ahsoka, who was slashing away at troops with the double bladed lightsaber, enjoying the thrill of using a weapon she had not used since her departure from the jedi temple. She force pushed a few troopers into the wall, overall, the deathwatch rebels were winning the fight, with only Maul and a few shadow collective left.

That was, until, the force screamed a warning into her head, pivoting behind her, she could see Obi Wan sat against a wall, his armour soaked even further red and his beard caked in sweat. Maul was practically stalking him, grinning wildly.

Without thinking, she ran at Maul, as he raised his blade to finish the job, his blade was met with the crimson red blade that Ahsoka was currently wielding. Caught off guard, she roundhouse kicked Maul in the right arm, making him to drop the darksaber, which she caught in midair. Turning Savage's lightsaber onto the single bladed function, she turned the sabers into her hand, adopting her Ataru-shien style. Maul looked around, he saw very few men of his left alive. Looking back at Kenobi, he was satisfied he would not make it out alive. So he ran, fleeing the scene and abandoning his brother.

Satine had watched the rest of the fight, still refusing to resort to violence, but when she saw Obi wan collapse, intense panic filled her. She thought she was going to be helpless and thought she was about to witness his death. Tears filled her eyes, threatening to leak freely, he had his eyes closed, backed up against the wall. Defeated.

That was until the bounty hunter saved him from the killing blow that would have most certainly ended his life. Causing Maul to panic and flee. His brother, still unable to move, sat paralysed on the floor. The soliders put up their hands in surrender, with their leader gone, they stood no chance.

Ahsoka looked at the defeated jedi, beneath her helmet, she felt pain, her mouth was wide open, speechless. She could chase after Maul in a suit of revenge, but by doing so she would seal Master Kenobi's fate, and become no better than the revenge fueled zabrack himself.

Breaking herself free from the trance, she deactivated the sabers, clipping them to her belt, before screaming "MEDIC! SOMEONE HELP!" She applied pressure to his chest, in an attempt to slow the blood loss. A few rebels rushed forward, one had a bandage pack in their hand, another had painkillers.

Satine rushed forward, cradling his neck in her arms, whilst the medic wrapped the bandage tightly around his chest. He gasped, his breathing shallow. "Satine.." he croaked, barely able to breathe. He knew he might not make it so he began "I lov-" but was silenced by Satine, who had cupped her hand on his cheek "I know Obi, my dear, please.." tears flooding her face, running free like a tsunami, her clothes being soaked damp in the process. She sobbed uncontrollably, "please dont leave me... stay with me.. STAY WITH ME..."

Ahsoka silently watched the pair, whilst injecting him with painkillers, earning not even a flinch from the jedi. The bandages had soaked up a lot of blood, so the wound should begin to seal and the surrounding blood clots. She applied a few further bacta patches to the worst part of his wound.

She looked up at one of the medics and inquired "where is the nearest hospital?"

"About half an hour away. I dont think he will survive the journey though." came the reply.

Ahsoka checked his pulse, it was beginning to slow, things were not looking too good. Suddenly, an idea popped in her head. "Someone get him a stretcher" she began, "I can use the force to calm his pain, and put him in a healing coma, but that is-". "Do it, please!" Satine cut in, desperately.

Placing her hand across his stomach, she centred herself in the force, persuading the midichlorians to slowly heal themselves, causing the bleeding to temporarily stop. His breathing became more regulated, as sleep took his exhausted form. Carefully lifting his body, the bounty hunter placed him on the stretcher, which two rebels carried him out on. Lifting him into a large transport, Satine following him, not leaving his side.

The bounty hunter took her gaze off the jedi, who was now being sped off to the hospital. There was nothing more she could do. She turned back, Savage was in strong force restricting binders, being led to the detention facility. The shadow collective had either fleed or surrendering in panic.

Turning around, looking Bo Katan in the eye, the pair lifted their helmets off. Bo Katan was slightly curious "Perdita, since when could you use the force..?". Ahsoka bit her inside lip, thinking of a good excuse, "uhhh..." she began "I... err... found an.. old relic that taught me how to use it..?"unimpressed by her unconvincing excuse, which ended up sounded more like a question than a statement.

Bo wasn't buying it, but decided not to continue probing for information, as it may hit a nerve in the Togruta - judging by the pained look she gave when she first asked the question.

Ahsoka straightened up, trying to change the topic and fill the awkward silence that had grown between the pair, pretending to fill the role of the greedy bounty hunter. "So... where's my payment? I need a new ship" Bo just shook her head, and replied "I'm getting it..." she reached into her pocket, transferring 1,000,000 credits to a credit chip, "but one more thing.. communications are still blocked, so drop the jedi and dutchess off back on corsucant, leave my sister by the senate, bringing the jedi back to his temple. We can handle it from here." she lifted the chip and handed it to the bounty hunter who gladly accepted it.

The bounty hunter approached the hangar, eyeing a large vessel, capable of fulfilling the role of a mobile home. Perhaps I should sell my apartment she thought silently.

After a thorough inspection of the ship, she looked at the dealer, "How much?" she asked.

"600,000 credits and its yours" he extended his hand for a buisness handshake.

Not a bad price, eh Ahsoka?

Extending her arm, they shook on it, "Deal."