Star Wars: Heir of the Force

Episode 2: Chapter 5

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***HotF***

Qui-Gon Jinn hated to admit that deep down he missed being in the field, missed the excitement and adrenaline of laser fire, of every moment potentially being his last, of the small of burned air and the sight of melted droid.

But he did and he had not realized how much until he was, once again, defending Padme Amidala as they fought their way through corridors of battle droids. Metal bodies and cybernetics offered no resistance to his emerald saber and he felt an iota of pride in not only being able to keep up with the, considerably younger, woman but also their silent competition of droid destruction being near equal.

Her with a blaster, accuracy clearly not waning despite her ventures into a non-violent life, and him with a lightsaber made short work of any who stood between them and the advancing Jedi forces.

Though their journey was slowed due to her injury they still made decent progress and soon enough they broke free from the maze of tunnels and into the open air, noticing a nearby army of droids being sliced to pieces by others of his compatriots. It was only now that the thrill of battle began to wane, and a sobering reality fell upon him.

"Funny…" the woman next to him mused, though her voice lacked any sort of humor and was filled with resentment, "My planet was enslaved, my people tortured and killed and yet the Jedi could spare only two and were conflicted with politics. When two of your own are captured it is enough to warrant an entire planetary invasion with starships and hundreds."

The older man winced but said nothing, for there was nothing to say. She was right, and it had been one of the many causes for him to seek solace with his own master. Now he was lost once more, those he fought alongside had opted to be little more than soldiers while the older man he once respected was showing his colors as a tyrant.

A weary sigh escaped him as the nearby wall became the only thing to keep him upright, "It seems as though everywhere I turn I am faced with hypocrisy and corruption." There must have been something in his voice, something even he hadn't noticed because it earned him the full, softening, attention of his companion, who used the wall opposite his for her own support.

"You're conflicted."

He chuckled, "I have been conflicted for years now, since before we even met. I see the Jedi as losing their way, as becoming tools of the Senate and bureaucrats rather than guardians of the peace and messengers of The Force. It was one of the reasons I joined my old master. I know he sees the same change but… I did not know he would go to such lengths against innocent people and the Republic."

Padme nodded, she understood his conflict, it had been one she herself had to deal with during the Naboo crisis. He was being confronted by the flaws of the system he fought so hard for and it was crushing his spirit. "You have always been a follower, to some degree but now you don't have anyone you believe in."

"I have often gone against the council's orders," he argued, "It was one of the reason's I was never considered for a position on it."

Waving his speech aside she shook her head, "Just because you didn't do everything that they command doesn't mean you aren't a follower. You are not used to finding your own path, to walking down somewhere unexplored. You always go in the footsteps of others, whether it is your former master, the council, the entire order, or just select members. I know because I was like you, I followed the examples of politicians and former monarchs, I did what I was told when I agreed and swapped to a different side when I didn't but I was always a follower. Eventually you must step out on your own, carve your own path and do what you think is right."

Quirking an eyebrow, the Jedi gave an amused response, "Since when did you become so wise?"

The former monarch liked to think she had always been wise beyond her years, but it felt like this had spiked ever since… her eyes widened in horror. "Anakin!"

"Who?"

"Anakin! He came with us. He was with the ship, but they did not find him. We need to locate him Qui-Gon!"

The older man was curious as to why the situation was so dire, with other Jedi landing the droid forces were being destroyed or in retreat and if he hidden thus far then he was clearly safe. Regardless, he merely nodded and joined her in venturing back into the facility.

***HotF***

"That's far enough Dooku." Kenobi called out to the, otherwise empty, hangar. The two Jedi had finally caught up to the Sith Lord, reaching him just before he had time to enter his ship.

With a, noticeably annoyed, sigh the older man turned to face his two former captives, "I'm surprised you two managed to keep up, I was hoping that Qui-Gon would have been the one to meet me here, not you. Have you decided to take me up on my offer?"

"Hardly you scum sucker!" Ahsoka interrupted, earning a frown from her master. "We're here to arrest you."

This time it was a slight chuckle, with a hint of condescension, that greeted the pair, "You have no authority here, nor do you have the ability to bring me in even if you did have the law on your side. I think you will find I am well beyond the skill of you and your master… child."

His tone, the 'superior than you' body language, his words, and her own inability to help the situation thus far had all built up to the breaking point. With a snarl the girl ignited her blade and rushed forward, ignoring Kenobi's orders otherwise.

With barely a second thought the elder man raised his right hand, blue lightning sparking for a moment before streaming forth with a hiss and lashing out at her like a coiled serpent.

A scream escaped her lips while her body twitched and spasmed uncontrollably for a moment, a second later she crumpled onto the ground, aftershocks still coursing and burning across her skin.

"I warned you Obi-Wan, warned you that they would be the ones to suffer the consequences of your actions. First your apprentice, and soon the woman you were charged with protecting will suffer at the hands of those she thwarted so many years ago. Now I will warn you one more time, stand down or suffer the consequences."

But the knight stood firm, a look of focused determination on his face earning a disappointed shake of the count's head. Once more the caped individual raised his hand, and once more electricity shot forward. This target, however, was ready and Kenobi raised his saber, grimacing as the energy was absorbed and diverted through his body.

Yet the Jedi held firm, resisting the pain that still seeped through long enough for his adversary to halt the attack.

"I don't think so…" Despite sounding more confident than he was Obi-Wan remained standing, still in his Soresu stance and ignoring the tingling still present in his fingers.

Something akin to pride flashed across the Sith's eyes before he flipped his cape back with a flourish, detaching his hilt and igniting a crimson beam. That sight vanquished any doubts in his mind about the older man's intentions or alignment.

Count Dooku was a Sith Lord.

Obi-Wan Kenobi was one of the few living Jedi to kill a Sith.

No more could be said as they moved forward to begin the fated duel.

As expected, it was red that struck first, a sweeping blow that aimed low, intending on forcing the man to reveal whether he would fall back into his initial fighting style and allow a follow up blow. Kenobi blocked the strike, waiting for an opening but found himself merely defending once again from the calm, calculated strikes of his opponent.

He had been told, years prior, about his own master's former instructor and his proficiency with the saber. Obi-Wan had always thought it to be the usual exaggeration that a young padawan always showed towards his master but now, facing the man in single combat, he could confidently say that he had been wrong.

There was grace in every movement, every step taken, every feint or strike that threw him off balance or hit in an angle he hadn't expected. The former Jedi was fast too, and strong. He knew that grandmaster Yoda could move with unexpected speed when he chose to but had always thought such feats were unique to someone with an incredible connection to The Force.

Dooku wasn't quite overwhelming him yet, but it was close and there was a nagging feeling that he was still being toyed with, tested to see just how well he had taken to his own combat training. Clearly not well enough as a moment later the Count slipped past his defenses, burning his arm, and tossing him to the ground with the slightest of efforts.

"How very disappointing…" the older man admonished, stalking towards him as a predator might do with its prey. "Qui-Gon holds you in such high regards, as does master Yoda, surely you can do better."

He couldn't and was forced to watch as the lightsaber was raised up, preparing to end his life when an orange blur flashed from the corner of his eye, another blade parrying the blood-red one mere feet above him.

It was Ahsoka standing before him, grim determination on her face as she stared down the, far more experienced and more powerful, former Jedi. She would never be able to defeat their opponent by herself, but the intervention had thrown Dooku off just long enough for Kenobi to gather himself and strike forward, forcing the count back as he stood and coordinated with his own apprentice.

Now it was a two-on-one, individually they would never be able to defeat this man, that much was obvious, but together? Together there was hope.

***HotF***

A certain blonde-haired Force user let out a sigh of relief. Padme was safe and under the protection of the older man he remembered from many years ago. With all the other Jedi arriving they would be protected enough that he could focus on Ashoka and her friend. They hadn't been fairing terribly well from what he sensed, but their opponent also didn't seem interested in hurting them.

Still, he wanted to help, after that he considered sticking around with the girls for a while but decided it probably wasn't a good idea. The Jedi likely wouldn't be very happy with his presence and his younger friend would be returning to her training while Padme went back to her normal life.

There wouldn't be a place for him now that they were safe.

That thought made him rather uncomfortable, the thought of not seeing them again was… painful, how strange.

***HotF***

Her shoulders slumped and the pain in Amidala's ankle seemed insignificant next to the one in her heart. She had failed to do the one thing she needed to and hadn't been able to locate Anakin, and warn him, despite going through the security cameras. What would happen if he got caught up in the fighting? What if he was right now? What if the Jedi found him? She knew, based upon Ahsoka's reaction, that he wasn't normal to begin with and even without him talking about himself other Force users were bound to take notice in his presence.

She had long hated the authority that Jedi seemed to wield in Republic controlled space. 'Jedi business' seemed to be code for 'I will do what I want, and no one can say anything or stop me.' Often the former monarch wondered how the justified this despite their public assertions that 'the Order is not involved in politics.'

Would Anakin be detained? Clearly there was issues between the Dark and Light sides, at least according to her few experiences with the 'peacekeepers' but as far as she knew the young man wasn't a Sith. Still, he was an anomaly and what that meant should he be found she wasn't one-hundred percent sure on.

Before she could ponder any further a comforting hand found its way onto her shoulder. "I understand you are worried about your friend." Her escort soothed, "But if we cannot find him then the droids likely cannot either. Once the fighting is over he will likely turn back up, he is probably just hiding from the combat."

She doubted very much that Anakin would hide away as the older man was suggesting, but he was right. Ahsoka had not been able to sense him through her abilities so maybe other Jedi couldn't either. Regardless, they were wasting time on an impossible errand.

"You're right, let's find Obi-Wan and Ahsoka, hopefully they don't need any help."

The concerned look that flashed across the master's face did little to appease her growing fears and she went about flash through screens until one caught her eye. Three beams of light clashed repeatedly, with a red one seeming to overpower the other two more often than not.

"Which hanger is that?" Jinn interrupted, the concern from before replaced with poorly hidden terror.

***HotF***

There was no chance, no hope to defeat him. Ahsoka received another kick to the torso, flying backwards and sliding across the ground, stopped only by a nearby generator. Biting back a cry of pain she took a deep gulp of air to try and stabilize and rejoin the fight.

But deep down she knew the truth, neither of them was anywhere near the level of their opponent, who had yet to take either of them seriously. True enough a grunt forced her attention onto the battle and from her own damaged body as a crimson flash burned into the leg of her master, forcing him onto the ground once more before it sliced through the hilt that had been ripped from his hands a second prior.

"Enough of this. You have wasted enough of my time, if you will not learn from your defeats then perhaps you will learn from her suffering." Striding past the downed man Dooku continued towards the teen, an evil gleam in his eyes as she managed to sit up and scoot backwards, fear evident on her face at what would be in store for her. Glancing past the advancing Sith she made a silent plea for her master to help her, to protect her as he had promised to do.

Instead it was a silent command to endure, to be 'Jedi-like' and push away the fear and pain she would soon endure.

Let go of everything but The Force, do not allow yourself to fall into emotion or temptation.

All she heard though was 'sacrifice everything to attain nothing'.

And in that moment, she couldn't even look at her mentor. There was no hope for her, no one was coming to rescue her, and when it was all over, she would be the one who suffered and told to move past it.

When the Separatist finally reached her the young girl stared up defiantly, earning a slight smirk as he, once again, raised an open hand, energy crackling at his fingertips as it became obvious what torture he was preparing to enact on her.

It was at that moment when she had nearly completely given up that a familiar voice called out to the hangar.

"Step away from her."

All three turned towards the entrance, confusion spiking as they saw a blonde-haired boy standing in it, his eyes taking in the scene and narrowing towards the oldest individual. "I do not know who you are boy." The count retorted with a sneer, "but this does not concern you. I do not know how you came to be here, but I suggest you leave before you get hurt."

"Ahsoka is my friend and you are hurting her, so it is my business."

A renewed fear spiked through the young girl. It was bad enough that she would likely not emerge unscathed but she couldn't bear the thought that one of the few people who had believed in her would be hurt as well, and all because she hadn't fought harder to keep him out of the situation.

"N-no, Anakin run! Get out of here!"

"Anakin?" The Sith questioned as he turned towards the newest arrival, "Ah, so this is your 'friend' who evaded our capture. You seem quite attached to him, not very Jedi-like hm?" The taunting was pointless, but it still earned a flinch from the youngest person. "Very well, if neither of you can provide me a challenge then perhaps I can find some entertainment through him."

This time the lightning was directed towards the only other individual standing. Horrific blue electricity surged forward, prompting the young man to raise his hand, and absorb the attack into his palm, dissipating it without so much as a change in expression.

Dooku lowered his arm slowly, unable to keep the shock from his face.

How? To defend against Sith Lightning in such a way? He had never heard of such a technique, much less seen it in practice! Perhaps if it had been one of his two masters he could understand, Yoda had centuries of experience and training to draw upon and Sidious was a master in the Dark Side to an extent that had never been witnessed before.

But this… child? Had Palpatine trained an apprentice in secret? No, that wouldn't make any sense, why would he reveal himself if that were true? It was more logical that this was a Jedi, some sort of 'secret weapon' that the Council had created in secret if the Sith reemerged. Yes, that made far more sense, his age would have put him young enough to be relevant to Darth Maul's appearance.

Regardless, it did not matter. Power with The Force was important but could be overshadowed with a lightsaber.

Ignoring the, equally stunned, expressions on the two Jedi, odd though that the girl seemed to know their intruder yet seemed surprised by his ability, the Sith raised his blade vertically, before spinning it down into his favorite position.

An excited smile slowly grew on 'Anakin's' face, "Oh a lightsaber! I've always wanted to try one of those fights."

A startled gasp escaped the youngest Jedi's lips as the boy pulled a hilt from his belt and ignited it into a humming grey blade.

This time both combatants moved forward to engage.

***HotF***

The boy was a mess, his movements sloppy and random, his form lacking any semblance of strategy, finesse, or technique.

All in all, Dooku would rate the human known as 'Anakin' as pathetic in terms of lightsaber skill. If he had been his own apprentice there would have been disciplinary action, followed by months locked away in the temple training halls, turning this… disaster into a fitting duelist. This situation itself led the former Jedi to a rather uncomfortable conclusion, his opponent had not been trained by the council either. His previous master would have never allowed such a thing to go uncorrected.

It was not this fact, however, that angered the aged man most, nor the boy's obvious talent in Force abilities he had never even heard of.

No, it was the fact that despite the young man's lack of skill he was still winning, that and the insufferable grin that failed to fade from his face. It was as if this were just a game to the boy, a fun and entertaining way to pass an afternoon rather than a life-and-death struggle.

A growl escaped the man's lips as a strike sent him skidding backwards on the floor, the strength of the blow concentrated enough that he was sure his hands and arms would be sore for the rest of the day, and possibly the next as well. He, attempted, to follow up with a counterstroke, only to find that, once again, the younger slipped past it and struck once more, forcing him onto the defensive.

By The Force was he fast. By his own estimates only Sidious and Yoda might be able to keep up with him. Even then… with his youth and inexperience it only meant he would become stronger in time.

He was being defeated, overwhelmed really, not by skill but raw power. Each attack from his enemy was just a bit faster, just a bit stronger than the last. Each time they clashed blades Dooku felt himself pushed back further, to lose more ground.

Most distressing of all, however, was his own connection to The Force continuing to slip as time went on, as if it favored the other man and thus refused to be wielded against him. It was something that his current master needed to be informed of if he did not know already. These facts, along with the plans to the Death Star, were too important to be ignored and gambled on. The other Jedi would be gaining on him soon enough, something he could not afford, especially in such a state.

Another mistake from the younger human, a miscalculation to be taken advantage of and Dooku struck without considering how the duel had been thus far.

Anakin dodged in an impossible way, his body shifting, practically flying, around the crimson beam. Then came the counterattack and one blade became many. The Sith's eyes widened in shock, pulling back, and managing to parry, what appeared to be four or five sabers. He managed to only due to his considerable skill and training in dealing with multiple opponents, a weakness he knew existed in Makashi.

Despite this he felt something fall the ground behind him. His enemy had managed to cut the clasp to his cape, a blow far too close for comfort.

Leaping backwards, to put some distance between them, the elder reached out with what little connection he had left to the energy field surrounding them and cracked the ceiling above the orange-skinned girl. If he could not win in a straight contest he would escape. Age and wisdom beat youth and power any day.

"Until we meet again." He called out, as he leapt onto the starship, a glance back, however, froze the blood in his veins with fear. Not only had the boy stopped the debris without looking, and without effort judging by his expression, but he also held a small object in his hand, the smile broadening on his face.

The Death Star plans.

But how?

When?

Sidious would be outraged, but Dooku could just make out Yoda's Force signature approaching, any further delay would put him into a situation he might not be able to escape from. With a forced sneer he closed the ramp, activating the engines and blasting into the sky a moment later.

***HotF***

"Are you okay?" Anakin inquired, earning a slow, stunned, nod from Ahsoka as he flicked the rubble away with hardly a gesture and pocketed the small trinket he had taken from the man. It had seemed so important to him at the time, and The Force had confirmed that it was something that should not be in the hands of such a person.

"How did… I mean why didn't… how…" The girl stuttered out, earning a warm smile from the man.

"Just lots and lots of practice, but I better be going soon. Looks like the bad guys ran away and Padme is safe so…"

A voice interrupted from nearby, one full of concern and sadness, "You weren't just going to leave us… were you?"

Turning to where the woman, who had been causing jitters in his chest for some time now, stood in the doorway with an older Jedi he merely shrugged, "That is sort of what I do."

"But… but I… we have so many questions and things to talk about! We… don't want you to leave."

"Mmm questions I have as well. Yes, many many questions I have." Yet another interrupted, as the eldest Jedi slowly walked into the room, folding his hands over his cane as he took in the sight of the Chosen One.

***HotF***