Chapter 7 – To Capture a Sith Lord
Author's Note: In which the pirate arc begins. :D
~ Amina Gila
Spacewalking is definitely a first, and this is seriously reminding Theseus of when they snuck aboard the Malevolence, hoping that no one would notice. He and Obi-Wan land silently on the top of the Separatist cruiser, and Obi-Wan pushes a button to open an airlock, so they both can slip silently inside.
The clanking sound of marching battle droids reaches his ears almost instantly, and they press back against the wall as a patrol passes by. Dodging and ducking the droids, they make their way to a control room.
"We'll have to move fast," Obi-Wan warns him through their bond as they come to a doorway. Battle droids are working at various controls on either side of the room. They sprint across the room, disappearing behind a slamming door before the droids even look up. They're so dumb sometimes. A human guard would never make the same mistake.
"At least we're finally in the detention block," Theseus observes, glancing around the darkened hallway. That was easier than he expected. Obi-Wan approaches one of the doors, pushing a button. The two people inside look up in surprise as the door to the cell opens.
"Don't bother to get up. You're not the prisoner I'm looking for," Obi-Wan says, pushing the button so the door slams in their faces as they start running towards the entrance anyway.
Obi-Wan opens another door a little further down the hall, stepping into the dimly lit cell. There's no one even in here. What – a blur drops from the ceiling, and they whirl around on instinct, igniting their lightsabers.
"Oh, it's you," Anakin exclaims, standing up.
"This is how you thank me for rescuing you? Pounce on me from the ceiling?" Obi-Wan quips, deactivating his blade and holding out Anakin's lightsaber to him.
"Kind of difficult without a – lightsaber. Thanks," Anakin mutters, taking the weapon.
"Did you manage to locate Dooku before landing in jail?" Obi-Wan asks as they head back out into the hall.
"Well, I know he's on board," Anakin replies, "Might have been able to do something about it if I'd had my weapon."
"Well, the point was to take him together, wasn't it?" points out Theseus. He's heard enough about the Sith Lord to know that's how Anakin lost his arm at the start of the war, and he really doesn't want a repeat of anything like that.
"It was important for you to arrive without it," insists Obi-Wan, "So your capture would be convincing."
"Oh, they were convinced alright, but we should get moving before they figure out something's wrong," Anakin reminds, and the trio hurry down the hall. It takes a surprisingly short amount of time for them to arrive at the room where the Sith is.
Dooku is sitting in the middle of the room in a meditative position. "Surprise, surprise," sings out Anakin, igniting his lightsaber. Obi-Wan and Theseus ignite their own, casting a blue and purple glow across the room.
"If it isn't Count Dooku," Obi-Wan greets.
"Obi-Wan Kenobi," Dooku replies calmly. Apparently, Theseus and Anakin aren't worthy of recognition. The padawan keeps the remark to himself. "I thought I sensed an unpleasant disturbance in the Force. I see you've freed young Skywalker. Where might he be if you weren't always around to rescue him?"
As if in response, the entire floor suddenly jolts. Even as it stills, vibrations continue to run through the ship, and the faint sounds of battle can be heard from outside. The Republic cruisers have finally arrived.
"Your ship is surrounded, Count," Obi-Wan warns, "Republic troops are boarding as we speak."
"Jedi fools," scoffs Dooku, and all at once the platform he's sitting on drops down straight out of sight. Anakin and Theseus run forwards as it disappears down a long grey tunnel going to the lower levels of the ship.
"I should have seen that coming," groans Obi-Wan.
"Come on!" calls Theseus, preparing to jump.
"What are you doing?" cries Obi-Wan.
"Following him," Anakin replies.
"Not that way!" the Jedi Master protests, "We need to cut him off!"
"That's why we need to split up!" the padawan retorts.
"You cut him off!" Anakin calls as he leaps over the edge, "I'll follow him and meet you at the hanger!" Theseus jumps after. Dooku soon comes into view as they slide down the tunnel.
He raises a hand, blasting lightning up at them. Anakin raises his lightsaber to deflect it. Theseus is safely out of reach behind Anakin, but it's blindingly bright so he has to look away. The assault suddenly ceases as they come to a partition in the tunnel. Anakin lands on the divider, and Theseus clumsily moves aside to avoid knocking him off.
"Oh, great," Anakin huffs.
"I'll take left," Theseus calls as he slides past. Anakin leaps down the other.
The padawan lands in a hanger, in time to see several ships and vulture droids flying out through the shield covering the opening to outer space. Another ship is in the middle of taking off. Anakin lands nearby a moment later and runs over to the ship, jumping onto the closing ramp. Theseus scrambles on board barely in time before it closes.
"I thought you were following Dooku," Obi-Wan calls as they run into the cockpit.
"I was. I followed him here," Anakin retorts.
Blaster shots from battle droids strike the side of the ship as it blasts out of the hanger, barely making it through before the doors close. Their ship speeds after the escaping Dooku as Obi-Wan contacts Ahsoka. "Ahsoka, Dooku managed to escape. We're in pursuit, but we could use reinforcements. Follow us in what ships you can round up."
"We'll get there as soon as we can," the Togruta replies.
Obi-Wan starts firing at the droids, and Dooku's ship is hit almost immediately. It starts crashing down towards a nearby planet, leaving a long trail of smoke behind. "That was easy," Anakin remarks.
"Lucky for you, I'm an excellent shot," Obi-Wan quips.
The same moment, several vulture droids spin around, open firing on them. "Incoming!" warns Theseus.
"I'm on it," his master replies, firing repeatedly at the droids. The first one goes up in a ball of flames, but a second one scores a hit on the wing.
"Lucky for you, I'm an excellent pilot," Anakin retorts dryly as the ship plummets down for the planet's surface, right towards the same area Dooku's ship disappeared too.
It slams hard into the rocky ground, skidding for a distance along the ground. A sudden jolt nearly throws Obi-Wan face first onto the controls. "For all your expertise, this is not a very smooth landing," he grumbles.
With a final jolt, the ship comes to a stop. "If you'd hit that second fighter, we wouldn't be in this mess," Anakin shoots back.
"What a homely place to be," Theseus remarks, as he looks out the front viewport. Dark grey clouds hang low in the sky, and the ground and nearby, towering rock structures all seem to be varying shades of brown and grey. "Let's hope we won't have to stick around too long to enjoy it."
"Dooku," Anakin realizes, pointing the moment they step outside. Theseus spins the direction he's pointing to see the shuttle they were chasing is sitting a distance away.
"Looks like he's already gone sightseeing," observes Theseus as they approach the ship. The cockpit is empty.
"What's this, a homing beacon?" Obi-Wan inquires, stopping next to side of the ship where a small device is flashing.
"Which means that the distinguished Count is waiting for help," Anakin concludes with a smirk, "So he can't be far off."
"His engine is damaged. He's not going anywhere," points out Obi-Wan.
"Not without a homing beacon," Anakin says smugly, and promptly slashes through the device with his lightsaber.
They head past the crash site, approaching the rocky structures. Where could he be? "Caves are a good start," Obi-Wan asserts suddenly, motioning to a nearby dark opening in the rocks. By the time they get a few meters into them, there's not going to be any light coming in from the outside anymore. And wait a minute, Theseus doesn't use the Force much in combat, but he can sense danger lurking in the shadows in there. And life. A lot of it.
"Strange," Obi-Wan murmurs.
"You sense it too?" Anakin asks.
"Many life forms in there," replies Obi-Wan.
"And Dooku's one of them," adds Anakin.
"A lot of dangerous life forms," Theseus cautions.
"Well, let's try to get him before something else does," Obi-Wan offers.
Igniting their lightsabers, the Jedi step into the cave. "You know, it would be easier if some creature here actually did get him first," points out Theseus, speaking more to ignore his nervousness at going in here than anything, "Not to mention, very humiliating on his part."
"As satisfying as that may be, it won't happen," Anakin retorts.
"Unfortunately," mutters the padawan.
The glows of two blue and one purple lightsaber reflect off the walls of the cave, providing at least enough light to see. What are those glowing spots on the rocks anyway? He really hopes it's not a bunch of eyes. There's a sudden rumbling right above them. "What's that?" Anakin demands urgently.
"Run!" Obi-Wan yells. Theseus reacts instantly, diving aside as rocks come crashing down all around them. He finally ducks behind a nearby rock formation, trying to take shelter from all the debris. More crashes echo in the distance, likely from another part of the cave collapsing as well.
Finally, the debris from the crash begin to settle, and Theseus risks venturing out of his hiding spot. "Master?" he calls anxiously, glancing around in the darkness, "Anakin?" Alarm flares inside of him when he doesn't hear an immediate response. They better be alright. They can't have gotten hurt or worse...
"Master?" he calls again, and this time he hears movement behind him.
"I'm here, Theseus," Obi-Wan replies, stepping into view.
That only leaves Anakin. Where in the world is he? Theseus is pretty sure he didn't run when Obi-Wan told him too, which could mean – No, there's no way he could have been crushed by the rocks. That couldn't have happened. Anakin is too skilled of a Jedi for that, right?
Just then, a large rock is suddenly lifted up from in front of them with the Force and Anakin steps into view, sighing almost visibly in relief when he sees that they're okay. "You're alive!" he exclaims.
"Anakin, when I tell you to run, run," Obi-Wan sighs, "And where's your lightsaber?"
Anakin glances down at his belt with a frown. "It got knocked out of my hand."
"By the falling rocks?" Theseus asks.
"Yeah, by a rock," he agrees. "It's got to be here somewhere." He steps away into the darkness, looking over the ground for somewhere his weapon might be.
"That is a feeble excuse," Obi-Wan insists.
"Well, a huge rock did nearly fall on his head, so only losing his lightsaber is pretty good, actually," points out Theseus.
"Your lightsaber is your life, so it's still bad," contends the Jedi Master.
"You know what would be helpful?" Anakin cuts in, "A little light."
"Certainly," Obi-Wan replies, igniting his lightsaber. It hisses to life but promptly starts flickering on and off repeatedly. If their lightsabers are their lives, their chances of survival aren't looking too good right now.
"Silly thing," the Jedi Master frowns, shaking it. "It was just working a minute ago."
"You don't suppose it was hit by a rock too, do you?" Anakin retorts, moving his hand ever so lightly. A small rock hits the side of Obi-Wan's lightsaber.
"Well, let's hope mine isn't going to share the same fate," Theseus remarks, igniting his own. The purple blade hisses to life, providing a small amount of light in the darkness. He steps over to Anakin, holding the blade closer to the ground so the Knight can look for his missing weapon. But it doesn't seem to be anywhere.
"You know, for all we know, it could be buried forever beneath all those rocks," Theseus comments, motioning to the fallen pile. In fact, more than likely that's exactly where it is.
"I don't think so," Anakin objects, continuing to search. "Did you hear that?" he asks suddenly as a sudden snarl splits the air.
Two yellow glowing eyes appear at the top of the rock pile before an enormous red creature – a gundark, if Theseus is remembering right – scrambles over the top of it. Huge teeth line it's jaws as it hisses at them, before charging. It's huge, clawed feet dig into the rocks as it runs.
Theseus dodges out of its way, then takes off running, hearing Anakin close behind him. The gundark leaps over the rocks, following. Where did Obi-Wan disappear to anyway, and why isn't he trying to help out? Theseus has no idea what to do. Running at it with his lightsaber doesn't exactly seem like a very good idea.
As he and Anakin jump onto the next pile of rocks, the gundark moves a little faster, and it slams a leg into Anakin, knocking him over, its clawed foot shoving him onto the ground. Well, Theseus definitely isn't going to be running anymore. He whirls around, flipping through the air and landing on the gundark's back, stabbing his blade deep into it.
The creature lets out a ferocious howl, releasing its hold on Anakin as it tries to shake Theseus off. He slashes the blade across its side, which might have gone through the neck if the creature hadn't suddenly reared into the air, throwing him off. He rolls out of the way as its foot claws the ground where his head was a moment before. A luge rock comes flying straight at it, striking it in the head.
"I thought gundarks were only found on Vanquor," Anakin grumbles as the creature's body collapses the ground and Theseus scrambles to his feet.
"Then this system must be Vanquor," Obi-Wan replies, stepping out of the shadows. Wherever he's been this whole time.
Another growl suddenly pieces the air. "Looks like we have more company," Theseus warns.
"Sounds like another gundark," Obi-Wan agrees.
"It's too far away to worry about," Anakin objects.
"It won't stay far away," Obi-Wan says, stepping a little closer to a pile of rocks. One of them suddenly shifts slightly and with a hiss, a cloud of green gas erupts out of an opening in the ground.
"New problem!" exclaims Anakin, backing away as the gas continues pouring into the cave.
"Just when we thought things couldn't get worse," chirps Theseus.
"We did?" Anakin mutters skeptically. The padawan shrugs.
"That's not good," murmurs Obi-Wan, eyeing the growing cloud of green.
"It's just gas," offers Anakin uselessly.
"Probably toxic gas," Obi-Wan shoots back.
"That's good," Anakin quips, "Then maybe it will kill the gundarks."
"And maybe it will kill us!" the Jedi Master retorts.
"Then instead of standing around and waiting to die, maybe we should consider running?" Theseus reminds.
"Yes, let's get out of here," Obi-Wan agrees. They turn and sprint away from the gas which is rapidly filling the cave, heading for the exit on the other end. Rocks barricade the opening. How are they supposed to move these while holding their breaths at the same time?
"This isn't gonna work," Anakin warns, "I can't breathe."
"I'm open to sugges–" Obi-Wan trails off as the gas thickens around them and he's forced to hold his breath again so he doesn't breath it in. Theseus tries to focus on using the Force with the other two to lift the rocks, but they hardly move at all. He's never been good at this to begin with, but now, it's a million times more difficult.
"Don't give up now," Anakin urges as Theseus' grip on the rocks starts to loosen.
Just then, there's a sudden explosion and debris goes flying all around them. As it begins to settle, the opening of the cave comes into view.
"What just happened?" Theseus wonders looking around in confusion.
"What was that?" echoes Anakin.
"I have no idea," Obi-Wan replies.
"Master!" a familiar voice calls from the opening of the cave, and they all turn to see Ahsoka standing there, eyeing them with a hint of worry in her gaze. Rex and several other clones stand beside her, "Looks like I got here just in time," she says as the three hurry out of the cave.
And it's so relieving to finally be able to breathe fresh air without worrying about poisoning again.
"What do you mean 'just in time'?" Anakin huffs.
"You were in very big trouble," snips Ahsoka.
"Trouble? We were simply searching for Count Dooku," insists Anakin. "We had the situation well under control, my little padawan."
"I see," Ahsoka smirks, "So which part of the situation did you have under control? The blocked entrance, the poison gas, or that gundark behind you?"
"I don't think we had any of it under control, actually," Theseus points out.
"Gundark?" Obi-Wan smirks, giving Anakin a pointed look. "You mean the one that's too far away to worry about?"
A familiar snarl rings out, and Theseus looks over his shoulder in time to see another one of those creatures charging for the opening. Great. Not another gundark. The last one was bad enough. "Block the entrance," Ahsoka orders, pointing.
Rex and the other clones immediately fire their blasters at a spot right above the opening, and rocks come crashing down right in front of the gundark, blocking its path.
"Well, now that that situation actually is under control, shouldn't we be getting back to the mission?" Theseus asks.
"Yes, there's still Dooku to deal with," agrees Anakin.
"You let him get away?" Ahsoka exclaims.
"No, not get away exactly," Anakin protests, "Just..."
"We were too busy running for our lives to notice where he went," Theseus cuts in.
"Come on, we should get back to the ship," advises Obi-Wan. "Then we can run a planetary scan to see if there's a way to locate Dooku."
**w**
"His only stipulation is that you arrive unarmed," Windu finishes telling them as Theseus, Obi-Wan, Anakin, Ahsoka, and Rex stand in front of a hologram of Yoda and Windu.
"Unarmed?" repeats Obi-Wan frowning. "We know very little about these pirates. We may be walking blind into what could very well be a hostile situation." More than likely it is going to be a hostile situation. If this group of pirates that contacted the Chancellor and the Council were able to capture Dooku, who knows what else they're capable of.
"We can't let Dooku slip through our fingers again. Report back as soon as you arrive."
It isn't long before the shuttle is gliding through the atmosphere of Florrum, slowly landing on the sand covered surface. Brown clouds hang low in the sky. Really, this place looks just as homely as Vanquor.
"Theseus, stay with the ship," Obi-Wan orders as he stands up.
"But what's the point with me coming if I stay in the ship?!"
"These are pirates. For all we know, they may try raiding the ship while we're gone."
"Not as though there's much to take, but sure," he grumbles as he watches Anakin and Obi-Wan head for the door.
"This should be fun," Anakin remarks cheerfully.
"Well, I'll be missing all of it," grumbles Theseus.
"I think the poison gas and gundarks was more than enough for now," Anakin calls as he heads off.
"Follow me," Obi-Wan interrupts, ignoring the exchange altogether. They disappear from sight down the ramp. The padawan moves back to the cockpit, watching out the viewport as a group of pirates surrounds Anakin and Obi-Wan, checking them for weapons before moving out of the way and letting them past.
For whatever reason, Theseus doesn't have the best feeling about this. And he's pretty sure it's for more reasons than that he can strongly sense the Dark Side since Dooku is so close. Besides, these are pirates they're making deals with. There's no way they can trust them.
It's maybe half an hour later by the time the Jedi return. "So do they have Dooku?" Theseus asks as the two enter the cockpit and prepare to make the call back to the Council.
"Yes, and he's very cranky about it," Anakin smirks. Theseus smirks as well. Of course, he was. He would have liked to see the Count's reaction himself.
This time Palpatine and several other Senators are on the call as they give the report. "Senator Kharrus and Representative Binks will be dispatched immediately," Palpatine informs them once they finish.
"I guess we should be going," Obi-Wan declares, standing up as soon as the call disconnects.
"Wait, going where?" protests Theseus.
"The pirates invited us to a banquet," the Jedi Master explains.
"And you're seriously planning on going?"
"We needn't cause hostilities while we're here," his master replies.
Theseus frowns. He still doesn't think that it's a good idea. "Are you sure they won't try to poison you or something?" he objects.
"If they try, they won't be getting the ransom," Anakin says cheerfully.
"We'll be careful," assures Obi-Wan. "Now, we shouldn't keep them waiting. Just stay with the ship and wait for our return."
Theseus nods as the two head out of the cockpit again, though he can't shake the feeling that this is a very bad idea.
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