Chapter 29 – An Unexpected Discovery

Author's Note: In which... truths are revealed. ^-^

~ Amina Gila

It looks beyond stupid to go to a literal banquet with a huge fur hood on his head, but he can't exactly take it off either. Or everyone will know he's a Jedi and he'll be running for his life. What fun. Not.

Ugh. Why did Lux have to take a seat next to Vizsla – not that he had much choice in the matter, but still. Because now Theseus is stuck on Lux's other side and only one seat away from the lead Mandalorian terrorist who he's certain knows his identity.

Relief floods through him as Ahsoka walks into the tent, looking unharmed, even though he can feel her anger simmering in the Force. Although, he's definitely not impressed that they decided she has to serve them all food, along with a bunch of other women. Not that there's anything he can do about it right now.

"Hungry?" Ahsoka asks as she approaches them, holding out a platter, which he and Lux both take a glass off it. "Careful not to choke on your stupidity," she adds in a low voice before turning away.

"I see your woman has fit in well. Now, how will you fit in?" Vizsla asks, leaning closer to Lux.

"All I want is Dooku dead," Lux replies.

Should he say something? Will it be odd if he doesn't? Or will it be even more suspicious and obvious if he does? And even if he did, what would he say anyway?

"Vizsla!" a voice calls from the doorway. All heads snap towards the tent entrance, and Theseus breathes a sigh of relief for the interruption.

A man strides into the tent, two people who appear to be bodyguards on either side.

"Chieftain Pieter," the Death Watch leader replies, a vaguely threatening note in his voice as he stands, "I don't remember summoning you."

"You have taken our women, stolen our food, and threatened us for too long," the man says harshly.

"Brave for you to come here with such bold words."

"You are no longer welcome here!"

"Well, if our presence here isn't welcome, we'll make ready to leave." Vizsla exchanges glances with several other people in the room who seem quite smug and amused. No, that's not what he intends to do at all, Theseus can tell that much. In fact, he can only guess what they are intending to do, and...

"You'll return your people to us?" asks Pieter hopefully.

"Yes, sunrise tomorrow. You have my word."

"Very well. We'll be waiting." Pieter and his guards turn, disappearing back out of the tent.

"You see?" whispers Lux, moving to stand next to Ahsoka, "They're not the butchers you make them out to be." One look at the horrified expression on Ahsoka's face shows that she's thinking the exact same thing as Theseus.

With the interruption over, the meal finishes up quickly, after which Lux and Theseus are escorted to a tent. He'd much rather be with Ahsoka right now, but he knows that's not really an option.

"Still think this is a terrible plan?" Lux inquires quietly, sounding almost hopeful again.

"Honestly? I'm disliking it more and more by the minute," he mumbles, glancing uneasily around the tent. It's not even safe to be talking about this right now, even quietly. He doesn't know the positions of the guards around here, but he can guarantee there's some very close by.

Lux sighs. "I think you're over worrying about it. They literally agreed to leave because those people said they aren't welcome here anymore."

"Firstly, I doubt that's actually what they're planning to do," Theseus objects. In fact, he knows it isn't, "And secondly, I think we should save this conversation for later." He doesn't want to risk anyone overhearing.

Silence falls between them, and Theseus almost wishes he could say something a little less harsh about Lux's plan since he didn't mean to upset him or anything, but he can't tell him anything other than the truth. He needs to know what he's gotten himself into, even if he doesn't believe it until it's too late.

Theseus rolls onto his side, closing his eyes in an attempt to fall asleep, but it refuses to come. Honestly, sleeping on the battlefield is more conducive to rest than in the middle of a bunch of terrorists. He's not sure how he'll be sleeping at all. But staying up all night isn't the greatest of ideas either.

He just... He wants to talk to Ahsoka. He can feel her in the Force, but he still wants to see her in person and make sure that she's alright. Something is nagging at the edge of his senses, and he isn't sure what. And suddenly he can't shake the feeling that he ought to go outside... not necessarily to talk to Ahsoka, but for a different reason, though he's not sure what. Almost without finishing the thought, he pushes himself to his feet, slowly making his way to the entrance to the tent. This is probably real stupid, but maybe he could try to find her...?

Pushing aside the tent flap, he slips outside into the snow. It's surprisingly bright out, the light of the moon reflecting off the snow and illuminating the surroundings. The camp is mostly quiet, but warriors are still moving about in between some of the tents. "What are you doing?" a voice asks sharply from behind him. Theseus spins around to see the female Mandalorian from before standing behind him. A hand is resting on her blaster, though she doesn't draw it.

This was stupid. Why did he even come out here? He's never going to be able to cross the camp and find Ahsoka.

"Just getting some air?" he offers.

"Well don't wander far," she warns.

"Wouldn't dream of it," he deadpans, turning to look up at the sky. The snow has stopped now, and if not for being in a camp of terrorists, everything might feel almost peaceful.

The Mandalorian reaches up, pulling her helmet off as she scans their surroundings for a moment. She has short red hair, similar in shade to his own, and green eyes. "Why are you here with Bonteri?" the woman inquires, something almost calculating in her gaze that really sets him on edge, even if there's something about her that intrigues him.

Theseus hesitates a moment to consider his words. "He's a friend. I want Dooku dead too." He really shouldn't have come out here... although he wouldn't have gotten that feeling if there wasn't a reason. He doesn't see why –

A sudden very familiar beeping catches his attention. Turning, he sees BD approaching in between the tents. It beeps happily again as it spots him.

In a flash, the Mandalorian's helmet is back on, and she's aiming her blaster at the droid. "Hey, wait!" Theseus protests, "That's my droid."

"What's it doing out here?" she demands sharply.

"Probably came to find me? I didn't exactly tell it where we were going..." Theseus steps past her, approaching the droid. "BD? What's going on?"

The droid beeps. Really, he can only hope the warrior can't understand it, even if it's not being too clear about what it's asking.

"No, that won't be necessary," Theseus replies. Even if BD sending out a signal to Coruscant for backup would be nice, it's far too risky. If Death Watch intercepted the transmission, they'd be as good as dead.

BD whistles again.

"Yes, I'm sure. Now go back to the ship –"

"No," she counters firmly. "He should go stay with the other droids." Somehow, he gets the feeling that there's nothing to argue about. She won't listen anyway.

BD beeps unhappily as he's led off, presumably to join Artoo.

With that taken care of, Theseus slips back into the tent.

To his surprise, Lux is sitting up again when he returns. "Still awake?" Theseus comments rhetorically as he takes a seat.

"Yeah," he sighs, "I just... want to talk to you about something."

Well, if that isn't weird. "What?"

"About Ahsoka," he replies, shifting uncomfortably, "This probably isn't really the best time or place to talk about it, but..." That definitely wasn't what he was expecting to hear.

"Just go ahead," he advises. Now that Lux mentioned it, he won't be able to stop thinking about it until he knows.

"I know that you care about her, and I'm sorry about what happened."

Well. He wasn't expecting that. He's not exactly mad at Lux, but he certainly didn't appreciate having to see that. "It's okay," he says finally, "I know it was for the mission."

"I... I don't know how Ahsoka feels about it, and I didn't mean to cause a problem between you two."

Theseus doesn't exactly think that it will, but at the same time he can see that Ahsoka really cares about Lux too. Still, he already knows what he decided about that, even if it hurts him. "The decision is up to Ahsoka," he admits finally, "Whatever she chooses, I'll... accept." He can't say 'be okay with' because that's not exactly true, but he will accept it. "Besides," he adds after a moment, "We're Jedi, so it's not really allowed for us anyway." He might not care much for many of the Jedi's rules anymore, but he's certain Ahsoka still does.

"... Oh," Lux says, a little awkwardly.

"Thanks, though," Theseus speaks up again. He wasn't really expecting an apology, and the fact that the boy actually did makes him see even more why Ahsoka does like him so much. He's a very decent person, just... a little misled with this whole terrorist organization thing.

Lux nods. "Now, maybe both of us should try to get some sleep?"

Theseus couldn't agree more.

**w**

Dawn comes far too quickly, and Theseus finds himself riding in a speeder alongside Lux to the other village. He doesn't know exactly what they're planning to do here, but he knows it's going to be nothing good. And he's dreading it.

"You have kept your word," Pieter says, coming out to greet them as Vizsla lands on the ground in the front, "We are very grateful for your understand."

"I am a man of my word," Vizsla replies, shoving one of the woman forwards, towards the leader. Death Watch members slowly land all around the village from various vantage points. Theseus exchanges a grim look with Ahsoka. Suddenly, he's certain he knows where this is going to go. "Here is your granddaughter, as promised." In a swift move he ignites the Darksaber, stabbing the woman in the back.

"No!" Ahsoka yells, and tries to run forwards, only for Lux to catch onto her sleeve. "Tryla!" She jerks away, running over to them as a horrified Pieter lowers his granddaughter to the ground.

Theseus was expecting nothing less, but that doesn't stop the surge of horror and rage that sweeps through him, and he runs to Ahsoka's side.

"Kill them!" shouts Vizsla, "Kill them all!"

One of the members perched on top of one of the huts, turning on a flamethrower. Others follow his example. Within seconds, all the nearby buildings are going up in flames. The villagers scatter and run. Theseus can only watch, momentarily frozen in horror. He's seen many things in battle, yes, but these are innocent civilians.

"Why? What are you doing?!" cries Lux, completely appalled.

"Never let the weak tell you what to do. Welcome to Death Watch," Vizsla replies, throwing an arm around his shoulders, as though a village full of people isn't literally burning up in front of him.

No, Theseus has to stop this now. And he doesn't care if everyone finds out that he's a Jedi. This is the sole purpose of the Jedi, to prevent senseless massacres and tragedies like this. One glance at Ahsoka standing up next to Tryla shows that she's thinking the same thing. Theseus raises a hand, calling a pipe to his hand. He may not have a lightsaber, but he can still fight. Jedi are trained with all sorts of weapons.

Ahsoka picks up another and throws it at one of the Mandalorians who was firing his flamethrower at some of the escaping people. Theseus stabs one of them with his pipe, and then whirls around to attack another. The person kicks him to the ground, his hood falling back as he lands as he rolls a distance away. Hastily pushing himself back to his feet, he untangles himself from his coat, leaving it on the ground in the process as he jumps back into the fight. It's too large and bulky and it's only hindering his movements.

Finally taking down the one fighting him, he spins around as Vizsla lands in front of Ahsoka, the Darksaber slashing through her pipe. Theseus hurls his at the Death Watch leader, who simply spins around and slashes it in half before it can even come close enough to harm him. Great. Just great.

One of the Mandalorians fires a cord at him, and it wraps tightly around him. He tries to jerk free, a hand instinctively reaching for his lightsaber because that's what he always does in situations like this, only to remember he doesn't have it. Several more cords wrap around him as other Death Watch members surround them. Ahsoka isn't in any better condition.

In a matter of moments, his arms are pinned to his sides. Both of them find themselves on the ground, unable to stand anymore with the cords wrapped tightly around their legs. "Now what do we have here?" Vizsla mocks, stepping towards them, "I think we've caught ourselves some Jedi."

It's only then that Theseus suddenly becomes conscious of his very visible padawan braid. Just what they needed. Not that it wasn't already obvious both of them were using the Force, but still.

"Drag them back to camp!" he orders.

The warriors head off, dragging them (very rudely, he might add) across the snow, back for the camp. Right now, Theseus really, really wishes he had kept his coat on because he's absolutely freezing, and it doesn't help that sky is totally clouded over, and it's snowing again. If anything, the temperature outside seems to be dropping. Ahsoka's probably doing worse than him, considering that she wears even less.

Not to mention how much he already hates the cold. He tries to force away the memories of running through that cruiser, trying to escape the mind-controlling worms and later, Barriss.

It's not soon enough that they finally arrive back at the camp. Not that he isn't dreading what's about to happen next anyway. They've gotten out of a lot of tight spots, but he's not sure how they're going to get out of this one. Unless their droids can do something, which he isn't counting on.

Several of the warriors roughly drag him and Ahsoka to their feet and shove them into the main tent where Vizsla is waiting. They're shoved to their knees in front of him. Well, at least it's not quite so cold in here, Theseus can't help but think, although he's pretty sure freezing to death is the least of their worries at the moment.

"Now, Lux Bonteri," the Mandalorian says, pacing back and forth in front of them. Lux is being held by another warrior in front of them. "This does not look good. This does not look good at all. I asked you to join us in good faith and you bring Jedi into our camp."

"They weren't meant to be here!" he protests, "Please let them go."

"I'm afraid that's not an option," Vizsla replies, pulling out the Darksaber. Theseus refuses to let the flare of fear that runs through him show.

Lux's eyes widen, and he jerks against the person holding him back. "I believed you had honor, but you're just murderers! No better than Dooku."

"You call us murderers? And yet it was your own lust for revenge that made you seek us out."

"I wanted justice for my mother's death!"

"And you shall have it. But the Jedi are no different from Dooku," Vizsla retorts, stepping closer until he's standing in of Ahsoka, "And this one shall pay in part for their crimes against Mandalore." This one? Why would he not kill him too? That doesn't make sense, especially since he's a 'Shan' after all, and he doubts they don't realize that has some connection to Revan. And he's pretty sure he's heard that Mandalorians have a serious grudge even against his descendants. Unless Death Watch doesn't care about that part, but that doesn't seem likely. Of course, they could also be planning to keep him alive for... something worse maybe. He doesn't know. doesn't want to dwell on that thought.

"So, you see, it's not murder at all. It's like you say. It's justice!" Vizsla shouts, raising the lightsaber.

"No!" Theseus shouts desperately, jerking in vain against the cords that hold him in place. He can't watch this, sit here helplessly as Ahsoka is – There's a sudden loud beeping noise, and Vizsla looks up in surprise, just as Artoo rolls into view, and starts spraying smoke throughout the tent.

Lux instantly jerks away from the guard holding onto him, shoving him aside and kicking back the next one who lunges at him. Well, even if he's really untrained he definitely can at least fight to a point.

Artoo rolls up behind the padawans and Theseus immediately reaches out with the Force, pulling his lightsaber to him and cutting himself free. Ahsoka does likewise, jumping to her feet first and beheading the four guards surrounding her. Both of them turn to face Vizsla.

Several warriors – including the one Theseus spoke to the previous night – stalk forwards, blasters raised, but Vizsla holds up a hand, motioning for them to stop. "Stop," he orders, "The Jedi is mine, and the other is not to be harmed."

Huh? He decides to not ponder the terrorist leader's strange attitude for now.

"Lux, get to the ship," Ahsoka calls over her shoulder.

Vizsla reignites the lightsaber and lunges at her. Ahsoka easily blocks his blows, first with one lightsaber, and then the other. Theseus immediately jumps into the fight, slashing at him too.

Vizsla parries his next blow, as Ahsoka flips over his head, swinging at him from behind. He spins to meet it, black blade moving in a blur between their green, yellow, and purple ones. For not being Force-sensitive, Theseus has to admit he is a very good duelist. Mandalorians, he supposes.

They need to get out of here, though. Theseus begins backing towards the entrance of the tent, and Ahsoka immediately follows suit when she realizes what he's doing. Vizsla pursues them, his blade slashing through the floor as Ahsoka jumps aside. He might be fast, but she's small and agile, and as always, it's to her advantage.

The fight only lasts a few seconds longer before Ahsoka is thrown out the tent opening, and Theseus sprints after. The burst of freezing air greets him again, the snow falling even heavier now. He suppresses a shiver at the cold, eyes instantly falling on the group of droids standing in front of them.

"I guess Artoo made some friends," Lux says cheerfully, before Theseus can prepare to attack them.

Vizsla and several others sprint out of the tent, pausing in their tracks at the sight of the droids, all of which promptly open fire. Ahsoka stumbles back to her feet, igniting her blades. She flips through the air, blades intersecting with the Darksaber as she lands.

He shoves her back and fires several blaster shots at her which she deflects away. Theseus jumps forwards into the fight again, purple blade spinning to block the black bade as Vizsla slashes at them again.

All out chaos is breaking loose around them, with the Mandalorians shooting at the droids, but most of the shots are staying clear of the fighting trio.

Ahsoka's blades cross with Vizsla's again, and she pulls back a second, jumping over his head and cutting through his jetpack before he has a chance to spin around. "Not bad, Jedi," he admits.

"I didn't miss," she shoots back, and Theseus can't help but feel a little smug at the sudden worry that flashes across his face before he yanks off his jetpack, throwing it to the ground seconds before it explodes. The force of the blast sends him flying, landing face first in the snow again.

"Come on!" Ahsoka calls, jumping to her feet. Theseus hastily pushes himself up to see Lux already firing up the engines of the speeder. Artoo and BD are seated safely inside. The padawans take off after, jumping onto the back as it speeds away, leaving the camp behind.

Of course, that doesn't last long. He barely has a second of warning before a figure streaks through the sky, tackling him to the ground. Another attacks Ahsoka, but he doesn't have a chance to see what happens, because the next thing he knows, he's falling straight into the snow below again. If he didn't hate cold before, he most certainly would now.

"Theseus!" he hears Ahsoka shout as the speeder zooms away across the snow.

"Just go!" he shouts, hoping his voice isn't too muffled by the engines and blaster shots ringing out. If she comes back, she's going to get herself killed. He'll find a different way to catch up. Besides, Vizsla seems to want him alive for whatever reason. Which is honestly more than a little disturbing. It'd be a lot easier to know what to expect if he wanted him dead like he does Ahsoka.

Over the sound, he thinks he might've heard a faint "I'll come back for you!" but he can't be certain.

They exchange a few punches as they roll across the snow on the ground, and Theseus realizes how much he hates armor right about now. Because he can't really hurt the warrior thanks to hers. Another figure lands on the snow behind them as Theseus knocks the other person off, their blaster aimed at him.

Great. Just great. Exactly what he needed.

He doesn't bother resisting as they drag him back to the stupid camp for the third time that day. The last time he sees this place won't be soon enough.

"The other Jedi got away," one of them reports, shoving him in front of their leader.

"Why?" Theseus demands sharply, glaring up at him. "What do you want with me?"

"You don't belong with the Jedi," Vizsla replies, looking him over. "Do you know where you came from, boy?"

"How does it even matter to you?" Theseus snaps back.

"The answer to that is quite simple. I am your father."

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