Inconvenience? Maul thought with fury as he lunged forward to engage the Sith woman. I'll show her! He struck at the woman's exposed midriff; it was beyond him why she wore such revealing clothing. Nathrrya smiled slightly as she redirected her adversaries strike before making a counterattack of her own.
Qui-Gon, considered one of the most able swordsmen in the Jedi Order, admitted to himself that even he would be hard pressed if he were to face either in such a contest. The Zabrak was much younger and no doubt his powers were nearing their peak, while Nathrrya was older and had more practical combat experience, which clearly showed. The Jedi Master deduced her experience would prove the decisive factor.
Obi-Wan turned at the sound coming from the far end of the hanger. "Speaking of inconveniences," he remarked noticing six destroyer droids roll into view and transform into their battle configuration. "Master, we have a problem."
"I see them, Obi-Wan." Qui-Gon replied as he watched the two Sith seemingly dance across the hanger, Nathrrya staying tantalisingly out of reach of her opponent. Soon the two Sith were in the middle of the hanger and it was clear to Qui-Gon what Nathrrya was doing. Controlling the duel, she lured the Zabrak towards a passageway on the far side of the hanger, away from the Queen.
"What's through there?" Qui-Gon asked Captain Panaka.
The Naboo native looked to where Qui-Gon was pointing and frowned. "The Theed power generators."
The cannons of a Naboo N-1 star-fighter began firing, the sound near deafening as four of the six war droids were destroyed.
Obi-Wan studied the last remaining Naboo fighter, it seemed to have had some technical trouble. However, the pilot had managed to manoeuvre the fighter enough to use its cannons on the destroyer droids. The two droids left were now firing on the fighter and gave the young Jedi a chance to deal with them. He prayed that his crazy idea worked.
The padawan ran towards the two droids, gathering the force around him as he did so. Once he was close enough, he thrust his arms forward unleashing a very strong force push. The two unsuspecting droids were sent flying out the mouth of the hanger, tumbling down the mountainside.
Qui-Gon was mildly shocked at his padawan's brazen actions and wondered, not for the first time, if Nathrrya was rubbing off on the young man. Even though she was a Sith, the Jedi master admitted that Obi-Wan could have far worse role models.
As the Queen and her retinue watched the duel between the two Sith, they disappeared into the passageway.
"Obi-Wan what were you thinking?" he asked his Padawan.
The young man shrugged. "Dealing with a problem before it could become a threat."
Qui-Gon sighed, "You've been spending too much time around our Sith friend."
Obi-Wan grinned in reply.
"We'll have to take the long way around." Padme said, "I hope Nathrrya isn't too long as I'm sure the Viceroy will be happy to meet her." She looked towards where she'd last seen the Sith woman.
"Oh, I'm sure he'll be absolutely thrilled." Obi-Wan observed dryly.
Ric Olie regarded the other eleven fighters around him as they formed up. Ahead he could see their target, the droid control ship which was beginning to launch their own fighters.
"Bravo Flight A, take on the fighters. Flight B, make a run on the transmitter." Ric ordered.
"Roger, Bravo Leader." Bravo Two confirmed.
Ric twisted around in his seat so he could just see R2-D2. "You ready little buddy?" the astromech beeped that he was. Ric turned back to see a hoard of droid fighters coming right at them. "Alright this is it everyone, enemy fighters straight ahead! For Naboo, for the Queen!"
The two Sith had fought their way out of the hanger and into the adjoining power station, a cavernous room filled with the noise of heavy machinery. If the two combatants had looked down over the edge of the walkway, they would have seen far below them two massive power generators.
Darth Maul was a warrior in his prime his powers nearing their peak. He had been trained to fight the Jedi, sworn enemies of the Sith for generations. Instead he was facing another Sith that was for reasons unknown, aiding the Jedi. He quickly learned the woman was far more skilled in the art of lightsabre combat than he was. Maul was confident he'd prevail as he had youth and strength on his side.
Nathrrya smirked as she parried and dodged Maul's aggressive attacks; he was making beginners mistakes that would cost him. He was putting too much strength and power into his strikes, not considering the stamina he'd need to outlast his opponent. She was well versed in lightsabre combat, though, she had been trained to focus on the mastery of the duel. Nathrrya was using the blend of Shii-Cho and Juyo; talents she had developed over the years as a result. Maul had no effective counter.
Maul fought hard to regain his fighting posture but Nathrrya was having none of it as she thrust repeatedly, keeping the younger Sith off balance when without warning, she stopped. Out of reflex Maul saw his chance and roaring with triumph he slashed hard.
Nathrrya stabbed ahead and slashed out sideways. Only then did Maul realise his mistake as her violet blade intercepted, not his red blade, but his right arm at the elbow. Maul's lower arm, still clutching his sabre hilt, hit the walkway with a wet thump.
Maul fell to his knees in utter agony as he held his wounded arm, letting out a deep guttural scream. He looked up, his face a mixture of pain and agony, his eyes full of hate. He glared at Nathrrya.
"And so it ends..." she said coldly.
Using the Force, she hauled him roughly to his feet.
"But first, I'll need some answers…"
The Gungans were doing surprisingly well against the basic B1 battle droids, but it was the sheer number of droids that were slowly taking a toll on the army. For once Jar Jar's clumsiness seemed to work the in the Gungan's favour as Jar Jar had become tangled in the exposed wiring of a disabled battle droid. As he tried to move, Jar Jar ended up dragging the droid's torso around with him. Each time he tugged on the wiring, it caused the droid to fire its blaster, taking out another B1 droid. If Nathrrya had witnessed it, she'd have smiled and said it was the will of the Force for she did not believe in luck or fate.
If OOM-9 could have facepalmed, he would have, watching Jar Jar dealing with his B1's. Instead, he shook his head slightly; giving the order to deploy the destroyer droids.
Hundreds of destroyer droids rolled out of the transports and headed down toward the battle. They slowly rolled through the deflector shields, then transformed themselves. The Gungans fired on the destroyer droids with energy balls. The heavy war droids returned fire with their built-in blaster cannons and as a result many Gungans were killed.
It became clear to General Ceel that the Gungan army couldn't stand up to the kind of fire power the destroyer droids possessed. Reluctantly he gave the order to retreat. The Gungans began to turn and run, on foot, on their kaadu, and in supply wagons. Even so they still doggedly defended their shield generator carrying Fambaas.
Jar Jar attempted to escape on a wagon of energy balls but only succeeded in undoing the back gate, causing all the energy balls to roll out of the wagon and down the hill. Jar Jar had to scramble to avoid being hit by several of the balls, however, several destroyer droids weren't as lucky, as they were hit by the runaway ammunition and destroyed.
Maul collapsed onto the walkway, gasping for breath. His master could be cruel with punishments but what he'd just been through was far worse than what Sidious had ever done. Snarling, he began lifting himself up with his one good arm, he never saw the downward slash that removed his head from his body.
Nathrrya rolled the headless corpse over with her boot and with two quick thrusts, destroyed the Zabrak's twin hearts. After the trouble Baras' pet, Lord Draahg, had been she was making sure this Sith apprentice stayed dead. She then turned and sprinted back the way she'd come. She had a battle to rejoin.
Sheev Palpatine massaged his forehead as if he had a headache, dismissing his aides as he did so. Once the Senator was certain that he was alone, he began to curse very colourfully for he had felt the moment Darth Maul and been killed.
But it had been more than his apprentices' death that had caused a strong tremor in the Force. He was sure even the Jedi felt it proclaiming the return of Darth Avarice, the Empire's Wrath, to the galaxy.
Sidious wasn't surprised she had killed Maul. He also wasn't surprised to learn the woman had tortured him for information, almost enjoying the experience. What was surprising, was her appearing to aid the Jedi. Most strange.
What concerned the Dark Lord was that if this Darth Avarice were indeed of the ancient Sith Empire, then she was potentially far more dangerous than he'd thought. To Sidious, her actions made no sense. The Jedi had to know she was Sith. And the two brief occasions he'd seen her, Master Jinn and his Padawan showed no distrust or unease when around her. Logically, that meant both Jinn and Kenobi knew she was Sith.
Turning his chair to look out over Coruscant's skyline, Sidious wondered if he should have killed his master, Darth Plagueis, sooner than he had intended. His original plan had been to wait until after he'd gained the Chancellorship of the Republic, however, the opportunity had materialized and he wasted no time in doing so.
The Jedi, Padme and her entourage were pinned down in a wide hallway by several clusters of battle droids.
"We don't have time for this, Captain!" Padme yelled over the blaster fire.
"Is there nothing you can do Master Jedi?" Panaka asked, frustrated.
Before Qui-Gon could reply, he and everyone else watched as a violet lightsabre flew past and cut a battle droid in half. Everyone turned to look behind them as Nathrrya came running down the hallway. No sooner had the weapon returned to its owner when Nathrrya Force jumped a good ten meters ahead of the embattled Queen, landing near four battle droids. Stunned by her sudden appearance, they hesitated, allowing her the time she needed to cut them in half with one swift swing of her blade. She spun to face another group of four droids about five meters up the hall. Nathrrya threw her lightsabre which took off the heads of the droids before it returned to her.
Ric Olie looked around to see that most of Bravo flight was still in the fight as they'd only lost two fighters. Pretty good considering the odds.
"Aright listen up Bravo flight we're coming up on the central bridge. Let's see how they like the taste of our fighter's cannons!"
"Roger that, Bravo Leader." Bravo Two replied with enthusiasm.
The loose formation of N-1's sent a barrage of cannon fire at the control ship's bridge but the shields held, shaking off the attack.
"Spast!" Ric cried looking over his shoulder as he turned away from the attack run. "Nathrrya was right. Their deflector shield is too strong. We'll never get through it."
The man sighed, "Alright Bravo flight it's time to put that crazy Sith's plan into action." He said as he pressed a series of buttons on his fighters control panel "Keep the droid fighters busy; Artoo and I are going to crash the party." Ric looked back at the little astromech. "The ship's all yours Artoo, give 'em hell. For Naboo, for the Queen!"
Artoo beeped an affirmative. The remaining Naboo fighters echoed their leader's battle cry as they broke formation and Artoo dove towards the control ship sharply, making Ric black out.
"And that, Master Jinn, is how you dismantle the Federation's Droid Army." Nathrrya said with a smug smile as she approached Padme and the others. Everyone noticed her eyes were still yellow.
Obi-Wan couldn't help but chuckle. "You enjoyed that."
"Of course I did. There's something to be said for turning annoying droids to scrap."
"What of the apprentice?" Qui-Gon asked, already suspecting the answer.
"Dead," was her stone-cold reply, "We still have an army to deal with and a Viceroy I owe a world of pain for trying to kill me the first time we were here."
She glared at Qui-Gon. "And this time, Master Jinn, instead of looking pretty you could actually put your lightsabre training to some practical use." She was slightly irritated she had to do the bulk of the fighting while the Jedi sat back and watched.
The Jedi Master looked offended at the accusation that had just been thrown at him. "Nathrrya the Jedi are peacekeepers and protectors. We cannot act directly, though sometimes we may wish too."
The woman exhaled. "I really am in a different place and time. Sometimes I forget that."
Nathrrya shook her head to clear it. "I keep expecting the Jedi to act a certain way but the Republic doesn't even have its own military any longer, so why should the Jedi be the same as I remember?"
Obi-Wan understood. "That's why you seem far more aggressive and militant than what we're used to. It's simply who you are."
Nathrrya smiled slightly. "Truer words have never been said Obi-Wan."
She looked thoughtfully at the group. "You're not Imperial troops but... Captain Panaka, you and your men form up on either side of Padme and her handmaidens. Obi-Wan, stay near to the Queen and protect her at all costs. Master Jinn, if you'd be so kind as to stay near the back of the formation and protect our rear from any possible pincer... What?"
"What are you planning, Nathrrya." Qui-Gon asked concerned, crossing his arms.
"Simple, the last thing the Viceroy will expect. We make straight for the throne room, right through the strongest of his remaining forces. He will learn to fear the Sith." Her smile was disconcerting. "I'll be leading; what I don't destroy will be up to the rest of you to."
"I hope I'll still have a palace by day's end." Padme said worried.
"I'll do my best Padme but most of my powers are inherently destructive by nature. Collateral damage is a certainty." The Sith warned the queen.
Ric Olie's starfighter burst into the control ship's hanger far faster than what Artoo had intended. Even so, he still managed to dodge parked ships and other obstacles. However, the fighter was approaching the hanger bulkhead for too quickly for the little droids liking. Artoo activated the reverse thrusters and the ship skidded to a stop on the hanger deck. Unfortunately, the ships systems overheated.
Artoo gave out a worried whistle. Ric was slumped over in his seat passed out and the astromech could see several battle droids approaching.
One of the destroyer droids finally managed to take out one of the Gungan shield generators and as a result, the protective shield began to weaken and fall apart. OOM-9 saw that the shield was weakening and ordered his tanks forward.
General Ceel signalled a full retreat as soon as he saw the tanks rumble forward. The Gungans fled as fast as they could. The hapless Jar Jar was blown off his Kaadu by a near miss and landed on one of the tank gun barrels.
General Ceel came alongside on his Kaadu and signalled Jar Jar to jump off but the younger Gungan was scared witless. The turret of the tank began swinging left and right, trying to dislodge Jar Jar from the barrel. It was sheer luck the turret swung out far enough for Jar Jar to let go and land behind General Ceel.
Before long the Gungans were overrun. General Ceel and Jar Jar were captured and held with some other Gungan officers.
"Dissa bad, berry bombad." Jar Jar said looking around at the battlefield.
"Mesa hopen dissa working for da Queen." General Ceel said.
The doors to the palace's throne room exploded outward, nearly blown off their heavy hinges; Nathrrya's Force push had almost been too great. The Sith swept into the room like a goddess of destruction, as many of the droid guards were tossed around like so many rag dolls during a child's tantrum. Sweeping her left arm in a wide arc, Nathrrya sent the bulk of the droids smashing through the large ornate windows of the throne room that overlooked the palace courtyard. Plummeting two stories to the ground, the droids shattered to pieces upon impact.
The remaining droids were quickly dispatched with her lightsabre before she approached Nute Gunray and Rune Haako. Her lightsabre humming with power, its violet blade casting an eerie glow on the polished marble floor, both men couldn't help but tremble in fear. Though neither was force sensitive, they could still feel the Dark Side emanating from the woman. What truly terrified them were her eyes, they were bright yellow and they knew what that meant.
Nathrrya turned her head slightly when she sensed Padme come alongside her. "Sorry about the mess," she deadpanned.
The younger woman smiled slightly before she glared at Nute Gunray. "Now, Viceroy, this is the end of your occupation here."
"Don't be absurd." Nute said with far more confidence than he felt. "It won't be long before hundreds of... destroyer droids... break in to... rescue us." The Neimodian found himself being lifted off the ground by an invisible hand. He also realized he suddenly had trouble breathing.
"What Sidious sees in such weak pawns as you, is beyond me." Nathrrya hissed. She was going to enjoy herself while she had the chance, though, she was grateful for the presence of the Jedi. Their connection to the Light as well as their concern and compassion kept her from losing herself completely to the Dark Side.
"Do you really think your precious destroyer droids are going to stop someone like me?" Nathrrya asked as she twirled her lightsabre for added drama. "I scrapped most of them on the way here!"
"You're...Sith...with...Sidious?" Nute managed to stutter, confused.
Nathrrya's laugh wasn't pleasant.
"Oh, I am Sith, I can assure you of that Viceroy. But I have no allegiance to that short-sighted idiot that dares call himself a Lord of the Sith. He doesn't even know the meaning of the title!"
She was enjoying mocking her absent adversary. "I, however, have been a Lord of the Sith far longer than he has." It was technically true, she thought. Letting go of the Viceroy, he fell to the floor coughing and sputtering.
Ric Olie groaned as he came too then cursed as he looked out the fighter's canopy, noticing a group of B1 battle droids approaching.
"Kriffing hell! Artoo, the systems are overheated." Ric said looking down at the control panel seeing nothing but red readouts.
Artoo beeped an acknowledgement, before letting him know he was trying to reboot the ship's systems.
"I know little buddy but now would be a very good time to leave!"
Almost as if the human's words were a command, all the lights went from red to green and the fighter's engines came to life. Ric wasted no time in hitting the firing button on the control column and blasting the battle droids in front of the fighter.
Artoo manoeuvred the fighter, turning it around so they could leave, while Ric kept his thumb down on the button, spraying the inside of the control ships hanger. As the Naboo ship passed a hallway that lead deeper into the ship, Artoo launched two proton torpedoes the fighter carried.
The torpedoes disappeared down the hallway, hitting equipment near the main reactor. The explosion started a chain reaction that nothing could stop, thus dooming the control ship.
"That sounded as if it hit something vital, get us outta here Artoo!" Ric yelled as he stopped firing. The astromech beeped an affirmative and Ric was thrust back into his seat due to the sudden acceleration.
Bravo Two watched in amazement as the Federation control ship started to explode. He noticed Bravo Leader's N1 shoot out of the main hanger.
"Spast! It's Bravo Leader, they did it!" Bravo Two yelled over the com channel. "The crazy Sith's plan worked!"
"They don't teach anything like that in the academy." Bravo three remarked.
As the remaining Naboo N1's made for home at top speed, behind them the control ship fully exploded as its rectors went critical.
The captive Gungans were surprised when all the battle droids begin to shake uncontrollably, then suddenly stopped moving all together. The Gungans carefully moved to inspect the frozen droids. Jar Jar tentatively reached out and pushed one of the battle droids. It fell over, lifeless.
"Wierdind..."
Nute Gunray had regained his dignity, or as much as he could, given the circumstances.
"It was unwise of you to have Sidious' apprentice waiting in ambush." Nathrrya said "It did save me the hassle of hunting him down, so I should thank you for that. I wasn't in the best of moods having to come back here to clean up your mess. My encounter with him darkened my mood considerably." She glared at the man. "What I want to know is how you two idiots thought you could get away with this invasion?"
Strangely, the two Neimodians remained silent.
The Sith narrowed her eyes. "Time for your reward. I'm sure you know how we Sith reward such outstanding loyalty as yours." With a flurry of movement Nathrrya brought her lightsabre within centimetres of the Viceroys neck and held it there. "But sadly, you're more useful alive than as a headless corpse." She said, stepping away from the terrified man. Turning off her weapon, she returned it to her belt.
"Captain Panaka!" Nathrrya called turning to face the man. "Please be so kind as to remove these two morons from my sight before I do the galaxy a favour and remove their cowardice from it permanently!"
"As you wish my Lord!" the Naboo native replied with a hint of humour as he and his men escorted the two Neimoidians from the throne room.
Nathrrya smiled wishfully, leaning against a marble pillar trying to centre herself.
Qui-Gon motioned for Obi-Wan to approach Nathrrya.
"Are you alright?" he asked as he came to stand beside her "You had Qui-Gon and myself quite worried you know."
The Sith slowly opened her eyes which were now, mercifully, blue once again. "I know you were. It's what held me back from going too far." She frowned slightly. "I haven't drawn on the Dark Side for so long or so deeply, in a long time. It's taken more out of me than I want to admit. I could really use a comfy bed for a few hours."
"I think I can arrange that, Nathrrya." Padme said as she beckoned one of her handmaidens over. "Sabe, take Nathrrya to one of the guest suites."
"As you wish Your Highness." Sabe replied "If you would please follow me."
"Does my Lord wish an escort?" Obi-Wan asked with some amusement.
Nathrrya smacked him playfully on the arm. "Don't you start Obi-Wan. I haven't been lord of anything in over three thousand years and I don't plan to start now. Believe it or not it gets old, fast." She smiled then. "But I would like your company."
"Then you shall have it." Obi-Wan said as he indicated to Sabe she should lead the way.
A/N 1: Here's an Easter present for everyone. Happy Easter!
A/N 2: Corrected an error in Nathrrya's lightsabre forms, which was pointed out to me. Even after reading up on them they're still a bit overwhelming.
