The Lure of the Dark Side: Chronicle 1-The Turning of an Era
Episode IV: The Clone Wars
Chapter 13: The Beginning of the War's Final Campaigns
OUTER RIM WORLD, SIMULEN
Once the Confederacy droid factory had been destroyed, the Republic forces prepared their fleet of Star Destroyers for their return to the capital. Antellica was very much looking forward to it. After four and a half months in the outer rim, it'd be good to get back.
She, Obi-Wan and Anakin were outside Matmata, awaiting word of when the fleet was ready. Another thing she was pleased over was that it had stopped raining at last. As if reading her mind, Obi-Wan commented dryly, "Typical, the weather clears as soon as we're leaving."
"General," Commander Cody suddenly called from behind them. As they turned he continued. "Urgent message from Coruscant."
The Jedi immediately went inside the communications tent set up several paces away to find the small holographic figures of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine and Master Windu awaiting them. After a brief greeting, the Chancellor plunged into talking.
"We are most pleased with your performances. To the three of you. With your command of the Third Army I am sure we are well on our way to achieving victory in this war."
"But for every system that is liberated it seems another is taken, prolonging this conflict," Master Windu explained. "We must stop this war at its source."
"Grievous," Anakin sighed.
Windu nodded. "We have questionable Intel on this at best."
"On the contrary," Palpatine looked quite affronted. "My intelligence insures me that my information is quite accurate."
Windu glared, but Palpatine made no move to have seen it. "General Grievous has been spotted on a number of occasions traveling to planet Nelvaan, deep in the Outer Rim Territories. I am told she is there right now."
"I do believe Grievous is the key to bringing an end to this conflict," Windu stated.
Antellica rose an eyebrow. Glancing at Obi-Wan, she noticed he didn't look so sure either.
"One can only hope," Palpatine said. "You are to leave immediately."
"May the Force be with you," Master Windu said and the communication ended.
"Sending us on a reconnaissance mission," Obi-Wan said soon afterwards. "This doesn't feel right."
"Don't look at it that way master." Anakin placed a hand on Obi-Wan's shoulder. "Look at as reconnaissance and force."
"Your favorite," he commented dryly, bringing a laugh from the three of them.
OOO
Located in the Koobi system in the Outer Rim laid the planet Nelvaan, a primitive world of low-gravity experiencing the onset of an ice age. Three moons orbited the world and it was home to several massive lifeforms, including the vicious Horax.
Nelvaan was also dominated by a landscape of precarious mesas that would have fallen in standard gravity worlds. These mesas were home to the primitive Nelvaanian – blue furred ursine humanoids. Lacking a planetary government and holding no allegiance to the Separatists or the Republic, is was a rarely visited world useful only to Bothans, who regularly siphoned water for glacial fields, a practice that did not concern the Nelvaanians.
Kenobi's battle fleet arrived outside the planet's atmosphere three hours after leaving Simulen. The Jedi trio was on the bridge of the command ship, Vigilance when Commander Cody approached them.
"Sir, no enemy forces in the area," the clone reported.
This was met by surprise.
"You're sure?" Obi-Wan asked.
"Yes sir," the clone affirmed. "Just some strange geothermal readings on sector eight."
"We'll check it out," Anakin said.
"Sir!" Cody saluted and had a shuttle prepared for them to take onto the planet. When it was ready several minutes later, the Jedi trio boarded with a squad of clones and flew down to the planet.
On the surface, the Jedi wrapped themselves in their cloaks to keep warm against Nelvaan's cold winds and proceeded about the planet looking for any strange activity. As they journeyed into a nearby forest, a lot of strange creatures – large and small – were noticed, sitting on tree branches, jumping about and making noises that they and their fellows could only understand.
Suddenly, there was a rustle in the bushes ahead of them. Several clones raised their rifles, ready to shoot if necessary. However, it turned out to be just a little squirrel.
Anakin smirked. "I don't think it's lethal trooper."
"Yes sir," was the clones' emotionless reply.
Continuing on, another creature above them made a high pitched noise. Looking up, they caught a glimpse of it on the branch of a tree before it ran off.
"There's something startled in these creatures," Anakin said.
Obi-Wan nodded. "And it's not us."
"I sense it too," Anakin said.
"A disturbance," Obi-Wan agreed.
Suddenly, they heard a slight noise ahead of them, as if something, or someone, was approaching. Antellica ignited her lightsaber and the clones raised their blasters.
"I have a bad feeling about this," Obi-Wan said gravely.
For a few moments there was silence…and than suddenly a large creature appeared roaring. It was recognized instantly as a Horax – massive fifteen-meter-tall, horned creatures that there were only few of on the planet due to the severely cold weather and the horax's territorial nature.
The clones opened fire immediately and Anakin ran forward, blue lightsaber raised. Antellica was about to join him when Obi-Wan pulled her back saying, "He can handle it."
She nodded, a little disappointed, but decided to simply watch the scene play out in front of them. By now, the horax had stomped on and crushed practically all the clones. Anakin was still running forward and sliced at the creature's front leg. It howled in pain, and probably rage, as it fell to the snow-covered ground.
As Anakin was jumping up to finish the creature, Obi-Wan abruptly yelled out, "Wait! No, Wait!"
Either not hearing him, or choosing not to listen, Anakin killed the creature anyway by stabbing his lightsaber in its head.
Obi-Wan and Antellica approached the dead horax as Anakin jumped off its back looking quite pleased with himself. Obi-Wan threw him a stern look however, which quickly wiped the self-satisfied smile off his face. He looked confused. "What?"
But before Obi-Wan could respond, they heard the loud sound of a bullhorn coming from somewhere in front of them. As a cloud of smoke cleared, the Jedi saw about half dozen figures standing before them donned in Indian-like clothing and shields covering their faces. A young male stepped forward yelling in what was assumed to be it's native tongue. Though it wasn't understood, judging by the state of its tone the boy was angry.
"I don't think you should have done that," Obi-Wan finally said answering Anakin's question.
Anakin scowled and the trio than drew their attention back to the figures. The one in the middle, a female who had the look of a leader about her, raised her shield and glared at them.
CORUSCANT – GALACTIC CITY, THE AMIDALA MANSION
It was a rare sun shiny day off for Senator Amidala. She was no longer sick due to her aliments being cured through the Dark Side and had since gone back to work. Earlier that day, she'd ordered numerous bigger and looser fitting gowns, dresses, and casual wear via her HoloNet computer terminal since she was now five months along in her pregnancy. She found that some of her old clothing was growing either too tight or too small for her use, causing her to simply donate them to a local charity drive.
The matter of her impending offspring was another subject in itself. She still wasn't happy over it, but found that when she didn't think about it, that's when she was most happiest. The subject was off-limits for discussion between she and her father, something she made quite clear from the beginning. She was simply carrying them for his benefit after all, not her own; he wanted them, she didn't. And despite what he said about not killing them, many times she found herself very tempted to simply do so, but always changed her mind at the last minute.
She had no idea as to what her husband would think concerning their children. That was a subject that was never talked about between the two of them. She knew he loved children – many times he'd tell her stories of different humorous things the younglings did during his various visits of them – but as for having his own, he never said. Somehow, she got the idea that he'd be over the moon over it, but with the matter of the Jedi and continuing war effort, then again many not.
She was currently sitting on one of her living room sofas going over a senatorial report of the previous day. It concerned what everyone was talking about these days: the Outer Rim Sieges.
An abrupt noise behind her reminded the Senator that she wasn't in the room alone. Her protocol droid, C-3PO, was also in the living room cleaning the numerous artifacts that served as decor on the first level of her house.
The report wasn't really all that interesting, and the secret Sith found herself about dose off a few times. If the pregnancy had done any one thing to change her, it was the fatigue she got from it. Most of the time, she was able to fight it if she was very much preoccupied with something, but times like this when she was utterly bored with what she was doing, that's when she usually gave in to it.
Baynetta had just decided to give into her body's yearnings of sleep, when suddenly she felt a disturbance in the Force. Something was very wrong.
Not a second later, the sound of a blast was heard crashing into her home. Quickly rising from her seat and turning about, she saw a torpedo flying through a hole that'd been made in the wall directly ahead of her with the device flying straight towards her.
Still behind her, C-3PO dropped his cleaning supplies and was yelling frantically at her. "Miss Padme, watch out!"
Baynetta smirked and merely held out a hand, palm out towards her opponent. The torpedo stopped mere centimeters away from it in mid-air and fell to the floor with a clatter.
"Miss Padme, how did you do that?" 3P0 asked in amazement, coming up beside her. "Only people who have access to the Force can-"
"3P0," she said sweetly biting back her irritation, "You don't mind throwing away this torpedo do you?"
"What? Oh! Of course not Miss Padme." For a moment there, he'd seemed slightly confused.
"Thank you 3P0," she replied with a smile. "And after that, I'd like you to power down for a while. You'll be safer that way."
"Oh yes, I quite agree with you Miss." The droid shuffled off with the dead torpedo in hand.
Baynetta ran to the hole the torpedo had made and gasped as she looked out it. Outside, a massive CIS battle fleet consisting of Vulture droids, tri-fighters and C-9979 landing craft could be seen roaring about the city planet, the C-9979s spilling their deadly cargo of battle droids and Armored Assault Tanks onto the streets of the city.
This reminded Baynetta of the First Battle of Coruscant, only this was worse. Unlike the first battle, roughly a year ago, that had consisted of a small force of troops mainly assembled to attack the Jedi Temple, not the planet, this was a full-scale invasion of the capital. But what with the Outer Rim Sieges far from the Core, she didn't understand why no one had expected this to happen sooner. It was kind of inevitable.
Suddenly there was another blast and Baynetta ran for the kitchen to counter the attack. As soon as she got to the entrance, she came face to face with a firing torpedo. Ducking just in time, she quickly used the Force to slow it down and had it hover in the middle of the elegant hallway that connected the entranceway to the rest of the house, including the kitchen. She needed to decide what exactly it was she wanted to destroy with her active torpedo. Going back to the hole, she picked a random C-9979 that was in the process of loading even more droids into other Crouscanti streets. She ran behind the torpedo and gave it an extremely powerful Force push. As it flew out the hole, she ran after it to watch her work. With the mixture of the torpedo and Baynetta's Force use, the entire C-9979 exploded with all the droids inside. Giving a satisfied smile, she turned and went down to the secret security room in the basement level of her home that only she knew about. She kept the controls to all the hidden cameras and the force shield that could be placed around the outside of the house down there.
Pressing the red activation button, the force shield came on. She'd installed it for such a thing like this to happen. Because of this, her home would be protected from any type of warfare while activated. It took a lot for her home to be built, and she had no desire for it to be damaged in any way if she could help it. With the force shield, if anything were to shoot itself at her house, it'd simply bounce back, rebounding to where it came from.
Leaving the basement behind, she returned to the kitchen where C-3PO could be seen screaming and moving about it fright.
"I don't believe my circuits!" He was saying. "An army of droids! Here! I'd like to have a serious talk with your programmers."
Baynetta couldn't help but give a small laugh at the protocol droid. He turned at the sound of it. "Oh hello Miss Padme."
"Come 3P0," she gestured to the droid out the room. "I'm going to go to the NREB to make sure the Chancellor's alright. You power down in your room till I return."
"Yes, Miss Padme."
NELVAAN
Once it seemed the half dozen Nelvaanians had gotten a good look at the strangers before them, the Jedi were beckoned forward by the female Chieftain and motioned to two large and furry banthas. Being that there were only two for the Jedi's use, Obi-Wan shared his with Antellica while Anakin rode his solo.
The trio rode with the Nelvaanians for what seemed like forever until they began to approach a village settlement. The entirety of it was filled with a large amount of women and children, either outside or looking out of their homes curiously, some even fearfully, at the Jedi and others as they came nearer.
Antellica thought it strange that there were no adult males to be seen anywhere in the settlement. Anakin obviously thought the same, for he gave the village a puzzled look and said, "Master?"
"Yes Anakin, I know," Obi-Wan replied. "There are only women and children."
"But why?" Anakin asked to no one in particular.
Obi-Wan merely shrugged. "I assume we'll find out shortly."
"Perhaps the Nelvaan culture are man haters," Antellica surmised to be humorous.
Anakin and Obi-Wan both chuckled at her wit.
Upon arriving, the Jedi were led inside what seemed to be a small hut by the female Chieftain. Inside, they found an olden Nelvaanian male sitting with a crackling fire burning in front of him. The Chieftain sat to the left of him and began to speak in their native tongue. The Jedi trio seated themselves across from the woman and elderly man.
"It seems you've interrupted the boy's rite of passage," Obi-Wan said after a moment, "or test."
Both younger Jedi gave him curious looks, though it was Anakin who spoke. "How do you know what they're saying?"
Obi-Wan gave a dry laugh. "When you travel the universe with Qui-Gon Jinn, you tend to learn a few things."
As the Chieftain continued to speak, Obi-Wan translated: "Something plagues their land. Champion after champion has been sent out, yet none have returned. They were just choosing another one when you intervened."
The olden Nelvaanian than spoke something in a hoarse, cracked tone of voice full of age. Obi-Wan appeared slightly confused before translating. "I'm not sure I've heard this right. It seems you have to journey into fire."
"What!" Anakin and Antellica both asked, alarmed and confused.
Obi-Wan, however, didn't have time to explain. The Chieftain rose and gestured for them to follow her out.
Obi-Wan spoke to her in Nelvaanese and she began to converse with him. After a few moments, he turned back to his fellows and translated.
"The elderly Nelvaanian in the hut was her father, the shaman Orvos. She is Chieftain of the tribe, Tuzes-Adaz, and the boy, whose initiation ceremony you interrupted Anakin, is her son Andre."
"What's an initiation ceremony?" Antellica wanted to know.
"Each year, the Nelvaanians send out young males to take a scale from a sleeping horax's tail as a rite of passage into becoming a man," Obi-Wan explained. "These scales are used to make a special elixir that the Nelvaanians used to repel horaxes with its pungent odor. Since Andre is the only young male left in the tribe, he was going to be sent out as a scout to investigate why the others have gone missing. But now he doesn't have to because you, Anakin, will be going instead."
"I will?" Anakin asked bewildered. "Why me?"
A light smirk lit Obi-Wan's lips. "Why not you? You're the one who interrupted the boy's initiation ceremony. So I repeat myself, why not you?"
Antellica laughed while Anakin glared at the ground.
Back outside again, Antellica was somewhat surprised that it was suddenly so dark out, but than remembered what Obi-Wan had told her about the planet before they arrived. Nelvaan only had 12 hours days; 6 hours of light and 6 hours of night.
"Strange," she'd commented.
"Maybe to you," he'd replied, "but not to the natives that live there. Every planet in the Galaxy is different Antellica, not one of them are alike no matter how much alike they may seem, and as such not all planets have more then twenty hour days."
"But what's this nonsense about me having to go into fire?" Anakin asked bringing Antellica out of her thoughts.
Again, before Obi-Wan could answer, Tuzes-Adaz motioned for them to stop and be seated. They were in a large clearing now with a crackling fire in the center. Several other Nelvaanian females were seated in their company and as the Jedi moved to occupy the space just south of the fire, they were each given a plate of fish from one of the nearby Nelvaanians.
About halfway into the meal, Orvos arrived and sat at the head of the fire, appearing to be in deep meditation. Once everyone was finished, he began to chant in their foreign tongue and raise his hands above the fire.
"What's he saying?" Anakin asked.
"They're summoning the spirit of the fire," Obi-Wan explained. "The mother weeps. She is sick. Our warriors have failed, failed to heal the mother. Into the never-ending winter a stranger comes. Tell us why he has come. What is his purpose?"
Suddenly a cloud of smoke rose above the fire and formed into the shape of a hand. The shaman pointed at it in awe while the other surrounding females gasped and repeated what he said in fear.
"What's going on?" Antellica wanted to know.
"They're saying 'Ghost Hand'. They think-" Obi-Wan abruptly stopped, pulled back Anakin's right hand sleeve revealing his prosthetic arm, and raised it into the air.
"Holt Kezed! Holt Kezed!" he cried in Nelvaanese.
Orvos let out a sound of surprise and Antellica was confused.
"What are you doing?" Anakin asked.
"No, it's what you're doing."
"Huh!" both younger Jedi asked.
Obi-Wan merely laughed before placing Anakin's arm back down.
GALACTIC CITY, CORUSCANT
After making sure 3P0 powered down properly, Baynetta went to her weaponry room in the attic to look over some possible weapons to take with her to Chancellor Palpatine's office. What she longed to take was her lightsaber, but told herself to have patience; the time would soon come. Instead, she opted for her one of her old swords, pistol, pocketknife, and a few miniature bombs. She was just about to leave when she turned back and went to the hidden bottom shelf in her weaponry cabinet that contained her blood red lightsaber blade. She turned it over in her hands a few times, going over the possibilities in her mind, and hid it inside an inner pants pocket. She knew she was acting recklessly by taking it with her yet didn't care. She was sure she could find some use for it. Since she was dressed in all black – pants and a loose fitting blouse – she could easily hide all her weapons in her clothes and no one would be the wiser. She wore her sword over her back though and kept her pistol out at the ready as she exited her home. All the while walking to her speeder, she blasted countless droids out of her path.
Arriving at the New Republic Executive Building a short time later, she discovered that the battle wasn't taking place at all in this area. This disgusted her.
But of course he wouldn't want anything to happen to him or his precious executive building. He probably told whomever is leading this attack, Arica no doubt, to bring no harm to the Senate, executive building or his home in Five Hundred Republica.
Running inside the NREB, she stopped at the sight of three Jedi leading a squad of clones in the hallway ahead that led to the central elevator. At the sound of her arrival through the doors, however, the team quickly turned, the clones with their rifles raised.
"Senator Amidala!" Jedi Master Shaak Ti greeted.
"Master Ti," Baynetta returned the greeting. "What are you doing here? Do you have any idea as to what's going on?"
"The only way for me to successfully answer those questions is if you were to come with us to Chancellor Palpatine's office," the Torgruta master replied. "We're kind of in a hurry you see."
"Of course." She ran to catch up to them as they entered the elevator. "It just so happens that's where I was going as well."
On their way up, Shaak Ti informed Baynetta that they were going to collect the Chancellor and take him to his secure bunker. She was also told that no one knew for certain who exactly it was that was leading the attack, but hundreds of Separatists ships were continuously spilling out of hyperspace to blockade the planet. The other two Jedi with them was an Ithorian named Roron Corobb and a Tlaz named Foul Moudama. Baynetta had read about Ithorians before and found them to be quite fascinating. All Ithorians had two mouths and voiceboxs enabling them to speak extremely loud. What was interesting about the Itaz was that they had four eyes and a small cone at the bottom of their faces that served as a mouth.
Outside Palpatine's office, Shaak Ti rang the Chancellor's newly installed doorbell and the Royal Guard fell in behind with the clones once they were told the situation.
"Come in," said the cheery voice of the Chancellor.
Upon entrance, they found Palpatine sitting at his desk sipping tea and observing the distant battle. Again, Baynetta was disgusted.
"Supreme Chancellor," Shaak Ti said urgently, "we must get you to your shelter immediately."
Palpatine simply got up and faced them. "But the battle is so far off," he protested.
"Please Supreme Chancellor, we must follow safety protocol and get you to-"
"I will not cower in the face of this treacherous attack," he pronounced boldly, cutting the female Jedi master off.
Suddenly, they heard above them the sound of something or someone moving about on the roof. It sounded like high heeled boots to Baynetta, but she wasn't sure and wouldn't dare risk finding out with the Force because of the Jedi standing beside her.
"What is that?" the Chancellor asked. "What is that sound?"
Shaak Ti hastily spoke in an insistent tone of voice. "We have to go! Now!"
What Baynetta found to be strange was the small trace of fear in the Jedi Master's voice as she spoke. That was odd.
Palpatine also noticed the humanoid's sudden fear and rose an eyebrow. Then, just as suddenly as the overhead sound started, it stopped. The Chancellor gave Shaak Ti a smile. "You see it was nothing."
But Baynetta gasped. As he'd spoken, the head of a girl popped down in front of the office window, her black hair dangling several feet as she looked in, and disappeared again.
"Chancellor!" Shaak Ti was even more insistent then ever this time.
But before Palpatine could respond, the office window to the front of the desk crashed in, throwing him roughly to the ground.
The cause of the smashed window was crouched on the ground and slowing rising to stand. A person that was well known across the galaxy for her acts of treachery to innocents and someone Baynetta hadn't seen in three years time: Supreme Commander of the Confederacy: Arica Grievous.
NELVAAN – THE VILLAGE OF ROKRUL
Not long after the bonfire, Obi-Wan lead his younger Jedi companions to a room inside the small hut with the shaman in the lead. He had finally explained to them that it was Anakin's job to go to the droid factory not far from where they were and rescue the Nelvaan warriors who were being held captive there.
When Antellica asked why they all weren't going to go Obi-Wan said that this assignment was for Anakin to complete alone; for he was the Nelvaan's savior.
"Just because I have a prosthetic arm?" he asked.
Obi-Wan didn't reply because he had started conversing with Orvos in Nelvaanese. After a few moments he turned to Anakin and told him to take his shirt off.
Anakin was taken aback; as was Antellica. "Excuse me?" he asked in flabbergastation.
Obi-Wan huffed. "Just do it Anakin."
Anakin shrugged and proceeded to take to top half off his Jedi robes. Antellica observed how muscularly well built he was with some interest.
The Shaman spoke again and Obi-Wan was quick to translate. "He says this may hurt a bit."
Their bewilderment was obvious and when Orvos lifted his hand to reveal Bruise-leech crawlers, throwing them at Anakin's chest, it turned to repulsion.
As the insects crawled, they left behind a painful geometric track of blue over his body, causing Anakin to cringe. "Is this really necessary?"
"It's part of their ritual," Obi-Wan reproved. "You must be respectful."
The shaman began to speak again and, as always, Obi-Wan translated. "You must follow the wind. For it is the mother's cry. Travel her tears, they are frozen with fear. Enter the mother's mouth, to awaken her inner flame."
Leaving the hut behind, Orvos led them to the outskirts of the village where a bantha lay in waiting. Anakin was handed a saddle by the Chieftain, which he threw over the bantha and Obi-Wan began to speak.
"Anakin, although you've never had the official trials, this war has tested you more than the trials could, save one. Master Yoda foresaw this. The Force has guided us here for your final trial. The one you've never truly faced."
"Master, I haven't always been a patient student, but have proven myself." He mounted the bantha. "I am a Jedi Knight. I won't fail you."
"No Anakin," Obi-Wan cautioned, "don't fail yourself."
Anakin nodded and with one gentle hit, the bantha started forward.
"May the Force be with you," Obi-Wan said softly as Anakin rode off.
GALACTIC CITY, CORUSCANT
"How dare you barge into my private residence! Who do you think you are!"
Thus the words spoken by Chancellor Palpatine several seconds after Grievous burst in through his office window. Baynetta couldn't help but an eye roll and Arica merely smirked, hands on her hips; her dyed black hair blowing in the wind.
"Chancellor," Shaak Ti cautioned, "I don't think-"
"I'll take care of this." He turned his back to the wary Jedi and faced the humored Confederacy Commander. Baynetta inwardly smirked. She was sure she would feel the exact same way in her position.
"I am Supreme Chancellor Palpatine of the New Galactic Republic," he announced superiorly. "And I will not be bullied by any thug who happens to-"
But he never got a chance to finish, for just as Arica was in the process of grasping the Chancellor, Master Moudama – or 'four-eyes' like Baynetta referred to him as – used a Force pull to snatch Palpatine from her grip.
"Take her!" Shaak Ti commanded of the clone troopers and Royal Guards that remained behind as she, Baynetta, two other Jedi Grievous didn't recognize, Palpatine, and two clones exited the room. Arica merely laughed in anticipated pleasure as the clones opened fire. Hastily retrieving the lightsabers of her two latest victims – Pablo-Jill and B'ink Utrila, Jedi she encountered on her way here; Jill, when he landed in the hanger of her command ship, Invisible Hand in space and Utrila, leading the greeting party that met her when she landed – she made short work of the troops; lashing and slicing each and every one of them in less than a minute's time.
So ridiculous, she thought as she approached the exit only to find it locked and shielded with various other locks.
Curses! But it's no matter. I have my drill and miniature bombs.
Collecting a small hand-held drill of durasteel metal that was no larger than her hand from an inner pocket, she used it to saw away the shield and placed five miniature bombs at the bottom of the door. An instant later, the bombs exploded the door and Arica burst through the debris. Her adversaries were awaiting the elevator at the end of the hall, but she was soon noticed. She evaded the Jedi's Force attacks and blaster fire that rained from the leftover clones' rifles. But the shock wave that came from the Ithorian Jedi's throat collapsed the ceiling on top of the shocked General, stopping her advance and burying her. She wasn't down long though. With a yell of rage, she burst out of the rubble and ran for the elevator doors that the Jedi escaped through. Pulling the doors apart and looking down showed her they weren't that far out of her reach.
They won't get away. This is all too easy.
Baynetta wasn't going to admit to herself that she wasn't the least bit worried about Arica having the wall clasp on her, but quickly shook her head of these thoughts. Arica was a tough girl. And she'd slaughtered hundreds of Jedi. She could easily get herself out of that wall debris.
Clearing her mind, she turned her attention back to everyone else inside the elevator.
"Ithorians," Shaak Ti was saying to Palpatine. "Four throats, quite powerful."
The Chancellor was picking his ear to get rid of the ringing. "So I've heard," he dryly replied with an eye at the loudly breathing Corobb.
The next few moments were spent in silence as they continued their descent until Baynetta suddenly gasped and pointed at what she saw out the elevator window; everyone followed her gaze. Sliding down along side the elevator on a pull rope was Arica, smugly grinning with a sarcastic wave at them. One of the two clones raised its bazooka and shot it at her through the glass. Since the blast caused a large amount of smoke no one saw Grievous let go of the rope and drop to ground level of the building. When the smoke cleared, they simply saw that she was gone.
"Hurry, get to the ship!" Shaak Ti urged as they ran through the front doors of NREB, but abruptly stopped along with everyone else at the sight before them. Hundreds, maybe even thousands, of Super Battle Droids stood in waiting about ten meters ahead of them, ready to open fire when called upon. To make matters worse, Arica landed in front of the droids a trice later and motioned forward with her right arm. "Forward!"
The droids began their advance and Corobb stepped forward, howling even louder than last time. The Ithorian Jedi's throat blasts blew most of the droids away, but Grievous managed to hang on using an electrostaff in a crack of the ground. When Corobb stopped his ridiculous howling, the Jedi ran to their left with Arica right behind them.
As they ran, Shaak Ti called to one of the clones, "Trooper, call for support!"
"We can't," one of them replied. "We're being jammed. We're on our own."
Two 6-foot tall humanlike droids suddenly jumped into their path with electrostaffs raised. Baynetta recognized them as Grievous' IG-100 Magna Guard bodyguard droids. They swung their weapons threateningly, but the group simply backflipped over them – Palpatine being carried by Moudama – and landed a several dozen meters below onto various level pavements, sans the clones who were knocked to their deaths, before jumping onto a moving shuttle bus. The Magna Guards followed and a lightsaber duel launched between them, Shaak Ti, and Corobb. Baynetta stood next to Moudama with her sword raised in case she needed it. She'd long ago stowed away her pistol; uncivilized weapon that it was.
Not long into this, Arica jumped onto the shuttle with yet two more of her Magna Guards and used the lightsabers she wielded to disable the shuttle's repulsorlift generators, resulting in its descent to crash land. Before it did, however, Baynetta and the rest jumped off and landed in a railway station terminal with Arica and her trope right behind. By the time they reached the train platforms, the four Magna Guards were upon them with Grievous no where in sight. The group didn't have time to ponder the location of the dreaded General; they simply had to fight. Leaping over trains and narrowly avoiding death, the Jedi and Baynetta fought the Magna Guards on the tracks.
The droids were notably well built and trained, Baynetta had to give them that as she continued to fight one of them with her old sword. Glancing around briefly, it was to see the others absorbed in their own fights, not paying the slightest bit of attention to her.
If only I could use the Force to get that electrostaff out of its hands, she thought as she blocked a few more of the droid's thrashes. And than another idea came to her: Striking upwards with her sword and using the Force to maximize the strength behind the blow, the electrostaff was knocked out of its hands. Quickly grabbing it, Baynetta sliced the Magna Guard to pieces.
After putting her sword away, the secret Sith ran over to Moudama and his Magna Guard. The Jedi was currently running and fighting at the same time while still holding Palpatine. Coming up behind the Magna Guard, she ran back and than forward again, knocking it to the ground face down. She backflipped over it, but the droid wasn't down long. It ran at her and made a swipe to slice her in half only she was already backflipping behind it, and with one swift slice cut it in half and to pieces.
"All too easy," she arrogantly pronounced, smirking down at the fallen droid and than at the Tlaz who was looking at her with astonishment as she picked up the other electrostaff.
When she turned round she saw Shaak Ti just destroying the Magna Guard she'd been fighting. The remaining one stepped forward and Shaak Ti used the Force to throw the remains of the fallen droid at it. However, it simply deflected it with its electrostaff. But than, suddenly, Corobb jumped off the train he'd been riding on nearby and sliced the Magna Guard down from behind.
Everyone let out a sigh of relief and Moudama said something in his foreign tongue that Baynetta didn't understand. Talz was never language she was interested in learning, unlike Palpatine.
"Yes, brilliant job," he agreed. "Master Yoda would be-"
"We have to leave!" Shaak Ti urgently cut him off and at that moment that Arica decided to make her reappearance, landing right behind the female Jedi Master.
While the three Jedi began fighting Grievous, Baynetta pulled Palpatine back away from the fight. She had no desire to fight Arica; the very person she'd helped train. Grievous kicked both alien Jedi to the ground in the gut hard and Shaak Ti moved in front of the Senator and Chancellor as if to protect them. Baynetta almost laughed at the situation: a Jedi Master backing away in fear from a sixteen year old girl while trying to protect two Sith Lords. It was hilarious.
Deactivating one of her lightsabers, Arica spoke in a much maturer and colder tone of voice than Baynetta had ever heard her use.
"And so it ends. A valiant effort, but as you can see purely futile. Now Jedi, prepare yourself, for you are about to leave this world."
All the while the General had been speaking, Shaak Ti secretly used the Force to wrap Grievous' cape around the train carriage pipe she was standing next to.
Shaak Ti merely glared in response to Arica's words. "I don't think so."
And to Baynetta's amazement, the train suddenly disappeared down the tracks at great speed with Grievous yelling in rage. The Togruta Jedi had obviously used the Force to have the train activate itself. Baynetta was slightly impressed.
Shaak Ti let out a sigh of relief as the other two Jedi got up off the ground.
"Hurry!" she urged and began to run forward with the others. Baynetta, however, went back to collect the other two electrostaffs before joining the others as they jumped out a window Shaak Ti had broken and fell into the city again headed for the Chancellor's underground bunker.
NELVAAN
On his bantha mount, Anakin followed the wind and the frozen rivers to a cave far from the village. Inside, he managed to avoid several dangerous steam vents before happening across a wall covered in ancient Nelvaan pictograms. As the gas fumes in the cave built up, he began to hallucinate, seeing the pictograms move before his eyes. They showed the Nelvaanians going about their daily lives, until a technological menace attacked them. A hero fought them off but his arm was turned into a machine as well. At first the hero used his powerful new arm to protect the villagers from all attacks, but eventually he used his arm and powers to destroy the villagers as well. As Anakin collapsed, he heard Padme calling his name, but upon waking up he saw a giant spherical machine which was absorbing the planet's geothermal energy.
Avoiding the patrolling battle droids, the young Jedi made his way into the complex where he overheard two Techno Union scientists discussing specimens for their "project". Anakin discovered tanks full of horribly-mutated Nelvaanian warriors, augmented with cybernetic implants and weapons and watched as the latest Nelvaan to be captured was submerged in a mutagen to be processed. He soon came out of his hiding spot and raced in, destroying battle droids. The Techno Union scientists responded by releasing the specimens and ordering them to attack. Anakin tired to reason with the advancing creatures, insisting he was there to help, but they slowly rose their weapons, roaring in anger...