Shadow of the Jedi
Chapter 10: It's about bloody time and a new danger
Nico heard that when spacers go to a planet and they hate the experience, the second time is a lot better. He would like to hunt down whoever said that and ram his lightsaber down there throat.
Last time he was on Geonosis he was nearly killed just trying to navigate the Geonosian catacombs, he went up against several Jedi Knights simultaneously and when the Geonosian arena had cleared it was incredibly awkward with the fact that a young boy was mourning the death of his father, and the intimidating form of Lord Reaper had to comfort him and get him to safety as quickly as possible with a giant battle going on all around him.
His second visit isn't exactly going any better.
It had been about an hour since the Republic made there landing and destroyed the shield surrounding the factory. They were about to begin the final assault on the factory itself and capture Poggle the Lesser, the Archduke of Geonosis.
The strange thing was, that there were no defences outside of the factory, no Geonosian warriors flying around, no droid units leaving the factory to attack the Clone forces, there was absolutely nothing. A calm before the storm.
Anakin and Ahsoka were standing in front of a holoprojector, facing a squad of Clone trooper's, Nico was just leaning against a rock behind the Clones, watching what was going on, with HK standing next to him, gazing at the Clones with its red photoreceptors.
"Okay troops, listen up!" Anakin said, calling for attention. "We are expecting reinforcements from General Luminara Unduli; which means we could be having heavy resistance. Commander Tano has devised a plan for the forward assault on the factory."
Anakin stepped back to allow Ahsoka to take over. The teenage Jedi turned on the holoprojector to reveal a similar layout Obi-Wan used for his assault. This one was developed into two parts and was connected by a strand that looked like a bridge.
"This bridge is our first waypoint," Ahsoka started, pointing to the edge of the bridge. "Focus your fire on the gun emplacements here," she pointed to a spot and it blipped red. "and here," she pointed at another red blip. "Because it only-" Ahsoka was then interrupted by Anakin.
"Because it's only after we neutralise the guns that we can push for the factory," He said as he stepped forward. Nico raised an eyebrow as he noticed Ahsoka's face go a darker tinge of orange while looking at Anakin, and it was definitely not from the Geonosian sun.
"I was-" Ahsoka cut herself off and looked away from her Master, "Yes, we can push for the factory." She said, calming down slightly.
Two Clones at the back of the squad shared a look of amusement. HK, noticing this, and much to the amusement of Nico, through a small pebble at the back of one of their heads, the two Clones turned to look at the droid with a frown, but Nico just glared at them and gestured toward Ahsoka, the meaning clear. Don't get distracted idiots.
Ahsoka continued after she regained some composure, "Expect stiff resistance from-" Once again, she was interrupted. Nico grimaced slightly as he noticed Ahsoka's expression, She's pissed off.
"And don't forget to top off your energy cells and ration packs," Skywalker said pushing Ahsoka out of the way almost knocking her over, which Nico frowned at. What is that idiot doing? "Once we leave, there will be no resupply," He then turned back to his padawan, "anything else Ahsoka?"
"No," She said tensely. "I think you've pretty much covered everything. In my briefing."
"Very well," Skywalker said, as Nico rolled his eyes, Seriously? "Squad dismissed."
The squad got up, saluted, and walked away, leaving the three Jedi alone. "Okay what's next?" Skywalker asked as he walked away, Ahsoka hot on his heels.
"You know master," Ahsoka started, as Nico got up from the rock he was leaning on and started following them. "My briefings might go better if you didn't interrupt me every time I-"
"I wasn't interrupting I was trying to help you." Skywalker interrupted once again, not exactly helping his situation.
Ahsoka's jaw tensed, "Which I would appreciate, if you didn't interrupt me to do it. I just think you don't trust me to give the briefing."
"I agree," Nico said, putting his input in, "She was handling herself quite well."
The two turned to Nico and looked at him with blank faces, then went back to their argument, making Nico roll his eyes, Fine, don't listen to me.
"It's not about trust; it's about getting the job done right." Skywalker said, trying to find a way to justify his actions.
"Aha!" Ahsoka exclaimed, as if she just found something really important. "So you don't trust me to get the job done right. I knew it!"
Anakin stopped walking and sighed. "Snips I never sai-" this time Skywalker was interrupted.
"No, no. it's okay," Ahsoka said as she turned her head away. "I understand. I'm the padawan, you're the master."
Anakin looked at the Ghost King desperately, to which Nico just raised an eyebrow at. "I've got to agree with Ahsoka on this one Skywalker. She was doing a good job."
Skywalker looked at Nico incredulously, then looked to HK for help. "Agreement: The orange meatbags briefing was going adequately Master, before you stepped in, interrupting her."
Anakin looked at the rust coloured assassin droid incredulously, then shook his head, "Sometimes I wonder what I got myself into when I agreed to have you three join me."
Nico seemed to muse on this, "Well, you got a Togruta, a HK unit and The Ghost King," He said. "One's of a carnivorous species, another is a one droid army, while the last has apparently kicked the ass of Gods."
Skywalker glared at him, "Shut up." He said, making Nico raise an eyebrow, Nice comeback. Nico was about to voice his thoughts, until he was cut off by the hum of gunships overhead. There were three AT-TE carriers and numerous gunships carrying Clone soldiers. They all landed at the base of the rock where the briefing took place.
The lead gunship opened its doors and sent out to figures. They were both of the same species, and Nico recognised them instantly, it was Luminara Unduli and her padawan Barriss Offee, they were walking toward the three Jedi and droid. Anakin and Ahsoka were still arguing.
Luminara and Barriss had walked up to the four of them and were watching the other Master and Padawan argue. Nico caught Barriss sending cautious glances his way, making him sigh, I guess she's still afraid of me.
Nico was about to bow and greet them when the argument started to escalate, "Well if you don't trust me! Then maybe you should send me back." Ahsoka yelled, as she turned to face Anakin again."
"Oh, don't tempt me Snips," Skywalker responded. Nico's jaw clenched in annoyance, Enough of this.
"Princess! Idiot!" Nico exclaimed gaining the attention of both Ahsoka and, to his slight amusement, Anakin, apparently he's used to me calling him an idiot. "We've got visitors." Nico said, calming down slightly.
Master Luminara shot Nico a grateful look, "Thank you, Nico." She said, as she turned her head to the 'idiot' and 'Princess'. "If you two are both quite finished with your discussion, remember we have a factory to destroy," She then glanced back to look at her padawan, "Well, Barriss, aren't you going to introduce yourself?"
Barriss looked at both Nico and Ahsoka, and curtsied. "Padawan learners, Barriss Offee at your service." She greeted, making Nico raise an eyebrow. He didn't exactly appreciate being called a 'padawan learner' but shrugged it off.
Anakin looked at both Nico and Ahsoka expectantly, as if expecting them to do the same. Ahsoka gave him a weird look, then looked back to Barriss, who was still in a curtsying position, and held out her hand, "Glad to meet you, I'm Ahsoka." Barriss blinked, straightened up, and took Ahsoka's hand.
Nico just lazily saluted, "Name's Nico." Barriss looked to him warily, making Nico sigh. "Listen, I know you don't trust me, what being Reaper and all, but if we're going to be fighting side-by-side I would prefer to have someone who doesn't hesitate to help me when I'm in trouble, savvy?" Nico asked with a raised eyebrow. Barriss's eyes widened, but nodded all the same.
Anakin decided to change the tone of the conversation, "It's good to see both of you again." Anakin said.
Luminara looked at Skywalker and frowned, "I wish it were under more peaceful circumstances."
Line break
The five Jedi stood around a holoprojector that was showing the same projection as Anakin and Ahsoka used for the briefing on the Clone squad earlier, except this one had a lower level. Skywalker had just given out the plan, which was a full frontal assault over the bridge and hope that the enemy will meet them head on, Nico, himself, had doubts about this plan
Apparently he wasn't the only one, as Luminara put her word in about the plan, "A frontal assault is risky. Our losses will be high."
Anakin nodded in consent, "Yeah, but not as high as they'll be if that factory comes online."
"Indeed," Luminara agreed. "But there is an alternative," She said as she made a gesture underneath the factory bringing up, what looked like, a Labyrinth of roots underneath the factory. "Every Geonosian building has a series of catacombs beneath it that run deep underground."
Nico scowled, "I'm familiar with those damn catacombs." He growled out, making the other four Jedi jump at his anger, "Back when I was Reaper, I heard rumours about Geonosian catacombs that could even bring dead warriors back to life, and being me I obviously went to have a look." Nico then winced, "I was lost for a week and a half until a Geonosian found me. Those mazes are easy to get lost in."
Barriss nodded and started talking. "Some of the tunnels are close enough to this cliff wall," She said, pointing under the bridge to the cliff closest to the factory. "So, you could cut a hole and make an entry point."
Nico narrowed his eyes as Luminara started talking, Did they not listen to a word of what I just said? A red blip showed up and started going through the tunnels on the hologram, "Once inside, we can find the main reactor, plant the explosives, and blow the factory inside out."
Skywalker frowned, "Looks like a good way to get lost if you ask me." He said doubtfully.
Nico rolled his eyes, "Only for the idiot that doesn't memorise the tunnels." He said, he then frowned as he realised that he just called himself an idiot, thankfully no one seemed to notice.
Luminara nodded. "I instructed Barriss to memorise the Labyrinths, all two hundred junctions."
Anakin raised an eyebrow, "You always were through," He said in an amused tone.
"It pays for one to be prepared." Luminara stated seriously, she then turned to her Padawan. "Right, Barriss?"
Barriss nodded. "Especially when lives depend on your success." She said, making Nico sigh, By the Gods, these two are more depressing then me.
"How do we keep the Geonosians occupied while someone else is setting the bombs?" Ahsoka asked.
"Good point, Snips," Anakin replied to Ahsoka as he turned his head back to Luminara, "If whoever's going in there has to be successful, we need to create a diversion."
"Precisely," Luminara stated. "That task will be carried out by you and I Skywalker, while the destruction of the factory falls to the Padawans."
Anakin started at that. "Now hold on," He began, "Who decided that? Walking into that factory could be suicide."
Ahsoka and Nico shared a look then they looked back at Anakin. "Skywalker," Nico said, gaining said person's attention. "We can do this. We have had riskier assignments. Like when I went up against you and Master Plo in space or how Ahsoka went up against me in the Malevolence. This will be a walk in the park compared to those."
Anakin glared at Nico, "But unlike Barriss the two of you aren't prepared for this mission." He retorted, and Nico let him have that, he wasn't about to get lost in those catacombs again.
Though Luminara seemed to have an answer to that as well, "Not to worry," She said, as she powered down the holoprojector. "My Padawan is reliable. She can lead them both through the maze along with herself."
Barriss decided to put in her word, "We'll be in and out, Master."
"See," Ahsoka said to Anakin. "Dependable Barris will get us through. Don't worry, Master. As you well know, we can follow orders." She with a grin, she then turned to the Ghost King, who was staring off into space his eyes glazed over. "Right, Nico?"
Nico blinked and turned to Ahsoka with a blank face, "Oh, definitely." He said, causing Ahsoka to roll her eyes and turn back to Skywalker.
"Okay, maybe I'm the one who follows orders."
Luminara spoke up as she gave a backpack filled with thermal detonators to Nico, "It's decided then."
Anakin sighed in defeat, "I guess it is."
Luminara then held out three devises that looked like data chips. "We'll monitor you're progress on these chronometers," She handed one of the devices to Barriss, Ahsoka and Nico. "Synchronise on my mark."
Nico attached the chronometer to his gauntlet and prepared to synchronise. "Three, two, one…Mark," Luminara said as a chorus of mechanical sounds came from the chronometer each of them had. They held out there wrists to show they were synchronised. The red light on them blipped red at the same time.
"Let's get going," Nico said as he bowed toward Barriss and Ahsoka. "Ladies first."
Ahsoka grinned while Barriss just nodded as the two took off running toward the bridge, Nico followed, matching their speed.
Line break
Once Nico, Barriss and Ahsoka reached the bridge they began to climb down the cliff face just in time to hear the battle going on above. The droids had started emerging from the factory by the dozen and started blasting the Clones.
The three Jedi began jumping from one protruding rock to the next getting to the bottom as quickly as possible, not wanting to be spotted. Rock after rock they became closer and closer to the ground until they finally reached the bottom. They ran to the other side of the cliff, and Nico was surprised that he didn't slip climbing down with a pack of explosives on his back.
The distraction Anakin and Luminara were making seemed to be working. Barriss was examining the wall in front of her to find the entrance. Once she did, she took out her lightsaber and cut a door sized hole that lead right into the tunnels. She gripped the sliced rock with the Force and revealed the hole.
"Nice work," Ahsoka whispered, looking through the dark hole in front of her. "Well, here goes nothing."
Ahsoka tried to go into the tunnel first, but Barriss grabbed her shoulder, holding her back. "I should go in first. I know the way."
Ahsoka shrugged, "Be my guest." She said as she gestured to the dark entrance. Barriss looked side to side to make sure they weren't being followed and entered the tunnel, Nico did the same thing as her, but he looked almost bored doing it. Ahsoka looked at Nico and he gestured her to go first. She nodded and walked in the tunnel.
The Ghost King sighed, This won't end well. He thought to himself as he walked into the tunnel.
Once Nico was in the tunnel, he couldn't help but feel a little déjà vu from the last time he was in the Geonosian catacombs, the tunnels were exactly as he remembered them to be. Dark and desolate. Nico followed Ahsoka who was following Barriss through the Labyrinth.
As Barriss turned a corner, she suddenly stopped and backed up a little. Nico walked ahead a bit to see what spooked her. It was a pair of Geonosian warriors. Sentries. Nico walked back to his spot behind Ahsoka seeing nothing that they could do except wait until the sentries walk away.
Once they moved into a separate tunnel, the three Jedi moved ahead as quietly as possible. But Barriss suddenly stopped, yet again, and signalled for Nico and Ahsoka to do the same. Nico frowned and looked to see why they had stopped, and felt his eyes widen. In front of them were at least two dozen sleeping Geonosians that were hanging from the wall.
"They're sleeping." Barriss pointed out.
"No," Nico replied sarcastically, "I thought they were getting ready for battle."
Barriss gave Nico a look that clearly says 'Shut up' while Nico just raised an eyebrow, his look clearly saying 'Make me'.
Ahsoka frowned at the interaction the two were having and decided to cut in, "We have to find another way around." She whispered.
"We don't have time," Barriss replied as she turned back to the tunnel filled with Geonosians. "This direction is the fastest."
"Maybe you're wrong," Nico whispered.
"Trust me," She whispered back, making Nico frown, Using my words against me, eh? Fair enough.
Ahsoka sighed and went first, Nico, not wanting Ahsoka to get lost in the catacombs, followed shortly after, while Barriss brought up the rear. Only a few paces later, Barriss walked forward and a Geonosian hand fell on her head. She froze, "Nico," She whispered, but the Ghost King didn't hear her and kept walking. "Nico," She said a little louder, causing Nico to turn around with a frown, but he raised an eyebrow at what he saw, slightly amused, he walked back to where Barriss was and carefully held the arm, as to not wake the bug like alien up, Barriss moved away and Nico slowly dropped the hand.
As they started to walk away from the Geonosians, none of the Jedi seemed to notice the one disturbed Geonosians eyes snap open.
Line break
Nico and Ahsoka followed Barriss through the catacombs, turning different directions everytime. "Left at the next junction," She said, once they did that though, "Dead end," Barriss said, her expression turning worried.
Nico frowned, "If we make a wrong turn we may never find a way out." He said, not exactly helping the situation.
"You do remember the way, don't you?" Ahsoka asked.
Barriss was rubbing her chin in thought, "Of course I do." She retorted as she bit her lip nervously, she then noticed that she could see her shadow in the weirdly light part of the tunnel, and she looked up, to see a hole. "It's not left, it's up." She said, walking under the light source, she then turned her head to the other two, "It's this way." She said as she jumped up through the hole.
Ahsoka jumped up as well, Nico looked around to make sure nobody was following them. He looked to where they just came from, and blinked a couple of times, I swear I could see a couple of yellow lights there. He thought to himself, but when he looked back there was nothing, so he shook his head, I better not be going mad again. He thought as he jumped through the hole.
Once they got through the hole, there were more tunnels, so they continued walking. Moments later they could hear the noise of machinery at work, there was another hole and when the three looked up through it, they could see thousands of battle droids being mass produced.
Ahsoka whistled, "That's a lot of droids."
Barriss looked back down to the tunnel. "Come on." She said to Ahsoka and Nico. "The main control room is this way."
"Good," Nico said. "I'm dying to blow something up."
After about fifteen more minutes of walking Barriss stopped as they reached a ladder going up to a hatch, Barriss went first, then Ahsoka, then Nico. Once they got up, and unscrewed the hatch, they had a look at what exactly they were blowing up.
It looked like a cone with an energy beam running through it. Nico had seen many of these same reactors when he worked for the Separatists, and it was likely to create a big boom. He took off the pack full of explosives and started charging the detonators.
Once the three Jedi set up about twenty charges they pressed the red switch on their chronometer.
Nico put the backpack back on. "And now," Ahsoka started, "We make ourselves scarce." She finished as they made their way back to the hatch. But before they could even open the hatch, the main door to the reactor opened revealing a massive tank, Nico didn't even know how to describe the monstrosity, all he could think was, I wonder what HK would think if I got him a tank like that? There was also a tactical droid, five Geonosian warriors, and another Geonosian, with a long tentacle like beard, Nico recognised him as the Archduke of Geonosis, Poggle the Lesser.
Ahsoka, Barriss and Nico all ignited there lightsaber. The green, blue and black blades shooting out in an almost simultaneous snap-hiss, Nico and Ahsoka had there lightsabers in their usual reverse grip, while Barriss twisted her blade to the front of her body, ready to deflect any sonic blasts coming from the Geonosians.
A second later, the Geonosians fired off four shots that they deflected, Nico ran up to the super tank, and jumped on top of it and then jumped to one of the flying Geonosians, chopping it in half, he then jumped back to Ahsoka and Barriss as the Geonosians started firing upon them, not a good sign.
Poggle said something in his native tongue to the remaining Geonosians as he started to walk off. After he said that, the other Geonosians started to gather the bombs from the reactor, before the three Jedi could stop them something else started firing upon them.
The tank had adjusted its laser cannons on the side, and had started firing upon them. It started blasting in rapid succession. It had fired six rounds before the Geonosians started taking the bombs. Nico was being distracted by the damn laser bolts to do anything against the Geonosians. He then remembered something: He has a backpack full of grenades.
Nico crouched down below the blasters, took out a charge and armed it. "Let's see if your stupid tank can take this!" He shouted as he threw the charge at the tank. The explosive maximised once it made contact with the armour of the tank.
The Tactical droid just stared at the bomb. "Ha ha," It said with a mechanical rasp. "Fool. The Super Tank is impervious to all weap-"
The droid was suddenly cut short by an explosion on the side of the tank, once the dust cleared the tank was still intact, but the droid was in pieces, "Whoops, sorry about that." Nico muttered, eliciting small giggles from the other two Jedi, despite the situation they were in. Nico then looked back at the Super tank, only to see all of its weaponry, light and heavy, trained on him, Oh, shit! He thought as the tank started to fire and he started to block, he noticed that the Geonosians had started flying off, bombs in hand. "The bombs!" Nico shouted, Ahsoka and Barris nodded and went after the Geonosians, though they were too late.
Ahsoka jumped onto two of the ones that were flying away. "Ahhh!" She screamed but still held on, Nico couldn't help but smirk at what Ahsoka said next, despite the massive wave of laser fire heading his way. "Stupid green bugger! Whaa!" The smirk quickly left his face as he heard a loud clank, he quickly dodged the tank to see what was happening, the good thing about the Super tank was that it was Super slow, Nico looked at where the clanging came from and saw Ahsoka rolling down the Reactor core, before coming to a stop at the bottom, lying motionless.
"Ahsoka!" Nico exclaimed in worry and rushed to her side. The tank turned towards Nico and Ahsoka slowly and armed its laser cannons, and opened up what looked like mortar launchers at the top of it, that ain't good. Nico thought to himself as he tried to shake Ahsoka awake.
Barriss suddenly jumped into action, she leaped onto the top of the tank and cut into the roof, drilled a circle, and jumped in. As this went on, Ahsoka slowly woke up, only to be met with the worried face of Nico making her smile and him to blush, Nico them looked up to his right, only to be met with one of the Super tanks laser cannons two feet away from his face, making him freeze.
Thankfully Barriss opened the hatch of the tank, making Nico sigh in relief. Nico got up and offered Ahsoka a hand, to which she took gratefully, Nico and Ahsoka then jumped into the tank without any trouble
"The bugs took the bombs." Barriss informed the two nervously once the tanks hatch was closed.
Ahsoka frowned, "What are we going to do?" She asked.
Barriss looked to be on the verge of panic, "I don't know what to do…" She said fearfully. "Without the bombs."
Nico cleared his throat, gaining the two Jedi Padawans attention, "You do realise that they call this a 'Super tank' for a reason, right? We can use it to destroy the factory."
"And probably us along with it," Ahsoka added solemnly.
Barriss sighed in resignation, "I guess that's our only choice."
Nico sighed, Well, I always did want to go out in a big bang, can't really get bigger than this.
Ahsoka engaged her comlink. "Master?" She said to Anakin. There was blaster fire in the background. "Can you hear me?"
"Ahsoka!" He yelled. "Set off the bombs! We're trapped!"
"I'm sorry Master," She replied, a lone tear going down her cheek. "We can't make it out."
"Can't make it out?" Skywalker asked in a confused tone. "Ahsoka wait!"
Ahsoka looked to Barriss, who nodded, then she looked to Nico, who, for the first time ever, gave her a true smile, not a grin or a smirk, but a true warm smile, that made her smile in return. She then looked back at the controls and engaged the mortars. "Fire," She said pressing the controls.
Time seemed to slow down. The mortars hit the reactor, the shockwave seemed to last a lifetime to get to them. However, once it did, Nico could feel the tank shoot back like it was a toy being throne across a room. Nico looked to Ahsoka for the last time; she looked back with tears running down her face.
And as the tank seemed to take forever to crash Nico felt a million emotions going through him as he looked into Ahsoka's blue, tear filled, eyes, and at that moment he vowed to himself, that if they survived this, he would always protect her from whatever would dare harm her.
Nico closed his eyes as time sped back up and he was forced to hit his head harder than he had expected, knocking him out. He wasn't sure if he was going to recover from this. For all he knew, he could be dead. Dead and away from Ahsoka…Forever…
A moment later, or an hour, Nico wasn't quite sure, a sort of whirring sound hit his ears, and he slowly opened his eyes, only to see the familiar green and blue lightsabers of Ahsoka and Barriss.
"Well," Nico started gaining the attention of Barriss, "This is awkward."
"Shut up." Barriss snapped, making Nico blink, What'd I do? He then rubbed his eyes to see what was going on better. Barriss was holding both her and Ahsoka's lightsabers, while Ahsoka was working on a powercell. Thanks to the shockwave, the three of them were in different places, Barriss being on the opposite side off the two, while Ahsoka was inside Nico's comfort zone.
"Could someone fill me in on what's happening?" Nico asked a little quieter.
"Ahsoka's working on fixing the communicator," Barriss replied. "Oh, and we're probably going to die because of suffocation."
"That's a…" Nico tried to find the right words. "Comforting thought."
"That is exactly what I said," Barriss said, though she sounded light headed.
"Whatever happens," Nico said, "Destroying this factory will have saved countless lives."
Ahsoka had a smile on her face. "Well I'm about to save three more." After Ahsoka said that, Barriss's eyes closed and her head lolled back into unconsciousness as she deactivated the lightsabers, Nico picked Ahsoka's lightsaber up and lit itm to give Ahsoka the light she needed, he doubted his black lightsaber would help in this situation. Ahsoka quickly got to work as she sparked the power cell on her communicator. It sparked up with electricity but died down when she pulled the power cell away. She did the same thing again, and Nico realised that she was using mores code. She sparked it a few more times before going lightheaded and dropping the powercell, and her head fell on Nico's shoulder, her eyes drooping slightly.
Nico looked down at Ahsoka, "Don't worry Ahsoka, I'm sure Skywalker will fin-" He was suddenly interrupted as something soft landed on his lips, Nico's eyes widened as he realised what was happening. Ahsoka was kissing him.
Nico's mind went blank. He forgot where he was, when it was or why he was their, he forgot all about the lightsaber in his hand and deactivated it. The only thing he could feel was her soft lips on his before he started kissing her back. The kiss lasted less than ten seconds but it felt like an eternity to Nico.
Ahsoka pulled back and she had a large blush on her face but she still had a small smile, "You talk way too much." She said as her eyes closed and her fingers intertwined with Nico's.
Nico smiled as he felt his eye close as well.
Line break
"Ahsoka!"
"Barriss!"
"Nico!"
Nico blinked groggily as he saw light shine, a piece of metal above him was being moved, he felt a shift to his left and found Ahsoka waking up with him.
They were going to live.
Nico smiled, for once glad that he could see the Geonosian sun and he took a nice breath of, somewhat, fresh air, can't exactly expect the air to be that fresh, what with the destroyed factory. Nico tried to get up, but found that his hands were still intertwined with Ahsoka's, Nico's eyes widened as he remembered what happened, he looked at Ahsoka only to see her mouth the word 'Later'. Nico nodded and helped her up, he looked over to where Barriss is, only to see her get up as well.
As they exited the tank, they started to choke on the smoke that was left behind thanks to the debris. "Ahsoka! Nico! Barriss!" Anakin shouted, as he sent some Clones down to help the young Jedi.
Once the Padawans were out of the ditch and with their Masters, Ahsoka looked at Anakin with a smile, "I knew you would come looking for us," she said happily
"I never doubted you guys for a second," Anakin replied.
"Padawan," Luminara said to Barriss. "You did well."
"Thank you, Master," She replied with a small curtsy. "But if it weren't for Ahsoka. We'd still be down there."
Luminara had a smile on her face and turned to Ahsoka. "Indeed," She said, "You're Master never lost faith in you."
Nico just blinked, Do I not get any praise? No? Fine then.
The gunships had arrived to take Nico Ahsoka and Barriss back to a medical frigate, the three Padawans got on without saying a word. They launched and as the gunship got higher the three Padawans could see the destruction they had caused. It was just a pile of burning rubble and stone. Amazing what a few mortars can do. Though Nico wasn't concentrating on any of this stuff, he was concentrating on the one question that was on his mind.
How awkward is this conversation going to be between me and Ahsoka?
Line break
On an unknown planet in wild space
"Peace is a lie, there is only passion.
Through passion, I gain strength.
Through strength, I gain power.
Through power, I gain victory.
Through victory, my chains are broken.
The Force shall free me."
A voice echoed through a dark hall, one lone figure, clad in dark robes and a hood keeping his face hidden, was looking at a painting of Darth Malgus standing on a mountain of Jedi lightsabers. The figure looked to be a human, though looks can always be deceiving. The power that radiated off of the man was easily sensed through the Force, even if you were a mile away.
This lone figure had been repeating the Sith code time and time again for the last five hours, as if it was an incantation.
"Peace is a lie, there is only passion.
Through passion, I gain stren-"
He was suddenly interrupted as the doors to the hall opened with a loud, Bang!
In walked another figure, a male, wearing black-coloured robes that reached to his feet and a mask that covered his face. The mask was completely black, apart from three long red lines, one of those lines suiting as a visor, strapped to the beings waist was a vibroblade.
"Master I have information for yo-ack" The mask wearing being was suddenly interrupted as his Master raised his hand, raising his Apprentice into the air and choking him, while still staring at the painting.
"Through passion, I gain strength.
Through strength, I gain power.
Through power, I gain victory.
Through victory, my chains are broken.
The Force shall free me."
The hooded man looked up at his Apprentice, who was still choking in mid-air, and let him fall to the ground. The masked being fell to the floor, breathing hard.
"You should know better than to interrupt me, boy." The Master sneered down at his pitiful excuse for an Apprentice.
The masked being bowed his head in respect, "Please, forgive me, Lord Vorn, I meant no disrespect." The Apprentice stated, his voice shaky with fear.
The Sith Master, Lord Vorn, scowled underneath his hood, "This interruption had better be important, Angral." He said softly, yet you could hear the threat in his words.
The Apprentice, now specified as Angral, nodded his head rapidly, as he got up, "Yes Master, it is, it concerns Reaper." He said, making the Sith Master tense up for a fraction of a second before it died down, it went unnoticed by the Apprentice.
"What is it?" Lord Vorn questioned.
"We may have discovered a weakness." The Apprentice stated, making Vorn raise an eyebrow under his hood.
"And what, pray tell, might this weakness be?"
The Apprentice rubbed the back of his covered head, "Well, you know how Lord Tyranus puts a camcorder in every one of his droid tanks?" The Sith Master nodded impatiently. "Well, this recording just came through." Angral said, as he held out a holo projector and turned it on.
The three figures came up, all three looking battered, two females and one male, one of the females was a Togruta and the other was a Mirialan while the male was a human, Darth Vorn identified the human as Reaper AKA Nico Di Angelo.
The Mirialan was knocked out, while the Togruta had her head leaning against Reaper's shoulder, Reaper looked down upon her and spoke. "Don't worry Ahsoka, I'm sure Skywalker will fin-" Vorn's eyes widened as he saw the Togruta kiss the Ghost King on the lips, interrupting him.
The kiss lasted for several seconds until the Togruta pulled away, "You talk too much." With that being said, the hologram winked off.
There was silence for the most part as the Sith Master contemplated on what to do, until his Apprentice broke his chain of thought.
"Master?" Angral asked, with a small sense of fear, not wanting to be choked again "Should we tell Lord Sidious about this?"
After a few seconds of silence Darth Vorn turned his head toward the Apprentice, "Does Tyranus have this video yet?" The Apprentice shook his head, "Good, make sure that he never gets it, and delete all evidence of it ever happening, when you have done that, I want you to track down that Togruta, and bring her to me. Am I understood?"
The Apprentice bowed, "Yes Master."
And as the Apprentice was about to leave, Vorn continued talking, "Oh, and if you complete this mission, I shall allow you to construct your own lightsaber."
(Warning: I may sound angry in this last part just because I am slightly pissed off right now.)
Hmmm, not my best chapter. Anyway, I've got to tell you guys something, as you all know, as I have specified it time and time again, my exams are coming up, so I am going to be doing one more chapter, before putting this story on hold. I know, I know, most of you are probably thinking 'Don't do that.' Or will threaten me to continue or you'll hunt me down and kill me, but in all honesty, I don't care, I've got more important things to do than entertain you lot. For the people who understand thank you, and I will get back to the story as soon as I finish my exams.
Also, what did you guys think of the Sith that I brought in?
Onto the reviews...
Guest chapter 9 . Mar 2
Name serpentor race anacondan male sith he is crafty a good speaker and will try tricks and other means to make people join him he once had a special suit that helped him fight but it was destroyed by mace windu he is a coward and will run from master jedi he has broken into the temple more than once and mainly tries to make the younglings into dark jedi he has taken an interest in the youngling katooni and has tried to make her help him his scale tone is a rusty color and he is a minor villan feel free to have him die in any way you deem fit also boba should be good
Hmmm, right. Sorry, but I don't know how I could make that work, a snake like creature as a Sith? And second of all, really? Serpenter? I could probably use him for something, but not for battling Nico, and if you don't mind, I'd like it if you changed his name, cause Serpenter is just to corny.
Black Magic99 chapter 8 . Mar 2
think you for writing this chapter and calling me a 'good sir'. as for boba I think you should stay true to the character. some episodes that I think would go along well with your story line, (plus the opportunity to show the relation ship between ahsoka and nico grow) are : weapons factory, brain invaders( nico/ahsoka instead of ahsoka/barriss where nico gets infected or have all 3 with ahsoka and barriss infected ahoka asking nico to kill her), and R2 come home(nico instead of anakin). these are just ideas you don't have to use them (hope you do) if you don't o-well. any way nice work on the chapter want the other to be up soon.
Thanks for the ideas, I'll put them into consideration.
alex chapter 9 . Mar 3
I say boba fett should be redeemed also have you seen the percy jackson movies
Yes I have seen the movies, why?
Guest chapter 9 . Mar 3
Be cool in Nico took HK-47 for his own and as some kind of back up plan started to secretly mass produce them, but only with the advanced combat capabilities not the personality
Maybe, maybe not, for all you know Nico could have an army of Mandalorian soldiers waiting for his command to attack the Separatist and the Republic. (He doesn't by the way)
Guest chapter 9 . Mar 3
A great chapter. I can see why it was a pest to write as I saw the episode in question just a few days ago.
On that account, and don't take this the wrong way, be careful not just to make recap of the episodes. While I fully understand that some events will have to stay exactly the same, I would like think that Nico could throw in a few dramatic changes.
As for the chronological order: Well, for my sake, you don't have to write a chapter for every single episode. Only take the ones where you think it could be interesting to have Nico play a role and have a minor/major impact on events.
That being said, I loved the interaction between Nico and that droid. I can see why you brought in it. Not many can Nico's skill in sarcasm... plus, it sure is handy in battle. XD
Ah yes, Boba does indeed appear in the series... finished watching season 2 last night... can see why my nephews enjoy it so much... and now I have been smitten as well.
Anyways, Boba appears to have the possibility for redemption. Especially if he talked with someone who knows about holding grudges (hint, hint) and what it can lead to. Plus, apparently, he didn't die in 'Return of the Jedi' and he redeemed himself later on... or at least, so it says on starwars . wikia . com.
Anyways, great descriptions. Almost expected Nico to butt in on their competition and beat all of them, but meh. That so much reminds me of Legolas and Gimli
Hoping to see more.
Yours,
Lightningscar
PS:
If you want a good laugh: Youtube. Search 'what the original triology did wrong' and watch the video uploaded by "The Unusual Suspect" That video brought a smile to my face
I know that on some chapters I'm just recapping events with Nico involved, but a lot of people have been asking me to do imparticular chapters that involve imparticular episodes. Also I just watched the 'What the original trilogy did wrong video' and in all honesty, I needed a good laugh, thanks for suggesting it to me.
Guest chapter 9 . Mar 4
Will mrs o'leary be in the story
Sorry, but no, she wont.
aoe123 chapter 9 . Mar 7
Lol! I love HK! I agree that nico is the most powerful generalized but I think Percy is more powerful power wise, he has a horrible fatal flaw! But that is my personal opinion. Really we'll written!
Thank you for the compliments, and its agreed, Percy is more powerful than Nico, but on this story it was normal demigod Percy VS Sith Lord/Jedi Padawan/demigod Nico, who do you think would win in a battle like that?
Airanger78 chapter 9 . Mar 7
I love this story with a passion! Keep up the good work !
Thanks for the compliments, and I will, once I finish my exams.
Guest chapter 1 . Mar 8
Can windu still be thrown out of a 10 story window PLEASE!
Spoiler alert! Spoiler alert! It may or may not happen, you'll just have to wait and see. Also, you don't seem to like Windu very much do you?
Coolboy chapter 8 . Mar 9
Can Nico make some dead clones come back to life to continue fighting the droids.
It will happen eventually, but not yet, and I'll give you a clue on what he'll be bringing back from the dead, they are neither Jedi nor Clones.
Thank you for reading and if you have any questions just ask them in the reviewers box or PM me, and I'll try my best to answer them. Please review.