Shadow of the Jedi
Chapter 14: Friendship
The hot bronze blade pressed against his arm. Nico barely stopped a scream, but he couldn't suppress the tears that escaped the corners of his eyes.
"Tell me, son of Hades," the Titan, Prometheus growled. "What is Jason Grace's fatal flaw?"
Nico ground his teeth. "I don't know."
Prometheus pulled his sword away, which only made the burn on his arm sting in the open air. "I think you do," he said softly. "Tell me."
Nico forced one eye open and glared at the Giant with it. "Go to hell. Oh wait, you're already here."
Prometheus's eyes narrowed, and he thrust his sword into Nico's shoulder. As if the pain of getting stabbed wasn't bad enough, the heat of the blade blistered everything from his skin to his muscle. This time, Nico couldn't hold back a scream.
Prometheus laughed. The sound was empty of any real emotion. "I can make you feel pain far worse than that, son of Hades. Now tell me, what is Jason Grace's fatal flaw?" Nico stayed silent, and Prometheus's mouth hardened. "Tell me, or I'll peel off your forearm with this sword. And I can promise you that that won't feel nice." He grinned savagely. "I've been subject to torture for thousands of years, demigod. Now that Gaea has freed me, I can't wait to reciprocate some of that pain towards the spawn of the Gods. And since Hades was the one who watched my punishment happen for all those eons, it seems fitting that I start with his child. But I can be reasonable. I can negotiate. Tell me the fatal flaws of the seven demigods, and I'll stop."
"What makes you think I even know?" Nico retorted.
"You've hovered between both camps for over a year, demigod. You've had personal encounters with each one of the seven. That gives you a unique perspective." His next words were frigid. "I advise you to at least make an educated guess, or you'll feel pain beyond your most terrifying nightmares." He smiled like a snake. "You're a clever boy, godspawn. Who knows? You might even guess correctly."
Nico took a shallow breath, feeling a stab of pain in his torso as he did. His ribs were still mostly broken from the last session. "I don't know what Jason's flaw is, Prometheus," he said. "But I'll tell you what mine is. I hold grudges. And let me tell you, I'll get out of here one day. And when I do, I won't forget this. I will find you again, and I will pay you back in full for any pain you cause me." He looked Prometheus full in the face, and he could see hesitation in the Titan's eyes. Nico pressed his words home. "You think getting your liver picked out was bad? The pain I'll make you feel will have you squealing like a Clazmonian sow." And with that, Nico spit in the Titan's face.
At that, the worry in Prometheus's eyes was replaced by anger. Nico knew he had gone too far. "Maybe one day, son of Hades," he said smoothly. "But today, you'll be the one squealing."
Nico managed to refrain from squealing…but he couldn't help but scream as Prometheus's searing hot blade left burns over every inch of exposed skin. Burns as red as blood.
Line break
Nico jerked awake, panting. His skin tingled all over. He looked down at his exposed flesh, only to see the scars after the pain had subsided.
His stomach clenched, and Nico realised that the stab of pain from his dream had been real. But it hadn't been caused by broken ribs, just hunger. The Ghost King got up out of his bed and started to get dressed in his usual black Jedi robes.
It had only been a day since he escorted the Duchess of Mandalore to Coruscant, and during that day he had been incredibly bored. Ahsoka was on a mission with Skywalker trying to find a bunch of bounty hunters, apparently, they destroyed a Venator Class Cruiser just to get to Windu, fortunately or unfortunately, Windu survived.
Once Nico was dressed, his hood up, and had his lightsaber strapped to his belt and put his silver skull ring on his right hand, which he had recently added red gems for the eyes to replace the black lightsaber crystals, he exited his quarters and headed toward the dining hall in the Temple, ready to get his breakfast. And as he was walking his ADHD mind started to wander to completely random stuff, like his titles.
Nico Di Angelo
The one and only son of Lord Hades, Lord of the Underworld.
The self-proclaimed 'Ghost King'.
No one dared challenge his title.
King of Ghosts.
Ghosts. Souls percolating in insanity.
Lunatics
Luna, Lunar.
Moon.
King of the Moon.
Lady Artemis would be none-too-pleased to hear of this little revelation. Her being the Goddess of the Moon and all. Moon Goddess. Moon. Luna. Lunatic. Ghosts. A vicious cycle set on repeat.
Nico knew about Lady Artemis because of one of his many flashbacks, he's been getting flashbacks of different 'Gods/Goddesses' recently. But the one with Lady Artemis made him laugh slightly.
A ten year old version of Nico approached a twelve year old girl with silver eyes, wearing a silver parka and combat trousers.
"Lady Artemis," Ten year old Nico started, "Can I ask you a question?"
The twelve year old Moon Goddess looked down upon the young boy with a disgusted expression, "Very well, what is it, boy."
Ten year old Nico mentally flinched at the amount of venom in the word 'boy', but shrugged it off, "I just want to know…what made you angrier?"
The Moon Goddess blinked, and genuine curiosity sparked in her eyes, "What do you mean?"
"I'm asking what made you angrier; the fact that man conquered the moon, or that they named the missions to do so after Apollo."
Nico didn't know what happened afterward because unfortunately the flashback had stopped, although, Nico wasn't sure if he wanted to know what happened next.
She was the Goddess of Insanity, and he the King. She would be quite perturbed, I believe. He pondered for the moment. Perhaps that explains her odd mannerisms. At that thought a sarcastic little smirk quirked his lips as he made his way into the dining hall.
The hall had Jedi of different species and rank scattered all around the hall. Either just eating silently or chatting to their fellow Jedi. Only a few heads turned as Nico entered the hall, but those heads quickly turned back to their food, not wanting to make eye contact with the Prince of Death.
This made Nico sigh as he went to get his food, when he joined the Republic, Nico knew he wasn't exactly going to be accepted by most of the Jedi, his only true friends were Ahsoka, Anakin and maybe Obi-Wan, the rest of the Jedi that he knew are just acquaintances that don't have negative feelings toward him. But to be fair, he hasn't exactly tried persuading the other Jedi to be his friend, what with all the harsh glares that he sends them whenever they look at him strangely.
Once he got his food, not questioning whatever the blue substance was, he found an empty table and started eating, ignoring the strange looks he was getting from the Younglings and Padawans.
He didn't regret his decision to become a Jedi, far from it. He just couldn't help but think what life would be like if he was never a Sith, if he had become a Jedi instead, maybe he would've been accepted and he would actually know who he was, but no, instead he became Lord Reaper, a Dark Lord of the Sith, Separatist General and murderer of hundreds of Jedi and thousands of Clones.
Suddenly, halfway through his breakfast, he felt a small tug on his robe, he turned his head to the left only to see nothing, making him frown, until he heard someone clear there throat, making him glance down, and what he saw made him raise an eyebrow.
It was just a little human girl, probably nine or ten years old, her face had an adorable innocent look with wide blue eyes, her skin was slightly tanned. She had shoulder length blonde curly hair and her smile seemed to light up the entire room. She didn't have a lightsaber on her hip like most Jedi, probably because she wasn't old enough yet, and she was wearing the traditional robes of a Jedi youngling, creamy white. She was also holding a plate of food.
"Can I help you?" Nico asked in a wary tone.
The young girl nodded nervously, "Umm, c-can I sit at this table please?" she asked in a shy tone, stuttering slightly.
Nico blinked in bemusement and slowly nodded his head, causing the little girl to beam up at him and climb up next to him and start eating.
Nico slowly started eating again, only just catching the wide eyed looks the other Jedi were sending the little girl next to him, causing him roll his own eyes as he started eating.
"Aren't you the Ghost King?" Came the voice of the suddenly not so nervous little girl.
Nico looked into the innocent blue eyes of the little girl, but amazingly, she didn't even flinch, and that was the only reason why Nico answered, "Yes."
"That is such a cool title, I wish I had a title like that, Master Yoda calls me a Youngling so I guess that's my title. My names Tracy by the way, Tracy Beach, and I'm nine years old. What's your name? How old are you? Is it true that you were once known as Reaper?"
Nico blinked as the little girl, Tracy, asked each question like a repeating blaster. For some reason the Youngling reminded Nico of himself, he remembered those visions of himself as a ten year old, his eyes held the same sparkle of curiosity and innocence, until…something changed that.
"Uuum," Nico started, uncertain on why the little girl even wanted to be near him when she heard the rumours of him being Reaper. "My names Nico, Nico Di Angelo, and I'm sixteen, and yeah, I'm, uh, Reaper." Nico winced waiting for the squeal of fright and the eventual footsteps of the little girl running away.
But the little Youngling surprised him even more, "Cool! I heard that you could control fire, can you really? How do you do it? Is it really black? Is black your favourite colour?" She asked, still staring up at the Prince of Death with an innocent smile.
Nico blinked, still slightly miffed on why she was even talking to him, "Yeah, I guess, I mean it's pretty easy. It's just a form of combustion." He raised his hand up for her to see. "Move the molecules fast enough, joining heat, oxygen, and fuel to get-" Tracy gasped as she saw a brief shimmer in the air around his hand and then black flames appeared. "Remove one of them, like fuel-" He clamped his open hand into a fist and the flames died out. "Bye-bye, fire." The little girl just sat there with a blank expression, making the Ghost King chuckle, "Okay, maybe it's easy for me to understand." He said as he went back to his food.
Nico could hear a faint voice saying 'So cool' and he looked up, only to see over a dozen Padawans staring at him in awe. Nico sighed as he finished his food.
He was about to get up and leave, until he felt a small tug on the sleeve of his robes, making him look back down at Tracy, who had a nervous expression.
"Umm, Nico," She started, kind of awkwardly, causing the Ghost King to smile in amusement, "I was wondering if you could come to my training session today, I want to show you what I can do." She finished off with a hopeful gaze.
Nico frowned, he didn't exactly want to go and be ridiculed by the other Jed. He knew that because her age was nine that she would be in the group that had younglings from the ages of eight to fifteen. But then again, he had absolutely nothing better to do than just sit around and do nothing, it was amazing how boring his life is without either Ahsoka or Anakin, and he also couldn't remove his gaze from the cute, innocent, wide eyes of the little girl in front of him.
Nico sighed in defeat, I am so weak. "Sure, when's the training session?"
A massive smile replaced the hopeful look the little girl had earlier, "What time does it start?" She echoed, "Ummm, oh, in fifteen minutes." That made Nico's eyes widen, By the Gods what have I gotten myself into?
Line break
Well, this is awkward.
Tracy had finished her breakfast as fast as she could after Nico had agreed to watch her train, she quickly grabbed his hand and dragged him to the Jedi training area, which was just a large Dojo, right now he was in line with a bunch of different Padawans and Younglings, some of them sending him confused and resentful looks, but some of them, much to Nico's confusion, sent him smiles and awed looks.
The door to the Dojo opened up revealing the Master Jedi that would be teaching the class today, and much to Nico's amusement, it was Master Fay and Secura. As soon as they walked into the room Nico felt every male Padawan's emotions change, making him roll his eyes. Their reactions were fairly similar to his when he first saw the pixie-like Jedi, but he quickly got over it, though Nico never had any outward lust toward the Jedi Master, unlike the Padawans in this Dojo, only a morbid curiosity and slight admirartion at the amount of power that he sensed within her.
The pixie-like Jedi looked at each of the Padawan's and Younglings with a smile, causing the males to grow blushes on their faces, once she reached Nico she rose a brow in slight surprise.
"Padawan Di Angelo," The Master started, "I didn't know you attended these sessions."
Nico gave her a half smirk as he glanced down to his right, "Tracy here wanted me to watch her train, and, well, I've got nothing better to do." He said with a shrug. This caused said Youngling to smile brightly and blush at the same time.
The Jedi Master chuckled slightly, "I see, well, whatever the case, it's good to see you again."
Nico smiled and nodded his head, and suddenly a thought came to him, he didn't really have time to talk to Fay properly during the Battle of Atraken, and he never really saw her fight against the Separatists mainly because the battle was fought with bio weaponry, but he wanted to know how powerful the Jedi Master was, and how dangerous an enemy she could be.
"Master Fay, I just wanted to know, how is your connection?" Nico asked, studying the powerful and centuries old aura of Fay.
The elven-like Jedi smiled, tilting her head slightly as she glanced at Nico's lightsaber, hanging from his belt. "Strong enough for me to no longer need such crude devices."
The comment was light, though carrying a bit of challenge and Nico pulled his hood back, grabbed his lightsaber and chucked it to Aayla Secura, who caught it with slight surprise, and walked to the middle of the Dojo. Fay carried a lightsaber as all Jedi did but through decades of training she had overcome the need to use the weapon of a Jedi, instead relying on the Force to defend herself. Truly something the Jedi are lacking and that Nico found refreshing.
"Shall we begin?" Nico asked, inviting Fay to back up her claims.
The Jedi Master smiled at the much younger Jedi's confidence and nodded slowly, she turned to the Padawan's and Younglings, "This shall be part of your training, observation, go up to the observation balcony and witness that a lightsaber is not a Jedi's only tool." The Younglings and Padawan's nodded excitedly, Aayla chuckled softly to herself as she followed the Padawans, Nico's lightsaber resting on her belt.
Nico turned back to Master Fay just in time to see her adopt a very complex Echani fighting form. Nico's eyes narrowed, the fight was to gauge Fay's strength and skill, he knew that this would be a very difficult battle, Nico may know a lot of Force powers but the Jedi Master in front of him has had decades to train herself.
Stretching, the Ghost King worked his way through a simple series of katas to loosen his range of motions before he adopted a Mandalorian hand to hand stance with a mixture of his own unique fighting back from when he was Reaper.
Fay tilted her head to the side, studying Nico's stance before nodding to Nico.
The Ghost King focused the Force in his right palm, striking with his left hand in a feign before sending his right fist outward to Fay and opening his hand. The Jedi Master dodged the wave of Force energy, a ripple in the air from where she had been a moment before and she followed through with a similar attack on Nico, probing his fighting style and teasing his senses with a fraction of her abilities.
"Not bad." Nico commented, dodging in a fairly ridiculous cartwheel and landing in a crouch before using his crouch to spring forth and launch into a set of complex, probing punches and kicks that Fay dodged and blocked expertly.
Not bad at all. Nico thought, taking an open-palmed strike from the Jedi Master to the chest. Staggering back from the outburst of Force-energy from Fay's strike, Nico adopted a defensive stance, smirking at the pixie-like Jedi.
"I see I shouldn't go easy on you…" Nico commented.
Fay smirked slightly, her eyes dancing with excitement and certainty. "I'd be insulted if you did."
Nico nodded, letting Fay know he wouldn't back down and moved, using the Force to speed up his movements and add strength to his attacks. A flurry of kicks and punches was unleashed which Fay managed to stop, using her own knowledge of the Force while she slowly gathered her strength for her own attack.
Grasping an opening in Fay's defense, Nico made to punch, stopping halfway through the motion and grasping Fay's blocking wrist. Twisting, Nico pulled himself under the Jedi's retaliatory strike, twisting to throw Fay off balance.
Fay followed Nico's attempts, moving with him and avoiding any injury on her part. A quick, cutting gesture with the flat of her palm against Nico's hand released her and she returned in kind with a powerful Force-push which Nico blocked, following through by attempting to kick his legs out from under him in a roundhouse.
Nico sidestepped and leapt slightly, avoiding the attack but was unprepared for yet another, more powerful Force-push that sent him on his back to the floor.
Crap! Rolling, Nico twisted, barely catching the surprised expression on Fay's face as he caught her leg, twisted and wrapped his own around hers, locking her into place as he knelt, pulling her leg with him as Fay was forced by the motion onto her stomach.
Nico quickly grabbed Fay's arms, pinning one beneath her and the other behind her as he breathed heavily and added just enough pressure on his motion to let Fay know he had won.
Fay lifted her face from the training mat, giving a simple nod and Nico released her, offering the Jedi Master a hand as she stood. Both Jedi were covered in a fine sheen of sweat and wore matching smirks
"Where did you learn that?" Fay asked, curious of the unfamiliar submission move.
Nico shook his wrist slightly, trying to relieve some of the ache Fay's defensive break had caused him and his smirk was gone from his face in an instant only to be replaced by a void of emotion, his eyes glazing over.
"Tartarus…" Nico stated simply, but with no real emotion in his voice.
Fay's eyes flickered slightly and her smile turned to a slightly concerned frown, "Nico," She started, laying her hand on his shoulder, "Are you okay?"
Nico blinked and shook his head, then looked back at the Jedi Master with a smirk, "Never better Master." But she continued looking at him with a concerned frown.
"How is your Force-form?" Nico asked, wanting to desperately change the subject.
Fay rose a brow slightly but allowed Nico his distraction, she glanced up at the balcony only to see the Padawan's and younglings staring at them in awe and she sighed, holding an open palm outward and waiting.
Nico cupped his hand, reaching out and mirroring Fay's stance as he created a Force-barrier, nodding as the Jedi Master sent a powerful burst of Force-energy outward, showing Nico the extent of her powers.
Nico held the Force at bay but was hard-pressed to not give up his ground. Fay was strong, almost as strong as Count Dooku and Asajj Ventress when he took them both on in a training exercise, and Nico was surprised that any Jedi could wield this much power in the Force.
Fay's cherub feature's pulled into a small smile. Nico was powerful as the stories said he was, likely even stronger. Pushing more energy into her attack, Fay noticed the surprise on Nico's face as he was forced back several steps.
Focusing on holding Fay's power off, Nico grunted with the strain and his smirk returned. They're not all weaklings after all! It was an honest thought on his part. Compared to the Jedi of the Old Republic the Jedi of today were pathetically reliant on their lightsabers and only their lightsabers. Really, a lightsaber was a fine weapon but it wasn't the only weapon available to a Jedi.
Fay had been pushing all of her energy into the attack but had stopped, dropping her attack at the look on Nico's face. An incredulous look crossed the Jedi Master's face as she realised, with a slight chill that Nico had been holding off her attack while his mind had been straying to other places. It seemed that the former Sith Lord hadn't even noticed she'd stopped her attack. A slight tilt of his head told Fay that Nico had come to a decision and the Jedi Master lowered her hands, waiting.
Nico blinked, as if realising he'd been lost in thought and cringed mentally. He didn't want to scare the Jedi too much…
Well…maybe I do…
Sighing, Nico lowered his hand, nodding to Fay before he turned to Aayla Secura, who was still on the balcony. The Twi'lek's face held a hint of Fay's still incredulous look and Nico smiled slightly at the Twi'lek as he used the Force to unclip his lightsaber from her belt and brought it to his hand, clipping it back to his own belt.
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Nico rose a brow in slight surprise as he watched Tracy use the Force to lift up ten training remotes, Nico was surprised that she could lift up three, let alone ten, despite her innocent look, she was very powerful for a nine year old. The older ones could only lift up about five or six, and Nico noticed the dirty looks that they were sending the little girl, obviously jealous of her. Nico grinned at that thought, Remember kiddos, There is no emotion, there is peace.
Right now, Nico was lying down on the Dojo floor watching the Padawan's be trained by both Master's Fay and Secura, if he didn't know any better, the Masters were getting ready to end the session.
Apparently his presumption was proven to be true, as Master Fay started talking, "You have done very well this training session students, now, I think you should all take a shower, and then head for the dining hall for lunch." That being said the two Jedi Masters left the training Dojo.
Nico, still lying on the floor, looked over to Tracy, who was walking over to him, but as she tried to move closer to him, three male Padawans blocked her path, causing Nico's eyes to narrow.
The middle Padawan was a fifteen year old blue skinned Twi'lek, the one on the left looked to be a twelve year old human, and the one on the right looked to be a thirteen year old Rodian. All three of them were male and had lightsabers strapped to their belts.
"Where do you think you're going, freak?" The Twi'lek asked with a sneer, him obviously the apparent 'ring leader', his 'friends' laughed, as if he made some kind of amazing joke.
Tracy flinched under his gaze, and spoke in a small shy voice, "I-I was j-just going to-"
"Do what freak?" The human asked with a smirk, "Do you think you're better than us? Just because you sat at that Sith's table this morning doesn't make you better than us."
Nico was already making his way toward the four of them, the other Younglings and Padawans had already left, so that just left them all alone, and that's not a safe situation to be in when you're insulting the Prince of Death or one of his friends.
"I-I don't think I'm b-better th-than you." She said in a fearful tone, tears starting to well up in her eyes.
"That's because you're not," The Rodian scowled down at her, "Your father was a Jedi, and he broke the code, that makes you a huge mistake on this galaxy."
By now, the little girl was balling, and Nico felt something akin to rage fill within him, How dare they! I'll squash them like bugs!
"You're nothing but a mista-" The Twi'lek was suddenly interrupted by someone tapping him on the shoulder, he turned around, only to be met by a pale hand grabbing his robes, lifting him up and throwing him toward the other side of the Dojo.
His two friends eyes widened and they ran to help their leader. Once the Twi'lek was standing up he glared at the mysterious Jedi, "How dare you, I could…" The threat died down in his throat as he noticed who it was. "Reaper!?" He squealed in fear.
Nico raised an eyebrow as he checked on Tracy, By the Gods, that guys a blind moron. "Are you okay?" The Ghost King questioned the young girl.
Tracy wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her robes, and nodded, giving Nico a small watery smile that made Nico's eyes narrow and look at the three Padawans, who somehow regained their confidence.
"Well, well, well," The Twi'lek started, "the Sith and the freak here together, not that much of a surprise." He said with a snort.
Nico looked at him with an eyebrow raised, "Are you meant to be Jedi? Wow, they've really been lowering there standards recently." He said as he looked at the three with a condescending smirk.
The Rodian scoffed, "You can't talk, you're a Sith, you can never be a Jedi, you may have a bit of light inside you, but that can easily be overturned by the darkness within you."
Nico blinked, Wow, the Rodians actually good with words, who knew. But on the outside, Nico used one of his greatest armaments he has at his disposal, being the sarcastic ass he is.
The Ghost King shrugged, "You could warn me when I do something bad. Blink once for dark side, twice for light."
The Rodians eyes narrowed, "You know, people say sarcasm is the lowest form of wit."
Nico smirked. "They've obviously never met me, and everyone knows about me, so you must be lying."
The human stepped forward, "Are you insinuating that my friend is a liar?" He said, trying to use big words to confuse Nico, He's obviously not the brightest one then.
"Oh, no," Nico started with a shake of his head, looking thoroughly mortified, "not at all. I'm saying your friend is a liar. Surely you can appreciate the difference." He finished with a smirk. But that smirk immediately dissolved into a void of emotion. "Now go away."
The three of them looked at each other, uncertainty in their expressions, until they finally came to a decision, and with a start, Nico realised that the three had a Force bond, allowing them to read each-others mind.
"We'll leave," The Twi'le started, "But not before you answer some of our questions."
Nico rolled his eyes with a heavy sigh, he wanted to get out of here and have his lunch, but if this was the only way to get these guys to leave, then he'll answer their questions…with some of his amazing charm added into the answers.
"Fine, but hurry up, I want my lunch."
The Twi'lek nodded, which took Nico by surprise, first he was being a massive ass and now he's being slightly civil, Is he bipolar or something?
"First question," He started, "On which planet were you born?"
Nico raised an eyebrow. "Kashyyyk. I'm a Wookiee…can't you tell."
The Twi'lek's head tails twitched in irritation, but he moved onto the next question, "What was your background before you were Reaper?"
"I'm a Hutt in human form planning to overthrow the Republic." Nico answered, a smirk working its way on his face.
The Twi'lek's jaw clenched, "How old are you?"
"Over 3000. Healthy living, you know." Technically he wasn't lying with this one, but the Twi'lek didn't see it that way.
He growled and pointed at the Ghost King, "I challenge you to a duel!" He announced causing gasps to go up all around the Dojo.
Nico blinked and looked up at the balcony's, and was slightly startled to learn that there were a bunch of Jedi standing up there watching, some of them were laughing there pants off, probably from Nico and his amazing weapon known as sarcasm, but most of them were looking at the Twi'lek Padawan with expressions that said, 'You are without a doubt the biggest idiot I have ever seen.' Even the Twi'lek's friends were looking at him as if he was crazy.
The Ghost King looked back at the Twi'lek, who was still looking at Nico with his head held high, and shrugged, "Sure, what are the terms."
Obviously the Twi'lek wasn't expecting him to agree, because his expression wavered, but immediately, his superior attitude came back, "If I win, you tell me everything about your life and if you win…um…" He frowned, trying to think of something that he would be willing to give away, but Nico beat him to it.
"If I win, you leave Tracy alone. Got it?" He added the last part with a glare. The Twi'lek frowned, obviously not liking the terms, but nodded after seeing Nico's glare. The Ghost King nodded, "Good, we'll duel after lunch, right now, I'm starving."
The Twi'lek was about to argue until a large rumble came from him, causing him to blush and nod, while walking out of the Dojo, his other two friends in toe.
Nico turned to look at Tracy, who had an expression akin to awe plastered onto her face, "Y-you would do that for me?" Nico just smirked and winked, causing her to smile and run up to him, grabbing his hand. "Come on, we've got to get you some lunch."
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After lunch the Jedi that knew about the duel started to fill up the balcony's, some Padawans and Younglings seated anxiously waiting, while some Masters and Knights had worried expressions, not wanting the Ghost King to hurt the Twi'lek boy too much. Jedi Master Fay stood near the middle of the Dojo while the Twi'kek boy, who's name Nico recently learned was Clars Clinn, stood in full Jedi battle armour. Nico on the other hand was lazily lying on his back in his usual black Jedi robes, twisting a black pen in his fingers.
Once everyone was seated, Nico finally stood up as Master Fay quieted everyone down.
"The rules for the fight are simple, no powers whatsoever. There will be no killing and maiming is to be kept to a minimum. The fight will be to surrender of incapacitation." Fay announced to the Dojo.
Fay nodded to the two combatants before yelling, "Begin!"
Clars strode confidently towards the centre of the arena, blue training saber activated, and glaring harshly at Nico, "Where's your weapon Sith?"
Nico smiled as he put his black pen in a pouch in his robes, "Against you, I don't need one."
Clars's face turned red with rage, and because of the fact that his skin was blue it came out as purple, and he let loose a battle cry before charging at Nico. He slashed wildly as Nico ducked, dodged and weaved away from every strike. Clars continued to press on, his anger growing as he failed to touch Nico.
"Fight me you coward!" The Twi'lek Padawan snarled.
Nico grinned as he jumped back from a wild slash, "Why? I think everyone is having fun watching you make a fool out of yourself."
Clars lunged forward and made a wild slash at Nico's head. Nico's hand shot up, pushing the training saber away, ignoring the harsh shock it sent through his system, and making Clars stumble forward. Nico stepped behind him and grabbed the back of Nico's armour, pulling hard and sending the Twi'lek Padawan to the ground on his back hard.
Clars jumped to his feet in a rage, "Fight me you coward! You're nothing but a coward! You have no honour!"
Clars charged forward but didn't anticipate Nico meeting his charge. He tried to slash at Nico but Nico was already inside his strike as he smacked Clars's lightsaber hand making his blue blade clatter to the ground. Clars' eye widened as Nico grabbed his chest plate and threw him to the ground.
"Come on then kid! Fight me! Stop being a coward!" Nico yelled as he picked up Clars' lightsaber and tossed it to him. "Come on scum, show me your power!"
Clars picked up his sword and charged again trying to impale Nico with a quick stab, his anger quickly destroying any logic in his mind, but Nico spun to the right and kicked the outstretched lightsaber out of his hand.
"Go! Get your weapon! Show me why you think you are stronger than a former Dark Lord of the Sith, Padawan!" Nico yelled as Clars quickly ran to his lightsaber.
As he reached his his blade, Clars looked back at Nico warily before he noticed the laughing Padawans and Younglings in the stands, all laughing at him.
Clars charged at Nico, trying to bring his blade down on top of the son of Hades' head, but froze when Nico's hands shot up and caught the blade between the palms of his hands. Nico was sweating as a harsh shocks ruptured from the lightsaber and went all over his body. Clars tried to Force the blade down but could barely move it.
"Pathetic." Nico growled before he sent a powerful kick to Clars' stomach. The Twi'lek Padawan stumbled back and lost his grip on his lightsaber, when he did, Nico grabbed the blade and spun it in his hand as he approached the now terrified Padawan, while looking at his now burned hand curiously, the Ghost King then looked back at Clars.
"Give up yet?" Nico asked as he glared at the Padawan.
"Never!" Clars growled as he shot forward, surprising Nico, and tackling him to the ground, causing Nico's grip on the training saber to loosen.
The two Jedi rolled a few times before Clars ended up on top of Nico. He swung a hard punch at Nico's face but hit the ground as Nico turned his head. Nico pushed Clars back and used his feet to launch the Twi'lek backwards.
Nico climbed to his feet as Clars charged at him again, throwing a wild punch that Nico caught in his hand. Nico sent a powerful blow to Clars' forearm, breaking it with a sickening crunch while never releasing his fist.
Clars cried out in pain as he fell to his knees. Nico twisted the fist as Clars screamed in agony when it forced his already broken arm to twist.
"Yield!" Nico yelled.
"Never," Clars whimpered.
Nico rolled his eyes before throwing a hard punch to the side of Clars' head causing him to crumple to the ground unconscious.
Slow clapping suddenly came from the entrance of the Dojo, causing the Ghost King to frown and glance at whoever it was, and what he saw made his eyes widen.
It was a male human, that much was obvious, and he looked to be somewhere in his forty's. He was wearing a kind of personalised mix of armour and robes. He had a large chestplate on his outfit, along with shoulder plates and leg plates. His face had a few scars on it (Gifts from Nico himself), and his grey hair was wrapped in a bun on the back of his head. Nico recognised him as one of the few Jedi who escaped him as Lord Reaper, he was Jedi General Rahm Kota, and one of the few Jedi that Nico actually respected.
Kota walked toward Nico, an amused smirk on his face and still clapping slowly, "Congratulations are in order Di Angelo, well, not really, it wasn't much of a challenge now, was it?"
Nico raised an eyebrow, he was well aware of the spectators on the balcony staring at them, "Master Kota." Nico acknowledged with a bow of his head.
"Less of the formal stuff, boy," Kota waved him off casually, "Now come with me, we've got a job to do." He said as he turned to the Dojo door.
This time both brows went into Nico's hairline, and he smirked slightly as moved his head up to the balcony, catching the eyes of Clars' friends, the human and the Rodian, who were both looking at him with fear in their eyes.
Nico narrowed his eyes into a glare, the meaning clear, Remember the deal. He then moved his eyes to Tracy, who had the biggest smile on her face, and winked, before following Kota out of the Dojo, leaving the other Jedi to take Clars' unconscious form to the medical centre.
Line break
"We've been ordered to take my militia to Bothawui to assist General Skywalker in repelling the CIS forces attacking the planet." Kota informed the Ghost King as they made their way to the Temple hanger.
Nico raised an eyebrow looking at the Jedi General, "I thought Skywalker was looking for bounty hunters."
Kota smirked, "They were, apparently they found the bounty hunter on Bothawui, unfortunately for them, the Separatists decided to attack that sector, this bounty hunter must be real important to the Separatists to do that."
"Who's the bounty hunter?" Nico asked curiously.
Kota rolled his eyes, "They had more important things to report than the name of a bounty hunter, boy," The Jedi General then smirked, "Best thing about all this is that I've finally been given a proper cruiser; a Venator."
Nico smirked. Kota's refusal to lead Clones into battle had meant he was forced to rely on upgraded civilian ships to move his militia from battle to battle. This was due largely to the Navy's reluctance to let go of one of its Star Destroyers to someone who wouldn't work with Clones. 'Reaper' had laughed loudly when he saw Kota's fleet of civilian transports, but on that day he learned a very valuable lesson. Don't judge a book by its cover.
"You can thank me for that, General. I gave the Jedi the idea of using non-Clone soldiers in their military after the Battle of Atraken." He elaborated, seeing the Generals quizzical look.
Kota smirked, "Well, I guess I do owe you some thanks, all though there was a price," He finished with a frown, causing Nico to raise an eyebrow, "Almost all maintenance and gunnery crews are Clones," Kota admitted. "Abourt half the bridge staff, too."
"Well that sucks." Nico said dryly.
"I'm sure it will be perfectly horrid," Kota grumbled, not detecting the sarcasm in the Ghost King's tone. "I've already been forced to promise the Council not to discuss the moral implications of the Clone army with any of the bridge staff!"
"What a pity," Nico said with a roll of his eyes.
"Less cheek, boy," Kota levelled a mock scowl at the Ghost king as they reached the hanger bay. Looking about, they locked onto a (relatively) flashy looking speeder and got in, Kota driving.
"So what do you think of Skywalker?" Nico asked as they flew away from the Temple.
"He's got a reputation for getting the job done. He uses unconventional, high risk tactics that either work out extremely well, or kill off half of his troops. While the Council believes he's reckless, he has more than enough raw power to back up most of his actions." Kota answered as they sped through the Coruscant air.
Nico raised an eyebrow, "Yeah, thats his reputation, but what's your personal opinion?"
"Can wait until I've actually met him," Kota said firmly. "Despite any reservations about his character and leadership style, the fact remains that he and the 501st legion have an excellent track record."
"Fair enough," Nico said with a shrug, he didn't know why, he just liked getting people's opinions of Skywalker, sometimes they are the most amusing opinions you'll ever hear and sometimes they are the most seriously deadly. "At least he makes things interesting."
"We'll see about that," Kota smirked. "Speaking of interesting, I hear that his Padawan uses the same ridiculous reverse grip as you do."
Nico rolled his eyes, "You're just jealous because you suck at Shien." He said, thinking about the fight he had with Kota when he was 'Reaper'.
"Envy leads to the Dark Side," Kota retorted with a smile.
Nico shrugged, "Been there, done that."
"Anyway, once we get there, you can stay with Skywalker and his Padawan. Go make flower chains, or whatever it is you teenagers do with your time," He said, sending Nico an amused glance as he blushed.
"You're a very weird Jedi, you know that?" The Ghost King retorted, once again rolling his eyes at the Jedi Generals attempt at humour.
"And you're completely flaccid." Kota said amusedly, picking up on a whole new line of annoyance, and causing Nico to facepalm.
Line break
Nico walked purposefully on to the bridge of the ship. Nearby, several of the bridge crew saluted there Commander while the rest kept about their work. Out of the viewport, Nico could easily see the expanse of the Coruscant military docks, the whole place a bustle of activity as ships were loaded up with men and munitions, ready to take the fight to the Separatists.
"Nice of you to join us boy," Kota called from the front of the bridge. "Would I be correct in the assumption that you were inspecting the main cannons?"
"Obviously," Nico chuckled as he moved up beside the Jedi General. "Those things are huge."
"Indeed they are," Kota said with a predatory smile. "I must admit to a certain feeling of excitement over being able to use some truly heavy ordnance."
Nico smirked, "Having a Star Destroyer should make for an excellent change of pace."
"That it shall," Kota chuckled. "Are the gunnery deck all stocked and ready?" He questioned the Prince of Death.
"Yes, General."
"Good," Kota nodded to Nico before turning to the ship's Captain. "Take her away, Captain."
"Yes, General," the man replied before he started shouting orders for the bridge crew to make ready for take-off.
"Back into the fray, boy," Kota grinned. "Think we'll show Skywalker and the 501st how things are really done?"
The Ghost King smirked, "Undoubtedly, the Separatists won't know what hit them." Nico said confidently.
"That's the spirit, boy!" Kota let out a deep laugh. "Captain, how long till we can make the jump to lightspeed?"
"We just need to clear the planet's gravitational field," The Captain responded. "So, just a few more minutes."
Nico watched with interest as the cruiser cleared Coruscants gravitational pull and prepared to enter hyperspace. A few moments later, the stars seemed to elongate towards them as the cruiser catapulted forwards at faster than light speed.
Line break
Being in hyperspace was boring. Almost crazily so.
Nico spent the spare time practising his meditation, and thus becoming increasingly frustrated when he kept getting more and more nervous about the coming battle.
"Ah, screw this!" He said as he stood up from where he had been sitting cross legged in his quarters. I may as well go find Kota, he thought as he headed for the bridge. We should be exiting hyperspace soon.
True to form, Kota was found standing at the helm of the bridge, reading what was most likely an intelligence report on a holopad.
"So, what exactly are we expecting when we arrive?" Nico asked as he stood beside the General.
"If you had been at the briefing you would know," Kota pointed out, eyes not moving from the holopad.
The Ghost King scowled, "I was busy, that kid was the one who challenged me anyway." Nico said, referring to the duel he had with Clars the annoying Twi'lek.
"Hmph! Make sure you don't miss the next one," Kota growled as he put the holopad down. "Truth is, we don't know what to expect, the transmission High Command received from Skywalker was very brief. All we know is that the Separatists are laying siege to Bothawui."
"So we should be ready for immediate engagement?" Nico questioned.
"Indeed we should," Kota agreed. "You'll be in charge of a squad of V-19s to be deployed in the event of a space battle."
"I'm not sure I'm comfortable being a pilot; I prefer to get up and personal," Nico frowned. "Dogfights aren't really my thing."
"Even so, you'll do it." Kota said firmly. "I need you out there to lead the men while I get this Destroyer over to the rendezvous with General Skywalker's fleet."
"Fine, fine," Nico gave in with a half-hearted shrug, before deciding to change the subject. "So anyway, why do you think the Separatists are attacking Bothan space? I thought they were focusing their attacks on the outer rim."
"They were. But it was inevitable that the Confederacy would target the Bothawui system," Kota said, his face marred by a grim expression. "The Bothan spinet is the most detailed information network in the galaxy, if the Separatists gains access to it then they'll be able to outmanoeuvre our forces with ease."
Nico looked pensively out of the viewport at the blurry blue light of hyperspace. Both he and Kota remained silent in contemplation for a few moments before the clanking of boots alerted them to the arrival of one of the bridge officers.
"General, the Captain wishes me to inform you that we will be exiting hyperspace shortly," said the Clone; one of the staff that had been foisted upon Kota in order for him to get his hands on a Star Destroyer.
"Acknowledged," Kota replied, not turning from his position looking out of the viewport. "Have all hands report to battle stations. I have a feeling we'll be coming in hot."
"Yes, sir!" The Clone responded with a crisp salute, before rushing off to relay the order.
Less than five minutes later, Nico watched as the ship came out of hyperspace…right into a torrent of laser fire coming from a Commerce Guild support destroyer…which they were currently on a collision course with.
"Oh, shit." Nico muttered at the same time as Kota bellowed, "Take evasive action! All batteries, open fire!"
"General! We have two Banking Clan frigates advancing on our starboard flank!" One of the Clones shouted from across the bridge.
"Blast! They were waiting for us," Kota cursed as he looked out of the viewport towards the approaching Separatist ship. "Focus fire on the Destroyer, then make full towards Skywalker's fleet," he shouted back at the bridge crew. "Di Angelo, take the fighters and stall those frigates."
"Yes, General," Nico acknowledged as he sprinted away from the bridge, just managing to catch an elevator down to the hanger bay as he heard Kota's bellowed command od, "Divert power to the starboard deflectors, I want to put that Destroyer between us and the frigates!"
A few minutes of irritatingly slow elevators and frantic running later, Nico found his squad of fighter pilots that had been assigned to his command.
"All right gold squad, you're with me," he shouted as he moved over to his black and grey Delta-7 Starfighter. "We'll be making a precision strike on those frigates while the rest of the fighter squadrons delay the enemy advance."
"Commander, without support from the Venator we won't be able to penetrate the shields on those frigates," one of the pilots said nervously while getting in his V-19.
"The bombers will be attacking their shield," Nico informed the squad. "We'll be focusing on damaging their docking rings, it's the point with the weakest shielding."
"Yes, Sir!"
"All right then, let's move out," Nico ordered as he activated his engines and headed for the hanger doors.
Once past the huge blast doors, the carnage of the space battle was apparent to anybody in a Starfighter. Laser bolts were flying between the Venator class Star Destroyer and the now critically damaged Commerce Guild support destroyer. The Republic ship was now manoeuvring into position behind the Separatist ship in an attempt to use it as cover against the swiftly approaching enemy frigates.
"Gold squad, form up behind me. Loose formation," Nico barked into his communicator.
Swerving beneath the support destroyer, Nico lead the squad away from the skirmish with the remaining Separatist forces from that ship and aimed towards the oncoming frigates. Thankfully, his sensors indicated that several other squads were forming up around him as they made towards their next target.
"Red and Black squads, make sure you keep their fighters away from our bombers," Nico ordered as they approached firing range.
"Roger that, Commander," Red leader confirmed, "We have Vulture droids incoming!"
"Gold squad, increase speed. We need to break through their fighters," Nico commanded as he flicked the necessary controls in his cockpit. "All other fighter's, engage!"
On his command, the Republic forces opened fire. A barrage of laser blasts went hurtling towards the droid fighters, which in turn returned fire on the Republic forces. Soon Nico's vision was filled with the bright lights of blaster fire as he led Gold squadron through the Separatist forces, all the while calling out to the Force to guide him on a safe path through the deluge of laser bolts.
"Look sharp, Commander, we've got Tri-fighters coming in on our tail," the voice of one of his pilots crackled over the comm channel.
"Roger that, Gold leader. Take Gold six and seven to intercept," Nico responded.
"Yes, Sir!" came the barked response.
Flicking his gaze down to his scanners, he saw the three friendly ships break away from the main group to engage the Tri-fighters.
"Ok boys, we're moving into range of the frigate's point defence cannons," Nico informed the squad. "This is where it gets ugly."
No sooner had the words left his mouth, a barrage of laser fire was unleashed by the frigate's defence turrets. Nico swung his ship in a sweeping motion to flank around the foremost Separatist ship, weaving in and out of the streams of blaster fire.
"Shit! R5, see if you can boost the deflector shields!" he ordered his atromech. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw one of his squad mates explode as laser fire ripped through his shields and tore through the V-19's hull.
"Gold's two through five, launch missiles at the docking rings!" Nico shouted shouted. "The rest of you break off, we've got enemy fighter's coming in!"
Ignoring the resounding chorus of 'Yes, Sir' from his squad, Nico suddenly changed direction, moving to engage the enemy fighters that were closing in with half of Gold squadron doing the same.
Changing to attack speed, Nico started opening fire on the droid forces moving against him. Ducking, weaving and rolling in a seemingly random pattern, he let the Force flow through him, guiding him past the blaster fire and missiles in an unending dance of death. Everywhere he turned there was another fighter to be shot down, and every time he shot one, another would swoop in to attack him in its place.
Seeing that, despite his best efforts, he had already lost five of the ten ships of Gold squad (Gold leader and the survivors of the attack on the frigate having returned earlier). Incensed, he called the bomber squadron over the comm channel.
"Where the Hades are you guys!?" he bellowed as he rolled out of the way of a Vulture droid's missile.
"Sorry for the delay, Commander," came the apologetic voice of one of the bomber pilots. "Seppies had us pinned down, but we're on our now with a fighter escort from the Resolute. ETA: two minutes."
"Get here in one!" The Ghost King barked over the channel as he wheeled his fighter around. "All Gold units, disengage! I repeat, disengage! Lead these fighters into firing range for our reinforcements."
"Roger that, Commander!"
From there Nico, along with the rest of Gold squadron, manoeuvred themselves so as to retreat from the Separatist fighters. Diverting power to their rear deflectors and thrusters, the small strike force started leading the enemy on a route that would ultimately leave them outflanked by the approaching Republic forces.
"Gold squadron, come in," a very familiar voice buzzed over the comm. "This is General Skywalker, do you copy?"
"Roger, Skywalker. This is Nico, we could use a hand over here," Nico replied. Checking his scanners he saw that the lead fighters of the reinforcements were two Jedi Starfighters; presumably Skywalker and Ahsoka.
"Acknowledged. We're moving into firing range now."
Nico banked to the side, avoiding a stream of blaster fire from a Vulture droid at the same time as the incoming Republic forces opened fire. The area around him was thick with blaster fire, but thankfully, the CIS fighters were swiftly being overwhelmed by the Jedi led flanking attack.
"Bombers are clear for the attack run!" Skywalker's voice buzzed over the intercom. "Nico, take your remaining force and cover those bombers. I'll mop up the remaining fighters."
"Acknowledged," Nico replied as he relayed the message to what was left of Gold squad.
Forming up around the bombers, Nico soon found himself once again facing the point defence lasers of the Separatist frigates.
"Stay focused boys, we're on the home straight now!" he called over the comm channel as he weaved between streams of laser fire. As he rolled out of the way of another turret that had turned to aim at him, he saw the first group of bombers unleashing their payload on the first frigate.
"Shields are down, Sir!" one of the pilots informed him.
"All forces, target their bridge!" Nico shouted over the open channel. On his order, all nearby forces, including some of the reinforcements who had strayed closer to the frigates, turned and unleashed a massive barrage of fire on the bridge of the first frigate.
After that point, the battle was relatively simple. The first frigate was effectively disabled with the loss of its bridge, leaving it to be picked off by the next Republic cruiser to get in range. The process was repeated on the second frigate, and soon after Nico found himself heading towards a cluster of Republic Star Destroyers.
"Nico, this is Kota, rendezvous with Skywalker on the Resolute."
"Yes, General."
Line break
Nico landed next to Skywalker's Starfighter and got out, walking over to the two Jedi, who were leaning against Skywalker's fighter casually.
Skywalker looked the same as usual, a cocky, arrogant, pain in the ass, it was Ahsoka who caught Nico's eye, and those eyes widened once he realised why he was looking at her.
She seemed to be a few inches taller since he last saw her, not taller than Nico, but taller none the less, and her skin had gotten a slight shade lighter. Her facial features were more defined, and a bit sharper. The slight hourglass shape that she had previously held had now shaped into a voluptuous figure, and she had gained some dominance in…certain areas.
Along with the physical differences was her clothing. Rather than her usual skirt, and tight fitting top, she had a whole new outfit. Her small top had been replaced with a length of red silk that ran from her shoulders to her waist. It had a small teardrop shape on her chest which allowed a light bit of cleavage, and an open back. Her legs were covered by a black material, which lead to her red boots. Matching the boots she had long red gloves that rested on her arms. Her shoulders and upper arms were covered by segmented red straps. Well…something's definitely changed after a month.
"You took your time, were you having trouble with your ship!" Skywalker teased with a smirk, breaking Nico out of his trance and making him focus on him.
"Aww, play nice, Master," Ahsoka butted in, also smirking in a teasing way. "I'm sure it's not his fault that he's not as awesome as us."
Nico scowled, focusing his attention mainly on Skywalker, he didn't want his eyes to wander on Ahsoka for too long, "I think you'll find that I'm plenty 'awesome'," Nico said lamely, his concern over his unease taking priority over the ability to think of witty comebacks.
"Smooth," Ahsoka deadpanned, arching a marked brow with a small smirk, "Angel boy."
Skywalker smirked, "I agree, that was a really rubbish comeback Emo Ninja."
Nico gaped at them both and shook his head, "Alright, first of all," Nico said as he pointed at Skywalker, "I'm not an emo, and second of all," he pointed at Ahsoka, "I am most definitely not an angel."
Ahsoka shrugged, "Yeah, well, I'm not a princess."
Anakin nodded in agreement, "Yeah, and I'm not an idiot." Nico raised an eyebrow at that and was about to open his mouth, "Not a word." He interrupted firmly, Nico smirked, but kept his mouth closed. Anakin then looked at Ahsoka, "You two can hang out for a little bit, I'm going up to the bridge, I'll call for you if I need you."
"Thanks, Master." Ahsoka said with a grin. Anakin nodded to the two Padawans and walked to the nearest elevator. Ahsoka turned to Nico with a grin, "So, what now Angel boy?"
Nico looked at her with an eyebrow raised, "How about where you got that nickname for me from, Princess? I mean, I know I'm as handsome as an angel, but still." Nico finished with a slight smirk as the started walking toward a separate elevator from Anakin.
Ahsoka blushed, but smirked nonetheless, "Well, I just know what gets under your skin. Anyway, how was the mission protecting the Duchess?"
"It sucked."
Ahsoka snorted in amusement, "Can you be more specific?"
"It really sucked," The Ghost King elaborated.
The teenage Togruta rolled her eyes, "Don't sound so grumpy. Next thing you know you'll be whining and giving me puppy dog eyes when you ask me something."
Nico scoffed once they reached the elevator, Ahsoka pressed the button for whichever floor she wanted to go on. "Yeah, whatever, anyway, what's with the change of wardrobe?"
Ahsoka frowned, "What's wrong with it?" she asked as she looked down upon herself.
"Nothing," Nico said with a shrug as he looked anywhere but at Ahsoka, "It's Just, well, unexpected."
The Togrutan Padawan laughed, "What, did you think that I only had a skirt and a tank top to wear?"
Nico mentally groaned, it was sensitive stuff, telling a female what to wear, especially a Jedi, even if she was a sixteen year old.
Nico waved a hand in the air dismissively, "Forget it," he said as the elevator doors opened and they both walked out, "How was your hunt for the bounty hunter?"
Ahsoka smirked at the change of subject, but let him have it, "It was…eventful, to say the least, but we eventually got him." She says with pride in her voice.
"Well," Nico says expectantly, causing the Togruta to raise a marked brow, so the Ghost King elaborated, "Who was the bounty hunter?"
"Oh," Ahsoka says lamely, "It was Boba Fett."
Nico froze dead in his tracks, staring straight ahead with wide out of focus eyes, Ahsoka had already moved forward five metres before she noticed the absence of her friend. So she turns around and looks at Nico with a concerned frown.
"Nico, are you okay?" She asks as she moves closer to him.
"I'm sorry," The Ghost King said in a far-away voice, "Could you please repeat that name?"
Ahsoka's eyes held more concern now, "I said Boba Fett. Why? Do you know him?"
Nico closed his eyes and breathed in deeply and let that breath out slowly, and then muttered, "Boba." As a humourless smirk appeared on his face, "Of course it's Boba."
"Nico?" Ahsoka said, breaking him out of his trance and he looked into her concerned ocean blue eyes, "What's wrong Nico? Did you know this Boba?"
Nico smiled bitterly, "Let's talk about it in your quarters."
Line break
Once they reached Ahsoka's quarters, Nico was quick to fall on her cot, and groan very loudly, causing Ahsoka to raise a marked brow, as she sat on one of her chairs.
"Alright Nico, spill." She said firmly, "Who is Boba?"
Nico sat up and looked at Ahsoka with a tired expression, after a couple of seconds, he began to talk, "A year before this war started, back when I was Reaper and still being trained in the ways of the Force, I met Count Dooku's personal bounty hunter, a Mandalorian that goes by the name of Jango Fett, the original Clone template." The Prince of Death started, "we hit it off immediately, we became slow friends with a mutual respect for each-others combat abilities, he taught me how to fight hand-to-hand combat cause Dooku couldn't be bothered, and he also showed me the Mandalorian sense of honour in battle," Nico chuckled slightly, "he's probably the reason why I'm here today, and not with the Count."
"What about Boba?" Ahsoka questioned.
"I was getting to that." Nico said with a smirk, amused by her impatience, "Then one day, he introduced me to his son, Boba Fett, he wasn't really his son, just a Clone of himself, but he was unaltered. Curious, isn't it?"
"Unaltered?" Ahsoka questioned with a confused frown.
"Pure genetic replication. No tampering with the structure to make him more docile, no behaviour modification and no growth acceleration." Nico explained, "Anyway, when I met Boba, I was fourteen, he was thirteen (Yes, I know Boba was ten, but to be honest, I don't really care) and we became the best of friends, he wasn't even that intimidated by the deep voiced helmet thing, we were very similar, we were both lonely and had no one as an actual friend, I had Dooku who was more of a really annoying mentor, and he had Jango who was usually out doing a job, whenever I wasn't training I hung out with Boba, we'd joke around, play games, piss Dooku off, you know, all the fun stuff."
Ahsoka was looking at Nico incredulously, "What do you mean by 'all the fun stuff'?"
The son of Hades frowned, "What do you mean?"
"Well, it's just really hard to imagine Reaper playing games." Ahsoka said, "I mean just imagining you with that outfit on with the skull helmet playing catch with a Clone kind of makes me want to laugh out-loud."
Nico blinked in bemusement, as he thought about it, it does sound kind of ridiculous thinking of Reaper playing games with a thirteen year old boy, if anything it's slightly disturbing.
Nico shrugged, "I was still in training back then. Remember, I didn't officially enter the war until the Battle of Hypori. Anyway, where was I? Oh, yeah. Me and Boba were best friends." A scowl worked its way onto the Ghost Kings face, "But then, on that fateful day when the Clone war began, I watched as Mace Windu decapitated Jango Fett, I watched as Boba's eyes widened and tears started falling from his eyes, I watched as Windu looked up and stared at Boba with impassiveness, I never felt so much anger and hate toward a single Jedi in my life, and on that day I made my first appearance."
Flashback
Reaper watched in shock as the Jedi known as Mace Windu cuts the head from one of his only friends, right now he was standing next to Count Dooku, who had a frown on his face as he watched his bounty hunter die, Nico looked to his right and saw Boba staring at his father's fallen form with wide eyes, silent tears falling down from his eyes.
Reaper grit his teeth, the Jedi had not spotted him yet, when Windu made his surprise appearance, the Ghost King had stayed hidden in the shadows, he didn't want to risk his friend's life, and when he says friend, he meant Jango.
Windu looked up at Dooku, then switched his gaze to the form of Boba Fett, watching as the teenage boy silently cried over his father's death. And then he went back to fighting.
Nico scowled underneath his mask as he saw hundreds more battle droids filter into the arena. With a single motion of Dooku's hand they all fell still and the Count gazed at Windu as he spoke.
"You have fought bravely, worthy of recognition in the archives of the Jedi Ord-"
He was interrupted however, as a black form leapt from a shadow behind him, and before landing, the form ignited its black lightsaber, and cleaved one of the many Jedi in two, the figures first Jedi kill.
HOOOO CUHHH, HOOO CUHHH.
The breathing of Lord Reaper filled the silence of the entire arena. Slowly, the Dark Lord rose from his crouching position, lightsaber still ignited in his reverse Shien grip, he looked at several Jedi, each of them looking as mortified as the other after seeing their fellow Jedi get cleaved in two.
"Oh, I'm sorry! Am I interrupting?" Reaper asked in an amused tone.
He looks for Windu in the huddle of Jedi, and once he finds him, the Ghost King narrows his eyes, and charges.
As Reaper charged forward, the shock of the Jedi wore off and they started slicing through the unprepared droids as they reactivated their battle protocol and opened fire.
Rage and power surging through him, Reaper stalked toward Windu, who was defending himself from the onslaught of droid blasters. A Jedi stepped in front of him, blue blade held high. Reaper barely saw him. He simply extended a hand, pushed through the Jedi's insufficient defences, seized his throat with the Force, and choked him to death. Tossing the body aside, he moved toward Windu, who seemingly still hasn't noticed Reaper.
A human male Jedi Knight separated from the swirl of battle and stabbed at Reaper. Reaper sidestepped the blue line of the blade, punched the man in the stomach, doubling him over, and raised his own blade for a killing blow.
But before the black blade contacted the Jedi Knights head, a purple blade intercepted the downstroke. Reaper looked up, only to be met with Windu's hand pointed at him.
With a mighty Force push, Reaper was thrown away from the battle and smashed into several droids, which hurt like hell, and then he smashed into a wall, and landed helmet first into the ground.
Once Reaper raised his head, he saw something that made him sigh. The sight of enemy transports and starcruisers tend to ruin your day.
Reaper picked himself up from the ground and looked around, trying to find Windu, but once he spots him, he runs as fast as he could toward him as his transport was about to take off.
Three Clone troopers see Reaper running toward the transport, and open fire. Reaper perceived the dozens of bolts with perfect clarity. Without breaking stride he whipped his blade right, left, angled it twenty degrees, and turned three bolts back on the Clones who'd fired them, killing all three.
Reaper jumped toward the transport as it took off, but he didn't get far, as Windu and all the other Jedi that were escaping on the transport used the Force to push him into the ground.
Reaper groaned in pain as he heard his communicator go off inside his helmet, "This is Reaper." He acknowledged as he got up, stretching clightly.
"Reaper," Came the voice of none other than Count Dooku, "You are to leave this planet at once, we have lost the battle."
At that, Reaper sat up bolt right, "What do you mean we've lost the battle?" Reaper questioned incredulously, "It's only just started!"
"I know," Dooku sighed, "but we are outnumbered, there are too many Republic soldiers."
The Ghost King scoffed, "So, in the very first battle, in the war that you started, we are going to retreat?"
"Just get off the planet, and meet me at the coordinates that are on your ship," The Count growled, "And if you can, find Jango's son, Boba, he could be…useful." With that the transmission went dead.
Underneath the helmet, Reaper's eyes widened, he completely forgot about Boba. As he got up right, he scanned the area for anymore Jedi or Clones that could still be alive, but the only thing that caught Reaper's eye made him sigh.
It was Boba, crouching next to his father's decapitated body, and holding Jango's helmet, putting his forehead onto the helmet, his sobs the only thing that could be heard in the arena, other than the distant sounds of battle.
Reaper walked slowly toward Boba, finding that he couldn't be in a more awkward situation. He had to get his mourning friend off planet, get him away from Dooku, who knows what the Count will have in store for the young Clone.
Boba looked up as he felt a hand on his shoulder, only to see the terrifying mask of Lord Reaper, but Boba hardly flinched, he just continued to stare into Reaper's visor with tear filled eyes.
"He's gone." The son of Jango whispered, "They…killed him."
"I'm so sorry, Boba." Reaper said in what he hoped was a comforting tone. "But we must leave before the Republic comes searching the arena."
Boba just sniffed, "I'll kill him." Boba said as he looked up to Reaper, a steely determination in his eyes. "I'll kill him, and everyone that he cares about."
Reaper sighed as Boba got up, still holding his father's helmet, and started walking off, Reaper decided to follow him, he knew what Windu has done, and he will always hate that Jedi for what he's done today.
Windu's just sent a young boy on the path of vengeance.
End flashback
"…After that, I helped Boba get off planet, I didn't give him to Dooku because I know for a fact that he would just train Boba into the next Jango, I gave him the supplies and credits he would need to start a new life, a life far away from the war, but apparently he used those credits to try and gain vengeance upon Windu." Nico finished with a sigh.
Ahsoka blinked, "I didn't know that Master Windu killed Jango."
Nico gave Ahsoka a humourless smirk, "Not a lot of people do, and even the Jedi that were in the arena have probably forgotten about it now."
"Wait," Ahsoka said, holding her hand up. "You said that you hate Master Windu, right?" Nico raised an eyebrow, but nods his head, "Then how come you acted so civil with him during the Liberation of Ryloth?"
The Ghost King shrugged, "Because I had to, I wasn't exactly going to throw insults at him while we were in the middle of battle, we were both too busy with the battles to focus my hate towards him."
Ahsoka frowned when she heard that, Hate leads to the Dark Side, this isn't good.
Nico suddenly got up, startling Ahsoka, "Where are you going?" She asked as he made his way toward the door.
"I need to speak with an old friend." Was his only reply, as he exited the teenage Togruta's quarters.
Line break
Boba was sitting silently in his cell, staring at the wall, back facing the ray shield that was keeping him in the cell, he could hear the two Clone guards muttering to each other, but he didn't really care and what they had to say, mainly insults thrown at Boba.
"I can't believe we have a traitor as a brother, a young one to." Guard one said, causing Boba to roll his eyes, he wasn't there brother and he never will be.
"I can." Guard two said, "Remember on Cristophsis? That traitor nearly destroyed all of our supplies."
Boba sighed, now thinking about his 'friend', the same friend that had betrayed him, Aurra Sing, "Why did she leave me?" He muttered, Aurra had a choice, save Boba from the two Jedi or save her own butt, obviously she went for the latter.
"Hey," Guard one said, "You say something traitor?"
Boba turned around and raised an eyebrow, "I'm no traitor, you are. You betrayed our father."
"He ain't our father kid," Guard two said, "Jango worked for the Separatists, and nothing but a traitor to the Republic."
Boba just gave them a grin and turned back around, ignoring the two Clones, but suddenly the Clones stopped muttering altogether, and Boba heard their boots hit the floor loudly, obviously standing at attention.
Breaking the sudden silence was footsteps, getting louder and louder as they came toward Boba's cell.
The footsteps stopped and a cold voice said, "Leave us." Boba heard two sets of feet rushing off, causing him to smirk, but that smirk dissolved as he heard the ray shields for his cell go off, and someone walk inside.
"Hello Boba." Came the voice again, but it wasn't as cold as before, it was actually kind of casual, "You know, you're acting kind of rude."
Boba rolled his eyes as he turned around to face the person, who was obviously a Jedi taking in the robes, but Boba froze as he recognised the robes, they were just like the robes that the mysterious Jedi wore, the Jedi who people are saying used to be known as Lord Reaper. But Boba decided not to get his hopes up for nothing.
"You're a Jedi, right?" This gained a nod from the teenage Jedi, "Then why shouldn't I be rude?"
This cause the Jedi to smirk, "Well, first of all, we used to be friends," This caused Boba's eye's to widen, "And second of all, I saved your life during the battle of Geonosis."
"Reaper?" Boba questioned lowly as he stared at the Jedi warily, 'Reaper' nodded, causing Boba to grin slightly, "You looked better with the skull helmet on." He said as he got up and gave 'Reaper's' hand a firm shake, a traditional Mandalorian greeting.
'Reaper' rolled his eyes, "Yeah, I figured you'd say that."
"What are you doing here Reaper? And why are you a Jedi?"
"Alright, first off, my name isn't Reaper anymore, it's Nico," The Ghost King says, "Say it with me now, Ni-co. To answer your first question, I'll ask you this, what are you doing here?"
Boba blinked, "What do you mean?"
Nico rolled his eyes, "What do you think I mean? I gave you enough credits to start a new life away from the wars, but instead I find you here, in a Republic cell, after trying to kill Windu."
Boba frowned as he looked at Nico warily, "I wanted revenge." He said simple as he sat back down on his cot.
Nico sighed, he knew what it was like to hold grudges, but this grudge was getting out of hand.
"Boba, I know what it's like to want revenge," Nico said sincerely as he sat next to his old friend, "I truly do, but trust me when I say that it's not worth it."
"How?" Boba snapped, causing Nico to raise an eyebrow, "How do you know what it's like to want revenge? You don't even remember most of your life."
Nico frowned, that was a low blow, but he let it slide as he saw the amount of pain that his friend was in.
"Actually, most of my memories are coming back to me, some are good while most are bad," Nico says with a bitter smile, "When I was ten years old, I had a sister called Bianca, she was everything to me, she was like the mother that I never had. Though one day she joined a girl gang called the Hunters of Artemis. When their leader got captured by…a rival…my sister joined a team that set out to save their leader, I was terrified, I didn't want my sister to get hurt, so I had one of the members of the team promise me that he would keep her safe, when they came back a week later two members of the team were missing, one of them being my sister." Nico took a deep breath, trying to control his emotions, and not break down in front of Boba "Once they told me that my sister was dead I was devastated, I swore vengeance upon the one that promised to protect her, for at least two years I let the thirst for vengeance feed me," At this Nico smiled bitterly and looked into Boba's brown eyes, which had widened in horror, "My grudge against that one person turned me into an antisocial freak, I listened to people I shouldn't have listened to, and I paid the price for it later on in life. I lost everything because of that grudge that I held onto, and it wasn't even that persons fault. I lost my innocence, my sanity, and my trust in people. I became an outcast, and I still am an outcast. I don't want you to go down the same road Boba."
The two old friends stared into each-other's eyes for a long time, but after a minute or two Boba backed down and looked to the floor, tears rolling down his cheeks.
"It's too late now Reap-Nico," Boba said miserably, "I've already done so much damage, and now I'm going to pay for it."
Nico's eyes narrowed at that, "No, it's not, you'll soon be transported to Coruscant with General Kota, while I stay here, once on Coruscant give this to one of the Clone guards when no Jedi are around." He said as he reached into a pouch in his robes and brought out a miniature holopad, "Good luck Boba, I'm sure you know what you should do now." He said as he pushed the holopad into the son of Jango's hands, he got up and walked out of the holding cell without saying another word.
Boba blinked and frowned at the small holopad in his hands, and clicked a button on it, causing a familiar voice to come out of it, "It is by my order, and for the good of the Republic, that the bearer of this has done what has been done." Came the voice of Chancellor Palpatine and a holographic display of the Chancellor's stamp came up.
Boba's eyes widened and he looked back at Nico's retreating form, a small smile appearing on his lips, It's good to have friends, no matter who they are.
Well, that was the longest chapter I've ever done, over 14,000 words, not bad if I do say so myself.
Sorry if the space battle was a bit confusing but as I said in chapter 5, I'm really crap at writing space battles.
Anyway, this chapter is mainly about people accepting Nico as who he is, and bringing in every ones favourite bounty hunter Boba Fett.
Now, onto the reviews...
Airanger78 chapter 13 . Apr 17
Nice! Love it!
Thank you!
Guest chapter 13 . Apr 17
id like a chapter with Nico's idea coming to light about using the Millions of dead as an incentive to get actual people to join the republic military maybe even get a non clone military presence at the Temple like it had thousands of years before.
I think people would be more scared than influenced by an army of the undead, and as for the non-clone military at the Temple, who says I'm not doing that.
Nerd-Fghter chapter 13 . Apr 18
Awesome chapter, I really love how detailed the descriptions are. Can't wait for the next chapter
Thanks for the compliments.
HiddenHero220 chapter 13 . Apr 18
Nico, Nico, Nico, Nico. What are we going to do with you. Well, at least you fit this role very well, a lot better than Skyguy. Also, why didn't anyone think to just knock him out?
Hmm, I don't know, I think Anakin fit the role quite well seeing how he turns into Vader later on. The reason why they didn't knock him out was because they wanted to play it safe, the only way to do that is to neutralise the threat.
Guest chapter 10 . Apr 19
Amazing story. Update soon.
Thanks, and I just did.
adopteddaughterofhestia chapter 13 . Apr 22
hey this story is AWESOME! I'm actually not a big fan of star wars and haven't seen more than, like, three episodes but this story is great. will Nico be showing any of his necromancy powers soon? cause I really want to see how Skywalker and Ahsoka react to them! oh, did I mention how awesome this story is?!
Well, your enthusiastic aren't you? I cannot give away any spoilers on when Nico will be using his demigod powers in front of the Jedi, all I can say is that when he does, the person he uses them on wont be lucky.
Lightningscar chapter 13 . 17h ago
Several interesting places.
Liked Nico scrutinizing Greivous' style and analyzing it.
Interesting, and entertaining, was the debate between Duchess Satine and Nico.
BWAHAHA! That traitor didn't take Nico into account.
Oh... and you wanting to puke at Satine's confession while being held hostage... that makes two of us.
Interesting read and hoping to see more.
Yours sincerely,
Lightningscar.
PS: Sorry for the crappy review, but if I didn't give it now, I would just forget it altogether.
Thanks for the compliments, it doesn't matter, I just hope that you give a longer review for this chapter.
Great stories that I recommend are:
'Dark Phoenix'. Author: Lighningscar. Crossover: PJO x Harry Potter.
'Death's Avenger'. Author: Sinsidhe. Crossover: PJO x Avengers.
'Everlasting Promises'. Author: Starblade176. Story: PJO
Anaklusmos14 is a great author and all his stories are amazing. So is TheseusLives.
Thank you for reading and if you have any questions just ask them in the reviewers box or PM me. Please review.