Ahsoka
She swings the wooden training blade with great force.
Starkiller ducks ever so slightly and the blade catches nothing but air.
She draws back and swings again, this time, aiming for his head.
He turns his head and leans a little to his side. The blade misses wide.
She grits her teeth, and lunges at him, blade extended. Again, she catches nothing but air.
"Sit still," she grumbles.
"In real battle, your enemies aren't likely to sit still and wait for you to kill them."
She rolls her eyes and charges again. She rears back to strike, bringing her blade down like a hammer.
It has been a few days since the incident in the cantina. Since that time, they've spent their time either spying on the criminal underworld, or training.
He steps forwards quickly, blocking her blow with his blade, grabbing the pommel of hers and wrenching it from her hands. He turns on her, pointing the blade right at her chest.
"Again," he says.
He tosses her the practice blade back, then attacks without warning, easily disarming her again.
"Your enemies will not wait for you to be ready."
She glares at him and crosses her arms.
He throws the blade back.
"Again," he says.
This time she charges him without warning, swinging at his leg.
His blade blocks hers and knocks it away.
She uses the momentum to lead into a wide slash, but catches nothing but air. She feels a slight prodding on her leg, and looks down to see his blade tapping it.
"Concentrate," he says softly.
"I am."
He shakes his head and tosses her his blade.
"This time, I'll be unarmed."
"Getting cocky?"
He shrugs, and she comes at him furiously.
He ducks and leans, then twists, and ducks again. He moves with such subtlety, she thinks.
Each of his moves purposeful, each exerting the least amount of energy possible.
She swings again, finding nothing but air. She unleashes a wild barrage of slashes and lunges.
He dodges each strike, making it look effortless.
She slashes for his neck, and he ducks under, driving his shoulder into her abdomen.
She stumbles back and slashes with one saber, but finds he isn't where she thought he'd be. Then her world turns upside down and her back's flat on the ground, her blades flying from her hands at the moment of impact. A single blade touches her heaving chest as sweat pours off her face.
Starkiller stands holding the blade, breathing easy, face even. Appearing not even the slightest bit winded.
"You must always concentrate on your barrier. It must never fall, or you'll lose your weapons, and possibly, your life."
He lowers the blade and offers his hand.
A thought occurs to her and she takes his hand, then braces herself. She rips him down and rolls on top of him. She straddles him and smiles, victorious, then feels his hand grip her throat and feels a tug. Suddenly he's on top of her, straddling her. She struggles as his body presses against her to keep her pinned.
He keeps his wits about him and places the blade at her throat.
"Good try," he says.
She expected anger, or something, but he just sits there with a smirk.
"Very good try," he says. "But you didn't follow through. If you're going to try that, you have to follow it through."
His body heat rushes through her and she realizes just how close he is. She looks him in the eyes, his stoic face inches from hers.
If he realizes the awkwardness of the situation, he doesn't show it. For a few seconds, he studies her crystal blue eyes, then pushes off the ground to stand up. He offers her a hand.
She takes a long breath and this time, doesn't try to pull him down.
"Follow through?" she asks.
"Didn't Vad- your master teach you grapples?"
"We didn't work on grapples so much." She shrugs. "We mostly worked on things that were useful against battle droids."
"Aside from Ventress and Dooku, I suppose you didn't have much reason to fear fighting against force sensitives."
She shrugs again.
He uses the force to levitate the blades across the meditation room that doubles as the training room and places them on a rack full of training weapons. He motions for her to come closer.
"If you find yourself unarmed and fighting hand to hand, if often comes down to grappling."
She steps up to him and waits for his direction.
"Put your hands on my chest," he says.
She gives him a puzzled expression.
"Grab me." He motions to the areas just inside each shoulder blade.
Timidly, she steps up to him and grabs his shirt with both hands.
"Okay," he says. "Pay attention."
He reaches his right hand over her left, and grabs her right hand against his chest. He positions it so their thumbs almost line up, then in one quick motion, he wrenches it away.
Her arm goes wide, then high, sticking almost straight up. Not far enough to cause pain, but far enough to be uncomfortable. She is doubled over and her left hand points at the ground, too far out of reach to be of any use.
"See that?" he says.
"Yeah."
He lets go, then squares up with her again.
"You try," he says.
She nods.
He steps up to her and takes a hold of her light blue tunic.
She grabs his hand and prepares to wrench.
"No, no," he says quickly.
She looks up at him.
"My right hand," he says.
She reaches her hand across her torso and takes a hold of his right hand.
He nods, and she wrenches.
He doubles over, and she holds him in place.
"See?" he says.
"Yeah."
He shows her different moves of varying difficulty, starting with the simplest and most useful. After a short time, she starts to really get the hang of it.
While trying to show her a reversal, Ahsoka kicks his leg to send him to the floor, holding onto his arm. She wrenches it away as she jumps down on top of him, trying to pin him.
He struggles beneath her, digging his heels into the floor and pushing with his knees, trying to slide out from under her. He grabs her neck with his free hand and tugs hard.
She rolls halfway, but manages to hold there, wrapping her leg around him to prevent rolling further.
They both struggle back and forth, trying to roll the other, their foreheads touching as they lay sideways on the ground.
Ahsoka realizes how it would look if someone were to walk in, but she doesn't care; she wants to pin him and show that she isn't useless.
They hear someone nearby clearing his throat. Rex!
Ahsoka lets go and rolls away as if Starkiller were on fire.
"Oh, hi, Rex! We were just- ah..." she trails off.
Starkiller stands up casually and dusts himself off. If he realized the compromising position they were just in, he doesn't show it.
"Rex," he says. "Is it time?"
"Yes, sir," Rex says. "He has returned to his office."
"Showtime," Starkiller says with a gleam in his eye.
(******)
Starkiller
They gear up, then head out, walking the black speeders down the ramp of the rogue shadow. Starkiller hops on one and grips the ignition. He feels arms wrap around him again as Ahsoka hops onto the back of his bike. This time, he doesn't question it.
"Ready?" He looks over at Rex.
Rex nods and Starkiller makes sure his hat is secure on his head and checks his pocket for the roll of plastic trash bags, then hammers the starter. He feels Ahsoka's grip tighten, then he hammers the throttle, gritting his teeth at the sudden shift in gravity and the wind in his face. A few minutes of high-speed travel across the sand and they've reached their destination: a large domed building with pillars next to the front entrance.
"Are you sure about this?" Ahsoka says behind him.
"What?" he says. "We're just robbing a casino. No big deal."
They had found out that the Weequa by the name of Toong was running a casino near the edge of Mos Espa. They also found out that Toong was funneling large sums of money to Rotta the hutt. Stopping Rotta's money flow seems an excellent first step to killing the beast that is his crime empire.
Starkiller walks up the steps to the casino's entrance, Ahsoka and Rex follow close behind. Starkiller hands some cash to the Wookie at the door and he lets them in. The place is dark with nothing but neon lights to light it. Twangy music blares through loud speakers, people of all species mull about the crowded main floor. Card tables and other various gambling machines are placed periodically along the wide open room. The smell of booze and tobacco nearly overwhelming.
Starkiller nods to his team and they nod back. He heads to a table for high-rollers and drops a fat stack of cash on the table.
The dealer and the patrons look up at him and he just shrugs.
"Cash plays," the dealer says.
The plan is pretty simple; Rex and Ahsoka plant charges in safe locations, then will detonate them to cause a disturbance.
Starkiller uses the force to read his opponents, knowing when to raise and when to fold. A few minutes later and he's nearly tripled his stack.
A well dressed Bothan grumbles under his breath.
"What was that?" Starkiller says.
"I said you are a-"
A loud boom rocks through the casino floor; followed by mass hysteria, people running and screaming, some forgetting their winnings, some taking the opportunity to take other peoples before turning to run. Another boom rocks the casino, then another.
Before the fourth explosion can sound, Starkiller is already through the employees only door and heading up a winding flight of stairs. The last explosion finally sounds. He knows that he has to hurry. By the time they realize its a diversion, it will be too late to stop him, but if they're smart enough to mobilize the local resources, they may be able to cut off his escape.
He clears his mind of it and presses on faster, scanning the area ahead with his feelings. He reaches the top floor and walks through an archway. A long hallway leads to a single door at the end of the hall. Six armed guards stand in the hallway. They raise their guns, but it's too late.
One good blast of energy puts them all down in the close quarters environment. Starkiller rushes down the hall, blasting the door off its hinges with his mind.
Blaster bolts immediately fly his way from inside the room. He blocks them easily with his sabers, sending them back into his attackers chests.
They fall next to a desk; sitting behind the desk is a trembling Toong.
Starkiller walks into the room, shoulders squared, jaw set. He reads Toong's reactions and zeros in on a place in the cream colored wall.
Toong curses under his breath.
Starkiller smirks and rips the wall open with his mind, revealing a very large stash of cash.
"You... You don't know what you're doing," Toong says.
"Don't I?"
"Do you know who you're stealing from?"
"Rotta the hutt."
Toong's eyes widen and his breath catches in his throat.
"If you know, then..." he trails off.
Starkiller pulls out the roll of black trash bags and rips one off.
Toong curses again.
"That is far too much for any one man to carry," he says.
"Do I look like just a man?"
Large stacks of cash float into the air and into the bag.
Starkiller senses something and turns back to the Weequa.
Toong draws a pistol and fires.
Starkiller jumps to the side, dodging the bolt, then releases a blast of energy at the desk and Toong sitting behind it. They both fly backwards in the air and through the window behind them.
Starkiller faintly hears Toong screaming as the Weequa falls to his very public death on the street. Whoops.
He rips open three more bags and fills them as fast as he can. Four bags, nearly as tall as him, full of cash. He uses the force to levitate them, then turns back to the door. He senses guards coming up the stairs, blocking his escape. He groans. I don't have time to fight them.
He turns back for the window and peers out at the blue sky above and the growing crowd on the street far below. He could make it to the ground safely, but there are too many people. Across the street is another tall building similar to this one. He looks all directions, but can't find anything. He senses the guards coming closer and curses under his breath, then an idea occurs to him. Better than nothing.
He moves back towards the door and levitates the cash up, just behind his head. He takes a running start for the window and leaps through headfirst, arms tucked close beside him, releasing a charged blast of energy out his hands and feet, propelling him through the air like a missile. He concentrates on the bags of cash, pulling them with him as if they were on a tether.
The building gets larger and larger as he gets closer and closer, flying head first right at its outer wall. He grits his teeth and clenches his fists. Ohhhh, crap!
He puts his right fist up and blasts a ball of kinetic energy at the last second. The energy ball breaks through a window and he and the money sail through, slamming into a wall, then falling on top of a dining room table where an elderly couple has just sat down to dinner. The bags fall to the floor.
The couple sit speechless, mouths agape.
Starkiller rolls to his feet and drops a fat stack of his casino winnings on what used to be their evening meal.
"Sorry," he says.
He levitates the bags of money and takes off, looking for their door. A few minutes later, he's reached the street and tries to make his way away from the casino by threading through alleys. He touches his finger to the come in his ear.
"I've made to the street."
"Where are you?" Ahsoka's voice buzzes through his com.
"Heading East through alleys," he says quickly.
"That wasn't the plan," she scolds.
"It wasn't?"
"Is the sarcasm really necessary?" she says. "Never mind, I've got you on my scanner. Be there shortly."
He waits at the mouth of the alley, next to a dumpster and waits.
A tan, two seated, open cockpit land speeder halts at the mouth of the alley and Ahsoka appears in the cockpit.
They had planned for Rex to tow the other bike back to the ship and use a model with two seats and a rear compartment for the haul.
She hops out, leaving it idling and opens the rear compartment as he levitates the bags into it.
He hops in the cockpit and checks its systems. He pulls his left sleeve up and looks at his gauntlet; a screen pops on and he sees a top-down view of the city, zoomed in on his location, showing two white dots, indicating he and Ahsoka. He had installed the link between his gauntlet and the Rogue Shadow a few days ago. It allows him to access certain systems of the Shadow's. He zooms out slightly and sees blinking red dots converging from all sides. He feels the speeder shift as Ahsoka slides in the passenger side.
He takes hold of the piloting stick and hammers the throttle, then drops it into gear. The speeder takes off with a vicious lurch, sucking them both into their seats. He keeps the throttle down, accelerating rapidly.
Ahsoka puts her hands on the dash and gasps as the road ends with a giant building looming at the end.
Starkiller jerks the stick to the left and the speeder swerves. They miss the building and enter an alley that was hidden from sight a few seconds ago.
Ahsoka lets out a breath.
"You could have told me!"
"And yet-"
He jerks the wheel again, threading into another alley that Ahsoka hadn't seen.
She leers at him from the passenger side.
"Shouldn't have let you drive," she grumbles.
An idea occurs to Starkiller and he slows down.
"Can you hold the stick for a second?"
"What?"
"Just grab the stick!"
She leans over and takes it from his hands, keeping them going straight through the alley.
He turns and stands on his seat, opening the rear compartment with his mind.
"What are you do- AH!" Ahsoka jerks the stick.
The speeder jerks, but he manages to maintain his balance.
"Sorry," she says.
Finally, he turns back around, holding one bag of cash. He takes the stick and hands the cash to Ahsoka.
"What is this for?" she asks.
He doesn't answer, just slams the throttle back down and jerks the wheel, navigating the speeder onto the road.
"Where are we going?" Ahsoka asks.
"Downtown," he says. "To the market."
"Why?"
"Just trust me."
She crosses her arms, but doesn't push any further.
Minutes later, their approaching the main through-affair of the market.
"Get ready," Starkiller says.
"For what?"
"To throw armfuls of cash into the air."
"That's your plan?" she says.
"NOW!"
She digs her hands into the bag and tosses as much cash as she can and throws it high into the air.
"Keep going," he says. "Empty that bag!"
Starkiller punches a button on the dash and a loud squeal sounds from the speeder, warning people to get out of their way as they drive on sidewalks.
Ahsoka continues to throw cash into the air as they speed past the market's patrons.
Starkiller jerks the stick to avoid a food cart, then jerks it again to avoid a parked speeder, then again to avoid an elderly man.
Ahsoka grumbles and glares while she throws the cash high into the air.
"Look," he says. "Look at them."
She realizes his meaning and turns to check the mirror. She sees people- slaves, gathering cash in the street. Some of them may even be able to purchase their freedom. She turns to Starkiller, mouth agape.
"Wo- AHH!"
Fruit slams against the windshield as Starkiller accidentally clipped a foodcart.
"Oops," he says. "Keep throwing the cash."
She digs in with renewed vigor, throwing it out as fast as she can, as Starkiller doubles back, going on the opposite side of the large market, making sure they get as much cash to as many people as possible.
He risks a glance at his gauntlet. Time's up.
"They're coming," he says.
Her eyes go wide and she slaps her forehead and curses under her breath, then uses her mind to toss a massive amount of cash into the air, then does it again.
"Bag's empty she says."
He nods and swerves back onto the road. He slams the throttle and punches the horn, exiting the market and getting back on the city streets.
A massive number of speeders appear behind them, getting closer.
"Oh, great," Ahsoka says.
"Don't worry, we'll lose em."
He enters an alley. Sparks fly off both sides of the speeder as its sides scrape against the buildings. They exit the alley with a jolt and he swerves to the right.
"Closer than it looked," he grumbles.
Another group of speeders appear behind them, this one of four.
"Who are they?" Ahsoka says.
"Likely, Rotta's men. The mercs and bounty hunters will be here soon enough though."
The speeders start gaining and he lets them. They get closer, one of them starts shooting, then all start shooting. Starkiller waits until the last possible moment, then swerves right at an intersection. He makes the turn, barely avoiding the row of buildings on his left. The pursuers had not even attempted to make the turn.
He and Ahsoka both breathe a sigh of relief.
"I'm gonna drop you off here," he says.
"No!"
"I'll meet you and Rex back at the Shadow."
"No," she says again. "Every time things start to get exciting, you try to ditch me. Well, not this time, pal." She crosses her arms and gives him her best determined face.
He considers his options, meeting her gaze for a brief moment, then looks back to the road.
"I'm not leaving you," she says.
He nods, then hammers down the accelerator.
Author's note
Hey all, hope life finds you well.
Sorry it's been so long since my last update. I've not given up on this story and will not. Well, that was part eight. What did you all think? Thanks for your patience and I'm terribly sorry for taking so long. I'm fighting a wicked cold, so my attention to detail may not be very good, so if it's full of grammar and spelling mistakes, I'm terribly sorry.
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. I love reviews, so please leave me some.
Alright, time for the thank yous.
Thank you, OnyxTemplar for the review. The Shaak Ti convo is definitely something that I'm looking forward to writing, but timing is everything.
Thank you, RKF22 for the review. I'm so glad you're enjoying the story, I'll try not to disappoint.
Thank you, Ladylunara for the review. Honestly, I'm making it up as I go, lol.
Thank you, gps3 for the review. Wow, thanks, I appreciate that very much. I'll try to update sooner in the future.
Thank you, lycan13 for the review. Here it is! Let me know what you thought of it.
Thank you, Obsidian The Ghost Faced for the review. Your words were very encouraging. Thank you.
You all gave me the motivation that I needed to press on through the block, so thank you all so very much!
Thank you for favoriting, avatar101, ladylunara, NieMisKa, Obsidian The Ghost Faced, dragonupgost, Joseto1945, lord harry peverell, lycan13, onecoolchris, and swemanD47,
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You are all awesome!
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