Chapter 10 is up.
ESCAPE FROM A SEPARATIST PRISON!
CARRYING INFORMATION ABOUT SECRET ROUTES INTO THE HEART OF THE REPUBLIC AND SEPARATIST HOMEWORLDS, JEDI MASTER EVEN PIELL WAS CAPTURED AND IMPRISONED IN A FORTRESS KNOW AS THE CITADEL.
LEADING AN ELITE STRIKE TEAM, OBI-WAN KENOBI AND ANAKIN SKYWALKER RESCUE MASTER PIELL AND HIS OFFICERS.
NOW THE JEDI HAVE SPLIT UP TO EVADE SEPARATIST FORCES AS THEY ATTEMPT TO ESCAPE THE CITADEL...
"Artoo, are you and your battle droids ready to go?" Anakin asked the droid over his com as the group carefully made their way along the ledge and earning an affirmative beep. "Alright, get the ship fired up. We'll meet you at the pipeline exit after you've picked up Obi-Wan, assuming he's still on schedule." the older Knight replied before cutting off. Anakin continued leading the group through the tunnel, with Tarkin behind him and Ahsoka behind the captain. Revan walked behind her with the clones behind him, that way if something attacked, he could protect her. 'Plus the view is quite nice.' he smiled while admiring the exposed skin on her back. Said woman turned her head to the side so she could look at him and smiled, almost as if she knew what he was thinking. 'I wouldn't put it past her, after all she knows me better than anyone else.'
Ahsoka checked around a small archway before gesturing to the others it was clear and after they walked through and continued, a probe droid floated from behind and stopped in the archway before attempting to escape. Anakin hid near the top of the archway and dropped down, slashing it in the process before sheathing his saber and continuing too walk. "I'm beginning to admire the design of this fortress. It's rather formidable to evade." Tarkin said with an impressed tone and smile as he walked alongside Ahsoka and Revan. "How can you admire such a horrible place?" Ahsoka questioned as Tarkin clasped his hands behind him. "Ah, you reveal your shortsightedness. This ordeal only demonstrates how effective facilities like the Citadel are. Pity it ended up in Separatist hands and not ours." the captain mused as he continued walking while the couple stopped.
"He has a point." Anakin agreed, coming up beside them. Ahsoka frowned and gave him a disapproving look. 'I hate to agree with the bastard, but he is right. This place would come in handy. Though i'm not stupid enough to say that out loud, lest I deal with Ahsoka being mad at me.' The young Knight was snaped out of his thoughts as Anakin spoke again. "Alright, Snips, I need you to lead the group. Keep following the tunnel, i'll catch up." he said, turning around before Ahsoka stopped him. "Hey. Where are you going?" she questioned. "Obi-Wan's not here, so someone has to protect our flank." he replied before walking towards the end of the group. "I guess it's a good thing we came after all." she said, smiling at her boyfriend. "Indeed." he agreed as the two made their way back to the front.
Revan walked in between Ahsoka and Tarkin while she lead the group and the captain walked next to Rex. "I am concerned the Jedi have elected this… child to lead the group." Tarkin said to Rex, loud enough for only the other captain to hear. Or so he thought, judging from Revan squeezing his fists. "I've served with her many times, and I trust her, captain." Rex replied. "Uh-oh." Ahsoka said as they turned the corner, coming to a dead end. "Dead end." the clone captain said. Fives looked around the corner from where they had just come from before pulling his head back quickly as blaster bolts flew towards them. "Look out!" he warned as he and the others took cover when three super battle droids appeared. Revan and Ahsoka deflected blasts from the first one before Fives managed to blast it hard enough to make it fall off the ledge. The Jedi deflected bolts from the other two for a moment before Anakin dropped down and slashed them pieces before five commando droids with riot shields appeared and started walking towards them.
"What happened? Why didn't you blow the wall? That part of the plan was your job." the older Knight said as he backed up to them while focusing on the droids before they and the clones opened fire and the Jedi started deflecting. "I thought it was a dead end." she said defensively before deactivating her saber and taking the backpack off Rex. "If Master Plo really assigned you to this mission, he would have briefed you on the plan." Anakin shot back as he and Revan continued deflecting while Ahsoka ran towards the dead end with the explosives. A minute later she came back with two thermal detonators and rolled them behind the droids before the group jumped for cover. The explosives on the wall detonated soon after, blowing a hole to the outside, Ahsoka walked past her master and gave him a smirk.
The group soon came upon a large vertical pipe and Ahsoka checked it out. "This pipe leads to he top of the ridge, where Artoo will pick us up and get us out of here." Anakin explained. "There's the hatch." he said, pointing to it before climbing up a bit, followed by the others. Once Anakin opened it, he along with Ahsoka and Tarkin covered their noses from the smell of gas for a moment. "Let's go! Let's go! Everyone in." he said, gesturing for them to move. The couple went in first and started climbing while Anakin addressed Rex, Fives and Echo. "Don't use your lights, and make sure your weapons are locked. The slightest electronic pulse could ignite this whole tube." he warned. 'Well that's comforting.' "I hope someone tells the droids that." Tarkin said before entering the tube.
The group made their way up the tube using the ladder, minus the couple, who were climbed on the outside of it and jumping along the walls. The two younger Jedi reached the top just before Anakin and the others did before the group made their along a walkway inside the pipe. "How much longer are we going to wander through this tunnel in the dark?" Tarkin asked the older Knight, his voice muffled a bit from his mouth and nose. "Captain Tarkin, haven't you learned to trust me by now?" Anakin asked. "You may have earned my trust, General Skywalker, but my faith in your comrades is still lacking." Tarkin replied. "You lack faith in the Jedi." Anakin said. "I find their tactives ineffective. The Jedi Code prevents them from going far enough to achieve victory, to do whatever it takes to win, the very reason why peacekeepers should not be leading a war." the captain said, earn a look from Anakin. "Have I offended you?" Tarkin asked. "No. I've also found that we sometimes fall short of victory because of our methods." the Knight replied in agreement. "Well, I see we agree on something." the captain said.
Ahsoka stopped and turned her attention to Tarkin and her fellow Jedi. "I think I found a way out." she said before climbing up the small ladder to the hatch and opening it enough to peek outside. "What do you see, Snips?" her master asked. "The coast is clear." she replied. "Any sign of Obi-Wan and the shuttle?" he asked. "No, I don't see him or Artoo anywhere." she replied, opening the hatch up all the way. Just as she was halfway out two battle droids appeared and she immediately cut them apart. "We've got to go!" she urged, deflecting blasts. Revan jumped up and started helping his girlfriend deflect bolts just as Tarkin spoke. "There could be a whole battalion of droids out there!" he exclaimed. "Better than hiding in a fuel line." Anakin countered before climbing up the ladder. While the Jedi deflected bolts, the rest climbed out one at a time and slid down the other side of the pipe. The three Jedi retreated from the pipe when a crab droid started climbing up it and hid behind a big, long boulder the others were behind.
"The plan's been compromised! The shuttle's not coming!" Tarkin exclaimed. "Throw me a charge!" Anakin said, holding his hand out to Rex, the clone tossed him one and the Knight moved from out of cover before throwing it towards the pipe. The explosive landed in the open hatch and went off a moment later, causing a large explosion that lit up the area. The group ducked down and covered their heads as debris fell all around the area, along with the crab droid, who let out a weak beep before shutting down after it landed in front of them. Anakin dusted off his shoulder and smirked. "Let's go. Time for plan B." he said, walking past them. "There's a plan B?" Tarkin questioned. "There's always a backup plan. We'll meet Artoo at Obi-Wan's position." the older Knight replied as the other two Jedi walked behind him, the others soon falling into step behind them.
Anakin's group finally reached Obi-Wan's just as he and the others were in the middle of a firefight. Revan noticed one of their battle droids destroyed and couldn't help but feel remorse. 'It may have been a battle droid, but it was also a comrade.' He and the others each took cover behind two large cargo containers, with him, Ahsoka, Tarkin, Anakin and Rex taking cover with Obi-Wan, Piell and Cody. The other clones took cover with the ones from Kenobi's group. "Sorry i'm late." Anakin apologized to his old master. "How nice of you to join us." Obi-Wan quipped. Ahsoka looked around the corner to check out the area when Revan suddenly pulled her and a bolt flew past, inches away from the corner. "Thanks." she said, giving a smile and earning a nod from her boyfriend.
"The ship is surrounded." she said to them a second later. "We need to launch a full forward assault and take that vessel!" Tarkin said, loud enough so he could be heard over the blasts. "We may have a bigger problem: those turrets. If we don't take them out, they will use them to destroy the shuttle and prevent our escape." Obi-Wan said. "Which is precisely why we should get aboard that shuttle and use the weapon systems to decimate those droids." Tarkin argued. "Whatever we're gonna do, we better do it fast." Anakin said urgently before gesturing behind them with his saber. The others looked up to see three battle droids in the air, each one flying a STAP and heading towards them. The group moved out of the way as bolts blasted the ground in front of them.
The Jedi activated their sabers as the droids came around for another turn and started to deflect the blasts, Piell used Anakin's shoulder to jump higher and slash one of the droids as it got close. The Knight hijacked another as it came directly overhead before Echo threw a charge at a crab droid, destroying it a moment later. Anakin flew the STAP around and was coming back when the remaining droid fired at him from behind. Piell jumped up and grabbed onto Anakin's STAP before deflecting the droid's blasterfire and managing to destroy a few seconds later. The blast door ahead of them opened up and six commando droids walked out with riot shields ran out, opening fire immediately while advancing on the group. While Five's covered him, Echo threw another charge fin front of the droids, destroying one while another left its shield behind and started climbing containers near an unoccupied turret. The droid opened fire on Anakin and Piell, the Knight returned fire and after a few seconds their STAP started to go down and the two Jedi quickly abandoned it, causing the vehicle to crash behind the turret.
Echo ran out and grabbed the riot shield off the ground and moved quickly towards the turret while Fives covered him. The clone was almost at the shuttle when the turret was now firing at him. "Echo, look out!" Fives yelled as his brother reached the shuttle. A moment later the shuttle exploded after taking too much damage and the group was knocked down from the explosion, luckily a piece of debris seemed to fly towards the turret and destroy both it and the droid, sadly Echo wasn't so lucky... "Echo!" Fives cried out in horror. "We have to go, now." Obi-Wan urged before they retreated, Revan used the Force to summon Echo's scarred helmet and clipped it to the back of his belt. The young Knight wasn't about to let the Separatists get their hands on it.
As the group fled, Obi-Wan contacted Plo on his comlink. "Master Kenobi, what has happened?" the other Jedi asked. "I'm afraid we've had a situation with the shuttle." Kenobi explained before Anakin spoke to them. "By 'situation', he means 'big explosion'. We're gonna need a rescue." Anakin said. "It will be done. I'm sending our cruisers now." Plo said before cutting off. The group stopped inside a cave with tunnels connected, that was above the lavabank. "We'll need to hold out until the council sends a ship." Obi-Wan said. "Not a problem. We've beat them once, we'll beat them again." Piell stated confidently. "This landscape is almost impossible to cross. How are we going to get to the rendezvous point?" Fives asked. "That is the trap of the Citadel. It was designed so it would be almost impossible for fugitives to get off the surface, even if they escaped the tower." Kenobi explained. "Well, lucky we're not just any fugitives." Anakin said with a smirk. "I hope you're right." Piell replied as they started to move into the tunnels.
Chapter 10 is finished. Next chapter should be up soon.