Thank you to the 10 people who reviewed the last chapter. I hope that you enjoy this chapter, it will cover the rest of Chapter 28 through Chapter 40, and, after this, there is one possibly two (though more likely one) more chapter(s) left of the Clone Wars part of this story and then I shall get into the events of Revenge of the Sith (an alternate version of it anyway). As always, reviews are much appreciated.
Chapter 53
Obi-Wan was already in motion long before the Trandoshans landed in the room. He not only did the same thing he did the first time around, flipping the bed to protect Fa'ale, but he also leapt at the door lightsaber in hand, ignited and slashing toward the Falleen who was about to burst through the door. His lightsaber slammed into the vibro-ax while Anakin, lightsaber a streak of blue light, was deflecting blaster bolts from the Trandoshans.
Obi-Wan Force pushed the Falleen into the two humans just as they would have come into the room and they sailed across the hallway into the wall opposite the door. They scrambled to their feet and rushed forward but Obi-Wan sent his lightsaber in a spinning arc of blue light slicing through the hands of the Falleen and two humans.
Howling in agony, the three assailants sank to their knees. The smell of burned flesh filled the room, swirling about with smoke from the explosive that had taken out three square meters of roof, and big wet snowflakes that were drifting through the opening.
Obi-Wan leapt backwards and glanced briefly at Anakin who was holding his own against the two reptilian aliens. Anakin parried bolts that flew through the thin walls, rousing shrieks from Fa'ale's neighbors to both sides. Doors opened and slammed, and footfalls pounded on the hallway floor.
Anakin continued to block blaster bolts and Obi-Wan lashed out with the Force sending one of the Trandoshans skidding backwards. Whirling around to face his new attacker in anger, the Trandoshan was suddenly sent flying through the room's only window. Anakin lowered his hand, nodded a thanks to Obi-Wan and continued to block the blaster bolts of the first Trandoshan before he Force pushed the Trandoshan into the wall. Using that distraction to his advantage, he leapt forward and sank his blade into the Trandoshan's chest.
The room fell suddenly silent, except for the sizzle of huge snowflakes hitting the lightsabers.
"Anakin, get Fa'ale out of here," Obi-Wan said.
Anakin nodded and, deactivating his blade, he pulled Fa'ale out from under the mattresses and bedding, and yanked her to her feet.
Wobbling drunkenly, she took in the ruined rom. "You two seem like decent folk—even for Jedi. Sorry you have to get mixed up in this."
Catching sight of a bottle that had somehow survived the violence, she started for it. When Anakin tightened his hold on her, she balled her hands and hammered at his chest and upper arms. "Stop trying to be a hero, kid! I'm tired of running. It's over—for all of us."
"Not yet it isn't," Obi-Wan said. "Come on, more are coming. Let's go."
Anakin hauled Fa'ale to her feet once more. "You've outwitted assassins for ten years. You have to have a way out of here. Where is it?" he asked.
She remained still for a moment, then shut her eyes and nodded.
The two Jedi followed her as she led the way to a utility closet at the end of the hall. Concealed behind a false rear wall, two shiny poles dropped into darkness. Fa'ale took hold of one of the poles and vanished from sight. Anakin went next and Obi-Wan followed.
Instead of ending up in the basement of the cantina, the poles ran completely through the hill on which that portion of Naos III had been built, all the way to the river itself. The bottom of the poles disappeared into thick ice. In dim natural light, Obi-Wan saw that he was in a cavern that had become an inlet for the river. Close to the base of the poles sat three surface-effect sleds of the short the locals used for ice fishing, outfitted with powerful-looking engines and pairs of long skies.
"I'm too drunk to drive," Fa'ale was saying.
Anakin had already straddled the machine's narrow seat and was studying the controls. "You leave that to me," he told her. With the flip of a switch, the speeder's engine coughed to life, then began to purr loudly in the hollow of the cave.
Obi-Wan mounted a second sled while Faale was positioning herself behind Anakin.
Anakin looked over at Obi-Wan. "That one, then that one," he said pointing out the ignition switch and the warmer." Demonstrating, he added, "Thrusters, pitch control, steer like this."
Obi-Wan was thankful he already knew what to do because Anakin's instructions were still confusing. He repeated the process and Anakin nodded and went on to describe what the repulsorlift was used for while reminding him that it wasn't a conventional speeder or a swoop. Obi-Wan nodded. "Let's go."
"Do you even know where you parked your ship?" Fa'ale asked.
"In a field downriver from here," Obi-Wan said.
Fa'ale nodded. "I know where it is. Like you said, downriver. Swing south around the hillock, go under the bridge, then west around the next hillock. Under two more bridges, slalom south again and we're there."
Still confusing, Obi-Wan thought.
They roared from the mouth of the cavern and out onto the glacial river.
Blaster bolts began to sear into the ice around them before they made the first bridge. He didn't bother on glancing back since he already knew that there were three sleds gaining on him them from upriver. He also knew about the repeater blaster on the bridge he was about to pass.
Just as he passed the bridge, he slowed down and sent his lightsaber spinning toward the repeater blaster slicing through its muzzle and the two beings bundled up in cold-weather gear behind it. The instant his lightsaber came back into his hand, he sped away from the bridge and the other three sleds who were rapidly gaining on him.
Steering with one hand, he blocked the blaster bolts from the three sleds behind him as he increased the speed to catch up with his former apprentice and Fa'ale.
The star that warmed Naos III was a white blur, low on the horizon. Ominous clouds obscured the mountains to Obi-Wan's right. Snow was falling harder and Obi-Wan felt as if he had run smack into a blizzard. The lovely, crystalline flakes would have been like pellets against his face and hands if not for the Force. Even so, he could barely see and the ice—gray, white, and sometimes blue—was pebbly where surface water had thawed and refrozen countless times, mounded up over debris trapped during the freeze, pocked by fishing holes and heaped high with ice that had filled the holes.
It was a good thing Obi-Wan had taken care of that repeater blaster because that would not have helped matters at all.
The first of the three sleds caught up with him but Obi-Wan dropped back until he was alongside the sled and then deflected the blaster bolt the Rodian rider shot at him into the engine of the sled. The machine exploded instantly, flinging pilot and rider head over heels in opposite directions.
Not pausing, remembering the second pilot's plan, he allowed the pilot to get close to him before he turned sharply and steered into the pursuit sled. Hanging on through the jarring collision, he directed a Force push at the rebounding pilot. As a result, the sled shot forward as if supercharged, with the pilot all but dangling from the control bars. Speeding over the face of a hummock, the craft went airborne, then ballistic, plummeting into a thinly iced-over fishing hole at an angle that took machine and rider both deep under solid ice.
Obi-Wan raced past with the third sled was still clinging to his tail. Up ahead, he could see Anakin and Fa'ale lean their sled through a sweeping turn to the south, between two of Naos III's many hills.
Obi-Wan was still unable to replicate Anakin's deft turns and so he was falling farther behind with each quarter kilometer. He swerved in a half circle to where he was facing the third pilot. Shooting forward, he ignited his lightsaber and, as he flew past the third sled, he sliced downward into the engine of the sled. Breaking a bit harder than he had originally intended, he turned around just in time to see the machine explode and the pilot go flying into a snowdrift.
With the pilots taken care of, and the repeater blaster destroyed, it shouldn't be that hard to avoid that metal claw that had grabbed him last time. If he remembered correctly, it was the repeater blaster that opened up the gap in the glacial river. So if he was fast enough then he could make it past that spot without incident.
He raced upriver. To his right there was a clamor built over the hill and the shadow of something large and swift fell over him. Increasing the speed to the best of his ability, he shot past the metal claw just in time too as the claw dropped into the glacial river behind him.
Well, that went better than last time, Obi-Wan thought as he sped away to join Anakin and Fa'ale.
"You all right, Master?" Anakin asked as Obi-Wan's sled glided to a halt beside him.
Obi-Wan nodded. "I am fine, Anakin," he said climbing off the sled.
"Shouldn't we be looking for cover?" Fa'ale asked gazing around as she and Anakin climbed off their sled.
"They're gone," Obi-Wan assured her.
Fa'ale shook her head. "After all these years, they finally—"
"No, it's not. Someone more important than Raith Sienar doesn't want us to learn too much about the star courier."
"Then I had better tell you the rest—about Coruscant, I mean."
"Where did you deliver the ship?" Anakin asked.
"To an old building in the industrial quarter, west of the Senate. An area called The Works."
Watching Grievous fight with his Magnaguards, Count Dooku found his thoughts drifting. They seemed to be going back to the events on Naos III standard days earlier and how utterly wrong everything had gone. He had sent Sidious a coded transmission that was as much apology as explanation and had yet to hear from him.
He glanced at the hold's holoprojector table a moment before a blue holoimage of Sidious appeared above it. He centered himself proudly on the transmission grid, Grievous, having noticed the arrival, knelt down on one knee behind him with his head lowered.
"My lord," he said, bowing slightly at the waist. "I've been waiting."
"There have been matters that warranted my close attention, Lord Tyranus."
"Born, no doubt, of my failure at Naos Three," Dooku said. "The ones I sent didn't have as many opportunities as I thought they would. In fact, only two of them reported back to me after they were fished out of the fishing hole they had landed in."
Sidious narrowed his eyes. "And…?"
"They had decided to attempt to capture Kenobi, Skywalker and the Twi'lek pilot to get more money out of me but the two who survived said that it was Kenobi who managed to defeat all the other bounty hunters I sent after him, Skywalker and the Twi'lek pilot."
"Kenobi?"
"Yes master."
A flash of anger surged through the Force and Dooku could tell that it was originating from his master. He remained still and silent waiting for his master to reply while at the same time wondering why his master was feeling such anger. Usually, he was calm and collected no matter if certain plans fail or not and never has he felt this angry before.
"Kenobi is becoming a pest, an annoying, meddlesome pest. I have only been suspecting that he was the one meddling with my plans but I'm beginning to think that my suspicions are the truth. But how can that be?" Sidious hissed quietly. It was obvious his words were not for Dooku to hear so he decided not to let on that he heard.
"Perhaps it has to do with that disturbance I felt before the Clone Wars began," Sidious added quietly before he lifted his hooded head to gaze at Dooku. "And you say the ones you sent after them were trying to capture them rather than kill them?"
"Yes my lord," Dooku said.
"That is the way of bounty hunters. I should have foreseen this."
Dooku had a feeling Sidious wasn't just talking about the bounty hunters with those last words.
"The Force is strong in Skywalker," Sidious went on.
Dooku blinked but decided to just go with the sudden change of subject. "Yes, my lord. Very strong. Next time, I will deal with the Jedi personally."
"Yes that time is drawing near, Lord Tyranus. But first we need to provide the Jedi with something that distracts them from hunting me."
Dooku noticed Sidious's upper lip twitch. He wondered if it was from worry. Worry from someone fond of saying that things were going precisely as planned? Was he worried because of Kenobi and those suspicions he was having about that particular Jedi?
"What has happened, my lord?" he asked.
"The Twi'lek's information led them to our rendezvous on Coruscant," Sidious said in a scurrilous voice.
Dooku was stunned. "Is there a greater danger?"
"They think they have my scent, Lrod Tyranus, and perhaps they do."
"Can you leave Coruscant, my lord?"
From parsecs distant, Sidious stared at him. "Leave Coruscant?"
"For a time, my lord. Surely we can find some way."
Sidous fell silent for a long moment then said, "Perhaps, Lord Tyranus. Perhaps."
"If not then I will come to you."
Sidious shook his head. "That won't be necessary. I told you that their search for me would benefit us before too long and thanks to you I begin to see a way."
"What is thy bidding, Master?" Grievous asked from behind Dooku.
Sidious turned slightly toward Grievous but continued to speak to Dooku. "The Jedi have divided their forces. We must do the same. I will deal with the ones on Coruscant. I need you to deal with the rest."
"My fleet stands ready, Master," Grievous said still without raising his gaze from the grid.
"The Republic is monitoring you?" Sidious asked the general.
"Yes, Master."
"Can you divide the fleet—judiciously?"
"It can be done, Master."
"Good, good. Then move however many ships are needed to crush and occupy Tythe."
Again Dooku was stunned. So, too, was Grievous.
"Is that wise, Master," the general asked carefully, "after what happened at Belderone?"
Sidious adopted a faint grin. "More than wise, general. Inspired."
"But Tythe, my lord," Dooku said with equal care. "Less a world than a corpse."
"It has some strategic value, does it not, General?"
"As a jump point, Master. But a dubious prize, regardless, when far better targets exist."
"It may prove costly to us, my lord. The Republic will almost certainly flatten it," Dooku said.
"Not if the Jedi are convinced that it must be retaken rather than destroyed."
Confusion wrinkled Dooku's forehead. "How will we convince them?"
"We won't have to, Lord Tyranus. Their own investigations will lead them to that conclusion. Moreover, Kenobi and Skywalker will oversee the counterattack."
"Indeed, my lord?"
"They will not pass up an opportunity to capture Count Dooku."
Dooku saw Grievous's armorplast head elevate in surprise. "What leads you to believe that the Republic will not simply flatten me at this point?"
"The Jedi are predictable, Lord Tyranus. I needn't tell you this. Look what they risked on Cato Neimoidia when they captured Viceroy Gunray. They are obsessed with bringing their enemies to justice, instead of merely administering justice themselves."
"It is their way."
"Then you don't mind serving as bait to lure them there?"
Dooku inclined his head. "As ever, I am at your disposal, my lord."
Sidious grinned once more. "Hold Kenobi and Skywalker, Lord Tyranus. Entertain them. Play to their weakness. Demonstrate your mastery, as you have on previous occasions. And don't hesitate to make up for your failure on Naos III concerning Kenobi."
Greivous made a meaningful sound. "I will do the same with their warships, Master, except for the last order."
"No General," Sidious cut in. "I have something else in mind for you and the rest of the fleet. But tell me, can you tuck your charges somewhere safe for the time being?"
"The planet Utapau comes to mind, Lord Sidious."
"I will leave that to you."
"And when I have seen to that, Master?"
"General, I'm certain you recall the plans we discussed some time ago, regarding the final stage of the war."
"Regarding Coruscant."
"Regarding Coruscant, yes." Sidious paused then said, "We must accelerate those plans. Prepare, General, for what will be your finest hour."
"Fa'ale is doing fine," Anakin said as he joined Obi-Wan. "Two more days of bacta and she'll be on her feet. She says she's through with Naos Three, though. She might even remain here on Belderone."
Obi-Wan smiled but said nothing in response for a long moment then he sighed.
"Something's wrong. What is it?"
"We're not returning to Coruscant, Anakin," Obi-Wan said gently.
They were in a visitors' lounge in the largest of the MedStars orbiting Belderone. For four standard days they had been awaiting instructions from the Jedi Council and visiting the medical ward to check on Fa'ale's progress, and the strain of so much inactivity was beginning to show.
Anakin stared dumbfounded at his former master.
"Anakin," Obi-Wan said quietly, "Mace and Shaak Ti were able to locate the building in The Works. Not surprisingly, it turns out to have been the same one where Quinlan Vos met with Dooku last year. Once inside, Mace's team discovered more than we could have even hoped for—evidence of a more recent visit by Dooku, and of the person he apparently went to Coruscant to see."
"Sidious?"
"It's possible. Even if it wasn't, it's likely that Dooku has other confederates on Coruscant and tracking them down could eventually lead us to Sidious. Other evidence has come to light too. Intelligence discovered that the building belonged to a corporation called LiMerge Power, which was believed to have been involved in the manufacture and distribution of prohibited weapons during Finis Valorum's term as Supreme Chancellor. It was rumored at the time that LiMerge was responsible for funding acts of piracy directed against Trade Federation vessels in the Outer Rim. And it was those acts of piracy that led ultimately to the Trade Federation being granted the right to defend their vessels with battle droids."
"Are you telling me that LiMerge might have been in league with the Sith?"
Obi-Wan shrugged. "Why not? At Naboo, the Trade Federation was in league with Sidious. The Entire Confederacy is in league with him now."
Anakin shrugged impatiently. "I still don't understand how this keeps us from returning to Coruscant."
"I've just been informed that the Separatists have attacked a Republic garrison base on Tythe, and occupied the planet."
"I am sorry for the troopers we lost but Tythe is a wasteland, Master," Anakin said a little confused.
"Yes but it is also the headquarters for LiMerge Power."
"Another attempt by Sidious to erase the trail we've been following?"
"I think so. The Council was able to convince Palpatine of the need to retake Tythe and he has authorized a full battle group to divert there. It seems he is finally willing to follow Master Yoda's advice about concentrating on dismantling the Confederacy leadership."
"Grievous is on Tythe?"
"Better, Dooku is there and before you say anything about this not being good enough; remember that finding Dooku will mean putting an end to this war quicker. I know that you miss Padmé, believe me I understand. I miss Siri and Kira and Jinn very much but you have to understand that if we end this war then the galaxy will be a safer place for our families."
Anakin was silent before he sighed. "I know, Master. I just want to go home. We've been out here longer than anyone—trooper or Jedi."
"I know Anakin. I understand, believe me I do."
Anakin looked at his brother but he knew that Obi-Wan did understand what he was going through, what he was feeling. Anakin really didn't like being apart from Padmé but he was a Jedi; his duty was to the people of the Republic. Everyone had their part to play in this war; perhaps this was one of the parts he was destined to play. He missed home but his master was right.
"I miss Padmé," Anakin said finally breaking the long silence, "but, as a Jedi, my duty is to the Order and to the Republic. By capturing Dooku and helping hasten the end of this war, I'll help protect countless lives."
"Indeed you will, Anakin," Obi-Wan said placing a hand on Anakin's shoulder. "We will see Coruscant again, Anakin, and soon. And don't worry about Padmé. I contacted Siri after I finished speaking with the Council. She's been spending a lot of time with Padmé so if anything happens, she'll be there with her."
He squeezed Anakin's shoulder before adding, "And I am very proud of you."
Anakin gazed at him before smiling. "Come on, Master, let's go capture Dooku."
Obi-Wan wondered if he should have just convinced the Council to recall him to Coruscant and just avoid going to Tythe. He knew that Tythe was the beginning of it all; Dooku's escape, Palpatine's capture, all of that led to the Battle of Coruscant and everything that happened afterwards. Thinking about it, he realized that he couldn't because the Council would become suspicious and the Force hadn't yet lifted the restriction he had on his knowledge of the future. Nevertheless, they were getting closer to the point in time when Obi-Wan lost everything and so that caused many of the memories of that point in time to come back into his mind.
He looked over at Anakin who was flying next to him as Red Squadron dropped from the belly of the Integrity and rocketed toward Tythe.
The two starfighters were flying abreast, almost wingtip-wingtip, astromech droids R2-D2 and R4-P17 in their respective sockets. Tythe's rubicund star was at their backs, and the ships that made up the Separatist flotilla were strung menacingly above the planet's northern hemisphere.
With Tythe's brood of moons clustered in a two-hundred-degree arc, the Separatists had worked quickly to strew mines at several hyperspace jump points, leaving the Republic ships with only a narrow window in which to revert to realspace. Techno Union and Commerce Guild capital ships occupied the apex of that window, deployed from north pole to equator above Tythe's bright side, with wings of droid fighters boiling into space to the fore of the arrayed vessels.
To minimize their profiles, the Republic ships—widely dispositioned, like a group of predatory fish—had their triangular bows pointed toward the planet. Red and other squadrons were streaking forward but well short of engaging the vanguard Vultures and tri-fighters.
"Prepare to break hard to starboard," Anakin said over the tactical net to the entire squadron. "Watch your countdown displays. On my mark, ten seconds to break…"
Obi-Wan eyed the counter at the bottom of the instrument panel's tactical display screen. When it hit the zero mark, he yanked the yoke to one side and peeled way for clear space.
Behind the squadrons of V-wings and Jedi and ARC-170 starfighters, the Republic battle group broke to port, drenching the distant Separatist ships with furious broadsides. Blinding payloads of spun plasma hurtled through space, detonating against the shields of the enemy vessels, atomizing any droid fighters unlucky enough to have been caught in the way.
The Separatist ships absorbed the first hits without flinching. Vessels that sustained damage began to drift to the rear. Then the battle group responded with an equally ferocious barrage. Turbolasers silenced, the Republic ships had already broken formation. Small suns flared in their midst and bleu energy capered over their shielded hulls. No sooner did the barrage end than the starfighters quadroons regrouped, accelerating in an effort to reach the big enemy ships before their cannons or shields could repower.
The droid fighters swooped in to meet them halfway, and the tight formations observed by both sides dissolved into dozens of separate skirmishes. Those Republic starfighters that managed to steal through the chaos drew into tight clusters and continued their fiery advance. The rest became embroiled in swift attacks and evasive maneuvers. Local space became a scrawl of scarlet lines and white spirals, punctuated by expanding explosions. Craft of both camps came apart, tumbling and spinning from the arena, wingless or in flames.
"They're being shot to pieces," Red Seven said over the net.
"They know their job," Anakin responded but Obi-Wan could hear, in his voice, that he felt sympathetic toward the clones who lost their lives. They did have a job though; buy Red Squadron enough time to skirt the main action and race down Tythe's gravity well.
A burst-transmission from survivors of the assault on the Republic's small base had confirmed Dooku's presence n the surface. But on the possibility on that Tythe was a calculated diversion, which it was based on what happened the first time around, Palpatine's naval command staff had agreed to committing only a single battle group from the Outer Rim fleet. In the view of those same naval commanders, invasion was senseless; a Base Delta Zero attack, justified. In the end, it was decided that saturation bombardment, augmented by limited starfighter engagement, would send Dooku fleeing, in keeping with the Republic's strategy to force the Separatists deeper into the galaxy's spiral arms.
The Jedi had insisted nevertheless that an attempt be made to take Dooku.
Obi-Wan's knowledge of the future, and the words of advice he gave to Anakin, had allowed them to capture Dooku but he knew better than to believe his knowledge of what would happen will enable them to capture Dooku. However, that did not mean he wasn't going to try. The only problem was that he was unsure of where Dooku was during the altercation with his droids.
He sighed. Master, can I ask you something? He sent through the Force.
'I make no promise I will answer,' Qui-Gon murmured in reply.
Is Tythe one of the things I can change? He rarely asked if a certain event could be changed or not unless he wanted a confirmation just as he did during the hostage situation earlier on in the war.
'Some things are meant to happen,' Qui-Gon replied.
That was enough answer to Obi-Wan; the events on Tythe could not be changed. That meant he would have to hope either he wouldn't get knocked out on the Invisible Hand during the Battle of Coruscant or Anakin would not give in to the temptation to strike down Dooku.
"…signature from Grievous's cruiser," Anakin's voice broke through Obi-Wan's thoughts. "None of the ships of the Separatists leadership are here."
"This means that Dooku was likely ordered here by Sidious," Obi-Wan said glancing at the wire-frame display of his threat-assessment screen.
"Then where's everyone else?"
"I wish I knew." Or more or less, I wish I could tell you, Obi-Wan thought. The starfighter's proximity scanners stammered a warning. "Techno Union starship is veering to intercept us."
"Droid fighters area way and locking on," Red Three added.
"Perhaps now is time for an infamous Skywalker improvised plan," Obi-Wan said with a faint smile.
Anakin chuckled; it sounded like a hiss over the net. "Form up on me. Let's show them one of my infamous improvised plans."
Rolling to port, Obi-Wan fell in behind Anakin and fired his thrusters. Trailing behind, Red Squadron accelerated and banked for the narrow-waisted vessel.
"Ready proton torpedoes," Anakin said. "Sow them just above the fuel cells."
Point-defense turbolasers sought the starfighters as they fell on the ship, needling space with outpourings of gaudy energy. Corkscrewing missiles claimed Red Ten and Red Twelve, both of which disappeared in angry blossoms of fire. Sensing its sudden vulnerability, the huge vessel launched additional droid fighters. In the instant it lowered its shields to rout power to the sublight drives, Red Squadron attacked.
Tight on Anakin, the ten remaining starfighters yawed for the waist of the ship, just forward of its cluster of cylindrical fuel cells. Dropping his craft to within one hundred meters of the pinched hull, Anakin began to hug the surface, surging onto a course that would ship Red Squadron through a tight circle around the forward ends of the fuel cells.
"Torpedoes away," he said at the halfway mark.
Obi-Wan triggered the launchers and watched two torpedoes burn toward the target. Behind him, the rest of Red Squadron did the same. This began to score, fire and gas fountaining from breaches in the ship's dark hull.
The disabling run completed, Anakin boosted for Tythe. "She's finished!"
In single file, Red Squadron followed.
Almost instantly the punctured vessel exploded, stunning the fleeing starfighters with a wave of force. Red Nine disappeared at the edge of the roiling detonation zone, and red Seven wheeled off into the void with both wings sheared away.
Obi-Wan regained control of his craft and attached himself to Anakin's six.
"Insertion point in fifteen seconds," Anakin updated. "Dial inertial compensators to maximum. All power to the ablative shields. Deceleration burn on my mark…"
Obi-Wan kept his hands on the violently shaking yoke as Red Squadron ripped into Tythe's plundered atmosphere. He did his best to ignore the rattling as light flashed behind him and streaked past the cockpit. Half a dozen droid fighters were chasing them down the well.
Not having to concern themselves with endangering living systems, the Vultures should have been able to descend even more rapidly and more acutely than the starfighters. But as the heat of entry built in the ships, survival protocols began to kick in, tasking the fighters to adjust the angle of their descents. For some of the droids, it was already too late. Single contrails became particle showers as gravity summoned the broken fighters to their doom.
Punching through the blankets of clouds at suicidal velocity, Obi-Wan's starfighter went into a roll. Pinwheeling before his eyes, Tythe was a kaleidoscopic furor of white and brown, smeared occasionally with striations of blue and green. Leveling out of the plummet, he briefly examined the ruined world remembering a few aspects of the world from the last time he came to it; the dead gray ocean, the barren land fissured by dry, sinuous riverbeds, the brown hills strewn with toppled trees, it was a ruined world.
"Head count," he said into his helmet microphone.
Five voices responding Reds Eight and Eleven were lost.
"Locking in target coordinates," Anakin said.
Red Squadron flew just above the contours of land that had once been as lush as the area surrounding Theed, on Naboo. Now a desert, save for areas where exotic species of vegetation thrived in lakes of red-brown water, their jagged shorelines crusted yellow and black.
Also like Naboo, Tythe had once mined plasma in sufficient quantities to ship offworld. But greed had driven LiMerge Power to experiment with dangerous methods for keeping the ionized gas under adequate heat. A chain reaction set in motion by nuclear fuelds had destroyed facilities throughout Tythe's northern hemisphere and had left the planet uninhabitable for a generation.
"Target facility is ten kilometers west," Anakin said. "We should be hearing from artillery soon enough."
Soaring from the edge of a high plateau, the six starfighters dropped into a broad valley, disturbingly reminiscent of Geonosis, right down to the berthed starships and war machines spread across the floor.
Hailfire droids wheeled out to greet them with volleys of surface-to-air missiles. STAPs lifted into the air and squads of infantry droids hurried for armed skimmers. The only thing that was missing from the first time around were the Trade Federation landing ships.
Unequipped to defend itself against the onslaught, tattered Red Squadron banked broadly to the north, evading plasma beams and flak from exploding heat seekers. Obi-Wan and Anakin paid out the last of their proton torpedoes in futile attempts to save Reds Three, Four and Five. Bursts from their laser cannons crippled two enemy speeders and countless droid fighters, sending them crashing into the contaminated terrain. R4-P17 howled as Obi-Wan twisted the starfighter through violent airbursts and superheated clouds of billowing smoke.
Red Six vanished.
When they had juked their way through the worst of it, Anakin came alongside Obi-Wan. It was just the two of them now.
"Point three-oh," Anakin said. "On the landing platform."
Obi-Wan briefly examined what had been an enormous plasma-generation facility. Fractured containment domes and adjacent roofless structures revealed toppled extraction shafts, exploded activators, and tumbled walkways. In the center of the complex stood an elevated square of corroded ferrocrete, crowded with enemy fighter craft and bearing a single Geonosian faintail of distinctive design.
"Dooku's sloop," Obi-Wan said matter-of-factly.
The battle droids began to gush from the facility and out onto the landing platform. Bolts from the droids' blasters clawed at the pair of prowling starfighters.
"So we aren't going through the front door. Any backup ideas?" Obi-Wan already knew Anakin had one.
"Of course," Anakin said. "We go in through the north dome."
Obi-Wan sighed examining the partially collapsed hemisphere. The lid that had once topped the plasma containment structure was long gone, and the resultant circular opening was large enough for a starfighter to thread.
"Let's just hope the maneuver alone doesn't kill us," he said lightly.
Anakin laughed.
Jedi Master Mace Windu and his team had just entered the level-one sub basements of 500 Republica and were discussing how many probe droids would be needed to search the entire first level of the sub basements when the floor began to tremble.
"A quake?" Mace asked the beautiful but deadly Togruta Jedi Master Shaak Ti.
She shook her head. "I'm not sure—"
A second jolt shook the sub-basement, strong enough to dust the team with loose ferrocrete from the high ceiling.
"Feels like something rammed the building," the Republic Intelligence analyst Captain Dyne said.
It wouldn't be the first time an intoxicated or exhausted driver had veered from one of the free-travel skylanes and plowed into the side of a building, Mae told himself. And yet—
The next shudder was accompanied by the distant sound of a powerful explosion. Lights in the subbasement faded momentarily then returned to full illumination sending the custodial and maintenance droids into frantic activity.
Also at a far remove, klaxons and sirens blared.
"My comlink isn't working," Dyne said, jabbing at the device's frequency search control with his forefinger.
"We're tiers below midlevel," Shaak Ti said.
Dyne shook his head. "That shouldn't matter. Not in here."
Stretching out with the Force, mace sensed danger, frenzy, pain and death. "Where's the nearest exit?"
Dyne pointed to his left. "The tunnel to the east skydock."
Mace's thoughts swirled. He turned to the clone commander Valiant. "Commander, Shaak Ti and I will need half your squad. You and the rest of your tam will assist Captain Dyne with the search. Keep me informed of your progress."
"What about me sir?" the droid TC-16 asked.
Mace looked at the protocol droid before glancing at Dyne. "The droid stays with you."
Flanked by commandos, Mace and Shaak Ti raced off. The tunnel to the east skydock shook as they hurried through mixed-species crowds of frightened pedestrians heading toward and way from 500 Republica. Ahead of them loomed a square of dim sunlight, almost aquatic in quality, typical of the lower reaches of Coruscant's urban canyons.
On the huge quadrangular skydock, humans, humanoids and aliens were crouched behind parked limos, taxis and private yachts, or hurrying for the entrance to the upper-level mag-lev platform. Shouts and screams punctuated the drone of overhead traffic. Panic gripped the free-travel skylanes. Taxis and transports ere swerving in all directions, careening into one another and the sides of buildings, making desperate rooftop and plaza landings.
Higher, a plunging vehicle—a boxy cargo ship, engulfed in flames—came streaking through a horizontal autonavigation lane, surrendering some of its velocity to a violent collision with a public transport pod before continuing its fiery plunge toward the bottom of the canyon.
Mace tracked the ill-fated ship for a moment then tilted his head back and put the edge o his hand to his brow. Distant buildings shimmered as if mirage by heat.
The district's defensive shield had been raised!
Higher still, soemthign was wrong with the flicerking sky. Light flared behind stratified clouds, and thunder of a kidn reverberated from the summits of the taller buildings. Far to the south, Corsucant's pale blue mantle was hashed into triangles and slivers by white contrails.
In their oblate pools of white skin, Shaak Ti's eyes were wide when she looked at Mace. "An attack," she said in stunned disbelief.
Comlink already in hand, Mace activated the Jedi Temple frequency and held the device to his ear. "Nothing but noise."
"The deflector shield," Shaak Ti said. She craned her neck, striped montrals and head-tail quivering. "Or could they be jamming transmissions?"
Mace's nostrils flared. "Crowd control!" he told the commandos. To Shaak Ti, he added, "Find Palpatine. See to it he's conveyed to safety. I'll send backup."
Count Dooku waited for Kenobi and young Skywalker to enter the ruined hall of the LiMerge plasma facility. Taking the moment to place his compact welcoming device, he hurried through a series of decontamination chambers into the facility's control room, which overlooked the rear of the archive hall and the vast space enclosed by the containment dome itself. Then he activated a second small holoprojector and positioned himself for the holocam. Owing to interference, images of the archive hall were nowhere near as clear as he might have wished, and the audio feed was worse. Was more important, though, that Kenobi and Skywalker be able to see him than he them.
As he waited, he thought about how to carry out the last of Sidious's orders. Sidious had said that Dooku shouldn't hesitate to make up for his failure on Naos III concerning Kenobi. It was obvious by Sidious's tone of voice that he wanted Kenobi dealt with and Dooku again wondered at the words Sidious spoke that he wasn't supposed to hear.
Kenobi is becoming a pest, an annoying, meddlesome pest. I have only been suspecting that he was the one meddling with my plans but I'm beginning to think that my suspicions are the truth. But how can that be? Perhaps it has to do with that disturbance I felt before the Clone Wars began.
Dooku had no idea what Sidious meant by his words but he resolved to do just as his master had asked; he would take care of Kenobi with his little demonstration.
At long last, the two Jedi rushed headlong into the hall, only to stop upon spying his life-sized holoimage emanating from the compact holoprojector he had left behind.
"Dooku, we know you are here," young Skywalker said. "Show yourself."
Rooms distant, Dooku merely spread his hands in a gesture o greeting and aimed his words at the holoprojector's microphone. "Stand not amazed, young Jedi. Is this not the way you had your first glimpse of Lord Sidious?"
Kenobi's eyes were narrowed and, suddenly, Dooku was startled when he looked directly at the control room. He touched Skywalker's hand and nodded toward the doorway Dooku had taken to reach the control room. It was almost as if he already knew where Dooku was located despite his mastery of the Quey'tek technique for hiding oneself in the Force.
How did he manage to do that? Dooku thought angrily. Oh well, time to entertain them and, perhaps, take care of Kenobi, in observance of Sidious's wishes.
Plucking his comlink from his belt, Dooku's right thumb leapt across the small touch pad.
Heralded by the sound of metallic footfalls, fifty infantry droids crowded into the archive hall through two opposing doorways, perpendicular to the one through which the Jedi had entered.
"—beginning to…things almost as much…I hate sand," Skywalker was saying to his former mentor as he raised his lightsaber over one shoulder.
Kenobi merely smiled bringing his blade directly in front of him. "Then…sweep up."
Touched by their camaraderie, and feeling an odd sensation of pity for what he was going to do to Kenobi, Dooku smiled to himself. Darth Sidious had his work cut out for him if he ever expected to turn Skywalker to the dark side; perhaps that was why he wanted Kenobi to be taken out. He did say as much before Naos III.
Perhaps Kenobi will survive this just as he survived Naos III, Dooku thought. Strangely, he was actually hoping Kenobi would.
He thumbed a final comlink key.
And with that, the droids leveled their blaster rifles at the Jedi and opened fire.
Yoda surrendered himself to the currents of the Force. Sometimes, when the current was swift and steadfast, he could see through the eyes of his fellow Jedi, almost as if they were the Temples remote sensors. And sometimes when the current was especially forceful, when it surged as if descending from great heights, he could hear the voice of Qui-Gon Jinn, as clearly as if he were still alive.
Today was not one of those days. Today the current was interrupted by eddies and whirlpools, hydraulic traps whose roar overpowered the voices Yoda sought to hear. Today the current was not pellucid but muddied by red soil eroded from distant shores, treacherous with obstacles, tainted.
Unaware that his eyelids were squeezed tight, his eyeballs dancing beneath as if incapable of focusing on any one thing, he had an image of himself drawing aside a veil only to find another, and another beyond that.
The dark side frustrated his every effort to see clearly. The experience was still something new to him.
Yoda's thoughts drifted to Sidious and Sidious's apprentice Dooku. The first was what the Sith seemed to have been waiting for, the one from birth who would be strong enough to embrace the dark side fully and become its dedicated instrument. He was this person in that he was powerful enough to teach Dooku, expose his apprentice and yet remain hidden from the Jedi.
Perhaps Count Dooku's master is hidden in plain sight but the dark side blinds us to the truth right beneath our noses. Obi-Wan had said those words prior to leaving Coruscant with Skywalker for what would begin four months of being away from the capital.
Yoda thought about those words. He knew that Obi-Wan knew of who Sidious really was, his true identity and yet the Force forbid Obi-Wan from revealing Sidious's identity. Though just because he was forbidden from doing that, it did not stop him from giving out hints, clues that could lead Yoda to discovering who Sidious was.
He also thought about what Obi-Wan told him, about how the future Obi-Wan came from all hinged on a decision Anakin Skywalker would make.
As Yoda thought about it, he realized he knew of what decision Skywalker would need to make that would decide the outcome of the future. If Sidious knew about Skywalker, knew Skywalker was the Chosen One…
What better way to ensure total victory than by killing or corrupting the Chosen One? Even if not that One, though Obi-Wan was convinced he was, someone so strong in midi-chlorians…Someone birthed by the Force itself, Qui-Gon would have said—never a doubt that Anakin's mother might have been lying. The boy had no father. None I choose to remember. None I would honor with that title.
The Sith were aware of Skywalker. How would Skywalker react when they tried finally to ensnare him? Was that what Obi-Wan was sent to the past to prevent?
Yoda's eyes snapped open; a disturbance in the Force—of such magnitude that he had been hurled from the current.
At his thought command, the window shutters in his quarters opened, and he gazed out on Coruscant, over the plain of The Works and beyond. Something was wrong with the sky. Behind gathered clouds turned red and gold by noxious smoke; a lightstorm. Pulsing light, brighter than the waning rays of Coruscant's sun. Movement, as well; outside Coruscant's busy envelope, not seen but sensed.
An attack.
The Sith Lord's response to his being chased? Was it possible? Could that be why Obi-Wan warned him that the Sith Lord could be hiding right beneath their noses?
He perceived Mace running down corridors in the Temple; then turned as Mace rushed through the doorway. At the same instant, a flaming Republic ship streaked past the Temple's crowning spires and crashed violently in the heart of The Works.
"Tiin, Koon, Ki-Adi-Mundi, and some of the others are on their way up the well," Mace said. "I sent Stass Allie and Adi Gallia to assist Shaak Ti in guarding Chancellor Palpatine."
Yoda nodded sagely. "Well trained the Supreme Chancellor's Red Guards are. But display due concern for his safety, the Jedi must."
"Reports from naval command are garbled," Mace continued. "It's clear that the attack caught the home fleet by surprise. Groups of Separatist ships managed to penetrate the envelope before the fleet had time to engage. Now, by all accounts, our vessels are holding the line."
Yoda adopted an expression that mixed anger and bafflement. "Monitoring hyperspace reversion points, our commanders weren't?"
Mace's eyes narrowed. "The Separatist fleet jumped from the Deep Core."
"Secret, those routes were. Known to use and few others." Yoda looked at Mace. "Unrestricted access to the archives, Dooku had. Access enough erase all mentions of Kamino. Access enough o learn of explorations in the Deep Core."
Mace went to the window wall and stared at the sky. "Dooku isn't leading this attack. Obi-Wan confirmed that he is on Tythe."
"Revealed, the Importance of Tythe is. To draw into the Outer Rim additional Jedi."
"Maybe Palpatine will heed the Council's warnings next time."
"Improbably. But as you say: perhaps."
Mace swung back to Yoda. "It's Grievous. But he can't be planning to occupy Coruscant. There aren't enough battle droids in the entire galaxy for that."
"Desperate he is," Yoda said, more to himself.
"It's not in his programming."
Yoda looked up. "Not Grievous—Sidious."
Mace took a moment to answer. "If that's true, then we're closer to finding him than we thought. Still, he can't believe we'll call off the search now."
"Demoralize Coruscant, Grievous will. Harry those who live in the heights and who wield power. Send them fleeing for safer havens, the attack will. Disrupt the Senate."
Mace paced in front of the windows. "This will only encourage Palpatine to triple the size of the clone army, construct more and more starships and fighters, strike at more worlds. With the Senate crippled, no one will oppose him."
"Modulate, this war does. Recall every available Jedi, we must."
"The HoloNet is down," Mace said "Surface communications are distorted by the defensive shields."
Yoda nodded. "Use the beacon, we will."
A/n what do you think?
Blaze: for all of you (no matter if it's one or five thousand) who want to see Ahsoka, she's going to make an appearance soon likely in the first, second or third chapter of the Revenge of the Sith part
Darth: that's cool
Anakin: yup (slams sledgehammer into Palpypie's head)
Obi-Wan: (slams flaming machete into Palpypie's back)
Mace: (slams flaming axe into Palpypie's head)
Yoda: (pushes Palpypie into Sarlacc pit)
Palpypie's Ghost: what was that for?
Anakin: I was bored
Obi-Wan and Mace: we don't like you
Yoda: bored I was also
Palpypie's Ghost: that's mean!
Blaze: (chuckles) please review and I will post chapter 54 as soon as I possibly can but I doubt it will be anytime soon