Chapter 102: Secura
Quinlan Vos crouched in the underbrush, the jungles of Felucia hot and humid and filled with lush, vibrant flora and fauna, beautiful and dangerous. Since Dooku's death, Vos had been living high, promoted under the command of Obi-Wan to an Admiral of his fleet. The dreadnaught given to him, the Enigma, was massive and brand new, only recently completed and immediately handed over to the fallen Jedi on the condition that he do one thing, and one thing only: draw Jedi attention to himself. It was an easy enough thing to do, and in the week after the Battle of Coruscant, Quinlan had won every battle he engaged in, had captured ships and killed Republic officers by the hundreds. He would have killed the clones as well, and did end up having to kill a fair number of them, but Obi-Wan had requested they be taken alive as possible, and Vos was in no hurry to disappoint his crazy friend.
It only took Vos a few days to find himself hounded by a fleet led by the Star Destroyer Intrepid, the sister ship of his own Impavid, and he knew full well who was in command. Aayla Secura. His old student. They had been so close, were so similar in many ways, and while the Twi'lek was good, Vos knew he was better. Kenobi had ordered him to draw out the Jedi, and what a Jedi hunted him. He couldn't have asked for better. When Obi-Wan called his fleet to defend Felucia, Quinlan did as commanded, and Secura had followed. For days, they had fought in space above the jungle planet, the Jedi clearly emboldened by the Confederacy's perceived weakness, and the leapt on the opportunity to secure critical Separatist worlds. Vos wasn't going to lose easily, though, but the Republic force was much larger than the Separatist, and they had quickly broken through to the planet's surface, the fallen Jedi forced to abandon the battle in space for one on the ground. That was fine. Vos was more at home planet side anyway. It allowed him to become the hunter.
Quinlan lowered himself closer to the ground and closed his eyes to keep the yellow glow from the shadows to alerting others to his presence. The Force on this planet was strong, which allowed him to sense further and more accurately, but it also made his own dark presence easier to detect. At times like this, he wished he had his prodigious friend's ability to completely conceal his Force presence, but he wasn't sure if it was even a skill that could be taught. It may have been, since the Sith Master was said to have the same ability, but it was possible that Master and Apprentice were just...similar. He held his breath when he sensed movement nearby, quieted his mind as he saw the boots of the clone troopers moving past him a little ways off, and he smirked. Slowly, surely, the hunter was becoming the hunted. He just needed to be patient. Kenobi would be here soon.
He was presumed to be on Raxus running the war from his command center, but Kenobi had never been one to lead from a desk. His involvement so far since Coruscant had been minimal, the Sith Lord opting instead to submerge himself in the Force. Why, Quinlan had no idea, but he spent a fair amount of time in his meditations while Quinlan made himself the center of attention, and when he fled to defend Felucia, Kenobi had promised to be there. And he would be, Vos knew. Even if it had been a few days since his feet had fallen on Felucian soil. Even if he had been running for days, leading Republic troops into ambushes and hiding in caves and trees and underbrush to avoid the Jedi that hunted him. Obi-Wan would be there. Kenobi had never let him down before.
Except for the time that he betrayed the Jedi and became a Sith Lord, but...that was neither here nor there anymore.
He was intently focused on the sound of the receding steps of the clones, the shouts of the Jedi as they searched for him, the feel of his former student, the feel of Aayla as she relentlessly hunted her Master. She was good. She had to be, having learned from him, but Quinlan was better, as the moment was showing. So intently focused was he that he didn't hear the soft wisp of the air move, and he tensed, nearly jumped out of cover when a hand took his lightsaber from his belt. He breathed a sigh of relief and settled back down into his position when he found himself looking into the golden eyes of Kenobi.
"If I were a Jedi," Obi-Wan whispered, "you'd be dead."
"If you were a Jedi, I'd have sensed you coming," Quinlan quietly retorted. "What took you so long?"
"We've been capturing ships and clones for nearly two weeks," the Sith said softly. "Nothing particularly notable, but enough to make them consider you a threat." Kenobi smiled when the Kiffar's chest puffed with pride. "It's time to break their confidence. I was capturing the armada surrounding the planet."
"What, the whole thing?" Vos said lightly, laughing as he punched the Sith in the arm, and Kenobi just looked displeased.
"No..." he hissed, disappointed and irritated. "One Star Destroyer, seven heavy cruises, and many smaller vessels had to be destroyed. I have captured the rest, though."
Quinlan's jaw dropped. By the time he had fled planet side, there had been six Star Destroyers in orbit. He had thought Kenobi was joking about capturing them. "What. Seriously?" he asked, breathless and in awe of the man who simply smirked his amusement. "How." Kenobi patted Quinlan's tattooed cheek.
"A Master never reveals his secrets, Quin. But capturing a ship is a simple thing when they don't know I'm there. Cody and my Shadow Legion have been monitoring all communications between the ships and the ground while I captured and converted their crews." A sly grin spread across Quinlan's face.
"Is that how you captured my ship and my clones?"
"Oh yes." He shrugged. "I'm better at it now. Insanity has made me...quite powerful." Kenobi closed his eyes and reached out through the Force, feeling for the life the planet teemed with, the deaths that occurred where organic and synthetic met in battle, the swirling of the Force around the Jedi that commanded it. "What is the Jedi strength here?"
Four Jedi Knights, three Padawans, and one Jedi Master in the form of Aayla Secura." He grinned broadly when Kenobi's eyes flashed with something sinister.
"They sent your student to hunt you?" Vos nodded excitedly, and Obi-Wan scoffed. "How terribly cruel of them."
"It's more likely she decided to hunt me herself." Vos sniffled. "The hot ones are always trouble." A cocky smirk spread across Kenobi's lips.
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"Oh, baby, I would let you take me right now if the screams wouldn't attract the Jedi's attention..."
"After we win here, lover," Kenobi drawled, his sharp eyes peering past Quinlan and at the distant clone company. "The four Jedi that are unaccounted for were on the Star Destroyers, but they're dead. I don't think we need to worry about reenforcements, Cody and Fett have been sending false reports back to the Republic. That should buy us time, but this honestly shouldn't take more than a few hours."
"You have a plan, Kenobi?" Vos asked softly, and the Sith's eyes narrowed in focus.
"Kill the Jedi. Kill the clones. Capture Secura." When Quinlan didn't acknowledge and the Sith felt worry, concern and reluctance coming from the man beside him, his eyes turned on him, blazing flames and anticipation, but not unkind, though the light was harsh.
"What will happen to her?" Vos asked softly, shuddering under his Master's gaze. "I mean...it's Aayla. I love that girl, and she really liked you. I don't-"
"I've need of her, Quinlan," Kenobi said forcefully, and the man beside him shivered. "In tact, as a Jedi. Trust me, I see no need to harm her. Her...fair treatment will serve me better." Quinlan nodded. That settled it for him. He nudged the Sith and pointed out to where the company of clones stood. They couldn't see the Jedi from where they lay, but Vos knew they were there. They had been hunting him for days, and had stayed together to ensure their success, but now, it was only serving to put all their targets in one spot.
"The second they see me, they're all going to attack." He surveyed the group, felt them through the Force and found them all to be tense, focused, and ready, even his slightest brush against them alerting them to the presence of something nearby. "That's eight Jedi and a whole mess of clones, and they're already on high alert. I can't hide myself like you can." A slow, gleeful smile came to the Sith's lips, his eyes lighting in delight and youthful excitement, like a child who just received a gift.
"I've waited so long to try this..." Kenobi mumbled, closing his eyes, breathing deeply as he spread his fingers and laid them upon the ground. "Something I learned from Shaak Ti..."
Quinlan shifted uncomfortably. He didn't fault Kenobi for what had happened to the Jedi Master, but it was...awful. Slave to the Sith Lord was one thing, the woman somehow coaxed into opening Jedi holocrons so that her Master could learn. But the Togruta had become a pleasure slave to a clone. A remarkable clone, yes, truly exceptional, but a clone none the less. The Master was worthy of more, and if it was her fate to service a man, it should have been the mighty Sith she was slaved to. However, in the short time he had seen her, Shaak Ti seemed to have her wits about her, not a captive broken to slavery, but a willing one that seemed to hold a great deal of affection for Cody, came to treasure the time they spent together, even if most of it involved her legs wrapped tightly around his hips to pull him deeper inside her. But she deserved better. She deserved a Sith Lord. Hell, even he'd be good enough for her.
Quinlan gasped softly when the plants around them began to shift, slightly at first, and then as if the flora possessed a mind of its own, squirming and swaying despite the heavy air and the lack of wind. And then, it began to grow rapidly, further concealing their position, and through the gaps, Vos could see the clones examining the rapidly changing vegetation. "How are you doing that?" Quinlan asked quietly, and the focused Kenobi smiled ever so slightly, his eyes closed in his focus.
"One of my holocrons is all about altering the environment. Be prepared to attack, you're going to have fog cover in a moment." Quinlan just stared, not exactly understanding what the Sith was saying until the air seemed to grow even thicker, heavier, his vision blurring as a thick mist very suddenly rolled in. Through the heavy air, he could see lightsabers swinging in a futile attempt to beat back the obscuring fog and the tangle of overgrown, snaking vines and plants around them. The Sith beside him indicated forward with his hand and promptly disappeared, melting into the shadows as if he were a shadow himself. Taking his lightsaber in his hand, Vos rushed forward as well.
There was chaos among the ranks as rapidly growing plants snared the clones, heavy mist limiting their visibility, the Jedi fighting the forces of nature as fiercely as they did any enemy of the Republic. Vos could hear them on their comlinks swiftly barking commands and the need for additional support on the ground, and he felt the panic that filled them when the coms returned nothing but static and silence. Their ships were lost to them, and they were only now discovering it. He saw a blue lightsaber suddenly ignite and swing down at one of the Jedi, the man falling with a sharp, pained scream before there was silence, and another followed soon after, shock on her face when Jedi blue was turned against them. Following the lead of the Sith Lord, Vos ignited his own blade and rushed toward the Jedi.
The Jedi in his path happened to be the Padawans, trying to be centered and brave, but the quaking of the Force, the swell of the Dark Side, the feel of death around them, the brutal severing of the connections to their Masters left them weakened and afraid. The Jedi, in their desperation to win the war, had been putting out Jedi too young and with a lack of talent simply to bolster their numbers. It had been a tragic requirement, and Quinlan now saw first hand what a terrible idea this was. He had been forced to take a Padawan as well near the beginning of the war when there were still initiates to draw from, but now...these had barely stepped out of being younglings. He wondered how Ahsoka was. If she was even alive. He'd have to ask Kenobi to find her.
His blade pierced through the third Padawan, and he barely had the time to dodge away, his green blade swinging around to clash with the hard striking blue of Aayla Secura, her beautiful face contorted with anger, the full weight of the Force behind her every swing, and Quinlan had no idea how he was going to capture her. He shifted his focus to Kenobi for a moment and saw his red blade finally drawn as he fought against the last two Knights, his movements slow and easy, almost casual. The plants had stopped growing, the mist was fading, but the clones never attacked. They were on the ground, in the air, held tightly by the Force as their blood boiled within them. Quinlan could feel that they weren't dying. They were just suffering.
His attention swiftly shot back to his former student when her lightsaber grazed his arm, and he loudly cursed himself for his divided attention. It was a huge mistake to take his focus off the dangerous Master. She was trained by him, after all.
"Master," Secura hissed, her voice laced with disgust, and the Kiffar grinned. "I've been trying to find you, Master. I had hoped your Padawan was wrong about you."
"What'd she say about me, sweetheart?" Vos drawled, leaning in and smirking, the blades hissing and sparking as they slid against each other.
"She said you fell to the Dark Side," she said, a curious, mischievous smirk on her lips. "Your eyes confirm at least that much, but I think we can save you."
"Save me?" Vos gasped. "Save me from what. Can you bring my Master back? Can you keep the woman I loved from betraying me?" Fresh anger tore through Quinlan as he felt the wound on his heart rip open, pulsing and bleeding the Dark Side in thick, flowing streams and he lunged forward without warning, his attacks become fast and fearsome, and with a gasp, the Twi'lek staggered backwards in a hasty defense. Quinlan reached deep, drawing on the darkness to fuel his use of Vaapad, Mace Windu's deadly form of combat, and with fast, random strikes coming hard upon the Jedi, all Secura could do was retreat, her own blade swinging furiously to defend against the Master that taught her all she knew.
If he had been anyone else, it would have been enough, but Quinlan Vos knew Aayla as well as she knew herself, and he knew exactly where her blade was going. With the random, vicious slashes of his own green blade, Vos feigned a strike low, predicted the rise of her elbow, the angling of her wrist, and with a swift motion, he turned his blade away from her and drew his weapon back toward him, catching the blue blade along his and with a swift twist of his wrist, the Jedi's saber was torn from her hand. Vos reached out, called the woman's lightsaber to his hand, and swiftly kicked out at her legs, catching her knee and sending her crashing to the ground. Labored, heavy, furious breathing accompanied him as he crossed the blue and green blades, thrust the points into the ground beside the Twi'lek's slender blue neck, and pulled the hilts apart, the cross of the blades descending along the length of the lightsabers and stopping as they crossed just above her exposed throat.
"Do you want me to choose, Aayla?" Vos growled, his red and yellow eyes blazing with fury as he glared at her. "Is that it? You want to hear me choose? I choose Obi-Wan." A small, faint smile tugged on her lips, her beautiful face filling with sudden hope and joy, and her smile widened.
"Choosing Obi-Wan isn't the same as choosing the Sith."
A sharp, shrill scream carried on the humid air, and Quinlan's eyes shot over to where Obi-Wan had been fighting to see the Sith Lord, his sabers clipped back to his belt and leaning against one of the towering fungus trees the planet was famous for, one of the remaining Jedi impaled upon the blade of the other. The blue weapon powered off, and the woman collapsed upon the ground, shaking slightly as the last of her life left her, her murderer coming to kneel before the Sith, his head bowed and leaning into Kenobi's touch when he bent down to stroke the long, thin tendrils of the Nautolan's head.
Quinlan grinned wickedly when he looked back at Secura. "Or maybe it is." A firm hand clasped his shoulder, and Vos looked at his friend, sighing in satisfaction when he felt the Sith's pleasure through the Force. The enthralled Nautolan Jedi trailed behind him, his wide eyes a mix of submission and bliss, and he felt Aayla shiver, her eyes fixed on her comrade. All around them, the clones were groaning, their hands clutched to their heads, some rising, others left squirming upon the ground, and Quinlan felt his chest tighten with tension and a sudden rush of fear when he heard the high whine of blasters priming. He glanced to his side to see the clones slowly beginning to rise, their weapons held ready and primed and aimed to shoot. He quickly glanced at Obi-Wan, who hardly seemed to notice them.
"Hello, Aayla," Kenobi said almost warmly, and he softly hit the Kiffar's shoulder. "Quin, you shame me. Turn off your weapons, Aayla is our guest." Quinlan looked back at his friend like he was crazy, eyes darting back to look as more clones rose, more clones surrounded them, more clones raised their weapons, and yet, the Sith remained calm. Fearless. Swallowing the dread he felt, Vos thumbed the sabers off, but kept them held tightly in his hand, ready to switch them back on at a moment's notice. "I'm pleased to see you made it to Knighthood," Kenobi said softly, watching as the Jedi slowly, cautiously sat up, looking around and taking in her situation. She smirked when she saw the clones, weapons ready and awaiting their orders. She wasn't beaten yet.
"Beyond that," she replied. "I'm a Master of the Council now."
"On the Council!" Kenobi gasped, laughing as he looked at the Twi'lek. "Oh, this is better than I imagined!" He smiled and extended his hand to the Jedi. She did not take it. "Come with me, Aayla," Obi-Wan said, and Secura felt herself falter, waver when she looked at him, his face so like the Padawan, and then the Knight she used to know so, so long ago. It was...identical, aged not a day from that time, and she felt her heart tug toward him, felt compelled to rush to him and throw her arms around the man she had known and missed...until she looked into the blazing, passionate glow of his golden eyes, the eyes of a Sith Lord. Her features drew together in resistance.
"Go with you?" she asked, disbelieving and uncertain she heard him right, but the man just nodded, his features sincere.
"I asked you once, long ago. I asked you to come with me on my next mission. It isn't my next one, but..." He reached out, his hand extending closer to her. "Come with me. Join me on this mission."
"To do what?"
"To end the war," Kenobi said, his tones hushed, his entire being almost seeming to quiver in anticipation and excitement. "To finally bring peace to this torn galaxy..."
She smiled up at him. "This war will end with your death, Sith Lord," she hissed, suddenly leaping to her feet and backing up, her fist raised in the air to draw the attention of the clones. Quinlan activated the lightsabers in his hand, a blade on each side of his Sith Master, ready to defend him, but Kenobi just stood, a small smile on his face, his hands clasped behind his back. "Kill Kenobi, but don't bring any harm to the other two!" Secura commanded, and Vos sucked in a sharp breath, ready to defend the fire, even though he knew he couldn't deflect them all.
Nobody moved. No blasters fired, no trigger fingers twitched, and when the tightness in his chest became too much, Vos exhaled, his eyes widening as he looked at the clones and realized where they were pointing their weapons, the Jedi seeming to realize at the same time. Every blaster, every pistol, every rifle was trained on General Secura.
"Well," Kenobi drawled, a smirk on his face when he felt Aayla tremble. "That was anticlimactic." He brushed off the front of his robes. "Shall we see who your soldiers obey?" he asked sweetly, snapping his fingers, and every one of the white helmets turned to look at him. "Boys, kneel before your Master." Every clone dropped to their knee, a sea of white armor suddenly lowering around them, and the Twi'lek paled, swaying on her feet as she watched her fellow Jedi kneel with the rest, the tentacles on his head squirming in elation as he grasped the Sith's robes, moaning softly when Kenobi's hand ran over the sensitive tendrils. "I should mention, Aayla," Kenobi said softly, sweetly, his accented clip sending a shiver up the Jedi's spine, "your part in this mission is not optional."
"You're controlling them..." she said, staring wide-eyed at the Nautolan as he took the Sith Lord's hand and began fervently kissing it. "You're controlling all of them..."
Kenobi rolled his eyes. "This is what I do, Secura, you all know that. Or..." He smiled and pulled the moaning Jedi closer. "Are you bothered because this one reminds you of your lover?" She gaped at him, a dark flush on her cheeks, but could find no words, and the Sith Lord laughed. "Yes, Quinlan told me all about your...dalliance with Master Fisto. And even if he didn't, your thought betray you. I can see you." He smiled and pointed to his temple. "Mind reader. It's a curse."
"No..." She shook her head in disbelief. "No, you can't be in my mind."
"Of course I can be," Obi-Was said, rolling his eyes and drawing closer to the Twi'lek. She didn't move. "I have a great deal of personal experience with your race. You crave submission on a cultural level, it's like it's a part of your genetics." Gold eyes roved over her as the Jedi looked away, refusing to meet his gaze. "There's a reason your species are kept as pleasure slaves by so many. I'm certain your...biological urge has made Kit very happy."
"Stop it!" she cried, her hands coming up to cover her ear cones, but it was no good. She wasn't hearing the Sith with her ears, but in her mind through the Force. She tried to look away from the Nautolan, but she couldn't.
"Oh, he does remind you of him!" Kenobi chirped, pleased as could be, the tentacles running over his hand. "Before I cut these off of him, in any case."
"If you're going to kill me, hurry up and do it," Secura said through grit teeth, and Kenobi looked hurt, almost offended.
"Kill you?" he asked. "I'm not going to kill you, Aayla. As I said, you're my guest. You're going to help me bring peace to the galaxy." He whistled, and two clones rushed forward and grabbed the Twi'lek roughly by the arms. "Hey now, easy!" Kenobi chided. "She's an old friend, I won't have her harmed." He smiled softly and laid his hand against her cheek, and Secura found that she couldn't pull away. "I'm going to take care of you, Aayla. Until you get back to the Jedi, you will be safe in my care."
"The promises of a Sith mean nothing, Kenobi."
"Than take it as a promise of one friend to another." He waved in the air for the clones to follow him, and he slowly turned to make his way back to the ships on the ground, the sea of clones parting to let him pass before they followed in behind him, their weapons still trained on the Jedi and the enthralled Nautolan standing close, his lightsaber in hand.
"...thank you," Quinlan mumbled as he lightly pressed his knuckles to Kenobi's arm in the weakest punch ever. The man just smiled.
"We've accomplished a great deal here today. We've reestablished the Separatists as force to be feared, and we've captured an extremely valuable prisoner." He whistled and chuckled under his breath. "Member of the Council..."
"The Jedi will be eager to get her back," Vos whispered. "Especially when Fisto sits by her side"
"Yes, but the Republic may not." There was silent confusion for a moment before Vos gasped in understanding.
"You mean to play the Jedi against the Republic."
"Oh yes." Vos simply grinned. "It should work. And if it doesn't..." He shrugged indifferently. "I return her anyway." He looked behind him and saw the Jedi, her hands bound behind her back, her head lowered, her feet dragging far behind them. "It will divide the Jedi, not just against each other, but against the Republic and against the Sith."
Quuinlan laughed. "We just captured her, Obi. How are we going to change Jedi minds about the Sith?"
Kenobi grinned, a devious gleam in his gold eyes and Vos felt excitement rush through him. "Oh, that's easy, Quin," Kenobi drawled. "We're going to be perfect gentlemen."