Without any power running through the base, navigation became a significantly more challenging task.
No power meant no lights, which meant that both Caleb and Ahsoka were relying entirely on the light being emitted by Caleb's ignited lightsaber to find the path they needed, not that either had any clue where the backup generator might be in the first place.
Further adding to the difficulty was the fact that the doors, once automatic thanks to the power, no longer worked. Instead they had to force them open, quite literally in some cases.
And even then they were having next to no luck in finding what they sought. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to the layout of the Separatist facility, no clue that suggested they were heading in the right direction.
They were effectively blind in more ways than one, navigating a labyrinth-like facility. It wouldn't be so bad though, if weren't for three important factors.
One: they were on a time limit. The lights and doors might not be working, but no power also meant no life support. They would all suffocate in time if they couldn't restore power.
Two: Depa Billaba and the rest of her troops were defending what was essentially a dead end. If they were attacked they'd have nowhere to go, at least not until they were able to download anything they could from the terminals, which again couldn't be done due to lack of power.
And three: There was a murderous cyborg General on the loose.
Ahsoka honestly didn't know what was worse.
"I could have sworn we've been this way already." Caleb quipped from beside her as they approached a three way junction, one that looked exactly like the last one. It was incredibly easy to get turned around in this place. How the Separatists coped with such a layout was beyond her.
That said, in hindsight, she supposed the endless hallways of the Jedi Temple, or the corridors of Yularen's Venator were much the same, and Ahsoka had always felt like she knew exactly where she was and where she was going when in those locations.
Perhaps it was her sense of familiarity about such places that led to such ease in finding her way around them.
"I'm not too sure. That said, I'm not looking forward to finding our way back to the lab." Ahsoka replied, glancing down the two possible directions they had before them. Surely one was the right way to go.
"I hadn't even thought about that!" Caleb exclaimed in response, his eyes going wide in despair for a moment. Clearly he was now regretting volunteering for this task.
Still, there was no turning back now.
"We'll find it Caleb. Have patience."
Caleb seemed to acknowledge her words, his own eyes glancing down each dark corridor before them, debating.
Then, with a deep breath, he turned and headed down the left hand passage, seemingly confident in his choice.
Having no choice but to follow, Ahsoka moved to catch up with him, the two bathed in the blue light of Caleb's lightsaber as they proceeded deeper and deeper into the facility.
Several more twists and turns in the dark, and several more comments from Caleb believing they were lost, and finally, something went their way.
Before them was a large door, one that was already open. Unlike the previous rooms the one beyond it was much larger and full of several large pieces of equipment, several that looked a lot like generators used to power large facilities.
"Hey! We found it!" Caleb exclaimed from beside her, moving into the room with a smile on his face. Ahsoka couldn't help the chuckle that escaped her throat at the sight of the young Padawan, his spirit renewed.
"These certainly look like generators, though they don't exactly look like they are in great condition." Ahsoka replied, moving into the room and examining the large machines before her. They were rusted and corroded in several places, exposed wires left dangling from various components with no regards to safety whatsoever. Frankly it was a wonder the whole complex hadn't gone up in some sort of explosion so far.
Perhaps the generators had merely failed on their own, as opposed to being deactivated manually? Ahsoka doubted she would be that lucky today, not if the rest of the mission was anything to go by.
"Well if these are the main generators, then surely the backup one is nearby right?" Caleb asked, his own eyes surveying the damage. Unlike Ahsoka his own eyes moved over the evident damage and wear quickly, showing that he wasn't nearly as skilled and adept in engineering as she was. It was times like these that Ahsoka was glad for the lessons in mechanics that Anakin had given her. It turned out that sticking her under his personal starfighter and saying 'fix this or I'll die in my next flight' was a surprisingly good teaching method. The last thing Ahsoka wanted was to get Anakin killed after all. That wouldn't exactly do her reputation as a Padawan any good at all.
"Should be… in theory." Ahsoka replied, gesturing towards another door nearby, one that was still closed. Nodding his head, Caleb moved towards it, the light from his ignited blade illuminating the way.
Reaching out into the Force, Ahsoka grasped the door and pulled it open, the sound of metal screeching as it was forced grating on her montrals. She hated that sound!
Once the door was open sufficiently, she stepped inside, a wide smile coming to her face as she saw what was on the other side.
A single generator stood in the centre of the room, looking pristine and fully functional. It wouldn't be enough to fully restore all power throughout the facility, but enough to get the key systems online.
"Guess we found the backup then." Caleb said as he too squeezed through the open door, the joy in his voice evident.
"Guess so. Give me some light so I can work." Ahsoka answered, moving over to the backup generator, opening a side panel on it and extracting a connective wire in the process. She just had to link it up to the main power circuit and all should be good.
The wire moved relatively easily, allowing for Ahsoka to pull it out and back into the previous room. It was pure luck that the wire was able to stretch as far as it did, otherwise they would have had no chance whatsoever. Ahsoka could only guess that whoever had designed the facility in the first place had considered such a situation.
The longer the wire became, the harder it was to pull, but still it moved, allowing Ahsoka to close on the main power circuit.
Reaching forward with her free hand, she disconnected the wires connecting to the main generators, and connected the backup's wire in their place.
Content that the wire was inserted correctly, Ahsoka moved her hand over to a lever next to the power circuit, grasping it tightly in preparation.
"Let's hope this works." Ahsoka muttered, mainly to herself. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted Caleb cross his fingers on his free hand, a look of confidence on his face. The fact that he was full of hope was enough to encourage Ahsoka.
Smiling beneath her helmet, Ahsoka pulled the lever down.
At first, nothing happened. No sound or sign of anything activating occured. Ahsoka felt her spirit begin to drop…
That was until something, she wasn't sure what, sparked. The power circuit suddenly flared to life, small lights of multiple colours becoming illuminated as energy ran through it's circuits. IN the side room the sound of the generator roaring to life hit her montrals, a telltale sign that the generator was now in working order.
The room itself, once shrouded in darkness became illuminated by several dim red emergency lights. The backup generator may not have restored the lights to full power, but this was more than enough to light the way.
"Now let's hope the terminals back in the lab are working." Caleb's voice echoed over the sound of machinery working, shifting Ahsoka's attention away from the lights and towards him.
But as she looked over at the young Padawan she spotted something behind him. Something huge.
Terror flooded her senses in an instant as she realized what it was, and she barely registered her own voice yelling at him to move!
Reaching out with one hand, she grasped him with the Force and pulled him towards her. Caleb released a surprised yelp as he was pulled behind Ahsoka, landing with a roll and pivoting back to his feet in time to turn and watch Ahsoka dart forward, her signature in the Force flooding Caleb's mind with a rush of fear.
The sound of two lightsabers activating simultaneously hit Ahsoka's senses as she moved forward, the area before her suddenly becoming illuminated with bright blue and green light as two blades of plasma appeared.
Reaching down, Ahsoka grasped the hilt of her own lightsaber, pulling it off her belt and igniting the golden blade just in time to intercept the two blades that were descending upon where Caleb had been.
The sound of the lightsabers clashing against one another, locking together as the combatants pushed against one another flooded the room.
And then another sound, a voice, hit Ahsoka's montrals. A voice that sent shivers down her spine.
"Tano! So it is to be a rematch then?"
Ahsoka pulled back from the bladelock, twirling her blade in her hand as she moved it to deflect several strikes from the cyborg general that now stood before her.
Grievous was a master at wearing people down. Unlike herself he wasn't restricted by a biological form that would eventually tire. He could continue indefinitely, and was leagues ahead of her when it came to lightsaber combat.
All she could do was stand her ground against him, and perhaps if she was lucky land some sort of debilitating blow.
Her only real advantage was that this was exactly what Anakin Skywalker had taught her to overcome, opponents that were bigger than her. Even though she had hit a growth spurt recently, Grievous still towered over her. Hopefully that would somehow work to her advantage.
Pulling back out of the reach of his sabers, Ahsoka began to consider her options. Grievous was a relentless monster. He would not rest, unless he was either forced to, or was outmatched.
Fighting him directly would not end well, and running would lead to him pursuing her.
That didn't leave her with many options.
Bringing her saber up again Ahsoka deflected another series of strikes from Grievous, until one caused her to stumble under the weight of the blow.
The strike forced her to one side, leaving her side exposed to a strike from Grievous' own sabers, one that the cyborg General instantly launched.
That was until it was intercepted by the lightsaber of young Caleb Dume.
Recovering from her stumble, Ahsoka brought her own blade up to clash against the second saber of Grievous, forcing him into a blade lock with both herself and Caleb.
"How pathetic that someone of your caliber must rely on a youngling to save them. Skywalker would be ashamed if he was here!" Grievous snarled, a hint of laughter in his voice as she pushed against his two combatants.
"Says the cyborg General who keeps getting his hands cut off! How many has Obi-Wan taken from you so far?" Ahsoka spat back, her voice modulated by the helmet, but clearly full of both rage and anger.
"Kenobi will pay one day for all he and the Jedi have taken from me. And you will be the perfect bait to draw him out!" Grievous continued, pulling back out of the blade lock and unleashing a barrage of strikes towards both Caleb and Ahsoka, who were forced to back away to avoid being cut into several pieces.
"Keep telling yourself that Grievous!" Ahsoka spat in return, pivoting her blade to the side in time to deflect a blow that had been aimed at Caleb's unprotected flank. She knew that Grievous would show no mercy, regardless of how young Caleb was. If he had an opening, the cyborg General would take it.
Grievous continued to barrage the duo with endless strikes, his lightsabers clashing against theirs with terrifying velocity. Each strike caused his opponents to stumble, forcing the other to counter and defend, leaving themselves exposed in the process. At this rate, he would have both theirs heads on a platter.
Reaching into the Force, Ahsoka tugged on the signature of Caleb, calling out to him.
'We can't fight him here! Fall back to the hallway.'
'But if we break off he'll destroy us!'
'I can hold him for a brief second, enough for you to get back into the hallway. We stand a better chance there than we do cramped in this room!'
Caleb made no further comment, suggesting that he understood and agreed with her plan. That, or he was simply putting all his faith and trust in her.
Frankly she didn't know what was better.
Caleb pivoted his blade again, deflecting a strike from Grievous, before pulling back and breaking off into a sprint, heading out of the generator room and into the hallway beyond. At the same time Ahsoka brought her own blade up in a horizontal position, blade locking with Grievous' in the process, the cyborg General pushing against her with ease.
"Your friend has abandoned you… such a shame. But then it shouldn't come as a surprise that a Jedi would abandon you Tano." Grievous boasted, his golden reptilian eyes boring into Ahsoka's own blue ones. The taunt was evidently intended to cause mental harm, and Ahsoka would be lying if she had said it didn't cause a brief painful memory to flow through her head.
"Yeah well maybe I work better alone. I've dealt with you twice before by myself if you recall." Ahsoka snarled back, pushing with all her might against Grievous' saberlock, not that it had much effect on an individual literally made of metal. All she needed was a small opening, enough to fall back and escape his wrath for now.
In response to her own comment Grievous chuckled, the sound twisted and distorted and downright terrifying to anyone who wasn't used to it. Despite their past encounters, Ahsoka could say she was certainly not. The enjoyment that Grievous got out of combat, out of killing was not something she would ever understand, or ever sought to understand. He was a monster… one that needed to be destroyed.
Summoning what strength she had left in her body, Ahsoka pushed her blade forward, twisting it in the process, forcing Grievous to break the saberlock or risk losing a limb. When she was content that she was out of harm's way she turned and sprinted out the room and towards Caleb, who stood with his saber ready in hand.
Coming to stand beside him, panting slightly from the ongoing duel, Ahsoka spoke.
"This is gonna get rough Caleb. If things look bad I want you to run and find your Master. I'll buy you some time."
Caleb's response was instantaneous.
"No way, I'm not leaving you to face this monster alone!"
While grateful for his show of loyalty and support, Ahsoka knew that Caleb would not stand long against Grievous. He had to be protected, and she would protect him.
"Caleb I…" Ahsoka began before the sound of heavy metal footfall drew her attention to the doorway that Grievous had just emerged from. The cyborg General's eyes seemed to study the surrounding hallway, before his eyes locked onto the two teenagers. Ahsoka was certain that if he could smile menacingly, he would be.
Ahsoka brought her blade up into a ready stance, Caleb doing the same beside her. They didn't have time to argue, and if they ran Grievous would just endlessly pursue them. They had to make a stand, even if it was a futile one.
Ahsoka watched as Grievous's arms separated, two appendages becoming four, a second pair of lightsabers igniting in the process, all now pointed towards both her and Caleb with obvious intention of impaling them. At the sight of the four ignited blades, Ahsoka heard Caleb gulp in terror.
Ahsoka couldn't help but share the sentiment.
Grievous shifted his stance again, this time crouching ever so slightly, bringing two of the blade forward, the other two extended behind him. Then his two front hands began to slowly rotate, the cyborg General taking slow steps forward in the process.
Ahsoka watched as the two blades began to pick up momentum until they were spinning at such speed that all she could see was a blue and green blur. The arcs of plasma sizzled in the air around them, emitting a constant high pitched sound as the blades distorted the air around them.
Grievous began to inch closer, each clawed step bringing him closer and closer to the duo, blades not relenting in their arcs. There was no deflecting such an attack, Ahsoka knew from experience. All you could do was hope to avoid it, and in turn hope to avoid the two sabers he held behind his body in reserve, poised to strike them down.
It was either that or they would need to pray for some sort of miracle intervening.
Luckily for them, a miracle was exactly what happened.
A small spherical object rolled between both Ahsoka and Caleb, bound for the clawed feet of the droid General, whose head jerked up in response as he recognized the object, which now possessed a small blinking red light atop it. Grievous halted his attack in an instant, bringing his four sabers up in a futile attempt to defend himself as Ahsoka grabbed hold of Caleb and threw him onto the ground, diving atop him to protect his body with her armoured one.
Seconds later, the thermal detonator exploded, a rush of fire and shrapnel erupting through the small hallway, heat swarming over them in the process. Ahsoka heard Grievous yell out in surprise and what sounded almost like fear, before another series of sounds began to rush over her head.
"FOR THE REPUBLIC!"
Lifting her head up Ahsoka spotted the familiar armour of a trio of Clone Troopers emerge from the hallway behind them, blasters in hand, unleashing a barrage of fire towards the now downed Grievous, who Ahsoka could see was struggling to get back to his feet, the front of is armour scorched and blackened from being so close to the explosive going off.
Ahsoka watched as the Clones fired at the General, who vaulted up, lightsaber in hand as he attempted to deflect several blasts back at his attackers. One of two shots were redirected, but the Clone's superior skills allowed them to dodge with ease, and without true access to the Force, Grievous could not accurately deflect the blasts like a Jedi or Sith could.
Trusting that the Clones had the situation under control, Ahsoka pushed herself up, helping Caleb in the process, who immediately ran behind the lead Clone Trooper, who Ahsoka now recognized as Big-Mouth. The Clone nodded at her, hand reaching to his belt to equip another thermal detonator, priming it and throwing it past her in the process towards Grievous, who roared in frustration.
Ahsoka didn't turn to watch Grievous no doubt retreat once again, instead opting to turn and run herself. They had been given the opportunity to escape thanks to Big-Mouth, and she sure as hell was going to take it.
Pushing herself forward, Ahsoka joined Big-Mouth and his troopers, who also began to retreat, firing off a few more blasts from their rifles before turning and running themselves, escaping the blast radius of the detonator, which exploded behind them in the process, flooding the hallway with a rush of heat once more.
They had escaped Grievous, if only for the time being.
Now all they had to do was escape from the facility alive, and hopefully with the data they came for in the first place.
Author's thoughts
Soooooo... been a while since I updated this story huh? Sorry about that. Please don't hate me. (or do, either way works for me)
Between being ill, the annoying Christmas period, my job and just not being bothered I've not really had the motivation to do this story, hence why I went back to my One Shot saga for a bit instead. Still, it was always my intention to come back to this story at some point, and I didn't want to leave you all hanging on forever. Like I've said before, I fully intend on finishing this story, regardless of how long it takes me. Hopefully you all understand and whatnot. I'll try to update a bit more regularly, but no promises.
Anyway, for this chapter I wanted to capture the feeling of Grievous being a terrifying monster in the shadows. As awesome as he is his appearances in Clone Wars and ROTS are undermined and he comes across as rather weak and cowardly. Whilst these are evidently important character traits for him I wanted him to be a mix of his 2003 Clone Wars appearance, coming along and being this unstoppable force of cybernetic nature. Hopefully I succeeded.
And Caleb continues to be great fun to write for, as does Ahsoka in comparison to her. Those two would be best of friends if the situations had been different.
Once again, thanks to my patient beta reader 'ArrinSnyders', who stuck around waiting for me to contact during my absence. Most people would have abandoned me like the Jedi Order did to Ahsoka. XD
Next time round the team runs from Grievous. You can probably imagine how well that's gonna go.
As usual, comment and speculate at will. Speaking of which:
Ascoobian: Hondo does have beef with Grievous... but in this instance it's not him. It's not meant to be tricky to figure out who might be coming though. There is someone else out there who has a vested interest in dealing with Grievous.
Jayfeathers Friend: Grievous is a pretty pathetic character yeah, I feel sorry for him in a way. That said, he is still a ruthless narcissistic killing machine who deserves no real sympathy.
That said, it's always great to see him actually succeed in missions as opposed to his usual failure.
SWGoji2001: Bah Humbug! XD
Glad you liked the set up. Hopefully the long wait for this chapter was worth it in the end. The message Ahsoka sent might not be for Anakin. Remember at this point he is in the middle of that whole Ringo Vinda stuff. He could be a tad bit busy.
Sidious has plans for Ahsoka... that is all I will say. He is still after Anakin as Vader, but he has something special in mind for our favorite Togruta ex Jedi. You can probably guess what that is rather easily. ;)
And thanks for the understanding. Last thing I want to do is disappoint people who read these stories expecting more. I'll finish it one day.
Mysterious guest one: Hope the start of the battle was worth the wait. Here's hoping Ahsoka's message got through to whoever she sent it to.
1saaa: Glad you enjoyed the last chapter. It was fun to write it all being planned out for what was to come. Hopefully the opening duel in this chapter was enjoyable.
Sidious has plans... that is all I will say. Can't reveal everything at once.
Glad you are enjoying Caleb's development. He is a great character to write for as he is essentially where Ahsoka once was, so she can help guide him along whilst making a new friend in the process (which she is in dire need of since her last friend turned out traitor)
And Depa... die? Do you think me a monster? XD
Poor Grievous just wants to kill some stuff and go home. He hates what he has become but will use it to his advantage.
Jayson-Master of Storm: Your advice was good. Writing some of my one shots did help bring some motivation back, so thanks for that. Hopefully you enjoyed this chapter.