Chapter 124: Kidnapped

Where we are going always reflects where we came from.

Recap: A planet of peace. The artisan colony of the planet Kiros created a society without weapons. Instead of war, they pursued art and beauty. But in the Clone Wars, even peace-loving worlds are seemingly forced to change sides.

On the planet of Kiros, a conversation was being held between the Togrutan governor, Gupat Roshti and Master Yoda.

"The simple truth is, there is not a warrior among us, Master Yoda. An armed conflict will destroy us. We will negotiate with Count Dooku if we are able." responded the governor to the Jedi Master.

"Trust Dooku, you cannot. Send help, I will," stated Yoda to the Togrutan.

"I'm afraid it is too late. The Separatists have already arrived," responded the official.

He was looking out the window as Separatist ships were shown arriving at the planet's atmosphere. The people down below heard the engines as they all looked up and were astonished by what they saw. The ships landed as many droids appeared and stood in formations. Soon exiting from the main ship was the Sith Lord himself, as approaching them was the governor.

"Count Dooku, we have chosen to remain neutral in this war. Why have you launched this invasion against us?" asked the governor.

"Think of our presence as a peaceful occupation for your protection as well as ours," responded the Sith Lord.

"I have heard the tragic stories of worlds caught between your droids and their clones. What of my people?" asked the governor, as he wanted nothing more than to ensure that his people wouldn't be caught up in the conflict.

"While I am helpless to prevent the fighting, I can offer your people sanctuary, a safe haven until the conflict has ended," responded Dooku.

"Thank you, Count. Yours is a kind offer, but-"

"I insist," said Dooku as he put his hand on the governor's shoulder and led him away.

"Round up these citizens. All of them," said the male Zygerrian who accompanied Dooku, named Dart D'Nar, as he commanded the droids.

"Roger Roger."

The droids were given their marching orders as they began apprehending the citizens who struggled a bit.

"Ah! Unhand me."

"Watch it. Hey!"

"Let me go!"

"Hey, watch it!"

The citizens created some chatter as they were forcefully led away by the droids to their "safe haven."

In space, a Republic cruiser was flying through as they approached the planet Kiros. On board were Anakin and Obi-wan as they were on the bridge, looking out toward the planet. They also had some small freighters accompanying them.

"All clear, sir. There are no Separatist craft in the system," responded Cody over the transmission.

With that, the pair began to turn and walk.

"It's been ten rotations since Master Yoda's transmission. I just hope we're not too late," said Anakin to his teacher.

"Rex, take us down," ordered Obi-wan.

"Yes, sir," responded the clone captain.

As the ship descended, in his cabin, Storm was seated with his back turned. Twilight was behind him as she applied some cream to his shoulder as he pulled a muscle going a bit hard in training. The princess had a special medicine from her home planet that Zecora gave her as it would instantly heal the bruise.

"Appreciate it, Twilight," said Storm as he had his robe off so the girl could apply the substance.

"Do you ever stop thinking that maybe too much training is bad?" asked Twilight to her partner.

"I mean, look at where I am right now with it. I think it works wonders," joked Storm.

Twilight merely sighed while chuckling.

"What am I gonna do with you?"

The girl's hands then began to move on their own. They started on Storm's shoulder before moving down and feeling his arms. Soon they moved to his back as it got the princess to turn red. Eventually, they trailed back up and around as Twilight felt Storm's chest. While this was happening, the boy did nothing as he waited to see what the girl would do. He then turned around in his seat and looked at Twilight; he stood up and put his hands on her waist as Twilight backed up instinctively and found herself bumping into the table behind her. Soon Storm lifted her and sat her on the table as Twilight had her legs wrap his waist to keep him from escaping.

The two teens gazed into each other's eyes as if in a lull. Their brains were shut off as their bodies moved on their own. Twilight's hands were placed on the boy's upper body before moving down and reaching his midsection. Her fingers dug into his abs as the muscles were just as she remembered during their session on Hearth's Warming. Soon the boy's hand started to go up as he caressed Twilight's cheek before pulling back a part of her robe to expose her shoulder. The girl was starting to close the distance when...

"General Storm! We're about to land. General Skywalker and General Kenobi are waiting for you!" said a clone over his comlink that was next to them on the table.

"Copy that," said the boy as he grabbed it and regained control of his brain. He removed himself from Twilight's grip and began to put on his robe as if nothing had happened.

Twilight, on the other hand, felt a bit differently as she pulled her robe up to cover her shoulder and got off the table. Storm didn't wait for the girl as he was already marching toward the hanger. The princess sighed as she took a moment to compose herself before walking out of the cabin.

The planet of Kiros was shown as birds were chirping. Some communicate with each other. The sounds of engines whirring were heard as they began to fly away. Several gunships exited the Republic cruiser as they flew to the planet's surface. A few were carrying some walkers as they dropped them to the ground. Gunships landed as emerging from them on some speeders were Anakin and Ahsoka, who also joined them, Obi-wan and Rex on one, and Twilight with Storm.

The clones began to unload as they ran ahead with some riding AT-RT walkers. The Jedi nodded as Anakin, Obi-wan, and Storm, in the speeder's driver's seat, began to race forward with their forces while their copilots sat next to them to operate the guns. As they were zooming by, Ahsoka took notice of their surroundings as she lifted up her goggles and saw just how quiet it was.

"Anybody else thinks it's too quiet?" asked Ahsoka, "I haven't seen any colonists."

"They're probably hiding," responded Anakin to his student.

"Let's hope they stay hidden. It makes our job easier if we don't have to worry about them in battle," said Obi-wan as he pulled up next to them.

"I don't like it. The clankers have never been shy about using civvies as living shields," responded Rex, who sat next to Obi-wan.

"I'm sure they're here somewhere. Let's make for the city center," stated Storm as he pulled up with Twilight seated next to them.

The three speeders put the pedal to the medal as they zoomed ahead with the clones on their own speeders behind them. It wasn't long before several commando droids on speeders of their own appeared and stopped ahead on the path.

"Biker droids. Dead ahead," said Twilight.

"Squad, tighten up. Form on me!" shouted Anakin.

Both sides now raced forward to meet the other in the middle. The clones heard the command as the ones in the gun's seat grabbed ahold and began shooting. They took out some of the droids as they returned fired and took out some clones on their speeders. Ahsoka and Twilight soon took a different approach as they stood up in their seats and turned on their lightsabers to deflect the shots as they closed in. Once they were about to pass by, Anakin and Storm pulled out their lightsaber, and they sliced at the droids they passed, making their speeders crash.

The droids were now behind the Jedi, and their forces turned around as they began to give chase. Some bumped into the clones as they fell off their speeders and crashed. The girls hopped back in their seats and turned around to fire the guns at the droids. Rex did the same as he took out the droids on their tails. Ahsoka and Twilight then leaped from their seats as they landed behind the biker droids and sliced their heads off before jumping back to their seats.

"That's my girl," said Storm to Twilight as she blushed upon hearing that.

"We're all clear, Master," said Ahsoka to Anakin.

A whole squad of droids and their tanks were stationed at the governor's tower. They looked ahead as heading their way were the Jedi and their clones. They immediately fired as one droid was shot in the head. Soon they began to return fire as one of the commando droids inside the tanks began to aim its cannon. Rex saw this was he immediately reached for a rocket launcher. He aimed it and fired the rocket before the tank could have a chance to counter. Ahsoka had a bomb in her hand as she jumped and landed on another tank and quickly hopped and turned in mid-air to throw a bomb into the top of the tank. She landed back in her seat as the bomb went off.

The speeders stopped as one tank remained and was about to fire at them. However, Twilight closed her hand to make a fist as some magic began to surround it. With a wave, it shot forward as the magic collided with the tank, and another explosion occurred. Everyone was impressed by what the princess did as Storm looked at Twilight.

"Need I say it again?" questioned Storm, impressed by what his partner did.

"Yes," said Twilight as she leaned forward to look at her partner with a lovesick smile.

"Heh... That's my girl," Storm responded as the pair locked eyes again.

"Captain, have your men secure the area," stated Obi-wan to Rex as his voice got the teens to snap out of their lull to avoid suspicion.

Once Rex and his men managed to secure the area, they held their position in front of the tower.

"How are we doing, Boil?" asked Obi-wan to one of the most trusted men of his battalion. The clone was riding an AT-RT walker when he stopped in front of the Jedi.

"We're still mopping up clankers here and there, sir. We've established a perimeter around the Governor's Tower. No one gets out without a fight." said Boil to the Jedi Master.

"Good work," responded Obi-wan as he turned to walk. "Cody, any word from the Separatist commander?"

"He's barricaded inside. His name is Darts D'Nar. He has sent you a message, sir." said the clone commander as he presented his general with a transmitter.

The image of Darts appeared for the Jedi to see as he spoke.

"Master Kenobi, come to the tower. We will negotiate terms for surrender."

"Well, that was easy," replied Storm.

Soon the transmitter in Cody's hands went flying as it was pulled into Anakin's hands. The Jedi Knight was angry as he crushed the device and spoke with bitterness.

"Zygerrian scum. I'll handle that slaver," growled Anakin.

Ahsoka and Twilight were nearby as they heard Anakin's tone. The Padawan had a curious look while the princess knew why her friend was acting the way he did.

"Anakin, he asked for me. I need you and Storm to locate the missing Togruta colonists," said Obi-wan as he could see that his apprentice was being clouded by his anger and personal issues.

"Fine. I'll have Admiral Yularen initiate a planetary bio-scan," said Anakin as he wasn't too pleased to be denied by his teacher of letting him deal with Darts.

"I'll go deal with him," said Storm to Obi-wan as it seemed he needed to help Anakin calm down.

R2 gave a worried beep as he saw Storm leave to go keep Anakin in check.

"Why is he so upset?" asked Ahsoka to Obi-wan as the girls appeared by his side.

"Anakin has never talked about his past, has he?" asked the Jedi Master to the Padawan; he knew that Twilight was aware of Anakin's life, given that he knew Storm had informed her.

"Only to tell me he won't talk about it," said Ahsoka, as that was all she remembered during their trip with Storm and Twilight to rescue Jabb's son way back when.

"There's a reason," said Twilight as Ahsoka looked at her friend.

"How do you know what it is?" asked Ahsoka.

"Storm... told me... it was when we had to return Jabba's son. But he made me promise not to talk about it with anyone," confessed Twilight as Ahsoka looked at the princess with a look. Eventually, Obi-wan stepped in to protect Twilight.

"As a child, Anakin and his mother were sold into slavery by the Hutt clans," explained the Jedi Master to the Padawan.

"Oh," said Ahsoka as she realized the issue, "And these Zygerrians, they're slavers?"

"Anakin has struggled to put his past behind him," sighed Obi-wan as he knew that was a part of his apprentice that was always hanging over his head.

"Don't worry. We'll help keep an eye on him," assured Ahsoka to the Jedi Master as they looked to see Storm and Anakin contacting Admiral Yuleran.

"Yes. Make sure you do," responded Obi-wan to the girls, hoping they could help keep his student in check. He turned as he made his way to the tower to meet with the Zygerrian.

In the tower, D'nar talked with Dooku and another Zygerrian as they awaited Obi-wan's arrival.

"Device shipment has been received, D'nar. I understand the Jedi have attacked. Why are you still there?" asked the Zygerrian he was talking with.

"I'm going to make the Jedi pay for their arrogance. I have them right where I want them," responded Darts.

At that moment, Obi-wan popped up from the floor as he heard the comment.

"Do tell," trolled the Jedi Master with a smirk.

The droids all turned to point their guns at the Jedi. Obi-wan merely put his hands up as Dooku and the other Zygerrian turned to face him.

"Gentlemen, meet Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jedi knight," introduced Dooku for all to hear.

The Zygerrian on the hologram growled at the Jedi when he heard that.

"D'nar, bring him to me... on his knees," ordered the Sith Lord.

"With pleasure," responded Darts as he turned off the transmission.

"We were going to discuss surrender?" asked Obi-wan as he approached the table, still with his hands up. The commando droids kept their blasters locked on him.

"Yes. You will surrender," stated D'Nar as he put his feet up while addressing the Jedi.

"We obviously have a misunderstanding, my friend," said Obi-wan as he brought his hands behind his back. When Kenobi did that, he touched his comlink, and it began to beep and send a small signal.

Anakin and Storm heard the beep as their comlinks chirped. They received Obi-wan's signal as they were now listening to his communication with Darts.

"No, you are wrong, Jedi."

"Am I?" countered Obi-wan. "You are no doubt aware your droid forces have been destroyed, and you are surrounded. Do the honorable thing and give up now, D'Nar. I promise you will receive fair treatment."

"You've broken through my defenses. You think you've won. Think again. I have planted bombs all over the city. No one will survive. Now, surrender." stated D'Nar as the others heard that confession.

"If you're not bluffing, then I must concede, but you'll have to make considerations. First, you release the colonists," stated Kenobi.

"Here is my counteroffer," said Darts. The tactical droid pushed a button, and an explosion occurred next to the others as they all turned.

Storm immediately pulled Twilight into his arms as he had his back turned to the explosion to protect her. Obi-wan felt and heard the explosion as he ran to the other window across the room to look out as he saw the building next to his friends was in flames.

"There will no colonists in that structure, but there could have been. Now bow down and surrender to me, you Jedi filth," responded D'Nar.

"I need a medic over here," shouted Storm as they checked on the clones that were hurt within the area.

"R2, where are you?" shouted Anakin as he saw the droid around the explosion area.

A beep was heard as the blue astromech appeared.

"Watch yourself, buddy. This is still a war zone," said Anakin to his droid after letting out a sigh.

R2 chirped as Anakin got up from checking a clone due to another coming up for him.

"Cody, we don't have time for the planetary scan. Hook R2 up, and he'll locate the bombs," ordered Anakin to the clone commander.

"Right away, sir."

"Girls, let's go!" said Storm.

"Where are we going?" asked Ahsoka.

"To disarm the bombs while Obi-Wan negotiates. I hope he can buy us some time," said Anakin as they all got on some AT-RT walkers and took off.

"Very well. I surrender," said Obi-wan as he placed his lightsaber on the desk in front of D'Nar and backed up with his hands in the air.

The Zygerrian smiled at seeing the Jedi comply.

"Long before this war, you Jedi destroyed the great Zygerrian Slave Empire. I would kill you now, but Dooku would prefer you alive," stated D'Nar as that was why the Zygerrian in the hologram from earlier snarled when he saw Kenobi as he was reminded of what the Jedi did to their empire.

"I understand your frustration. It is unfortunate you, and I cannot resolve our differences as you do in the Zygerrian tradition," spoke Obi-wan as he was hatching a plan.

The bird that D'Nar was petting gave a chirp and flew from his grip to perch itself on a ledge. The Zygerrian laughed as he approached Obi-wan to address him directly.

"With no weapons, you would fight me?" asked Darts as he found it a bit amusing.

"For good reason. Say, if I win, you reveal the location of the colonists and the bombs," proposed Obi-wan.

"And if I win, I'll deliver you to Dooku in a cage like one of these filthy creatures," declared D'Nar as he pointed to the locked cages that had creatures inside that Obi-wan spotted when he came in.

"Perhaps," replied the Jedi Master with a glare.

D'Nar didn't take kindly to that as he grabbed Obi-wan and picked him up. He delivered a headbutt to the Jedi before tossing him back as Kenobi skidded along the floor. He then approached the Jedi, who was starting to stir as he picked him up again and flipped him over before flinging him into a nearby statue as the top broke off.

Obi-wan shook his head as he was near a cage with a locked creature as it growled at him.

"Careful. You're disturbing my pets. They fetch a high price." snickered D'Nar as he approached the Jedi Master.

With the others, R2 was with Cody back at the base as he pulled up a hologram of a map. Cody then began to contact the Jedi to relay the info.

"General Skywalker, your droid's transmitting the bomb coordinates now."

The Jedi were riding on their walkers as the front screen showed the map with red dots lighting up.

"Copy that, Cody. We're approaching the first bomb now," said the Jedi as he ended the transmission before turning to his pals. "Let's go."

"Do you hear that?" asked a droid.

They all looked as turning the corner and coming into view were the Jedi. They fired their guns on their walkers as they easily took out the Superbattle droids. Ahsoka then leaped out of her walker and turned on her lightsabers as she sliced at the three droids guarding the bomb. The rest of them got off as they saw the bomb, still ticking down. They removed the panel as they saw many wires hooked up.

"Sparky, this your territory," said Storm.

Twilight approached the bomb and stuck her head in to see the many wires and pads. The girl was now running designs of regular bombs and how they worked to see if she could figure out how to disable this one.

"There must be a wire we should cut... Or something to stop the countdown," said Twilight as she tried to figure it out.

"Stand back," said Anakin as he approached the girls.

They stepped to the side as Anakin turned on his lightsaber. He did a crisscross with his weapon as it left a mark on the bomb and stopped beeping.

"Wow. How did you know that would work?" asked Ahsoka to her teacher.

"I trusted my instincts," responded Anakin.

"You mean you guessed," translated the Padawan at what her master really meant.

"Yeah, but it was an educated guess," Anakinn smiled.

"That's too risky!" shouted Twilight as she thought it was foolhardy that Anakin got lucky he didn't blow them up.

"Calm down, Sparky. We're fine. Now, come on. There's plenty more to go." smiled Storm as he sided with his friend and took off.

Twilight grumbled as she hated that everybody ignored her point and got on her walker. With the many bombs left, the four decided to split up into pairs as Ahsoka and Anakin would handle half while Twilight and Storm would take care of the others.

Back with Obi-wan, he was still getting tossed around. Mainly because the Jedi Master was refusing to fight back to give his friends some more time to disarm the bombs. He knew he could take the Zygerrian, and in the event of him winning, he had a sneaky suspicion that D'Nar wouldn't keep his promise of releasing the colonists due to how much he hated the Jedi. So he was willing to take punishment to ensure their mission was a success.

Kenobi dodged a punch by D'Nar as it made a hole in the wall. He countered by giving a light punch to the Zygerrian, as he knew it wouldn't hurt him at all. It worked as D'Nar smiled and kneed the Jedi in the gut as he fell before grabbing the top of his head to address him.

"For thousands of years, Zygerria supplied slave labor to the galaxy," said D'Nar as he tossed Obi-wan in front of him. "We prospered." He punched the Jedi as he approached him, kneeling on the floor, "Our customers prospered." He punched Kenobi in the back of the head as he was hunched over. "Then the Jedi came."

The Zygerrian did an uppercut, sending Obi-wan flying as he landed on the table. He approached the Jedi and began strangling his throat as Kenobi gasped, feeling his air capacity running out. Just then, a holo-transmitter chirping went off.

"Uh, excuse me, sir. We have a problem," said a droid.

"What problem?" asked the Zygerrian.

"Our spotters are tracking two enemy walkers moving-"

The droid didn't get to finish as when D'Nar, who had Obi-wan still pinned down and choking, turned his head, the Jedi raised his fist to punch him in the face. It got the Zygerrian to back off as he stood behind him and smashed his face into the holotransmitter as glass shattered, destroying the communication.

The Jedi Master managed to buy his friends more time as he got D'Nar to be angrier with him, as evidenced by the growling. With the others, Anakin and Ahsoka looked at their screens as their half; they only had two bombs left and were coming up on them."

"These are the last of them," said Anakin as he and Ahsoka approached the camp where many droids were stationed. They fired their guns before stopping and jumping out with their lightsabers.

They began to cut down the droids quickly as they made their way to where the other two bombs were. Some droids were still shooting at them as Anakin was in between them.

"Defuse the bomb. I'll cover you!" said the Jedi to his Padawan as he deflected shots while Ashoka approached one of them.

Ahsoka took off the panel as she saw the bomb beeping faster than the one did at the same time.

"Master, I think the bombs are linked," said Ahsoka.

"You're supposed to disarm them, not activate them!" said Anakin turning his head while blocking to address the girl.

Before she could have a chance to make a witty comeback, she spotted something.

"Droids! On the roof!" shouted Ahsoka as she saw them approach the edge.

The droids on the roof began to fire as the Jedi deflected them, with Anakin taking some steps back.

"If they're connected, we'll have to defuse them at the same time," said Anakin as they took out the last droids on the roof.

Just when they took the droids on the roof out, rolling were some Droideka droids, but not just any. These were sharpshooter droidekas as they had one single gun as their face, as the other parts of its head were a shield that left a single hole for the gun to shoot out of.

"Snipers!" said Ahsoka as they began to fire.

The Jedi could deflect the shots and return them, but the shields protecting the droids were strong as they didn't even phase them as they kept on firing.

"The shields are too strong," said Ahsoka.

The Jedi were now being pushed back and pinned down by the snipers as they couldn't do much against them. They had no choice but to run and take cover behind separate platforms in the square. They peeked their head out as the droids rained nonstop gunfire at them as pieces of the platform were chopped off.

Obi-wan wasn't faring any better as he continued to take the beating D'Nar was giving him, still trying to buy his friends the needed time. However, he started getting a bit sick of getting his ass kicked when he could so easily fight back and win. He was tossed and skidded along the floor as he started to get back up.

"Come on, Anakin. Hurry up," said Obi-wan as he knew his student was taking his sweet time disarming the bombs while Storm was already done with his. He sat up and charged at the Zygerrian.

Obi-wan went for a punch, but it was blocked. He then went for a punch with his other arm, as D'Nar blocked that one. He punched the Jedi several times before punching his midsection as he fell and coughed. With Anakin and Ahsoka, they were still behind cover as the droids didn't let up their shooting.

"I'm pinned down. Master, we're running out of time," said the Padawan as the beeping got much faster.

"I know. We have to do something, and quick," stated Anakin as he got up and walked along his cover to lift his head. He saw the droid aiming at Ahsoka, and he saw a weak spot that the droid had. He then walked back to address his student.

"Ahsoka. They're weak from the side. I've got an angle on your droid." said the Jedi Knight.

Ahsoka walked along her cover, peeked her head to see the droid firing at Anakin's cover, and saw its side exposed.

"Okay, I've got a view of yours too. Same time. Ready?" asked Ahsoka to her master as he nodded.

"Go!" shouted Anakin.

They both charged out as they reflected a shot from the droids shooting at them to take out the other one shooting at their partner. The beeping got faster as both ran and struck them with their lightsabers simultaneously. The beep still occurred faster but soon stopped as the Jedi released a sigh and turned off their lightsabers.

"That was a close one," said Ahsoka.

"Let's hope Obi-Wan shares our luck," said Anakin before he touched his comlink, "Storm?"

"Finally! What took you long?" shouted the boy as he and Twilight had finished half the bombs. Granted, they also encountered sniper droids at their final sight, but they took them out way faster than them. "And I thought the nerd took forever to disarm the bombs."

"Don't call me that!" shouted Twilight through the comlink.

"What are you gonna do about it, princess?! Fight me!" taunted Storm.

Soon sounds of grunting and punching were heard over the comlink. On their end, Twilight tackled her partner to the ground as they rolled around in the dirt; eventually, a struggle cloud formed with their heads and limbs popping out every so often as they shouted. It disbursed for a bit to show Twilight having Storm in a sleeper hold.

"Apologize. Say you're sorry to your princess!" shouted Twilight as she reminded Storm that he was her personal guard and didn't take kindly to him insulting her.

"Kiss my royal ass, your highness!" shouted the boy in defiance.

"Wrong answer!" yelled Twilight as she cranked on her hold even more, dropped to the ground on her back, and wrapped her legs around Storm's midsection to tighten the hold.

Storm eventually got out as another struggle cloud formed.

"Come here, princess! I know you like it rough!" shouted the boy angrily as their heads popped in and out while rolling back and forth.

"Yeesh, you think the way they argue, they sound like they're more than friends," said Ahsoka.

Anakin didn't say anything as he had to watch what he said. Mainly because hearing how Storm and Twilight argue was a lot like how he and his wife argue. The Jedi knew he had to keep that secret under wraps, even from his own student, to not disappoint her.

"Come on! Let's head back. I'm sure they'll be done with their wrestling match by then." said Anakin as he and Ahsoka got on their walkers and headed back.

Storm and Twilight still rolled around as they alternated who was on top of the other while growling.

"I bet Obi-wan doesn't have to deal with this," stated Storm with a glare.

Speaking of the Jedi Master... he was still getting his ass tossed around.

Obi-wan tumbled along the floor as he panted. D'Nar approached the fallen Jedi as he picked him up and held him high; he then slammed the Jedi to the floor, and the glass underneath him cracked a bit as Kenobi was in pain. Obi-wan still lifted his head in defiance as D'Nar growled at him. The animals began to make noises as the Zygerrian began to drag the Jedi Master along the floor before grabbing him by the throat and lifting him up.

"Now I'll take revenge for my people, Jedi," said Darts as he was looking to end Kenobi for good.

"Sir, you have an urgent transmission," said the tactical droid as he approached his leader, who still held the Jedi.

"Sorry to interrupt, sir, but you weren't responding."

"What is it?" shouted the Zygerrian at the droid.

"Uh... the Jedi have disarmed your bombs," responded the droid.

"What?" said D'Nar in disbelief as he tossed Obi-wan to the side. "Give me the detonator."

He took the detonator from the tactical droid as he approached the back window. He pushed the button and looked out to see if any explosions had gone off, but nothing. He pushed the button several times as it beeped, hoping it was a delay, but nothing.

"It certainly took him long enough this time," said Obi-wan as he stood up and dusted his shoulder.

He felt like he would have to give Anakin a stern lecture for taking so long that he had to endure such an ass-kicking as a distraction. Obi-wan then put his hand out as the two commando droids were lifted and crushed into the ceiling before dropping down. He then called for his lightsaber; it flew from the table into his hands as he turned to address D'Nar.

"Shall we discuss your surrender..." trolled Obi-wan as D'Nar turned to look at him, just when his lightsaber turned on, "Again?" The Jedi Master with the biggest smirk on his face.

"I still have one bomb left, Jedi," said D'Nar as he approached the tactical droid.

He turned the droid around and began pushing a touchpad on the back.

"Sir, how could you?" asked the droid as he was going to blow up in an attempt for D'Nar to escape.

He then threw the droid to Obi-wan and fell with the robot on him. D'Nar then began to run before grabbing the bird he had in his lap earlier. The Jedi pushed the droid off as he stood up.

"Get it off! Get it off! Get it off! Get it off! Get it off!" called out the droid as he was looking for help.

Obi-wan saw escape as the Zygerrian stepped on the elevator and shot down quickly. He then turned to the droid about to go off as he thrust his arms out and sent the droid crashing through the back window. Glass shattered as the droid fell, but the explosion went off before it hit the ground. Obi-wan then contacted his friends.

"Anakin! Anakin, Storm, come in. D'nar is making his escape from the tower." said the Jedi Master to his friends.

"On our way," said Storm as he and Twilight had finished their roll in the dirt and were on their walkers, heading back.

They turned the corner and met up with Anakin and Ahsoka, as all four were racing back to catch their culprit before he slipped through their fingers.

"We'll never catch him in time," said Ahsoka.

"I am not letting that slaver scum get away!" shouted Anakin with the loudest he'd been.

The fleeing Zygerrian was heading to his ship as he placed the bird he carried into a cage. He then ran around another cage holding a different creature that was going to sell. In the background, Obi-wan was shown running with his lightsaber as he saw the smuggler's ship. D'Nar entered the cockpit as he started up the engines, and the ship began to take off. Obi-wan, all beaten up and bruised, along with a black eye, saw the ship take off as he couldn't do anything. Just then, he turned to the side as hopping over the trees were his friends on their walkers. They all rushed forward as their walkers approached the edge of the platform and jumped before they, too, jumped as high as they could.

All four landed on one of the engines. Anakin quickly pulled out his lightsaber and stabbed it in anger. The girls felt the sudden jolt as they looked back to see the engine sputtering. D'Nar got the notification that one of his engines was messed up as he saw it turn red. The ship was also starting to tip due to its unbalance. The Jedi quickly held on before standing up and moving to the front of the ship. The Zygerrian saw the four dots moving across his screen.

"So what's your plan?" asked Ahsoka as they were on the nose of the ship.

"I'm open to ideas," responded Anakin.

D'Nar then pushed a button, and the ship of the nose began to open up. The Jedi quickly saw a ramp extended out as they jumped from their spots onto it and were inside with the animals' cages.

"Hungry, my pet? I'll feed you," said D'Nar as he pushed a panel on his screen.

The panel released the cage of the animal he walked around when entering his ship. It opened to reveal a Blixus, a rare, half-shelled semi-aquatic creature with tentacles and six sharp legs. The creature swung its tentacles at the Jedi, who moved to the side.

"Hold on!" shouted Anakin.

"Hold on?" asked Ahsoka as one of the tentacles wrapped around her and Twilight's leg while Storm and Anakin had their arms coiled by the creature and pulled them in.

"Do we have a choice?" said Twilight, as she was not a fan of having tentacles on her.

She and Ashoka turned on their lightsabers and cut the tentacle wrapped around their leg. The creature gave a screech as it flailed Storm and Anakin around into the cages while using its other tentacles to swat the girls. They moved out of the way and jumped onto the cages to the side. They were now backflipping and front-flipping to avoid the arms while they jumped and landed on the creature's head and stabbed their lightsaber as the animal growled in pain. Storm and Anakin freed an arm as they cut the tentacle holding them and fell to the floor.

The girls were tossed as they collided with the side of the wall and saw how much more pissed off the animal was.

"Master!" shouted the Padawan.

"Ahsoka, you're only making it angry," shouted Anakin as he and Storm now had the animal charge at them and swung his arms as they had to avoid them.

"We'll handle it. Go stabilize the ship," stated Storm to the girls.

They had to move out of some of the cages rolling off the ship while keeping their attention on the Blixus. The girls left as the pair were once again coiled with their arms trapped by the animal. The girls silently made it to the cockpit as they saw D'Nar in the chair. They moved along the walls as they approached some buttons and began to push them. The engines turned off as D'Nar saw them when he turned as the two backflipped and took a stance. The Zygerrian pulled out an electric whip and made some snapping sounds.

"Young Jedi, you'll learn your place," taunted the Zygerrian to the girls.

"I'm not so young anymore," responded Ahsoka, as she wasn't inexperienced as she once was.

"Besides, princesses have standards," said Twilight as they turned on their lightsabers.

Storm and Anakin were being pulled into the creature as its mouth opened. It turned the Jedi around so it could devour them headfirst. The pair were struggling as they were about to be eaten. They managed to the arm, holding their lightsabers free as they turned them on and stabbed the creature right through its mouth. It growled and screeched before it slumped to the floor. The creature was sliding down as it still held the Jedi. As they were about to go off, Storm and Anakin sliced the arm wrapped around them as they watched the animal drop while stopping themselves from going overboard. They got up and ran up the ramp to help the girls.

In the cockpit, the girls had managed to deal with D'Nar rather easily as they had their lightsabers at his throat as he was pinned against the console.

"Got you," said Twilight as the doors behind them opened, and in came their respective partners.

"Mission accomplished, Master," said Ahsoka as she turned to Anakin and turned off her lightsabers as they all stood to interrogate the Zygerrian.

"Where are the colonists?" asked Storm.

"I will tell you nothing," responded D'Nar.

Anakin didn't take that kindly as he lunged forward, grabbed the Zygerrian, and put his lightsaber up to his throat so it would pierce right through it when he turned it on. Even D'Nar was surprised that the Jedi was willing to kill him.

"Where are they?" shouted Anakin, ready to kill their enemy without mercy.

"Anakin!" yelled Storm as he struggled to pull back on his friend's arm that held his lightsaber.

The two of them struggled as the girls looked on in horror, Storm trying to get his friend from doing something there was no coming back from. Anakin soon turned his head as he growled at Storm, who also growled. The two looked like they were about to fight each other as Storm kept trying to stop Anakin's finger from pushing the button.

"Master," said Ahsoka calmly as she tried to get Anakin to back off.

The Jedi Knight kept his growl before he calmed himself down and shoved D'Nar into his seat as he backed off. Storm released his hold of his friend as he breathed heavily while keeping his glare on him. Twilight put her hand up to her mouth as she was shaken by what she saw, the two close friends and how they were about to beat each other up. She was grateful that Anakin managed to suppress his anger with the help of Storm and Ahsoka, but still, the sight of what he saw on his face scared her a bit.

"My queen is going to bring back the royal slave auction as in the days before the Jedi. Zygerria will be rich and powerful again. The Jedi will not stop us this time." said D'Nar to the Jedi.

"We'll see about that," scoffed Anakin, keeping his scowl. Ahsoka also had one, but then the image of her teacher and how he acted just moments ago with Storm fighting him came rushing to her mind as she was also a bit scared.

In the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, the Jedi High Council was contacting the Jedi. They managed to capture Dart D'Nar, hoping for some info on the colonists. Joining them was also Admiral Yuleran as he informed the group and the Jedi High Council of what he discovered.

"General Skywalker, I ran the bio-scan twice, but the results were negative," said the Admiral for all to hear.

"Are you saying the colonists are not in the city?" questioned Anakin as he and everybody else found that weird.

"I'm saying they're not even on the planet. The entire population appears to have simply vanished," stated Admiral Yuleran.

"Vanished? That's impossible," responded Twilight.

"Those are my people," spoke Ahsoka.

Obi-wan stroked his beard as he thought of what might have happened.

"Troubling is the return of the Zygerrians," said Master Yoda as he got everyone's attention.

"It is likely they mean to use Dooku to rebuild their slaver empire," stated Celestia.

"We cannot allow that, Master," responded Anakin.

"Agree I do, but first find the colonists you must. In great danger they are," stated Yoda.

"What is it, Master?" asked Luna as she looked at her former teacher and saw him having a look she and Celestia knew all too well when they were his apprentices. A look that often spoke that Yoda was thinking of something even deeper.

"Sense I do, a darker hand in this mystery. Slavery, a great tool it is for the rise of the Sith," was all Yoda said.

Everyone gave looks as they took in what the Grand Jedi Master said.

Soon the transmission and meeting ended as the group began thinking of their next plan. And it involved going directly to the planet of the Zygerrians. One could tell this adventure was far from over. As they were preparing their plan, Storm managed to grab Twilight and bring her to a secluded spot where no one could find them.

"What is it?" asked the girl to her partner as he did one final check to make sure nobody saw them.

He then turned to the princess and began to approach her. Twilight instinctively backed up as she was now up against the wall, and Storm put his hands on her shoulders and firmly held her. The girl had a million thoughts racing through her head, most of which sent her heart racing as some redness started forming on her face at how close the boy was.

"Twilight..." said Storm as he stroked her cheek.

"Yes..." said the princess as she leaned into his touch.

"I want to say something... if there ever is an incident where you're in danger from Anakin, or he intends to hurt you. Just know that I'm not gonna let that happen. But... you may need to stop me. Because I'm probably gonna end up in prison for animal cruelty."

"Animal cruelty?" said Twilight as she blinked and removed herself from his palm. "Why's that?" asked the girl, now stroking his cheek.

Storm merely grabbed it as he put it down and removed his other hand from her shoulder as he had a serious look on his face.

"Cause I'm gonna beat him like a BITCH!" stated Storm.

The girl gasped at what she heard as Storm turned and left with that serious look on his face.

Author's Note: So we begin another story arc. One of the big takeaways is Anakin confronting something that makes him as mad as slavery. And the small interactions shown between Anakin and Storm, slowly inching forward to what's gonna happen. Not to mention that line, Storm said to Twilight at the end. Showing how much he's willing to protect her, even if it means he has to fight against his own friend. As always leave a review expressing your thoughts and comments.