Chapter 127: A Friend in Need
Friendship shows us who we are.
Recap: Divided by war, in an effort to end the Galactic conflict, the first-ever sanctioned meeting between the Republic and the Separatists will be held. And Mandalore is chosen as neutral ground for these precarious meetings. Tensions run high as many hold hope for these important negotiations.
On the planet Manadolore, a meeting was being held. The meeting contained Padmé, Senator Organa, and Mon Mothma, representing the Republic. The Separatists were sitting across them, led chiefly by Voe Atell, as both sides were looking for peace. The idea stemmed from when Padmé, Ahsoka, and Twilight met with Padmé's Separatist friend, Senator Mia, who also wanted to end the war. However, before Padmé could inform her idea to the Senate, Mia was suspiciously killed. At that time, acts of terrorists happened on Courscant that caused the Republic to ignore the idea of peace in favor of more clones for the war.
But after some time, both sides were willing to talk with each other to settle their differences. For Padmé, it was the least she could do to honor her late great friend as she would have wanted this. However, it didn't seem both sides were budging much.
"The Republic recognizes the tragedy of war. But there is nothing we can change that has already occurred," said Padmé.
"Say it aloud before this gathering, as representative for Chancellor Palpatine, that you declare without reservation the Separatist State legitimate," scoffed Voe Atell, as she wasn't going to be easily persuaded by Padmé's lies.
The Senator from Naboo sighed as it seemed things were going to be tougher than expected. Ahsoka and Twilight were standing next to her chair, as she had asked the pair to accompany her as security. Both of them could sense Padmé's stress.
Before anything else could be said, a voice spoke.
"I have something to say about the legitimacy of the Separatists."
Everyone turned to the door, and there stood Lux Bonteir, the son of Mia Bonteri. Unlike when the Jedi last saw him, the boy had grown quite a bit. The boy's presence caused some murmurs to occur from his fellow Separatists.
"Why is Lux Bonteri here?"
"What could he possibly have to say?"
"He was not invited."
"You didn't mention that Lux Bonteri would be here," whispered Ahsoka to Padmé as the boy walked forward to Satine.
"I didn't know," answered Padmé honestly.
"He's grown quite a bit since we last saw him. I heard that he's now a junior senator," whispered Twilight, as she could tell by the boy's outfit he wore.
Lux approached Satine as she gave him a nod that signaled he had the floor to speak. The boy approached the podium facing the two sides as he had something to say.
"I stand before you, son of Mina Bonteri, loyal Separatist, a patriot, a friend. It has come to my attention that my mother was murdered by Count Dooku in cold blood," declared Lux.
"That is a lie! Remove this traitor immediately," shouted one of the Separatist senators as he couldn't believe the boy was accusing their leader of such treason.
"I will not be silenced!" said Lux as some commando droids approached him to take the boy away. Ahsoka was about to help him, but Padmé put her arm out to stop the girl as it would only make things worst.
"Stop this!" shouted Satine as she didn't like what was happening in her throne room.
"We would ask you to respect that we deal with this matter ourselves," said Voe Atell to Satine, as it was a matter that didn't need the Duchess to be concerned with.
"No! Dooku is deceiving you. You will all be betrayed, just like my mother," Lux said as he was taken away.
"I apologize for such a rude interruption. Please let us continue," said another Separatist senator.
"We can't just let them take him. He'll be killed," said Ahsoka in a whisper.
"Do what you can, Ahsoka, but be discreet," said Padmé as she had other obligations to attend.
The Padawan nodded as he left to track down Lux.
"Twilight, can you..."
"I'll keep an eye on her," stated the princess to Padmé as she excused herself.
Lux was shown being taken away to a Separatist ship as the droids kept their hold on him. He then entered a room and was thrown onto the floor.
"Those are some rather strong accusations you have levied against me," said Dooku as he appeared via hologram and turned to address the boy kneeling before him.
"You know what you did, Dooku," stated Lux as he glared at the man who had his mother killed to silence her efforts with Padmé to bring peace to the war. He turned on something on his wrist as it began to beep.
"Do I? I've done a lot of things, young man. And choose to remember them in order of importance. The death of your mother seems to have escaped me." said the Sith Lord.
"I will have my revenge," responded Lux.
"I think it is time we reacquaint the young senator with his mother. Kill him," ordered Dooku to the droids.
The droids began to approach the boy when the door opened behind them. Standing there were the girls.
"Ahsoka? Twilight?" said Lux.
The girls thrust their hands out, and Force pushed the droids into the wall.
"Lux, I think it's time to go. Don't you?" said Ahsoka as she offered him her hand. The boy took it as she began leading him away as they all entered the elevator.
"R2, fire up the engines. We're leaving," said Twilight over her comlink as she contacted the blue astromech.
They exited the ship and ran down the ramp as Ahsoka drop-kicked a droid from behind. Twilight used the Force to push the other droid over the side of the railing as he fell. All three ran right past some commando droids standing by as they all stood there and looked at each other to register what they saw. Soon they began to fire at the trio of kids as they kept moving.
"Hurry! Hurry!" shouted Ahsoka as she and Twilight halted as they waited for Lux to turn the corner and run behind him.
"Girls, I appreciate your help, but..."
"Keep moving!" shouted Twilight to Lux as they had droids right on their tails, shooting at them.
They exited the hallways and came to the landing platform, where R2 was waiting for them on the ship.
"Captain Taggart, we've got incoming clankers," said Ahsoka to the Senate guard captain as the droids exited the door and still fired.
"We'll cover you, sir," replied the captain.
The rest of the guards began firing at the droids as the teens all hopped onto their ship. The pair were in the cockpit as they fired up the engines and began to hover. The ship then headed upwards, escaping from the hot zone below them. The ship exited Mandalore as they were now in space.
Just then, the pair were contacted by their partners.
"Ahsoka, Padmé just contacted me. She told me the peace negotiations have all but collapsed. Where are you?" asked Anakin as he saw the girls and Lux.
"I'm en route to Coruscant, Master. I have Lux Bonteri with me," said the Padawan as she turned to look at the boy standing next to her.
"Sparky, who the hell is this?!" shouted Storm.
"It's a long story," replied the princess to her partner.
"Master Jedi, I'm sorry if I've caused you any trouble," replied Lux to both Anakin and Storm.
"Keep your distance away from Twilight. If I find out you do something to her, you'd better run as fast as you can, kid. Cause I'm coming to kick your ass!" stated Storm.
"It's nothing," said Ahsoka as she ensured Lux wasn't intimidated by Storm or her teacher.
In that small moment, Anakin smiled as he saw Ahsoka look at Lux.
"You will be safe now with the Republic," stated the Padawan as she was looking to bring the boy with her.
"All right. Bring Bonteri to Coruscant immediately. We'll discuss giving him amnesty," said Anakin to his student.
"Yes, Master."
"Remember, you lay a hand on Twilight, and I'll fuck you up!" stated Storm as the transmission ended.
"Heh. Sorry, excuse him. He doesn't know that you're one of the Separatists on our side." Twilight giggled nervously as she tried to apologize for Storm's behavior.
"I think you handled that well," said Anakin as he walked with Storm; he could see how aggressive he was just now.
"I don't trust him. I don't want him to fill Twilight's head with ideas or try to sway her that the Separatists are in the right," said Storm, as that was why he kept threatening Lux. "By the way, was it just me, or did you see that look Ahsoka gave him?"
Back with the girls...
"I can't go with you, Ahsoka," said Lux.
"What?" responded the Padawan.
"I told you, I have a plan," said Lux as he pulled out a blaster on the girls.
Ahsoka merely grabbed it from his hand and aimed it at him.
"Shooting us is not going to be part of it," declared Ahsoka.
"What are you doing with a gun anyhow? You're not a fighter," said Twilight as she found it odd that the boy had a weapon on him.
"I'm no longer a Separatist either. I won't join the Republic," stated Lux, who wasn't willing to go to either side.
"What other options do you have?" asked Ahsoka.
"There is a different way," replied the boy to the duo.
"I understand everything that you've been through. I understand you feel alone," said Twilight, as out of anybody, she could relate to how Lux was feeling. Having no family members to turn to when she needed some support, the pressure he was dealing with, she could sympathize with him.
"But the Republic will help you," stated Ahsoka.
"Like they helped my mother?" countered Lux as he didn't forget what happened, "I've already made contact with a group on Carlac who are noble and are allied with my cause."
"And what cause is that?" asked Twilight.
"To kill Dooku," stated Lux with a glare.
The girls gasped at what Lux was thinking was suicide.
"The only one you're going to get killed is yourself. I'm sorry, but we're taking you to Coruscant," said Ahsoka as she sat down in her seat to guide the ship, "Your plan hasn't exactly been well thought out, Lux. Without us, how did you think you were going to escape those droids?"
"Like this," said Lux as he was shown pulling out a taser and shocking Ahsoka unconscious.
"Lux!" said Twilight as she went to stand up but was soon shocked as he caught her and set her back into her seat.
"I'm sorry, girls," said Lux to the pair as he needed to go forth with his plan.
At that moment, R2 rolled in as Lux hid the taser behind his back as the droid saw the girls unconscious in their seats.
"It seems Ahsoka and Twilight are quite exhausted. They probably should sleep it off," said Lux to the droid as R2 beeped, seeming to buy his lie. The boy got in the pilot seat as he inputted his coordinates, and the ship jumped into hyperspace.
It was sometime later as the ship the teens were traveling on was shown. It landed as they were no longer in space but on some planet as all around was snow. In the ship, Twilight and Ahsoka were still shown slumped in their chairs from when Lux tased them. Soon R2 came in and let out a beep just as the pair started to stir.
"Lux? Lux?" called out Twilight, slowly gaining back her vision.
"Where are my lightsabers?" asked Ahsoka as she felt her hips to find that her weapons were gone.
Twilight also did the same, as she didn't have her lightsaber. The panic started to seep on the girls' faces when Ahsoka looked out of the window and saw the boy standing a few meters away from the ship, almost like he was waiting for someone or something.
"Lux!" growled Ahsoka, "R2, take a look around and see if you can find where Lux hid them. We're going to have a little chat with Mr. Bonteri."
Ahsoka exited the cockpit with Twilight following behind as the blue astromech pulled out his radar antenna and started to find out where the girls' weapons were.
The girls now exited the ship wearing some parkas as it was cold outside. They were approaching the boy.
"Lux! Lux, where are we? And what did you do with our lightsabers?" asked Ahsoka.
"You two should've stayed on the ship," said Lux, looking at the duo before turning forward as a jetpack was heard.
At that moment, a group of Mandalorians landed around them.
"Hey, kid. You're late," said the leader of the welcoming committee as it was a female.
"Death Watch," muttered Twilight to Ahsoka as she was reminded of Storm's encounter with the group when he visited Mandalore with Obi-wan.
At that moment, R2 had made his way to a part of the ship as he looked at a secret compartment. The droid opened it and slid the girls' lightsabers out as he gave a happy beep and took them in his parts.
"Did you get us what we need?" asked the female Mandalorian.
"Yes, I have the information with me," said Lux as he was approached.
"Who's this?" asked the Mandalorian as she saw Ahsoka.
"I'm his... I'm his betrothed," said Ahsoka as she immediately grabbed onto Lux'a arm and cuddled it.
"What?" said Twilight with a bit of volume. Out of all the potential lies she could have gone with, Ahsoka went with the one that made her seem to be Lux's lover.
"Right. Right," said Lux, having a bit of blush from what Ahsoka said and how the girl was holding onto him, giving him a look.
Twilight facepalmed as she couldn't believe the boy was also going along with that lie.
"Betrothed?" repeated the Mandalorian, not fully buying what the two were saying. "And you?"
"I'm... her sister," said Twilight, as at least she came up with a better lie than Ahsoka.
And the Mandalorian bought that lie much easier than thinking that Ahsoka and Lux were together.
"Little skinny, isn't she?" said the Mandalorian as she examined Ahsoka, who claimed to be Lux's lover, as she gently slapped her on the rear and made her move forward.
Ahsoka exclaimed at what the person did as she was looking to hit them but was stopped by Lux.
"She serves her purpose," said the boy.
At that moment, R2 released a whistle as he exited the ship and rolled toward the teens. The girls saw him as he was holding their lightsabers, as they gave him a look. The droid knew that as he halted and quickly put their weapons away to avoid the Mandalorians finding their true identity.
"We leave now. The snow is coming," said the Mandalorian to the others as they began to move.
"What have you gotten us into?" said Ahsoka to Lux.
"It's all under control," said the boy.
"These are the Death Watch. They're Mandalorian terrorists. They'll kill us." stated Twilight.
"Are you coming?" shouted a Mandalorian to Lux.
"Yes," said the boy as he approached the warrior in a speeder.
"Uh, we should stay with the ship," said Ahsoka as she and Twilight were looking to walk back.
"No. You're coming, too," said the girls had the female Mandalorian in charge and had no choice.
The girls all got on the speeders as they sat behind the Mandalorian driving. The rest grabbed R2, and the droid beeped dejectedly as he was picked up against his will. It wasn't long before the teens arrived at the base of Death Watch. As they entered, they saw many other Mandalorians shooting all kinds of droids and having fun with them. The laughing could be heard as they took great pleasure in destroying the droids. R2 was very nervous as they came to a stop, and he was taken out because he feared he may be target practice.
"The boss will see you in there," said the female Mandalorian as the teens got off.
All three entered the tent while waiting for the leader to show up. Once they had some alone time, they began to talk.
"Don't ruin my plan, okay?" said the boy to the girls.
"Plan? What plan?" asked Ahsoka.
"This is a holotrace device. It can identify the origin of any holo transmission," said Lux as he pointed to the bracelet he was wearing as he activated it when talking with Dooku, "I knew if I accused Dooku of murder, I would be brought to face him. Well, it worked. And I now know Dooku's exact location. If Death Watch moves quick enough, we can destroy him. Is that enough of a plan for you?"
"This is not some idealistic political group! They will take the information and kill you!" said Twilight as she could see many flaws in Lux's plan.
"I knew you two wouldn't understand," scoffed Lux.
"The Death Watch are murders! Sworn to destroy Jedi. You don't know what you're doing! This..."
Before Ahsoka could finish what she was saying, Lux noticed shadows and footsteps approaching them. Knowing he had to silence the girl, he did the one thing that came to mind. He grabbed Ahsoka and pulled her into his arms as he pressed his lips and kissed her. The Padawan was caught off guard as she tried to pull away from Lux kissing her, but he had a firm grip on her. Twilight gasped as she couldn't believe what she saw in front of her with her own eyes.
"Am I interrupting something?" asked the leader as he entered the tent and saw the two "lovers" kissing each other.
Lux let go of Ahsoka as she wiped her lips, almost like she was trying to get the taste of Lux kissing her out of her mouth, all while giving him a glare for doing that without her permission.
"No. Of course not. We were just..." chuckled Lux nervously, trying to find a justifiable reason for kissing Ahsoka.
"It's time to talk business," said the leader as he wasn't interested and took off his helmet. He was revealed to be Pre Vizsla, the former governor of Concordia, as he engaged Obi-wan during his and Storm's investigation along with Satine. "Tell your woman and her sister to leave us."
"Of course," stated Lux as the girls exited the tent.
Once they were outside and walked a safe distance, Twilight cleared her throat as she had to address her friend.
"Don't, please..." said Ahsoka to the princess, as she didn't want to discuss kissing Lux.
"Okay, just you do know that technically, you did break a rule by kissing him," said Twilight, "And you do realize that it was your first smooch with the opposite sex."
Ahsoka blinked as she didn't understand what Twilight was saying. But then, she had a gasped look as she put together what the princess was saying. She just had her first kiss... and it was with Lux. Some red formed on her face as it was mostly embarrassment.
Back in the tent, Lux was talking with Vizsla.
"Now... give me what I want."
"When I know that you will use it correctly," said Lux.
"Don't toy with me, boy. You see this scar? It was a parting gift from Count Dooku. If you question my resolve to destroy him again, I will give you one just like it." threatened Vizlsla to the boy to not test his patience.
"This device will tell you his location," said Lux as he handed the bracelet to the Mandalorian.
"Good. That was painless, wasn't it?" said Vizsla as he placed his arm around Lux as they exited the tent, "Now, let's celebrate."
R2 was being led to a tent as two Mandalorians followed behind him. The blue astromech was now standing in front of a mess of droids.
"Repair these droids so we can use them for target practice again," said the Mandalorian as he and his buddy laughed and went on their way to celebrate.
R2 beeped as he rolled deeper into the tent; all around him laid broken droids that the Mandalorians used for their own fun. Soon a droid began to come online as he crippled toward the blue astromech.
"Please reassemble us," said the larger droid.
"Please reassemble us," said another droid as it crawled out from the pile.
"We are battle droids no longer. Now we are slaves," said another droid.
"Please reassemble us," repeated all the droids as they approached and surrounded R2, begging him to help him. The blue astromech beeped as he looked at all the droids.
The girls were now being escorted to a tent and shoved in.
"Try that again, and I will..." shouted Ahsoka when she was stopped by Twilight. The princess got her friend to look behind them as they saw other girls in the tent.
"You don't want to make them angry. They are far from rational," said a native girl.
"Believe me, you have no idea," stated Ahsoka as she and Twilight took a seat next to her.
"What's your name?" asked Twilight.
"Tryla."
"I'm Ahsoka."
"Twilight Sparkle," said the princess as she introduced herself, "Where are you from?"
"We were kidnapped from a nearby town. We are a simple people. We trust easily. And we were betrayed." said Tryla.
At that moment, a Mandalorian entered the tent.
"We feast. Prepare the food. Your masters are hungry." said the Mandalorian as he ordered the girls to get to work.
It was evening, and the Mandalorians were wining and dining. The native girls were shown carrying trays of food to them. Ahsoka was nearby as she had a tray and saw Lux sitting next to Vizsla as she approached him.
"Hungry?" offered the Padawan to the boy as he grabbed a bowl before she whispered to him in remorse, "Careful not to choke on your stupidity."
"I see your woman has fit in well. Now, how will you fit in?" asked Vizsla to the boy.
"All I want is Dooku dead," said Lux.
"Vizsla," said a voice.
Entering the tent was the nearby village chief, who was not happy.
"Chieftain Pieter, I don't remember summoning you," said the Mandalorian with a smug smile.
"You have taken our women, stolen our food, and threatened us for too long," stated Chieftain Peter.
"Brave for you to come here with such bold words," responded Vizsla.
"You are no longer welcome here," declared the Chieftain.
Vizsla merely smiled at what was said.
"Well, if our presence here isn't welcome, we'll make ready to leave."
"And you'll return our people to us?" asked the Chieftain.
"Yes, sunrise tomorrow. You have my word," responded the leader of Death Watch.
"Very well. We'll be waiting."
The Chieftain then left with his men as they exited the tent. Watching this were the girls and Lux as the pair looked at him.
"You see? They're not the butchers you make them out to be," said Lux, as both still didn't trust what he said.
"I'm gonna step out for a bit," said Twilight to her friend as she put her empty tray on a table.
The princess managed to silently sneak out as she walked a bit to clear her mind. She had so much on her mind that she needed time to herself. She was thinking about how they could escape and return to their ship when her attention was snapped away. She heard some beeping as she was passing by a tent.
Twilight entered as R2 was inside, hard at work repairing the droids.
"R2?" said the girl.
The blue astromech gave a beep as some other droids looked at the Jedi.
"Are you repairing them?" asked the girl as she got a beep that translated to yes.
"Please, repair us," said one of the droids to the girl.
Twilight felt sorry for the droid. Apart from the ones she fought, she had sympathy for the droids that the Death Watch used for their amusement as it sickened her. She bent down to pat the droid's head as she used her hand to make a wrench fly into her hand.
"Who wants to get fixed?" asked the girl in a determined tone, the droids having some hope on their robotic faces at the Jedi willing to help them. All through the night, Twilight worked with R2 to repair the droids.
Sunrise came as Ahsoka, Lux, and Death Watch made their way to the nearby village. They stopped their speeders in the center of the village as some Mandalorians took positions on top of some of the villagers' homes. The chief saw them as he approached the terrorist group.
"You have kept your word. We are very grateful for your understanding," said Chieftain Pieter as he bowed to Vizsla and his men.
"I am a man of my word. Here is your granddaughter, as promised," said Vizsla as he shoved Tryla forward.
He then pulled out the Darksaber and ran it through the girl, who fell into her grandfather's arms.
"Tryla!" shouted Ahsoka.
"Kill them! Kill them all!" ordered Vizsla.
The Mandalorians on the roofs aimed their wrist flamethrowers at the buildings as they began to burn them down. The villagers were running for their lives as some of the Mandalorians aimed their flamethrowers at the people; it brought a sick smile to their faces under their helmets.
"Save them, Ahsoka. Save them. Save my people." spoke Tryla in her dying breath to the girl. She looked over to Lux, who was talking with Vizsla.
"Why? What are you doing?" pleaded the boy.
"Never let the weak tell you what to do. Welcome to Death Watch," said Vizsla as he gave Lux a hard intro to what they were all about.
Ahsoka then had enough as she sprung into action. She stuck her hand out and used her Force powers to pull a pole into her hand. She then hurled it at a Manadolorian on a roof, spraying his flamethrower. It stabbed into the warrior as he slumped and fell off the roof. She then rushed at two with another pole, taking them down while tossing off her winter coat.
Just then, Vizsla went for a surprise sneak attack from above as she rolled out of the way. He sliced at the pole in her hand as it was cut into two. She then avoided a swing as another Mandolorian fired a cable and wrapped it around her hand. Soon several more joined in as they fired their cables to wrap around the Padawan's body as they held her down, who slumped to the floor.
"Now, what do we have here? I think we've caught ourselves a Jedi. Drag her back to camp." said Vizsla as he looked down at the girl. Lux put his hand out to reach for her but was held back as Ahsoka merely gave him a look that said, "I told you so."
Death Watch was now returning to camp. Speaking of camp, Twilight and R2 were still in the tent as they were finishing the repairs.
"Okay, that should do it. How do you feel?" asked Twilight as she closed the back of a pit droid.
The droid gave some chatter as he thanked the girl for repairing him. Soon the big droid approached the girl and blue astromech.
"Thank you, friends. How can we repay you?" asked the droid to the pair.
Just then, the pair heard some noises as the speeders docked. Twilight and the droids peeked out as she saw Ahsoka dragged along the ground as they stopped.
"Oh, no. They got Ahsoka," gasped Twilight as she saw her friend dragged into the main tent. "I knew this was a bad idea. Hey, I think I know how you can repay us."
"Rescue your friends. How?" asked the droid to the girl.
R2 gave a beep as he explained the plan to all.
"I compute. I will prepare the others," said the larger droid as R2 handed Twilight her lightsaber.
"Now, Lux Bonteri, this does not look good. This does not look good at all. I asked you to join us in good faith, and you bring a Jedi into our camp." said Vizsla as he addressed the boy while Ahsoka was before him on her knees.
"She wasn't meant to be here. Please let her go," pleaded the boy, as he didn't want harm to come to the girl.
"I'm afraid that's not an option," said Vizsla.
"I believed you had honor, but you're just a murderer. No better than Dooku," stated Lux.
"You call us murderers? And yet it was your own lust for revenge that made you seek us out," countered Vizsla to the junior senator.
"I wanted justice for my mother's death," said Lux.
"And you shall have it. But the Jedi are no different from Dooku, and this one shall pay in part for their crimes against Mandalore. So you see, it's not murder at all. It's like you say. It's justice." stated Vizsla to Lux as he was looking to bring down the Darksaber on the girl.
R2 then bumped into a Mandolorian as he spun and made a smokescreen occur. Twilight appeared and thrust her hands out to push some of them into the walls as Lux shoved Vizsla away.
"Ahsoka, now!" shouted the boy.
"Thanks, buddy," said Ahsoka to R2 as he handed her lightsabers to her during the smoke.
She then broke out as she jumped up and spun in a circle with her lightsabers; when she came down, spinning, she sliced the heads off of four Mandalorians who surrounded her as they fell to the floor, and she took a stance. The others were about to engage her when they were stopped.
"Stop! The Jedi is mine," said Vizsla.
"Twilight, get Lux to the ship," said Ahsoka to her friend as she would buy them some time.
The princess and junior senator exited the tent as Ahsoka was preparing to take on the leader of Death Watch. He swung as she ducked and blocked his next series of attacks. She then jumped to avoid his next swing and went for a counterattack which he blocked. Ahsoka leaped over Vizsla as he went for a swing, and she ducked. She then jumped off a podium as the Madadolorian missed. They exchanged another series of blows before the man kicked the girl out of the tent as she tumbled along the snowy ground.
She stood up as the big droid was in front of her. Ahsoka looked around, surrounded by other droids and Lux and Twilight.
"I guess R2 made some friends," said Lux.
Vizsla emerged from the tent as he was taken aback by what he saw. Soon the droid began to fire at Death Watch, and they returned fire before leaping out of their tent and going up in flames. Twilight was now trying her hand at taking on the former governor as she spun with her lightsaber in midair, taking him off balance and getting him backstep.
The droids provided the cover the Jedi and Lux needed as the Mandalorians took them out. Lux and R2 entered a speeder as Twilight dodged and blocked Vizsla's attacks. They crossed blades as the girl flipped over him while having their blades touched as she quickly sliced at the Mandalorian and slashed his jetpack.
"Not bad, Jedi," said the former governor to Twilight as she proved to be a bit more of a challenge.
"Thanks. But I didn't miss," smiled the princess as she calculated her attack.
As it turns out, Twilight struck the jetpack as it was starting to go off. Vizsla quickly took it off as everybody dove out of the way.
Twilight got in the passenger seat of the speeder as Lux drove by Ahsoka.
"Ahsoka!" called out the boy as she leaped and rode on it as they took off.
"Don't let them escape!" shouted Vizsla to his warriors as they took off with their jetpacks.
The teens were now zooming through the snow fields as they headed toward their ship. The Mandalorians were shown flying behind them as one of them fired a rocket that landed next to the speeder, making it shake; Ahsoka fell on one of the engines before getting up and deflecting the blaster shots from one of them as it hit him back and he flew into a field resulting in an explosion.
The other tackled her as he pinned her and made her drop her lightsabers in Twilight's lap. Before the princess could save her friend, R2 fired an oil splat in the Mandalorian's helmet. That slight distraction allowed Ahsoka to put her hand out and throw the warrior off her as he tumbled.
"That's two I owe you," said Ahsoka as she looked over to the droid.
The last Mandolorian was the female that they met. She landed in front of Ahsoka, who dodged and moved out of her line of sight when she fired. She then went for a punch, grabbed it, and flung the girl off to the side as she held on with her feet digging into the snow. Lux made the speeder wobble, allowing Ahsoka to pull herself up and deliver a roundhouse kick to drop the warrior to her knees. She made a knife appear and tried to stab her as she ducked, and Force pushed her in front of the speeder; when the speeder came over her, she struck her knife into the underside of the vehicle as it sparked but kept on going as she tumbled.
The speeder arrived at their ship as they got onboard and took off. The ship was leaving the snowy planet as they entered space and headed back to Courscant.
"No one followed us. Good job, R2," said Ahsoka as she and Twilight took their seats in the cockpit.
The blue astromech let out a beep.
"What do you mean the escape pod has been activated?" asked Twilight.
"Lux! R2, the ship is yours," said Ahsoka as she got up and ran, with Twilight following behind.
The pair made it to the escape rod area as the door connecting it with the ship was sealed shut. Inside was Lux as he saw the pair on the other side.
"Lux. Lux, what are you doing?" shouted Ashoka as she was close to the viewing window while Twilight watched from a little behind.
"I can't go with you, Ahsoka," responded Lux.
You know that.
"But we can try... Try to change things together," pleaded the Padawan to her friend.
"We make a pretty good team, don't we?" said Lux with a smile as he looked at the girl, who couldn't help but smile as well, "Don't worry. We'll meet again. I promise."
Ahsoka nodded as she believed him. She brought her hand up and placed it on the window as Lux did the same. Their hands looked like they were touching as they stared at each other.
"Be careful, Lux," said Ahsoka, giving a final farewell to her friend.
The escape pod detached itself from the ship as it began to disappear. Ahsoka gave one last look at the boy as she turned to walk. Twilight watched the little interaction between the pair as she smiled and soon walked with Ahsoka back to the cockpit. They entered their coordinates as they were now heading home.
At that moment, the ship's communicator went off as it came online.
"Hey, Storm," said the princess, seeing her partner's image appear.
"Hey, Sparky. Is Ahsoka there?"
"What do you need?" asked the girl to her friend.
"So, I heard you kissed your first boy?" said the teen.
"TWILIGHT!" yelled Ahsoka.
The Padawan couldn't believe her friend told her partner that she kissed a boy whom she was semi-infatuated with. 50/50... 60/40,... okay, 70/30.
Author's Note: Another appearance of the Darksaber from the Mandalorians in Death Watch. And what started out as a plan for revenge against Dooku has turned south really fast. Not to mention, the Mandalorians still have that hatred for the Jedi, for what they did to them back on Mandalore. Which does make you wonder, how in the future, they change views and no longer become terrorists. As always, leave a review expressing your thoughts and comments.