Phantasy Star Horizon
ESKK: A new chapter let's get started.
(Start Council of Six Isekai)
The Council of Six was once more gathered as they all sat on the round table that served as their meeting place. As they sat it was clear latest information was being shared with them. "So, it's true then a Second Cosmogenic Arm has appeared?" Arthur asked as he looked to the gathered members of the Council of Six.
"Nanaki the Vigilante the Cosmogenic Armed wielded by Xeno Seat of Four." Noto said as he crossed his arms deep in thought on this latest information.
"Ok two Cosmogenic arms both on the same squad this cannot be a coincidence anymore." Klara said as she knew what this meant for them.
"Yuvel and his team what do we know about them?" Morgan asked suspecting there may be something of note about this squad of ARK's Operatives that they had all missed.
"Beyond the basic they have been noted to break rank on several occasions, their excuses were, they saw something they didn't like." Xect said as he crossed his arms and had his eyes closed reciting the information gathered on Yuvel and his party. "By their data it would suggest that they are wholly unremarkable in terms of notice yet two of them in that party had awoken a Cosmogenic Arm." Xect added as he distributed the data to his fellow council members.
"So maybe it's their sense of character that was to be noted." Arthur offered as he considered what that could mean for them.
"Perhaps." Xect trailed off as he saw there may be some logic to that theory. But without any further proof they were at a block.
"Or maybe they might actually be the ones." Yaga said and thus all eyes were on him once more. "Yeah, I know I suggested this before but it's all starting to add up don't you think?" Yaga went on as he knew that this was turning into too much of a coincidence for them to ignore.
"One guardian is great, two is if we're lucky… but FOUR guardians that's once in five or ten generations sort of thing." Morgan said as she wanted to believe it, but it was to out there even for them.
"But if they are the Guardians, should we not keep them under watch?" Noto suggested as the Deuman looked to his fellow Council Members as the lone member of his race on the Council of Six.
"Assuming that they are." Xect added with a stern look suggesting he didn't exactly believe it was the case.
"Look we have to figure out something all this sitting and debating won't solve a thing." Klara said as she looked to her fellow Council of Six Members.
"Kind of hard not to when we're so focused on constructing the regional cities on Halpha." Noto said as the Deuman did mention a good point. With both Central and Retem City finished with an Outpost town on the way in Western Retem they seemed to forget at times the galaxy was a lot larger than Halpha.
"Klara and Noto are right but these four are the Guardians they need to prove it for themselves." Morgan said as the CAST looked to around their meeting table.
"Agreed for now let's keep our hunches on their potential to ourselves if they are in fact the ones then they will prove it." Arthur said as even though they weren't all wowed about it they agreed to it none the less. "Xect about our List any updates?" Arthur asked changing the subject for them.
"Yes, many Republic doctors have been joining ARK's as of late stationed in Central City, Aelio Town, Retem City, and Western Retem Outpost." Xect began as he sat with the group. "It seems a law was passed long before any of our births that every child born in the Republic would be tested for something called Michoclorines." Xect said using data he had gathered thus far. "Apparently a child born with a high enough count would be considered Force Sensitive." Xect said as he then closed his eyes and crossed his arms while leaning back on his seat. "Once that is done Jedi would approach the parents to offer their child to be made into Jedi but to do so would be to sever their attachment to their parents indoctrinating them into the Jedi mindset." Xect said as he was calm but the edge in his voice was evident to them.
"Most of the time the parents give their consent and in turn give up the Child willingly apparently there is some great honor in your child becoming Jedi." Xect said but he had more to give on this subject. "Even if that means your child would never know who brough them into the galaxy." Xect added as Klara had a bad feeling about this.
"But…" Klara said as she felt Xect had more to share.
"But there have been rumors going about that the Jedi going from Peacekeepers to Military Leaders had been abducting Force Sensitive children from their parents using their force abilities to make the Parents give up their children to their religion." Xect said causing many to grow concerned with the harsh tone Xect was using here.
"This is concerning." Arthur said as he rubbed his metallic chin contemplating this latest information.
"Of course, the abducting aspect of these rumors against the Jedi has yet to be proven but with so many Jedi dying on the front lines in the Clone Wars there may be some basis to these supposed abduction rumors." Xect said as he looked each of the gathered members of the Council of Six. "I suggest we put strict regulations on arrivals and departures on Halpha and the ARK's fleet." Xect said as Morgan had been thinking about that.
"Trying to prevent any more slavers or trying to keep the Jedi off Halpha?" Morgan asked with concern over this mindset that Xect was employing.
"Both if need be." Xect responded calmly and thus they all looked to each other with concern over this information. Just then Xect's communicator went off and in turn he opened it up and saw a message left for him. Xect took a moment to look through the information before sighing over what he found. "The Republic has found Bane and are enroute to intercept and capture him." Xect said much to the shock of the Council of Six members.
(Scene Break on the Resolute)
After Cad Bane as stolen the Jedi Holocron as he was instructed by his employer with Luther's aid, he was able to get off of the Republic Capital and arrived where, with aid of a Separatist fleet, captured Jedi Master Bolla Ropal. Though the Jedi had been adamant that Anakin Skywalker and his Padawan were to be able to take care of its ARK's had also deployed aid to back up Anakin and his fleet. Yuvel's team and the parties he commonly worked with were all but members of the 501st at this point and Anakin had been more then welcoming to aid of ARK's.
Thus, Anakin with the aid of the 501st, ARK's, and his Padawan Learner the combined force went off to retake the holocron and hopefully capture the Bounty Hunter who stole it. But then they received reports that Separatists were aiding the Bounty Hunter and in turn ARKs knew that chances of Falspawn involvement was inevitable.
While Anakin Skywalker stood on the bridge of his assault cruiser, Admiral Yularen approached the Jedi General. "General, we're receiving an urgent transmission from the planet." Yularen reported and in turn the two went where a clone at the comms sat. On the termina was a miniature hologram of a clone trooper on the planet fighting against the droid army.
"General Skywalker, our base has been overrun! There's no possibility of evacuation! They've taken General Ropal and the holocron memory crystal!" The Clone Trooper on sight reported as he was still fighting off the Droids.
"Do you know where they've taken them?" Anakin asked, looking at the trooper, for any signs of the whereabouts of both the Jedi and the crystal.
"Sorry, sir. We tried to stop them, but they left the outpost!" Soon the hologram showed the trooper being caught by a droid as the hologram ended with the trooper screaming.
"Wait a second. There's too much interference." The trooper at the comms said, trying to establish a reconnection. But after a brief time and no word the Trooper found out what happened. "Transmitter's been destroyed at the source, sir." The Trooper said and in turn Anakin knew they had to work fast to find both the Jedi and the Memory Crystal he was watching over.
"We have to find out what ship Master Ropal was on." Anakin said, scanning the battlefield for any sign of which ship had Master Ropal on it. He was even reaching out with The Force to sense where his fellow Jedi and the memory crystal were being held.
(Meanwhile on the Separatist Ship)
Master Ropal was being brough to an interrogation room by two Super Battle Droids. The Jedi in question was weakened and tired from the battle trying to protect the now stolen memory crystal. He was soon taken into the room where he found another Droid there and one new figure. Once Ropal was placed into the restraints the Droid moved in and shocked him to keep him awake for interrogation.
The Jedi Master cried out in pain from the ordeal before the pain eventually stopped. In turn from the Shadows Dark Falz Apprentice walked out and smiled to her new prisoner. "Sorry Master Jedi but the Bounty Hunter and I have some questions for you, and I would hate for you to fall asleep before we can have our fun." Apprentice said in a sensual tone trying to seduce the Jedi with her allure. "You there, give him the works mind limiters, pain pulsers, and a full dose of that medicine X-C33 if I'm correct." Apprentice said and then she looked to the Battle Droid in the room. "And you go get Bane." Apprentice ordered and thus the two droids nodded and got to work on their given orders from Dark Falz [Apprentice] the Vernal.
(Meanwhile over with Cad Bane)
Bane was currently on the captain's, chair as he observed the battle and saw Battle Droids carrying on their assigned duties. As he sat there, he thought over on what he needed to do to get the Jedi to open the Holocron for him. He had no leverage to use against him, so his only option was to force him to do it by means of torture. It was his only option and thus he had to use it to get this job done.
But during his contemplation a Battle Droid began to approach Bane from behind with an update on the battle. "Uh, sir, that Republic Ship has destroyed our escort and is blocking our escape." The Battle Droid reported as Bane saw the ship in question was coming their way.
"Whoever's commanding that cruiser is a bold one." Bane mused as he thought on how to approach this hitch in the job. "Move us out of the combat zone and prepare to jump to Hyperspace." Bane ordered and thus the Droid went out to carry out Bounty Hunter's orders. "I have a small favor to ask our Jedi guest." Bane said as he knew it was time to get that Jedi to open the Jedi Holocron.
(Back on the Resolute)
As the space battle continued Yularen took note of something amiss with the fleet. When he figured it out, he turned to Anakin to report what was happening. "General, a Separatist command ship is fleeing the battle." Admiral Yularen reported from his station which got Anakin, Ahsoka, and Yuvel's attention.
ARK's Operative, the two Jedi, and the ships Admiral observed what the trooper reported and saw the lone frigate leaving the battle zone. "You think they have Master Ropal on board as a prisoner?" Ahsoka asked with concern for the Jedi on board that Command Ship.
"I'm sure of it." Anakin answered her as Yuvel heard this and was ready to move out.
"Then what are we waiting for a red carpet? Let's go save this guy!" Yuvel called out knowing the lives of a sizable number of children were on the line.
"Way ahead of you Yuvel." Anakin said as he then turned to the Admiral. "Admiral, intercept them before they can jump to hyperspace. I'll ready the troops for boarding." Anakin ordered which in turn shocked Yularen to no end.
"Boarding?" Admiral Yularen asked, looking at the Jedi general in shock. "We have no boarding craft. We were prepared to land on the planet, not aboard another ship." Yularen said making his shock and disagreement with this plan known. "You can't be serious?" He asked as he was worried Anakin may have bitten off more than he could chew this time.
"I am, Admiral. Thank you for your opinion." Anakin answered before directing his attention to his next order.
"Don't worry ARKs has their Drop Ships but we'll have to land outside." Yuvel said making it clear they will be landing under heavy fire.
"Good thinking." Ahsoka said as she looked to Yuvel. "But we'll be getting a lot of heat if we do that." Ahsoka added as she tried to think of a way around said heat.
Anakin saw what Yuvel was thinking and in turn he had a few ideas of his own but those can wait. Right now, they had a job that needed their attention. "Now, target their hyperdrive. We don't want them getting away." Anakin ordered and in turn the order was carried out by the command crew of the Resolute. In turn the chase began as the Resolute went after the Separatist command ship. As they did so they made sure to aim for the engines in hope of keeping the ship from escaping them.
(Meanwhile back with Cad Bane)
Bane was making his way over to Bane who was currently in the prison deck. "Sir. Captain. Sir!" The Droid called out as it caught to the Bounty Hunter. Bane stopped to look over to the Droid to see what it wanted with him. "They hit the power converters, so we can't go into hyperspace." The Droid reported and thus it was clear they were stuck and with the cruiser on their tail they were unable to escape the Jedi.
"Hmmm, I wonder what the Jedi are planning." Bane wondered as he knew their target but not how they planned to get to their target.
(Meanwhile the Resolute Main Hanger)
Yuvel, Anakin, and Ahsoka began to approach the group as Reggie, Laura, and Zurna stood with Rex before a combo of ARK's Operatives and Clone Troopers. "I've rounded up about three brigades, sir." Rex reported as soon as he saw Anakin, Ahsoka, and Yuvel approach.
"We also got our own teams ready to move out." Reggie said as the CAST smiled to their group's leader. "So where are we going?" Reggie added as Rex had a similar question to Reggie.
"We're going to board a Separatist frigate, rescue Master Ropal, and recover an archive holocron." Anakin told them summarizing the plan of today's mission.
"We have no assault craft, sir. Only a couple of fighters, the Twilight, and ARK's own Equipment." Rex said and thus Yuvel looked to the Commander.
"WE have ARK's own drop ships the problem is getting them down safely and space." Yuvel said as Anakin knew they needed a plan for that one.
"Waiting for orders, sir!" Rex said as he stood before Anakin.
"He's got that look in his eyes again, mates." Lon said as he looked ready for whatever Anakin had planned to do. Anakin of course heard him and thus Lon yelped and looked away whistling innocently.
"And the plan is?" Ahsoka asked and was in turn given the same small glare from Anakin. "Just curious." Ahsoka said knowing she needed to keep her mouth shut for this.
Anakin, though knowing that Ahsoka had a point, looked around and saw the three AT-TE walker tanks and in turn an idea began to form in the Jedi's mind. Just then a familiar voice spoke up getting Anakin's attention. "I came down to see if I could be of any help, General Skywalker." Yularen said as he approached, with his arms elegantly held behind his back.
With his plan formed Anakin smirked over to the Admiral. "Actually, you can." Anakin said before he then pointed at the walkers. "Activate those walkers, Admiral." Anakin ordered as it was there that everyone noticed them, and all got into the idea the general had in mind.
Admiral Yularen was shocked by such an unorthodox used of the Walkers that after this may not be coming back in one piece. "You are not thinking of using those to transport the clones to that frigate." Yularen said as he saw what Anakin planned to do.
"Well, they are pressurized." Ahsoka hummed out, catching onto her master's idea.
"And they're equipped with magnetic feet." Rex added, getting impressed by his general's plan.
"And they have the needed fire power to protect the ARK's Drop Ships from Separatist attack while transporting our troops." Yuvel said as he also saw where this was going.
"Huh… good call." Zurna said as she saw what Anakin was planning to do.
"Master, you're a genius." Ahsoka complimented as she saw the plan forming.
"Those walkers are designed for terrain, not space." Yularen protested more, not thinking that the plan would succeed with the walkers.
"Hey just think of space as another Terrain." Laura quipped and thus they had a plan to get on that enemy ship.
"Rex, load them up." Anakin ordered and thus looked over to Ahsoka. "Let's go, Snips." Anakin said before he and his padawan ran for the AT-AT walker in the middle.
"Execute Battalion, take ATAT 300!" Rex ordered, pointing at the walker left of the middle walker. The troopers from that group hurried over to it. "Carnivore Battalion, Walker 773!" Rex ordered, pointing at the walker on the right of the middle one. "Torrent Battalion with me, Let's go!" Rex ordered, and they went to join their general in the walker in the middle of the three.
"ARK's load up and deploy!" Yuvel ordered and thus they all sprang into action.
"But I wanna use the big gun!" Reggie called out but none then less went with the ARK's Operatives to their drop ship ride down.
(Meanwhile with Bane and Apprentice)
Master Ropal was crying out in pain as he was being executed, by Bane with Apprentice off to the side filing her nails clearly bored. "Simply open this little box of yours so I can get the information from this crystal, and your suffering will come to an end." Bane said as he held the Holocron in his right hand while the Droid lowered the power to give pause on Ropals agony from the machine.
"You will never get me to unlock the holocron." Ropal said as he would die before opening the Holocron for Bane or the Dark Falz.
"Unfortunately, I don't have time to discuss this with you." Bane said to the Rodian Jedi before him.
"Well, you heard it hit the Jedi again, full power this time." Apprentice said while she continued to file her nails not even looking at the Droid she had just ordered.
In turn the Droid did as it was told and thus the machine began to make sounds to show it truly was at full power now. During this Ropal was crying out in agony as the torture against him continued onward. "I'm not sure how much more of this he can take." A Battle Droid said as he approached Bane and Apprentice.
"Are you a medical Droid?" Bane asked glaring at the Droid for getting involved.
"Uh, no, sir." The Droid responded confused by the question.
"Well then in that case shut up and do as your told." Apprentice said as she finished her nails and allowed her gloves to reform on her current bodies' hands.
"Roger, roger." The Droid responded and returned to its post.
Bane scoffed a bit and returned his attention back to the Jedi in their custody. "More power." Bane ordered and in turn the Droids did as they were told to. As the power increased Ropal's pain reached its apex and as he struggled to get free or ease it his body eventually went limp. When that happened, the Droid deactivated the machine and thus switched the settings to check on Ropal's vitals. The vital chart showed he had flatlined and thus evident that this Jedi had died to protect the data stored within that crystal.
"We've lost all his vital signs." The droid said and thus Apprentice began to approach him. Looking him over she proceeded to take the Droids electro staff and jammed it into Ropal which got no response from him. "He is no longer functioning." The Droid said after Apprentice did her own check on the Jedi.
"Cut him loose." Apprentice said and thus the machine was deactivated and Ropal fell to the ground dead from his prior torture.
The Droid walked over and scanned him and saw there was no signs of life from him whatsoever. "He's dead." The Battle Droid confirmed and thus Apprentice huffed a bit clearly not happy about their Jedi Prisoners death.
"Looks like we'll have to find another Jedi to open that holocron." Apprentice said as she clearly was not happy about this new set back.
"Only next time." Bane began as he got the Dark Falz attention on him. "I will try a different method." Bane said and thus took his leave of the cell with Apprentice doing the same.
(Later back out in space)
The Resolute flew over the Separatist Ship as it prepared to drop its payload down the Republic ARKs boarding party. Without the aid of a Photon Field the ARK's Operatives had to use space suits for the vacuums of space. Unless of course they were of the CAST which meant they need not worry about the organic need for oxygen.
Soon the buzzer went off, and in turn the lower hanger doors opened. Once they were opened the clamps holding the walkers in place detached and thus freed the three Walkers to let their weight and magnetic feet do the rest. When the Walkers were freed the ARK's drop ship flew out and headed down with the Walkers to drop off their forces to board. Anakin and Ahsoka were currently holding on to the top of the tank until the tank landed, and once it landed the walker magnetized to the ship before it began firing at the droids.
Following it up was the ARK's Drop ship which let the ARKs Operatives out of the Telepipe into the battle. The moment their feet touched the ground ARKs were firing their weapons and Techniques off at the Droids who were then joined by the insect Falspawn.
(Back with Bane and Apprentice)
"Wow Nute Gunray is going to be so ticked about this when he finds out what we have been doing." Apprentice laughed a bit as she saw the chaos brewing. Just then the communications activated and on it Nute Gunray's hologram appeared for the duo. "Oh well speak of the devil." Apprentice added as she saw Gunray was on screen.
"Apprentice, Bounty Hunter what is the meaning of this?!" Nute Gunray demanded as he glared at the Bounty Hunter and the Dark Falz. "When Darth Sidious asked me to loan you the Federation fleet, he didn't say you were going to war." Gunray began his rant in earnest.
"Why do you think I'm here?" Apprentice asked as she glared at Nute Gunray wondering how he knew what they were doing.
"This makes it even worse!" Gunray snapped as he glared at Apprentice and Cad Bane. "You have both already lost four of my ships I hope you can pay for all of this!" Gunray ranted as Apprentice rolled her eyes clearly annoyed with the Nemodian.
"One authentic Jedi Holocron and the memory crystal I was after." Bane began as he held the items in question to Gunray. "When my benefactor gets this, he will compensate you for your puny fleet." Bane said just before the ship shook from an explosion.
"Huh the Jedi want it back, good for us." Apprentice said as she knew only a Jedi using the Force could open the Jedi Holocron.
(Back at the space battle)
The battle was well underway as the Walkers were making their way through the Command Ships outer hull. Laser fire went off at all directions as the Republic and ARKs fought their way to the closest hatch into the ship. During the battle Vulture Droids and Falspawn came out and began with the counterattack against the attackers of the ship.
ARKs opened fire on the Falspawn and even got a few pot shots in on the Vulture Droids. Following it up was Laura and Zurna using their Cosmogenic Arms Clarissa and Nadeki to help with the battle both weapons in a somewhat dormant state. Laura and those who primary, Technique using classes were forced to rely on Thunder, Light, Dark, and Ice based abilities since Wind and Fire would not survive long in the vacuums of space.
Anakin and Ahsoka then jumped forward and went after the Vulture Droids who were in walker modes. Once they got close the Jedi Knight and his Padawan went for the legs and took down the attacking Vulture Droids. Following it up were the Falspawn as they went after the two lone Jedi only for Zurna, Yuvel, and Reggie to jump in. Reggie began to open fire with his gun on the Falspawn with Zurna in tow. Once the trio got in Yuvel switched with Reggie and in turn he and Zurna began to hack and slash their way through the enemy Falspawn forces.
(Meanwhile with Bane and Apprentice)
Apprentice and Bane were still on the holo call with Nute Gunray as their enemies were getting closer to entering the ship. No doubt their enemies were trying to reclaim both the missing Jedi and the stolen Holocron and Crystal.
"They Jedi and ARKs Operatives are overwhelming our Vulture Droids and the Falspawn." A battle Droid reported as it sounded like the battle outside was not going well for them. "Should we send out reinforcements?" The Droid asked and thus Bane and Apprentice had similar ideas especially as who was outside the ship right now.
"No." Bane said and thus both Nute Gunray and the Droid were shocked by this.
"What are you doing!?" Nute Gunray asked as he was surprised by this information.
"Did you say, no?!" The Battle Droid asked with a sense of fear in its tone.
"Yes, now get to work." Apprentice ordered and thus Nute Gunray had objections to this.
"The Jedi will board the ship and get the holocron back." Nute Gunray said as he looked to the Bounty Hunter and Dark Falz. "Transmit the information and close the deal immediately." Gunray ordered but the duo had other ideas.
"We can't do that because this damn box needs a Jedi to open it." Apprentice stepped in as she then smiled sinisterly to the security feed of the battle. "And thankfully we have to Jedi's one whose been a very naught girl denying me coming in to help us." Apprentice said as the Dark Falz licked her lips sensually at the thought of getting her hands on, Ahsoka. "Now shut up, let us do our thing, and you'll get your money back." Apprentice said and thus hung up on the Separatist.
(Back at the battle)
The battle was winding down to a close as the outer defenses and Vulture Droids were dealt with. As they moved in the group soon found just what they were looking for. "General we got a hatch!" Yuvel called out and thus Anakin smirked and had just the guy for the job of opening it.
"Artoo!" Anakin called out and in turn R2-D2 came flying in as the astromech droid went and connected into the socket before opening the hatch.
"Going down!" Yuvel called out as he then jumped down the hatch as the first ARKs Operative followed by the Jedi, the Clones, and the other ARKs Operatives with him.
(Later with Bane and Apprentice)
When it was clear that their enemy were onboard the ship Bane approached the front of the bridge as he and Apprentice had orders for the crew. "Wipe all the frigate's memory banks and destroy every record of our mission." Bane ordered before turning to face another Droid. "Initiate the self-destruct sequence." He added before making his way to the Command Droid on the deck. "You! Transfer all ship function to my wrist com. I want control of doors, gravity generators, Vulture droid deployments, everything." Bane finished as Apprentice smiled to this as she was all but excited for her newest vessels inevitable arrival.
"Roger, roger." The commander complied, while the droids did as commanded.
Once the orders were given out Bane made his way over to a nearby vent. "The rest of you, stay here and defend the bridge." Bane said as he got ready to escape the bridge undetected.
"We're defending the bridge alone?" A droid asked it's superior.
"Against the Jedi and ARKs?" The droid at the controls asked, before Apprentice smirked the droids.
"What do you all think?" Apprentice asked before curling up and vanishing into one of her Dark Portals.
"I hate this job." That same Droid said as he realized they were as good as dead sitting around here. Bane then kicked the vent open and escaped through it making sure it was closed behind him as he escaped.
Once that was done ARKs and Republic forces burst into the bridge firing at any and every Droid or Falspawn they caught a glimpse of. Yuvel jumped in with his sword out before switching over to twin guns firing at the foes in the bridge. Following it up was Reggie as he had his rifle out before switching it up with a Glaive and threw it letting it spin and slice through the Droids and Falspawn. Once he caught the weapon, he put it away causing the two friends to look at each other.
"Huh switched over your sub-class for a Fighter?" Yuvel asked as he looked to Reggie.
"Yeah, changed out Fighter for a Gunner Class?" Reggie asked as he looked back to his friend.
"Yeap." Yuvel said as he was trying to branch out from Melee based combat.
"Cool." Reggie responded with a nod as he was doing the same but in reverse.
Soon there were only two Droids left on the Bridge as the Battle Droids saw this. "Don't shoot!" the commander droid pleaded, then pointed at the droid next to him. "I'm not the commander. He's the commander!" The Droid said pointing to the Droid next to him. That in turn made the trooper shoot that droid, causing it to die which in turn by default put this Droid in command. "Guess I'm the commander now." The Droid said as Reggie then had an idea as did all his fellow CAST.
At least until Zurna fired off an arrow which lodged into the Droid's chest killing it instantly. "Clear." Zurna said as the CAST rolled their eyes to this knowing, they now had to hack the system to find their intended target within the ship itself.
Once the Bridge was clear Anakin spoke up to his Astromech. "Artoo, see if you can find Master Ropal." Anakin ordered and thus Artoo got to work on locating the missing Jedi in this frigate. Not long after Artoo plugged into the ship's systems he found a recent transmission on the data banks that were not deleted and brought it up.
"One authentic Jedi holocron and the memory crystal I was after." Bane's recording said and thus Ahsoka was wide eyed about this.
Ahsoka looked at the others, mostly to her master and Yuvel knowing what this meant for them. "Oh, no. He has both pieces now." Ahsoka's aid and thus Yuvel knew what this meant for the group.
"Wait if Bane has both pieces what happened to Ropal?" Yuvel asked knowing that Jedi was the last line of defense to the crystal filled with the names and data of every Force Sensitive Child in the Galaxy.
Seeing what the two meant Anakin went to give his next order to Artoo as well as Yuvel and Rex. "Rex, Yuvel send out a squad lock down the hanger bay, clear out the Falspawn, and destroy all the escape pods." Anakin ordered to the duo before him.
"No one gets off this ship!"
"Yes, sir." Rex responded as he and Yuvel saluted before they got ready to send out their squads for the tasks Anakin gave them.
"Artoo, you have to find Master Ropal, hurry!" Ahsoka urged to the Astromech with a sense of importance of the task.
Just then as they separated the entire ship shook as it was preceded by a large boom. "The fuck!?" Lon asked as he just felt the entire ship shake.
"What was that?" Rex asked not long after as this explosion caused a small commotion among the gathered troops here.
Before anyone could question any further what, that explosion was their wrist coms and Mags went off with a communication from the Resolute. "General Skywalker, one of the engines one that frigate has exploded. I caution you to avoid the aft section." Admiral's Yularen's voice spoke from the wrist coms and Mags as all looked to the sources for their current conversation.
"How much damage is there?" Anakin asked, keeping his expression neutral to not worry his troops. Though it did help calm those in the ship it was not by much.
"I suggest immediate evacuation." Yularen responded and in turn they all knew they were short on time to find the Jedi and the Jedi artifact that Bane Stole.
"Not until we get what we came for." Anakin said and thus hung up on Yularen knowing full well they had a job to do.
(Meanwhile with Bane and Apprentice)
The Bounty Hunter and the Dark Falz were currently in the hanger awaiting their foes to arrive. Falspawn crawled around the area as the Droids stood in attention and ready. Apprentice summoned just enough so that they can keep ARKs and the Clones busy while Bane did his part of the plan. They still needed to separate the Jedi so at least one of them could open the Holocron and thus allow them to get the data inside the crystal. This would not be an easy task hence why they had to be smart about it. But alas using their brains was more Luther's method then Apprentice.
Apprentice preferred to control her foes be it via desire or her own power as a Dark Falz. She was called Dark Falz [Apprentice] the Vernal for a reason she was the incarnation of desire since her conception. It only made sense that she would tempt and control her victims to do her bidding whatever it may be. Unfortunately, her powers did not work on other Dark Falz, so she had to do it the old fashion way if she wanted to get her fellow Dark Falz Persona to desire her as intended. But that was for the joy of facing a challenge and Apprentice liked a challenge when it was right up her alley.
But right now, she had to focus on the task at hand and that was to get Anakin Skywalker to open the Holocron so they can go home. Or in the case of Apprentice if they were lucky get Ahsoka and mold her into her next host body. "Spread out!" Bane ordered as he looked to the gathered Battle Droids and Super Battle Droids. "While you all take on the clones, I will separate the Jedi and lead one of them away." Bane ordered and thus the Battle Droids got ready for when their foes would get through the door into the hanger.
(Meanwhile over in the big)
The group entered the brig and began looking through each cell to fin Master Ropal. Thankfully with two Jedi with them locating the Jedi Master would not be as hard as one would thing. Thus, Ahsoka went to the door and felt through the Force and with it sensed something was wrong. Ahsoka then reached for the door controls and proceeded to open the door. But when she did this the Padawan was left wide eyed over her new discovery.
"Master, I found him!" Ahsoka cried out, despairing at the deceased Jedi on the floor of the cell. The other came to join her as they found Master Ropal's body and saw they were too late to save the Master. It would seem he chose death then opening the Holocron for Bane. In turn they knew that they had to make sure the Jedi Master's sacrifice was not in vain.
Seeing this with a solemn look Anakin directed his attention over to Rex. "Rex, have some men take Master Ropal back to the Resolute." Anakin ordered and in turn Rex nodded as several troopers with them carried the Rodian's body the way they came before heading off to the hanger. "The rest of us will continue to search the ship until we find Bane and take back the holocron and the crystal." Anakin said as he Yuvel directed his attention over to Ahsoka.
Yuvel walked over to Ahsoka and knew this was not a pretty sight for her to see, it was not a pretty sight for any of them in fact. Thus, he calmly took her hand into his and gave it a comforting squeeze which surprised Ahsoka who then smiled and returned the gesture.
But when Anakin's orders were heard Ahsoka had an idea of her own. "We might not be able to find the holocron in time, Master." Ahsoka said pointing out this fact as it may be better to destroy the Holocron and list then to let Cad Bane have it. "But if it's destroyed with the ship, Nute Gunray won't get it either." Ahsoka suggested as for the group it was an innovative idea.
Anakin looked at his padawan and knew she meant well but if they lost that list then it would be a good while before they can rebuild it. "Maybe, but I'd rather return it to the library personally." Anakin said as he smirked to his young Padawan.
Ahsoka's expression did not show much confidence in Anakin's refusal to listen to her. "Don't worry." Yuvel said as he put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "We'll get through this." Yuvel offered as he would not give up when lives were at stake. Just then the entire ship shook and with it the power turned off showing they were running out of time.
With a sigh Ahsoka kneeled to speak with the Astromech droid. "Come R2." Ahsoka said and was responded with a few bits of binary from Artoo. In turn they go moving to try and locate Bane and the stolen artifacts of the Jedi Order.
(Later)
As they walked Anakin and Ahsoka activated their lightsabers while Artoo beeped and whirled as he had a small dish sticking out of his head. "Artoo says we're close. Stay sharp." Anakin said as they continued with their search.
Ahsoka moved her head out of the way of a pipe she saw thanks to her Lightsaber and the Force. But alas the others were not so lucky as eventually one of them would end up hitting their heads on something. "Ow!" Rex yelped as that person who would hit their head was Rex.
"You ok Rex?" Laura asked with concern for the Clone Captain.
"I'm fine." Rex answered at the female Newman, snapping in frustration from the pain. He then directed his attention to the Clone Troopers for his next order. "Switch to night vision." Rex said and thus Yuvel could see where Rex was going with this.
"You guys do the same." Yuvel said and one by one from the inventory they each pulled out Cyber Glasses which had the night vision function. The CAST simply switched the settings to their ocular sensors so they can see what was hidden in the dark. But for added measure the ARK's Operatives who had rifles activated their weapons lights so if Bane passes through, they'll be able to see him.
The group in turn began to once again progress through the halls searching for Bane and the stolen Crystal and Holocron. For some of the ARK's Operatives it was a bit too quiet for their tastes.
AS they began to progress their way to a hall, they soon saw Bane pass by much to their shock. Artoo yelped out in binary when he saw Cade Bane. "There!" Anakin called out and in turn everyone began to give chase to Cad Bane.
After a brief time of chasing Bane down the hall Zurna began to suspect something was up as they chased him. Soon Zurna's instincts proved correct as the Duros lead them into a large room, with the lights turned off. Once they were all inside Zurna had a firm grip to her Katana ready to draw it preferring to only use her Cosmogenic Arm when its need was absolutely, necessary. Just then the lights turned back on and there they stood Cad Bane and Dark Falz [Apprentice] the Vernal with many droids and Falspawn with them.
"Ah ARK's Jedi we've been expecting you." Apprentice said as she then looked over to Ahsoka. "Especially you, Ahsoka Tano." Apprentice said which put the Togruta Jedi Padawan on edge. "Kill then." Apprentice order snapping her fingers forward and in turn the Falspawn charged while the Droids opened fire. In response the clones fired back with ARKs as the melee-oriented Operatives went after the insect based Falspawn.
Laura had jumped into action by casting buffs upon her allies via Techniques which boosted both their defensive and offensive abilities. Techniques were fired as ARK's aided their Republic allies against the Falspawn and the Droids.
Seeing how the ARK's Operatives were making things difficult for him Bane knew he needed to do something for this. "Let's make this a bit more interesting." Bane quipped as he then magnetized his feet to the floor for what came next. "Lockdown!" Bane as he then deactivated the artificial gravity. Apprentice was surprised as she began to float up into the air as did some of her none ground based Falspawn. The Jedi, ARK's Operatives, and Clone Troopers all began to rise into the air with the loss of gravity which caught them off guard. Meanwhile the droids also were magnetized to the floor but allowed them to walk and kept on firing while the flying Falspawn used this to their advantage as well.
While this was happening Rex knew exactly what to do in this sort of situation. "Magnetics! You were trained for this!" Rex ordered and in turn they all got to work.
One by one the ARK's Operatives and Clone Troopers got to work. Each of them who were close to metal surfaces of some sort began magnetizing themselves to the walls or the ship's cannons as they kept firing on their foes. Reggie once on the ceiling got to work and used a Photon Dash/Jump combo to get back to the ground floor and began firing his cannon at the Droids and Falspawn.
As this continued to go on Yuvel was blocking each attack from the Droids and slashing through any Falspawn that got to close to him. "Hey, can someone get the heavy back on?!" Yuvel called out as the battle went on.
Ahsoka hearing this looked over to the Astromech droid. "Artoo, turn the gravity generators back on!" Ahsoka told the droid as she kept deflecting blaster fire away from herself and any troopers behind her. Artoo got to work and began using his boosters to get to the nearest port to splice.
During this Apprentice clocked her tongue in annoyance and in turn glared at Ahsoka. Using momentum Apprentice pushed herself and made a beeline towards Ahsoka. Yuvel seeing this went wide eyed and acted. "Ahsoka!" Yuvel called out and ran over to her. Hearing him Ahsoka looked and saw Apprentice coming at her with a roar.
The two clashed and thus Ahsoka was pushed back thanks to the attack by Apprentice. Ahsoka hit the nearby wall crying out in pain to which Apprentice went to give chase. Ahsoka regained herself and was about to try again only for Yuvel to Photon Dash in and slashed Apprentice using his sword to attack.
"Come on we'll fight her together!" Yuvel called out and with a nod both he and Ahsoka got ready to face off against Apprentice herself. The battle continued as Yuvel and Ahsoka went and attack Apprentice who had her dual blades drawn to fight them.
During the battle Rex noticed how the clone trooper with the mini gun almost hit the cannon shells behind some droids. This in turn made Rex go wide eyed as one of the shells got loose and began to float about with the Gravity still deactivated. "Check your fire! Hit one of those shells and this fight is over for all of us!" Rex called out knowing exactly how bad this would get if one of those canisters got hit by any random stray fire. The battle went on for a bit like that as ARK's were mowing down the Falspawn and the Clones were handling the Droids with ARK's getting a few shots in to help their allies.
During the fighting Bane was firing his pistol at his foes as they tried to mow down the ARK's Operatives and the Clones. Thankfully Yuvel's team were smart enough to avoid laser fire and even than they always keep scape dolls on their person in case they are ever incapacitated in battle. Even then Laura was on duty providing first aid to the ARK's Operatives on duty.
Back over with Anakin the Jedi Knight had just gotten through dealing with two Super Battle Droids before going after Bane. As he did so Anakin managed to take out another Battle Droids before landing a few good blows against Bane making him drop the Jedi Holocron he had stolen. As he saw the artifact of the Jedi order floating in Zero Gravity, Anakin went after unaware of just how close R2 was to the port to return power to the ship's artificial gravity. R2 then plugged in and got to work unaware of just how close Anakin was to taking back the Holocron.
Soon once the system was back online Anakin, who was a hair reach away from the Holocron fell as did everyone else who was not magnetized to a solid platform. Even Apprentice was caught off guard as she landed on the ground in what was like a stance known commonly as a superhero landing. Meanwhile Bane was a bit out for a bit from Anakin's prior attack on his person. Seeing the Holocron within his reach Bane acted fast and rolled over to take the Holocron before Anakin could do so and further complicate things.
Once he had the Holocron Bane made a break for the door to no doubt find an alternative way off this doomed Separatist command ship. As Bane ran Anakin began to give chase to which Bane took notice of. Bane began to look around for something to stall Anakin with which led the aged bounty hunter to take note of Hardcase still on the ceiling. Knowing the Jedi tend to care for their troops Bane fired at him, more specifically at the ground beneath his feet. The result was the ground giving way under Hardcase and thus the Clone Trooper began to fall to the ground where he might get hurt or worse than that.
Once Anakin was able to save the trooper Laura and Ahsoka sprang into action to chase down the Bounty Hunter and his Dark Falz ally.
"I'll get them, master!" Ahsoka called out giving chase to the Bane and Apprentice.
"Right behind, you!" Laura said as she had a Cosmogenic Arm to help her take on Dark Falz [Apprentice] The Vernal.
"Wait Ahsoka, Laura stop, it's a trap!" Yuvel called out just before Anakin could do so. But alas it was too late the two were gone charging into the trap.
Laura was using her Photon Dash to keep up with Ahsoka while the Togruta used her connection to the Force to increase her own speed. "Ahsoka, Laura stop!" Anakin called as he and Yuvel went after the duo. "We'll take him together!" Anakin went on but alas the door closed before either Yuvel, or Anakin could get through it.
"Dammit!" Yuvel cursed while he slammed his fist against the door in frustration realizing they needed something to open the door.
"Hurry, help me cut this open!" Anakin called out as Yuvel nodded and was ready to help in anyway, that he could. In turn Anakin stabbed his Lightsaber into the door and got to work on forcing it to open. The duo got to work but as they did so the battle behind them continued. As the clones fought the remaining droids, one of the B1 droids tripped on another's head, slipped, and fell forward with a yell, the impact made the droid fire at the shell, making an explosion that made the ceiling collapsed on top of them, Rex, and the others to find any cover that they can.
(Meanwhile with Ahsoka and Laura)
Ahsoka and Laura ran after Bane and Apprentice intent to keep them from getting way. Laura managed to keep up with Ahsoka via her Void Dash as she continued to aid the Jedi Padawan in chasing down the Bounty Hunter and the Dark Falz foe. The duo continued the chase as Laura had Clarissa drawn ready to do battle with her providing them both aid. They chase went on for a bit until it eventually led them to a dead end via a Blast door where the heroes were now cornered with the two major threats.
"Apprentice Bane!" Laura called out as she and Ahsoka had the two of them cornered.
"You thought you could get away?" Ahsoka asked as she was ready to bring them in while Laura was ready to take down and hopefully seal away the Dark Falz here.
"You're not much of a challenge, youngling." Bane scoffed as he looked to Ahsoka and Laura. "I got you and your ARK's friend right where want you." Bane said and in turn he began to open fire on the two.
Acting fast Ahsoka used her lightsaber to deflect the shot from the Bounty Hunter causing the shot to hit his left gauntlet. Following it up was Apprentice who then charged in to join in the fight. Taking out a pair of blades Apprentice went after Laura and thus the two-on-two battle began. Laura used her abilities to make a shield whenever she could to ward off Apprentice's attacks before returning fire with her Techniques.
The battle however was short and unimpressive to many as the two sides did battle. In turn the Jedi Padawan and ARK's Operative proceeded to make quick work of their foes. Ahsoka with her training and skills was eventually able to disarm the Bounty Hunter of his weapon. After having to avoid a few swings from her Bane managed to move and kick the Lightsaber out of Ahsoka's hands.
This resulted in a fist fight between the two as Ahsoka kept up on the offensive. Meanwhile Laura and Apprentice continued to duke it out. Knowing the Dark Falz weakness Laura focused on using light-based and fire-based techniques against her. Laura continued her assault as she had every intention to take down the sinister Dark Falz. This went on for a bit until Laura pointed her staff at Apprentice point blank range before firing off an explosive technique that disarmed Apprentice of her weapons. The blast also sent her flying back to the wall where she cried out in pain from the impact that had resulted.
When Apprentice hit the ground, she snarled at the Newman who smirked down at the Dark Falz seeing she had the upper hand in this. With a roar Apprentice went after Laura only for the ARK's Operative to fire off an Ice Technique which thankfully activated its statues effect causing Apprentice to freeze on the spot unmoving.
Back with Ahsoka's fight, Bane drew his other blaster attempting to shoot at the Togruta girl at point blank range. However, the padawan was able to knock the blaster out of Bane's hand before he could shoot it off at her. She then flipped him over onto the floor hard which made him unconscious, or so it would seem.
"I'm not impressed." Ahsoka said in a mocking tone, before she would use the force to retrieve her lightsaber.
"Well, this was oddly easy enough." Laura said until she began to take note of Bane. 'Wait a second.' Laura thought to herself unaware that Apprentice was not as frozen as Laura would have thought.
"Ahsoka look-!" Laura began only for Apprentice to blast her way out of her icy prison and slammed Laura into the wall causing her to cry out in pain. Ahsoka was surprised by this when she heard Laura and was about to go help her face Apprentice. That was when the Bounty Hunter proceeded to reveal that he was pretending to be knocked out as he then grabbed Ahsoka's leg and then electrocuted the padawan into unconsciousness.
Laura growled as she got back up and in turn was grabbed by, Apprentice. "I don't think so ARK's." Apprentice said before she proceeded to grab Laura and electrocuted her with several volts of pain. The volts eventually rendered Laura unconscious as she then fell to the ground leaving both her and Ahsoka at the duo's mercy.
(Meanwhile back with the boarding party)
Anakin opened his eyes no doubt having lost consciousness for a brief time after the explosion from that stray shot. As he got back up Anakin used the Force to get the rubble off of him where he then saw Yuvel nearby slicing his way out of the rubble to join back with the others.
As Yuvel and Anakin out of the rubble they saw they were the only ones on one side of it. "Well shit." Yuvel cursed as he realized the damage must have given them less time with the Separatist ship currently on the path of self-destruction.
"General Skywalker, can you hear me?" Rex called out as Yuvel, and Anakin looked to the wall of rubble. "Are you all right in there?" He asked before he was followed by another voice.
"Yuvel if you're their buddy say something funny!" Reggie called and thus Yuvel rolled his eyes a bit.
"Hey Reggie, shut up!" Yuvel answered back which confirmed Yuvel was all right and still battle ready.
"We're all right." Anakin responded to the clone Trooper and the ARKs Operatives on the other side of the wall. "Get to the hangar. Find a transport but wait for us as long as you can." Anakin ordered and thus the troopers followed the given order.
"We're on it, sir." Rex said as he and his remaining men went to the hanger with the ARKs Operatives.
"Ahsoka, do you copy?" Anakin asked calling for Ahsoka via the communicator as Yuvel looked just as worried for her. But all Anakin got was silence on his end.
Seeing this Yuvel tried to do the same but with Laura hoping Ahsoka's communicator got damaged and was unable to respond to her master. "Laura, respond, are you there, respond now." Yuvel asked as he tried to call up Laura but was also met with silence.
Just then the ship shook a bit causing the duo to looked surprised by this. Following it up, Admiral Yularen's voice came from the coms, "There's a power surge heading toward the bridge." Yularen reported as he could see what was going on from his end of the mission. "If you're there, get out immediately. You must abandon your mission." The Admiral urged as he knew when to pull out if the situation demanded it.
"I don't have the holocron memory crystal and I seem to have misplaced my Padawan." Anakin pointed out to the admiral as Yuvel nodded in agreement.
"The ship is tearing itself apart!" Admiral exclaimed, pointing out the imminent danger of the ship to the young Jedi and ARKs Operative.
"Move off to a safe distance, Admiral, and await my signal for evacuation." Anakin said as he then got ready to move.
"Oh, and Admiral if we don't make it out in time… it's been an honor." Yuvel said and thus he and Anakin got moving to try and locate Ahsoka and Laura while retrieving the Holocron and the memory crystal.
(Meanwhile with Ahsoka and Laura)
Ahsoka and Laura woke up when the two noticed that binders bound their arms. As Ahsoka tried to force them out but got a nasty surprise as the binders electrocuted her. "Ahsoka!?" Laura gasped when she saw what happened to Ahsoka curtesy of the binders.
Just then the two felt a presence and thus looked to see Cad Bane approaching with Apprentice by his side. "Oh, I wouldn't do that. Those binders have been specially designed for Jedi." Bane said mockingly as Apprentice then approached Ahsoka took hold of her Silka beaded made Padawan braid and pulled it off.
"See my host to be, the more you struggle the more it hurts." Apprentice taunted as she smirked down upon Ahsoka.
"Impressed now, youngling?" Bane asked as he smirked down upon Ahsoka. Ahsoka was not listening as she was angry at what the Dark Falz did with her braid. How she took it off before Ahsoka was able to be ascend to the rank of Jedi was a clear insult, but Ahsoka had to keep both the aged Duros and the Dark Falz from knowing that they got to her.
"Not really." Ahsoka muttered just before she and Laura then heard the echoes of the explosions resonating to their current location. "Enjoy this while you can, sleemo. This burning boat is about to finish us both off." Ahsoka taunted as she glared at Bane and Apprentice.
"Hmm we do have plenty of time to spare." Apprentice said as she put her finger under Ahsoka's chin. "After all I've heard from Luther that apparently the bond between a Jedi teacher and his apprentice is strong." Apprentice said as she then walked away from her next intended host.
Ahsoka, knowing she had to stall for time until her master found them. "Which means General Skywalker will be coming for Ahsoka any minute now." Laura said and thus she went wide eyed at the realization. "Wait… you haven't unlocked the Holocron yet that's why… shit!" Laura cursed realizing what this meant for the group.
"So, you figured out the plan ARKs girl." Bane taunted as he then reached for his gauntlet. "So, let's get the Jedi here a little bit faster." Bane said and in turn pressed the button which activated the binders on Ahsoka. Ahsoka in response to the shocks let out a painful cry as the binders electrocute her, in a higher setting than they were before.
"Ahsoka!" Laura cried out as she saw Ahsoka get electrocuted.
(Back with Anakin and Yuvel)
Yuvel felt fear as he watched Anakin walk menacingly towards three droids closest to the door where their target was waiting with the hostages Ahsoka and Laura. As Anakin activated his Lightsaber Yuvel drew his sword focusing the fear to attack the Droids as he let his sword grind against the ground creating sparks from the friction. "You said we'd be safe back here!" The droid on the left shouted to its comrade, sounding scared before running to the intercom.
"Come on, there's three of us and only two of them." The droid at the middle said, trying to rally the remaining droids into attacking the Jedi and lone ARKs Operative.
"It won't matter." The final Droid said as it hung its head in defeat knowing what was about to happen to them.
"Sir, a Jedi is coming. He looks very unhappy." The droid reported, emphasizing on the last two words, as Yuvel and Anakin then took out a droid each leaving the last one by the door. Yuvel acted and then sliced the final Droid in two ending it right then and there.
(Back with Bane and the Hostages)
"Seems your master has gotten the message." Apprentice said as she then activated a shield to keep Ahsoka behind it while holding Clarissa the White. Ahsoka and Laura roared as they charged at the shield only to cry out when they hit it and were pushed back by it.
"Well, that was my final trump." Laura moaned a bit as she realized they were trapped. 'Unless.' Laura thought to herself as she focused on Clarissa. Clarissa can purify corrupted Photons, which create a Dark Falz, but the draw back was that the corrupted Photons are in turn absorbed into the wielders body potentially corrupting them. It was a double-edged sword as the result could even lead to an entirely new Dark Falz in a worst-case scenario. Of Laura could focus on Clarissa she could weaken Apprentice enough to make the being easier to deal with.
But before Laura could even start the door opened and from it Yuvel and Anakin walked into the room. "You have nowhere left to run, Apprentice bounty hunter." Anakin said with a cold tone that promised both Bane and Apprentice unimaginable pain.
"Let me worry about that, Jedi." Bane said back. He turned to face the Jedi while the battle droids turned and aimed their arm blasters at both the Jedi and the ARKs Operative. Yuvel then growled as he was ready to move in only for Bane to reach for his wrist com with a finger hovering over a button. "If I activate this control, the outside airlock will open and these two will be sucked into oblivion." Bane said as Apprentice laughed sinisterly to the duo. "Do you think you can kill me and then save her before she's pulled out into space? It's a horrible way to die." Bane said as the two heroes realized they were rocks in a hard place right now. Yuvel was forced to stop as he realized wrong move would lead to both Ahsoka and Laura's deaths.
"But last I heard negotiation is the Jedi's way?" Apprentice taunted as she held Clarissa to her foes ready to use it if need be.
"Dammit." Yuvel cursed as he knew what Anakin was doing thus lowing his weapon Yuvel raised his hands in surrender.
Seeing this Anakin who did not want to see his Apprentice die a horrible death sighed in defeat. "What do you want?" Anakin asked as he deactivated his lightsaber.
"This holocron carries information I've been paid to collect." Bane explained pulling out the holocron that he stole from the temple archive. "I can't unlock it, but you can. The last Jedi who had it wouldn't open it. I hope you don't make the same mistake." Bane said as the Droids moved in and kept Yuvel at a distance to keep him from helping or pulling a fast one. Bane had no doubt learned from his last encounter with Yuvel to be ready for something crazy.
"Now Jedi, chop-chop we're short on time so open it up." Apprentice began as she then pointed Clarissa at their hostages. "Or we will have to say goodbye to this little Newman and my Force Using Host to be." Apprentice said as it was clear she and Bane held the cards.
"No master, don't do it!" Ahsoka cried out as she knew what Anakin was about to do.
"I can't let you die, Ahsoka." Anakin said as he looked down in defeat.
"Master no!" Ahsoka cried out before looking over to Yuvel. "Yuvel stop him!" Ahsoka called out as Laura was, in agreement on this.
"Yuvel!" Laura said and thus Yuvel looked away from his friend as he was about to surrender.
"I'm not going to risk either of your lives." Yuvel said as he held his sword in a reverse grip.
"We'll deal with the holocron later." Anakin promised her as he placed his lightsaber on the ground while Yuvel stabbed his sword into the ground as his own surrender. Once this was done Yuvel was moved off to the side while the Super Battle Droid took Anakin's Lightsaber.
"Oh, how sickeningly touching." Apprentice scoffed as she saw the scene play out before her.
(Back over with the heroes)
As Rex and his remaining troops ran to the hanger by, they could hear blaster fire as he knew that his men there need help. They arrived to, fine Troopers and ARK's Operatives fighting for their lives to get to their only means of escape. Taking out is blasters Rex joined with the troops and fired upon the battle droids.
"All units make for that shuttle!" Rex ordered as he joined the Troops in battle.
"Hoo-waa!" Reggie called out as he fired his blaster at the Droids and any Falspawn that tried to get in the way of their objective. The fight continued the ship once more shook suggesting another explosion going off on board.
"That's not a good sound!" Lon called out as he kept firing at the Droids.
Just then Rex's wrist communicator went off and thus Yularen was heard from the other end. "Captain, the main reactor is exposed. It will implode at any moment." Yularen warned them as Rex knew they were running out of time.
"Yes, sir." Rex began before dodging another shot from the Droids while returning fire. "We're trying to make our way to the shuttle now." Rex reported knowing full well they had to get off this sinking boat as soon as possible.
"Get out of there!" Yularen ordered knowing if they did not get off soon a lot of good men Clone, and ARKs would die.
"Sir, yes, sir!" Rex ordered and thus Reggie looked to the rest of their team.
"Zurna take some guy's Clones and ARKs, fine Anakin, Yuvel, and Ahsoka and get them here now!" Reggie called and then dodged some enemy fire. "This can won't last much longer so we need to get out of here yesterday." Reggie added and thus Zurna nodded to the CAST's order.
"Right, Kaz, Houki, and you two with me!" Zurna called out and thus the three ARK's Operatives and two Clones headed out to find their missing friends and Republic allies.
(Back with Anakin and Bane)
Anakin was on the ground focusing with the Force on the Holocron mentally kicking himself for leaving Amelia on the Resolute in her Holocron form. The being had proven herself an expert with machines and could have helped him free Ahsoka without worrying about the airlock and claim the Holocron. Now here he was opening it for this bastard as Yuvel was held at gun point by the Battle Droids with Ahsoka and Laura in the airlock.
Just then with an eerie hum the Holocron began to rise up before it opened up with a buzzing sound. Yuvel was amazed by this as the Holocron was opened revealing the core of the device while the pieces floated around it. Unknown to the others Laura was also meditating as she focused solely on Clarissa still in the firm grip of Apprentice.
"Now I will combine this holocron with the memory crystal I acquired from your dead Jedi friend." Bane said as he then approached the Holocron before pulling out the memory crystal. Once he did so Bane then allowed for the Crystal to float out of his grip and enter the Holocron. Once the Crystal was inside the Holocron Anakin used the Force to put the holocron back together while the cubic corner placed differently to make it almost look octagon in shape. "My employers will be most pleased." Bane informed the Jedi as he took hold of the holocron and looked at it clearly pleased with how his backup plan had worked to fruition.
Just then Clarissa began to glow much to everyone's surprise before Apprentice began to cry out in pain as dark particles came off her and entered Clarissa. From the head of the scepter the particles taken from Apprentice flew over to Laura much to the shock of many.
"My power… what are you doing you whore!" Apprentice yelled in agony as she felt her power being drained from her by Laura through Clarissa the White. Seeing his chance Anakin acted and then used the Force to pull both lightsabers from the container Bane put them in, towards his awaiting hands as he ignited both of them. Yuvel followed up by drawing his Gunblade and slashing through one Droid and shooting another one down.
Apprentice saw this and forced herself to let go of Clarissa which to her horror was still absorbing her essence. Acting fast Apprentice weaved through the fight and made her escape through one of the Falz Portals leaving Bane behind her job done.
Meanwhile the other two B2s fired on Anakin who deflected the blaster bolts away from him onto the ground and walls. Seeing this, Bane retreated with the holocron in hand, even as Anakin bisected a droid by the waist and while Yuvel grabbed his sword and proceeded to run the Droid through the processor. Seeing he was about to be overwhelmed, Bane pushed the button, resulting in the airlock opening as the oxygen began to be sent outwards into space. Ahsoka acted fast and grabbed the edge of the cage she was in while Laura a tad bit weakened did the same.
In response Yuvel took out his wire blades and sent one to the main door and lowered himself to the others. "Grab on!" Yuvel called out and one by one the group grabbed on to Yuvel. As Clarissa was being pulled out into space Laura acted fast and grabbed the Cosmogenic Arm knowing it was a valuable tool against the Dark Falz Collective. Next came Ahsoka as she tried to move and grab onto Yuvel while Anakin made a reach for the control console from where he was grabbing. While Bane made his escape Ahsoka was able to grab onto Yuvel as the ARKs Operative tried to hold on to the young Togruta. Ahsoka then cried out as Anakin managed to hit the button and in response Laura used Clarissa to grab Ahsoka who grabbed the weapon by the shaft and held on to the large round part.
The door finally closed and thus the group was freed from the pull and thus were safe to stand again. As Ahsoka got up Yuvel used his sword to cut her free as she smiled to the ARK's Operative. "Do how are you not a Captain yet?" Ahsoka smirked as she looked to Yuvel who then smirked and shrugged in response to the Padawan's question. As Ahsoka took her lightsaber back from Anakin the group knew they had to get off the ship and in turn started to make their escape.
(Meanwhile over with Bane)
After escaping with his prize, Bane made his way to the upper level of the hanger where the catwalk was as his holo-disc beeped. Answering, Bane saw the viceroy's hologram coming into view. "Bane, did the Jedi cooperate with you?" The Viceroy asked hoping for some good news.
"I have access to the holocron and all the information the memory crystal contains. I only have to get off this ship." Bane reported as he looked around, knowing that all the escape pods have been jettisoned due the ARKs Operatives and the Republic Troopers.
Nute Gunray had a glimmer of greed and opportunity in his eye when he heard this. "Maybe you should transmit it to me now. Then I can send another ship for you." Nute suggested knowing the big payout he'd get for bringing this information to Sidious.
Knowing that the viceroy was not going to do as he promised, Bane rejected his offer. "No thanks, Viceroy. I have a plan for my own escape." Bane said as he turned off the communicator before he then began sneaked around a bit. Soon he got to a spot that was overviewing the republic clone troopers and the remaining ARKs Operatives were waiting for their friends. As he begun to think of a way to sneak onboard, he saw Zurna, Zion, and Houki return but without the Troopers they came with no doubt having split up at some point prior.
"Hold it right there!" The voice of a Clone Trooper ordered opting Bane to turn to the source. It was there that Bane saw two Clone troopers before him, one of home had blue marks on his armor.
"You're not going anywhere, bounty hunter." The Clone trooper, Denal said, as he and his brother trained their blasters on the Duros even after the bounty hunter put his hands up. When he saw the Troopers though Bane had an idea on how to get on that escape ship.
(Meanwhile in the halls)
Ahsoka, Anakin, Yuvel, and Laura were seen running down the hall as they were in a rush on account of the ship close to destruction. As they ran Anakin could sense the feeling of danger growing as they heard more explosions erupting throughout the ship. "Rex, I hope you found us a ride off this bucket!" Anakin asked into his wrist comm knowing they had to get out now or suffer a blazing death.
"We've got to leave now. The reactor's gonna blow. We cannot wait!" Rex shouted through the explosions as he spoke through the coms.
"You'll have to. I'm going after that bounty hunter." Anakin said much to Yuvel and Laura's shock.
"Master, wait! Stop!" Ahsoka shouted, once seeing her master before pointing towards the hanger. "This is the way to the hangar! We must get off the ship now!" Ahsoka urged as she saw Anakin was becoming reckless right now.
"I can't let Bane get away." Anakin told her, he turned to leave but this time Yuvel and Laura had moved and held their weapons to block Anakin's advances. "Yuvel, Laura move." Anakin ordered but the ARK's Operatives held their ground.
"No, she's right, if we go any further, we're all dead." Yuvel said as he glared at Anakin. "And I will not risk my team or my friends if I can help it!" Yuvel snapped as he actually sounded like a leader to Anakin right now.
When it looked like Anakin was about to plow his way through Ahsoka finally put her foot down on this. "Patience, Master!" Ahsoka shouted, trying to get through to her master before taking a calming breath. "Patience." She repeated this time with a calmer voice.
Looking at the trio Anakin realized they were right. If they did not leave now, they were all surely to perish trying a failed attempt. "You are all right." Anakin conceded and thus they began to make their way to the ships hanger to escape.
(Later in the ship Hanger)
The four of them then ran to the hanger where Rex and the troopers were waiting for them as the fire fight was winding down for their escape. "Come on, come on!" Rex called out with urgency as everyone got into the ship. Yuvel and Laura Photon dashed over to the ship as it got ready for take off as Anakin and Ahsoka joined them.
But as the group of four made their way to the ship, Anakin and Ahsoka felt something through the Force. They looked to the source of it and saw Denal fighting Bane, before the clone shot the bounty hunter at point blank range. The Bounty Hunter then fell over the ramps dead from the gun shot as Denal seemed to be hurt from the fight.
The shuttle than rose up high enough for the wounded clone to climb over the railing of the catwalk and landed on the ramp, holding his arm across his stomach.
"Trooper, did you get the holocron?" Anakin asked helping the trooper onto the transport.
"No, sir." Denal answered, his voice low in pain from confronting the bounty hunter the way he did.
Ahsoka made her way to the ramp, over the flames, wanting to make up for how Bane had gotten the holocron to open because of her. "I'll get it, Master!" Ahsoka said as she wanted to make up for making Anakin open the Holocron to save her life.
"No time." Anakin told her knowing full well the had to let it be destroyed with the ship. It wasn't ideal but better than allowing the enemy to have it. "Rex, get us out of here." Anakin ordered and in turn the shuttle's ramp retracted as the Troopers and ARKs Operatives got into the shuttle while the back door close.
(Later on, the ship)
As they made their escape the Separatist cruiser exploded as Zurna saw it happen from the cockpit. Meanwhile with the rest of the crew Ahsoka felt bad over being unable to retrieve the Holocron. It was a pyric victory in that regard but a victory none the less.
"Well, it looks like the holocron was destroyed, but at least the Separatists didn't get it." Ahsoka commented sadly but also with a hint of resolve as well.
Anakin shook his head, sensing something wrong through the Force. "Bane's dead, but I can still feel him." Anakin said as Yuvel felt something off.
"For someone like Bane… how did he get himself shot like that?" Yuvel wondered as Laura heard him as they knew that seemed a bit too easy for the group. Something was up and Yuvel wanted to find out what it was before something big happened.
(Later on, the Resolute)
Later when they landed on the Resolute, the ramp to the shuttle opened and allowed for everyone to exit from the Sheeva B shuttle. In turn as the Clone filed out, they went to where they needed to go for either a report or medical attention to get healed. The ARKs Operatives did the same as the departed from the vessel as it had been a long day for them.
"Master, I'm sorry I let that mercenary get the upper hand." Ahsoka apologized as she felt it was her fault. Meanwhile the two were unaware as Denal walked away from them, presumably to reach the med bay.
"It wasn't your fault, Ahsoka. It was mine, start to finish." Anakin assured her before they saw Admiral Yularen walking towards them. When this happened, Anakin went to speak with Yularen as Yuvel and Laura walked over to her.
"How you hold up?" Yuvel asked as Ahsoka looked to Yuvel.
"I'm doing fine just kicking myself for charging in like that." Ahsoka said as Yuvel shrugged to that.
"Need help with that?" Yuvel joked and thus got a small giggle from Ahsoka as Laura rolled her eyes to this. "Look we may not have gotten the Holocron or Crystal but at least the enemy didn't get it either." Yuvel smiled as he looked to Ahsoka. "Just remember this for next time ok." Yuvel said with a smile and thus Ahsoka smiled back.
"Got it." Ahsoka said as Laura smiled to this. "Laura are you ok?" Ahsoka asked as she saw what Laura had done to Apprentice when using Clarissa.
"Yeah, I'll be fine, just need a nap." Laura said as she began to take her leave of the two.
(Meanwhile with Anakin and Yularen)
"So, did you manage to recover the holocron or capture the bounty hunter?" Yularen asked, looking inquisitively at the younger Jedi. His eyes narrowed to emphasis as such.
"Um, no and no." Anakin replied, feeling a bit sheepish by how he said all those things and could not do either.
"I see." Yularen said, thinking back to how he was with the Jedi. "So, the mission was your usual version of success, then?" Yularen asked with the same tone as before.
"If by success you mean, "I won," then yes." Anakin answered, 'translating' that to mean how he was able to destroy the ship and prevented the information from being found by the enemy. Huffing in annoyance, Yularen walked away to give his report to Republic command.
(Meanwhile with Laura)
As Laura was hiding behind a set of large Republic Military grade Container the Newman girl moaned a pain a bit as she grabbed her head before tumbling against a container. As she leaned against it, she looked to her hand which began to give off Dark Photons as her vision began to glow with her eyes widening in shock to what she was looking at.
"Oh no." Laura gasped as she knew the price of using Clarissa the White against a Dark Falz. Looking around making sure she was not seen Laura quickly regained herself. Once she was sure she was not seen Laura left her spot knowing she had to hide this until she can get it cured back on Halpha. But the question remained if Laura can even get to Halpha to remove the Dark Falz taint assuming it can. And if not then… Laura did not want to think about what the outcome of that scenario would end as.
(TBC)
ESKK: Well, here we are Chapter 21 of Phantasy Star Horizon. I hope you all enjoyed it and leave a review before leaving. Now then with that said and done I bid you all ja-ne.