A/N: I do not own Star Wars: Republic

Chapter 16: Rescue on Rattatak

STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS

Back from the dead!

Before achieving the rank of Jedi Knight, Padawan Anakin Skywalker fought the Separatist forces on Jabiim along with the Padawan Pack, a group of padawans who have lost their Jedi masters amidst the chaos of the Clone Wars.

Under the orders of Chancellor Palpatine, young Skywalker was forced to leave the planet and his friends. As the Separatist forces pushed through the Republic defences, the padawans perished one by one, only for young Aubrie Wyn to survive.

Captured by the Sith, the new Dark Jedi is tasked with eliminating young Leia due to her relations with Anakin Skywalker…


Coruscant. 19 BBY.

If there was one thing Leia could agree with Anakin, it was that there was nothing better than getting a small time out after another battle.

Both Jedi knight and padawan have just returned to Coruscant from Anaxes. Both of them welcomed the idea of a vacation. It was a good opportunity to visit Padmé. They were at the landing bay of the Jedi Temple, ready to leave for 500 Republica when they heard a Jedi calling for Anakin, saying that he was summoned to the Jedi High Council.

"I'll wait for you here, master." Leia simply told him, who nodded before leaving. Apparently, Leia stood in the landing bay alone, but she did not sense that someone was observing her with a pair of binoculars.

Not knowing what to do, the girl took out a device and pressed on the button. The device immediately displaced the hologram of Padmé, her mother.

Suddenly, some force made the device snap out of her hand and fly away. Turning around, Leia froze when she saw Aubrie Wyn standing before her, holding the device in her hand.

"Senator Padmé Naberrie of Naboo, I believe." Aubrie spoke before humming. "A beautiful woman indeed. Anakin always had a good taste."

"What do you want?!" Leia asked in an imperative tone.

Destroying the device, the teenage Dark Jedi darkly chuckled before smiling at her. "I came to Coruscant seeking Skywalker." she told her. "But he is not accessible at the moment. His padawan, however, I can reach – and we will start with pain. First, I will kill the thing he loves."

"Through my dead body you will!" Leia raged, jumping at the older girl, igniting her lightsaber. Aubrie, however, reacted quickly, dodging Leia's attack while using the Force to choke her. The girl gasped for air as Wyn held her in the air.

"Pitiful" was all the Dark Jedi muttered before knocking out Leia. The last thing she saw was the blurry image of Aubrie approaching her with triumph.

When she woke up, Leia suddenly found herself hanging. Her arms were chained to the ceiling. Everything was still blurry to her, but she realized that she was somewhere dark. Somewhere cold. Looking around, Leia saw chains and bar doors around. Apparently, she was in some prison.

It was then Leia also noticed some changes. First, she was wearing a black mask. Second, she was barefoot and wore only sandy-colored gown. Her lightsaber, boots and belt were gone.

"Rise and shine, princess." someone said in a mocking tone. Looking up, Leia saw Aubrie Wyn entering her cell, smirking at her.

"Why didn't you kill me?" Leia immediately asked her. Aubrie's smirk only widened.

"Patience." she simply answered before explaining. "It wouldn't do to kill your body before I've destroyed your spirit and brought Anakin before you."

"Master Skywalker will get to you!" Leia threatened her. "You're going to regret this!"

Aubrie, however, snorted with laughter.

"Sweetie," she spoke. "I know. It's the reason I captured you in the first place. He will come for you. In fact, I have sent him a message with our exact location. But when he arrives, I will first show him how I broke you. After that, I will kill you. Right in front of him. Then, I will deal with him."

"This is about him, isn't?" Leia asked her. "This is all about revenge? For leaving you on Jabiim?"

"Not only." Aubrie answered. "You see, this is all part of the Plan. The Plan. The only one that makes sense."

"What plan?" Leia demanded, but the other girl ignored her.

"Soon," she continued. "the Jedi and the Republic will no longer be the controlling interest in the galaxy."

"And who will take their place, you and Dooku?" Leia asked.

"No," Aubrie spoke when suddenly, her tone switched into one full of fear. "Darth Sidious."

Leia felt the chill of fear coming out of the girl and for some reason, the mention of this name made her shiver too. As if this Sidious was present. Right now.

"All of this!" she then gestured at the whole cell, though she meant something different. "The war! The violence! The blood and deaths of billions of innocent souls! The Clone Army! All of this is orchestrated as part of the Plan, to reshape the galaxy under his image. He pulls the strings deep within the shadows, but soon, very soon, he will reveal himself to the galaxy."

"And Anakin, he may not know this, but he plays a major role in this Plan."

"What does he have to do with this?"

"He is the key to everything." Aubrie told her. "The Jedi believe he is the key to bring balance to the Force, but his true destiny is to destroy the Jedi Order and plunge the galaxy into darkness. Eternal darkness. I have foreseen it."

Leia gasped and her eyes widened at the horror of realization of what Aubrie meant. The transformation of Anakin Skywalker into the monster she would know as Darth Vader.

"He has long been groomed for the role of Lord Sidious' new apprentice, and me destroying you, is part of this grooming." Aubrie continued, pointing her dagger at Leia.

"How would my death make him turn on the Order?" Leia asked, her confusion obvious.

"You still haven't got it, didn't you?" Aubrie responded with a question. "The Jedi Order has forbidden attachments for a reason, Lena. Anakin is quite a sensitive lad, and he holds dear for those who are close and dear to him. His previous padawan, Ahsoka Tano, was expelled thanks to the hypocrisy and betrayal of the Jedi Council. And she's not the first example. Have you ever heard the misadventures of Zayne Carrick?"

"No." Leia said, shaking her head.

"No wonder." Aubrie shrugged. "It is not a story the Jedi would tell you, out of shame. A story which symbolized the corruption within the Order. Even now, the Jedi Order treat you like a pawn in order to control Anakin. When you die, he will blame the Council for abandoning you."

"Abandoning me?"

"Oh yes," the Dark Jedi nodded. "From what I have gathered, the Council has forbidden Skywalker to go and rescue you. In fact, they abandoned the idea of rescuing you at all. Immediately."

"LIAR!" Leia shouted across the cell, she tried to break the chains, but it was no use. She then tried to use the Force. No use either. Aubrie laughed at her situation.

"Don't try." she said. "This mask on your head reduces your ability to use the Force, and so do these walls. As I was saying, Skywalker holds dear for those who are close and dear to him. That is why General Grievous always confronts Kenobi only. His fate shall be the same as yours. Now, our fun shall begin…"

It was at this moment, Leia saw that aside from them two, there were two droids hovering. Leia began breathing rapidly in panic as she recognized them as interrogation droids. The image of Darth Vader torturing her onboard the first Death Star appeared in her mind once again.

Leia screamed in agonizing pain throughout the prison as she was tortured.

Jedi Temple on Coruscant.

Obi-Wan Kenobi headed to the hanger. It was terrible. First, Lena Luce disappeared, only to receive a message from Aubrie Wyn. The Dark Jedi confirmed that she captured the girl and was holding her hostage. She demanded Anakin Skywalker to arrive to Ventress' citadel on Rattatak alone.

"You pull any tricks Skywalker, or bring in company, and the girl dies." she threatened via hologram. Of course, Anakin immediately decided to head out and rescue her, but the Jedi Council stopped him. Although they tried to make excuses, Kenobi knew very well why they were stopping him. They wanted Anakin to abandon his attachment to his new padawan. In fact, she was appointed with the sole purpose of getting rid of his attachment to Tano.

Still, Obi-Wan knew that Anakin would set out on a rescue mission with or without the approval of the Council. And he was correct, Obi-Wan found Anakin in the hangar of the Jedi Temple. The Jedi knight was preparing his Eta-2 class starfighter. R2-D2 was already onboard. Inspecting the engine for the last time, Skywalker was about to jump into the cockpit.

"You're still going." Kenobi said, folding his arms. It wasn't a question nor an accusation. Anakin sighed before turning around to face him.

"You are aware that this is a trap?" Obi-Wan then asked.

"I have to save her." Anakin told him. "I failed Ahsoka. I cannot fail Lena too!"

"Anakin, the Council is deeply concerned for your attachment to the g…"

"If I was in her place, would you have left me as the Council wished?" Anakin incredulously asked him. "Is that what happened to Qui-Gon?"

Obi-Wan winced at the mention of the late Jedi master. For years, Obi-Wan sometimes blamed himself for Jinn's death. Not to mention that he would never leave Anakin to suffer.

"You're right." Kenobi spoke before looking up. "You must go."

Anakin nodded and was about to get into the cockpit before the Jedi master stopped him.

"But first, there is something you must know about the fortress."

"What is it?" Skywalker asked.

"It once belonged to Assajj Ventress." Obi-Wan told him in a dark tone. "And I was held prisoner there…"

Rattatak.

Aubrie Wyn licked the blade of her dagger, tasting the blood of the poor girl before her. Leia was hanging, breathing rapidly. Her gown was completely soaked and spoiled from the blood.

"I'm impressed." she spoke, smiling. "I thought that a little girl like you would be easier to break." she showed the bloodied dagger. "I have cut you throughout the time we spent with each other. Where shall I cut you next? An eye? An ear? Might as well take your tongue too? Though, I would leave the tongue. You would be needing it to beg me for mercy not only here, but before your master."

She then placed the dagger at Leia's throat. "You're only alive now because of me, Lena." she told her. "Are you really willing to die for the false Jedi and the Republic?"

"I will not break." Leia only hissed in response. She could barely hold herself, but continued, nonetheless.

"Anyone can be broken." Aubrie argued. "So can Skywalker, and so can you. You've consigned yourself to a painful death, darling. I'll be back soon… to gut you."

Wiping the blood out of her dagger, Aubrie grabbed her cloak and went off, leaving the injured and exhausted Leia alone.


Leaving the elevator, Aubrie arrived to a large chamber. It was the trophy room of Assajj Ventress. Now, it, along with the rest of the citadel, belonged to Aubrie Wyn. Although she had little interest in the trophies, she did make a change by destroying the statue of Ventress' Jedi Master.

From what Aubrie learned from Dooku, Rattatak was a world of warriors and soldiers. For eons, the people living on this planet have battle one another for the right to rule. They knew nothing of the outside galaxy or the Republic or the Jedi Order, but still found new and inventive ways to kill one another. Axes and spears were replaced with blasters.

The main species living in Rattatak were the Rattataki and Vollick. Among the Rattataki warlords were the Ventress family, foster parents of Assajj, who back then was a little Dathomirian girl. They too struggled for power and assembled a massive army in the southern hemisphere of the planet.

Her foster parents were then killed in battle by a Vollick warlord named Osika Kirske. Assajj, meanwhile, was lucky to escape. She wouldn't have survived the horrors of war on Rattatak if not for the arrival of a Jedi. The Jedi, or warlock, as the locals called him, crash landed on their planet, immediately became a target.

This Jedi took the little Ventress under his wing, and together they became something this world had never known. They became heroes. They ended wars and united armies. But as their legend grew, so did the hatred of the other warlords of them. Kirske, fearful of the Jedi powers, convinced the other warlords and generals to join forces, at least long enough to kill Ventress and her mentor.

Only half of their plan was completed.

The Jedi master was killed, but Ventress, just like the last time, survived. After her mentor's death, Ventress left the planet, only to return. As a servant of Count Dooku. She assembled an army and waged war on all the warlords of Rattatak. She killed or captured all who would oppose her. After conquering the planet, Ventress had a citadel built for her. Now, it belonged to Aubrie Wyn now.

Instead of the unknown Jedi, Aubrie decided to have a statue of Sirrus, her Jedi master, built in that place. The slaves did their job well and quickly. Stopping, Aubrie looked up at the statue of Sirrus.

Just then, a Rattataki commander approached her. Just like the rest of his kind, he was Near-Human with chalk-white skin and bald head. A beard grew from his chin. He held his large blaster carbine in his arms. To Aubrie, he introduced himself as Aidus, a Rattataki commander and former servant of Ventress. Now, he served Wyn.

"My lady, a small shuttle is approaching the keep, requesting permission to land." he reported. "The message said that you summoned Him."

"It is him!" Aubrie exclaimed in joy. "Grant him permission and prepare the landing bay. Also, I want to bring the prisoner up here."

Nodding, the Rattataki warrior ran off while Aubrie prepared herself. Soon, she thought, she would complete her mission. And Lena Luce shall die.

Aubrie marched firmly towards the landing bay. An Eta-2 class starfighter stood there, already encircled by Rattataki soldiers, who aimed their blasters at the spacecraft. Aidus loaded his weapon, covering for Aubrie as she approached the ship. A small astromech droid sat, chirping in binary as he observed the sight before him. The cockpit opened, and Aidus aimed his blaster at it, only for both Aubrie and Aidus to discover that there was no one inside.

"How is this possible?!" Aidus exclaimed in shock. Aubrie, however, glared at the astromech droid. It was the droid who piloted the ship. If the shuttle was here, then where was Anakin?

"Commander!" a Rattataki sergeant burst into the landing bay. "The dungeons are open! The prisoners are escaping!"

"Skywalker…" Aubrie Wyn hissed as realization hit her.


It all began when Leia was in the same state as Aubrie left her. Injured, chained to the ceiling and in a mask. Just then, the door of her cell opened and a Rattataki warrior came in. However, before he could do something with her, someone stabbed him with their lightsaber from behind. As the warrior collapsed to the floor with a thud, Leia gasped as she saw Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker standing right before her, disguised as some space pilot.

"Master Skywalker?" she asked, not able to believe her own eyes.

"You're hurt!" Anakin gasped as he saw her condition. Using his lightsaber, he cut the chains holding her and caught her before she fell to the floor.

"Y-You came for me?" Leia asked him, whimpering. Anakin gave her a confused look.

"Of course I did, Princess." he told her. The sight before him broke his heart and angered Anakin at the same time. Leia was literally a mess. Barefoot, wearing only a gown, bloodied and tortured. He took off her mask which kept her from using the Force.

"Can you walk?" he asked her. Leia wasn't sure.

"I-I could try…"

Nodding, Anakin wrapped one of her arms around his neck, while he embraced her. Holding her, he helped the girl to come out of the cell.

"How did you get here?" Leia then asked.

"I disguised myself as a member of a cargo ship bent for Rattatak. Artoo, meanwhile, piloted my shuttle. He should distract Aubrie and the guards enough."

"I assume you've devised an escape plan?" she then asked him.

"Of course, Princess, I always have one." Anakin assured her. He approached the keypad on the wall and began pressing on some buttons.

"What are you doing?"

"Releasing the other prisoners." Anakin simply answered. Leia's eyes widened with impression. A massive jailbreak would cause confusion for Aubrie and her men.

In a few seconds, the doors to other cells opened and numerous prisoners came out.

"Hurry!" Leia yelled out to them, encouraging them to leave this prison as quickly as possible. "You're free!"

Suddenly, a couple of Rattataki warriors came in, aiming their blaster rifles at Anakin, but the young Jedi quickly used the Force to knock them against the walls of the corridor, neutralizing them. A few more have arrived.

"They don't have weapons!" one of them yelled at his comrades. "Kill them!"

Leaving Leia aside, Anakin ignited his lightsaber. Blocking off their blaster bolts, Anakin swiftly moved towards the Rattataki warriors, slaying them one by one. He then used the Force to disarm the others and slaughtered them too. Leia watched as her mentor fought through the enemy units.

Suddenly, she saw a Rattataki ready to fire at Anakin from behind. Quickly, she grabbed a blaster pistol from one of the defeated warriors and fired at the enemy. It was a direct headshot. Seeing what she just did, Anakin nodded before grabbing her.

"Come on! We must leave now!" he told her. She allowed Anakin to lead the way. They passed what seemed to be a crematorium chamber where dead bodies were burned.

"The prisoners will distract Aubrie enough for us to reach Artoo and fly off this planet." Anakin added.

Anakin Skywalker was right.

As soon as word reached to her, Aubrie and her men went to deal with the prisoners. Right now, she was slicing them in half like fruits, while the Rattataki warriors fired at them with their large blaster carbines. The unarmed prisoners tried to resist, but it was literally a massacre.

"Where are they?!" she asked a prisoner, raging. "Where are Anakin Skywalker and Lena Luce?!"


Meanwhile, in a dark corridor, two Rattataki warriors ran.

"What's the disturbance this time?" one of them asked in a frustrated tone.

"I don't know." his comrade answered, loading his rifle. "Something about escaped prisoners."

Suddenly, Anakin Skywalker jumped from the ceiling and attacked the warrior from behind, snapping his neck.

The first soldier, not noticing the commotion from behind, scoffed. "Feh, I was hoping for a real fight."

His neck was broken too as Anakin sneaked up to him from behind. Leia then jumped down from the ceiling, joining the Jedi knight.

"How did you know how to find me?" Leia asked as they continued their journey.

"Obi-Wan was held captive here." Anakin explained. "Before I left for Rattatak, he told me of the citadel in which you were held."

From the corridor, the two arrived to the trophy room. Anakin and Leia opened their mouths in awe as they observed the various artifacts, armour and weaponry held. Just then, Anakin froze, as he took a look at the statue of Master Sirrus. Instead of Ky Nerec.

"Well, I see Aubrie already made some changes here." he said, whistling. Leia looked at him with a baffled look, but Skywalker did not notice it. Leia looked at the statue. Apparently, the person was a Jedi, and Anakin knew him.

"Who is the statue off?" she asked with curiosity.

"Master Sirrus." Anakin answered, looking up at the statue. "Aubrie Wyn's mentor before he was killed on Jabiim."

He looked down and saw a chest before the statue. Opening it, Anakin found a lightsaber lying neatly. He already knew what it was; Sirrus' lightsaber. Speaking of lightsabers, Anakin then quickly found Leia's.

"Don't try to lose it, Princess." Anakin spoke to her in a serious tone. "This weapon is your life."

"I understand, master." Leia honestly answered after accepting the weapon.

Anakin then told her next. "Artoo is waiting for us near the citadel's peak."

"What about Aubrie?" Leia asked. To be honest, right now, she felt hatred and anger towards the teenage Dark Jedi and was determined to settle a score with her.

"Next time, Lena." he answered. "What matters now is rescuing you."

Nodding with reluctance, Leia followed Anakin as they arrived to the landing bay. Leia saw Anakin's personal Eta-2 class starfighter with R2-D2 guarded by two Rattataki soldiers.

"The Jedi is coming here, isn't he?" one of them spoke. Before his comrade could answer, both of them screamed as some force pushed them off the bay and they fell down to their doom from a large height. Both knight and padawan quickly dashed towards the spacecraft.

"Wait, for there's only one seat in the cockpit." Leia noticed.

"You'll sit with me." Anakin answered. "Don't worry, Princess, I took Padmé on numerous flights like this."

He then turned to the droid. "Artoo, start the engines."

R2 beeped something in binary while doing his task. The cockpit opened when Aubrie Wyn and a company of soldiers stormed into the bay.

"You're too late, Skywalker!" she gloated, her crimson lightsaber ignited. "Using your own shuttle and jailbreak to distract me? I'm impressed. I'm impressed. Though, I'm surprised you're fleeing. I would have thought you'd want revenge for what I did to your padawan."

"Well, as Master Kenobi once said; the first goal of any war is survival." Anakin cheekily answered as both he and Leia ignited their lightsabers while the Rattataki aimed their firearms at the Jedi.

"Back then on Jabiim I was a silly, naïve and untrained little girl." Aubrie spoke. "Now I am a master."

"You are nothing more but a pawn of the Dark Side, Aubrie." Anakin argued, pointing his lightsaber at her. Leia mentally scoffed. Says the one who would make the same claim twenty years later.

"And you are a thief and a defiler!" the teenage girl accused him. "Just like any other Jedi! Give that lightsaber back! You do not deserve to wield it!"

"Neither do you!" Anakin responded. "You have my pity, Aubrie. I am really sorry for what happened to you. I know what it's like to lose someone you were close with. You could have been a great Jedi. Master Sirrus would have been ashamed of you if he saw what you have become."

"DON'T YOU DARE MENTION HIS NAME!" Aubrie screamed in rage and instantly charged at him. Anakin quickly blocked her strike. The Rattataki were about to engage in the fight, but then Artoo raised the starfighter from the ground and controlling the spacecraft, fired its guns at the soldiers, killing them instantly.

A real lightsaber duel began. Anakin blocked Aubrie's first strikes and began to counterattack. To dodge his attack, Aubrie jumped up, spinning in mid-air.

"Why am I wasting time here with you?" she asked him in between the clashes of their lightsabers. "Maybe I should go and kill your padawan right now."

"No! Stay away from her!" Anakin demanded as he charged at her again. He was filled with rage as he attacked her. For a moment, Aubrie got distracted and screamed in pain when his lightsaber slid through her face, leaving a scar on her forehead. She instinctively touched her forehead, growling in pain. To add more, Anakin kicked her in the face with his boot, causing her to fall at a distance away from him. Standing up, she glared deadly at him.

"Your Jedi training is no match against the might of the Dark Side!" Wyn threatened, while trying to find her lightsaber.

"You underestimate my power!" Anakin responded.

Before she could react, he raised his left hand. Some thick electric cables appeared nearby, and they launched at Aubrie like snakes. In thirty seconds, Aubrie cried as the cables entwined her body until she was held like a cocoon. Leia watched in horror as Anakin clenched his fist and used the Force to electrocute the Dark Jedi. Aubrie screamed in pain as she was struck with electric bolts. Her body twitched in midair from the constant electric shocks. The whole landing bay was illuminated with blue light.

Anakin, meanwhile, drove her and the cables off the edge of the citadel. Aubrie, Leia and R2-D2 immediately realized in horror what Skywalker was going to do. Wyn found some strength to cry out to the Jedi knight as he continued to torture her by electrocuting.

"So, you will kill me now, Anakin? Just let me, your friend, fall to my death?" she asked, yelling. "That is not the way of the Jedi, is it? Isn't it too dark?"

"I already did this once to Ventress, Aubrie." Anakin spoke in a dark tone. "And for the safety of my padawan, I willl do it to you if necessary."

"Goodbye, Aubrie" he then said before dropping her. The wires snapped, unable to take Aubrie's weight, and she cried as she became further entangled, falling from the peak of the citadel. Leia froze in horror at the sight. Extinguishing his lightsaber, Anakin quickly grabbed her hand and pulled her into the cockpit of his starfighter before blasting off.

Legends Lore Notes

Why did Anakin never engage Grievous before?

For those who are deep in Star Wars Lore (Disney Canon or not), they may notice that throughout the Clone Wars, when it came to Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker dealing with General Grievous, out of the two it is only Kenobi who encounters and duels him.

Well, the first reason is because Anakin meets Grievous for the first time in Revenge of the Sith, when he, Kenobi and Palpatine were brought before him shortly after Skywalker slayed Dooku:

· General Grievous: Anakin Skywalker. I expected someone with your reputation to a bit… older.

· Anakin Skywalker: General Grievous… your shorter than I expected.

If The Clone Wars made a few scenes of Anakin dueling Grievous then it would have been a plot hole. However, according to Legends, there is another reason for this; to get rid of Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Darth Sidious, or Palpatine, the puppet-master of the war, believed that the death of Obi-Wan Kenobi at the hands of Grievous, Dooku's subordinate, would increase the chance of Anakin falling to the Dark Side. So Palpatine went on to orchestrate battles so that Kenobi engaged Grievous, while minimizing the engagements between Anakin and the cyborg general. In order not to risk the life of his future Sith apprentice.

In fact, it was Dooku that Palpatine wanted Anakin to engage in a duel with. It was beneficial for the Sith Lord as with Skywalker killing Dooku was the way he could replace Tyrannus with Vader. As we know, Palpatine kept a very close eye on Anakin's planned engagements and went out of the way to send the Chosen One to battles that the Sith had total control of.

Although using Grievous to kill Kenobi did not work, with the latter killing the former, Palpatine still succeeded in turning Skywalker to the Dark Side, shortly after he killed Dooku.

References to Assajj Ventress

This chapter is based on two comic book issues from Star Wars: Republic. Issues #60 and #71. Issue #60 follows the Jabiim arc. During the Battle of Jabiim, Obi-Wan Kenobi apparently dies, but in reality, he was captured by Ventress.

Held prisoner within the Dark Jedi's citadel on Rattatak, Kenobi was tortured by Ventress with the aim of breaking him. However, due to his strong will, Assajj did not succeed, and so decided to kill him. Not to mention she saw him as a threat as Dooku still considered the idea of taking Obi-Wan as his new apprentice, due to the latter being Qui-Gon's padawan.

However, Obi-Wan and an ARC trooper escaped their cell and orchestrated a jailbreak. On their way, they encounter Kirsta, whom Ventress kept as a political prisoner. The Vollick told Obi-Wan the story of Ventress, which made the Jedi Master sympathize with the Dathomirian. On the way, Kenobi found the statue of Assajj's mentor and his lightsaber. When they reach for a ship, Ventress and her Rattataki catch up with them, killing Kirsta, while Kenobi escaped with her master's lightsaber, much to her anger and pain.

Issue #71 has a lightsaber duel between Anakin Skywalker and Assajj Ventress. Following Kenobi and Quinlan Vos to Coruscant and not being able to get to them, Assajj turned her attention to Anakin, who has received a message from Padmé. Having discovered of his relationship with the young senator of Naboo, Assajj provoked Anakin into a duel by threatening to kill Padmé. In fact, the scar Anakin had throughout The Clone Wars and Revenge of the Sith was as a result of that duel.

As they fought, Ventress continued to threaten with Padmé's death, while also mocking the already angry Anakin. This was the last straw for Skywalker as he snapped, using the Force to entwine Assajj with electric cables and began torturing her before throwing her down to the lower levels on Coruscant. He then reported to both the Jedi Council and Chancellor Palpatine that he killed Ventress.

Of course, her death was false as she survived the fall.