Advance to the Castles
[Silence]
The G9 freighter was traveling to Tatooine via hyperspace, as Ahsoka was in the back area with the huttlet. After looking around for a while, she found a device that had a medical symbol on it. "Looks like this hasn't been used in a while." She pressed a button on it and a hologram of a medical droid appeared and mumbled for a bit, before she spoke to it. "Hey. Dr. Droid, can you hear me?"
"Yes." The hologram responded. "Uh, what seems to be the um problem?"
"Great." Tano replied as a scanner began to scan the coughing huttlet on the table. "I've got a sick huttlet. You got a remedy?"
"Mmm, oh oh yes. I see." The hologram replied before opening a section of the medical cabinet. "Mm, you must dispense one of these medical boosters into the infant's mouth." She grabbed one. "M, if you have any problems, please call an actual doctor to assist you." The hologram said before turning off.
Ahsoka took a pill out of the small tube. "I hope this works." She picked up the huttlet. "Ok...sweetums. Got some yum-yum for ya." She tried to feed it to the huttlet, but the baby was stubborn and kept his mouth shut when she tried to. "You'll take this and like it." She sternly told the huttlet before getting it in his mouth. He swallowed it and soon belched out some green breath, before smiling at the Padawan. "There you go, good boy." She said as she covered her nose to avoid smelling the green hued breath.
[Play Star Wars The Clone Wars (2008) OST Battle of Teth 1:47 - 2:06]
Meanwhile, on Teth, the battle raged on, as Captain Rex, Commander Cody and the clone forces continued to blast the droid army. Obi-Wan linked up with the troops in the courtyard and found Rex. "Captain, I understand that General Skywalker escaped."
"Yes, sir. On some beat up old spice freighter." Rex confirmed. "I'll be surprised if he even makes it to Tatooine in that junker."
"If anybody can fly a bucket of bolts through hyperspace, he can." Kenobi assured the captain, before speaking into his commlink. "Orion, what's the status of the enemy air forces?" But there was no response. "Orion?" Still no response, which was becoming concerning. "Padawan Dusk, respond."
[Play Lego Star Wars The Clone Wars OST Castle of Doom (Part 3 Calm) 0:00 - 0:54]
Elsewhere on Teth, Orion's Jedi Starfighter was a smoking wreck, as the Padawan tried to open his cockpit normally, to no avail. He then began forcefully pushing it open, barely being able to breath from the smoke filling up inside said cockpit. Once the cockpit finally opened up, he climbed out, coughing for a while before taking in a breath of fresh air. His astromech, Arnine soon followed, ejecting herself from the droid slot on the starfighter, before whistling at him. "Glad to see that you're still in good condition." He told her.
"Padawan Dusk, respond. That is an order." He heard his master's voice on the comm line.
Orion got on his commlink. "I read you, *cough* Master."
"That's good. For a moment, I thought you were taken out." Obi-Wan said.
"Well about that..." Dusk was about to reply, but then the tree that his starfighter had crashed into toppled on top of said starfighter and crushed it.
"I don't like the sound of that." Kenobi said. "What happened?"
"After escorting Master Skywalker away from the battle, I linked up with the clone forces to defend the Jedi Cruiser. But soon after, a group of enemy strays attempted to link up with their forces. I moved to intercept, but one of the Vulture Droids carried a bald lady, who used a lightsaber to heavily damage my ship." Orion explained.
"You ran into Ventress?!" Obi-Wan realized.
"Apparently so, Master." Dusk replied. "She didn't give chase though, and now I'm grounded."
"Do you know where you crashed?" Kenobi asked.
"Let's see." Orion looked up and then force jumped up to the top of one of the trees, before looking around until he could see the monastery in the distance, then looking to the sky to see where the rising moon was to get an idea of what direction he was facing in tandem with the monastery. "I'm about...30 klicks east of the palace."
"Start making your way over there. Just in case Ventress comes looking to finish you off, I don't want you to be at your starfighter if she gets there." Obi-Wan told him.
"Yes, Master. I'm on my way." Dusk replied before he turned to his astromech. "Let's go, Arnine. Stay close." The astromech did as instructed and followed her Jedi companion, though nervously beeping and whistling at first.
[Silence]
Meanwhile, with Anakin and Ahsoka, the huttlet's condition seemed to be improving. "The medicine, it's working!" Tano noticed, while checking the baby's temperature. "His fever broke. I think he's gonna live to stink another day."
"Great." Skywalker responded as he was doing maintenance on the ship they were flying through hyperspace in. "Keeping him alive wasn't as easy as you'd hoped, was it?"
"Master, if you've taught me one thing, it's that nothing is easy when you are around." Ahsoka replied. "You think Rex, Orion and Master Obi-Wan made it out okay?"
"If I know my old master, he has things well in hand." Anakin assured her while getting back to his tampering. "Now help me with this. I want the primary systems fully repaired by the time we reach Tatooine."
"You grew up on Tatooine, right?" The Padawan realized while handing him one of the tools he needed for his tinkering. "So, for you, this trip is like going home."
"Yeah...Home..." The Jedi Knight replied, not sounding too excited.
[Play Lego Star Wars The Clone Wars OST Castle of Doom (Part 1 Calm) 0:00 - 0:40]
Back on Teth, on the east of the battle, Ventress gave her report to her master. "The Republic had too many clone troopers, my lord. By the time we were able to find Jabba's son, Skywalker had already...killed him."
Gasps and an angry Jabba were heard on Dooku's end of the transmission, before he spoke up. "Most unfortunate. This is a very unexpected turn of events. I take it you at least, defeated the Jedi?"
"No, Master." She shamefully replied. "The Jedi escaped and are headed to Tatooine."
"I'm sure you did the best you could." Dooku said to her, before he had a slightly angered look in his eyes. "We will discuss your failure later."
"Yes...My Master." She responded and bowed before the transmission ended. After a few seconds of trembling, she ignited her red lightsaber and let out a rage fueled scream, before cutting through a tree that was close to her, letting it topple to the ground. She then activated her wrist commlink. "Prepare my ship. We're leaving."
"Yes, Mistress. However there is something you should probably know." A B1 responded through the comm line.
[Play Lego Star Wars The Clone Wars OST Castle of Doom (Part 2 Calm) 0:00 - 1:10]
"What is it?" She questioned, sounding very annoyed.
"There's a single life form and a droid coming up on our short ranged scanners." The B1 told her. "The droid isn't one of ours, and the life form is too small to be one of the large creatures roaming around here."
Ventress had an idea of who that could be. "That Jedi from earlier. Where are the ground forces stationed in the jungle?"
"They're spread out, searching for pockets of clones that survived crashing from their gunships in the forest." The B1 replied.
"Jam the communications of the Jedi, his droid and any other Republic forces in the forest, and keep him distracted." She ordered. "I'll deal with him before leaving this rock."
"Roger Roger." The B1 compiled before ending the transmission. Ventress deactivated her lightsaber, forced jumped to the treetops and stealthily leaping from tree to tree, preparing to intercept her prey.
Speaking of, Orion and Arnine continued their approach to the monastery, when the Padawan heard his comm device go off. "Padawan, what's your position?" Obi-Wan's voice came through.
"A little over 20 klicks away now." Dusk reported. "There's smoke coming from the tree lines, but I can't tell what it is from my position."
"That's likely some of the gunships from the second wave that were shot down." Kenobi guessed.
"Should I search for survivors while I'm down here?" Orion asked.
"If the crashed gunship is on the path to the palace, you can briefly check for survivors." Obi-Wan gave him permission. "Just remember, your priority is to link up with me here."
"Understood, Master." The Padawan said before he began to hear static on his commlink.
"Ori...Ori...are...u ther..." The Jedi Master's voice was garbled.
"Master?" The transmission was cut off. "Master!" He couldn't get a signal. "Arnine, see if you can contact Master Kenobi." The astromech extended out a comm dish from one of her head panels, but only static came out. "Nothing?" Dusk did not like this. " I've got a bad feeling about this. Let's pick up the pace. I don't want us to be alone out here anymore than we have to be." Arnine retracted her comm dish and stayed close to the Padawan, both making their way towards the monastery with peps in their steps.
[Silence]
Elsewhere, in the space above Tatooine, the G9 freighter that Anakin and Ahsoka were using had just exited hyperspace. "I was hoping I'd never have to lay eyes on this dust ball again." Skywalker bitterly muttered out loud.
"O...kay. What happened?" Tano wondered.
"I don't want to talk about it." Anakin replied. "How's Stinky holding up?"
Ahsoka looked back to check on the huttlet, noticing he was peacefully napping. "He seems to be feeling much better. His fever is gone. His fever is gone. Even you have to admit he's cute when he's asleep."
"I admit I like it better when he's quiet." Skywalker gave her that. "But only a little." Then Artoo beeped and whistled to him, asking him something. "No, Artoo. I want the cannon operational first. Leave the rear deflector shields for later." The astromech complied.
"No rear shields, Master? That's awful risky." Tano pointed out.
"A strong attack eliminates the need for defense, Snips." The Jedi Knight rebutted. Then an alert came up on one of the scanners of the ship.
[Play Star Wars The Clone Wars (2008) OST Rough Landing 0:00 - 3:03]
The Padawan looked at the scanner, and after a quick hit on the screen to get rid of the static, she could see what it was alerting them to. "Attack ships closing."
Two Rogue Class starfighters approached the G9 from behind and opened fire with their guns. Quickly making their intentions known to the Jedi inside the ship. "Somebody doesn't want Stinky to get home in one piece." Anakin noted.
One of the blaster bolts struck the G9 in the back, doing some damage to the freighter. "Wow! Quite a welcome home party!" Ahsoka commented.
Artoo beeped a few times to that comment before Skywalker spoke up. "Set the approach vector and make ready to land." He then took evasive maneuvers. However the starfighters were still on their tail. "Ahsoka, activate the guns!"
Tano did as instructed, but ran into a slight roadblock. "All the guns are locked in the forward position." She told him. "It's too bad you decided not to repair the REAR deflector shields."
"Not now, Ahsoka!" Anakin was not taking her snippy remarks at this time, as he was focused on keeping the G9 from getting blown up by the Rogue Class starfighters. "Artoo, see if you can unlock those guns!"
As the astromech got to work on that, Tano spoke up again. "Sometimes, a good defense IS the best offense."
"Why don't you go secure your little huttlet friend?" Skywalker told her.
"None of us are secure with you flying!" She said before getting out of her seat to go get the huttlet.
Artoo managed to unlock the top gun of the ship, and Anakin got ready to do some extreme flying maneuvers. "Hang on, back there." He told them before pulling up, which almost knocked Ahsoka off balance, then spinning the ship to avoid the incoming fire, before diving down and losing one of the two ships attacking them.
This maneuver however, knocked Artoo out of the socket he was plugged into, which interrupted his attempt to unlock the rest of the ship's guns, while the flying also knocked Tano off balance and flung the huttlet into her chest, which abruptly woke it up, causing it to very loudly cry. "Great! You woke the baby!" She said to him.
"I'm a little busy here!" Skywalker replied to her before getting the ship that had lost them in front of him. The Jedi Knight took his chance and opened fire with the top gun, shooting the Rogue Class starfighter until it blew up. "Got one of them!"
"What about the other one?" Ahsoka questioned.
"One thing at a time!" Anakin replied, as he continued to evade the starfighter behind him. However, as good as he was, he couldn't evade every shot, as one bolt managed to hit the lower wing of the freighter, blasting it off of the ship. "I think we needed those rear shields after all." The Jedi Knight commented, as he kept evading the laser fire as best as he could.
"I told you SOOO!" Tano said before she and Artoo were once again moved out of place from some more extreme flying.
"Artoo, turn those guns around!" Skywalker said to his astromech, as he couldn't keep this up forever. "Artoo!"
"Why...can't you be a tiny...little...mouse droid?" Ahsoka complained as she used her body to push Artoo back towards the socket that he was disconnected from. Anakin soon pulled off another maneuver that ended up pushing the astromech back to the socket he needed to be plugged into, and he got back to work on unlocking the guns.
In just a few seconds, Artoo unlocked the wing mounted gun and turned it around, proceeding to shoot at the Rogue Class starfighter chasing after them. "Get him, Artoo!" Skywalker said as he was making his way into Tatooine's orbit. After a few more shots from the G9 gun, the last enemy starfighter was blown to bits. "Good shot, buddy! You've been holding out on me." Artoo was very pleased with that compliment, excitedly whistling and beeping from the praise, that was, until the ship began entering Tatooine's atmosphere. "Ahsoka, strap in."
"You've got that, 'we're in trouble' look." Tano told him, while holding on to the huttlet.
"There's a look?" Skywalker questioned.
"You can't miss it." She replied.
"Very funny, Snips." The Jedi Knight said before deciding to contact his master. "Obi-Wan, do you copy?"
"Kenobi here." The Jedi Master replied on the comm line, while still fighting off some droids on Teth. "Anakin, have you reached Tatooine yet?"
"Almost, but we ran into some old..." Skywalker couldn't finish that reply.
"Anakin, did you get shot down again?" Obi-Wan could hear the ship in its damaged state on his end.
"Yes!" Ahsoka confirmed.
"The ship is too slow. I haven't had time to modify it yet." Anakin tried to defend his case.
"I'm still cleaning up your other mess, and I also have to find my new Padawan, but I'll get there." Kenobi ended the transmission.
"So much for reinforcements." Skywalker commented before the G9 entered the atmosphere and began to burn up on entry. "Hang on. This landing could get a little rough."
"Crashes are rough. Landings are not." Tano pointed out, while making sure to hold onto the huttlet firmly.
"Then it's a crash landing." The Jedi Knight said as he focused on finding a spot to safely crash land this burning and smoking ship, settling for just landing on the sand of the dune sea, and then making sure that they don't get killed while landing, as he pulled up as much as he could and barely managed to get the G9 to slide on the sandy grounds, almost killing some Jawas that were close by on accident.
[Silence]
Once the ship stopped, Anakin spoke up. "This is the one time that I am glad that there was sand everywhere."
"You don't like sand?" Ahsoka asked.
"Not the biggest fan of it." Skywalker replied.
[Play Star Wars The Clone Wars (2008) OST Scaling the Cliff 0:00 - 0:45]
Back on Teth, Kenobi had made contact with Master Yoda and Chancellor Palpatine. "Anakin has reached Tatooine with the huttlet, Master. But he is still in grave danger. Separatist troops are desperate to intercept him." He reported while deflecting blaster fire coming towards him. "I think this whole plot was engineered by Dooku to convince Jabba we kidnapped his son."
"If believe this, the Hutts do, ended will our chances of a treaty with them be." Yoda surmised. "Join Dooku and the separatists, Jabba will, yes."
"That would be a disaster." Palpatine spoke up. "We must have this alliance with the Hutts if we are to win the war in the Outer Rim."
"In Skywalker, is the Republic's only hope." Yoda said. "Return Jabba's son, he must."
"Anakin's experience with the Hutts should help. He'll come through." Obi-Wan had faith in his former Padawan. Once the transmission ended, a super battle droid with a rocket arm fired a rocket towards the Jedi Master, only for him to jump over the rocket, and in front of the B2, before slicing it in half.
[Play Star Wars The Clone Wars (2008) OST Escape from the Monastery 1:56 - 3:10]
Commander Cody then came into his view and shot down a few B1 droids that were coming towards the Jedi General, before linking up with him. "General, I haven't been able to reestablish contact with Commander Dusk. I can't make contact with anyone in the forests."
"They must be jamming communications down there." Kenobi realized. "We need to finish this battle as quickly as we can, then search the forest for the survivors."
Back on the forest floor of Teth, Orion and Arnine were still making their way towards the monastery, however Dusk was on high alert, keeping an eye out for anything that could potentially sneak up on him. Three B1 droids soon came into his view, but they hadn't spotted him. He took cover in the tree line and pulled out his lightsaber, but didn't activate it just yet. "Get their attention, Arnine. If they're as dumb as the reports say, then I'll take them out while they're distracted."
The astromech did what she was told and zoomed towards the three B1 droids, beeping very loudly and worriedly. The three B1 droids were caught off guard before looking at Arnine. "What the?" One said. "What's an astro droid doing here?"
"I don't know." The second one replied.
"Why is it so spooked?" The third one asked.
"Maybe it got lost and bounced into one of those big creatures out here." The second one guessed.
"Wait, but do we even have astro droids in our unit?" The first one wondered.
"Maybe, but I don't remember." The second one responded. Orion then activated his lightsaber and dashed out from a nearby tree. And cut the first droid in half vertically. "What the?!" The second droid then got its head cut off.
"Every droid for himself!" The third one screamed before attempting to run away, only to get cut in half horizontally.
Dusk then looked over at his astromech and spoke up. "Wow. The reports weren't exaggerating. The B1s really are stupid."
Meanwhile, in a treetop, a few meters away, Ventress watched as the Padawan had dismantled the B1 battle droids, looking unimpressed with the display of both parties. However, she was not going to let this opportunity slip, and pounced at her target, activating her red lightsaber, going for the kill.
[Play Lego Star Wars The Clone Wars OST Lair of Grievous (Gor Action) 0:00 - 0:45]
Orion barely managed to react in time and blocked the incoming attack from above with his lightsaber, before she used the momentum of her attack to push her body over and behind him in an attempt to attack his back. The Padawan quickly turned around and blocked her next move, before yelling out to his droid. "Get out of here, Arnine!"
As the astromech very quickly made her escape, Dooku's assassin pressed her attack, swiftly swinging her saber at her opponent, and pushing him back. Dusk used the force to jump back and try to gain some distance, but Ventress did the same thing and continued to attack him with a furious onslaught.
The Padawan was forced on the defensive, and could just barely keep up with his attacker's barrage of strikes. Her speed was ridiculous, as she almost looked like nothing but a blur with a red streak following her. He was lucky that he only had to deal with one saber. If she had another one on her, he would have already been defeated by now.
Ventress kept attacking the boy with the one blade she currently had. Seeing his struggle and opting to create an opening, she swung her saber downwards towards his shoulder, making the Padawan block the attack overhead, giving her the opening she wanted.
The assassin used her free hand and palm striked Orion in the chest, before force pushing him away, launching him towards the base of a tree. He hit his back hard, and the impact briefly paralyzed his body, making his head slump down and his body go limp, dropping his lightsaber in the process. She walked over to him and spoke up. "Now you will die, Jedi." She raised her blade and with the full intent to kill, she swung down to his neck, aiming to cut off his head.
[Silence]
Dusk quickly raised his right arm and moved it to where her blade was about to strike him. When the lightsaber made contact with his arm, something happened that had caught Ventress completely off guard. Her blade didn't cut through.
[Play Star Wars Attack of the Clones OST Gunships Arrive (Film Mix) 0:00 - 0:10]
In that brief moment, Orion used the force to push her away from him. He then quickly stood up and used the force to grab his lightsaber, while the burnt fabric on his right forearm fell off to reveal the red colored, lightsaber resistant metal that his right prosthetic arm had been made out of. He then ran into the tree line, in an attempt to flee from her, knowing he was outmatched. However, the assassin gave chase.
[Play Star Wars The Clone Wars (2008) OST Dunes of Tatooine 0:42 - 1:32]
Back on Tatooine, Anakin, Artoo and Ahsoka exited through the cargo bay doors of their crashed G9 freighter. The Togruta looked to the desert horizon, with the huttlet in her arms. "Welcome home, Stinky."
"Jabba's palace is on the far side of the Dune Sea." Skywalker stated as he had a backpack ready to carry the baby on. "We'd better hurry if we're going to make it by morning."
Tano placed the huttlet in the backpack, to the protest of the baby, and when Anakin jumped off the ship and onto the desert sand, the baby let out a cry for her. "I'm coming." She assured him before jumping down as well. She heard Artoo nervously beeping, and she spoke to him next. "Oh, Artooie, it's just endless tracks of gritty, abrasive sand. I'll clean your servos later. Come on." After a moment of brief hesitation, the astromech followed the pair down and used the jets in his legs to descend to the sands and then trail behind the two Jedi, leaving the G9 to the mercy of the nearby Jawas.
[Play Star Wars Attack of the Clones OST Gunships Arrive (Film Mix) 0:11 - 1:19]
Back in the forests of Teth, a squad of clone troopers who had survived their gunship crashing down was currently fighting off a small platoon of B1 battle droids, and were holding their own. "These tinnies just don't know when to quit!" One of them said as he kept shooting at the droids.
"Three more coming in on the left!" Another trooper called out.
A third trooper then adjusted their aim and focused fire on their left flank, targeting the droids that were attempting to go around them and blasting them down with his rifle. "Walk around that, you lousy clankers!"
"Keep the pressure on them, men!" A clone trooper, who appeared to be the sergeant of this squad ordered, before speaking directly to two specific troopers. "Longshot, Gearshift, keep the pressure on the right!"
"Yes, sir!" The two troopers replied in unison, as they focused their attention on covering their right flank. The trooper known as Trapper pulled out something from a nearby backpack before throwing it out towards the droids. "Thermal out!"
The thermal detonator that Gearshift threw landed in the middle of a squad of droids and decimated them when it exploded, as well as stunning a few other droids that were nearby, drastically reducing the amount of fire that the clones were receiving from them. "Give 'em all you got, men!" The clone sergeant commanded his troops, as he and the other six clones that were there unloaded their blasters against the droid forces, taking out one after another, after another, making certain that the droids were nothing short of destroyed beyond repair. Some B1s attempted to flee when their numbers were quickly dwindling, but unlike them, the clone troopers could hit a fast moving target, and made sure that none of them escaped from their blaster sights.
Once there were no droids left standing, the clone squad finally ceased fire, and left their cover, being the toppled trees from their gunship crash. "Area secure." One of the troopers spoke up.
[Play Star Wars Revenge of the Sith OST Riding the Lizard 1:14 - 1:26]
The sound of an astromech beeping wildly was then heard, causing the clones to aim their weapons towards the noise. Once the gray and orange astromech came into view, it stopped when it noticed the blasters aimed at it, and seemed to know not to move, unless it wanted to get shot. "An astro droid?" One of the clones was a bit confused.
"Hey, droid. Identify." The sergeant clone spoke up. The astromech displayed an I.D. through its holo projector, showing that it was an R9 unit aligned with the Republic. "Republic, eh?" He gestured for his men to stand down.
[Silence]
"Why's one of ours out here?" One of the clones wondered.
"Eh, who cares." Longshot spoke up. "Hey, dome head, can you make contact with the general? Our comms aren't working." Arnine did not appreciate being called that and angrily beeped at him, while having a pincer arm wave around from one of her slots. "Don't give me attitude, droid!"
"Hey! Longshot, Calm down!" Gearshift intervened, before talking to Arnine. "You looked like you were in a panic before. What got you so startled?"
[Play Star Wars The Clone Wars (2008) OST It's an Ambush 0:00 - 0:20]
Arnine retracted her pincer, whistled for a moment, and then played a recent event in her memory on her holoprojector. It showed Orion barely managing to block a surprise attack from Asajj Ventress, before she went on the offensive. "Get out of here, Arnine!" the recording of Dusk had said, before the recording ended.
The clone sergeant already knew what he was going to do next. "You all saw that. The Commander needs our help, boys." He looked at Arnine. "Can you take us to him?" The astromech whistled before quickly leaving the area in the direction she came from. "Alright men, let's move!"
"Sir yes sir!" The other clones said as they along with the sergeant followed Arnine through the forest, loading their blasters and preparing to provide support for their recently added Commander.
[Play Star Wars The Clone Wars (2008) OST Dunes of Tatooine 0:42 - 1:32]
Back in the Dune Sea of Tatooine, Anakin, Ahsoka and Artoo continued their long trek through the desert, however Tano could tell something was off with her master and she spoke up. "Master Yoda has a saying, 'Old sins cast long shadows.' Do you know what he means by that?"
"He means your past can ruin your future, if you allow it." The Jedi Knight explained. "But you forget, it was Master Skywalker who said. 'I don't want to talk about my past.' " He quoted himself.
Ahsoka realized that there was no getting through to him about that topic. "Okay, fine." She conceded. "There's so much more we can talk about here. Like...the sand."
"The desert is merciless. It takes everything from you." Anakin told her.
"That's a happy thought." Tano replied. "It won't take us, Master. Right, Artooie?" Artoo whistled to that, and the group continued their long and arduous trek through the Dune Sea.
[Play Star Wars The Clone Wars (2008) OST Infiltrating Ziro's Lair 0:23 - 2:21]
Outside of Jabba's palace, Count Dooku had a holo device in his hand and had made contact with another Hutt, who was speaking to him. "Your plot is coming apart, Count Dooku. A senator from the Republic was here. What if she found out I helped you kidnap Jabba's son?"
"Don't worry." The count assured the Hutt. "I have convinced Jabba that the Jedi have murdered his son and are on their way to kill him."
"Jabba will slay the Jedi on sight." The Hutt realized.
"And the mighty Jedi Order will be forced to bring Jabba to justice, and you, my friend, will be left to take control of all the Hutt clans." Dooku said.
"Then the plot against my nephew Jabba, has succeeded." Jabba's uncle replied. "But what about this meddling senator?"
"If she continues her investigation, have her meet with an accident with extreme prejudice." The count told him. "I will have someone in the Senate cover it up."
Before he could end the transmission, the sound of a Naboo blaster was heard, before a female in white that he recognized was dragged into the transmission by an IG unit. The female spoke up. "Count Dooku. So, the poisonous traitor rears his ugly head once again."
"I'm equally delighted to remake your acquaintance, Senator...Amidala isn't it?" He replied.
"I was just leaving." She said but was stopped by the IG unit that dragged her over there.
"I'm sorry, that cannot be permitted now." Dooku said before speaking to his associate. "Ziro, this particular senator is extremely valuable to my Separatist allies. They will pay a handsome price for her."
"I like the sound of that." The Hutt replied. "Take her to the dungeon!"
"You will regret this, Ziro!" Amidala told him as she was getting dragged away by the IG unit again.
"No, I think I will become rich with this!" Ziro replied before letting out a maniacal laugh. "Thank you, Count Dooku. This has been a most profitable alliance."
"I will contact you when the huttlet has been disposed of, your high exalted master of the Hutts." Dooku then ended the transmission.
[Silence]
A B1 battle droid commander then approached him and his magnaguards. "Count Dooku, we have picked up three life forms crossing the desert. One is a very young huttlet."
"Ahh...Skywalker." The count was pleased to hear that news.
[Play Lego Star Wars The Clone Wars OST Ambush (Part 2 Action) 0:00 - 1:47]
Back inside the jungle of the planet Teth, Orion continued leaping from tree to tree, in a vain attempt to escape from Asajj Ventress, who was gaining on him. The Sith assassin was not going to let him go after her recent failures. The Padawan took another leap into the air, but then felt himself get pushed off balance in the air. Asajj force pushed him in the back and Dusk couldn't fully recover from the sudden shift in his balance in time, falling back down through the branches of the tree he had tried to leap over, then hitting the ground hard.
Orion pushed himself to his feet, and barely managed to get his guard back up when Ventress leapt towards him, swinging her red blade towards his head. The Padawan blocked her blade with his, but he was pushed back to the stump of the tree he had hit. With his back against it, and the Sith assassin quickly closing the distance again, he was forced to defend himself from her vicious onslaught of attacks. He could barely manage to deduce that she was using an aggressive version of form 2 lightsaber combat, and while that was useful to know, he couldn't counter her form with anything, and was stuck just trying to block as much as he could, even resorting to using his metal arm to block her attacks when she was swinging so fast that his own blade couldn't keep up. Even with this extra perk of his, he could only do this for so long.
Elsewhere in the forest, Arnine and the squad of clones she found were speedily making their way towards where the astromech last saw her partner. Once they reached there, the first thing they noticed was the trail of lightsaber cuts that led into the jungle. "Eyes up, men! We're following the trail! When you see the commander's attacker, light her up!" The clone sergeant ordered.
"Yes sir!" The clones replied, before they all quickly made their way into the forest, following the trail of lightsaber cuts towards their intended target.
Asajj's lightsaber swings kept coming at an alarmingly increasing pace, as the frustration of how long this fight was taking was making her more angry, and more powerful because of her usage of the dark side. Orion however, even though he was tapping into the force to focus in an attempt to keep pace with her, was once again overwhelmed and disarmed by his attacker, knocking his blue blade out of his hands and catching it with her free hand, before kicking him in the face and dazing him. She immediately went for his neck with a scissor slash using both blades, and Dusk had no chance of avoiding it.
As the blades reached the tree and were about to reach his neck, blue blaster bolts blitzed in between the pair's bodies, prompting the assassin to jump away from her Jedi adversary and figure out what just happened. A squad of seven clone troopers that were led here by Arnine had arrived and began to shoot at her repeatedly. This attempt was met with her deflecting most of the shots away from herself and some of them back towards the clones, successfully redirecting one shot back into the head of one of the clones, before the squad took cover in the tree line.
Using this opportunity, she jumped up into the tree line when the clones took their eyes off of her for the briefest of moments to look towards the downed and exhausted Padawan. From there she quickly yet quietly moved from treetop to treetop until she was above one clone who wasn't looking up. She used the force to pull him up to her before impaling him with her red lightsaber and throwing the body towards another clone, knocking him down. The remaining clones shot their blasters in the direction that she had thrown the body from, while she herself moved to another treetop. Two clones were below her now, so she dropped from where she hid and stabbed both clones through their backs with both lightsabers in her hands, before using the force to push the remaining three clones down to the ground.
She was about to finish them off when the clone she knocked over from before began shooting at her again, after just getting his dead brother off of him. She deflected the blaster bolts he shot away from her and then back towards his blaster, knocking it out of his hands, before dashing towards the unarmed trooper and cutting through him with her lightsaber.
Dusk finally snapped out of his daze and noticed the four dead clones, before looking to see the three remaining clones get up and continue to shoot at Ventress, who was deflecting their shots away from her and soon back towards the closest of the three, who was hit in the chest by the redirected bolt and fell back dead. "Sarge!" One of the two remaining clones called out.
Asajj then made her way towards the remaining two clones, blocking their shots as she advanced. Orion mustered up his strength and pushed himself to his feet before tapping into the force to make himself run at an incredible pace. He managed to grab Ventress's arm that held his lightsaber with his left arm, and when she swung her blade towards his head to end him, he used his prosthetic right arm to grab her red blade, before squeezing his metal fist tightly, causing the red blade to short out and turn off. He then kicked her away while taking his own blade back from her.
The assassin backflipped and landed a few yards away from the three, and tried to reactivate her saber, only to discover that the blade wouldn't reignite. Quickly realizing that she was not going to be able to win this fight without some serious effort, she dashed away, choosing to fall back and let the Jedi live, even if this does damage her ego.
[Silence]
"She's retreating, Longshot." One clone said.
"I can see that, Gearshift." The other replied, before turning towards the Padawan. "Are you injured, Commander?"
Dusk took a moment to breathe before answering. "No...just exhausted...Thanks for the rescue."
"Well we're not out of the woods yet, sir" Gearshift told him. "We need to link up with General Kenobi as soon as possible."
"I haven't been able to make contact with him for a while. Can either of you?" Orion asked.
Gearshift got on his wrist comm and tried to contact the general, but was met with static. "No good. Something's jamming us."
"We should probably get on the move then." Longshot recommended. "Maybe if we're lucky we can run into a few more pockets of clones on the way to the general's position." Arnine whistled in agreement to that.
"Agreed." Dusk said before looking in the direction of a pillar of smoke and walking in that direction. "Alright, Gearshift, Longshot, let's move out."
"Yes sir!" The two clones replied before following their commander.
[Play Star Wars The Clone Wars (2008) OST Dunes of Tatooine 0:43: - 1:16]
Back on Tatooine, Anakin and Ahsoka both felt something through the force, warning them of an impending danger. "We're not alone." Tano realized.
"I sense it too." Skywalker said. "It's the dark side of the force." He heard the huttlet cover himself up in his backpack, sounding scared as it whimpered while doing so. "Whatever it is, it's coming for the hutt. Time to split up."
"We'll face it together, Master." Ahsoka argued against the idea of leaving him.
"Not this time, Snips." Anakin put a hand on her shoulder. "I have a far more important mission for you."
"More important than keeping you alive?" She replied.
"Ahsoka, I need you to trust me on this one." The Jedi Knight told his Padawan, before explaining to her what her mission was going to be.
[Play Star Wars The Phantom Menace OST Battleship Destroyed 0:00 - 1:33]
Back on Teth, another grounded squad of clones was dealing with droid forces that had intercepted them, however they had little to no cover and half of the squad was already dead because of it. "Metal monsters!" One clone said whilst shooting down a few B1 battle droids, only to get shot dead by a super battle droid seconds later.
"We can't break through, Sarge!" Another clone spoke up.
"We don't have anywhere to retreat to, Trapper!" The Sergeant told him. "We either break through or die trying!"
Close by, Orion, Longshot and Gearshift heard the blaster fire from where they were and quickly rushed over to find what was left of the squad. They could see that the clones were in dire need of assistance, and were fortunate enough to have not been spotted by the Sepatatist forces there yet, giving them an able opportunity for an ambush. "Let's help those troopers out."
"Yes, sir!" Both clones were more than willing to do that.
Dusk dashed forward and put himself between the pinned down squad, and the droids shooting at them. He ignited his blade and then began to deflect multiple blaster bolts away from himself and the clones behind him, reducing the flack that the troopers were receiving. Longshot and Gearshift used that opportunity to shoot from behind the cover of the tree line, blasting off a few B1 heads, and toppling some super battle droids down as well. "We've got your back, troopers." The Padawan assured them.
A super battle droid with a rocket arm fired at the Jedi, who wasn't sure if he could defend against that, but thankfully didn't need to, as Trapper took aim and intercepted the rocket with a quick shot from his DC-15S. "And we've got yours, Commander." He replied, as he and the clone sergeant gave covering fire, much to Orion's pleasure.
The Droid forces weren't backing down though, as some began to shoot towards Longshot and Gearshift, who had to stay behind the trees to avoid getting shot dead. Seeing that they were in trouble, and knowing that the Padawan couldn't put himself in between them without risking the two behind him getting killed in the process, he quickly decided to make a risky play. "You two, keep me covered! I'm going in!" He then dashed right for the crowd of 30 droids in front of him.
"You heard him! Covering fire!" The sergeant ordered Trapper, as both of them took aim and shot at the droid forces in front of them, taking out four during their commander's advance.
The droids turned their attention to Orion, shooting towards the incoming Jedi with everything they had, but weren't able to stop his advance as he deflected and dodged the blaster fire with some efficiency, before leaping up into the air and landing right in the middle of the group of droids, and performing a circular horizontal slash that cut seven of them in half. He then lunged forward and cut another one in half, before turning around and cutting the heads off of two more, then turning around and slicing diagonally through one more droid. At this point the 15 remaining droids that were still disoriented from the sudden flurry of lightsaber slashes began to shoot at the Padawan from multiple angles, forcing him on the defensive.
The clone sergeant and Trapper continued to provide covering fire, and were soon assisted by Gearshift and Longshot, who moved out of their cover and fired at the droids that were near their commander, each taking out three for a total of twelve droids shot down on their part, as Dusk deflected one of the droid's blaster bolds back at it, taking it out of commission, before dashing towards the final two droids left, cutting one of them in half vertically, then cutting off the arms of the last one before decapitating it and palm striking the chest piece to knock it down.
[Silence]
With all enemies in the area eliminated, the Jedi deactivated his saber and motioned for the clones and his astromech to group up at his position, which they did so. The clone sergeant then spoke up. "Thanks for the backup, Commander. Those clankers had us pinned down with no way out."
"It was fortunate that we were able to stumble upon you when we did." Dusk replied. "We were making our way towards the monastery to link up with General Kenobi's forces."
"It'd be best if we stuck together. Trapper and I will follow you, sir." The sergeant said.
"Alright then." Orion then saw one more cloud of smoke that was on the way to the castle, and took point. "Let's move out."
[Play Star Wars The Clone Wars (2008) OST Anakin vs. Dooku 0:00 - 2:15]
Back on Tatooine, Anakin walked alone in the dune sea, as the twin suns had just set and the sky had turned dark as night began to fall on the Jedi Knight. He knew someone was approaching him, hearing a speeder approach him, and he stopped in his tracks, seeing his final obstacle, Count Dooku arrived to put a stop to his delivery of Jabba's son. The count got off his speeder, and the Jedi Knight ignited his blue blade.
"Surrender the huttlet or die, Skywalker." Dooku gave him that ultimatum, before he emitted blue electricity from his fingertips and shot a stream of force lightning towards Anakin, who was quick to react to the attack, using his lightsaber blade to block and absorb the stream of lightning until Dooku ceased.
The count pulled his hood back and took out his curved lightsaber hilt, before igniting his red blade and getting in a form 2 fighting stance. The two warriors then dashed towards each other and clashed blades multiple times, before Dooku began to push Skywalker back with his superior skills, making the Jedi Knight fight defensively, which he wasn't the best at. Nevertheless he still held his ground firm enough to keep the sith lord on his toes. The two then locked blades again and the count was admittedly impressed with his opponent's ability to keep up with him, compared to their last encounter. "Your training has come a long way, boy."
Anakin then pushed Dooku off of him and began to go on the offensive, which made the Sith lord back off and carefully block and dodge the powerful strikes that Skywalker used against him. He didn't try to regain any ground, opting to draw this fight out as long as he potentially needed to. Time was on his side anyway. After a brief clash of red and blue blades, the two broke off and the count spoke again. "Ahh, Now I remember. This was your home planet, wasn't it?" He could tell he got under Anakin's skin, and pressed further. "I sense your strong feelings. Feeling of pain, loss."
As the count went to attack, the Jedi Knight countered with an powerful, emotionally driven force push, pushing back the Sith lord a few yards and making the sand in between them fly towards him, before he managed to regain his bearings, use his red lightsaber to block the coming sand and then redirect the power of the force push back at the user, knocking Skywalker down and disarming him. Seeing the now unarmed Jedi, Dooku went for the kill, but Anakin used the force to grab his saber and block the attack, before pushing the Sith off of him and getting up to gain some distance, but not before the count landed a cut on Skywalker's closed backpack, where he was carrying the huttlet before this duel. "You've failed, Jedi. I have just killed Jabba's son."
Anakin smirked. "You've fallen for my little trick, Count." He threw the pack on the ground and revealed that the huttlet was replaced with something else inside. "It's nothing but rocks. The huttlet is with my Padawan, safely at Jabba's palace."
Dooku didn't lose any composure in spite of being tricked. "I expected such treachery from a Jedi. I assure you, my web is strong enough to catch your insignificant little Padawan."
"She's more skillful than you think." Skywalker had faith in her current abilities.
"You deceive yourself!" The count had enough of this talking and went to attack Anakin, who blocked the incoming attack and continued to duel the Sith lord.
Meanwhile, over at the entrance to Jabba's palace, Ahsoka, with the huttlet strapped on her back and Artoo were almost within view of the entrance, but the Padawan sensed that something was off. She stopped in her tracks and ignited her blade.
At that moment, three magnaguards, all armed with electro-staffs, emerged from the ground and stood in her way, poised to kill Jabba's son before she could reach the palace. The odds were stacked high against her at this moment, and even she was a bit worried about her chances of success.
[Silence]
Back on Teth, Obi-Wan, Rex and Cody just finished dealing with the droids stationed on the monastery. "Commander Cody, get the troopers onto the gunships and start searching the jungles for Orion."
"Yes, sir!" Cody responded before rounding up most of his men and requesting the gunships to come pick them up.
At this point Rex spoke up, with Ridge at his side. "What about us, General?"
"You two link up with Cody. We're going to look for my Padawan together." Kenobi stated.
"Understood, sir." The clone captain replied before following Cody.
Obi-Wan got on his commlink and tried once more to contact his Padawan. "Padawan Dusk, come in." There was static. "Blast. There's still interference." He then noticed the gunships coming down and went to enter one, along with Cody and Rex.
[Play Star Wars The Phantom Menace OST You're Under Arrest 1:12 - 1:37]
In the forest below, three clones that had survived their gunship crash were busy shooting down three squads of droids that had spotted them. "Lay it on em, Waxer!" One clone said.
"Don't let up Boil!" Another clone said.
"Keep blasting, Willie!" The third clone said.
Their combined and coordinated firepower was enough to take out one of the squads, but they were then forced to take cover when the other two squads shot back at them with double the firepower, pinning them behind a toppled tree.
The commotion could be heard by Orion and the clones that he linked up with, who managed to find the three pinned down and immediately rushed in to assist them. Dusk took point and cut through one of the two squads while the clones accompanying him shot down the last squad while they were still processing the sudden arrival of enemy reinforcements.
[Silence]
The three pinned down clones looked from behind their cover and saw who had helped them out. They exited their cover and approached the Padawan. "Thanks for the assist, Commander."
"You're welcome." Orion replied to them. "Are there any other survivors in your squad?"
"Willie, Waxer and I are all that's left, sir." Boil stated.
"I'm sorry to hear that." Dusk gave his brief condolences. "Can any of you make contact with General Kenobi?"
"We haven't been able to get through since we crashed." Willie answered.
"Okay then, Willie, Waxer...um...what's your name?" Orion asked.
"Boil, sir." He responded.
"Got it. You three are with us now." The Padawan stated. "We're to make our way to the monastery about two klicks to the west of us. We should be able to link up with General Kenobi's forces there."
"Yes, sir!" The three new additions complied with those orders. However, the group then heard what sounded like growling, as well as the sound of trees toppling, and it was dangerously close to them.
"I've got a bad feeling about this." Dusk said, before some trees toppled behind the group and they looked to see what was there.
[Play Star Wars The Phantom Menace OST Monster's Back 0:00 - 0:42]
A jungle rancor, abruptly awoken and extremely aggravated from the nearby battles, and also marked with lightly burned spots on its skin from blaster fire, and a crushed super battle droid in one of its hands roared at the group, showing a clear hostile intent. "Time to go!" Orion yelled.
"RUN FOR IT, MEN!" The clone sergeant ordered as he, Dusk, Arnine and the rest of them ran away from this very big, very angry problem.
The rancor gave chase, and charged towards the group, however they managed to get into the tree line that wasn't toppled over and got out of its reach. That didn't stop it however, as it began forcefully pushing its way through the tree line toppling over the trees that were in its way from it and the group. "You've got to be kidding me!" Willie spoke up.
"Sir! How are we gonna shake this thing off?!" Trapper questioned.
"Get to the cliffside and climb out of its reach!" Dusk answered. "Jungle rancors have webbed hands and can't climb cliffs, so it can't follow us up!"
Back at the monastery, Obi-Wan's forces had all boarded the gunships and took off. As they left the castle, Commander Cody noticed a trail of trees toppling down. "Sir, do you see that?" He said to Kenobi as he pointed to it. "Over there."
Obi-Wan then noticed the trail as well, but could barely make out a large creature of some sorts that seemed to be chasing something he couldn't see. "Captain Rex, see if you can tell what's happening down there."
"Yes, General." Rex used his antenna on his helmet to zoom in to see what was going on, and relayed it to the Jedi Master. "It's some large creature...and it's chasing..." He could see who was being chased. "It's Commander Dusk and a squad of clones. That big creature is chasing them."
"Where are they headed?" Kenobi needed to know.
"Towards the base of the cliff where the castle is." Rex answered.
"Pilot! Descend the gunships!" Obi-Wan ordered. "Prepare for a quick extraction."
"Copy that, General." The pilot replied as he began to do as instructed, descending his gunship while another one accompanied it down the cliffside of the castle.
[Play Star Wars Return of The Jedi OST Den of the Rancor 2:00 - 3:28]
Orion and his team reached the cliffside, but knew they weren't out of the woods quite yet, as they could see the trees between them and the rancor becoming fewer and fewer in number. "Ascension cables! If you don't have those, then grab a vine and climb like there's no tomorrow!"
The clones were fortunate enough to all have ascension cables and guns that were compatible with that attachment, and while Arnine did not have that, she did have thrusters, which she used to begin flying as high as she could off of the ground. Dusk then focused and used a force powered jump to leap several yards up and grab a vine, before he began to climb up as fast as he could.
The rancor broke through the tree line and could see the group climbing up the cliffside, but were not out of its reach yet, so it charged and slammed its body into the cliffside, making the group brace and hold on for dear life. "Why is it so angry with us?! What did we do to deserve this!?" Waxer questioned.
"Just keep climbing!" Boil barked out, as he and the rest of the group continued their escape attempt.
Just then, the ascension cable that was holding Longshot had snapped, and he began to fall towards the rancor, however Dusk was quick enough to swing himself over and catch the clone before he had the chance to become the beast's next prey. "Hold on, trooper!"
"You don't have to tell me twice!" Longshot replied. The angry rancor let out another roar as it grabbed a tree that it toppled from before and threw it towards the group, nearly hitting them. "Oh come on!"
Just then, the group could hear the sound of a ship descending from above and could recognize the familiar hum that was the LAAT gunship's engines. As the two gunships came into view, Obi-Wan called out to the group. "Come on! Get in!"
Dusk was glad to see his master was here, but prioritized the safety of the clones he was with first. "You heard the general! Get in the gunships!" As the troops began entering the LAATs, another tree was thrown by the rancor. "Incoming!"
Kenobi saw the tree coming and used a strong force push to disrupt the tree's momentum, making it stop and fall back down to hit the rancor, rather than strike the gunships. "Before he gets another one, get onboard now!"
As soon as the other clones made it onto the gunships, Orion and Longshot swung themselves over towards Obi-Wan's LAAT and managed to grab onto Rex and Cody's outstretched hands, who each pulled up their respective catch into the gunship. Arnine then flew inside the same gunship before both LAATs closed their doors and flew off away from the area, leaving the rancor to roar out before going back into the jungles where it resided.
[Play Star Wars The Phantom Menace OST Darth and Qui-Gon (Film Version) 1:15 - 1:48]
Dusk was on his knees and panting from exhaustion, finally able to take a moment to rest, without the risk of something coming out to get him. He then heard his master speak to him. "I see that you managed to make it out of the forest." Obi-Wan offered a hand out to help.
After steading his breathing and accepting that help, Orion was pulled back up to his feet and he replied to his master. "Sorry that I couldn't make it all the way to the palace."
"You were close though. Just one, perilous cliffside climb up, while avoiding trees being thrown at you, and you would have made it." Kenobi quipped.
"The way you're so nonchalantly talking about that is making me believe that these sort of things happen on a daily basis, Master." The Padawan said.
"While not always that particular situation, there's always some incredibly dangerous final hurdle." The Jedi Master told him. "What's important is that you managed to survive, as well as help those other clones with you survive."
Dusk could smile at that, knowing that at the very least, he helped preserve the lives of at least a few people around him, and he did manage to come back to his master. "Thank you, Master."
"Now, let's get back to the Jedi cruiser and make for Tatooine. If Anakin has managed to return Jabba's son, he's going to need a pick up." Obi-Wan said as the LAATs left the baron battlefield of Teth behind them.
A.N. From this point on, it's just the Tatooine portion of the Clone Wars Movie until the end, so if you want to skip this part, because you've seen the movie and know how it goes, you can.
[Play Star Wars The Clone Wars Lightsaber Duels OST Act02Set03 0:00 - 0:08]
Back on Tatooine, Anakin and Dooku continued their duel, neither side gaining or losing ground as they each attacked and defended accordingly, until finally the count created an opening and force pushed Skywalker away from him.
[Silence]
The Sith then pulled out a holo device. "Look. I have a message from your Padawan." It showed Ahsoka on it and her troubled look made Anakin get back up and attack Dooku again, soon kicking the count away and making him drop the holo device, which showed Tano being pushed back and barely defending herself from the magnaguards attempting to kill the huttlet on her back. Then the transmission ended. "After my droids kill Jabba's son, they will deliver you Padawan to him for punishment for the huttlet's murder. I can't imagine he will be merciful."
Skywalker let his feelings dictate his next course of action as he ran to Dooku's speeder and used it to speed off towards Jabba's palace, leaving the count to watch him go, laughing at what would most likely become Anakin's emotions getting the better of him, ruining any Republic and Hutt treaty chances.
[Play Star Wars The Clone Wars Lightsaber Duels OST Act03Set01 0:00 - 0:37]
Over near Jabba's palace, Artoo decided to get in on the fight using his shock probe in one of his head plates to try and electrocute a magnaguard, but the battle droid was able to block the shock with his electro-staff before bashing the astromech hard enough to send it sliding down the edge of the hillside. "Artoo!" Ahsoka called out as she saw that happen. She was unable to help him though, as the other two magnaguards were continuously attacking her, relentless in their assault as they aimed to complete their objective. "Three against two? Stinky, you watch my back."
The droids kept pressing their attack, slowly but surely gaining ground as they made her back up closer and closer to the edge of the hillside. None of the droid gave her any openings as the other two would cover the blind spots and openings of one whenever they would attack, and then would switch attackers whenever she began to anticipate their moves.
Soon, she was forced back too far and she lost her balance, falling backwards and tumbling down the hillside until she hit the ground face down, hearing the huttlet let out a cry before coughing out sand. "I thought you liked to play in the sand."
[Silence]
She pushed herself back up and saw the magnaguards sliding down towards her location, acting fast she used the force to jump as high as she could before they reached her location, and hid on top of a large rock. When the droids reached where she was before, they were confused as to how they lost track of her and began to look around to see where she could be.
[Play Lego Star Wars The Clone Wars OST Shadow of Malevolence (Action) 0:00 - 0:10]
She jumped down and sliced one of the droids vertically in half, before the other two immediately began to attack her again. However the sound of a speeder coming by caught all their attention and Tano could see who was riding on it. "MASTER! OVER HERE! MASTER!" She called out to him, but he was too far away to hear her call, making her groan. "He never listens."
[Silence]
Skywalker reached the entrance to the palace and as soon as the protocol droid and three Hutt mercenaries, all with their guns pointed at him, came out, he spoke up. "Where is my Padawan?"
"This way." The droid said before stopping and holding its hand out. "Your weapon please." After a few seconds, the Jedi Knight gave the droid his lightsaber and was led inside.
[Play Lego Star Wars The Clone Wars OST Shadow of Malevolence (Action) 0:10 - 0:20]
As Ahsoka was put in a corner, she just about had it with these droids. "Okay, stick-tinnies. You're going back to Dooku in pieces."
[Silence]
Inside the palace Anakin was led into Jabba's throne room. "This is Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker." the protocol droid introduced him. "As Count Dooku said, your son is not with him."
[Play Star Wars The Clone Wars (2008) OST Fight to the End 0:00 - 3:59]
"What?! Your son's not here?!" Skywalker realized.
"Jedi poodoo!" Jabba replied.
"Where's Ahsoka?" He questioned the people in the room.
Back outside, Tano dashed and licked down one magnaguard, grabbing its weapon and using it to pierce through the second one before cutting it to pieces with her lightsaber. The first one got back up however and used the staff of the second one to try and almost succeed in hitting Ahsoka's face. She ducked back and almost fell again, stopping herself.
Back inside the palace, Jabba was furious. "Tobata bargain! Echuta Rotta me bedoonkie mafkin wacheekit!"
Anakin had enough of this and used the force to grab his lightsaber and turn it on, pointing it at Jabba's neck. "What have you done with my Padawan?"
"Ahhhhhhh. Skywalker killee!" Jabba realized.
"You came here to kill Jabba." The protocol droid translated, even though Skywalker already knew what he said.
"Mighty Jabba, I came here to negotiate." The Jedi Knight replied.
Back outside, Tano got herself back to ehr feet, blocked another attempted attack by the last magnaguard and then sliced it in two, before dropping to her knees, exhausted. She then heard the huttlet on her back whimper as he saw his home so close. "Being a Padawan is harder than I thought. Let's get you home."
Back inside the palace, Jabba did not believe what Anakin had said. "Hmmmm! Ooochoota maka Jedi waa!"
"You came here to die." The droid said as the Hutt mercenaries were about to open fire on Skywalker.
"Stop!" came a voice, as it was revealed to be Ahsoka, who had just barely managed to make it in time along with Artoo at her side and the huttlet in her arms. She walked into the room.
"Rotta. Me bedoonkie?" He could see his son in her arms, open his eyes and happily babble upon seeing him. "Bedoonkie mufkin!" He took his son in his arms and as the two Jedi smiled at the happy reunion, the hutt remembered they were there. "Tobata, Kiilia Jedi."
"You are to be executed immediately." The droid translated.
"What?" Both Jedi said at once as the Hutt mercenaries guns pointed at both of them.
"Does this always happen to you?" Tano asked.
"Everywhere I go." Skywalker answered.
Just as another fight was about to break out though, a transmission was being hailed by Jabba's communicator. "Your Uncle Zero is contacting us." The protocol droid said before putting it through.
The transmission however showed a female in while, and not the Hutt in question. "Greetings, honorable Jabba. I am Senator Amidala of the Galactic Congress. I have discovered a plot against you by one of your own. Your uncle will admit he conspired with Count Dooku to kidnap your son and frame the Jedi for the crime."
A very nervous Ziro then came into view, who Jabba spoke to. "Ziro. Tacha woochiska?"
"Uneete...mabungo, Jabba." Ziro answered.
"Rotta kowee wa." Jabba replied.
"No bata, Jabba." His uncle replied before switching from huttese to basic. "It was Count Dooku!"
"WAAAAAA!" Jabba was pissed. "Jonaga Ziro geeeze!" Ziro left the view and Senator Amidala came back into view.
"Ziro will be dealt with by the Hutt family, most severely." The droid summarized the conversation that happened.
"Perhaps now, you'll allow the Republic to use your trade routes, and hostilities can come to an end." The senator requested.
Jabba let out a jolly laugh. "Kutu bargain dagwa."
"Jabba agrees. A treaty is in order." The droid translated.
"You will not regret this, Jabba." Amidala told him as the Jedi and the Hutts stood down.
"Unweeto Repiblic a Hutt wooke." Jabba stated.
"The clone armies may move through Jabba's territories." The droid translated.
Anakin then spoke up. "Senator, you have my undying gratitude."
"No, Master Skywalker, it is I and the Republic who owes you thanks." She replied, as the two looked at each other for a brief moment, before the transmission ended.
Then Jabba's droid gave one request to the Jedi. "Jabba would be most appreciative if you bring Dooku to justice for his crimes against the Hutts."
"You can count on it, Jabba." The Jedi Knight confidently agreed to that request.
Speaking of the Count, he was on his Solar Sailor, leaving Tatooine's atmosphere, after discovering his failure. He was in contact with someone while leaving the planet. "It is unfortunate, Master. The Jedi will now have their supply routes to the Outer Rim. Our fight has become far more difficult."
"Allow the Jedi their small victory, my friend." His master assured him. "For the engines of this war turn in our favor."
Soon after the count left the system, A Jedi cruiser arrived above the planet and dispatched gunships down to Jabba's palace. Inside one of them was Obi-Wan, Orion, Rex, Cody, and Yoda, who all stepped out to see Anakin, Ahsoka and Artoo still alive, as well as Jabba, reunited with his son. Skywalker and Kenobi exchanged glances at each other, before looking to the other's, and then their own Padawans, who smiled back at them, before they, as well as Yoda, looked at Jabba, who was happily holding his son in one of his arms. This day was a hard fought Republic victory.
Thanks to the Kenobi trailer, Lego Skywalker Saga coming out, and the metric ton of Star Wars reactors popping up on my Youtube feed, I am understandably in a Star Wars mood, so I figured I'd make a new chapter and finish the Clone Wars Movie ark of this fic. Moving on, I now need to write the canonical events that happen in the Clone Wars TV show, comics, novels, and so on that have Obi-Wan in them, as well as a few others. Thank goodness that Youtube channels like Generation Tech, Star Wars Theory and The Lore Master exist. However, if anyone wants to give me Star Wars Clone Wars media that is canon that most people tend to miss, please tell me in the replies, and also tell me when it takes place during the clone wars, so I can keep the story as close to continuity as possible. Aside from that, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and until I decide to upload again.