Maya-202!

A Star Wars-Inspired Story

Episode I

The Two Prince War

Chapter XII

With The Help of a Droid

Coruscant, Uscru District

The sharp pain that Aren felt in his already injured leg after tumbling out of the window was almost unbearable. He was lucky he was a Jedi, as he would have been dead meat if he wasn't. Thankfully, this fact meant that even with his damaged leg, he was able to keep on going , so long as he could cope with the pain he was in. He had landed stabily on only his uninjured leg, causing him to fall and for his body to smack the floor, but not hard enough so that he was severely incapacitated. Somehow, Artex had still remained in his arms, his mechanical thin legs flopping around like a ragdoll. Aren took a quick, deep inhale of breath and lifted himself up off the ground. "Argh!" he could General Grievous shout from above – "Droidekas! Surround this Jedi fool!" Aren didn't want to stick around for Grievous' command to become reality. He hobbled on his leg that was fine, carrying the droid in his arms, and attempted to find his way back to the ship. The few civilians that were still in the streets at this time of night stared, unaware of what all the commotion was about, but also at the bizarre sight of a man in his pyjamas with an injured leg staggering along the path with an old battle droid in his arms. It was not the typical evening in Coruscant for anyone, even for those in the Uscru District. A few could be heard mumbling, wondering whether to get help or call the police, but Aren just continued on, optimistic that he would be able to get back to the ship in one piece – or so he hoped. But just as he was near the exit to the alley, two droidekas rushed up, and unfurled from their mobile position, activating their shields and blocking the Jedi from leaving. 'Fantastic,' Aren thought sarcastically to himself.

Iryx, Orace Castle Grounds

It had been uncomfortably long since Prince Onasius had heard from Maya and Leo now. He was starting to wonder what had happened to them, and he began to think that maybe this mission wasn't such a fantastic idea after all. The Prince paced up and down his chambers in a panic, feeling guilty for making them go and find out where his brother was. He had attempted to comm the pair multiple times, but there was no answer from either of them. It had already been an awful day, having started with a horrendous battle where he had lost so many of not just his troopers, but his friends and loyal allies, not to mention so much of his (and his brother's, for that matter) home planet had been wrecked in the process of the invasion, and two soldiers and his closest friends being missing just topped it all off. How Thomanius could attack the very place they grew up in together was beyond Onasius. But he had to remember that he wasn't the same Thomanius anymore, and other people had done terrible things to their home planets as well in the name of power. There were many famous examples of this through history – one such instance the Prince had heard about was how Darth Sidious forced the Trade Federation to invade his home, Naboo, so he could rise through the ranks and become the Supreme Chancellor. Onaisus wondered if today's battle would one day become a two-page spread in some history textbook that children would be required to learn in the future. It probably would. However, he needed to focus on his next move now - he didn't want to leave, in case the horrific possibility of Thomanius attacking once again came true, although he saw it as unlikely. He thought about reaching out to Maya and Leo through the force – he hadn't tried it with them before, he had never needed to as in the past 2 years he had known them, they had always been in close proximity to him, wherever he went. He thought he might as well try, though – it may give him some idea of where they were. He sat on his large, four-poster bed, shut his eyes and crossed his legs as if he was engaging in a Jedi Meditation session. He tried to relax – he needed to if this was going to work. Eventually, after a few minutes, he tuned out all the sounds he could hear, and his head geared into a calm mindset. He searched his feelings, and everything else he could sense trying to put his finger on Maya's aura. All of a sudden… he found it! It wasn't as if he could visibly see her, more just the feeling he got when mentally approaching her essence in the force – it had to be her. There was something odd about it though – he could sense that Maya had found out something about herself, something that she had never known before. Onasius was curious as to what it was – he had once sensed something about Maya before, something that told him she might have been force-sensitive, but he had put it to one side as an anomalistic phenomenon, as he hadn't ever heard of a force-sensitive trooper in his army, nor had he ever purposely commissioned the creation of one. The DNA facilities used by the Monarians never added midichlorians into the genomes of the troopers. It wasn't necessarily that Maya was force-sensitive, anyway – the Prince told himself that maybe it was something completely different she had found out.

He couldn't really see where Maya was, but he could see her, and a tiny outline around her of her surroundings. Everything around her was a bright white, and he suspected that she was inside his brother's lab – but where was Thomanius? Before Onasius had time to try to work out the answer to that question, a sudden loud knock on his door pulled him out of his train of thought. "Come in," he said to whoever was outside. "Master, we've received a communication from Grand Mistress Rey. Would you like to answer it?" Sam-99, another one of his trusty royal guards, entered the room with a DCS. "Ah, Sam. Yes please, thank you. And you don't have to keep calling me 'Master', remember?" Onasius welcomed.

Sam handed over the comm to the Prince, with a "My pleasure, your highness," ignoring the last part of the Prince's request and left without a word, closing the door softly on his way out. Onasius answered in the incoming transmission. "Grand Mistress," he greeted as the voice call started.

"Prince Onasius," Rey responded, before getting straight down to the business of whatever this call was about. "How are you and your troops doing after… you know…?" Rey murmured the last two words. "Well, it's not everyday that your home planet gets invaded by your evil brother. But, we're, for the most part, alright." Onaisus decided not to go into detail about the number of friends he and the remaining troopers had lost, and the amount of damage done to the planet. Rey nodded, pleased to hear that – well, from what Onaisus had told her – nothing was too bad after the earlier attack. "Good to know. I have just received intel from Master Finn, he is on Kamino and has found two of your dreamtroopers there. Apparently, they had been locked in some sort of prison. But they're free now, as Finn was able to let them out." Assuming that Rey was referring to Maya and Leo, the Prince was overcome with relief, along with slight bemusement at the coincidental timing of Rey's transmission coinciding with his attempt to find out what happened to his friends. He sighed happily. "That's good news – I'm presuming that their names are Maya-202 and Leo-78." Rey nodded with a grin. "Well, that's great to hear - I was beginning to worry where they had gotten to. Send my thanks to Master Finn," Onasius said. But Rey had a question she was interested in knowing the answer to.

"Your highness, may I ask if you know what exactly is going on here? Why did your brother choose today of all days?" she wondered.

"Honestly… I don't know. The invasion was so out of the blue that I can't tell you why now, all I can tell you is that nobody expected it – for my troops, it was just like any other normal day at work. In a way, I suppose that's why – nobody saw it coming until it was too late. I think it's more like 'why not today?'" Onasius suggested melancholically. The sky was still grey, mostly from the remaining smoke from the battle filling up the atmosphere surrounding the castle grounds rather than dark clouds. Some people outside could still be seen cleaning up the remaining debris, chattering amongst one another. Rey considered what Onasius had said. "Oh well. We should not dwell on the past, no matter if it is 2 hours or 2 decades ago – we must focus on, as sorry as I am for you to hear this, stopping your brother," Rey planned.

"Don't be sorry – it's not as if you 'turned' my brother evil. And besides, I wholeheartedly agree – the fate of many innocent planets, if not the galaxy itself, could be at stake if we don't take action. That is far more important than a years-old conflict in my family," Onasius replied solemnly. It pained him to admit that this feud, that had ended up becoming such a big part of his life, was not that important, considering how much time and emotional energy it had taken up for him. Furthermore, the fact that he felt pain admitting this made him feel like he was being even more selfish. But it was nothing that could be resolved simply – he had to put these emotions to one side, as difficult as that would be. "So, where is Master Finn now?" the Prince pondered aloud.

Coruscant, Uscru District

Aren didn't know what to do – he had no chance of escaping this. The droidekas simply stood still, waiting for their master and to see if the Jedi would retaliate, without allowing him to get away. A miniature hologram of General Grievous appeared in front of them, in a DCS placed on one of the droid's left 'arm'. "Do you have him?" Grievous interrogated.

"Yes, General."

Grievous laughed wickedly. "Good. Kill him!" he instructed.

"Roger Roger," the droideka followed.

"Uh-oh…" Artex chimed in as he powered up again, after his temporary damage from Grievous' fight with him earlier. The droidekas began to blast the pair, but Aren used the Force to slightly divert their blaster fire so it just missed them – he wasn't really strong enough to do anything more than that right now. Whilst the droid's aim had been thrown off, Aren clambered behind a pair of large garbage cans for cover. It wasn't the most pleasant place to be, but if the choice was between hiding behind some dirty bins or death, he'd definitely choose the former – after all, beggars couldn't be choosers. "Artex, you're awake! Are you alright?!" Aren asked hastily, hoping his droid friend was ok. "Hey there! Yeah, yeah I'm fine thanks, but you're obviously not!" the droid said upon noticing Aren's injury. He winced at the short shock of pain that materialized briefly, caused by slumping down beside the bins. Fortunately for Aren, Artex's reawakening was a fast one – he sprung out of the Jedi's arms and pulled out his grenade launcher that he had somehow been hiding in one of his droid compartments. It looked like it had been crammed in because it was too big to fit. "How did…?" Aren asked, confused as how he had snuck the weapon out with him.

"Don't ask why, just be grateful that I did," Artex chuckled and winked one of his photoreceptors at Aren. "Let me save you for once, Jedi," he joked, before leaping out from behind the bins and firing at the droidekas. Aren continued to try and divert their fire using the little effort he had left, whilst Artex kept launching grenades. "Yeah! Take that! Oh, I've missed this!" Artex humorously commented as grenades kept hitting the droideka's shields. It was hard to see as the smoke from the explosives kept clouding up the view, but the shields were weaking – they started to lose energy and turn red, implying they were damaged and about to come down. Impact grenades weren't the most effective explosives on their own, but multiple of them fired repeating at a target could do wonders. Still, the droidekas edged forward, shooting rapidly at the pesky little battle droid that was causing them so much trouble. They emerged from the smoke, and as soon as Artex could see their full bodies coming closer to him, he ducked back behind the trash cans. "Umm… I know you're injured, and all, but would you be able to push them back? Please? I'll be able to take them if we can get them further away, but they're just too close now, they'll blast me to pieces!" Artex begged Aren.

"Of course – well, I'll try," Aren said with a sly grin, but then he cringed at the pain as he got up from the ground. "The Jedi! Get him!" one droideka ordered.

"Roger, Roger!"

Using all of his strength, Aren concentrated on moving them back. All in a matter of a second, he forced his effort into another large telekinetic movement, and the two droidekas froze for a moment, trying to resist the Jedi's force push, but they were unable to. Their stick-like legs scraped against the ground. Immediately after that, Artex popped up again from the cover – "Thanks, Jedi! Take this, scum!" Artex yelled all too enthusiastically, and a river of grenades shot out from his EZ-17 and bounced onto the droidekas' shields. They deteriorated until the droidekas were fully exposed and defenceless. They till tried to fire at the B1 and the Jedi, but it was no use for them, as Artex took them out easily by shooting a grenade at each of them. The defeated droids flopped to the ground, deactivated and unable to attack any longer. "Yay! Woohoo!" Artex celebrated as he was victorious. "Not bad for an ancient battle droid, am I right?" he said. Aren giggled.

"Thank you… for saving me. Force, I sound like such a dork saying that…" the Jedi mentioned.

"No problem, Jedi."

"Well, it is bit of a problem for me, you filth!" a voice screeched from behind them. To nobody's surprise, it was General Grievous, who had caught up with them whilst the pair had fought the droidekas. He spluttered in anger at the Jedi's survival, but turned to face Artex. "You traitorous little worm! Just because over a century has passed doesn't mean you are no longer under my command! But instead you fight with, fight for this Jedi! Unacceptable. If you refuse to fight by my side, then your pathetic little droid life will be disposed of, as will the Jedi's that you are so eager to protect and-" Grievous rambled, but he was interrupted by Artex, who had launched a grenade at him whilst he had been distracted by his venting. "Argh! You'll pay for that, scum!" the General scolded.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, General," Artex murmured, before shouting, "Quick, run!" to Aren whilst Grievous was down temporarily.

"Um, thanks but that's kind of difficult right now!" Aren replied, attempting to stumble up from the ground again. Artex ran over and helped him up by providing one of his arms. Aren grabbed a hold of it, and Artex pulled him up. He then placed his arm around the Jedi, like he had seen other humans do in battle to help those struggling to walk. "The ship's not far now! We just gotta keep moving!" the droid said, hoping it would motivate Aren to keep going. "Good… good…" was all the Jedi was able to respond with, almost out of breath from the whole experience. Grievous got back up again, growled, and activated two of his lightsabers. He sprinted towards the pair, but Artex anticipated his move and fired yet another grenade in his direction. The cyborg leader avoided it this time, but he still had to register the incoming threat which at least slowed him down. During this slowdown, Artex and Aren limped along the pathway back to the ship. "There! Look!" Artex pointed, and sure enough, the freighter was still there. But there was also a giant ship beside it. He wasn't certain, but he suspected it belonged to General Grievous. "Not too far now, just hang on, Jedi!" the friendly droid encouraged. Aren, still breathing rather heavily, flashed a kind grin at the droid, and carried on teetering ever closer towards their stolen freighter. However, Grievous was not far behind them, which was rather problematic, although it wasn't as if they had expected to outrun him in this state. The General could be heard chuckling in the distance – "You can't escape me, Jedi filth!" he yelled as he continued to sprint at the pair. Artex loaded up another grenade, but then he realised something – "Uh oh! This is the last grenade I have right now!" the droid shouted.

"Better make it count, then," Aren panted to the B1 droid. Whilst the pair continued trying to get to the ship, Artex turned around, and taking random aim, he fired backwards…

Miracurously, it worked! Artex could see his former General and leader slow down once again, grumbling in anger and irritation at the pesky pair. Very swiftly, Artex and the Jedi staggered up the walkway, which was, rather annoyingly, uphill to the landing platform, but not steep enough for Aren to be unable to climb it. The two had just made it up, when Grievous leapt to the top and activated his sabers once again. "You see, fools! I told you you couldn't get rid of me!" he cackled, and then coughed into his metallic hand. And that was when opportunity struck for Aren – he mustered up the effort and force pushed Grievous whilst he was busy spluttering to pay attention to the Jedi's move. For a second, the General felt as if the ground had been removed from under him, until he looked back up from his hand and then realised what Aren had done – "No!" he shrieked furiously. "Come on, quickly Aren!" the droid beckoned him as once they had reached the ship, he opened its doors by aggressively tapping the buttons on its outside. Aren reassured himself this was the final stretch – for now, and in this condition. He mentally pushed himself to go in, and Artex held and almost lifted him into the ship. For a B1 battle droid, he was surprisingly strong. A second later, the droid hopped in himself. After clashing to the ground, Grievous sprung back into action, and in an almost unimaginable manouver, he leapt right onto the screen of the fighter, just as Artex was powering it up. Grievous took out a lightsaber, and bashed it into the screen, cracking it, splitting it apart, making it difficult for the droid to see where he was headed. Grievous, whilst withstanding the rising altitude as the ship floated higher into the atmosphere, slashed the saber through the window, providing a new opening for him. However, Artex had come up with a simple, but effective way of getting rid of him for now – "You better prepare for this, Jedi," the droid told Aren, who was slumped at the back of the cramped cockpit. "Do whatever you have to do, my friend," Aren replied, bracing himself for whatever was about to happen. And with that, Artex swung the steering wheel back and forth, essentially shaking the ship like an earthquake was going on. The General reached his metallic hand in through the glass opening, but the rocking of the ship caused his legs to lose grip. They flew off the bottom of the window where he was standing, but he clung on to the side he was holding on to with his hand. With his free hand, he tried to withdraw another saber, but then Artex saw an opening. Grievous' torso area was unguarded. Artex reached out and, using another simple tactic, punched the top of Grievous' torso while he was grabbing his lightsaber. Because the cyborg was too distracted, the punch took him by surprise, causing his hand to slip off the side. "NO!" he yelled with rage, falling down to the ground. Artex settled back down into the driver's seat after all the action. "Phew," the droid sighed with relief. "You know where the nearest hospital is?" he then asked. The Jedi shook his head, confusing the droid for a moment until Aren told him "No – let's go to Kamino. This clearly can't wait any longer after what just happened, we must find out what is going on." Artex questioned this decision, but Aren told him swiftly that his choice was final.
"Roger Roger!" Artex confirmed, and set the navigation system for directions to Kamino…