//------------------------------//
// Chapter 41: Cargo of Doom 
// Story: Star Wars: The Great War 
// by ShootingStar25 
//------------------------------//

Overconfidence is the most dangerous form of carelessness.

Recap: Stolen secrets! Villainous mercenary Cad Bane was hired by Darth Sidious to steal a holocron from the vaults of the Jedi Temple. After fleeing the scene of the crime, Bane hunted down and captured Master Bolla Ropal, who has a crystal which holds secrets of the Jedi Order. As a Separatist fleet arrives to help the bounty hunter, Anakin Skywalker and Storm race in to cut off their escape and stop Bane from delivering the stolen holocron.

After leaving Coruscant, the Jedi were in hot pursuit of the bounty hunter. Seems he was able to find his target as he was looking to leave. Thankfully, our heroes had managed to make it in time as he was to make his exit. Now their Republic cruisers were firing at the surrounding Separatist ships as a field of blue and red lasers were being exchanged.

"I guess we're going down with the ship," said a droid as he and another droid were being turned on their side as they blew up.

On the bridge of the Republic cruiser, both Anakin and Storm were watching the scene play out.

"Generals, we're receiving an urgent transmission from the planet," said Admiral Yularen to the boys.

The Jedi Knights then made it to the transmission room as Ahsoka and Twilight were present. In front of the Jedi, a transmission was being sent as it showed a clone with a blaster in hand as he was fighting.

"General Skywalker, General Storm, our base has been overrun. There's no possibility of evacuation. Aah!" said the clone as he got shot in the shoulder. "They've taken General Ropal and the holocron memory crystal." stated the soldier as a droid came into a view to grab his blaster as he pushed it off and fired.

"Do you know where they've taken them?" asked Anakin.

"Sorry, sir. We've tried to stop them, but they left the outpost," a droid then appeared behind the clone as a scream was heard and the transmission ended.

"Wait a second. There's too much interference. The transmitter's been destroyed at the source, sirs." said a clone to the Jedi Knights.

"We have to find out what ship Master Ropal is on," said Storm to the admiral.

One of the Separatist ships, a pair of Superbattle droids was shown. They were dragging along the body of Master Ropal as they entered a detention cell. They then put the Jedi Master into an energy bond as he was approached by an IG-100 Magnaguard who had an electro staff in his hands. He stabbed it to the Jedi Master as the electricity coursed through his body, and it got him to wake up. The droid pulled back as the Jedi Master could be seen breathing heavily from the torture.

"You will remain conscious, Master Jedi," said a commander droid holding Master Ropal's chin. "The bounty hunter has some questions for you. Attach mind limiters, pain pulsers, and give him a full dose of X-C33."

"Right away, sir," warbled the IG- 100 Magnaguard.

On the bridge of the ship, Master Ropal was on. Cad Bane was shown sitting in the captain's seat as he was approached by a droid.

"Uh, sir, that Republic ship has destroyed our escort and is blocking our escape."

"Whoever's commanding that cruiser is a bold one. Move us out of the battle zone and prepare to jump to hyperspace," said Bane. "I have a small favor to ask our Jedi guest."

"Generals, a Separatist command ship is fleeing the battle," said Admiral Yularen to both boys.

"You think they have Master Ropal on board as a prisoner?" asked Ahsoka to her friends.

"I'm sure of it," said Anakin to his padawan.

"Admiral, intercept them before they can jump to hyperspace. We'll ready the troops for boarding," said Storm.

"Boarding? We have no boarding craft. We were prepared to land on the planet, not to board another ship." said the admiral. "You can't be serious."

"We are, Admiral. Thank you for your opinion," said Anakin as he ignored what was being said to him with a smile. "Now, target their hyperdrive. We don't want them getting away."

The crew listened to Skywalker's command as they began to fire at the escaping ship. The shots hit the engines of the Separatist warship as an explosion occurred.

"Sir. Captain. Sir!" shouted a droid as he was running down the detention corridor to Bane. "They hit the power converters, so we can't into hyperspace."

"Hmm. I wonder what the Jedi are planning," said Bane.

Back with our heroes, they were in the hangar bay.

"I've rounded up three brigades, sir," said Captain Rex as he saw the four Jedi approaching them. "Where are we going?"

"We're going to board a Separatist frigate, rescue Master Ropal, and recover an archive holocron," said Anakin.

"If anything that's an easy day for us," stated Storm.

"We have no assault craft, sirs. Only a couple of fighters and the Twilight," said Rex as his response made Anakin glare at his clone commander. "Waiting for orders, sir," corrected the clone for questioning his general.

"And the plan is?" asked Ahsoka to her pals. "Just curious."

Anakin was now looking around the room as his eyes stopped in a certain direction.

"I came down to see if I could be of any help, General Skywalker," said the admiral.

"Actually, you can. Activate those walkers, Admiral."

The Jedi Knight was pointing at the other end of the hangar where three AT-TE walkers were stationed.

"You are not thinking of using those transport the clones to that frigate," said the Admiral.

"Well, they are pressurized," said Twilight thinking about what Anakin was suggesting.

"And they're equipped with magnetic feet. Hmm. Good call." said Rex to his general.

"Master, you're a genius," said Ahsoka to her teacher.

"Those walkers are designed for terrain, not space!" stated the Admiral.

"Rex, load them up," ordered Anakin. "Let's go, gang!" stated the Jedi Knight to his pals as all four began to run towards the AT-TE walkers.

"Execute battalion, activate ATAT300! Carnivore battalion, walker 773! Let's go!" shouted Rex to his men as they too began to run and load up on the machines.




Meanwhile, on the Separatist ship, Cad Bane was in the prison cell. A droid was at the nearby panel as he twisted the dial to make electricity flow through Master Ropal as the Jedi Master was being tortured. 

"Simply open this little box of yours so that I can get the information from this crystal, and your suffering will come to an end," said Bane as the droid turned down the electricity.

"You will... never get me... to unlock the holocron..." said Master Ropal in between breaths.

"Unfortunately, I don't have time to discuss with you. Hit him again, full power," ordered Bane to the B1-droid operating the panel.

The droid did as he was told as he turned the dial and continued to torture the Jedi Master.

"I'm not sure how much more of this he can take," said the droid to Bane.

"Are you a medical droid?" asked the bounty hunter.

"Uh, no. Sir."

"Then step back and shut up," said Bane. 

"Roger, roger."

"More power."

The droid listened to the bounty hunter's orders as he turned the dial to the right. More electricity was flowing through Master Ropal as he let out a scream. Soon his hands were shown as one second they were waving about and the next they weren't. The droid then turned the dial off.

"AHH!!!" said Storm as he fell to a knee on top of the AT-TE walker. 

"Storm, you okay?" asked Twilight as she saw her partner.

"Yeah, Twilight. But... I felt... something cold... and empty," said the boy as he was clutching his heart as the Force was sending him a message.

The heart monitor on the panel showed a straight line.

"We've lost all his vital signs," said the droid to Bane.

"Check," said the bounty hunter.

The IG-100 Magnaguard droid approached the Jedi Master who was still hanging. He put his electro staff to the Jedi but he didn't move or respond.

"He is no longer functioning," said the droid.

"Drop him," ordered Bane.

The energy bind was turned off as the Jedi Master's body slumped to the floor. The B1-droid went to check on the Jedi as he bent to a knee and scanned using his device.

"He's dead."

"Looks like we will have to find another Jedi to open this holocron. Only next time, I will try a different method," said Bane as he and the droids left the cell.

At that moment, a signal was lit green. The Republic cruisers were overhead the Separatist ship as their hangar doors opened. Two B1 droids on the outer shell of the ship saw our heroes. The Jedi were wearing helmets as they were on board the AT-TE walkers as they were floating down to the ship. The feet were magnetically attached to the hull as the drivers began to shoot. 

"When Darth Sidious asked me to loan you the Federation fleet, he didn't say you were going to war," said Nute Gunray as he was contacting Bane through a transmitter. "Bane, you have already lost four of my ships. I hope you can pay for all of this."

"One authentic Jedi holocron and the memory crystal I was after. When my benefactor gets this, he will compensate you for your puny fleet," said the bounty hunter.

The whole ship was rocked as some shots were hitting them. 

"Sounds like the Jedi want it back," stated Bane, as he could tell, was what happening.

Out there, the walkers were moving ahead as they were firing at the vulture droids that were sent out to defend. On the walkers were the boys and girls as they were using their lightsabers to deflect the shots while advancing. Soon all four leaped as the shift in gravity caused them to jump differently than normal. All four landed near the vulture droids as they used their blades to slice the legs off. Even going as far as jumping in between the legs to slice the head of the droid as it exploded. Four different color lights were shown creating explosions as they leaped and were clearing the path for their comrades.

"The Jedi are overwhelming our vulture droids," said the B1 droid to Bane. "Should we send out reinforcements?"

"No."

"What are you doing?" shouted Gunray.

"Did you say no?" asked the droid as he too agreed with the Viceroy.

"Mm-hmm," said Bane.

"Roger, roger."

"The Jedi will board the ship and get the holocron back. Transmit the information, and close the deal immediately," said Gunray.

"I can't. Only a Jedi can access the device," said Bane as he then looked to his screen to what was happening outside. "Fortunately, there are four Jedi on their way to help me, three more than we need for our purposes." said the bounty hunter as he saw our heroes deflecting shots.

"You'd better live through this. I want my money, Bane."

"You can count on it," said the bounty hunter to the Viceroy as the transmission ended.




Our heroes had picked off the last of the droids as Rex fired a shot.

"R2!" shouted Anakin as the droid appeared using his rocket boosters. He plugged into the port as he opened the doors as the Jedi and their clones hopped in.

"Wipe all the frigate's memory banks and destroy every record of our mission. Initiate self-destruct sequence. You, transfer all ship functions to my wrist-com. I want control of doors, gravity generators, everything." said Bane as he was giving orders to the droids.

"Roger, roger."

"The rest of you, stay here and defend the bridge!"

"We're defending the bridge alone?" said a B1 droid to his commander droid in a scared tone.

"Against the Jedi? I hate this job," said another droid as he knew what was going to happen to them.

Bane then approached a vent shaft as he kicked it open and slid down to disappear. As soon as the bounty hunter left, the doors to the bridge opened up. The Jedi and their clones entered as they were firing guns ablaze. Each of them either shot or cut down the robots, showing no mercy to them.

"Don't shoot! I'm not the commander. He's the commander!" stammered the B1 commando droid pointed at his comrade near him hoping to save his own skin.

A clone wasted no time in firing at the helpless droid next to him as he was destroyed.

"Guess I'm the commander now," sighed the droid.

He was then taken down as well. But not from a clone, but a droid. Before the four Jedi left Coruscant, Twilight had gone to her Jedi quarters and retrieved her personal droid she built as she felt like it could use the experience in the field to gain some knowledge. And cause it seemed like the perfect excuse for a field test to see her robot in action. The little thing has its blaster hand out as it was taking the info in from the surrounding dead bodies of the B1 droids and uploading them into her memory banks.

"R2, see if you can find Master Ropal," ordered Anakin to his astromech droid.

"TS-01, give him a hand."

"Yes, Master Twilight," spoke the robot as she too went to plug into the control panel.

"So, Twilight created that little thing? I'm impressed, but how good is it?" asked Anakin to Storm so that only he could hear.

"Yeah, she built the thing herself. Of course, this is its first time in the field. Figured she'd wanted to give it some experience if it's going to serve her in the same way R2 does." said Storm to his pal.

"We've got something," replied Twilight's droid as R2 began to play a recording for all to see.

"One authentic Jedi holocron and the memory crystal I was after," spoke Bane.

"Oh, no. He has both pieces now," said Ahsoka in a worried tone.

"Rex, send a squad. Lockdown the hangar bay and destroy all escape pods. No one gets off this ship."

Yes, sir," saluted Rex to his general before collecting his men and leaving.

"Droids, you need to find Master Ropal. Hurry!" said Ahsoka.

The droids let out some beeps as they began to search. Rex and some men were about to leave the bridge when the ship once more rocked.

"What was that?" asked Rex.

From the outside of the ship, an explosion occurred as one of the ship's engines blew up. From the Republic cruiser, the admiral could see it as he contacted the Jedi.

"General Skywalker, one of the engines on that frigate has exploded. I caution you to avoid the aft section."

"How much damage is there?"

"I suggest immediate evacuation."

"Not till we get what we came for," said Anakin.

In the hangar bay, Bane was standing in front of a massive group of droids as he was giving them instructions.

"Spread out! While you take on the clones, I will separate the Jedi and will lead one of them away."

The Jedi and clones were now on the detention level as Ahsoka approached the cell that the droids pinpointed where Master Ropal was being held in. She opened the door and gasped at what she saw.

"Guys, I found him!" said Ahsoka before putting her head down.

The others soon arrived as they too saw. Twilight put her hand to her mouth and gasped a bit.

"Rex, have some men take Master Ropal back to the Resolute," said Anakin.

"We might not be able to find the holocron in time, Master. But if it's destroyed with the ship, Nute Gunray won't get it either."

"Maybe, but we'd rather return it to the library personally," stated Storm to the Padawan.

Once more, the ship rocked about as the lights turned off.

"Come on, R2," said Ahsoka to the blue droid as she walked.




The group was now walking forward as both droids had the flashlight they were equipped with turned on. The Jedi all turned on their lightsabers as the four different colored lights allowed some visibility as they were walking in the front.

"R2, says we're close. Stay sharp," spoke Twilight's droid to the group as it could understand the droid's beep due to the translator Twilight built in her.

Ahsoka and Twilight ducked under a pipe. Rex, however, didn't see it as he bumped into it and felt it despite wearing his helmet.

"Ow! Switch to night vision," ordered the clone commander to the group of men as they nodded.

The clones pulled down their visors as Rex pulled down his little antenna on his helmet. Through the clones' eyes, they could see everything in green as it allowed them to see in the dark. The group continued to follow down the corridor as they were cautious of anything around them. Soon something faintly ran past them up ahead as our heroes could see the outline of Bane. R2 let out a whirring sound.

"There!" shouted Anakin.

The whole group now began to give chase. They turned the corner as they were hot on the tail of Bane. The bounty hunter entered the room, and the door opened. Seconds later he entered with our heroes following. They came to the hangar as it too was dark. At that moment the lights came back on, and standing there was Bane with the droids behind him.

"Welcome, Jedi. We've been expecting you. Kill them!" shouted the bounty hunter to the droids as they opened fire.

Our heroes were blocking blaster shots as the clones and Twilight's droid was firing at the enemy. The Jedi were now rushing forward as Bane was shooting at the boys who merely blocked his shots.

"Let's make this a bit more interesting," said Bane. He then pushed a button on his wrist com as his boots were secured on the floor. "Lockdown!"

Just as Anakin and Storm were about to jump on the bounty hunter, the gravity generators came online. Now everybody was floating about in the room while still firing. Bane kept firing consecutive shots at the boys as they deflected them even while floating in the air.

"Magnetics! You were trained for this," said Rex to his men.

The clones then began to initiate the proper combat measures. Rex and a few clones then grabbed onto some nearby objects as they secured their footing and continued to fire. Some droids were hit as when they got blasted, their pieces also started to float.

"R2, turn the gravity generators back on," ordered Ahsoka as she was floating in a circle while deflecting.

The droid gave a beep as he activated his thrusters and made it through the air. One of the clones fired his weapon as he headed towards the ceiling where he planted his feet. He now began to fire at the enemy with his machine gun while upside. Bane continued to try to take out the boys as they were getting closer. They deflected the shots while taking out the droids in their path. The pair were above the bounty hunter and swung at him as he dodged. Bane then turned around and began to fire at the clones as he was taking them out with his excellent marksmanship. 

The clone that was walking upside down on the ceiling was firing his machine gun as he took out a droid that fell and collided along a wall of payloads as one of them started to float.

"Check your fire!" shouted Rex to his men. "Hit one of those shells, and this fight is over for all of us." The captain then fired his grappling hook on his gun as he landed on the ground and fired in place.

Bane was taking out the clones one by one as he took out some more. The girls were slicing the heads off the droids while bouncing to the next one and taking them down with their lightsabers. With Anakin and Storm, the boys were air stepping through some floating droid bodies as they were in between Superbattle droids and sliced them down before they could fire. Bane turned around as, at the moment, Anakin was near him and kicked the bounty hunter. He too floated in the air as the Jedi Knight started to reach out for the holocron.

R2 reached the port as he plugged in and turned the gravity back on, which caused everybody to fall and didn't allow Anakin the chance to grab the thing. R2 gave a happy whir hoping for some praise but soon saw everybody hit the ground as he maybe should have waited a bit to allow them to get a better position to fall.

Bane recovered immediately as he grabbed the holocron with Anakin looking at him. He fired his blaster as Anakin reflected the shot at him to which he moved his head out of the way. Bane began to run as the clone that was still on the ceiling began to fire at him. The bounty hunter aimed up and fired at the area in between the clone's feet as he was falling. Anakin reacted by thrusting his hand out as he saved his comrade.

"I'll get him, Master!" shouted Ahsoka as she chased after Bane.

"Ahsoka, wait! It's a trap!" shouted Anakin as he saw his padawan leave with no backup. He then rushed forward as well as did Storm and Twilight.

Bane saw his opportunity as he turned and pushed a button on his comlink while running. Soon the doors closed behind the girl chasing him.

"Ahsoka, wait! We'll take him together!" shouted Anakin as the Jedi Knights were cut off from their friend.

The clones got back up and continued to fight against the droids.

"Get the door open Anakin!" stated Storm to his pal as he and Twilight rushed back to help their forces.

The Jedi Knight began to stab his weapon through the metal door as he was looking to cut it open. 

"Whoops," said a B1 droid as he was marching and slipped on a headpiece of one of his destroyed comrades.

The droid fell as the blaster fired and it the shell. A huge explosion occurred as the ceiling came crashing down on everyone as they were buried. Soon everything went dark.

Ahsoka was still chasing after Bane as the bounty hunter came to a door.

"You thought you could get away?" asked Ahsoka.

"You're not much of a challenge, youngling," said Bane. "I got you right where I want you."

Bane then fired his blaster as Ahsoka deflected the shot and it hit the bounty hunter in his wrist com as he felt the impact. He was glad he didn't actually get hit as the girl moved in. She swung as he ducked and ran as he then stopped and did a roundhouse kick to disarm Ahsoka of her weapon. He pulled out his blaster once more as Ahsoka quickly grabbed his arm and twisted it. She then bent it and hit the bounty hunter in his chest as she flung him to the ground.

"I'm not impressed," smiled Ahsoka as she stood over the bounty hunter.

She reached for her lightsaber. At that moment, Bane quickly grabbed her leg as that caught the girl off guard. He then pushed a button on his comlink. It sent a jolt of electricity through the Padawan as she screamed. Soon the girl was knocked unconscious as she fell to the floor due to the paralyzed shock. Bane stood up and grabbed the holocron as he looked at the fallen girl.




It was dark, all around nothing but darkness. Twilight opened her eyes as her vision was slowly coming to her. She was lying on the floor as standing over her she heard some grunts. The vision returned to the princess as she saw the full picture. During the explosion, Storm tried to grab Twilight but failed. The girl hit the ground and was knocked out as pieces of the ceiling looked to crush her. The boy quickly ran towards his partner as he put his hand up to use the Force to hold them back. But soon more piled on the stack as they fell on the pair. Still, Storm didn't let go as he was now physically holding up the top part of the rubble from crushing them.

"Storm?"

"Hey... sleeping beauty... you finally... decided to wake up," grunted the boy as he could feel his strength starting to fade.

"What happened?" asked Twilight.

"Let's just say... I'm trying to not let us get crushed," stated Storm as he fell to a knee.

"Let me help," said the girl as she got to her knees and was trying to use the Force to push the rubble off, but it was no use. "Seems there's too much weight on top of us. You didn't have to protect me."

"Course I did, Sparky... you're my partner. Besides... I... promised your family when we left your planet... that I look after you. Keep you safe... and you know me... I never make a promise I can't keep." said Storm as he was about to lose his grip any second.

"Storm..." said Twilight putting her hand to his cheek as she looked at her partner. 

At that moment, the rubble started to shake. Soon the top half came off as some light was shown. Standing there was Twilight's droid as her program kicked in to search and save its creator.

"Rescue, complete," said the droid as it saw the princess.

"TS-01, stim!" shouted Twilight.

The droid shot out a healing stim as Storm fell to hands and knees. Twilight then injected her partner with the small thing. The boy could feel his strength coming back as his injuries were gone within seconds.

"How do you feel?" asked Twilight as she was by her partner's side.

"Great. Better. Thanks, Sparky." smiled Storm as Twilight couldn't help but hug her partner. For Storm, he just let the girl do it as he knew how worried she was. Twilight's droid scanned the two in their current position as it implemented that info in its memory banks. 

Another piece of rubble near the door began to move as Anakin came to. He stood up as he heard a voice.

"General Skywalker... can you hear me?" shouted Rex and the men that remain were together. "Are you alright in there?"

"Yeah, I'm all right. Where's Twilight and Storm?!" shouted Anakin to the wall of debris that separated the Jedi Knight from his men.

"We're alright, Master Skywalker," said Twilight through the boy's comlink as he let out a sigh of relief before turning his attention to the wall.

"Get back to the hangar. Find a transport, but wait for us as long as you can," ordered Anakin to his men.

"We're on it, sir," said Rex.

"Ahsoka, do you copy?" asked Anakin through his comlink.

The Padawan was still unconscious as her comlink beeped. The fire that was caused by the explosion started to spread as it neared another shell. From the outside, bits of the ship were being blown up as the admiral could see it from the bridge.

"There's a power surge heading towards the bridge. If you're there, get out immediately. You must abandon the mission." stated Admiral Yularen.

"We don't have the holocron memory, and I seemed to have misplaced my Padawan," responded Anakin in an unease tone.

"The ship is tearing itself apart."

"Move off to a safe distance, Admiral, and await my signal for excavation," said Anakin as the transmission ended.

"Of all the Jedi, why did I have to end up with Skywalker?" mumbled the admiral to himself.

"Storm, Twilight?"

"What's up, bud?" responded Storm through his comlink.

"I need you both to help the men secure a ship. I'm going to find Ahsoka," said Anakin as he finished cutting through the door and ran down the corridor.

"Copy that, pal. We'll make sure everything is ready for when you two arrive. See you then." said Storm as the transmission ended.

"Let's hurry," said Twilight as she, Storm, and her droid all began to head towards the docking bay to meet up with their men and find a ship for all to escape in.

Ahsoka was now awake as the padawan was in some stuncuffs. She tried to pick at them.

"Ahh!" shouted the girl as they sent a jolt of electricity through her veins.

"Oh, I wouldn't do that. Those binds have been specifically designed for Jedi," said Bane. He then grabbed a hold of one of the girl's silka bead Padawan braids and yanked it off as he showed the ultimate disrespect by doing that action.

"The more you struggle, the tighter they get. Impressed now, youngling?" taunted Bane.

"Not really," grunted Ahsoka.

The girl turned her head in a direction as she could hear an explosion.

"Enjoy this while you can, sleemo. This burning boat is about to finish us both off."

"Hmm. We have time. The bond between a Jedi teacher and his apprentice is strong." said Bane as he wasn't worried. 

"Which means my master will be coming for me any minute."

Bane merely smirked as he put the braid he yanked off of Ahsoka into his coat as it was like a personal trophy. That added more insult to injury as he further disrespected the Padawan. He then reached for a button on his comlink.

"Let's see if we can get him here any faster," he pushed it as Ahsoka screamed from the electrical shock she received.

Anakin was shown walking along the corridor. He soon came into the field of vision as three B1 droids saw the Jedi Knight and were backing up in fear.

"You said we'd be safe back here," said a B1 droid to his comrade as he ran to the panel on the wall.

Anakin turned on his blade as the two other droids were still backing up slowly.

"Come on. There's three of us and only one of him," said the commander droid in charge trying to rally the others.

"It won't matter," said the other droid as he hung his head and arms in defeat as Anakin cut that one down before taking the other out.

"Sir, a-a Jedi is coming," said the droid at the panel as the fear in his voice could be heard. "He looks very unhappy." A scream was heard as the sound of the lightsaber whooshing could be heard before it cut off.

Bane then pushed a button on the wall and a ray shield appeared that separated Ahsoka from the room the bounty hunter was in.

"Your Master has gotten the message."

"Aah!" said Ahsoka as she charged at the shield only for her to be pushed back.

At that moment, Bane turned around as he heard the door open. There stood Anakin as the Jedi Knight came into the room with his lightsaber on. 

"You have nowhere left to run, bounty hunter."

"Let me worry about that, Jedi," said Bane as the two Superbattle droids nearby pointed their guns at him. He then raised his wrist com as he spoke to Anakin.

"If I activate this control, the outside airlock will open, and she'll be sucked into oblivion. Do you think you can kill me and then save her before she's pulled into space? It's a horrible way to die." stated Bane with a sick, evil smile.

Anakin was now looking at Ahsoka as he could tell that even with his powers, he couldn't take that risk.

"Besides, isn't negotiation the Jedi way?" taunted Bane even more.

"What do you want?" said Anakin as he turned off his lightsaber.

"This holocron carries information I've been paid to collect. I can't unlock it, but you can. The last Jedi who had it wouldn't open it. I hope you don't make the same mistake."

Anakin took a deep breath as he looked at Bane and Ahsoka behind the ray shield wall.

"We don't have much time. Hurry it up, Jedi, or she dies!!" shouted Bane as he was ready to push the button to send Ahsoka to her death.

Anakin merely gave a nod.

"No, Master! Don't do it!"

"I can't let you die, Ahsoka."

"Master, no!"

Anakin stepped forward and put his lightsaber on the ground. 

"We'll deal with the holocron later," said the Jedi Knight to his student.

"How touching," mocked Bane.




With Twilight and Storm, they had made it to the docking bay along with Rex and his squad. The droids were behind them as they came into the room to see the rest of the men firing at the droids who were guarding the docking bay. 

"All units, make for that shuttle!" shouted Rex.

The clones began to fire at the droids while Twilight and Storm turned on their lightsabers and began to deflect some shots. The two sides were at a stalemate as in the hangar from where they were all trapped before there was an oil leak occurring. The black substance slowly made its way toward the fire, and the pile of shells as the only result would be devastation. The admiral was seeing the destroyed ship getting even more destroyed.

"Captain, the main reactor is exposed. It will implode at any moment," said the admiral.

"Yes, sir. We're trying to make our way to the shuttle now," said Rex moving out of the way of a blaster.

"Get out of there!" shouted the admiral.

"Sir, yes, sir!"  stated the clone commander.

"You two find the General and help him," said Rex to two nearby clones. "This frigate's not going to last. We have to get out of here."

"Yes, sir," said a clone as he and his comrade left.

"Come about. We need to put some distance between us and that frigate," said Admiral Yularen.

The crew was now piloting the Republic cruiser away from the blast radius. Meanwhile, with Anakin, he was in his mediation position on his knees with his eyes closed. In front of him was the holocron as Bane stood over him. Ahsoka looked on as she was helpless. Anakin concentrated as the holocron floated in front of him and spun. It soon began to glow as its outer shell was pulled apart and the inside was exposed.

"Now, I will combine this holocron with the memory crystal I acquired from your dead Jedi friend," said Bane as he approached the holocron and put the kyber crystal in it.

The outer parts of the holocron then began to reattach themselves to the item itself as it was now a different shape as it fell in Bane's hands.

"My employers will be most pleased," said the bounty hunter.

Anakin then used the Force as the lightsabers that were in the holding pen floated towards him. The Jedi Knight grabbed both his and Ahsoka's weapons as he was duo wielding while the Superbattle droids were firing at him. The boy spun and sliced one of the droids through the middle as he took out the other. Bane pushed the button just as Anakin finished as the door behind Ahsoka opened up. The ray shield was still intact as the Padawan quickly held onto something as the space was sucking her in.

Anakin flung a destroyed piece of the Superbattle droid he sliced as it collided with the panel as the ray shield was deactivated. Once it deactivated, it then began to pull Anakin as he held on with the pieces of the droid being flung into space. Bane activated the thrusters on his boots as he zoomed out of the room with the door closing behind him. Ahsoka could feel her grip slipping as Anakin used his finger to push the button. The padawan then lost her grip and was heading towards the open hatch as Anakin grabbed her hand. Soon the door began to close as the pair fell to the floor. Ahsoka stood up as Anakin turned on her lightsaber to cut her cufflinks off. 




In the hangar room, more and more shells were being dumped from the nearby ships as they piled on. The oil had made it to the pile of shells as the fire was about to ignite it.

Bane was in a corridor as he was contacting Gunray.

"Bane, did the Jedi cooperate with you?"

"With some encouragement. I have access to the holocron and all the information the memory contains. I only have to get off this ship." said the bounty hunter. 

"Maybe you should transmit it to me now. Then I could send another ship to you," said Gunray.

"No, thanks. Viceroy. I have a plan for my own escape." said Bane as he didn't trust Gunray. 

He turned off the transmission as he walked a few meters forward as he was on the upper balcony of the docking bay. The same docking bay that the clones, as well as, Twilight and Storm were in as they were finishing up the last of the droids. The two Jedi Knights were working in sync as they cut down their foes. Storm blocked some shots as he chopped a droid down and then did a standing backflip to avoid the next round of shots. He bent over so that Twilight could roll off his back as she sliced the next one doing a split. The Jedi Knight then quickly grabbed the princess' unoccupied hand as he lifted the girl up and into his arms as he spun to avoid the field of fire. He then tossed the girl as Twilight did a diving kick and then rolled while slicing the droids' legs she tumbled by.

The two teens were clearing the way for the clones as almost all of them had boarded the ship. Bane was figuring out his plan when he heard something.

"Hold it right there!" said one of the clones who was sent by Rex to search for Anakin. They were behind the bounty hunter with their guns pointed at him.

"You're not going anywhere, bounty hunter," said the other clone.

Both Anakin and Ahsoka were running down a corridor.

"Rex, I hope you found us a ride off this bucket!" said the Jedi Knight to his comlink.

"We've got to leave now. The reactor's gonna blow. We cannot wait!" said Rex as he and the clones were at the entrance of the shuttle with Storm and Twilight at the bottom of the ramp being the distraction for the clones still boarding.

"You'll have to. I'm going after that bounty hunter," said Anakin as he ended the transmission. 

The pair passed a crossroads as Anakin kept running forward.

"Master, wait. Stop! This way is to the hangar." shouted Ahsoka, pointing in a different direction. "We must get off the ship now."

"I can't let Bane get away," said Anakin.

"Patience, Master. Patience," said Ahsoka trying to get her teacher to see reason.

Anakin looked at his student as he could see what she was trying to tell him.

"You're right," sighed the Jedi Knight.

"Anakin, we're ready to leave! Where the hell are you?!!!" shouted Storm through the boy's comlink.

"We're on our way, Storm. We'll be there in a few minutes," said Anakin as he and Ahsoka changed courses to the docking bay.




In the docking bay, the last of the clones were boarding the shuttle. TS-01 fired one of the droids as she saved a clone as he thanked the droid of the Jedi princess. The oil in the hangar now ignited as it heated the pile of shells. Anakin and Ahsoka arrived at the docking bay as they saw their friends covering the clones boarding the shuttle. They ran when they stopped and looked up at the upper balcony. They saw one of the clones engaging with Bane as the soldier fired his blaster at the bounty hunter who fell backward and hit the ground.

"Come on! Come on!" shouted Rex to the Jedi pair.

"Get your asses in now!!!" yelled Storm as he used the Force to fling Twilight's droid into the shuttle as she collided with R2. 

He then grabbed Twilight into his arms as he carried her bridal style and jumped onto the ship. The princess was caught off guard by her partner's actions as they were on board. Anakin and Ahsoka ran and jumped into the shuttle as Storm put his partner down. The shuttle was starting to take off as they passed by the upper balcony where the clone was waiting for them. He had injured his arm while fighting Bane as he clutched it. The clone climbed the railing and then jumped to the platform of the shuttle.

"Trooper, did you get the holocron?" asked Anakin as he bent down to the injured clone.

"No, sir," said the clone as he boarded in.

"I'll get it, Master," stated Ahsoka.

"No time. Rex, get us out of here," stated Anakin.

The shuttle now zoomed forward and out of the docking bay just as an explosion went off. In the hangar, the shells blew up as the entire explosion made the whole ship explode. Our heroes had safely made it away as in the background, the Separatist warship was soon no more.

"Well, it looks like the holocron was destroyed, but at least the Separatists didn't get it," said Ahsoka to her friends.

"Huh. Bane's dead, but I can still feel him," said Anakin.

"Yeah, me...too..." said Storm as he put his hand over his heart. Once again the Force was sending him a message that the Jedi Knight was trying to understand.




The shuttle headed towards the Republic cruisers as it docked in the hangar bay. The doors opened as out came the Jedi, their droids, and their clones.

"Master, I'm sorry I let that mercenary get the upper hand."

"It wasn't your fault, Ahsoka. It was mine, start to finish," said Anakin as he placed his hand on his student's shoulder before approaching the Admiral with Storm.

"So... did you manage to recover the holocron or capture the bounty hunter?" asked the admiral to the Jedi Knights.

"Um, no and no," said Anakin with an unease smile.

"Buuuut... at least our enemies don't have it. So... that's always good, right?" smiled Storm with uneasiness as well.

"I see. So the mission was your usual version of success, then?" said the admiral as he knew all too well how the boys handed stuff.

"If by success, you mean we won, then, yes," said Anakin.

The admiral grunted as Anakin soon followed. 

"Oh, Luna is gonna have my ass," said Storm as he could already hear his master and what she would say when he returned. He then felt a hand on his shoulder as he turned to see Twilight standing behind him.

"Thanks. You know... for saving me. And... not letting me be harmed." said Twilight.

"As I said, I made a promise to your family. Now that's something I can't afford to fuck up," said Storm as Twilight giggled.

She then embraced the boy as she buried her head into his chest. Storm was about to yell at Twilight for hugging him one too many times. He looked down at the princess as he sighed. He brought one arm around her as he returned the gesture. Twilight's droid saw the pair as it scanned them once more taking the info in and adding it to its memory banks. Soon the pair of teens broke their embrace as they prepared to head off in separate directions with Twilight's robot following the princess. However...