Star Wars: The Great War

by ShootingStar25

Chapter 19: Downfall of a Droid

Trust your friends, and they'll have reason to trust in you.

Recap: After suffering a series of disastrous defeats at the hands of General Grievous, the Republic's foothold in the Outer Rim is in jeopardy. Commissioned to protect the strategic world of Bothawui, Anakin Skywalker, and Storm, along with their weary battlegroup are all that stand between the system and domination by the droid army.

Flying above the planet Bothawui, there was a group of Republic cruisers. Inside the main one were Anakin and Storm as each of them had the girls present. As well as R2, and some clones. Right now the four of them were gathering around a large table as Obi-wan and Celestia were contacting them.

"Among our most recent losses was the battlegroup at Fallen. The Separatist fleet commanded by General Grievous is headed your way." said Obi-wan.

"Seems like that coward always knows where and when to attack us."

"You're heavily outnumbered, Anakin. I advise retreat," stated Celestia.

"If we run, the Separatist will control this sector," stated the boy. "I can't let them do that."

"And that is your problem," said Obi-wan to his student.

"Master Kenobi is right," spoke Ahsoka. "We should regroup. We don't stand a chance against--"

"Ahsoka!" shouted the boy to his Padawan for siding with his master.

"Suicide is not the Jedi way, master."

"You should listen to your Padawan," stated Obi-wan.

"As you listened to yours, my old master?" stated Anakin as he addressed Kenobi. "No, we're gonna stay and fight. And I think I know how to beat Grievous at his own game."

Anakin then projected an image as it showed some clones as they accompanied some AT-TE walkers. While the boy was busy coming up with his plan, the girls and Storm noticed Obi-wan and Celestia slightly shaking their heads at Skywalker's stubbornness.

"Don't worry, Obi-wan, Celestia. We'll be fine," assured Storm.

"If only Anakin would see reason like you, Storm. Just be careful," said Obi-wan as he ended his transmission.

"May the Force be with you all," spoke Celestia as she now disappeared.

"Always," said Storm.

"You have faith in Anakin?" asked Twilight.

"Honestly, Sparky. Even I'm not sure."

---

Coming out of hyperspace was a fleet of Separatist ships. Onboard one of them was General Grievous as he walked onto the bridge with a slight cough.

"Our spies were right, general. The Jedi have positioned a fleet beyond the planetary rings," said a B1 commander droid as he pointed at his screen.

"Move our ships through the asteroid field to engage them," ordered Grievous as he walked to the front of the bridge.

"Through the field, sir?" asked the droid to clarify what he heard.

"If we attack from above, they will have the advantage. So we will go through the rocks," explained the cyborg.

The droids heard their leader's command as they did that. All of the ships were now. While they made sure to avoid as many asteroids as possible, they couldn't stop the ones that collided with them as they simply bounced off the hull of the ship and it made a thud noise.

"That didn't sound good," said the droid.

"All power to the forward shields," instructed Grievous.

"What if they attack us from behind?" asked the droid.

"They can't," said Grievous so confidently. "The asteroids will protect us."

As the Separatist ships were getting closer, the Republic cruisers now launched their fighters as leading the charge were Anakin and Storm.

"Gold Squadron, tighten formation," instructed Anakin to the group of pilots. "Slow approach. Let's draw them in."

"Yes, sir," said a pilot.

R2 gave a beep.

"Don't worry, R2. Grievous is falling into our trap," said Storm as he heard the droid's beep through the comm channel.

Back with the Republic cruisers, where Ahsoka and Twilight were, Anakin had told the girls to stay behind so that they could execute the next part of his plan. The girls were a bit worried as they looked at the map in front of them as the clones around them were busy at work. The guns on the cruisers now were getting online as they were now pointed in the direction of the Separatist ships.

"Resolute command to Gold Leader. We are standing by," said Ahsoka.

"Enemy closing to zone six," said a clone as he was looking at the map behind the girls as the ships were getting closer. "Zone five."

"Patience, Ahsoka," stated Anakin to his student.

"Zone four. Zone three."

The enemy was also on top of them as the girls kept a close eye on the map. Grievous and his forces were now nearing the tail-end of the asteroids as they saw the boys and their forces in sight.

"General, we have a clear shot at their cruiser," said the droid.

"Good. Good." snickered the cyborg.

"They're right on top of us. Should we commence firing?" asked one of the clones as he asked the girls.

"Wait. Wait," instructed Ahsoka.

"Concentrate fire on the closest Republic cruisers," commanded Grievous.

"Roger, roger."

The Separatist ships now began to fire as their blasts were making contact with the cruisers. The girls and the clones all felt the impact of the shots as they all wobbled a bit with the girls hanging onto the table behind them. By now they were in the clear as they passed through the asteroid field.

"We're outgunned," said Ahsoka. "We're not gonna last a mynock minute out here."

"Anakin, if you have something, now might be a good time to do it," said Twilight.

"Hang on, girls. We got 'em right where we want them," said Storm.

"Watch your stabilizer, Gold six!" said a pilot to his comrade.

The Separatist ships continued to fire as our heroes weren't even fighting back. They managed to take out one of the Republic cruisers as it was descending below.

"It's no good. Incoming's too heavy," said a pilot.

One of the fighters got hit by the enemy as he was now spinning out of control and collided with another fighter as both exploded.

"Gold Squadron, take evasive action!" commanded Anakin. "Storm, follow me!"

"Sir, yes, sir. Breaking off," said a pilot.

The rest of the squad then broke apart as they split up. Meanwhile, Storm followed his pal as the two were doing their best to get their enemy to focus on them. They kept going forward as they did some barrel rolls to avoid getting hit. R2 let out a beep as he expressed his concerns.

"No, R2, we're not retreating. Good thing you gave us that extra power," said Anakin. He and Storm now entered the asteroid field to confront the ships.

"Let's finish them off!" said Grievous.

The ships focused on the two boys as some of their blasts almost hit R2 in the face as he let several beeps.

"Ahsoka, they're in position," stated Anakin. "Unveil our little surprise."

"Right away, master. Rex, Sark, old boys, time to join the party," said the girl.

"With pleasure, sir," said Rex.

The two clone commanders were on the asteroids that Grievous' ships had passed. They were able to sneak up on the cyborg as they were on top of the AT-TE walkers that Anakin was looking at earlier as it seemed his plan had worked.

"General, we've been outflanked," said the droid to Grievous as they saw the clones on the asteroid behind them.

"All units, fire at will!" stated Sark as the clones operating the walkers now pointed at the ships and began to fire.

"Impossible!" growled Grievous as he saw his ships being taken down.

"Forward cannon, let 'em have it!" stated Ahsoka.

The clones operating the ship's guns now began to shoot at the ships from the front as they managed to take down some more. Grievous was now more in disarray as he was being attacked from two sides with no means of protecting himself.

"This is too easy," laughed Anakin. He and Storm then made it to the bridge of another Separatist ship as they fired at it which caused the whole ship to be destroyed.

"Get us out of here!" yelled Grievous.

"Uh, where are we supposed to go?" asked the commander droid.

Grievous just growled as he had enough of the droid's stupidity. He was now leaving in anger.

"Uh, general?" asked the commander droid as he saw the cyborg leave. "Well, I guess I'm in charge now."

The clones were finishing up as the surrounding ships. They now aimed at Grievous' ship as it was now in flames. As for the General himself, he had made it to the hangar bay where his personal ship was. He then hopped into it as he flew out trying to escape. His ship flew by Anakin who saw the General trying to escape.

"Grievous!" said Anakin in anger as he took off after him.

"Anakin, wait!" shouted Storm as he now chased after his friend.

Grievous noticed that he was being followed as Anakin started shooting at him as he was avoiding the blasts.

"Let's finish this," said Twilight as she looked at the map.

"All batteries, target that command bucket!" ordered Ahsoka as their system locked on.

The cruisers took out the remaining small fry of the enemy as Grievous was now looking to jump into hyperdrive.

"He's powering up his hyperdrive, R2. Hang on," said Skywalker as he didn't want to let him get away.

"Anakin, wait!" said Storm trying to get his friend to listen.

The two ships were now in a small chase as Anakin was determined to get his hands on Grievous.

"More speed, R2!" said the boy to his droid. The droid responded with a beep as a piece of the metal was embedded in their ship as sparks were flying out. "See what you can do about that, buddy."

"Anakin!" shouted Storm as he saw the thing on his friend's ship as it didn't look good.

Anakin and Grievous had made it to open space as the boy was now aiming his scanner. A few seconds and the boy had his guns locked on the ship. However, he then looked at the wing as he saw the sparks now turned into small flames.

"Uh-oh. I got a bad feeling about this," Anakin then turned his ship to the side as a small explosion went off that took part of his ship off. R2 let out his iconic scream as the two were now hurling towards the asteroid belt.

"Anakin!!" shouted Storm as he saw what happened.

---

Inside the ship's med bay, Ahsoka, Rex, and Storm were all gathered near a bed. On the bed was Anakin as it seemed Storm was able to find his friend and with the help of Rex were able to get the Jedi Knight to safety. He was now lying on the bed as a medical droid was checking on him for any signs of damage. It wasn't long before the boy was now waking up.

"What happened?" asked Anakin as he was regaining his consciousness.

"You owe Storm and Rexster your skin, Skyguy," said Ahsoka.

"Just doing my job, sir," said Rex to his general. "It was your plan that won the day."

"Thankfully, you didn't suffer any damages, but just a minor concussion," said Storm to his friend.

"Grievous is AWOL, but his fleet of tinnies is nothing but spare parts," said Ahsoka.

"Ah, good work, all of you," said Anakin as he now sat up, "Where's R2?"

"I'm sorry, master. He's gone," said Ahsoka.

That piece of news got Anakin to let out a gasp as he flopped his head back down on the bed and let out a sigh. Soon the boys and the girls were all around the table as Obi-wan was contacting them.

"Congratulations, Anakin. Your resourcefulness always amazes me."

"Thank you, master," said Anakin to Obi-wan with a disappointed tone as he had his head down.

"You look troubled," said Kenobi.

"I lost R2 in the field."

"Well, R2 units are a dime a dozen. I'm sure you'll find a suitable replacement," said Obi-wan in a nonchalant tone. While the Jedi Master said that, both girls noticed Anakin's fist clench a bit.

"I could take a squad out there, track him down," said Anakin to his master with some hope.

"Anakin, it's only a droid. You know attachment is not acceptable for a Jedi," said Obi-wan in a very strict tone as he shook his head. He made sure to remind his student of the forbidden rule that all Jedi had to follow.

"It's not just that, master. Uh, how do I put this?" said Anakin with a nervous tone, "I didn't wipe R2's memory."

"What?! He's still programmed with our tactics and location bases?" asked Obi-wan.

"Oh, shit!" said Storm as he was also surprised.

"If the Separatists get a hold of him... What possessed you to not erase that droid's memory!!!!" yelled Obi-wan in a loud tone as everyone could hear the Jedi Master was furious.

"Master Obi-wan, sometimes R2 having that extra information has come in handy," said Ahsoka hoping to smooth over the situation with the anger Jedi Master.

"Well, then find that droid, Anakin. Our necks might very well depend on it," said Kenobi with a strict tone as Anakin smiled.

"Right away, master," said Skywalker.

Sometimes later, a small ship was being loaded as a rescue mission to find R2 was about to happen. Storm and Anakin were walking towards the ship as the pair were talking.

"Sorry, Anakin. It's my fault. Once Rex got you to safety, I went looking for the little blue guy, but... I couldn't find him anywhere."

"I don't blame you, Storm. It's my fault. I should have seen that the wing was damaged and pulled back. I just wanted to get Grievous so that we could end this conflict sooner."

"Don't worry, we'll capture him. Right now, we've got a friend to save," smiled Storm as Anakin put his hand on the boy's shoulder. The pair now began to climb the ladder to get to the ship.

"You ready to go, Snips?" asked Anakin as he saw Ahsoka waiting for them along with Twilight and a droid.

"Master, they just delivered your replacement astromech droid. This is R3-S6," said the girl as she placed her hand on the droid's head.

"Damn, Obi-wan didn't waste any time in replacing R2," said Storm as he saw the droid.

"I heard that the new R3s are far faster in thinking skills and more powerful than the old R2 units," said Twilight with a smile as she was in love with how advanced the droid was.

"Sparky, keep your wet dreams to yourself, alright," said Storm as he didn't like hearing Twilight gush over at how technical the droid was.

"Shut up!" said Twilight as she didn't like that her partner made that comment.

Anakin then looked at the droid with a keen eye.

"And best of all, master, he's gold. A gold droid for a Gold leader of Gold Squadron," said Ahsoka trying to make her point.

"You can't replace R2," said Anakin as he entered the ship with Storm giving Ahsoka a similar look as his pal.

R3 just let out a beep at hearing that statement.

"Don't worry, Goldie. You'll get to know him better," said Ahsoka.

"And if he doesn't want you after all this, I'll happily take you as my personal astromech droid," stated Twilight as the girls tried to assure the droid it was okay.

"Sparky, I am not letting you have that droid! I already have to deal with you making out with books, I don't need to add droids to that list!" shouted Storm from inside.

"Zip it, Storm!" shouted Twilight as she was getting annoyed with her partner as she muttered to herself as she entered the ship.

"Come on," said Ahsoka to the droid as it followed her inside the ship.

---

The four Jedi had departed from the ship as they were now in the asteroid field. They were now flying about as they were looking for the small blue astromech. While Storm was at his station, he couldn't help but notice that the new droid of Anakin's was looking at him.

"Why are you looking at me?" asked Storm to the droid as he let out a beep. "Sparky, get your pet away from me!"

"Over here, R3," said Twilight as the droid responded to her like it was a dog. "Just ignore the big bad meanie over there, he's stupid."

"You're a nerd!" countered Storm as he took offense to Twilight.

"Don't call me that!"

"Well, excuuuuuuuuse me, princess!" remarked Storm.

"I said don't ever say that word!" shouted Twilight as she now leaped at Storm as the two formed a struggle cloud as the pair had their arms and head sticking out every few seconds as they had their little wrestling match in the background.

"There's my ship!" said Anakin as he pointed.

His response got both Twilight and Storm to pause as the cloud cleared as the boy was on top of the girl as he had her arms pinned down. They looked at the window and then at each other as they quickly got off of each other. They dusted off their clothes as they kept a glare at each other as they made their way back to their stations while R3 made a snickering comment about the two's tussle. Anakin looked at his ship as it was damaged and was turning over. But as it turned over, the port where R2 was in was empty.

"R2's gone," said Anakin as he had a look of concern. "He must have escaped. He's got to be around here somewhere."

"R2 isn't on the scanners. But there is a ship out there," said Ahsoka.

"Looks like a Trandoshan scavenger. Probably combing the battlefield for salvage," said Storm as all four saw the ship in view as it was searching the debris.

"The historical texts--"

"Archive texts can only teach you a part of the picture, my young Padawan," said Anakin. "You'll learn a lot more through some hands-on experience."

"Hey, Anakin. Can you say that part again to Twilight?" snickered Storm as the girl was fuming out of her ears at her partner.

The ship now docked into the larger ship. The four of them now took the lift to enter the ship with R3.

"Ugh! What's the smell?" asked Ahsoka as the girls covered their noses when they entered.

"Don't you dare look at me, Sparky!" said Storm as he saw the way Twilight was eyeing him.

"You get used to it," said Anakin to the girls as he and Storm proceeded without the smell bothering them.

Soon a small camera now popped out of its port and looked at the four Jedi. It spoke some alien language as it was getting in the face of the boys.

"Hey, we'd like to buy a droid. You sellin'?" said Anakin to the camera.

The alien language continued as it was soon followed.

"Sparky, translate."

"I'm not a protocol droid!" shouted Twilight giving a light knock on the head to Storm.

The door opened but stopped halfway. It was then the owner of the ship squeezed through the small opening as he let out a fart as it got the girls to have looks of disgust as the boy just whiffed the air in front of them with their hands.

"We're looking for an R2 unit," asked Anakin. "You happen to pick up any recently?"

"An R series?" said the owner, who was a Trandoshan male by the name of Gha Nachkt, "No, no, not for a long time."

"Pookums here really has her heart set on another R2. She lost the last one," said Anakin as he played along like Ahsoka was his daughter.

"Pookums? Oh, brother," said the girl rolling her eyes at what her master was coming up with as a lie.

"Nice R3 unit," said Gha Nachkt as he saw the gold droid, "Trade for a C-14?"

"Not on your life, lizardo," said Ahsoka.

"Now, let's see how much I have here," said Anakin as he purposely pulled out some credits. "Storm, how much you got?"

"Give me a second," said the boy as he now pulled out some more credits as he purposely picked them up slowly to count.

"I tell you what. I may have an R2 unit buried somewhere in the hold," said Gha Nachkt as he saw the amount of money the boys had with a smile. "What about you? Are you looking for something?" he said to Storm.

"Me? Oh, I'm..." Storm looked at Anakin as he made a face to play along. He then looked at Twilight as he was going to regret what was about to come out of his mouth, "I'm here to get something... for... my... girlfriend," cringed Storm as he said that last word and pointed at the lavender girl.

Twilight turned red at hearing that statement and almost wanted to throw up in her mouth. She then looked at the boy sternly, "You didn't have..." she then quickly looked at Anakin as he made the same face to Twilight, "have to do that for me," smiled the girl playing along.

Storm put on a fake smile as he grinded his teeth together, "I know... but I wanted to get you something... because... I.. l-l-l-lo-lo... adore you," said the boy as he couldn't bring himself to say the "L" word.

The owner seemed to buy that lie as he left through the door as all four now followed.

"Nice lie," said Anakin with a straight face.

"What else was I supposed to say? There's no other believable answer," said Storm to his friend in a whisper.

"Maybe say I'm your sister, instead of your girlfriend," said Twilight as she wasn't pleased with what lie her partner chose to go with.

"Oh hell no, I would never have a sister like you," said Storm as he and Twilight shot a glare.

They then saw the owner looking at them with a raised eyebrow as the pair quickly smiled as Twilight wrapped her arm around Storm's in an attempt to fool him which worked. It wasn't long until he brought the four Jedi and the droid to his holding area.

"Help yourself. But be careful," said Gha Nachkt as he opened the door to his holding area, "There are many, um, unique items down here."

"We'll be careful," said Twilight as all of them entered. Unaware of the smile that appeared on Nachkt's face when their backs were turned as the doors closed.

---

The four Jedi were now walking down the straight path in the hold. Anakin and Storm used the Force to move some boxes in their way. The girls were looking around as they saw many destroyed and offline droids that laid about as it got them to make some faces.

"Boys," said Ahsoka as she got the attention of Storm and Anakin as they walked a few meters back to see what the girls were looking at.

"These must be the unique items we were warned about," said Anakin as they were looking at assassination droids.

"Assassin droids can be very unpredictable," said Storm from the experience of dealing with them.

"They're switched off," stated Ahsoka. "They don't look so tough to me,"

"That's why you'd be dead if you fought one," snickered Storm as Ahsoka made a face.

"Nothing looks tough to you. Take our word for it, they're deadly," said Anakin as he backed up his friend's claim.

All four continued to walk as R3 also did a pass by of the droids. They walked a few more meters.

"R3, access the computer and find the inventory manifest," ordered Anakin as he pointed to a port. "R2's gotta be around here somewhere."

The droid gave a beep as he approached the port and plugged in. At that moment, another beep was heard as it got the attention of both boys.

"Did you hear that?" asked Anakin.

"Sure did," replied Storm.

"Hear what?" asked Ahsoka.

"That sounded like R2," said Skywalker.

"How can you tell the difference?" asked Twilight to the boys.

They both ran to a nearby door as they put their hands on it to open it, but was sealed shut.

"It came from down here. R3, get this open," stated Anakin.

The droid gave a beep as it then turned on the lights.

"We don't need the lights on, you oversized piece of metal!" shouted Storm.

"Don't talk to him like that!" said Twilight as she took offense to her partner calling the droid names.

"No, Goldie. The hatch," said Ahsoka in a soft tone as she pointed.

"Never mind. I'll do it myself. Storm, help me," stated the Jedi as both pulled out their lightsabers and began to cut through the door making an opening.

R3 gave another beep as he began to tinker once more. This time he managed to get the assassin droids they saw a few moments ago online. They awoke as they then began to walk towards the group as both girls didn't pay attention behind them as the boys were busy cutting the door down. The droids then grabbed the girls.

"Uh, master!" shouted Ahsoka.

"Storm!" called out Twilight.

Both boys stopped what they were doing and now rushed to help their partners. Anakin managed to slice the arm off of one of them as he Force some of them away until they hit the ground. Storm blocked a shot from the one holding Twilight as he wasted no time in throwing his lightsaber as it sliced the droid to pieces as it was destroyed. Twilight was released from its grip as the boy's lightsaber returned to his hand as he bent down to check on her.

"Thanks," smiled Twilight as she was helped up.

"Don't thank me yet," said Storm as he saw the droids that Anakin pushed on the floor were now getting back up.

"Goldie, shut these droids down!" shouted Ahsoka as she was on the floor.

The remaining droids then reached behind them and unplugged the wires attached to them as they kept on moving and firing.

"I'm afraid R3 is a little slow on the uptake," said Anakin as all four turned their lightsabers on as they were blocking the blasts.

The droids then jumped into the air as they hung from the shelves. They shot some blasts at their targets, before jumping to the other shelf across as they continued to fire. The droids were nimble and quick as they could dodge the blasts that the Jedi returned while fighting back.

"Back at you, piston head," said Ahsoka as she deflected some shots back at the assassin droid she was fighting as it hit its body. Only for it to jump down and shoot at close range against the Padawan as she protected herself.

Anakin was dealing with one of his own as he was doing way better. After deflecting some shots, he used the Force to pull the droid down from the top shelf as it crashed onto the floor. At that moment, the droid Ahsoka was fighting put its foot on a crate and pushed it into the girl as she was now pinned between it and the wall. It then turned around to deal with Anakin who didn't see the droid about to shoot the Jedi Knight. Ahsoka then leaped out of her spot as she brought her lightsaber down in a downward slash that cut the droid clean in half as Anakin noticed this when he turned around.

"You were right about the hands-on experience, gramps," stated Ahsoka. "Much better than the archives."

"Good job, but you missed one," said Anakin to his Padawan as the droid that fell earlier now got back up. He turned around to cut its gun in half and then chopped its head off.

Storm was dealing with the last one as he kept on deflecting its blasts. The droid then jumped down towards the boy as it managed to get in a blind spot. At that moment, Twilight wall jumped between the shelves as she raised her lightsaber and did an upward slash across the droid's body separating its lower and upper parts. She then landed with a thud as the pieces landed near her. She turned around to her partner as she put her weapon away.

"Nice moves, Sparky," smiled Storm.

"Of course," said Twilight as she did a hair flip.

"As for you, Stubby, you'd make a poor excuse for a light switch," said Anakin as he wasn't happy with the droid as he let out a beep.

"I'm sure he did his best," said Ahsoka.

"His best to get us killed?!" shouted Storm.

"R2 would have never made that mistake!" yelled Anakin as well. "R3 can't even get the door open."

"Hey, Sparky. Hope you kept the receipt. Cause this piece of shit is going back to scrap heap once we find R2!!" shouted the boy to his partner.

"It's alright, they don't mean it," said Twilight as she patted the droid's head as R3 plugged back in, and this time the door opened.

"A little late, Stubby," snickered Anakin.

The door opened as when it was opening up, there was Gha Nachkt as he had his hand to his ear as if he was listening to what was happening inside. Both boys were shocked as they turned their lightsabers on and pointed them at the trash owner.

"Ah! If you both didn't have a lightsaber, you'd be dead men," said the owner as his face was lit up by the blue and yellow light. Anakin was getting angry as at that moment, the girls came in.

"Where's my droid?" stated Anakin.

"Master, what are you doing? R2's not here," said Ahsoka as she stopped her teacher from doing something that might be consequential.

Both boys looked at Gha Nachkt as they turned their lightsabers off.

"Let's get out of here," said Skywalker to the group. He and Storm made sure to bump shoulders with the owner as he stepped to the side when they walked.

"I told you there were no R2 droids down here," said Gha Nachkt as he then looked inside to see the destroyed assassin droids. "Look at this mess you made. You owe me, Jedi."

The crew had boarded their ship as they detached. They were now flying away as in the bridge of his ship, Gha Nachkt watched them until they vanished from his sight.

"You'll be sorry you ever came aboard my ship, Jedi. I'm about to make your life miserable," he then touched a button on the terminal as the image of General Grievous came into view.

"What is it?" asked the cyborg.

"I'm en route to the rendezvous point, general," he then turned around as a secret hatch opened up, and inside the holding pin was R2, "I've got the merchandise you were looking for."

R2 gave a beep as he couldn't do much due to him being trapped. Grievous just chuckled evilly at seeing the astromech droid.

"It must be valuable," said Gha Nachkt, "A Jedi came looking for it. Maybe it's worth more than we negotiated."

"Don't push me, slime," stated Grievous, "You bring that R2 unit to me as fast as you can get here, or else..."

"Ah, yes, of course, general. Just kidding," said the Trandoshan male.

R2 gave a whimpering sound when he heard that as his eye flashed red.

---

The four Jedi had made it back to their cruisers. They were being contacted by Obi-wan as this time, Luna was also present since Celestia had to take care of some Jedi business.

"We have to assume that R2 was destroyed in the explosion that claimed your ship," said Obi-wan.

"Yes, master," said Anakin.

"Our intelligences have confirmed that Grievous' spies have been intercepting our transmissions," said Luna.

"He must have some sort of secret listening post out there somewhere," answered Ahsoka to the two Jedi Masters.

"That would explain how he's been able to ambush our fleets," said Storm.

"Spilt up your squadrons, Anakin and Storm. Find that base and destroy it!" ordered Obi-wan.

"It's as good as done, Master Kenobi," said Twilight.

"May the Force be with you all," said Obi-wan and Luna in unison.

"Always," answered Storm as both Jedi Masters disappeared.

Once the meeting was over, everybody was getting ready to move out. Both Storm and Anakin made it to the hangar as each of the girls and their commanders were present.

"Here's the plan. Me and Storm will sweep the outer corridor while the rest of the ships focus on the center," said Skywalker to the clone commanders.

"Are you sure you two want to go it alone?" asked Rex as he showed concern for his general.

"It's way too risky for the both of you to handle it by yourselves," stated Sark.

"We've handled far riskier situations, Sark," said Storm.

"We'll be fine. Besides, we don't want to draw too much attention by having so many fighters," informed Anakin.

"Yes, sirs!" said both clone commanders as they left.

"Master, you'll need a droid to help you two navigate," said Ahsoka.

"I think Stubby is defective," said Anakin as he looked at the droid.

"He said he did his best, cut him some slack," said Twilight as she rubbed his head.

"Sparky, you're hopeless," said Storm as Twilight glared at her partner.

"Give him another chance, master," stated Ahsoka. "This is the perfect time for you and him too, you know, bond."

"Ain't that bullshit," said Storm as Twilight gave a hard punch to the boy's arm as she looked at him with a glare.

"All right," said Anakin as he gave in. "Come on, Stubby."

"Don't wait up for me, Sparky," snickered Storm as he left to join his pal.

The pair now entered their individual ships as they powered up. The hangar doors opened as out came the small fighters. Off to the side, both Anakin and Storm were getting ready to depart as Anakin had his ship attached to the ring that held his hyperdrive engines. Inside, the girls were walking towards the map in the command center as Rex and Sark were at the table planning things out.

"May the Force be with you, master," said Ahsoka.

"Storm, I hope you come back," said Twilight as she was a bit worried for her partner.

"Ready bud?" asked Anakin.

"Yup," said Storm as he pulled out a piece of gum and began to chew it, "Let's get this shit."

Both boys then turned on their ship's hyperdrive as they zoomed away into space.

---

Back with the Trandoshan ship, Gha Nachkt was fast asleep as his ship drifted in space. R2 was awake as he noticed the male sleeping. He then looked at the door as he saw it was opened. The little blue droid got an idea as he began to shuffle to the side. He managed to bump into something that pried off the retrained bolt on him. The small droid gave a quiet happy beep as he now began to roll himself out of the door. While he was sneaking out, he didn't see that an assassin droid was making the rounds. The droid noticed the small thing as he began to chase after him.

R2 then turned the corner as a few seconds after the assassin chasing him came to a crossroads. He looked to the left and then right as he was trying to figure out which way the droid might have gone. He walked down the path to his left as he had his gun out. He walked into a small chamber and aimed his gun around hoping to find its target, but nothing. Just then he heard a beep as he turned around to see R2 at the control panel as he gave a snicker beep. R2 then locked the door as the droid realized he was on the hatch that was the entrance to the ship for visitors as it opened and he fell through and into space.

R2 was snickering and about to leave when he turned around and saw Gha Nachkt standing there.

"Removed your restraining bolt, have you? What were you up to?" asked the male as R2 gave a small coo sound of fear.

Back with the boys, they were traveling through hyperspace.

"R3, have you verified those coordinates on the search grid?" asked Anakin.

R3 gave a beep as the two fighters now exited hyperspace side by side.

"Okay, let's see what we can find. Activate long-range scanners," said Skywalker. The droid gave a beep as he began to do something, Anakin then noticed his ship's screen was flashing red. "No, not the tracking beacon! Shut it down, R3! Shut it down!"

"Anakin, what the hell's going on?" asked Storm as his ship's scanners were picking up the signal.

"Take a guess who?!" stated Skywalker to his pal through the comm channel as he worked to turn it off.

Anakin's signal was being picked up by the girls back in the cruisers.

"That's Master's Skywalker's tracking beacon," said Ahsoka.

"What's he doing?" asked Twilight.

"Rex, you and Sark get a hold of as many men as you can," instructed Ahsoka.

"Right away, sir!" responded Rex as he and Sark left. The girls now looked back at the map with concerned looks.

They weren't the only ones to pick up the signal, as their enemies did the same.

"Ahh. There's our Jedi tracking beacon," said Grievous as he looked at the ship's scanners. "Skywalker, now you and your friend have fallen into my trap."

"Why do I have to do everything?" asked Anakin as he manually switched off his tracking beacon.

"Let's hope Grievous didn't hear that," said Storm through the comm channel.

At that moment, three Separatist ships came out of hyperspace as they were now in the face of the two boys.

"Yeah, he heard it," said Anakin. The ships now began to fire their guns at the smaller ships. "Time to leave."

"Don't have to tell me twice!" stated Storm as he now began to turn around with Anakin as the two boys looked to escape.

"Plot a course out of here and prep the hyperdrive engines," instructed Anakin to R3.

R3 then let out a beep as he dropped Anakin's ring which contained his hyperdrive engines.

"What are you doing? I said "prep them" not "drop them"!" stated Anakin.

He then turned his ship around hoping to go back for them to attach, but they were blown up by the enemy as he turned around at the last second to catch up with Storm.

"Where's R2 when I need him?" groaned Anakin.

"Anakin, what's the plan?" asked Storm as he could enter hyperdrive, but that would mean leaving his friend behind.

"Launch everything we have," ordered Grievous.

"Sir, it's only two fighters," said a droid. "One of them can't escape."

"Everything! Especially aim it at Skywalker!" growled the cyborg.

The Separatist ships now launched vulture droids that were chasing the boy's ships. The droids fired tons of missiles as they were right on the heels of Anakin's ship. R3 let out a frantic beep.

"I know! I know! Missiles. I hate missiles," said Skywalker. "We're going on the offensive, R3. Get ready to cut the engines."

"I got your back," said Storm.

The droid gave a beep.

"Will you just do what I tell you?" shouted Anakin.

Both boys now maneuvered their ships with sharp turns and rolls as the missiles still followed them. They then turned their ships around as R3 did what Anakin requested and cut the engines as his ship now stabilized in place. They both then shot their guns at the missiles as they took them out and created an explosion smokescreen.

"Hey, that was clever," said a droid as he watched what the Jedi did as he was impressed.

"Silence!" shouted Grievous as he looked to slap the droid. "Move the cruisers into attack position!"

"Alright, R3. Let's get turned around before those fighters catch up to us," said Anakin.

The droid gave a beep as now the smoke cleared out as the vulture droids were back. Storm then moved his ship hoping to draw some of them away from Anakin, however, some of them split off as they stayed on course towards the Jedi Knight. Anakin was holding his own as he was taking out the fighters coming at him while he stayed in place.

"You know, if this ship blows up, you go with it," stated Anakin with the incentive. R3 responded with a beep, "What do you mean the laser guns won't fire?"

More droids were coming at him when suddenly they were blasted out of the air. Anakin then looked to his side as he saw a small transport ship coming out of space. On the ship were the girls and the clone commanders.

"Cargo bay doors open. You better get inside," snickered Ahsoka.

"I'd love to, but R3's having a problem with the engines," said Anakin. R3 heard that and then powered up the engines to the max as it got the ship moving.

"Destroy those ships! Don't let them get away!" shouted Grievous.

"Let's give him some cover, boys!" said Twilight.

"Yes, sir," responded Rex.

The small transport ship now fired its guns as it took out the droids. Storm had managed to take care of the one that he was able to distract as he now zoomed next to the transport providing more cover fire to allow Anakin to get inside.

"Steady. Almost there," said Anakin as he was trying to get the course right. He then landed inside with a small bump, "I'm inside. Now let's get out of here, Ahsoka."

"Power it up, Rex," said the girl. "We're going right between those tin cans."

The ship was heading towards the Separatist ships with Storm in front of them. They managed to slip through the gap in between while evading the enemy fire. The droids chasing them didn't fit as they collided and exploded, but the bigger ships now bumped into each other. Grievous and the droids inside felt the impact as they wobbled as both ships had their lower ends on fire.

"Hit it, Rex," said Ahsoka with a wink.

The Captain then pulled the hyperdrive as they zoomed into space as well as Storm.

"Uh, they got away, sir." said a droid.

Grievous had had enough as he let out a growl and took the head off of the droid that said that.

The ship had made it into safety as Storm now entered the hangar. He got out of his ship as he was heading to where the others were. The doors opened up as standing there was the boy and R3 by his side.

"Hey, Goldie," smiled Ahsoka.

"What did you think of your first adventure?" asked Twilight also with a smile.

"I'll tell you what I think! I think I'm lucky to be alive!" shouted Anakin in anger.

"Alright, that's it!" said Storm as he pulled out his lightsaber and pointed it at the droid.

"Storm, are you crazy!" said Twilight as she grabbed her partner's hand as she stopped the boy from destroying the droid.

R3 gave a somber beep as he turned around and left through the doors.

"Great, now you both hurt his feelings," said Ahsoka to the boys.

"Apologize to him!" said Twilight.

"You can kiss my ass, Sparky! If you think I'm gonna say sorry to that useless, pathetic, cheap-ass corporately created "R2" bootleg. You must be out of your god damn mind!!" said the boy as he got in the face of Twilight with a scowl.

"His feelings? What about R2?" shouted Anakin to Ahsoka.

Both boys gave their partners an angry look as they both made it to the front with their commanders in the driver's seat. The girl saw the boys as they had a look of concern for a bit on their faces.

"He's still out there. I know it," said Anakin looking forward.

"And we're gonna find him. No matter what!!" said Storm.

The ship now turned to the left as it had its hyperdrive engines prepped. Sark then pulled the lever as the ship zoomed into space as they were making their way back to the cruisers.

Comments

[Postwarmonkey50]

Pretty decent chapter.

But to be fair it's not one of my favorite episodes, I mean R3, being a traitor, kinda soured my taste, which is I'm glad it got scrapped.

[ShootingStar25]

11128830
Lucky for you, that episode is the next one.

[Postwarmonkey50]

11128834
Can't wait

[Darth Wrex]

Backstabbing Piece of Junk.

[Darth_krayt]

Death to Goldie long live R2

[Postwarmonkey50]

11128834
Also, forgot to mention, the part where Storm pretended to be Twilight's girlfriend was quite hilarious.

But when the part comes where they also get drunk and captured by pirates, I'd bet my entire Fast and the Furious DVD set if Twilight and Storm were under the same bed without any clothes on, wink wink, and I'd end up busting a gut from laughter.

[ShootingStar25]

11129126
Keep in mind, right now they're only 16 years old. Gonna have to wait for at least two more years into the war before stuff like that could happen. LOL.

[Postwarmonkey50]

11129129
, true that. This gonna end up going places

[Darth Wrex]

11129129

11129126
Okay. First: Ew. Second: Thank you for keeping the Legal Adult. And Third, anyone else wondering where Spike is?

[ShootingStar25]

11129316
Spike, like Twilight's family, will be revealed when we get to learning about Twilight's backstory.

[Darth Wrex]

11129318
Okay. Would've been cool if they snagged one of those IG-86 Sentinels and reprogrammed it.