The Wanderer sliced through hyperspace, its hammer-like bow ripping through the vacuum. And following it, the rest of the Hammer Fleet's ships materialized.
"And here comes the cavalry," I commented on the cruiser's arrival.
Together with the Padawan and the unexpectedly silent droid, I whiled away the time on the bridge.
The Defender hung in orbit around Teth, awaiting the approach of the main forces. Onboard systems detected CIS droids on the surface, but for some reason their fighters weren't eager to deal with the lone corvette. However, from the cartoon, I knew we were first supposed to be drawn into a skirmish on the planet—so that Dooku would get a spicy holorecording of Skywalker disdainfully talking about the little Hutt.
But now something else was troubling me.
On approach to Teth, I detected someone's oppressive attention on me. Someone marked by the Dark Side of the Force was observing me with genuine interest. They skillfully masked their presence in the Force, resisting my attempts to locate them.
At first, I thought the source of attention was Teth—after all, according to the cartoon, Asajj Ventress was there. Perhaps she had taken an interest in my person? But, analyzing the observer's behavior, I concluded Ventress was no match for them.
My invisible observer—trained, cold-blooded, emotionless. Their curiosity resembled a scientist's interest observing a process that intrigued them. In confirmation of my words, the observer instantly hid themselves as soon as I sensed the vector of the Force emanating from them.
My hypothesis about Ventress happily shattered against the facts. Palpatine, Dooku also couldn't be the source—whoever the observer was, their gaze stretched from the depths of Wild Space.
Comparing my sensations with the galactic map, I examined with doubt a region of space, surrounded on three sides by the planets Lowick, Formos, Aduba... somewhere there, in the center of the void, beyond these fringe worlds, hid the one who decided to spy on me.
The fleet's arrival pulled me from my reflections. Surrounding myself with Force Cloak (to hell with Yoda and his complications), I focused on the present.
"Haven't they built any new ships in three thousand years at all?" the droid inquired. No one on the Defender's bridge had time to answer him—the Republicans opened a channel.
"General," Pellaeon smiled upon seeing me. "Glad to see you."
"As am I, Commodore. I see you stayed on the Equalizer after all?"
"Exactly so," Gilad replied with a slight smile on his lips. "The Acclamator is more familiar to me than the Hammerhead-class cruisers. The bridge of this ship is my element."
"Well, I won't insist. Any details on the search for Jabba's son?"
"Affirmative," the officer glanced somewhere beyond the hologram. "Scouts detected droid activity in an abandoned B'omarr monastery on this planet. Until yesterday, there were no more than two battalions of droids there. But reinforcements have arrived—by the most conservative estimates, we now face no less than three regiments." I whistled in surprise. Well, that's one hell of a claim to victory. I don't recall Skywalker and Kenobi having such problems with tin cans. Judging by the cartoon, Skywalker managed with just one battalion... Though, maybe those are cinematic conventions?
Meanwhile, Gilad continued.
"Jabba the Hutt's mercenary ships are right here on the planet, rendered inoperable by the droids, but their presence on the planet, near the monastery, is also a sign. Since the mercenaries met their death here—we're on the right track. Alpha and Balda have organized a small bridgehead on the planet—the droids are sitting on the plateau, not sticking their necks out, so we have an opportunity to calmly unload the 204th and strike with all forces."
"You read my thoughts, Gilad," I glanced at the received landing coordinates. "Organize a blockade of the planet. Send scouts to nearby systems—they couldn't have abandoned their ground forces here without cover."
Pellaeon fell silent, thinking.
"You suspect it's a trap?"
"More than sure, Commodore," I nodded. "If they wanted to hold the Hutt's son, they would have taken him to Serenno. No, they're decisively playing with us."
"I understand you, General," the officer closed the communication channel. Almost immediately, numerous LAATs began emerging from the depths of the Hammer Fleet's ships. The cruisers themselves began to move, with precise and practiced maneuvers, taking positions in the visibly growing echeloned blockade.
"K1," I turned to the droid. "Land the ship at the received coordinates."
"As you command, General," the droid mimicked Gilad.
Oli snorted with laughter, but under my heavy gaze, she grew serious. The girl pretended to be interested in the edge of her matte-black cloak, which covered armor elements of the same color. K1, not without grumbling, but in the shortest possible time, had repainted Starstone's armor. Well, now even by the color scheme of our armor, we were hardly distinguishable. Teacher and apprentice.
The corvet, under the droid's control, meanwhile descended, its hammer-like bow slicing through layers of atmosphere. Together with the Padawan, I proceeded to the exit hatch.
Oli, though trying to appear serene, was noticeably nervous. However much she wanted to hide it from me—her anxiety was felt in the Force. Even hiding myself from other sensitives, I could still feel her radiation. Interesting, does Palpatine feel similarly when surrounded by Jedi?
"Everything will be fine," I assured the girl, placing a hand on her shoulder. Oli, unlike me, had forgone armored gloves. Her small, thin fingers gripped the sword's hilt. Her knuckles whitened, betraying her tension. "Don't lose control of yourself, and it will all end quickly."
"Y-yes, teacher," the girl nodded, looking at the lightsaber clenched in her hand. "Your crystals... they help."
"Marvelous," I allowed myself to smile. Of course, from under the helmet, she couldn't see it. But still. "Don't stray from me, do as I say—and within a day, we'll be on Tatooine cursing the scorching sun."
"Confidence didn't help you on the Rescue," the Padawan inserted a barb. A nervous smile appeared on her face. Damn, the little girl, though she seemed ready, was actually one big bundle of nerves. Need to relax her somehow.
Summoning the Force, I directed a thin stream toward the apprentice, imbuing it with encouragement. The girl shuddered, sensing my manipulations, but gratefully grasped the thread connecting us. However, the stiffness in her didn't pass. Well, time for jokes worth 300...
"By the way," I said instructively. "Pointing out elders' mistakes has always been considered bad form, young lady. It's not good to be such a splinter in... an uncomfortable place!"
For a moment, my Padawan froze like Windows Millennium when connecting a printer. Then, as soon as the meaning of the joke reached her, her aloofness and tension slowly but surely began to crumble like a house of cards in windy weather.
"Well, how about that", I smirked. "The approach to this child should be sought through humor and a kind word. Interesting."
"What you teach, teacher," the girl shrugged, smiling from ear to ear. "Is what I master. Like always attracts like..."
With an independent, proud air, Starstone turned away, beginning to descend the staircase leading to the entrance hatch. As soon as the corvette's struts touched the planet's surface, she would undoubtedly rush off to be in the thick of things.
"Well, well", I thought. "So here I am, in Skywalker's place!"
* * *
Watching the planet's atmosphere, filled with purple clouds, being desecrated by Republican gunships, Asajj Ventress couldn't contain her contempt.
Jedi. As always, they are too stupid to figure out what's happening. They obediently go to slaughter, straight into her hands. Soon she would gut another couple of Jedi—as Count Dooku had promised her.
Once again, she would confirm her right to be called the best of Jedi killers. She would put a period in the life of the misfit named Rick Dougan.
Standing on the edge of the landing pad, wrapped in a cloak protecting her from gusts of wind, she held a comlink before her, waiting for Dooku to deign to answer her call. However, he answered.
"Your orders have been carried out precisely, teacher," the Dathomirian bowed her head before the appearing hologram. "The Hutt is locked in the casemates, the ambush for the Jedi is prepared."
"Splendid, Ventress," Dooku spread into a smile. "Do not allow the Jedi to leave the planet alive. Once you finish with them—await my further instructions."
"The Republicans have brought an entire squadron," she noted. "My ships will be insufficient to break through the blockade they've set up."
"I am aware of your difficulty, assassin," Dooku reminded the presumptuous girl of her place. "A support fleet is already en route to you. In six hours, your enemies will experience the full lethal might of our fleet."
"I obey you, teacher," Asajj said obsequiously. "I will not fail you."
"That is in your own interest, Ventress," the Count said with a threat. "I hope you will consider Tann's experience."
"Unquestionably, my lord," the acolyte thought with irritation that the assistant forced upon her would only distract her.
"Marvelous," Dooku's lips formed a semblance of a smile. "I await your report as soon as you pierce the Jedi's heart with your blade."
Asajj licked her lips in anticipation of the battle.
"I will bring you his head, teacher," the killer promised.
* * *
"Rather high," I admitted, examining the stone spire, its top crowned by the massive monastery.
In Teth's lilac-purple clouds, the planet's landscape seemed torn from a fairy tale. It's just a shame this fairy tale would soon turn into a bloodbath.
"Will that stop us, sir?" Alpha inquired, checking the rope fastenings on his belt.
"Naturally not."
"Then," Nyx concluded, putting on his helmet, "it's time for the tin cans to taste our tibanna."
"A good proposal," Balda agreed.
Unlike the cartoon, where Skywalker landed almost at the foot of the cliff atop which the abandoned monastery was located, my bridgehead ended up a couple of kilometers from the target. Separatist guns couldn't reach here, and the LAATs and Bounty Hunters patrolling the sky drove off the droid fighters that had tried to attack.
I remembered the captive was deep in the casemates within the bowels of the rock. So, the slaughter on the monastery's periphery wouldn't touch him...
"The Wanderer, Veltraa, and Vanguard have entered the atmosphere," Alpha pointed to three massive cruisers, whose armored hulls, ignoring the light gunfire from the seps, surrounded the monastery and began showering it with artillery fire.
"To the vehicles," I commanded. Catching Oli's eyes, I nodded to her, pointing to the LAAT/i into which the clones were finishing loading. Balda squeezed into the transport's belly last, checking his weapon's readiness on the go. The girl understood me without words, following to the ship. I myself, together with Alpha, climbed into another gunship. Though I was confident in my plan and the mission's overall success, it wasn't good to stack command of the legion, the army, and both Jedi in one... gunship. One lucky hit—and my plans would be doomed.
The engines of the other gunships roared. The entire First Regiment under Fay's command now became an armored fist, tasked with consolidating the success currently being developed by the clones of Richie's Fourth Regiment.
Besides this monastery, scouts had discovered two more droid groupings on the planet. Hidden in the nearby forests, they awaited orders, bristling with numerous tanks. Nyx, as well as the Second and Third Regiments, were supposed to eliminate this threat while we were busy with the monastery. Four battalions of militiamen, whose shoulders now bore the guard duty of the base, were held in reserve—in case the plan went south and we had to overwhelm the enemy with numbers.
We needed less than a minute to reach the main battlefield.
Like a fairy-tale palace, the temple seemed to float in the clouds, inspiring admiration for its beauty. Now, my cruisers were mercilessly destroying that beauty with the fire of their ship cannons, mowing down the enemy's mechanical soldiers by the dozens.
As planned, our vanguard — Richie and his clones with jetpacks, supported by the "heavies" pushed the enemy away from the landing pads around the temple's perimeter, securing the landing zone. Now, soldiers of the First Regiment, jumping from the decks of gunships, advanced into the temple's inner courtyard with lightning-fast dashes.
Under the command of Oli, Fay, and Balda, the clones pushed the enemy back into the temple. The droids, following orders, retreated while fighting, luring my troops into a trap. There, somewhere in the temple's depths, multiple enemy forces lay in wait.
"Sir," Nix's voice came through the helmet's earpiece. "We've successfully engaged the enemy. We're drawing him out of the forests onto the plains, falling back to base."
"Acknowledged, Nix." My gunship circled the temple a couple of times. Finally, the pilot spotted a camouflaged landing pad and directed the ship toward it. "Prepare to bring the ships in on them."
"Yes, sir." The clone gave the order to disperse, break contact with the enemy, and fall back while fighting.
"Commodore." I activated the comlink, hailing Pellaeon. "Nix's men are ready to paint the targets."
"The Wanderer and Vanguard have already moved out," Gilad assured me.
There's no need to destroy the enemy in a fair fight when you can bomb the droids from the air.
I planned to set up at least an observation post on the planet — after all, hyperspace routes passed through the system. So burning the forests with orbital bombardment just to destroy a couple of regiments of tin cans wasn't the best option.
It was simpler to get into a fight, make the enemy think you were retreating, and get them to follow you. And as soon as the simple-minded droids were on open ground — the gunners of the Hammer Fleet would send their regards.
Alpha and a squad of clones were the first to drop onto the platform. Obeying unseen commands, the clones surged forward almost silently, disappearing into the dark corridors of the temple. As soon as the first gunship unloaded, delivering us to the building's back entrance, another took its place… and then a third…
"Isn't it time we paid them a visit through the back door, sir?" Alpha asked, checking the charge in his blaster.
"It certainly is, my friend." Placing the hilt of a lightsaber in my hand, I stepped into the darkness of the corridor. Somewhere in there, among the thick walls, the Huttlet was waiting for me. And the wrathful currents of the Dark Side…
* * *
"They've captured the monastery," Asajj said in a voice hissing with anger. "The ground forces are destroyed. Allow me to deal with them?"
"Patience!" Dooku's hologram nearly shouted. "Gather the data I need. Then — kill everyone here."
"As you command, my lord." The Dathomirian bowed to the hologram before it disappeared.
Looking at the barrel-shaped bodies of the B-2 droids, she barely restrained herself from turning several of them into smoking wreckage. She didn't like to wait. But the teacher demanded she record kompromat on the Jedi…
"We'll kill them soon enough," the blue-skinned servant broke Ventress's train of thought.
"Not until we complete the teacher's task," the assassin snapped. "I won't let you ruin this mission too."
Only fear of Dooku's retribution kept the Chiss from drawing her blade and engaging Asajj in combat. The humiliation the Sith had subjected her to, placing her under the command of a witch from Dathomir, burned her wounded ego. Tann cherished the thought that once she killed the Jedi, her reputation in Dooku's eyes would be restored.
"In the end," the former citizen of the Dominion said, flashing her crimson eyes, "I will kill you, Ventress. And hang your head as a trophy."
"Only in your dreams," Asajj smiled predatorily. "For now, we should set a trap for the Jedi."
And the Dathomirian witch laughed mockingly.
* * *
Squeezing the noose around the droids' necks from both sides, we literally smeared the tin cans across the entire courtyard. Unprepared for a rear attack, the droids panicked, exposing themselves to Oli's clones. The entire operation took less than an hour.
And the remains of the monastery came under our control.
"Send search parties to sweep the floors," I ordered Fay. "I sense a droid ambush. I wouldn't be surprised if there are secret rooms where the Separatists are hiding."
"It will be done, sir." The commander of the First Regiment punched his chest plate with his fist and ran over to the clone lieutenants standing nearby.
"I don't sense any threat, teacher," Oli shared her observation. "It seems we've killed them all."
"You won't sense a threat from a droid until it fires," I said. "That's why the Sith use a mechanical army. They have no feelings, no emotions. Only logic and algorithms, which Jedi cannot sense."
"Oh," was all the girl said. "Maybe then we should find the Hutt faster and get out of here?"
"Good suggestion," I approved. "I think he'll be in the most protected place in the monastery…"
"Oh, mighty lord!" From the depths of the main hall, a golden droid with huge black "eyes" appeared, moving its legs slowly. It headed straight toward me. "You have freed me…"
Oh no, that's not going to work with you.
Calling upon the Force, I clenched my fingers into a fist with a characteristic gesture. At the same time, the droid let out a pitiful squeak and turned into a spherical piece of scrap metal, thudding loudly against the floor.
"Teacher!" Oli exclaimed. "What are you doing? He's just a protocol droid."
"In a monastery infested with Confederacy battle droids, an ordinary protocol droid suddenly appears?" I asked. "And who does he serve?"
"Well…" the girl hesitated. "The B'omarr Monks, maybe. I read about them in the Temple."
"And where are the monks themselves?" I inquired. The Padawan, feeling the gazes of Balda and Alpha, who stood silently nearby, became embarrassed. I wanted to explain my train of thought, but the Force touched me with the Dark Side. As I suspected, Dooku's servant was here. Ventress. How canonical. She never inspired any sympathy in me, but if the animated series was to be believed, she caused a lot of trouble. I needed to end this here.
"Let's go find the little Hutt," I said, getting the ARCs' attention. "Balda, you're going with Oli to the casemates. Find the Hutt and get out of there like a bullet. Don't forget — the Hutts gave us only twenty-four hours to deliver the child."
"Yes, sir." The commando activated his comlink, calling for reinforcements. Oli opened her mouth to say something, but the clone of Jango Fett assigned to her command, prudently, without interrupting his conversation, turned the girl by the shoulders and led her away.
"Alpha." The first among equals of the "Alphas" under my command approached, removing his helmet. "You'll have a separate mission."
"Whatever you command." The clone became all ears, listening to my quiet instructions.
* * *
Is there any point in describing the rescue of the Huttlet? I don't think so. Everything went as planned. Oli and the clones fought through an elaborate droid ambush on the way to the lower levels, found the sickly little one in the catacombs. The clone medic attached to the search squad stabilized the child, giving him antibiotics. It should be enough until they reached the ship's infirmary.
The Separatists attacked, as expected. As soon as Oli reported finding the Hutt, about a dozen Munificent-class ships jumped into the system, led by a single Providence-class. The Hammer switched to repelling the attack.
Dozens of landing ships left the hangars of the Separatist armada, aiming to cause us as much trouble as possible. Small craft clashed in a fierce battle for control of the atmosphere and near space.
I heard all this in my earpiece as I moved almost silently through the monastery's far chambers. As I said, there were hidden chambers here, from which companies of B-2s poured out, intending to strike the clones quartered here from behind. Unfortunately for the droid commanders, the clones were ready for such surprises.
A battle erupted inside the monastery. As soon as the first landing barge managed to reach the landing pad, the fighting engulfed almost the entire monastery grounds.
Despite the concealment, I could sense Oli, led by Balda, moving toward the rear landing pad, where my squad and I had recently entered the monastery. Now Alpha was on duty there, and with jeweler's precision, hidden by the monastery's shadow, the Defender hovered in the air with its ramp lowered. In about five minutes, she would leave the system. Of course, she would resist, but both ARCs had instructions regarding this.
The Hutt had to leave the planet under any circumstances. With me or without me. Oli and the clones would deliver him to Tatooine and hand him over to Unduli.
I, however, moved through the corridors that had recently become a battlefield, with a single purpose. My blood boiled, demanding revenge. My emotions — the basest a person could feel — called out to throw myself like a wild beast and tear apart my opponent, who was taunting me with the subtle emanations of her aura, rather crudely concealed using the Dark Side.
No matter how hard she tried to hide, I could sense her. It's hard to hide from someone who has memorized your aura down to the smallest detail.
A battle raged in the inner courtyard. Thousands of pilots fought in orbit and in the atmosphere; dozens of them died, echoing with pain in the Force. But I barely paid attention. I had located my target, caught up with her. In a far hall, where there were no cameras or electronics. While my body performed its usual function, moving its legs, carrying me along the trail.
My first emotion, when the currents of the Dark Side pierced me, was fear. Lightning burned me, clouding my mind with blind panic. The power Valkorion had spoken of, which I was supposed to command, turned against me. The theory I possessed, Kun's memories, Rick's own… they were nothing compared to practiced practical techniques. The Emperor made me understand this, disappointed in my defeat at the hands of a servant.
Fear of death crept into my mind. It was supposed to paralyze me, deprive me of will, make me flee from the place where the source of fear lurked.
But not today. I hadn't slept at night, honing my skill. Time and again, entering meditation, I replayed Kun's knowledge in my memory, refreshing it, assimilating it, passing it through myself, making it my own, not borrowed. If before it seemed like text from a book I'd read, now it was a message written by my own hand, the ink still wet. No more half-measures. No mistakes. No doubts. No defeats.
Every emotion, every thought in my body — is my power.
Moving slowly along the trail, I turned my emotions into white-hot rage. I charged myself up, slowly, filling every cell with the Dark Side. Atom by atom, I saturated myself with hatred, anticipating revenge. The concealment hiding me from detection was already bursting at the seams. A slight trembling of my fingers showed me that the Force was about to burst out.
Finally, the final room lay before me. From its depths came the same emanation I remembered from fighting Tann.
I didn't waste time unlocking the door that appeared before me. I smashed it to pieces with rage.
In this wing of the palace, there were only predators. Those destined by the very nature of the Force to hunt each other. But unfortunately for Sev'rance Tann, sitting in the lotus position in the center of the semi-dark hall, she was facing an apex predator.
"Jedi." The girl's lips formed a predatory smile, revealing rows of even white teeth. "Here you are." The Chiss rose, igniting her lightsaber. With a crimson-red blade.
With a monstrous crash, a metal armored door closed the doorway behind me.
The characteristic hiss of a pair of igniting lightsabers drew my attention to the upper level of the hall, where small decorative ramps ran.
"Your path ends here, Jedi," Asajj said with grim pleasure. With a dizzying leap, she covered the distance between them, landing ten meters from me. "Nowhere to hide." She pointed one of her blades at me in an accusing gesture.
Too bad they couldn't see the smile on my lips.
"No one's hiding."
The Force within me reached its peak. I released the Dark Side that was overflowing me. Like a pack of hungry dogs, it burst in all directions, tearing apart my concealment.
* * *
The Dark Side, like a whip, lashed both servants, echoing with pain on their nerve endings.
Asajj hissed, trying to turn the pain into fuel for her own Dark Side. Tann, however, hesitated, struck by the impenetrable Darkness that appeared in her path.
Ventress lunged forward, closing the distance between her and the Jedi. However, if earlier Tann had doubted whether her opponent had fallen to the Dark Side, now her doubts left her. Rick Dougan had completely given himself over to the Dark Side.
Asajj's double strike from above was blocked by the man's golden blade, which ignited a moment before. His blade deliberately slowly blocked the assassin's weapons. For a moment, the opponents froze. Then, a monstrous Force Push, thrown by the man's free fist, slammed the assassin into the wall with a crunch. Hundreds of cracks spread out from the point of impact.
With a dull thud, the unconscious Asajj fell to the floor like a sack.
"Now we're alone," the Jedi stated, pointing his blade at her. "Say you missed me."
* * *
Oli literally gasped, feeling the Dark Side fill the monastery. The teacher, who had been concealing his presence, appeared for a moment. Surrounded by the Dark Side, he almost immediately disappeared. Not dissolved into the Force. Just hidden by the raging Dark Side.
A thin thread connecting them told her that he was still alive, but engaged in a fierce battle.
"We must go, Commander," Balda unceremoniously took her by the elbow, pushing her toward the yawning hatch in the side of the corvette. "The order is clearer than ever — deliver the Hutt to Tatooine."
"But, teacher…" The girl, carrying Jabba's offspring in a backpack, dug in her heels. "I have to help him."
"You won't help him at all." From the ramp, holding onto the frame of the cargo hatch with one hand, Alpha leaned out, helping the clones board the corvette. The rear landing pad was too small for the ship to land, so the Defender, piloted by a droid, hovered in the air, barely touching the pad with its hull. The clones obediently climbed into the hold. A few minutes later, only Oli, Balda, and the little one, who had little say in the matter, remained on the pad.
"I have to!" The girl tore the backpack from her shoulders and unceremoniously threw it into Alpha's hands. The clone, without missing a beat, grabbed the little one and instantly passed him to the clones inside the ship. "He can't handle it alone!"
"He gave an order, Commander!" Balda shouted, trying to be heard over the roar of the engines. "You, me, the clones, and this snotty slug are supposed to go to Tatooine! The mission comes first."
"Then go!" The girl unceremoniously broke free from Balda, who tried to grab her. "He's in danger, I have to help him! I can feel he's in a trap!"
Without another word, the girl dashed into the depths of the corridor.
Balda, flicking a switch, fired a paralyzing shot at the retreating girl. The general had foreseen this moment and given instructions regarding it. But the commander, without much effort, deflected the shot with her lightsaber blade and disappeared into the depths of the monastery.
"What the Hutt, Balda?" Alpha leaped across the space separating the corvette and the landing pad. "Did you forget how to shoot?"
"Hey, I'm not used to shooting Jedi!" Balda accusingly poked his comrade in the chest plate.
"You should have used burst fire, not single shot!" Alpha-17 snapped at his brother.
"If you're so smart," Balda pointed at the corridor. "Go catch her and immobilize her!"
"And I'll do it before the general cuts us into pieces!" Alpha, with displeasure, snatched the rifle from the clone's hands and ran off after the fleeing Padawan.
Balda froze for a moment, then turned to the open hatch of the corvette. The clone standing on the other side understood him without words.
The DC-15s crossed the distance between the ship and the platform, landing in the commando's hands. Switching the blaster to stun mode, the commando disappeared into the corridor.
Watching the scene unfolding before his eyes, Clone Sergeant Hellagen could only curse elaborately in his ancestor's language.
* * *
The Jedi began the duel with a series of aggressive complex attacks. He moved quickly, slipping out from under her intended strike. He himself did not attack, and Tann felt that her opponent was merely toying with her.
As in their previous encounter, he far surpassed her. But this time, he didn't hide it. He demonstrated his superiority, enjoyed it. And with each new strike, he only reinforced it.
In response to the inevitable counterattack, the Chiss staggered back. Just moments ago, the opponent had deflected her sweeping lunge, slamming his armored gauntlet into her face. The sharp, claw-like spikes of his gauntlet slashed her forehead.
The battle continued in a familiar rhythm, where attack and defense quickly alternated. The man controlled the fight, from time to time incorporating thrusts and counterattacks into his defensive style. Always unexpected, always well-thought-out. But he attacked lazily. As if giving her a chance to notice his attack and deflect it.
Enveloped by the Dark Side, he was hardly doing it on purpose. Most likely, these were new elements he hadn't fully polished. Seizing on the imperfection of his technique, the servant began to defend herself.
With each sliding wave of exchanged blows, Dougan cautiously touched the Force, probing his opponent and looking for a weakness he could exploit. Tann realized with horror, after a few minutes of fighting, that her opponent had figured her out. And almost immediately at that.
Despite all her training, she had no real experience in long, drawn-out fights — none of her opponents had ever lasted long enough to make her truly exert herself. The previous battle, though it had shaken her, still couldn't make her adjust her tactics.
Imperceptibly, as she tired, the girl's strikes became less precise, her parries less careful, and her transitions less elegant. A thick fog of exhaustion slowly clouded her mind, and the Jedi knew that soon she would make a critical and fatal mistake.
Cunning and calculation, the weapons of the Sith, the Jedi used against her.
In just five minutes, which felt like an eternity to her, he extracted the maximum knowledge from her about lightsaber duels, made her give her all, exhausted her physical and mental strength.
And it seemed time to end it, but the Jedi merely broke the distance.
"Funny that I could have been killed by you," he said. "You really are weak."
"But I defeated you," the girl noted. "And almost killed you."
"'Almost' doesn't count," the man corrected her. "Besides, you used Force Lightning. It's not proper to mix swordsmanship with sorcery…"
"It's for me to decide how to kill you." Her loudly beating heart, like the beat of drums, echoed in her head. It hindered her concentration, but the Dark Side energy she had gathered during the conversation should be enough.
"It won't work," the man said categorically. A chuckle came from under his mask. "Don't even try."
In response, Tann threw her hand forward, sending a twisting white-blue lightning at the Jedi. The same technique she had struck him with last time.
Today, the Force abandoned her.
With a laugh, the man caught the lightning in his palm, absorbing the entire discharge into a tiny white-blue translucent sphere that he held between his fingers.
"I learned from my mistakes." He fed the sphere with his own Dark Side energy and returned it to its owner.
The smell of ozone instantly filled the hall, stinging the Chiss's nostrils. A monstrous crackling echoed through the vaults of the room, making the hair on her body stand on end.
Her feeble thrust he turned into a beautiful creation of the Dark Side.
Blue-violet lightning shot from his left hand. It contained immense power, leaving matte-black scorch marks on the floor and walls of the hall. One end of the lightning shook the unconscious Asajj, the other stung her unbearably in the stomach.
The girl squealed, experiencing all-consuming pain. From the mere realization that this Jedi had once had to endure sensations far greater, she felt fear. Fear of what the fallen Jedi, who had survived such things, would do to her.
But providence made its own adjustments.
With a roar full of rage, Asajj rose and threw herself into battle.
A swift barrage forced the man to retreat. He, as if not surprised by what happened, performed a feint, as if about to attack, and taking a step back, created enough open space between them.
Asajj, realizing she had been tricked, could no longer stop her thrust, plowing both blades through the spot where the Jedi had stood.
"Don't stand there like a statue, you fool!" she shouted at Tann. The latter, as if shaking off a trance, joined the battle.
Together, they pressed the Jedi. He had to defend himself against two opponents, each with their own arsenal of deadly techniques.
But within a minute, the Jedi had figured them out. Neither had ever worked as a team before, so they only got in each other's way.
In the time it took Tann to land a couple of strikes, Asajj managed to shower the Jedi with two dozen. She attacked from unexpected and unusual angles, changing the position of her blades mid-strike. The assassin wasn't afraid to break her combos to mislead her opponent, seizing the initiative in the fight. Each of her thrusts could easily be taught to other acolytes as an example of deadly efficiency.
Tann literally took heart when she realized that the Jedi was now facing a well-trained opponent. In some ways, they were alike — Asajj and Dougan. They seemed to have created themselves for battle. Equally mesmerizing in their deadly clash, they barely noticed that there was a third person in their confrontation.
The Chiss thought for a moment, planning an attack that could put an end to the Jedi.
A brief hesitation, but it was enough for the Jedi to suddenly abandon the fight against Asajj and switch to her, trying to burn out her eyes with his blade. At the last second, Tann dodged, hearing the hiss of the enemy's blade and Ventress's cry. The golden blade slashed through her hair, sending a few locks to the floor. She had to lean back to avoid decapitation, but it was precisely thanks to this unplanned move that the Jedi landed a kick to her stomach, sending her flying back.
The girl landed chest-first on the floor. The air was knocked out of her lungs, and it took her some time to regain control of her body. A few seconds, no more. But all that time, Asajj was alone, facing this monster in Jedi guise.
And in that second that the man devoted to her, Asajj, with a double slash of her blades, intended to end the man's life.
But instead, her crimson blades only met a barely visible, translucent Force bubble surrounding the Jedi. The blades rebounded by inertia, against their owner's will. This maneuver nearly knocked the hilts from her hands, causing Asajj to let out a quiet cry — her wrists twisted at an unnatural angle.
The Jedi raised his sword high, aiming for the opponent's head and forcing her to duck, and with a reverse strike continuing the ineffective combo, the temple guard aimed at the assassin's legs. This forced Asajj to leap back, performing an acrobatic backflip. The girl avoided the strike, but the landing was quite clumsy.
Moreover, the Jedi, like a machine, continued his advance. The Dark Side emanating from him literally flooded the hall that was supposed to become his grave. Each new strike of his became stronger and more dangerous than the last.
A new strike came down on Asajj. Her wrong position forced her to merely block the golden blade instead of deflecting it. The opponent's strike was so powerful that the assassin staggered and fell to the floor.
Without wasting time, Tann rushed to help. Trying to distract the opponent, she threw Lightning at the Jedi, but it only got stuck in the surface of the golden blade. Gnashing her teeth, the girl noted that this time the Jedi had thought to surround his weapon with the Force, to which the lightning "stuck."
It seemed the Jedi barely paid attention to the new opponent's appearance. He advanced on Ventress, showering her with a hail of strikes, so that the latter, not having time to get to her feet, was forced to crawl backward, pushing off the floor with her feet while simultaneously deflecting thrusts.
Tann realized she was weaker than the assassin, but anger filled her with enough strength to push back the male opponent with a series of savage and desperate strikes.
And the Jedi switched his attention to her.
Without looking at Ventress, he switched his blade to his left hand, and with his right released a stream of blue-violet lightning that pierced the assassin's body. Asajj screamed in wild pain. It took him a few seconds to take her out of commission, after which, with a wave of the Force, the Jedi threw her aside like an unnecessary object.
"Do you realize it's all over?" he clarified.
Listening to his voice, Tann realized with a start that he was right. Ventress was barely perceptible in the Force. Tann herself was no match for a Jedi. His potential, his connection to the Dark Side, eclipsed even what she had seen during her training with Dooku.
Defeat had made him stronger than before. When they had cornered him, neither she nor Ventress had understood that they were facing not some righteous Temple dweller, but a calculating Sith. And in truth, they were the ones who had been trapped.
"Killing me will make you fall to the Dark Side." The warning every Jedi feared. Backing away from Dougan, she frantically searched for a way to escape. And found none. All that remained was to stall him with talk. While she spoke, her brain calculated options.
"Oh," the Jedi laughed. "I'm not a Jedi — the power of the Dark Side doesn't frighten me."
"You could become Count Dooku's apprentice."
"Not interested," the Jedi dismissed lazily. "I possess knowledge that surpasses both the Jedi and the Sith. I think you noticed."
"Then you could overthrow Dooku and rule half the galaxy yourself." A plan was born in Tann's mind. Deactivating her blade, she knelt before the Jedi, extending the hilt toward him. "I am ready to serve you."
"Is that so," the Jedi smirked. He approached Dooku's follower. His blade was still active, and in the back of her mind, a terrifying thought stirred within the Chiss. What if he didn't want apprentices?! What if...?
She didn't have time to finish the thought.
Invisible fingers closed around her throat. The Force lifted the girl into the air, so that her opponent could examine her from head to toe.
"You wanted to kill me," he recalled. "And you almost succeeded. I gave you a chance to join me, but you refused it."
"I... I... speak sincerely... I... want... to serve you... my lord..."
"Everyone speaks sincerely in the face of death, Sev'rance," the man sighed. "Unfortunately for you, I already have..."
"Traitor!" More like a roar than a scream, Ventress's voice reached Tann's ears. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a pair of crimson blades, their spinning flight meant to end her life by severing her head.
"Tough bitch, isn't she." The Force grip loosened, and the Chiss collapsed to the floor, gasping for air.
Meanwhile, she was able to watch the battle unfolding before her.
* * *
Racing swiftly through the narrow corridors of the monastery, Oli mechanically crushed the droids in her path. Like a deadly meteor, she swept aside the enemy, leaving stunned clones in her wake.
She had to make it. Her teacher was in danger. She had to be with him.
The all-consuming darkness where her teacher was gradually dissipated. Oli could sense that in the far hall, which she had only five minutes of running to reach, there were three people. One of them was undoubtedly her teacher. The other two... most likely Dooku's servants. And she needed to hurry. He might handle one opponent, but two...
* * *
"So you just won't fucking give up, will you?" the Jedi growled. Ventress, assuming a defensive stance, bared her teeth, luring the man toward her. Her body was splitting apart from his techniques, her muscles ached with strain, but she couldn't flee without completing the mission.
This Jedi was dangerous. Possibly the biggest problem for her teacher's plans. Ventress didn't know about his command skills, but in a lightsaber duel, he was incredibly good. It was surprising how Tann had managed to defeat him last time.
That vile blue-skinned bitch had betrayed them. Seeing how easily the Jedi wielded the Dark Side, she had found herself a new master, betraying Dooku. Ventress had heard that he had found her somewhere in the wilds of the Unknown Regions. Brought her to civilization, trained her... and this was her gratitude.
Dougan easily deflected the Sith blades flying toward the traitor with Force pushes and, holding his own blade in both hands, tip pointed at the floor to his left (a typical Niman stance, Ventress snorted), moved toward her. The power of the Dark Side that had enveloped him at the start of the battle was gradually dissolving. As if he had accumulated the Force within himself, and now, during the prolonged fight, it was leaving him.
But even so, Ventress could see his aura. Neither light nor dark... Gray.
If she had hair, it would be standing on end right now. Her teacher had told her about those who combined Sith and Jedi teachings — Gray Jedi. He had spoken of them mostly with a smirk, calling them weak fools, but it seemed her opponent was one of them. And she would be wary of calling him weaker than herself.
She had killed dozens of Jedi and was well-versed in the skills of taking life. And her opponent was no novice in that matter.
He was excellently trained — possibly even better than Skywalker, but he still fell short of Kenobi. He couldn't be compared to Yoda — the old stump had seen a lot in his time. But Dougan...
He had managed to effortlessly take one opponent out of the fight. And even against both of them, he held up perfectly. Wherever he had trained, he was clearly no Coruscant-bred whelp. If even a fraction of the Jedi were like him, the Sith wouldn't stand a chance.
"I will lay down my swords when the last Jedi is dead," the assassin hissed.
"Don't flatter yourself," the man chuckled. "Dooku and Sidious will betray you sooner."
"You're wrong, Jedi," Ventress said triumphantly. "I am Count Dooku's apprentice."
"Oh, no, you're wrong. For a thousand years, the rule has been established — there can only be two Sith. A Master and an Apprentice. Didn't Dooku show you Darth Bane's pamphlet? You're not an apprentice, Ventress. You're expendable. A henchwoman. An assassin. A servant..."
"I will kill you!" Ventress clicked her blades together, transforming them into an intricate lightsaber pike. "And bathe in your blood."
"What is it with you people and this fixation," the Jedi said ruefully, engaging in the fight.
* * *
The beep of the comlink brought Dooku out of his thoughts.
Watching his former Order comrade depart, he mused with a smirk that soon, he would likely have to cross blades with her as well. Unduli, a recognized master of Soresu, could have been an excellent assistant in his endeavors. In place of the missing Vosa.
The aristocrat had no doubt that he had died on Korriban — either Sith beasts or a rival had finished him off. Either way, he would have to retrieve Darth Andeddu's holocron himself.
Making sure none of Jabba's guards were watching him, he activated the communication device.
"The Jedi report that the Hutt's son is with them," Sidious's voice trembled with barely contained anger. "You failed, Darth Tyranus."
"My lord," the Count bowed in respect. "Tatooine is securely blockaded by my forces. Even if the Jedi manage to escape with the child, they will not be able to deliver him here safely."
"If necessary — kill the Hutt," Sidious ordered. "But an alliance between the Hutts and the Republic is unacceptable!"
"As you command, my master," Dooku bowed to the fading hologram.
What a failure. Four acolytes couldn't handle the simplest tasks. If this continued, he would have to do the dirty work himself.
* * *
Dougan immediately charged at her, hacking furiously with his blade, not letting her catch her breath. Ventress spun, dodging the blows, holding back his onslaught with her last strength. The Jedi combined his swordsmanship with Force techniques and hand-to-hand combat moves. The assassin took several hits to the torso from decidedly un-Jedi-like combat gauntlets, causing something to crack in her side — the bastard had caught her ribs. But using the energy of the blow, Ventress rolled aside and jumped to her feet.
The traitor silently observed the proceedings, not even making an effort to take either side in the conflict. She was waiting...
The man, on the other hand, was pressing his opponent toward the wall. Once he deprived her of the advantage of moving in space, her days were numbered.
Stars and white spots danced before the Dathomirian's eyes; her left side stabbed with pain at every breath. She could feel with her skin that her side was wet — she most likely had an open wound at the fracture site. It was becoming painful to breathe, so instead of deep, slow breaths, she took quick, shallow ones, barely catching a couple of gulps of air.
Giving her no respite, the Jedi launched into a furious assault. The following seconds blurred into one in Ventress's mind: relying solely on instincts honed to perfection over so many years, she parried attack after attack and, by some miracle, didn't let her opponent land a killing blow.
She stopped distinguishing what was happening. The entire battle became for her only flashes of yellow and crimson blades.
Her mind understood that she wouldn't last long at this pace.
Ventress made three quick backward somersaults to break the distance. She knew she was practically backed against the wall, but she needed at least a second to catch her breath. To draw on the Force and clear her mind...
She thrust her blades forward, having separated them beforehand. Like two spears, they were meant to stop the Jedi charging toward her.
At the last moment, she saw that the Temple Guard was sliding along the floor on a trajectory slightly to her right. But she no longer had time to react.
A monstrously powerful strike from Dougan's lightsaber, which had ducked under her blades, forced her weakened arms upward, exposing her defenseless chest. Like a spinning top, the figure in black armor spun around its axis, brushing the assassin's face with a breeze.
The next instant, the yellow energy blade, with immeasurable force, pierced the thin threads of her fabric armor, burying itself in her stomach. Obeying the laws of physics, the girl's body slammed back and head against the stone arches of the monastery wall.
Her fading consciousness burned with agony. Thoughts tangled from nerve endings screaming in pain. The hole in her stomach burned unbearably. Ventress tried to pull the Dark Side of the Force toward her to dull the pain...
The Jedi's blade left her body. Weakened, broken, shattered, Ventress collapsed to the floor, releasing the blades she had constructed in the image of Count Dooku's lightsaber.
With a foggy gaze, she surveyed the figure of the victor, who had knelt before her. The Jedi, like a seasoned hunter of the gifted, used the Force to fling her lightsabers aside, eliminating the danger.
"You fought well, Ventress," the Jedi's voice reached her ears. "Under other circumstances, you could have served me excellently..."
"I don't change sides," she said in a half-whisper. She greedily clung to the last seconds of her life, absorbing the Dark Side from the hall. She needed just a little more. She would die, but this bastard would too. She just needed to spin her blades correctly...
"If you'd lived a little longer, you would have," the Jedi said confidently. "You deserve to know the truth. Dooku would have betrayed you and taken a new apprentice. Then, he would have betrayed him too. And at the end of the war, when the Count himself had played the role assigned to him in Sidious's plan, he would have gotten rid of him through a new apprentice, a former hero of the Republic, without fear or reproach." A thought exploded like a proton bomb in Ventress's agonizing brain. The realization of what her killer had just said. "But Skywalker will return to the Light. And he'll finish Sidious."
"You're lying," she wheezed. The blades were almost within her power; let him talk just a little longer... She just needed to spin them for the throw...
"I've seen it, Ventress," the Jedi smirked. "I know how it was all supposed to end. But I will change the ending of this story. The Sith, the Jedi with their eternal war of the blind and deaf — they will come to an end. I will rule this galaxy, and a new Order, unafraid of the Unified Force, will stand guard over peace and order."
"A beautiful fairy tale," the assassin smiled. She tasted blood on her lips. Time. "But you won't live to see the end..."
"Oh, I don't think so." The Jedi smiled. He rolled aside, and a pair of crimson blades embedded themselves in the wall on either side of Ventress's head. The Jedi rose to his feet, brushing the dust from his cloak.
"You could have been a fine assassin in my service," he said. Ventress felt him gathering the Force in his hands. Even through her clouded vision, she saw a huge sphere, as if made of water, forming in his palms.
"A pity it turned out this way."
* * *
Tann waited until the very end. She saw the blades Ventress had lifted into the air. But she didn't say anything.
The Jedi created a large sphere, up to half a meter in diameter, filled with the Force.
"A pity it turned out this way," he said.
That phrase seemed to act as a trigger, releasing the sphere. With a deafening roar, it shot toward Ventress...
An instant, and stone fragments sprayed in all directions. A huge section of the wall ceased to exist in that moment, revealing the virgin flora of Teth, which the two survivors could observe from a bird's-eye view.
"You didn't even warn me," the Jedi stated without turning around.
"I thought you had the situation under control," Sev'rance said, adding a touch of flattery. "You've proven you're stronger than me, but are you more cunning?"
The man smirked beneath his mask.
"Regardless of the outcome — whether I lived or died — you would have remained in the service of the Force adept most suited to the intrigues and cunning of his students," he said, as if reading the very thoughts in the girl's head.
"Exactly, my lord," the girl bowed her head. "And I am glad that you proved stronger than Dooku's assassin. It proves the Count is nothing before you..."
"No," the man rejected. "It proves that you are a two-faced bitch who needs one last lesson in your worthless life. Thrawn would be disappointed in you."
"What... I don't understand..." the girl realized in confusion that the Jedi had again used a name he shouldn't know. How? Where did he learn it?
"That's the problem," the Jedi turned to her. The girl felt a wave of cold wash over her. Her legs and arms refused to obey her. Against her will, the Force emanating from the Jedi slowly but inexorably dragged her toward the breach in the wall. "I don't need an apprentice ready to switch sides at any convenient moment."
The last thing Sev'rance saw, before her feet left the permacrete floor of the monastery, was the fantastic panorama of the purple-violet forest of Teth unfolding before her face. Approaching far too quickly...
* * *
She didn't make it.
The girl looked with an anger unworthy of a Jedi at the massive bulkhead blocking the passage to the hall where she sensed the presence of a powerful gifted one.
"Commander!" A few minutes later, ARC clones ran up to her at the hall. "We need to proceed to the ship. Nyx has almost cleared the area, Phob reports the monastery is under our control..."
"There's only one alive in there," she pointed toward the hall. "If it's not the teacher..."
As if to refute her words, the massive armored plate rose, and a painfully familiar silhouette slipped out from inside.
"Teacher!" Oli, without a shred of hesitation, rushed to hug the Jedi, whose entire posture indicated not only surprise at the welcoming committee but also utter bewilderment at the presence of those who should have left the system long ago. "I was so worried about you..."
"Uh... Alpha, what the... is going on here? You were supposed to be halfway to Tatooine by now."
"Sir, we tried," the clone spread his hands. "But she ran away from us. We even shot her with paralyzers..."
"Right... Fine, we'll talk about this later," the Jedi waved dismissively. He patted the student's head with his armored gauntlet. "Oli, I'm alive. I don't need to be resuscitated this time."
"I... I'm sorry, teacher," the girl embarrassedly detached herself from the man. "It's just that I'm so glad you survived. I felt such Darkness in there, that you were trapped."
"It's over, Oli," the man demonstratively clipped his lightsaber to his belt. "They wanted to lure me into a trap, but they fell into it themselves."
"Does that mean we can leave for Tatooine?" inquired Balda. "Your pilot droid wants to know if the Huttlet is still valuable, or if he can be thrown out the airlock."
"Oh yes, of course, he's valuable," the Jedi caught himself. "We need to leave for Tatooine immediately — our allotted time is running out. I hope someone has already reported that we have the Hutt?"
"I informed Commodore Pellaeon," Alpha-17 announced. "He said he would relay it to the Temple."
"Splendid," the Jedi praised. "Let's finish this mission and get back to pressing matters as soon as possible."
"As you command, sir," the clones synchronously pounded their fists against their chest plates.
The Jedi and his student started toward the landing pad when the man stopped, slapping his forehead on the faceplate of his helmet.
"Almost forgot," he touched his vambrace, activating the holoprojector built into the wrist comm. "Commodore Pellaeon!"
"General! Good to see you!"
"The feeling is mutual. How are things in orbit?"
"We've destroyed most of the Sep fleet. Two ships are seriously damaged, but the overall results are in our favor."
"Excellent! I need the planet's surface scanned. I'm interested in one of the stone pillars. The top part looks like a tooth eaten by cavities."
Gilad chuckled at the humor in the statement. Then he snapped to attention, hands clasped behind his back.
"Scouts have already been dispatched, General."
"Excellent! There's an ancient Hutt's tomb on that pillar. I want to know as soon as you find it. End transmission."
Dismissing the hologram, the Jedi turned to the clones standing frozen behind him.
"Balda, you'll lead the search for the Hutt's tomb."
"Yes, sir. Only... what do we need it for?"
"According to my information, there's something there that will make the Hutts cooperate with us on our terms."
* * *
"Most esteemed Lord Jabba the Hutt," Dooku's mentor-like voice penetrated the Hutt's auditory openings like sweet poison. "I have come with a warning."
The arrogant slug spoke in his barbaric language. Dooku waited until the Hutt had relayed his words to the translator droid. Like all Hutts, Jabba knew Basic. But he demonstrated his superiority over those assembled by delivering his messages through a machine.
"Esteemed Jabba is interested in what you wish to warn him about."
"I have discovered that the Jedi are behind the kidnapping of your son." The last words were met with an outcry from the servants and henchmen gathered in the Hutt's hall. The slug himself looked unperturbed. He grumbled something in response.
"Lord Jabba wishes to know where Count Dooku gets such information. The Jedi volunteered to help find his little dumpling."
Dooku suppressed an untimely smirk.
"It is in the interests of the corrupt Republic. They kidnapped your son. They themselves led the search. And they themselves will deliver him to you. To gain concessions from the Hutt Council, permission to travel through Hutt Space."
Jabba interrupted the former Jedi, once again filling the chamber with his low, repulsive voice.
"Lord Jabba is not interested in the Count Dooku's conjectures and assumptions," the droid clarified. "Present proof."
"Proof?" Dooku felt insulted. "An entire Jedi fleet is currently moving toward Tatooine. Is an entire fleet really necessary to deliver a single child to his father? They bombed a monastery, similar to this one, just to cover the tracks of their villainy. Meanwhile, the Jedi leading them — Rick Dougan — is a known butcher. He conquered Christophsis, Ukio, forcing their peoples to serve him against their will. He made them slaves and will try to do the same to you, great Jabba. Allow my fleet to deal with the Republic forces in Tatooine's orbit and..."
Jabba suddenly roared upon hearing the Sith's last proposal.
"The master does not wish for armed ships in his orbit. If the Jedi arrive with a fleet, the mighty Jabba will crush them..."
Bowing submissively before the Hutt, Dooku could not hide his smile.