Chapter Twenty-Four
"Be careful! Cortosis enhanced armor is lightsaber resistant!" Ahsoka heard her Master's voice before seeing him, and when she finally did manage to jump over a ledge made out of the broken side of the Jedi's hangar, she came upon a scene of hell. "Their weakness is a small point where their armor plates have been forged together!" her Master was in the middle of the hangar, lifting a spaceship. He...kind of made the point of telling their weaknesses null by lifting a starship and throwing it on their heads, "Or massive blunt force! Both work," he added to a nearby Jedi padawan, who looked up at him with wide eyes, "But be careful not to throw anything out of the hangar. There might be people down below!"
Meanwhile, a few steps further General Grievous was fighting against Master Kenobi, and Knight Skywalker was nowhere in sight. A couple of Jedi Padawan were hastily deflecting a few bolts, but they had the disadvantage both in numbers and in skills.
Knight Darra was there too, however. She rushed through the hangar with swift jumps and graceful motions, striking down droid after droid and deflecting or dodging the blows sent in her direction. Knight Ferus followed her, lifting and throwing a couple she missed, or striking a few down himself. As more droids neared the scared padawan group, Ahsoka brought a foot forward as if to descend, but then stopped.
She didn't have a mastery of the lightsaber strong enough to strike from down below, but from where she was-
"Very well," Ahsoka whispered, carefully concentrating as both of her lightsabers began to float in front of her. "Concentrate."
Mister Fluffles meowed on her shoulder as she lifted both hands, feeling the Force ripple and thrum through herself. She closed her eyes, and felt the Force rush through the air. She waved a hand in front of her, and both lightsabers departed like missiles striking true at the weakness between the plates of two different droids.
Then the lightsabers spun in the air, and struck at two other, and two more. She opened her eyes with firm resolution, and realized Mister Fluffles had jumped down to grip a lightsaber in his mouth and charge ahead, lighting it along the way.
There was, in her eyes, a cute and tabby orange-striped cat rushing with his mouth filled with a lightsaber at an enemy droid through the hangar. To the others it probably looked as if the lightsaber was floating by herself, and now it was clear how her Master expected her to work. Gathering her concentration, she knew what to do. Her two floating lightsabers began to attack in tandem, creating openings in the droids that Mister Fluffles used with devastating success, slicing them neatly in half, or breaking them apart with a half-choked meow of the Force.
She could feel the thrumming power of the Force stronger than ever, coming from her Master's body. He was like a whirlpool, and the more Force was used, the more it emerged. The more it greedily consumed, the more it generously spat out. A whirlpool that did not eat, but simply spun around.
She felt like a tiger lapping at the water to refresh herself, and as her lightsabers began to spin faster, she realized she wasn't the only one.
The ancient technique of Battle Meditation.
The Cheshire Cat was there, how could she have missed him? He was standing cross legged, four Akul-like arms out and in a meditative pose, and as he concentrated, the Droids' aim came slightly less, the Padawan's deflections became slightly better. Calm and peace poured out as the Force changed direction to bend to the will of the Cheshire Cat and, by consequence, to that of her master.
She grinned as the last droid that could menace the padawan group fell, and then she finally jumped down from her vantage point, using the Force to cushion her fall.
"Are you all right?" she asked, receiving a few nods in reply. "Then, let's go help the others."
With another, firmer nod, the Padawan lifted their lightsabers and charged with screams of bolster, standing right behind Ahsoka who led the charge, twin lightsabers in hand as the third floated slightly in front of her -Mister Fluffles had learned to wield the weapon with his right paw, and was now roughly humanoid-sized.
He was still cute, though.
She jumped past a Spider-Droid that Mister Fluffles cut through the crimson eye-stalk, while around her the Padawan began to disperse to take care of the lone remaining battle-droids.
"We need to help Master Kenobi!" Ahsoka heard Knight Darra yell.
"He's on it already!" Ferus replied, and Ahsoka's gaze snapped to where her Master was, overlooking the situation and nodding to himself. The next moment, he barked an order to the Cheshire Cat in that language of his he sometimes slipped into, and that she couldn't understand. The Cheshire Cat did understand however, and stopped the meditation. The battle for the hangar was already won, but apparently more than a few Assassin Droids had made their way inside the temple.
Her Master lifted both hands, and three lightsabers slipped out of his sleeves as he began to near General Grievous. Ahsoka blinked as the Cheshire Cat's paw grabbed four more, and then
two more, one with the mouth and the other with the tail. Mister Fluffles looked at the single lightsaber in his right paw, then back at the Cheshire Cat with an affronted expression, as if comparing.
"He's had years of practice," Ahsoka muttered under her breath to Mister Fluffles. "You don't have to worry about that."
Mister Fluffles meowed in reply, his ears twitching.
Nine lightsabers lit up and began to spin as her Master crossed his arms into his sleeves and took a deep breath to concentrate. The hurricane of lights shone around him, and Master Kenobi felt it, because the next moment he jumped back, much to Grievous' surprise.
The Droid general looked around, and once he found the reason for Obi-Wan's swift escape, he balked for just a second. A second was all her Master needed. Three lightsabers sped up to near-impossible speeds in a piercing motion, which Grievous dodged just barely, bringing his four lightsabers up to deflect a crushing blow of four more that would have sent him reeling backwards if not for the magnetic feet hooking with the platform -which two lightsabers cut immediately around him, making him suddenly lose his balance.
"GAAAH!" Grievous screamed, and jumped just barely out of the way of the four lightsabers, just as the first three thrown returned back. Each lightsaber struck at different intervals, the Cheshire Cat spinning in mid-air above Grievous, and then below, and then to his side, and then running around him like a pack of feral dogs eager for prey. Grievous fell down on one knee under the barrage of light, which only his four arms had -till then- managed to hold back.
Ahsoka watched as if hypnotized the battle, which was less of a battle and more of an overpowering one-sided carnage. She could feel her blood boil and thrum, and her hands itched with the desire to fight herself. Her Master's demeanor changed briefly all of a sudden, and his left hand slipped out of his sleeve and rose in front of him, as the lightsabers stopped attacking Grievous all of a sudden.
The Cyborg-General was panting hard through his metallic mask. His yellow eyes shone with hatred and disgust. He tried to stand, and Ahsoka briefly counted the lightsabers -eight? Was one missing? Where had it gone?-
"Jedi! I am not defeated yet!" Grievous roared, extending his limbs to attack.
Her Master sighed. Her Master sighed, and lifted his right hand.
"Now, Qymaen," he spoke, and as he spoke Grievous eyes widened in disbelief, "it is time for you to die." The ninth lightsaber lit back up from where it had disappeared, right behind Grievous' back. It struck him in the chest, and as Grievous gazed at the blade of plasma burning through his insides, he could not even breathe. "Ronderu is waiting for you on the other side, Qymaen," her Master said crisply as he looked straight into Grievous' eyes, haunted by something her Master knew, but Ahsoka could not comprehend. "Don't make her wait."
And all eight lightsabers struck at Grievous' limbs, chest, heart, brain, and as her Master brought both hands back together under his sleeves, nothing but chopped pieces of Cyborg fell on the ground, fuming and melting from the combined heat of nine lightsabers. The nine lightsabers then spun in the air and unlit themselves, disappearing back into her Master's sleeves, clipping themselves to the belts placed within and hidden from view.
"We must hurry," her Master said suddenly, looking at Master Kenobi. "They
never would have sacrificed their great general for no reason."
"He was without his Magnaguards," Master Kenobi replied as she drew near.
Ahsoka had more than a few things to say to her master, ranging from squealing at his moves against Grievous to arguing about just what the hell was wrong with him having her talk with a Jedi Master that disliked him. Seriously! And manipulating her...was he really doing it or not? She had so many questions that-
"Darra, Ferus," her Master said, "free the blockage. The Temple should already be in high alert. Bring the young ones somewhere safe and make sure the padawan don't go around alone. Don't split the party," he locked eyes with her, "Ahsoka, go with them."
"What- Didn't you just see what I did master-"
"Ahsoka, Count Dooku is inside the temple, and if he's willing to go to such lengths, I fear he might have something planned of terrifying. So go with the other padawans before you lose more than just your hand by disobeying me again," her Master replied harshly, and Ahsoka took a step back in surprise. She bit her lower lip and nodded.
"Good," her Master turned. "Obi-Wan? Let's go."
And with that, her Master rushed away from her before she could even say something else.
"Let's go," Knight Darra said, "You were great with those floating lightsabers by the way!" she added the next moment, her bubbly personality coming back. "Did Night teach you the trick to it?"
Ahsoka nodded slowly, looking at Mister Fluffles who had meanwhile reverted back to the cute little kitten she knew of, lightsaber fallen and rolling away from her. It probably belonged to a dead Padawan. Now that the battle was over, she could see with more clarity the battlefield around them. The Separatists had arrived through Clone troop transports belonging to the five hundred and first -they must have acquired a few or fabricated them- and they had attacked with the element of surprise.
How they had obtained the codes to pass off as the five hundred and first however, that was something she couldn't understand. And her Master's words did ring true. Where had General Grievous' magnaguards been? He'd never go anywhere this risky without them. Frankly, a Cortosis-enhanced Magnaguard would have been a nightmare to face.
The High Council too, was missing from the scene. A couple were on missions without a doubt, but what about the others? Master Yoda especially, he was supposedly in the Temple, wasn't he?
Her Master had been in the hangar.
He had been in the hangar because he was probably grabbing a speeder or a ship. So no, Yoda wasn't at the temple, but...somewhere else on Coruscant. The thoughts drifted one after the other forming a chain that made sense.
"Elementary, Watson," Ahsoka whispered as she stopped in front of the wreckage that had to be moved aside with the Force. The High Council was somewhere else, and Dooku had chosen that moment to strike a devastating blow to the Republic. How he had known of the High Council's movement was anyone's guess, but right there and then, there was no High Council in the Temple, and with the Jedi spread thin as they were...there probably were just a handful of knights, a lot of young ones, and...and her Master had spoken of the Sickbay as if to intend that if he were delivering such an attack, he'd aim for the weak ones.
Ahsoka, Darra and Ferus brought their hands forward to shift the wreckage away, and once they did, they came upon a spectacle of hell.
Something had battled across the corridors, coming in through holes in the walls from the side of the temple. They had come in, and they had proceeded to enact a slaughter out of a horror film -not that Ahsoka had ever seen a horror film, but it took her mind away from the carnage in front of her. A hand to her mouth, Ahsoka gasped and held her breakfast in her stomach. Some padawans weren't that lucky.
"Be on the lookout and proceed," Ferus said, lightsaber once more drawn. Ahsoka nodded and drew her two. A third one rolled from the ground to her belt, courtesy of Mister Fluffles. The dead...the dead wouldn't need it.
They stepped past the carnage, keeping their eyes and ears alert for the tiniest of noises or sounds.
Sound of lightsaber battling soon reached their ears, and like a single man the entire group sped up to reach the source of the noise. In the dining hall, Cortosis-Enhanced Magnaguards were battling a few Jedi Knights. The Jedi temple's grounds trembled abruptly, making Ahsoka nearly lose her footing.
"Go! Get the initiates out of here!" Ferus barked an order to the other Padawans, gesturing for them to proceed further ahead of the dining hall, before throwing himself into the fray. "Aim for the plate joints!" he yelled to the Jedi in the mess hall before striking one Magna Guard and cutting it half neatly in the back.
Ahsoka took a step forward to help, but then remembered her Master's words and rushed with the rest of the Padawan towards the initiates' rooms. Along the way, she changed course to the sickbay and ran inside, lightsaber drawn.
A Magnaguard turned to look at her, a second before slamming his electrified staff into the heart of the Jedi Healer, wounded and on the floor, her breathing hard.
Mister Fluffles meowed his battle cry, and charged ahead with firm eyes. The Magnaguard spun his electro-staff, and deflected the lightsaber attack with ease. Ahsoka charged next, both lightsabers striking at the thing. The weak point of the Magnaguard was on their backs, since they had smaller chests than the B2 battle-types. Mister Fluffles meowed from behind it and delivered an uppercut that wounded the droid, but did not halt its advance with spinning staff on Ahsoka, who gasped as one side of it struck her in the stomach, driving her down on one knee as electricity ran through every pore of her skin.
The Magnaguard spun the staff and readied itself for another strike, but just as it was coming down a burst of force sent it to tumble against an unoccupied bed, as the Jedi Healer coughed loudly, the twi'lek's body wracked in coughs at the effort. Her left hand then dropped limp by the side of her body. Ahsoka pounced on the occasion, and before the Magnaguard could stand up, sliced its back ferociously, destroying it in the process.
"M-Master Che," Ahsoka said, gasping for air as she neared the Twi'lek, "Master Che?"
"I...I will require medical attention...but not...not until..." Vokara Che whispered as her strength came less, "There are others...need treatment...I...Oh, so much to do...so, so much to do..." her eyes closed as she brought a hand up towards the infirmary's light, and then dropped it down. Ahsoka ground her teeth and lifted Master Che by the shoulder. She wasn't a healer, but she knew how to throw a limp body into an empty bacta tank. She connected the respirator and then let the tank do its job. Even if she wasn't going to get better, at least she wasn't going to get worst.
Some tanks had been broken, and the Jedi within were either dying or already dead. Those she could save, she hurried into other, intact tanks. Those she couldn't...she closed their eyes and held her breath as she moved on.
Another explosion rocked the Temple, and this time it was followed by the sound of blaster fire. Had the cavalry finally arrived, or were these just more reinforcements? Seriously, just how longer was the security of Coruscant going to wait before coming to help? Were they thinking they were having a barbecue with the smoke and the fires?
Ahsoka stepped outside the infirmary and took one last breath to gather and center herself. At the sound of rushing feet, she lifted her lightsabers, ready to fight, but dropped the stance once she saw it was Master Ki-Adi-Mundi with a squad of Clone Troopers. Exhaling in relief, Ahsoka dropped down on her knees and then pushed her back against the wall.
The Jedi Master neared her with concern, but she shook her head with a grimace on her face. "Master, I-Here I did all that I could. The Padawans went for the young ones...they need your help more than I do."
Ki-Adi-Mundi nodded, gazed inside with just one quick glimpse, and then rushed forward. A Clone trooper remained behind to treat her wounds -another nasty burn where the Electro-staff had struck her- and then after a nod proceeded leaving her alone in the hallway of the attacked Jedi Temple.
Ahsoka rested her head and looked outside the window to the city of Coruscant, the traffic going on as always, as if they didn't realize, or didn't care, that the Jedi Temple had been attacked, as if they were in a bubble away from time and space, out of touch and thus out of the need for concern.
She closed her eyes, and gasped as a flow of power rushed through her veins, power and hatred so thick it made her groan and bolt straight back up. She clenched her fists and snapped her gaze back to the corridor. She needed to reach the Jedi Archives. She knew her Master was there. She knew her Master was there, and she knew he was angry.
And his anger was so strong, it made her growl and show her teeth as she began to first walk, holding the side of the wall, and then run ahead, fists clenched and Mister Fluffles rushing by her side. Yet Mister Fluffles looked positively feral, more of a Tiger than a cat.
Let it go~ Let it go~
"Gah!" Ahsoka stumbled on her next step as Mister Fluffles ended up loosing his footing and rolling into a ball of fur before hitting a nearby wall. Her Master's tone-deaf voice had reached her all the way through the bond, and it had broken the loop of anger that she had seemingly fallen into. Mister Fluffles meowed in sympathy as he unrolled himself from his conundrum, while Ahsoka realized she had reached the Archive's entrance...or what little remained of them.
Her Master was inside, but now was no longer angry. If anything, he felt spent and tired. She dreaded to look inside, and was stopped by Master Kenobi stepping out and looking at her in surprise. He looked...kind of singed. He lifted a hand and shook his head at her. "Not now," he whispered. Ahsoka looked at the hand, looked at Master Kenobi, who was a Jedi Master, and should be respected, and then she decided to hell with it and she rushed past him and stepped inside.
The smell of scorched flesh and ozone hung thick in the air as a nearby wall seemed to have been subjected to a lightning storm, which charred, still fuming bodies attached to the walls.
Her Master's lightsabers were cut or broken, and while a few still looked serviceable, a few more had made a poor end. Her Master, however, wasn't moving from a spot he was on. He was cradling a small corpse, that of a child.
It wasn't the only corpse in the room. It did look to be the
only corpse of such an age, but she couldn't be sure.
"M-Master?" Ahsoka said.
"There is no emotion," her Master replied in a soft, hushed whisper. "There is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no Death, there is the Force," his left hand touched the boy's young forehead, and the body disappeared in a flash of light, soon followed by all the bodies of the other dead. Her Master exhaled and looked up at the floating lights, which carefully flickered out one after the other. He then stood up very slowly, and turned to look at her. His eyes were red, and kind-of puffy.
"Master, what did you..."
"They are now one with the Force," her Master replied in a hushed tone. "It was the least I could do...but
her," his right hand moved to a charred corpse that still clung to the wall, "Oh how I wish I didn't have the training of Master Yoda to hold me back, or I'd take her soul, and grind it through endless agony until she snaps into a neverending madness, and then bring her back from the precipice to start again, sew her mouth shut so that she may not scream, and keep at it, again and again, until she pays for everything she has done and everything she would have done, and everything she did, but...but I won't," her Master pushed a hand against his face, and wiped the tears away. "I won't, because I'm better than her."
Ahsoka looked at the charred corpse. She doubted the owner of said corpse was still alive, but if her master said he could rip her soul out...somehow, she was inclined to believe him.
"This has been a proving day, Ahsoka," her Master said as he began to draw near, "I'm sorry, but I really think I'll need to meditate for the remainder of it."
Ahsoka tried to open her mouth, but he shook his head before she could even speak.
"Alone."
And with that, her Master stepped outside and walked away. Ahsoka looked down at the floor, and carefully bent down to pick what looked like a Padawan braid. She gingerly touched it with her fingers, and a sad expression spread across her face.
Her Master was soft with kids.
A kid had died.
Her Master had given in to the Dark Side.
Obi-Wan had probably seen it all happen, but he'd keep quiet about it. If anything, she suspected Obi-Wan understood.
Then again...if she had been there...wouldn't she had done the same, in the end?
AN: during the last ten or so lines, this music came up in the mix I usually listen to. Strangely fitting, isn't it?
