Hunting and Hunted

Another part to my Star Wars fanfiction. I really should properly name it. Ah, Whatever. Enjoy folks

Hunting and Hunted

The apprentice ignited one end of his saberstaff, the red blade pointed at the Padawan at his feet. This would be his second Jedi kill in less than an hour. His master would be extremely proud. He’d be one step closer to learning more, to becoming more powerful and be all that closer to attaining the title of Sith Lord for himself.

But all that came to a sudden halt. The artificial lighting of the hanger lit back up, draining power from the backup generator. All around them, battle droids poured in, their blasters at the ready.

“An impressive feat, Sith Apprentice.” The partially robotic voice came from a large, hunched figure.

“General Grevious, I presume,” said the apprentice. Grevious coughed in response.

“I was sent here to do something you couldn’t, General,” continued the apprentice, shifting his stance to face the cyborg as well as still hold his red lightsaber at the Padawan’s neck.

“You destroyed my facility,” replied Grevious angrily.

“Unlike you, I follow orders. And I don’t constantly screw up,” shot back the apprentice. “We’re on the same side General, and I’ve already completed my mission. So how about I just leave without causing you more damage?”

Grevious let out a noise that sounded like a mixture of a growl and exhaling. “Kill them,” he commanded. Before the droids gave their usual ‘Roger, Roger’, the apprentice pressed a button on his wrist panel, triggering the explosives he had planted earlier inside the reactor core. The building shook violently, toppling droids over. The apprentice leapt, avoiding the tremor at his feet and ignited the other end of his lightsaber, as he cut a swathe through the small army of droids. Jenna, the Padawan, retrieved her weapon and assaulted the droids on her side. Soon both duelists found themselves fighting the droids back to back.

“This doesn’t mean anything,” yelled the Padawan over blaster fire. “I’m still going to kill you.”

“Oh, so you just need my support the deal with the droids?” asked the apprentice in a mocking tone.

“Be quiet and help me destroy Grevious.”

“You want to take him on?! He’ll kill you for sure.”

“You Sith are all cowards.”

“Don’t mistake survival instincts for cowardice. Our sense of self-preservation is why we lasted this long.” As they spoke more droids fell to their lightsaber skills.

“Besides,” continued the apprentice. “I want you to live and become a Master. There is no glory is slaying a Padawan.”

“You’re despicable and I shall kill you,” she roared as she took out her rage on the droid closest to her.

“Him first,” said the apprentice, pointing at General Grevious. The cyborg had removed his tattered cloak and clutched four lightsabers in each of his arms. Having destroyed the last of the droids, both apprentice and Padawan clashed with him, flanking his sides. But they were tired from their previous battles, and this dulled their powers. The apprentice spun his saberstaff and, with a stroke of luck, his assault managed to cut through one of the General’s arms. He blocked a blade aimed for the Padawan’s neck and together they managed to destroy another of the cyborg’s weapons. Grevious kicked the Padawan away and launched an assault against the apprentice. Using one of his damaged arms, he stabbed at the long handle of the saberstaff, damaging one of the emitters. One lightsabers which constructed the lightsaber staff began fluctuating wildly, forcing the apprentice to switch it off and discard it. Reduced to one weapon, he blocked the General’s offence, allowing for Jenna to sneak behind the cyborg. Her slash damaged his spine mechanism and the cyborg’s mobility became more rigid. With a particularly vicious swing he knocked the apprentice down and stomped on him with one large claw-like foot. Using the Force, the apprentice managed to knock one of the General’s remaining lightsabers away from him, sending the unignited hilt sailing over to the other side of the hanger. Enraged, the cyborg stomped on the apprentice again and extended his foot claws, pinning the apprentice underneath him. Turning to face Jenna, the cyborg parried a strike and knocked the Padawan’s weapon away. He grabbed her by the neck and thrust his remaining lightsaber through her chest.

“Die now, Jedi scum,” he wheezed. Jenna’s eyes met the apprentice as she died. He could see the plea for help in her eyes before they slowly rolled into the back of her head. The apprentice squirmed wildly, trying the lift the General’s weight off of his chest. That look would haunt him forever. He suddenly was overwhelmed with the need to help her, to somehow preserve her life. But his Sith training had instilled in him only anger and hate, never compassion. Whilst the apprentice was having the beginning of an internal conflict, Grevious discarded her lifeless body away and grabbed her lightsaber.

“A nice addition to my collection. Three lightsabers in one day,” he commented. That did it! The way Grevious had discarded her body, like it was a useless piece of junk, the way he claimed that beautiful lavender lightsaber for himself. It was a thing of pure beauty and a monster such as Grevious did not deserve to touch it, much less hold it. And then there was the fact that Grevious turned his attention to the apprentice underneath his foot. The apprentice was confused by all these emotions welling up in him, unsure how to channel them, but he had final found a familiar feeling: self-preservation.

“Collect this,” snarled the apprentice. He grabbed the leg pinning him down and unleashed all the lightning he could muster. Telekinetically he tugged on the joint screw on the cyborg’s hip, exposing the delicate mechanism. He thrust his lightsaber in the cyborg’s hip, separating the leg from the rest of the bizarre creature. He used the force to throw the heavy appendage at the cyborg, toppling him over. Scrambling to his feet, the apprentice bolted towards the only upright starship and climbed into it. He was soon flying away, before his ship got hit. But he managed to put more and more distance between him and the cyborg despot.

He hit the intercom on his wrist. “Master. The mission was a success. I have encountered two Jedi and slew the Master. General Grevious killed the Padawan. The General and I had an altercation and my ship is damaged.”

“Most impressive,” replied his Master. “You have done me proud, my apprentice.” The communication ended. The apprentice let out a sigh. He had managed. He was tired and injured, had only one functioning lightsaber whilst the other hung uselessly in his robes, and his ship was damaged. But despite all that he still managed to succeed.

A figure stood under the rain and lightning, his heavy cloak and armor shielding him from the moisture. As the ship flew above him, he unleashed a bolt of lightning, catching the ship. The pilot would believe he was unfortunate enough to be struck by natural lightning. The ship spun wildly out of control before crashing behind a mountain in a billow of smoke.