Clouded by the Dark Side

Chapter 16 - Off to the Rescue

Hopefully no one minds too much that Grievous is dead. :D It seemed like a pretty fair fight to me, one that he couldn't very reasonably be expected to win. Aniya will never be as good as Anakin, but she's still close. :> Besides, we really wanted Aniya to actually make some lasting impact on the war, and this seemed like the best option. Even if Grievous had survived, because of the arcs we're planning to include, he wouldn't have been around much anyway... And finally, it only seemed fair to the Republic to kill off Grievous, because soon the Separatists are going to get a far more deadly ally... =) 

~ Tirana Sorki

Warning: Mentions/implied child abuse! (Not in this chapter, though. :P)

~ Amina Gila

Aniya Skywalker

The four of us stand together, watching as the ship streaks out of hyperspace and a planet comes into view. It's mostly blue, clearly a water planet, and white clouds hang densely over the surface below. Aayla's cruiser is not far from us and already is very badly damaged from the Separatist forces surrounding it. We should have gotten here earlier. It's going to be a very difficult rescue.

"Prepare the gunships!" Anakin orders, spinning around.

Moments later, we find ourselves in the hanger boarding into gunships. Anakin, Rex, and Ahsoka get into one while Appo, Alema, and I climb into another right beside it. As the gunships take off, I see super battle droids flying off from Aayla's cruiser, flying up at us as they open fire.

The gunships swerve, attempting to avoid being struck by the blasterfire. Across from us, a droid lands on the roof of Anakin's gunship. He jumps out a second later, grabbing onto another droid and plunging down toward the ship. Of course. That'll be a dramatic entrance, to be sure. Except I don't know how smart a move that is.

One of the blasts strikes the gunship I'm in, sending it spiraling down towards the cruiser below. It's probably better anyway. We need to get there. Right away. Ahsoka seems to be having the same luck not far away. The thin atmosphere is being flooded with smoke from the burning ships, and I grip the side to keep my balance and avoid slipping over the edge.

"Oh, great," Alema exclaims sarcastically. "This is my favorite type of landing."

"Crashing is not landing," I quote Ahsoka, smirking.

"True enough, Skygirl," she replies as the gunship crashes through the top of the cruiser. I leap out, igniting my lightsaber before hitting the ground. Alema jumps out behind me along with the rest of the clones. The ground vibrates as the other gunship crashes. Ahsoka, Rex, and the others dash up behind us as the surrounding area starts catching fire from the impact.

"C'mon, boys," I call over my shoulder, taking off down the hallway. Anakin is not far from us, and I can sense Aayla just slightly farther. We've made good time. I can only hope it stays that way.

A group of droids comes into view, and I lunge forwards, cutting the first droid in half as Alema covers the clones. Ahsoka darts forwards, ducking a bolt and cutting off the droid's hand before chopping it in half. We slice through a few more before Anakin finally joins up with me. He stabs his lightsaber through the droid, throwing it down the hall into a bunch more. They fall to the ground amidst a serious of clangs, revealing Aayla and a few of her clones.

"Nice entrance, Skywalkers," she nods as we run forwards to catch up.

"We specialize in entrances," I offer.

"How do you plan to get us out of this mess?" she inquires as we run down the hall – she, Anakin, and I in front – destroying all the droids as we go. The padawans are just a step behind, the clones at the rear.