The Rise of the Valkyrie *ON HIATUS*

Chapter Fifty

Sneaking past the droids was easy enough to do. It was also easy to find where Hondo was since we had a couple of guides to lead us through the stronghold. There were two droids standing guard, and Ashara didn't even give them a chance to react before she leapt forward and cut them in half. As she approached the door, it opened automatically, and she was given the image of Hondo hanging from a contraption similar to the one she had been in earlier.

"Ashara", he said softly. "And here I thought you had managed to escape."

Ashara rolled her eyes. "Believe it or not, we need you to get off this stinking rock. Or more like, we need your private fleet because someone shot our ship down."

The larger weequay in the room shrugged, not really apologizing for it. She gave a sarcastic smile to Hondo.

 "So yeah, the Jedi you help captive earlier today is here to rescue you."

Hondo chuckled. "Someone let it slip that I have a private fleet, eh? And why should I help you?"

Ashara folded her arms and glared at him. "Because if you don't, then I'll leave you here to rot until Count Dooku finally decide that one, you're of use to him, or two, he decides to kill you. And I'm betting he isn't even thinking of the first one. So I believe it's in your best interest to help us."

Hondo laughed. "Still as silvertongued as last time, I see. Maybe even more so. I like it."

Ashara grimaced, her glare increasing tenfold. Hondo continued talking. "It doesn't matter anyway. Grievous' army is way too big. We'll never get out without being killed."

Ashara rolled her eyes. "You forget that you have nine Jedi with you today, all equipped with lightsabers."

"The younglings have finished creating their lightsabers?" Hondo asked in surprise. "Let Hondo see, yeah?"

Five of the six younglings revealed their lightsabers, each with either a green or blue blade. Katooni was the only one not able to finish it.

"And you child?" Hondo asked, looking at Katooni. "Where is your saber?"

"It's not finished", Katooni said. "I never finished it. I've done everything right, but it won't work."

Huyang spoke up. "You must trust that the components that form your lightsaber are meant to be together. There is no other way. It is the force that binds them."

Hondo cut in. "Yes, I was just going to say that. Finish it now. Finish, finish! This is worth the price of a ship. To see the construction of a Jedi lightsaber.  This... this is priceless. Finish it, and together, we can defeat Grievous!"

Ashara smiled and rolled her eyes, knowing that that was the only way to get Hondo to help. Appear to be mutually beneficial, and then offer him something that he can't resist. Katooni got to work, and Hondo's face just filled with awe as she used the force to put the lightsaber together. She finished it and grabbed it, standing up as she turned it on.

"Well cut me down, little Jedi", Hondo said. "It's time to leave."

Katooni did as he said, and he smiled gratefully at the young girl. Ashara saw a bit of care in the old weequays eyes, as he looked at the youngling, and she wondered if they had somehow formed a connection.

Ashara watched as Ahsoka approached Hondo. "So why the big show?" she asked. "You know that we have to work together."

"Because Jedi, what we are about to do is very dangerous", he said. "And I may be a pirate but I do not like taking children into battle."

Ashara looked away at that comment. That was something she and Hondo shared. She would do anything to be able to get the younglings away from the battlefield, but she knew that they needed them at that moment. And there was no way to get them out of the battle anyway. So she was just glad that they were armed, even if they were still learning how to use their blades. 

"That didn't seem to bother you when you attacked us", Ahsoka pointed out.

"Well today is a new day, and lucky for you, I am a new man", Hondo said. "Now let's free the rest of my men."

They all hurried out and began opening doors to let the weequays imprisoned there out. Ashara was grateful that they had a bigger group to be fighting with but she knew many of these weequays would not survive.

The large group made their way out of the prison area, attacking any droids that they saw. Ashara saw Petro take one out that was talking to General Grievous over a holo-comm, and her eyes widened.

"We need to get out, NOW! Grievous knows we're here", she called out. The group listened and they rushed to the front door, just as they started shooting. Rubble fell down from the walls as they got outside. Ashara saw hundreds of droids waiting for them. She quickly stormed them, cutting them down one after another, causing a considerable amount of damage to their forces. She used the force to push some of them down, and they didn't get back up again. She started attacking the tanks, cutting her lightsabers through them so they exploded. She got past the last few droids and was greeted by General Grievous.

She saw that the others had managed to get over to the speeders and she looked over to Ahsoka and Teriko, who were waiting for her.

"GET OUT OF HERE!" she screamed at them. "I'll catch up."

Part of her knew that it was unlikely that she would, but if it got the younglings away from danger, she was willing to make that sacrifice. She smirked at the General.

"I believe it's been a while since we've been able to dance, General", she said tauntingly, remembering the last few times she faced off against Grievous. The cyborg chuckled menacingly.

"It has been, Jedi", he snarled, and leapt forward. She blocked his sabers with hers, and pushed him backward. She tried to swing at both his sides, but he blocked with two lightsabers. They were fairly evenly matched, and she knew she was only stalling the inevitable. She leapt backward, and let her blades fade away. 

"I surrender", she said softly. "But only if you call your droids off of my friends."

Grievous hesitated, unsure of if it was a trick or not. He ended up accepting it anyway, and Ashara turned her blades over to a droid that was nearby. She watched as a few droids returned to the pirate stronghold, and not that long later, a ship took off into the atmosphere. It came close to her, but she opened up a mind-link to Teriko.

'You need to leave. Get the younglings to safety. I'll be okay.'

'But master!' he exclaimed through the link, but she stopped him there.

'No buts, Teriko. This is a direct order. You must leave now.'

She could feel Teriko's frustration, but he didn't argue, and soon the ship left the atmosphere, becoming a tiny dot until she couldn't see it anymore. She felt the presence of the eight Jedi leave the atmosphere, leaving her alone, in the hands of the separatists.