Trial of the Times

Chapter 40 - The Lion's Den - Rewritten

The Sith home world of Korriban isn't much to look at from space. It seems as dry and desolate as Tatooine in Anakin's opinion. "Appo, have your men cover us," Anakin orders over the commlink. "We're going in."

"Yes, sir," Appo replies briskly. "You heard the General! Prepare for a forward assault and defend the ships."

Anakin tightens his grip on the controls of the shuttle, Ahsoka sitting next to him in the co-pilot's seat. He's so grateful that they brought the entire 501st Legion with them when they left Coruscant, since it means that they have all the necessary supplies for an extended space battle. In addition to his three Star Destroyers, they have support from four more Separatist cruisers which have plenty of vulture droids to help.

It's been four days since Sidious attacked them on Serenno, and Anakin fears that they may be too late. It's not impossible that the Sith Lord himself has already escaped, leaving the others behind. Scans indicated that there are many lifeforms on the planet near one of the abandoned Sith Temples, so it is there that Anakin and the others assume Sidious is hiding. After sending a scout ahead, they took shuttles equipped with proper shielding and weapons before setting out for Korriban.

While the four of them are located on one ship along with a number of battle droids, the clones split into three main groups. One, under Appo, is being the air defense to allow them to safely land with minimal resistance. Rex and Fives are each leading a group to the surface which will be joining them in their ground assault. The final showdown is about to begin.

"They're sending vulture droids out to attack us, Master," warns Ahsoka.

"I can see that, Snips," he replies, swerving violently to avoid the blaster fire before plunging down to the planet's surface.

"If you could please try to avoid crashing or getting us killed, that would be appreciated," Obi-Wan calls from the hold, where he's shooting at their pursuers. "And don't forget that Count Dooku isn't exactly the most likely candidate to... appreciate your maneuvers."

"Just saving our lives again, Master," Anakin quips back, diving so suddenly that Ahsoka nearly yelps with surprise.

Three of the vulture droids behind them explode in balls of fire as Obi-Wan scores direct hits. Free of immediate pursuit, Anakin focuses on finding a suitable landing place as quickly as possible. The ruins of the Sith Temple loom ahead of him in the valley as the ship flies low over the surface to minimize risk of detection. Anakin swerves, coming around to land on a small plateau which provides enough shielding to hopefully protect them from any air attacks.

The ramp opens, and they all disembark, standing outside the ship and looking towards the Temple where Sidious is hiding. "I can see why you're considered a good pilot, Skywalker, but I'm impressed you're still alive to talk about it," Dooku comments after a moment, expression bordering on amused.

Anakin grins at him. Teasing right before battle always serves to steady his nerves, and now is no different. It's simply odd for such talk to come from Dooku, of all people, but he can't deny the bond the two of them have forged since they created an alliance. Whether for better or worse, they've come to care for one another, even if they'll still deny it to anyone else. "What can I say?" he retorts. "I have excellent luck."

"And let us hope it's enough to get us off this planet alive," Obi-Wan adds.

"The others should be here any moment," Ahsoka mutters, shifting. "I hate this planet."

"It's a Dark Side planet," Anakin reminds her. "Of course, you hate it." And truthfully, he hates it too. The darkness is creeping around him, almost as though it's a sentient being. He shudders, tightening his shields to hold it off. By mutual agreement, they had decided to go dressed in Jedi robes as a symbolic stand against the Sith, though Anakin is wearing his armor on top of it, since it will provide him will added protection. He can freely admit that Dooku looks... odd dressed like that, but the rightness of it is striking.