"Pick up Ganodi! R2?!" Petro yelled through his communicator, no reply. "Come on! The pirates are on our tail!" Natalia yelled, finally a response was heard. "Sorry, Master. We're coming to get you immediately!" Ganodi replied, the ship came into view and the docking ramp opened. "Get in!" Ganodi yelled, Natalia made sure the younglings went first, "We're nearing a ravine!" Natalia shouted, Petro nodded and turned the transport around, away from the ravine. "Byph! Gungi! Jump!" Natalia yelled, "Trust me!" She yelled again. Byph and Gungi jumped and Natalia and Ahsoka used the Force to carry her to safety. The ship turned around and they were about to execute a second attempt. Suddenly a blaster shot whizzed past Natalia's head and hit the ships engine, severely damaging it and causing it to crash into the speeder was on, it was about to squish Petro when Natalia ran over to the child and pushed him off of the speeder, she landed on him and watched the speeder and the cruiser collide. "Are you okay?" Natalia asked while helping Petro up, he nodded and brushed his robes off. Natalia glared at Hondo as one of the pirates placed her and Petro in binders. "You won't get away with this." She spat at one of the pirates.
The speeder sped toward Hondo's base and they noticed another shuttle waiting for them. "Separatists." Natalia whispered to Ahsoka, she looked up and saw the battle droids waiting for them. "What do I owe you for paying us a visit?" Hondo asked as he jumped off of the speeder. Grievous turned around and showed him a holo-transmission of Count Dooku. Dooku just explained that he hadn't forgotten nor forgiven Hondo for his questionable hospitality during his last visit and he's now taken control of Florrum. "You can't do this!" Hondo protested, "And I want the Jedi." He added, "What are you going to do with children! They have nothing to do with this pathetic war! Leave them out of this!" Natalia yelled at Dooku, "They may be children but they'll soon grow into wretched creatures like you, they'll become Jedi Knights. Or they could be trained through the truly powerful side, the dark side. Take them away Grievous." Dooku told him, the droids seized the Jedi and dragged them to the prison cells. "This is just lovely." Natalia told herself.
When they were thrown into their cells Ahsoka began to argue. "We can help you take back Florrum." She pleaded, "Stop talking." The guard snapped at her, "We're serious, we have knowledge about Grievous and I've taken him down before, we can do it again." Natalia told the guard, finally he agreed and freed the Jedi. "You guys must have a spare hangar of ships somewhere." Ahsoka said, the guard nodded. "We do, but only Hondo knows where it is." The Weequay warrior said, "Okay, we'll have to free him." Natalia sighed. "We'll use R2 and the tanks to create a diversion so we can free Hondo." Ahsoka suggested, "Good idea." Natalia praised the young Padawan. They found Hondo and him and Natalia argued for a while about an alliance. "Show me your lightsabers." Hondo told the younglings before agreeing to anything. All of the younglings turned their blades on except Katooni. "Where's your lightsaber?" Natalia asked the young girl, "I didn't get to finish it." She said while putting her head down, "Well go on, finish it. There are many valuable things in the galaxy, but watching a Jedi finish their lightsaber? That's priceless." Hondo said, Katooni smiled and sat down and connected with the Force, she lay the pieces down and they started moving together, soon they were pieced together and it became a proper lightsaber. "Wow." Hondo whispered.
Katooni stood up and turned it on, it was a bright blue blade. She sliced Hondo's shackles and he was freed. "Good job, kid." Hondo said while putting his hand on Katooni's shoulder, she smiled at him. "Ah the mind of a child is truly amazing." Natalia commented. "Let's free my men." Hondo said, Natalia nodded in agreement and they started walking through the detention block, suddenly a tank barreled it's way through the building. "We've been discovered!" Natalia shouted, they ran off to find some speeders and jumped on them. "Let's go!" Natalia instructed the younglings, Natalia and Petro were on the same speeder. She looked back to see Hondo and Katooni on the same speeder, she squinted her eyes and prayed Hondo wouldn't stab them in the back. The team split up and Grievous continued chasing Natalia. "He really wants us, Master." Petro gasped, "Let's just say me and Grievous are sworn enemies." Natalia sighed, she pushed the accelerator forward and increased speed. "We're going to board Padawan Tano's speeder and we're gonna send this one flying backwards, are you ready?" Natalia instructed Petro, he nodded and Natalia used the Force to push Petro onto the speeder, he successfully landed on it and Natalia jumped off of the speeder she was on and it went flying back, hitting Grievous' speeder, but no damage.
Natalia grunted and looked for Katooni and Hondo, but they weren't there. "You've got to be kidding me! Grievous is going to board us and we're going to be killed!" Natalia told Ahsoka, she nodded and R2 sped forward. The speeder started jerking around and making really odd and dangerous moves. "R2 you're going to get us killed!" Natalia yelled, suddenly the speeder crashed and Natalia was thrown off of it, she got up and Grievous was moving in for the kill, "Oh no you don't." Natalia whispered, she turned her lightsaber on and swung seconds after Grievous revealed his lightsabers. Their lightsabers collided and she gritted her teeth as he kept pushing forward, "Ahsoka! Get the kids out of here!" Natalia said seconds before Hondo showed up in a ship. Natalia ducked as one of Grievous' lightsabers grazed her arm, she gasped and backed up, Grievous started spinning his lightsabers like crazy, Natalia knew she couldn't beat him when he was doing that so she ran for the ship, she jumped in and Hondo went to shoot at Grievous but Natalia stopped him. "Reinforcements are coming, they'll kill you." Natalia told him, he nodded and closed the docking ramp. Natalia walked into the middle of the ship and collapsed with exhaustion. "Master, a Republic rescue team has arrived." Petro informed Natalia, she sighed in relief. "Okay, that's good." Natalia said. She held onto her arm and looked at her hand, warm and sticky blood covered the palm of her hand. "What happened?" Ahsoka asked, "Grievous happened." Natalia said while rolling her eyes.
The ship landed and Natalia walked out, still clutching her bleeding arm. She tore off a piece of her robe and tied it around her wound. "What are you doing here?" Obi-Wan asked her, "I got a distress call at the Temple and I just had to help." Natalia explained, Obi-Wan shrugged and turned to glare at Hondo. "I can explain, the 'attack' on the cruiser was a rescue mission." Hondo lied, "He did rescue me, Ahsoka and the younglings." Natalia whispered to Obi-Wan, he nodded and left it at that. Hondo turned around to leave but turned back, he looked at Katooni and smiled at her before leaving. "I'm so glad to see you and the younglings safe." Obi-Wan expressed to Natalia and Ahsoka. "This mission was as eventful as it was when I took Master Yoda to get his crystal." Huyang said, Natalia smirked at the droid and Obi-Wan went to talk to the younglings, they all looked nervous around him. "Good job, younglings, you're going to make fine Jedi." Obi-Wan told them, he ignited his saber and Natalia and Ahsoka did the same. The younglings turned theirs on and formed a wheel.
"Welcome to the Order."
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Across the Stars [Star Wars|Anakin Skywalker]
Fiksi PenggemarAnakin Skywalker and Natalia Schulter. A deadly mix. [Book One]