Hello everyone, here is Chapter 3 of the Mandalorian Maverick. The mission on Coruscant to take down a Separatist terrorist ring actually worked out. Now it was pretty much clean up duty and that clean up duty leads Will to a discovery that's going to help with the war effort. And while Obi-wan has to stay at the temple, he assigns Will to escort Senator Amidala on a mission which takes a turn for the worse. Enjoy!

The Mandalorian Maverick: Nothing is ever easy

22BBY: Coruscant

The mission on Coruscant to take down the Separatist terrorist ring was a success with no casualties. Their leader was taken down, the fake explosives deal they set up was a success and now they were rounding up the stragglers and anyone else who didn't show up at the deal. Honestly, it was just clean up so Kal left it in charge of the Jedi while he, Omega and Delta squad had to leave for another mission, but he said they meet again. To be fair, Will thinks the only reason they actually left the planet was to avoid doing the monotonous door to door round ups of the Separatist helpers and agents. Still, it was good work for Will and the Rathtar squad.

Speaking of the squad, the clean up on Coruscant gave them time to bond and work together. It was good work as Will got to know Hevy, Echo, and Fives and they got to know him. They were becoming less like a general and his soldiers and more like friends. Taking a page out of Kal Skirata's book he began instructing them in his Mandalorian culture and helping them train. He gave them a lot of freedom and they began customizing their armor and appearance that Will was more than happy for them to do so.

Hevy, given his nickname, was quick to adopt the heavy weapons specialist role of the Rathtar squad. Heavy Rotary blaster, rocket launchers, and other things that went boom he was quickly becoming the demolitions expert of the group. Echo was turning into the tech guy and usually manned the tech aspects of their jobs like scanners and things like that. He even was given a spare DC-15s Interchangeable weapons system blaster from Darman as a blaster. Fives was becoming Will's second in command and was good in a leadership role, probably from his desire to be promoted to an Arc trooper. He used a DC-15A blaster rifle and adopted twin DC-15s blaster pistols like Rex. All in all, the Rathtar squad was becoming fierce.

They were at the last of the Separatist outposts on Coruscant which was an old empty apartment building. The Coruscant Security Force were standing by for the arrest while Will and the Rathtar squad would take the building. Will led the group through the main door and stayed quiet and stealthy as they made their way up to the second floor where preliminary scans indicated most of the Separatists are located. Echo placed a scanner on the wall which let out a subsonic wave that mapped out the adjacent room. Once the scan was finished, Echo hand signaled to the others indicating that there were ten armed Separatists inside, but they weren't aware of their presence. Will then hand signaled to them all with their plan and they quickly got to work. Hevy took out breaching charges from his pack and quietly placed them on the wall in a large square with enough space for them to make it through before connecting the charges with blasting wire. He also prepped sonic imploder in his free hand. Echo got his blaster ready while Fives readied his two blaster pistols. Will then walked over to the door and gave it a harsh knock.

"Attention residents, this is the Padawan Will Vizsla of the Jedi order! You're currently surrounded! Lay down your weapons and surrender or you will be met with resistance! Your other conspirators have already been arrested so save yourself the trouble and surrender now!" Will shouted.

Echo checked his scanner and could see all the Separatists inside scramble to get their blasters and weapons ready. They weren't going to give up so Will gave them a countdown.

Five…four…three…two…one…

Hevy blew the breach charge and the wall to the room exploded before he tossed in the sonic imploder. It dinged and rattled on the floor before it erupted in a flash of light and loud ringing noise that concussed them all before Will and his squad moved in. Will activated his saber and sliced several of the blasters into pieces while the others blasted them in non-lethal areas like the arm or leg. Once they were all subdued, the Separatists were cuffed, and the place was secured before they called in backup. The Coruscant Security Force arrived to take the Separatists into custody while Will and the others took inventory of everything of note. Besides the regular blasters and explosives there were some communication logs with Separatists commanders off world about their plans, some plans for different attacks if things had gone differently, exit plans to get off planet along with 30,000 credits. That along with the other terrorist spots he stopped gave him a total of 200,000 credits. Well, to the victor go the spoils but he gave Echo, Fives, and Hevy their share.

As they were cleaning up, Will got a call on his communicator. "Hello?"

"Will, it's me." Qi'ra answered.

"Qi'ra. I wasn't expecting to hear from you. Is everything ok?" Will asked.

"Yeah, everything's fine but I found something you're gonna want to see. Meet me at warehouse 45." She told him.

"That's one of the Separatist warehouses the CSF took down. What's going on?" Will asked.

"It'll be easier to explain when you get here." She said before hanging up.

"What was that about, Sir?" Echo asked.

"Not sure. Let's go find out." Will said as they finished up their work and took a speeder to the warehouse.

When they arrived, they were met with some resistance from Qibbu's men who were stationed outside the warehouse and it almost ended up in a firefight if Qi'ra hadn't arrived. "Stand down. Let them through." She told them and they did. Qi'ra led Will and the clones into the warehouse which had quickly been refurbished back into a holding area, most likely for Qibbu's use.

"I see you guys have cleaned up here." Will commented.

"Naturally. While Qibbu was more than happy to get the Separatists off planet, he's even more happy with the fringe benefits to your mission. All of the former Separatists bunkers and warehouses have been acquired at a cheaper price." Qi'ra informed him.

"So, we do our job and the Hutt gets to reap the benefits." Hevy sneered.

"Easy, Hevy. Qibbu helped us do our job." Will told him. "So, why did you bring me back here?"

"Because we found something that I believe you're familiar with." Qi'ra replied, bringing him to the back of the warehouse where they found a large grey and orange colored Corellian Engineering Corporation XS Stock Light Freighter. A large tarp was on the ground indicating that it had been hidden before. "We found this ship here. Does it look familiar?"

Will walked around the ship to get a better look at it and it was remarkably familiar. He ran his hand across one of the loose panels and he could even feel that he had seen this ship before. The orange and grey color of the panel evoked fond memories and when he saw a faint mark in the shape of the symbol of Clan Vizsla on the cockpit he knew what it was. "This is the Tempest…this was my mother's ship." Will said and Qi'ra nodded.

"I recognized it the moment I saw it. One of Qibbu's men wanted to scrap it for parts but I stopped him." She told him.

"I always wondered what happened to it after I went to the Jedi Temple. I just thought it was stolen and I'd never see it again." Will said.

"I looked through the system logs and you're right. Someone stole it from a docking bay and after that it passed owners over the years before it found its hand into the Separatists. They used this ship to transport their agents onto the planet." Qi'ra told him.

"Yeah, because this thing has the best stealth system there is. My mom modified it herself. It could pass undetected by most scanning systems. I doubt that a Republic star destroyer could pick it up." Will said.

"How is that possible?" Echo asked.

"The stealth system was modified by my mom herself and it's completely unique. It uses a quantum trojan variant key that can pick up incoming scanning signals and then feed them back in a loop so it could go through a system undetected. Granted you'd have to move at a slow pace and then worry about being visibly seen but still, it does most of the job for you." Will said before looking at Qi'ra. "So, what are you going to do with it?"

"Well, part of me thought about keeping it since it could help out Qibbu immensely but…I know your mother would want you to have it. And considering that you're fighting a war, maybe it'll help." Qi'ra told him.

Will smiled at Qi'ra and glad that his friend would do this for him. A ship like this would be a boon to someone like Qibbu yet she gave it to him. Their friendship still mattered even after all these years. "Thank you, Qi'ra. I'll pay you back for this. Speaking of which…" He opened his pack and handed her thirty thousand credits that he took from the Separatist Terrorists. "As a thank you."

"Oh, the thought is very much appreciated." Qi'ra said. "You be careful out there, Will and don't be a stranger. If you need anything you just let me know."

"Likewise, Qi'ra. If you need anything, anything at all just let me know." Will told her and the two shared a hug as they wouldn't see each other for a while. Will, Echo, Fives, and Hevy walked onto the Tempest and to Will it felt like taking a trip down memory lane. Since it was a light freighter, it was pretty big on the inside to accommodate passengers and excess cargo, but it also had personal touches like a lounge with a kitchen and holotable along with sleeping quarters for a crew.

Will stopped in the lounge and looked at the old sofa and remembered a time when he was younger. His mom took him on a trip and the two would cuddle on the couch where she would regale him with stories of ancient Mandalore before he fell asleep and she would place a blanket on him, so he was warm.

"Sir?" Will turned and saw it was Echo. "You ok, sir?"

"Yeah, I'm fine Echo. Just taking a walk down memory lane. Come on." Will led them to the cockpit which had seen better days. It was still in working shape but was a little old and needed some tender care. Will got in the main pilot seat, Echo got in the co-pilot seat and Hevy and Echo sat down in the two cockpit passenger seats. Will hit some buttons and turned the ignition on only for the reactor to sputter. "Come on, baby. Come on."

Will did it one more time and the reactor turned on and powered up the ship. The navigational computer booted up and everything was online. He powered up the engines and prepped the ship to leave. While it managed to take off, it wasn't exactly smooth. The Separatists did little to keep this thing in good condition. He eventually managed to pilot it out of the warehouse and began making his way to the shipping yards and his master's Venator-class Star Destroyer, the Negotiator. Master Kenobi was on Coruscant for the time being and 212st clone battalion has some R&R for a week so it would give him some time to get this thing fixed.

Obi-wan himself was talking to the deck officer in the hangar of the Negotiator about the status of their supplies and the repairs being done on the damage starfighters. That's where BD-8 was. He was there helping fix the damage ships when his head perked up at the sound of a ship closing in. He scurried past the clones and Master Kenobi saw the little droid scurry away to the hangar opening. That's when he saw a new ship heading towards them. It appeared to be a freighter and appeared to be closing in to ram the ship, but it began to slow down in a rather clumsy way. The engines sputtered and kicked out smoke before it finally managed to land with a loud thud in the middle of the hangar before the exhaust system let out a cloud of dust and black smoke.

The nearby clones readied their blasters as the freight ramp opened, letting out more smoke from inside the ship. Coughing could be heard as Will ran out of the ship followed by the others. "Sorry! Stand down!" Will shouted and the clones did as he coughed up a lung. "Sorry about that. The compressor blew on our way here."

"Padawan, I'm afraid to ask what happened but please start with this. Where did you get this ship?" Obi-wan asked.

"At one of the Separatist warehouses the CSF took down. It belonged to my mother." Will told him.

"Really?" Obi-wan was not expecting to hear that.

"Yeah, it was hers. She spent years modifying it and making it the beast it is. Qi'ra recognized it and let me know so I took it back. I figured with Rathtar blown to pieces I'll use this instead. It's faster than any regular ship and more powerful…" Will knocked one of the freighter's panels only for another panel to fall off. "…after some tender love and care. Since we're going to be on Coruscant for a while, I figured I could spend my spare time when I'm not training on fixing this thing up. Trust me, Master, when I get this thing up and running it'll be a big help."

"If you say so." Obi-wan wasn't so convinced.

"All right, guys. Let's get this thing fixed up." Will said, smiling at the opportunity while the others weren't as thrilled.

Seven planetary rotations later…

Obi-wan made his way through the interior of his Star Destroyer to find his Padawan who he could only guess was in the hangar still working on that ship of his. True to his word, whenever he wasn't busy studying or training, he would spend it working on the ship. He made his way through the hangar and saw the light freighter was being worked on by several clone mechanics along with Fives, Echo, and Hevy. When he first got a glimpse of the ship it looked like something that belonged in a scrap yard, it now was restored to its former glory and looked like any other ship. New heavy armored plating was put in and its fresh coat of paint made the black and orange color pop.

"Hevy, how's the heavy plating holding?" Echo asked.

"We're all good here." Hevy told him, finished with sealing the last heavy armor plate.

"Fives, what about the new proton torpedo launchers?" Echo added.

"All set and loaded." Fives replied when he noticed Obi-wan walk over to them. "General!"

He and the others stood at attention and saluted the Jedi Master. "At ease, gentlemen. Would you be able to tell me where my Padawan is?"

"The Commander's inside." Echo told him. Obi-wan nodded in thanks before walking up the ramp and into the ship. The inside of the light freighter had been refurbished as well and looked quite nice to take on a trip. Everything from the kitchen to the furniture to the flooring was new. Will really did a nice job in fixing the ship up. He heard a droid beeping along with the sizzle of electrical irons and sparks. Obi-wan followed the noise and faint flicker of sparks through the hallways until he arrived what appeared to be the engine room of the freighter. BD-8 was on the ground using his splicer to adjust some circuits on a wall panel while Will hooked his legs onto a pipe and was hanging upside down as he worked on some modifications. He had safety goggles on to protect his eyes from the sparks of the electrical splicer.

"Padawan!" Obi-wan shouted, catching Will off guard and resulting in him losing his footing and falling to the ground.

"Ow…" Will muttered in pain while Obi-wan and BD-8 chuckled.

"Are you all right?" Obi-wan helped him back to his feet and he looked fine.

"Yeah, I'm ok. Landed on my head." Will joked as he rubbed the back of his head that still stung. "Is something wrong, Master?"

"I came here looking for you. You've done some impressive work with the ship since I first saw it." Obi-wan commented.

"Thanks. It took a lot of elbow grease and I had some of the others help me, but I fixed up this baby back into prime working order. And this isn't just a regular freighter, she's special. Two powerful sub-light engines make this thing as fast as our interceptors and probably even the Separatists ships. Not to mention I cleaned up and refurbished the modifications my mother made to the hyperdrive. This thing is the fastest there is…it's a 0.7 class hyperdrive system." Will explained catching Obi-wan by surprise. "Not only can this thing outrace anything, it's hyperdrive can outlast a Star Destroyer."

"Very impressive. How did she manage that?" Obi-wan wondered.

"She knew an extremely skilled mechanic after taking the hyperdrive from…someone who no longer needed it." Will implied and Obi-wan understood. "I was doing some adjusting to the hyperdrive's fuel reserves because I got an idea. This thing has the best stealth system and sensor array for any ship, but it still can be picked up by visual scans. To take it to the next level, I was thinking that I could add the same adaptive camouflage system from that prototype you told me about when you and Master Skywalker helped relieve the forces on Christophsis before Ahsoka and I showed up."

"The stealth prototype ship?" Obi-wan asked and Will nodded.

"Exactly. If I can add that system to the Tempest, then not only can it remain undetectable by scanners, but it'll be invisible to the eye as well. It could help tremendously with future battles, recon missions, or just getting through Separatist blockades." Will told him.

"Not a bad idea but the stealth ship we used was still a prototype. While it did work, I'm not certain it would work for a ship this size." Obi-wan commented. "Still, no harm in giving it a try. I'll see what I can do about getting you the parts you need."

"Thank you, Master. At least I won't have to pay for that one." Will said.

"Pay?" Obi-wan was confused.

"Yeah. A lot of the Tempest's parts aren't exactly standard issue in a Republic docking bay on Coruscant. I've had to use Qi'ra to get the parts I need which resulted in me giving her pretty much all the credits I recovered during our cleanup of the Separatists on the planet." Will explained. "I think she purposely didn't tell me the condition of the ship so I would pay her for the parts. I'm completely tapped out. Anyway, enough about my personal dilemmas. What do you need, Master?"

"Anakin has told me that Senator Amidala from Naboo plans to travel to Rodia to speak to some representatives." Obi-wan told him.

"So, we're going with her as an escort?" Will asked but Obi-wan shook his head no.

"No, Anakin suggested that, but she doesn't want a clone escort. She's going personally on a Nubian shuttle to the planet by herself. Anakin suggested she should at least have some security and would have volunteered but he's off world. Unfortunately, I'm still needed here at the temple, so I suggested you escort the Senator on her mission." Obi-wan explained.

"You're trusting me with this assignment by myself?" Will questioned and Obi-wan nodded.

"It shouldn't be nothing more than a simple political discussion. From what Anakin told me, the Senator from Rodia and Senator Amidala are old friends so there shouldn't be any issues. And while she was against the idea of a Jedi escorting her, she relented when I mentioned it would be a Padawan, but you must dress like a regular civilian. She doesn't want to cause any unnecessary trouble if a Jedi was to accompany her. That was Senator Amidala's final stipulation." Obi-wan replied.

"Oh, well thank you master. I'm honored that you're letting me undertake this mission by myself." Will bowed his head.

"Just be careful. It should hopefully be a regular escort mission while the Senator discusses politics but be careful. Don't let her out of our sight and contact for help should something happen." Obi-wan reminded him.

"Yes, Master. I promise I'll be safe. I'll make you proud." Will told him as Obi-wan pat him on the shoulder.

"I know you will, my padawan." Obi-wan replied.

Line Break xxxxx

The Clone Wars threatens the unity of the Republic. As battle rage across the galaxy more worlds succumb to the seductive lure of the Separatists and leave the Republic.

On a vital mission of peace, Senator Padme Amidala and her Padawan protector Will Vizsla journey to the Outer Rim world of Rodia, desperate to ensure its loyalty remain to the Republic.

Will and Senator Amidala were nearing the planet Rodia in their Nubian cruiser along with the protocol droid C-3P0 and Representative Binks of Naboo. True to her conditions, Will was officially not acting at her Jedi bodyguard but as her pilot so he was dressed in the regular clothes he wore during the mission on Coruscant. His lightsaber tucked into his jacket and his beskar gauntlets hidden by his sleeves and BD-8 chilling on the ground next to his chair. Senator Farr who contacted Padme told her to come quickly and she was already uncomfortable with lying to him, so she didn't want to raise any suspicions. Still, something about this seemed like a trap waiting to happen.

As they closed in on the planet, Chancellor Palpatine contacted Senator Amidala about this trip. "Senator Amidala. I have just received word that you have ventured through enemy territory into the Outer Rim."

"Senator Farr requested me personally, Chancellor. His planet is in crisis, his people are starving. He's a very old family friend. I could not refuse his plea for help." She told him.

"I understand but in these dangerous times, you should be accompanied by a clone escort." Chancellor Palpatine told her.

"This is a mission of peace. I put my faith in democracy. We can't solve all our problems by throwing troops at them." She told him as Jar-Jar Binks stood up.

"Yousa no needin to worry, chancellor." He said, pushing past C-3P0 who spun around in his chair. "As representative of Naboo—"

Jar-Jar was cut off as C-3P0 tripped the Gungan who crashed onto a panel and hit a button, causing the ship to swerve and the engines to accelerate out of control.

"Damn it!" Will quickly re-stabilized the controls and decelerated the engines which let the ship resume its peaceful flight. "Sit down!" Jar-Jar quickly did so but accidently sat onto C-3P0 causing the two to fall onto the floor. "Good grief."

"Well, at least you have a Padawan there to look after you, but may I recommend that only those who are qualified for these delicate peace talks participate in them?" Palpatine suggested.

Padme spared a glance over to Jar-Jar who was still sitting on the protocol droid. "I will follow your advice, Chancellor. Thank you." She told him, ending the call right after that.

"Probably the best advice we've been given all day." Will muttered. "All right, descending to the planet now."

Will piloted the ship down through the atmosphere and made his way to the landing platform they were instructed to land. Rodia was a tropical jungle/swamp-like planet but not a lot of the planet was habitable, and it had very dangerous wildlife which is why the cities on the planet were protected by domes. He piloted the ship down to one of the cities and landed in the shipyard dock. Will powered down the ship as Jar-Jar talked about going to explore but Padme told him he needed to stay with the ship and look after C-3P0.

"Padawan Vizsla you'll remain with the ship as well." Padme told him.

"Senator Amidala, is that such a good idea? I have been assigned to this mission as your protector." He reminded her.

"Disguised as my pilot and as the pilot you'll remain here. Senator Farr said to come alone, and I don't want to jeopardize peace talks. You'll remain with the ship until I return." She told him as she got dressed and left.

"If this thing goes south, I am so saying I told you so." Will muttered as BD-8 jumped onto the console and pat Will on the arm with one of its legs. They were now stuck with a protocol droid and a Gungan. Will kept watch over the system while Jar-Jar and C-3P0 stepped out into the docking bay.

Nothing seemed to be going on at all when he heard Jar-Jar shouting so he went out to see what was going on. BD-8 followed and climbed onto his back as the two walked out of the ship and saw Jar-Jar facing the swamp and seemed to be trying to communicate with whatever swamp life was out there. His response was a local fruit tossed at 3P0's head and a guttural noise.

"I don't think that requires translation." 3P0 told him.

"Thissin is a different swamp, all together. Sorry." Jar-Jar said as he cleaned 3P0.

"Well this mission is getting off to a good start." Will muttered sarcastically when the doors to the docking bay opened and a squad of battle droids entered.

"Oh, my stars! Battle droids." 3P0 said.

"Get onto the ship!" Will shouted he activated his saber.

"Jedi, blast him!" The droids began shooting at him but weren't doing the best job as Will blocked and deflected all their blasts. Jar-Jar quickly got onto the ship and hit the ramp button but when he tried to drag 3P0 on they both fell off which resulted in Jar-Jar running away, dragging some rope which then got tangled onto the magnetic loading dock arm and nearly crushed 3P0. Then it activated which then dragged 3P0 high into the air and nearly hit Will if he didn't duck in time, but it did take out the rest of the droids.

"That Gungan is gonna get me killed." Will said but his problems weren't over as a crab droid entered the docking bay. It marched its way over to Will and used its front blasters to put him on the defensive. Quickly adopting his form 3-Soresu stance, he blocked and deflected the incoming blaster bolts. While he had no problem blocking the blasters from regular battle droids and even super battle droids, the heavier volley from the crab droid was much more difficult to block. It began advancing towards him which forced him back over to the edge of the docking bay.

Before Will could come up with another plan, the Gungan broke from cover so the crab droid focused some of its fire on it which gave him the split-second chance to act. He quickly dashed to the side and charged forward, throwing his saber which sliced off one of its legs before it returned to him. Just as the crab droid turned to face him and fired a blaster bolt, he flipped into the air and landed on the droid's back before ending it with one final stab into its brain. The droid let out a weak mechanical cry before it sputtered and dropped dead.

"Oh, thank the maker." 3P0 said. "Now would someone kindly get me down."

"Messa on it threeso!" Jar-Jar shouted as it pressed a button on the magnetic loading arm and it deactivated, letting 3P0 drop onto the ground in a thud.

"Ouch! Jar-Jar, kindly don't do that." 3P0 told him.

"But messa savid you." Jar-Jar proudly exclaimed before laying his elbow onto the console, pressing a few more buttons which moved the magnetic arm over the Nubian cruiser…and then crushed the front half rendering it unable to fly.

"Well, there goes the front half of our ship. Typical." 3P0 said.

"Bad enough we're stuck here, now I'm stuck with a stupid Gungan who's trying to kill us." Will muttered underneath his breath as he pushed past the Gungan and climbed up onto what remained of the ship to see if he could call for help. Jar-Jar and 3P0 joined him but without some help they weren't going anywhere.

"Thissa a big mess. Wessa going nowhere." Jar-Jar said.

"Perhaps we should try to contact the clone troopers." 3P0 suggested.

"That's not gonna happen. Half of the ship's systems are dead which include the communications part. We can't get a signal out and there's no way I can repair it with half the ship gone and no one noticing." Will told him.

"Oh, lookie. Here's a button that's still working." Jar-Jar pressed a button on the main console and the door to the side closet opened.

"Oh, what did you break now?" 3P0 asked.

"But messa doing nothing."

"It's a Jedi robe." Will said as he looked it over. "What the hell is it doing here?"

"I wouldn't really know but our only hope is to hide in this closet until Mistress Padme returns." 3P0 suggested.

"That's a bad idea. The second those droids don't report in more will show up. Not to mention that since they showed up, its likely she's in trouble." Will replied.

"Master Vizsla, my lady gave us very specific instructions to remain here." 3P0 reminded him only for Will to grab the Jedi robe.

"Well, you can do that but I'm going to go save her because that's my job." Will said, putting the robe on. "If Senator Farr has Padme and the Separatists are here then she's likely being held prisoner. I need to get her before more show up."

"Good then wessa going with you." Jar-Jar told him.

"Jar-Jar, that is without a doubt the most idiotic plan I've ever heard of." 3P0 interrupted him.

"I'll go faster on my own. If I were you guys, I'd go find someplace to hide until backup arrives." Will said as he slipped the robe on and pulled the hood up to cover his face. "Parts of the swamp springs to mind."

3P0 wasn't overly optimistic about his odds. "Are you sure about that sir? Who knows what you'll be facing?"

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, 3P0. Now go find someplace to hide." Will told them as the droid and Gungan disembarked the ship. "Let's go, BD-8."

The tiny droid nodded its head as it climbed up his back and got rested on his usual spot. Will quickly and quietly made his way from the docking bay through the city, sticking close to the shadows to not draw attention. He heard some noise and saw a shuttle arrive at one of the spare docks flanked by two vulture droids. "A separatist shuttle. Let's see who showed up."

He stuck to cover and watched as Senator Farr and his attendant led Separatist Leader Nute Gunray and a squad of battle droids from the docking bay. "Nute Gunray. That makes some sense given his history." Will said to himself. He overheard them holding Senator Amidala in the tower which meant that's where he needed to go. "All right, BD-8. Go stealth mode and find a communications station or relay. Send word to the Republic for backup and be careful. I'll get the Senator."

Before the droid could go, one of the battle droids spotted Jar-Jar and 3P0 which resulted in 3P0 surrendering and being captured while Jar-Jar slipped their attention dived through a floor grate and into the water below. "BD-8, go now."

Bd-8 quickly scurried away to do his job while Will used the force to increase his speed and sped past some droids.

"Did you hear that?"

"I didn't hear anything. Your circuits must be loose."

Unbeknownst to Nute Gunray, Senator Amidala was quite crafty and managed to engineer her escape with a lockpick hidden in her boot and tricking the battle droids. Armed with an E-5 Blaster rifle, she quietly made her way through the Rodian prison tower. She moved quickly and saw 3P0 escorted by some battle droids but before she could save him, both droids floated into the air and were crushed into pieces before being tossed into an empty closet. Padme raised her blaster but lowered it when Will stepped into view in the Jedi robes.

"Hate to say I told you so, Senator but I told you so." Will said as he removed the hood. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine." She replied.

"Oh, Mistress Padme thank the maker your—" Will grabbed the droid and they all quickly moved into the closet to avoid a droid patrol.

"Where's Jar-Jar?" Padme asked.

"He escaped under the city. Don't know where he is now. I was on my way to rescue you from the tower when I saw you make your escape." Will told her. "At least we know why Senator Farr wanted you specifically. I saw Nute Gunray arrive along with a small squad of droids."

"This is our chance to capture Gunray. 3P0, go back to the ship and call for help." Padme ordered.

"I regret to inform you that the transmitters on the ships are out of order."

"What?"

"The ship has been destroyed."

"Battle droids?"

"No, that idiot Gungan. Anyway, I sent BD-8 out to find a communications relay to send word to the Republic for reinforcements." Will's commlink in his gauntlet went off with a message from BD-8. "Ok, good news. BD-8 managed to contact a nearby clone fleet and they're on their way. Now, we just need to capture Nute Gunray and the Separatists lose a valuable pawn."

Padme began to think it over and came up with something quite clever. "I think I have a plan."

Jar-Jar, having escaped the droids by diving into the water underneath the city was making his way to safety. He stumbled over to the prison tower but before a droid patrol could spot him, he was grabbed from behind and dragged into a closet. Jar-Jar looked and saw it was Will who saved him.

"Oh, Will yousa saved me!" Jar-Jar shouted a little too loud which attracted some nearby droids.

"Hey, who's there?!"

"Go to sleep." Will touched Jar-Jar's forehead and used the force to put the Gungan into a deep sleep. He stepped out of the closet where two battle droids saw him.

"The Jedi! Blast him!" The two droids opened fire, but Will ducked and swerved to avoid being hit before flipping over the droids. He landed in a roll and force pushed the two droids, sending them clattering onto the ground. His attack drew the attention of some nearby battle droids and super battle droids who signaled for backup.

The droids in the courtyard pressed their attack which caused Will to duck, dip, dive, and dodge using all his Jedi training to his advantage against the droids. He front-flipped into the air and kicked two droids in the head which were sent flying into two other droids. The droids tried to blast him as he rolled forward and kicked the legs out from one and force flung the body into others. Several super battle droids arrived and unleashed a volley of fire at him, so he rolled to the side and yanked up a floor grate for cover before using the force to unleash a wave of water from underneath the city. The water absorbed some blaster bolts before it was sent forward and crashed into them.

A blaster bolt nearly hit him in the head from the side where several more droids were heading towards him, so he used the force to yank the grate off its hinge and throw it at them.

"Look out!" One of the droids shouted only for the grate to bash into two battle droids and a super battle droid.

Another squad of battle droids arrived in the courtyard followed by three destroyer droids. "There's the Jedi! Blast him!"

The three destroyers unfolded and projected their shields before firing a heavy volley blast at him. Will managed to move to avoid a direct hit but the blasts hit the ground near him and sent him tumbling to the ground. The explosion knocked his hood off and concussed him a little bit which gave the droids enough time to close the distance and surround him. The sound of blaster clicks was what he heard as he saw he was surrounded.

"Don't move!"

"You're surrounded, Jedi. Surrender."

"Dammit." Will slowly held his hands up as two battle droids lifted him onto his feet. His arms were pulled behind his back and magnetic binders cuffed his hand together. The droids then led him to another courtyard where Nute Gunray and Senator Farr were waiting. Gunray had a delightful smirk on his face while Senator Farr seemed defeated.

"Ah, the Jedi. It would seem I had nothing to fear from you." Gunray taunted.

"Yet you still haven't caught Senator Amidala. From your track record I should have expected nothing less." Will joked with a chuckle. Gunray signaled one of the droids who hit Will in the stomach, sending him to his knees in a gasp. "Oh…looks like I hit a nerve."

"Is that necessary, Viceroy Gunray?" Senator Farr questioned.

"Be quiet. Once we deal with you, I'll find the Senator and end her myself." Gunray told him.

"Please, Viceroy. There must be another way." Senator Farr pleased his base.

"Silence!"

"Yeesh, if that's how you treat everyone then no wonder you have an army of droids. Any regular army would mutiny. Speaking of which, why don't you guys mutiny?" Will asked the droids around him. "I mean, you guys are the only reason this guy thinks he's invincible. You should be the ones taking charge and leading, not this excuse for a leader."

"Uh…are we allowed to do that?" One of the droids asked only to get smacked on the head.

"Nice try, Jedi but your tricks won't work on us."

"You really must be foolish to think that you can reason with droids." Gunray mocked him.

Will looked at Nute Gunray with a smirk as BD-8 waved from its perch on a nearby walkway. "Well, I had to try. And I'm not foolish…I'm just stalling."

Senator Amidala leaned out from behind a wall and threw a thermal detonator before she threw Will's lightsaber high into the air. The explosive blew up some of the droids which gave Will a distraction. He jumped up and looped his hands under his feet and back in front of his before unleashing a force repulse wave that destroyed the droids surrounding him and knocked Nute Gunray and Senator Farr away. He force-pulled his saber into his hands and activated it, slicing his magnetic cufflinks while Senator Amidala blasted the last droid in the head. Nute Gunray quickly got up and tried to run to his ship but Will landed in his way and held his saber to his face.

"It's over, Viceroy." Senator Amidala said as she aimed her blaster at his back when they heard a blaster click and saw Senator Farr had picked up blaster from the ground and aimed in their general direction.

"At last we can finish this."

"Onaconda, it is about time. Blast the Jedi and shoot her!" Gunray ordered. Padme and Will looked that while Senator Farr had his blaster up, he didn't have it in him to pull the trigger which is where Padme got struck with another idea.

"Uncle Ono, I think it's time to tell the viceroy about our little secret. About how you never meant to leave the Republic and how you truly care what's best for your people." Senator Amidala told him.

"What is she talking about?" Gunray asked as Will figured out what Senator Amidala was doing and played along.

"You mean, you didn't figure it out? How she managed to escape capture and our little trap for you? He was playing you from the beginning. We knew you would show up to get the Senator, but the trick was to get you to come without an army which is exactly what you did." Will said as BD-8 had come over with a pair of magnetic cuffs which he used to restrain Viceroy Gunray. "I'm sure for his heroism and brilliant planning, the Republic will thank him immensely for capturing you."

"They are right, Viceroy. I am with the Republic, and you are under arrest." Senator Farr said, aiming his gun at the Viceroy.

"You will pay for this treachery!" Gunray warned him only for BD-8 to use his splicer and shock him in the leg. "Ow!"

"Viceroy, you are going to spend the rest of the war in a cell." Padme told him.

"Your victory will be fleeting, Senators." Gunray said as a Republic Star Destroyer arrived on the planet and several clone gunships began making their way down.

"But your defeat won't be. Something tells me that Count Dooku isn't going to be very happy about this." Will told him as gunships landed and several squads of the Galactic Republic 41st Elite Corp disembarked.

"We got your message, General. What are your orders?" Clone Captain Gree asked.

"Take this scum and find the smallest cell to put him in. I'll join you shortly." Will said as the Clones took the Viceroy away.

"Master Jedi…on behalf of the people of Rodia, I thank you." Senator Farr said. "You're are the bravest Jedi I have ever met."

"It was my pleasure, Senator Farr. I understand that you may lose faith in the Republic but never lose faith in the Jedi. We will always be there if you need us." Will bowed his head and the Senator bowed back.

One of the clones quickly set up a holodisk which projected an incoming transmission from Chancellor Palpatine. "Senator Farr. Senator Amidala has brought your people's needs to my attention, and I have already sent a convoy of supply ships to your system."

"Thank you, Chancellor."

"The capture of Viceroy Gunray is a major victory for the Republic. All of you should be commended for your courage. Especially you, Padawan Vizsla. You have my utmost respect and thanks for keeping Senator Amidala safe and capturing Viceroy Gunray." Chancellor Palpatine said.

"I was just doing my duty, Chancellor." Will bowed his head as the transmission ended.

"Can you ever forgive me, Padme?" Senator Farr asked.

"It is the Republic that should be asking for your forgiveness, my old friend. Far too often, we forget that our most important allies are not always the most powerful." Senator Amidala said.

Line Break xxxxx

Viceroy Gunray Captured. Senator Padme Amidala has scored a victory against the Separatist Alliance on the remote world of Rodia, securing the arrest of the diabolical confederate leader, Nute Gunray.

The Jedi Council has dispatched Master Luminara Unduli and Anakin Skywalker's Padawan Ahsoka to help Padawan Will Vizsla in escorting the viceroy to Coruscant under heavy guard. Once there, he will face trial for his many war crimes.

The success on Rodia was a huge boon for the Republic as it finally gave them momentum on the Separatists. With the capture of Nute Gunray, a massive blow would be dealt to the Confederacy with his capture and arrest. He was one of the leaders of the Separatist war council, so his capture was important. Nute Gunray was a high valued target so he was being escorted back to Coruscant under guard of the 41st Elite corp or Green Company who collected him on Rodia. Accompanying them was Padawan Will Vizsla who had captured Nute Gunray, Master Luminara Unduli general of the 41st Elite Corp and Ahsoka Tano. They were on a Republic Blockade cruiser on their way to another Star Destroyer that would take them to Coruscant because the 41st Elite Corp Star Destroyer was staying behind to safe guard Rodia.

Master Luminara walked into the cockpit of the cruiser to speak to the captain as they approached the Republic Star Destroyer. "Captain, have you made contact with the cruiser?"

"Yes, general. We'll patch you through now." The pilot hit a few buttons and a communications channel opened between the two ships.

"Jedi Cruiser Tranquility, this is Jedi General Luminara Unduli requesting permission to land."

"You are cleared, General. We await your prisoner's arrival." Senate commando captain Argyus replied.

"Thank you, Captain Argyus. I look forward to delivering him to you." She replied while Will and Ahsoka were keeping watch over Nute Gunray along with Captain Gree and some clones.

"I am a man of great wealth, and I can be very generous to my allies." Gunray tried to tempt Captain Gree.

"That is a very tempting offer, Viceroy. In the meantime, I have a gift for you." Captain Gree slapped cufflinks onto his wrists to restrain him.

"I'd keep quiet from now on, Viceroy. You don't have any friends here. And if you think of trying to escape…" Will held out his saber and tossed it up into the air before catching it. "…well, medical droids can fix amputations quite nicely."

The Viceroy nervously gulped causing Ahsoka and the clones to chuckle. The cruiser soon docked with the Star Destroyer and once everything was in order, the Jedi and Captain Gree escorted the Viceroy to the detention area. "This is an outrageous miscarriage of justice. I demand my litigator."

"Keep moving." Captain Gree pushed him forward.

They turned a hallway where five Senate Commandos were waiting for them. "Greetings, General. We have the brig all ready for this traitor." Captain Argyus informed her.

"Very good, Captain. Commander Gree, let's get underway." Master Unduli told him.

"Right away, sir. Let's move." Gree shouted as Gunray kept moving and the commandos took the lead in escorting him.

"Senate Commandos? How does a money-grubbing worm like Gunray rate all this security? He doesn't look that dangerous." Ahsoka pointed out.

"Appearances can be deceiving, Ahsoka. Gunray may be a spineless coward but he's the one who led the invasion of Naboo years ago and he's a high-ranking member of the Separatists." Will informed her.

"He's right, young one. Don't let your overconfidence give Gunray another advantage, Ahsoka. Even now, his allies may be conspiring against us." Master Unduli told them.

"Then let's hightail it to Coruscant and find out what he knows. This could be our chance to finally get ahead of the Separatists." Will said as they made their way to the detention area.

Once there, Will got on the communications terminal and informed all soldiers and personnel to be on high alert until they arrived at Coruscant. Master Unduli had a point that the Separatists would try to free Gunray so being on alert only made sense. With that set up, Captain Argyus, the senate commandos along with Captain Gree and some clones were stationed in the detention area while the Jedi would interrogate Gunray for information.

The Star Destroyer was clearing Rodia space and making its way towards a hyperspace lane. It wouldn't be long before they were underway. Captain Argyus finished coordinating his men and walked over to the cell where Captain Gree was. "How goes the interrogation? Has the Viceroy cracked?"

"Not yet. Neimoidians are a slippery lot, but the Jedi will wear him down." Gree replied.

Inside the cell, Gunray was sitting at a table while Master Luminara stood across from him and Will and Ahsoka leaned against the walls of his cell. "Your thoughts betray you, Viceroy. I can sense your concern, the fear that you will lose the wealth and the power that the war has given you." Master Luminara said.

"I…have no idea what you're talking about." Gunray replied, unconvincingly.

Master Luminara closed her eyes and used the force to probe his mind. "You hide a great many things: The names of your secret allies, the locations of their bases."

"I am an innocent pawn in all this." Gunray pleaded causing Will to scoff.

"I think you're confusing innocent with idiotic. Weren't you the person who organized the invasion and takeover of Naboo against Senator Amidala when she was Queen? A completely peaceful planet yet you decided to use your power to launch an invasion and employed the services of that Sith, Darth Maul. It's no wonder you did the same thing years later with Count Dooku and Grievous." Will said when he noticed Gunray's expression. He used the force to sense what the Neimoidian was thinking and it was concern…like there was something he was worried they would figure out about the invasion of Naboo. "What are you hiding, Viceroy?"

"I don't know what you're talking about?"

"You're afraid we'll figure something out about the Invasion of Naboo." Will told him and decided to see if he could push him in the right direction. "How did you manage to work alongside Darth Maul? The Sith crave power above all so it makes sense that they would use you as a pawn…but how did you meet them?"

Master Luminara noticed the viceroy was getting more nervous. The Padawan was pushing in the right direction. "Who are you protecting, Viceroy?"

"Nothing! I know nothing!" Gunray lied only for Ahsoka to slam her fist into the table.

"Liar! Liar! I'm tired of all this whining!" She activated her saber and held the green blade close to his neck. "Tell us what we want to know right now, or I will gut you like a Rokarian dirt fish!"

Gunray fell to the floor in fear and probably soiled his pants. Master Luminara grabbed Ahsoka and pulled her away. "Padawan. Terror is not a weapon the Jedi use."

"I wasn't serious." Ahsoka whispered back. "But the only way he'll talk is if he's scared enough."

"Uh, perhaps I was too hasty. Let us negotiate." Gunray pleaded causing Ahsoka to smile only for the ship to rumble from some kind of explosion.

"Captain, status report!" Captain Gree shouted into his comms.

"Droid fighters, incoming. They've brought boarding ships."

"Let us out." Will shouted as Captain Argyus deactivated the ray shields. Once the Jedi were out, he reactivated them to keep the Viceroy secure. "Captain Gree, get Green company ready."

"Yes, General. Green company, prepare to repel the enemy!" Gree ordered over the comms and clones all over the ship maneuvered into defensive positions at key areas on the ship.

"Captain, send an extra squad to the docking bay." Will ordered.

"Yes, sir." Captain Gree replied.

"Why the docking bay?" Ahsoka asked.

"Because the docking bay is the best path for access on the ship and it'll make their boarding access a lot easier. BD-8, patch into a terminal and keep me updated on the droid's progress. I'm heading to the docking bay now." Will said as the droid nodded and scurried down to a nearby terminal before splicing in.

"Padawan, that will not be happening. You will remain here with the Viceroy as your mission dictates." Master Luminara ordered. Before Will could respond, chatter came over the comms from clones in the docking bay. Super Battle droids had broken through and were on their way to the detention level. They needed reinforcements but before any questions could be answered the transmission ended. "Captain Gree, I'll need your help. Come with me."

"Yes, General." Gree replied.

"Right behind you, Master." Ahsoka added.

"You and Padawan Vizsla will stay here with Captain Argyus. Guard the Viceroy." Master Luminara ordered.

"But…" Ahsoka stopped when Will put his hand on her shoulder.

"Yes, Master Luminara. Be careful out there." Will told her and she nodded in response before she and Captain Gree left. "There's no point in trying to fight her on this. She's pretty by the books. I should have figured."

"It appears you are in no position to negotiate after all, Jedi." Gunray taunted. "Perhaps after my rescue—"

"Rescue? Maybe they're here to make sure you won't talk." Ahsoka pointed out which make Gunray a little worried.

"Besides, now we can get back to business." Will smirked at the Viceroy who all of a sudden began to get really sweaty. "Considering what's going on, I'll have to do this the hard way."

"Oh, there's no need for that. I very much like doing things the easy way." Gunray pleaded as Will held his hand forward and closed his eyes.

"Tell me what you know. What are you hiding, Viceroy?" Will used the force to probe into his mind and find some answers.

Gunray did his best to keep his secrets hidden from the Jedi's mind tricks but it wasn't easy. "I won't tell you anything."

"Tell me your secrets, Viceroy." Will said again, concentrating harder and was starting to get somewhere. He picked up some errant thoughts and jumbles of words but nothing concrete except for a Separatist holdout on the Planet Vallt in the Outer Rim. Gunray organized the invasion of the planet Vallt and the seizure of Zerpen Industries through the usual means of a Separatist involved Coup. It was likely one of the places Gunray held some of his fortune and resources. "Tell me about Naboo. Who were you working with? How did you meet Darth Maul?"

"Leave me alone!" Gunray shouted.

Before Will could probe any deeper, he sensed something dark and evil closing in. Captain Argyus noticed the Padawan stopped what he was doing. "Is everything all right, Padawan?" He asked only for Will to move away from the cell and walk over to the main control area of the detention block by the doors.

Ahsoka noticed Will seemed to be on edge as he made his way over to the console. "Will, what's wrong?"

"Shh…" Will shushed her as he used the force to concentrate like Obi-wan had taught him. That's when he sensed what was coming.

"Will, what is it?" Ahsoka asked, a little worried about what was wrong with him.

"We've got trouble." He said when he saw a hole being cut into the ceiling. Soon enough a slim figured dropped down to reveal Ventress, the Sith Assassin working for Dooku. She kicked one of the Senate Commandos but before she could kill the other, she was force pushed into the wall by Will.

"Commandos, fall back and protect the Viceroy!" Will shouted as they quickly surrounded his cell with their blasters ready. Will activated his blue lightsaber and held it in front of him in a regular stance while Ahsoka activated her green blade in reverse grip. "I knew I sensed something evil."

"You were right. If it isn't the hairless harpy." Ahsoka joked.

"If it isn't Skywalker's filthy, obnoxious little pet." Ventress shot back.

"Wow, she really doesn't like you." Will said.

"I'll get over it. Tell you what, I'll give you a merciful death." Ahsoka said as Ventress activated her twin red lightsabers and charged forward. Will blocked and parried all her attacks but was lucky to have Ahsoka there to cover his flank. He was good but help was always appreciated.

Will blocked and parried a lunge before striking back with several of his own quick attacks and feints that Ventress parried before moving to attack Ahsoka. Ventress used the Jar'Kai style of lightsaber combat, which essentially meant she used two lightsabers in her techniques to both attack and defend. Will recognized some signs of Makashi type training in her attacks which made sense given she worked for Dooku and he was a Makashi master. Unlucky for her was that Will was well trained in Makashi as well and quickly began meeting her attacks more readily then Ahsoka. He had to cover her side every now and then, but the fight seemed pretty even between the three with Ventress trying to keep the momentum on her side as she began forcing the two padawans into the narrow corridor that led to the Viceroy's cell.

Will blocked attack after attack before he and Ashoka blocked Ventress and were met in a saber lock. "Skywalker's not here to save you now." She taunted.

"Good thing I don't need saving." Ahsoka replied as Ventress caught her leg and forced her into a split while force pushing Will down the corridor. The Sith assassin flipped over Ahsoka and quickly raced towards the Chancellor but Will did a kip-up back to his feet and charged at her. He leapt off the wall of the corridor and lunged at Ventress who quickly blocked his attack but was left open to a kick to the gut. She seethed in anger and swiped at his head but missed as Will wall flipped and slashed at her head. Ventress managed to block but her lunge missed as he side-flipped over her and struck with speed and precision.

Ventress would block and parry but every time she would attack Will would dip, dive, slide, or flip around resulting in her missing. The enclosed space of the corridor was actually making it harder for her to land a hit on him while Will was using his training in Form 4 Ataru to its fullest. He gainer flipped over Ventress's head and slashed at her back, but she blocked and kept swiping at him. While she was fast and highly trained so was Will who had the momentum on his side. He slid forward on his knees and dodged a saber that narrowly skimmed past his face and sliced off a hair when Ahsoka jumped in and the two attacked Ventress from the front and back.

Their fighting worked out long enough for Master Luminara, Captain Gree and a squad of clones to arrive, effectively putting Ventress into an unwinnable situation. Master Luminara activated her green saber and joined the Padawans while the clones and commandos aimed their blasters at the assassin.

"Surrender." Master Luminara told her and shockingly Ventress did. She deactivated and holstered her sabers before holding her hands up to the shock of the viceroy. But despite surrendering she kept a smirk on her face and that's when Will and Master Luminara noticed her gaze on her bracelet that had a blinking red light. Then an explosion rocked the ship and knocked everyone off balance. Ahsoka fell to the ground and Ventress forced pushed Will into Master Luminara. Ventress flipped through the air and slashed at the two but Will raised his Beskar gauntlets which deflected her glancing blow. The assassin deflected clone fire and flipped through the air to jump over them.

Will quickly got back to his feet and charged after the assassin with Master Luminara and Ahsoka following from behind. Ventress force push opened an elevator and jumped down the empty shaft with her sabers acting as climbing claws to slow her descent. Normally Will would have acted rational and not jumped straight after her but his battle mindset and ingrained Mandalorian instincts tended to takeover in a fight and he jumped in straight after her.

"PADAWAN!" Master Luminara shouted as she saw Will jump right after Ventress.

"Let's go." Ahsoka was about to jump after him but Master Luminara stopped her for good reason as the elevator pod soon raced down. She would have been crushed. "Whoa. Thanks."

Will felt the wind rush past his face as he fell down the elevator shaft but that kind of changed when he saw the elevator pod coming after him. Luckily, he saw an opening coming up, so he jumped through it just before he was crushed. He saw a squad of clones dead on the floor. Ventress must have gone through them.

"Damn." Will activated his saber and chased after her. "BD-8, can you track her down?"

BD-8, who was still in the detention area spliced into a terminal but with everything going on he couldn't track her down. The explosion crippled the entire ship and its systems were going haywire so tracking her down was next to impossible unless it was fixed. "All right, it's ok BD-8. Find your way to a communications terminal that's still functioning and see if you can contact Obi-wan for help. We're dead in the water without backup."

His droid gave him an affirmative beep before it scurried away from the detention area to try and find a new communications terminal while he kept up his pursuit of Ventress. He followed her body trail down the halls of the ship until arriving in the engine room where he saw the wreckage of her bombing. They were lucky the reactors didn't overload and blow up the whole ship but there was no way they could fix this without help.

As he stepped into the engine room filled with fire, smoke, and wreckage he kept his saber at the ready and trusted in the force. He couldn't tell where but by the feeling of evil and darkness, Ventress was near. That's when he heard someone else enter the engine room and it was Master Luminara. Ventress then dropped from the ceiling and slashed at her, pushing her back to part of the wreckage and slashed a steam pipe. The steam hit Master Luminara in the face who screamed in pain and back-flipped away to tend to her injured eye.

Ventress activated both her sabers and charged only for Will to swing down from the ceiling and kick her away. She flipped back to her feet as Will adopted a form 3-Soresu stance much like Master Obi-wan with his fingers pointed out and his saber held above his head. Ventress noticed his stance and instantly recognized it as the preferred stance of Obi-wan Kenobi. "Are you all right, Master?"

"Yes, I'll be fine." She told him as she stood up and held her lightsaber ready in her own Soresu stance. While the steam didn't blind her, it did injure her left eye and gave her a handicap in this fight.

"Leave it to a Sith assassin to play dirty." Will mocked.

"And leave it to Obi-wan to find another helpless whelp to train. I've lost all respect for him." Ventress mocked back.

"Considering that you haven't exactly won our fight, is that a joke you want to be making?" Will shot back as Ventress growled and charged forward. The Padawan and Master engaged Ventress in a fight, blocking and parrying all her wild and quick strikes. Master Luminara was a well-known practitioner of Form 3-Soresu and Will was trained by Obi-wan in the style, so they complemented one another in this fight. Both Jedi were using it to block, parry, and guard against Ventress's wild dual wielding form 2-Makashi strikes. Will would normally go on the offensive but seeing that Master Luminara was handicapped by an injured eye, he kept it safe and stayed defensive to cover her and it was working.

Will blocked and parried Ventress's feint before covering Master Luminara's flank who responded with a circle sweep that pushed Ventress back. "Do you think you'll still be able to call on the force after I've separated your head from your body?" Ventress mocked.

"Even with my vision clouded I recognized the fighting style of Count Dooku." Master Luminara said causing Ventress to smirk. "Your version is unrefined, amateurish, sloppy."

"Ouch, that's got to hurt." Will joked as Ventress growled in anger. She charged forward while the two Jedi blocked and parried her anger-induced strikes which wouldn't be difficult expect for the fragile nature of the engine room and the platform they were fighting on. Will kept on parrying and blocking but tried to keep mind of his footwork so he didn't go anyplace unstable or weakening. Ventress noticed this and pushed the two Jedi towards one side of the platform with quick strikes and lunges that both Jedi blocked and parried. After a series of quick circle blocks to the head and torso, Will nearly backstepped off the platform and lost his footing which Ventress tried to capitalize on by taking him out while he was off balance but Master Luminara stopped her attack. Will backflipped off the platform and fired a grapple hook from his gauntlet at the ceiling and swung around. He landed on the other side of the platform when he saw Ventress kick Master Luminara away. The assassin brought her saber down to cleave the Jedi's head in two only for Will to throw his saber and knock her blades off target just in time for Master Luminara to kick Ventress back. Will jumped over to her side and pulled his saber back to his hand.

"You know, for an assassin you're not exactly doing a good job." Will mocked causing Ventress to sneer. The three engaged in another quick duel that didn't seem to have a clear victor before Ventress threw out two force pushes that Will and Master Luminara clashed with. There was a bit of a struggle between the two sides before they were all pushed away from each other but unfortunately Will and Master Luminara were pushed to the unstable side of the platform. Ventress quickly acted and force pushed the platform causing it collapse underneath the Jedi's feet and sent them falling to the wreckage below.

Will grabbed Master Luminara's hand and fired his grapple hook at the platform which was too loose to hold both their weight and broke, sending them both to the ground in a thud. Ventress followed that up by jumping high into the air and slicing several large pipes into pieces. Will noticed the pipes coming down from the ceiling and quickly acted, getting close to Master Luminara and called on the force to hold the pipes in the air just inches from their heads. While it worked and they weren't squished, several other pipes had fallen and one rolled onto Master Luminara's leg, trapping her. The Master couldn't find her saber and the Padawan was too focused on keeping the other pipes from crushing them to help and judging by the strain on his face he needed to stay focused or they were deader than a clawbird stuck in a Gundark pit.

Ventress jumped down onto the ground and smiled in delight at the two helpless Jedi. Revenge was sweet. "And now you two fall, as all Jedi must." She lunged through the air but was force pushed away and slid into an empty pipe. Master Luminara looked and saw Ahsoka arrive just in time. She rushed over and used her saber to slice off part of the pipe that was trapping her.

"I know, I know you told me to stay." Ahsoka said as she handed Luminara her saber.

"Well, as long as you're here." Master Luminara replied when Ventress crawled out of the pipe and activated both her sabers ready to fight all three Jedi but Will decided to intervene. He dug deep and called on the force to his aid with a mighty roar.

"ARRRGHHH!" He heaved the pipes at Ventress who went wide-eyed and quickly dove for cover to avoid being squished. Will collapsed to his knees in exhaustion as Ahsoka knelt to help him and Master Luminara watched with both intrigue and astonishment. Doing what the Padawan did required a great deal of training, concentration and connection to the force. Obi-wan had quite the new Padawan under his tutelage.

"What took you so long, Ace?" Will asked, taking deep heavy breaths to try and recover from that exhaustive ordeal.

"Well, if you hadn't gone off by yourself like you always do, Mando then we wouldn't be in this mess." She shot back as she helped him up to his feet. Master Luminara noticed Ventress crawl out from under a pipe and jump away.

"We must pursue her. We can't let her get to Gunray."

The two Padawans nodded as they followed Master Luminara back up to the main platform area. They kept their lightsabers ready and watched for anything out of the ordinary. They did notice a piece of wreckage moving about but it was only the mechanical droid 327T who provided maintenance over the engine room. Once he was freed from the wreckage he went about his duties.

"Ahsoka."

"What happened to Padawan Tano?" Ahsoka asked.

"This assassin…I've never faced an adversary like her. I should have heeded your advice. And thank you Will for your aid." Master Luminara said as Will nodded.

"I'll admit that I was a little headstrong in chasing after her but I'm glad I did and was there to help you." Will replied.

"Master, I don't mean to overstep my bounds but—" "General Unduli!"

Ahsoka was cut off by Master Luminara's commlink. "General Unduli, we've been betrayed. Argyus has freed Gunray."

"I've been a fool." Master Luminara said.

"Let's get back there." Ahsoka said as all three raced back to the entrance only for an errant pipe to come out of nowhere. Master Luminara sliced it in two as Ventress jumped down with her sabers ready. She wasn't about to let the Jedi interfere in the plan.

"Padawan Vizsla, head back to the detention area. Ahsoka and I will handle this. Do not let Gunray escape." Master Luminara ordered.

"Right." Will replied as Ventress charged forward but Will fired his repulsors and the shockwave knocked her back. Will backflipped into the air as Ahsoka and Master Luminara took his place while he ran as fast as he could. He exited the engine room and ran with purpose to the detention area while contacting BD-8 on his vambrace communicator. "BD-8, any luck on contacting backup?"

BD-8 beeped and booped, saying that he managed to find a functioning communication terminal and send out a distress signal. Time would tell when they would get backup. "Ok, great job buddy but we've got a new problem. Captain Argyus is trying to free Gunray. Find a control panel and lock down all escape pods and the hangar bay." BD-8 gave him an all right but with the ships systems still in disarray he wasn't hopeful. "Just do what you can, buddy!"

He made it to the elevators but with the ship's systems still in disarray he had to use his grapple claw to climb up the elevator shaft. When he got there, he saw Captain Gree on the ground and Gunray gone.

"Captain!" Will rushed over and helped him up as the clone rubbed his head.

"I'm sorry, sir. I tried to stop him." Captain Gree told him.

"It's not your fault. We should have just taken the shuttle and flown straight back to…" Will stopped for a second and realized where Captain Argyus was going. "The shuttle!"

He raced away and made it for the ship's lower hangar bay where the Republic shuttle was docked. He channeled the force to move faster than normal and used his saber to slice through any doors that were locked. He raced over to the hangar bay just as the shuttle disengaged from the docking clamp and flew away. "Dammit!" Will seethed in frustration as he saw Gunray and Captain Argyus get away. So much for finally getting ahead of the Separatists. And what's worse is that Captain Argyus was a senate commando, the people charged with protecting the senate and the Chancellor, the best of the best. They seriously needed to do some internal review on their soldiers.

Soon enough another Star destroyer arrived with repair teams that began fixing the damage in the engine room along with the rest of the ship's systems. Once the communications were back in working order Master Luminara and the Padawans contacted Master Yoda, Master Skywalker, and Master Kenobi and informed them what happened.

"By the time I got to the detention area they had already left. I raced to the hangar bay, but the ship was gone." Will told them.

"I'm sorry that despicable wealth-worm Gunray got away." Ahsoka said.

"It's ok, Snips. I know you did your best." Anakin assured her but was still disappointed at the Viceroy's escape.

"Troubling is the treachery of the Senate guard, Captain Argyus. Revealed all around us, our enemies are." Yoda said.

"We've already informed the Chancellor who's already implemented a full investigation into the senate guard. If there are any others like Captain Argyus we'll find them." Obi-wan added.

"I'm not sure all it lost. Gunray and his accomplices stole our republic Cruiser which can be tracked." Master Luminara told them.

"A coward, Viceroy Gunray is but power allies he has. Swiftly we must move if we are to recapture him." Yoda said.

"Master Fisto's fleet was near Gunray's position. I've already contacted him to follow the signal." Master Luminara said.

"And I have some more good news as well." Will said, pressing a few buttons on the console to activate the star charts and bring up the outer rim map. "Before Ventress attacked I managed to extract some information from Gunray."

"What kind of information?" Anakin asked.

"Not much. I was hoping to find some information about who he's working with but instead I got some information on one of his own personal holdouts in the outer rim." Will brought up an image of the planet Vallt. "Nute Gunray organized the Separatist coup of King Chai by Marshal Phara in exchange for control of the planet mining rights and construction along with the local branch of Zerpen Industries."

"What is Zerpen Industries?" Obi-wan asked.

"Zerpen Industries is a research lab specializing in synthetic energy research and use. Mostly for power but that research could easily be used for weapons. Gunray's using the planet to develop new weapons as well as a holdout for resources and part of his fortune. Unlucky for him, I was able to get some valuable intel like communication channels, access codes, ship placements and things like that." Will said causing the Jedi to smile.

"Which would make launching an attack a lot easier." Anakin said.

"I figured with Gunray escaping, we could at least make it cost him and the Separatists by taking a pawn off their board." Will suggested.

"A sound strategy. We'll begin the preparations when you return. Well done, my Padawan." Obi-wan said as Wil bowed his head.

"Ahsoka, we'll meet at the rendezvous coordinates and see if we can help." Anakin said before he and Obi-wan signed off.

"Well done, Padawans. Much adversity you faced, yet stronger it has made you. Remember, trust in the force and let it guide you, you must." Yoda reminded them.

"Yes, Master Yoda." Ahsoka and Will said with a bow as Yoda signed off as well.

"I guess this is where we part ways, Master Luminara." Ahsoka said.

"Indeed. I am alive today because of both of you. You have my utmost gratitude and I wish you luck in your training. Your masters should be proud of both of you." She told them.

"Thank you, Master." Ahsoka and Will bid her farewell as they went along their separate paths.

Line Break xxxxx

22BBY: Outer Rim

The Negotiator along with two other Venator-class Star Destroyers were traversing through the Outer Rims on their way to Planet Vallt. Normally trying to take down a Separatist controlled planet would be too risky but with the intel Will managed to recover from Nute Gunray, it seemed feasible. That and given that there was a Zerpen Industries lab on the planet now under the control of the Separatists, the risk of them developing a new weapon had to be taken into consideration. Master Obi-wan Kenobi and the 212th clone attack Battalion would lead the attack alongside Master Ram Kota and the specialized 441st regiment. Rahm Kota led his own specialized unit of non-clones into combat. Made up of recruits from planetary defense forces, militias, and former mercenaries, they were highly trained and skilled. Anakin and Ahsoka were needed elsewhere so it would just them for now, but Will did manage to contact Kal Skirata and get Omega squad loaned out for the mission, so things were looking up for them.

Master Kenobi, Master Kota, Will, Niner, and Admiral Block were on the bridge at a console to discuss the battle plans for their assault.

"From what I was able to gather from Nute Gunray, Planet Vallt has three Separatists ships in orbit as protection. One Lucrehulk-class Droid Control ship with two Munificent-class star frigates to act as protection here and here." Will pointed to opposite ends of the planet where they were placed. The Lucrehulk was on one side while the Munificent frigates were on the other. "Not exactly the best approach to keep a planet safe but Gunray isn't known to be the best commander."

"And the ground forces?" Kota asked.

"A Separatist battalion to act as ground forces for protecting Zerpen Industries along with a placement of J-1 proton cannons here near the main docking yard." Will pointed out on the map.

"Those guns are going to make landing our troops next to impossible unless we take them out." Obi-wan said.

"But we're also going to be dealing with local resistance from the Iron Gauntlet legion made up of the local Valltii warriors." Will pressed some buttons to bring up images of the Valltii species. They had ice blue skin, were stout and heavy with large found faces and jaws designed to chew meat. Their heavy arms made them excellent laborers along with skilled fighters. "They follow the command of the leader of the capital which is the Separatists but if we arrive to help, they could back us. Not only that, but from what I saw in Gunray's mind, the Separatist takeover wasn't exactly welcome by everyone. Those droids are there to mainly keep the scientists and citizens in check."

"That's going to make things much more complicated. If we try any standard offensive, we risk this turning into a deadly hostage situation." Niner commented. "Not to mention the terrain of the place isn't the best."

"Well, I checked with Republic databases and Vallt is a snow and ice planet like Ilum. Half of the planet is covered in ice during most of the year except for the northern half which is where the capital city Tambolor is and where the Zerpen Industries lab is located. That's where the Separatists droids are located." Will explained, bringing up old holographic maps of the city and the lab when Zerpen Industries registered for their permit. "We can use the permit and holographic blueprints to plan our entrance into the facility."

"I can take Omega team and lead an assault through utility tunnels and ventilation shafts at the bottom of canyon here. The Separatists won't be guarding those areas and it'll let us find out what they're working on." Niner planned out. "Not to mention we could take their hostages out of the equation."

"A sound plan but we'll still have to land in the city and our shuttles won't have the best shot getting past those cannons." Kota summarized.

"Maybe if we get inside the city and their base this battle would be a lot easier?" Will suggested. "I didn't think it was that important, but I did also get Gunray's personal landing code for the planet. Maybe play a little undercover operation to get down there? We could use Gunray's personal landing code to sneak into the main city and gain access."

"How would that work?" Admiral Block questioned.

"Well, we could say that one of us if an emissary for Viceroy Gunray who, after his near capture by the Republic is sending his agents to investigate his holdings. Gunray's a slimy worm and half the time we had him captured he was worried about his wealth." Will explained.

"I'd buy that. Gunray's a coward and while he's on the run it would make sense. He's the kind of person who would want to make sure his holdings are being looking after. We could use that to gain access to the city and Zerpen Labs and lower their defenses. Then while the fleet engages the Separatists in space, we can make sure the hostages are secure and take out those proton cannons." Master Kota finished.

"Well then who's going down there?" Obi-wan asked.

"Normally I'd suggest you Master Kenobi, but you're already pretty well known so the odds of you being recognized are pretty high. Master Kota should go down. He's scary enough to pass off as an enforcer." Will realized what he said and saw Master Kota glaring at him. "Sorry."

"The Padawan's point does make some sense but it won't work if we show up in a republic shuttle." Kota said, getting back to the planning and Obi-wan got an idea.

"Well, perhaps a former Separatist ship might be a better idea and we happen to have one in the fighter bay." Obi-wan told him.

"The Tempest was in the hands of the Separatists before I got it back so that could work. And it's not exactly standard Republic issue. I'll be able to pilot her down here." Will assured them.

"All right, then I think we've got a plan." Niner said. "While we take the city from the inside, General Kenobi will handle our forces up here and prevent the Separatists from reinforcing their ground troops."

"Catch them off guard. Sounds like a plan." Obi-wan replied. "We'll wait for your signal."

"Right, let's get ready." Master Kota said as he, Niner, and Will left to get ready.

"Padawan…" Obi-wan stopped Will from leaving so the two could talk alone for a moment. "Are you ready for this?"

"To go undercover on a Separatist controlled planet and free the inhabitants? Not really but does anything ever prepare you for that?" Will questioned causing Obi-wan to chuckle.

"Touché." Obi-wan put his hand on Will's shoulder and got serious for a moment. "But this is serious. I'm proud of the progress you've made in the short time we've spent together but like I've said before, not amount of experience can prepare you for anything you might face. Be careful, listen to Master Kota and trust in the force."

"Yes, Master. I'll make you proud." Will told him.

"I have faith you will." Obi-wan replied as they shook hands before Will left to get ready.

After about half-an-hour of prepping, the go team for the planet infiltration was ready. Will and Master Kota were wearing regular clothes to mascaraed as a pilot/servant and Gunray's envoy respectively. Kota's men were dressed up in mercenary gear to act at the crew of the ship and as Kota's protection while Omega team and the Rathtar squad were the only ones clad in snowtrooper armor.

"Ok, since everyone's here how about we go over the plan one last time." Niner said as BD-8 projected a holographic image of the city and the Zerpen Facilities. "Assuming this plan works, and the Separatist believe we're working for Gunray, we'll probably be directed down to the capital city. On the way there, the ship will slow down here where Rathtar squad and Omega will disembark and make our way to the utility tunnels there. Once we gain access, we'll make our way into laboratories, recovery any intel we can and secure any hostages."

"While they do that, we'll be making the direct approach. Once we land, we keep up with the charade as long as we can. Half of the team will stay with the ship and the weapons while the Padawan and I will be escorted into the facility. When we give the signal, take out those proton cannons and signal the fleet to begin the attack." Master Kota added.

"And in case something happens with our communications, I've instructed BD-8 on a backup plan. Once we land, he'll infiltrate the facility and keep an eye on us. If they figure out what we're up to and we're compromised or they disrupt our communications, he'll be able to run interference." Will finished. "Best of luck everyone and may the force be with you."

They all boarded the Tempest with their gear, ready and willing if the mission went sideways. The clones readied their armor and weapons, ready for any kind of firefight. This was going to be interesting as Hevy, Echo, and Fives would be working with Omega squad and Will told them to follow Niner's lead. Will and Master Kota got situated in the cockpit of the Tempest as they and BD-8 got the ship ready to launch. Flips and switches were set as the engines powered up along with the other systems. BD-8 got situated into his specialized droid cockpit so he could more easily interface with the ship's systems.

"Ready, Master Kota?" Will asked.

"Ready."

"Ok, here we go." Will piloted the SX light Corellian freighter out of the Negotiators hangar and into space. He did some final checks while BD-8 set the navi-computer and the hyper drive. "Tempest to Negotiator, we are ready for hyperspace jump."

"Negotiator to Tempest, acknowledge. Best of luck, Commander." Admiral Block told him.

"Likewise, Admiral. We'll see you on the other side." Will said as he pulled the hyper drive lever and the ship flew out of the area at lightspeed. It took only about a minute for them to arrive at their destination and exited their hyperspace jump in Vallt space. The Separatist ships were in visual range and they were likely already picked up by their scanners.

"Unidentified ship, you are trespassing in Separatist space. Identify yourself or you will be subjected to lethal action." A droid voice spoke over an incoming transmission.

"All right, let's hope this works." Will replied before opening up a communication line. "This is pilot Anton Wor of the Tempest, transporting delegate Eras Vix on behalf of Viceroy Nute Gunray to inspect his holdings. Transmitting landing code now."

The Tempest kept on at a normal pace through space while the crew waited for the Separatists response. BD-8 looked at Will and beeped curiously. "I know, buddy. They better buy this, or our problems are just starting." Will replied.

On the command deck of the Lucrehulk-Battle station, the droids were busy doing their due diligence on their regular orders and commands when the mysterious freighter arrived. "TX-75, what's the problem?" The command droid asked.

"An unidentified ship has entered the sector. They say they are here on orders from Viceroy Gunray to inspect the base." A technician battle droid replied.

"Do they have a landing code?" The command droid asked.

"Yes, they're using Viceroy Gunray's personal landing code." The droid replied.

"Hail them again." The command droid ordered.

"Right away."

Back on the Tempest, the crew were beginning to get a little nervous as there had been no response from the Separatists. "Do you think our cover is blown?" Will asked.

"No. If it was, they'd have already opened fire on us." Kota replied when another communications line came in.

"Freighter Tempest, is Viceroy Gunray present with you?" The droid asked so Will came up with a quick lie.

"Negative. Viceroy Gunray is still on the run from Republic forces after evading capture by the Jedi. He's sent us and other agents to monitor his holdings in his stead." Will replied, hoping it would be enough to convince the droids to at least let them onto the planet.

There was a bit of a pause for about a minute until they got a response. "Proceed to Tambolor city, docking bay 7." The droid replied.

"Roger that. Docking bay 7." Will said, piloting his way down to the planet. "Thank the force that actually worked."

"Indeed." Master Kota replied before pressing the intercom button. "All right, we're coming up on Vallt. Get ready."

Omega team and Rathtar squad readied their guns and made their way to the freighter ramp. "We're ready on our end." Niner shouted.

"Copy that." Will replied as the Tempest entered Vallt atmosphere and was instantly hit with the cold wind and snow of the native climate. "BD-8, divert backup power to thermal regulators. I don't want our systems freezing up."

BD-8 gave an affirmative beep as the Tempest flew down and hovered over the snow-covered landscape that made up a bulk of the planet's topography. Will slowed down a bit and hit a switch that deployed the freighter's loading ramp. "All right, Niner we're coming up on the drop site."

"Roger that. We'll keep in contact and let you know if something goes wrong. Best of luck, Commander." Niner told him as he and the clones readied to jump.

"Same to you. Parjir." Will said, the last word being Mando'a meaning be victorious.

"Oya." The clones replied, having learned Mando'a from either Kal or Will and it meant stay alive.

"All right, get ready…" Will lowered the ship a little closer to the ground. "And go!"

The clones filed out two by two and jumped from the ramp, landing in the snow and quickly blending into their environment. Once the last clone made the jump, he retracted the ramp and resumed normal speed towards the city. Echo and Atin checked their scanners to make sure there weren't any probe droids or sensors to pick them up. Atin then signaled Niner they were clear.

"All right, let's move." Niner led the way as the clones made their way through the snow-covered land to the cavern where the utility tunnels were located. The snow made it harder than normal to traverse the land, but they booked it as fast as they could until they reached the cavern and then used grapple cables to lower themselves down to the tunnels.

Will piloted the Tempest over to the capital city that was encased in a dome similar to the cities on Rodia that protected the inhabitants from the harsh wind and cold. The city's architecture was similar to that of planets like Tatooine or Ryloth where it was created by using natural elements of the planet, in this case cold-tempered granite and stone but was supplemented with off-world metal structures. The Zerpen facilities were the only exception as they were built by the engineers of the company for maximum security and protection.

Part of the dome retracted allowing the Tempest into the city as Will piloted it over to the docking area where he saw other ships, cargo and four J-1 proton cannons manned by a few droids. He saw some utility droids signaling him down to land at an empty spot, so he did. Phase one of their plan: complete. Time for phase two. Will shut down the ship's systems and BD-8 made sure to secure everything while Master Kota went to talk to his men. Half were hidden away in the hidden floorboard compartments to wait for the signal while the other half were acting as security. Best to have some surprise backup when things started.

Will joined Master Kota as the two disembarked the Tempest via the ramp and were met with a battle droid patrol along with several Valltii warriors dressed in black and gold armor and carrying heavy blasters. With them was a Valltii administrator dressed in regal clothes. "Greeting, delegate Eras Vix. I am Urot, attendee of Marshal Phara. She welcomes you to Vallt and hope your travel here was worry free."

"It was quite pleasant thanks to my servant. Anton is a skilled pilot for someone so young and managed to keep us out of the way of the Republic forces. So, shall we begin? Viceroy Gunray expects my report before the next cycle." Master Kota said, playing into his role.

"Of course, follow me." Urot took lead with Will and Master Kota following while the Valltii warriors traveled with them. The droids stayed with the ship and helped the disguised crew secure it along with refueling and providing security. BD-8 climbed down one of the landing gear legs and scurried away quickly and quietly while avoiding droid patrols as he made its way into the city.

Will and Master Kota were escorted past the docking gates and into the city where they saw a lot more droids present, keeping the civilian population in check who were a mix moss of various species. They seemed liked peaceful, hardworking laborers but the droid's constant presence and authority seemed to hamper their day. Many workers and engineers were being harassed by droids and from what he could hear, on order by Marshall Phara. Clearly, the Separatists were taking advantage of the planets laborers and the Zerpen Industries lab.

Just as they entered city's keep, Will's communicator blinked which relayed the message to the earbud he had hidden in his left ear. "Commander, we've breached the utility tunnels and are making our way into the bottom of the labs. We'll keep you updated."

He subtly stretched and cracked his arms which allowed him to press a button that signaled back, essentially saying understood. Inside the keep were more Valltii warriors and even more droids who were set to their task of keeping watch over the local populace and workers. They were escorted through the keep until they came to the throne room where Marshal Phara sat in the chair. She was a young Valltii woman dressed in regal robes with a crown of crystalized ice and stone on her head. She's the one who led the coup against the Republic backed King Chai with military help from the Separatists and was installed as the planet's new leader. Beside her was Chieftain Gruppe who was the leader of the native Valltii people. An older Valltii female who led and represented her people on the planet. She was wearing old armor that indicated her time as a warrior.

"Greetings Eras Vix and welcome to Vallt. I am Marshal Phara and this is Chieftain Gruppe." Marshal Phara greeted as Kota and Will bowed their heads in response.

"Thank you, Marshal Phara. This is my young ward and pilot, Anton Wor." Kota greeted.

"Greetings." Will bowed his head.

"Apologies for the small delay, the wind made our travels here a tad bit troubling." Kota replied.

"Of course. Forgive me, Lord Vix but we were not expecting your arrival. Usually Viceroy Gunray appears himself to inspect his holdings." Marshal Phara said.

"And in most circumstances that would be the case but Viceroy Gunray's recent escape from Republic forces leaves him incapable of performing these checks by himself at the current moment. As you can only imagine, the Republic's search for Viceroy Gunray is rather extensive." Kota explained, playing into his role perfectly. "So, he has sent his agents in his stead to ensure that things are running smoothly. Perhaps we can get started, he'll want my report before the next cycle."

"Of course, whatever the Viceroy needs. Follow me, your ward can stay with your ship." Marshal Phara told him.

"Of course. Anton, wait with the ship until I complete my business." Kota told him as the two shared a look before Marshal Phara led the way along with a contingent of droids and Valltii warriors through the palace. Guess it was time to improvise.

A squad of droids escorted Will back to the ship but when they were near an alley and out of sight, he dropped a droid popper to the ground.

"What's that?" A droid asked only for it to go off and an EMP disabled the four battle droids. Will quickly dashed into the alley and used the force to take the droids with him, just in time before they were spotted. He took a security key from one of the droids before dumping their bodies into an empty crate.

He triple-checked to make sure the coast was clear before opening an encrypted communications channel to the others. "All right, everyone. The plan's changed a little bit. Kota and I are separated so I'm going to head into the palace to find any information and prisoners I can. Ground team, wait for the signal to take out those cannons and remember to stick to droid poppers. There are civilians here so watch your fire. Niner, what's your status?"

"We've breached the lab and quietly took out a few droids that were guarding some scientists and researchers. They were glad to see us. They're instructed us on the best path through the facilities and where the other scientists are." Niner replied.

"Roger that. Be careful. The second things go bad, we spring the trap. BD-8, standby buddy." Will said and got a beep in response. He peaked out of the alley and saw two droids heading his way, so he waited until they crossed and then force sped past them. One of the droids turned around because it heard a whish but saw nothing.

He quickly and quietly made his way through the city, stealthy placing a few extra droid poppers near large droid groups in crowed places. That's when he saw the heavily guarded and fortified building in the eastern part of the city near the palace. It was the Vallt security complex, their prison. With Marshal Phara having taken control, that's probably where she imprisoned Republic sympathizers. Felt like a good place as any to do some recon.

The droids around the Vallt security complex moved around in predictable patrol patterns so when a squad of four walked past a vent, he quickly covered the distance and crawled through. A little snug but he managed to work his way through the vent and made his way into the security complex. Unfortunately, the vent didn't lead to the central control room but to one of the cells. It was a typical cramped cell but a large open one similar to an apartment but smaller. Inside was a bed, desk, a bathroom, and various books and a holo-table to work at. Honestly it seemed like the heaven of prison cells. Sitting at the desk was a brown-haired 30-year old human male. Will couldn't pick up any ill tidings or evil feelings from him so there was a good chance he was someone who could help.

He quickly jumped through the vent and landed in the prison cell, smashing the internal camera during the fall. Before the prisoner could shout, Will closed the distance and covered his mouth so he didn't scream. "Don't scream and don't do anything. I'm Padawan Will Vizsla of the Jedi order. Master Rahm Kota and I are here on Vallt to help liberate the planet. Now, I'm going to move my hand so please keep it down." The prisoner nodded as Will removed his hand. "What's your name?"

"Galen, Galen Erso. I'm a scientist with Zerpen Industries. Thank god you're here." Galen thanked him.

"Galen, what are you doing here? Why are you in prison?" Will asked.

"I'm here because my wife Lyra and I tried to escape when the Separatists first came but we were caught. I'm being kept here, I don't know where my wife is. They've been keeping me here since I refuse to use my work for the Separatists." Galen told him.

"What work? What are the Separatists doing down in Zerpen Industries?" Will wondered.

"My work has been on synthetic crystals and energy research. I thought that I could create new forms of energy that would improve and help the galaxy, but the Separatists have been trying to adapt my research into weapons. It's why I've refused to work for them and why they've taken my wife hostage." Galen informed him.

"All right, well don't worry. We're here now. Are there any other prisoners?" Will asked.

"Just the people loyal to King Chai. Marshal Phara had them imprisoned when the Separatists helped her take power." Galen said when they heard incoming footsteps. Will quickly put the vent back into the place and hid behind the door as it opened and in walked Chieftain Gruppe with a plate of food.

"Lunch time, Galen. I even managed to sneak in some Yuzu juice." Gruppe said as she entered. Once the door closed, Will activated his saber and pointed it at her head.

"Don't move." Will warned her.

"Wait, master Jedi! Don't hurt her!" Galen pleaded as Gruppe turned to see the pilot who accompanied Viceroy's representative with a lightsaber.

"So, I'm guessing that you and Viceroy's representative don't actually work with the Separatists?" Gruppe asked.

"She's one of the good ones. She and a few others aren't a threat. You can trust her. She doesn't like the Separatists are here either." Galen pleaded. "Gruppe, he's a Jedi."

"You're a Jedi?" Gruppe asked. "You're a little small to be a Jedi."

"Don't worry, I'm still growing." Will deactivated his saber and holstered it. "And Galen's right. The elderly gentleman I was with was another Jedi. We're here to help liberate the planet and to stop whatever the Separatists are doing down in the Zerpen Labs."

"Well, I hope you snuck in an army because the two of you won't be enough." Gruppe told him.

"We have a small task force, but the rest of our forces are waiting for a signal to ambush the fleet in space. We just need to take out those proton cannons and secure any hostages before we start. One of them being Galen's wife. Do you know where she is?" Will asked.

"She's being kept in a spare room in the keep. She's all right at the moment but under guard." Gruppe told him. "So, do you have a plan, master Jedi?"

"You're with us, Chieftain?" Will asked and she nodded. "All right, well first things first would be to make sure Galen's wife is safe so I'm going to head to the keep and try to find her. To do that, we're gonna need a distraction. Niner, what's your status?"

He didn't hear anything over the comms but did hear the sound of blaster fire and then a city-wide alarm went off. "Oh, that's not good." Galen said.

"Niner, do you hear me? Echo? Fives? Hevy?" Will shouted.

"Sir, the clankers found us! We're taking heavy fire but we're still alive. We're on the main level of the facility! We need backup!" Fives shouted.

Chieftain group got a message on her communicator. "More droids are heading there now." She told him.

"They're gonna need help. Chieftain, your warriors ready for a fight?" Will asked.

"Against, the droids? Definitely." She told him.

"All right. Fives, backup is on its way. I'll join you as soon as I can." He said.

"Roger that, sir!" Fives replied.

"Ground team, execute plan and take out those cannons! Then secure the docking yards." Will ordered.

"Roger that." They replied.

"I'll find Lyra and get her someplace safe. Best of luck." Will exited the prison cell and raced towards the exit while Chieftain Gruppe signaled her warriors.

Outside the prison complex, nearby civilians were wondering what was going on to warrant the city-wide alarm and the movement of the battle droids. Soon enough, blaster fire and an alarm could be heard inside the prison by the main gates. The droids stationed outside the prison complex's main doors were confused as to what was going on inside the prison.

"What's going on in there? Is there a prison riot?" One droid asked.

"Don't be ridiculous. There's no one stupid to try and revolt against us." Another droid told it only for something to bust open one of the doors from the inside. Before the droids could do anything, a blue blur zoomed out and sliced them into pieces very quickly. The dust settled to showcase Will standing there with his saber ignited. Several nearby droid patrols opened fire at him, so he blocked and deflected the blaster bolts back at them before pressing a button on his gauntlet which activated the nearby droid poppers and disabled several groups of droids. He force-pushed some droids into the wall and threw his saber into the face plate of a super battle droid that rendered it into scrap. The nearby civilians who saw Will act cheered in celebration as he force-jumped away and to the keep but not before pressing another button on his gauntlet to signal the Republic fleet.

At the docks, the droids quickly began to leave and make their way to Zerpen labs where the alarm started only for several droid poppers to take them out. The disguised work crew on the Tempest took out their blasters and took out the rest of the droids in a surprise attack while the hidden soldiers on the ship raced out to back up their compatriots. Catching the droids by surprise was one sure fire way to take them out. A squad of soldiers made their way to the proton cannons, blasting the droids in their way and manned one of them. The gunner aimed and used the cannon to take out the nearby vulture droids before they could deploy. One blast and they were reduced to rubble. Droid tanks soon arrived so the team abandoned the cannons and used thermal detonators on the proton shells to blow the guns up while militia soldiers with rocket launchers blasted the tanks. They quickly began securing the docks.

Up in space, word of the attacks in the city had finally made it to the droid commander. "Sir, our forces in the capital city are under attack. They've already taken out our proton cannons and our ground star fighters."

"Launch star fighters and deploy troop transports to support our forces." The command droid ordered only for an alarm to go off. "Oh, what now?"

"Sir, we've got incoming Republic ships." A technical droid said just as three Republic Venator-class Star Destroyers appeared from hyperspace along with two companies of Y-wing bombers and V-torrent interceptors and opened fire on the Lucrehulk-class Droid Control ship and two Munificent-class star frigates, catching them off guard. The bombers and interceptors sped towards the Separatists ships. They managed to destroy several droid starfighters while the Star Destroyers blasted the larger ships to provide cover. While that was going on, several LAAT gunships made their way to the surface of the planet to provide backup.

Back in Tambolor city, battle droids were engaged in a fire fight against the trapped Omega team and Rathtar squad who were holed up near the main entrance of Zerpen Labs. The clones fired back at the droids from cover but were under heavy fire. Fives peaked out and fired his DC-15A blaster rifle, blasting the head off a battle droid before he ducked back behind cover and saw the group of scientists and engineers that they rescued huddled in an office for cover. Hevy and Niner were laying down the heavy suppressive fire but then they saw an AAT-1 battle tank come into view.

"Tank!" Hevy shouted.

"Darman, take it out before it takes us out! Everyone else, give him cover fire!" Niner ordered.

Darman quickly changed his DC-17m blaster into his anti-armor setting and loaded a grenade. He dove from his cover and rolled behind an empty desk to get a better view, just making it before a blaster bolt hit him.

"Push forward!" A battle droid shouted as they kept inching closer and closer. "Tank operator, blast those clones!"

The droid didn't get a response, instead the heavy laser cannon on the AAT-1 tank turned until it was aimed right at it. "Uh oh."

The heavy laser cannon fired and blew up the battle droid and several others with it before the four lateral laser turrets opened fire and blasted the rest of the droids that were attacking the labs.

"Hold your fire!" Niner shouted as they saw the droid tank take out the rest of the battle droids rather quickly. Some shot back but the armor on the tank was able to take it until the last droid was destroyed. The tank then shut down and sat there in the middle of the carnage. The clones cautiously stepped out of cover and made their way forward, double checking their sectors for any droids still functioning, but they were all destroyed. They kept their guns set on the tank incase something happened. The hatch on the front cockpit opened up and out jumped BD-8 who gave a happy beep and waved at the clones.

"BD-8?" Fives, Hevy, and Echo were beyond shocked to see the little droid had just saved their lives.

"Isn't that the commander's droid?" Fi asked.

"Yes, it is, and he just saved our asses." Echo replied.

"That there is the best droid in the entire galaxy." Atin commented causing BD-8 to chuckle before disembarking the tank and climbing onto Five's shoulder.

Will force-jumped and flipped through the air and landed near the keep where he saw several Valltii warriors fighting against the droids in a fire fight. He ran across the roof of a building before using his grapple hook to swing down and fire a wrist rocket that blew some droids to pieces. He released his grapple hook at the apex of his swing and landed on the ground, releasing a force-push that knocked out more droids and let the Valltii soldiers push their attack and take out more droids. Will and the Valltii soldiers made their way into the keep, destroying a few more droids when they split ways. The Valltii went left while he went right to find and secure Galen's wife, Lyra. He raced down a hall and turned a corner only to run into a several battle droids and super battle droids with their guns trained on him. Behind all them were Marshal Phara and Master Kota. Guess his cover hasn't been blown yet.

"That's far enough, Jedi." Marshal Phara taunted. "All the damage you've caused in my city will cost me quite a lot to fix. I'll just take it out on you. I'm sure Count Dooku will pay me handsomely when I tell him I've captured a Jedi. Now surrender."

"Sorry, but I don't plan to." Will replied, firing both repulsors on his gauntlets and knocking several of the droids to the ground before diving away and rolling behind a wall for cover. Rahm Kota force-pushed Marshal Phara into the wall before pulling out his saber and activating the green blade, slicing several droids in quick succession. He moved quickly, efficiently, and with large strikes that allowed him to destroy multiple droids in one swing. Having caught the droids off guard, he managed to wipe out a lot of them with ease when the super battle droids by the front turned their blasters on him. Before they could fire on Master Kota, Will slid forward on his knee and sliced two of them in half before spinning around and doing a diagonal slash that sliced another droid in two. Rahm Kota finished off the last droid with a saber throw through its face plate.

Marshal Phara shook her head from the impact against the wall and saw a discarded droid blaster on the ground. She lifted to aim but it was sliced in half by Master Kota who then held his saber to her face. "Surrender." He told her only for the sound of heavy footsteps to get louder and then a squad of Valltii warriors armed with blasters arrived led by Chieftain Gruppe.

"Chieftain Gruppe, arrest these Jedi!" Marshal Phara ordered.

Kota was a little concerned about a new firefight, but Will and the Chieftain shared a look before she and her guards pointed their guns at Marshal Phara. "Marshal Phara, you are under arrest for the murder of King Chai and allying with the Separatists. Take her into custody."

One of her warriors stepped forward and put binder cuffs on her. "You've made a mistake, traitor!" Marshal Phara cursed.

Will's communicator beeped with a message from the fleet. "Padawan Vizsla reporting."

"Padawan Vizsla, this is Admiral Block. We've caught the Separatists by surprise and their ships are destroyed. We've descended to the planet now." Admiral Block reported causing Will and Kota to smile while Marshal Phara frowned.

"Roger that, Admiral. Nice job. We'll see you soon." Will replied. "Guess things aren't going your way Marshal, are they? Do you have this handled Master Kota? I've got something to do."

"Go, I'll handle her." Kota assured him so Will left to go find Galen's wife Lyra who was currently being escorted by three droids out of her room in a last-ditch attempt to escape. They were going at a slow pace because Lyra was very pregnant. Unfortunately, they turned into a hallway and ran into Will who took care of the droids with a force push. Will looked and saw the heavily pregnant woman.

"Lyra?" Will asked and she nodded. "I'm Padawan Will Vizsla of the Jedi order. I met your husband and he told me to come find you."

"Is he all right?" Lyra asked as Will helped her walk.

"He's fine. He's helping the other prisoners. Our ships have already destroyed the Separatist fleet and backup is on its way." Will assured her.

"Thank you. We've prayed for this…ugh…" Lyra clutched her stomach and almost fell to her knees in pain if Will wasn't there to support her. "ARGH!"

"Lyra, are you ok?" He asked.

"No, the baby's coming!" She told him.

"Oh boy."

"The medical lab is that way!" She pointed down the hall but then let out another scream of pain and clutched her stomach. Will picked her up and rushed to the med bay while contacting for backup.

LAAT gunships soon arrived in the city with more clones and supplies. Kota's men had secured the docks and opened up part of the dome to let them in. The clones helped secure the area and the destroyed droids while relief supplies were quickly distributed to the civilians. All in all, the people were happy the droids were gone. Master Kenobi disembarked his ship and saw Master Kota leading Marshal Phara over to one of the ships for transport back to Coruscant. Omega team and the Rathtar squad arrived with the scientists and engineers from Zerpen labs so Obi-wan went to talk to them.

"Fives, I assume everything is in order?"

"Yes, General. All the scientists and engineers are secure as well as their research. And any clankers have been taken care of." Fives replied as BD-8 scurried down his shoulder and up Obi-wan's. "We also had some help from the little guy."

"Excellent, any idea on what the Separatists were working on?" Obi-wan questioned.

"According to the scientists, the Separatists were focused on their energy research but weren't making much progress. Their lead research, Galen Erso was locked away and refused to help but didn't have much of a choice. They captured his wife. Last I heard, that's where the Commander was headed." Fives explained.

"And where is my Padawan?" Obi-wan asked as he pressed his communicator. "Padawan, come in?"

"Master Kenobi. Glad you made it safe to the ground. Love to chat but I'm a little busy right now."

"Busy with what?" Obi-wan questioned.

"Believe it or not, having a baby." Will replied only drawing confused looks from Obi-wan, BD-8 and the clones.

"Did he just say having a baby?" Echo asked.

Will was in the med bay of the palace with Lyra who was currently in labor. The medical droids were doing their job to make sure everything went smooth. Lyra's screams could be heard from outside as she clenched onto Will's hand. "Where—where is my husband?"

"He's on his way. Gruppe said he's racing over as fast as he can." Will assured her as Lyra clenched his hand very tight that he began to groan in pain. "I hope he gets here soon."

"Lyra!" they heard as Galen rushed in. "I'm here."

"Galen!" Lyra breathed out a sigh of relief before another scream of pain as Galen was by his wife's side.

"I'll let you two have some time together." Will managed to ease his hands out of Lyra's grip and stepped outside into the hall. He shook his hand and clenched it a few times to get the feeling back into his fingers. "Geez, that hurt."

He heard the pitter patter of little feet and soon enough BD-8 came down the hall and climbed up his shoulder, giving a happy beep. "Glad to see you too, buddy. You did good today."

BD-8 happy beeped and pat him on the shoulder as Obi-wan, Fives, Hevy, and Echo arrived. "Padawan, glad to see you're alive although you'll find me surprised to find out you're having a baby." Obi-wan joked.

"Well, it's not my child. Lyra is the wife of Galen Erso, Zerpen's chief engineer. She was being held prisoner here to force him into working for the Separatists. I went to make sure she was ok and when I did, she went into labor. Galen is with her now." Will explained. "How did you guys work out today?"

"Fine, commander. Had a little hiccup at the entrance but the little guy was there to back us up." Fives told him as BD-8 gave a small wave. "All the scientists and engineers are fine."

"And how did things go in space?" Will wondered.

"Rather well. We managed to catch the Separatists by surprise before they had the chance to fully mobilize their star fighters. The battle didn't last that long." Obi-wan explained.

"Hopefully all our future battles turn out as easy as today. And with the lab secured, we don't have to worry about the Separatists using their lab for weapons." Will said. "This is a good day. So, what's now?"

"I've informed the council and the Republic of our victory. They're sending additional ships to protect the system along with supplies and aid for the people here. Those that wish to leave are being taken aboard our ships. Master Kota is speaking with the Chieftain with efforts to help keep the city and its population safe. Well done today, Padawan." Obi-wan told him. He was very impressed with his work today.

"Everything I did today I owe to your training. Thank you, Master." Will bowed his head when they heard a baby crying. "Looks like our victory is marked by celebration."

Will walked into the room to see Lyra and Galen tending to and gushing over their newborn baby. Guess today really was a good day. Galen saw Will walk in and walked over to shake his hand. "Thank you, Master Jedi. Because of you, Vallt is free and I was able to see the birth of my child."

"There's no thanks necessary, Galen. I was just doing my job. It's what Jedi do." Will replied as he looked at the newborn baby. "Still, I'm glad things went well today. Hopefully it means things will continue to do so. What will you do now?"

"For now, I wish to spend as much time with Jyn as possible. Afterward…I'll do whatever I can to help the Republic and the Jedi in their fight against the Separatists. Thank you again, Padawan Vizsla." Galen told him.

"Well, I hope our paths cross again, Galen Erso. But in the meantime, I believe Jyn deserves your attention." Will said as he stepped out. Galen walked over to his wife and the two relaxed in this tender time together. For a moment, the galaxy wasn't at war and hope still lingered for a better tomorrow.

End of Chapter 3

I hoped you guys like Chapter 3. We got a little more action and plot development with the story. I still hope everyone is staying safe in spite of everything and know that my thoughts and prayers go out to everyone who is suffering. Hope this provides a little distraction and happiness to some people. Stay safe and stay hopeful.

This chapter's shown Rathtar squad working together and soon more members will show up, hopefully soon. Will's getting some more experience on missions and in fighting Sith warriors like Ventress which will come in handy in the future. Not to mention, he found his mother's ship and now it's a lean, mean, fighting machine which will be a big help in the future. Hope everyone likes the little Easter egg for Rogue One in this chapter. I looked up Galen Erso and found his backstory on the Star Wars Wiki which provided a cool mission.

Next chapter, The Republic refocuses its war efforts from fighting the Separatists world for world to taking out capturing their leaders. Their first and hopeful target is Count Dooku. That leads them to a confrontation with a Pirate who will be both a thorn in their side and an unlikely ally. After that, crash landing on a peaceful world leads to honoring the most critical aspect of the Jedi code. Until next time.

Will Vizsla, Son of Pio Vizsla, nephew of Pre Vizsla and Mandalorian by birth. Padawan Jedi.

· Birthdate: 38BBY-Age 16

· Padawan Apprentice to Obi-wan Kenobi, Former Padawan of Ur-Sema Du, Son of Pio Vizsla. Nephew of Pre Vizsla.

· Appearance: Dylan O'Brien from Maze Runner: The Death Cure. With Padawan braid.

o Clothing:

§ Dark blue Padawan robes and combat boots. Combat belt with Cyan Blue lightsaber.

§ Ancestral Mandalorian Beskar armored combat gloves and forearm guards with weapons. Necklace with symbol of Clan Vizsla.

§ A black shirt, black jacket and blue pants (Casual/Undercover)

· Personality: Kind, caring, quick-witted and smart. Able to adapt to situations very easily. Prone to quips to distract or enrage his enemies. Can be a bit of a smartass yet humble and works well with others. Extremely proficient in tinkering and building with electronics. Excellent pilot and mechanic. Knowledge in warfare and weapons from extensive self-tutelage at the Jedi Temple and Mandalorian training by Pio Vizsla. When triggered, can be aggressive and unhinged to a point.

· Skills and Powers

o Force Powers:

§ Force speed, Force sight, Force empathy, Force Jump, Force Stasis, Force Pull/Push, Force Throw, Force Barrier, Force Repulse, Force Precognition, Animal Bond, Mind Trick, Levitation, Lightsaber throw.

o Combat Skills:

§ Specialized in Form 2 Makashi-Lightsaber-to-Lightsaber combat, Form 3 Soresu-Blaster counter/Defense, Form four Ataru-combines speed, strength, agility, powers, and the force for to aid in movement and combat.

§ Adept at hand-to-hand combat.

§ Mandalorian gauntlets with repulsor, grappling line, wrist rockets, flamethrower, laser splicer, retractable wrist/forearm blades, shield projector, and built-in communicator and holovid.

· BD-8 companion droid

· Rathtar Squad: Echo (Tech), Hevy (Heavy Weapons), Fives (Second in command),

· The Tempest: A Black and Orange Corellian XS stock light freighter armed with 2 dorsal and 2 port laser batteries with torpedo launchers and modified ion launchers. Built with 2 powerful sub-light engines, heavy armored plating, and a modified/powerful hyperdrive system, making it powerful yet agile and extremely fast. Equipped with a modified stealth system that can bypass almost any scanner.

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars or any above-mentioned properties, all rights belong to their owners.