The Kenobi Saga Book One:The Clone Wars

16. Rescue

Devi palmed the door open and came rushing into the room. He grabbed Lore-Val's shoulder and pulled her off the bed. She nearly fell, but his grip didn't loosen, keeping her from hitting the sticky floor.

"What the haran (hell) Devi?" Aul asked, putting down his datapad.

"Malthe called. There's Jetii (Jedi) coming this way, we need to go."

Aul cursed, standing so quickly he knocked his chair over. He grabbed his jetpack, clicking it onto the back of his armor. Devi tossed him his helmet, before slamming on his own.

"Where is Malthe?" Aul asked, looking around the room for anything that needed to be packed up.

"Trying to get us a way off world. If we're lucky he's going to get us to the outer rim, mid rim at least."

Lore-Val's head spun at the fast paced conversation. Her mental cries for help went from a constant buzz in her head to a violent scream. She writhed against Devi's hold, trying desperately to at least slow them down.

"Do we have another sedative?" Devi asked, avoiding the kicks Lore-Val was aiming at him.

"No. You'll have to run with her-" Aul answered before being cut off by a loud slam on the door.

"Open up!"

"Anakin!" Lore-Val shrieked at the sound of the man's voice. Devi pulled her back towards the refresher, clamping a hand over her mouth as she continued trying to scream.

In the main room a blue light was dragging itself around the doorway. Aul was already taking shots at the door when it fell away, leaving a pissed off Jedi in its wake. Anakin easily blocked Aul's shots as he stormed into the room, Ahsoka a step behind him. He called upon the force, sweeping the Mandalorian across the room. Aul dropped his blaster at the sudden movement, and was hit hard against the opposite wall, knocking the wind out of him. Ahsoka came over, slashing through his jet pack with her shoto.

Aul tried to stand but with a swift kick to his back Ahsoka had him back on the ground. Anakin came over, and used his foot to roll the man onto his back. Aul sneered up at him and Anakin caught sight of the detonator in the man's hand.

Using the force he pulled off the Mandalorian's chest piece and held it over the explosive.The bomb went off and Aul let out an inhuman scream. The chest plate had contained the blast to his hand and the limb was nearly disintegrated, what was left burning from the damaged nerves.

Anakin pulled the abandoned blaster to himself and shot the Mandalorian in the leg, ensuring he wouldn't be going anywhere, as he moved on to getting Lore-Val.

The refresher door still didn't properly lock, and Anakin got in easily. Devi held Lore-Val tight against his chest, a knife at her throat.

Anakin glowered at the man, "Give me the girl and you'll get to leave here alive."

Devi let out a dry laugh, "You won't kill me Jetii (Jedi)."

"Do you want to test that theory?" Anakin asked, the hand not holding his lightsaber beginning to twitch imperceptibly.

Beneath his helmet Devi began to frown. Lore-Val could hear the man beginning to gasp for breath. His grip did not loosen around her, but he dropped the knife to grasp at his throat. He reached wildly, trying to unlatch his helmet. When the latch released, he pulled the helmet off and tossed it away. Lore-Val tried again to pull away but the grip tightened as if she was the only thing keeping the man from falling to his knees. She released her jaw and took a deep breath before slamming her head back into the man's face. She saw stars, but the shock made him release his hold. Lore-Val stumbled forward, nearly crashing into Anakin as he moved to restrain the Mandalorian soldier. Lore-Val made it another few steps before she fell into Ahsoka's waiting arms.

The older girl spoke gently, trying to calm her friend, "Did they hurt you?"

Lore-Val shook her head, reaching back with her still bound hands to rub the sore spot at the back of her head, "I think I'm going to throw up," she said quietly.

Anakin hoisted Devi up, holding his arms behind his back, "Wait here by the fresher until you feel better. The boys will be here soon to get you checked over and on your way home."

"Wait," Lore-Val called, reaching out to Anakin, "There was another one. His name was Malthe, he was looking for transport."

"Do you think you could describe him?"

Lore-Val nodded, quickly regretting the movement as the nausea spread through her again.

"Ahsoka, call in the Corrie guard, see if they have a sketch artist who can talk to Lore-Val after she sees the healers."

"On it," Ahsoka confirmed before turning back to Lore-Val, "Hold out your hands and I'll cut you free."

Lore-Val did as she was told and Ahsoka used her lightsaber to cut through the binders, "Thank you Ahsoka."

The Togruta smiled, "We were really worried about you. I'm glad we got here in time."

"Me too," Lore-Val whispered.

.   .   .

Anakin flipped up his hood as he stalked through the space port. Lore-Val had told him this Malthe character wore gold markings on his armor. She'd said gold meant vengeance to Mandalorians. To Anakin gold meant high visibility.

He stood in the middle of the terminal, closing his eyes and opening himself up to the force. A little girl tripped when her mother pulled her along too quickly. A man shouted at a droid when his ticket didn't clear. Another man ran into an astromech with a loud crash of metal before the droid toppled over and the man kept moving towards the exit.

Anakin's eyes snapped open, the man with the astromech, that was his Mandalorian. He broke into a run, going to catch the man before he could escape out the back exit.

As he got closer he dropped his cloak and ignited his saber. Malthe heard the telltale snap-hiss and stopped in his tracks. He spun to face the Jedi and lifted an arm, fire spraying from his wrist. Travelers and families scattered away from the flame, screaming at the sudden danger.

Anakin was unfazed. He followed his instincts and used the force to push the fire away from himself and back towards the Mandalorian. The beskar held up under the heat, but his unprotected joints burned.

As soon as his body registered the pain Malthe released the flame thrower. He took a moment to balance himself before rushing at Anakin. He used his vambraces to block the lightsaber, as Anakin brought it down on him.

Anakin adjusted to the man's agility and aimed his strikes lower. He managed to force his saber under the armored knee plate. Malthe screamed as his knee was impaled and sliced off. He began to sway to the side but caught himself, hopping on his left foot. He reached for his blaster, and began shooting at the Jedi.

Anakin blocked the shots, sending them back at the Mandalorian, aiming them towards his joints. He moved forward, pushing Malthe backwards. Malthe tripped over an abandoned backpack, sprawling out on the floor, blaster still in hand. Anakin whipped the weapon out of his hand with the force so it landed across the terminal's floor, and pointed his lightsaber at the Mandalorian's throat.

"Yield," Anakin hissed through clenched teeth.

"Never," Malthe snapped back, throwing himself up at the sword. What was left of his body fell unceremoniously to the ground.

Anakin sneered. The other two had better have knowledge of the plan, because he was pretty sure he'd just lost the team leader.

AN: OPINIONS NEEDED! should I go back and put 15/16 together into one chapter? Stay tuned for Lore-Val to be reunited with Obi-Wan