Tempting Twi'lek

Author’s note: Wow, thanks again for the reviews. I’ve been really pleased with the amount the story has received, and lots of constructive comments too! Thank you very much. And Plo Koon making a dramatic entrance? Heh, I had considered that for humour. It would have been funny. “I’m here to rescue you…oh. I’m going to…go over here now”.

Now, on a side note, I’ve decided to make the story slightly more interesting I need to add some serious villains. San Hill just doesn’t do it, wandering around and panicking.

So I’m introducing in this chapter the deadly duo... Count Dooku and General Grievous. To do this, it does actually accelerate the story line a little, as Grievous was not discovered by the Jedi until the Clone War. However, as it is fanfiction, I hope I’ll be able to get away with these liberties. I need a kick-ass villain for the ending I have planned, and I could hardly have the Jedi realize Dooku is a Sith Lord already. So Grievous it is.


Obi-Wan awoke slowly a few hours later. He did not remember drifting off to sleep after making love to Aayla, but apparently he had. And there she was. One arm was draped across his shoulder and she breathed quietly, eyes shut. A contented smile was on her face as she slept lightly.

Obi-Wan slipped carefully away from her so as not to wake her up, and rose and dressed quickly. He wished there was a mirror in the cell for him to check his appearance, as he wondered whether the tell tale signs of vigorous sex were on him.

Aayla murmured behind him, and he looked at her to see her eyes flicker open. She rubbed at them sleepily and gazed at Obi-Wan, as if for a moment trying to remember where she was. Then a glimpse of realization crossed her face and she smiled at him warmly.

She got to her feet and dressed as well. Obi-Wan modestly looked away, then wondered why was he bothering to? Why did he need to after what they had done last night?

As she finished slipping her tank top on, he walked over to her and hugged her close to him and pressed his lips to hers, letting their passion course through them.

***


San Hill watched in silent fear as two figures entered his damaged office. One came forward, and the other, far taller, stood lurking in the shadows of the doorframe.

The foremost figure was himself tall however, striking and majestic in appearance. His gaze was intense, his voice deep and rich yet charismatic, his hair and beard silver, and his robes and tunic gave him an impressive outline.

“Count Dooku”, San Hill tried to maintain a calm countenance, “You honour us with your presence. Here to negotiate your treaty again, Count? We have already indicated we are interested in your Separatist Union…”

“My Master informs me several Jedi Knights arrived here”, Dooku interjected, “Where are they?”

The Banking Clan chairman pursed his lips, “We have them. In holding cells”.

“All six of them?”

“Five, Count”, Hill trembled.

“Find the other immediately. I do not wish for the Jedi to know of my involvement here yet. Therefore, I will send my friend here to interrogate the Jedi in the cells”.

He clicked his fingers and the other figure stepped forward. San Hill suppressed a gasp of shock. It was a terrifying seemingly robotic character, with metal the colour of bleached bone. His head was like a fearsome skull, long and wicked looking. His arms and legs were thick and powerful, and for feet he had massive talons. A long black cape was slung over his shoulders.

A shuddering cough erupted from the strange being, followed by heavy wheezing, and it was only then that San Hill realized it was alive. Not a droid at all.

“I would like you to meet General Grievous”, Count Dooku explained.

General Grievous? San Hill had himself funded the rehabilitation of the injured Kaleesh warlord, but he had no idea the Geonosian scientists had succeeded, let alone finished. So this is where his money had gone. He looked closely at the cyborg and saw red, scaly eye sockets with flaming yellow eyes.

“Ah…yes. Greetings General”, San Hill exclaimed nervously.

Grievous merely nodded at him, glaring at him with inhuman intensity.

“Now go, General. Find out what they are doing here and how the discovered us”, Dooku ordered.

The cyborg bowed and walked off, with a gait like a stalking predator, back hunched and his head level with his shoulders. He coughed again, sounding like the roar of a hungry beast.

***


Obi-Wan and Aayla broke away from their kiss and held each other for a moment more, staring adoringly at one another. Obi-Wan loved the warmth of her body and pressed himself closer.

Suddenly, the door opened. Aayla and Obi-Wan leapt away from each other’s grasp just in time as Plo Koon entered the cell. Two smashed battle droids lay by his feet. Behind came the other three Jedi.

“Plo Koon! You escaped!” Aayla enthused, trying to hide her blushing.

“Yes”, he boomed, “I hid for a while on level thirty two until they stopped the alarms. Sadly, that took all night. But now you are all free and we can get moving again. We still have a mission to complete. I have searched the upper levels and found no evidence of a droid factory. It must be below ground level. Come”.

Thankfully, he did not seem to notice how hot and flustered Obi-Wan and Aayla were, or at least he did not mention it. Reaz Thrush looked at Aayla questioningly for a moment as they left the cell, but made nothing more of it.

Plo Koon approached a safe embedded on the wall outside. He lit his lightsaber and cut the lock away, and it swung open. Inside were their swords. He reached in and tossed them their weapons, then walked on with long strides.

They walked up to another elevator, thankfully larger than the one they had been on previously, and Plo Koon typed in their destination and the door shut as the elevator began a speedy descent to the lower levels of the fortress.

***


Moments later, General Grievous stormed up into the prison cell level, accompanied by four droids. These droids were tall, almost as tall as him, and were steely-grey and humanoid. Their photoreceptors burned bright red like eyes, and they wore long cloaks and headwraps. Each carried a long staff. They were the MagnaGuards, General Grievous’ personal warriors.

Grievous stole over to the cells and stopped dead in his tracks. Several battle droids lay in ruins on the floor. He growled and opened the first cell door. The room was empty.

He reached into a pocket of his cloak and produced a commlink. He flicked it on and spoke into it in a deep, raspy voice.

“Count, the Jedi have escaped”.

He waited for an answer and then answered, “It will be done, my Lord”.

Beneath his metallic mask, what was left of his face grinned evilly. He would have some fun now. His bodyguards accompanied him as he stormed off to an elevator, and waited.

***


The elevator stopped at one level below the ground floor and the Jedi stepped out cautiously. Behind them, the elevator shut and shot off back up, apparently summoned by someone above them.

The Jedi were walking along a narrow walkway. There was no internal lighting, but from below the glare of fire illuminated them. As they reached the end of the platform, they looked down.

Obi-Wan blinked. Huge foundries and factory equipment were manufacturing thousands of battle droids, pouring molten metal into vats, carving the cooled product into droid parts and assembling them down huge tracks of machinery. The factory seemed to go on level after level forever.

“So there are now sixty three floors below us”, Aayla whispered, “Just sixty three levels of a droid factory”.

“Come”, Plo Koon said, “We need to gather evidence to present to the Senate”.

They leapt down to a lower level where nearly completed droids were having various parts welded onto them. Just then they heard a horribly familiar noise.

Three droidekas rolled into the room from an entrance to the side and aimed their twin blasters at them. They were followed by twenty battle droids. The Jedi ignited their lightsabers.

“No problem”, Obi-Wan said confidently.

“Is that so?” a harsh voice bellowed from above, followed by mocking laughter.

The Jedi looked up to see five robed figures leap down towards them, a flash of glinting metal against the roaring flames.