Mistaken Identity Chapter 87 — Tatooine (Patreon)

'Kriff' Jaden thought to himself before he threw himself out of the way of a slash from a vibrosword that the Commando Droid swung at him, and he rolled across the sand where he grabbed his lightsaber from the ground with the force that he ignited with a snap hiss. He came up on one knee and blocked a follow up strike from the droid while another Commando Droid circled to his left and drew a blaster pistol and fired at him. Jaden deflected the bolts back toward the droid which dodged two but took the third in its shoulder joint. Though the droid kept coming as it switched to melee mode and extended a vibroknife from its forearm that it thrust at his side.

He twisted away from the knife and kicked the droid's knee joint which buckled under the force of his boot, the droid staggered as he slashed across its chest and severed its internal circuits dropping to the sand. He then turned back around as the first droid lunged at him again with its vibrosword that he parried, the clash sent vibrations up his arm which aggravated the pain in his stomach, but he pushed through and countered with a thrust toward the droid's neck joint that it blocked with its own blade. 

A third Commando Droid joined from behind the wreckage where it had been searching the hull, and fired its blaster rifle at him in a burst that he deflected with his saber, but one bolt grazed his broken arm which sent fresh agony shooting through him.

The droids then coordinated their attack as the first one swung its vibrosword high while the second aimed low and the third provided cover fire with its rifle,  forcing him to divide his attention. Jaden blocked the high strike with his saber that he held overhead and kicked the second droid's arm away before it connected, but the move opened him to a bolt from the third droid that hit his thigh, he yelled in pain and dropped to one knee where he swept his saber to cut the legs out from the second droid that toppled forward onto its chest with a crash. 

He rhen rolled to avoid the first droid's downward chop that buried its vibrosword in the sand, and came up behind it where he thrust his saber through its back that exited its chest in a spray of sparks,  the droid deactivated and slumped over. The third droid adjusted its position and fired a full burst at him that he deflected most of with his saber, but his injuries slowed his movements so one bolt clipped his side and burned a line across his ribs making him stagger back against the ship's hull. 

The droid advanced with its rifle raised for a point blank shot. 

"Damn Clanker..." Jaden muttered as he channeled all the pain he felt and for a brief moment his eyes turned yellow. He extended his good hand and unleashed a blast of Force lightning from his fingertips that arced toward the droid and wrapped around its frame, making its limbs jerk before it exploded in a shower of parts that scattered across the sand. He lowered his hand and panted as he leaned against the hull, his body shaking from the effort and the pain that radiated from multiple wounds.

"At least I survived..." he said to himself as he deactivated his lightsaber before he slid down the hull to sit on the sand. He wiped sweat from his forehead with his good arm and checked his wounds, pressing a hand to his stomach where fresh blood seeped through his fingers. 

Jaden closed his eyes and focused intensely on healing as much of the critical damage as possible. He had cauterised the wound but with all that fighting it had ripped the burnt skin apart letting blood drip through. He drew on the Force and channeled it into his body to knit flesh and seal blood vessels. He struggled slightly to heal as channeling the dark side always made it difficult for him to calm himself, the anger and pain from the battle lingering in his mind, it always made the energy twist instead of flow. 

He breathed deeply and pushed the rage away, focusing on the natural world around him, and let the Force work through him, mending the tear in his stomach and easing the break in his arm. He eventually succeeded and he sat there meditating until the sun started to set. Eventually the worst of the damage was healed or stabilised and Jaden stood slowly, though still s little sore. The sun had begun to lower on the horizon, casting shadows across the sand and the scorched wreckage of the downed Naboo ship. 

He took a moment to catch his breath and calm himself. It was a little difficult as every movement reminded him of his injuries, even though the worst of the damage had been healed through the Force. His thigh still ached from the blaster bolt, his ribs were tight from the burn across his side, and his arm throbbed with a deep pain despite the bones being set. His clothes were torn and bloodstained. Sand clung to the sweat on his skin. But he was alive. That counted for something he supposed. 

He stepped forward slowly scanning the area. His eyes darted over the dunes and the fragments of hull plating scattered across the landscape. He reached out with the Force, pushing past the dull throb of pain and fatigue to search for any signs of life. There was nothing in the immediate area. No sense of movement, no trace of another person nearby.

"Anakin... Ahsoka..." he murmured under his breath.

He couldn't sense them nearby, but that wasn't unexpected. If they had survived the crash, and he had to assume they had, then they'd already been taken. There were no bodies, no broken lightsabers, no signs of a last stand. That meant someone had pulled them from the wreck alive. Probably while he was still unconscious. Jaden clenched his jaw and ran a hand over his face, rubbing his eyes and dragging his fingers down to his chin as he sighed.

He could feel Anakin. Even now. The man's presence in the Force was impossible to miss. It was like trying to ignore a sun at midday. Jaden didn't need a tracker to know roughly where he was, and he could feel Ahsoka too, though she kind of felt like a comet orbiting a star. They were alive. That was all he needed to know.

He looked back toward the wreck. He wanted to go after them and help them, it was clear that whomever had taken them didn't have the best intentions. But he couldn't afford to chase after them right now. He had other responsibilities. Padmé had been in the escape pod with Rotta.

He exhaled through his nose and turned his mind toward calculating the possible impact zones. The crash had come in fast, tearing through the upper atmosphere with half its engines on fire and no stabilizers. He remembered the trajectory. The escape had broken off after re-entry. He tried to remember the height difference between their releases, the wind speed in the upper atmosphere, the angle of descent, and the rotational drift as gravity had pulled them in.

"Maybe a hundred miles," he said to himself. "Maybe less, but not by much. Depending on how controlled the descent was... if she had manual override, or if the nav held. Could be closer to sixty."

He leaned forward slightly, putting his hands on his knees, and then gagged. The nausea hit him hard and he turned away from the wreck and threw up in the sand. His stomach heaved, his muscles spasmed, and his head throbbed. When it was over, he wiped his mouth with the back of his arm and spat into the sand.

He stayed there for a moment, bent over with one hand on his knee and the other pressing against his side. His body wasn't as stable as he'd thought. It seems the crash had done more damage than he'd realised, and fighting the droids had pushed his limits. The Force was keeping him on his feet but he should try and see if any medical supplies weren't damaged in the crash.

"No time to waste," he muttered.

He turned back toward the ruined transport and walked toward a gap where the side of the hull had been torn open. He raised his hand and used the Force to peel back a warped piece of plating. It screamed as it bent, and he tossed it aside with a grunt and then stepped inside.

The interior was... calling it a mess would be kind. Broken chairs, shattered panels, dangling wires, and scorched electronics lined the corridor. Everything smelled like smoke, fuel or burnt metal. Jaden moved slowly, stepping over debris and staying alert for signs of power surges or structural collapse. He made his way to the medical bay and paused outside the partially open door. Inside, most of the equipment had been thrown from their mounts or destroyed in the crash, but a few storage cabinets were still intact. He knelt, forced them open with the Force, and sorted through the contents. He found bacta patches, a canister of medigel, a field splint, and some pain suppressants. Not much, but enough to help.

He sat down on the edge of a twisted cot and took his time applying what he could. He secured the splint on his arm better, replaced the makeshift wrap around his ribs with a tight compression band, and applied fresh bacta to the burn on his thigh. The suppressants dulled the edge of the pain but left him feeling heavy. He let his body rest for a minute, breathing slowly and helping the healing process along as best he could.

When he stood, he felt a bit more stable. Not fully healed, but at least in fighting shape.

He moved through the rest of the ship, salvaging what he could. He found a crate of ration packs and water canisters that had been thrown into a supply alcove and mostly survived. He slung a satchel over his shoulder and filled it with everything usable. Then he turned his attention to the sensor equipment. Most of it was broken or scorched, but he pried open what remained of the communications console and pulled out a few intact components. He found a power cell, a scanner core, a transmitter coil, and some processing chips. He sat down in the crew lounge, cleared space on a table, and began working.

He assembled a makeshift sensor device. Naboo tech was almost laughably simple and streamlined, so he was able to make his own modifications easily. He calibrated the sensors to search for humanoid life signatures, feeding it baseline data for human, twi'lek, and hutts. He fine-tuned the scanner to exclude native wildlife, then tested it with his own presence to ensure accuracy.

When it worked, he nodded to himself, powered it down, and clipped it to his belt.

He returned to the ship's cockpit and triggered the emergency beacon. The signal activated and sent a coded message on a Republic channel. If anyone was close enough to pick it up it would give them his location. He hoped maybe Admiral Novak would find it, but then again maybe that wouldn't be the best idea considering the weapon that the Separatists had used on them. 

"That's all I can do for them right now," he said quietly.

He stepped outside and activated the scanner. The device beeped once, then began to hum as it searched for signatures. The screen flickered and locked onto a faint signal, a human and a hutt. 

"That's gotta be them," Jaden said. "Has to be."

Beep

Beep

Beep

Beep

Beep

Beep

Beep

Beep

Oh and two hundred Tusken Raiders...

"It's never easy..." he muttured to himself before he started walking. 

____________________________________

Ahsoka stirred slowly, her head pounding as consciousness returned in waves. Wind rushed past her montrals, carrying grains of sand that stung her skin, and the roar of repulsorlifts vibrated through the metal deck beneath her back. She opened her eyes to a darkening sky streaked with orange from the setting twin suns, and it took her a second to realize she was sprawled on the flat bed of a large cargo speeder. 

Crates of supplies were lashed down around the edges, some already shifting from the speed, and both she and Anakin had been dumped among them. Up front, a Commando Droid sat at the controls, its skeletal frame rigid as it piloted the vehicle through the desert. Four more Commando Droids stood guard on the bed itself, two on each side. Ventress occupied the passenger seat beside the driver, her arms crossed as she stared ahead.

Memories flooded back all at once. 

The crash, dragging Anakin and Jaden from the flames, Dooku's arrival, the duel in the sand, and then the crackling blue lightning that had dropped her into darkness. Her breath caught in her throat, and panic flared in her chest as she registered the binders locked around her wrists. She pushed up hard with her elbows, ready to leap to her feet and fight right then, but a strong hand closed around both of hers and yanked her back down.

Anakin lay beside her, already awake, he shook his head quickly and pressed a finger to his lips, motioning for silence. Ahsoka froze, forcing her breathing to slow while she glanced toward the front. Ventress hadn't turned yet, and the droids hadn't reacted. Anakin released one of her hands but kept hold of the other, using quick Republic hand signals they both knew. He pointed two fingers at her, then at the two closest Commando Droids on the left side of the bed, and finally mimed a takedown. Then he pointed to himself, then to Ventress's belt where both their lightsaber hilts hung, and drew a circle in the air before clenching his fist.

Ahsoka gave a small nod and lowered herself flat again among the crates, keeping her bound hands in front of her as if she were still out. Anakin shifted carefully onto his side so he could see the driving droid past the stacks of supplies. He closed his eyes for a moment and reached out with the Force, feeling for the steering controls. After a few seconds he opened them again and looked back at Ahsoka. 

He held up three fingers. 

Then two. 

Then one.

On zero he extended his will, and the speeder's steering yoke jerked hard to the left as if an invisible hand had seized it. The entire vehicle lurched violently, screeching against rock as it veered toward the edge of a sheer cliff that dropped hundreds of meters into a canyon. Crates broke free of their straps and slid across the bed, slamming into railings and tumbling over the side.

Anakin surged upward first, using the momentum of the turn to roll to his feet despite the binders. He charged straight at Ventress, who had whipped around in surprise, and drove his shoulder into her midsection before she could fully rise. The impact sent her crashing back against the dashboard, and Anakin followed with a brutal headbutt that snapped her head to the side. "You should have killed us when you had the chance," he growled.

Ventress snarled and shoved him off with a Force push, but Anakin had already reached out again. His and Ahsoka's lightsaber flew from her belt into his bound hands, igniting with a snap-hiss the instant it touched his palm slicing clean through the binders on his wrists. Without pausing he spun and hurled Ahsoka's hilt toward her.

Ahsoka flipped to her feet in one fluid motion, twisting mid-air to catch her lightsaber with both bound hands. She landed in a crouch, ignited the green blade, and cut her own cuffs. "Thanks, Master!" she called, already moving.

Two Commando Droids rushed her immediately, vibroblades extending from their forearms as the speeder continued to buck and slide. Ahsoka met the first with a spinning parry that sent sparks showering over the bed, then ducked under the second's overhead strike and swept its legs with a kick. The droid toppled, and she vaulted over it, using its falling body as a springboard to launch herself at the next. Her blade flashed twice; once to sever the vibroblade arm, once to pierce the chest plating and the droid dropped lifeless to the deck.

"Skywalker, you never learn," Ventress spat as she ignited both her curved-hilt lightsabers, red blades humming to life. She leaped onto the bed, landing between Anakin and the remaining droids. "You're a fool for thinking you can fight me with your current injuries."

"Yeah, well, you're bald," Anakin shot back. He charged, bringing his lightsaber down in a powerful overhead strike that Ventress blocked with crossed blades. The impact drove her boots back across the metal, and he pressed forward, using his height and strength to force her toward the rear. Though the pain from his arm and the rest of his injuries made it hard to do so. 

Ahsoka cartwheeled sideways to avoid a burst of blaster fire from the third Commando Droid, which had switched to its wrist blaster while it closed the distance. She landed behind a sliding crate, shoved it hard with the Force so it slammed into the droid and pinned it momentarily against the railing, then flipped over the crate and drove her blade through its face before it could free itself. The fourth droid grabbed her from behind, metal arms locking around her torso, but she twisted free and slashed her lightsaber across its neck joint.

The speeder hit a rock outcropping and bounced, sending everyone airborne for a heartbeat. Crates tumbled everywhere, one smashing against the cliff wall and exploding into fragments and another almost taking Ahsoka off the cliff. Anakin landed heavily but kept his balance, swinging at Ventress as she came down. She blocked, countered with a slash that he jumped over, and then she kicked him in the chest. He slid backward across the deck, boots scraping for purchase as the speeder tilted dangerously close to the drop.

"Snips, little help!" he shouted.

"On it!" Ahsoka replied. She sprinted across the shifting bed, leaped onto a crate that was sliding toward the edge, and used it to launch herself high over Ventress. Mid-air she spun, bringing her blade down toward the assassin's shoulder. Ventress twisted at the last second, parrying with one saber while thrusting the other at Ahsoka's midsection. Ahsoka blocked the thrust, landed lightly, and immediately pressed the attack with quick strikes that forced Ventress to give ground.

Anakin circled wide, looking for an opening. "You're done, Ventress, give up now and maybe we let you live."

Ventress laughed mockingly. "Done? I assure you that I am far from done, when I'm done with you I'll take you to Jabbas palace where you can watch him have his way with your Padawan and that pretty little Senator of yours."

Anakin's eyes narrowed. "Padmé's alive?"

"For now, that foolish woman activated a homing beacon, one that my master is on his way right now to intercept," Ventress said, smirking as she blocked another of Ahsoka's strikes.

Rage flashed across Anakin's face, and he attacked with renewed fury, his blade crashing against Ventress's in powerful blows that drove her back step by step. Ahsoka flanked her, striking high and low in sync with her master. Ventress parried frantically, sweat beading on her forehead as the combined assault overwhelmed her guard.

The driver droid, still trying to regain control, overcorrected. The speeder's rear end swung wide, and the entire flat bed slid off the cliff path with a sickening scrape of metal on rock. The vehicle tilted sharply, crates plunging into the void as the back half hung over empty air. Anakin, Ahsoka, and Ventress all slid toward the edge,.

Ahsoka lost footing first and tumbled toward the drop. Anakin lunged, catching her wrist with his bionic hand just as her body went over the side. "Hold on!" he yelled, his muscles straining as he braced his organic hand against a metal pole. 

Ventress recovered fastest, sliding to a stop near the front. She rose with a vicious grin,. "How noble, Skywalker, protecting your young Padawan," she sneered, and brought one saber down in a precise arc that sliced clean through Anakin's bionic forearm at the wrist. 

The mechanical hand released.

Ahsoka's eyes widened in shock. "No—!"

She fell, body twisting as she dropped into the canyon, green lightsaber still clutched in one hand while wind roared past her montrals. Her scream echoed off the rock walls before fading into the depths.

"NO!" Anakin roared, raw anguish and fury exploding out of him. He surged forward on his knees, lightsaber swinging in wild, powerful arcs toward Ventress. She blocked the first two strikes, but the third forced her back a step. "You're dead!" he shouted. "You hear me? Dead!"

However he neglected to think about the remaining Commando Droid, it set the speeder for auto pilot and joined its master attacked from the side. Anakin parried it, and kicked the other in the chest hard enough to dent plating, then spun back to Ventress. She countered with a Force push that slammed him against a crate, then followed with a lightning-fast thrust he barely deflected.

A droid grabbed his organic arm from behind, twisting it and making the injury worse until the lightsaber nearly fell. Anakin headbutted it, cracked the cranial unit, and freed himself long enough to slash across its torso. Ventress took the opening, slashing at his thigh and opening a deep burn that buckled his leg. He dropped to one knee but managed to keep his lightsaber raised to fight.

"Still fighting with emotion, Skywalker," Ventress said, circling him slowly. "You'd make a wonderful Sith."

"Shut up," he snarled and lunged again. His strike was strong but slower now and she sidestepped it easily and followed by kicking him in the ribs. 

The last Commando Droid then fired a stun bolt point-blank into his back. Electricity coursed through him, his muscles locking together and he collapsed forward onto the deck.

Ventress stood over him, breathing hard, one lightsaber pointed at his throat. "Take him to the front and bind him properly this time," she ordered the droid. "My Master wishes for him to be unharmed."

The droid dragged Anakin's limp form forward while Ventress retrieved the fallen lightsaber, clipping it to her belt once more. She glanced over the edge into the canyon where Ahsoka had vanished, a flicker of something unreadable crossing her face before she turned away.

The speeder pulled fully back onto solid ground, engines whining as it accelerated across the darkening dunes toward Jabba's palace. Anakin remained unconscious on the deck, while Ventress sat in silence and watched the stars emerge overhead.

(AN: Ventress is a bit of a hater, but tbf if you watched the 2003 miniseries she does have a reason to hate Anakin. Anyway hope you enjoyed.)