The Padawan and the Rebel

The Padawan: Capture (Part One)

He hesitated. "But, Commander..."

"Just go, Trap. That's an order." She unsheathed her guard shoto, spinning it around her fingers.

He hesitated again before ushering Pulsar, Edge, and Havoc down the hallway. The droids began shooting at the clones, but Adhara reflected the bullets, never taking her eyes off of Grievous. He laughed, leaping over his droid army with sabers spinning.

"She's mine," he told the army, slashing his sabers at Adhara. She gritted her teeth, letting herself fall into the Force, twirling her shoto around as her main lightsaber deflected Grievous's attacks. His laughter grated on her nerves.

Footsteps thundered down the hallway behind them, and the clones appeared with guns blazing.

"Glad to see your still alive, Commander!" Trap said, the relief obvious in his voice.

"Me too, Lieutenant!"

She focused her attack on Grievous, pushing back against her as the clones closed rank. Grievous snarled, swiping at her head and hissing under his breath as she parried his attack. He reared back, swinging all four sabers at her, and she crossed her blades into an X, gritting her teeth as he pushed back against her with immortal strength.

"You cannot win, little padawan."

"Well, if I was half machine, I would be pretty confident too," she snapped, sweat running down her face as she kicked Grievous in the stomach. He barely stumbled, but gave her enough room to use the force, slamming him against the wall.

For a moment, she thought he was down, and she stalked over to her, sheathing her shoto.

Then he crawled up the wall and onto the roof.

Adhara gritted her teeth, realizing too late what was happening. She raised her lightsaber to deflect his as he dropped from the roof, rolling out from under him with the ease of a Jedi, but too slow. He pierced her ankle with her spider leg, and Adhara cried out.

Around them, the battle went still.

"Drop your weapons," Grievous said, "Or I kill your Commander right here, right now."

"He's bluffing," Adhara hissed to Trap through the pain. "Don't listen to him, Trap."

But the lieutenant was already putting his gun down, the rest of the troop following suit behind him. "Sorry, Commander. That's not a risk I'm willing to take."

Adhara deflated, her head banging against the floor as the droids took her sabers.

"Obi-Wan is going to kill me," she muttered as Grievous dragged her to his ship, the droids bringing the clones behind her, leaving their ship hovering above Ryloth with supplies that would never be delivered.

***

She knew it would be bad as soon as they landed on Serenno. They knocked her out, and when she woke she was chained to a ceiling, the clones nowhere to be seen. Count Dooku sat in front of her in a chair, his legs crossed. Waiting.

"Ah, finally awake," he said, standing and  brushing off his coat. "I was starting to worry we hit you a little too hard in the head."

"How thoughtful of you," Adhara bit back.

Dooku clicked his tongue, pacing around Adhara. "Adhara, sweetheart. Don't be that way."

"What do you want, Dooku?"

He grabbed an electrostaff from a nearby droid, twirling it around with an ease Adhara had never seen before. With more skill than even Obi-Wan. "It's not what I want, per say. But you are... important to someone who is important to me. He wants me to turn you." His smile was evil, painting his face in shadows. "An opportunity to break Obi-Wan's padawan? I accepted."