Anakin
"General, we've lost them."
Anakin Skywalker sat bold upright in bed, rubbing his eyes, which had grown strained from staring at the datapad detailing the list of guests to the masked ball for too long. He swatted a sock off of his bedside table and grabbed the comm hiding underneath. "What do you mean?" he demanded. "They both have tracking devices on them. What happened?"
Rex sighed. "The signals from their trackers are being blocked. Who or what by, we can't say for sure. But it's possible it's just a natural phenomenon. There have been reports–"
"Rex, we both know it's no coincidence," Anakin said, cutting him off.
"Yes, sir. Just wanted to consider all the possibilities. I'll have the ground troops ready to move out. We have two cruisers in orbit and a third on the way. Dooku'll need the entire Separatist armada to muscle his way through our defenses."
Anakin's lips tightened into a thin line. Well, he might just have it."
"You and General Kenobi will be leading the offensive, then, sir?"
Anakin thought for a moment. "No. We'll go in quietly. If Dooku has infiltrated the palace, then the whole place will be crawling with droids, probably disguised as partygoers or servants to escape notice. We have to stay under the radar."
Rex chuckled. "Sir, it's a masked ball. We can send a team in to assess the situation with minimal difficulty. We military types can't exactly keep a low profile with the Separatists, but all we have to do is make sure the masks hide our faces completely, and the droids won't be able to recognize us. Backup forces in full body armor can follow behind if necessary."
Anakin opened his mouth to speak, but then, there came a murmur of voices on the other end of the comm.
A moment later, Rex cleared his throat again. "The Valiance has just emerged from hyperspace, sir. General Kenobi is ready to patch through."
"Right. Just one question."
"Sir?"
Anakin smirked. "How good is your dancing?"
"With any luck, it's good enough, sir."
Anakin nodded and ended the call. He stood up and began the walk down the hall to the garage where his starfighter waited, the comm clenched in his left hand – he was so on edge that he didn't want to risk crushing it with his right – as he waited for Obi-Wan's cruiser to link up with his communicator.
He bit his lip, reaching out towards Ahsoka in the Force. He had a bad feeling, and the fact that he could hardly sense her presence only made it worse.
Just hang on, Snips. We're coming.
Ahsoka
Ahsoka tried pushing the button on her wrist comm for the umpteenth time, but to no avail. The tiny circle around it that meant a signal had gotten through refused to change from its unresponsive red to green.
She glanced over at Lux, who raised an eyebrow in inquiry. She shook her head minutely, and Dooku smiled.
"Now, to business," he said, and gestured behind him. A moment later, an LEP servant droid waddled forward with a tray. Ahsoka's eyes were immediately drawn to the contents of the two wine glasses that stood upon it
The swirling dark liquid was steaming slightly, and Ahsoka immediately recognized it as Alderaanian spiced wine, a drink usually served hot. But she had the impression there was more to this particular brew that met the eye.
As the droid set the tray down on the table and tottered away, Dooku looked up towards them with his eerily calm and calculating brown eyes. "I propose we play a game of chance," he said.
And by 'propose', you mean 'command', right? Ahsoka's conscience growled. It's not like you're giving us any chance but to play your silly game.
"What sort of game?" Lux inquired, his face a mask of indifference. Although she could feel his fear and anger and despair – and, oddly enough, hope – through the Force, he let nothing on.
He was not about to allow Dooku to gain any more ground.
"Within one of these glasses is the solution to your predicament, Senator," Dooku continued. "The poison administered to you has one cure, a quantity of which large enough to purge the virus from your body has been put into one glass. You will be cured within minutes."
"Then what's in the other glass?" Lux asked, his eyes narrowed and arms crossed. "I suppose a non-lethal concoction is too much to hope for?"
"Within the other glass is the protein that will activate the virus, and cause your blood cells to shut down almost simultaneously. It is harmless to almost anyone else, but for you, five minutes after taking so much as a sip... well." Dooku inclined his head as if Lux's demise was a necessary evil he took no pleasure in.
"Those... aren't terrible odds." Lux reached out and took her hand, the same hope she had sensed earlier shining through. "We can do this."
"Ah, but I said almost everyone," Dooku told them. "The protein reacts just as violently with a Togruta's bloodstream as it does with the virus. You, Ahsoka Tano, may know it as lectrosterine."
Ahsoka's free hand curled itself into a fist. Lectrosterine was one of the largest killers of members of the Togruta species. Mistakenly ingesting the leaves of a plant high in lectrosterine while away on the midyear hunt was what had killed her parents and left her orphaned a few months before the Jedi had found her.
But despite the memories it brought back, Ahsoka couldn't help her stomach tying itself into a knot of despair as she considered the present circumstances: whatever they chose, one of them was going to die.
"I'm sorry," Ahsoka whispered, her fingers tightening around his. She looked into his beautiful grey eyes and stilled her trembling lower lip.
I'm sorry too." The moonlight caught on his face and danced across his cheekbones, making his dark hair seem even darker than usual. "Ahsoka, I just want you to know that I–"
"My patience grows thin," Dooku barked suddenly. "Make your choice."
Letting go of Lux's hand, Ahsoka reached out and took the glass on the right as he took the one on the left. They looked into each other's eyes for a moment, knowing full well that these would be their last moments together. Then, without breaking their shared gaze, they each took a sip.
Hardly moment later, a chocked gasp escaped Lux's lips, and his hand flew up to clutch his throat. His glass was sent plummeting to the floor, and shattered upon impact. Then, with a single wide-eyed look in her direction, Lux fell to the ground.
*In the end, it was Lux who drank from the poisoned chalice. With hope fading fast, can Anakin make it there in time to save the day? Or will Lux's last few minutes of life be up before they arrive, and make it too late to save anyone?
*cues up the rock music*
NO
SLEEP
TILL
THE STAR WARS GALAXY!!!!!!
*plays the guitar epically*
Here's to staying up till the wee hours of the morning to finish writing! *raises glass*
Wait this wasn't the poisoned one right hehe
*runs away as angry readers chase after me* SORRY NOT SORRY
Anyways, HERE WE ARE AT LAST, hitting the plot twist I've been planning for the better part of the last two months! We're getting close to the end of the book, guys, and I can't wait to get through the big finale :D
I'll do my best to update this again soon. Priorities for the next few days go to SOTE and UAAT, but the next chapter is gonna be (understandably) angsty and it's gonna be FUN to write, so I'll see what I can do.
Go check out the last few updates I've posted for UAAT and HWOF if you haven't already, and have a good Sunday!
Bye :D