Cordelia pulled away from Kenobi, leaving cool impressions on his skin of where her arms and legs had been. She slid out of the booth and was next to Sykes in three long strides. She unhooked her cloak brusquely. It rippled to the ground near her feet. The Gray ignited her orange lightsaber and pointed it at the traitor.
"Hello Biron." she greeted sweetly, like she wasn't about to arrest or kill him. All of this had happened before Kenobi even got out of the booth.
Sykes laughed as he moved his vision up from his hands. He looked at the Ashla Adept over her blade, flicking his hood off his horns.
"Lightsaber!" One panicked patron yelled. The room tensed before everyone exited the cantina at an alarming pace.
It was a rush of arms, legs, flying drinks, and nearly getting trampled. Obi-Wan shook his head in amusement.
"Subtle Cordelia. Very subtle." he said as he stepped behind her. That was a very Anakin-like thing to do.
"Cordelia?" he questioned with a slight tilt of his head. "Interesting. Well, I knew it would be only a matter of time until you found me." he stated, voice dripping with blasé. He reached out his arm and Cordelia flew across the room. She hit the wall next to the door and collapsed to the floor.
Kenobi ignited his lightsaber and flew at Sykes. The Separatist contact slipped under the table and made his way out of the cantina as the two began to spar.
Kenobi cut at Biron's left side. The dark-sided Gray parried with one end of his yellow lightsaber. The blades crashed together, creating a flash of green light.
Sykes jumped over a booth and made a break for the door as he Force-pushed a table at the Republic General. It hit Kenobi like a wall. He was thrown onto the floor, taking a hard gasp of air as he stared up at the ceiling of Solari's.
Obi-Wan slowly rolled on his side. He caught sight of Cordelia, who was on her hands and knees. She grunted in irritation as Sykes ran past her. She scrambled to her feet and disappeared out the door. The Jedi pushed himself stiffly to a standing position.
Kenobi came to a halt as he pushed through the doors. Sykes was disarmed with his hands up at blaster point. Surrounded by Cody and the rest of the clones, he sneered at them. For someone that had just gotten captured, he didn't seem overly grumpy about it.
"So you work for the Jedi now, Fire Fang?" he spat.
"You have no right to call me that." she snapped. "I am working with the Jedi to hunt down your slimy carcass, traitor." she replied vehemently. Cody held Biron's lightsaber in one hand and a blaster in the other. "You are betraying everything we believe in!" she shouted. Her grip tightened on the hilts of her sabers. Biron gave her a cocky look.
"I'm betraying what you believe in, Fire Fang. I was born to be a Sith." he stated. She rolled her eyes.
"So you want nothing but pain and betrayal?" she countered. "You know as well as I that that is the way of the Sith. The hunger you feel will never be satisfied." Sykes chuckled arrogantly.
"Better than having my abilities wasted in the Gray Order, like you, Sah-" he cut off. He grabbed at the front of his throat, his eyes wide. His mouth opened, but no breath escaped. Kenobi looked to the Gray. Her expression was venomous, her eyes were wild. Dangerous. Unpredictable.
"Finish that sentence and I crush your throat." Cordelia threatened, her hand lifted in a choking motion. He clawed at the invisible force clasped around his trachea. He was touching the ground by only his toes.
"Cordelia." Kenobi spoke cautiously, his hand reaching out to her. The Gray met his eyes. An unspoken conversation passed between them. She sighed out her nose.
Obi-Wan watched as the tension receded from her face. She held Sykes there for a moment longer before releasing him. He landed on his hands and knees, wheezing.
"That's right, Cordelia. Why don't you show them what you really are." he managed to spit out, his words labored. Her gaze fell to the ground. She then turned and threw her saber directly at his commander.
"Cody!" Kenobi shouted, a moment too late. They all stared as the lightsaber hit its mark: the face plate of a commando droid that was about to jump him. It was so close that there was a line on side of Cody's helmet.
Kenobi exhaled the breath he didn't even know he was holding. The double bladed saber flew out of the commander's hands. Kenobi's eyes followed it back to Sykes.
Cordelia launched herself in the air and spun. Her silver saber hit Biron's yellow one so hard, a slight crack emulated from the blades. Cordelia reached back and the orange saber flew to her hand.
Everyone began moving at once. The clones turned as the distinctive clanking of of battle droids echoed behind them. It was a small force, made of the silver B1 Super Battle Droids and some BX-Series droid commandos. Small, but difficult.
"We got the droids, sir, focus on Sykes!" Commander Cody said, clearly recovered from having an activated lightsaber thrown at his face. Obi-Wan ran towards Sykes and Cordelia as the civilians began screaming and taking cover.
"Deserter!" Cordelia yelled. Biron leaped into the air and slashed at her.
"You don't deserve to be the Ashla Adept." he growled as their sabers connected. The force of it threw the Gray to the street. Sykes jumped over top of her and brought his saber down, aiming for her face. She crossed her sabers in an X and blocked him, pushing back.
"You're... jealous?" she said through gritted teeth, using her foot to shove him off of her. She was breathing heavily. He flipped and landed easily on his feet.
"Not jealous. Just aware." he said as he straightened. His pointed teeth glinted in the light of his saber. Cordelia's aura darkened as his sabers faded from yellow to an orange to a deep red.
Kenobi stopped next to her, jaw clenched. He had never seen someone corrupt a kyber crystal before. The crystal gets pumped full of dark sided energy until it begins to bleed, giving it that blood red color. He could sense the extreme pain coming from the crystal. If it had been as large as person and suffering as it was, Kenobi didn't know if he would have been able to withstand it. He pushed the crystal's agony aside.
"And what is that supposed to mean?" he asked, trying to refocus himself. Biron smiled wickedly.
"Cordelia here isn't fit to be the Ashla Adept." he explained as he attacked the two light-sided Force users, spitting out her name like it was an insult. "The only reason she is is because of who she's related to." he said as he slashed at their sabers. He flipped behind them. Cordelia scoffed at his comment.
"You only say that because that's what your girlfriend says." she replied coolly. Biron threw his saber towards them. It spun, turning into a red whirlwind. Obi-Wan slid underneath the blade while Cordelia flipped above it.
"Who's jealous now?" Sykes stated coyly. Cordelia gave a dry laugh. "You wish Biron." she replied as she and Obi-Wan moved in on him. Sykes jumped high above them and caught his levitating saber.
As Cordelia moved to intercept him, something caught Kenobi's attention from above. His heart seized.
"Cordelia, move!" he shouted, using the Force to pull her to him. He caught the Ashla Adept easily. Right where she had been standing, a giant mass of metal and flesh dropped down with a loud thud.
"You're too late." Sykes told her with a maniacal grin. His arms were spread wide. "I already had my meeting with Tyranus. He is long gone and you're talking to Count Dooku's newest assassin." Biron was still grinning ear to ear as the mass began to rise, turning into a towering being. Obi-Wan immediately tensed.
"General Grievous." he growled, still holding onto Cordelia. Her aura darkened further.
"I've got a bad feeling about this." she muttered as the Confederate general gave a cough.
"General Kenobi." Grievous greeted, his voice deep and raspy. "We meet again. Who's your friend?" he asked.
"Oh wait. Biron Sykes here already told me." Cordelia looked shocked. Her gray eyes had lost their greenness, now tinged with yellow.
"You dirty little slina! Do you understand what you just did?" she shouted, anger and pain lining her voice. Sykes for his part, merely shrugged.
"You know how it goes, Cordelia." Four magnaguards dropped down behind the once great Kaleesh warrior.
Grievous raised his long, monstrous arms. There was a metallic crack as his limbs split into four separate arms, each wielding a stolen lightsaber taken off the bodies of his victims. He eyed her orange and silver sabers with a murderous glint in his eye.
"Such pretty sabers for my collection. I was getting so tired of green and blue." The Ashla Adept steeled her jaw before taking off towards the general.
"Cordelia, wait!" he called after her. "Uhh, nevermind." he muttered when she didn't slow down. The Gray leapt high into the air and dropped down on the Confederate general.
Grievous put his sabers up to block her. Their blades met with a crash and Cordelia flipped over behind Grievous.
Kenobi in the meantime kept the general busy. He and Grievous had dueled many times during the course of the war and Kenobi now recognized his fighting style. It was unique to say the least. It had some traces of Dooku in it, but the rest was something else entirely, a mix of Kaleesh techniques and his mechanical limbs.
The two of them slashed and parried and stabbed. His magnaguards stood back at attention, awaiting Grievous's commands. Sykes jumped up and joined in on the fight as well. Kenobi leaped back from the two of them and landed a good few feet away.
As for Cordelia, she had hung back for a moment, watching. Then she made her move. She began sprinting as hard as she could at the general.
When she was close enough, the Gray dropped to the ground. She slid straight between Grievous's mechanical legs, dragging her sabers along as she did. A very risky move. They melted straight through his ankle joints. Without his feet, Grievous fell face first to the ground.
He growled at the Gray as he pushed himself up from the street. He rushed at her, using his four remaining arms to do a creepy, spider-like crawl, the horrid sound of metal on metal bouncing off the buildings.
He lunged into the air, taking her off guard. His mechanical hand gripped around her chest like a vice while the other two pinned her arms to the street. Grievous laughed as he started pushing downwards, crushing her body beneath his tremendous weight.
Cordelia's fingers clawed against the metal. No breaths came from her mouth, just a choking sound as her lungs attempted to expand. Her face was beginning to turn pink. One of the clones sent a few shots at the Kaleesh, but Grievous used his spare arm to deflect them back.
Kenobi motioned to help her, but a BX cut at him from the side. He dodged, creating an opening for him to Force-push the general off the Gray.
He turned to the commando droid as it slashed at him with its vibroblade.
Vibroblades were an interesting weapon. They were commonly used during the time of the Old Republic, when they were carried by both soldiers and citizens alike. In fact, they were even used as a counter to lightsabers. They were quite effective against the old, crossguard style sabers the both the Dark and Light Jedi used to wield, but when the saber designed changed after the Jedi Civil War, they were no longer useful against the more powerful blade. The new lightsaber cut straight through the vibroblades like any other metal.
Obi-Wan sidestepped sleekly to the side as the Commando sliced downwards. He raised his saber up and cut cleanly through its torso.
Kenobi looked back to Cordelia. She was still on the ground catching her breath. The inhales came in large heaves of air. She rolled onto her side, face twisted up in pain.
Grievous took advantage of her vulnerability. He attacked her with two sabers, using his other arms to keep himself upright. Kenobi ran to help her, but Sykes stepped between them. He had a serious look on his face.
"I always wanted to duel against a Jedi. Count Dooku says if I kill you, we'll overthrow his master and I'll be his apprentice." he said, twirling his saber. Obi-Wan scowled.
"Do not overestimate your abilities, Biron. You still have much to learn." He raised his lightsaber over his head. The general stretched out his hand, lifting his index and middle fingers.
"You underestimate me, Kenobi." he said flippantly, rushing the Jedi Master. Obi-Wan stayed put for a moment. "You overestimate yourself."
Sykes and Kenobi parried and slashed at each other. Kenobi went low. Sykes blocked and then stabbed out with the bottom end of his saber. Obi-Wan parried.
They separated. Kenobi stepped back. Sykes had talent, that was for sure, but his technique was sloppy, like that of an over confident padawan. He relied more on strength rather than skill. If Dooku could refine him, with the Count's saber prowess and Sykes's natural ability, the fallen Gray would be a deadly force.
Obi-Wan managed to steal a look at Cordelia again to make sure she was alright. The Ashla Adept had taken out one of the magnaguards and was currently working on a second. Grievous was out of sight.
Kenobi focused back in on his own duel. Sykes used the Force to throw a blaster beaten Super Battle Droid at the general. Obi-Wan lifted his saber and sliced it in half, the edges of the cut glowing an orange-yellow. He was vaguely aware of the clones fighting off the droids behind him, very grateful he had capable troops that he didn't have to worry about.
Obi-Wan relied on his instincts. Parry, slash, block, dodge, like he had done so many times before. He and Sykes clashed. Their sabers locked together.
"You're sloppy." Kenobi said as he ducked under Sykes and slashed up.
"And you're arrogant, Jedi scum." Sykes hissed back. Kenobi twisted, cutting into the Devaronian's shoulder blade. He growled before attacking the general again. Obi-Wan had dodged and moved to the side of him when he heard an exasperated groan from behind. Kenobi looked over his shoulder.
"Nice try General Grievous." Cody stated slyly. Grievous huffed and turned his attention on the Ghost Company Commander. Kenobi saw a blackened blast mark on the back of his metal shoulder. Grievous was still using his one pair of arms to keep himself upright.
Leaving Sykes, Kenobi jumped into the air and over the Confederate general. He brought his lightsaber down in a clean, straight strike. It ricocheted off Grievous's. The cyborg gave a deep, raspy laugh.
"Nice of you to drop in, Kenobi." he drawled. Grievous raised his arm to stab a nearby clone when a flash of orange caught Obi-Wan's eye. Grievous's severed arm fell onto the ground with a clank.
"Not on my watch." Cordelia spat. Grievous snarled at the Gray Adept and crouched. He sprang up high over their heads and landed far away from them. He flipped into a lopsided spider-crawl and booked around the corner. Sykes was already gone.
"Come on!" Kenobi shouted. The clones took out the final commando as they made their way after Grievous.
Cordelia, Obi-Wan, and Cody all interweaved through the pedestrians. Most understood that something was happening and moved into the businesses to avoid getting caught in the crossfire. Those who didn't saw the lightsabers and knew to get away.