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Let Chaos Reign Chapter 33: When The Pieces Fall
Asajj Ventress watched emotionlessly as the blue streaks of hyperspace washed over the hull of her ship, with the blue glow bathing her and the cockpit of the ship she had used to escape from Coruscant. It took her master long enough to get some agents in the form of bounty hunters to get her out of the Jedi’s and Republic's clutches.
She glanced down at the feeling of cloth brushing against the burns that acted as a reminder of her most humiliating defeat. Tobi… For a brief moment the dark side came rushing forward, and the cockpit, along with the ship, rattled and shook before Ventress let out a heated sigh before it all settled down as if a ghastly specter had briefly haunted the ship and left it alone.
“Soon. It won’t be long before I find where you're at and make a warning out of you, Tobi.” She had assumed Dooku hadn’t gotten her out earlier as a punishment for not only failing him but also because she had failed on such a level that she had been captured.
She could at least have the saving grace that she didn’t reveal anything to the Republic or Jedi of their plans. An indicator appeared before she left hyperspace, revealing a fleet of Separatist ships.
“This is Asajj Ventress, Count Dooku’s personal assassin. I need to dock with your ship to receive medical attention and resupply.” She ordered out, having missed bossing around others.
It made her feel in control, something she didn’t ever want to lose again. Her time on Coruscant had brought back bad memories. Memories she didn’t want to relive.
Ventress' eyes widened before narrowing when she pulled on the control stick for the ship. It lurched to the side, screaming across the cold cosmos when the ship's weapons grid became active.
“What the hell?! Again?” She almost screamed in rage, spiraling out of the way from a volley of crimson turbo laser lances. Vulture droids soon flew right towards her and opened fire.
Her ship peeled back, dodging in any direction, the droids hot on her trail, with her shooting down any that tried to pincer her from the front. “Stand down, I am Asajj Ventress. I order you to explain yourself.”
The vultures fired missiles that followed her like ravenous beasts. The droid commander finally responded. “We have been ordered to eliminate you and the rest of the Separatists' high command.”
Ventress mentally blanked at what was said, and her focus and control were almost completely lost with the Force when a missile slammed into her ship. The shield held strong, but it wouldn’t last against a few more of those missiles.
Realizing that something was wrong, she weaved through a wave of vulture droids. The lances of red temporarily brought her shields down, warnings and whirs came from her cockpit as the ship sustained a not so insignificant amount of damage.
A few presses of some buttons and she fired a few missiles ahead of her that blossomed into flaming scraps that her ship dived into. She pushed through the flames and debris washing over the hull of her ship, it screamed in defiance from such an embarrassing way to die.
“Like hell I am dying to a bunch of stupid droids.” She said through gritted teeth, managing to break past the swirling dome of vulture droids that soon changed shape. The droids realizing she wasn’t trapped amidst them any longer all gave chase again.
Her ship lurched forward, being pushed to its absolute limit. It spoke volumes of just how many droids there were. Even with her desperate dives and spins, no matter where she went or angled her ship, they always managed to land a hit.
“Come on already.” She glared at the controls for hyperspace before it finally gave the signal. Eyes widening in delight, she pushed the throttle and gunned it ahead, still avoiding the worst of the incoming fire. She couldn’t dodge it all, but she could avoid the worst of it.
Up and down, back and forth, every angle was used to avoid shots that would have crippled, if not outright destroyed, her ship. Finally, her opportunity came when her ship shot forward, going into hyperspace towards the only place she could think of to go to that would be somewhat safe to get her bearings and figure out just what the hell had happened.
Hours later, Asajj Ventress found herself exiting hyperspace onto a planet many a scoundrel was familiar with in the Outer Rim. Even Ventress was. But not now. What sat before her was something that made her come up short. The desert world of Tatooine that should have appeared as nothing more than a dust ball from above had massive parts of it that were emerald green.
The type of green that could only mean massive amounts of plant life. She blinked slowly, trying to come to terms with all the things that had changed in her short time in captivity. Surely it couldn’t have been that long for all of this to have changed so suddenly. It almost felt like the galaxy around her had been fast-forwarded in time while she was imprisoned.
Shaking herself of such thoughts, she pulled up the secure communications channels she knew by heart if a situation had grown well beyond her or if her master needed to know something that was deemed urgent.
The blue flicker of the hologram took form into that of her master. He stared at her with an intensity that made her feel uncomfortable. It was almost as bad when the presence of his master almost suffocated her with the dark side through the hologram when he gave her her first mission to kill Skywalker.
“Master, I met the fleet of ships but… They attacked me.” Asajj spoke while carefully choosing her words and what she needed to say. She had so many questions but knew better than to pester Dooku when he didn’t look happy in the slightest.
Even when the questions were important.
“Just as the vast majority of them have.”
His words made Ventress freeze, whatever words she was going to say died on her tongue. Any form of suspicion she had of possible treachery from Dooku was given pause at his words.
“I… I don’t understand.” She truly didn’t. Why did the droid army turn against them?
“It would seem someone had given orders and… Things happened.” He almost growled the last part but forced himself to remain in control of his temper. “But it is good to see your training has kept you alive and intact from both the Jedi’s attempt to claim any secrets and the schism occurring across Separatist space.”
She bowed her head deeply, ignoring the twinge of pain that ran the length of her body. She showed respect even when her body protested the act, the torture she was subject to hadn’t fully healed.
“Your new mission is to reconvene with what is left of the Separatist commanders on Tatooine. We will have answers for how and why this happened.”
Asajj didn’t know if Dooku was aware she was already in orbit of Tatooine, but she would rather not test his already strained patience and control. It was the most she had ever seen him ready to lash out at anyone. It was a sharp contrast to the gentleman figure he portrayed himself as, always in control, regardless of his emotional state, he ruled them, not the other way around.
It didn't take long to land at the starport, ready to kill anyone foolish enough to try and shake her down for money or… Other means of payment. She wasn’t oblivious to some finding her attractive. Even if they didn’t find her face appealing, just her assets alone were enough to make people forget their place or who she was.
Yet she didn’t deal with any of that. She just had a simple dockworker with that same lazy, dead-eyed look that told her he was tired and ready to get off his shift. A simple mind trick had him waive any of the fees she would have to pay for the ship and swiftly left it behind.
She did what she always had when she didn’t have an immediate target and found herself on an unfamiliar planet -- she scoped it out. Pulling a hood up over her head and hiding her lightsabers that she managed to reacquire courtesy of the bounty hunters sent to get her out.
The instant she left the ship, she already knew the planet wasn’t like it once was. She had visited Tatooine on occasion. Not many, thankfully, but enough that the terrible conditions of the planet and her disgust for it would remain strong enough that she wouldn’t want to go back.
Yet the smell of pollen and plant life entered her nose just as coolant and various chemicals used for ships and their maintenance told her that it had changed. She stepped out into the light, gracefully and subtly moving past various workers and customers, ignoring the few that gave looks towards certain parts of her.
When she wasn’t using stealth, she had learned to use her looks to her advantage. She just didn’t like the way they looked at her, thinking she was weak. That time came and went in her younger years after losing her master and then becoming a slave for all those years.
She hid her shock and surprise and the plants that greeted her. Various flowers of all different colors, grass, and trees were growing along the ground, even vines grew along the walls of some buildings.
Various market stalls with vendors were trying to sell fruits and vegetables of various kinds. She moved through the crowd of people, the darkness that at one point in time pervaded this planet, even if it wasn’t as obvious as places like Korriban, but clung to the people all the same, was now gone.
What took its place was peace and tranquility. An electric energy ran through each person running the length of the conduit, and what came of it was so many positive emotions that it gave Ventress whiplash. She hadn’t felt anything like this before.
Sure, some planets' inhabitants could be happy, but it was a fleeting thing, the reality of their lives came crashing down as it always had to remind them that in the end only darkness and suffering awaited them. A bleak way to look at the galaxy, but it is one that Ventress had long since accepted.
The only difference between her and those people was she had the power to not only weaponize the dark feelings within her but also overcome them and carve something out of the galaxy for herself. All she needed was the power to do so.
She even eyed the restaurant with people swarming around it with the ugly visage of Jabba wearing a crown and eating from a bucket some type of meat… It looked like it came from an avian species.
She sniffed lightly and could admit the smell wasn’t half bad. She was about to move past the restaurant with the letter TFC shining above it in neon-hologram splendor to be as eye-catching as possible when she heard a voice.
Her head snapped towards the sound of the same man who was responsible for her failing her mission and what led to the greatest humiliation she ever had to suffer through. She stopped and crept forward through the crowd of people, no longer thinking of gathering information or scoping the planet out, the only thing that she could think of was the man’s head sliding from his shoulders and her taking it and using it as a reminder to all not to cross her.
A hand tightened around a hilt hidden under her cloak while moving through the crowd. Various people of all walks of life crowded the place, placing orders across the chaos of noises.
There was a section of the restaurant that didn’t have as many people, and those that were eating were dressed far better than the rest of the common folk. They were also eating far better-looking food than the rest that was being served in this place.
This was nothing compared to the prize that lay before her. The cloaked, masked man talking with the same voice that she had sworn to get her revenge on was at a table cooking away while chatting with various chefs and workers, making a show of making his food.
Knives twirled through the air with impressive displays of dexterous skill, food shifted and flipped off the pan that was composed of several different vegetables, and the hand working one knife cut the plant on his board to a finely shredded dust that even a droid would be hard-pressed to recreate.
He just talked and joked, the various people laughing and enjoying the warm atmosphere while he was completely oblivious to the fact Ventress was nearby ready to strike him down and exact her vengeance. She idly thought of giving him a fighting chance… No.
Using the Force, her presence was concealed from nearly everyone but only the most gifted in the Force. She glided along the floor, a dark shadow that was the messenger of death itself. A man took a bite out of his fried poultry, paused, and let out a loud moan, twitching for a moment before his body became almost boneless with him sliding back onto his chair.
She paused, looking at the rich man with two women across from him doing the same, taking bites as if the food were the greatest they had ever had and would ever be capable of enjoying. As if nothing could ever hope to compete with it.
Something for her to take and sample for herself after she made that bastard pay. She stalked forward before she froze for a second. A warning came through the Force, but the issue was that she didn’t detect anything. Then she felt it. A figure rushed for her that left a void in the grand tapestry of the galaxy.
A complete emptiness where something should exist, even if it was simply air. The shadow came faster than she had anticipated, and before she could pull her lightsabers out, she grabbed her, and then the sensation of a slimy wetness met her clothes and skin.
She paused and looked around, and instead of the restaurant and the target of her vengeance, it was a great river of a blue substance. A wave rushed to slam into her that came from a nearby wall, and a wave of her hand had it break apart, droplets raining down into semi-solid portions.
None of it was truly solid, more akin to clay and mud that her boots sank into, and each time she had to use more effort to lift her legs out of it. She was slowly sinking as she scanned her surroundings, but all of it was the same. She was stuck in a pocket or chamber with the bubbling and gurgling liquid moving all around her.
A hand reached out from under her as she looked down, about to cut it off but realizing it wasn’t an attack. It was a man. Or what was left of him. Half of his face was melted away, and the remaining half that had his one remaining eye looked up at her pleadingly.
“H-help me… please.” His hand grasped at her leg before her eyes narrowed.
The man was half submerged under the slime all around them, and she wasn’t about to have this deadweight get her killed. A slash of her blade had his head tumble from his shoulders. Then Ventress paused when the walls and everything around her shuddered and vibrated. Then she felt it through the Force. Anger was coming from whatever this stuff was. Apparently it was alive.
The Force was screaming at her, and she heeded it. Stepping to the side, she avoided a wet plop that was more slime falling from above and almost landed on her head had she not moved. It instead slammed into what was left of the man’s body, pushing it back down into the slimy depths from which he was imprisoned. Instead, only a few droplets had splashed onto her arm before she winced and sniffed, seeing smoke rise from her long sleeve.
A hole had burned into it, and her skin was inflamed. Her eyes narrowed into slits, and a scowl formed on her face before she side-stepped and bent her body in an impressive display of flexibility, evading squirts of what was now revealed to be acid.
Just when her leg was lifted to help her evade a head-sized chunk of slime, the slime floor began to shift, and before Ventress knew it, it had pulled her into the floor.
It didn’t even take a second as her body was burned away, parts of her clothes dissolved before her skin was healed, to her surprise. Even the torture scars and wounds had vanished when her eyes were restored before the torture started all over again.
Skin flaked off as if she were being flayed alive while underwater before it faded away in the blue fluid that now surrounded her. It peeled off in chunks like one would remove clothes, with the muscle underneath burned away, making her feel an intense burning sensation.
Her hands moved to grab her lightsabers and cut her way out, only to see them floating below her and the metal of one now turned to liquid metal that was being eaten away.
The other was still somewhat intact. Her hand reached out, and even with what felt like the slime fluid around her restraining her arm, the weapon was drawn to her hand before, using the pain of her body being dissolved and the memory of the torture she was forced to endure, the dark side surged.
A tidal wave of heavy and dark emotion accompanied it before her hand snapped out, the healing process had happened just in time before the acid could come and eat her alive yet again. A barrier formed, the acid and slime slammed into it before, with a mental flex, feeling that familiar power only the dark side could ever give her, and with it, the bubble expanded.
It quickly grew in size, soon reaching the size of a medium starship that a smuggler would use before the resistance that was trying to keep whatever had swallowed her intact grew in intensity. For several seconds Ventress growled, a vein pulsing on her head before, with a growl bubbling up out of her throat, the slime finally gave way.
A wet pop followed the slime impacting the ground, buildings, damn near everything in the dark alley Ventress found herself in. The wet smacks of whatever had swallowed Ventress were all over the surroundings. Blue coated and painted it all, Ventress breathed deeply, gasping for air and still feeling the power coursing through her body.
She watched in interest, seeing some clothes on the ground that were surprisingly somewhat intact as she questioned how she got into the alley. Many other questions, like what devoured her and how it was so big on the inside, came and went faster than a sentient could blink.
Her lightsaber ignited when a warning came through the Force. Her blade met several tendrils with spear-like tips that tried to impale her. Some resistance to her surprise that lasted a fraction of a second before the blade broke through and severed the appendages.
More came from every angle imaginable, all from the slime she had painted the alley with. She ducked, angled, and weaved through them. Had she not been healed by whatever this thing was, she would be struggling to do this. But now with her body back in top shape, she could more than keep up.
Backflipping into a corkscrew with her arm snaking out, taking a few bladed edges before landing with a flourish. The slime quickly gathered up before the upper portion formed into a beautiful blonde human woman. Yet the lower half at the hip remained that blue slime.
“What are you?” Ventress hissed, eyes studying her and seeing that whatever her lightsaber had done was negligible at best.
She smiled menacingly, but it didn’t frighten Ventress. Nothing did beyond a few things anymore. “A maid trying to clean a particularly nasty stain. If only you had made things not so difficult when I swallowed you. It’s rude to try and kill my master.”
Her arms swung out much faster as Ventress managed to duck under them and leap back when the ends of the tendrils grew in size, slamming into the ground and punching through with surprising ease.
Then Ventress was slammed with what she could only describe as pure unrestrained intent to kill. Whatever this thing was, it rushed forwards, slithering across the ground. Ventress dodged one limb that formed a hammer, slicing through it and facing the same odd resistance she had from before.
It made no difference, but it did catch her interest. The limb went flying with nothing connecting it, going into and breaking through a wall with people yelling in terror. The weight of whatever she was doing didn’t slow Ventress in the slightest. If anything, it made her stronger.
Whatever shock she had at the hammer-shaped slime so casually breaking through duracrete took a backseat when more limbs were formed, and when the two were about to clash, a cloaked figure appeared in a swirl out of thin air.
His hood slid off, and Ventress paused, seeing the blood-red face of a Twi’lek. He was… Handsome. Then he spoke, making her hands tighten.
“Solution, while I appreciate you watching my back, I don’t need you terrorizing our people.” While he spoke, her slime came back out of the wall, slamming into her chest with a wet splat before the wall began to repair itself. The damage, slowly undone piece by piece, had Ventress not witnessed what had happened. Before, she wouldn’t have even known the wall was damaged as the people inside watched in fascination before disappearing from view.
“Now as for you, Ventress, I will say I wasn’t expecting you to be so early.” His voice. It was the same voice of that cursed man who got her captured.
Her teeth gritted together, and she rushed him. The Force empowered her body, she moved so fast the wind generated couldn’t even keep up. Her sole remaining crimson lightsaber aimed for his heart was almost upon him. That was until his own lightsaber hidden in the folds of his robe ignited and blocked her strike.
After her brief exchange with him on that ship trying to either rescue Gunray or silence him and having plenty of time to contemplate things, she knew he was holding back. His skill back then wasn’t to be taken lightly, not when he could hold his own against her and the Jedi.
He wasn’t even pushed back from the force of her strike before he calmly, with only one hand, blocked and parried each of her strikes, with a crowd of people watching at the end of the alley, having taken notice of the commotion before either freezing in surprise, which were a few, or most others having enough sense to run away.
“Good form, if a bit lacking.” A flick of his wrist and he parried her angry strike that would have bisected him at the waste with so little effort you would think he was handling a child. “Solution, do not intervene. I have been a little pent up and found the perfect sparring dummy.”
It made her even angrier. An overhead strike came down after leaping off the wall, dirt, sand, and plants scattering from the force, enough to crack the ground, which was blocked. His arm didn’t even bend or budge in the slightest.
“Shut. Up. Just die.” She seethed, moving around him in circles while he just stood there and blocked or redirected everything.
She quickly realized he was using Niman. But unlike the trash of the Jedi that had died mostly on Geonosis and shortly at the beginning of the Clone Wars, who used that form, he was skilled. The best she had seen anyone use this form. Dare she say possibly as skilled as her own master was with his beloved Makashi he prattled on about.
She would admit Makashi wasn’t a bad lightsaber form, but she never truly agreed with the purity of using only one form. Her own style using elements of Ataru and dual-wielding two blades was evidence enough of that.
Soresu showed itself blocking with minimal effort while conserving his energy, and Ventress' anger and hate grew by the second when she was getting stonewalled.
Her crimson blade slammed into his blue, no matter how much power, speed, or angle she tried to find an opening, there was none. Yet he never went on the offensive. He merely watched her with a calm, stoic face that made her want to punch it.
With the flames of her emotions growing, her power and speed grew alongside it. Now nothing but a blur, a storm of strikes that would tear most of anything apart. Save for the man who stood before her, a rock amidst a hurricane. Where the ground, nearby walls, and anything in between were torn apart, he remained unharmed.
His clothes flapped and were tugged by the wind, but she hadn’t even managed to even make a simple cut on any of them. Gritting her teeth, Ventress disengaged, moving back when it appeared she was going for another strike.
Hand held out, ready to unleash her fury in one decisive strike when her skill with a lightsaber failed her.
"Ventress, what do you think you are doing?” The stern voice of her master made her freeze when she looked behind her hated enemy to see the disapproving and disappointed look of Count Dooku.
…
Ventress did pretty good despite being imprisoned for an extended period of time. Better than I had expected, even if I was leagues above her now. I was already better than her courtesy of my sword skill, but now it was the difference between sea level and standing on Earth's tallest mountain.
What she climbed to hope to even get a glimpse at the top, I already neared the edge if I wasn’t already standing upon the peak. She thankfully stopped her attempt on my life and stayed near her master, who had arrived with several of my Magnaguards acting as his protection when shit hit the fan.
Now cozy in my castle, Dooku looked around the place, taking in the sights. Through Haki I could barely feel his emotional state. He kept it so under wraps and chains that, beyond a few basic impressions, the guy was all but a void to it.
I highly doubted that was the case internally for the man. He had to be fuming and absolutely pissed at the massive sucker punch that came from out of nowhere. I did note how he eyed the tapestries, new and old, showcasing my various lives I had lived.
From killing Zeus and Gaia to my fight against Wyzen when he tried to crush me with a multi continental sized finger. Others showed calm, peaceful moments, like farming, or others dark, somber images of weeping angels.
We passed by the fountain of youth. I had some plans for how to use it when Dooku froze for a brief moment, looking at it curiously before he felt something and turned in the direction of the berserker armor sitting under a tapestry showing the eclipse and all the apostles under it.
We walked into a great chamber that had several Magnaguards stationed along it, with Jabba resting on his podium wearing that silly fake crown as he smiled and greeted Dooku.
“Jabba, it would be a pleasure to see you were it under different circumstances.” Dooku said with a small nod of respect with his shoulder cape held over one arm as he stared up at the Hutt imperiously.
“Anything you’d like to eat or drink?” I ask nonchalantly, heading over towards a small table with some foodstuffs a permanent golem made from silver in the form of an angel had deposited on the table. Dooku eyed the moving statue with no small amount of interest before he watched me.
It was no different than the gaze of a hawk eyeing prey that had grown beyond its boundaries, believing it had nothing to fear. Or that’s how Dooku likely viewed it. Despite how it was far from him being in any position of superiority, despite how he may like to think and portray it otherwise.
“While I appreciate the hospitality, I am not hungry nor thirsty. I merely want answers.” He said while Ventress stood by his side as I took a seat.
Deep thumping steps had the two of them turn in time to see the rest of the Quiet Hand arrive. Great stone doors opened by obsidian black statues designed after the ancient Spartan soldiers from my time in Greece.
Nemesis loomed, raw primal aggression in full display in every act or minor movement he made, his gaze looked upon the two before me.
Pitou by his side, walking calmly without a care in the world, fully confident in her power to handle the two before her. Her ears twitched and her tail playfully swished through the air.
Solution, now garbed in her repaired outfit, had eyes only for Asajj Ventress, yet her expression seemed innocent to most. Ventress herself seemed aware of the ill intent and who it was directed towards and smirked back with her eyes half-lidded.
HK-47 stepped forward with his newly upgraded chassis. The rust-colored metal had been replaced by something that took me no small amount of effort. He still had the cosmetic rust red over it after he complained about it and how it was his… thing.
Which I kind of understood. It’s like me and the masks along with the cloak. Between that and the source of my powers, giving me things associated with the Uchiha made it a little difficult to shake the aesthetic that comes with it. Plus, it’s what I am known for by this point. Might as well just throw my arms up and accept it. Not that people haven’t seen my face by this point.
But HK had gotten a rather significant upgrade to his chassis in the form of adamantium. The same metal that coated Wolverine's skeleton and helped make him more famous than he already was. It took copious amounts of energy just to make enough for not only my new favorite murder bot -- step aside Bender Bending Rodríguez -- but also an upgrade to one of the gifts I gave him.
The metal took absurd levels of energy to even form it in small amounts, and that wasn’t getting started on figuring out how to melt it down, which wasn’t too difficult. The issue lay more in getting the metal to form into the shape we wanted and ensuring it worked as intended.
Some trial and error with Pitou helping me out and me giving her a reward in a dark corner of the castle in the form of copious kissing and cuddles, and in the end HK-47 was given a massive upgrade.
“Statement: Master, the other guests have arrived.” HK said while keeping Dooku and Ventress in his line of sight.
“Thank you, HK. Just sit back and relax until they are all here so we can begin discussion on what the game plan is now.”
Dooku gave me a look that I shrugged off after making myself a sandwich from select pieces of food before taking a bite. I let out a moan while chewing on my slice of heaven.
Another set of doors opened up with one more figure stalking in. He looked battle-damaged, but the curtains didn’t match the drapes. None other than General Grievous stood before me wearing a white cloak that was blackened, and from what I could see of his arms, they appeared perfectly intact, but closer towards his torso there were black marks that showed blaster damage. He loomed over almost all of us.
A clap of my hands drew everyone’s attention to me. “Alright! With everyone here we can now discuss how we’re going to win this war after Dooku fucked it all up.”
