As Grievous left, the docking tube began to break away and severed its connection to the Republic ship. Kenobi and many of the clones quickly grabbed anything they could hold onto as the tube opened up to the cold vastness of space. Some of the clones were unable to hold on very well as they were sucked away, drifting away and suffering a painful death.

Cody didn't want him and the others to die, so he pulled out his grappling gun and fired at the airlock of the Separatist ship, firmly connecting, and everyone left in the docking tube grabbed the ropes and climbed out. Finally, the last of them succeeded, and Cody closed the airlock so that everyone could finally get a brief respite.

Kenobi was the first to recover and stand. "Come on. We can still catch him."

"General," Cody said, stopping Obi-Wan from making his move. "No doubt the others have completed their mission. If we go after Grievous now, we'll be stuck on the ship with nowhere to go."

Knowing the Clone Commander was right, Kenobi decided to abandon his intention to hunt down the dreaded Jedi killer.

"Then we better get moving." Kenobi said to the remaining clones. "I believe there's a hangar nearby. We can get out of here in one of the gunships. Hopefully there won't be any more casualties."

After receiving the new order, the group's minds flocked to their new destination.

Walking around the corridor, Anakin, Hope and Kos saw Sam, Scott and the clones of the 501st rushing to help them.

"It took you long enough," Falcon commented, turning to help Kos.

"We're being chased by a psychotic Sith lady. Let's just chill out. Anakin shot back.

"Is that her?" Number Five pointed nervously behind them.

Everyone turned behind them towards the hallway where Hope and Anakin had just walked through and saw standing there was none other than Chezzo.

"Oh my god, do you enjoy following us so much?" Hope yelled now in irritation.

Chezzo just growled, raising her lightsaber to her face.

"If you want me to stop, you'll have to kill me."

Sam stepped forward; pointing his weapon at her. "Don't push us."

The Sith attendant ignored the pilot Avenger and set his sights on Hope.

"It seems you don't understand how far I would go to find you," Chezzo said, pointing his lightsaber at Hope.

Hope found himself growling in anger now.

"I would ~want to get a restraining order against her, if that's not too much trouble," Scott muttered.

"Maybe we can get Matt and some of the senators to help move this along. Anakin made a note.

Chezzo suddenly burst into laughter, unsettling the group in front of her, and she stared at Hope, then back at the clones.

She grinned and reached out, pulling them towards her with the Force. The clones collided with the Avengers and Jedi in front of them, causing them all to stumble and fall to the ground.

Hope landed before Chezzo. She yelled as the waiter stepped on her hand, preventing her from instinctively shrinking.

The Avengers looked up in time to see Neva holding a lightsaber and laughing maniacally.

"Goodbye."

What Hope didn't expect was that Ace Koss used all his strength against Chezzo, digging some of his horns into the Mirialan's chin and face.

Chezzo cried out in pain, pushing Kos's face away as she brought her hands to her own face.

"You Jedi filth," Chezzo growled murderously, grabbing Koth by the throat through the Force and without hesitation thrusting her lightsaber straight through the Jedi Master's chest.

The hallway suddenly went silent as the clones, the lone Jedi, and the three Avengers stared in shock at what they had just witnessed.

"Cos!" Scott yelled, rushing toward him.

"Ouch!" the Wasp yelled, glaring daggers at Kirisuo. "You fucking bitch!"

The Wasp immediately shrank back and flew straight at Kirisuo at full speed, delivering a flying kick that hit the waitress in the stomach, sending her reeling backwards.

Although she was now severely injured, Chezzo still had enough strength to throw another force in front of her.

Although broad in range, the thrust was enough to disrupt the Wasp's flight path.

Chezo hurriedly stood up and ran as fast as he could. The Wasp prepared to chase him, and Ant-Man shouted:

"Hope, stop!"

She turned around and saw Kos being helped up by Scott, and her expression darkened.

She flew over to them and turned back to normal size, her helmet retracting back to reveal tears streaming from her eyes.

"Wait a minute, Ace, let us take you to--"

She was interrupted by Kos, grabbing her hand and giving her a calming smile.

"Do not worry about my death, and do not cry about my death, Hope," Koss said softly. "Though our time together may have been short, we fought together and won together. In that time, I saw how important you, Scott, and all of the Avengers were to the galaxy. The Jedi are lucky to have you as a friend."

His eyes fell on Anakin and the clones and he coughed nervously but kept smiling.

"And of course, our stupidly tough Skywalkers and our fearless clones." He said cheerfully. "I know the galaxy is in good hands.

Anakin said nothing, only clenched his teeth and clenched his fists. But it was short-lived, because he nodded to the dying Jedi Master.

Kos nodded, then closed his eyes, his body limp and motionless.

There was no exchange of words, nothing was said. Just the group staring at the body of Ace Kos.

Scott and Hope looked at each other, sad and full of regret.

"Come on. We need to get back to the Dusk," Falcon said, grabbing Kos' arm. "Can I get some help here?"

Some of the current clones were quick to respond to Sam's request as they helped carry away the recently deceased. Even Anakin joined in, using the Force to help lighten the load.

It felt like an eternity to the group, even though it was only a few minutes, as they all made their way back to the Dusk. When everyone was ready and safe, the Republic ship separated from the Separatist vessel.

While on his way back to a Republic ship, Anakin had to contact Kenobi regarding recent events.

It didn't take long for his Master to answer. "What's going on, Anakin? I just received word from Admiral Yularen that several craft broke away from Grievous' ship and ended up in the waters of Saleucamai.

"Master Kenobi?" Anakin said in a dark tone. "We rescued Scott and Hope from Grievous' ship.

"Glad to hear that, Anakin." Obi-Wan said approvingly, though it took him a second to register Anakin's tone. And how another person had been left out of his report. "What happened to Koth?"

"Dead." Anakin said in a bitter tone. "The Sith Acolyte Chezo Niva was on the ship. She killed him just as we were getting ready to leave there.

"I... look..." Kenobi was shocked beyond words. "I'm sorry to hear that. He was a good friend.

"Yes," Anakin said simply. "We're with him. We can't just leave him there.

“Then at least we can give him a proper burial when we return to Coruscant.

"We can," Anakin said, his hands tightly gripping his controls.

“Anyway, we need to get to the medical frigate, Scott needs medical attention.

"Okay," Kenobi said. "We are now preparing to enter Saleucamae's surface in hopes of capturing Grievous."

The rescue team landed in a lifeboat from the Republic fleet, where medical personnel were awaiting their arrival.

Once they landed, the back ramp opened and Scott was helped down by Kix and Hope.

Several clone medics took Scott into their hands, prepared a stretcher for him, and they carried him away, with Hope staying by his side.

"We took a huge risk rescuing Scott... and Cos," Sam said, crossing his arms and looking down in defeat.

"This is a war," Kenobi warned in a grim tone. "Whether we like it or not, it will happen one of these days."

"I know, I know." Falcon waved his hand. He felt a pat on his shoulder and looked at Anakin, who gave him an understanding look.

"It's a hard loss to take," Skywalker said.

Falcon nodded his appreciation and looked back at Obi-Wan.

"You said Yularen saw several ships heading for the planet, correct?" Falcon asked, and Kenobi nodded.

"Yes, several tanks and landing parties are ready."

"Then I'll join you."

"Me too."

"No, Anakin." Obi-Wan refused. "You are needed here to lead the space battle. Sam and I will hunt down Grievous.

Anakin said. "Are you sure you want to handle this yourself?"

"We'll take care of it, Anakin," Obi-Wan said with a small smile.

"We're going to get him," Sam said with a determined look on his face. "We're going to do it for Koth and all the Jedi and clones out there."

"Good luck to you then, Falcon."

“We need it.”

"I'll allow it... just this once. Anakin said as he walked away and Sam and Obi-Wan turned to the AT-TE tank that was being prepared.

"Let's go find that metal bastard."

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

You'll Also Like