Chapter 77: A wild night out.

-They are coming after us, what now princess?

Shouted Rark, while driving the flying vehicle, he was trying to get away from the enemies, but this hovercar wasn't exactly the newest model on the galactic market. 

-Are you seriously asking ME? I would help you, but you forgot to send me the details about my kidnapping beforehand. It must have been lost, because of the bad post service? Right? 

-Damn, she has a sharp tongue. Are you sure she ain't your forgotten sister Mady? 

-...

-You are awfully quiet Mady... If I didn't know better, I would have thought that the two of you swapped bodies. Haha! Can you imagine yourself as a princess? That would be something... 

Mady rolled her eyes listening to the comments, then added her own bit. 

-That I can't... but I can quite easily visualize you as a slimy hutt, especially seeing how you dutifully lick Jabba's tail clean at every possible opportunity.

-...Fuck off, you are no better, the only difference being that I am not as disillusioned as you, and accept how things really work.

-Yeah, yeah... and I still have a spine, while you don't. 

-Hah! Yeeeaaah... because pirates are so famous for having a spine... oh wait, they are not... 

Padme was looking at the two people arguing about ridiculous stuff, while laser beams were constantly shot at them. The hovercar didn't have a shield, as she already asked them to activate it but they told her such a thing wasn't built for civilian hovercrafts.

I swear I will push forward a new regulation about safety standards in hovercars through the next meeting of the senate... if I get to see it that is...

Padme thought to herself as another laser beam flew disturbingly close to her side of the car.

-This can't go on any longer, they will eventually hit us, do smethi-!

She shouted with annoyance, and that was the exact moment when a red plasma beam hit the back of the car. The entire craft shook violently, as the engines began to fail.

-You just had to jinx it!

Shouted Rark over the failing scream of the overheating engine. They were losing altitude, and doing that quickly. 

-FUUUCK! We are in for a rough landing! 

Cursed Rark while trying to gain some measure of control. 

-Look out for that building! 

Shouted Mady, but her words were dimmed by the last sharp scream of the engine. 

-WHAT?! 

Asked Rark while heading directly towards a building equipped with a huge neon lighted sign proudly displaying the name of the place: SODOME PUB

-BUILDING AHEAD! 

Screamed Mady, completely forgetting about the gun that was still pointed at her.

-DO YOU SERIOUSLY THINK I CAN'T SEE IT?!

Rark barked back sarcastically, he was clearly at his wits end. 

-THEN TURN! 

-I CAN'T CONTROL IT ANY LONGER, BUCKLE UP! 

The car began to shake even more, while the building was getting ever closer. All of us were grabbing onto whatever we could find support from. As the noise of the engine screamed over our head. 

---

A few minutes earlier. In front of Sodome pub.

Master Luminara and Master Obi'Wan were walking through the neon lighted street just below the surface level of Coruscant. This was a place were Jedi were already a rare sight to see, especially in this type of place. Their regular patrols usually don't go much deeper then this level. Well luckily, it was not an official patrol.

It might sound wasteful to actually allocate jedi in this time of war to patrol the streets of Coruscant. However seeing jedi walking around so casually creates an extremely positive public opinion, and it was absolutely necessary for the republic to always have a mostly favorable public opinion at least on Coruscant. Which was knowingly the very heart of the republic. 

Luminara was calmly sharing her thought with Obi'Wan as they walked through the neon lighted street. 

-Are you sure, that this person you know will be able to help us find a trace to the culprit that kidnapped the senator? I mean, we should only wait until Master Windu pulls out some information from that girl? Right? 

Kenobi turned towards the dark clothed woman walking beside him, and said.

-I am not sure if that girl will actually tell us anything useful, and we can't force a child to tell her secrets. To answer your other question no, I am not sure, but it is worth a try. He owes me a favor from recent events, unfortunately his taste is quite, explicit. 

Luminara looked up at the pink sign for the pub which they were currently standing in front of. 

-Sodome? Isn't that one of the cities that were accidentally hit by an overheated reactor core ejected into space before it could melt down? Which planet was that? How strange... I can't seem to remember?

-It is, most definitely. It happened about a decade ago, before the war. I heard that the military was mobilized and they had to catch the surviving locals that saw what happened, to clear up the entire accident. As an apology, the Senate gave the survivors republic citizenship, free scholarship as they were in quite a primitive cultural state, also free housing, but I wouldn't think that one of them would have actually opened a pub here naming it like that. What an ominous place to be...

Answered Obi'Wan with a sly smile.

-This has already proved to be quite a historic journey. 

Answered Luminara with an amused shake of her head.

-Let us see, if it proves to be a fruitful one too. We should head inside.

Said Obi'Wan. Then the two jedi headed towards the door of the pub, when they reached it they stopped with a surprised expression.

Just above the door a short sentence appeared in colorful characters. "Even God cannot see behind these doors!" Was the short yet catchy slogan of the pub. 

The two masters exchanged a disappointed glance with one another then walked inside the building.

Behind the doors, was a narrow short corridor lighted with dim red lamps. At the end of the corridor, they entered into the main hall of the pub. There were quite a few twi'lek dancers in loose clothing showing off their pole dancing skills and more skin then you could possibly imagine while considered being "clothed". Many questionable figures were shouting around them throwing money at the small platforms the dancers were using. The whole place was only dimly lit, except for the dancing platforms. 

Many people were walking around, drinking smoking talking, while loud music was booming in the background. It was the perfect example of a strip club. 

In a particularly noisy corner of the pub, a weequay man wearing a red coat was sitting in the mids of two twi'lek women, and a few more armed weequay men. When the one wearing the red coat saw them coming closer he began laughing loudly at the sight of the two new guests. 

-HAHA! Deep down, I always knew that behind those jedi robes, you were also just a man Kenobi, but even I was surprised when you specifically told me to meet in this place. I approve of your taste none the less, this place is quite to my liking, oh but where are my manners!? Who is this shy lady you brought with you? With such a beautiful face, you shouldn't hide behind so many layers of clothing. Wouldn't you mind showing some skin to the boys, hehe? 

Luminara only reacted by taking out her lightsaber, however she didn't ignite it yet. She instead turned towards Obi'Wan, clearly looking for an explanation.

Obi'Wan sighed silently, as he stated.

-I did not invite you here. If my memories did not fail me, it was the other way around. 

-Oho... Look at that, what friends I have... One calls me a lier, quite shamelessly and in front of all my friends... then the other threatens me with a weapon. Young lady... what would your grandmaster say in this situation? "It's not the Jedi way."

Luminara's eyes narrowed on Hondo's figure dangerously as he continued to tease her.

Luckily Hondo seemed to sense the danger, and immediately stopped fooling around. He loudly slapped his palms over his own thighs while saying.

-Bah, whatever, I am in a good mood today, so I will forgive you, take a seat dear friends and let us converse. 

In that exact moment, an incredibly loud crash shook the entire building, a part of the roof caved in on the other side of the hall and a hover car crashed through the rubble knocking over a series of tables only stopping after it slammed into the massive bar in the middle of the pub. The entire place was quickly filled with smoke and dust and the screams of the injured or terrified people running around.

Somewhere in the background we heard a loud voice screaming towards the sky.

-NNNOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! IT IS HAPPENING ONCE AGAIN! THE WRATH OF THE HEAVENS, I REGRET MY SINS! 

We were also shocked by the unexpected situation, but it was far from over yet. We couldn't even come to our senses properly when we saw shadows jumping through the dust, coming into the pub through the newly created opening. Then one of the shadows fell on top of a nearby table, which had crashed down to the floor under the heavy weight landing on top of it. 

It was a cloaked figure, only when it's head turned around looking into our direction, did we see the red robotic eyes and the eery metal plates that were covering its mechanic body. All of us recognized what we were facing, it was a commando droid, in the middle of Coruscant.

As the initial shock subsided, both jedi and a few weequay men including Hondo jumped to their feet or just behind some sort of cover they immediately created from the rubble or turned over tables. 

Seeing this, some of the droids changed tactics, from search, to engaging protocols and a fierce all out pub fight had begun, seeing the enfolding battle and the two ignited lightsabers quite a few of the initially running or hiding people decided to join in the fight. Especially when they saw the droids attacking anybody in sight without much thought.

The people of Coruscant were usually hard to find common ground in anything, but one of the rare exceptions was their dislike towards the separatists, especially now two years into a galactic civil war. No doubt the raising prices for beer and death sticks were a powerful motivating factor too, and that half of them were extremely intoxicated. Or maybe, they just had a certain urge to defend this castle of sin which was theirs, in a sense.

Obi'Wan was focusing on the ongoing chaotic battle as half drunk people were shooting at literally anything that moved in a place that was covered by thick smoke. It was the third time he had to block a laser beam that was shot in his direction by a totally wasted fool that he had to knock out by a well timed force push. 

-By the force, I never thought that I would miss the battlefield over some stupid barfight.

Luminara was on the same page as she also had to watch out for "unexpected" shots. 

-Yes, I see what you mean, on a battlefield, you don't have to watch out for the clones they would never shoot you in the back.

Hondo laughed at that, as he blasted off the face plate of  a commando droid that had just jumped into the pub. 

-Haha! It's just another normal day for me! 

Suddenly we all became aware of a growing rumbling sound coming from the middle of the pub. Obi'Wan and Luminara's eyes widened simultaneously as they turned toward the source of the noise.

-What is that? 

Kenobi, began, and Luminara immediately added.

-I don't know what's that, but it seems that there is more an more smoke around here... 

-Now that you mention it...

The rumble continued to grow, prompting Luminara to raise her hand and channel the force to create a continuous breeze that began directing the dust, and smoke outside much faster through the opening in the roof. Soon we were able to see what was happening. 

On the other side of the pub, ther was an intense battle going on, most of the droids were focused there, the rumbling sound was created by a flame thrower that was spitting out a continuous flame, it was used to force away the droids that were surrounding them. Thanks to that a large chunk of the building was already on fire. The man using the flamethrower was wearing a mandalorian armor while a large alien in a strange armor was exchanging blows with three droids charging at it by using vibro swords. The alien on the other hand was using a strange energy weapon on each hand. The kind we never saw before. Then we saw two women, one trying to free the other one from the backseat of the crashed vehicle.

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The one that was stuck in the deformed car, was cursing heavily.

After releasing another series of curses the woman working together managed to unstuck one of her arms and with that she sent a telepathic wave towards the car's door blowing it off together with the ruble and finally freeing herself, however she was clearly very injured and immediately collapsed beside the burning car. 

She began to cough heavily while spitting a mouthful of blood on the ground. The other female, climbed out of the car in a panic, seeing how her friend collapsed and was trying to pull her into some cover, only to realize there was not much to hide behind. As the battle was going on in every direction. 

Finally that woman looked towards our direction, seeing the lightsabers and her eyes widened, just as ours did when we finally realized who this woman was.

Luminara and Obi'Wan basically simultaneously shouted in disbelief.

-Senator Amidala?!

She was covered in dust and grime, not surprising after the crash, her hair was a mess and it even seemed somewhat burnt, her robes were ripped at multiple places... However the most surprising thing was that she was holding a blaster gun and an large sniper rifle was thrown over her shoulders. 

Neither Luminara nor Obi'Wan could understand what was going on... but it seemed that they had found their target, no thanks to Hondo of course... 

Now they only have to figure out how to get her out of here... preferably alive. 

Just before Obi'Wan could charge forward to join the battle on the other side of the tavern the force flared in his mind warning him from danger, and that stopped him in his tracks just in time. As a dark shadow jumped down from the roof with two ignited red lightsabers not far in front of him. 

A layer of new perspiration appeared over his skin, as he realized, that if he didn't stop immediately when sensing the force warning, then that person would have no doubt killed him with that surprise attack.

As the shadow stood up from the floor, Kenobi immediately realized who this was. 

-Assajj Ventress... It seems that we meet unusually often nowadays, are you stalking me perhaps? 

The woman answered with an air of ominousness, and confidence. 

-Yes, you can say that, but I only want your head. I warned you not to cross my path last time, now you will pay the price for your stupidity.

-Someone is unusually confident today, did you have your beaty sleep this time? 

-You can keep your taunts to yourself... 

-Where is the fun in that? 

-Fun? You wouldn't recognize fun even if I beat you with it... 

-Now that's is actually a good remark, I will use it nest time when Anakin says something of the sort... 

-You won't have the chance to do so, because your life ends here, by my hand! WRAAGH!

With that Ventress charged forward and began a lightsaber duel with Obi'Wan, making the already chaotic battle even more ridiculous. 

Between the quick twirls, attacks, parries and evades Obi'Wan was able to shout out for Luminara.

-Lumina- ugh blast it!

He cursed as a kick managed to hit his left leg from Ventress.

-Go and get the senator!

He managed to finish his words after a few more parries. 

-I understand!

Shouted back Luminara who charged through the whole battle evading every blaster shot, or braking of ruble with agile cat like movements heading towards the other side.

Ventress was distracted seeing as the other jedi was about to join her targets side, she was about to intervene, but a blue saber suddenly came crashing down on her guard. 

-Didn't your master teach you to not get distracted in the middle of a fight? Or was it your general incompetence that led you astray? 

She jumped forward hearing the annoying remark twirling through mid air to gain momentum and finally bringing down both of her blades onto Kenobi. Unfortunately he deflected it, now they ended up in a saberlock. She now had the time to give her answer.

-You should be carefull Obi'Wan, arrogance leads to the dark side...

-I bet you speak from personal experience. 

-...

There was a sudden warning in the force, and both of them jumped back as a burning piece of ruble fell down in the exact spot where they were standing a few moments ago. 

This place is going to fall apart soon... Obi'Wan realized, as he looked around the completely destroyed pub. He also realized, that Hondo and his team had escaped while he was occupied with that woman. 

The drunkards now were also getting out of the place, as their surviving instincts seemed to kick in slowly. 

There was the sound of an ignited blade appearing behind him, and he immediately jumped forward while twirling around to block the red blades hammering on his saber. 

-You should learn your own lessons before trying to teach them to others, Master Obi'Wan.

-... Are you worried about my wellbeing, how cute of you. Unfortunately I am forbidden to take a woman by my side, I hope you can accept my polite refusal. 

-... Wha-?

It took only a moment of confusion, and Obi'Wan managed to push back the red blades and gain back the control and momentum in the battle. 

Ventress realizing that she had fallen into a trap, turned surprisingly silent, as her expression contorted with anger. 

-Ah, how foolish of me, being fooled by the lies of the jedi once more... It is what you are the best at after all.

-I did not lie though. 

-You will die here Obi'Wan.

With that she attacked once more.

---

On the other side of the pub, the battle was getting out of control. The fuel from the flamethrower was emptied for a few minutes now. Rark was already shot by lasers at least ten times, his armor was literally falling apart. 

He shot out a wire hook from his left hand managing to trip one of the droids, and sending a killing shot into its chest plate from his blaster gun.

Right at that moment, a droid charged at him from a blindspot, bringing down a vibro sword. He only managed to react thanks to the warning shout of the senator who was also actively shooting at the agile droids. 

Even so, it was too late to evade the attack, and therefore he could only lift his left arm and block the blade with the beskar plates attached to it. He grunted in pain, as the impact occurred. The blade was blocked naturally, but the brunt of the heavy crushing attack made his bones rattle. Even when he deflected in an angle that made the sword slide down the sides of the plates.

With that the droid lost some of its balance and staggered to the side, using that opportunity Rark grabbed onto the body of the droid, and drew out his vibro knife, from its holster with his right arm and made a swift cut at the relatively thin part of the droid's neck. The neck of the droid parted easily and the body fell to the floor loosing it all lifelessly. 

-What a mess. Is everyone alright? 

He shouted throwing the metal head of the droid to the ground, and turning over to look at them. 

Mady was laying next to the crashed car, based on her expression she was in pain and extremely pissed off, but probably nothing serious. 

Zyl has cut down two of the three droids, that were stupid enough the fight in close combat, now they have all retreated and were constantly sending laser beams in his direction, not daring to come any closer. Otherwise he was fine...

And the princess... well... she was next to her, collapsed on the ground? I ran to the side of Mady to ask what was going on. 

-What happened to her?! I shouted at her.

That caused her to flinch visibly.

-I am injured, not deaf you bastard! Stop shouting! 

-Then answer me... 

-She got shot in her arm and was knocked out from the pain recently. I was about to take back my rifle since she is not in a critical state.

-We need to get out of here, or the whole thing will fall on our heads. 

Stated Rark.

-Well... we can't just walk through to the door... it's basically a battlefield now. 

There was a shadow appearing behind Rark, and a female voice spoke out to us. 

-I might have a solution for that. 

Both of us turned towards the dark clothed person who had just arrived to our side. 

The initially friendly atmosphere immediately turned into an awkward one, when Mady and the newly arrived person's eyes met. 

-Ugh-hu... hi... 

Mady said clearly uncomfortable with the new presence. 

Luminara blinked and asked.

-Did we meet somewhere? 

Mady realized, that the woman couldn't know her face, as she was using her invisibility gear, and tried to calm herself but it didn't really work in her current condition...

-No-no... we did not.

Luminara narrowed her eyes as she focused on the clearly uncomfortable woman, she was lying to her, that was obvious, but there was no time to figure out why, not now. She wasn't planning to die here, under the ruble. She could almost see the head title of the news: "Jedi Master Luminara dies on a wild night out, while exploring the redlight district on Coruscant."

She could not allow that to happen. 

-Follow me, I will make us an exit. Ask your other friend to come too we must carry the senator to safety.

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