3rd Person

What was "The Will of the Force?"

A nebulous concept, at the very least.

The Jedi order was known to invoke the phrase quite often, but Jedi weren't the only organization to follow the force.

"The Force," as it happened, was known by many other names across the stars.

"The Life Current," "The Ashla," "The Great Presence..."

Regardless, the basic idea of the force was simple.

It was an energy field generated by all life. Generally, it was separated into two distinct aspects that fed into each other.

The living force, and the cosmic force.

Together, the force bound the galaxy together through other elements, such as midichlorians and whills.

Beyond the general concept, the nature of the force was hotly debated.

So many different ideologies, so many distinctive interpretations...

So... who followed "The Will of the Force?"

How would balance be achieved?

And... who would achieve it...?

https://youtu.be/cnGET-_9v4M

Athina POV

Atsuminagi...

Still several-hundred meters away...

Behind it, still steadily spreading, was Irisella's furious judgment...

Our fiery fate.

Turning around, I spotted fear in my brother's eyes as he gripped the back of my wheelchair.

In his irises, I saw an orange reflection of the flames.

His gaze was transfixed to Atsuminagi.

Looking around, it seemed that all of my people were similarly spellbound, except for one...

Mister Ryoshi.

He was intrigued, but he wasn't despairing like the rest. Rather, he seemed to welcome this turn of events.

He was biting down on his cigarra, as always...

It's not like we could do anything.

The calamity was unavoidable at this point... we only had one ship, and it was too slow.

Pulling out my incomplete sketch, I realized that I'd never get to finish it.

A tear dripped out of the corner of my eye, slightly staining the art piece.

'No... the Jedi will come!' I told myself, trying to maintain hope.

"Pssp."

"Pssssp."

"Psssp."

A series of murmurs caused me to look up.

The all-consuming inferno...

It had finally caught up to Atsuminagi.

"Gurrroooohhhhh!"

The sea god let out an anguished bellow as its black coat of pollutants ignited.

As the ravenous flames ate through the adhesive veil, Atsuminagi's true form was gradually revealed.

Suddenly, new colors shone through the reddish-orange flames enveloping the divine creature.

Indigo, Blue, Green, Pink, Purple, Yellow...

A prismatic spectrum of fire...

As the inferno surrounding Atsuminagi died out, I finally identified the source of such colors.

The sea god's hide was partially transluscent, and... visible inside of its body...

It had been graced with a variety of luminous organs, pulsating with vibrant color.

Finally... the real Atsuminagi... the one carved into Mister Ryoshi's ship.

A terrifying, yet majestic force of nature.

As the initial amazement wore off, I remembered our plight.

Still saddened by my premature fate, I could only think of one thing now.

'I would have loved to paint that creature.'

Suddenly, my brother grabbed my hand, squeezing it.

Many other families around us did the same.

Awaiting the end...

...

A feeling came over me.

A sinking sensation...

Not "danger," but...

Still a premonition...

A hopeful premonition.

https://youtu.be/9f7nrGISyV4

"Look, up there!" I hissed, excitedly pointing into the sky.

Everyone around me craned their necks, unable to see anything. 

It took a moment longer than I'd anticipated, but my premonition did come to fruition.

High up in the lower atmosphere... a Jedi starfighter descended from the dark clouds.

Anakin POV

"It's the Zillo Beast all over again..." I muttered to myself, watching the legendary beast hurtle toward the small chain of islands. 

"Beepity boop beep." R2 stated, agreeing with me.

Sending my spacecraft into a nosedive, I plunged toward Atsuminagi.

Eventually, I was flying right above the leviathan.

I opened the hatch cover, climbing out of the cockpit until I was standing on the front of my starfighter.

Harsh gusts of wind blew against my entire body, threatening to disrupt my balance.

Carried by the sharp air currents, I felt a sweltering heat, emanating from the ocean's surface.

I felt it on my face, my hands... pure, burning incandescence.

"R2, I'm going to head down there for a bit. Fly for me while I'm gone, buddy." I told the little blue astromech.

"Beep booop." R2 responded warily, giving me an encouraging farewell as I jumped.

"SLAM!"

I landed on the leviathan's lustrous, chromatic back, rolling through the impact.

"Tap."

"Tap."

"Tap."

Immediately, I began running toward the front of the beast.

The beautiful, giant creature was now surrounded by flame on all sides...

I felt its pain through the force... I understood it. 

Soon, I would end it.

All while saving the Umidori from certain doom.

As I ran across the creature's ghostly, silvery hide, I stepped across a myriad of colorful, luminescent spots.

I continued running down the length of Atsuminagi's draconic body, subconsciously observing additional anatomical details. 

I observed its sea-green, thorny back spines as I dashed beside them.

I noticed its striking white wings out of the corner of my eye.

Up ahead, I zeroed in on its singular, spire-like golden nose horn. 

It truly was "The Rainbow Dragon."

Finally reaching the sea dweller's colossal head, I speedily crouched down, placing my palm against the silvery serpent's skin.

I channeled the force within myself; it was as strong as ever.

Syncing my being with that of Atsuminagi, I attempted to pacify it.

Beast control.

...

I quickly recognized my efforts as futile...

It wasn't going to work. Atsuminagi was far larger, as well as far more intelligent than a reek.

Plus, right now, it had a fixed, immovable goal: to escape the realm of scorching flames.

'So, we're doing this the hard way.' I thought to myself grimly, walking forward.

Soon after, I was standing next to the golden horn of the beast.

 Behind me, Atsuminagi finally caught sight of me. 

Its eyes were the size of a spider droid's midsection, and its pupils...

They were severely dilated... full of fear.

Looking ahead, I could no longer see the chain of islands in front of me.

The towering pillars of flame had completely blocked my view.

Gazing into the inferno, I knew what I had to do.

Heaving my hands forward, I directed all of my focus onto the expanse of sea in front of me.

Slowly but surely, I gained absolute control over a medium-sized portion of the ocean.

Then, I spread my arms apart, cleaving the infernal wall in two with the force.

Parting the sea of fire.

An incredible feat of otherworldly strength.

As I divided the burning ocean, I was now able to carve a path for the Rainbow Dragon.

Such a feat sapped all of my mental stamina, but, by the skin of my teeth...

I successfully steered the leviathan away from the home of the Umidori.

https://youtu.be/DyyhWQ1t2QM

(y/n) POV

Dark.

Nothingness.

Void.

Sleepy.

Everything... dark.

"You will do." a faint voice whispered, sounding distant.

"What? Who... where are you?" I called out into the black void, unsure of where the speaker originated from.

"I've chosen you... to carry on what they could not." the voice stated cryptically.

"Chosen me for what?" I inquired, sleepy and delirious.

"Now... wake up, go after Grievous." the voice demanded forcefully.

Then, I sighted a flicker of light in the distance.

I ran toward it, but it only seemed to grow more faint...

"Wait!" I pleaded, my vision growing blurry.

...

"Ughh..." I groaned, suddenly able to hear myself.

There was still a shrill ringing within my ears.

As I gradually recovered from my stupor, my other senses returned, one by one...

I caressed my head, perceiving a painful aching in my temple as my fingers brushed over my padawan braid. 

Suddenly, I became cognizant of the pair of hands carrying me.

"Wake up, wake up..." I heard a friendly voice urge.

It sounded like Ahsoka.

I opened my eyes.

There she was, staring down at me.

Everything came flooding back in an instant.

The factory... the ocean of fire... Atsuminagi, cloaked in adhesive darkness... the impending, explosive disaster.

Yet... I was alive... I was intact, and so was Ahsoka.

That could only mean...

"I... I made it?!" I exclaimed in disbelief.

"Not to worry, we haven't been incinerated yet." Master Kenobi assured me.

"Emphasis on the 'yet.'" Ahsoka specified, setting me down.

As I stood upright, wobbling slightly, Ahsoka's point became clear.

Atsuminagi's rampage hadn't led to an explosion, but it had drenched the entire factory exterior in that black, tarry substance.

Any form of ignition would prove to be deadly.

"Those were some heroics, (y/n)! I've never seen anything quite like it." Master Kenobi praised, charismatic and jovial as ever.

"Well, I like to think..." I started, formulating a cool catchphrase in my head.

"Sorry, but you'll have to bask in the glory later." Master Kenobi declared, stopping me. "We still have a slippery general to catch."

I nodded, heeding his words. 

So... we set out to finish the mission.

After retracing the steps of our companions, we found ourselves descending down the side of the factory, thereafter spotting our fellow Jedi located on the outdoor section of the assembly line.

Making haste, Ahsoka, Master Kenobi, and I rushed into the fray, prepared to support our allies.

Though, when we finally got a view of the full picture, there wasn't much fray at all.

Grievous was in a fetal position, pinned down by the combined force powers of Master Gallia, Master Luminara, and Barriss.

His head was bowed, his mask-like metal face pressed against the platform.

He was directly below one of the large, suspended electromagnets used for testing.

I almost felt pity for the Jedi killer.

Thinking quickly, Master Kenobi aimed his palm at the cyborg's midsection.

With the force under his control, Master Kenobi plucked away the droid general's few remaining lightsabers.

"Psshhew!"

"Psshhew!"

"Psshhew!"

As Ahsoka, Master Kenobi, and I ignited our lightsabers, we coordinated with Master Gallia, Master Luminara, and Barriss.

We encircled Grievous, trapping him in a perimeter of deadly blades of light.

A twisted inversion of the council's knighting ritual.

"Captain Rex, how much longer?" my master inquired coolly, speaking into her communicator.

"We're on our way, General." I heard Rex's voice crackle through the channel.

"Make haste, captain." Master Gallia ordered, thereafter ending their communication.

"General Grievous... it's time to give up, please... surrender..." Master Luminara pleaded, strangely melancholic.

Grievous denied her any sort of verbal acknowledgement, staying completely silent as he struggled against the amalgamation of telekinetic forces holding him down.

Still, I saw that same ferocious hatred emanating from his yellow gaze.

This time, he directed it squarely at Master Luminara.

https://youtu.be/c7NMfDeIMHs

"It's as you said, General..." Master Kenobi started. "I'll miss our constant encounters... but, it's finally time we put this silly charade to rest. It's time for you to be brought to justice."

Spontaneously, a coughing fit came over Grievous. 

Gradually, it transitioned into a fit of maniacal laughter.

"Tell me... where is this justice, exactly? Certainly not here." Grievous posed.

"Perhaps not, but your presence hasn't exactly helped with that." Master Kenobi admitted, seemingly troubled.

Grievous rotated his head, observing us... his adversaries. With his neck's now-limited range of motion, the cyborg struggled to even do that.

"So many familiar faces!" Grievous exclaimed, focusing on my master. "Fine then. You can bring me to justice, and the people here can go back to their lives... inhaling toxic fumes, drinking tainted water, and being maimed by heavy machinery." he spat, now infuriated.

Then... abruptly, Grievous went limp.

He submitted... ceasing his struggle against the invisible forces that shackled him.

His artificial, skeletal spine was now slumped, crooked... his body in the shadow of the looming electromagnet above.

He appeared dejected, crestfallen...

Conquered.

As the droid general bowed his head, more deeply than ever, I felt a series of strange feelings well up within my chest...

Sadness... pity...

Why did I pity such a monster?

The sudden shift in Grievous's demeanor was a shock. Never had I expected to see the droid general so... vulnerable.

I'm sure none of the others had anticipated such an occurrence, either.

I sensed a subtle mood shift among the six of us, supporting my hunch.

"If you truly care, then surrender!" Master Gallia advised coldly.

"Never!" Grievous growled defiantly, his raspy voice muffled as he snarled into the platform.

"Your campaign has already claimed enough lives to cover the surface of this planet. And... without this war, this factory will become obsolete. Surrender, for the sake of peace." Master Gallia ordered again, her tone icy and logical.

Grievous unleashed another fit of mad laughter...

No... was he laughing, or was he sobbing...?

I couldn't tell.

"Peace... your precious peace...! My father wasn't stabbed, no one put a blaster bolt between his eyes... do you think that made it any less gut-wrenching?" Grievous cried out in anguish.

No one offered him an answer, but...

I noticed Master Luminara shiver out of the corner of my eye.

I sensed her, I felt it... her regret?

"The Jedi aren't immune to missteps... I'm sorry for that. We don't always make the right decision. You have suffered, unjustly so... Qymaen jai Sheelal." Master Luminara apologized, seemingly genuine.

"I no longer answer to that name!" Grievous snarled, refusing to look the mirialan Jedi master in the eye. "Enough of this, put me in your restraints already! Whether you capture me, cut down my legions of droids, or decimate my entire army... at the end of it all, you still won't have solved anything."

"Don't listen to him, he's just going to run again." Ahsoka insisted in a mocking tone.

"Run... like a coward?" Grievous spat in retaliation.

After not getting a response, Grievous began monologuing, first posing a question.

"Is it cowardly to run from a fight you have no chance of winning?" he asked, his face fallen.

"Would you rather I... fight to the bitter end? Die where I stand, fighting until my last breath? No... that would be too easy. I'll leave that to you, Jedi scum..." Grievous mocked, his monologue persisting.

"Even with the force, you still can't seem to grasp your hypocrisy. My tactics aren't fair... yet your Jedi wizardry is? My battle strategies are cowardly... yet your Jedi sorcery isn't?" Grievous asserted, holding back a feeble cough.

As Grievous progressively seemed weaker and weaker, the telekinetic stranglehold on him appeared to loosen. 

"You think I run from you, Jedi? I do fear you... how can I not? You have a power... I can't even comprehend! There are thousands of you, spread across the galaxy, and only one of me." Grievous barely choked out.

"Still... that's not why I run. I run, because... I'm simply not ready to die." Grievous coughed softly, slightly raising his head.

In those sunken, yellow eyes... I briefly identified a spark of resolve...

"Not yet!!!" Grievous bellowed.

https://youtu.be/YMHbeZeKXUc

Without warning, General Grievous sprang up from his fallen facade, splitting his arms into four.

He immediately honed in on Master Luminara, raising a mechanical hand against her.

"Ssshhhk!" 

With a defensive chop, Master Luminara dismembered the Jedi killer's entire cybernetic arm...

He still had three more.

Enduring the loss of his limb, Grievous succeeded in breaking through the mirialan Jedi master's soresu...

He seized Master Luminara's lightsaber arm, immobilizing it, before grabbing hold of her torso.

...

As soon as Grievous had moved to attack, the remaining five of us had reacted, closing in on the droid general...

Our slashes were too slow...

"Hummmmmmmmmm!"

Just as Master Kenobi was going to behead his longtime nemesis, the suspended electromagnet up above flared to life, emitting powerful magnetic waves.

Pulled up by the magnetic force, Grievous flew high into the air...

Dragging Master Luminara with him.

At the same time, my lightsaber was unceremoniously torn from my grasp, beckoned by the massive electromagnet.

My allies' lightsabers followed.

"NO!" Master Kenobi cried out.

"Arghh!" Ahsoka yelled in frustration.

"MASTER!" Barriss shrieked.

I was frozen in shock.

General Grievous and Master Luminara continued their struggle in midair...

"Clang!"

Until Grievous's armored exoskeleton contacted the magnet.

Master Luminara desperately fought back, but she was quickly being overwhelmed by the droid general's mechanical might.

She was in peril, Grievous was out of reach, and we were out of options...

Taking unified action, Master Kenobi and Master Gallia raised their palms skyward, invoking the force.

Realizing their objective, Ahsoka and Barriss copied the masters.

With four combined force pulls, each Jedi poured every last drop of their concentration into freeing Master Luminara from Grievous's sinister clutches.

And I...

I just stood there, unable to do anything...

Powerless.

"Come on!" Ahsoka cursed frantically, still focusing.

The magnet was too strong... and so was General Grievous.

In an act of desperation, Master Luminara began crushing the droid general's armored chest with her mind.

Both of her hands were tied, held down by two of Grievous's own appendages.

Caught in the light of Master Luminara's lightsaber, Grievous's claws glinted green as he raised his final hand.

Everything after that... happened in an instant.

I heard the groan of metal crunching, Master Luminara desperately trying to crush the droid general's ribcage...

I saw Grievous's pronged fingers thrust forward, prepared to strike true...

I heard Barriss's piercing, bloodcurdling scream...

I saw the spray of blood...

 As the Jedi killer's claws punctured Master Luminara's throat.

...

After a moment that felt like an eternity, the droid general ripped his claws out of the mortally-wounded Jedi's jugular.

A fresh splatter of blood dripped to the ground.

Finally, General Grievous delivered Master Luminara to us, surrendering her to the force pull.

Moments later, as Barriss clung on to her master's body...

I felt Master Luminara's presence vanish, her connection to the living force severed.

She was dead.

...

'What just happened?' I contemplated, utterly unable to process what I'd just seen.

"Mmmmmmmmmm." 

The droning hum ebbed as the electromagnet was shut down.

Thus, the lightsabers fell back down to their rightful owners, while Grievous scaled the top of the electromagnetic device.

My master whipped her head around, evidently catching on to something...

Behind us, atop a web of metal scaffolding, was the control box that operated the electromagnets.

Visible inside through the small, open window, was a badly-damaged commando droid.

Somehow, Grievous had orchestrated his counterattack from afar, using that droid.

"Psshew!" 

My master lit her sapphire saber, thereafter winding back her saber arm.

"nnnnnnnnnnn."

The weapon spun, humming through the air after she threw it.

"Shhhhhkkk!"

The saber throw finished off the commando droid, but far too late.

The damage had been done. 

https://youtu.be/vy63u2hKoPE

Suddenly, another vulture droid surfaced out of the ocean beside us, steadily hovering toward Grievous's position.

He'd kept it hidden, all for this moment...!

"Kssssh!" "Ksssh!" "Kssssh!"

Abruptly, Master Kenobi began hacking at the thick, metal pillar supporting the suspended electromagnet Grievous stood on.

"Quickly, we have to bring it down!" Master Kenobi ordered, and so we all began chopping at it.

"Kssssh!" "Ksssssh!" "Kssssshh!" "Ksssshh!"

Pure desperation.

Slowly, we melted through the support...

'Just a little more!' I screamed internally.

Suddenly, two more combatants stepped onto the stage.

The troopers had finally arrived.

"General!" Rex yelled, carrying the containment cell along with Burst.

They were too little, too late.

"General Kenobi...! It's just as I told you, back then... I seek the future!" Grievous proclaimed, shouting below as he raised a bloody fist.

The vulture droid, dripping with water, hovered up to the droid general's position.

As the droid general stepped onto the drone, he continued monologuing. 

"I won't stop running, not until your filthy remains are buried beneath the ruins of your temple. No... I won't allow this war to end, not until I've glimpsed that future... the future I was promised..." he persisted.

"SSSSsssshhhhhhhhkkk!"

At the eleventh hour, we sundered the electromagnet's support at last, but Grievous had already stepped foot onto his escape method.

Still, the massive magnet tipped over, falling toward Grievous, as well as the ocean. 

As the vulture droid pulled back, ready to fire, I called upon it again...

Force speed.

Flashing forward, I sprinted up the pillar as it fell, ending my mad dash with a force jump...

Sailing through the air, I made direct eye contact with the Jedi killer...

He was thoroughly shocked, if only for a moment...

My finger brushed over the vulture droid, but I still came up too short...

Failing to reach my target, I fell toward the ocean's surface.

"A future where there are no Jedi." Grievous finished, chopping his hand toward the factory.

"JUMP!" Master Kenobi yelled at the top of his lungs, urging the remaining six to get out of range of the blast.

"Pew!"

The vulture droid opened fire with its blaster cannons, shooting directly into the pools of black tar.

"BOOooOOOOOOOOOOooOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!"

The massive explosion was so bright, it temporarily blinded me...

"Splash!"

I hit the water, my ears still ringing from the explosion.

'The factory...'

'Ahsoka!'

'Master Luminara...!'

'Everyone...'

'Grievous...'

I couldn't think straight... the loss of Master Luminara hadn't fully hit me yet, but...

I'd failed.

I'd failed, again...

Again!!

Still submerged in the ocean, I was so furious that I didn't even notice my lack of oxygen...

My mind had one focus, my fury centered on one, inescapable fulcrum...

Grievous, that wretched, twisted shell of a man.

However...

I hated myself for it, but... after witnessing General Grievous grasp victory from the clutches of defeat...

I felt inspired. Twisted and horrible as it was, I felt inspired.

Because... Grievous had gone up against five force-wielding Jedi, all at once.

He had no force powers of his own, yet...

He won.