Kul Teska's Vengeance/Text

Chapter 1: An Inevitable Reunion
Kul Teska was delighted. After all his toil and work, the Gravitic Polarization Beam was only mere minutes away from firing, destroying the Naboo sun. And here he was, standing on a platform in the base on Behpour, with his life's work finally being put to use.

"I'm here, Teska!" shouted a familiar voice from behind. Teska, who had been tinkering with his quad-cannon, looked up and turned to the newcomer. Anakin Skywalker had finally arrived, looking as cocky as ever.

It's about time, thought the Skakoan. "No tricks, Jedi. Or we'll see if my little birdie can fly," said Teska, using his mechanical right hand to point at the figure of Senator Padmé Amidala, who was hanging from a pair of binders attached to a rope dangling from the ceiling.

"I thought my orders were clear, Master Jedi," Padmé told the Jedi Knight below her.

Skywalker smiled. "They were, Senator." Teska was already tiring of the banter.

"Your weapon, Jedi," he commanded, holding out a hand, "hand it over." Anakin plucked his lightsaber from his belt and tossed it in the air. Activating his foot and shoulder-mounted jet boosters integrated into his pressure suit, Teska flew upwards, snatching the Jedi weapon from midair. Landing, he began to taunt Skywalker again.

"Unlike General Grevious, I have no interest in trophies. However I've always wanted to examine one of these Jedi...toys. I'm not accustomed to Jedi behaving with such...cowardice. Naturally I suspect a trick, but you're out of options this time, Jedi. My Gravitic Polarization Beam is only moments away from collapsing the Naboo sun," said the Skakoan confidently, having placed the lightsaber on his belt, still practically ecstatic from the fact that the seconds to his victory were just flying on by.

Skywalker hardly seemed fazed, in fact, he seemed perhaps more overconfident than before. "So, you're telling me I still got some time?"

"There is nothing you can do to stop this weapon from firing now," Teska told Anakin.

"You might be surprised," replied the Jedi.

"I suppose I have my answer," said the scientist in response. He waited for an answer, but instead saw Skywalker looking upwards over his head. He said one word, "Jedi," before turning and firing at his adversary's Padawan, who was crouched up on a ledge, and had been tugging the Senator to safety with the Force as Skywalker had distracted him. He was angry indeed, and as he continued shooting laser blasts from his mounted quad-cannon, the senator fell, no longer held by Ahsoka Tano's telekinetic grip.

Padmé fell, and shouted "Anakin," as she fell, then less than a second later Skywalker had grabbed on to the rope dangling from the ceiling. Tano, having left her perch, began deflecting blast after blast with her lightsaber, rolling from side to side in defense. Immediately after her Skakoan enemy briefly ceased firing, she used the Force to snatch Skywalker's lightsaber and toss it to him, after which the Jedi and Senator landed on a platform up above.

Enraged, Teska continued his onslaught. The Togruta youngling, despite being just a small girl, was proving quite an irritating opponent. She deflected every last shot, showing excellent agility and prowess as she did so. This continued for several moments until the voice of a battle droid filled the room

"Arming sequence completed. All personnel to firing stations," said the droid. Excellent, thought Teska. Almost immediately afterward, Skywalker leaped from above and landed next to his apprentice.

"About time, Skyguy," said Tano to her master.

"Sorry, Snips, you know how it is. Senators to rescue, galaxies to save..." replied Anakin, his composition having not changed a bit. How obnoxious, thought his opponent. So he proceeded to taunt the Jedi again.

"You can't even save yourselves, Jedi," shouted Teska, "let alone anyone else!"

With a clear expression of annoyance, Ahsoka asked her master, "Can we shut this guy up already?"

"You need to ask?" asked Anakin in response, igniting his blue lightsaber. Kul Teska readied himself for his second battle with the two Jedi.

Chapter 2: Endgame
Immediately, Kul Teska took flight, his twin sets of rocket boosters activating, sending him up into the air. The Skakoan hovered around the central platform on which stood the Jedi. "Take this, Jedi scum!" he roared, the armor on his chest plate sliding aside, revealing the hidden laser gun within. A thick green laser shot from his chest, scorching the floor where it hit. Anakin and Ahsoka backflipped away, but their cunning adversary was not nearly done yet.

"Ha ha ha," laughed Teska, who found he was enjoying himself, who shot another laser from his chest cavity. When the Jedi pair dodged this again, he aimed his quad-cannon at his nearest opponent, Ahsoka, and fired four laser blasts one after another. She deflected the first three shots away, then sent the last one back at the mercenary. The laser was deflected by his deflector shield in his suit.

"Ugh," said Ahsoka. "Can't this guy take a hint?"

Skywalker didn't respond, as he was too busy deflecting more blaster shots from Teska. The Skakoan was relentless, unleashing barrage after barrage from his spinning quad-cannon. After nearly fifteen seconds, it became apparent to Teska that mere lasers weren't going to be much good against the likes of Jedi. No matter, he thought as he pressed a button on his left wrist gauntlet.

Two large crab droids crawled up the side of the central platform, immediately chasing after the two Jedi. Ahsoka began hacking away at one, and it pressed its claws together to protect its face as she slashed at it. She ducked around, then a lightsaber through its belly put an end to the droid. As for Skywalker, as he deflected a few more lasers with his lightsaber, held out a hand, calling to the Force, and lifting the confused droid into the air. A swish of his wrist, and the droid flew through the air at Teska.

It impacted with a clang of metal, and the scientist was knocked from the sky, and he slammed to the ground, his jet boosters having malfunctioned. He stood as fast as he could, and began frantically pressing buttons on his wrist gauntlet, trying to reactivate his jets. Teska flew back up into the air just as Skywalker's thrown lightsaber flew through the place where Teska's head was a nanosecond before.

"Why don't you give up, and save yourselves the trouble?" asked Teska as his shoulder-mounted rocket launchers opened. Several miniature homing missiles shot from the device directly at the Jedi. Tano threw her lightsaber, cutting most of them in two, while her master Force-pushed two back at the Skakoan. He flew to the side, and seconds later heard one of the missiles crashing into the far wall. The other, however, impacted his suit, and once again he was thrown to the ground, although his rockets were still all right, he thought thankfully. He reactivated them again and swerved to the side as Ahsoka swung her lightsaber at him.

"Final ignition sequence initiated," said the voice of a battle droid again. The middle part of the central platform suddenly escalated away, and a thick red laser beam fired through the gap. Debris began spinning around the gravity beam.

"Great," commented Ahsoka to Anakin. "I suppose this is all part of your plan too."

"Actually, Snips," began Skywalker. Then the two Jedi jumped away from the dangerous platform onto the thin rail surrounding the central area. Teska proceeded to fly toward the Jedi, but then the sound of blaster fire rang through the air.

"What?" screamed Teska. Someone from above was shooting at him. Not now, thought Teska, his trademark arrogance fading away briefly. A shot hit his suit, but his shield generator absorbed the impact. As he hovered over the abyss, Teska shot his extendable right hand as a grappling hook in the direction of the gunman. He grabbed his target, who he discovered, to his surprise, was his rival Cad Bane. He pulled a shocked Bane toward him, before smashing him against the central platform.

Anakin and Ahsoka watched with shock as Teska thrashed his longtime rival. Teska glanced at them, smiling beneath his face-mask as he saw them frantically chatting amongst themselves for a plan.

"It's about time I was rid of you, Bane!" shouted Teska. He reached out with his right grappling hand again, grabbing the near-unconscious bounty hunter. He drew back his hand, preparing to throw Bane into the awesome power of the gravity beam, the hum of which was growing ever louder.

"Commander Teska, that Senator is in power regulator room!" called the battle droid. Screaming in shock and rage, Teska flew backwards, in the direction of the power regulator, tossing Bane into the thick scarlet laser as he did so. Cad Bane's death seemed imminent, but as the Skakoan glanced at the beam, where he expected to see Bane's squashed corpse, he saw the hunter being pulled to safety with the Force the two Jedi. As he landed up on the upper platform on the wall, he took one last glance at Skywalker, Tano, and Bane as they scrambled to escape. Although he was desperate to stop that insipid Senator Amidala from sabotaging his weapon, he was intrigued to see Bane flying the two Jedi with his boot jets to safety. The bizarre trio then fled into an upper passage.

Teska reactivated his rockets and shot down the corridor to the power regulator. Despite the difficulty of fitting his thick bulk through the narrow entrance, he managed, and found his former prisoner, Padmé, frantically examining the power console in the small room. She was so intent on stopping the Grativic Polarization Beam, that she didn't even notice the Skakoan creator of the weapon approaching behind her. A blaster shot rang out, and the senator slumped to the floor.

Chapter 3: The Grativic Beam
To be added...