STAR
WARS
Altered
Universe
Acceptance
THIS IS A ONESHOT TWO CHAPTER VIGNETTE! NOTE THERE IS A TIME LAPSE BETWEEN THE TWO CHAPTERS!
This vignette will deal with three people, Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Ahsoka. Chapter One will take place from a few moments before Anakin and Obi-Wan meet Ahsoka to the moment Anakin accepts her as his Padawan. The second chapter will take place at a point during the year that the Jedi spend on Tatooine in my story Returned and will deal with Obi-Wan and Ahsoka both coming to terms with Anakin's marriage to Padme and their children.
NOTE: CHAPTER ONE TAKES CONTENT FROM THE CLONE WARS FILM, RECITING EVENTS ALMOST EXACTLY AS THEY APPEAR IN THE FILM, EXCEPT IN MORE DETAIL. NO INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED!
Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN STAR WARS, IT BELONGS TO GEORGE LUCAS, LUCASFILM, ETC. NO PROFIT IS BEING MADE WHATSOEVER!
Chapter One
Christophsis
The battle, or so they though was over. Instead, before they could even begin to relax, shells from Separatist tanks began hitting the ground as they closed in the Republic's positions. Clone began racing into defensive positions. One could be hear yelling go several times. General Skywalker came running to a point behind the front lines, but protected well enough, with Cody, Obi-Wan close behind them.
"They're back!" Anakin claimed sarcastically, as Obi-Wan joined Anakin and Cody at the front.
"I told you this victory was too easy. We never should have sent the ship back for supplies!" he told him.
"It wasn't my idea to send the ship back!" Anakin responded defensively. Obi-Wan rolled his eyes, then turned to the clones.
"Alright men, second wave incoming!" Obi-Wan informed them.
"Rex, you and your men follow me!" Anakin instructed, receiving a curt nod from Obi-Wan before he turned to Cody.
"Cody, battle positions!" he instructed his second in command.
"Up to the front!" Cody called out as he sprinted into action. Everyone moved to the front lines. Shells were still exploding everywhere. The heavy cannons to the rear of the Republic's lines were doing the job of taking out the tanks as they approached, but they weren't going to be able to take out the three incoming 3.6 meter high tri-droids. Of course, that was exactly what Anakin and Torrent Company were dispatched to take care of. Above the droids, Anakin and Torrent Company were waiting on top of a building towering over the tri-droids. Of course, the tri-droids were getting closer and Anakin and Torrent Company hadn't made their move yet.
"Skywalker should've attacked by now!" Cody said, slightly annoyed.
"Don't worry, he knows the plan!" obi-Wan reassured him. Above, Rex turned to General Skywalker.
"What's the plan, sir?" he asked.
"Follow me." Anakin told him, and leapt onto one of the tri-droids, followed closely by Rex and Torrent company on jetpacks. With the help of the heavy cannons in the rear, they took out all three tri-droids within minutes. The droids halted their advance. Then, seconds later, they began retreating.
"They're pulling back!" Anakin said, relieved. They then heard the sound of a ship approaching. They both looked up to realize it was a Republic Nu Class Attack Shuttle.
"Looks like help has arrived." Obi-Wan said. They then began to walk in the direction of the shuttle.
"Our cruiser must be back." Obi-Wan said, breaking the silence.
"Which means we'll be able to get our reinforcements." Anakin told him.
"Well then it looks like our problems are solved! Fresh troops, new supplies, and perhaps they brought my new Padawan with them." Obi-Wan replied. Anakin then gave him a look of concern.
"Do you really think its a good idea to bring a Padawan learner into all this?" Anakin asked.
"I spoke to Master Yoda about it. You should put in a request for one. You'd make a good teacher." Obi-Wan told him. Anakin looked at him and chuckled.
"No thanks."
"Anakin, teaching is a privilege. And it's part of a Jedi's responsibility to train the next generation."
"A Padawan would just slow me down." Anakin answered. The ramp to the shuttle lowered as they stopped a few feet in front of it. Who left the shuttle, a young Togrutan female, and came down the ramp surprised both Anakin and Obi-Wan.
"A Youngling?" Obi-Wan asked of no one in particular. It was more a statement than a question.
"And...who are you supposed to be?" Anakin asked, focusing on the Togrutan.
"I'm Ahsoka. Master Yoda sent me. I was told to tell both of you that you must get back to the Jedi Temple immediately. There's an emergency." she said.
"Well I don't know if you've noticed, but we're in a bit of an emergency right here." Anakin said matter-of-factly.
"Yes, our communications have been a bit unreliable, but we've been calling for help" Obi-Wan informed her.
"Master Yoda hadn't heard from you, so he sent me to deliver the message." Ahsoka replied.
"Great, they don't even know we're in trouble!" Anakin said, agitated.
"Maybe you could relay a signal through the cruiser that just dropped me off?" she replied. Anakin exchanged a glance with Obi-Wan, then they both looked to her and Anakin nodded, arms folded. A few moments later, they were in touch with the Jedi cruiser.
"We're under attack by Separatist warships, but I'll try to make contact with the Jedi Temple for you. Stand by." a clone said over the communications frequency. The image cut out, replaced seconds later by that of Jedi Grand Master Yoda.
"Master Kenobi. Glad Ahsoka found you, I am." Yoda said in greeting.
"Master Yoda, we are trapped here and vastly outnumbered. We are in no position to go anywhere or do anything. Our support ships have all been destroyed." Obi-Wan answered.
"Send reinforcements to you, I will." the rest of what Yoda was saying was never heard, for the transmission blurred and was cut, replaced by the clone that had connected them to the Temple.
"We lost the transmission, sir." he said. Another clone entered and spoke.
"We have to leave orbit immediately. More enemy ships have just arrived. We'll get back to you as soon as we can." he said, and the transmission was cut. The three Jedi exchanged glances.
"Well, it looks like we'll have to hold out a little longer." Anakin said.
"My Apologies, young one. It's time for a proper introduction." Obi-Wan said, after nodded to Anakin's statement.
"I'm the new Padawan learner. I'm Ahsoka Tano." she answered.
"I'm Obi-Wan Kenobi, your new Master." Obi-Wan told her. Instead of smiling, she looked confused. Anakin caught it and wondered why.
'Oh no. I don't like where this is going.' he thought, and then fear was realized.
"I'm at your service Master Kenobi, but I'm afraid I've actually been assigned to Master Skywalker." she said, pointing directly to Anakin.
"What?! No, no, no, no no, no! There must be some mistake. He's the one who wanted the Padawan!" Anakin said, pointing to Obi-Wan.
"No! Master Yoda was very specific. I'm assigned to Anakin Skywalker, and he is to supervise my Jedi training." she said in a snippy attitude.
"But that doesn't make any se..." Anakin began.
"We'll have to sort this out later. It wont be long before those droids figure out a way around our cannons." Obi-Wan said, cutting him off. As much as he liked to see Anakin suffer just a little bit once in a while, they needed to focus on the here and now, as his own Master, Qui-Gon would say. Of course, Qui-Gon was no longer alive, having been killed on Naboo nearly 11 years prior by the Sith Lord Darth Maul.
"I'll check on Rex in the lookout post." Anakin said, sounding defeated.
"Better take her with you." Obi-Wan said, patting Ahsoka on the back. Although they couldn't see his face, Obi-Wan could just imagine Anakin rolling his eyes in disgust. Ahsoka only shook her head with a smirk on her face as she followed Anakin.
"What's the status, Rex?" Anakin asked as they approached the lookout post.
"Quiet for now, sir. They're gearing up for another assault. Who's the Youngling?" he replied as he looked to Ahsoka.
"I'm Master Skywalker's Padawan. The name's Ahsoka Tano" she replied yet again in a snippy attitude.
"Sir, I thought you said you'd never have a Padawan." Rex said, looking confused.
"There's been a mix up, the Youngling isn't with me." Anakin replied.
"Stop calling me that! You're stuck with me, Skyguy." she told him, again smirking. Her attitude was beginning to annoy him. He wasn't going to say anything until Rex started laughing, though he tried to suppress it.
"What did you just call me? Don't get snippy with me, little one. You know, I don't even think you're old enough to be a Padawan."
"Maybe I'm not, but Master Yoda thinks I am."
"Well you're not with Master Yoda now, so if you're ready, you better start proving it. Captain Rex will show you how a little respect can go a long way." Anakin told her. On the inside, Rex was horrified. He wasn't dumping her on him, was he? That's when he realized he was.
"Uhm..right. Come on, Youngling." he said.
"Padawan!" she answered, still using her snippy attitude. They walked for a little before Ahsoka broke the silence.
"Have you thought about moving that line back, Captain? They'd have better cover that way." she said.
"Thanks for the suggestion, but...General Skywalker thinks they're fine where they are." he answered.
"So...if you're a Captain...and I'm a Jedi...then...technically I outrank you, right?" she asked.
"In my book, experience outranks everything." Rex replied.
"Well, if experience outranks everything, I guess I'd better start getting some." she said, then heard what sounding like tank movement coming from the Separatist lines, instead it wasn't tanks.
"What's that?" she asked, then looked to see for herself, realizing she probably already knew the answer.
"Not good. We've got an energy shield. That's going to make things damn near impossible. If you wanted experience little one, it looks like you're about to get plenty!" he told her, and they then jogged back to report to General Skywalker. Instead, they found them waiting with a holomap of the area protected by the shield. What's worse, the shield was expanding.
"The shield generator is somewhere in this area. They're slowly increasing the diameter and keeping it just ahead of their troops." Obi-Wan said.
"Heavy cannons are going to be useless against that!" Rex stated.
"As they get closer, I suppose we could try to draw them into the buildings. that might level the playing field a bit." Obi-Wan suggested. Ahsoka came to stank by Master Kenobi and spoke up.
"If that shield's going to be such a problem, why don't we just take it out?" Ahsoka suggested.
"Easier said than done." Rex said.
'Great, I actually agree with the Youngling. Obi-Wan's never going to let me live this down.' Anakin thought before clearing his throat.
"Well I, for one...agree with her. Someone has to get to that shield generator and destroy it. That's the key." Anakin said.
"Right then. Perhaps the two of you can tiptoe through the enemy lines and solve this particular problem together?" Obi-Wan responded.
"Can do, Master Kenobi." Ahsoka told him.
"I'll decide what we do." Anakin replied, figuring he might as well keep her in line for as long as she was here.
"If Rex and I can engage them here, you two might have a chance to get through their lines undetected here." he said, pointing to different spots on the map.
"They won't have much time. The droids far outnumber us, so our ability to street fight is limited without the use of heavy cannons. They will march forward under the protection of their shield until they're right on top of our cannons, then they'll blow them away." Rex told them.
"We'll figure out a way! Come on Master, lets go." Ahsoka explained, again trying to be snippy.
'You know, I might as well start calling her Snips...hey that's actually a good idea.' Anakin though as he turned to follow her.
"If we survive this, Snips, you and are going to have a talk." he told her, to which she just rolled her eyes.
A/N: At this point, Obi-Wan and Rex are no longer involved in this part of the story as they are in the film. It will be entirely from Anakin and Ahsoka's perspective. Some new dialogue has been added in to fill in some gaps I felt needed to be addressed.
As Ahsoka and Anakin came to an overpass overlooking the droid army, they stopped. Anakin began scanning the droid lines with his binoculars as Ahsoka hopped down to join him.
"So, what's the plan?" she asked.
"Huh! I thought you were the one with the plan!" Anakin retorted. He was just beginning to get used to her presence.
"No, I'm the one with enthusiasm! You're the one with experience, which I'm looking forward to learning from." she replied, again with the snippy attitude.
'Does she ever give up?' he wondered. He would have continued, but instead focused on the here and now, as Obi-Wan had taught him, allowing himself a small smile before continuing.
"Well first, we need to get behind that shield, then get past their tank lines." Anakin said.
"Why don't we just go around, outflank them?" she asked.
"That'd take too long." he answered.
"Sneak through the middle then?"
"Impossible. Unless you can turn yourself into a droid..." he said, muttering the last part to himself.
"Alright, you win. My first lesson will be to wait while you come up with the answer." she said, finally giving up. Anakin, however, didn't notice, being too caught up in the moment at his own revelation.
"Well, the waits over, I've got a plan!" Anakin said.
"That was fast!" she retorted. Anakin glared at her.
"Here's the plan. We're going to sneak through the middle." he told her.
"You just said it was impossible!"
"Yeah, but not for a droid."
"And just how are we supposed to become a droid, walk up to them and say roger, roger?"
'I knew it, she's not going to give up.' he thought. He then pointed to a crate and told her his plan. She looked from the crate to him at least twice before finally leaving her gaze on him.
"You've got to be kidding. We aren't actually going to try getting past thousands of droids under a crate?!" she asked, alarmed.
"Don't tell me you're refusing to follow orders?" he replied. This time, she let out an angry sigh and rolled her eyes as they placed the crate in the middle of the roadway, then clambered under it with her Master. Moments later, the shield passed over them.
"This is a stupid plan! We should just fight these guys instead of just sneaking around!" Ahsoka hissed.
"Except for the fact that their deflective energy shield just passed over us, you can cross their lines, and let their lines cross you!" he replied calmly.
"If you say so." she answered, and they began moving. After a few moments, the sound of machinery pounding against the ground grew farther away then ceased to be heard. Ahsoka was at this point impressed.
"I think we made it past all them, Master. We may pull this off yet!" she said, excited.
"We still have a way to go before we get to the generator station!" Anakin replied.
"Do we still need this thing? I can't take it anymore, I have to stand up!" Ahsoka said uneasily but with determination. They stood, but kept the crate over their heads.
"You have got to be careful! You never know what you're going to run into!" Anakin scolder her. As if on queue, they ran right into a droideka. To make matters worse, it had its own personal shield generator. It only lost its shield when it curled up into its rolling position, but it was in its standing position, and had its shield up.
"You see what I mean?!" he called to her as they ignited their lightsabers. There was no way they were going to get any of the blaster bolts it fired at them to get deflected and past its own shield and score a hit.
"We can't beat its shield!" Ahsoka said.
'As if I didn't know that!' He thought to himself. "Run!"
'What?! Jedi don't run!"
"I said run!" he told her again, this time with force, and she obeyed. He ran to catch up to her as the droideka started rolling to follow, now vulnerable to attack.
"Ahsoka, stop!"
"Make up your mind!"
"I said stop!" he told her., and again she obeyed, and sliced into the droideka before it had a chance to stop rolling. Anakin stopped a few paces ahead of her and as the droideka came to him in two pieces, he destroyed it completely.
"Good! You take direction well." Anakin said smugly. Ahsoka glared at him in a scowl, then followed him as he walked in the direction of the shield generator station. They walked for a while, not speaking. Then they spotted the shield generator.
"There it is! Come on." Ahsoka said, and they began walking to the generator. As they got close, they stopped behind a piece of wreckage.
"Stay close. We've got to be careful." Anakin told her. Instead of listening, however, she sprinted out in front of him.
"Come on!" she called out.
"Wait!" he called after her, attempting to grab her.
"Why? we're almost there, its right..." she began, but was cut off as a metal antennae grazed against her leg and droids began popping out of the ground.
"I said wait!"
"Oops.."
'Forget about the droids, set those charges!" Anakin yelled. As she proceeded to do so, a droid came up behind her. Before it could do anything, she leapt behind it and cut it in half. She then used the force to push the top half away. It wasn't until it hit multiple antennae in the ground that she realized her mistake. More droids pooped out of the ground as Anakin finished off the last of the first group that had emerged.
"Sorry!" she called out.
"Who's side are you on anyway?" he asked, agitated.
"Setting the charges." she muttered to himself. She then set all the charges, then turned around in time to see her Master surrounded by droids.
"I could use a little help!" He called to her.
"Skyguy, don't move!" she replied, then pulled a wall that had a hole in the center of it down on top of the droids with the Force.
"What? No, no, no, no, no!" he said, horrified and ducking at the same time. miraculously, he ended up unharmed, with all the droids demolished. Instead of being thankful, he was agitated and angry as Ahsoka ran down to him.
"Ugh, you could've gotten me killed!" he yelled at her.
"I know what I'm doing! " she answered.
"I had everything under control!" he yelled back. Ironically, she was the only one that wasn't exactly yelling. Until now, of course.
"I just saved your life!" she yelled back at him. He glared at her, and she glared back. A long silence ensued, with her master finally breaking it.
"Did you get the charges set?" he asked, still very much agitated.
"Yes!" she replied, just as agitated as he was.
"Then what are you waiting for?" he asked, calming himself down a bit. She responded by hitting a switch on her armband communicator, and the generator blew up, the shield collapsing. He then communicated with Captain Rex for a situation report. Everything was contained. He turned to Ahsoka. She was sitting on the wall she had brought down, and desperately trying to avoid his gaze. That much he knew. Ahsoka had her own issues, and she was sure they were radiating off of her.
'First, I help him make a plan to take the shield down, then we run into trouble...twice, and both times it's my fault. Then I manage to almost get him killed. What am I even doing here? Maybe Master Skywalker is right. I don't belong here. I certainly don't deserve to be his Padawan.' she thought as Anakin sat next to her. she thought he was going to yell at her, but instead he spoke in a calm tone.
"You're reckless little one. You never would have made it as Obi-Wan's Padawan." he told her.
'Great, thanks for the confidence boost, Skyguy. Why don't you just tell me I won't make it at all and send me back? You don't even like me anyway.' she thought, still looking at the ground, her eyes closed.
'You know, she's not that bad. I have a feeling the Council assigned her to me as a sort of challenge. I'm pretty sure it was Obi-Wan's idea. It had to be. His way of getting back at me for ten years of anguish, as he would put it. Oh, whet the hell. I might as well do it. Besides, there's something about her. I like her.' Anakin thought, then turned his head to face her.
"But you might make it as mine." he said. This got Ahsoka's attention, and she immediately jerked her head up and opened her eyes to look at him. He smiled then, something she knew at this point was a rarity for him, and she smiled back.
"Come on." Anakin said, and they both made their way to the LAAT that had landed a few feet away.
OK all! Hope you enjoy the first chapter of this unannounced story! YES, I realize this is the biggest chapter of any story I've ever written, and you probably will not see another chapter as huge as this in any of my stories! Anyway, hope you all enjoy and don't forget to review!
