Surrender

by Effingyogurt

The Clone War has reached a critical point. The Republic is low on credits and a seemingly genuine attempt to negotiate with Count Dooku leaves Mace Windu stranded in the Outer Rim, Anakin Skywalker supposedly dead, and a vital piece of Republican information missing. Nobody knows what went wrong with the attempt, but Padme, Obi Wan, and Ahsoka are determined to find out.

1. Chapter 1

Preface

The Clone War has reached a critical point. The Republic, low on funds, is unwisely attempting to accelerate the campaigns in progress in the Outer Rim, deploying reserve troops and investing in massive amounts of updated weaponry, hoping for successes that will take the strain off of the capitol. Meanwhile, this maneuver is costing millions of credits the Republic simply doesn't have, leading to tension in the Senate and calls for negotiation with the Separatists.

A record of political settlement from several centuries before is discovered in the Jedi Archives, a settlement that Count Dooku surprisingly agrees to when communication is established. Hoping to relieve the strain on the government that continues to increase, Mace Windu is deployed to the planet of Felucia, where representatives of both sides will meet to discuss the settlement, to secure the area and establish a suitable line of communication with Coruscant. It is necessary to the negotiations that a holocard be brought, a device that when used will allow Windu to access the Jedi Archives remotely, however, at the time of Windu's deployment, the situation on Felucia was far too uncertain for this vital piece of technology to be put at risk. Thus, Windu has chosen Anakin Skywalker to accompany the device to the negotiations once the area was stabilized.

However, communication with Windu is mysteriously cut off shortly following Skywalker's departure from Coruscant, and remains silent for several hours, leading to genuine concern from the Council and an attempted recall of Skywalker's troops. But by the time the recall reaches the troops, a mysterious and unprovoked attack has already been launched against the incoming vessels, taking the troops by surprise and inflicting massive damage. A message is soon received by the Council from Clone Captain Rex, who has taken command of the crippled cruiser Resolute in the wake of the attack, which has led to the incapacitation of Admiral Yularen and the presumed death of Skywalker. The message states that no communication with Windu has been reached, six cruisers have gone down, the surviving troops are evacuating Resolute and the mission has been declared lost.

The holocard, which was in Skywalker's possession at the time of the attack, is assumed to be destroyed.