Chapter 1
A moment.
That was all it took for calm to shatter into complete chaos, for a thousand breaths to turn into a thousand deaths. Communications were down, they were in a valley, ambushed on all sides. There was no strategy now, only survival.
Anakin scrambled to his knees and surveyed the landscape grimly. The clones were doing their best but the odds were against them, outnumbered a hundred to one. Scattered shouts from commanders could be heard over explosions and blaster fires, desperately trying to rally some semblance of a rank. Anakin stayed still for a moment, shell-shocked by an explosion that threw him to the ground, his hearing still filled with a high-pitched keening. A clone lay dead next to him. It's white armour pristine as ever. There was no blood to be seen but Anakin could smell it. The scent was too intimate to him by now. Somehow the clones never seem to bleed out of their armour but Anakin knew better. He knew exactly how much blood the nanocrystals in the black bodyglove could hold. An image of an unconscious Obi-Wan flashed in his mind. Peeling off the bodyglove. Heavy. Soaked. Sticking to skin. Anakin blinked, shaking the memory off.
Igniting his lightsaber, Anakin sprang into action, making for the frontlines, roaring. The clones nearby saw him and followed their general. This was it then, retreat was futile. Fight or fall.
Obi-Wan Kenobi rammed his lightsaber into the droid piloting the repulsortank and back-flipped, landing on his feet. The Force shimmered at the corner of his eye and he turned to see Anakin at full-sprint, laying waste to the Separatist droid army. Anakin was practically incandescent in the Force. He had paved a headlong path on the battlefield and Obi-Wan knew that his place is non-other than by Anakin's side. Fending off more blaster fire, Obi-Wan lifted his lightsaber high in the air and waved, before yelling "Charge!" The 212th Attack Battalion zeroed in on their general and followed. Snow started to fell, lightly casting the violent scenery with a soft counterpoise.
Sensing Obi-Wan near, Anakin glanced over his shoulder. Obi-Wan swept his lightsaber in a graceful arc, deflecting a series of red blaster fire. Their eyes met through the snowfall. Blue on blue. It was but a moment in reality but in the Force, it stretched into eternity. Anakin whirled around and swung his lightsaber down to cut through a rank of droids approaching his back. Anakin centered himself, drawing on the Force from within. Every single midichlorian in his body seemed to sing. About five metres to his side, Obi-Wan inhaled sharply. Invisible tendrils reached from Anakin into Obi-Wan's mind through their force bond. His pupils dilated and his vision brightened, almost blinding for a moment. His eyes watered as he continued to push forward, in step with Anakin. Obi-Wan felt the Force whisper down his neck, down his back and arms, to his fingertips. The tendrils reached into every fibre and sinew, each cell hewn with both their Force signatures. It coursed through his veins, white and hot. It felt like being set alight from the inside. Obi-Wan's heartbeat exploded in his ears, drowning out the noise of battle. Suddenly Obi-Wan tasted blood and realized he had bitten his lip. He had not realized he had been holding his breath. He inhaled deeply. Gradually, Obi-Wan could hear Anakin's heartbeat; a steady counter-rhythm to his own. Obi-Wan steadied his breath, his racing heartbeat slowed to match Anakin's. Obi-Wan still found it unnerving that Anakin was always calmest when in the heat of battle. One word comes to mind, predator.
Obi-Wan blinked and tightened his grip on his lightsaber. He could sense every single threat approaching him, knew exactly how and when to swing his lightsaber to deflect and destroy. Such raw power. Obi-Wan felt Anakin's razor focus as he cut through the frontlines and he knew Anakin could feel him too. Anakin leapt forward, extending both his arms, Force-pushing the wall of droids, showering them in sharp metal. Obi-Wan shielded his eyes and realized, looking at Anakin's clenched fists that Anakin had crushed the droids rather. Obi-Wan thrilled at Anakin's display. He could not quash the sense of pride that sung through their bond. In response, a grin tugged at Anakin's lips. More droids closed in on them. Endless, thought Obi-Wan and he surged into a somersault, swinging his lightsaber, a flurry of electric blue.
Anakin and Obi-Wan moved together seamlessly. The air practically vibrated in a tight radius around the two Jedi. The falling snow never touched the ground where they stood. The smell of ozone co-mingled with the tinge of blood from the countless fallen clones. Blue lightsabers flashing in a sea of red blaster fire. The double-image of heroic justice. Skywalker and Kenobi, The Team. Both felt indefatigable, invincible. Obi-Wan had grown accustomed to these moments, which had become frequent since the advent of The Clone Wars. He even had a name for it now, Hypersynchrony. Obi-Wan swallowed and he knew, he was addicted to it.
Anakin was in his element. This was what he was born to do, to be both violent and efficient. His mind was never more at peace. The single-minded goal of drawing from within, to without, every iota of power he possessed; to destroy. To Anakin Skywalker, this was meditation. To add to his dark tranquility, he had Obi-Wan by his side. To have someone so primary to him experience all this with him was a nameless joy. Anakin watched Obi-Wan from the corners of his eyes. Obi-Wan was so close, so alive. Anakin's modus operandi was to move forward, Obi-Wan's to cover his openings. Obi-Wan moved fast and fluid around Anakin, as if performing an intricate dance, drawing an invisible circle of safety. Anakin relished in Obi-Wan's confidence. He could see it in the line of Obi-Wan's shoulder; poised, perfect form. Obi-Wan's practiced attacks imbued with more power and grace. My doing, thought Anakin.
Anakin's words rang clear through their bond. Obi-Wan's focus snagged and he assented with a tight 'Yes'. The admission was more ripped from his mind than a voluntary reply. Obi-Wan knew he was walking a fine line with Anakin but at the moment the burning sensation in his muscles and fingers demanded more attention. Obi-Wan's lightsaber hissed dangerously close to Anakin's cheek, deflecting a stray blaster fire. Anakin glimpsed Obi-Wan's face, a familiar portrait of definite calm. Anakin's bravado grew by the second, and his use of the Force to crush the droids seemed to expand with it.
The clones had caught up, moving as a unit behind the two Jedi. Against all odds, they were winning. With the clones covering their back, Obi-Wan now moved in tandem with Anakin, crisscrossing each other's path in a straight line. The last of the droids reduced to scrap metal, the sounds of blasters subsided. The mouth of the valley sloped uphill to a knoll. Anakin arrived first and slowed to a stop. He lowered his lightsaber and deactivated it. Obi-Wan followed suit. Both Jedi turned to survey the wreckage they had left in their wake. White snow covered the entire valley, partially obscuring the fallen clones and droids. Black smoke rose from the carpet of white, aftermath from the initial explosions when the ambush started. The surviving clones trudged down the valley, checking their dead or wounded comrades, salvaging useable weaponry, making plans to erect a base camp. Tireless as they were, perfect soldiers as they were, they were not devoid of feeling. The Jedi Generals could almost taste the clones's grief, rising black and heavy into the twilit sky. The Force was heady with their silent despair.
Blood still rushing in his ears, Obi-Wan's shallow breaths drew puffs in the air and he started to feel the chill. Anakin was barely winded, rather he looked invigorated, his eyes blank. Obi-Wan felt the tendrils of Anakin's Force signature pulling away, its tendrils lazily withdrawing from his limbs, the energy ebbing, leaving his fingertips numb. Once more, Obi-Wan sensed Anakin's Force signature as distinct from his own, separate and individual. Obi-Wan dreaded this; the Fade. It always left him physically sore and mentally, it felt like a hole was gouged somewhere deep. An emptiness that ached more each time. Attachment, his mind hissed and Obi-Wan grimaced. He knew perfectly well how dangerous the whole affair was. Anakin on the other hand wasted no time on self-flagellation. To him, what they did was necessary for survival. Natural even. They were, after all The Team.
Obi-Wan struggled with himself, Anakin had created a polarity in him. He was all at once drawn to and repulsed by Anakin. Obi-Wan pulled his mental shields up. I deserve this, he thought. Anakin tested his communicator, "Still down. We'd better regroup with Cody." Anakin said, turning to Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan nodded and briskly walked on. He could not face Anakin just yet.