Brighter Than the Sun Part 2
An Anisoka Trilogy
by Lordhadrian
Part 2: Conspiracy on Ringo Vinda
The fighting was more fierce in the past week. Having moved the 501st to the massive ring base of Ringo Vinda, Anakin and Ahsoka work with Jedi twins Tiplee and Tiplar.
Struggling in combat for several days, they fight against the nefarious Admiral Trench for control of the planet.
"Master! Slow down!" Ahsoka grabbed Anakin's shoulder as they pushed forward down the vast corridor of a space station that wrapped around the planet.
"Sorry, I forget I take big strides!" Anakin grinned.
Ahsoka looked at him seriously but smirked a little as they deflected the blaster shots of the droids around them. They slowed down to let the rest of the troops catch up to them. Anakin was not so suicidal this time, he was feeling his confidence return, his sense of adventure with each new encounter.
Tiplee and Tiplar held the flanks with Rex leading clones in the middle column, en masse.
"Shields!" Tiplee called out as Droidekas rolled up to engage them.
The clones displayed their shield wall and blocked the blasts of the droidekas. Grenades are rolled out, disabling the droids with an EMP blast.
Forward, they moved, advancing into one of the command centers leading to the main bridge of the station.
All remaining droids are eliminated as they gathered their platoons.
"Don't get too comfortable. This battle hasn't been won yet!" Anakin announces calmly as they gathered for the next phase of attack.
One of the Jedi Commanders, Tiplee, concurred.
"We must take the Command center" she noted as they gathered around the tactical map "Admiral Trench has called for reinforcements. We must take this post before they arrive."
Anakin nodded "It's time for phase 2. We're at this position. Tiplar, you'll take yopur men down this passageway. Tiplee, you'll move along here. They'll have to divide their forces to counter us."
Ahsoka smiled, completing his thought perfectly. "And when they do, Rex and I will press through the middle. Right, Master?"
Anakin nodded. "If we time it right, well all converge on this spot at the same time. The droids won't know what hit them!"
Anakin looked at Tiplar "Commander, you took a beating in our advance, I'm sending Fives, Tup and ten of our best men to back you up."
Fives nodded "We're on it, sir."
The briefing ended and everyone moved to their positions. Tup, however, started moving slowly and getting a dizzy spell.
"Hey, you all right?" Fives asked
"I...I'm ok...I just..."
"Come on, this is a textbook battle. We've done it a million times in training."
Tup looked at him wearily. "I just don't feel like...myself."
He looked over and saw Tiplar. He squiinted his eyes. "Jedi..."
Ahsoka started to get a funny feeling as she moved with Rex and Anakin
"Something doesn't feel right..."
Rex smirked "That's your senses telling you I'm going to kick more droid butt than you this time!"
"You can dream all that when you're home in bed, shiny!" She almost laughed. Ahsoka and Rex jogged to catch up with Anakin.
"Come on, you two. You don't want to miss all the fun!" Anakin started jogging a little faster.
Anakin and the others moved down the hallways, pushing back the droid defenses, until they reached the main area.
Admiral Trench observed from his command post.
"Increase our defenses!" Trench barked "We must hold them here!"
The tactical droid nodded and moved to issue orders to the defense line.
"Push Forward!" Rex waved to all groups. Anakin led the three columns, moving closer to their goal.
Everyone was moving fast, except Tup. He was having another dizzy spell.
"Tup!" Fives shouted over the cacophony of blasterfire. "This is not the time to freeze up! Pull it together! We're almost to the finish line!"
Fives moved up with the rest of the troops.
Tup leaned against a column, trying to focus. He looked out and saw his enemy.
"Jedi..."
He raised his gun, and marched towards Ahsoka. "Good soldiers follow orders..."
He marched over to Ahsoka, taking aim.
"Tup! What are you doing?" Fives yelled
Tiplar saw what was about to happen. "Ahsoka, on your right!"
Ahsoka turned and stared at Tup, partially surprised.
Tiplar waved her hand at Tup , forcing his gun to aim upward before he could fire. Fives tackled him to the ground. The confusion was enough to halt the advance.
The droid reinforcements pressed down on the Republic forces, and everyone was more focused on Tup about to kill Ahsoka than on the enemy at hand.
Anakin sighed "So close" he whispered to himself. He turned to Rex and Fives.
"We've lost momentum, we have to fall back! I don't know what just happened, Fives, but I giving you responsibility for Tup. Get him back to base! I want answers!"
"Yes sir!" Fives pulled back Tup, who was dizzy and shaking off the delerium that plagued him.
Ahsoka looked at Anakin, looked into his eyes. Anakin looked at her, and realized how close he came to losing her, losing a piece of his heart.
"Fall back, Snips."
The moment was awkward, and Ahsoka felt quiet as she retreated. She stared down the barrel of a gun held by one of her own, and she lost all her snarkiness in that moment.
Admiral Trench observed the retreat, but more important than the victory was his notes on the activity in the Clone Trooper lines.
"Contact Count Dooku immediately. I have discovered something he will be very interested in."
Anakin made sure to secure the defense perimeter before going to see about what caused the disruption.
Tup held in restraints.
"What exactly happened?" Anakin looked at Rex and Ahsoka
"He seems to have had some kind of breakdown." Fives answers
"Tup?" Ahsoka looked at him gently "you doing okay?"
Tup looked at her wearily "I...don't know. Why am I in restraints? What's happening?"
Rex looked at him grimly "You tried to shoot Commander Tano."
"What?" Tup was shocked "No! I would never do that...I
would...never...Not Commander Ahsoka...I am a good soldier..."
Tup's eyes suddenly glazed over.
"A good soldier follows orders...a good soldier follows orders...a good soldier follows orders..." Tup rambled.
Tup suddenly tried to lunge at Ahsoka, but the restraints held him back. Anakin organized everyone away from Tup
"What are we dealing with here?" He looked at each of them for an analysis.
Fives scratched his chin "Perhaps it's combat stress..."
"Impossible!" Rex corrected him "We are designed to withstand almost any kind of combat fatigue."
"Mind control? A Separatist plot to turn the Clones against us?" Ahsoka wondered. "He seemed very particular to kill Jedi."
Tiplar looked at her "I have heard rumors of a virus or biological weapon, something to disrupt the Clone training."
"Rex? You have a hypothesis?" Anakin looked at his friend as he took steps towards Ahsoka, almost subconsciously trying to protect her.
"We're out of our depth here, we'll have to take him in for scanning in our med lab. Taking some scans may give us an answer."
The battle, having stalled to a slow set of skirmishes in the vast facility of Ringo Vinda, was contained as Anakin escorted Tup to the medical bay on board his ship.
Ahsoka sat quietly and watched over Tup for several hours as the medic droids examined him, scanning him for poisons, chemicals, diseases and parasites.
"Why, Tup? Why did you try to kill me?"
She looked over him gently. A fellow soldier, and a friend. Her thoughts were interrupted as Fives entered the room.
"Sorry to disturb you, Commander." he bowed humbly.
"Don't worry about me. I just hope we can figure out what happened with Tup."
"Yeah, I can't believe he would do anything to hurt anyone on our team. Strange, though. We've given him every kind of scan and test, and we can't find anything physically wrong with him. Apart from the stress of being restrained, he seems almost completely fit."
Ahsoka thought for a minute. "Physically fit. But if he's okay physically, it must be a mental or emotional problem."
"Well, we may be out of our depth with that. Commander Skywalker is recommending we send him back to Kamino for those kinds of tests."
Ahsoka went to the medical droid on duty.
"Excuse me, err, droid?"
"I am AZ-34521189624-"
"Whoa, whoa! Slow down, AZ. I just need some assistance with Tup."
"Tup?" The floating droid tilted its head curiously "What is a Tup?"
"The patient. My friend."
"Oh" The droid processed "You mean CT-5385."
"No. We mean TUP. That's his name." Fives interjected.
"How can I be of assistance?" AZ floated to them.
Ahsoka thought carefully about her request.
"I need a level 5 brain scan. The low level scans left us negative on any results."
Droid AZ floated back in a sort of surprise.
"I'm afraid we've received orders to take patient CT-53...err, I mean Tup, to Kamino. We are not to conduct any more tests."
"What?" Fives raised an eyebrow. "Who gave those orders?"
"They came from the highest Command. Chancellor Palpatine." AZ explained.
Ahsoka received a call on her comlink.
"Snips, is Fives with you?" Anakin called out. "I need you in the Hanger Bay. Chancellor Palpatine himself is here!"
Ahsoka looked at Fives with a startled expression.
"Well, THAT was quick!"
"AZ, can you do the brain scan while we are with Commander Skywalker?" Fives started thinking quickly.
"Affirmative. Shall I bring the results?" The droid felt a surge of enthusiasm for the idea
Fives stopped for a second and gave some serious thought. "Only show myself or Ahsoka. Something about Palpatine's visit...seems too convenient."
"What do you mean?" Ahsoka raised an eyebrow "Surely the Chancellor would want to know."
"That's just it, Commander." Fives looked at her with concern "The timing of this visit...call it a hunch, like one of your disturbances in the Force."
Ahsoka and Fives hurried to meet up with Anakin, Rex, and the visiting Chancellor.
"Chancellor" Anakin bowed a little "While it is good to see you, this visit is highly irregular."
Palpatine smiled humbly "I have come to be of assistance concerning the incident that almost became a major setback."
Palpatine walked up to Ahsoka and looked in her eyes.
"How very fortunate you did not befall a more drastic fate."
Ahsoka felt a chill down her spine.
Behind Palpatine was a team of Kaminoans and Senate guards. Nala Se led the team.
"We have come to take care of the clone trooper 5385."
Ahsoka and Fives looked at each other, but Palpatine did not hesitate. "He will be cared for and examined. After all, this could be some sort of virus."
"The truth is..." Ahsoka interrupted "We didn't detect a virus. The problem must be mental."
Nala Se took two steps forward "That will be for my team to decide. We shall retrieve the patient CT-5385 immediately."
Ahsoka and Fives were about to inquire into more details when Droid AZ floated into the hanger bay with haste.
"Chancellor Palpatine, Minister Nala Se, Commander Skywalker. I bring an important medical update concerning Tup!"
"What is a Tup?" Nala Se and Palpatine looked at each other, confused.
Fives tried to calm AZ down. "AZ, you shouldn't bother the Chancellor like this."
Everyone was staring at Fives and AZ intensely. Fives tried to wave it off. "It's nothing, the droid is just trying to help."
"Ahsoka, what's going on here?" Anakin looked at her, then at Fives and AZ, then back at her.
AZ's excited revelation could not be contained. "But I am helping. You asked me to perform a Level 5 brain scan on the subject, and my results were very revealing-"
Palpatine raised an eyebrow at the interruption. "A level 5 brain scan on a clone trooper? Commander Skywalker, what is the meaning of this? Who ordered the brain scan when I specifially ordered that CT-5385 was to be taken to Kamino?"
"I'm responsible. I asked droid AZ to do it." Ahsoka answered meekly. Palpatine's expression did not change, but she detected a strain in his voice "I see. Droid, come with me and explain this report in my shuttle. Minster Nala Se, please acquire the patient CT-5385."
"His name is TUP!" Fives was becoming aggravated.
Rex put a firm hand on Five's shoulder "That's enough, soldier! Stand down!"
Nala Se's team went quickly.
Palpatine entered his shuttle, away from view.
AZ looked at Ahsoka and Anakin. "You must tell them that it is not necessary to take the patient. He had a tumor that was disrupting his abilities, but I removed it.
Ahsoka looked at AZ, surprised "What? A tumor?"
AZ handed her a jar with a blob of decayed organic matter. "If they take Tup back to Kamino, they will terminate him with their tests. It is not necessary. I have stabilized him."
Anakin made a fast decision. "AZ, go and report this to the Chancellor. I'll go stop Nala Se from taking Tup! With this info, we can prevent this from happening and save other Troopers who might suffer from this ailment!"
Anakin sensed that this was a race against time. He was not far from the truth.
Nala Se walked fast with her team, and prepared a hypo needle that would inject Tup with a fast acting poison. She was determined to eliminate any connection to Palpatine's "Final Solution."
Ahsoka ran with Anakin "I'm with you. Five, Captain Rex, wait here, we'll sort this out before they get to Tup!"
Rex and Fives breathed a sigh of relief as AZ entered the shuttle to give Palpatine the medical briefing.
Rex watched the Jedi leave.
"You overstepped your boundaries and broke several protocols." He chastised Fives. A smile crept on his face "But you saved a good soldier from dying. Good work."
Fives smiled back at him, but their joy was short lived.
An explosion erupted from the shuttle.
"The Chancellor!" Rex gasped.
Smoke billowed from the shuttle and Palpatine stumbled out, coughing and wobbling helplessly.
"TREASON MOST FOUL!" He cried out "The droid attacked me! It self destructed, destroying itself and all its components. I think it was a Separatist spy that tried to kill me."
Fives looked on in shock "But...the medical report! What about Tup?"
Palpatine looked up at him calmly, maybe a little too calmly "I'm sorry, my boy. The droid was completely burned up. Whatever medical information it had is gone. I'm afraid our only recourse is to eliminate the clone and prevent contamination. Nala Se will liquidate the commodity."
Fives gritted his teeth in frustration and started running to the exit.
"Where are you going!?" Rex yelled
Fives rushed to catch up with Anakin and Ahsoka.
Anakin and Ahsoka Ran together, smiling, oblivious to the disaster about to befall Tup.
"You did some fast thinking, saving Tup. A trip to Kamino for testing...I don't think he would survive the ordeal."
Ahsoka smiled at him "I learned from the best. And now, we don't have to worry about him. Tup will make it through this war...and so will we."
Her comment came from the heart, and Anakin suddenly noted in her eyes and tone of voice that the last comment went beyond just a token optimism. She meant it in every way possible. In sickness and in health, for better or worse.
Anakin's heart felt a comfort and joy in that. To see the war end, to see the Clones become more than just soldiers. maybe they could become citizens of a new Republic. And Ahsoka would help him realize a new life, after the death of Padme.
"Interstellar" watch?v=Rss-xV…
Fives ran at them with panic. Anakin and Ahsoka sensed a dreadful turn of events was taking place.
"AZ was destroyed! Palpatine says it went rogue and blew itself up. The Chancellor's ordered Tup to be...eliminated."
Anakin and Ahsoka looked at each other and started moving fast
"We have to delay Nala from getting to Tup!" Ahsoka hastened her step.
"Ahsoka, go back to Rex...I'm about to commit treason by saving Tup!"
Ahsoka took his hand without hesitating. "We are in this together now! No time to argue!"
Anakin didn't argue. He saw it in her eyes again. They would take a stand together, and do what was right. They would not abandon Tup in this moment when he was cured of his ailment, cured of a diabolical device that would shock Anakin to his core once he realized what it was intended for.
Fives didn't miss a beat. He stood with them.
"I'll...create a distraction!" he swiftly moved to a computer terminal in a nearby communications center, setting off an alarm.
Nala Se had just reached Tup's room. He lay sleeping, having just recovered from a fast surgery by skilled medical droid AZ.
"No loose ends. Sorry, trooper." Nala half smiled as she prepared to liquidate the asset with extreme prejudice.
The alarm sounded throughout the ship. Fives setup to make it look like an attack by Separatist ships.
"Battle stations! All hands to battle stations!" the klaxon alarm wailed, sending all personnel scrambling to their posts.
Rex looked around in confusion "Battle stations? What the kriff is going on?"
Anakin ran into the room where Nala and her assistants were about to extinguish Tup's life
"Everyone to the safe room! We are under attack!" Anakin yelled, catching them off guard. Ahsoka ran in and grabbed the table Tup lay on.
"Commander Skywalker, this is highly irregular!" Nala Se tried looking at both of them, but ended up in a panicked confusion.
Anakin, thinking fast, waved his hands and burst out the lights in the room as Ahsoka pushed Tup out the door.
"We've been hit!" Anakin shouted, making the kaminoans panic before they could realize there was no explosions or blaster fire going off.
Anakin and Ahsoka exited with Tup and closed the door.
Ahsoka smirked as she "accidentally" turned on her lightsaber and fried the door panel.
"Oops, fog of war!" She stifled an excited giggle.
Anakin smiled and helped push Tup down the hall. Fives joined them and pushed Tup to an elevator.
Tup looked at them with bewilderment "Did I miss something?"
"How many fingers am I holding up? HOW MANY!?" Fives held up two fingers, trying to gauge Tup's senses.
"Uhhh, Two sir?"
"Good, you're doing good. Now shut up while we save your life!" Fives responded hastily.
The three of them pushed Tup, and in that moment, felt that a great burden that would have engulfed the galaxy was being erased.
Two Clone troopers were about to board the lift when Anakin pushed the table in front of them.
"Sorry, we need this lift!" Anakin and Ahsoka got in front of them.
The clones looked at each other, confused. "But we're in a red alert-"
"Do you want an acute case on your hands? This man has immediate postprandial, upper-abdominal distention. Now, out of the way! Get out of the way!" Ahsoka barked.
The troopers backed away at her ferocity. Anakin, Ahsoka and Fives carried Tup into the lift and closed the doors.
Tup looked up at Ahsoka, confused "What did you say I had?"
Ahsoka smiled as she punched a button to another floor. "Cramps."
The Clone troopers stared at the lift door, then at each other, still confused.
"Wasn't this the medical floor?" One asked the other.
The alarm stopped and Chancellor Palpatine made his presence over the intercom to the entire ship.
"This is Chancellor Palpatine issuing a direct order..."
Ahsoka, Anakin and Fives looked up at the speaker in the lift. Fives grimaced "Oh boy..."
Palpatine continued "There is a rogue clone trooper on the loose. He is sick, and may be infected. CT-5385 must be apprehended for the safety of the crew. Bring him to medical level alive if at all possible..."
Ahsoka listened further, but the speaker went silent.
"He didn't mention us..."
Anakin held her hand "He may not realize our involvement yet."
Tup "But when he does, you'll all be arrested. Fives...Commander Skywalker...Commander Tano...you shouldn't have done this. Maybe I was meant to die."
"We take care of our own." Fives assured him in a calm voice.
"We will see this through, to whatever end." Ahsoka looked at Anakin as she spoke.
Anakin's heart raced again, for the statement had layers in it.
Anakin smiled "To whatever end..." He suddenly wanted more. In this life, with Ahsoka, whe wanted so much more. He felt alive as the lift doors opened and they scrambled out. But time was running out, and they were no going to keep up this deception for very much longer. Everyone on the ship was looking for Tup.
Tup stood up and ran with them, though his medical coat was a dead giveaway.
"I need a uniform, fast!" He whispered as they strolled quickly down a hall way.
It became a comedy of errors as Anakin and Ahsoka switched hallways to avoid guards and officers.
They entered a barracks and came face to face with two dozen troops. Both groups stared at each other for a minute. Anakin hesitated, waiting for the troopers to report all of them to the chancellor.
The Troopers waited as they stared at Tup, Fives, and the Jedi. "I can explain, fellas..." Fives tried to talk.
One of the troopers looked at Tup...and threw him a uniform "You look terrible in that." he subtly nodded.
Tup nodded back and smiled, donning the unform and helmet.
They exited the barracks and marched calmly down the hall past guards, droids and other personnel.
Anakin reached an airlock and looked at the others "Looks like CT-5385 took matters into his own hands" he said, giving Tup a knowing look.
Anakin activated thew airlock, opening the outer door of the compartment from the hallway. He activated a com to Palpatine and Captain Rex.
"Chancellor, I regret to inform you...we cornered CT-5385 at the airlock on level 13. He chose to...escape capture out the airlock. I tried to stop him, but he was too fast."
Rex shook his hand and returned to the bridge, a little sad that the day had not ended well for Tup.
Palpatine stayed near his shuttle, frowning. He sensed something in Anakin's voice, but could not interpret it.
"That is a pity." Palpatine responded slowly. "Still, you tried your best."
The Chancellor fixed his rob and pulled a hood over his head as he boarded his shuttle and prepared for takeoff.
"Nala Se, please report to the shuttle. We are leaving." Palpatine was calm as he spoke, but there was an ominous hint of malice in his voice.
Fives took Tup back to the barracks, preparing a new identity for him, and a plan to smuggle him off the ship when they returned to Coruscant.
Tup looked at his friend and shook his hand silently. He didn't fully understand what had happened, only that he had been given a new start to be a part of the Republic.
Fives suspected what was at stake, but didn't care, now that Tup would be safe.
Anakin and Ahsoka walked to a nearby lounge with a large windowed view of Ringo Vinda.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Ahsoka asked as she held his hand and watched the sun appear from the planet's far side.
Anakin held her close "Beautiful, but full of danger. We nearly risked it all, didn't we?"
Ahsoka nodded slowly and held up the organic tumor from Tup's brain.
"I suspect the Chancellor wanted this. I intend to find out why."
"You realize once we go down this path...there's no turning back." Anakin moved closer to her.
"We could return to the bridge and pretend all is well, and not face this."
Asoka looked him in the eyes as she embraced him in the privacy of the dark lounge, lit only bright the bright beauty of Ringo Vinda.
"We would be living a lie, and I won't ever hide how I feel from you..."
She was determined to expose the conspiracy, secret that almost killed her. She was also determined to feel alive with Anakin.
Both of them realized in that moment they were the very happiness each had been looking for. An unstoppable Force against the Separatists, a dynamic team that solved problems. An eternal love that was hidden from view.
They kissed the forbidden kiss that would send shock waves across the galaxy were it ever to be discovered.
For Anakin, it was life. An escape from war, death and a darkness that plagued his heart after Padme died on Geonosis years ago.
For Ahsoka, it was a power over evil, victory over despair.
They kissed again in the darkness, no longer afraid of Dark Forces the two lovers sensed were now determined to destroy them both.
Their kisses became energy, a storm in the darkened room. As Ringo Vindi's silent sun shined on the lounge, they whispered in the shadows a strange new language only lovers understood.