In the blackness of space, a large ship screeched toward the larger Star Destroyer looming in the middle of nowhere.

In the cockpit was a man, his hands busily dancing across the console in front of him, lights illuminating portions yet keeping him in dark. The lights were out. The power was more needed for the medical room then his little alcove. He didn't mind. A gloved hand slowly pulled a lever back, and the stars in his viewport slowly replaced with the vastness of the Star Destroyer, the long row of small openings, and finally the hanger itself.

Under his feet a clamp locked audibly through the metal. Satisfied, he flipped a series of switches and buttons and the console powered down, leaving the cockpit black. Standing and striding through the darkness, a door whipped open and light shined in and he went through. Behind him the lights atop the dome of a droid came to life and its wheels squeaked lightly against the metallic floor as he followed the man into the hall. Moments later, the ramp outside the ship rolled out in one swift motion, falling to the hanger floor.

And Anakin Skywalker strode down the ramp, the ends of his battle-torn robes billowing and his hair a mess. In the doorway behind him, his astromech droid, R2-D2, paused before rolling down with his master.

The hanger was bristling with activity from the aftermath of battle. Ships were coming and going in a consistent flow, allowing Anakin to feel the true scale of the Spirit of the Republic's main hanger, his own freighter, capable of holding just under a hundred men was a mere speck in the wide space.

Ahead of him, an officer who shared the same face as every other soldier on the ship was coming toward him, a datapad in hand with a stern gaze fixed on him.

Anakin didn't wait. "Make sure these men get taken care of," The Jedi Knight told the officer, walking briskly to meet him halfway.

The officer nodded. "Yes sir." He saluted without breaking stride, heading past Anakin to the ship.

Watching him charge up the ramp while pounding at his datapad, the General knew that those wounded clones would be in good hands. He made a mental note to check the infirmary after he got himself cleaned up. Taking a final glance at the freighter, he moved on.

The trek across took longer then he thought, having to stop twice to catch his breath and rest his weary legs. But he made it. The lift door slid open, and a loud, echoing cry of laughs caused Anakin stop half-step into the long tube. He turned to its source, and found a large clustering of white-armored soldiers, and like many times in the past his curiosity overwhelmed the nagging voice telling him to sleep, he went to the group and eased his way through the men to the inside of it and saw what they were all staring at.

It was Ahsoka. She was against the wall, sitting atop a couple of stacked up crates far taller then she. Her dark flight suite was loosened in areas; the almost over-sized gloves slumped over the box's edge. She looked almost out of breath. The light above reflected strongly off both the crates, gloves and her lightsaber.

He watched in fascination as she told the men about her achievements in the battle they'd just churned through. Kashyyyk and its Wookie inhabitants had been taken by the Separatist's, and the Republic was there in hours to liberate them. It was a long, grueling battle, but luckily the Wookies didn't appreciate being locked up in caves and branded, so the Separatists had to fight on two fronts, even with an energy shield around their base of operations. Ahsoka's squadron was able to find the generator for the shield, and she behooved them with the tale of how she took it out. But as she spoke, his Padawan used sweeping hand gestures and even her own sounds for the explosions. A pair of Vulture Droids had been pursuing her closely, and when she went between a pair of large, closely-knit trees, their wings caught on each other, locking them together as they slammed into the base of the massive trees. The resulting explosion weakened the bases, and they came crashing down, falling onto the generator sitting on the side of a hill and letting the Republic army swarm. It was over just minutes after that.

She concluded the story with a breath and after a long pause, someone to Anakin's right started clapping. He was soon joined by the rest of the group, which Anakin only now realized had expanded since he arrived. As it picked up, roars of excitement began, and soon Ahsoka was standing on the crates, grinning and bowing to the crowd. Anakin's ears rang loudly.

"Alright, alright, that's enough now, report to your stations." He ordered above the clapping. With a few grumbles, the crowd dispersed, leaving Anakin, Ahsoka, and R2 alone in their area. Without the cluster of clone in his way, R2 rolled to them, chirping in annoyance with his dome swiveled.

Anakin stepped toward the boxes. "Do you remember what I said to you the day you became my Padawan?"

"Yes, Master.," Ahsoka breathed in a sigh. "You said: A Jedi must remain humble in their duty." She climbed down and looked into his eyes. "Now, do you remember what I said?"

Great. She'd been acting this way for some months now, speaking out against him, questioning his tactics and of the like. Is this what his master had to put up with? "That was a show, Snips. It was your way to escapade about your skill. It's not something to inspire your garrison with."

"Really?" She looked around, her expression innocent. "Did you see their response? The applause?"

Anakin stepped closer. "You've been acting out. You show off after every battle and wait for that applause."

"What's wrong with that?" She snapped. "It's—"

"It's ego, Ahsoka. Ego and Pride."

"You're one to talk," Ahsoka murmured.

Ouch. "You—I—"

"Everything I learned I learned from you." She continued, raising herself to almost be face-to-face. "Fact."

"Well, then I guess it's time I taught you patience." Anakin said, moving his face to almost have their noses touch. "You're on lockdown. No starship practice, no drills, and no talking to the men until you calm down," He turned and stopped. "and learn."

"You can't—" But he was already off, striding toward the lift with R2 following in his wake, leaving the Padawan to stand against some lonely crates.


Ahsoka paced the small living space that was her quarters, fuming. The door was coded so she could not escape the metal walls of her single-roomed prison. I am not arrogant, and I do not have ego! And where dose he get off putting me on lockdown? She looked up at the crono hung on the wall. Right about now was when she was supposed to teach the guys how to flip a starfighter around on its back without blowing the engine couplings.

Letting out a frustrated cry, she kicked the small and only table at her feet, then threw herself onto the bed that took up almost half the cramped space. Something hit the floor.

Raising her head from the confines of her pillow, she rolled over to the edge to see what fell. Her datapad laid face-down on the floor. A bright light emanating from underneath it. Ahsoka reached down and snatched it.

The device was already on. She couldn't remember the last time she had turned the thing on—intentionally—herself. Weeks? Months? She brought the screen closer.

It was on the stored files page. Perplexed and listening to the burning in his legs from stamping about her quarters, she pressed the 'Previous Battles' icon with her fingertip. A voice began opening files, oddly announcing the title before it actually speaking of the battle. Ahsoka slumped back into her bed, listening as it cycled from one battle to the next, moving in order, but backwards. After an hour, the 'Malevolence ' file came up.

"—was only after the escape and rescue of General Plo Koon by General Anakin Skywalker and his Padawan, Commander Amuko Trayno," Ahsoka rolled her eyes. That was the third—Fourth? time they'd gotten her name wrong. "that the warship Malevolence was revealed to have a massive Ion Cannon, causing any ship caught in its blast to shut down indefinitely. Shortly after acquiring the layout of the secret station, General Skywalker led an assault in bomber fighters with his Padawan, Amuko—"

"Wait," The voice stopped mid-sentence. "Playback the last statement."

"--that the warship Malevolence was revealed to have a massive Ion Cannon, causing any ship caught in its blast to shut down indefinitely. Shortly after acquiring the layout of the secret station, General Skywalker led an assault in bomber fighters with his Padawan, Amuko—"

"Stop. Playback the second half only."

"--Shortly after acquiring the layout of the secret station, General Skywalker led an assault in bomber fighters with his Padawan, Amuko—"

"Pause. Now cut out everything from General Skywalker on."

"--Shortly after acquiring the layout of the secret station, General Skywalker—"

"That's enough." The device chirped and the screen shutdown. Shortly after acquiring the layout of the secret station . . . The memory of that day flashed into her mind, Anakin explaining the attack with a holographic display of the dreaded warship at his side. Puzzled, he reached over and flipped the datapad back on.

And found nothing. Her searches ended with a loud sigh as the voice told her the information she desired was not found, and asked that she double-check her spelling for maximum efficiency. She shut the thing back down and tossed it across her bed. It skidded off the edge and hit the floor. Then, closing her eyes and breathing slowly, she did the last thing she could think of.

She called Anakin.

Minutes later, there was a soft mechanized clamp on the other side of the room and the door slid open, her Master's presence shrouded from the bright light outside and minimal light in the room.

He stepped though, and the door closed behind him. "Have you finally calmed down?"

"Not sure," Ahsoka replied, standing.

"Well if you're not—" He turned and keyed the door controls.

"Wait!" Anakin stopped in the doorway. "I asked you here for a reason."

"And?"

"And something is wrong with the history files." Ahsoka told him, taking in a long breath before asking. "How did we get the Malevolence's plans and layout?"

He just stood there, unmoving. She could sense nothing under the shield of his mind, and every attempt to prod was thwarted. Eventually, his head looked down and his hand gripped into a tight fist. "Are you sure you want to know?"

What was the big deal? "Yes, Master."

His hand relaxed, then reached up and hit the controls. The door slid back down with a silent hiss. He turned to her. Even under the low light, Ahsoka could make out the sadness that laced the edges of his eyes and creases of his face. A glimmer caught the end of his armor and he came toward her, sitting on the bed beside the Padawan. For minutes he didn't speak.

"It was just after we got back to the fleet," Anakin began. "We stood no chance against the Malevolence. Our fighter's were still being prepped, but even with the firepower we had no idea were to strike. If we went in there blind, I know we could have been dead. And the Admiral agreed with me. So we sent out a plan to find the weak spot of the ship. . ."

And Ahsoka sat in silence as he continued telling the story she would never forget.