A.N.

Popular demand had me upload this earlier than I first intended. Oh well!

Chapter 2- The City of Nobles

Unkown; Unkown

There was nothing worse than feeling lost.

For Ahsoka that is perhaps one of the worst feelings she knows. It's especially bad when the last memory you can recall in your faintest conscious was crash landing on a hostile planet. Realizing that, she jolted up and found herself lying on a comfortable bed in a lightly decorated room with stone tiles. In front of her was an open balcony overlooking an old marble city beneath a rising morning sun.

To her side on the other end of the room was Commander Cody, sat on his own bed in the most ridiculous civilian clothes she had ever seen. He wore a tight striped shirt that probably belonged to a prison on some Outer Rim world, ripped and burned in several places. His long blue shorts had a small rip just above the knee and his beige boots seemed very uncomfortable on his feet. He stood carefully and gestured gently at her, "It's good to see you up again."

Catching her breath Ahsoka looked around to the other end of the room where the door was. There was no one else. "How are you feeling?", Cody said.

"Where is everyone? Where's Anakin?" She groaned, rubbing her head as the aches of a severe crash caught up with her.

"Just relax. I'll fill you in." he stood over her and pulled out a wet towel from under her bed, "I had to pull you out of the crash site as soon as I could."

She refused to take the towel, "I'm okay. Just tell me where Anakin and the others are. Did they make it?"

Cody sighed and put the towel down. He walked slowly towards the balcony and stopped short of stepping outside, "I'm afraid not."

Ahsoka nearly jumped out of the bed, "Wha-?"

"I mean they got captured." Cody corrected himself and faced her, "But they looked pretty beat up. With the type of wounds they had I don't know if they'll survive."

Ahsoka sat frozen stiff. She shut her eyes to focus, despite her shaken spirits, and reached out to the Force, expanding her radius, calling out to Anakin wherever he may be...but she got no response. He was there though, she knew because there was no empty void where his familiar pulse belonged, "He's alive."

"How do you know?" He asked.

She opened her eyes, a small smirk twitched on her lips, "I can feel it."

"Well, I guess that's something we can work with. What do we do?"

"Well," she slowly crept out of bed and walked over to the balcony, looking out over the tiled streets criss crossing between the two story houses, similarly designed to the one they're staying in, "You can start by telling me where we are."

"I did a little bit of scouting." He explained and stood beside her, "We're in the capital city of Carannia. I managed to rent out this guest apartment using some credits I stole, but I doubt we'll be safe for long. The entire planet is under surveillance right now, as you can see."

He pointed on to the road beneath them where a group of battledroids marched past a pair of pedestrians, he continued, "They could be looking for us. I'm not sure if it's safe."

"What's over there?" She pointed further up at an intersecting road.

"Market." He explained as they studied the more colorful buildings, "Fairly busy place. We can gather information there."

She nodded, "Sounds like a good place to start."

"But sir, what's your plan exactly?" he frowned curiosly at her.

"I know Anakin would normally look for the nearest military installation and probably raid it single handedly."

"Except, general Skywalker is not here."

She sighed and looked back over the market, "The Force always finds a way."

As they mingled between the crowds Ahsoka noticed that Carannia was quite a lavish city. One of the richest she's ever visited with nobles from all over. She and Cody had both bumped into several people and both got the same snobbish reactions, probably because they were dressed in ragged civilian clothing that didn't seem to fit them nor matched with the rest of their outfits.

Ahsoka wore a hideous pink shirt that was way too big on her. Her black skirt, polka dotted in yellow, also turned out to be too big, so she used a makeshift belt to keep it wrapped around her waist. The purple flip flops didn't help either.

"Where did you buy these from exactly?" She hissed at him as she tugged at the ends of her sleeves.

"They were at bargain price." he explained, "My priority was to blend in and budget."

Ahsoka shied away from a crowd of girls who glared at her outfit disgustingly, "If you mean blend in with the hopelessly bargained by a Jawa crowd then I'd say you did a great job! I don't think I could find a shop that sells these on this planet even if I tried!"

Cody seemed to be walking proudly, regardless of how hilarious he looked or the looks people gave him, "I'm sorry if my taste in fashion isn't as groovy as you hoped it would be, commander. But for now we're going to have to deal."

They walked a little further until Ahsoka couldn't take it anymore. She spotted the nearest shop and dragged Cody into it.

"What are you doing?" Cody snapped.

She looked around hastily at the shelves in the small store, "Looking for a change of clothes."

It was a simple counter with a few shelves on either side in front of it. Behind the counter was a Duro in fancy cotton garments and behind him were more shelves with what looked like fruit and vegetables.

"Can I help you, madam?" The Duro said, grimacing at their outfits.

"Yes, actually. We're looking for..." She smiled and approached him, then gestured down at herself with embarrassment, "clothes."

"Ah. Hmmm..." He stroked his chin and shook his head in apology, "I'm afraid there isn't a clothes store on this side of the market. Are you sure I can't help you to a fresh supply of processed melons? Straight from Fiyarro's organic farms!"

Ahsoka's stomach grumbled. She probably hadn't eaten anything since before they crashed, or earlier than that considering how nervous she was before the mission.

The Duro gestured at another basket, "Or perhaps some of these gorgeous looking berries right off the tree crops of Saffia?"

She glanced back at Cody and found him eying the melons, then turned to the Duro, "How much for the melons?"

The Duro frowned at her, "If you have to ask then it's probably more expensive than you can afford."

"What do you mean?" she staggered.

"I don't know what planet you're coming from, little girl. But here on Serenno we do not ask such questions."

Ahsoka and Cody exchanged awkward glances, "Then how do I know what to pay if you won't tell me?"

"Well!" The Duro puffed up his chest and sharpened his glare, "Get out! Get out right now. I will not tolerate such ignorance in my shop!"

Cody stepped forward when Ahsoka's jaw dropped, "I believe what my friend here was trying to say is, we were in a shop only yesterday and we had no trouble buying these clothes when they told us its price."

"Are you calling me a liar, sir?"

"Absolutely not..."

"Because if you are then I have a right to call the authorities right now and take you both to court."

Ahsoka slapped her forehead as Cody waved his arms about, "No, no, no- there's no need for that!"

"Good then." The Duro nodded, then offered them a cold smile, "As I said...if you have to ask, you can't afford it."

Ahsoka scoffed and marched out onto the road again, Cody followed her with a shrug.

"Strange." he said, "I didn't face this problem yesterday."

"It's no wonder Dooku turned to the darkside." She mumbled as she stormed down the street, leaving Cody struggling to follow her through the crowd, "Just look at the planet he grew up in."

Cody finally caught up, "Actually, I just remembered. The shop was way out of town."

She froze to a stop and raised a brow at him, "Now you tell me?"

Cody gave her an awkward smile, then she looked down at herself, "Well, considering the junk I'm wearing it makes sense."

"Maybe we should forget the clothes and focus on the mission at hand." he suggested, "The sooner we get out of here the better."

"Oh, you're right." She admitted as they disappeared into the crowd again.

Ahsoka and Cody reached a wide square in the middle of the market district. In its center was a tall marble statue mounted over a stone pillar. The statue bore the recognizable features of Count Dooku, dressed in his usual satire, holding up what looked like an orb in his hand and studying it. Universally, a symbol of power and wisdom.

It was clear his people adored him.

Cody saw her shaking her head in disapproval then whispered to her, "Something general Skywalker always said to me, commander. Hearts and minds, he told me. Hearts and minds."

She looked at the people around the square and shrugged, "It's a funny war we're fighting."

Cody wasn't sure how to take that comment. He thought about the millions of his brothers sacrificing blood and sweat, following orders without question- without hesitation. Blindly following the Jedi wherever they dared to go. What was funny about that?

Yet, here he is now, again following a Jedi into the very heart of the Separatist cause...without question, without hesitation.

It seemed like a subconscious act. He couldn't imagine a war, or even an existence without the Jedi. They were symbiotic. One depending on the other. One feeding off the other. Until perhaps one eliminated the other. Until one abandoned the other, as was the case with Rex. His most dearest brother.

Cody almost froze in shock at the thought of...betraying? No, the word didn't match the thought. But how couldn't it? If they were meant to serve the Jedi then- no but wait! They served the chancellor. That was exactly where their allegiance lay. With the chancellor. Wholly and completely, serving the chancellor. Not the Republic. Not the Jedi. Just the chancellor. That was exactly what he recalled...and that is sometimes what his brothers forget.

"Commander?" Ahsoka snapped him out of his thoughts when they stopped just in front of what looked like a droid store, "Are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

"What is it?" his eyes fell on one specific droid stood at the front of the store, "Wait a minute, is that...?"

"Artooy!" Her eyes widened as she ran over to the inactive astromech droid, she cooed, "What have they done to you?"

"He looks pretty beat up to me." Cody stepped beside her while she fell on her knees looking over the droid.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" A gruff voice interrupted them. They looked over to the shop entrance where a fat human with a rough white beard and short white hair stood. Cody could've sworn the man was Dooku had it not been for his weight.

"Get your filthy hands off my droid!"

"Your droid?" Ahsoka snapped as she stood up.

"Yeah, my droid." He towered himself over her, "I found it, I repaired it- it's mine."

Cody stepped in, he noticed he'd been doing that a lot lately, "When did you find it exactly, sir?"

"Five months ago." The man looked Cody in the eye, nodding at him with a feigned innocent smile.

"Why you-" The man flinched as Cody tightened his fists to pound him, but Ahsoka jumped between them, her arms shielding them from each other, "Okay! Let's not get hostile here!"

The bearded man pointed at Cody and looked at her, "You saw what he was about to do to me. I'll have you know, that I'm a man with strong connections. Right up there with the big man himself."

Ahsoka and Cody shared nervous looks, then her eyes sharpened at him, hinting something as she nodded towards the sales man. Cody understood and sighed, "I-I'm sorry. I uhh....don't know what got over me. We've been having a rough day."

The man scoffed, then turned when Ahsoka made a noise, "We saw a droid that looked just like this one yesterday, so we think it might be the one we're after. Are you interested in selling?"

"No." He shrugged them off with his hand, "It's not for sale. Leave."

"We'll pay whatever price you ask." She reasoned.

"It's not for sale!" He yelled.

Cody gritted his teeth in agitation, "Why not?"

The man didn't answer. His eyes shot daggers at the clone. Ahsoka tried a different tactic, adding gentleness to her voice, "May we please ask as to why we may not have this droid? We would hate to look rude in front of our hosts who so desired an Artoo unit of such rare design. It would do us well to offer him a genuine excuse."

The man eyed her carefully as she batted her eyes, "He has a passion for quality droids, you see."

"Well...I suppose it wouldn't hurt." he sighed, "The authorities found it in a wreckage far outside Carannia. They handed it to me yesterday and asked me to clear its memory and back up any information I find on a disk. Something about sensitive war strategies."

Cody bit his lip and looked over to find Ahsoka still in the act.

"Oh my." she staggered, "I see we wouldn't want to get in the way of sensitive stuff like that."

He tilted his head, "So now you see why. Please don't tell anyone."

Cody blinked in amusement as Ahsoka stepped over to him, behaving over dramatically even for him, "I suppose cousin Denathor will have to make do with another batch of processed lemons this time.", she turned around to face the shop keeper with a smile, "Thank you for you kind sir."

"No problem, ma'am." He nodded, but then frowned at their outfits as they began leaving, "May I ask if it's not too much trouble."

They whirled around, trying not to look too awkward, "My daughter has been looking for some clothes to make her stand out, and...is that really what young girls are into these days?"

Ahsoka struggled to maintain her composure, "Oh, y-yeah, of course. The latest on the Coruscant high street. Absolutely!"

She smiled.

"That's great news! I saw ones just like it last week, thank you!" he nodded excitedly and entered his store. Cody sneered at her and all Ahsoka could do was stare through the shop door dazzlingly.

Sat on a bench in the middle of the square, Ahsoka and Cody sighed in aggravation. It was still midday.

Cody was the first to speak, "If we can't free Artoo from that shopkeeper there's no telling what information the Separatists can get their hands on. The locations of our bases, our combat strategies, weaknesses on our fronts...everything."

Ahsoka cupped her hands under her chin, "What would Anakin do?"

Cody shrugged, "Meditate?"

She shook her head, "No."

A moment passed after the two sulked, but then the sound of a cheering crowd entering the square snapped them to attention, "What's going on?"

Cody was just as curious. The crowd was large and angry, carrying anti-Republic banners and signs, they cried, "Hero of Serenno! All the way to Duro!" and "No, no, Republic Crum!Chancellor Palpatine is only scum!"

He grimaced at the prospect of getting caught up in the excitement and then recognized for his clone features, "Maybe we should get out of here, commander."

"Wait." She stood and looked deeper into the crowd, she noticed armor she knew, "Oh no."

Cody followed her line of sight, he stood and realized what horrified her. The crowd was carrying one of the clone commandos that was part of their crew, most of his armor was stripped off.

Cody squeezed his fists and his face tightened. Ahsoka put a hand on his shoulder, "Come on, we should go."

"No." He whispered. She looked at him curiously until he added, "I've got a better plan."

Just as Cody suspected, these crowds are always accompanied with a Separatist officer. An organic of some kind, whose duty it is to monitor activities and report any suspicions or simply encourage support by simply being present.

"There." He pointed at a gruff looking man, wrinkled and skinny in grey uniform, army boots with a tilted cap. Surrounded by droids, he stayed at the back of the crowd.

"Okay, now what?" Ahsoka asked.

Cody kept his features hidden by putting on a hood to shadow his face, "We're going to need his uniform. But with those guards in the way it'll be difficult to get it."

"The same way you borrowed that jacket you're wearing?" She smirked.

Cody shot a glare towards her then turned back to the officer, "We have to do it quietly."

"Leave that to me." She squeezed into the crowd just as Cody was about to stop her, he hissed, "No- Ahsoka, wait!"

The crowd was moving at a slower pace than it did entering the square, it appeared things began to calm but Ahsoka assumed they were waiting till they reached the market to voice themselves again. She crept from between everyone till she found the officer pacing beside her. Good- now she needed the perfect spot to execute her plan. She looked around to find an alley, or perhaps an empty road, but her search was interrupted when a battle droid, marked in the typical red security class, stepped in between them.

Ahsoka grumbled. She had no time for interruptions- this operation is too sensitive for clumsy droids.

But the Force indicated something for her- a club, stuffed in a Weequay's back pocket. This was exactly what she needed!

She reached out to it in the Force, gripped it- and with a swift tug it soared right into the battledroid's head- decapitating it as it cried. The distraction was short lived, but so was her following attack. She sprung at the officer, tackling him out of the crowd with Force induced strength and speed.

The man found himself under the shadow of an archway leading into a narrow and empty street, looking up at the Togruta, "What is this? Just who do you think you are?"

"Don't worry. This won't last long." She smirked and tapped his temple, putting him out of consciousness, then rummaged through his pockets until she pulled out a door pass and a datacard, which after reading it, widened her smile, "Well, well, sergeant- looks like we'll have no trouble rescuing Artoo afterall!"

After wondering out of the crowd looking for Ahsoka, Cody spotted her coming out the archway dusting herself then ran towards her, "What happened?"

"We're in luck, Cody." She gestured at the unconscious officer, "Looky what I found!"

Cody couldn't help but look genuinely surprised when she held up the two items, "That's the order for retrieving the droid."

"Yup!" She nodded and fumbled with the door pass, "And this should give us access to a few secured areas."

"We'd better get moving then." He guided her back to the square.

"I must say, you two must have strong connections if you could get your hands on a document like that." The bearded man stated as he detached the restraining bolt off of Artoo.

Ahsoka rolled her eyes and shrugged, "What can I say? My uncle just didn't want to let down our cousin Denethor."

Artoo immediately began rolling his dome and twittering queries back and forth, undoubtedly curious about how he got here. The man rubbed his beard, "Strange. It seems like he's already familiar with you."

"Don't be silly." She laughed and nudged Cody, "Come on, tell him how ridiculous that is, darling."

"Erm....uhh, yes. Ridiculous, you are." Cody shied his gaze away from looking right at the man while Ahsoka grimaced questionably at his pathetic roleplay then faced the man again, "You work with droids, I'm sure you know how their memory chip thingies affect their behavior after damage."

"I suppose so." he stroked his beard.

"Well, we'd best be on our way now." She gestured at the droid and began walking, "Come on, little droid!"

Cody followed with an exasperated sigh, then whispered to her, "I can't believe that actually worked."

"What did I tell you?" She offered him a smile, "The Force always finds a way."

"Are you sure this is the place, Artoo?" Ahsoka asked and got an affirmative response from the droid.

She, Artoo and Cody stood against the edge of a wall as she poked her head around the corner and stared at a huge palatial estate. Guarded heavily by droids and organics with automated gun turrets mounted on the ceilings of the beautifully adorned walkways and balconies. Trees, bushes and flowers, finely trimmed and organized decorated the footpaths that led up to the entrance of the fortress, which was a large pillared energy gate- it's shield glowing a vibrant red.

"And I'm betting general Skywalker and the rest of the crew are kept in there too." Cody added.

Ahsoka bit her lip and slipped back against the wall, Cody frowned, "What is it?"

"I have a plan." she said, "It's crazy, but it might work."

Cody didn't speak, she could tell he was already stunned by the fact she just admitted that one of her own plans were crazy- certainly not typical of her, but she continued, "I'm going to surrender myself at the gate."

His eyes squinted, "Why?"

"It's our best chance at finding Anakin." She explained, "Without him this mission can't go on."

"Except both of you will be stuck in a cell and that's no use to anybody." Cody criticized, "I don't like it."

"You just focus on getting inside with Artoo and leave the rest to me. You'll need this."

She offered him the security door key and Cody took it with a sigh, "Fine, but if this doesn't work just remember I told you so."

After giving him a raised brow Ahsoka carefully walked around the corner and paced casually across the beautiful garden footpath. The birds chirped with a sound not too unfamiliar from those typically found on forested planets across the galaxy. It surprised her, really- she always thought seeing other worlds would introduce her to something new around every corner, but as it turns out even surprises are balanced on the scale of expectations.

She finally reached the energy gate when a Weequay guard, outfitted in a red and white uniform that looked way too formal and classy to suit the stereotype of his species, gripped his electro staff, stepped forward and put his hand out towards her, "No visitors."

She noted the other similarly outfitted guards were two Rodians and a human. The human appeared to be higher ranked considering the golden threads on his jacket.

"But I'm not a visitor." She explained earning a curious frown from the guard, "I'm trespassing."

The guard looked over to his superior, the human spoke out in a Coruscanti accent, "What are you talking about?"

"This!" she said as a sudden wave of her arm struck them with a Force blast that sent them hitting the ground. The two turrets above the pillars of the gate fired at her, but her lightsaber already flew to her grip and with two swift deflections the turrets exploded by their own energy bolts.

"Sound the alarm!" The man ordered as he got up and pulled out his blaster pistol. The Weequay ran back into a sentry room where he triggered the security measures. As soon as he was out he discovered she was already on her knees and the guards were standing over her.

The human held up her now damaged lightsaber and scoffed, "I could almost swear you were going easy on us."

"You shot my lightsaber hilt!" she exclaimed, "No one's ever been able to do that to a Jedi before."

He lifted his chin proudly, "No Jedi has ever confronted me before. Lower the shield and take her to the prison hold!"

The Rodians lifted her from her arms and marched her through the gate. The human officer stood beside the Weequay guard, "You should've seen that shot. Another one like that and I'm looking at a promotion."

Ahsoka rolled her eyes and smirked as she was led away.

Cody watched through his electro-binoculars as the entire thing unfolded, "She's inside."

The droid twittered a query as it turned its head from side to side, while Cody continued to watch the guards as he spoke, "That all depends on how soon you can find me a way inside."

The droid chirped a response and Cody at last put down the device in his hand to look at him, "You'll only slow me down. Just tell me where to go and I'll take care of it."

This time Artoo spat a derogatory honk at him, which made Cody snap back at him, "What's the big deal if I went alone?"

His explanation was a long series of beeps, but it made the clone think seriously about it, "I suppose you're right...fine, but once we get inside, I call the shots."

Artoo let out a disappointed whine then pulled out one of his arms mounting a scanning device. Cody waited patiently by his side and shook his head, "Droids."

Trivia:

1. Carannia is in fact the capital city of Serenno where Dooku grew up.

2. Fiyarro and Saffia are also two cities on Serenno, but I made up the thing with the fruits. I'm not even sure if there are farms or gardens there.

3. Cody was deeply impacted by the death of Captain Rex. More so than the death of their more recent captain. It's his job to find a new replacement.

4. For Lord of the Rings fans. Yes, I borrowed the name Denethor...or rather, Ahsoka did!