-Two and a half hours after Order 66-

Shaak Ti had never heard a sound as relieving as that of a another lightsaber igniting somewhere down the tunnel. Whoever owned it shouted something that she couldn't understand over the cacophony of blasters, but it made most of the clones on that side turn their attention to the newcomer. Seizing the chance, Shaak Ti called out to the two Padawans who remained standing.

"You two, stay over Katooni!" And then once again, the veteran Jedi master charged. Not having to watch her back anymore, she could get up close to the clones, something that they had no defense against. They fell before her, limbs flying and long gashes smoking. It was terrible, but it had to be done. Before long the last enemy had fallen, and the only sound in the room was the humming of four lightsabers. Before Ti could turn and thank the mystery Jedi, the younglings recognized their savior. Gungi's howl of joy was so loud that she almost didn't hear Jinx shouting the Jedi's name.

"Ahsoka!"

Startled, Shaak Ti turned and saw they were right. Ahsoka Tano stood among a pile of white-armored corpses at the entrance to what had previously been a death trap, an emerald-bladed lightsaber held reverse in her hand. The young Togruta looked almost exactly the same as the last time Ti had seen her, when she looked down at her despondent form as the Padawan was banished from the Order. Shaak had felt uneasy even before the truth of her innocence came out, and now her guilt over their actions came flooding back. For Ahsoka's credit, her own injustice was plainly the last thing on her mind. Her face was lit up, the joy at finding them alive overpowering whatever pain she felt. The four of them deactivated their weapons at almost the same time, and they all let out a collective sigh of relief and exhaustion.

"Padawan Tano," Shaak Ti said without thinking, and instantly regretted it. A look of annoyance flashed over Ahsoka's face, and Shaak didn't need the Force to know what she was thinking.

Not anymore, thanks to you.

But the look was fleeting, and Ahsoka was over it immediately. Before she could speak she was nearly knocked over by an overjoyed Wookiee. Gungi wrapped his arms around her, lifting her clear off the ground in the kind of hug only Wookiees could give as he howled in joy.

"I-" cough "-I'm happy to see you t-" cough "-too, you big f-" cough "-furball!" Gungi put her back down, looking ready to explode from happiness, a far cry from how he'd been just a minute before. She turned towards Jinx. "I knew you'd make it, Jinx! If you survived Wasskah then you can survive anything." The Twi'lek forced a smile that contrasted with the mournful look in his eyes. Ahsoka's own smile gave way to a puzzled expression as she took a good look at each of them.

"It couldn't have been any of-"

A low moan brought each of their attentions to Katooni's prone form.
"Katooni!" Ahsoka yelled, running to her side. All of them crouched around the injured Tholothian girl, whose eyelids opened with great effort. Shaak noticed that the Padawan's headdress had disappeared sometime during their flight; she'd been so focused on escaping that the sight of Katooni's uncovered brown hair hadn't registered.

"Ahsoka..." she muttered. "Am I dead, or are you really here?"

The younger Togruta blinked back tears. "Yes, it's really me. I heard you, I came as fast as I could. Don't worry, you'll be alright, you'll see!" Ahsoka clutched Katooni's hand with both of hers. Katooni smiled faintly, then fell unconscious again.

"Unless you happen to have a bacta tank in that bag, we may still be in trouble," Jinx spoke up. Shaak agreed with him, though she thought it was good to see that Ahsoka's arrival had somewhat restored his personality. Ahsoka flashed him a grin.

"It turns out I do have a medpack in here." She pulled the rucksack off her back and removed a small white box, offering it to Shaak. "Here Master Ti, you should patch her up."

Shaak nodded and began working on Katooni's leg injury. She saw Katooni had sprained her ankle when she fell, but thankfully the blaster had missed the bone and major arteries. A few days in a healing trance and she'd be back to normal. If any of us can be back to normal after today. Shaak Ti was a Jedi Master, she could deal with death and adversity, even as much as this. In the past she'd dealt with the deaths of both of her Padawan learners along with so many others. But the younglings were much more fragile than her in many ways, and she had no idea how Ahsoka was holding up.

Ahsoka rummaged through the sack some more. "Any of you hungry? Thirsty? I've got some food in here."

Jinx shrugged. "I don't have much of an appetite, but I've learned to take food when I can get it." Ahsoka nodded and handed him a canteen and a protein bar. Shaak's thoughts went to him while she worked on Katooni. He was doing better than the others, his experiences on Wasskah had hardened him towards death long ago. But she was still worried about him. Shaak feared that whatever innocence or idealism had survived the Trandoshan hunting parties had been thoroughly eradicated that night.

"I fear that would have ended quite differently if you hadn't shown up, Ahsoka," Shaak Ti said. "Though I am curious as to how you found us?"

Gungi punctuated her question with his own inquisitive roar.

Ahsoka sighed and knelt on the floor. Shaak Ti could see she had gone through her own ordeal that night; there was pain in her eyes far beyond her years.
"I'd explain my whole story, but I don't think we have the time," she began. Shaak Ti had to agree. "I was nearby, and Katooni here reached out to me through the Force somehow." Ahsoka smiled down at the unconscious youngling.

Master Ti was shocked that Katooni could contact someone through the Force at such a young age until she remembered that Ahsoka had been with her at the infamous last Gathering on Ilum. They must have developed a latent Force-bond with each other that Katooni had instinctively used, reaching through it in her time of need. It wasn't unheard of.

Ahsoka got a rather disturbed look. "Master Ti, what happened? What could have caused this? Who could have done this?!" There was a slight touch of venom in her voice with the last question.

It was a good thing Shaak Ti could keep her emotions from showing on her face and that Ahsoka couldn't see Jinx and Gungi exchange an uncomfortable glance with each other. That piece of information would have to be broken to Ahsoka very carefully.

Thankfully, she was almost done patching up Katooni. "I'll explain everything to you when we can rest," Shaak Ti said as she secured the bacta patch around Katooni's leg. "Like you said, we need to keep moving for now."

Ahsoka grimaced. "Right. You know, you've got a nasty blaster wound on your arm there, you should put something on it too." Thankfully the lighting was too dim for her to notice the way Shaak Ti froze. "I'm going to seal that hole so we don't get more surprises from behind." Ahsoka stood up and walked off, her gaze pointedly avoiding all the corpses she stepped over.

It was a good thing Ahsoka hadn't looked at her arm closely enough to see that it wasn't a blaster wound at all. Shaak didn't want to explain to her right now how she had come to be slashed by a lightsaber. Jinx looked at Ahsoka's retreating form nervously, then looked back at Shaak Ti and began a conspiratorial whisper.

"Master, how are we going to tell her?" Gungi added his own mournful groan.

"Let me worry about that, young ones," Shaak Ti said in a low voice. "For now, we have to focus on making it out of here. And she's right, Jinx, could you help me bind up this wound?"

Jinx took another bacta patch and moved around to the offered arm. Tearing away the already torn sleeve of her tunic, she heard him mutter to himself.
"Don't want her to take a closer look at that…"

Shaak Ti cut him off curtly. "Yes, Initiate, thank you. Now, like I said, don't talk about it. It will be difficult for her to come to terms with Skywalker's betrayal."
Jinx snorted at that, but made no further comment. Even so, Shaak could tell the three of them were all thinking the same thing.

Understatement of the century.

Satisfied that it would take some time for the clones to cut through her makeshift welding of debris, Ahsoka clipped her lightsaber back to her belt. Anakin had taught her long ago that a lightsaber would work as a substitute plasma torch in a pinch. He's alive, he's too resourceful to die. She re-entered the room that now served as a tomb for the unfortunate clones. Don't think about that until you're in the clear, Ahsoka told herself. It sure wasn't easy. She saw that Jinx was putting Shaak Ti's arm in a sling. If the clones had been good enough to get a shot past Shaak Ti's defences, how many others had been less fortunate? Don't think about it. Don't wonder where Petro is, or Ganodi, or Byph, or Zatt or O-Mer. Don't wonder about the Jedi spread through the galaxy.

Don't worry about Anakin. He's fine, he just has something blocking our connection.

It was so hard not to just curl up on the ground in a terrified ball. Instead she thought about how lucky they were that Shaak Ti was still alive. Having a Jedi Master in the group gave them a much better chance, and she knew that Jinx, Gungi and Katooni were all completely brilliant.

Ahsoka cleared her throat. "So where does this tunnel lead?"

Shaak Ti pointed to the door at the far end of the room with her good arm. "It connects to the sewers behind that door, and they end at one of the sinkholes that lead to the Underworld."

"Yeah, I've got experience with those," Ahsoka muttered to herself. Shaak Ti's montrals must have picked it up, because she grimaced in recognition of the reference. "So that's where we're headed then," Ahsoka asked.

Ti nodded. "Yes, beyond there…" She shrugged. "We'll have to see where the Force takes us."

Which was Jedi-Master-speak for I have no kriffing idea, but it was better than nothing. I should probably tell Asajj where to meet us, she thought, then groaned. Oh she is not going to be happy about this. Ahsoka ignored Shaak Ti's curious look and took the communicator from its spot on her belt, dialing Asajj's code.

"Hey, it's Ahsoka, how are things on your end?" She heard a lot of wind noise over the comm before Asajj replied.

"Probably better than they are on yours. I've picked up a speeder, now would it kill you to tell me where I'm going?"

"Unless you've been in a firefight too, you'd be right about that. I need you to meet us at one of the sinkholes that go into the Underworld, number-" Ahsoka looked at Shaak Ti expectantly.

"C-328," said the Jedi.

"C-328," Ahsoka continued. "A sewage pipe near the surface." Ahsoka frowned. "Wait, what do you mean, 'picked up'?"

"Do you really want to know?"

Ahsoka rolled her eyes. "No, I guess I don't."

"I'll be there." There was a pause as something Ahsoka had said clicked in her head. "What do you mean, 'us'?"

"Did I say us? I don't think I did." Ahsoka smirked to herself.

"Fine, be that way. I'll see you there." Asajj hung up.

Ahsoka replaced the comm on her belt and looked to see all three Jedi were staring at her with very curious expressions on their faces.
Jinx was the first to speak up. "And that was…?" Gungi cocked his head to the side, and if Shaak Ti had an eyebrow, it would be raised. Oh, they aren't going to like this either.

"It's a… partner of mine," Ahsoka said carefully. "She's going to pick us up at the end." The others kept looking at her and an awkward silence descended over them.

Shaak Ti broke it. "And who is this mystery friend of yours?"

Ahsoka ignored the question and started repacking her bag. "Just trust me, alright? We can talk about it later, we need to get moving." Ahsoka strapped the bag to her back and moved past them. "Gungi, do you think you can carry Katooni?"

The Wookiee youngling roared an affirmative and bent down to scoop the girl up. He barely even seemed to notice her weight, she looked even smaller and frailer in his furry embrace. Hang in there, kiddo.

"Alright then," Shaak Ti said. "Let's move on." She gave Ahsoka an odd look, then led them quickly to the far end of the room. Beyond the last few corpses - don't look at them- was a sewer tunnel. Ahsoka ignored the smell and followed the Jedi Master in, looking back to make sure Katooni was still safe. Ahsoka walked next to Shaak Ti at the front, Jinx bringing up the rear and Gungi carrying Katooni in the middle.

"I can't see a blasted thing in here," Jinx muttered to himself, barely audible. Ahsoka's hearing picked it up though, and she drew her lightsaber. The soft green glow lit up the darkness, casting an eerie sheen on everything around them.

"Better?" Ahsoka glanced over her shoulder.

Jinx looked rather sheepish. "Yeah."

Ahsoka noticed Shaak Ti looking at the ignited lightsaber hilt curiously. "Where did you get that lightsaber?" Judging from her grim expression, Master Ti assumed she had taken it from a fallen former comrade.

"It's mine. I built it," Ahsoka said, slightly annoyed. Ti blinked in surprise.

"Very well," the older Togruta said, looking ahead. Ahsoka was surprised she was leaving it at that, she'd expected further questioning. I guess she really is trusting me, Ahsoka thought. It almost made her smile, despite everything else.

Sure, now she trusts you, a dark, sarcastic voice whispered in her head. Now she needs you. Where was that trust back in the Chamber of Judgement? Ahsoka looked down at the floor, watching the dark waters flow ahead in a shallow trickle. Damn it, she was not going to be petty enough to be bitter towards Shaak Ti now! After what they had been through, was she was going to hold a grudge over something that, honestly, had probably been their only real option? Sure, they could have tried a little harder, stalled Tarkin longer, or at least explained their reasoning to her. But it wasn't important now, and Ahsoka resolved to forget about it. Think about something else. Her mind had decided that she must suffer somehow though, so she couldn't help but think about the clones she had just killed. Ahsoka had taken lives before - quite a few actually, more than she cared to admit. But never had she done anything like the massacre she'd inflicted back in that tunnel. She could barely remember anything specific, it was all a blur. That part of it just scared her.

"Ahsoka, are you alright? Pay attention to where you're going," Shaak Ti's voice cut into her thoughts. Ahsoka looked up, startled, to find that she had gone down the wrong turn of a junction.

"Sorry," she said, embarrassed. "I was just thinking…" The lightsaber blade wavered as the hilt shook in her hands slightly. "Everyone I killed back there, I probably knew a lot of them."

"And you probably knew a lot of the people they killed," Jinx said angrily. Shaak Ti shot him a look.

"Calm down, Jinx. Ahsoka was with the 501st for most of the war, and we should be regretful for anyone we have to kill," the Jedi Master lectured. Jinx sighed, but made no further comment.

"Not that they seemed to care," Ahsoka muttered. "It's like they didn't even recognize me."

A moment later there was a soft thump and a startled cry from Gungi. Ahsoka turned around to see that Shaak Ti had stopped in her tracks, eyes wide, the blue markings on her lekku deathly pale. Gungi had walked right into her.

"Master!" Ahsoka said. "What is it?" No no no no, don't do this to me now!

"Maybe she's having a vision or something," Jinx said. "Can you hear us?"

Master Ti whispered something, a word so faint that Ahsoka barely heard, and it took her a moment to understand it.

Fives.

"Fives?" Ahsoka repeated it, confused. The way she'd said it made it sound like a name. The ARC trooper assigned to the 501st? "What about him?"

"He knew," Shaak Ti whispered, seemingly not hearing her. "He was right, and none of us listened…"

Ahsoka reached out a hand and touched her tentatively on the shoulder. "Master Ti, stay with us, we need you right now. Alright? What did Fives know?"

"Everything," she whispered, then snapped out of it, looking around like she didn't know where she was. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have dropped out on you all like that. Ahsoka's words made me remember something." Shaak Ti started walking forward again. "I'll explain everything later, don't worry about me. I'm fine."

Ahsoka couldn't help but worry. What had gotten into Shaak Ti? She looked at Gungi and Jinx, who could only shrug. They were just as confused as her.

"Alright then," Ahsoka said uncertainly, following after Ti. Now she could see the literal light at the end of the tunnel, and could barely make out the shape of a speeder parked down there. Oh kriff, this will be hard. Ahsoka quickened her pace, overtaking Shaak Ti.

"I, uh, should probably take point. Since I've got the light and all," she said, her casualness failing to hide the nervous tone in her voice. "Just hang in there, we're almost out."

"So this friend of yours," Shaak Ti began, now fully recovered from her odd reaction. Great, Ahsoka had hoped to come up with how to tell them on the way, now she had to do it on the spot-

"Asajj Ventress, I presume?"

Ahsoka stumbled, then whipped her head around to look at her. "Wha - how did you know?"

Ahsoka heard Gungi and Jinx's startled cries, but kept her eyes on Shaak Ti's serene face.

"Call it an educated guess. The side of your conversation that I heard felt… adversarial, but not seriously so. I remembered that she helped you before, and even before that she rescued Master Kenobi from Darth Maul and his brother. Then there was how nervous and defensive you got when the subject of your partner came up." Shaak Ti gave a small smile. "I didn't want to press the issue, but it seemed like you weren't going to say anything until we met."

"Wait, so we're actually going along with this?" Jinx was incredulous.

Gungi grunted skeptically.

"Ahsoka seems to believe that Ventress has changed for the better," Shaak Ti said. "And I trust Ahsoka, so yes, I'll 'go along with it', as you put it."

Ahsoka was quite simply floored that it had been this easy. Shaak Ti was going to put her life in the hands of an ex-Sith assassin who was notorious for hating Jedi? All because she trusted Ahsoka?

"I don't know what to say," she stammered out.

"How about, this is a stupid plan?," Jinx said.

Ahsoka turned to look at him in the eyes. "Hey, I know what I'm doing here Jinx! You trusted me on Wasskah, trust me now. Please," Ahsoka begged. Besides, Asajj had changed for the better.

Somewhat. A little bit. Maybe.

I hope.

Gungi roared that of course he trusted Ahsoka, and Jinx should too. Jinx threw his arms up. "Fine, I see I'm outnumbered here. Lets trust the crazy bald woman who probably fantasizes about what happened tonight." His voice dripped with sarcasm.

"I'm so glad you agree," Shaak Ti deadpanned. "Ahsoka, have you told Ventress that we're with you?"

Kriff.

"Uh, no, I haven't." The end of the tunnel was getting a lot closer now, and it was light enough that Ahsoka shut off her lightsaber.

"Oh. Well then," Shaak Ti said. "This should be quite interesting."