A/N: Hello everyone! I am so, so incredibly sorry for how long I made you wait. I have been struggling with writer's block for some time now. Thankfully, it seems to be largely gone, so I am going to try to update all of my fics on at least a semi-regular basis.

Shadowstorm11: I am so glad you're enjoying this fic. I love your username and picture by the way. I hope I hear from you again! heremydear77: Thank you, I'm glad I did it well. I do indeed hope to include Poe some more in the future. I love him and I think it's probably good for Anakin to have a child to look after (at least a little) anyway. Read on! GrassssnakeGildedserpent: He is. I love him. Camidala: I know. Glad you liked it! TheVampireStrahd: Interesting username. I would love to hear where you got it. In any case, here is your chapter. I hope you don't regret your wish. *evil laughter* MarieBloom15: Yes it is, and yes you will! His father is one of the pilots for the rebellion. Hey, he had to get it somewhere. Hope you enjoy! Tevyecat: Thank you so much for your review; you have no idea how much it means. Iva1201: Most of these threads, interestingly enough, will be addressed this chapter. As for Rex… I don't think the situation has been created that could shock him. He tends to take things in stride. Mostly he's just glad to have his friend back, regardless of the circumstances. Thank you for the complements; you are very sweet.

I do not own Star Wars or its characters

Chapter 10

Keldabe

Mandalore

Imperial Governmental Offices

Many light years away from the rebellion, Obi-Wan Kenobi sat on a graceful bench along the wall of a great hall made of glass. Imperial officers rushed by, intent on their tasks, entirely oblivious to the invisible Jedi mere yards away.

This building had once been a palace, but after it had been nearly demolished in Maul's takeover it had been rebuilt and repurposed by the Empire into the governmental installation for Mandalore. Still, it reminded Obi-Wan of better times, of Satine, and he frequently stopped there when he needed to clear his head.

"I thought I might find you here."

A voice beside him roused Obi-Wan from his thoughts, and he looked up to see the familiar tall form of his master; studying him with parental concern.

"I find myself…worried."

The expression didn't change, "About Anakin." The statement was questioning, probing; a clear attempt to coax him into discussing his concerns.

Obi-Wan was quiet for a moment, "What should I do?"

"What do you think? What do your instincts tell you?"

He was once more silent. It was better than it had been on Tatooine, at least. Back then Qui-Gon had been nothing but a voice sometimes heard in deep meditation. Unfortunately, Qui-Gon's incomplete training had not allowed him to maintain more separation from the Force than that. Now that he was dead, his old master almost looked real; not quite as distinct as Yoda was, but easily visible. None of this, of course, made his answers to questions any easier to make useful.

"I don't know. What he did… I don't know if I can forgive him… It was inexcusable… horrific…"

"And yet you still care."

Obi-Wan looked down at the floor, nodding slightly.

There was a long silence, but finally Qui-Gon moved forward, sitting beside his apprentice to better interact, "I fear I cannot help you, Obi-Wan. This path is yours to take and you are the one who must choose it. Go to him if you will, or leave him to his own devices, you must do what you feel is right."

The other paused, "Perhaps you are right, however-" Qui-Gon had already disappeared, leaving him with his thoughts.

By the time Ahsoka returned to the medbay it was full of droids, busily moving to and fro, in and out, efficiently and quickly installing all the computers, holo-projectors, seating, etc. that would be required. She carefully dodged around them, trying not to impede them as she made her way back to the bed.

"So, how are you feeling?"

Anakin slowly forced himself upright on his elbows, lines appearing on his face from the exertion. "Like someone ran me over with a speeder."

Ahsoka smiled, "Well, I might have something to help with that." She pulled an odd-looking fruit (it was purple with soft, useless spines) out from somewhere and offered it to him. "Here, eat. You'll feel better." Anakin failed to move to accept it and the togruta became more insistent, "I looked at your records; you haven't eaten anything since you got here. This room is going to be filled with all the generals they can scrounge up soon, here to listen to you; you need to keep up your strength. Come on."

His voice was quiet when he finally spoke, "I don't eat anymore. It hurts too much." He paused, glancing briefly at the array of machines and IV stands sitting nearby, "They have me on a nutrient feed anyway. I'll be fine; don't worry about me."

Ahsoka sighed, but didn't press the issue. Instead she sat on the edge of the bed, readying herself to ensure he was properly prepared for the meeting.

Her question was stopped in her throat when Anakin, as close to beaming as he seemed likely to get any time in the near future, broke in, "By the way, look what Luke found!" He seemed to be gesturing towards a low platform nearly level with the floor, and Ahsoka took a moment to manage an appropriately excited noise of response. Anakin, thankfully, didn't appear to notice. "I asked Luke for this a while ago. Someone hasn't been taking care of R2 and his jets are broken. Apparently Han had one lying around on his ship."

"Great."

"You see, I can't get up, but this way I can just have him roll onto the table, then raise it with this remote to my level so I can work on him! It's perfect!" Having taken said remote in hand he raised it and lowered it slightly a few times demonstratively.

She was glad; after all she was familiar with how much he enjoyed tinkering and it might be an effective distraction, however they had a few other concerns. To that end she tried to turn the conversation toward more important matters. She squared her torso facing him, her hand rested near his knee (or at least where it should have been). "Wonderful. Now, do you know what you're planning to say to them?"

"Mm-hm" He still seemed distracted with raising and lowering his new toy.

"Anakin?"

"What? Oh, um," He paused, then continued, sounding as though he had rehearsed, "I greet them as they arrive, then present my plan. …And I try not to kill the irritating ones."

She nodded, then smiled reassuringly, "You'll do fine. Okay, they seem to be almost finished setting this up. Will you be all right on your own? I can sit next to you if you need me to."

In the end everyone filed in, with Ahsoka on his right and Luke on his left, watchful as guard dogs, while Rex settled in close to one wall, in a strategic location that afforded him a good view of the room. Leia, Anakin couldn't help but noticed, situated herself as far away from him as she could manage, Han beside her for moral support.

Her father studied the young man, unsure. He seemed nice, certainly, and he had comported himself well in their brief conversation, but he was still a smuggler, which would tend to indicate a certain psychological profile. If he and Leia were together… He made a mental note to talk to Han alone later.

Thus far the meeting hadn't started; everyone talking and finding their seats while the older ones (almost all veterans of the Republic Army and the Clone Wars, Anakin noticed) glared at him furiously. The younger people weren't friendly either, however they seemed mostly content to pointedly ignore him. He supposed the name 'Anakin Skywalker' might have been slightly more recognizable to the older crowd, rendering him a traitor for them rather than merely a genocidal maniac.

Finally the meeting was called to order, opening pleasantries disposed of, and he began.

"Thank you for meeting with me. My friends, I know this war has been an uphill battle for you. From the start you have been short of weapons, supplies, funding… With limited places to operate, few victories, and all of the Empire's finest troops constantly hunting you. No one would have ever blamed you if you had simply given up and gone home, or never started in the first place. And yet you didn't. You continued to fight, clawing and scratching until you started to prevail." He smiled slightly, "And you have. You have won time and time again, until now… the end finally seems to be in sight. You have done well."

The room appeared entirely unimpressed.

He continued, "Now, on to business. Gamorra is not a base. It is a distribution center. This is why I warned that it could not be taken with normal methods using the forces you possess."

A voice spoke up as if to correct him, "You don't know what forces we possess."

Anakin looked down his nose at the miscreant. Once upon a time, an officer wouldn't have dared say such a thing to his face, particularly not one without significant ties to the Imperial leadership, if not the Emperor himself.

'They don't respect you.' Said the little voice, 'They don't fear you. You could make them. One little demonstration-'

He ignored it. "Actually, yes, I do. The Emperor kept very close tabs on Rebel activity at all times. Obviously not close enough, but I certainly know your basic resources. Moving on…" He paused to lean over and turn on the map on the holoprojector set up in front of the bed, "Resources are not directly sent to any base or station. To simplify things, and to limit what Rebel agents could discover, no individual is told exactly where they are shipping to. Soldiers, weapons, and supplies are sent to the secure distribution center for a sector, then sent from there in smaller ships to their final destination. Destroying Gamorra will indeed cripple Imperial efforts in this area, and it will send an important message to whoever has taken over.

Doing so will not be easy, however I have a plan. It will work." He now focused his attention properly on the map, "You can't take the forces there on directly. You need to draw them out and leave it weakened. Secret listening posts and waystations are dotted all over this area; the best ones for our purposes, I think, are here, here, here, here, here and… here." As he spoke he pointed to places on the map, the points lighting up red in his wake. "There are a few more you could use, but I don't think we need them. You need to send small groups to attack each one. Make sure they have time to send a panicked distress call, and be sure to destroy a couple of them, to give Gamorra the proper motivation to act. Once they send reinforcements, a team of your best fighters should be sent to blow up the facility. As few as possible, two or three would be best to avoid detection. They should be sent in a nonidentifiable ship… one with cloaking or disguising technology would be ideal if you have it. Any questions?"

The room was quiet. Certain people he had known well (Rex and Ahsoka in particular) looked like they were remembering past plans of his and stifling sarcastic remarks.

Finally a young Twi-Lek general spoke, seated casually in the middle of the room with her elbows rested on her knees. "My ship could take the demolition team." The green woman continued as all eyes turned towards her, "The Ghost can mask its signature with that of another ship. As long as no one digs to deep into the signal, it won't be detected. And with all the trouble the Falcon has been causing in the last few years, I doubt they're looking too hard for us."

Mon Mothma hurriedly intervened before the planning could progress any further, "If that is quite all, we will continue this meeting in the conference room. Thank you all for your attendance."

"So," She continued once the group was out of earshot in a new room, "What does everyone think? Can he be trusted?" She paused as everyone failed to respond, "If we commit to this, and it turns out to be false, or worse yet a purposeful trap, then we could be putting ourselves in very great danger."

"It's Darth Vader, of course we shouldn't trust him."

Ahsoka saw Luke glare angrily at the man who had spoken.

"I have an idea. We still have the suit, right?" He turned to Luke, "Well, don't we?"

Luke reluctantly agreed.

"A lot of people could be killed with this plan, so… I have a better idea. Vader is a killing machine, we all know this. I mean, he has singlehandedly killed entire armies… torn fleets apart with one TIE fighter, he is essentially unstoppable. So, I suggest we simply fix the suit, stick the prosthetics back on, and airdrop him into Gamorra. I'm pretty sure he could deal with it, and if he dies in the process… well, at least we haven't lost anyone important."

"NO ONE IMPORTANT?!" Ahsoka, who had been about launch into the man, changed her mind. Anakin's son was on his feet, his eyes blazing with a rage that she knew from experience not to get in front of. With everyone distracted, Rex slid quietly out the door. Luke continued his tirade, "How could you possibly say that?! Hasn't he been helping us? Hasn't he been through enough?"

"I just think we are wasting a powerful weapon that could help us win this war. If we-"

"You saw him in there! Are you trying to turn him back to the dark side? He's a person, not a machine, and he is already helping as much as he can!"

"Oh, come on! What are you defending him for? You know his record. I mean, what are we doing? Are we just going to forget about Alderaan? About Geonosis and Lasan? Are we just going to let those horrors slide? I'm sorry, this is wrong. That- that thing is pure evil, and you'll see it if you go through with this. He's going to betray us, mark my words. He's just waiting for his chance."

Ahsoka quickly put put her hand on Luke's arm, barely preventing him from jumping on the other. She had to admit it was a good thing she had to restrain him; otherwise she might have attacked the man herself.

"As much as it pains me to say it," Leia said, "I don't think it is a trap… Well, think about it; he doesn't have any reason to lie; I don't see how he would arrange a trap from our medbay even if he wanted to. Yes. I think, in this case, we can trust him." She paused, eyeing the man up and down, "And how dare you suggest that we have forgotten what the Empire has done." She didn't say anything further, but her expression said more than any 'Shame on you!' could have. As eyes turned away from her, Han put his arm supportively around her shoulders.

Luke and Ahsoka had been whispering between themselves and now Luke spoke up, "By the way, we would like to volunteer for the solo mission." His eye caught that of the Twi-Lek and she nodded an acknowledgment.

Mothma turned to address them, seemingly relieved by the slight change in topic, "Thank you. Do you need a larger team? I am sure many people would be willing to help."

The pair shook their heads in the negative, "I think from what he said, two Jedi should be sufficient."

The green woman broke in, "My crew will, of course, be available for backup if anything goes wrong. I think it should be enough."

Mothma appeared satisfied, "Very well. We shall put it to a vote. If it passes, we will begin delegating crews for the diversionary attacks."

As Luke came out of the meeting he spotted an old man leaning against the wall nearby. He hurried over. "Rex, hey! Hey it passed! Ahsoka's coming with me; we're going to make the mission into Gamorra- Hey, Ahsoka!" He beckoned, "Over here! –I don't know why you left, we could have used some backup. It got pretty tense in there for a minute."

Rex nodded as the togruta made her way over, "I know. I left to talk to the doctor. Arranged it so they wouldn't be able to send him in even if they wanted to."

Ahsoka looked suspicious and mildly worried, "What do you mean?"

"I talked to her and got the surgery moved up; they're prepping for it now. It should keep him safe for a while; you can't send an unconscious man into battle, after all. He wants to see you both though, so I'd go on. I already talked to him."

"Thanks Rex." Luke was off like a shot for the medbay.

Ahsoka lingered a bit more, smiling at her old friend, "I owe you one."

"Not at all. General Skywalker deserves better than that. I couldn't let them do it."

"I know. Thank you anyway." The pair embraced, then she moved off.

"Father?" The young man peeked through the door, uncertain what he would see, then relaxed as he saw everything was normal. They may have been prepping for surgery, but it hadn't yet affected this room outside of removing the clutter needed for the briefing.

Anakin sat up in bed, looking over R2 on a raised table beside him. He smiled at the voice, "Luke! It's good to see you. Come here. How did it go?"

Luke made his way over, glancing fascinatedly at the partially disassembled droid his father was going over meticulously with a small tool. "It went well. They accepted your plan, and Ahsoka and I are going on the mission together." He paused as a cloud passed over Anakin's face, "We thought two Jedi likely have a better chance than anyone else."

The older man nodded, but still felt deeply distressed, even if he was outwardly hiding it. "You've met her then."

"Yes. She seems nice, I would like to get to know her better… What are you working on?"

Anakin hadn't paused during the conversation, and continued to work as he spoke, "Well, I won't have many opportunities to work on him soon, so I thought I could at least do a diagnostic, maybe get an idea of just how many repairs he needs, before…" He trailed off, then distractedly turned to a pad, "Um… busted fuse along the secondary line… structural damage… bent fuel line on the R strut…"

Luke was starting to get worried, "Father? Are you all right?"

"What? Yes, I'm fine." Finally he paused, falling back against the pillows and looking Luke up and down as he rubbed his hands with a grease-spotted rag. "Be careful out there."

"Of course I will."

The shell was breaking, worried lines had appeared in his forehead, "I mean it. You come back in one piece; do you understand?"

"Yes, Father."

"You know I love you, don't you?"

He nodded.

Anakin was quiet, studying his son, seemingly burning his face into his memory. Finally he spoke, "All right, well, Ahsoka's waiting. I don't know how long we have, so… If you could send her in, that would be great." They said their goodbyes and Luke departed, back to his quarters to begin preparing for the mission. He had a couple of days, but there was a lot to do, and he thought that he may as well get started.

Ahsoka hesitantly approached the bed after he left, still having to suppress a shudder at the sight of her friend. He had given up work entirely, and was simply staring at a single spot on the wall, lost in thought. He started as she said his name.

"Ahsoka."

The distress was obvious, "What's wrong?"

Anakin sighed, slowly turning his head to look at her, "Is it true, what Luke said, that you two are going to Gamorra alone?"

"Not alone. Hera Syndulla and her crew are taking us." He looked back at the wall, unspeaking, the distress greater than ever.

She couldn't help but remember what the man had said in the meeting, that it was quite possible this was all a trap. She didn't like to think he would do it, but Ahsoka wasn't nearly naïve enough to entirely trust him. Vader might have made a resurgence, and she hadn't forgotten the incident with the lightsaber. "Is there something you want to tell me, Anakin?"

Silence. An eventual slight shake of the head was all the answer she got.

"Is this a trap?" She paused, "There's still time. If you tell me I might get out of it alive."

He looked shocked, "What? Th-this isn't a trap. Why would you think that?"

"Okay, good." She paused again, her voice softening to a gentler tone, "What is it?"

He seemed to have finally geared himself up, and blurted, "Could you… take care of Luke for me? It's just… he's young, and not as skilled as he thinks; it's going to get him into trouble."

She smiled reassuringly, "I'm sure he'll be fine. He defeated you didn't he?"

There was a brief pause, "I… sort of let him win. What was I supposed to do? I wasn't going to kill him. I wanted to die anyway; what did it matter?" Silence reigned as he worked to shift gears, "Just… bring him back safely, will you? It is going to be dangerous, and I'll feel better knowing that you're watching his back."

Ahsoka threw him a teasing look, "Aren't you worried about me?"

"You'll be fine, I know it. Be careful, of course, but you can handle it. I just… I can't lose Luke. I need my son. Please-"

"Don't worry, I'll look after him."

Anakin suddenly seemed a great deal lighter; he smiled faintly and settled back into the pillows, "Thank you."

A droid had come in while they were talking, clearing away the chair and tables near the bed, removing the open white shirt from the patient. Without it the pale, scarred skin nearly blended with the sheets, and the arms transitioned sharply into metal, leaving him looking even less human than before. It also removed the outer sheets and pillows, getting them out of the way for surgery.

Now it brought in a different, sterile metal table with a thin pad, covered in instruments with a protective lid, and yet another IV pole and machine. It moved about, carefully rearranging things into the optimal arrangement, ignoring Ahsoka pretty much completely.

It was time to leave. "I'll see you soon okay? I should be going." She turned, headed for the door.

"Wait." The hoarse, frightened word stopped her and she turned back.

"Don't leave me, please." To her surprise the man looked terrified, eyes wide and tear-filled, panicky, shallow breaths that sounded like he was barely holding together, the more relaxed veneer gone. Ahsoka hurried back to his side, gripping his hand tightly in reassurance, "I'm here. I'm here; it's okay."

"I'm scared," His eyes closed, his voice barely above a terrified whisper, "I'm so scared."

She tightened her grip on the metal, holding his hand up where he could see it as she remembered the lack of feeling in it. "It's okay." She repeated.

He appeared slightly calmer, finally speaking again, "Do you think… they will give me something to bite on?"

Weird "Why?"

"It's just… it hurt so much… I couldn't keep from screaming… No, no, I can't do this again, no. I thought I could but I can't… It's true, I'm weak. I'm weak, I can't do it."

"Hey, hey," She soothed, "It'll be okay."

He barely heard her, flashbacks running through his head: rain falling in steaming drops on his burned body, each one like a red-hot iron, the droids ripping off the burned fragments of clothing and ruined skin, letting him scream and writhe in agony with each motion, even the feeling of the table beneath him unbearable on his fresh wounds. Not again. Not again. He couldn't do that again.

He could still feel the knives piercing his flesh…

"HEY! Look at me!" Two hands panted themselves on either side of his face, forcing it in another direction, and his vision finally resolved into… Ahsoka. What was Ahsoka doing there? Sidious would have killed her.

"Listen to me, it's going to be okay. Doctor Gormul is here now; she and these droids are going to help you. Everything will be all right. Just focus on me."

He did, blocking out everything else, and slowly he felt the panic begin to subside; his breathing slowing, his pulse beginning to get back under control as the bustle and activity continued around him. There was a voice, the tubes were removed from his nose, there was a brief moment of searing pain as he took an unassisted breath, then a mask was placed over the lower part of his face. He kept watching Ahsoka, the woman continuing to babble comforting nothings throughout. Then someone took his arm, switched arms and moved an IV pole around the bed as they realized they had picked the arm cut above the elbow, then there was a quick prick and a swift decline into sweet, blissful oblivion.