Well here is Chapter 11. I hope you guys still enjoy the story. Please review.

Chapter 11

The alarms blared as Jahn stumbled out of his room. He had gotten about 15 minutes of sleep before the ship rocked violently. He ran to the bridge amide the chaos and smoke that had crept in from the destroyed ship. They couldn't have found them could they?

"Private, what's the deal," he commanded grabbing the shaken clone by the front of his armor.

"I...I don't know sir," he said stumbling over his words. "I think...I think it's Grievous."

Damn, his sneaking suspicion had been right. They must have gotten tracking droids embedded into the ship.

"Don't worry, private, everything will be alright," Jahn said in a reassuring tone. He left the private and made his way to the bridge.

The doors of the bridge slid open to a scene of a scrambling crew and a shaken Admiral.

"Admiral, I need a status report," Jahn commanded looking out at the Separatist fleet.

"It's the same fleet that had attacked General Kenobi's fleet at the beginning of the Clone Wars. We are still outnumbered by a cruiser and from what we have seen they have new droid fighters," the Admiral replied after he was able to collect his thoughts.

"We will fight with the two cruisers we have. Leave the Centurion just outside and we can use it as a surprise attack. The key is taking out that command ship. Start jamming their transmissions. I'll take the star fighters out to fend off the oncoming assault. Hang back for a bit until I draw them in. Also, monitor any movement on the main cruiser, Grievous cannot leave for hyperspace," Jahn said looking back at the formation. Grievous was not as good of a strategist as Trench so Jahn had that going for him. If they could keep the Centurion on standby till a few cruisers were destroyed it would make things a lot easier.

"Is the fleet ready?" he asked still staring at the Seperatist fleet. Why was he shaking? This would be fine? He had fought in countless battles and skirmishes before with great success. Why is this any different? Was something in the Force telling him he was going to be doomed as soon as the battle began?

"All set, General," the Admiral replied, snapping Jahn out of his daydream. "May the Force be with you, sir."

Jahn saluted him and made his way to the hanger. If he ever needed some luck now was the time. Normally, he was confident but this was different. There was no Anakin and no backup. He had to use his troops to the fullest so dividing his troops as pilots was going to be hard.

He settled into his star fighter. Feeling the thrusters ignite was a welcoming sight.

"Check in, squad," he said over the com.

"Here and accounted for, General," Roscoe replied over the com.

"Stay close guys. We need to make this run as clean as possible. Roscoe, split your squad to keep the droids occupied and away from the fleet. I'll take four with me to destroy the command ship. After that we will regroup and see what is next."

"Yes, General," the pilots said in unison.

The hanger doors opened and the fighters took off.

They zoomed through the oncoming droid fire. They broke positioning and Jahn flew towards the command ship. He dodged two droids and sniped them in the process. He then got to the command deck of the ship and destroyed it with the proton torpedoes he had installed. He watched it ignite and sensed that this was a little too easy.

"Roscoe, make it back to cover. The first objective has been taken care of," he said breathing heavily. He soon realized that he had lost 3 out of the 4 pilots he had with him. Maybe it wasn't so easy. He mentally cursed himself for losing more men which seemed to have been a going trend for his fleet.

He circled back to the cruisers seeing that one was badly damage.

"Admiral, what is the status of Cruiser 4? It seems to be smokin' pretty bad," Jahn asked as he surveyed the damage to the ship.

"It is still operational but can't move. A group of droid fighters got through our defenses and went straight for the hyperdrive. It seems Grievous has the same idea you do, sir. The shield is still functioning but barely. Should we send the bombers out?" the Admiral responded.

"I don't want to yet. Have you made any headway on the remaining cruisers and the flagship?"

"Not even a dent, sir. It seems they have a specialized shield that is prohibiting our cannon fire from getting through," Block replied.

"I guess we can send out five bombers and three extra fighter pilots," Jahn said downtrodden.

"Just three? Sir, we've lost seven already," Roscoe replied.

"I understand that but I can't have everyone out here. We are not breaking formation now. We need to take out the furthest cruiser. That way we can swing the Centurion in," Jahn said. This was going better then expected which means that something would go wrong.

The pilots joined them and they made their way to the cruiser. They got more resistance this time. It seems Grievous had more troops then Jahn originally calculated. Two of his pilots bit it as soon as they got near the cruiser. Shit, that makes 9.

He saw the outline of the shield as his blaster fire bounced harmlessly off it. The bombers dropped their load across the back side of the cruiser disabling the engine. It seemed that they hit their mark but with limited results. They ran through one more time and he lost two more pilots.

"I said keep it tight, gents. This is sloppy work," He said annoyed over the com. They were being sloppy. Then a bomber got hit and crashed into the side of the cruiser.

"Get everyone back to the rendezvous point. This cruiser is disabled for the time being. We can box Grievous in," he commanded, feeling an odd twinge of anger flare up. He tried not to let these thing get to him.

He flew the remaining pilots back to the ships. He would not be out smarted by Grievous and it was clear that Grievous was not running. The droid General had lost a command ship and now had a disabled cruiser but did not break his formation. Cocky bastard.

He docked with the hanger livid with the incompetence of his pilots. They had lost 10 pilots within the past hour of fighting.

He slammed his helmet on the hanger floor in anger. He would not lose.

"Roscoe, get the pilots together and meet me on the bridge. We need to get more aggressive in our tactics," Jahn growled thinking of the incompetence of his squad's commander.

/~~~~~~\

"You're not half bad at this game," Ahsoka said as she moved a game pieces strategically on the board. It had been a couple months since they arrived back at the Jedi Temple and she had put on a front to deter Lux from talking to her. As much as she thought it worked it didn't and she sat spending a decent amount of time with him over the past few days, more like the past few weeks. Who was she kidding? She had or tried to replace Jahn but it still hurt when she thought about him.

It was nice to have someone around because Anakin had suddenly become MIA. She had followed a few times and noticed that he frequented Senator Amidala's apartment. She had a sneaking suspicion that her Master was more than an "acquaintance" to the Senator. Another odd thing was that Anakin was spending hours with Chancellor. Every time he had returned from the meetings he seemed dark and distant.

As soon as Lux made his move ending the game in another victory the whole Temple shook.

"What was that?" Lux asked, grabbing the arms of the chair as if that would make the shaking stop. Ahsoka's reflex made her move and ignite her lightsaber.

"Stay here," she commanded and darted out of the room. She ran down the halls towards the smell of smoke. An attack on the Temple? How could that possibly happen? Sure, there had been threats and mounting protests recently but nothing the Jedi guards couldn't handle.

She made her way to the where the chaos had ensued and saw the carnage that had taken place. A dozen or so bodies littered the hanger bay. She brought her hand to her mouth to hold in the gasp that tried to escape her mouth. This hit close to home.

"Who did this?" she asked a nearby guard who seems just as shocked as she did.

"No one knows. They are still getting the footage from the security squad," the clone replied, tightening his grip on his gun. Ahsoka could hear the pain in his voice.

"Did you know any of them?"

"A few were my squad mates. If I had been here any sooner I would've joined them," he replied.

She didn't know if the clone was relieved or sadden that his comrades were gone and he was still alive.

Lux showed up next to Ahsoka who just scowled at him.

"What? You really thought I was going to stay put?" he asked with a smirk when he saw her expression.

She just ignored him. The police and security jedi showed up within the hour amid the chaos.

"Commander, my name is Ahsoka Tano. Anything you need help with let me know," she said. Lux elbowed her but she ignored the intrusion.

"Thank you, padawan, but unless you saw anything it doesn't seem like you can help us yet," the police commander responded shortly.

She nodded and left them to the disaster scene. She felt her annoyance rise. She hadn't been on a mission in weeks and was getting restless.

"Why didn't you introduce me? I am a Senator you know," he said annoyed.

"Didn't think it was important," she admitted as the two walked to the dining hall in the Temple. Ahsoka was still shaken up after seeing the image of the blood stained hanger floor. She saw four Jedi dead that were lined on the floor for identification. Master Saka and Yima are ones she knew and she never got the chance to meet the other two. She had known them in passing but they were still part of the Order.

Lux saw that she wasn't eating her food and just stabbing at it.

"You knew the Jedi didn't you?" he asked as he pushed his plate aside.

"Not very well but yes I did," she replied in a monotone voice. In fact she didn't know many that had died throughout this war. It was like the military ranks. New padawans and knights were getting shipped out with new battalions of clones and many more were coming back dead.

"Then we need to make sure to find out who did this," Lux said matter-of-factly. Finally, a chance for he and Ahsoka to do a mission together.

"Not until Anakin gives the go ahead," she said, pushing away her plate in disgust. "I am shaken by this but until I speak with him about it I cannot do anything other then help the police."

"I don't see why you hang on his every word. You are an adult yourself, are you not?" he asked after hearing the half halfheartedness in her response.

"Do you not get what kind of relationship I have with him?" she answered with a hint of agitation in her voice. "He is my Master and I am his padawan."

"And what good does that do in this situation?" he asked, challenging her "more people could die. More Jedi could die, more of your friends!"

She could feel herself getting angry but he did have a point. She didn't like to lose a debate, another glaring trait of her Master.

"Let's go be nosey. We could make a difference," he suggested slyly. "If you need to think of one person, what would you do if it was Barris? It could be her next."

With that he dropped the subject. He could see her mind racing and thinking over the situation.

Damn her willingness to put herself in dangerous situations. This she could attribute to her Master constant aloofness to danger.

She grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the hanger. She would just go with it.

/~~~~~~\

Jahn had pulled his remaining cruiser out of the blaster fire of the enemy fleet. They had abandoned the disabled cruiser but left the brave few to act as if the cruiser was still functioning.

"How many pilots are left on the ship without pulling some off the main guns?" Jahn asked pouring over a holomap of the battle. He was trying his hardest not to use the reserves that he had on the Centurion.

"We have 10 left because those last two runs crippled us. To be honest, General, this isn't going to turn out well. We need to just retreat back to Coruscant and let someone else handles this, we at least need backup," Admiral Block admitted.

"Know your place, Admiral!" Jahn said curtly with an undertone of darkness, grabbing his Admiral by the collar. "I will not run from this opponent. I've trained these men for this and they know what's at stake. This fleet will not limp home until Grievous is dead."

Jahn soon saw the scared look painted across Block's face. Roscoe moved in between them to remove the tension.

"The Admiral does have a point General. We cannot last long with the forces we have", Roscoe agreed as he tried to reason with his Commanding officer. As much as Jahn hated to admit it he was right.

"Do we have any towing fighters left?" Jahn asked as a smile formed on his once scowling face.

"I believe we have a couple why?"

"I have a plan."

The plan was simple or so he thought. They would tow the damaged cruiser straight at the Separatist fleet to cut off any escape. They would then focus their fire on any hangers on the main ship assuring Grievous would not escape. Followed by the Centurion to provide supporting fire. It seemed easy at first glance but it required every available man he had. This was his Hail Mary.

/~~~~~~\

"How did you get this information? " she inquired as her eyes scanned the holopad.

"I'm a Senator, remember? I have access to anything affecting security with the Jedi or the people," he answered with a smirk. It seemed that she was starting to warm up to him. His plan was working. With Jahn gone he could finally make her his. She seemed to have forgotten about the guy because she never mentioned him and she stopped wearing that necklace. The 5 months or so that Jahn had been away her seemed to finally take it's toll.

"Well this gives us a start," she added as she finished scrolling through the data and startled him out of his day dream. They had gotten the whereabouts to a victim's husband who had been found dead at the scene. This was the piece they needed to get a head start on this investigation. She had told her Master what happened but his mind seemed occupied with other things. In fact, he did not seem to care if the Senator and Ahsoka went on this investigation together. Anakin had seen that the relationship had grown stronger much to his disapproval but there was nothing he could do at this point. Jahn was gone and probably dead so he couldn't be there to pull her out of this. The council feared the worse and did not know his whereabouts.

"Where to, milady?" he asked cordially extending an arm. She rolled her eyes and walked passed him. He was getting bolder and bolder everyday.

"To the underworld. Think you can handle it?" she teased.

She grabbed a cloak from her room to hide her identity and they ran to the speeder.

"Her name is Letta Turmond," she said loudly over the traffic. "Apparently, her husband was one of the mechanics who died. Oddly enough the autopsy report showed that he had some sort of nanotechnology embedded into him."

"What is the significance of that? People have reused limbs and all other sorts of odd garbage implanted into them, " the young Senator responded.

"The technology is an explosive," she answered with a smile. This is the adventure she was looking for. It had been a long time since she got to go on an investigation or have some action.

"Now that makes more sense."

They sat in silence the rest of the way until they landed. They hopped out onto the dirty street and blended in with the crowd.

"So this is the lower city. It's so...dirty," he said while trying to avoid a homeless off worlder.

"That is one way to look at it or you could see that all these people are in need. The choice is yours, either be compassionate or a normal, privileged senator, " she replied snidely. Lux was showing his true colors and that is one reason why she was a little uneasy about herself developing these feelings again for him. They got bumped and shoved as the space between people got tighter and she felt an arm slip to the small of the back. She snuck a glance at him making sure he didn't see the red marks that formed on her cheeks. She quickly moved ahead and felt the hand disappear, composed her self and cursed herself that she fell that easily.

They soon arrived at a dark street that ended in a cul-de-sac of dilapidated properties.

"Come on," she quietly said, motioning to the dark unlit home.

/~~~~~~\

The Centurion floated and watched as the fiery scene played out in front. The original plan had worked and they had trapped Grievous but with heavy losses, including the remaining fleet. It was time for him to call the council and update them. He could now destroy Grievous. After all these defeats and death, it was finally over. He could finally have revenge for Ahsoka.

The council shimmered onto the screen.

"Jahn, it's been a while," Obi-wan greeted coolly. Truly it had. Due to him being so deep into the Outer Rim the time difference is staggering. This campaign was only to take three months but Jahn had been gone for 6 months, something he had never expected. If he were being honest, Jahn thought he would've been dead if it went longer then 3 months.

"That it has Obi-wan, that it has," Jahn replied with a warm smile. He probably didn't look the same to any of them.

"I assume you have found Grievous?" Windu asked with his scowl like face.

"We have, Master. We have him cornered and are awaiting orders from you to blow him to kingdom come," Jahn replied with a satisfied smile on his face. He had finally won.

"Well, plans have changed, Jahn. The Chancellor wants him brought to Coruscant to be made an example of," Windu replied, shifting in his seat.

"You can't be serious?" Jahn asked in shock. "This is our chance to take out a major player in this war, maybe officially crippling the Separatist fleet. If the Separatists know we have one of their best generals they will undoubtedly launch an offensive aimed at Coruscant. It would put the citizens at risk, probably more than they have been during the war. This mission has been anything short of suicide but what your asking me to do, to take what little forces I have and attempt to capture Grievous on his own ship is nothing more than walking to our deaths."

"It is what the Chancellor and the Council wishes. Do you dare go against the council and the Republic? Are you a traitor?" Windu asked now glaring at him.

Jahn could not believe the dribble that was coming from this Master's mouth let alone the whole council. They would completely abandon him unless he captured Grievous? The one man who had eluded even Anakin and Obi-wan? The Chancellor must have a hand in this and wants to end him. That much was becoming clear to him. The simple fact that most of the 'intelligence' that he was given lead to traps or the Separatist military being one step ahead of him. If he survived this he would need to investigate more.

"No, I am the furthest thing from a traitor. If the only way to bring my troops home without branding them as traitors or enemies of state is to bring back Grievous as a prisoner I will do whatever I can. But I will leave you with this, if it does seem that Grievous will escape or has beaten my forces, I will destroy him. That will be all the proof that the Chancellor will receive and if my actions brand me as a traitor than so be it. I'm not going to be a puppet any longer in this Force forsaken war, we all have been puppets for too long. May the Force be with you all," he ended cutting the transmission, not allowing the Council to prepare a rebuttal.

He knew the whole fleet had seen the message so hopefully he didn't need to inspire anyone else.

"Admiral, ready the remaining troops. Take the Centurion away from the fleet once we disembark and do not come near the fleet unless you get a signal from my com link and my com link alone. I am not planning to survive this but watch the wreckage. You will know the sign to come and search for the remains of Grievous. So long, Admiral, this has been one hell of a ride" Jahn said, smiling at the Admiral and saluting him. He hadn't gotten to know the Admiral very well but he knew that the young man had aspirations after this war.

With that he walked out of the durasteel doors for what felt was the last time. It was an eerie feeling as he walked the halls all the way to the hanger. So this is what impending death felt like? The looming darkness that made his chest go numb and caused his fingers to tingle. He handled the emotions fine but he soon felt the fear and heartbreak set in. He was never going to see Ahsoka again. He felt his eyes watering up. Did she still wear his necklace? Hell, did she even think of him anymore? Out of all the things to be worrying about why did it have to be her?

He rounded the corner to see his small battalion of men standing at attention. He smiled as his memory of the first time he saw this fleet assembled but was more proud of this moment. He was proud of the progress that everyone of his men had made as soldiers and as men. This would be their greatest moment even it was their last.

"Gentlemen, you saw the screen and what we are up against. We will not comeback from this mission and the Council selfishly wanted us to capture Grievous alive so that he could be made an example of. I want to make sure that your names are not branded as traitors or enemies of the state. I am giving you this chance to leave," he commanded. There was no way he would sacrifice his troops for a foolish endeavor unless they trusted him. He looked up and saw that all of his men were still standing at attention and eyes forward.

"General, when we signed up for this we knew that we all would be going to our deaths. We knew that is what it meant to be a clone," Roscoe replied as he came to stand next to him. "So what's the plan?"

Jahn smiled, "I thought you'd never ask."

/~~~~~~\

"Mrs. Turmond?" Ahsoka asked, banging on the door. Still no answer.

"How about the old fashion way?" Lux said kicking the door in. Ahsoka just shook her head. This guy was trying way to hard to impress her but yet it was working.

"Don't do that again," she said pointing a finger at him as she walked passed. They walked up the steps into the dark apartment carefully making sure to not make too much noise as to draw attention. The got to the kitchen and Ahsoka's nano reader started to beep more rapidly. It seems that they had hit the jackpot.

"I think this is what we are looking for," he said, holding up a dish.

"Yes, the reader is going crazy," she agreed as they put the dish into an evidence bag.

"Now we just have to find her," he said and they heard the door open.

"Who's there?" a soft voiced asked. They walked out to the small, dusty, living room and saw a small woman standing in front of them.

"I am Senator Bonateri and this is Padawan Ahsoka Tano. We are here investigating the Jedi hanger bombings. Can you tell us how your husband came upon nanodroids?" he asked as they cornered her.

"I don't know what you are talking about. My husband loved the Order and the Republic," she replied as she tried to inch away. Ahsoka knew she was lying as she felt her guilt flow through the Force.

"Letta, we have evidence that your husband had ingested these nanodroids. We know he did not have any anti-Repblic sentiments but you did," Ahsoka accused. As she said this Letta turned to run but ran straight into the clone patrol that Lux had called in moments before. "There is no where for you to run."

The clones arrested her and took her to the prison to await trial.

"That was easy," Lux said with a grin and shot a glance at her.

"We'll see. It seemed too easy. Just keep a watchful eye on the holonews because this Republic isn't all what it seems anymore," she added, eyeing a crying Letta about to be driven away. Maybe that was just the compassionate side of Ahsoka that wanted to think that Letti was innocent but Barriss had been talking about how the Republic was crumbling. The simple fact that someone would do something so horrid to the people who were protecting her was unbelievable. Even Barriss was spouting nonsense about how far the Jedi had fallen and how they had become the main thing they wanted to destroy.

"She's a criminal and a murderer, nothing more nothing less. If you overthink it then you are not sound in your convictions, Ahsoka." Lux said. She glanced at him. When did he become so intelligent? He noticed she was staring at him so he winked at her causing her blush yet again.

"Come on," she said grabbing his hand for the second time but letting it go immediately realizing her mistake.

/~~~~~~\

The transport ship crept, slowly, through the wreckage of the destroyed cruisers. Jahn steadied the ship onto the nearest hanger that was dark except for few fires that were engulfing the destroyed cargo.

"Careful, men. Be on your guard," Jahn cautioned in a hushed tone as they opened the doors and filed out. They were unaware of the danger that was lurking in the shadows. Jahn was the last out and drew his blaster at the ready. They continued to head through the destroyed vulture droids to get to the elevator on the opposite side.

"So this is all the Republic could send to take me prisoner?" a raspy mechanical voice mused. The General and his droids emerged from the darkness to finally make themselves known.

"We meet again, Grievous. If you surrender now I can guarantee your safety until we reach Coruscant," Jahn reasoned with the General. His answer was a snap-hiss of an ignited lightsaber.

The clones immediately opened fire on their target. Soon his troops started to fall one by one just as Grievous' did. A few explosions rocked the ship sending Jahn flying into the hanger wall with a thud. He got up dazed watching Grievous slice through his troops with ease. Roscoe was putting a good fight protecting his squad just as Jahn knew he would. Then he saw Grievous set his sights on the Commander. Jahn scrabbled to get up stumbling over the fallen girders.

"Roscoe, watch out!" Jahn cried as he watched in horror and tried again to rescue his comrade. "Roscoe!"

But his cries fell on deaf ears as the General ran his lightsaber through the chest of the beloved Commander. He couldn't protect them just like he couldn't protect Ahsoka.

"Grievous!" Jahn barked, standing up, igniting his own lightsaber, tears rolling down his cheeks. He felt darkness creep into every ounce of his being but this time he didn't push it away like the Order instructed. He had been abandoned and left to die, they all were left to die from the very beginning of this mission. This was all the Council's fault. "This ends here."

"Well it seems that they did send a Jedi," Grievous said with a smile, retrieving another lightsaber. "It looks like I get to eradicate another one and add your lightsaber to my collection."

Jahn flew at him with everything he had. He had let everyone down. He wasn't a great General that he thought he would be, he was a failure. His lightsaber fended off the General's blows and Jahn started to get the upper hand. He force pushed Grievous back to the wall and held him there as he approached him. He took delight in watching his opponent squirm like the scum that he was. Jahn, with a quick swipe, sliced off one of the General's arms. He smirked when it dropped to the floor.

"I thought you would make this harder on me, General," he laughed, allowing the darkness to consume him even more. "You took my men and the one woman I loved away from me. You deserve death but unfortunately, I cannot give you that."

Just as he was about to completely dismember Grievous, a blast ripped through the hanger sending the bodies of the dead into the reaches of space. Jahn screamed out in pain when he came to. He saw the General standing above him with.

"Now, Jedi," he began, scrapping a metal talon down Jahn's left side of his helmet, shattering it and cutting into his left eye. "This is where you die."

Another blast interrupted the General's monologue and killing blow, throwing him backwards. The hanger began to cave in around them so Grievous just made for the ship. He was going to get away, again. This plan was a failure just as this whole endeavor was. Jahn looked and saw his predicament, realizing why he couldn't move. The sight in his left eye was completely gone and he had no feeling in his left arm or leg. He contorted his body to see two steel beams as the reason for his immobilization. They had crushed his left arm and lower leg. He had two options as the General was getting away; either sit here and die or do the unthinkable and amputate his arm and lower leg to free himself. He had no choice.

He used the force to bring his lightsaber to his open hand and with one swing without thinking he severed his arm. He screamed in pain and felt the tears sting down his face. He didn't allow himself to dwell on the loss of his arm and quickly removed the lower leg. He gasped for air as the excruciating pain ripped through his body. He tried to fight back the oncoming tears because his mission wasn't finished. He crawled to his now severed arm and saw Grievous disembark from the hanger on the transport ship.

Jahn had disabled the hyper drive on the ship which meant he had about 3 minutes before Grievous realized this and made his way to the Centurion. The ship broke through the airlock and out into space. He reach his arm out and hit the blinking red button illuminating the commandeered ship in crimson flames. He let out a secretly held in breath as he saw Grievous' ship explode. Grievous was no more, he had done it. He looked around the desolate hanger and spotted Roscoe's lifeless body.

He crawled over to and wept on his friends chest, he couldn't hold the tears back from this. It was all his fault, all the men in his command were gone. He grabbed a jet pack from one of the bodies and slowly made his way to the airlock. He slung the jetpack awkwardly over his shoulder and ignited it allowing him to escape the crumbling hanger. He slowly drifted through space and starred out at the wreckage of the Separatist fleet and all the life that had been lost. He had hoped this would send a message to the Republic and the Separatists that the war was over and should've been over a long time ago. He pressed the homing beacon on his utility belt as he felt his life support in his armor start to fail but it failed to switch on. Out of all the times for his beloved clone armor to fail, this was the wrong time. He was drawing his last breaths and turned to see the Centurion in all of its scarred glory. His Admiral would be a hero and this war would come to a close. He closed his eyes and allowed his thoughts to be invaded by the one person he had tried to push to the far reaches of his mind.

"Farewell, Ahsoka," he breathed.

Yeah. This. Is it the end?