Crossing Battlefields

by KaitiJo

(CW TV AU) Against a backdrop of war, Anakin and Analise fight. They fight for their sister as she grows up in battle, they fight for friends old and new, they fight for their family, they fight for the Jedi and the Light. As war rages and Darkness grows, the Sun and Moon must find the power hidden inside themselves. The power that will defeat the Sith.

36. Chapter Twenty-One: Return to the Sands

Disclaimer: Disney owns Star Wars, not me. All the characters and places (except for my OC Analise) belong to them.

"aaaa"-talking out loud. "aaaa" (bold and italics)-talking through a holo or com.'aaaaa'-inner thoughts. aaaaa-talking through a Bond. "aaaa" (bold)-talking in another language. ("aaa") (bold, italics, and parenthesis)-talking through a holo or com in another language.

AN: Hi there everyone:) So my first two weeks at my new job went great. It has a very casual atmosphere because it is seasonal. Even though I work at Halloween Store I am also thinking about Christmas because MY BRONNER'S CATALOG CAME! And breath:)

Thank you to Koda237 for the review:) I was worried about how Trial of Trust was going to work out so I am happy to hear how much you enjoyed it.

Thank you to MabelLover, Rohirrim Girl 2187, and legoryan4579 for your reviews to Why?-An Anakin and Analise side-story. I was worried about how it would turn out and be received. One of the reasons I wrote it was because every-time such an event takes place there are questions about motive and at some point the children have to be told why this happened, why someone did such a horrible thing.

So onto this week's episode. This will be the second time and the first of two episodes within this arc where I will be replacing a character with Analise. It worked well in the Blue Shadow Virus arc when I replaced Jar Jar with her so I hope it works well here.

Just over a year later the Skywalker twins and Obi-Wan find themselves returning to the planet where the Clone Wars started. Along for the ride are their vod'e and little sister.

Before they can reach the new droid factory though, they have to actually land on Geonosis and that might prove more dangerous than the upcoming attack.

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-Believe in yourself or no one else will- Landing at Point Rain, Clone Wars Season Two

Chapter Twenty-One: Return to the Red Sands

"Worried you are Qui-Gon."

The tall Grey Jedi Master didn't turn from the window that he stood in front of. His blue eyes didn't waver from the point just beyond the horizon that he had been staring at for minutes, maybe hours.

For if he looked away something bad might happen to them where they were. Back on the planet where just over a year ago the sands of an arena had turned red with the blood of Jedi. They had come so close to the Jedi Order being all but destroyed that day. He had come so close to loosing all four of his precious children.

They were on their way back to that planet. Back to where the war had began. This time they had an army at their side, a fleet of star destroyers to cover them from the skies, and a baby sister still eagar too prove to the galaxy that she was just as brave and strong as her older siblings.

"Is this where you tell me to trust in the Force Master Yoda?"

"Why tell something you know already?" The Grand Master of the Order leaned heavily on his cane. He too was worried. It was his grandchild and great-grandchildren hurtling toward a battle. "Doubt the Force you do not I know."

"Of course I don't doubt the Force." Qui-Gon at long last turned away from the window, almost shocked at what Yoda had said. "I trust the Force with everything I have."

"Then why worry do you?"

"Because I am a father, not just a Jedi and worry is what fathers will do until their children are safe by their side again." He grinned a little. "Surely you remember that. All that I put you through is why what little hair you have left is white." He yelped as Yoda's cane swung out and whacked his legs.

"White and gone hair was long before you came." Yoda came up to Qui-Gon's side and stared at the window as the man had been. "Too do I worry. Geonosis colored by lost Jedi still is. Fight with them we cannot. One thing though do we can."

"We can pray."

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She found her husband, her Soul Mate staring out one of the viewports on the Resolute's bridge. His eyes were grey, hard like the durasteel that made up the star destroyer in which they rode. They never wavered from their watch of the planet that spun before them. The red-brown planet with a ring round it hardly looked like a planet that would send her beloved into a tail-spin, brooding and glaring at it. It hardly looked a planet where a being would expect a galaxy wide war to begin.

And yet on Geonosis it had and to Geonosis they were being forced to return.

Lightly Analise laid a hand on Obi-Wan's back. She didn't need to. He knew she was there. Knew she was watching him and using their Bond to gently pull the dark memories that haunted him and kept him up at night away from his spirit and blowing them like dust into the Force. It helped only a little. Did you ever think that we would return to this planet again Moonbeam?

No, not when the war started. Recently though...Obi-Wan stopped looking at the viewport in favor of gazing at Analise. The grey in his eyes shifted, softened just a little now that the cursed planet was no longer the focus of his attention. Still it was there, taunting him with memories he much rather forget. She shook her head. Her braids for once pinned to the top of her head instead of falling loose down her back. We are stretched so thin, chasing after Grievous and his fleet that I knew that there was a chance. So much of the focus is on him that we didn't stop to secure the holds we had on Separatist planets that we had managed to take. She waved a hand towards the viewport. Geonosis would have been one of the first to break free. They are the builders and designers. The Trade Federation, Techno Union; they can only do so much. Dooku needs Poggle. With the Geonosians, he has a massive and well-controlled work force. The drones are wholly loyal to Poggle.

And Poggle is wholly loyal to Dooku. Obi-Wan stroked his beard and seemingly took no notice of the soft hiss of air escaping as the doors to the bridge slid open to admit new arrivals then shut back up tight. We overlooked, misjudged indeed just how loyal he would be and now we are paying the price. "You're late...Again."

"Guess I'll just have to say sorry Master...Again." Analise rolled her eyes as Anakin shrugged. He wasn't really sorry, not that much. Ahsoka smiled brightly in greeting, pride and excitement rolling off of her in dizzying waves before she locked it away behind shields. "But I do have a good excuse," Anakin pushed on as he jerked a thumb towards their baby sister. "Ahsoka and I were busy pushing the Seppies out of Dorrin. It was a nice little battle."

"And my squadron raked in a total of fifty-five kills," the Togruta Padawan fairly chirped as she announced just how many Seppies had fallen to her blade and the blasters of the vod'e that made up her squadron. Anakin crossed his arms.

"Brag all you want Ahsoka, but my squadron's seventy-six beats that fifty-five so in the end I win." He smirked at Ahsoka and the teen just rolled her eyes. A habit, Obi-Wan just knew that she had picked up from Anakin.

"Whatever Skyguy. You were just showing off."

"Well in any case it sounds like the pair of you had fun. Maybe too much fun." Obi-Wan glowered darkly and Analise just knew that he was gearing up for yet another lecture about Anakin and Ahsoka having too much fun, enjoying far too much the battles they were pushed and pulled into. A lecture was the last thing they needed and Analise knew the truth behind the game.

It's just a silly game Obi-Wan. She tapped into both her Bonds with the men, opening them wide so that the three might talk without Ahsoka overhearing. It is something for Ahsoka to do that won't let her think about the death, the pain of the fallen warriors around her.

She's right Obi-Wan. Ahsoka is still having nightmares though she refuses to talk about them and I'm doing everything I can to lessen their blow. "You have nothing to worry about Master," Anakin with ease switched to speaking out loud. He could feel Ahsoka tapping on their Bond and demanding to know what was being discussed without her.

"I'm not worried about the game." Obi-Wan shook his head. "It's how long this war has dragged on for that I am worried about. There just doesn't seem to be an end in sight, even when I look into the Force."

"Which you shouldn't be doing." She smacked her husband's arms lightly. "You should know better than anyone Obi-Wan Kenobi that you cannot force visions from the Force. They will come on their own time and their own terms." She nodded back towards the planet. "Taking out that weapons and droid factory down there will help. It won't be the battle to end the war, but it will pull a rug out from under them."

"Which means we need to go over the plans one last time. Ahsoka, contact the other members of the Outer Rim Command. We need to hold a briefing."

"Already done Skyguy. They're waiting for us."

Rug out from under them? Really Moon?

Oh shut-up Sun!

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It still bothered Anakin, seeing Palpatine's holo standing on top of the projector in between Yoda and Mace. The Outer Rim Command had been put together in the early days of the war when it had been made clear that the bulk of it would spread out in the Outer Rim.

Palpatine wasn't a Jedi or a military leader. In fact he technically had no real command over the GAR thanks to an addition the FoJ had managed to cram into the official declaration creating the GAR. Technically the Supreme Chancellor didn't even need to be at the briefing, but he was. Because somehow, some way in those early days Palpatine how wormed his way into a seat on the Outer Rim Command.

"As you can see all our ships are position and we are ready to launch the first wave of attacks at any moment." Anakin shook thoughts of Palpatine from his head and crossed his arms as Ahsoka shifted next to him. Analise stood on his other side next to Obi-Wan and Luminara stood a silent figure in blue. She would be there for the second wave. Before them on the projector in flickering blue spun Geonosis. Red triangles noted key locations. Where the ground troops would land, where the fleet and fighters would engage the Geonosians in deadly dances high in the sky.

"Has there been any news on Poggle? We'll need to capture him if we want any chance of keeping Geonosis in our control."

"It's not for sure, but I do think I know where's he hiding." Analise leaned over the projector. The planet vanished and was replaced with a map of the planet's surface. "Poggle, for the moment appears to have opted to take cover in the main droid foundry," she gestured. "It would be a simple march if it weren't for this." Another tap of a button and a red dome stretched out and around the factory. "They've got that place shielded and the generators as inside." She pointed to a yellow addition on the map just inside the shield. "We'll have to take out the shields just to get close to the factory." She blushed lightly even though Anakin was pouring pride across their Bond and he knew Obi-Wan was doing the same. "That's why I've come with a three-prong attack. I will take a group of the men, Obi-Wan another, and a third will go with Anakin and Ahsoka. We'll land at different points then march through the defenses and met up at a staging area just outside the shield."

"Once we're together we'll be able to knock out the shield generator. For this first wave, the shield generator will be our primary target."

"I am worried about this plan..." Anakin gritted his teeth and felt his baby sister tense as anger lightly rolled off of him. "I just feel that we are risking too much in having two of our most powerful and well-known Generals both on the ground focusing on the attack. I would far prefer Anakin to command the fighters. Perhaps this plan should be scrapped altogether." The Chancellor smiled slickly at Analise. "Commander Skywalker-Kenobi is talented of course, but I fear her talent might not lay in strategic battle plans. Must I beg you once more to think of your family? I am sure the Temple Healers will..."

Even through a holo the sound of Yoda's cane being slammed onto the floor had all the Jedi jumping. It was one of the very few signs of displeasure that the Master allowed himself to indulge in. Well that and applying his cane to the shins or legs of those that displeased him. "Not just a healer Analise is. Warrior like her siblings and brother she is as well."

"Thank you Master Yoda." Analise peeked up at the Chancellor almost shyly, but Anakin knew better. He knew his twin. He knew well when she was taunting and she was taunting now. "I understand your worries Chancellor since it is not widely known that I am often the creator of many attack strategies for the 501st and 212th alongside Anakin and Obi-Wan." She waved a hand over the plan before them. "This plan is risky yes, but that risk is needed. We need to capture Poggle here and now so that he isn't able to lift the Geosians up against the Republic for a third time. That would be even more dangerous than loosing a General."

"Or a highly gifted Commander," Mace broke in nodded at Analise.

"Well I know when I am outvoted and I will admit to a lack of knowledge in the fine art of warfare." Ahsoka made a face and Anakin reaching over pinched her arm. "As ever I will leave the planning our battles to you and the other leaders within the GAR."

"Then the only thing left to say is may the Force be with you all."

The holograms faded as the door to the briefing room opened.

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"There you are." Ahsoka rolled back and forth on the heels of her feet as Obi-Wan greeted the four vod'e. She hadn't attended a briefing like that before. For a moment she had thought the the men were going to explode and call the Chancellor all sorts of mean names. She just couldn't believe that the Supreme Chancellor had been almost mean to Analise. He couldn't be that nasty...

Well Ahsoka wasn't sure if the Chancellor was nasty or not. Anakin refused to allow her to be too close to the human male for too long even though it seemed like he was always getting called to meet with Palpatine. When that happened she stayed at the Temple or Anakin left her with Padme.

"These are for you and the men Cody." Analise enhanced the map and red dashes marched across the landscape. "They are the coordinates for the rendezvous point."

"Yes Sir." Cody studied the map. "We'll form a perimeter there as soon as we hit the ground..." The Clone Commander paused and pointed at two spots on the map. "But getting past these defenses will be tricky."

"That's we are splitting up." Analise nodded towards Fives and Echo. "My bodyguards and myself will be cutting through the defenses on the north. Cody you and Obi-Wan will be going right through the middle while Anakin, Ahsoka, and Rex lead the men through the south defenses."

"If everything goes as plan we'll all meet back at the rendezvous point at exactly o-seven-hundred," Cody nodded. No one bothered to laugh at Cody's absent-minded remark about everything going as planned. They were Jedi. This was war. Things rarely went as planned.

"If we do meet with heavy resistance which is more than just a possibility, but a likelihood; I want us all to hold up and wait until we together before going after that shield generator," Obi-Wan ordered them quietly. "It will take all of us after all to hit it."

Ahsoka was listening, she was. But something on the map had caught her eyes. Something that no one had mentioned...

It was a wall built in the space between two towering rock walls. Her eyes traced over it, taking in the guns placed on it and the heavy, thick metal door. "Was is it Snip?" Anakin asked when he finally noticed that the youngest Skywalker wasn't bouncing anymore and felt slightly muted.

"It's just that...Looking at this map I realized just how strongly fortified the Geosian defenses are going to be. I mean look at that wall," she gestured to the image. "There's a lot of gunning placements on that wall. It will make it difficult, maybe almost impossible for anyone to make it over."

"Well it's a good thing we're not going over the wall. In fact we won't be going anywhere near it."

"Anakin's right Ahsoka." Obi-Wan gently teased the teen who frowned. "You were ready to go not that long ago. Where did all that enthusiasm vanish to?" Reaching around Analise, Anakin gently slugged Obi-Wan in the arm.

"She's still got plenty of that Master and so do I. So no need to worry about us. Just make sure you get to the staging area in one piece."

"I will and I will be there waiting for you to finally arrive, late as usual."

"Gentlemen this is not the time or the place." The very proper Luminara had been silent. This wave was not a concern of hers. She and her Padawan were still cleaning up another battle's mess. They would be there shortly though and ready to play their roles. "I suggest you continue your scuffle later. We do have a battle to get on with after all."

"Yes...We shall see you soon Master. Cody I want you to meet me in the hanger shortly. We'll go over the last minute details and then begin the attack."

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They walked silently down the corridor of the Resolute. His arm wrapped around her waist. Their lips did not move, but those who saw them knew it meant nothing. The pair were so close, so in love that they did not need to speak aloud.

A part of you is wishing that I would be content to stay at the Temple.

I said nothing.

You don't need to say it Ben. Your soul is my soul. We can hide very little from each other. Obi-Wan chuckled and pressed a kiss to the side of Analise's head. It was true. As Soul Mates they had no reason to hide the vast majority of their feelings, their thoughts from each other.

If I thought it would make a difference I would order you to stay behind, but it wouldn't. You're a Skywalker. A warrior.

But...She nuzzled his neck and brought them to a halt. A hand rested on his heart. You do not like that my plan calls for us to separate.

No...I don't Moonbeam. I understand that each group needs a Jedi for the best chance, but I wish that...The hand on his heart covered his lips though no words had parted them.

This is just another battle. One of many that will take us from each other, but no matter what Ben...I will always come back to you and you will always find me. He pressed his lip against her fingertips before gently pulling the hand down and pressing his lips urgently to hers.

It felt like it was the last time that they would ever tast the other, ever feel the press of their bodies aganist each other.

It felt like it was the last time because it just might be.

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"Rex!" The Captain turned hearing his name as a Knight ran up to him.

"Did you need something Anakin?"

"Yes...I need your promise." Rex raised his eyebrows. Visible because he had yet to put his helmet on. He knew what promise the General wanted him to make. It had become a habit for him to see out Rex before some major battle which meant a lot of lives would be lost. "I need you to promise that no matter what that you will protect Ahsoka. If something happens to me, if I die I only trust you to get Ahsoka to safety. If things start looking bad, I want you to get Ahsoka away from it. Promise me that."

He hated making that promise. He hated the thought of something, Force forbid, happening to Anakin. To Rex it seemed like a impossibility and something that would only happen if the war took a drastic change in direction and the Republic started being crushed by those damn Seppies.

Laughter caught their ears and their heads turned. Knight and Clone, General and Captain found themselves watching her. Ahsoka was joking around with some of the men. She was gesturing wildly to nose art on a LAAT/i of a busty, scantly clad Twi'lek. Because of the art the men had taken to calling the latty the Lucky Lekku. Rex doubted that Ahsoka really understood the draw to it or the pin-ups she routinely stole from the vod'e to tease them whenever she visited their barracks. She just liked to tease the men.

He knew for a fact Anakin wasn't looking forward to the day when Ahsoka started looking a woman and not like a child. Not with all the men around. If he was totally honest, Rex wasn't looking forward to the men maybe eyeing her like they did the pin-ups either.

Rex hated promising Anakin that he would take his place as Ahsoka's protector should something happen. That if the battle took a sudden turn he would grab the Padawan and take off. He hated doing it, but he would promise. He would promise every single time Anakin asked him.

"Of course General. Don't worry. I'll keep an eye on the little one and keep her safe."

Rex would always promise because Ahsoka was their hope and their promise that one day the war would be over.

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"You weren't at the first Battle of Geonosis were you Cody?" Even as the hanger hummed with activity; hanger workers running here and there, soldiers loading onto the lattys and exchanging jokes and taunts, fighters dully roaring to life as they sailed out the hanger doors and into position; five figures walked calmly. They dodged the obstacles in front of them with easing, pitching their voices to be heard over the symphony of battle preparations.

"Nope," Cody shook his head and dodged a droid that had gotten turned around at some point. "I was shipped directly to Coruscant when Master Yoda came to get us. Rex was there though."

"I know. He helped find Senator Amidala and Analise after they fell out of the gunship we had been riding in."

"You three didn't miss much." Analise turned around, walking backwards without another though to study the Clones. "Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Padme were captured and chained up in one of those big Geosian arenas. Poggle was going to let some creatures eat them."

"Sounds like fun," Fives chuckled and ignored the jabbing finger of his twin that had found a way into the the gaps of his armor. "I wish we had gotten to come, but we were too green." Obi-Wan shook his head.

"It was only fun for the Geosians and I think we were lucky. Analise was going to be stabbed by Dooku." His face turned dark and his wife latched onto his arm as they stopped in front of Obi-Wan's gunship.

"That was in the past. This is the now." She raised herself up on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. "This time I have my bodyguards with me. The twins will keep me safe."

"We'll see you on the ground Sir."

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Last time they hadn't been ready for the massive army that the Republic had someone thrown together at the last minute. Last time they had been forced to flee into the catacombs, going lower and lower to avoid the Jedi and those freaky Clones.

This time they were ready.

As the Republic gunships flew overhead carrying men, supplies, and tanks; the Geosian warriors were ready. Their own starfighters launched themselves high into the sky to take on the Star Destroyers and Y-Wings as they shot at the LAAT/is. On the ground anti-aircraft cannons spat green lasers at the gunships to take down as many as they could, doing their part to help the drones in the sky.

This time they were ready.

This time their nests would be safe from Republic corruption and slavery.

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Obi-Wan had a bad feeling, but he didn't speak the words out loud.

It seemed wrong to speak them in the middle of a heated battle. A silly superstition, but this was war and beings could be forgive for suddenly have a superstition. Something that they knew wasn't really true or real, but if they followed it would keep them safe.

He could already feel lights flaring than being blown out in a single breath. Men, new and seasoned who were gone. Their bodies blown to bits with only vod'e to remember their names. Only a few to mourn the ones that fell from the sky.

At least they would have gone quick. They wouldn't have been alive to feel the pain as their bodies hit the uncaring ground.

Obi-Wan bit back a yelp as he was slammed into the side of the gunship. Just as quickly he slammed up his mental shields, cutting off as much as he could of the Bonds he shared with his brother and wife. He couldn't block everything from them, but he could certainly block as much as his could. This battle was far too important, far too dangerous for them to be brought down by echos of pain and fear.

Oh yes he most certianly had a bad feeling about this.

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He felt Obi-Wan's shields as they rose up and blocked all but a small part of their Bond. He paused before the latty and looked back over his shoulder. His twin, his other half and his Master's Soul Mate stared back. He could see her body shaking just a bit and knew that Obi-Wan had blocked what he could of their Bond as well.

It wasn't easy. They were one soul in two bodies which meant it took Obi-Wan more energy and effort to put up a block and protect her. Protect them.

It was needed. He knew it was needed. They were heading into the most dangerous battle on a planet where he was sure the blood of Jedi still stained the sands. They couldn't afford to have one of them be taken out and for the other two to be brought low or even unable to fight as the pain from the third coursed through their Bond and body as though the pain was their own.

There was a brush, one last gentle caress shared between the twins, between Analise and Ahsoka before the Knight raisied her own sheilds and Anakin raised his in turn.

Ahsoka was still learning and blocking natural Bonds was something that would take a while to learn.

Anakin turned his back on Analise and ushered Ahsoka onto the latty with a gentle hand. Beneath the feet the floor rocked back and forth as the small gunship lifted off from the hanger. "I take we're all ready to go Rex?"

"Yes Sir...General Kenobi has a rather decent head-start on us though."

"Then we'll just have to catch up. I don't need another lecture about being on time again."

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She was surrounded by Troopers dressed in dark brown and yellow. Only Echo and Fives were wearing their normal blue and white painted armor. They alone of all the men that had been issued to her temporary squadron were not those Clones who specialized in the use of those burning hot weapons known as flamethrowers.

In her hands Analise held extraordinary strength in the Living Force. After years of training she could bend elements, bring them to attack, and create from them protection from the wild and untamed. Fire was the most dangerous element and one she rarely touched, but today was different.

Today fire might be the only thing that could keep them alive.

"I wish you good luck Commander Skywalker-Kenobi." Analise turned and reached up for a strap in the latty as she looked down at Yularen. He was ready to play his part with the calm and poise of a military man that had sat long in the saddle. Perhaps only she could see the strain in his aura, what it cost him to send men out to die everyday.

"You should know the Jedi by now Admiral," she smirked at him. The same cocky, self-assured smirk her twin brother and often the Admiral's bane wore when he was marching into a battle with the odds stacked against him. "There is no such thing as luck."

"Ahh...Of course." The doors on the latty slide shut and the third prong was racing towards the planet.

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Their boots weren't even on the ground yet and they were already knee-deep in battle. In a fight to the death.

Most of them on this gunship were new. Troopers rushed through training and shipped out from Kamino just a couple standard weeks before. For the vast majority it was their first battle.

All were fired up. It was a real treat to be fighting their first battle on the planet where the whole blasted war had started. It had been Geonosis where at long last they were allowed to step forth from the shadows and prove just what they been created for. What they had spent their lives training for.

They were soldiers, warriors. They were meant to fight.

Explosions rocked their gunship back and forth. Sometimes they were slammed into walls or stumbled, loosing their grips on the straps and falling hard to their knees.

"Well this isn't too bad," one of the new guys joked to lift the spirits of his vod'e. "I mean look at those bugs. They couldn't hit the board side of a sandcrawler!"

He hadn't even finished talking when one of those bugs got a lucky shot and suddenly for the new Clones their first battle was over before their boots had hit the ground.

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Something slammed into the side of the latty and Ahsoka got scared. She couldn't really remember the last time she had gotten scared going into battle. No, she could actually. It was on Teth. Her very first all-out battle in the Clone Wars where she had seen men be blown up as they stood just feet away from her.

Anakin stood close to her. Her big brother always there and always protecting even as he let her go to run free and learn what the galaxy had to show her. Even if he didn't like it when she ran too far ahead too soon.

Suddenly something slammed into the side of the latty and exploded. The carefully controlled, but quick descent of the gunship vanished as the pilot fought to keep control and they rocketed down towards the unforgiving planet surface.

Shrill alarms blared and Ahsoka wanted to clap her hands over her montrals as they hurt her. She felt Anakin wrap one arm, his mech arm around her and gripped her so tightly that she knew she would have bruises later.

They were hurtling down, faster and faster. They rammed into other lattys that had been blown from the sky, took out Geonosian fighters that weren't quick enough to get out of the way.

Her stomach rolled and even though she was too old, Ahsoka whimpered. Rex pushed past the other men and grabbed onto a strap near her and Anakin. She didn't have to ask. If Anakin wasn't able to keep hanging on, Rex would be there to catch her.

Ahsoka had shut her eyes tightly and wordlessly started to pray when when the gunship slammed into the ground, buring the front of it and killing the poor pilot instantly.

Not that Ahsoka knew that. For her the world had gone brown and black.

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"We can't keep this up!" Analise shouted to be heard over the sea of rage outside the small ship. Echo and Fives stood closet to her while the other troopers stood as still as they could. These men were not new to the bloody battles. They were harden veterans for whom death was always only a step behind them. "This flak is just too much!" Already it was costing them dearly.

Two faint bursts of pain and fear jolted through her and Analise paled. She knew who that pain belonged to. She looked helplessly to the Clone called Heatwave. His attention was on his com as a frantic voice of a vod broke through static.

"We're hit! We're down! Please send help! We're at location 5..." The pleas were cut short and Heatwave shook his head.

"That was General Skywalker's team Commander...We just lost contact with them."

That was the last thing that Analise had wanted to hear.

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Anakin was the first to awaken from his daze. Dust and dirt filtered through the narrowing openings on the side on the doors of the latty which he quickly saw would not open through regular means.

A quick scan of the Force told him he was not hurt beyond a few minor cuts, some bruises he would feel later. Nothing that would stop him from moving forward with the mission, from their plan. He could already sense that some of the men weren't so lucky.

A worry, a fear suddenly engulfed him and Anakin jerked his head around, desperately searching for a pair of montrals that were still growing. Eyes widened when he saw her held tightly in the grip of the Captian and not moving. He brushed their Bond and let out a sigh of relief he didn't know he had been holding when she moved, shaking her own head.

They couldn't stay where they were. They were sitting ducks. "Get up guys!" Anakin pushed hard on the stuck door with all his might and the Force. The metal gave a sicking groan as he forced it open and the door flew a feet away. "Come on! We have to keep moving!"

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"Here they come!"

For a moment Ahsoka thought she was back on Teth, fighting in her first real battle and watching the Clones around her fall as they pushed forward.

Only there were no trees, no large swaths of green and brightly colored plants. There was nothing but dirt, sand, and rocks.

Ignoring muscles that cried in protest she pushed herself up and out of the latty after her brother. As always, Anakin dove headfirst into battle. Rolling and jumping, spinning. His lightsaber a mere streak of blue laser as it spun. Slashing one way than another as he blocked the Geonosian shots and made it look effortless.

She only wished she could look that good.

Shaking her head and clearing her mind, Ahsoka forced herself to focus on the battle. On the incoming enemy fire. Ahsoka forced herself to ignore the ground as it exploded next to her and showered her with dirt and rocks. She forced herself to ignore the blaster bolts whizzing by her head, around her body. She forced herself to ignore the cries of injured and dying men.

It wasn't easy.

Sweat poured down her face, dusting stinging her hunter eyes. Her body started to protest as muscles burned hotter and hotter. Ahsoka didn't stop though. Her lightsaber kept weaving through the air; up, down, and over, up, down, and over. Wide, sweeping patterns catching as many shots as she could and bouncing them back to the Geonosians.

Through the haze shapes appeared. Shapes that got further and further away. "They're falling back!" She waited until she felt Anakin's signal across their Bond before she jumped up from behind the rocks she was using as cover. It felt odd, bad even for their Bond to even be blocked off a little bit. Anakin was still there, but it felt off and different. Uncomfortable. Ahsoka shook her head and gestured hurriedly to the men who were sticking close to her. All hand-picked by Rex and Anakin to be her mini-squad. "Let's move it men!"

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If this was how the battle was going in the air, Analise didn't want to know what it was like on the ground. Even though in a matter of minutes she was going to be setting her boots on the ground.

As a rule, Analise loved the entire galaxy and all the beings who called it home. She had been hoping though that she would never have to return to Geonosis until well after the war had ended. It wasn't a nice place to visit during times of peace, but during war it was a blood bath.

Another explosion rocked the latty and she was slammed against the door. Analise bit her lower lip hard enough to draw blood as she stamped on the pain before it could leak over the small openings along her Bonds. They couldn't be distracted. They couldn't afford to be distracted.

"Fives call Cody and tell him to get those tanks on the ground now!" The Geonosians would be aiming hard for the lattys carrying their tanks. They would want those tanks gone first before anything else.

The latty rocked again as flames ripped through the doors. Analise wrapped the Force around herself and the men to protect them from the worst of the blaze even as the gunship hurtled to the surface of Geonosis.

"Cody? Come in Cody!"

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"Commander Analise says to get those tanks dropped on the ground now Cody!" That was all the Commander of the 212th heard from Fives before the com went into static-silence. Cody didn't want to dwell on what that might mean, the sudden cut-off of Fives' loud and hurried voice.

"Got it Fives." He didn't expect to hear a reply. "Alright! Start the landing sequence!" Cody called to the pilot who, along with the other carriers would drop the tanks and men before turning around and returning through the gauntlet to the star destroyers. If they were lucky they would make it back and remain in the hanger by the lattys until they were called. Called to bring down more men, called to bring men back, called to carry back bodies and wounded.

"Hear you loud and clear Commander! Have fun down there!" Cody wanted to snort, but didn't as the latty settled on the ground and the doors opened. He wouldn't take the pilot to task for his somewhat tasteless comment. It wasn't that bad really and it was a common farewell from the latty pilots and gunners who only saw any action when they were flying to or from a battle. They always, down to a man claimed that they were missing out on all the fun.

"This is it men! Move it, move it!"

The sounds of the battle had been somewhat muffled on the gunship like how a storm is somewhat muffled in a building. On the ground, out of the shipping the noise jolted through Cody, pounded inside his head. Two of the men dashed forward, before turning swiftly on their heels and just as quickly ran back to the gunship still emptying itself of soldiers. "They're incoming Commander! Coming in very hot!"

"At the landing zone Sir!"

"Man down! Repeat man down!"

"General Kenobi! Obi-Wan!" Cody had with ease switched channels on his com, putting himself through to Obi-Wan. "Sir don't land! The zone is hot! Repeat the zone is hot!"

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"Repeat the zone is hot!"

"Everywhere is hot Cody which means there's no place else to land!" There was no way he was going to turn tail and run back to the gunship. They needed all four Jedi, the two Generals and two Commanders on the ground if their plan was going to have any chance of success.

They would only get this one shot to reclaim Geonosis and prevent the Seppies from taking root there for a third time.

He could feel Analise's faint, very faint pain before pushing it away. This was not the time to...

The LAAT/i jolted sharply and he could hear the explosion as they lost a wing or a thruster. He couldn't tell and it didn't matter. All that mattered was the alarms blaring through the small ship and the heat working its way through the metal to him and the men.

They had been hit and were now set on a deadly course.

"General?"

"We've been hit Cody! We're going down!" Now was not the time for him to be cool and collected as if he was attending a large state dinner. Now was the time to be rough and tough.

Obi-Wan thumbed off his com and tightened his grip on the strap over his head, anchoring himself to the floor of the gunship with a little use of the Force. It wouldn't keep him up, but it might keep him from bouncing around too much. "Brace yourself! Brace! Brace for impact!" At his cry the men grabbed onto straps, leaned against the wall, braced each other. The older Clones grabbing onto a younger one, determined that they would make it.

The gunship dove into the ground nose-first. It screamed across the sand, flames flaring from it like the train of an expensive dress. It rolled. It rocked. It smashed against rocks, jammed itself into rocks. The sand it left behind was black and burnt.

Obi-Wan hung on, stayed awake for as long as he could until he felt the latty come to a dead stop, tilting almost onto one side. His body, battered and bruise slide along the wall as he let go of the strap.

He could sense only one other being still alive besides him.

The othere were gone.

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Echo helped her from the remains of the gunship. Her right arm was warpped around her stomach, the hand pressing lightly aganist her ribcage. She had bruside them badly, maybe cracked them. It was good thing she was left-handed.

She felt Echo eye her. She knew she was shaking, trembling as the echo of Obi-Wan's pain rolled over her. Even with their Bond blocked to keep the pain from bringing her down, she still felt it.

Her husband, her Soul Mate was somewhat out there...And he was terribly hurt. Hurt enough that it was leaking past his block and over to her, making her body shake, making her feel weak. Making her stumble.

"Commander Analise!" Echo was by her side in an instead, supporting her as best he could. "Maybe we should rest here...I mean..." She shook her head and pushed the pain further away.

"No...We need to keep moving Echo." Fives growled low his throat as he approached his brother and near-sister. That protective urge bubbling up inside him. It had always been strong when it had come to Echo, but now it liked to rage thanks to the influence of Jedi like Anakin and Obi-Wan who were often highly protective of their loved ones. Analise smiled at him a little before it transformed into a slightly pained grimace. "You know I'm right Fives...What news...What news is there? How many did we loose in the crash?"

"We lost a lot Commander." Fives crossed his arms. The Geonosians meant business when it came to taking us down for the count." He sighed a little and shook his head. "From what little we heard from General Kenobi it sounds like his team was the only team to make it through to the landing zone. The flak was just too much."

"And Anakin?"

"I got through to Captian Rex for a hot minute. They went down, but their losses weren't that heavy. The men were just mainly shaken up, but all their tanks are gone. They're fine, but they're taking heat. Got dropped into the middle of a fire fight and they are having to push through it." Fives sighed. "They had been trying to contact General Kenobi for backup, but now they are just going to push forward to the rendezvous point."

"Which is what we will do." Analise slowly raised a hand. "I want no objections Fives. We need to get this stage wrapped up so we can hit the next stage and bring that droid factory to the ground." Her eyes darted around, taking in the men laying on the ground. Too hurt to move, but doing their best to stay silent and ignore the pain. "Load the injuried onto our tanks. We can't leave them behind." She narrowed her eyes, calling the Force to aid her. It whispered, cleared her vision, and she nodded. "There's a ridge out there. If we make for it I bet we will met up with Anakin."

"Yes Commander." 'You crazy mesh'la Jetii.'

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"I'm sorry Rex old man, but that's all I can tell you right now."

"Got it Cody. I'll let the General know. Over and out." Anakin frowned over his shoulder at the Clone Captain crouching down behind the small pile of rocks that he and Ahsoka were fighting to stay balanced on as they swung their lightsabers around and around. Dirt and rocks were spewed up by the Geonosians' lasers, stinging and cutting.

"What's the word Rex?" Anakin shouted to be head over the nose of battle. "Can Obi-Wan sends us some more help or what?" The Knight nodded to his Padawan and the pair jumped down from their dangerous, deadly perches to hunker down with Rex in a very small, small bit of safety.

"That's a negative Anakin...Cody says that right now it doesn't even look like General Kenobi made it to the landing zone. From what he could tell, the General's gunship got hit hard and crashed."

"Damn it!" Anakin wanted to punch the ground, but held himself back. He reached for the Bond he shared with his brother and winced. There was pain and it was bad. "Damn it! The one time I need Obi-Wan's help and he gets shot down!" His anger was loud and fake. Neither Clone nor Togruta bristled, but Ahsoka's eyes grew wide with worry.

"Did something happen? Is Obi-Wan injured?" Ahsoka's questions raced from her mouth and Anakin winced. Ahsoka's Bond with Obi-Wan was not so deep so that when Obi-Wan blocked his end, the opening was so very small that in the heat of battle Anakin doubted that Ahsoka felt anything. "What if he is..."

"Don't talk like that! Don't even think that!" Anakin is his fear, his worry snapped at the teen who shrank back a little. He took a deep breath, but his voice was still hard though he was calmer. "Look Obi-Wan is still alive and he'll be okay. Rex!" The Captain snapped to attention. "Get the men around. We're going to rush that line and break through!"

"Yes Sir!"

"Ahsoka," Anakin focused solely on his baby sister as Rex ran off to gather up some men. "I want you to stick my by side. We're going to play cover for Rex and the vod'e. Got it? This is no time for you to be playing hero."

"Yes Anakin...But what about..."

"Look Snips, I'm worried about Obi-Wan too and I'm worried about Analise. But we need to stay focused in the here and now. As soon as we break through this line we'll go find Obi-Wan and Analise alright?"

"Alright..."

"The men are all set General Skywalker."

"Good...Now get ready...And...Go! Go! Go!"

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It was a race.

A deadly race.

Ahsoka sprinted after Anakin, doing her best not to wince as she heard the death cries of men as they were picked off by the Geonsian snipers. She failed. Even though it had been over a year since she had entered the war as raw, green Padwan; she still felt in many ways like a shiny.

She didn't think she would ever get to use to hearing the men she served with give sharp, almost shrill cries that vanished into silence as blood poured from their bodies and stained their armor. A part of Ahsoka hoped that she would never become numb to it, get use to it. If that ever happened, she worried about what type of person she would be.

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Cody was worried and Cody was very rarely worried.

He gazed out into the distant, peering through dust and debris and flying lasers to make out the gunship that lay destroyed and in danger.

"It's not any good news Sir." Laddy lowered the electrobinoculars from in front of his visors and shook his head. "It looks like the kriffing bugs are splitting up!" Cody clenched his fist. He just knew who was on the latty.

"Waxer reporting for duty Sir!"

"Boil reporting for duty Sir!"

"Where have you two been?" Cody snapped at the Clones who after Ryloth had risen through the ranks. The pair looked almost identical in their desert camo armor except for the little smiling face Boil had added to his helmet. It was Numa, their Numa. The little Twi'lek girl that he and Waxer spent as much time with as they could whenever the were on Coruscant. "Look we've got a down gunship out there about five clicks east and I'm betting all my creds that it's General Kenobi's!" Both men went tense. They owed General Kenobi a lot. They owed his wife a lot too.

"Sir...If the General is hurt does that mean..."

"She might be Waxer, but she and General Kenobi and General Skywalker know how to block their Bonds during battle so that they don't loose focus. Still...I need the two of you hightail it out there and check for survivors. Now move it!"

"Sir yes Sir!"

"Sir yes Sir!"

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It was like that game Analise had taught them to play with Numa and her friends. That came called dodge-ball. Only a deadly form of dodge-ball. The balls were really lasers and if you got hit with one you weren't out. You were dead.

Boil took the lead. Boil always took the lead when they were in battle with droids marching towards them and lasers watering the ground. He twisted and turned, moves learned from watching the Jedi while Waxer hopped and skipped like some overgrown and demented tooka.

"This is stupid!" Waxer half-yelled as he slammed into the side of the downed gunship just knowing that he had created a few new bruises. "Why do we always get stuck doing the fun stuff?"

"You think this is fun?" Boil joined Waxer, keeping cover and chuckling. "I hate to tell you this vod, but the fun part will actually be getting back to the square!"

Waxer shook his head as he and Boil grabbed hold of the gunship doors and pulled...

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Through his haze of pain Obi-Wan heard the creaking, protesting groan of metal being forced open. The light nearly blinded him for a moment and he envied Trapper his helmet.

Trapper...Only Trapper managed to survive the crash. All the others were dead.

"General?" Wincing Obi-Wan raised his hand to block some of the light and smiled. Next to him Trapper lifted his head, just barely stirring.

"Waxer, Boil there you two are." The open cuts on his face pulled and dripped fresh blood as he talked. He ignored it though, pushing forward. Always pushing forward. "I had thought that we might have been forgotten. That crash took everyone except Trapper and myself."

"Well if you can make jokes you aren't feeling too bad then." With ease Boil hoisted Obi-Wan up as Waxer rushed to make help Trapper. "Commander Cody has taken command and everything has been set up. Only problem is that the bugs are everywhere, trying to surround us. We're going to have to move fast."

"That I think I can do with your help of course."

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Cody waited with bated breath as Laddy watched through his electrobinoculars. "I can see them...Yes! They have the General and one other man!"

"HT-6-36 we have the General on his way! Lay down cover fire at point 3-5!" Cody barked into his com even as he released his held breath. They were going to make it. General Kenobi was going to make it. They always did even when the odds seemed far beyond their reach.

From beneath his visor Cody glared at the damn bugs that were doing their hardest to take out his General.

Well they could try all they wanted. Obi-Wan Kenobi was not going to die this day and Cody was going to make sure of that.

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He barely heard the shouts of "Take 'em down! Take 'em down!" as he and the four Clones staggered behind Republic lines. The whole way back the Master and General had simply let Boil direct his movements. He had been deep inside his head, reciting the names of all the men that had died in the crash and praying for the men still alive as their vod'e became one with the Force.

Later, when they were done taking Geonosis back he would call the men together. They would gather and mourn in the silent way that Jedi and Clones did. The men lost would become legends among the ranks. Their names turned into stories of heroics and passed around the GAR until they became bedtime stories for children on far distant worlds.

"General Kenobi? Obi-Wan!" Cody's anxious call jerked Obi-Wan from that hidden place inside his mind where the men would rest until they could be properly remembered. He gazed at his Clone Commander and smirked even though it hurt. Cody looked rather offended that he had once again run off and gotten hurt without Cody at his side. If they hadn't been in the middle of a battle, Obi-Wan was sure Cody's arms would have been crossed and his right foot tapping in irritation. "That was some crash. How badly are you injured?" Cody didn't bother to ask whether or not Obi-Wan was injured. He could tell just by looking at him that he was.

"I'm fine Cody. It's nothing too serious." He could faintly hear the multiple snorts from Cody and Boil and Waxer and Trapper even as Boil sat him on the ground with a crate supporting his back so that he didn't flop over onto the sand. Not a single one believed that his wounds were't serious. At least they weren't life-threatening. "What's the situation then?"

"General Skywalker, Commander Ahsoka, and Commander Analise are all the ground. However they're somewhere beyond us." Cody waved his hand and summoned one of the medics. "The bugs are everywhere and they are pushing us to the brink. They knew we were coming Sir and more than that..." Cody paused, thinking how best to word what would pass through his lips next. "They knew almost every single move we were going to make and I don't think it was just random luck because of predicting Sir. I would swear that someone told them what we were going to do."

Obi-Wan winced only slightly as a hypospray full of numbing medication was injected into his neck. "Well no worries there Cody. You know Anakin and Analise and Ahsoka. They're the Skywalkers and they have enough determination and stubbornness that I have no doubt they'll make it to us." He smiled and ignore the glares from both Commander and medic as fresh blood trickled down his cheek. "All we have to do is make sure that we are still here when they do finally reach us."

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It was slow going with the tanks. Slow going made slower because the Geonosians in some made streak of brilliance had planted huge metal x's all over.

Analise swung out with her lightsaber, hand twitching only slightly in pain as she cut through another x as if it was butter. Her right arm stayed wrapped around her midsection, hand on her ribs.

Fives had already scolded twice then flat out yelled at her until he remembered she was the Commander when she refused to get some rest or have her ribs bound up. At least until they reached real medics. She could feel the glares of both him and Echo. They were still upset that she had opted to simply use the Force to numb the pain.

But Analise knew that she would need her strength. The Force was nudging her, telling her that soon she would need to do what many would think impossible or unreal.

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From his post on the Resolute, staring out the viewports of the bridge Yularen watched the battle for the skies. He watched as Geonosian starfighters tangled with his Y-Wings. They danced across the sky, dodging explosions and falling ships. The moves were perfect, on point for both sides. This was no rehearsal. This was the opening night performance.

"Will you be able to send any help?"

"The answer is no Trooper Echo," he sighed as he turned in the direction of where the call was coming from. "The vast majority of our ships are engaged in heavy battle at the moment."

"We get that Sir we do...It's just that three of us command groups were sent down to the planet, but only General Kenobi's made it to the actual landing zone and contact down here is spotty at best. We could really use that air support."

"Surely you remember your lessons." Even though he couldn't actually see Echo, Yularen sternly gazed at him through the com. "What we are doing here is a planetary-wide invasion. That means if I give you the air support you are requesting than I will be loosing a good number of fighters which in turn could hinder us up here."

"Understood Sir...Are you able to at least send just one or two ships out to find General Skywalker? Commander Analise is doing her best to keep going, but General Kenobi was injured and even with their Bond blocked, she's still getting some of his pain as well as her own."

Yularen opened his mouth to again say no, but he found he couldn't. As much as Anakin Skywalker's nature and reckless disregard for the rules made him thinking about diving for the nearest bottle of top-shelf Corellian brandy which was next to impossible when he was on duty; Analise was the total opposite. Anakin ruffled feathers and Analise smoothed back into place. She was the gentle breeze to Anakin's tropical storm.

Yularen had seen twins before. He knew how close, how deep that relationship could run. If Analise wasn't able to reach her husband, than she would need to be with her twin and vice versa.

He didn't take another moment to think. "That I can do Echo and for now it is all I can do."

"That will be more than enough Admiral. I'll let Commander Analise know. Echo out." Nodding Yularen turned sharply on his heel.

"I want as many fighters that we can scrap up put on alert at once," he barked out as he made his way to the projector where Lee hovered. The Clone's eyes were rapidly darting all over the map trying to keep track of all the movements on the ground. "Lee, have you been able to pinpoint General Skywalker's position?"

"I think so..." The tone of Lee's voice had Yularen on alert. "From me and the other vod'e were able to pull together, we think General Skywalker's team is making their way along the eastern barrier here." Lee pointed...Pointed at the same fortified wall that young Ahsoka had pointed out earlier and expressed concern about.

"That's not a barrier Lee...That's a fortress..."

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They hadn't even stepped into the shadow of the wall when the battle droids stationed on top pointed their guns down towards them and opened fire. Lightsabers wrote paths in the air, erasing some of the bolts, but even they knew it was too much. "Take cover!" Rex suggested and they all made flying leaps to huddled behind some rocks.

All except two shinnies that had been too slow to react. They had still been too new, too unsure, and too willing to prove themselves.

Ahsoka wasn't even sure if they had picked out their names yet. Some Clones waited until they were away from Kamino's choking and sterile environment before giving up their numbers and taking names that were all their own.

"Well..." Ahsoka glanced at her brother out of the corner of her eye. "Next time I should get to come up with the plan. Look at the mess you got us into!" She waved her lightsaber around carefully to make her point before hooking it back onto her belt.

"What do you mean me?" Rex watched the siblings and rolled his eyes affectionately. Only the Skywalker siblings and Obi-Wan would pick on each other in the middle of a deadly fire-fight just to distract themselves and each other from the battle and what it cost. "Look it wasn't my job to study the holo-maps. It was yours!"

"Yeah and I did my job!" She snapped back at him. "Don't you remember the breifing where I was the one who pointed out this giant wall with all the guns? You were the one who clearly said that there was nothing to worry about because we aren't going anywhere near it Snips." Rex smothered a chuckle as a quick flash of defeat appeared than vanished from Anakin's face. At least the General knew when the little Commander had beaten him.

"Look...I...Just get ready to climb Ahsoka!"

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"Analise..." The Knight half-turned as she walked to listen to Fives who had come bounding up to her. "I did what you asked and left a small squad of what men we could spare to watch the tanks and wounded." He eyed the dark, gaping maw that Analise was leading the men into. "Are you absolutely sure that this will the be the quickest way to the others?"

"No...I'm not." She gave Fives a little smile. "But all I can do is trust in the Force, trust in my own gut...So into the cavern we go." She pulled out her lightsaber and switched it on, the blade's hum slightly different from other lightsabers. "Think of it as just another learning experience in your dealings with Jedi." Echo snorted.

"Maybe after this war I'll write a guide so that everyone will know just how to handle Jedi when they get some crazy idea stuck in their head." Giggling Analise spun so that she was walking backwards.

"What advice will you give? Tie up the Jedi and throw in a secure, lockable room until..." The Force flared in warning and she spun around so quick that both Clone twins wondered if she were give herself whiplash. She held up her hand and closed her fist. The signal to the men to halt. Fives frown and tapped his helmet as his HUD suddenly began to spit information into his face. He growled low.

"My HUD is picking up wing vibrations Commander Analise...They're just up ahead." While Analise stood straight, twisting and reaching out to feel just exactly where the Geonosians were, most of the men behind her crouched down. Only a few moved their eyes along the walls than up into the shadows of the cavern ceiling.

It came from out of nowhere. A Geonosian warrior barreling down from the ceiling and hurling itself at one of the newer Clones. The men went down with a frantic cry as the bug tore at his armor. A second bug joined him, stomping down on the man's wrist with all his weight and managing to break it. The cries of the man became louder and more pain-filled as the bugs cruelly jerked him into the air, pulling his shoulders from their sockets.

It must have been the signal for three more bugs attacked. They went for the men, not the Jedi. They still remembered that the Jedi were too much for them on a certain level and were better left to the droids.

"Kriff!" Fives yelled as he watched a bug tackle one of the vod'e to the ground. Even in his helmet, the Clone's head made a sicking thud as it bashed against the rocky floor. Blasters began to go off as the others took shot after shot, hoping to bring down the bugs. Fives made for the vod on the floor, shooting the bug to death and kicking it away.

"Thanks Fives..." The Clone rose, shaking his head. The back of his helmet looked dented.

"Will you be fine to go on?"

and body of a bug pressed against his back, around his neck. Fives started a desperate bucking to get the bug to let go...

A buzzing hum brushed by his ear and the bug on his brick cried shrilly as Analise coolly dispatched it with a burning hot slash across it's back from shoulder to ribs. Echo quickly dropped the body to the ground and turned, scanning the feed in his HUD. For the moment all seemed to be quiet. "Orders Commander?" He already knew what they were going to be.

"We keep moving. We can't let ourselves be stopped here because of the bugs." She swung her blade around in a circle before pointing it further down the cavern. "Forward men! Forward!"

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Rex stood back and watched as backpacks full of explosives were brought to the front. He didn't like this. He didn't like it one bit. "So that's it? That's the plan General?"

"It's the best and only plan that will work." Anakin passed one of the backpacks filled to the brim with explosives to Ahsoka who gleefully slipped it onto her back while he took the second one. The little bit was always too excited when she was getting the chance to blow something up in Rex's mind. "Look," Anakin sighed as he slipped on his own backpack. "There are way too many of you guys to all make the climb and bring down that wall. It will be better for a smaller team to do it. Snips and I have the best chance of getting up and dropping in the bombs. You need to stay here and help the men lay down cover fire for us."

"Yes Sir." Rex would follow orders, but he as not happy about them at all.

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It never mattered what they were doing. If they were in the Temple's hanger adding the newest upgrade to the Twilight, being bored to death as they gave reports to the Council, playing some highly twisted and demented version of a child's game with the men, or even running for their lives dodging explosions with bags of bombs on their backs. It never mattered to Ahsoka what they were doing because she was spending time with her big brother, with her hero.

Ahsoka knew that Anakin was far from the Hero With No Fear that the media liked to paint him as. She knew he had fears, lots of fears. She knew he wasn't perfect. Than again no one was perfect as Analise would always remind her. Anakin had many faults, he failed, he fell, he got back up. She knew of the ghosts in his past. She knew the shadows that crossed his face.

She didn't care. Those faults, flaws, mistakes just made him a stronger person in her eyes as he fought to move past them.

As they ran she felt Anakin reach out and grab onto her hand as few explosions reached out their burning fingers and brushed at her skin. Too close for Anakin's comfort.

She had to use to the Force to keep up with his longer legs. She didn't want to fall and pull him down. Though if she fell, Anakin would probably just pick her up and haul her around just like he had done when they were younger and leaving the scene of a prank. Especially the pranks that had involved Master Windu. He didn't really have a sense of humor.

Ahsoka didn't know when it happened, but by the time they had reached the cliff wall that they would need to scale to make it up to the wall, they were moving and breathing as one. In sync they pulled the cable launchers from their belts aimed and fired. Matching clangs of metal against rock let them know that they hooks had latched. Tugs made sure that they stayed latched. Anakin doubled checked her cable of course as soon as she had hooked it onto her belt.

She didn't say anything even though she felt she was far too old and experienced at this point for Anakin to be fussing over her cable. At this point she understood that for Anakin it was one of the very few things he could control in the middle of a battle.

"Alright Snips, let's go."

"On it Skyguy!" Ahsoka started hopping up the side of the cliff. Her body acted on instinct allowing the Togruta's mind to wander. 'Is it strange that I can be so happy about spending time with Anakin even when we are in the middle of a war?'

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The Geonosians were everywhere. Analise's lightsaber wove a simple and complicated pattern through the air, sweat running down her face and tracing tracks through the dirt that had been smeared there by the crash. She was doing all she could to keep the bugs shots from hitting her men, but it was getting tougher and tougher.

She could hear the cries of men as Geonosians jumped on them, clawing them to bits until the screams lived on only in dying echos that were drowned out by the noise of battle. Her ears, her head rang with the shrill and dizzying Geonosian chattering language. A headache was building and building behind her temples.

She needed to end this standoff and fast or they would never make it out of the cavern.

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The good news was that the droids on top of the wall weren't firing down at the men. The bad news was that now they were firing at him and Ahsoka.

Not that Anakin was worried. If it had been Geonosians taking shots at them, then he might have been worried, but it was just droids and droids were easy to deal with. Easy to take apart.

"So Snips what's you total so far?" Plus it made for a fun game to keep Ahsoka's focus on the here and now.

"I've got 25 droid kills so far Skyguy!" The kills were only counted if they were droids, not living beings. Anakin didn't want Ahsoka to get used to, to get numb to killing living beings. Droids were one thing, beings were not. Anakin knew that during war one could become far too use to killing, to seeing and feeling the life of a being ebb away into nothing and being numb to it all.

He didn't want that for Ahsoka.

The Knight smirked. He might have come with the game to help Ahsoka, but that didn't mean that he had to let her win. "You'll need to catch up a lot if you want to beat me. Let's go!"

Wrapping the Force around themselves, the siblings run to the edge of the cliff and jumped down. Their landings jarred their ankles, but they didn't stumble. They never did not when the Force was there to control their landing.

The droids marched towards them, guns firing shot after shot.

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The droids marched towards them, guns firing shot after shot.

Rex glared at the machines from his position on the ground where he and the other men were shooting droids, shooting out the automatic guns embedded into the wall.

Those blasted, overconfident, reckless Jetii! They were outnumbered and they knew it. Even with all their skills there was no way they would be able to push back all the droids long enough for them to properly set up the bombs. "You men take care of the droids on top of the wall," Rex barked out to the men around him. "I'll be joining the Jedi!"

Next time Rex wasn't giving them a choice. They would be taking him with them.

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It was haran.

As the bugs pressed closer, Cody had dragged Obi-Wan and forced him to sit on the ground with the crates blocking him from the Geonosians pressing forward. He had ordered Obi-Wan to stay there and stay down! Obi-Wan had simply sat in the dust in shock. Cody rarely told him what to do. In fact Obi-Wan could never remember when Cody had given him an order before.

The Commander hadn't given him time to fight back. He simply grabbed a nearby Trooper, curtly ordered the Trooper to make sure that the General followed his orders, than stalked away to command their defenses until help arrived.

"Man down!" The cry broke through Obi-Wan's thoughts. The cry that he kept hearing over and over and over again. The cry that he was sure he would hear in his sleep for nights to come.

His grey eyes scanned. They took in the dead bodies, the injured being pulled or carried desperately to the what little safety there was in the middle of the circle. He watched as canons they had brought were blown to bits and pieces. The gunners manning them not even having enough time to scream before their lives ended.

He punched the ground and then punched it again, punched it a third time. Angry tears welled up in his eyes. He hated this! He hated being so weak, so unable to fight while his men died around him. It felt like the first battle all over again. Watching as his fellow Jedi were gunned down and the blood pooling in the sands.

The anger left as fast as it had come and it left Obi-Wan feeling even more drained than before.

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It had taken time, maybe hours; but at long last all the droids on the wall had fallen into scraps at their feet. Lightsabers hissed back into blades of sliver and black. "Alright Ahsoka, look for a hatch. We can drop the bombs down there so that when they go off this wall will get blown sky-high!"

"Got it!" Ahsoka dropped her to knees, hands running over the surface beneath her. They felt for any unusual depressions, any rough cuts or markings that indicated that some sort of hatch had been placed there.

A circle had been cut into it and Ahsoka smirked as her hands passed over it and it opened. Turning to look at her brother she shouted "Hey Skyguy I found it..." An angry series of beeps interrupted her and Ahsoka found herself suddenly crawling backwards as a droideka popped out of the hatch, it's shield flickering on. "I found a destroyer too!"

Anakin's lightsaber blazed back to life as he ran to Ahsoka. He ignored the hatch opening behind him and the second droideka popping out, but Ahsoka didn't. The Padawan pushed herself up and by using Anakin's knees as a lift, flung herself up and over the Knight.

They fought back-to-back just like in all the great stories about Jedi that crossed the galaxy for generations.

Except those stories never mentioned droidekas, the bane of the Jedi for those blasted shield generators. Ahsoka's energy began to wane, her moves became slightly sloppy when her eyes widened. Something was coming...A presence she knew all too well...

Rex snuck up behind the droideka, passing through the shield. Slowly, slowly so that the clanker wouldn't notice he pressed the barrel of one of his blasters against its head and fired!

The head exploded in a fury of sparks, but not before shooting off one last shot. It went wide and hit the ground near the feet of Anakin's foe. The remaining droideka stumbled, the chipping rocks knocking it off balance.

Anakin switched off his saber then threw himself down to the ground in a roll, sliding through the shield and laying flat on his back. The droid's processors didn't have the time to really compute what was happening as blue sliced through it and it fell to the ground in pieces.

"So did you guys get them or what?" Jedi and Clone ran up to the first hatch which had reopened to reveal a confused battle droid sent for an update.

"Perfect...We need to hold onto these!" Anakin tossed his backpack to the droid who dropped his blaster to catch the explosive package. Smirking Anakin used the Force to shove the droid back down and turn on the bombs as Ahsoka happily threw her pack down the hatch and helped him shut it. "Alright Rex time to get off this wall."

"Wait...What1?"

"Time to go up, up and away!" As one the siblings used the Force to toss the loudly protesting Clone Captain high into the air. With him safely out of the explosion's range, Anakin pressed a hand to Ahsoka's back and the two leapt for it themselves.

As the wall burst into a blazing inferno that stretched so high into the sky and nearly deafened those nearby, Ahsoka and Anakin fell to the ground, using the Force to make sure they landed safely before quickly turning to reach out and catch Rex. Just as quickly they reached up and pushed the debris back and to the sides, not wanting to be crushed to death by falling rocks the size of fighters.

"You know..." the Captain sent the pair dirty looks through his visor as he stood up, "A simple hey Rex, jump would have done just as well."

"Yeah, but it wouldn't have been as fun." Ahsoka lightly clapped her hands, a twinkle of teasing in her eyes. "Hey Rex did you know that you scream like a girl?"

"Little one..." The men all laughed and Rex just knew it would be a while before he wasn't the butt of jokes.

"The fun is over men. Let's move out! Obi-Wan needs our help and he needs it now!"

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They were so close to the end now. Analise could make out the yellow glow of Geonosian sunlight. They just needed to smash through those damn bugs.

One lightsaber and a couple dozen blasters through weren't going to help. "Bring in the flamethrowers, we're close!" Closing her eyes, Analise sank deep into the Force. She reached along the rock, the small amount of water that dripped somewhere in the cave. She reached for the fuel in the tanks of the men, for the flames that would come racing out of the specially made guns. "Now men!"

"But Commander..." She knew why they hesitated. She was standing in front of them. The flames could burn her, but they wouldn't.

"Let them have it men!"

They obeyed and Analise felt the rush of heat and power as she wove the Force through the flamed and they wrapped around her to form into towering funnel, brushing the rock overhead. Lighsaber held out to the side, Analise lifted a hand and directed the flames on a dance, splitting the one funnel into thee, the three into six. Behind her eyelids she saw the path they would take, the Geonosians who would not be able to flee from their deaths.

She could hear the gasps of the men, sense their awe at the power that their Commander had hidden at the tips of their fingers. Fives and Echo had known. They weren't surprised.

Their sister was the daughter of the Force, it's Moon and the Living Force would always heed her call.

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"Anakin is that...?" They were running hard when the sky above them was suddenly filled with sounds of dying bugs and the smell of their burning flesh. They stopped to stare as a cavern spewed out Geonosians whose bodies blazed with flame, at the six tornadoes made of fire that danced on the edge. A familiar figure stood behind them and Anakin felt the power of his twin, knew just how far she reached to tap into it so that she could control the uncontrollable.

"Yep Snips...That's Analise." He waited until the death cries of the bugs had faded, until Analise had vanished the fire into the wind and Force with a wave of her hand. Only when it was calm did he bring his com up and call to her. "Glad you could join the party Moon."

"Yes...Well our crash landing forced us to take a slight detour that kept us out of contact for a while."

"So that's what we've been taking today, detours?"

"Yes...Sun I can see the landing zone, I can feel Obi-Wan. It's not looking good..."

"Don't worry. Now that we're together it will be better. I promise." He turned to Rex. "Rex try and get Admiral Yularen. We're going to need his help now."

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"Admiral I know what I am asking will be next to impossible, but things have reached the breaking point and we need air support down here."

"It's not so impossible General. I just happen to have one squadron up and waiting for the call. Sending them in now!"

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It hurt to move...But he had to get up.

The Geonosians were just too much. They were breaching the safety of their circle, pressing in closer and closer. The calls for retreat rang out all around him, but there was no where to retreat to.

Staggering to his feet Obi-Wan clung tightly to his lightsaber with a slightly shaky hand while the other rested on a crate.

Cody was by his side like he always was when things got rough. Cody bound and determined that nothing would happen to his General. The other men surrounded him. All ready to give their last breath for their Jedi General.

Breath...Breathing...He could barely breath. His gasps were rough tearing at his raw throat as he weakly swung his lightsaber up and turned it on.

His men weren't going to give up and neither was he...He would fight until...Until...

"Reinforcements!" The cry was filled with hope and disbelief even as Y-wings and V-19s flew overhead in graceful, deadly displays. Suddenly it was the Geonosians who were feeling the pressure, who finding themselves being forced back. "The reinforcements are here!" The tired men all cheered while Cody bowed his head and Obi-Wan knew the man was praying and thanking the Force that help had come at last.

Filled with new energy the men rushed forward, eager to really give it to the bugs with air support at last easing their way. Obi-Wan turned off his lightsaber and sank back to the ground, his back pressed against the crates. His legs no longer able to support him. Help had come...Help was here!

From the dust came more forces, new forces lead by a trio of lightsabers in green and sky-blue. Their men in white and blue, desert camo rushed past him to join their vod'e in battle. But the Jedi didn't. The Jedi stopped when they reached him.

"Oh my Ben..." He welcomed the soft hands that fluttered to his face after she had fallen to the knees in the dirt beside him. Dirt was smeared across her face, on her clothes. They were ripped and torn, her lovely hair was falling from her braided crown. He could smell smoke, see the light sliver tint to her eyes; but she was still the most beautiful sight he had ever seen.

He felt engery, love, warmth, healing as she poured her very essance, their shared essance into him.

"Are you alright?" A voice that still held some small innocence of childhood filtered through his ears as Ahsoka fell to her knees by Analise. It was clear that the teen wanted to hug him, but was scared to even touch the clearly wounded man. Obi-Wan chuckled and raised a hand to Ahsoka's lekku, lightly stroking them.

"So what exactly happened to you Master?"

"That's the question I should be asking you Anakin."

His family was by his side again. The Geonosians were in trouble.

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"With our forces combined once again, we should have more than enough strength and power to take down those generators. Anakin I want you to take Ahsoka and group of men up through the shield and get as close as you possible can to the gunning placements. That will get you close enough to jam their scanners just long enough for us to get our tanks up to the generator without the Geonosians targeting them. Once those shields are down, Analise can bring in the rest of the forces with the gunships."

"I don't know...Maybe I should stay with you Ben."

"No Analise, this is the best plan and Obi-Wan knows it. Don't worry Master, we'll get this done and have you pickled in bacta before you can say it."

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"All the units are in position Commander Analise."

"Thank you Fives. Echo go ahead and tell Anakin that we are ready for him to start the attack."

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"We're all clear Sir. Begin the attack!"

They were off, running through the gantlet of Geonosian warriors. Ahsoka, still tired pushed herself as she ran hard and fast. She was determined to keep up with Anakin and the other men. They needed to win this battle.

He reached out and grabbed her, pulling her down behind a rock where they could see the scanners. The guns didn't let up, firing round after round after round. "Alright Ahsoka, time to jam the scanners. Toss a droid popper..." He handed her a couple of the EMP grenades and waited..."Now!"

With perfect aim, almost casual they tossed the poppers at the scanners which suddnely sparked and shorted out. Next to Anakin, Ahsoka cheered. "Hey it worked!"

"Yeah, but that window won't stay opened for long. Bring in those tanks and take out the shield!"

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Analise watched, high on a gunship as the shield generator tumbled to the ground in flame, black smoke, and rocks. The flickering pink and red barrier slowly began to peel away, to open. "Alright men! We're going in!" The doors opened and Analise bolted from the ship, running straight for Anakin and Ahsoka who were engaged with the remains of the Geonosian defense line.

This was no blazing gun-battle. No last ditch attempt to come from behind and reclaim what had been at first a certain victory.

No...The remaining Geonosian fighters had only looked at her and the men pouring from the gunships. Then they dropped their blasters.

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Obi-Wan clung to Anakin and the younger man didn't mind. His Master, his brother was hurt and Anakin had been quick to order the man back to the Resolute for healing. Obi-Wan had protested of course...Until he learned that Anakin was also sending Analise back to get her ribs looked at.

If anyone would keep his Master in the med-bay until he was cleared, it was his twin.

"So Skyguy..." Ahsoka left the conversation she had been engaged in with Analise and the Clone twins to dart up to her big brother. "Do you have your final total?" Anakin rolled his eyes.

"Now's not a good time Ahsoka."

"Oh come on...Are you scared you're going to loose?

"What? No!"

"Then what is it?"

"Fifty-five alright! I got fifty-five. What's your total then hot-shot?"

"I got sixty," Ahsoka loudly stated and smugly crossed her arms across her chest. "Looks like this time I win."

"Yeah...Well...I..." Anakin's mind was working fast even as Obi-Wan eyed him in near disbelief. They had halted right by the open doors of the gunship. He couldn't let Ahsoka win. "Well I was the one who called in the airstrike that saved the day so I say we tie." His baby sister rolled her eyes.

"Whatever sore loser." She waved at hand dismissively at him and left them. Anakin had a feeling she was going to look for Rex. The two of them always seemed to be together.

"Let's get you onto that ship Master. I need you and Analise to take care of yourselves so that I can have you both back here to see me destroy the main factory." Obi-Wan sighed.

"We'll do our best, but I'll never understand Anakin how or why you turn these battles into some kind of game." The Master limped onto the ship where Fives became his support even as Analise wiggled under the arm on his open side.

"It's for Ahsoka. If she's thinking about the game, she's not focused on the lives that are being lost." Sky-blue eyes gazed far too sweetly at her brother. "And sixty-five Anakin."

"Huh?"

"That's my total for today. I got sixty-five which means I beat both you and Ahsoka. So what's my prize?" Obi-Wan wished he had a holo so he could capture Anakin's expression. The Knight was gaping like a fish out of water.

"Will my ever lasting respect do?"

"Hmmm..."

"Take it Analise...Besides he can treat us and Padme to dinner when we get back."

"Hey!"

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Translations

haran-hell; Literally: destruction, cosmic annihilation

Jetii-Jedi

mesh'la-beautiful

vod-brother, sister, comrade

vod'e-brothers, sisters, comrades