Before Grievous' decapitated head touched the ground, Obi-Wan and Anakin already moved to reposition themselves behind one another in a joint defensive stance. The former entered the Soresu ready stance, blade held at chest height and knees bent to shrink his height, minimizing all forms of body exposure. The latter pulled his blade back in a Shien opening stance, exposing considerably more of his body and inviting the droids to open fire. An imminent attack numbering in the thousands.
Despite remaining staunchly indifferent even as their recently deceased commander steadily lost his fight, the droids' mechanical brains didn't lack quite enough common sense to not respond to his demise. In an instant, thousands of whirs, clanks, and shifts between metal parts commanded by servo motors filled the air. Arms and legs shifted, arm and handheld blasters and cannons aimed and mechanical brains worked at lightning speeds to process the firing order to come.
Even for the Team who'd survived and cut down more than a few seemingly overwhelming swarms of battle droids, this situation was troublesome. Not simply because of the sheer number of blaster bolts about to get fired, but the disparity in power between them. Some shots were capable of scorching through clone armor whilst others could rip armored trooper carriers apart. Lightsabers alone could not compete with the latter and their available room to flee was decidedly limited.
An ordinary bystander might think Obi-Wan and Anakin had reached the end of their path. They would be quite wrong. Despite the odds stacked against them, neither Jedi felt worried or afraid. The Force would provide for them or it wouldn't. The answer became clear to them in the moments before the entire hangar turned into a two-man focused free-fire zone. With blinding speed and deathly quiet, Boga and Dobu both darted through the upper levels of the hangar, never leaving it in-spite of their rider's instructions. The dragonmounts showcasing their keen skills of observation and problem-solving in a pinch by copying Obi-Wan's earlier maneuver.
Striking at the handles keeping various, gargantuan crates suspended overhead, their sharpened rock climbing claws proved equally good at carving through durasteel. Each resounding boom of the things falling several stories was followed by the visceral crunches and splats of entirely or partially decimated battle droids. It was just the break the Jedi needed. Running in the same direction as their mounts still up above, Anakin and Obi-Wan took full advantage of the droid's diminishing numbers, scattered attention and newly afforded crate cover to turn the odds back in their favor. Without even gracing the dozens of bolt still sent their way with so much as glances, the two kept each other covered on both sides and promptly leapt off the hangar edge.
Dobu and Boga were already there, clawing into the forty-five degree angled slab of metal just under the hangar's open section and waiting for their riders. Once Obi-Wan and Anakin were both safely in their saddles, the dragonmounts leaped further still, circumnavigating through the metal monstrosity that was the outer hull of a parked Confederacy vessel. The chaos throughout the sinkhole city spread quickly, with droid groups situated all over either beginning to or already firing on the Jedi.
The dragonmounts, with more than a little help from the Jedi guided by the Force, darted to one side or another even as rocks and slabs exploded into minuscule chunks just a few feet away from them. That wasn't the problem, however, it was the fact they had to keep going down.
"We'll have to turn around soon!" Obi-Wan shouted, mentally nudging Boga to perform a leap away from a jutting rock that was about to get incinerated. "We can't afford to get stuck on this planet for too long!"
"Don't worry!" Anakin shouted back, pointing up to the sky. "They'll be busy shooting at someone else!"
Trusting Boga to keep them alive, Obi-Wan risked a glance to the top of the sinkhole city and there found a large dot against the system's sun. A dot growing by the moment into a very familiar, and for the time being, comforting sight of a Venator-class cruiser. And it wasn't alone. Dozens upon dozens of smaller ships swarmed out of it like a riled insect hive, troop carriers, assault vessels and of course, grappling clone troopers attacking in the thousands. The larger distraction all but negated the pressure on Obi-Wan and Anakin, allowing the two to finally begin climbing with more or less nothing impeding them.
Explosions went off constantly, the sounds of blaster fire seemed to come from everywhere and on their comlinks, the Team could hear chatter from troops across all levels, reporting in injuries, victories, defeats and stalemates alike. Cycling through channels, they eventually heard the voice they needed to hear.
"General Kenobi, General Skywalker!" Cody shouted, a hailstorm of fighting coming through from his background. "I'm at level three in the city, if you can hear me, please respond!"
"We're close, Cody!" Obi-Wan shouted as Boga and Dobu howled and clawed their way upward, knowing instinctively where to go. "But we won't be able to stay and help you this time, I'm afraid. Some other urgent matter requires our attention elsewhere. Troop command is fully yours."
"Understood, General!" Cody said, no doubt wondering if this other something had to do with Master Kota's plan burning in space. "What about Grievous? Have you managed to capture him?"
Obi-Wan did not say, looking to Anakin to his left. His former apprentice looked at the communicator as though it were a viper ready to strike, his brow furrowed with worry and concentration at something only he could perceive. But he was not too distracted to confirm with a nod the silent question: Gunray and his comrades were captured and gone. The plan had so far worked and the Sith and Jedi both on Coruscant were no doubt stirred into their next respective moves. Lying to Cody was entirely unnecessary. He would ask Anakin once they were safe what exactly now was bothering him so.
"Grievous is dead," He said a moment later. "Anakin and I have taken care of him. No sign of Count Dooku, however, though we're both quite certain he fled the planet before we arrived."
"Congratulations, sirs," Admiration entered Cody's otherwise professional voice. "I knew you could do it."
"Thank you, Cody, I suspect you'll still have quite a battle on your hands regardless."
"Nothing we haven't trained for, General."
About twenty or so minutes later, they'd reached Cody's position. At the far end of a sinkhole entrance level, the clone troopers had already done away with most of the defending droid forces, creating a safe enough of a perimeter to establish an on-field command post. Barricades, parked assault vehicles, and even a mobile communications array were already installed. Anakin and Obi-Wan's starfighters were there as well, with Geenine and Artoo safely inside their slots. Cody himself was easy enough to spot, he was the only clone without a helmet. With as much of an enthusiastic smile as he could muster, Cody approached the Jedi as their mounts finally stopped to a halt, their large, scaly bodies throbbing from exertion.
"Don't worry, they're quite friendly," Obi-Wan assured some of the clones casting glances at the large mounts. To emphasize the point, Boga bowed quietly as she could and respectfully, making it an easy effort to dismount her. Dobu eyed the troopers with something approximating Anakin's earlier furrowed brow of concern before yielding as well. "You wasted no time, I see, Cody."
"None whatsoever, General," They shook hands first, Anakin doing so after and showing none of the worries Obi-Wan could sense radiating off of him through the Force. "You should be out of the system in mere minutes."
"That's good," Anakin said, running a hand through his hair. "We'd love to stay and fight but this really can't wait."
"Say no more, sir. Just know I wish you the best of luck with whatever you've got to do next."
What troubled Obi-Wan and Anakin was the fact Cody genuinely meant it. The clone's strength of mind and instilled discipline made them quite troublesome to get a read on through the Force. Yet now, the commander had opened himself to the two of them in a way many of his brethren never did. Even after years of fighting alongside their own Jedi. Of course, up until recently, they'd learned to trust the clones implicitly but matters on Coruscant had cast a shadow over this relationship. It was with this in mind, even Obi-Wan found himself pausing a moment longer than he should have, placing a friendly hand on Cody's shoulder.
"And you as well, my friend," He smiled and then turned away, partly to avoid letting something show and to say farewell to a pair of new friends as well. Boga looked at him, a disciplined, trusting but also independent being. One whose loyalty and initiative had proven so invaluable. With a gentle hand, he stroked her beak and the dragonmount almost purred at his touch. "Thank you, Boga, it has been an honor riding with you."
Anakin's mount was not quite so affectionate. Instead of bending down or allowing himself to be stroked, Dobu locked eyes with Anakin and something unknowable even to Obi-Wan's senses passed between them. The male dragonmount simply let out a long huff and nodded at his rider. Obi-Wan's former apprentice actually managed to smile sincerely and returned the gesture.
"Take care of them, Cody," Anakin instructed him. "They're some of the best friends you'll find down here."
"Of course, General."
With that, they both turned away from the mounts, Cody and the clone troops either standing guard or advancing deeper into the sinkhole cities. Anakin reached his starfighter first and whispered to Artoo. The astromech let out a series of quieter than usual beeps and whistling noises. A check to make sure no one had tampered with their vessels in the meantime. Anakin's nearly imperceptible nod confirmed nothing of the sort happened, they could leave promptly and so they did.
Locking themselves in, the two Jedi activated their ships once again and watched the world of Utapau shrink beneath them. The battle raging underneath, the scores of clones dying and droids falling, the native inhabitants hiding in safety or battling for their home. The attack cruiser hanging over the sinkhole shrank as well, a giant, unmoving piece of metal against a storm of hyperwinds gradually eating away at it. These same hyperwinds made the flight off Utapau decidedly longer and more problematic than it would've otherwise been. Making the trip to their hyperdrive rings, left just beyond the planet's gravity well a needlessly grueling task.
"It's Coruscant," Anakin's voice came through the radio, harder than his ship's hull. "The Dark Side... It's changed there, it's swirling around the Senate Dome..."
And so it is true... Obi-Wan thought, feeling a momentary chill of shock and fear reverberate through him. He immediately sent it away, through his entire body and into the Force. Anakin needed him to lean on, there would be time later... To take in the worst on his own terms.
"Anakin... I am so sorry..."
"It's horrible, Obi-Wan... It's like he's made a black hole around himself, I've never felt anything this heavy before... So chilling..."
"And Padmé? Has Sidious gone after her?"
"... No... " His voice became even thicker, ragged. He was struggling to breathe in and out, to send these thoughts away into the Force. "But they're coming after her... I can feel her Jedi guards fighting-"
And then, Anakin suddenly took a long, sharp inhale of breath. It sounded so painful Obi-Wan almost thought a lightsaber had cut into him again. "Anakin? Anakin?!"
Artoo answered him, instead, a series of panicked whistles and beeping noises. It was not hard to see why the starfighter started spinning out of control. Obi-Wan wasted no time with spectating, activating his ship into a full burst, he flew towards Anakin's. He tried to reach out into the Force, to tell him to wake up or snap out of it but it was no use, Anakin was... Lost, somewhere, someplace deep within the Force. The occurrence must've been so sudden his hands flailed the steering wheel about, causing the ship to utterly lose control. Obi-Wan could do not help him this way, but he could stop him from falling back to Utapau.
Closing his eyes and imagining the ship's controls in his mind's eye and reached out with an open palm towards the steering wheel, telekinetically grabbing hold of it and steadying the starfighter manually.
"Artoo," His voice came out bland, distant. "Activate autopilot functions, you'll have to fly the ship until Anakin can-"
It was only the sudden warning from the force that saved Obi-Wan's life. Without even getting a moment to think, his body moved on its own, abandoning the hold over Anakin's controls and forcing his starfighter into a spinning movement, allowing the vessel to emerge from a hail of blaster cannon fire unscathed. Blaster fire from clone ships, exiting the hyperwind storms of Utapau and coming directly for them.
"Fly on, Artoo," Obi-Wan said, repositioning the starfighter to meet the incoming clones. Though his perceptions in the Force were nothing on the level of Master Yoda or Anakin's latest abilities, he could spot the cold, clone indifference even through the vacuum of space. He wished it wasn't there and once again let his thoughts momentarily linger on things, events and people far away and beyond his help before Qui-Gon's advice returned him to the moment at hand.
Anakin couldn't say how long he lingered in the Dark. Its expansion from the Senate dome to seemingly covering the whole of Coruscant itself came so impossibly quickly and fiercely, he couldn't move his perceptions away in time. The sensation feeling like someone burying his entire body in ice, taking the air out of his lungs and gouging his eyes. Whatever movement he tried to make was impossibly heavy, whatever name he shouted was consumed by a deafening silence. Even his worries for the Jedi Order, for Master Windu, the Republic itself, his family all vanished next to one question: how could anyone choose to live with this kind of power? You'd have to be deluded or completely insane.
The fact he could put a face to this insanity, the face, and voice of a man he thought were so kind, so thoughtfully and so righteous for so long. The voice of a friend, of a man he'd considered family right alongside Obi-Wan, his wife, and his mother. All a lie, a mask to hide this... A monstrosity of the Force. Something so horrible it shouldn't have even been possible to appear in human form at all.
If it weren't for a single strand amidst this darkness, glowing brighter and brighter as it moved away from Dark Side, Anakin wasn't sure how he would've found himself again. Padmé and the twins, their unique sensation in the Force invigorated him, gave him the strength to escape. Holding onto this feeling for dear life, Anakin let it carry him out of the black hole and away from Coruscant. He felt like he could breathe again, but just for a moment.
The second he gathered his thoughts, he had to leave his family behind and stretch out to everyone else and what he felt there almost made him want to go back to the Dark. All throughout the galaxy, Anakin Skywalker sensed the Sith's endgame happen in real-time, as though he were a live spectator to the events. As though he was the possible victim to them himself.
He was Barriss Offee on Felucia, gasping for breath and fleeing into the jungles after an AT-TE nearly blew her up. He was Aayla Secure, clutching her bleeding side as clone blaster bolts whizzed past her head. He was Master Mundi, trapped in a command headquarters with dozens of hostile clones closing in from every side. He was Master Koon, performing every trick in the book to keep his damaged starfighter from crashing or exploding. He was Master A'Sharad, saving fellow Jedi from clone backstabbing even as a bolt sizzled into his belly. Anakin Skywalker was all of these individuals and so many, many more. A witness to their survival and their deaths.
But not the only one.
The one exception who could also perceive the tragedy of the Jedi Order unfolding across the galaxy. Master Yoda, looking as though he'd been struck with a saber through the heart, his eyes distant and breath ragged as he took it all in. It broke Anakin's heart to see him this way. Somehow, Anakin managed to focus enough to send a signal to the Grand Master, to tell him that not everything had gone horribly wrong. Master Yoda looked at him then, acknowledging his presence and seeming to draw strength from it. The pain was still there but seeing another Jedi, even though the Force and so far away to physically help him caused the tiny, green Jedi to stand taller. In turn, Anakin felt his own shock diminish, Master Yoda's resolve strengthening his.
"Thank you, Anakin," Yoda's voice carried itself through the Force, making it seem as though they were right next to one another. Even more incredibly, the Grand Master managed a genuine smile before someone from behind caught his attention. With an imperceptible nod, Yoda refocused his attention back to the matter at hand. Anakin did not sense or feel his death or pain in the Force. But what he did feel was worry... From Obi-Wan?
With a gasp of breath, Anakin blinked a dozen times over, stared wildly at the cockpit. Artoo beeped, alarms rang in his ears and outside... A little ways behind him, clones were trying to gun down Obi-Wan. Not on his watch.
Without a word, Anakin focused on the here and now and took full control of the ship, ignoring Artoo's relieved whistle sigh and sped toward the dozens of clones zipping around Obi-Wan. Taking a calming breath, Anakin made all his skills as a pilot conjoins with the will of the Force. Obi-Wan, whose starfighter was smoking from the left side was moving just a bit too sluggishly. But when Anakin's assault began, Obi-Wan moved out of the way deftly enough. The clones, who were completely indifferent to the prospect of murdering their own General, didn't see Anakin coming.
Timing his spin and blaster fire precisely, he took down over 15 enemy pilots in move. While the rest were busy wondering just what happened, Obi-Wan jumped back into the fray, taking the offensive route and acquiring a respectable 14 kills of his own. The rest of them were smart enough to back off enough while their incoming reinforcements came to back them up. Not that they'd get there fast enough.
Pushing their ships to the uttermost limits, Anakin and Obi-Wan entered their hyperdrive rings and punched in the coordinates, vanishing well away from the Battle of Utapau.
