Ay yo, this fic is only gonna be two more chapters because I'm running out of ideas check! Eyes blue like the atlantic motivation's down like the titanic

Y'all I was halfway through editing this and I left to watch the Mandalorian and it fucking DELETED ALL MY EDITS! Do y'all know how long it takes me to edit these chapters every Friday? It's a half hour on a GOOD day. I am going t am

N E ways, I'm running out of ideas for this fic and I think that I need to tie it up soon. Please review, maybe give suggestions for new fics you wanna see? On to the chapter!

Disclaimer: I still don't own Star Wars, if I did I would be drowning in my own merch. I would also probably be competent enough to SAVE MY EDITS

Chapter Nine: Cat and Mouse

Ahsoka loved sitting on the edge of hih-up things. It was exhilarating, the rush of doing something mildly dangerous yet knowing she was safe. Many humans or humanoids said they loved having the wind in their hair, but she couldn't relate. She didn't really appreciate the wind, it made her lekku slap her in the face and smack her back. As the Commander sat on the edge of a platform in the belly of Dooku's ship, she couldn't help but enjoy this small moment of freedom.

After escaping, she had needed to find a good place for them to lay low. Obi-Wan mentioned that when he and Anakin had infiltrated Grievous' ship, there was a huge area in the middle of the ship with trains and such that they could hang out in without being noticed. It also provided several escape routes should they be discovered, making for easy and quick getaways. Now, the foursome was recovering from this stressful day and catching their breath.

A train whizzed by under them, covering up what Anakin was trying to say. He repeated, "We need to get off of this ship. Rex and I sent out a distress call, but I'm not sure if it'll reach the Republic soon enough. We need to find a ship and fly out of here."

The togruta turned around and rose from her perch. Joining her friends huddled by the blast doors that happened to be the only entrance to their position, she said, "I agree. I bet one of those trains would take us to a hangar bay…"

Obi-Wan sighed. "Why are your plans always the most dangerous option?"

Rex looked concerned at the rather large distance between himself and the nearest train and was clearly unhappy about the possibility of having to use it, but he knew that it was the smartest choice. He regretfully added, "I think we should take the train."

Anakin smiled. "Thank you, Rex, for having some common sense. Now, I think that we should leave in a couple minutes-"

He was quite rudely cut off as the blast doors hissed open, revealing a droideka and two B-1s.

"Or right now!"

As the droids opened fire Obi-Wan and Ahsoka leapt off the platform. They used their training and the Force to direct themselves onto a train that was passing underneath them, and a long yell that got progressively louder altered them to Rex's unwilling flight through the air. They caught him with the Force just as Anakin landed next to them, patting his rattled Captain on the shoulder.

"Sorry about that, but there wasn't much time for you to jump yourself."

The clone said, voice a little weak still, "I understand, sir."

The train had removed them from the presence of those droids, but Dooku definitely knew where they were- or at least where they had been.

The togruta's lekku whipped in the wind, flying behind her as if they wanted to go meet the droids. She wished they'd stop.

As the train carried them closer to freedom, everyone on it allowed themselves to smile.

Count Dooku was upon the bridge of his ship and was very angry. He had let his prisoners escape, just as Kenobi had predicted. He had underestimated them, had been sloppy. Skywalker had somehow managed to trick him into leaving room for the girl and Kenobi to escape, blinded by his pursuit of Skywalker. He had then managed to help the idiotic Knight escape by blasting him away to his friends! If his master discovered the circumstances that allowed them to run wild on his ship, there would be a price to pay.

The CIS leader turned from his position staring out the viewport and began to bark out orders to the droids. "I want patrols on every deck, groups of B-1s with droidekas and B-2s on their own. The commando droids are going to stay locked away- I want them for later."

The droids on the bridge scattered to organize the searches, tripping over themselves in a way that would be comedic if he didn't need them to actually be competent. Really, it was a wonder they didn't upgrade to better infantry, the B-1 units were barely effective when they weren't in massive quantities. He did have to admit that they were devastating in battle, swarms of them even able to wipe out so many Jedi on Geonosis. The surprise of the clones had been the only thing to save the arrogant fools, it was truly a shame that he had commissioned hem to be made. It was also important to note that an army of purey commandos or droidekas would be chaotic and inefective, not leaving many choices for soldiers.

As the Sith Lord paced the bridge, cape swishing about rather elegantly, he growled at the general incompetency displayed in the last hour. He'd thought he had won once he'd had both Kenobi and the togruta, but she'd somehow managed to snap her binders in half and get the Jedi Master down! How had some little girl been able to do that? It was driving him crazy.

He had been distracted by the thought of victory so much that he had taken it away from himself, falling for Skywalker's trap. He had let himself be lured out of the room his prisoners were still in, allowing them to escape. The Count might actually deserve whatever punishment his Master had in mind.

He banished that thought as a B-1 passed him, datapad in hand.

"Are the patrols out yet?" The old man's aggressive tone and rough hand around the droid's arm made it cower, but he would not lay off.

"N-not yet, sir."

"Then send them out!" His violent bellow would have destroyed everything in a ten-foot radius had human shouts the ability to do that. He released the droid and it clanked off, typing away with a frantic energy and a fearful posture. Why were these droids programmed to have self-preservation? It made no sense. Soldiers were best unafraid and unflinching in the face of danger, not cowardly and ready to squeal and hide at any possible harm to themselves.

Dooku glared out of the viewports as the patrols sent out and hoped his prisoners were found.

Ki-Adi Mundi stood on the bridge of his Venator, staring out into the void of hyperspace. He liked the blue and black streaks, they were absolutely mesmerizing. The wildness of them was exciting, and it was fascinating that they had been tamed. Starships were works of art.

He thought back to his assignment to his mission, the moment he had been stuck cleaning up Skywalker and Kenobi's mess.

As the hologram forwarded from Master Koon finished playing, everyone was silent for a moment. The Council had already known of their troubles but had chosen to ignore them for a while, wanting Plo to do his mission before sending aid. Now, it seemed imperative they orchestrated a rescue.

It was quite disturbing, what was happening. Everyone knew that interrogations with the Separatists meant torture, and even padawan Tano was undergoing the gruesome procedure. They could no longer ignore this issue, General Skywalker needed to be granted the requested assistance.

Master Yoda seemed to be thinking the same thing. He said, "Concerning, this is. Require aid, they do."

"Well, who are we going to send?" Master Windu was genuinely curious, clearly upset by the situation these fellow Jedi were in.

Saesee Tin offered, "Master Mundi has no assignments right now, he has worked with them before."

Not wanting to repeat the experience, Ki-Adi replied, "but what about the wookies?"

Mace rolled his eyes. "The wookies are fine. They need your help."

And thus, he was stuck facing off against Count Dooku to save Skywalker, Kenobi, a clone and padawan Tano. He wasn't exactly afraid, he did want to help them. The General just didn't feel like it. Sure, working with Skywalker had been fun, but he was reckless and would endanger himself for sure. That would definitely complicate things, seeing as this was a rescue mission.

Master Mundi sighed. He would be on this mission whether he liked it or not, and the best thing he could do was prepare thoroughly so that it was quick and effective. They knew that Dooku wasn't travelling with more than his flagship, so a Venator full of clone troopers should be enough to get the job done. He was going to lead an assault inside the ship, taking a small number of troopers with him in getting Skywalker, Kenobi, the clone and Tano from it.

He smiled as a clone reported that they would be exiting hyperspace in an hour. Time to start the action.

Count Dooku paced the bridge of his ship. He had sent out the patrols ten standard minutes ago and still hadn't gotten any reports and he was aggravated. Every so often he would pull up some security holograms of hallways and such, but it was futile. The ship was so large that that method was almost useless for finding his prey.

The Separatist stood still for a moment, analyzing the most likely escape routes. They would have to get off it somehow, but he had already disabled the escape pods. That means they would have to use…

How had he not thought of this before? They could have already left! Thundering over to the nearest commanding droid, he demanded, "Lock down all the craft in every hangar!"

The droid objected, "But sir-"

"Do it now!"

As the droid began the process of immobilizing all of the ships, he cursed himself. How could he forget to lock down the ships? Skywalker was an adequate pilot, he could fly them all out of danger and jump to hyperspace. The ships needed to be locked down or else they could escape. Now, they were stuck on the ship and all that was left to do was find them.

Thirty more standard minutes went by without any leads, but luck was finally on his side when a droid brought news.

"Sir," called a B-1 in it's annoying voice, "Patrol I-20 reported finding the fugitives! They failed to catch them but can say where they were going."

Dooku smiled. "Good. I want the full report from the droid in charge as soon as possible."

Affirmations greeted him and he smirked. Finally, there was a lead on their position! He seemed to recall that particular scouting team being in charge of an area that led to the belly of the ship, multiple trains stored there. The group of Republic soldiers was likely hitching a ride to a hangar bay this very moment, but he had locked down all the ships. When they tried to leave they would be in for quite the surprise.

As the Sith smirked, gloated about his victory over the pests, yet another B-1 alerted him to urgent information.

"Sir, Lord Sidious is requesting you in your chambers."

He knew what that meant. He dismissed the droid and left the bridge, making the trek to his quarters aboard the ship. What did his Master want? There was no way he had found out about the prisoners' escape yet, how could he have? The droids were not programmed to report to anyone outside of the ship unless it was necessary, and this certainly did not fall under that requirement.

Perhaps he had new instructions? Dooku knew that his Master had a plan for the prisoners, he clearly wanted something more than information. Especially from Skywalker, but he had made himself move on from that worry. It helped nobody to worry about what his master wanted with the arrogant Knight, he would be told if he needed to be.

He neared his quarters and composed himself, ready to receive orders. As he entered the main room and closed the door, he accepted the transmission and knelt. He was ready for his Master's bidding.

Anakin smiled as he hopped off the train. They had left the droid patrol behind a few minutes ago and finally arrived at their destination, the hallway that led to a hangar. Of course there was a small chance that it wouldn't have a ship they could use, the main population of this frigate being droids, but something told him that this hangar would have what they needed. That something was probably the Force.

He led the way, everybody close behind, as they all approached the blast doors to the hangar. Rex raised his blaster, being the only one to still have a weapon, and readied himself for a fight. The blast doors opened to reveal no droids, which was a shock, but it did have one transport right in the middle of the hangar.

"Weird," said Ahsoka. She was looking around the room, clearly suspicious, but appeared to dismiss it when she headed for the lone ship. Rex lowered his blaster and followed, Obi-Wan coming to join his former padawan in a slower trek.

"So," began the older Jedi, "do you think this is a trap?"

Anakin shrugged. "I'm not sure. I don't think we have much of a choice but to fall for it if it is. Either way, something suspicious is happening here."

The Master nodded. "I do hope your transmission worked, I would hate to be stuck here if this is a trick."

They laughed quietly, but it was cut short by the arrival at the shuttle. Ahsoka and Rex were already inside and poking around, the togruta starting up the ship. She flipped some switches, making the ship start to rumble, a gentle vibration coming from its belly. She smiled and stood to greet the newcomers.

"Masters," she said.

"Hello, Ahsoka," the Knight replied. "Is the ship up and running?"

She smiled. "Yep! We just need to begin the takeoff sequence and we should be off this bucket of bolts."

The General smiled at her but felt uneasy. Their escape felt too simple, something had to go wrong. There was a sense of dread in the Force, the notion that something would go astray. Something told him they weren't getting out of here.

The Commander grinned. "Let's get out of here!" She pulled up on a lever and pushed a button, but nothing happened. Her smile faded as she flipped some switches, reaching to the shuttle roof to pull a lever. She tried again to move the ship, but nothing was working. She muttered, "I don't get it, nothing is wrong with the ship."

Anakin and Obi-Wan exchanged a look. Here was the obstacle they were worried about. The younger Jedi approached his padawan, looking over the ship. She was right, everything seemed to be in order. Clearly, something aboard this vessel had been tampered with. She was still pressing controls, brow markings furrowing.

Her Master stepped in. "Snips, it's fine. The ship's been tampered with. We need to find the issue, figure out what's wrong so that we can get out of here."

She nodded, stepping away from the controls. As her teacher gently pried open a panel, she lifted a grate off of the ship floor. She jumped inside and they set to work finding the problem while Obi-Wan and Rex kept guard.

Ki-Adi Mundi was in his transport, the clones in the hangar around him completing the final preparations for their rescue mission. It was long overdue, and he was sure that the soldiers he was rescuing would be very grateful.

A reminder rang through the hangar, warning all personnel of the imminent drop from hyperspace. The transport doors closed, casting everyone inside in darkness. Outside of the tiny vessel, clones were finishing getting into their fighters for the battle that would soon ensue. Once they jumped out of hyperspace, they would commence an assault immediately. Ki-Adi was relying on the shock of this attack to give them an advantage and allow his transport to make it to the Separatist ship quickly.

Suddenly the Venator gave a jolt, signaling its jump out of hyperspace. Every ship in the hangar lifted off, all of them blasting out into space in a seemingly random formation. Chaos was their best ally, so their strategy relied heavily on it. Their ship's pilot was swerving and spinning to maneuver towards the Seppie ship, but something seemed wrong. The Jedi Master had a sense of dread, of foreboding. The Force was warning him that something was off.

He activated his commlink, contacting the pilot. "What's going on out there?"

The clone sounded confused and nervous. "There's an entire Seppie fleet waiting for us!"

What? How could there be that many ships? The General had been assured that Dooku had been travelling alone, he wouldn't have called for so much aid unless he knew they were coming…

He ordered, "We need to continue our attack!" switching to a comm line with his Admiral he commanded, "Fire on the other ships with the heaviest cannons we have. Use the smaller ones as cover fire for the starfighters!"

There was a "Yes, sir!" and then nothing, the Jedi having turned off his commlink. It was certainly a mystery how Dooku knew of their attack, but that was unimportant at the moment. What they needed to do was get Skywalker, Kenobi, Tano, the clone, and leave. He had to do his job quickly for the sake of the clones in starfighters, their troops severely outnumbered by the droids.

Ki-Adi prayed to the Force that this mission didn't fail.

Count Dooku knelt before the hologram, his chambers cast in a blue glow.

"What do you require, my Master?"

The hooded figure did not answer immediately, drawing it out. "I have news that could impact your operation with the Jedi and their clone."

It did not sound as though he knew of their escape, perhaps this summoning was not to declare a punishment. His Master seemed indifferent to the Republic soldiers, it was unlikely they were the cause for the meeting.

The hologram continued, "The Republic has discovered the location of your ship and is sending a Jedi Master on a rescue mission. There will only be one Venator class ship, but I would… recommend calling for reinforcements. These prisoners are too valuable an asset to lose."

It was clear to the Separatist that this was an order. It was also a reminder to keep an eye on the prisoners, which confirmed that the Sith Lord was not aware of recent developments. It also meant that he would be punished severely if they did escape.

Dooku said, "Yes, Master." The hologram was turned off and he stood from the kneeling position. It was imperative that the prisoners were retrieved for his sake. He would certainly get to that, sending patrols to all of the hangars, but the more pressing matter was calling for aid.

The Sith Lord exited his quarters, headed for the comms room. How had the Republic learned of his location? They were in the middle of nowhere, deep in Separatist space. There wasn't a system around for light years, they could only know if someone told them…

It hit him then, the realization. It was quite obvious, one of them had sent a message. That was the logical decision, calling for help. They were vastly outmatched on a ship full of Separatist battle droids and the Count himself, they needed to call for help or risk recapture. It was quite a bother to the man they were trying to escape, but it made sense.

He finally arrived at the comms room, striding over to the output section. He punched in the regular call for aid, putting in the code that showed his status and priority for reinforcements. While he was here, Dooku wanted to check the logs for the Jedi's message. Opening up the function, he was amused to find no trace of a distress call. They hid their tracks well.

He exited the room, message sent. The Republic rescue team would be very surprised when they came out of hyperspace to find a whole Separatist fleet awaiting them. His prisoners were not getting away.

End of chapter!

Notes:

-Ki-Adi when first asked to send help: No, I don't think I will

-Ahsoka said DANGER IS FUN

-Dooku: SWERVE

-rip to Ki-Adi Mundi's clones bro

-Ahsoka honey it's not your fault that the ship isn't working!

-Obi-Wan and Anakin were like "I knew it"

-Dooku's stress levels were through the roof fam

Tune in next week for chapter ten!