AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Oops, I forgot to update this on FF again 8D

I am pleased to announce that (as of posting this) Act I is completely finished (edited and all) and the writing for Act II has already begun!

So for posting, it should be smooth posting until Chapter 7 (the final chapter of Act I), then a small intermission to allow me to get ahead with Act II. After that, posting follow a similar pattern to Act I (most likely). And hopefully, I won't actually forget to post on too OTL

Right now, it says this story has 25 chapters, but that is a rough estimate based on the sketches I have for each chapter. It may change as the story progresses along (so far this thing is turning out to be a straight up novel lmao, if you must know, my google doc has exceeded 100 pages and I'm writing in 10 size font). Like this chapter (Ch5), originally used to be just a segment of Chapter 6, but I ended up expanding it to a full chapter. It may happen in the future so don't be scared when you see the chapter numbers fluctuate, especially when we finally reach Act II.

Anyways, enjoy this chapter, everyone!

ＰＲＯＬＯＧＵＥ

"Oh, Anakin!" Palpatine greeted him warmly. "What a pleasant surprise! Are you not offworld right now?" He gave the holographic form of his dear friend a concerned look. "Is it not dangerous for you to contact me on such a perilous mission?"

The young man gave him a bright smile in return, but Palpatine could tell he was troubled. "We're still in the middle of our campaign. But things are going well, thank you for your concern. If we keep things up, we should be back soon."

"That is good news." The Chancellor nodded. He folded his hands and leaned towards the holo. "But I am certain you did not just contact me for simple pleasantries. What is on your mind, my friend?"

Anakin paused for a moment, crossing his arms, a habit he has always done since he was a young boy. "You know me well." He chuckled, though his expression grew serious. "Chancellor, I want to clear up something with you. It's… about the conspiracy against your life."

Palpatine raised his eyebrows in mild shock. "My, that does sound quite serious." Despite this, he was quite pleased with the news. "Please, do go on."

The Chancellor smiled.

【ＡＣＴ Ｉ： ＴΞＲＲＯＲ】

ＣＨＡＰＴＥＲ ５

The previous day's events weighed heavily in Ahsoka's mind. For about the fifth time that hour, she doused her face in the water from the sink and washed her hands. At this point, washing her hands had become sort of a security ritual, one that made her feel some semblance of calm.

How could she have done such a thing?

Frustrated with herself, she gripped the edges of the sink, glancing at herself in the mirror. She swallowed, unable to believe the young sleep-deprived Togruta staring back was her.

Jedi don't get controlled by their emotions. It was one of the lessons that had been instilled into her from a young age. Though she had trouble not having her recklessness and anger get the better of her, Ahsoka thought she had grown by then. Never in her life did ever believe herself capable of such a despicable act. To kill out of anger and hate like that… It didn't matter if she was seeing things, that was no excuse for what she's done. Her emotions were valid, sure, but to act on them like that… Ahsoka felt like it was the gravest sin she had ever committed.

The fact that her master was trying to excuse her actions only made it feel worse. Ahsoka knew he meant well and that he genuinely did not think she did anything wrong, but the Jedi Council will certainly not see things his way. There was no other way to spin it, Ahsoka had used the dark side of the Force to kill that Separatist.

Perhaps, that Phindian was destined to die then anyway, but the fact that he was killed by such a dark power by her hands… Ahsoka just felt wrong, dirty. She wasn't sure how she was going to face the other Jedi. Anakin would be by her side, sure, but what would Plo Koon think? What about Obi-wan? Her grandmaster had told her a while back about how he believed she was ready to be Knighted, but would he still think the same after finding out what she did? She had felt ready before, but now she was anything but ready.

Maybe what Yoda said about the 'traitor' was true. Even if she didn't plot to kill the Chancellor, she was still falling to the dark side.

Ahsoka felt the sudden urge to vomit, but she just splashed more water in her face and suppressed the feeling again. Focus, she had to focus . They were still on their campaign, there were still more of their missions to do. She had to get a hold of herself.

She sighed, finally ripping herself away from the sink and back to her quarters, back to the metal coffin that was to be her sleeping quarters. Feeling too restless to lie down, she just sat. Ahsoka had long since graduated from needing to sleep in the same room as her master. When she was younger, Anakin made her stay in the same room as him because he wanted to keep an eye on her. After she turned fifteen, Ahsoka had fought tooth and nail to get her own Private Quarters and eventually Anakin relented; it helped that she was maturing and wanted privacy as a young teenage girl. But now, Ahsoka couldn't help wishing that they were sharing a room again. Never before had she wanted to cling to their bond so bad. She couldn't care less about the no attachment thing right now.

Ahsoka froze, suddenly remembering the last time she had spoken to her master. She had totally spilled the beans.

"Why can't anything go right?" she grumbled to herself, just exasperated with everything.

She hadn't meant to tell her master anything, not until she had a leg to stand on, but she had just been so upset . How could she not be upset? Ahsoka just wanted it all to end, this whole conspiracy charade, she was honestly tired of holding it all on her own. She hadn't really understood it at the time, but now she knew why Fives had clung on to her like that. Ahsoka had just done the same thing to her master.

But now that Anakin knew about the whole thing, what was he going to do? He had promised her he wouldn't tell anyone, but Ahsoka had been too emotionally drained at the time to notice if he was actually interested in investigating it all. Ahsoka was a little uneasy with the idea of him knowing. What if the visions attacked him too? But… she felt somewhat better knowing that she wasn't the only one who knew about it. Even if he wasn't going to help her look into it, Ahsoka knew that he'd at least let her look into it.

Concentrating, Ahsoka tried to recall what exactly had been said in the conversation between them, but she honestly couldn't remember the whole day that well. That incident really just made everything seem so blurry. The only real thing she could remember was what she did, how utterly satisfying it had felt to crush that sleemo's -

Ahsoka stopped herself. It would be dangerous if she continued that line of thought.

She did remember Kix showing up in the craziness and getting back to the gunship. The most recent memory she had was sitting with Anakin in the med bay for what seemed like a really long time. After her mind had finally cleared up to think again, Ahsoka felt exhausted, like she had cried for hours and hours. But she hadn't shed a single tear. It was a little weird. Ahsoka had trained all her life to control her emotions, yet she still felt just as exhausted, as though she cried on the inside.

Anakin sent her to her room with her favourite nutrient bars (which she still hadn't touched) and left to go do the debriefing, as well as planning the next steps of their campaign. Ahsoka felt bad for not coming along, she was the second-in-command after all. If Ahsoka didn't attend the meeting, that meant Rex-

"Rex!" she bolted up. He was shot.

Ahsoka searched her memories and was relieved to remember that he was okay, still alive. Kix had taken him to the med bay with her. But despite this, Ahsoka still felt that urgency boiling from the inside.

She had to go check on him.

Not sparing herself another thought, Ahsoka hurried out of her quarters into the hallway. She took a moment to check to see if anyone was around, mostly out of curiosity than anything. Ahsoka wasn't under any orders to stay put, but Ahsoka wasn't sure if she was ready to see anyone other than Anakin or Rex.

It was all quiet, which made sense. According to the chronometer on her commlink, they had just entered the Christophsis' night cycle. With no night missions scheduled, most everyone was asleep, though Ahsoka could tell there were still some of the night shift crew still going about their work.

The walk to the medbay was uneventful. She did end up passing by some clones, but other than a quiet nod or salute, they fortunately didn't bother her. Upon entering the medical bay, Ahsoka found it mostly empty. There were a few sleeping clones there, leftover troopers who had gotten sick or injured on their last campaign. She knew that there was still some medical staff around, but they seemed to be elsewhere at the moment.

Walking down the aisle, she kept an eye out for her clone captain, but she spotted Burst first, the one other who got shot. Ahsoka paused by the foot of the bed to see how he was doing, but also to check if he wasn't… someone else. He wasn't, obviously, but otherwise he seemed okay. Burst's upper chest was wrapped in bandages and had an IV going in on him, but he was peacefully asleep. Sending him a silent get-well-soon wish in her mind, Ahsoka wandered a bit further to look for her best friend.

It was nearby where she finally found Rex and she couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief to see him there. Ahsoka had remembered he was okay, but honestly she didn't really trust her memories or her perception of reality anymore.

She took a step closer to him, studying his form. His right leg, the one that had been shot, was wrapped up in bacta-smelling gauze, but other than that he seemed fine. Rex didn't even have an IV or machines to monitor him.

Still uneasy, Ahsoka decided to hunker down nearby. She wasn't going to get any sleep anytime soon, might as well accompany Rex for a bit.

Ahsoka pulled up a nearby chair and positioned it by the bed. Once she sat down, she leaned over, resting her elbows on her knees as she cupped her mouth in her hands, staring out into the soft darkness before her. The only lights in the bay being the soft glow of the floor ones.

That shadowy man hadn't shown up since, but the blank spots where he might've stood seemed just as ominous as if he was there. Ahsoka had a feeling that he might still be around somewhere.

Ugh. She clawed her hands against her forehead, feeling that icky feeling coming back. She wanted to wash her hands again.

What was she going to do now?

As much as Ahsoka wanted to make peace and let this conspiracy go, something told her not to. She had to keep looking into this. It wasn't a simple feeling of obsession or attachment. Part of it was owing it to Fives, she promised him after all, but it had more to do with the idea that she had to do the right thing.

"Yeah, right…" she mumbled out loud, chiding herself. She recalled that flash of anger and distress. So much with her doing the 'right' thing. Ahsoka must be the greatest hypocrite in the world.

"... Ahsoka…?"

Surprised by the voice, Ahsoka turned to see who had spoken. It was Rex, who now sat wide awake, looking at her curiously. Ahsoka sighed, annoyed at herself for waking up her friend. She had forgotten that her captain was such a light sleeper.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." she apologised. Just another thing to add this growing list of mess ups.

Rex gave her a small smile. "Nah, I wasn't sleeping very well anyway." He pulled himself into a sitting position. "What are you doing here, kid? I heard from the General that you were resting."

"Just wanted to check up on my favourite captain," she tried to joke, though she felt absolutely miserable. Even pretending to be normal wasn't working this time. Ahsoka ignored Rex's worried stare and gestured to his leg. "How is the leg?"

"Eh, nothing too major." Rex lifted his foot and shook it around a little, to show off how little it actually hurt. "Even up close, that Seppie was a bad shot." He gave her a reassuring smile. "Plastoid absorbed most of the blow. Always said first gen armour was the best." Rex patted the pauldron, which rested on the bedside table nearby.

"That is good to hear." Ahsoka really did try to smile, but it faltered as soon as it appeared.

Try as she might, it looked like Ahsoka just couldn't suppress it all anymore. For the first time in a long while, she loosened her emotional grip and let a little bit of what she was feeling inside filter through. Not quite a breakdown, but more the quiet acceptance that this was her limit.

"How are you feeling?" Rex asked after a while, his voice full of worry.

"I… could be better. A lot better," Ahsoka admitted. "There is a lot going through my mind."

Rex gave her a sad look before nodding understandingly. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Ahsoka paused.

"I have been having dreams," she finally told him. "Not just during sleep, but awake too. I see things. My death, Anakin's, a shadow…" Ahsoka decided to leave out the part about him and the other troopers killing her. "But I'm not sure if they're real."

"Uhm, I see," Rex said, sounding a little overwhelmed. "Is it… a Force dream?" He sounded confused by his own words.

"That's just the thing. I don't know." Ahsoka sighed. "It feels like someone gagged my senses. My connection to the Force, it's all dark. But it's not just me, Obi-wan said he sensed it, Skyguy too."

Rex furrowed his brows, at least understanding that Jedi instincts are not to be ignored. "That sounds bad." He thought for a moment. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Unless you can interpret my visions, I don't think so." Ahsoka chuckled. Rex being a secret Force-sensitive guru would be an unexpected, but welcome surprise. But that was as unlikely as Jesse actually winning a game of Sabbac for once.

"Does the General not know?" the captain asked curiously.

"I've told him about it… but we haven't really talked about what it meant." For as bad as Anakin was interpreting Force-dreams, she was still curious what he thought about it all. "We'll talk about it soon." At least that's what Ahsoka hoped. They didn't exactly have the time in the middle of this campaign.

She didn't want to let this all go, but hanging on to it all seemed to make things worse. Perhaps the best compromise is to set it aside for now, to wait until this whole campaign clears up. That way she can really sit down, think and talk without the threat of blaster fire and explosions.

"Hang in there, kid," Rex assured her. "We'll have this whole thing wrapped up before you know it."

"I hope so."

There was a change of expression in Rex's face. "By the way, I haven't had a chance to say it before." Ahsoka stared at him, wondering what he was going to say. "But thanks, Commander. For saving my hide. I owe you one."

Her emotions were a mess and Ahsoka was still feeling loss about everything, but that smidge of genuine gratefulness she felt from Rex was a cool respite in the whirling turmoil she was trapped in.

"Your welcome, Captain," she replied with a small smile.

"Come on, guys, let's keep it moving."

Ahsoka turned her head up at the sound of her master's voice. Anakin gestured forward and they marched on. Honestly, it felt a little too soon for her to be on the battlefield again, but unlike the mission to Ringo Vandis, they didn't really have the numbers to have her sit out. Anakin had been reluctant about it, though still had to take her along anyway. Ahsoka didn't really hold it against anyone.

War was war. They didn't exactly have the time to sit around and wait for her feelings to get better. And honestly speaking, war was all about the art of balancing all that stress and trauma as much as it was about strategy and combat.

At least this time, she and her master were teaming up.

Noticing that she was lagging behind somewhat, Anakin slowed his pace to walk alongside his Padawan.

"How's it going, Ahsoka?" he asked.

"I'll live," she answered back.

Anakin made a face, it was obvious that he didn't seem to like that answer, but he accepted it all the same. "I know things are tough, but I've got things handled." He patted her on the shoulder. "There's nothing to worry about, Snips."

This time, it was Ahsoka's turn to make a face. Was he talking about the mission? … Or was this about the whole 'conspiracy' thing?

Ahsoka wanted to clarify, but her master had already walked ahead to talk with Vaughn. She could interrupt, but since Rex was injured, he had to be taken off the team. Vaughn replaced him and while he was a talented soldier no doubt, no one could really replace Rex. Her master probably wanted to check in with him and run things by.

Next up on their list of missions was one much less grand, though equally as important. Apparently the Separatists had established supply routes underground, one that were majorly hampering their conquest to free Christophsis from Separatist control. Anakin had taken her and a small squad through the tunnels and requisitioned it for Republic use.

As much as Ahsoka agreed that the Separatists needed to go, Ahsoka also knew for a fact that if the planet's main export wasn't Kyber Crystals, the Jedi Council wouldn't have invested so much of the resources into keeping the planet. She didn't really understand why, if the Jedi wanted crystals, it was better to head to the much more sacred Illum. Ahsoka still hadn't quite figured out what the Republic was doing with all of it.

"Hold!"

Ahsoka's attention snapped back to reality. Realising that she just couldn't muck around with her thoughts anymore, Ahsoka used her wily agility to run up and join her master's side. It seems like their squadron already located one of the tunnels and were already trying to find a way inside.

Though, Ahsoka was confused. "These aren't the coordinates in our mission brief," she commented. In fact they were wildly off course to where she thought they were supposed to be.

"We received intel that the Separatists might be on to us. More droids had been spotted at the OG coordinates and we can't risk them all coming on to us," Anakin explained as Vaughn and the other troopers began moving around some rocks. "So we're moving to Plan B."

"I didn't know we had a Plan B." She furrowed her brows. When did Anakin ever have a Plan B?

"We do now, " her master replied, almost cheerfully. Ahsoka shook her head, rolling her eyes. This must be one of those typical Skywalker Plans again.

Once the men managed to clear out the rubble, she and Anakin were able to cut holes into the side of the elevation, revealing the hidden tunnel on the inside. Lightsabers out, she and her master jumped in first to secure their entry. Ahsoka stared down dusty empty halls, quite surprised to see that it was pretty well structured and even lit. She had to hand it to the Seppies sometimes, when they wanted to get things done, they went all out.

Ahsoka sensed her master was searching the tunnels with the Force and out of instinct, she wanted to join in, but she hesitated. Ever since that incident, Ahsoka hadn't used the Force once, not even passively like she usually did when jumping and flipping around. She swallowed nervously wondering if she even deserved to tap into that power again. Suddenly she felt a tug at the back of her mind and she turned to look at her master, who gave her an encouraging smile.

'I'm here,' he seemed to say and Ahsoka felt herself calm down. She was still a little apprehensive, but Anakin was here. No matter what happened, the one thing Ahsoka could count on was her master having her back.

So with that, Ahsoka honed her senses into the long tunnel, to see if she could sense anything. It was all strangely empty. She had studied the tunnels extensively before their trip here, but this place seemed unfamiliar to her. For as amazing as her Chosen One of a master was, she wished that he had clued her into their Plan B before jumping straight into it.

"All clear," she told her master with a nod. Anakin gave her a proud look.

Anakin turned to the troopers, who were patiently waiting by the entrance for orders. "Boomer, guard our entrance and keep a signal up to the Resolute. Keep your tracker on us for as long as you can, our comms may not work so far underground so we'll need a clear line up."

"Yessir," the Sergeant said.

"Vaughn, take some of the boys and secure the southern tunnel." He gestured to one of the directions. "Anyone else, you're with me and Snips," Anakin continued, "scrap any droids you find, we don't want them knowing we are here."

When Vaughn nodded, the Jedi Knight made the signal to get everyone moving and they did. Then he reached over and patted Ahsoka as he turned the opposite way Vaughn went. "C'mon, Snips."

"Right with you, master," she told him. On normal circumstances, she would've split off from him here, but it seems like Anakin wanted to keep her close this time. And for the first time, Ahsoka didn't mind.

They ran down the tunnels for a while, encountering boxes and boxes of ammunition and supplies dotted in little storage rooms. The sounds of their hollow footsteps echoed down the empty corridors. Despite the presence of all these supplies, there wasn't a droid in sight.

"It's quiet down here," one of the troopers commented as they slowed from a run to a walk. It was Credit, he had a distinctive Republic Credit symbol painted onto his helmet. " Too quiet."

"Makes things easier for us." Anakin shrugged, but he looked alert. "Fan out and search the area. Don't leave any stone unturned. I do not want any surprises."

"I thought you liked surprises, master," Ahsoka said, taking a position at her master's flank as he wandered over to one of the supply boxes.

He scoffed a little as he leaned over to check the box. "Maybe not from the Seppies. " He had an odd smile on his face like he was thinking about something pleasant. Ahsoka could practically feel the happiness wafting off him.

"What's so funny?" He usually only got this giddy when he either beat Obi-wan in something extraordinarily petty or whenever Padme was around.

"I'll tell you when you're older," Anakin replied coyly, before gesturing for her to check the supply boxes too. Ahsoka rolled her eyes and started checking the supplies next to him, feeling some fragment of her old self returning. As much as she liked being independent and leading her own missions, she sure did miss being together with Anakin. She truthfully didn't mind the idea of spending a few more years as a Padawan.

Maybe putting the conspiracy aside was for the best after all.

Ahsoka felt a twinge in her mortals. Somewhere in the distance, Ahsoka thought she heard a muffled beep.

"The tunnel's clear, sir," Jesse came to report. The clone shot Ahsoka a hidden smile from underneath his helmet and Ahsoka returned it. Been a while since she's seen him. "The only things here are droid parts and blaster casings. Gunner and Credit went to scout further ahead, but so far they've reported the same." He shook his head in disbelief. " Nothing. "

"... Mission complete?" Ahsoka asked, unsure of her own words.

Anakin looked at her and then around at the tunnel again. "This may be the easiest mission we've been on, or this is a trap."

"Obviously," she stated. "So what now?"

Before anyone could say anything Anakin's comm blinked to life. The three paused, looking at each other before Anakin answered. "Skywalker here."

"General, we just received a call from the Resolute," Boomer's voice crackled through the comm. "They'd like to speak with you. Said it was urgent."

"Be right there," Anakin said. As he shut off his communicator, he paused, turning to Ahsoka and Jesse who were both looking at him unexpectedly. "Ahsoka, round everyone up, we're getting out of here."

Some part of her wanted to ask him why, but she trusted her master's instincts. This whole thing was too odd not to ignore. After giving him a nod, Anakin hurried back the way this game. She gestured to her clone friend and Jesse began to collect all the troopers that had been scattered throughout the tunnels.

Ahsoka herself stood guard, watching everything with utmost seriousness. Anakin was right, something was wrong.

It took a while, but most of their squad had already been rounded up, save for Gunner and Credit, the one who had been scouting ahead. Not wanting to leave them behind, Ahsoka began sending some of the clones back to the entrance while she waited for the stragglers.

Her montrals tingled again as she heard another sound. Concentrating, she listened to the surroundings, eventually finding herself in the middle of the tunnel. Tilting her head she listened again.

"Commander?" Jesse approached her, followed by Gunner and Credit.

The sounds of their footsteps sounded funny.

She made a signal for them to be quiet as she crouched down, resting a hand on the ground. Her men watched her curiously, hovering closeby, but ready. Something was strange. Ahsoka then clenched her hand into a fist and knocked on the ground.

It was hollow.

Beep.

Ahsoka's eyes widened.

Before her men had a chance to understand what was going on, she Force pushed Jesse and the others away from her as she jumped up, just as the floor erupted underneath her feet. Ahsoka quickly brought the Force around her to shield herself as she was thrown against the wall, the world crumbling around her. Shielding her head with her arms, Ahsoka reflexively curled into herself to protect her vitals, just as she had been taught so many times before, and waited for all of it to be over.

Ahsoka heard and felt more explosions and the disconcerting cry of some of her men before things quieted down. Eventually the rumbling and sounds stopped and she finally allowed herself to look up from where she had hunkered down. Ahsoka had jumped down behind some of the cargo and was able to shield herself from most of the blast, but she was compacted into quite a tiny spot. Many times, her smaller stature was a trait that people had used against her. Made her seem naive, weak, or inexperienced, but at times like these, Ahsoka knew being physically smaller was better.

Gathering the strength in her hands, Ahsoka pushed the debris away, cutting away some of the sharp edges with her shoto lightsaber, the space being too small otherwise. She crawled out into the tunnel now collapsed and dark. She swallowed as she heard what sounded like distant laughing, but she ignored it. Ahsoka just didn't have the time right now to deal with that .

Even though the explosions had stopped, Ahsoka could still see the dust filtering in from the roof. A very good chance it would all collapse again if she didn't get out.

Her communicator beeped and Ahsoka looked at it, relieved to see that it was undamaged.

"Ahsoka!" Anakin's voice was frantic. "Ahsoka , come in, are you alright?"

"Just… fine, master," she replied, testing her limbs by shaking them a little. A few scratches and sores here and there, but it was nothing atypical of their normal missions honestly. Ahsoka was very lucky. "Are you okay?"

"I'm outside, " he replied, sounding much more relieved. "Where are you? "

"Still inside." She breathed, starting to pick her way around the rubble and debris. "You were right, master. It was a trap."

"Get out of there." Anakin sounded angry, but Ahsoka knew the anger was not for her. "Now."

"Right," she agreed and she is going to do that. Not until she checked for survivors though.

Carefully, she made her way to what she believed was the blast zone. She spotted the white armor of some of the troops poking out of the rubble. Even at a distance, Ahsoka knew that they were dead, but she still went over to touch them just to make sure. Ahsoka swallowed as she found more bodies, fearing the worst. She already lost Tup and Fives, she didn't want to lose any more of her older friends. Ahsoka wasn't sure if she could handle it.

Suddenly, she heard some shifting nearby and Ahsoka rushed over. Using the Force she removed some of the rubble and was relieved to see the gear-patterned helmet poke out from behind a huge piece of wall.

"Commander!" Jesse sounded relieved.

"Jesse!" she exclaimed in relief. "Are you al-"

She stopped herself when she caught sight of the scene behind him. Gunner and Credit were there, lying motionless on the ground. Ahsoka sensed that Gunner was still breathing, but Credit wasn't. His head was bent at a very odd angle. He had broken his neck.

"Credit's… gone," Jesse said, leaning over the bodies. There was muted sorrow in his voice. "Gunner's still breathing, but dunno for how much longer."

"Can you carry him?" she asked, and Jesse nodded. "Then let's get out of here." Ahsoka pointed at the exit.

Ahsoka cleared some of the rubble away so Jesse could drag Gunner towards the exit. She was about to turn to follow, but she gave one last look to the dead trooper on the ground. Credit was the best Sabbac player in the entire legion, he had never lost a single game. And now he never will.

Giving the clone a final farewell, Ahsoka led the way back towards the entrance. Thankfully, they made it through without incident, picking up two more survivors on the way.

When she made it to the exit, she was suddenly embraced by two strong hands on her shoulders, almost a hug but not quite. "You're okay!" Anakin breathed, relieved.

"... How many made it out?"

Anakin frowned slightly. "Vaughn lost two." Beside him, the captain lowered his head. "No one except the ones with you made it out."

Ahsoka huffed sadly. There had been thirteen men that had still been inside. Nine of them had perished in that trap, including Credit. In this line of work, Ahsoka expected and was prepared for deaths and tragedy, though being prepared didn't make it any less disheartening.

"We were set up. There were bombs underneath our feet," she told her master, feeling a slight anger boiling inside. "Whatever intel we received, it was wrong. They had planned this ahead of time."

Anakin pressed his lips in a thin line, crossing his arms as he observed their medics tending to the survivors. Ahsoka spotted Sarge leaning over his best friend, who seemed to be dying as Coric struggled to treat him. Ahsoka hoped there won't be any more deaths today.

"Our spies must have been fed the wrong intel," Anakin finally huffed. He glanced at the remaining troopers. "We're retreating. It won't be long until the droids show up and I do not want to lose anyone else."

Ahsoka didn't protest as they pulled out, she agreed with her master. Some part of her wanted to stay and poke around for any more survivors, but realistically they couldn't. This was a trap, the enemy forces would soon arrive to pick off the remaining stragglers, they couldn't stay. And besides, Ahsoka already knew. They were all dead already.

This would be one of the few military losses in Anakin Skywalker's career, though it was a variable they all expected. They couldn't win them all after all and Ahsoka was ready to write it off at just that.

As night fell, they established a camp in Republic territory with the idea that they'll try again the next day after recouping their losses. Gunner and the injured were to be picked up by a medical freighter to be sent back to the cruiser. It was a bit of a mad scramble to set up camp, but no hiccups all things considered. Ahsoka helped out, got served with those 'delicious' ration vitamin bars, and was chilling out. She picked a comfortable spot to lean against close to center camp. If Ahsoka truly wanted to get comfortable, she could've gone into the tents, but she always liked the bustle of being along her troops. After that disaster of a mission, she didnt feel like being on her own.

After everyone was settled, Anakin took the center stage at the fire and started addressing his troops. Anakin was doing one of those 'we got this' speeches he always made to the boys when things went south. It's what made him so lovable to the clones as a general. She may be 'one of the boys', but Anakin was the 'father to his soldiers', as Rex sometimes put it. Ahsoka grimaced a little at the thought of the captain.

She could use her captain's company right now, Rex always knew what to say at times like this. But at the same time, she was glad he wasn't. She had been so close to losing him the previous mission and she nearly lost Jesse in this one. Ahsoka knew better than to get attached, but… she couldn't let anything like Fives happen again.

Propping herself against some debris, Ahsoka realised how exhausted she felt as her eyes gazed into the fire. She hadn't exactly had the best sleep last night cycle, or even before that. Ever since she saw Fives die. There was irritation, one that seemed to bubble underneath her skin. Even if she's set aside the whole conspiracy thing for now, she still felt guilty for not doing enough or anything at all. It was almost as if that image of Fives was still sitting at the back of her mind, constantly begging for her help.

'Just need some time.' She tried to tell herself, feeling her eyelids flutter. 'I promise I'll deal with it soon.'

Staring into the fire was making her a little sleepy, even the chatter of her master or the troops couldn't keep her awake. As her eyes began to close, she noticed a bright spark at the base of the fire. Ahsoka watched in weary fascination as the flames flickered for a moment, before suddenly changing into a vivid blue.

She didn't see anything wrong with this until she felt a sharp pain in her head again. It was almost like someone had grabbed her mind in a vice grip and yanked her awake. Startled, Ahsoka stood up, but was even more surprised to find that the camp was empty. Feeling vulnerable, she reached down to grab her lightsabers, but they weren't there.

Ahsoka felt her heart drop as she turned back to the blue flames, which only seemed to be growing stronger.

There was that shadow again. The one with the white hands, the creepy old man that had been haunting her for the past couple days. He was clearer than ever before, she could see a wrinkly pale face underneath a dark hood. Ahsoka felt herself begin to tremble as an icy cold terror began encasing her body, the dark side enveloping her entire being.

Ahsoka Tano.

She stopped breathing. He knew her name.

Suddenly, the figure was standing right in front of her, but Ahsoka couldn't move. She just stared into those sharp yellow eyes, feeling a sickly pale finger graze her cheek, tracing all the way to her lips.

Mine at last.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Like Chapter 2, this was a bit of a breather chapter (but still important things happened), to alleviate the stress on Ahsoka, if not just for a little bit; the whole talk with Rex basically (which used to be much shorter in the first draft). Less woooOOooo supernatural Force things and more reality-based (except for the ending at least), mostly due to the fact that Ahsoka is with Anakin this chapter and she feels less scared with him around uwu

This chapter was basically supposed to solidify that Palpatine definitely knows of Ahsoka now (he didn't before, but there is still reason why Ahsoka was seeing visions even before he zeroed in on her).

Also Credit is also another original clone, which I just honestly named and then immediately killed, y'know, that classic Clone Wars thing they do :,) Credit's existence is just supposed to humanize the clones a little more, even though they were just fodder to exemplify how serious things were getting. Those clones who died were still people, ones who really deserved better, and I never want anyone to forget that, ever.

It's still definitely a challenge trying to balance Ahsoka's stress and the idea that it feels kinda silly (realistically) to keep this very vital information to yourself for too long (especially for someone as young and vulnerable - against Palpatine at least - as Ahsoka). Ahsoka feels much more assured now that Anakin knows, but there are more factors getting involved now (which ironically happening because she didn't keep it a secret).

Also fun fact, this campaign to Christophsis used to be just one mission (the one in Chapter 4), but I decided to extended it narratively, mostly because I want to expand on the whole vibe that there is literally 'no time to talk' which is pushing Ahsoka (and Anakin) into a certain state of mind. I was originally going to poach one of the canon arcs from Season 6 and inject it into this story, but I realized there were literally too many plotlines that would cross over each other, taking attention away from the main plot of this story, so I created an original arc instead. Ultimately, this campaign on Christophsis isn't as important as what is happening during it (with Ahsoka and Anakin). which is why I didn't feel the need to go into the details and logistics of the campaign.

I did throw in a little bit of lore-reason why they were even sent here in the first place, when Ahsoka wonders what the Republic is doing with the Kyber Crystals mined there. At this time, the Death Star is probably being planned/built/tested and the Kyber Crystals mined there were likely being used for that. I don't know if this is true, but I heard that Palpatine fed the Republic the idea that the Separatists were creating this super-weapon and the Republic needed to build one too to counter it, unaware it was actually the same weapon: the Death Star.

Anyways, that wraps up Chapter 5, only two chapters left to the end of Act I...which is a bit of a doozy