A lingering coldness filled the air. And it was not a natural weather phenomenon, despite Kijimi's normal climate. Ahsoka Tano knew that it was the dark side of the Force. It surrounded her now as much as the Light had surrounded her at the Temple. But only now she could feel like she was choking on it, even as she made her way through the crowded market.
Rex walked behind her, disguised in a too-small cloak that she'd bartered for with a trader in the underworld of Coruscant a few months back. And as such it was only barely enough to cover the former Captain's face and upper torso. He'd tried to force her to wear it, but had changed his mind once he saw a squad of Clone Troopers out on patrol. After all, her face was one of a random Togruta, but his was the face of every Clone Trooper in the army. He would be far easier to spot from a distance.
"Left," she said as she caught sight of another patrol up ahead. The two of them darted down a side street, avoiding the patrol. For the moment, at least. She wasn't exactly sure what they would do if they where discovered. Neither of them was in any shape to put up much of a fight at the moment. Rex was in especially bad shape, thanks to the countless blaster shots his armour had taken during their daring escape attempt. The fact that he was still able to stand was astounding. "There has to be a Cantina nearby," she said.
"But we don't exactly have many credits to spare," Rex replied gruffly.
"No," she replied steadily, "but I'll think of something. Trust me." Rex let out a small grunt of approval as they continued to wander through the street. They passed many vendors selling food, drink and other oddities, but one in particular caught Ahsoka's eye.
A small table had been set up outside one of the many pubs. Two men, one a Weequay and the other a Human, sat behind it with smug expressions, three cups and a stack of credits. One by one, curious on-lookers wandered over and began to place bets about which cup contained a small stone. However, ahsoka knew full well that there was a decent amount of cheating going on there. And she also knew that she held two advantages against the scammers. One was the fact that the men could not back down from paying anyone who did wind up winning. And two, she had the power of the Force on her side.
"Rex, hand me what credits we do have," Ahsoka said quietly.
"What are you thinking?" the Clone Commander replied.
"That greed can be a powerful ally," she replied, repeating one of the many little life lessons that Anakin had taught her over the years. "And a horrible enemy," she said with a wink to her friend, before turning around and approaching the table.
She made sure to put on an innocent, naive face for the con artists. She needed them to believe that she was an innocent young girl, far from home who didn't have anything between her Lekku. It would be so much easier to fool them that way.
"Hello," Ahsoka said as she approached. 'What's this?" she asked.
"Choppa wanga woll bolla che du eah che copah atta Zygerria," the Weequay jeered crudely. He was completely oblivious to the fact that Ahsoka knew more than enough Huttese to know what he'd said. "Etta woll buka ku-ic!" he continued before turning his attention to her entirely. "Well it's quite simple, darlin'," he sneered. "Ten credits gets you one chance to guess where this here stone is," he said as he held up the small black rock. "guess right, and you get the pot," he said, gesturing towards the sizable pile of credits beside him.
"Hmm," she fake pondered as she stroked her chin. "Alright. I'll have a go," she said as she placed their few remaining credits on the table. She made sure to show him that it was all they had. It would put the man at ease.
"Buka wanga hurdu," the Human chimed in. Ahsoka mused internally, knowing just what would happen if Anakin was there with her. Both men would probably wind up unconscious at best, and missing limbs at worst, if he heard what they where saying about her. As it was, she had half a mind to put the two in their place. And she would have, if she wasn't worried about the authorities. But her facade shifted for a moment as she thought about her Master. He was a powerful Jedi, one of the most skilled warriors in the Order. Had he been caught off-guard, or in a no-win situation against hundreds of Clones? She knew full well that her own survival had been little more than a fluke, after all.
"Then we have a deal," the Weequay said with a smile across his gnarled features as he took the credits out of the palm of her hand, snapping Ahsoka back tot he present. He put them a little too close to his own pile of credits for her liking. Not that it would matter in the end. The Weequay placed the small stone under one of the cups and began to re-arrange them in rapid succession. But even if she kept her eyes on the correct cup the entire time, it would not matter, as the cup and stone where magnetized.
Or they would have been, if she didn't use the Force to pull the stone free from the magnet.
"Ready to pick, darlin?" the human asked gleefully.
"Uh-huh," Ahsoka nodded sheepishly as she stretched out her hand. She started to reach for the incorrect cup before seemingly changing her mind and reaching for the correct one.
"Oh that's a mighty sha-" the Weequay began to say as he lifted the cup away. Only for his expression to change in an instant. "Blast it!" he cursed violently as he shot up from his seat.
"I guess I win," Ahsoka cheered as she reached for the credits, wanting to get out of there as quickly as possible.
"Not so fast," the human growled as he reached into his cloak and pulled out a small blaster. But he was too slow.
"I wouldn't do that if I where you," Rex snapped from behind him, as he shoved the tip of his own blaster into the man's neck. The man dropped his blaster and raised his hands, but Ahsoka was too late to see the button he had reached for. In a split second the once semi-empty street began to fill up with twenty-something ugly-looking thugs. All of whom began to swarm her and Rex, and drag them off into one of the nearby buildings.
...xxXxx...
"Blast it," Anakin cursed as he slammed his mechanical hand into a terminal, "they've already changed the security codes!"
"They couldn't do that without-" Shaak Ti muttered under her breath.
"Without authorization from someone high on the Council, or a Temple Guard," Anakin replied with a grimace. All the more evidence that there was at least one traitor in the Order. Already Anakin had spotted several Jedi corpses that had been struck down by a Lightsaber. His first, gut reaction had been that perhaps Palpatine had entered the fray. But that didn't quite feel right. Anakin knew that if the Sith Lord had entered the battle, they would already be dead. Which told him that Palpatine had a contingency plan. "Luckily, there's a way around that," he said as he shifted his grip on his lightsaber, and began to slice his way through the door.
The two Jedi Council members had been making their way to the Younglings who where no doubt holed up in the Council chambers. But they had been forced to take many detours along the way after encountering far too many squads of Clone troopers. Most of which where busy hunting down the scattered groups of Jedi.
The door that led to the turbolift clattered to the floor, and the two Jedi stepped through it. Fortunately, the turbolift itself was still functioning.
"To think that we have a traitor in our midst," Shaak Ti said with a pained, exhausted tone. "It's unheard of..."
"Krell," Anakin spat out the name of the former Jedi. "Dooku. Barriss. It's not unheard of," he said. Shaak Ti nodded in silent agreement with him as the lift ascended upwards. Neither one of them had any words to spare, they where both exhausted from hours of fighting through the temple grounds.
When he had first arrived to the battle, Anakin had still held out some hope that the might of the Jedi Order would be enough to repel the Clone Army. But he had been wrong. The Jedi at the Temple consisted mainly of Younglings, Padawans, old Masters and wounded Knights. There where very few battlefield-ready warriors among them. Perhaps things would have been different had the likes of Obi-wan or Yoda been present.
His mind snapped back to the present the second the turbolift doors opened, and a shrill shriek of horror filled his ears.
The Council Chamber lay before him, just as it had been hours before when Master Windu had ordered him to stay there. Only now it was covered with the bodies of several Younglings. Those who remained ran in terror from the hulking form in the centre of the room that Anakin only vaguely knew as Masana Tide. She was a Dowutin Jedi who had a penchant for brutal tactics, and had nearly been kicked out of the Order on more than one occasion. But what she had done, and was in the process of doing, was absolutely sickening.
The sick Jedi had a Youngling held up in the air by his arm, forcing him to watch as she mercilessly slaughtered the few who remained. But her joyful rampage was cut short as soon as she caught sight of the two Jedi.
"Catch!" Masana shouted as she threw the young boy at them. Shaak Ti deactivated her Lightsaber and caught him, while Anakin burst forward. He moved much like he had against Count Dooku on Geonosis at the outbreak of the Clone Wars. But unlike then he was not faced with a Master duellist, and his power had only grown tenfold since that encounter.
Masana's orange blade crashed against his blue blade as he swept past her. He manoeuvred himself to be between her and the three remaining Younglings, who cowered behind Mace Windu's council chair. He assumed a staunch defensive stance, holding his blade directly out in front of him at an angle.
"Skywalker," Masana mused gleefully. "'shoulda known you where comin', eventually. Guess you really pissed off the Emperor, huh?"
"I've got a knack for that," Anakin replied coolly.
"Wonder what he'll say when I bring him your head?" Masana growled. She lunged forward with an incredible ferocity that was only matched by her predictability. It was a technique that even a lowly Padawan could anticipate, even if they couldn't block it properly. but Anakin didn't have that weakness. He casually parried her blow to the side and slashed his lightsaber through one of her massive legs. She let out a massive howl of pain as she crumpled to the floor in agony.
But Anakin was merciful. He quickly spun around and slashed his lightsaber right through her neck, severing it completely.
"Go," he ordered to the remaining younglings, who cowered in the corners of the Council Chamber, all the while eyeing the bodies of their former friends. He looked up at Shaak Ti, who bore an expression of disappointment, disapproval and horror at the sight before her. "It was her or them," Anakin replied callously as he stepped past the Jedi Master, "and I chose them." She did not dispute his words as they took the turbolift back down to the lower levels.
"Master Skywalker..." one of the Younglings pleaded as he pulled at Anakin's robe. "What are we going to do? There are so many of them!"
"We are leaving," Shaak Ti answered with a calm, firm voice of command. "There are transports docked in the lower hangars, and there are already several Jedi there, getting ready to leave."
"Where will we go?" the youngling asked intently.
"I have a plan," Anakin replied coolly. All along he'd planned to head for Tatooine as quickly as possible, to his and Padmé's rendezvous spot. Even if he had to bring every single Jedi left in the Temple there, he didn't care. He had always known that his secret would come out eventually. And since the Order was in shambles anyway, it didn't matter anymore. That wretched dust-ball was perhaps the safest place in the Galaxy at the moment.
Once more the doors to the turbolift opened up. And this time, they where faced with a squad of three heavily armed Clone ARC Troopers, all of whom had their blasters trained on the doorway. Anakin sucked in a deep breath as the trooper's trigger fingers twitched ever so slightly. But they never got the chance to fire. A huge cloud of smoke spilled into the room, blinding the troopers. And through the smoke, Anakin could see brief flashes of what looked like lightning, and he could hear the troopers screaming in pain as they crumpled to the floor in rapid succession.
And as soon as the smoke cleared, Anakin could see why.
"Beep-bee-bee-bwoop-doo!" A little blue Astromech droid chirped happily.
"Artoo!" Anakin breathed a sigh of relief.
"Bwoop-bee-doo-doo-beep," Artoo chirped as he rolled forward.
"I know," Anakin sighed as the group continued down the long hallway, "I know. We're getting out of here, buddy."
"Doo-bee-beep-doo-woo," Artoo replied sharply.
"It's no worse than that time on Geonosis," Anakin replied.
"Bleep."
"No, the other time," he said with a shake of his head. "This way," he said as he pointed with his lightsaber down the hall. The group picked up the pace, not even bothering to engage any Clones that turned to take shots at them. The Force allowed them to move at a pace unmatched by any Clone, and the few blaster shots that threatened them where quickly parried by their Lightsabers.
But Anakin and Shaak Ti, both of whom where experienced Jedi, where forced to slow their pace significantly for the younglings. Their short legs simply could not keep up the necessary pace for too long.
Fortunately they arrived at the Hangar doors without much trouble.
Unfortunately it was locked down tight by easily one-hundred Clone Troopers. And there where plenty of Jedi bodies at their feet. Even a few of their blades where still active. Anakin gripped the hilt of his blade tightly, readying himself for the impending battle. Beside him, Shaak Ti did the same.
"Jedi! Blast them!" A Clone barked. In the split second before a volley of blasterfire filled the air Anakin found himself imagining the rest of his life. He imagined himself living in a beautiful Villa in the Naboo Lakeside. He saw himself sitting on a stunning terrace with Padmé, as he watched his child chasing R2D2 around while singing a happy song. And for a brief moment, he was a happy, content man.
That feeling lingered in the back of his mind as he snapped himself back to reality. He once more became a blur of intense motion as he turned back shot after shot. However, the Clone's fire was not directed solely on them. Because they where simultaneously focusing their fire to the left, where another group of Jedi charged into battle.
Emboldened by their companion's bravery, Anakin, Shaak Ti and the few younglings with Lightsabers joined them, quickly crossing the distance between them. The two-pronged attack from either side disoriented the Soldiers just enough for the Jedi to gain the upper hand, despite their limited numbers.
Leading the charge was Mace Windu, looking even more battered and beaten than when Anakin had last seen him. He was sporting a plethora of new injuries, including a nasty gash across his forehead and three blaster wounds to his shoulder and chest. Those, on top of the ones he had already received, gave him a ghastly, dead-looking visage. But still the great Jedi Master stood tall, rallying those around him as they charged through to the Hangar Bay.
Thirty Clones fell, as did two Jedi, before the doors where breached.
"To the shuttle, go!" Mace barked, pointing to a small freighter craft that was used for undercover missions. It was an unassuming craft, and no one would look at it twice. But it was packed to the brim with the most advanced technology that the Republic had available to them. Cruiser-class shield generators, two turbolaser batteries and an engine that would make point-3 past lightspeed. It was their only option.
"Artoo, lower the ramp!" Anakin snapped as he spun his blade around, deflecting a series of blaster shots, saving a youngling.
"Bee-beep-doo-blep!" Artoo chimed happily. The Knights and Masters who could still stand, numbering less then ten total, formed a tight circle around the lowering ramp, allowing the surviving Padawans to board safely. A pair of them even carried a heavily wounded Master between them. "Boo-boo-beep!" Artoo screamed, catching Anakin's attention and causing him to turn his head. Five more beings had entered the Hangar, each carrying an ignited lightsaber. But they where not Jedi. He could feel the Dark Side of the Force clinging to them like a plague.
"Blast it!" Anakin swore loudly. By the time they dealt with the new arrivals, more Clones would be on the way.
"Go," Mace hissed.
"What?" Anakin replied.
"Go!" Mace snapped as he stepped forward. "Skywalker, get them out of here!" he said loudly as his pace quickened. "I'll hold them off!" Anakin closed his eyes, pondering for a brief moment. Yes, he had been at odds with the Jedi Master for some time, and bore many grievances with the man. But a part of him had always respected Mace as well, even at the worst of times he stood like a mountain against a raging storm. And Anakin's heart fell as he realized that there was no saving Mace Windu. He had to do what he had to do, for the sake of those he could still save.
He closed the ramp behind him as he quickly boarded the ship.
In a split second his mind went from mourning Windu's inevitable death to being the ace pilot that he was.
"Artoo, fire up the engines! Full power!" he said as he slid into the Pilot's seat and donned a headset like it was nothing. Immediately the ship hummed to life all around him. Blasterfire from the Clones below peppered the hull, but they stood no chance at penetrating his shields, so he ignored them. "Get us out of here, buddy." he said as he gripped the controls tightly. Beside him, Shaak Ti slid into the copilot's chair. To his knowledge, the Council Member was nowhere near an ace pilot like he was. But he also knew that his options where extremely limited at the moment, so he would have to make do.
"Master, re-direct all power from the weapons systems into the engines," he barked firmly as the ship shot out of the Hangar, and into the Coruscant skyline.
"We'll need the guns to take on the ships in orbit," Shaak Ti replied calmly, "we should-"
"We're dead if we get caught in any sort of dogfight," he snapped back in a far colder tone than he intended to. "speed is our best weapon. Artoo," he continued as he darted under a line of slow-moving traffic so fast that he doubted that any of the other pilots had actually seen him, only the five LAAT gunships trying desperately to give chase. But those ships where not designed for speed and manoeuvrability, and where quickly falling behind. "Prep the hyperdrive, set a course for Tatooine."
He dived to the left sharply in order to avoid a slew of rockets fired from the LAAT's. The where the gunship squadron's last, desperate attempt to do any sort of damage to the ship. But they where entirely unsuccessful. He pushed the engines to their maximum output as he forced the ship to rise towards the upper atmosphere of the planet.
"Keep an eye on that hyperdrive charge," he said as he faced down a new threat. Four Venator-class Star Destroyers where converging in the atmosphere above them. They where going to be a problem, since they where blocking the hyperspace lane he needed to access. Luckily he was able to buck and weave his way through the normal traffic with ease, disruption their ability to fire on him for the moment. No gunner, no matter how skilled, was about to risk potentially hitting a civilian target in an attempt to bring him down.
"Fifty-six percent charge," Shaak Ti said calmly. "Fifty-seven. Sixy. Sixty-four."
"We're gonna crash!" One of the Younglings screamed from behind him.
"Get them out of here," Anakin snapped at another Jedi he couldn't quite see as he effortlessly avoided the small freighter that the Youngling had been so worried about. He needed to be completely focused on the task at hand. Turbolaser fire filled his vision the second he broke out of the traffic line, and rocked against the ship's shields. He was forced to perform a series of complex dives and rolls to avoid taking too much fire. Otherwise the high-powered turbolasers would cut through their hull in seconds. "I need cover," he whispered to himself as he scanned the vast emptiness in front of him. He needed somewhere to duck behind while the engines finished charging to their full capacity.
"The debris field," Shaak Ti quipped as she pointed towards it.
"Perfect," Ankin replied as he spun the ship through space in order to avoid another barrage of fire. The Siege of Coruscant had left hundreds of destroyed capitol ships floating high above the planet. So far the cleanup crews hadn't been able to do much more than shuffle everything into secluded areas to help clear up the traffic lanes.
"Fighters incoming."
"Hyperdrive charge?"
"Seventy-six percent."
"Blast," Anakin swore as he dove through the hull of a bisected Separatist Warship. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see five ARC-170 starfighters hot on his tail. He pushed the engines as fast as they would go as he wove his way past the remnants of three droid troop carriers. Four of the Clone Pilots did as well, but the fifth wasn't quick enough. An explosion rocked the back of the ship, sending a jolt through the cockpit. "What happened?" Anakin snapped.
"We lost the shields," Shaak Ti replied. "A direct hit to the generator."
"Blast," Anakin swore as he redoubled his efforts to avoid the blasterfire coming their way. "Artoo, can you-?"
"Beep-beep-whoop."
"Blast it again," Anakin snapped as he rolled the craft past the ruined hull of a droid gunship. Without shields their chances of escape had gone from slim to critically dire. But those odds only served to make him more defiant of their pursuers. "Hyperdrive status?"
"Eighty-three percent."
"Artoo," Anakin quipped, "is there anything this ship can afford to lose? We need as much speed as possible."
"Boop-boop-beep," the little droid replied. Anakin nodded as he ducked the ship underneath the bridge of a wrecked Venator.
"Jettison anything we can afford to lose," Anakin said sharply, "but keep the fuel. We're gonna need it. we-" he was cut off by another explosion striking the side of the ship. The ARC-170 pilots where still hot on his tail. "come on, come one," he whispered to himself as he continued to duck and dive through the wreckage field. All around the cockpit, instruments began whirring and beeping various alarms. The ship was taking too much damage. 'Come on, come on," he whispered as he tightened his already white-knuckle grip on the controls. Up ahead was what remained of a Federation Lucrehulk-class Battleship.
"Ninety percent," Shaak Ti said, "Ninety three."Anakin rolled the ship to the left sharply at the last second. Three out of the four ARC pilots where to slow to avoid the debris in front of them, and slammed into the hull of the wrecked Federation craft. Meanwhile Anakin and the sole remaining ARC-170 pilot raced through the hangar of the Lucrehulk, narrowly avoiding the plethora of debris littered throughout it. Another blast rocked their ship. "We lost something..." Shaak Ti said.
"Long-range scanners," Anakin quipped back as he glanced to the side. "Nothing important," he said as he rolled the ship through a hole in the battleship's hull, back into open space.
"Ninety-six percent...Ninety-eight," the jedi Master said calmly. Anakin reflexively reached for the Hyperdrive throttle as he manoeuvred the ship to a prime jump point. "Ninety-nine...One-hundred!"
Without missing a beat, Anakin pushed the throttle to it's maximum output. Immediately the stars around him turned bright blue as the ship jumped into Hyperspace. Anakin felt the breath he had been holding in suddenly leave his body as he slumped into the pilot's chair.
They had escaped Palpatine's clutches, for the moment at least. No doubt there would be many battles and trials ahead of them. But for the moment all Anakin could do was revel in his small victory, and hope that there where more to come.