Chapter 90: The Citadel

Adaptation is the key to survival.

Recap: Captured! Returning from a perilous assignment in the Outer Rim, Jedi Master Even Piell's cruiser has fallen under attack and been boarded. Seeking vital information he carries about secret hyperspace lanes called the Nexus Route, Separatist forces have taken him alive. Now, the Jedi are preparing a stealth mission into the heart of Separatist space in an effort to rescue Master Piell from the deadly prison known as the Citadel.

On Courscant, an important meeting was happening. Anakin, Obi-wan, Storm, and several clones were gathered around the communication table. Also present were Master Plo, Celestia, and Luna, informing the group of a massive mission they were about to undertake. So much so that what they were about to say could be classified as a suicide mission.

"As you are aware, the Citadel is their most isolated and impenetrable detention facility. No one has ever escaped," said Master Plo as he pulled up the image of the Citadel.

"There's a first time for everything," said Anakin.

"Indeed there is," responded Obi-wan.

"Their security has prevented our probes from obtaining recent reconnaissance, so we've been forced to construct a crude map based upon data from the archives," said Celestia as she touched a button to project the next image

"And since the data is extremely old, the map will be difficult to rely on," added Luna.

"So we're essentially going in blind," said Storm.

"Beg your pardon, General, but how do we know Master Piell is still alive?" asked Captain Rex as he was present via hologram.

"The Separatists won't dare kill Master Piell until they have what they need," answered Obi-wan.

"He obtained the coordinates of a secret hyperspace lane known as the Nexus Route, which travels into the heart of both the Republic and Separatist homeworlds," said Master Plo.

"They could prove vital in maneuvering our forces deep into remote Separatist sectors. Or the enemy could use them to slip through our defenses and attack Coruscant," said Celestia.

"These hyperspace lanes are of immense interest to both our sides and could tip the scale of the war to whomever is in possession of them. That is all," said Luna as the meeting was adjourned.

The clone began to leave when Luna called over her clone commander. The woman spoke with Sark as she told him that he would be taking Claude and Ricochet along with him as they would be following under Storm's command during the suicide mission. The clone nodded as he left with Cody, Echo, and Fives.

Once the clones left, the Jedi followed suit as they began to talk a bit more.

"Based on the archive schematics, we've narrowed it down to three possible locations they could be holding him at," said Master Plo.

"My greatest concern is infiltrating their outer security. The life-form scanners will not be easy to fool," said Obi-wan.

"I've got a thought about that," stated Anakin.

Before he could explain his plan to the group, they were interrupted by a voice as Ahsoka and Twilight appeared.

"Master! I'm sorry I'm late. I just heard about the briefing. We're going to rescue Master Piell, right?" said Ahsoka with a smile. However, Anakin didn't say anything but merely crossed his arms.

"You two have much to discuss," said Master Plo as he and the rest of the Jedi Masters left the three Jedi Knights and Padawan.

Storm and Twilight stood silent as Anakin began to address his student.

"Ahsoka, I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier, but you won't be coming along on this one."

"Not coming? But you're breaking into the Citadel! No one's ever done it." said Ahsoka as she felt offended that she was being left out on a mission like this.

"The Citadel wasn't designed to hold common criminals. It was created to hold Jedi if any of us lost our way. It's not a place for Padawans." stated Anakin.

"This is a suicide mission," added Storm.

"You're just being protective again. That's not fair. How am I supposed to learn if you won't let me share the risk?" said Ahsoka to her teacher.

"This isn't a mission for learning. You either do or die. And that's not a risk I'm willing to share." stated Anakin as he began to leave.

"Sparky, get ready. We're leaving soon," said Storm to the princess.

"Twilight gets to go, but I don't!" stated Ahsoka.

"Let's get one thing straight, Ahsoka. You're a Padawan; we're Jedi Knights. Know your damn place in the hierarchy! You will never be like us until you understand where you belong!" stated Storm as he got in the face of the girl and made sure she knew she wasn't going with them.

The two teens also began to leave as Ahsoka was less pleased that her friends were going on a dangerous mission without her.

"Sparky, is your droid ready?" asked Storm as he walked with Twilight.

"Yes, but why did you ask me to bring her along?" said the girl.

"You'll see," said Storm.


In one of the hangars of the Jedi Temple, a ship was being prepped. The shuttle would be the transport that would take the Jedi and their clone squad to their destination. Rolling toward the shuttle was R2, and accompanying him was Twilight's droid and three B1 battle droids behind them.

"R2! Look out! Behind you! You're being followed by battle droids!" said 3PO as he was fearful of his friends.

"It's alright, 3P0," said TS-01 to her yellow friend.

R2 made a beep as he explained to his friend why the pair had battle droids behind them.

"These are your troops? They're battle droids!" said 3P0 to the pair of robots.

R2 then let out another beep.

"Both Master Skywalker and Master Twilight were able to reconfigure their serving processors," said TS-01.

"What do you mean, they've been reprogrammed to follow your orders?" said 3P0 as he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"We are awaiting your word, Commanders," said the battle droid named OOM-10.

R2 gave a beep to the group.

"You heard him. Move out!" said the droid to the other two as they began to follow the two smaller droids.

"Don't you go thumbing your gears at me just because you have a bunch of dim-witted droids following you about!" scolded 3P0 to his robot friends as he began to leave.

"We're trusting those droids to get us into the Citadel?" said Echo.

"It's the only way," said Sark.

"We're flying right into the heart of Separatist territory," stated Cody. "Droids won't be detected."

Cody and Sark's response made the men a bit hesitant.

"R2. Make sure they don't stray from the flight plan," said Anakin as he and his pals approached the small group of droids.

"It's all under control, sir," replied OOM-10.

"I was talking to R2," stated Anakin as he glared at the droid.

"TS-01, make sure you keep these guys in check. Especially R2," said Twilight.

"Affirmative," said the small droid as she saluted her creator.

Twilight and Anakin began to do one final schematic check on the droids to ensure everything was set. Meanwhile, Master Plo was just a few meters away in the hangar while working on his fighter. Approaching him was Ahsoka.

"Master Plo? May I speak with you?" asked the girl.

"What is it, little 'Soka?" asked the Jedi Master.

"It's about the mission. Master Skywalker doesn't want me to go," said Ahsoka.

"That is his choice," responded Master Plo.

"I know. But I think he's being overly protective. He's picking and choosing which assignments I can be a part of."

"He is your master."

"Yes, but it's not for him to decide when and how I should put my life in danger. That should be my choice," said Ahsoka as Master Plo looked at her.

"Everything ready!?" shouted Storm to the team.

"Ready!" replied Anakin as the Jedi and their clone squads began to march toward a carbon-freezing machine.

"I've never been carbon-frozen before, General," responded Rex.

"It's the first time for us, too," responded Anakin.

"This is your idea? Carbon freezing?" said Obi-wan as he and the entire group approached the machine and saw many spots where to stand.

"Hey, you wanted to shield us from the life-form scanners," said Anakin to his teacher.

"Before the invention of the hyperdrive, some early spacers would use carbonite to endure long voyages," stated Twilight to the pair.

"Just so I'm clear, are there any side effects we should worry about?" said Storm.

"Plenty, like..."

"You know what, forget I said anything, nerd," Storm stated as he saw that Twilight was about to go on a tangent.

"Don't call me that!" shouted the princess to her partner as she was angry.

"Are we sure this thing is safe?" asked Fives.

"I don't want to end up a wall decoration," replied Ricochet.

"Try to relax, men. We'll be unfrozen as soon as we arrive," assured Obi-wan to the clones.

"Let's hope so," stated Claude.

The person at the control panel began to initiate the sequence. One by one, the Jedi and clones were all lowered into the machine. Cold air sprayed all over them for a second as the chemical reaction occurred. The person then had crane arms reach into the holes as they pulled out a block of carbonite that had the Jedi and clones encased. Once their vitals were checked, the droids began to load onto the shuttle as they positioned them upwards so they could simply step off when the time came.

"Let's go, men," said TS-01 to the battle droids as she and R2 were getting the shuttle ready for takeoff.

Within seconds, the engines started up as the hangar doors opened. R2 gave the signal as the shuttle took off into the atmosphere as it prepared to leave. Master Plo, Celestia, and Luna were watching the shuttle leave and had similar expressions. They knew the danger the group was taking and prayed they would come back alive.

"May the Force be with you," said all three Jedi Masters in unison.


The shuttle was shown exiting out of hyperspace. They had arrived at their destination, the planet Lola Sayu. The home of the Citadel was constructed by the Jedi Council to keep any rogue Jedi. The shuttle was approaching a blockade of Separatist ships as they were about to make contact.

"Citadel Command has contacted us," said OOM-10 to both droids.

"Put them through," ordered TS-01.

"This is Central Command. Please identify yourself," said the tactical droid on the other line.

"This is cargo shuttle 1138, requesting access to Citadel prison," responded OOM-10.

"Make sure every part of that ship is scanned for life forms!" said the Citadel warden, a Phindian male named Osi Sobeck.

"Yes, Commander," responded the tactical droid.

"Make no mistake. The Jedi will be coming for their imprisoned brother. They're not about to let one of their own be tortured into handing over information that will help the Separatists win the war." stated the warden.

"What is your cargo?" asked the tactical droid.

"What is our cargo? Um..." said OOM-10 to both R2 and TS-01 as he didn't know what to say to that.

"Move over, you stupid hunk of bolts!" shouted TS-01 as she shoved the droid out of his seat and hopped on. "Uh, supplies and frozen rations," said Twilight's droid as she changed her voice to sound like a battle droid.

"Do not deviate from your current course until we have confirmed your cargo," said the tactical droid as he began scanning the shuttle.

"Roger, roger," responded TS-01 before she turned off her modifier and hopped off.

"They're scanning us for life forms," said OOM-10 as he got back in his seat.

R2 merely let out a beep. The tactical droid was looking at his screen about halfway through scanning the ship. The hangar was shown with the carbonite blocks as it held our heroes as their entire fate rested in the droids to get them past enemy lines.

"I don't think this is working," said one of the other battle droids as he was nervous.

"Quiet! You're gonna blow it," said OOM-10.

"Both of you shut up!" stated TS-01 as she reminded them of who was in command.

The scan was soon complete as the tactical droid turned to Sobeck to confirm what he saw.

"The shuttle has no life forms, Commander. Scan complete. You may proceed." said the tactical droid to the shuttle as their scanner was green.

R2 let out a beep when translated was similar to him holding his breath. The blue astromech received a pat on the back from the princess' small robot as they were glad their part of the mission was a success. The shuttle headed toward the planet as they sneaked past the blockade.

"Fear. A Jedi spends his whole life training against it. But at the Citadel, breaking Jedi is our specialty. Within these walls, they will learn to fear us. And if not, they die." said Sobeck as he turned in his chair to view the security cameras. He saw Master Piell being tortured as droids poked him with electro staffs to get him to reveal the information they wanted.

The shuttle was heading to a small cliffside a few meters away from the prison and hid within a cavern. Once they docked, the battle droids began to unload the carbonites of the Jedi and clones as they stood the things up. R2 and TS-01 began to unlock the carbonites as they shut them off. Within a second, the figures inside were unleashed from their frozen prisons and stepped off with slight dizziness and blindness.

"Remind me to never do carbon freezing again," coughed Storm as he cleared his throat and began to stretch.

"Is everyone accounted for?" asked Twilight as the clones all gave thumbs up and stretched out their muscles.

"Hey, Snips," said Anakin nonchalantly as he stretched out his arms.

"Hey, Master," responded Ahsoka with the same tone as she stretched her back.

At that moment, Anakin did a double-take as he looked to his side. Sure enough, what he saw was Ahsoka as the girl was present. And it wasn't just him, as Storm and Twilight were shocked to see the girl.

"I must have carbon sickness because I could swear that's Ahsoka," said Obi-wan as he couldn't believe what he saw.

"Your eyes are fine. It's Ahsoka's hearing that needs help!" shouted Anakin as he was not happy to see her present.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" yelled Storm.

"I received orders to join the team. I thought you knew," said the girl to her pals with a fake smile.

"Bull fuc-"

"Storm!" said Twilight as she cut off her partner from saying what he was going to say.

"Orders? From who?" demanded Anakin.

"I discussed it with Master Plo," said Ahsoka, as that statement was only half true.

"He didn't tell me," replied the Jedi Knight.

"You were already in carbonite," replied the girl.

"Then what about Celestia or Luna? Do they know about this shit!" yelled Storm. "Cause it wasn't just Master Plo who discussed the mission with us!"

"Storm, please. Just calm down," said Twilight, as she didn't want her partner to argue with their friend.

"Well, I gave you a specific order not to come!" yelled Anakin as he was anything but pissed.

"If there's one thing I've learned from you, Master, it's that following direct orders isn't always the best way to solve a problem," responded Ahsoka.

"I see Anakin's new teaching method is to "Do as I say, not as I do." Welcome aboard," said Obi-wan to the girl as he finished prepping the clones.

"Let's just get this thing straight, Ahsoka. You mess up once; you make one mistake. And it's all on you!" glared Storm as he got directly in Ahsoka's face. He left as even Anakin had a similar expression as both Jedi Knights needed to prepare their soldiers.

"Don't let him get to you. This is a serious mission, and they want to make sure that nothing goes wrong," said Twilight to Ahsoka as she put her hand on her shoulder.

"I get it, responded the Padawan.

"Tell me the truth, did Master Plo tell you to come?" asked Twilight to her friend. Ahsoka leaned into the princess' ears as Twilight's eyes widened, revealing the answer.

Moments later, the Jedi were about to get started.

"Guard the shuttle, R2. We'll contact you when we're ready for takeoff," said Anakin to the blue astromech.

R2 responded with a beep as Anakin began to walk as the others were already ahead.

"TS-01, I'm counting on you."

"Yes, Mistress Twilight," said the small robot to her creator.

"If anything happens to me or... I don't come back at all. Make sure you play the message to my family. Tell them... that... I love them." said Twilight as she tried to hold back the tears in her eyes.

"Affirmative," said the small droid as she knew what to do if this was the last time she saw the princess.

Twilight smiled as she wiped the tears from her eyes. She gave one last hug to her robot as she prayed that she would return from this suicide mission. The girl then put the droid on the ground and turned to catch up with the others.

"Goodbye... Twilight," said the droid in a sad tone.

R2 rolled near his friend as he gave a sympathetic beep. The blue astromech assured the droid that Twilight and the others would come back alive. He then asked the droid what the message was that Twilight asked her to deliver. TS-01 then pushed a button on its chest as a voice recording of the princess' voice was heard.

"Mom, Dad. I just wanted to let you know that I love you..."


The group of Jedi and clones were shown walking alongside a cliff. They came to a stop as they saw the prison across the cavern of molten lava. Storm and Anakin bent to a knee and began to look through some binoculars as they scanned the place for possible entry points.

"I see the entry point," said Anakin.

"You were right. The wind conditions are too strong for jetpacks," said Cody, as he could tell the wind blowing would give them problems.

"Yes. We'll have to do it the old-fashioned way, with ascension cables and a steel grip," stated Obi-wan.

"I don't think that's gonna work either," stated Storm.

"What do you mean?" said Kenobi to his pal.

"Take a look for yourself," said Storm as he handed his binoculars to the Jedi Master so that he could see what he saw.

"Electro-mines," stated the boy as Obi-wan saw them.

"There's nowhere to put a grappling hook at that height. And if we hit one of those, the mission's over. They'll know we're here." said Anakin.

"I suppose that means we free-climb it," said Sark to the Jedi.

The Jedi looked at each other with concern as they got up and began to move. Soon it transitioned as it showed the Jedi and clones climbing up the wall of electric death. The mines were active as electricity flowed through them; even so much as being near them would shock you to death and alert the prison guards. And if that wasn't bad enough, the wind was blowing in their faces, making it much more difficult to climb and find a proper footing.

"You hanging in there, Snips?" asked Anakin as he turned to look down.

"Couldn't be better. I could do without the wind, though," said Ahsoka.

"It's bad enough with the mines. Just remember, one touch, and you're not only gonna get a jolt, but you're gonna drop 13 stories into a vat of lava!" stated Storm as he looked down.

"Is that supposed to make us feel better? Cause it's not!" shouted Twilight as she tried her best not to look down lest she risk slipping.

"As long as you know where your footing is at all times, you should be fine, sir," Claude replied the girl.

"The entry point is just a few more meters!" shouted Obi-wan to his companions below as he was about to reach the platform.

The Jedi and clones began to continue to climb as Obi-wan was directly under the platform. He got onto a small ledge, moved to the side of the platform, and jumped to grab the edge. He pulled his head up to see if any guards were nearby. It seemed like the coast was clear as the Jedi Master was about to pull himself up. Suddenly, a Destroyer droid and two Superbattle droids came out from the doors as they looked around the platform.

Obi-wan quickly ducked his head as he gestured for everyone to stop. They all quickly hugged the wall to avoid being seen by the droids as the Jedi Master held onto the ledge, hoping their foes didn't see him. Everyone remained completely still and silent as they didn't dare move a muscle. The droids stood there for a good solid moment as one of them was a top of Obi-wan; all he needed to do was look down and spot the Jedi Master.

The droid kept standing there as it seemed like he was about to spot the Jedi. Soon he turned as he and his allies went back through the door. Obi-wan peeked his head to see the droids exiting; only a few seconds later, the door was ray-shielded as it locked the Jedi out permanently.

"They locked the door! It's ray-shielded!" said Obi-wan.

"Ray-shielded? That wasn't the plan!" shouted Anakin to his teacher above him.

"Well, it's in the plan now," stated the Jedi Master.

"But this is the least secure way in! How the hell are we gonna get in now!?" stated Storm.

"Anything in the schematics?" shouted Obi-wan at Twilight.

"None! All the other entrances are heavily guarded!" shouted the girl.

"There's an opening up there!" shouted Ahsoka as she looked above the door and saw a ventilation shaft.

"We know. They're ventilation ducts. But they're far too small for us to gain access," said Anakin to his student.

"Too small for you, maybe, but I think me and Twilight can squeeze through," said Ahsoka.

"Well, we hadn't planned on Ahsoka being here. Perhaps she's right," said Obi-wan to his pals, as it didn't seem they had any other options.

"Sparky..."

"Leave it to me," the girl nodded as she climbed up. Anakin also nodded at Ahsoka as the girls began to climb up higher.

The pair approached the grate as it was indeed small. Ahsoka then wiggled her way inside, with Twilight following suit. Inside, two droids were shown turning the corner when Ahsoka's head popped out. The Padawan dropped to the floor, as did the princess. They silently landed as they pushed the button on the wall to turn off the ray shield. Their friends and the clones were starting to reach the platform.

"See, I can handle myself after all," said Ahsoka to Anakin with a smug smile as she put a hand on the wall and leaned.

Warden Sobeck looked at the cameras in the command center when one of the nearby droids got his attention.

"Sir, one of the cargo shuttles was cleared for landing but never arrived," said the droid.

That got the warden to have a suspicious expression. The rest of the clones had climbed the mountainside with our heroes. Rex helped one of his men as he looked at the last clone climbing. He was about to grab Rex's hand when his foot slipped, and lost his balance.

"Charger!" shouted Rex as he saw his men fall.

The clone let out a scream as he fell. He soon landed on a mine and not only got shocked to death but tripped it as an alarm blared.

"Well, they know we're here," said Obi-wan to the rest of the crew.

"Sir, a mine in sector 9-G was just detonated," said one of the droids to Sobeck.

"Mindless droids! Activate all security protocols! Lock everything down! Where are my special units?" shouted the warden as everyone scrambled to do what he said.

"They are here, sir," said the tactical droid as he pushed a button, and in walked several commando droids.

The alarms were still going on as Ahsoka was shown peeking around a corner. She looked down the hall as several droids were running down another hallway.

"Clear," said the Padawan as the droids disappeared.

"Take out their surveillance," ordered Anakin.

Echo, Fives, Ricochet, and Claude all dropped to a knee as they began to take out the cameras while the others ran by. The group came to a crossroads as there were guns on the wall. The Jedi deflected the blaster shots while the clones fired at the guns to take them out. Once they were all taken out, they stepped into the crossroad when a sound was heard. One of the clones looked down the hallway to their left as an electric wall began moving toward them.

"The walls are electrified. Go! Go, go, go!" shouted Sark as the entire group began to run down the hall.

The entire group was running as fast as they could as the wall was getting closer and closer. They reached the next crossroad and dived at the very last second. However, one of the clones got caught in it as he was shocked and landed with smoke coming from his body.

"Longshot!" shouted Cody as he lost one of his most trusted men.

"We must keep moving," sighed Obi-wan sadly at how they lost another squad member.

Everyone took a moment to look at the clone before they all turned with similar sad expressions. Already the team had lost two members within minutes, and no doubt more would come, given what the Citadel was capable of. This, indeed, was a suicide mission.


In Master Piell's cell, the short Jedi Master was tortured by the droid interrogator as he was stabbed with an electro-staff.

"You're weakening. You decide when the pain will stop. Just give me the information." said the droid.

"No droid will ever break me," stated Master Piell, as he wasn't going to crack.

"Say goodbye to your one good eye," said the droid as he had a needle in one hand and was looking to aim it at Master Piell's left eye so that it could match how his right eye was.

At that moment, Echo, Fives, Claude, and Ricochet appeared; they began blasting at the droids when they appeared in the entranceway. They began to take down every commando droid in the room, and the interrogator droid as they cleared it out with the other clones and Jedi following suit.

"Secure the entrance!" stated Anakin to some clones as they looked down the halls. The Jedi Knight slashed at the base of the binds as he released the short Jedi Master from his chains and slumped to the floor.

"Master Piell, are you all right?" asked Kenobi as he and Anakin helped the short Jedi Master to his feet.

"Obi-Wan. What took you guys so long?" said Master Piell.

"At least your sense of humor is still intact," responded Anakin.

"It takes more than they got to break me, young Skywalker," stated Master Piell as Obi-wan handed his lightsaber to the short Jedi.

"So do you have the coordinates for the Nexus Route?" asked Storm.

"Don't you worry, young Storm. I got them, all right. Half of them, anyway."

"Half?" said Twilight as she was concerned.

"Don't fret, Miss Sparkle. My captain's got the other half. I erased the computers when we were boarded and had both of us memorize part of the intel. That way, if somehow I cracked, the information would be useless to them without the other half." replied Master Piell to the entire group.

"That's... actually cunning," said Twilight as she was impressed by the Jedi Master's intelligence.

"Where's your captain?" asked Obi-wan.

"Being held with the other officers, I assume," replied Master Piell.

"We're gonna need a new plan for getting out," stated Anakin, as they didn't expect this.

Cody was shown peeking a cornered as he checked the hallway. Once he saw no sign of droids or danger, he signaled with his hand as the group began walking down the hallway. However, watching them was the warden as he had a devious smile at his guests. The gang was walking down the hall when suddenly, commando droids appeared in front of the group. Soon behind them, more commando droids appeared. The Jedi and clones had their weapons out as they were surrounded.

The commando droids charged at them from both sides and began to fire. Anakin, Ahsoka, and Twilight covered their rear as they deflected the shots, while Storm, Obi-wan, and the clones took care of the front. The commando droids were bouncing off the walls as they avoided the shots from the clones. They closed in as a few began to pummel the clones. Ahsoka was tackled by a droid as he pinned her while Twilight and Anakin destroyed the others. Obi-wan and Storm managed to slice down the remaining droids; even Master Piell took out a droid with a clone pinned to the wall as he sliced his legs off and then its head. Ahsoka managed to slice the droid's head off as he tossed it off her.

"We need to keep moving," said Obi-wan as they began to walk down the hall with the Jedi still having their lightsabers turned on.

Sobeck was watching the group as they got closer and closer. The warden then pushed a button. A loud high, pitched sound was heard as everyone covered their eyes. Soon the blasters and lightsabers began to float out of their hands as they stuck to the magnetic ceiling. It also affected Anakin because his mechanical arm lifted him off the ground and stuck him to the ceiling.

"Anakin!" shouted Obi-wan as he saw his student stuck to the ceiling.

The warden then pushed another button as he began to shock the Jedi Knight stuck to the ceiling.

"Master!" shouted Ahsoka.

It soon ended as the speakers came on, and Sobeck was laughing.

"You fools! I hope you enjoyed the reunion with your fellow Jedi because you're going to be my guests for a very long time!" stated the warden.

Commando droids appeared as they surrounded the group. Both Obi-wan and Master Piell looked at each other as they nodded. Both thrust their arms out as they looked to push back the droids. The droids moved a few feet before their feet stuck to the ground as their upper bodies leaned back. The droids slowly started to straighten themselves out as they began to fire.

"They're magnetized," stated Obi-wan, as that was why the droids held on.

Storm soon pushed with Obi-wan as they tried to add more power to their push, but the droids held on. The girls did the same with Master Piell, but the droids held on because their feet were magnetized to the floor. The clones tried to swing at the droids but moved their heads out of the way and knocked them back down. The Jedi's Force still affected the droids, but it was starting to weaken. Anakin saw how close his lightsaber was as he looked to grab it.

"Oh, no, you don't," said Sobeck as he pushed another button.

Another shock happened to Anakin as it got him to stop reaching for his lightsaber. The Jedi Knight grunted in pain as he saw his lightsaber and pushed through it. He was reaching for it despite being shocked; he managed to grab it as he turned it on and sliced at the magnetic device to end the shock and drop him to the floor. The Jedi caught their lightsabers as the clones picked up their blasters. They began to cut down the commando droids as they fell.

"Are you all right, sir?" Rex asked as he helped Anakin.

"Yeah. Let's get out of here," said the Jedi Knight as the group turned the corner.

Rex was the last one as he looked up to see the camera the warden was watching. He aimed his blaster and shot it as the feed went dead. The warden slammed his fist on the desk as he was furious.


The group was in another detention area; they came to a cell and hugged both sides. Anakin and Storm turned on their lightsabers as they were about to do something. Inside, Master Piell's men were being held and guarded by some commando droids. The man heard a faint sound, as did the droids.

"I hear something," said one of the droids as he instructed some to check the door.

The droids approached the door before opening it; the two lightsabers were stabbed through the middle. The door opened as Ahsoka and Twilight swung in and began to clear out the remaining droids with ease. The men all stood up as they saw Master Piell.

"General."

"Captain Tarkin," said Master Piell as he saw his captain.

"I never thought I'd see you again. And you brought friends."

"Tarkin, this is Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and Storm," stated Master Piell as he quickly introduced the trio spearheading the mission as they checked on the men.

"Well, now that you've found us, how do you expect to get us out? If they've locked this fortress down, there's at least ten squads on their way. It's going to be impossible to escape." said Captain Tarkin to the Jedi.

"What if we split up? My team will create a diversion while Anakin and Storm lead the others away. That way, if one of us is captured, the enemy will only have part of the information and not all of it." suggested Obi-wan to the group.

"General Kenobi, I think it's better if we stick together. A stronger force would have a better chance of protecting the information," countered Captain Tarkin, as he didn't seem to agree with the Jedi's plan.

"Not in this situation," responded the Jedi Master as he turned toward the entrance.

"But surely we'd have more strength in numbers rather than divide us," said Captain Tarkin.

"Obi-Wan has a point. I'll go with him. You go with Skywalker and Storm." instructed Master Piell to his captain.


Droids were shown running toward the detention area. Obi-wan and Master Piell were shown running along the hallways as they were hoping to give their comrades some time to escape. Cody and his men opened their backpacks and began planting bombs along the wall as they ran.

Some commando droids appeared near the cell that held Master Piell's men as they opened it. One of them entered with their blaster aimed but saw that there was nobody.

"They escaped, sir," said the commando droid to the warden.

"Captain, show this droid what happens when we use that word," instructed Sobeck to the other droids as they turned their weapon on their ally and shot him dead.

At that moment, some B1 droids were shown jogging toward them.

"Sir! They've been spotted heading for the upper levels," said the droid.

"They're trying to steal a transport. Seal the landing platform and send all battalions to their positions. Bring them back alive." instructed the warden as they all ran.

Obi-wan and Master Piell were still running when droids turned the corner behind the clones.

"Hey!" shouted a droid as he saw the clones slip by the corner and chase after them.

They turned the corner, and there was Obi-wan, who stood there and pushed a button on his comlink. The bombs the clones had placed when they ran now revealed a trail. They began to go off consecutively like dominos. The Jedi Master ran as they were looking to get out of the blast radius; the droids and halls they passed were blown up, with one of the droids being pushed forward by the explosions' momentum as he flew. The warden also felt the bombs go off as where he was rocked back and forth a bit. The outside showed the prison and where the explosion occurred.

Meanwhile, the others were in a different part of the prison as they came to a stop. Storm and Anakin had a hologram display in their hands as they looked at it.

"This is the place," said Storm as they arrived at their destination.

The pair turned off their devices as they put their hands on the wall. The pair were trying to feel where the weak point was as the girls and clones watched both ways. Once they got where it was, they began stabbing their lightsabers and cutting a hole.

"Everybody in," instructed Anakin to the clones and girls.

They pushed the hole and came out to the other side as it was revealed to be one of the tunnels from the schematics they were given by Master Plo, Celestia, and Luna when they were briefed on the mission. The girls began to take the lead as they ran along the tunnel edge with some clones following them.

"This is one of the original fortress tunnels," said Echo.

"The advantage of old archive data," responded Fives.

"Guess it's still reliable after all," responded Claude.

"The tunnel's clear!" shouted Ahsoka as she and Twilight scouted ahead to see if there was any danger.

"Let's book it, guys," said Ricochet as he, Claude, Echo, and Fives all jogged toward the girls.

Captain Tarkin, Storm, and Anakin appeared through the hole as Rex and Sark were still watching the entrance for droids.

"Looks like Obi-Wan's distraction worked. Things seem to be going as planned," stated Anakin.

"It's when things do not go as planned that concerns me. What then?" asked Captain Tarkin to the Jedi Knight as he was still against the idea that Obi-wan came up with.

"It's when things don't go as planned that we Jedi are at our best," emphasized Storm with a scowl as he began to walk forward.

"Trust us," assured Anakin to the captain.

"I reserve my trust for those who take action, General Skywalker," stated Captain Tarkin.

"Then let me remind you, we rescued you back there. And I reserve my trust for those who understand gratitude, Captain Tarkin," stated Anakin as he was determined to continue despite his criticism. He began to walk with the rest of the captured men following behind.

Rex and Sark then grabbed the hole that the Jedi created and put it back in place to avoid suspicion. It seemed this mission had not only encountered several setbacks, but it was just only getting started.

Author's Note: And so we've come to another famous arc: The Citadel. "Suicide mission" is an understatement to best describe this operation. This is a basic asking to die mission based on all the many threats and dangers that our heroes encountered and still have yet to see. Also for those that don't know, Captain Tarkin eventually becomes Grand Moff Tarkin who appears in Episode 4 on the Death Star. As always, leave a review expressing your thoughts and comments.