The perils of space forced the Sabres back into a sort of unity. Savann was relieved for the battle in that sense. The presence of her squadron mates beside her in the vast hollow of space, defending her against death as she defended them, made her feel safer than their expressions and words could. The plated metal 'sprites were their true faces and the wash of red lasers were their true words.
She had been somewhat worried, after the eerie cloister of the lounge that she would forget this and see only the separation between them. Her reason for her position was valid, she knew. Commander Skywalker's decision was his business, and not her own. That was inviolable.
But that wasn't the battle and she needed to focus.
Even before launching from the hanger it was obvious to all the Sabres what had happened. If ambush on the planet was meant to be a slaughter, the two ships and swarm of snub fighters that had intercepted their retreat at the first hyperspace recalculation point were meant to be the clean up.
Luckily, the slaughter never happened.
The four squadrons of the deck screamed happily into the battle, intent on melting the automated fighters to slag. Savann slid her fighter between streams laser bolts. A smooth pull on the stick kicked her fighter through a spin. She pulled up, tracking a fighter.
As it exploded, the Queen of Air flew through the upper portion of the battle, relative to Savann. Automated fighters exploded against its bow as it made for the Separatist capital ships.
Debris scattered toward the pilots. Savann dodged, but she saw pieces spark against automated fighters and fellow pilots alike. There was a small explosion. Such frail little machines, Savann mused.
Though she considered herself to be a pacifist in most senses, Savann had little trouble acknowledging the glee with which she dispatched the fighters. It was a sentiment echoed by her squadronmates as they whooped and cheered in the comm.
She hit one fighter and then another in quick succession. Nearby a pair of pilots, Darius and Mully to judge from style, coordinated explosions, shrapnel fragmentation, and laser fire to result in a cascade of destruction that flared white into the darkness. Commander Skywalker, playing vicious and close, streaked through lines of ash and fire in his blue-striped fighter.
This really isn't fair, at all.
The automated fighters, unsurprisingly, began to thin. Savann thought she glimpsed 'sprites – the Coins? – break through to the enemy capital ships.
Bright circles lit along the side of the Separatist ships. She dove around a Sabre, sling-shoting into a pair of fighters. She fired as they accelerated hopelessly into her. Fire wreathed her as they exploded, moments before she would have impacted.
On the other side was . . . very little. She looked around, hungry for another target.
This time the battle group made short work of their ambusher.
₪₪₪
Anakin grinned ferally up at Obi-Wan, "I feel much better now."
Obi-Wan subdued a smile, "I admit, even I found that bout of destruction cathartic."
"And you didn't even participate."
They were cluttering the main corridor that led to the bridge, and incidentally, the room where the Admiral was deciding Anakin's fate. Obi-Wan, repeatedly faced emissaries of various data who would quite like to enjoy passage around him kept moving to and fro in the tight hall way. It was a dance that looked neither dignified nor Jedi-like.
Anakin was positioned less accommodatingly, seated on the floor with his legs stretched out before him. Steel soil from Haluki 5, while unsuccessful in adding life to the gray durasteel floor, clung to the underside of his uniform trousers. He wasn't bothered. He had, after all, blown up many, many fighters.
"What do you think would have happened if I hadn't disobeyed?"
"Possibly, we all would have died," responded Obi-Wan soberly.
Anakin shook his head, "Not the pilots, though."
"I don't know about that, Anakin. The pilots were ordered to hold back, true, but if the Separatists had been able to strike as they wished the infantry would have been destroyed and both the pilots and the fleet would have had little warning before the assault turned on them."
Anakin calmed some at Obi-Wan's words, "Do you believe there really is a traitor then?"
"There must be," he said slowly. "This second assault would not have taken place otherwise."
Anakin opened his mouth to speculate, but cut himself off. The Force sense emanating from the bridge area shifted. The Admiral had decided.
Obi-Wan offered Anakin a hand, pulling him up. Anakin dusted himself off slightly; Obi-Wan let yet another datapad bearing trooper through. He straightened his uniform.
By the time Admiral Channa stood before them, the pair was quite presentable. The Admiral eyed their efficient bows suspiciously, wondering if they had been standing at attention during his hour-long deliberation.
"Commander Skywalker, in light of the sub-nuclear slag floating past us that you heated not two hours ago, I have been forced to reconsider my initial – and very negative – perception of your actions on Haluki 5." Despite the words, the Admiral's expression was unforgiving.
"You were reckless and foolish to disobey orders without provocation, of that I have no doubt. The Senate decreed these guidelines to insure our eventual victory and protect officers like you specifically, and if for no other reason than that your actions are questionable."
The Senate? Anakin's eyes shot involuntarily to Obi-Wan's. The older Jedi nodded imperceptibly. The Admiral ignored them both, continuing to delineate how wrong Anakin had been. He didn't hear.
Padmé is not the Senate. She didn't vote for it. She couldn't – not even to protect me. Obi-Wan sensed his distressed, and probed his feelings lightly. Anakin felt further sickened by his concern, but mustered the strength to mask his feelings. No, it wasn't just about protecting Obi-Wan, he argued.
Yet the implication still worried him. More accurately, it angered him. The Senate was mandating military strategy and this was the result. Was the traitor in the Senate? Or were the orders the result of sheer incompetence?
"But," said Admiral Channa sharply, drawing Anakin from his turmoil, "you know that I didn't bring you here to discuss the philosophy behind our strategy. Given the results, your infraction would hardly be of note if there had not been such coincidentally good results."
Anakin bit the inside of his cheek, willing himself to calm.
"And if you had known the pre-charted escape route and hyperspace drop points, I would be forced to believe it was more than coincidence." He sounded disappointed; Anakin bit down harder.
The Admiral remained before them, deciding whether to add anything further. Finally, he shook his head to himself and walked away in a clipped stride. The door to the bridge snapped down.
"And I was starting to like it here," murmured Anakin, eyes fixed on the door.
"I hardly expected such coldness from him."
Anakin folded his hands in front of him. He watched as his thumb grazed the cuff on his uniform; he found himself wishing for the voluminous sleeves of his cloak to hide his hands in. He remembered the warmth in the Admiral's eyes as he declared Anakin 'not-naïve.'
"I broke his confidence."
Anakin felt Obi-Wan's gaze on him. He did not feel ready to meet it. "I feel that you did what was right. It's true that you trusted yourself rather than his orders, but in doing so you trusted the Force. I cannot say I'm unhappy to see that you are learning through your own stubbornness lessons that I could never teach you."
He did look up then, basking in how Obi-Wan's rueful smile crinkled his eyes. He'd give the old man wrinkles yet.
"And, although I may find myself brought up on charges for saying so," he continued, "I think that it is appropriate that you have remembered that you are not merely a Jedi, but of the Jedi – and that you are such before you are an officer."
"So you figured it out," Anakin sighed.
"That it wasn't just about me? I thought that was obvious."
Anakin bit his lip, meeting his mentor's powerful gaze with hurt and doubt in his own eyes, "Just tell me they aren't slaves."
Based on characters and situations created by George Lucas, copyright Lucasfilm Ltd. Not for sale, no copyright infringement intended.