CHAPTER 14

The Jedi landed on Kessel, only a few meters away from the hidden base. Placing his oxygen mask, Anakin exited the ship, followed closely by a curious Artoo. The orange-red, lumpy mass wasn't the most greeting planet the Jedi had ever walked on. Anakin wouldn't even consider it as a planet. Hardly any air and rocky. Nothing could survive here.

"Stay with the ship, Artoo. This place is much to dangerous for you." The droid beeped sadly and turned back around. More Starfighters started landing and Republic Gunships, navigated by Clones, slowly hovered above, inspecting the area. Luminara settled her ship down and ran towards Anakin. Her Padawan, Barriss Offee, landed a little further away.

"I sense a very strong disturbance in the Force."

"I sense it too, Master Unduli." Padawan Offee walked up to the two Knights.

"The base isn't very far from here. It's just over that cliff." She pointed north. "This is your battalion, Commander… your orders."

"Let's wait for General Windu before planing any attacks." Barriss bowed and ran back to her ship. Anakin sighed as he felt a warm wind pass by. "He isn't here, Luminara. I can't sense him at all."

"It doesn't matter. We know for sure that a Dark presence is here and thanks to you, we are able to intercept it." Anakin stared out into the horizon, not responding to Luminara. "I'm sure he's fine." She said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"How do you know?" The Mirialan smiled.

"I have a feeling he's in good hands." Not letting Anakin ask anything more, she followed her Padawan.

"And you believed him?" Aayla looked surprised at the Jedi General sitting next to her.

"Sith have been rumoured to stop people from dying. I only joined him to learn that power." Obi-Wan kept his head down, ashamed of what he had done.

"We understand you want to save Anakin, but why join the Sith? You could have just told Master Yoda about your visions, he could have helped you." Silence fell amongst the three Jedi sitting in the Mos Eisley cantina. They sat in the shadows, not wanting to attract attention their way. "We'll deal with that later. Our troops are landing on Kessel and we need to join them." Obi-Wan's eyes widened.

"Kessel? Why"

"Commander Skywalker sensed your presence there and so did Master Yoda. The Dark Side was so present there that they sent the entire Order and even the entire Clone Army." Obi-Wan stood.

"It's a trap! We have to warn them now!" He stormed out of the bar. Kit and Aayla ran after him and finally caught up before he jumped into the speeder.

"Wait! Tell us what's going on!" Aayla grabbed Obi-Wan's arm.

"My Mast… Sidious has a grand army ready to attack the Jedi if they find out about their location. I've inspected the army myself. It's a massif droid army he calls 'Storm Troopers'. They are more powerful then any other!" Aayla gasped, placing a hand on her mouth and looking at Kit.

"Come on, let's get to the ship!" Kit said. Soon, they made their way to the asteroid planet.

Mace Windu was ready to attack the Sith base. The troops were aligned, waiting for orders. Anakin stood before his battalion alongside Luminara. Everyone was on edge, but no one suspected the danger waiting for them inside the base. Master Yoda was standing next to Commander Cody, looking at his Jedi.

"General Fisto isn't here yet, Master. Nor is General Secura." Yoda sighed.

"Wait for them we will. Helpful in battle, if more Jedi we are." Yoda closed his eyes, trying to sense the wandering Jedi Knights. A presence started lingering in his mind, a presence he was glad to sense. "Joining us, General Kenobi will." Commander Cody looked down at the small master.

"General Kenobi?"

"Returned to the Light he has." Anakin had overheard Master Yoda talk. Immediately he kneeled to Yoda's height and asked.

"Master Obi-Wan is coming here? Is he alright?" Yoda smiled.

"Found him, his friends did. Safe he is now." Anakin exhaled. He was startled by a voice; faint but present.

"Anakin…"

"Obi-Wan?" Anakin said out loud. Yoda turned to him, watching the young Jedi stand up. "Master… where are you?"

"Anakin… don't…" But their communication stopped. Everything was clouded, so much that Anakin couldn't hear Obi-Wan's voice.

"I can't hear him, Master Yoda."

"Hmmm… the Dark Side clouds everything…" Before Anakin could tell Yoda what he had heard, an annoying whistling sound started and was becoming louder.

"What the…" Anakin didn't have time to say anything more. Suddenly, a Republic Gunship exploded, sending debris flying everywhere, striking bystanders. After the explosion faded, laser blasters were being fired from every direction, taking down Clones and Jedi quickly. Anakin grabbed the Com-Link. "Commander Luminara, do you copy? Luminara!" The firing stopped. Anakin, who had kneeled down, slowly stood and looked around. When the dust settled, he saw that the damages weren't as bad as expected. Very few soldiers had been hit, considering the intensity of the attack. Amongst the smoke, Anakin saw Barriss Offee walk towards him, holding her left arm. She had been shot and blood started dripping between her fingers. "Padawan Offee, where is Master Luminara?" She didn't answer. She lowered her head and extended her hand towards Anakin. It was Luminara's Lightsaber.

"In more danger then expected, we are." Master Yoda dusted himself off.

"I have a very bad feeling about this." Obi-Wan said. They had entered orbit around Kessel. "Try the communications again."

"Red leader, come in Red leader."

"We read you, this is Commander Skywalker." Obi-Wan took the Com-Link from Kit's hands.

"Anakin it's me, are you alright?"

"Obi-Wan! Master I'm so glad you're alright I…"

"Anakin you need to listen carefully. Whatever you do, do not attack the base. I repeat, do not attack the base!"

"Why?" Anakin asked.

"No time to explain. We'll be landing soon, so in the meantime, get all the troops out of there."

"Alright General." Obi-Wan was about to turn off the communicator when he heard Anakin's voice again. "Oh and General…"

"Yes?"

"It's good to have you back." Obi-Wan felt tears sting his eyes.

"It's good to be back." He paused. "Anakin…"

"What is it, master?" Obi-Wan took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry… I…"

"We'll talk about that later, Obi-Wan. Right now I'm just glad you're safe." The ship was now in view and was starting the landing cycle.

We are closing in to the last chapter! OOOOOHHHH! I can't wait to read the reviews!