Hello There, I can already tell this will be an interesting chapter since this will obviously affect how the later chapters go with Ahsoka and the invasion of Mandalore. As usual, I hope you guys all enjoy it and let me know what you think of it in the reviews or if there are any errors/continuity mistakes made. For note from some people who asked, the modified Condor that Resolute uses is almost the exact same size as the Ghost from Rebels, for context.

If anybody wants there is a Q and A on the page, ask anything you want and I will answer all of them in one go once there are enough of them.

Also, how awesome is the Bad Batch? Two episodes out as I started writing this new chapter and I could not be more pleased with it. The Bad Batch will definitely be making an appearance in this story, I had planned for it anyway but now I can't wait to get to that part of the story. One last thing, In my defence for the long update times I do have a job and it is the last few weeks of my course and I need to do as much work as I can on my assignments and papers.

Replies to previous reviews

Guest DCDGojira - Thanks.

Chadbunger - Spoilers sorry, I can say that it will be something that I assume that nobody will have expected and thanks that were the ending I wanted in the end because I couldn't bring myself to kill off any of Fireteam Resolute...yet

Edboy4926 - weirdly I hadn't put a lot of thought into Anakin when planning the story, I have now but for a while I was more focused on the factual and science side, making sure I was getting everything correct in terms of weapon, ship, etc. functionality.

Guest - Again, no spoilers but yeah at some point Tarkin is going to get it.

Guest - No promises (Aayla).

Edeath756 - Well they may have a relatively successful streak right now but they don't always come out the other side victorious.

Scarease - Well that would make it too easy and short also, this is set 10 years after the Human-Covenant war is over only without the events of Halo 5 Guardians and Shadows of Reach because it would just make it too difficult to write and process in a single story.

Tony Miguel - Cheers.

L - Yep, Dutchess was saved but I can't say that ONI will be too involved with the future of Mandalore though. She is still a pacifist though and I can't really see Satine becoming a direct ally of the Jedi, especially since they became Generals in a civil war. Also, Beskar is extremely rare and important to the Mandalorian warriors so exporting it is near impossible I would say. He did lose his energy sword, yes but as we come into the next arc we'll see something...happen. I also agree that Ahsoka's departure was necessary at the time. We'll see…

L - 'Inhales' wow these are long, I am actually considering this as a concept because just like the last chapter I actually have multiple endings in draft stage and I will have to pick one for the end. Also, I can't say anything but yeah damn Commander Fox.

Guest: TwoForFlinching - Thank You and with the Masterchief I have rarely considered adding him in because there are a lot of those and I wanted the main characters to be different with this. I hadn't actually thought about the Spirit of Fire in this story. Come to think of it, I think I will probably leave it out since I have a feeling we'll have some reference to it at least in Infinite.

LONER18 - Thanks a bunch, I am glad I made OC characters and didn't just rely on existing ones.

Guest - I agree that the clones would not stand a second against even a Spartan-IV let alone an original II or III but against the standard marine and maybe green ODST's they would have a fairly decent fighting chance. I also don't disagree that the Spartan training they go through is absolutely brutal and exhausting.

Guest: Arrow - Cheers and yes that is what I was going for with the inclusion of the UNSC in that compared to the Republic or CIS or nearly any Sci-Fi government/Military they are much more realistic in Ranks, Command, Tactics etc. Yeah, I can only imagine what the Republic or more so the actual troops would think when seeing the Spartan II's in action just when they thought the legendary IVs were some of the best ground troops they had seen from their new allies.

Guest - Thanks.

NarutoKurai - No puedo revelar nada ahora, pero muy pronto sucederá algo serio y afectará todo por lo que ha estado luchando el UNSC. Además, puedo decir que llegará el Sangheili pero no el Masterchief. Incluso si quisiera, las personas que quieren verlo y las que no lo quieren están muy divididas.

Guest: Yep Bad batch eventually.

Guest: Yes I am sorry about the lengths in between updates.


Chapter Eighteen: The Wrong Traitor

June 23, 2565 (Military Calendar)

Andromeda Galaxy, Hyperspace

Enroute to Coruscant

Onboard the Kom'rk-class ship all was quiet, the resistance fighter pilots in the cockpit followed out their orders from Bo-Katan in taking the Spartan and Jedi to Coruscant, in the open central body of the ship Kenobi and Jack sat at the central table, cups of steaming Batuu Brew in hand as they went over their thoughts.

"Why does Maul want you dead?" Captain Jack asked.

"I'm sorry?" Obi-Wan asked as he looked up from the datapad.

"Until I fought Maul, I had assumed his plot to take over Mandalore was just sith fueled anger and greed but it was too well done and precise, Maul wanted to draw you out to him," Jack said

Kenobi turned around to face the Spartan and put both his datapad down, "It was before your people ever arrived and before the war, I was just an apprentice than with my master, we were helping restore peace to Naboo and during it, we had run into him" Obi-Wan explained in between pours from his drink, "My master and I were separated and before I got get back to him, Maul had already killed him, I narrowly managed to defeat him and cost him his legs in the process" Kenobi finished.

"Something like that, bound to drive anybody to madness, let alone a sith" Jack responded.

"Hmm, had I known what my actions would bring though, perhaps I would have done something different," He said

Jack let out a sigh, "Can't change the past, we can only prepare for the future" He said as he downed the rest of his Batuu Brew, "You don't think there is any chance Maul is behind this bombing do you?" he asked.

"No, No I don't think so, he knows I am not there so I believe this is something else, as to who we'll have to find out," He said.

After several more hours of hyperspace travel, the ship arrived at the Republic capital world of Coruscant with Obi-Wan Kenobi contacting the flagship of the defence fleet for authorization to the planet's surface. After some brief explaining, the captain of the ship granted the Mandalorian fighter access and the pilot plotted in the course provided to him by General Kenobi to the Jedi Temple.

Once they broke through the upper clouds of the planet, lit up orange from the never-ceasing light below them, a pair of ARC-170's escorted them to the Jedi temple where from the cockpit of the ship the Jedi and Spartan could see the smoke from the explosion still lingering insight. Approaching the towering building the ship's wings moved into their vertical position for landing and the ship made a 180-degree turn. It descended slowly, as they left the cockpit Captain Jack could see the Condor in the corner of his eye.

Walking woefully down the ramp the two allied companions were met by a small approaching party, as they got closer, they easily identified them as Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano as well as Fives and Rookie. "Master Kenobi, Captain Jack" Ahsoka greeted in a reliving tone.

Jack was quick to greet after her. "Skywalker, Ahsoka, It's good to see you both." They both stopped for a minute looking at the still recovering wreckage of the temple's hangar bay, despite the bombing occurring numerous hours ago "How is the investigation coming along?" Captain Jack asked, looking towards Fives.

"We believe the suspect was Jackar Bowmani, multiple nano droids were found in his bloodstream and he was the last person to be seen in the area of the bombing by witnesses," Skywalker explained to the new arrivals.

Captain Jack's look spiked "A suicide attack?" Jack asked

"That depends on how the nanodroids ended up inside him, it is possible he was the victim of an outside plot, Ahsoka, Skywalker and I were on our way now to his apartment to investigate" Rookie responded.

The Spartan looked up and down, "Alright I'll rearm at the Condor and accompany you, where is everyone else?" Jack asked, seeing only two of his crew.

"Cadmon and Jesse are on the Condor, they went to report back to ONI on the investigation," Fives said, "Kix and Jun are inside the temple, going over the debris in case we missed something" He explained.

"Alright, let's go," Jack said.

Quickly marching to the Condor, he boarded the ship and rearmed his weapons ammo supply from the ships onboard armoury and also greeted Jesse and Cadmon finishing off their report, after promptly updating them on his previous situation he left and rejoined the Jedi and Rookie at the speeder they had acquired.

It was late in the day and the light from Coruscant's sun started to fade to dark orange, in the speeder going through the city the four of them knew it would likely be dark before they arrived. Below and around them the light and movement of the city never seemed to fade. "Coruscant really is an impressive planet, no wonder it's the Republic Capital," Captain Jack said.

"Really? How's your planet compared to Coruscant?" Ahsoka asked intriguingly.

Jack chuckled, "Earth? well, we prefer our ground vehicles a lot more than Coruscant for one, that and I guess, unlike Coruscant, Earth still has most of its natural Oceans and Forests" Jack said, trying to recall his memories of the planet.

"Huh, A garden world mixed with cities, sounds fascinating," Anakin said as he piloted the speeder closer to their destination.

Jack replied "It does have its less hospitable areas but we managed to terraform a lot of them and now have flourishing cities there," Jack said.

Rookie turned his head, "Yeah, even New Phoenix is back on its feet now" He said partially muffling his voice.

"What's that?" Ahsoka asked.

Jack's face changed from interested to slightly annoyed at Rookie before he rested his face and looked toward the two Jedi. "There was an incident several years after the end of the great war, a lone Forerunner survivor was released and finding out that Humanity had survived and was on the way to obtaining the Mantle of Responsibility tried to create a new race of soldiers by killing humans and uploading their consciousness into hollow shells, the Master Chief stopped him but not before New Phoenix was composed". He said.

"That kind of Technology sounds like a Major threat, How many?" Anakin asked plainly.

"7 Million, mostly civilians, We destroyed all existing composers as far as we know" Rookie answered.

The sadness clear on her face, "That's terrible, The Republic and Jedi have seen some dark times but your people have really had it rough" Ahsoka responded,

Jack looked to her from the city, "We came back from it, we always have and we always will," Jack said strongly.

"Earth still sounds incredible, maybe after the war, we'll get to see it, all this talk has only made me more interested," Ahsoka said curiously.

Rookie turned back to looking at the never-ending city "I hope so, by the looks of things it might be over sooner than we think, every day the Separatists lose more ground".

The acceleration of the speeder slowed and took a near downward dive towards a large tower, Skywalker carefully guided it in between them as the gap for landing got narrower, he soon extended to small landing gear legs and firmly landed it on the near-empty street. The four of them hopped out and carefully made their way forward, watching out for any suspicious activity in the dark and hidden corners.

Rookie and Captain Jack followed close behind the Jedi as Anakin asked a passing civilian to point them to the correct place they were looking for, the pedestrian pointed to a building close by with galactic basic graffiti on the side of the walls. He thanked the woman before moving on towards it, the four of them walked inside, passing the poorly lit reception area and made their way deeper into the back. Soon they had the correct floor they were after and approached the apartment they knew was Jackar Bowmani's.

"This is not the nicest place" Skywalker commented.

"I would have thought working for the Jedi paid better" Ahsoka commented as Anakin knocked on the door.

"Possible Motive?" Jack said, "Working for the galaxy's great peacekeepers and living like this," He said gesturing to the surroundings.

Hearing nobody come to the door Anakin bypasses the door lock with the force, "We could have just...Never mind" Jack said as they slowly shuffled inside.

"Letta" Skywalker called out, No response came, "Ahsoka you search for the droids, be careful, remember he was a munitions expert, I'd rather not set off another explosion today, I'll see if he left a note," he said as he started looking around the place.

Jack stepped behind Ahsoka, "I'll go with Ahsoka, Rookie, you help General Skywalker". He said as Rookie joined the Jedi in checking the surfaces and side tables for clues.

Ahsoka and Captain Jack made their way further into the apartment, Ahsoka scanning the area for any trace of the nano droids. Jack turned his sensors to their shortest range in case of a trap. "Anything?" Jack asked.

"Nothing" Ahsoka replied moving the scanner around the room, they quickly came to a doorway that led to a hall that was almost completely black. Ahsoka attempted to turn on the lights from the small switch on the wall but nothing happened until the lights on Jack's helmet flared into action providing bright focused beams of light into the hallway.

"Thanks," She said as they walked down the corridor.

Reaching the end, they turned a corner into another room, "Letta?" Ahsoka tried calling but again nobody responded. "There's something in here," She said as her scanners detector started picking up the pace in its tone.

Jack got on his comm, "Rookie we might have something, Have you or Skywalker got anything over there?" He asked.

"Possibly Captain, we found a bunch of holopads and some of them have anti-war propaganda displays". He said.

Captain Jack thought over it for a second before he heard Ahsoka's voice calling out to the others "Master!" She shouted, Jack, turned his head quickly to see what she had found as both Anakin and Rookie swiftly entered the room.

Ahsoka turned the sensor around, "The sensor is picking up traces from the disposal," She said as she showed them the results from the scanner, "The nano droids were in the food" She added.

Anakin went over the scan, "Well I guess the question now is, did he eat them willingly or did someone feed them to him" He concluded.

At that moment Captain Jack's sensors picked up a moving unknown at their altitude but before he told any of them, the unknown walked into the room, The Jedi and Rookie quickly Identified her as Letta Turmond "Wh-What are you doing here?" She asked with her hand partially raised.

Skywalker turned around, "We learned that Jackar was involved in the bombing," He told her.

"That can't be true," She said in denial.

Anakin's suspicions were raised slightly, "Ahsoka, see if she has any nano droids on her," he told his apprentice.

Ahsoka walked forward, scanning Letta as she leaned backwards in hesitation, "She's clean" Ahsoka said.

"What do you mean Nano Droids?" Letta asked

"We believed someone set Jackar up and made him the bomb," Ahsoka told her.

Rookie and Skywalker moved forward, "Letta, I want to bring you in for questioning, perhaps you can help us make sense of all this" Anakin said in a deep tone, letting her know it was not a request. Rookie and Skywalker took the lead while Jack and Ahsoka followed behind them and Letta. Walking back through the lowly lit apartment building they made their way back to the front and outside where Jack could see the speeder.

Making their way down the steps, Jack looked down as he saw Letta acting strange. It made sense when she moved to the left and heavily pushed a passerby into Ahsoka and jumped forward out of the way, taking off down the street. The civilian quickly pushed himself off of the Jedi and Jack offered a hand to Ahsoka who quickly took and pulled herself up. They could see Letta getting away on top of a small transport vessel.

"Come on! Ahsoka, take the high road," Anakin said as he and Rookie took off, on the ground. Pushing herself with the force she leapt upwards, inches behind her Jack, put his thrusters to use and a sudden burst of upwards momentum threw him towards the high road. He landed as nimbly as he could and kept up his speed, running alongside Ahsoka dodging droids and puzzled citizens.

Up ahead they could see Letta jump down from the vehicle and hook a right down an ally, "There" Ahsoka pointed out as they cut across the roofs of three builds and jumped down the gap Ahsoka had spotted, Jack landed loudly with his suit's thrusters slowing him down while Ahsoka landed agilely on a small tower of metal crates next to him. "Letta Stop!" Ahsoka warned.

Letta attempted to run back but was stopped when Anakin and Rookie entered the ally "Let me go" She argued, as they blocked off her last escape route. "Running means, you know more than you're telling us," Ahsoka said as she jumped down from the crates.

"Jackar is dead and now you are trying to pin his murder on me," She said desperately

Skywalker's suspicious look increased "Nobody ever said he was dead," He said, knowing that he had caught her in a lie.

"But running proves you had something to do with the bomb," Ahsoka said.

"I'd think carefully if I was you, lying to Jedi isn't something you want to try," Jack said conclusively.

"People blamed the Jedi because of you, People were killed because of you!" Ahsoka said accusatory.

"You can't prove anything!" Letta said, swatting away Ahsoka's arm.

Anakin became more frustrated, "Did you feed the Nano Droids to Jackar? Answer Me, Now!" He shouted, his voice echoing loudly in the street.

Letta's shoulders sagged, "I did feed the Nano Droids to Jackar" She admitted.

"You set up your own husband to die," Ahsoka said denunciatory.

"You are dealing with things you don't understand," Letta replied.

Jack walked up closer, "I'm afraid it's you that doesn't understand what you've been dealing in," He said.

"Where you're going, you'll have plenty of time to explain everything," Ahsoka said as they carefully escorted her back to the speeder.

It was a short journey back to the temple with both Ahsoka and Rookie keeping an eye on the prisoner and Jack sat in the front scanning for any possible hostile attacks. Upon arriving back at the Jedi temple they took Letta to one of the holding cells underneath the temple and made their way back above ground where Masters Windu and Yoda had called on them to brief him on what they had accomplished so far.

Master Windu and Master Yoda joined them on their way as they reentered the main hallways of the Temple, "Rookie, go back to the Condor and brief the team" Jack ordered

"Yes Sir" Rookie said as he left the group.

"We're holding Letta in the cell below the temple to await further questioning," Anakin said as neared the end of the mobile briefing.

As he finished talking, Ahsoka retrieved her holo communicator and opened it to show a droid contacting her. "I am pleased to report that there were no other Nano Droids found in the sweep of the temple, I am also pleased to report that based on the security footage, Jackar Bowmani acted alone meaning that no Jedi was involved" The droid concluded.

"Thanks, Russo, good Job" Ahsoka thanked as she put away her holo disc.

"Did this woman say what her reasons were for attacking us?" Windu asked.

Ahsoka shook her head, "not yet, but we're working on that" she replied.

"She's definitely hiding more than she knows, we'll get through," Captain Jack said.

"I think we can guess her motives easy enough, public opinion is swaying against the Jedi, that much is clear, this war is becoming less and less popular every day it persists," Windu said as he and Yoda took their leave.

The three of them continued their walk, "Master I am relieved that we solved this case but-"

"What if it had been a Jedi" Anakin finished.

Ahsoka nodded, "Yes, I don't know how I would have felt if a Jedi was really behind this," She said.

Anakin stopped for a second "There are going to be Jedi who disappoint us Ahsoka, but as long as we know there are good Jedi who fight for what's right, then that makes it all worthwhile" He said.

"He might be right Ahsoka, but so far I've not seen many bad Jedi or at least not enough that I know the good ones can't handle them," He said as they both looked back up and caught back up to Anakin.

As they did several peculiar-looking guards made their way from one of the connecting halls, it wasn't until they got closer that Jack recognised them as UNSC infantry wearing custom white and extremely thin specialist armour but no helmets, only white dress hats with completely black rifles at their sides. In between the two companies were several rectangular coffins draped with white cloth, the black logo of the UNSC and the blue logo of the UEG visible on top.

He knew at some point the bodies of the four UNSC personnel who died in the bombing would be retrieved. He gave a look to the company commander as they passed and the hall was cleared, Captain Jack took off his helmet and dropped it to his side as he saluted with his right hand while they passed him. He lowered it slowly as they left, "I am heading back to my ship, I believe I owe some explaining to the rest of my fireteam, contact me when we make our next move" He said, turning to follow the honour company outside the temple.

"Of course, We'll be attending the Jedi service but we'll contact you when we need you," Ahsoka said respectfully.

Captain Jack followed the trooper company outside where a modified D109H-SLT Jumbo Pelican was waiting, As he walked out he could see all of fireteam Resolute stood at attention just shy of the ship as the bodies were loaded onto the transport. "Commander," Jack said, getting the attention of the lead soldier, "Where are they going?" He asked

"The UNSC Oberon, is waiting at the Republic ground docks, she's taking them back to Lucazec and from there, home" He responded

"Good" He replied as he let the soldier get on with the loading, Jack joined his team in line as the transport took off.

"Captain" Cadmon greeted as Resolute eased.

Jack turned to the rest of them, "Good to be back, though I feel a battlefield would put me at more ease than this" He said looking towards the temple

"We feel the same way, Sir, I don't think anybody expected an attack like this on the Jedi, On the Republic" Fives said.

"What are our orders now sir?" Jesse asked.

"General Skywalker will inform us of our next move, this is their home don't forget, we'll conduct this operation on their terms" Captain Jack replied.

"And until then?" Kix asked.

"Until then, where's this clone bar you were talking about?" Jack asked.

The rest of the soldiers caught a smirk in their eyes, "79's Captain, good call" Fives said airily.

The seven of them turned their line and walked back composed, to the Condor where Jack opened the rear ramp and boarded followed behind by everybody else, "How far out from 79's Fives?" Jack asked as he put his helmet down on the mounted counter.

"In the Condor Sir, perhaps twenty minutes," Fives responded.

"Ok Fives, your with me in the cockpit," Jack said as the two of them paced to the front of the ship and into the two front seats, starting up the ships engines and power generators Jack took the flight controls in his hands and as he pulled back and the navigation display to his left lit up with a new destination input from Fives in the seat below him. Pulling up the landing gear as the ship gained several meters of altitude and pushing forward on the throttle control.

Soon the Jedi Temple was a spec in the rearview cameras, quickly Captain Jack Manoeuvred the Condor towards the sky but keeping the deadly military aircraft away from the Public highways full of flying civilian traffic. "Sir, the Condor has good security measures right?" Fives asked.

"Yes, no access without clearance codes or Retina identification, same goes for the armoury and weapons payload, why?" Jack asked apprehensively.

"Well I trust the men there Sir, no doubt we've fought with enough of them but Coruscant still isn't somewhere to just leave expensive equipment lying around, especially military" Fives cautioned.

"The ship will be fine Fives, even if they got inside there are proximity sensors everywhere linked back to mine and Cadmons Neural interfaces, I'll know if somebody tries to steal her," Jack said confidently.

Nearly 30 minutes from their takeoff, they got close to the bar in the middle of one of Coruscant's biggest entertainment districts and from his navigation array, Captain Jack could make out the bar, nestled in between several floors of one of the towering skyscrapers. Jack noticed an empty and secure landing zone outside the open walkway and went forward to land the ship until he was interrupted by Jun in the centre cabin of the Condor.

"Captain, we have an incoming transmission from the War Room at the Jedi Temple" Jun informed.

"Huh Okay, Fives, transferring control of the ship to you but keep us in the air for now, I have a feeling that downtime is going to have to wait a little while more". Jack said as he transferred the flight control over to Fives, and left his seat walking into the back.

As the Spartan entered the room he could see the large hologram display of several Jedi including Master Kenobi who Captain Jack presumed must have left shortly after arriving back on Coruscant. As well as the Jedi was a person in a Republic Naval uniform who Jack recognised quickly as Admiral Tarkin, "Masters, Admiral, to what does fireteam Resolute owe this meeting?" He asked, arms crossed in front of the group.

Skywalker spoke first, "Letta Turmond has requested to speak to Ahsoka and while she has said she'll speak to nobody else, I have am asking for two of your men to go with her as I still do not entirely trust that this isn't some kind of setup" Anakin explained.

"Of Course General, we'll turn back now," Jack agreed.

"That will not be necessary Captain, Ms Turmond has been moved to the prison within the Republic Center for Military Operations" Admiral Tarkin informed

A look of slight confusion appeared on the Captains face, "For what reason, she bombed a Jedi Temple, shouldn't authority lie with them" Jack said with disagreement.

"She is a Citizen of the Republic and Military personnel were killed in the blast, now that she has been apprehended the operation belongs to the Military, you should consider your team lucky that were included in this investigation before the Republic was". Tarkin said.

Jack didn't push any further, "I gather we will be expected?" Jack asked

"Indeed, I have informed the commander of the base of your arrival" Tarkin replied

"Understood, Jesse and I will meet Commander Tano there," Captain Jack said as he looked to Jun to close the open transmission.

The overhead lights turned on once the lighting of the hologram transmission had shut off, filling the room with its familiar artificial lighting. "I hope you got all that Fives, plot a course for the Republic Center for Military Operations, double time" Jack ordered.

"Copy that Sir, eta is 7 minutes," Fives said.

Jack and the others could feel the subtle jostle as the speed of the ship jumped from cruising speed to near max burn. "Jesse, get your gear, leave any grenades behind, In there they'll do more harm than good" Jack ordered, Jesse immediately turned around from the holotable to where he had laid most of his gear and some of his external armour. Putting it back on in a hastily but disciplined manner. Similarly, Jack put his helmet back on, waiting as the whisper-like hiss from the airtight seal died down and he picked up his more close-quarters friendly SRR hardlight submachine gun, almost as short as the M7 it was perfect for urban fighting.

After several more minutes of flight, they arrived at the base and after receiving the proper clearance, Fives put the ship down close by a recognisable red and white Jedi Speeder and hit the control switch for the exit panel which lowered, decompressing the rear compartment along with it. Jack and Jesse stood at the back as it lowered, their weapons and sidearms holstered on their magnetic clamps.

The two of them walked down the short ramp, nearby and leaning against the side of her speeder, Ahsoka stood up and approached them "Have a nice flight" She asked acerbically.

"Yeah, seven whole minutes, we're getting sloppy" Jack said back sarcastically.

Subsequently, the three of them began their walk towards the entrance of the behemoth military facility which under the darkness of night and the bright internal lights on the building made it look all the more intimidating. "So, any idea as to why Letta will only speak to you," Captain Jack asked as they passed a patrol leaving the front entrance.

"None, perhaps during our apprehension of her, she saw me as the least threatening," She said gingerly.

Jack looked low down at her but didn't say anything, he knew that a renowned Jedi General and two lethal soldiers in mysterious armour might not have been the best ones to talk to regarding vital information. As he looked back forward they entered through the heavily guarded doors with multiple clone troopers of the Coruscant Guard in Red and White armour stationed at nearly every set of doors, they definitely took their security seriously.

Once inside Ahsoka addressed the clone at the front station, likely showing their reasoning and authorisation for being there Jack thought while analysing the room, Once the trooper had checked everything out Ahsoka led them down the left side walkway, going deeper into the facility through several stairways and downward angled corridors. Soon they reached another security station with what looked like a waiting room but more militaristic and a secure room with glass windows and multiple clones behind it.

The two Guards stationed in the room gave the three slight glances as they walked in before standing back at attention, "yes?" The clone commander who Jack vaguely recognised as Fox asked as Ahsoka, Jack and Jesse walked up to the checkpoint front.

"I'm Commander Tano, this is Captain Jack and Corporal Jesse, Letta Turmond requested to see me," Ahsoka told the Commander.

The Commander walked over closer with crossed arms, "A lot of innocent people died in that blast, good job capturing her" Fox acknowledged and turned to address the trooper behind him, "Alright, scan them" He ordered.

Behind them the clone ran the scanner, looking for weapons and comm devices as well as anything else that was considered contraband within the prison cells, from where they were Jack and Jesse could make out multiple notices. "Leave your commlink and lightsabers here, and Captain, you and your Corporal will need to leave your weapons and comms too," He said looking at the armoured soldiers.

Jack and Jesse both took out their hardlight weapons and put them in the retractable container as well as their portable comm devices but didn't mention anything about their helmets comm channel capabilities, "Where's your blade?" Ahsoka asked as she noticed he didn't leave it or have it on him.

"Fight with Maul, I lost it" he said straightforwardly.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Ahsoka said cordially.

From the security box, Commander Fox and two guards escorted them to the security gate where five layers of laser guarded walls deactivated allowing them to walk through, upon reaching the end, they followed the Commander to a cell two from the right of the hallway they had just entered. Opening the door Ahsoka entered the cell followed by the clones and Jack who stood on the second step down.

Letta sat in the corner of the cell's wall-mounted metal bed, "What do you want, Letta?" Ahsoka asked.

"I was told if I ever needed help, you were the Jedi to contact," She said hesitantly looking at the Clones and soldiers standing behind Ahsoka.

"Give us a minute please," Ahsoka asked

Commander Fox and the two Clones backed up, Captain Jack followed behind them, "We'll be waiting here" Jack said as the door slid shut once again.

"You don't have much time Letta, so I suggest you get whatever you have to say off your chest," Ahsoka said, not expecting to hear anything of value from her.

"The Idea to feed Jackar the Nano Droids was not mine," She said as Ahsoka's interest peaked.

Ahsoka looked sceptical, "And why are you just saying this now, why didn't you reveal this before?" She asked, still not entirely confident she was telling the truth.

"Because my life is in danger, the person behind this will be able to get to me unless you know the truth". Letta said, sitting up from the edge of the seat.

Ahsoka became more interested, "Hmm, so what's the truth?" She asked.

Letta stood up, "A Jedi, A Jedi showed me how to create the bomb, and how to put the Nano Droids in," She told her.

"Why would a Jedi do this?" Ahsoka asked, her fear of a Jedi being behind the bombing slowly coming back to her.

Outside the cell, the Coruscant Guard soldiers and two members of Fireteam Resolute stood in front of the cell waiting for Ahsoka to finish talking to the prisoner, as they waited Fox became seemingly more interested in the two soldiers. "I can't say I've seen armour like that before, or weapons," he said.

"Prototype gear for a prototype squad I suppose," Captain Jack said

"Huh, if that armour is as powerful as it looks, those clankers better watch out," Fox said.

"If only we had it during the war," Jack said firmly

"You're not the first soldier I've heard stories from about that whole great war, if they had hit the Republic before the army came along, not sure they would have survived," Fox said in a subtle pompous tone.

"I wouldn't bet too much on your chances now Commander, where the clones have the skill and the droids have numbers, the Covenant had both," Jack said with vigilance.

Back in the cell, In front of Ahsoka, Letta approached her, "There are some citizens of the Republic, myself included that believe the Jedi order is not what it used to be, the Jedi have become warmongers, they have become military weapons and they're killing when they should be keeping the peace, one of these Jedi agreed with us, one of them wanted to make a statement, who was willing to attack your own order to do it". Letta explained to her.

Ahsoka started to believe the story was not a lie, "Who?" She asked

"If you protect me I will tell you because it is obvious to me I have been set up," She said sitting back down.

"Letta you have to tell me who is behind this" Ahsoka said to her.

"It's-" But before she could reveal anything an invisible force pulled her from the ground, she put her hands to her but nothing happened, Ahsoka forced herself to step back, looking for what was causing it.

From outside Commander Fox's commlink starting bleeping before the voice of a clone came through loud enough for them all to hear, "Commander, something is happening to the prisoner, I think Commander Tano is killing her" The clone shouted.

The update put all of them to attention as Fox turned to the door controls and quickly opened the cell door, the three of them rushed in as the clone guards covered the door. As they rushed in they saw Letta on the floor not breathing and Ahsoka knelt by her side seemingly looking over the body, "I don't know what happened!" She tried to explain as Jesse checked Letta's body.

"She's dead, Captain," Jesse said, addressing Captain Jack.

"I can't say I blame you Commander Tano but all the same you are under arrest," Fox said with his DC-17 aimed at her. Ahsoka raised her hands.

"What? She didn't do this!" Jack argued as he got up close to the Commander who withdrew his second blaster pistol, keeping it pointed down but the Captain knew what he was implying.

"She was the only one in the cell, stand down Captain or I'll have you considered an accessory to this murder" Fox warned as Jack stepped back even with his helmet on his anger was clear, he knew there was no way Ahsoka would kill Letta. Escorted out of the room under guard, Ahsoka was forced away from the two soldiers.

Forced back to the security checkpoint Jack and Jesse tried to figure out what had happened. "Sir is it possible that the Sith we're hunting-" Jesse started proposing before Jack cut him off.

"Is Ahsoka?" Jack attempted to finish, hoping he was wrong guessing his explanation.

"Of course not Sir, but Fox said there was nobody else in the room, is it possible that the Sith we're hunting is behind this?" Jesse finished.

Jack thought it over, it might have been possible but it was too difficult to tell so soon. It wasn't long before Commander Fox and the two Guards came back and entered the security checkpoint box. Quietly from the corner, Captain Jack contacted the crew onboard the Condor, "Condor come in, Ahsoka has been arrested for Letta's murder, we don't know who did it but be ready for anything on my order" Jack told them.

"Jun here Sir, we assumed something has happened, Commander Fox must have sent out an order to keep an eye on the ship, there's a heavy increase in foot patrols near the Condor but we haven't been given any orders to disembark or to stay grounded" Jun informed the Captain.

"Understood keep me updated" Jack said as he shut down the comm channel and turned back around as Jesse tapped him on the shoulder and nodded his head to his right, Jack looked over and saw General Skywalker had entered the room while he was talking to Jun and was talking to the Commander behind the security box.

"I said my Padawan is in there, now step aside" They heard him say calmly

"General Skywalker, Admiral Tarkin has ordered that no one is allowed in there". Fox replied.

Skywalker bunched his fist up tightly, "I don't care what she's accused of! Let me in," He said, pressing his finger against the window.

Fox had clearly had enough and signalled for the two shock guards by the door to come over, they activated their electro staffs. "Sorry Sir, The Admirals Orders stand, this is now a military operation, under his Jurisdiction," Fox told the Jedi.

Jack and Jesse approached the Jedi before things got out of hand, "General, we'll figure something out" Jack said trying to convince the Jedi to leave it.

Skywalker menacingly walked away from the box as did the Captain and Corporal after gathering their weapons and comm devices from the reversed containers, "Spartan, what happened in there?" Anakin asked.

"I don't know Sir, we weren't in there but we both know there is no way Ahsoka Tano did this" He confirmed.

The three of them walked back through the building to the exterior landing zones where the Condor was as well as a second Jedi speeder with Captain Rex from the 501st standing beside it. While Skywalker approached Rex, Jack walked to the ship where Cadmon and Jun waited outside the Condor, "Anything to report?" Captain Jack asked.

"Nothing Sir," Cadmon said.

"Alright, well this is far from over, we need to-" Just as Jack was about to give them new orders, all of their attention was turned back to the facility as blaring alarms went off from sirens all around the complex.

"General Skywalker, What is that?" the Spartan Captain asked.

"An escape alarm" He responded

Jack knew it could only be trouble and to do with Ahsoka, "Come on!" He shouted as they started to run back to the facility, Sprinting back inside the prison Jack, opened a comm channel to the Condor, "Cadmon, Jun, I don't care who many troopers there are around the ship or what orders they give you, get the ship ready for takeoff," Jack said into his closed comm keeping their orders away from Rex and Skywalker.

"Yes, Sir engines are warm and ready," Cadmon responded.

Continuing down the hallways they reached the main prison complex when they heard several blaster shots and went running towards them, from Rex's and Anakin's commlink they heard Fox give out new orders "Suspect has killed three clones, Code Red, if you see the target shoot to kill" He said.

"Belay that order, Commander Fox" Anakin shouted as they ran down the silver corridor to where Fox was standing next to the three dead shock troopers.

"She's killed troopers!" Fox exclaimed

"I know Commander Tano, she would never do something like this" Rex said in her defence.

"Then who did?" Fox asked

"Quiet", Anakin tried shouting out to Ahsoka as the echo filled the halls, "Ahsoka! It's Anakin, stop running!" He said.

Faintly they heard Ahsoka's response, "You can't help me, master, someones setting me up," She said.

"I believe you Ahsoka!" He shouted.

"But no one else will," They heard her say before running away.

"We know you didn't do this Commander, we'll find out who did" Jack shouted out as Anakin spoke to Rex and ran down the corridor.

As Skywalker ran from sight Rex opened a General comm channel "General Skywalker has just issued an all-points bulletin on Commander Ahsoka Tano, She's killed three clones and should be considered armed and dangerous" Rex said.

"You know that's not true, Captain," Jack said as Rex signed before taking out his duel DC-17's and followed suit with Skywalker.

Jack looked to Jesse, "Follow them, I'll go with Fox," Jack ordered as the two groups split up.

"We'll head for the courtyard, that's the likeliest place she'll try to escape from," Fox told them as they set off. Running through several more clone filled hallways before reaching the main entrance with dozens of A6 Juggernaut Tanks and Tens of dozens of Clone squadrons mobilised. They made their way to the outer wall and Fox gave the order to the gate operator to open it. Once it did they moved forward and Fox was the first to notice Commander Tano on one of the Shock trooper statues, "There she is, quick stop her before she gets to the ships" Fox ordered.

Ahsoka noticed their alert and leapt to the wall that ran along the entrance to the facility, from the ground multiple clones opened fire, Captain Jack pushed down several of the clones blasters, "Hold your fire, Commander, there is no way you are using live rounds" Jack said in anger as their chase continued and several toppers continued firing.

From the edge of the wall, Ahsoka leapt herself forward, landing on the ground surface and continued running towards her speeder that she could see just beyond the open courtyard, Chasing behind her Jack could see a ground turbolaser emplacement move its turret to follow her, "Cadmon get the ship in the air now!" He shouted through his comm as the blaster cannon opened fire.

It failed to hit her, the gunner moved its position to the speeder and opened fire sending dozens of green energy charges towards it, on contact the unshielded vehicle exploded, the shockwave sent Ahsoka to the ground be he saw her get up and continue to run off the edge of the platform, followed by numerous Clones and Massiff trackers, "Don't lose her we'll be right there" Fox said into his comm as Skywalker, Rex and Jesse ran up from behind them.

"What's going on?" He asked.

"We found her, she's heading towards the industrial pipeline" Commander Fox informed.

Anakin started running again, "Set weapons to stun, I want her alive," He ordered, to Jack's relief.

The group ran towards the pipeline as did numerous troopers, trying to get ahead of them Jack and Jesse saw the clones firing multiple stun rounds each, Ahsoka managed to dodge most of them and equipped her lightsabers, deflecting even more of them. Up above them all, Captain Jack could make out the outline of the Condor, his suspicion was confirmed when Jun came over the comm, "Captain, we are in the air and awaiting orders," He said.

"Acknowledged, stick to non-lethal munitions and only fire if I give the word" Jack ordered, running past several clones on the catwalk that stretched across the miles long pipeline. Moving east across several more pipes Ahsoka slid down one of the rails and evaded more fire landing on another catwalk and continuing to run and dodge. Extending his Jetpack, Jack followed close behind by Jesse burst across the platforms and landed close to a dozen metres behind Ahsoka, even with his augmented abilities he found it more and more straining to keep up with the agile fast Jedi.

Up above from the air several LA-AT gunships descended alongside Ahsoka, the pilots opened the side doors and clone troopers inside opened fire with stun rounds, from the short-range it was clear Ahsoka was finding it tougher to deflect them, then from one of the LA-AT's a clone trooper fired a rocket from an RPS-6, it missed, Jack guessed on purpose but still knocked the young Jedi down, she was hanging on to the rails above the ground as her lightsabers fell to the ground.

She managed to pull herself up as the clone troopers got closer and kept up their fire, on the run again she managed to pull one of her lightsabers to her through the force and ascended up a staircase but a gunship blocked her path and she ran back down until her retreat was cut off by more clone squadrons. Quickly she was surrounded by multiple clones from close and far when the troopers in the gunship's cable descended to the high catwalks. From above the Condor descended too with Kix, Rookie and Fives standing atop the rear control surfaces and fuselage with their headlight on and weapons out but not trained on Ahsoka.

Catching up just seconds behind on a lower catwalk, Jack picked up Ahsoka's second lightsaber without thinking and kept up his running until stopping with a slight unintentional drift at the edge of the walkway. Seemingly trapped with no escape, Jack tried to think of something to do when Ahsoka pushed all her energy into a high leap and landed on a wide diameter pipe behind them all, immediately the clones tried to stun her but failed, using her lightsaber she cut a hole in the pipe and dropped down. Not long after the stream of shock troopers flooded in, including Commander Fox, Captain Rex and General Skywalker went in after following closely behind Jesse and Jack.

"Cadmon, track my IFF tag, find a way to get the ship close to us" Jack ordered.

Soon the tunnels below were filled with troopers running back and forth countless pipes and the maze allowed Ahsoka to get away it seemed. As the soldiers became more distanced Captain Jack followed his gut and trailed behind Skywalker. The system of pipes was a labyrinth and soon they could barely hear the clattering of the clone's armour in the tunnels sticking close to the Jedi Knight they followed him through several more tunnels until finally reaching one that had the bloom of outside lights appear at the end, at the edge of it was Ahsoka.

"Ahsoka, what are you doing?" Anakin asked her, getting his breath back after the chase.

"You didn't even try to come to help me," She said to him.

Skywalker tried to get closer, "They didn't even let me in to talk to you" Anakin tried to explain.

"You could have if you tried," She countered.

Anakin tried to reason further, "How would that look Ahsoka, me forcing my way in would have made you look even more guilty". He said.

"I'm Not Guilty!" She shouted.

"Then we have to prove you innocent and the only way we can do that is by going back," He said, trying to convince her.

From behind Skywalker, Jack tried to get closer. "I don't know who to trust," Ahsoka said, getting closer to the edge of the pipe.

"Listen, I would never let anyone hurt you Ahsoka, never, But you need to come back and make your case to the council". Anakin pleaded.

Ahsoka shook her head "No, I am not going to take the fall for something I didn't do" She said louder.

Anakin's tone changed, "I am ordering you to put down your lightsaber and come with me, Now! Trust me" He ordered.

From behind them, they could hear the clones getting closer and Commander Fox calling out for General Skywalker's location. "I do trust you, but you know as well as I do that no one else will believe me," She said as she got closer and looked out over the edge as a ship lowered down. Jack could tell what she was about to do. "Anakin, you have to trust me now," She said looking back at him.

"Ahsoka, I do trust you," Anakin said, getting closer to her.

Ahsoka raised he palm, "I know you do, wish me luck," She said

Before she turned around again, Captain Jack stepped past Anakin and called out to her "Ahsoka" he said, getting her attention as he reached behind him and pulled off the lightsaber from his back mag clip. He tossed it over to her, catching it perfectly before looking back up at him, "Good luck and Mantle guide you" He said, Ahsoka gave an honest but quick smile as the clone troopers appeared behind them and ran to catch up. She jumped from the pipe's exit and landed on the descending cargo ship.

As the clones caught up to them Jack saw the Condor coming down from the surface the soldiers had retreated back inside, Fives and Rookie stood on the down exit ramp as the ship descended. Jack got on his comm to Cadmon as they looked towards it, "Cadmon keep heading down" He ordered as he stepped forward past Rex and Fox. Priming his grapple attachment he fired it at the hydraulic ramp arm of the open rear exit door, Jesse did the same to the arm on the left, both of the cables wrapped around them securely and they dropped from the edge of the pipe, retracting the cables till they were only a few feet off of the ship.

"Captain!" Skywalker shouted to them getting both their attention as well as Fives and Rookie, knelt down on the ramp to help pull up their crewmen, "If you find her, you contact us" He yelled.

Captain Jack said nothing in return as they climbed up to the ramp and the ship continued to lower down into the upper levels of Coruscant.


Next Chapter - Duty or Orders

Well Hello, and so ends another chapter and a long one at that, I figured that If I was going to make you all wait for nearly a month I might as well at the very least make it a good chapter. I know that this is quite similar to the original which is something I have been trying to avoid because otherwise, it is just the same as star wars with some Spartans hanging around but in this case, I felt it was important.

As I said up top there is a Q & A for you guys to ask questions if you want, I decided to do it since as I write this final part the story has just reached a combined 839 follows and favourites as well as 97,027 views so I guessed I actually had enough readers to do it. Anyway as usual leave your thoughts or anything I might have missed/done wrong in the reviews and I will respond to them in the next chapter posting...At this rate, I'll have to make a standard story 8-9k with the number of words just for comment responses.