Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars: The Clone Wars, only the OC Jayden Shan.
Stepping off the gunship at Republic base camp, Anakin was pleased to see dozens of fresh Clones running around, taking over for the wearied 501st legion and 212th battalion. He turned to say something to Ahsoka, but then her gaze darted again to something behind him. She didn't just have keen focus. Her peripheral vision was exceptional too. Anakin turned to see Kenobi walking slowly toward him, deep in conversation with Master Yoda. He decided to meet them halfway.
"Master Obi-Wan," he greeted, bowing. "Master Yoda."
Yoda fixed him with a critical stare. "Trouble you have with your new Padawan, I hear." He mused. Anakin shot a quick look at Obi-Wan.
"I was explaining the situation to Master Yoda." The bearded Master explained.
"If not ready for the responsibility of a Padawan you are," Yoda continued, "then perhaps to Obi-Wan she should go…"
Anakin was quick to come to his new Padawan's defence. He knew what it felt like when a Jedi didn't want to train someone. The Jedi didn't want him to be trained as a Jedi when he was a child, claiming he was too old and too attached to be a Jedi. Yoda didn't want to train him, he was not going to let Ahsoka feel the same way he did when he wanted to be a Jedi.
"No… wait a minute. There's no problem, Master." He interjected. "I admit Ahsoka is a little rough around the edges. But with a great deal of training, and patience, she might amount to something."
"Then go with you, she will, to the Teth system." Yoda nodded.
Anakin frowned. "Teth? That's Wild Space… Has the fighting spread that far? I didn't think the Separatist army had any presence there." He queried.
"No army. But kidnapped, Jabba the Hutt's son has been." Yoda suddenly revealed. It took a couple of seconds to sink in. Anakin couldn't hide his disgust, not completely anyway.
"You want me to rescue a Hutt?" He asked bitterly, his disdain for the Hutt Clan known. Obi-Wan dived in immediately.
"Anakin, we'll need Jabba's backing to fight this war, Anakin. If we can't use Hutt-controlled routes, we can't fight in the Outer Rim. It's that simple. I'm going to negotiate with Jabba while you retrieve the hostage." He explained.
"Hostage…?"
"His baby son. Rotta. You need to find the renegades who kidnapped him." Kenobi stated.
Yoda watched Anakin carefully, easily sensing Anakin's bitterness, disdain and disgust for the Hutts. Yoda knew why, knew that Anakin and his mother had been slaves of a Hutt. Jabba raked off a cut from the slave trade, too, so he was personally connected to Anakin's boyhood misery, and even his mother's ultimate fate. Yoda just hoped Anakin could keep his emotions in check.
Ahsoka seemed to realize the tension wasn't about her. She took a pace back and stood beside Rex, who'd followed discreetly. "That doesn't sound that hard. I'll get the troops organized." She offered. "Ready when you are, Master."
"I wouldn't worry, Anakin. Just teach her everything I taught you and she'll turn out fine." Obi-Wan offered, laying a hand on Anakin's shoulder. "Don't be too hard on her either, otherwise she'll never grow."
"I know. But this isn't a game." Anakin muttered. "I still don't think a war is a good time to bring in a Padawan… whether I'm fine with it or not."
"I admit, she's not what I expected in terms of self-discipline. But then again, neither were you." Kenobi remarked.
"Something tells me this was your idea from the start." Anakin said aloud before he bowed and walked away with as much serenity as he could muster. He didn't want the Masters knowing the task had hit a raw nerve. Obi-Wan watched him go, mixed thoughts and concerns arising in his mind.
"Let's just hope Anakin is ready for this responsibility."
"Ready, he is, to teach an apprentice." Yoda determined, the wizened tone of voice suggesting a far greater depth of insight than Obi-Wan could muster. That being said, Yoda's next words felt oddly foreboding…
"To let go of his pupil, a greater challenge it will be."
"I'd better get under way." Obi-Wan determined. "Mustn't keep Jabba waiting." He remarked.
Teth System
The Rogue Shadow came out of Hyperspace and flew down to the world of Teth. Located in the Baxel sector of the eponymous system along the Triellus Trade Route, Teth was a temperate jungle world often overlooked by the larger galaxy. If anything, there was a bare amount of significance to the Hutts to be found here, but nothing that would be considered crucial or pivotal.
The ship soon breached the atmosphere and made for it's landing destination. In the pilot seat, Jayden kept in a mental groan when he saw Ventress was waiting for him with an entourage of droids. The Rogue Shadow soon landed and it's ramp lowered, Jayden soon striding down it, giving a brief look over the area before he walked towards Ventress.
"Khan." Ventress greeted dryly with a hint of annoyance and a bit of respect.
"Ventress." Jayden greeted back with the same tone. While there was no friendship ever to be born between these two, they did respect each other as skilled warriors, the respect gained from their various spars.
"Has our Master given you instructions?" Ventress asked as the two Apprentices of Dooku turned and made their way towards the monastery.
Jayden nodded. "Yes. Keep Jabba the Hutt's son out of Republic hands. No doubt the Jedi will take this task."
Ventress hummed. "They will fail."
The Republic soon arrived at the Teth system and attacked the droid forces. Their objective was a monastery on top of a plateau surrounded by dense jungle.
Anakin tightened his belt and felt for his lightsaber. They had to pull this off. His feelings about Hutts didn't matter. It wasn't about the kid; it was about his men, the Grand Army, about getting the war won and over with. He focused on that. The troopers were now lined up at both hatches. The gunship shook as it took a direct hit, but the armor plating held. Anakin closed his eyes for a moment. Then the deck seemed to fall beneath his boots, random thuds echoed through the airframe-the gunship was hitting something on its descent, not taking fire now, and then there was a distinct lurch as Hawk set the gunship down. "Welcome to paradise, rockjumpers!" Their pilot called out. The jump lights showed green and both hatches lifted. Moist, hot, tree-scented air flooded into the crew bay.
How Hawk had found a landing area in this dense forest without shearing off a gun pod, Anakin had no idea.
"Go!" Rex shouted, slapping the first trooper in line on the shoulder. "Go, go, go!" Anakin reached out and grabbed Ahsoka's wrist to make sure she was right next to him. Then, watching the white outline of a trooper vanish into a sea of branches and glossy green foliage, he jumped clear.
A heavy mist greeted them, the jungle floor barely visible due to the atmospheric conditions. Yet the Clones moved, the top of the monastery prominent from the ground and giving them the ideal target to run towards. Shaking off some momentary blindness as her eyes adjusted to the bright sunlight, Ahsoka kept pace with Rex as Anakin led the charge, both Jedi igniting their sabers to deflect back rounds from gun emplacements and mobile spider droids. They couldn't seem to get a visual on the GAR forces through the thick foliage, but that didn't stop them pouring down fire.
The Jedi and several Clones ran up to the base of the tall monastery, placing themselves against the rocky wall to avoid the fire from above.
"So, this is where the fun begins." Ahsoka said.
Anakin gave her a grin. "Race you to the top?"
Ahsoka smirked back. "I'll give you a head start."
"Your mistake." Anakin said cheekily before they fired cables that would allow them to climb the rocky surface. Anakin and Ahsoka deflecting blaster bolts as they climbed.
AT-TEs thundered and wheezed as they moved up to scale the cliff face, firing as they went as the trilithium spikes on their heavy ground-crushing footpads dug into the cliffside.
The armored walkers, tanks with six heavy, jointed legs, were built for horizontal terrain, no matter how uneven, and perfect for it. They could climb, but it limited their effectiveness and made them very vulnerable.
It was a complete battle happening here. Republic and Separatist forces fell after being struck by blaster bolts or fell off due to explosions hitting their positions.
Anakin turned to watch the approach of the STAPs, the droids targeting anything and anyone on rappelling up the cliff. Clones were chewed to molten pieces by staccato blaster rounds, and the sole-surviving AT-TE took the brunt of the fly-by, explosions rocking the side of it. One of the forward feet came off the cliff, losing its grip as multiple concussive waves wreaked havoc on the machinery. It lurched and so did Ahsoka, the little Togruta tumbling backwards until she clung to the armor plate for dear life. The droids banked around, ready to make another pass.
Anakin had no choice; he jumped.
Plummeting down a cliff face now infested with spider droids, he landed briefly on the AT-TE below, narrowly missing Ahsoka, and then launched himself at the first STAP fighter in the formation. Anakin leaped from fighter to fighter, slicing the heads of the droids before he took one of the STAP fighters and flew past Ahsoka while firing.
"Gotta keep up!" Anakin called back with a grin.
"No fair!" He heard her shout back, making him almost chuckle.
Anakin soon arrived at the top, jumping off the fighter and landing in a crouch only to find himself surrounded by several battle droids and super battle droids.
"Surrender Jedi." One of the droids said as Anakin looked at them with a firm glare, activating his Lightsaber and he began slicing and cutting metal.
Soon he had finished off the droids before he looked to see three Destroyer droids rolling towards him before they stopped, unfolded and aimed their guns at aim. Anakin tensed as he readied himself when a large blast destroyed the three droids, causing Anakin to turn and see one of the AT-TE's had made it to the top, Ahsoka standing beside the cannon with a smirk on her face.
Anakin couldn't help but smirk back.
"So, did I keep up, Skyguy?" Ahsoka asked with a grin as she jumped down to join him.
"You could use some practice." Anakin teased as Rex approached them. "Rex, status report."
"Fifteen wounded, sir. Gunships are holding at a safe distance." Rex didn't mention the KIAs. He wiped the palm of his gauntlet across his shaven head, looking oddly exhilarated… odd, because while his face was flushed and he was breathing harder than usual, his eyes looked distant and anguished. "I've called in one larty to casevac the injured. I didn't wait for your order, sir…"
"Fine by me." Anakin nodded as he looked at the destroyed droids. "Too many droids here for them to be renegades. I sense Count Dooku's hand in this. Let's find Jabba's son and get out of here."
"But the hard part's over, right? I mean, we just crawled up a cliff under fire and wiped out a battalion of droids or something." Ahsoka said.
"I wish you wouldn't say that." Anakin groaned. Now she just jinxed them.
Unbeknownst to the Jedi and Clones, they were being watched from above by Ventress and Jayden. Beside the two Sith Apprentices was a 4A-7 droid.
"The droid have done their part. Now it's your turn." Ventress told the droid. The droid nodded and left the two Siths alone. "I knew the Jedi would send Skywalker, but I expected Kenobi to be with him... not a youngling."
"I believe she's Skywalker's Padawan." Jayden mused with his arms crossed across his chest. "From what I've seen of her so far... she's reckless."
Ventress let out a little scoff. "All Jedi are the same no matter what. Arrogant, reckless, believing they know better than the rest of the Galaxy. It's because of them many systems have left them to join the Separatists. The time of the Jedi will fall before this war is over."
Jayden glanced at her, sensing her disdain for the Jedi. It was deeper, meaningful. He didn't comment on it though since it wasn't his business. While he liked to rile her up sometimes, he didn't intrude on personal matters. "Let's not be so quick to assume. This war has only just begun..."
And that's it for this chapter. I'm trying to do as best as I can in showing the Clone Wars movie, especially the scenes with Anakin, Ahsoka and others so you know what they're thinking and stuff.