Attack of the Clones

Ahsoka had been marked for termination. That much she was certain. Everything had happened in such a miniscule amount of time that she wasn't able to ponder it. But she did see that it wasn't just her the clones were after. The Zabrak on the opposite side of the bridge had also dodged and deflected blaster fire. That wasn't a comforting thought but it was peculiar.

They'd been cornered against the control panel. Even after the first clone fired, Ahsoka was using everything in her power to try and avoid any more casualties than had already been caused on Mandalore. It was far from easy. Mainly, she'd been trying to protect Rex. Out of all the people present on this ship, she wanted to ensure that he would be the one to escape from all of this. Had it been her choice, she would have wanted to protect each and every one of the clones. She didn't know how or why, but she figured what happened wasn't because of the clones, themselves.

"What now, Commander?" Maul asked her, both of them knowing full well that it was impossible to take down all of them at once. Not only were they outnumbered, but they were in such a compressed space and nearby the large windows. Combat would most likely cause damage to the ship that would put all of them in danger. Ahsoka tilted her head towards the ceiling.

"We go up." she said to him, and summoned the Force to cut an open space above. Smoke from the damaged wires clouded the clones vision, which gave Ahsoka and Maul the chance to escape.

Once they'd evacuated, they traveled down the halls, not willing to wait until the clones eventually caught up to them. Once Ahsoka was sure they'd been spared at least for a minute, she released an exasperated sigh. "That was close."

Maul was anxiously turning his head in multiple directions, like he was hearing something from much further away than Ahsoka could. "We cannot stay for long." he reminded her, his hand tightening around his saber. "We need an escape route."

"I know," her voice clearly emphasized. Her mind fell from their main priority as she thought of Rex. "I don't understand why this is happening..."

He dragged his palm across his face. "It matters not. Do you not want to walk out of here alive?"

She glared at him, her hands on her hips. "Why don't you go make yourself useful and distract them with some chaos?" She turned away from him before hearing his response. "It's what you're good at." He growled, but didn't argue with her.

Ahsoka didn't accept that the clones would have been doing this out of their own free will. Maul may have been right that stalling their escape by seeking out this information was risky and most likely futile, but that didn't stop her from wanting to know the truth.

She was no stranger to betrayal. Though she was able to count the amount of times it had happened, her faith had been shaken because of it. In both the Jedi and for some time in herself. Leaving the Jedi Order brought a new level of uncertainty she hadn't felt since she had first begun her training, when uncertainty was paired with any emotion she may have felt about herself.

And now she may have been experiencing that feeling again. The uncertainty that she could save Anakin from the impending doom of the Republic. All the parts he may have played in Sideous's rise to power. Now she could understand why she wasn't involved, setting aside the fact that she wasn't a Jedi and therefore was cast aside from all Jedi affairs. Ahsoka knew she was skilled. It was what allowed her to stay intact for as long as she had been when the war began. But it didn't seem possible that she could put an end to these seemingly inevitable visions. Not even with Maul's assistance.

At the very least, she could potentially help "cure" the army she was sent to advise.

Once the three assistant droids were activated, she searched through the database for Rex's information. "There has to be something."

When it was first known that a clone had directly caused the death of a Jedi, it was said that the cause of the outburst was due to a virus. That seemed to be the theory that most had come to accept. When she managed to pull a report from the file where a holographic figure of a Kaminoan doctor appeared, she learned that it was much worse. Rex's report on Fives, whose death had been a mystery to her, revealed that it actually occurred due to forbidden knowledge.

This "virus" had been an implant. Some sort of inhibitor chip with a purpose that has now been activated.

Ahsoka had to be careful when trespassing these halls. Further away from being safely confined, she could see bodies littering the ground, some of them with scorch marks from a lightsaber on their armor. Some of their limbs were scattered away from the rest of their bodies. They were nondescript clones and even though she felt the rush of anger for the one responsible for this, she was relieved she didn't see the one she'd been searching for.

When she'd eventually caught up to the renegade, he did have her clone friend pinned to the ground while he held his activated saber towards the defenseless man's face. Rex's hands were held up and his guns had been tossed to the side. The crushing weight of Maul's mechanical leg on Rex's chest sounded like it was cutting off his ability to breathe.

"Please!" Rex pleaded. "Spare me!"

No, don't, Ahsoka thought and raised her hands to force-pull the double-blade out of his grip. But she stopped dead in her tracks before she could even gather enough mental energy to do so. Maul stepped off the clone's chest and lowered his weapon, rather than digging the blade straight through Rex's chest. His eyes locked onto Ahsoka's, who was standing at the end of the long steel flooring. The emotion that reflected in those yellow orbs eluded her, but a part of her believed it wasn't the relentless fury she'd seen in him before. It wasn't clear.

She had witnessed him not kill the warped clone.

And she wasn't sure if it was because of a mind trick she placed on him when she told him not to do it, or because he knew ending Rex's life would have made her trust him even less. Not that it mattered. He wanted to pull through this attack as much as she did and he needed her for that. There was no moral reasoning for his actions. There never was.

Rex was about to get up and reach for his blasters. Ahsoka snapped out of her trance and used her powers to pull his weapons away from him. She grabbed one and aimed it right at him.

"Sorry, Rex." she said, setting the blaster to stun. He charged towards her but she was much quicker. In an instant, he was lying unconscious on the floor. She appeared beside him. "Let's get him to a medical bay."

Maul rolled his eyes but didn't complain, or have anything else to say. Perhaps he'd been just as thrown off from his own gesture as Ahsoka had. She didn't allow it to divert her from her own disgust for the man, but she was even further discombobulated by the fact that he had the slightest ability to show any form of mercy. Ahsoka shook her head. From henceforth, she would wait and see if his intentions were worthy of reconsideration of how he was projected in her mind.


Obi-Wan had escaped his one-thousandth near-death experience in that one day. He was shot off a cliff, fell in water, and lost his lightsaber multiple times. His long-term Jedi training had only prepared him for half of the events that befell upon him on that planet. The clone army had turned against him. That was something he was unprepared for.

He was desperately trying to contact the members of the Council, or someone he knew he could rely on in this situation. It was possible that he wasn't the only one who had his own allies trying to gun him down. All the more reason to gather with the rest of the Jedi Council. They were planning to confront and arrest Palpatine for his crimes against the Republic. Now, Obi-Wan wasn't sure if that was the wise thing to do.

As usual, the Jedi Master made it to his ship before he would suffer even more physical blows to his bruised body. While traveling through hyperspace, he attempted to reach out to Anakin from thousands of parsecs away. It was as Ahsoka said. He was closed off. Anakin probably believed he was being manipulated by different sources and was shutting out everyone to prevent his mind from being further swayed. Headstrong, he was.

It baffled Obi-Wan to think of what Anakin believed he could gain from the Sith. Or from the Dark Side entirely. Anakin was rash and inane, but he didn't crave power. With the amount of time Anakin spent with the chancellor, it was possible that the revealed Sith Lord had been whispering false claims into the inexperienced boy's head. Promises of immortality, maybe. Or resurrection.

Obi-Wan sighed and rubbed his throbbing forehead. "Anakin, you fool..."

His ship arrived on Coruscant, but the fact that he may now have a bounty on his head made Obi-Wan realize he wasn't going to get through this city smoothly. He managed to disguise himself by drawing attention from a bystander clone. Clone armor was intolerable to wear and much flimsier than other armor produced by the Republic. Then again, he did arrive on this planet with his only form of protection being the Force.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Another clone called to him nearby. Obi-Wan didn't have an answer. He just ran.

The first place he thought to look for Anakin was Padme's residence. He'd forgotten that he'd been wearing the clone armor because when she opened the door, she stepped back in shock.

"Is... there something wrong?" she said in a soft voice. The Jedi Master removed the humid helmet and Padme sighed. "Oh, it's just you."

Obi-Wan didn't have time to explain. He allowed himself inside and walked across the room, shifting his eyes to each corner as if Anakin could be camouflaging himself in the walls.

"Master Kenobi?" Padme questioned. "What is it?"

He kept his gaze on the open balcony, overlooking the entire city. "I'm looking for Anakin."

"He isn't here," she answered, confused. "I... thought he was with the Council."

Obi-Wan ran his hands over his hair, damp with sweat. "Then I'd better go find him before it's too late."

She stopped him before he could reach the entrance. "Wait... did something happen to him?"

He was about to respond by saying he would tell her later, but if she believed something bad happened to Anakin, she might have gone after him. Obi-Wan rested his shaking hands on the senator's arms. "Padme... I believe the Republic is about to undergo a horrific transformation to the Dark Side." He lowered his eyes. "And Anakin might be the one to set it in motion."

She backed away from him. "You mean... Anakin has gone Dark Side?"

Obi-Wan wasn't sure the best way to answer this. "No... not yet, anyway. But if what I've seen is correct, it's bound to happen."

She pressed herself against the wall, her mouth moving but no words had emitted. "I don't believe you..."

He didn't believe himself, either. "I wish I could say otherwise. The Force has shown me the possibilities. Palpatine has been found to be the undercover Sith Lord and he plans to take Anakin as his apprentice." He knew he couldn't comfort her without covering the truth. "But... there's a chance that these events could be stopped before they take place. If I can get to Anakin before Palpatine, then I might be able to prevent it."

Her head perked up. "You're not going to kill him... are you?"

The question had taken a stab at the Jedi's heart. If Anakin had possessed such power in the Force and had become Darth Sideous's apprentice, he would have been much too dangerous to be allowed to live. Thus, it seemed to be the more cogent option. But Obi-Wan was drawn to the alternative by both his own attachment to the boy and Padme's lamentable expression while her hands rested on her swollen abdomen. The idea of him eliminating the father of her child did not settle well in his mind. He couldn't bear it. He wouldn't bear it.

"Padme," he said while slowly approaching her. "No matter what happens, I will do everything I can in my power to ensure that does not happen."

With that, the Jedi Master left, hoping he could fulfill that promise.


AN: Best companion in KOTOR is HK.