Y'all I've been grinding all week to get this out on time, it's still like an hour late bc ya girl had to finish it today. Since school started, I have way less time to write, so I won't be publishing a chapter next week. I need to get more pre-written chapters ready so that I'm not always struggling so hard to finish these chapters on time. I love y'all, have a good week!

Chapter Five:

Count Dooku bowed before the hooded figure, the hologram washing him in a blue glow.

"My Lord," he reported, head slightly raised though the rest of his body was lowered, "I have captured Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Skywalker's padawan and a clone."

His Master did not betray any emotion, but the Count was quite used to that. Lord Sidious was not controlled by his feelings, he controlled them instead. He was far too dignified for a small piece of good news to force a smile without his permission, and so the blue hologram remained expressionless.

The Sith commanded, "The Generals will have useful information, military secrets. The girl is in possession of the knowledge of crucial hyperspace lanes. Extract the information, but nobody is to be killed. Leave Skywalker mostly unharmed, electricity only."

Dooku lowered his head again. "It will be done, my Lord."

Only when the hologram had been shut off did he allow himself to wonder, why leave Skywalker so unscathed? It was not his place to question his Master's orders, but he could not banish the curiosity of such an odd display of… mercy? He knew that when he was playing the role of Chancellor he acted as the Knight's mentor, but Palpatine would have no connection to this act.

The Sith apprentice quickly banished his speculations. His job was to carry out orders, not contemplate them. How useless would he be if he did not follow orders? How alive would he be?

Not very, he thought with a quickly suppressed snort. Disobeying the man who controlled his life would end painfully. The pain would come quickly, but its end would not. A death at the hands of Darth Sidious would be drawn out and meaningful, something that it would be wise to avoid.

Standing from the uncomfortable crouch, the Separatist began making preparations for his Master's orders.

Anakin was pacing his cell again, left hand fiddling with his prosthetic. The binders he wore were not very tight and could likely be removed if one of the hands came off as well. He had unfastened his glove, which now hung loosely around the metal limb. The mechanic was fiddling with screws and latches, a complicated series of fasteners meant to keep his right hand on his body and working. Finally unclipping the last wire, he separated his right hand from the rest of his body, much less painful than the loss of the organic limb.

The pilot lifted his left hand and shook it vigorously, only stopping when the metal limb slipped out of its restraints, landing on the floor with a thud. He had finally stopped pacing, standing in the middle of his cell with a triumphant look on his face. He had beaten the binders!

After a moment to bask in his own excellence, the Jedi noticed a problem: he now only had one hand.

"Kriff," he muttered. It was quiet enough that none of his friends heard and could reprimand him, but loud enough to convey the emotion that had prompted it. Taking a seat, young Skywalker called the prosthetic to him, binders dangling uselessly off of his left wrist. He set to work refastening it, immensely grateful for the power that had allowed him to retrieve his binders so easily, the Force would make putting the metal limb back on easier.

Falling into the rhythm of refastening his arm, Anakin was calm.

Rex was walking the perimeter of his cell, checking for imperfections and weaknesses. The small room onboard the Separatist flagship was made of the same metal as the rest of the insectile craft, it would have sucked up all of the clone's heat were it not for the Zygerrian armour he still wore. The wall was, once again, a rayshield, but he was not in a room within a room this time. Beyond the rayshield lay a long hall, likely home to more cells. The opposite wall was bare aside from some buttons and control panels, a myriad of lights and dials.

Dragging his bound hands along the floor, a task made difficult by the binders still adorning his wrist, the soldier felt for indications of cracks or imperfections he could use to his advantage. He knew that it was likely pointless, but you could never be too prepared. Besides, there really wasn't much else to do.

The Jedi could meditate, but that wasn't for him. Days of inactivity in a Zygerrian cell had made him restless, and activity was the only thing he could occupy his time with. Constantly being at war made him unused to the recent days of captivity, being in a small cell that he couldn't run in. The exercises he could do were limited by lack of space and equipment, but the Captain would make do.

Since he had only been shown to his cell a few standard hours ago, he had not yet gotten down to working out, instead opting to think and then thoroughly search the box-like room. With both tasks now out of the way, Rex sat down to evaluate what he had learned. The rayshield was of the design that would not allow air through, meaning that there had to be an air vent somewhere in this dingy room. After searching through the dusty floor and moving on to the wall, his fingers had scraped along a small ridge, virtually invisible to a casual viewer. Luckily, the clone was not casual. Ever.

He had pressed both palms to the wall, swiping the hands along the area to find the full outline. It was fairly high on the wall, so he had to really stretch to cover the required area. The cells may be small, but they were not overly lacking in height. Finally uncovering the rest of the ridge, he had deduced that that was the missing vent, the material over the opening not truly the metal it appeared to be. It turned out to be a thin mesh, pulled tight and stiff but breathable enough to do its job. The part of the cell it was located in, a back corner, was expertly out of the light in a way that concealed the slightly off look the material held.

Upon further exploration, the soldier had deduced that the vent was approximately 16 square inches, just enough space whilst covered by the mesh. He had knocked on the wall, straining to discover the size of the ventilations innards. He was once again glad for the Kaminoans giving them enhanced hearing, only rivaled (in his experience) by a togruta's montrals. Those horn-like protrusions were incredibly helpful on missions with Ahsoka, her echolocation giving their troops an advantage on stealth missions.

He had been unable to tell the size of the actual ventilation system, and finally retired to a spot on the floor where he could rest and keep an eye on the hallway. Snapping back to the present, the clone frowned. He didn't like the idea of being separated from the Generals and Commander, but he wasn't exactly in the position to bargain. How would that go?

"Count Dooku, I, a clone that you view as less than human would like to share a cell with my Commanding officers." "Why, of course! I will totally honour this illogical request just because my prisoner asked me to. You know what, just leave the ship! You are the one in charge, anyways."

He would just have to make do with shouting and hoping his fellow soldiers could hear him.

Obi-Wan Was kneeling in his cell, hands on his knees. He inhaled, taking the time necessary to center himself. Breathing out, the man sent his consciousness sprawling into the Force, feeling more calm with every moment he spent in that state. He reached out with his consciousness, gently probing the cell around him. There were no life-forms inside, so he searched farther. He discovered a hollow area near the back of his cell, a vent filled with bugs and tiny life-forms, the only thing letting air into his cell.

The General knew that a simple look at his cell would be of no use and used the Force to do what some cultures would call "astral projecting". He sent out a body of solid thought, a vessel for his mind. In it, he rose from his kneeling state, leaving the physical body behind. The Master strode right through the rayshield, his will the only thing keeping the floor beneath his feet. Astral projecting was always disorienting, not being able to feel your surroundings, your body being nothing but a concept. He could sense his arms and legs, feel his neck's skin as he turned his head, but if the soldier looked down, all he saw was air. It was disorienting at first, but someone with experience, like Obi-Wan, could get used to it in seconds.

The man rubbed his wrists, or he thought about doing that, as he had brought the binders astral projecting with him. He padded down the hall, stopping in front of the next cell. He looked inside, seeing Anakin pacing. He noticed something blue dangling from his former padawan's left wrist, and he laughed when he saw what it was. Well, he metaphorically laughed. The pilot had managed to get the binders off of his right hand, likely by removing the entire limb. He shook his theoretical head, a theoretical smile playing across his lips. Anakin was certainly resourceful.

After ensuring that the restless man was alright (not that he could help if he wasn't), the General progressed to the next cell. Inside sat Rex, a thoughtful look upon his face. If he knew the Captain at all, the secret vent in his cell had already been discovered without the help of the Force. He had almost definitely already performed a thorough search of the cell, frustrated with the lack of results.

A pulse of pain in his physical temple reminded the Jedi Master to hurry up. Astral projecting was incredibly taxing, and he had to move quickly if he wanted to return to his physical body with his mind intact. That was why he had not decided to search the ship, that would take far longer than the two short minutes available to him. It would be maybe a week now before he could attempt this again, but the Negotiator did not care. His friends were more important than some possible espionage.

Hurrying as a headache developed, the man pulled to a stop in front of Ahsoka's cell. What she was doing was the kind of thing that would take a year off of Anakin's life every time he saw her do it and yet do it himself. Obi-Wan frowned, noticing the panic etched onto the young girl's face. Maybe this wasn't some thickheaded idea and more an act of desperation, he understood how hard the past week had been for her. Knowing that he could not stay and watch any longer, the man turned and retreated to his own cell, his corporeal body tumbling face-first onto the floor in a dead sleep as he rejoined it.

Ahsoka was sitting in her cell, bored out of her mind. Why did she always have to be kriffing captured? First it when her Master blew their covers, now this, and there were a multitude of times beforehand. Well, she just took after Anakin. He was, as Master Obi-Wan said, "A master of getting caught". If she had hair, she'd have blown it out of her face.

With a bit of effort, she could hear a slight fwoosh noise coming from the back of her cell, it was clearly an air vent. That made sense, even prisoners needed to breathe. At least, humanoids did.

She was still mad that she had been so reckless as to allow herself to be held hostage by Count Dooku. She had been so worried when her Master had been electrocuted, tossed into the wall like a ragdoll. The hunger and overall imprisonment had meant she wasn't thinking straight and just acted on instinct, leading to this new mess they were in. She knew nobody else blamed her, but the Commander understood how much her fault this was.

She got to her feet, desperate for something to do. Confinement was not good for togruta, they were meant to live in groups. Even at age four, the separation from her tribe had been devastating, causing nightmares and sickness for weeks until she settled in. Being alone in her cell was making her crazy, and she had to do something.

The togruta paced, bringing her hands up to hold her montrals. She started squeezing, a tear coming to her eye when it began to hurt. The sensitive organs were, well, sensitive. She slid her hands down to her lekku, rapidly tightening her hold on them as she paced faster. She needed to get out of this crinking cell, needed to find her friends- she couldn't take it. The togruta dug her nails into her lekku, ignoring the sting. She set wild eyes upon the rayshield, tears starting to stream down her face as she lunged.

The padawan threw herself at the barrier, ignoring the shock that came with the impact. She was thrown backwards into the cell, hands removed from her lekku. She staggered to her feet and dove at the orange-hued wall of energy with a cry, shoulder numbing under the shocks. She pressed the bony body part against the only thing keeping her from freedom, anguish written across her face. The crazed attempts to force her way through the barrier were in vain, and she crumpled to the floor, managing to crawl away from the wall of pain.

Ahsoka curled into a ball in the middle of her prison as the walls closed in around her and sobbed.

Jedi Master Plo Koon may not be the best species for a stealth mission, but that didn't mean he was bad at them. Being a kel dor meant that he stood out, a visible minority in the galaxy. That didn't bother him, there were very few who actively discriminated against aliens, not including slavers who targeted togruta and twi'lek women. It had been a slaver that had tried to kidnap little 'Soka, disguised as a Jedi. The Jedi would never kidnap a child and raise them in enslavement, that was not cool.

The General walked calmly through the palace halls of Zygerria, knowing sneaking around was not an option. It was best to pretend that he was on official business, the few that suspected him of suspicious activity could be easily dealt with. These slavers were often weak in the mind, and the guards were never the sharpest of the lot. A simple mind trick could send each one walkong ofi and the intruder could continue on his merry way.

Plo Koon was in charge of completing the mission that Skywalker, Kenobi, Ahsoka and Captain Rex had failed on, getting discovered and taken into custody. He was currently meandering through the palace halls on Zygerria to find information on the missing togruta. Concealed beneath his fine clothes- all part of the disguise- was a data spike, one that would retrieve the necessary information. The kel dor was wearing traditional clothes for his race, disguised as a foreign dignitary. He would not be seeing the Queen, of course, but nobody needed to know the purpose of his visit.

It would have been easiest to send a clone on this mission, but that would be a dangerous gamble with their faces so hated in Separatist space. At least the Master has the Force on his side, a trooper would be armed only with their wits and luck. He refused to put his men in unnecessary danger and would do this part of the mission himself.

Ignoring the pain that radiated from this place, its echo upon the palace ringing in his sensory organs, he stopped at a data port on the wall. The undercover man bent down, fishing the data spike from with his outfit's folds. Hoping that nobody came around the corner, he inserted the device into the wall, standing inconspicuously so as to not arouse suspicion about the random kel dor in the hallway. Luck, however, was not on his side.

Around the corner came a Zygerrian man, but he was not a guard. This one was sporting finery, a beaten-down twi'lek woman tailing him. She held a stack of datapads in her arms, head down. The perfect slave, dressed in clothes fit for the job. The General understood that he could not help this woman and the thousands of colonists at the same time, but he wished that were not so.

The Zygerrian was holding yet another datapad, angrily scrolling through it as he walked. He exuded an air of authority, and if the Jedi watching him was a gambler, he'd bet his mask that that man was important. Something told him that a mind trick would not be very effective, and simple trickery would be his best option.

Stealing a quick glance at the process of the data spike- it was halfway done- he stood taller and gathered the alibi that had been prepared for this exact situation. Waiting until the man had gotten near enough to notice him, head beginning to turn to the orange man in the hallway, Plo Koon spoke. He was saying something explainable and comprehensive, but to the slaver it was gibberish. Using his native tongue of kel dor was an idea he figured would throw those he couldn't mind-trick off of his tail, unless they understood him. Luckily, it seemed this man could not.

The feline stared in bewilderment as this stranger rattled off nonsense, demanding, "What do you want."

He was annoyed, confused as to who was addressing him and what they were saying. The slave behind him was looking down at the floor as she had been trained when she noticed something odd on the wall. It appeared to be a data spike- what was that doing in the palace? She dared not look too closely at the stranger in front of her Master- it would be punished. She had, however, picked up the skill of reading people well with discretion. The man ahead was definitely an intruder.

Waving a hand in front of the kel dor's face, Atai Molec stopped the babbling. Turning to the twi'lek, he ordered, "Stay with our guest while I fetch a protocol droid. You know the consequences if he is not here when return."

The purple-skinned woman nodded fearfully, not needing a reminder. Disobeying orders was not an enjoyable pastime. Waiting for her Master to turn down another hallway, she spoke up.

"I know that you are an intruder. I will not report you if you make a deal with me."

He inclined his head, intrigued. His deep, booming voice rang out, "And what deal is that?" The Jedi would not leave this slave helpless if he could avoid it, and striking a deal would be in both their best interests.

The woman was nervous, that was clear from the shakiness of her voice and the slight quiver of her lip. "I want you to take me with you. I cannot overpower you, but I can tell Master about the dataspike in the wall behind you."

She could've sworn he smiled. "Ah, that." The man turned and extracted the device from the wall, tucking it into his fancy robes.

The twi'lek was getting bolder, stepping forward as she stated, "I can- I can pay you. I'll work at a cantina or something and get you credits!" A wild look had entered her eyes, a desperation.

He shook his head, absolutely crushing her spirits until he spoke. "You needn't pay me, I'll take you for free."

The woman's eyes lit up, hope entering her eyes. "Really?"

Plo Koon nodded, and they hastened out of the palace, not wanting to be there when Molec returned.

After Ahsoka's episode, it occurred to her that maybe she should try yelling, see if her friends heard and were nearby. She knew that they were all in this hallway, but being the first one put in a cell meant she didn't see where everyone else ended up. The teen told herself that she didn't think of it because she was hungry, thirsty and needed to get out of these enclosed rooms.

Taking a deep breath, she shouted at the top of her lungs, "MASTER! MASTER OBI-WAN! REX!"

Anakin jumped as he heard his padawan's voice, her yell just as loud as she'd have it on a battlefield. He scrambled from his seated position and got as close to the rayshield as he dared, yelling, "Snips! I'm here!"

She was so relieved to hear his voice, a small comfort to the togruta. Isolation was horrible for her, and just hearing another voice was therapeutic.

Rex's head snapped up as the piercing cry from his Commanding Officer cut through the air. He heard Skywalker's reply, adding his own.

"Commander!" He shouted back, understanding that all she needed was a confirmation of companionship.

He could almost feel her relief at others being nearby.

Obi-Wan heard the shouts of his friends, all of whom he had already (metaphorically) seen, but knew that the youngest member of their merry band needed his affirmation.

"Hello there, Ahsoka!"

The togruta sat back down in her cell, sighing in relief. She wouldn't have to suffer alone. Even the thought of her friends being nearby was enough to keep her going for a while longer, and that would have to be enough.

A standard hour or so went by without excitement, nobody wanting to yell constantly to talk. The calm was put to an end, however, as two managuards clanked down the hallways. The padawan heard them first and rushed to the barrier keeping her trapped, straining to catch a glimpse of the droids coming their way. Eventually, the staff-wielding robots passed her cell, not giving her a glance. She worried about what this could mean, but quickly understood.

Anakin watched as two managuards passed his cell, immediately panicking when he realized that the only people in cells past his were Obi-Wan and Rex. The sound of a rayshield being deactivated left the General nervously anticipating what came next, and his heart sank when the droids and their new prisoner passed his cell. His former Master was being roughly shoved along the hallway, head held high even as he was constantly having to regain his footing. The two shared a look, and the Knight knew that no matter what happened to Obi-Wan, he wouldn't betray the Republic and help the Separatists. Anakin was just glad that Ahsoka wasn't the one being led away.

It wasn't that he wanted Rex to be tortured, he just had a much closer bond with his former Master, and hated the idea of him getting hurt. It was, however, better that the grown man be tortured than the literal teenager a couple cells down. At least he was an adult.

Ahsoka watched Master Obi-Wan be led past her cell with wide eyes. She understood what this meant: Dooku wanted information, and she didn't know how far he would go to get it.

End of chapter!

Notes:

-jhalkjfldj its literally 1am for me rn im finishing this ON SATURDAY

-well y'all know what comes next for Obi :/

-Plo Koon do be smart tho

-Yes, that twi'lek slave will be given more time in this fic but she probably won't become important to the plot or feature more than the actual canon characters

-Poor Ahsoka

-ok the Zygerria arc is chronologically after the citadel, so Ahsoka would indeed be in possession of the hyperspace lane info at this time

-Ooh Sidious has nefarious plans

-Rex is on that daily grind

-I realized when I was halfway into the astral projecting scene that this power was way too op so i had to scale it down a lot and give a reason for him not to just tour the ship, and no its not a canon ability i made it up for this fic

Tune in next time for Chapter Six!