Debris from the exploded ship flew everywhere. Lux, Barriss, and Ahsoka dove out of the way to avoid being flattened by flaming metal chunks.
Ahsoka saw her master, Rex, and several other clones. They must have rigged the ship to explode so that she couldn't escape.
"Kriff!" she said under her breath. She motioned for Barriss and Lux to follow her and she quietly crept away, trying not to catch the attention of Anakin and the clones. The trio went back the way that they'd come.
"So much for that idea," said Barriss. "Now what do we do?"
"We still have a chance to get off of this planet," said Ahsoka. "We can use the ship that I came on. It's outside the city, though."
"What do we do once we get off Onderon?" asked Lux. "I've been thinking, and I can't use my credits. If I do, they'll be able to trace us."
Ahsoka though for a moment before spotting a familiar silver ship. "You guys get to my ship. I'll handle the credits."
After telling Lux and Barriss the location of the Nebula, Ahsoka went to the familiar silver ship that she'd once escorted Senator Amidala to Alderaan in once. But where was Padmé? Ahsoka reached out in the Force to find her, and sensed her presence in the Royal Palace.
It wasn't hard for Ahsoka to get inside. Many of the people there recognized her from the rebellion and let her past. Then it was just a matter of finding where Padmé was staying.
Ahsoka reached the room she thought was correct and knocked lightly on the door. It was answered by none other than Ahsoka's good friend, Senator Padmé Amidala.
"Ahsoka!" Padmé exclaimed, pulling the Togruta into a tight hug. "I've been so worried! Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Padmé," said Ahsoka. "But I do need a favor."
"What is it?" asked Padmé.
"I hate to ask, but I seem to be running short on credits," said Ahsoka. "I only have enough left to eat for a few days. Do you happen to have any extra that I can borrow?"
"Of course!" said Padmé. "I'm happy to help. Just wait here and I'll be right back."
It wasn't long before Padmé approached with a pouch full of credits. She handed it to Ashoka. "That should do it," she said.
"Thank you, Padmé," Ahsoka said. "It was really good to see you again, but I should get going before anyone finds me here."
Padmé wrapped Ahsoka in another hug. "Be safe. If anything happens, contact me."
"Of course," said Ahsoka. "And please don't tell my master that I was here. He's not exactly happy with me right now."
"I won't," said Padmè. Ahsoka waved goodbye before leaving the palace and Iziz and finding the Nebula.
Ahsoka found the Nebula quickly, and she found Barriss and Lux inside.
"Did you get the credits?" Barriss asked. Ahsoka shook the bag in answer as she started up the ship and took off, leaving Iziz behind.
Once they'd left Onderon, they encountered three Republic ships, including the Resolute. Ahsoka was hoping that they wouldn't notice the Nebula, but soon, Ahsoka's ship shook and shuddered as they were caught in a tractor beam.
"We're caught!" Ahsoka cried as the Nebula was dragged towards the Republic starship. The Nebula was pulled into an empty hangar, where dozens of clones waited outside of the ship.
"What should we do?" asked Barriss.
Ahsoka motioned to one of the air vents. "We hope that's big enough to fit three people."
It was. Barely. Barriss squeezed in first, followed by Lux, and then Ahsoka. She replaced the vent as the ship landed in the hangar and the clones forced their way inside. Ahsoka stayed silent as the clones searched the entire ship and decided that Ahsoka must have gotten out of the ship somehow. Ahsoka nearly smacked herself in annoyance. The escape pods! Why hadn't she used the escape pods? Oh, well. No use in dwelling on the past.
"What do we do now?" asked Lux.
"We can't go anywhere until the tractor beam controls are disabled," said Ahsoka.
"It's no use," said Barriss. "We'll never get on the bridge without encountering any clones. Plus, they've probably alerted Master Skywalker and Commander Rex of our position by now."
"Commander Rex?" Ahsoka asked. "Don't you mean Captain?"
"No," said Barriss. "After you were sent away, they promoted Rex to Commander until either the war ended or Master Skywalker took another Padawan."
"Oh," said Ahsoka. "Anyway, if you two cause a distraction, I can get to the bridge and disable the tractor beam controls."
"What type of distraction?" asked Barriss.
"I don't know," said Ahsoka. "Improvise. Just try not to do any permanent damage to the ship and don't hurt anyone. I don't really want to become any more of a fugitive than I already am."
Barriss and Lux left the Nebula and Ahsoka gave them a five minute head start before heading out herself. The route she took was silent, and no one interrupted her as she entered the bridge, which was empty. Barriss and Lux's distraction had worked.
Ahsoka found the controls she was looking for and started tinkering with them, using the various tools she found around the bridge. She finished disabling the tractor beam controls, but then she thought about how they'd escape. The Resolute would probably not let them go easily. Ahsoka would have to disable the hyperdrive so they couldn't chase the Nebula and she'd disable some of the other controls.
Ahsoka made good time, working quickly but efficiently, and she finished her work without anyone coming into the bridge. She put the tools back in their place just as an alarm blared, bathing the Resolute in flashing red lights.
"What did Lux and Barriss do?" Ahsoka wondered aloud. She left the bridge and hurried back to the Nebula, hoping that Barriss and Lux hadn't been caught. When she got to it, it was empty, so she prepped the engines and prepared to leave as soon as Barriss and Lux got to the ship.
It wasn't long before she heard pounding feet and yelling voices and Lux and Barriss came running into the hangar. Ahsoka closed the doors as Barriss and Lux got into the ship and a group of clones ran into the hangar.
"What did you do?" Ahsoka asked.
"We distracted them," said Barriss.
"How?" Ahsoka asked. "Please say you didn't kill anyone."
"No!" said Barriss. "Of course not! We found an empty room and decided it would be a good place for our distraction."
"What type of distraction did you use?" asked Ahsoka.
"We…might have blown it up," said Lux.
"You blew it up?" Ahsoka shouted. "Oh, kriff!"
The hangar door flew open and Anakin and Rex rushed in, followed by a few other clones. Ahsoka cursed under her breath and flew the Nebula out of the hangar, no longer held back by the tractor beam. From outside, Ahsoka could see a small part of the ship was in flames and it was unable to pursue the Nebula.
"Where should we go?" asked Ahsoka.
"I think we should go to Mandalore," said Lux. "It's neutral so there won't be a Republic presence."
Ahsoka put the coordinates in and made the jump into hyperspace.